Change of command

I had the honor recently of attending the ROTC Change of Command ceremony for the Wildcat Battalion here at Fort Valley State University.

I was both heartsick and gladdened by the changes hearkened by this ceremony. Lt. Col. Anthony Foster will long be remembered by most as being at the helm of the Wildcat Battalion, a soldier carrying out a mission. For me, he will be remembered most fondly as a friend whom I met quite accidentally during my first year of service on the FVSU Judicial Committee in 2006.

I have over the years had many occasions to call upon him for advice, assistance and sometimes just to say “thanks” for being there. He was never too busy to take my call, always had a few minutes to sit and chat in his office about the progress of a cadet or ways to steer back on track some minor offender that I had encountered within judicial hearings. Most of all, he was compassionate and friendly, truly one of the good guys that we as a society so desperately seek in this age of uncertainty.

Recently Lt. Col. Foster spoke to a group visiting Vet Science as part of their health camp activities. After listening to him for a few minutes, I was kicking myself for not inviting him over the years to speak with the various groups that darken our door in need of recruitment to our campus. He is dynamic, down to earth and a sterling - no make that a “golden” - representative of all that is good about our military and our educational system here in The United States of America and I am heartbroken to see him go.

However the antithesis of grief is joy, and I am gladdened to see that the responsibility of leading the Wildcat Battalion is being passed on to Lt. Col. Terry Love, who will go down in history as the 13th Commander of ROTC here at Fort Valley State University. Although I do not know Col. Love personally yet, there is something special about seeing an alumnus come back and take their place “in The Valley.” I look forward to getting to know him and working together for the good of the students under his command. He comes resplendent with accolades and accomplishments which support the hope and faith that his new “FVSU family” already has in his abilities, but most of all he is “one of us.” To Col. Love and his family I bid simply “welcome, we are glad you’re here.”

To Col. Foster, I would just like to say: “May the wind always be at your back, the sun on your face and the hand of God resting squarely on your shoulders, farewell, my friend."

--Oreta Samples is the lead veterinary tech in the Department of Veterinary Science.

The lost art of the RSVP

This happens to me a lot, as I hostess a number of events for my fraternity and other organizations I am a part of. I send out invitations - either e-vites or beautifully made hand-written cards. "RSVP" is clearly marked. Usually, I'm trying to gauge how much food to have on hand. Days go by, then a week, then two. It's the day before the event and I haven't received a single RSVP. Helloooooo?!?!?

So what has happened to the lost art of the RSVP? Have we reached a point where people feel so entitled that surely a hostess must just assume they will attend? Are we so busy in our lives that we can't make a common courtesy call? Or do the letters RSVP no longer mean anything? Can people decipher "LOL" and "ASAP" but not "RSVP?"

Your thoughts?

--Misty Cline works for the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fort Valley State University.

There's a time for planning

I read with a little bit of horror both the news story about Georgia State Superintendent Kathy Cox requesting that local school districts push back their start dates and the ensuing "suggestions" posted online from sometimes well-meaning readers. (see http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/061708/met_462423.shtml)

First, I don't know about all the other moms out there, but I have made arrangements for child care up to the day school is scheduled to start. Push back that date, and I'm left with a certain amount of time to scramble for child care. Summer camps are scheduled to end, the Boys and Girls Club camp here in Peach County had a scary time trying to find the funds to hold their camp at all. And can you imagine the non-traditional students starting college the same week as their kids? Or before? What if you've scheduled your classes around your kids' schedules (as much as possible)? I'm just saying mid-June might not be the best time to suggest changing an August start date.

Second, there was a lot of chatter in the "comments" section about going to a four-day school week. Now I know all the sound financial arguments for that - it would save a fortune in gas and electricity and school lunches. But as a working parent, again I'm horrified. You think my boss is going to let me go to a four-day workweek simply because my kid is out of school on Mondays? Or Fridays? Not a chance. So again I foresee a large number of parents scrambling for childcare. That is, unless some enterprising teachers band together to offer child care. But it can't be at the schools, can it? Because that defeats the purpose of "saving money" by not using the building that day. And frankly, if I'm a teacher and get moved to a four-day week of classes, I'm going to spend that extra day off grading papers, filling out the required paperwork (there's a mountain of it), studying for my own continuing education classes so I can stay certified, and so on. I'm not likely to take on a child care job for my students' parents. And as far as school lunches go, that one meal is, for a lot of students, the best meal they get all day. Friday lunchers sometimes have to make that meal last until Monday. Can you imagine trying to stretch it to Tuesday?

So Superintendent Cox's request left me, and apparently a lot of readers, with much to think about. If you care to continue the discussion in the "comment" section below, be nice, don't tear down anyone else's idea, and don't make personal comments like "so and so doesn't know what they are talking about" and don't bash teachers (that's my own personal pet peeve).

--Misty Cline works in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fort Valley State University

Living My Wildest Dream

Webster defines dream as "a strongly desired goal or purpose." All my life my mother and I dreamed of my being the first female in my family to earn a college degree.

My journey as a college student began more than twelve years ago. I attended a large state university at first. Two major factors changed my college career path. One was the loss of my mother during my sophomore year. Once my mother had gone, I had to work hard to take care of myself. After proving myself a valuable employee, my company transferred me out of state to the largest unit in the district - in Atlanta. My path had detoured, but for my own good. Eventually, all roads led to Fort Valley State University.

While I was working in Atlanta, I met my wonderful husband, Robert. Before you knew it, we were married and blessed with our beautiful daughter, Robin. Sooner than I could get diaper changing down pat, my company moved me once again - this time to the Middle Georgia area.

We were doing well. I had a magnificent husband, a radiant bundle of joy, and I was on a career path in the company as a vested eight-year employee. However, something was missing. After taking a short vacation to spend time with Robin, I discovered that something: I had given up on the dream. As I looked into my daughter’s eyes I thought, “How can I tell her to reach for the stars and capture all her dreams when I have given up on mine?”

I came to FVSU as both a transfer and non-traditional student. My career was traded in for the roles of domestic engineer and scholar.

FVSU is a public institution. As I heard Dr. Rivers tell the crowd at the Fall 2007 Preview Day, “Anybody as the right to matriculate at The Fort Valley State University....”

That includes a married mother of two, or anyone else who strayed away from their intended college career path. Let FVSU light the way. The road wasn’t easy, but through the support of my family and the university, my goal was obtainable.

--Stacie Barrett works in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fort Valley State University

Rewards from the teaching profession

When I realized I wanted to be a teacher I was about 5 years old. I was not thinking about salary, workload, benefits, or rewards. All I was thinking about was how much I loved teaching. I was thinking about how much fun I was having sharing what I had learned with my “students” (my cousin and my dolls). I was thinking about how much happier I was when “playing school” than when “playing office.”

Now that I have been teaching for 37 years, I realize that I became a teacher because of the intrinsic rewards that come from this profession. I am still teaching because of the opportunities for self-improvement and life-long learning. I am still teaching because I love sharing knowledge and ideas with like-minded individuals. I am still teaching because I am still learning. Someone once told me that “the only job to have is the one that makes you happy.” That job, for me, is teaching.

One of the most rewarding experiences a teacher can have is to encounter his or her former students experiencing happiness and success in their chosen careers. This has happened to me twice in the last few months, and each time I experienced a sense of accomplishment and happiness. I realized that, in some small way, I helped these two former students, and others, accomplish their goals. Therefore, I had also accomplished one of my purposes in being a teacher. They were happy and I was happy for my small part in shaping their lives.

These two encounters are not the only ones I have had in the last 37 years, but they did reinforce once again why I chose a career in teaching. This profession does have a good salary base and good benefits. It does provide great learning experiences. It does have some tangible benefits. And I am very thankful for all of these benefits. But the primary reason for choosing this career and for my remaining in it for so many years is for its intrinsic value, for the value it has added to my life.

--Eleanor K. Sikes is the Interim Chairperson for Middle Grades Education Programs at Fort Valley State University

The day the world will end

This is the day the world will end. That’s right, Thursday, June 12, 2008, sometime today, according to Texas Prophet and notoriously poor speller, Yisyrayl “Buffalo Bill” Hawkins, nuclear war which will lead to doomsday will get under way today. If you are unfamiliar with Hawkins’ message, search for him on YouTube and you will be deluged with hits for his prophetic videos. If you’re a believer in these sorts of proclamations, its time to clean out your bank account and load up on Krispy Kremes, cigars, and 40s so you can kick back and watch the fireworks.

Unfortunately, Ol’ Bill has a history of being wrong. Hawkins also predicted that September 12, 2006, would be the date the world would end. Despite obviously missing that one, his followers keep following him. Many have legally changed their name to “Hawkins.” Why? Because Hawkins believes that only those with the last name of Hawkins will be saved.

Of course, according to ABC News[1], followers are also expected to buy their doomsday survival products from Hawkins’ own company. This, in addition to the no-doubt mandatory tithing to his ministry, makes the gospel of Armageddon a profitable message.

These guys probably got their start with the first caveman who, on a cloudy morning some millions of years ago screamed, "Oh heavens, some giant bird has eaten the sun and it will never rise again and we'll all die." After much general panic, when the sun rose again, he was beaten to death and life returned to normal.

People, especially it seems, fundamentalist and evangelical Protestants, have been claiming that we are living in the "end of days" as set forth in the Book of Revelation probably since St. John of Patmos set the document out for the ink to dry.Why this happens should be obvious. Imagine how empowering it would be to realize that you are the only person who has been given inside information about how the world is going to end and how people can survive the cataclysm. Now you can not only save those you care about, but you get to play god by choosing who lives and who dies. In addition, you will receive enormous amounts of adoration and if you are condemned by anyone as being a fool, your admirers will lash out at those who condemn you and praise you as a martyr. What a life!

Just in the past few years, how many times have we seen "great prophets" of doom appear? There were hordes of them surrounding June 6th, 2006 (6/6/6), Y2K, the avian flu, remember the suitcase nuke scares after 9/11? Religion has also seen hordes of them. These special individuals who use numerology, secret messages from their television, or "bible codes" to predict the dates of "raptures" or "second comings" or Armageddon. (Even though they wouldn't know what har Megiddo was nor could they find it on a map.)

In fact, the 1980s and 90s were decades of unparalleled optimism for eschatologists. According to What Really Happened.Com, the following are a sampling of the failed apocalypses of the time:
1980 - North Carolina prophecy teacher Colin Deal set dates for the return of Christ for 1982 or 1983, 1988, 1989, and in a March 17, 1989 radio broadcast, "about eleven years away." If at first you don't succeed...

1980 - Prophecy promoter Charles Taylor predicted rapture in 1988: “with the millennial reign of Christ due to begin in 1995, the rapture must surely occur in 1988 to coordinate with many other prophecies!" Not surprisingly, Taylor also made similar predictions for 1975, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, and, of course, 1989.

1981 - May 25. About fifty members of a group called the Assembly of Yahweh gathered at Coney Island, NY, in white robes, awaiting their "Rapture" from a world about to be destroyed between 3 p.m. and sundown.

1980 - Psychic Jeanne Dixon predicted a world holocaust for the 1980s.

1988 - Edgar C. Whisenant, in his book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988, gave a three day period in September for the saints to be "caught up with the Lord." When this failed, he issued another book claiming that he was a year off, and urging everyone to be ready in 1989.
1991 - Reginald Dunlop, end-times author, stated that "The Antichrist would be revealed" around the year 1989 or 1990, perhaps sooner." The Rapture he predicted for 1991."

1990 - Elizabeth Clare Prophet predicted the end of the world by nuclear war in 1990. Her church has since seen a decline in membership.

1992 - "Rapture, October 28, 1992, Jesus is coming in the Air." Full page ad in the October 20, 1991, issue of USA Today, placed by followers of the Hyoo-go (Rapture) movement, a loose collection of Korean "end-times" sects. When the prophesied events failed to pass, much turmoil broke out among the sects.

1993 - David Koresh, self-proclaimed little lamb of Isaiah 16, and the Second Coming of Christ, died in a fiery conflagration with some 80 of his followers.

1994 - Arab Christian prophet Om Saleem claimed that the antichrist was born November 23, 1933, that his unveiling would come in 1993 and the rapture in 1994.

1994 - Harold Camping, a radio evangelist, wrote a book entitled "1994?" In it, Camping says, "if this study is accurate, and I believe with all my heart that it is, there will be no extensions of time. There will be no time for second guessing. When September 6, 1994, arrives, no one else can be saved, the end has come."

1997 - Mary Stewart Relfe wrote in 1983 that she had received detailed "divine revelations" from God. She released a chart showing World War III beginning in 1989, the Great Tribulation starting in 1990, and that Jesus Christ would come back in 1997, just after Armageddon."

1997 - On March 25, followers of Marshall Applewhite’s Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass murder-suicide in Southern California

1998 - Larry Wilson, a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor, predicted four massive global earthquakes beginning around 1994 and ending in 1998 with the Second Coming.[2]

Of course, 1998 was when Edgar Cayce said the world was going to end, wasn’t it? Hal Lindsay and Nostradamus had us checking out in 2000. The list could go on for as long as you were willing to read[3], but it eventually just gets depressing.

I'm not saying that, someday, one of them is not bound to be right. What I am saying is don't waste your life fretting about each new "prophet of doom." Live joyfully and love boldly each day as if it were your last; because one day will be.

However, if you enjoy the prognosticators of doom, it appears the next big date to circle on your calendar is when the Mayan calendar runs its course in December of 2012. Apparently Staples is all out of refills.

[1] http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5008225&page=1
[2] http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/rapture.html
[3] A more complete list can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9941/infinity1.html

--Dr. B. Keith Murphy is the Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Fort Valley State University.

Continuing education

Your friendly blog administrator is a little behind this week. You see, I opted to spend some time learning instead of doing. And it was a good decision.

Every summer, FVSU and other institutions of higher learning come out with a schedule of classes for adults. Some of them are geared toward seniors, others toward teachers who need continuing education credits to stay certified. Still others are aimed to help adults in the work force improve the skills they use on the job - or gain skills that would make their jobs easier. You can find the current FVSU offerings here: http://www.fvsu.edu/academics/extended-education/continuing-education-course-schedule My understanding is that the satined glass course is really quite something.

So I spent two days this week in computer training, catching up on the software and hardware that has come out since I was in college (okay, so a fraction of it. The Internet wasn't even a thing when I was in college). I'm pleased to say I'll be back at my desk Friday, ready to put my new skills to use, feeling more effective and productive.

I'm sure the feeling will pass.

--Misty Cline works for the Office of Marketing and Communications