Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: The road to excellence

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Mike Mahathy

Mike Mahathy

By Mike Mahathy

“Thus we began. With a sense of adventure, with a determination to make the most of a situation, we started out…looking forward to giving the children of Oak Ridge the best system we could develop.”

So said Dr. A.H. Blankenship years after accepting the role of starting the Oak Ridge school system.

From the very beginnings in 1943, Oak Ridge leaders wanted the best for their children. They choose a road less traveled by in this area.

Decades have passed, but there has remained one constant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee: a great school system where students have excelled in academics, the arts, music, athletics, and have gone on to be productive Americans. [Read more…]

Letter: Paine the best candidate for school board

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To the Editor:

Laurie Paine is, by far, the best candidate for the Oak Ridge Board of Education. She’s loyal and fights hard for what she believes in.

I’ve witnessed first-hand her diligence in fighting to get the bus routes reinstated for children living closer to school. Her oldest daughter lost her life riding her bike home from school. It’s because of that tragedy that she fights harder and more diligently than anyone else. She’s determined and committed to do whatever’s necessary to ensure our children’s safety.

Rumors have spread about mistakes she’s made in the past. While other candidates seem focused on people’s faults, Laurie continues to press forward in fighting for people’s best interests. Sure, she’s made her fair share of mistakes, but who hasn’t. Often times we learn more by making mistakes. I believe that Laurie’s past has made her even more determined and focused to create a better and safer future for our kids. [Read more…]

Letter: Paine the right candidate for school board

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To the Editor:

We are writing this letter in support of Laurie Paine, who is running for the Oak Ridge Board of Education. We have two children who attended Oak Ridge schools and are now pursuing college educations. We feel Ms. Paine has many excellent qualities that she can offer to the community by serving on the Board of Education.

Among those qualities would be her educational and work background. Ms. Paine has experience in both accounting and project management. As a project manager for several companies, Ms. Paine has worked with large budgets. She was the senior project manager for one company. We know personally that Ms. Paine is familiar with the Oak Ridge Schools budget as she has done research and has attended BOE budget meetings in the past. The tools she has gained with her business experience will prove to be invaluable in the budget deliberation process and other financial decisions the BOE must vote on. If elected, Ms. Paine will see to it that ORS and the BOE have financial accountability and transparency.

Secondly, Ms. Paine cares about Oak Ridge children and wants to make them a priority. Ms. Paine states that currently 47 percent of Oak Ridge students come from financially disadvantaged families. She wants to ensure that these students and all Oak Ridge students are given equal opportunities in our school system. She will work to fairly allocate resources to benefit all students, and she especially wants to give hope and a voice to those children with limited financial resources. [Read more…]

Guest column: Progress PAC helps broaden conversation of community issues

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By Progress PAC

We are very proud that the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has entrusted us to serve as the members of Progress PAC, the multi-candidate political action committee created by the Chamber and focused on our upcoming school board and city council elections. Though we are appointed by the Chamber’s Board of Directors, we operate independently from that same board.

Some people in the community have questions about how Progress PAC will operate, who we might support, and how endorsements might be made. Some have criticized the timing of Progress PAC’s establishment, and we acknowledge it could have been better. However, our primary goal is to have a positive impact in this election cycle.

Now that Progress PAC has been created, we are largely autonomous. The Chamber’s Board may not approve or disapprove of any endorsement decisions we may make; the Chamber’s Board cannot approve or disapprove of contributions that Progress PAC either receives or distributes. The Chamber contributes no funds to PAC operations; we are supported by donations made directly to the PAC and we must report those to the appropriate election commissions. [Read more…]

Guest column: 2014—The year that Oak Ridgers take back their government

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

By Trina Baughn

Did you know that most of our local elections have historically been decided by less than 20 percent of our population? In fact, one of the biggest financial decisions ever made in our city’s history—the high school renovation project—was determined by only 11 percent (3,198) of our residents.

A number of factors have empowered the establishment for decades. If they have their way again this year, half of your elected officials will come from the most affluent neighborhoods in Oak Ridge, with half of them living on the very same street of McMansions! Given that the our average household income is $48,716, this is not even close to a true representation of the people in our community.

This year, though, the establishment is nervous and they should be for three very big reasons. [Read more…]

Guest column: Candidate calls for enlightenment, trust, ‘unified team’

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Andy Howe

Andy Howe

By Andy Howe

Roughly 200,000 years ago the direct ancestor of modern man evolved in Africa when a small group of proto-humans adapted a genetic trait that previous forms of hominids only hinted at. This sub-species was capable of something never seen before—forward-thinking imagination. Our brains were changed to “fill in the gaps” on a conceptual level. It allowed us to invent complex tools and to plan for the future. Since then, we haven’t changed much.

Despite the belief that we are unique in the animal kingdom because we are lead not by our instincts but by our logic, the reality differs. The core of our nature is actually emotional and instinctual—our higher-order thinking skills only allow us to counter our more base reactions.

Studies have shown that people in groups tend to lose touch with their individual morals and principles. Biologically, part of our brain simply shuts down. We choose a side and don’t consider other perspectives, we defend that side wholeheartedly against our perceived opponents without recognition that we may actually be our own worst enemy. These insights are crucial in understanding human nature on both an individual and group level. [Read more…]

Letter: Democrats represented Oak Ridge more years than Republicans

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To the Editor:

Although many in Oak Ridge assume that only a Republican can further the interests of Oak Ridge nationally, it is interesting to note that from the formative years of Oak Ridge until 1963, the Third Congressional District was represented by a Democrat.

From 1963-1975, District 3 had Republican representation.Then for the next 20 years, from 1975 until 1995, it was represented by a Democrat, who happened to be a woman.

All in all, Oak Ridge and District 3 has had Democratic representation for 44 years and Republican representation for a total of 23 years. We’ve had Democrats represent us for almost twice as long as we have had Republicans in Washington.

There is no reason to think that a Democrat cannot serve the Third District well.

Virginia M. Jones

Oak Ridge

Letter: Chinn a hard worker with proven track record of dedication

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Mike Marsh

Mike Marsh

To the Editor:

Our city deserves a lot more attention from you and me than it usually gets. The mayor and City Council have substantial influence on our everyday lives, more than you would thank. The political decisions they make effect our neighborhoods and our private homes. Oak Ridge government has a responsibility to provide public safety and essential infrastructure along with fire, police protection along with many core services.

Now you might ask who’s best qualified to lead our city, a businessman or a politician. Norma Damashek wrote: “At its best, local government provides a stable, lawful, structured environment for the business sector. Commerce can thrive where government provides good infrastructure, education, health, transportation, and stability.

“And at its best, business provides the public sector with strong economic engines and technologic advances. Local governments can thrive when economic opportunities, options, and benefits are enhanced for city residents and workers.

“It’s called symbiosis—Wholesome cooperation between government and business. It’s not only desirable, it’s necessary since neither one does well in the absence of the other.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Technology in the classroom

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In 2012, the scientific community was shocked to see six Italian scientists arrested and placed on trial for the manslaughter of 309 people. How did they manage to kill 309 people? Easy: They failed to predict an earthquake.

As insane as it sounds, two years later these scientists are still stuck in an appeal process, and they are still facing a potential six years in prison. Now long off everyone’s radar, the questions this prosecution poses to Western civilization have faded from our memory.

At stake and at issue are the underlying ideologies of what our machines and the data they generate actually mean to us as human beings. Unfortunately, these ideologies remain in the background of our educational and technological decision-making. The lives and the minds of our students are rapidly becoming intertwined with their technologies and the haste we feel in harnessing this cultural phenomenon is driven by a competitive economic desire to “stay ahead” of the technological curve.

With the exception of perhaps a few hold-over “Luddites,” no one I know is against the use of technology in the classroom. On the flip side, however, I must say that in all my conversations about classroom technology, I have never—not even once—heard a citizen or educator discuss what the use of that technology actually means to a human being. [Read more…]

Letter: Wells would bring conservative values, ethics to school board

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To the Editor:

Aaron Wells is holding a fundraiser this Thursday night, September 25, between 6 and 8 p.m. at Razzleberry’s in Jackson Square. He is running for a non-partisan seat on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. Congressman Fleischmann and Lawrence Hahn will be attending the event, and Anne and I would love to see you there.

Aaron values the importance of inspiring, high quality teachers in education. He wants to help Oak Ridge schools maintain their superb reputation in the future, especially since his own child will be going through this school system. [Read more…]

Guest column: Oak Ridge—moving ahead!

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

In December of 2013, the City of Oak Ridge was given a Christmas present: a strong, viable prospective property owner that would help reclaim the center of our precious city. Crosland Southeast, well-respected developers from North Carolina, came to our city and said they could help us redevelop the crumbling mall within our city. This mall, newly named Main Street Oak Ridge, had come to symbolize the ultimate development challenge for our city.

Now, 10 months later, the time has come for the details of our work to begin to come out in the open. This project has taken several courses. First, the City of Oak Ridge and Anderson County said that they would support the development of this project with what is known as a tax increment district, or TIF. The governments would continue to receive their marginal values in property taxes, but the “new” value created by the private investment in Main Street Oak Ridge would be used to pay for public improvements on the project such as new traffic configurations, road improvements, and building demolition. In return, the private developer would borrow money at his own risk and develop major new retail shopping, with a potential hotel and residential development on the 65-acre site.

This effort has been successful, and major retail tenants have been lined up for filling a targeted 260,000 square feet of new facilities. Our Belk store will receive a facelift, and JCPenney will continue to perform. At present, stores are in the initial inquiry stages of building and will be moving to make announcements by the first of the year or shortly thereafter. I would love to tell you the names of the stores (which I have seen), but we need to honor the wishes of the companies as they make their expansion announcements. I believe the Oak Ridge community will be pleased! [Read more…]