Capital Outlook

By Ashley Hogans Outlook Staff Writer

In an effort to make sure all families have internet access,

Comcast launched a program that will provide affordable internet and computers for low-income families.

The Internet Essentials pro-

gram was launched at Griffin Middle School on Oct. 27. The program is designed to help fami-lies with children who receive free school lunches under the

National School Lunch Program. The Comprehensive Broadband Adoption Program will help close the digital gap and make sure more Americans experience all

By Ashley Hogans Outlook Staff Writer

Charlene Radler, came to Florida A&M University (FAMU) to join its Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program. This is an exciting year for the 21-year-old mother who has been commissioned to serve as a surface warfare officer once

she graduates in the spring of 2012.

“I have learned a lot from this program and I have grown up tremendously,” Radler, from San-ta Fe, Texas, said. “I’ve learned leadership skills, how to work as a team, discipline, how to use my time to the best of my abilities; because we juggle a lot in this program, we have to learn how to

prioritize, and not let our grades and PT (physical training) drop, so it has really taught me time management.”

Radler will command a di-vision and direct personnel op-erations aboard Navy vessels, such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, amphibious warfare ships and mine warfare ships.

This year, the Navy ROTC

program has 135 students – 60 percent from FAMU and 40 per-cent from Florida State Universi-ty (FSU), an affiliate of FAMU’s NROTC program. According to Col. Harold Bass, director and professor of Naval Science at FAMU, this is the largest the class has ever been and it continues to

Vol. 37, No. 44: Section 01Vol. 37, No. 44: Section 01 TTallahassee, Floridaallahassee, FloridaTallahassee, FloridaTTallahassee, FloridaT NovNov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

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Rejoice.”

Philippians 4:4 (KJV)

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See VETERANS, Page 2

See COMCAST, Page 2

1363 E. Tennessee St, Tallahassee, Fla. 32310

New prisioner re-entry center coming to Tallahassee Community College

Several years ago, Jim Murdaugh, then director of Murdaugh, then director of Tallahassee Community College’s Florida Public Safety Institute, had the idea of partnering with the Florida Department of the Florida Department of Corrections to locate a prisoner re-entry center on the same campus as the institute. The center will take prisoners from other institutions that are within three years of their release dates. Once at the center, they will receive help with substance abuse, vocational training and job-readiness preparation.job-readiness preparation.

Lawyer Francisco Ramos Jr. is working for tips

When Francisco Ramos Jr. became a lawyer 14 years ago, some of the more experienced attorneys at his firm often spent time advising him and other young lawyers. Now, they have Ramos as a virtual mentor. The Miami attorney created a blog this year called “Tips for Young Lawyers,” tipsforyounglawyers.wordpress.com.

FAMU ROTC students equipped to serve America

Person of the Week

See POW, Page 2

Court battle begins over ballot measure

FSU initiates to create most veteran-friendly campus in nation. . . Page 5

Living history

Albert McLeod Bethune Jr.

See COURT, Page 2

By Terrika MitchellOutlook Staff Writer

It was the 1920s and Albert was fortunate to grow up in a home with running water, elec-tricity and ceiling fans – luxu-ries very few African Americans in Daytona got to enjoy at that time. It would be several years, though, before Albert realized just how fortunate he really was.

“I must have been about 30 years old before I took into

(left to right)Leon County Superintendent Jackie Pons, State Sen. Bill Montford, Commissioner Andre Gillum, Comcast Vice President and General Manger KC McWilliams, Sen. Bill Nelson, Comcast Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Melissa Maxfield and Rep. Alan Williams.

By Lilly Rockwell The News Service of Florida Special to the Outlook

A proposed change to the state constitution making it easier for taxpayer funds to go to reli-gious institutions does not ade-quately explain that fact to voters who will be asked to decide, an attorney for critics told a circuit judge Oct. 27.

Representing a coalition of public education and religious in-terests, attorney Ron Meyer told Second Circuit Judge Terry Lew-is that a proposed constitutional amendment passed by lawmakers earlier this year is misleading be-cause it disguises the true intent behind the amendment, which is scheduled for a vote in November 2012.

The Oct. 27 court hearing was the first in a lawsuit filed in July that is spearheaded by the Florida Education Association, other public school advocates and religious leaders throughout the state.

Opponents of the proposed amendment – called Amendment

7 – are primarily concerned that taxpayer dollars will be used to support scholarships, known as vouchers, for private school stu-dents.

The proposed amendment deletes a provision in the state constitution that says public funds cannot be used to aid reli-gious institutions, a prohibition known as the “no-aid provision.” The proposal then adds a sen-

tence saying the state can’t deny funds to a person or entity based on religious identity or belief.

If approved, Meyer said the proposed amendment would re-quire the state to direct public taxpayer dollars toward religious institutions, opening the door for expansions of programs such as private school vouchers and weakening the state’s historic separation of church and state.

Attorney Ron Meyer

FAMU Army ROTC officers

Comcast launches Internet program for low-income families

Col. Harold BassCharlene Radler

Second Circuit Judge Terry Lewis

consideration who my grandmother really was – her contributions and attainments,” said Al-bert McLeod Bethune Jr., grandson of educator Mary McLeod Bethune. “I really didn’t appreciate what she was doing during my early days. As I grew older and had to do a lot of research for individuals and myself, and represent the (former Bethune-Cookman Col-lege) a lot, I said, ‘Good-ness. This mother dear of mine was something else.’ ”

Bethune, 89, “oldest living direct-descendant” of Mary McLeod Bethune who is most noted for founding an all girls school, known today as Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU), with $1.50. Albert Bethune Jr. was born in Miami then moved with his father, Albert Sr., to live in Daytona at six-weeks old.

Bethune Jr. said he grew up on the school’s campus, being reared most-ly by his grandmother, and moving only once for an opportunity at higher edu-cation.

“In 1939, when I fin-ished high school (at Bet-hune-Cookman) my grand-mother felt that I was not getting the proper training from the instructors be-cause of my relationship with the founder,” Albert said. “She decided, ‘Let me get you to another univer-sity where the instructors can pull out your possibili-ties.’ ”

Possibilities were what his grandmother lived for. He often refers to her as a social entrepreneur. While

he believes he didn’t in-herit the trait, Albert said he often influenced his grandmother’s professional decisions. He remembers a particular occasion when he was 17 and petitioned for students to be able to dance face to face.

“I approached her with (the plea),” he said. “When a dance came up, she and I took the first dance and we were face to face. That gave the kids the OK. She was a person who moved very easily with change.”

The Morehouse Col-lege graduate and World War II veteran has ac-knowledged recent changes as well, especially in histo-ry education. Bethune said he works hard to keep his “Mother Dear’s” legacy as a civil rights activist alive. Not only does he continue to tell his grandmother’s story, he tells it thoroughly.

Bethune said that he has worked in nearly ev-ery department on B-CU’s campus. His greatest con-tribution though – and pos-sibly the greatest contribu-tion to him – was as the university’s chief librar-ian and archivist, which he worked as for a combined 43 years.

Bethune was exposed to different financial agree-ments and president’s files.

“Being archivist of Bethune-Cookman, I was in control of all the docu-ments,” he noted. “I had to read, assimilate and file everything. I knew the in-sides and outsides of what was going on. Any ques-tions I may have had were answered.”

Today, aside from maintaining his family’s history, the father of eight said that he is enjoying re-tirement in Gadsden Coun-ty, as an old man but not a senior citizen, with his wife of more than 40 years, Marian R. Bethune. While he chooses not to join any boards, organizations or committees, Bethune fights modestly for disadvantaged citizens in the county.

“In my growing up, I spent my time with what you call the common man,” he said. “I feel comfortable when I’m around the peo-ple of the street who did not have the privileges and op-portunities that I had. I used to get a lot of slack from people in Daytona Beach and faculty and staff.”

Bethune has also re-mained connected to B-CU as a reference for university archives. However, he isn’t entirely satisfied with the current state of the institu-tion.

“I’m very much dis-couraged by what is hap-pening at Bethune-Cook-man University,” he said. “I want the world to know that all of the prayers and help that they can give every day of their lives will be great because I know that my grandmother is in her grave – on that campus – rolling and rolling.”

This is the first article of a three-part Bethune-related series.

Terrika Mitchell may be contacted at [email protected].

2 www.capitaloutlook.com Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011Capital Outlook

Veterans from Page 1

the Internet has to offer.“It’s very exciting

for our school system,” said Jackie Pons, super-intendent of Leon County Schools. “We want all of our children to have access to the internet and, com-ing in at this low price and the ability to purchase a computer for $150 will be a gate opener for all of the students at Leon County.”

State representatives and community leaders joined Comcast as they announced the Internet Es-sentials program. The inter-net service is $9.95 a month and includes a brand new computer for $149.99.

Comcast will also offer free digital literacy training in print, online or in person and a complementary Nor-ton Security Suite.

“You have a lot of stu-dents whose parents don’t have the ability to provide them with high-speed inter-net that they need to com-plete work, go online and

read books that they have been assigned,” said Rep. Alan Williams, D-Talla-hassee. “So, these kinds of tools are affordable tools that Comcast has provided and will give parents, espe-cially the children, the abil-ity to access those tools that they need to be successful in school from day-to-day, but hopefully, in life.”

During the event, lead-ers discussed three key bar-riers low-income families face. According to Comcast representatives, there is a lack of internet relevancy and how it is useful, the cost of a computer and the cost of the internet service.

“Many low income families cannot afford com-puters and when you look at computers now, its $500 to $1,000, which absolutely takes out an entire group of people,” said Comcast Vice President and Gen-eral Manager KC McWil-liams. “The idea is not to make any money now,

but to build our communi-ties so they can compete to get jobs and compete in the global economy, it’s a long-term investment but we have to start right this moment.”

Sen. Bill Nelson who contributed to this pro-gram, said he is excited for the children and families who will be able to take advantage of Internet Es-sentials.

“Technology is an es-sential part of everyday life across America,” Nelson said. “It’s important that kids in Florida have ac-cess to the Internet as they go through school and that they know how to safely use it as a tool for learn-ing.”

Ashley Hogans can be contacted at [email protected].

Comcast from Page 1POW from Page 1

grow. “Just five years ago

there was half that num-ber,” said Bass. “The Navy and the Marine Corps have been pushing hard to in-crease the diversity of our marine corps. There’s a lot of pressure in recruiting the best. FAMU and other (Historically Black Col-leges and Universities) are appreciated for the talent they can bring to the officer core.”

The NROTC program was established to devel-op mentally, morally and physically-prepared indi-viduals to fulfill the duties set before them and to com-mission college graduates as naval officers.

Florida A&M Univer-sity Army, Marine Corps and Navy ROTC graduates go on to serve in places such as Iraq and Afghani-stan. Col. Bass, having

served overseas in 2008 in support of the Operation Iraqi Freedom, can relate. Bass said when he enlisted in the Marine Corps toward the end of the Cold War, there were not as many ca-sualties as today’s wars.

“Today, we have been a nation at war for 10 years and my freshmen were 8 years old when 9/11 (Sep-tember 11) happened,” Bass said. “It is a distant memory to them. Some students may remember but it probably didn’t mean anything to them; And here they are – after 10 years of war; after 5,000 Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq – and they are raising their hands to serve their country. It’s amazing.”

The FAMU Army ROTC program trains of-ficers for the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and Army

National Guard. Many ROTC graduates have served the country in mis-sions from the Korean War Conflict to current opera-tions in Iraq and Afghani-stan. Students at FSU and Tallahassee Community College are also able to take classes in the Army ROTC and Naval ROTC programs at FAMU if they meet the required criteria.

“I see the best that our country has to offer ev-eryday in my students and I love every one of them for it,” Bass said. “I would say to the mothers and fa-thers of America who are entrusting their sons and daughters to the military, ‘There are a lot of great leaders out there waiting to lead your children and your family.’ ”

Ashley Hogans can be contacted at [email protected].

None of this, Meyer argued, is disclosed to vot-ers in the ballot summary.

“What they are doing is turning what has been the settled rule of religious freedom for the past 125 years on its head,” Meyer said. Later, he called it a “huge recalculation…of what the First Amendment provides.”

Florida law requires that a ballot title and sum-mary adequately and accu-rately inform voters about the proposal’s real effect.

Along with an inaccu-rate summary, Meyer said the ballot title – “Religious Freedom” – was mislead-ing to voters.

Attorneys for the state said the ballot summary and title are clear.

Daniel Nordby, the at-torney for the Secretary of State, argued the intent of the constitutional change was “clearly and accurate-ly explained in the ballot statement.”

Nordby said the sum-mary discloses that the “no-aid” provision is being deleted and an “anti-dis-crimination” clause is be-ing inserted. The intent of prohibiting the state from denying funds to a person or entity based on religious reasons was to remove a “constitutional cloud of un-certainty,” he said.

“It would allow reli-gious-based institutions to participate in providing secular social services on even terms,” Nordby said.

There was also dis-agreement over whether the ballot summary ex-plained that the proposal may violate the U.S. Con-stitution’s “free exercise” and “establishment” claus-es that deal with the sepa-ration of church and state and protections of religious freedoms.

By requiring the state or other public entities to spend money on religious institutions, Meyer argued the proposal makes the state constitution inconsis-tent with the U.S. constitu-tion.

But attorneys rep-resenting the state said language in the proposed amendment expressly pro-hibits the state from doing anything that would violate the U.S. Constitution.

The “no aid” provision in the state constitution prohibiting money from going to churches or reli-gious groups is known as the “Blaine Amendment,” for James G. Blaine, a 19th Century congressman from Maine who lobbied unsuc-cessfully to get that restric-tion inserted into the U.S. Constitution.

After it failed, most of the states, including Flor-ida, put similar provisions in their own state constitu-tions.

The Oct. 27 hearing also focused on a new law that allows the Attorney General to rewrite ballot summaries that are rejected by the courts for being mis-

leading. Meyer argued that the Legislature has the re-sponsibility of writing bal-lot summaries, not a mem-ber of the executive branch of government.

“It crosses the line and delegates a purely legisla-tive function to an execu-tive branch member and that can’t be tolerated,” Meyer said.

Scott Makar, the Flor-ida solicitor general, said it doesn’t make sense that Meyer agrees the attorney general could write the ballot summary in the first place, and then rewrite it, but doesn’t permit the at-torney general to step in after the Legislature. He called that argument “non-sensical.”

Lewis gave no indica-tion when he would rule in the case after the hour-and-a-half hearing finished. Both sides are expected to appeal the case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

This is the third law-suit the Florida Education Association has spear-headed since the legislative session ended in early May. They are also involved in a lawsuit over changes to public employee pensions and have sued over a new teacher merit pay law that ties teacher salaries to test scores.

Court from Page 1

By Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida

Special to the Outlook With Medicaid facing

more budget cuts, on Oct. 19 the state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) floated the pos-sibility of limiting patient visits to emergency rooms and doctors’ offices.

Acting Medicaid Di-rector Justin Senior told a House health-care panel that the state also could re-duce home health visits for Medicaid beneficiaries and slash the amount of inpa-tient hospital care the pro-gram covers.

“None of the cuts we’re proposing here are particularly palatable,’’ Se-nior said.

But at least some members of the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee appeared receptive to AHCA’s sug-gestion that the state should only pay for a maximum of 12 emergency room visits a year for each Medicaid

beneficiary. Such a move could save $12.2 million.

Chairman Matt Hud-son, R-Naples, said such a move could drive people to get treatment from prima-ry-care doctors instead of emergency rooms, which could improve their health care.

Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, appeared miffed that some Medicaid beneficiaries might go to the emergency room more than once a month, calling it “unacceptable.’’

“If we’re allowing that type of behavior, shame on us,’’ Wood said.

But Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said severely ill people might need to go to emergency rooms more than 12 times a year. She also expressed concerns about who would get stuck paying for the care if a low-income Medicaid patient went to the ER more than 12 times – and couldn’t af-ford to cover the bill.

“I’m truly concerned about limiting the emer-

gency room visits for those who are chronically ill or those who are terminally ill,’’ Cruz said.

The AHCA proposals came on the same day state analysts posted a report in-dicating lawmakers would have to set aside nearly $933 million in additional general revenue next year to continue covering cur-rent Medicaid budget needs.

With the struggling economy limiting tax col-lections, House and Sen-ate leaders have already warned of cuts in the Med-icaid budget.

AHCA offered bud-get-cutting proposals ear-lier this month that Hud-son flatly rejected. Those proposals included cuts in the high-dollar Medically Needy and Meds-AD pro-grams, which serve sick and old people who don’t qualify for typical Medic-aid coverage.

That rejection spurred Senior to come back Oct. 19 with a new list. Some

of the ideas on the list have been proposed in past years, such as eliminating services such as adult den-tal, hearing and vision care.

But Senior offered oth-er ideas that have received little attention in the past, including placing a limit on ER visits and only paying for adults to visit general-practice physicians twice a month.

Currently, Medicaid does not have limits on ER visits and has few limits on doctor visits. Also, Senior’s proposal would reduce the number of Medicaid-fund-ed home-health visits from four a day to three.

The biggest savings, about $156 million in state, local and federal money, would come from reducing the inpatient hospital care that Medicaid would fund for each adult beneficiary, from 45 days a year to 23 days.

It is far too early to know whether lawmakers will move forward with any of the ideas when the 2012

legislative session starts in January. Along with hav-ing to measure the impact on patients, lawmakers also could face opposition from groups such as hospitals, which might get stuck with more of the cost of caring for low-income patients.

But Hudson said law-makers will have to look at a wide range of options to balance the health and human-services budget. Also during the meeting, the Department of Chil-dren and Families (DCF) offered a series of budget-cutting proposals that in-cluded slicing funding for substance-abuse and men-tal-health treatment.

Some Senate leaders have targeted adult mental-health and substance-abuse programs in the past, de-scribing them as “soft” services, but the House has resisted such cuts.

Bob Sharpe, president and chief executive of the Florida Council for Com-munity Mental Health, said DCF did not want to pro-pose the cuts. But he said reducing the services could have spin-off effects, such as leading to child abuse by adults who have untreated mental-health or substance-abuse problems.

“It’s counterintuitive to cut the very services that are going to protect children,’’ said Sharpe, a former state Medicaid di-rector.

But as Senior made clear, the agencies are grap-pling with trying to offer proposed cuts to the Legis-lature.

When a lawmaker asked Senior why AHCA had not proposed limiting physician visits in the past, he replied that “necessity is the mother of invention.’’

AHCA: Fewer Medicaid emergency room visits?

In a time of an uncertain economy, this book provides solutions for improving America’s schools through feder-al funding, programs, services, community partnerships, accreditation and leadership standards. The book can be very helpful to school stakeholders such as parents, teachers, principals and district administrators since the topics focus on the K-12 environments. With a plethora of references to support numerous suggestions, discrep-ancies and issues, this book can be useful to graduate students, professors, researchers, university adminis-trators and education state agencies. While America’s schools are faced with numerous challenges in today’s

By Terrika MitchellOutlook Staff Writer

Health & Rehab Clinic is a triple threat for com-peting offices. It’s female owned, locally owned and its owners are community oriented.

Physicians Martine Charles and Marlaine Ray-mond of Health & Rehab Clinic offers standard chi-ropractic care, such as back pain, neck pain and muscle weakness. Additionally, the Life University graduates said they provide medical massage and therapeutic exercise treatments.

According to the com-pany website, healthrehab-dc.com, “chiropractic is an approach to health which utilizes the body’s inher-ent and natural recupera-tive powers.” At Health

& Rehab Clinic, healing comes naturally and with-out prescription drug use or surgery. Spinal treatment is at the center of the healing treatment.

“The beauty of your body is your spine,” said Raymond. “Your spine is your framework.”

Charles recommends routine care, as you would do for a car or your teeth, to prevent spine-related aches in the future.

“The same way you have to go to the dentist is the same way you have to go to the chiropractor for spinal health,” she said.

Health & Rehab has been a part of the Tallahas-see community since 2009.

The owners pride themselves in “providing outstanding professional service to (their) patients

with the upmost level of care in a comfortable and friendly environment.”

Car accident victims and walk-in patients are welcome alike. The beauty of this business may be its relationship to the commu-nity. Charles said the com-pany sponsors different organizations “to provide what the community needs versus what we think they need.”

In the past, they have done community outreach with organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Big Bend Home-less Coalition and St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church.

As a member of the lo-cal community, Charles be-lieves it is important to add a personalized touch to her business. Not only does she deliver service in a courte-ous and professional envi-ronment, but it is also “tai-lored to treat each patient’s individual needs.”

Charles noted that she cares for several returning clients as well as those they refer. Still, more business is always welcome.

“Prices vary based on the patient’s needs,” Charles said. “Discounted fees, with proper identifica-tion, for students, elderly and public servants are also offered.”

Health & Rehab Clinic is located at 108 W. 5th Ave and can be contacted at (850) 224-0033.

Terrika Mitchell can be contacted at [email protected].

3www.capitaloutlook.comLocal Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

By Alicia McKnightOutlook Contributor

“You can achieve any-thing, if you work hard and trust in God,” said Brandi LeAnn Johnson. The 17- year-old Leon High School senior is no stranger to hard work and excelling in school.

Johnson is dual en-rolled at Tallahassee Com-munity College and tak-ing honors and Advanced Placement classes at Leon.

“My favorite subject is English,” said Johnson.

With a 4.0 GPA, John-son is ranked among the top 20 students in her class. She has earned straight A’s since her freshman year of high school.

Johnson is also the president of the local Na-tional Achiever’s Society.

“This is a program under the Urban League’s Center of Excellence,” she said. “Only students in grades 3-12 with all A’s and B’s are invited to join the

honor society.”With more than 2,000

volunteer hours complet-ed so far during her high school career, Johnson has developed a skillful work ethic.

In 2008- 2009 Johnson was awarded Volunteer of the Year at Sabal Palm El-ementary School.

“I have volunteered at Sabal Palm Elementary School in their after-school program tutoring students in math, science and writ-ing skills,” said Johnson.

As a busy teen, she still finds time to fit a job in her schedule.

“I am a private home child care worker,” John-son added. “I have a baby-sitting certificate from Tal-lahassee Memorial Hospi-tal.”

During her spare time Johnson enjoys volleyball, cheerleading, playing video games, shopping, socializ-ing with friends and enter-taining children.

Johnson’s family val-

ues education and feels it is the key to the future.

“My parents are my role models,” she said. “They both have outstand-ing work ethics and comes from a large family of high achievers.”

With high school graduation approaching, Johnson plans on attend-ing college and enrolling in a medical program to be-come a gynecologist.

“I would love to attend the University of Florida or the University of Central Florida,” said Johnson.

Youth of the Week: Working hard helps you achieve anything

Business of the Month: Considerate community care

Photo by TERRIKA MITCHELLMartine Charles

Brandi Johnson

Once you know, there’s only one place to go.Perhaps you’ve been running all over town to save a little bit here and a little bit there. When all the time, you could save just as much at Publix, and enjoy the shopping experience, too. So relax—we’ve got you covered. Go to publix.com/save right now to make plans to save this week.

to save here.

Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.: EDUCATIONQUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

To order a copy of EDUCATION QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED, visit: http://www.au-thorhouse.com or call 1-888-280-7715, Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble (bn.com).

society such as the lack of family stability and parental involvement, this book also provides a roadmap for successful and struggling schools in the U.S.

By Bill Fletcher Jr. NNPA Columnist

R e p o r t s that the Obama administration is planning on

sending U.S. troops to Uganda to hunt down the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) sent chills up my spine.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, a group of maniacal terrorists running around Uganda for years, has been a major thorn in the side of the people of Uganda. Their atrocities are countless and it is in every one’s interests that they are destroyed. With that said, I ask myself, why is the U.S.A. send-ing troops there?

If the Obama administration wants to help Uganda defeat the

LRA, they should limit them-selves to advising and training Ugandans to fight their own war. Better yet, they should support the African Union in carrying out a coordinated, multi-country as-sault on the LRA (since the LRA crosses borders, including back and forth to what is now the South Sudan). They could also supply Uganda other forms of assistance to help the areas that are blighted by the LRA. But sending U.S. troops to Uganda starts to feel like an old film we have all seen, i.e., Vietnam.

Once U.S. troops are on the ground in Uganda, it almost au-tomatically changes the dynam-ics of a struggle. The LRA, as terrorist as they are, can claim, much as the Al Shabab terrorists in Somalia, that they are fighting not just the Ugandan government

(in this case) but the U.S. gov-ernment and its intervention. As we witnessed in Somalia, when Ethiopia invaded with the active support of the U.S.A. in 2006 in order to crush the Union of Islam-ic Courts (a conservative Islamist force that had stabilized the situ-ation in part of Somalia), this in-flamed the situation even more. Instead of crushing Islamists, the Ethiopian/U.S. invasion pro-voked the growth of dangerous terrorists and warlords, a fact that author Jeremy Scahill has recent-ly documented in The Nation.

A similar danger could await the U.S.A. through the deploy-ment of troops to Uganda. While it is only alleged to be 100 troops, as we know from previous U.S. interventions, there is no reason to believe that the intervention will stop there, particularly if there

are U.S. casualties. Therefore, as the intervention grows, the battle cry against the U.S.A. will grow and with it the very real possibil-ity of a prolonged engagement in Uganda.

The Obama administration needs to rescind its proposed de-ployment. It should support the African Union and other forces who wish to crush the LRA. But U.S. troops on the ground needs to be out of the question. Given the disasters in Afghanistan, Paki-stan and Iraq, enough is enough.

Bill Fletcher Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Pol-icy Studies, the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum, and the co-author of Solidarity Divided. He can be reached at [email protected].

Sending troops to Uganda?

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4 www.capitaloutlook.com Opinion Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

Black land loss increasing By Dr. Benja-min F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Columnist

An old Af-rican proverb says, “A people

without their land will be a people without a future.”

Way before the current hous-ing mortgage crisis that dispro-portionately has negatively im-pacted black Americans, there had been a 20-year steady pace of land loss in the majority of black communities across the United States. Now today with the addi-tional persistence of high unem-ployment for African Americans, there is a corresponding destabi-lizing increase in the daily rate of black land loss throughout the nation.

No one seems to know the exact statistics on this issue, but in nearly all reliable reports, in particular from states where Afri-can Americans are more than 30 percent of the population, more than 10,000 acres of land per day is now being lost. The reason why I am raising this phenome-non is because too often when we face a challenge for a long period of time, the sheer magnitude of the problem becomes understated and misunderstood.

During the last 20 years, dia-logue about this continued crisis has moved from awareness to re-action to cynicism and now even

an emerging sense of hopeless-ness.

I do not believe black people in the United States, in the Carib-bean, South America or in Africa can afford to be casual or hope-less on the global issue of land loss by black people.

No one seems to remember years ago that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped to initially destabilize Zimbabwe because they disagreed with President Robert Mugabe giving native Af-ricans millions of acres of their land back that had been stolen by Rhodesian farmers and business-men. All human life is valuable. We live in a world that too often seeks to triage the value of black life. But, we should never engage in self-destruction or self-devalu-ation! Black-owned land is of no less value.

Thus, we hope that after you read these words, you will survey the land that your family now owns and make sure that the taxes are paid because thousands of acres of are lost daily because abandonment or tax delinquency. It is unfortunate that some of us do not even know the value of the land we live on or have inherited from our fore parents. It is so sad to go to most county courthouses to see the long list of properties that are sold for less than one-tenth of the real value because family members, for various rea-sons, decided to let the family

property become the ward of the state or county.

But beyond the sheer mon-etary value of black-owned land across America are the tremen-dous potential health-related and self-determination benefits for the use of this land. So many of the diseases and serious health problems that African Americans face today are a direct result of not eating healthy food properly. When the majority of black peo-ple in the past lived on our own farms or in communities where there was a multitude of organic gardens, the overall health condi-tion of our people was much bet-ter. The fundamental striving for self-determination and freedom is to be able to feed yourself, shelter yourself, and empower yourself economically from the bounty and produce of your own land and labor. Freedom is inconsistent with being dependent on others to do for you what God wants you to do for yourself.

Today, there is a gradual re-verse migration of black Ameri-cans from the northeast and mid-west back to the southeast. Will this trend lead to a reverse in black land loss?

Whether you live in a big city or a small town, the ques-tions about land ownership and the economic development of the black community are most urgent and important. The black church and other institutions that serve our communities should put

a special emphasis on this issue. The establishment of local “land banks” and other cooperative ef-forts to pool the resource poten-tial of our communities should be given a priority.

The latest U.S consumer spending reports black American spending continues to increase annually. According to recent re-search by the Nielsen Company, Black American buying power by the year 2015 will reach in excess of $1.1 trillion. Wow, we are be-coming trillion dollar spenders, yet losing more and more land. We will not be able to create more wealth for generations to come, if we do not change our spend-ing habits. What are we spending more on? Appreciating assets or depreciating assets? If properly done, land purchases can be a wise appreciating investment.

We owe it to our ancestors not to lose all that they worked and suffered so much for in the past.

Let’s turn our land losses into gains by reversing this awful trend. Stop black land loss now! Let’s build for a better future.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is

senior advisor for the Black Al-liance for Educational Options (BAEO) and president of Educa-tion Online Services Corporation and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

Media treats Obama much worse than GOP challengersBy George E. Curry NNPA Columnist

News me-dia coverage of President Obama is much more

negative than stories about each of his Republican challengers, netting him almost four negative stories for every positive one.

That’s the conclusion of an extensive study by the Pew Re-search Center’s Project for Excel-lence in Journalism. According to the report, titled “The Media Primary,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry received the most coverage and was subject to the most favorable coverage until several weeks ago, when he was overtaken in that category by Herman Cain.

“One man running for presi-dent has suffered the most unre-lenting negative treatment of all, the study found: Barack Obama. Though covered largely as presi-dent rather than a candidate, neg-ative assessments of Obama have outweighed positive by a ratio of almost 4-1,” the report stated. “Those assessments of the presi-dent have also been substantially more negative than positive ev-ery one of the 23 weeks studied. And in no week during those five months was more than 10% of the coverage about the president positive in tone.”

The analysis of coverage in 11,500 news media outlets was conducted from May 2 - Oct. 9. While 57 percent of Obama’s coverage was considered neutral, 9 percent was positive and 34 percent was negative. At the other end of the spectrum, 32 percent of Rick Perry’s coverage was rated

positive and 20 percent consid-ered negative.

Every Republican candidate still in the race, except Newt Gin-grich, had favorable coverage at least double that of Obama. In the cases of Michele Bachman and Herman Cain, it was triple the positive coverage of Obama and nearly triple for Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.

Only Gingrich had a higher percentage of negative cover-age than Obama with 35 percent, just one percentage point higher than the president. However, Gin-grich’s favorable coverage stood at 15 percent, six points higher than Obama’s.

Interestingly, although Perry did not enter the race until August – three months after the study began – he received more cov-erage than any other candidate. Moreover, even after poor perfor-mances in the Republican presi-dential debates, he received the most flattering coverage over the period studied – 32 percent posi-tive, 20 percent negative and the remainder neutral.

Coverage of Cain was 28 per-cent positive – two points higher than Romney – and 23 percent negative, which was four points lower than Romney’s negative coverage. Cain’s recent coverage has more positive than his over-all numbers reflect because prior to his winning the Florida straw poll, he was largely ignored and received more negative coverage than in recent weeks.

The sour economy and Re-publican attacks are responsible for much of Obama’s negative coverage, according to the study.

“In many stories, Obama was the target of not only the whole

roster of GOP presidential con-tenders. He was also being criti-cized in often harsh terms by Re-publicans in Congress,” the study found. “Added to that, members of his own party began criticizing him on both policy and strategy grounds, particularly as his poll numbers fell. And for much of this period, the president’s cover-age reflected the biggest problem on his watch – a continual flow of bad news about the U.S. econo-my.”

Even the killing of Osama bin Laden did not reverse the president’s poll numbers.

“One reason is that many of the references to his [Obama’s] role in the hunt for bin Laden were matched by skepticism that he would receive any long-term political benefit from it. Another was than bin Laden news was tempered with news about the na-tion’s economy.”

And that is the problem. While journalists are compelled to cover stories about political warfare and the economy, they should not attack Obama or any-one else in news stories under the guise of providing context for readers and viewers.

An Associated Press story on May 2 is a textbook example of this problem:

“A nation surly over rising gas prices, stubbornly high un-employment and nasty partisan politics poured into the streets to wildly cheer President Barack Obama’s announcement that Osa-ma bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, had been killed by U.S. forces after a decade long manhunt. The outcome could not have come at a better time for Obama, sagging in the poll as he

embarks on his re-election cam-paign.”

The news of bin Laden’s death was almost buried.

The story could have also been presented this way:

“Despite former President George W. Bush’s promise to capture Osama bin Laden ‘dead or alive,’ it was his successor who delivered on that promise in grand fashion, prompting thou-sands of U.S. citizens to take to the streets in noisy celebration.”

Another option: “President Obama, who had his foreign policy credentials questioned re-peatedly during the 2008 presi-dential campaign, delivered on a campaign pledge to kill Osama bin Laden if ever presented the opportunity, a surprise action that led to impromptu celebrations across the United States.”

Either approach would have provided more relevant context than AP wrapping its story in the highly-charged language of his Republican challengers.

President Obama knew he would be double-teamed by GOP congressional leaders and Repub-lican candidates hoping to unseat him. But he probably didn’t ex-pect the stealth attacks from ma-jor media outlets.

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge maga-zine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, modera-tor, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at twitter.com/currygeorge.

Special to the Outlook

Florida State Univer-sity (FSU) President Eric J. Barron and the Florida State chapter of the Colle-giate Veterans Association (CVA) today announced Oct. 31 several new ini-tiatives that will help the university in its efforts to become the most veteran-friendly public university in the nation.

The initiatives are de-signed to provide support and services to assist vet-erans in their transition to college and successful pur-suit of a degree. To launch the initiatives, a special Veteran’s Day screening of “Hell and Back Again,” directed by Danfung Den-nis, will make its southeast premiere at Florida State’s Ruby Diamond Concert Hall on Nov. 11. The film is a 2011 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner.

“With nearly 25 per-cent of recently-separated-from-the-military veterans enrolling in college within two years, the need for sup-port and assistance in the transition from military service to college student is obvious,” Barron said. “Although FSU is already recognized as a ‘Military Friendly School,’ we want to do more for our student-veterans, while raising awareness about their edu-cational needs and service to our country among the student body in general.”

The new initiatives in-clude:

• Establishing a Flor-ida State Veterans Center, which will reach veterans of all generations. The cen-ter will serve as the focal point for all campus vet-eran resources, academic advising, orientation and transition programming, personal and rehabilitative support services, and assis-

tance with VA educational benefits and certification.

• Hiring a director of the Florida State Veterans Center, who will imple-ment the center’s mission to recruit veterans who want to transition from military service to col-lege life; support veterans by coordinating services; and promote awareness of Florida State’s veteran heritage and current issues facing student-veterans. In addition, the director will promote Florida State’s veteran-friendly initiatives nationally.

• Launching an annual Student Veteran Film Fes-tival to raise awareness of veterans’ issues and sup-port the establishment of a veteran’s center. This year’s screening of “Hell and Back Again,” which will benefit the proposed veteran’s center, will set the stage for what will become a multifilm event in future years.

“These initiatives are important because nation-ally veterans are graduating at a lesser rate than non-veterans,” said Jared Lyon, president of the CVA and a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he served on mul-tiple deployments around the globe from 2001 to 2005. “As an institution for higher learning, it is our re-sponsibility to ensure that student-veterans have the resources available to them to be successful in their

goal of achieving a college degree.”

Because veterans tend to be older students – the average age of a student-veteran at FSU is 27 – they have been out of the aca-demic environment for a greater period of time and often struggle with transi-tion and isolation. In addi-tion, some may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or physical limita-tions.

Florida State is unique among universities because of the depth and scope of services it intends to offer, Lyon said.

“Not only is Florida State going to provide the services needed by student-veterans, the uni-versity also is going to try to identify the reasons be-hind these lower gradua-tion rates while focusing on making the campus a more inviting and welcoming environment for veterans past, present and future,” he said.

Plans are under way to build a 35,000-square-foot building located on Jef-ferson Street near the Var-sity Way roundabout. The proposal calls for bringing the Florida State Veterans Center, ROTC offices and a World War II museum to-gether into one facility that would promote collabora-tion. In the meantime, the Pearl Tyner House at the Florida State Alumni As-sociation complex on West

Tennessee Street will serve as the center’s temporary home. It will open its doors today and will be available to students from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Fri-day.

A university advisory board recommended estab-lishing a center and hiring a director to oversee the cen-ter and services. Barron ap-pointed the advisory board in spring 2011 after Lyon and several members of the CVA approached him about the need for improved sup-port and services for veter-ans and their dependents at the university.

It was the students, however, who came up with the idea of hosting an annual film festival that is perhaps the first in the na-tion to be devoted to vet-erans issues. Florida State Interfraternity Council President David Ward ap-proached Lyon about de-veloping an event to sup-port student-veterans, and soon the Student Veteran Film Festival was born.

“We wanted to cre-ate an event that was as entertaining as it was edu-cational,” Ward said. “Our student-veterans contribute so much to our campus community, and it’s our duty both as citizens and Seminoles to raise funds and awareness for this great cause. We couldn’t be hap-pier to help make this land-mark event come to life.”

Working with Frank

Patterson, dean of the Col-lege of Motion Picture Arts, and Paul Cohen, director of the college’s Torchlight program, the students were able to secure the rights to screen the newly released documentary “Hell and Back Again” for the inau-gural event.

“When we saw ‘Hell and Back Again’ at Sun-dance, where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, we knew then that we needed to bring it to Florida State,” Patterson said. “I can’t think of a better venue to screen Danfung Dennis’ riveting documentary than the inaugural Student Vet-eran Film Festival.”

The film follows the life of 25-year-old U.S. Marine Sgt. Nathan Harris as he confronts the physical and emotional difficulties of readjusting to civilian life after his time fighting and being wounded in Af-ghanistan. Tickets for the event are $10 for Florida State students and $30 for the general public. To pur-chase a ticket, visit www.fsuvetfilmfest.com.

Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.Education Editor/Vice Presi-dent

If “one bad apple does not spoil a show,” what should you do with the apple? Some people would say that you should get rid of the apple. Others would say, endure the apple or place the apple with other bad apples. When you con-sider real-world scenarios, school leaders may either fire an ineffective employ-ee, tolerate the employee or transfer the employee to another setting to allow someone else to deal with the problem.

So, the questions to be asked are: How can schools use employees’ strengths to improve performance in the workplace? Is it possible to take what is unique about the employee and make them useful? How can au-thor Marcus Buckingham’s nine strength roles be used to maximize employees’ contributions to the work-place?

At a workshop by au-thor Marcus Buckingham, he discusses the concepts of focusing on strengths. According to Buckingham, we each have specific ar-eas where we consistently

“standout,” where we can do things, see things, un-derstand things and learn things better and faster than other people can. Buck-ingham says that when we find ourselves in these “strength zones,” we are magnificent, self-assured and flushed with success. The objective then is for the employee and the manager to understand the unique strengths and to focus and harness those strengths in the workplace. Simply put, Buckingham says “you are most productive and cre-ative in those areas where you are already strong.” So, organizations of all types, including schools, should focus on employees’ strengths rather than their weaknesses to make them feel useful in the organiza-tions in order to improve performance.

As a vehicle to assess the uniqueness of employ-ees, Buckingham created the “Standout” assessment that measures you on nine strength roles. Through a questionnaire, the assess-ment highlights your top two roles. They are seen as your greatest contribu-tions and the “edge” you have on other employees

in the organization. These roles include advisor, con-nector, creator, equalizer, influencer, pioneer, provid-er, stimulator and teacher. Buckingham notes that in the teacher role, “you are thrilled by the potential you see in each person. Your power comes from learn-ing how to unleash it.” In contrast, Buckingham says that in the stimulator role, “you are the host of other people’s emotions. You feel responsible for them, for turning them around and for elevating them.”

Specifically, Buck-ingham explains that in the questionnaire, you are asked to respond to differ-ent scenarios. He says that these scenarios were cap-tured from stakeholders in industries of all types over the past 10 years. The re-sults of your choices are

how teammates view you rather than how you view yourself.

According to research, only 20 percent of employ-ees utilize their true tal-ents in their organizations. Buckingham suggests that businesses should harness their employees’ strengths and make their employees’ weaknesses obsolete. They should have discourse con-tinuously to determine best practices for getting the job done proficiently in the or-ganizations.

Buckingham notes that this might include bench-marking best practices from various organizations then using those practices that best fit their organizations. He gives examples of how a best practice may work effectively in one organiza-tion but may not work the same in another organiza-tion. So the key is to make sure that the practice you adopt is germane to your organization.

To illustrate, Buck-ingham articulates how several hotel industries use various approaches, such as mascots and symbols, to improve performance in their organizations through the contributions of their

employees. He empha-sizes, however, that hotel “A” could not use hotel “X” business profile iden-tically because the climate of the two organizations are not the same. In order to transfer one business profile to another organi-zation, Buckingham says that you have to grasp the understanding of the best practice and then make it fit your organizational pro-file. You cannot mix apples and oranges and expect the same result of another orga-nization.

From a school per-spective, Buckingham’s concepts can be applicable. For example, school dis-tricts are faced with bud-getary shortfalls. Research reports that policymakers in numerous states are pro-viding flexibility to school districts to change their in-structional calendar. Thus, the four-day school week provides a key best practice for when there are limited options in the school dis-trict budget. However, each school district has to assess the pros and cons of the best practice and then determine if the practice is relevant to its organizational profile.

As it is written, “one

bad apple does not spoil a show.” There are alterna-tives for dealing with the apple. Using Marcus Buck-ingham’s theory, every apple has its own unique-ness. When we recognize the apple’s strengths and focus on those strengths, there is where the genius lies. Marcus Bucking-ham’s view of strengths is applicable to the school environment, whether we are focusing on employees or applying the concept to children. The ultimate goal is get the best performance out of people. The essen-tial point is that people are most efficient and innova-tive when they operate in their strength zones rather than their weakness zones. By focusing on the concept of strengths, people can ac-tivate their unique competi-tive advantage in the work-place.

Dr. Ronald W. Holmes is the National Superinten-dent of Education for the National Save the Family Now Movement, Inc. He is a former teacher, school administrator, and district superintendent and can be reached at [email protected].

5www.capitaloutlook.comEducationNov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

Barron announces initiatives to create most veteran-friendly campus in nation


The schools of library sciences at North Carolina Central University and the University of North Caroli-na at Chapel Hill will hold a conference next spring on improving literacy among young black males. The conference is funded in part by a $126,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a fed-eral agency that supports the nation’s 123,000 librar-ies and 17,500 museums.

The conference, en-

titled Building a Bridge to Literacy for African-Amer-ican Male Youth, will be held on the campus of the University of North Caro-lina.

“Extensive research shows that poor literacy skills among young Afri-can-American males have lifelong negative conse-quences,” stated Irene Ow-ens, dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University. “Li-braries and librarians have always played an important

role in promoting literacy, and yet there is no coordi-nated national effort to ad-dress this persistent socio-economic problem.”

How can schools utilize employees’ strengths to improve performance in the workforce?

Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.

Two universities to co-sponsor conference on literacy of young black males

Irene Owens, Ph.D.

FSU President Eric J. Barron announces several initia-tives designed to provide support and services to assist military veterans in their transition to college. Listen-ing is Jared Lyon, president of the university’s Colle-giate Veterans Association and a Navy veteran.


A new audio book company has pledged to

donate half of all its profits to scholarships for students at the nation’s historically black colleges and univer-sities.

The company, ATuske-geeAudio.com, has pro-duced 18 audio books. The first release is The Mush-room People by Charles R. Gray, who is CEO of the new publishing operation. He started the company due to a lack of diversity in stories and fairytales for African-American chil-dren.

Publishing firm pledges 50 percent of profits for scholarships at HBCUs

Charles Gray

Student-veteran members of the Collegiate Veterans Association wear match-ing T-shirts proclaiming “I’m a VeteraNole.”

The theme for the 25th Annual Men’s Retreat was “Lord, Set Us Free.” The supportive text comes from St. Luke 4: 18-19 which reads, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to pro-claim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1-3 pro-claims, “The spirit of the Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.”

If we are to experience real freedom we must get our arms and mind around

this theme – Success is an inconvenience. It’s not about how you feel, it’s about a process. The key word is obedience – the Lord wants us to be free and he has put a rule book for us to obtain freedom – it is called the Holy Bible.

I want to share five steps to real freedom that the Lord has in store for us. These five steps will create an inconvenience because they require you to do some things you don’t want to do and give up some things you like to do. Success (freedom) is an inconve-nience.

1) Discipline – Fol-low the Ten Command-ments and do the right thing. Deep down inside we all want discipline but the devil is busy. He is always recruiting with his strategic

use of distractions. Free-dom requires discipline. We stated earlier that Webster’s definition of discipline is a system of rules govern-ing conduct. The Lord has a system of rules govern-ing conduct – it’s called the Bible.

2) Priority – We must map out a course that involves a step by step pro-cess of paying attention to what brings value to your life. Man does not decide his future. Man decides his habits and his habits decide his future. The bible talks about reaping what we sow. Sow good seeds, you will have a good harvest. Sow bad seeds, you will have a bad harvest.

3) Persistence – Any degree of success (free-dom) comes with a high de-gree of focus. I often refer

to the life of Abraham Lin-coln who had a failed busi-ness, lost several senatorial races, lost several congres-sional races, endured the death of a sweetheart, suf-death of a sweetheart, suf-death of a sweetheart, suffered a mental breakdown, but became the president of the United States at age 52. That defines persistence, the same patience and per-sistence that the Bible char-acter Job had during his lifetime. We must learn to follow up and keep at it and never give up the pursuit of our purpose that He has for our lives.

4) Give of yourself – This is the most difficult and the least understood of the five steps. Sacrificial giving is fundamental to the success of any unit of people, and is required in God’s plan. Don’t be self-God’s plan. Don’t be self-God’s plan. Don’t be selfish; The more you give, the

more you will receive. That involves your time, your talents and your tithes. The Lord loves a cheerful giver.

5) Work Ethic – You Work Ethic – You Wwill get out of anything what you put into it. Each day that the good Lord gives us on the top side we must work on our dis-cipline, our priorities, our persistence, our giving and

our steadfast enthusiasm to obtain freedom. The W-word is not wish to be good, it is work to be good.

It is our prayer that these words will help to move the readers closer to freedom – the kind of free-dom that only comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Men’s Devotional –– “Lord, Set Us Free”–– “Lord, Set Us Free”–– “Lord, Set Us Free”–– “Lord, Set Us Free”–– “Lord, Set Us Free”

6 www.capitaloutlook.com Religion Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

Devotional –– “The Greatness of Joy” –– “The Greatness of Joy” –– “The Greatness of Joy” –– “The Greatness of Joy” –– “The Greatness of Joy”

Generally, we think of joy as a feeling of great pleasure or an emotion that comes from experiences such as receiving a college degree or a job promotion. This joy is temporary and can be lost in a moment.

Christians seek spiri-tual joy that the world can-not take away. This joy is inseparable from our rela-

tionship with Jesus Christ and it comes from under-standing our purpose of life in Jesus and the hope of liv-ing with God for eternity.

The joy of God and the love for His people were introduced in human his-tory when God sent His son to die for our sins. The excitement of this joy runs through the entire biblical account of Jesus’ birth…“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (Luke 1:14).

Jesus’ joy was mani-fested through obedience in completing His father’s will on calvary. Jesus pos-sessed an exuberant joy as the sacrificial lamb, who took away our sins and brought us the joy of salva-tion. His willingness to be obedient was evident when

He said, “...yet not my will, but yours be done…” (Luke 22:42).

Jesus found strength in doing God’s will. Hebrews 12:2 says, “... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…” Jesus realized that the way God would save His people and give us grace would be for Him to bear our sins upon the cross.

Jesus gives us His joy. “These things have I spo-ken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). Jesus wants us to be full of joy – and to make sure we are, Jesus made an incredible promise.

What does it mean to have “the joy of Jesus?” It means that we have a

profound understanding of God’s grace in our hearts (which is God’s unmer-ited favor toward us). This was the angels’ message to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth. “…Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…” (Luke 2:10-11).

Spiritual Joy is not the natural joy of human life that comes from things and stuff. It is a supernatural joy because it has a su-pernatural source – Jesus Christ. This joy has bless-ings and benefits of salva-tion.

1. We have Jesus Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. We belong to Him by the love of God. And, because we belong to Him, He has promised to care for us. (1 Peter 5:7)

2. We have His prom-

ise that He will not leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) Imagine this! In a joyless world, where men run to and fro for some-thing to comfort them in the midst of trials and tribula-tions, we have rest, joy and peace in Jesus Christ!

3. We have strength in the joy of Jesus. “…for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehe-miah 8:10). When we are in despair, weak and fall into temptations, it is often because we are not living in the joy of Jesus Christ. When we are fully abid-ing in Jesus we are strong against evil, we bear up un-der our burdens, and temp-tations seem to lose their power.

How do we maintain “the joy of Jesus?” We must obey the will of God.

Jesus’ obedience brought Him joy and this is also true for us.

In summary, through Jesus we have unspeakable joy because of what He did on the cross. Through Him, we have the joy of salvation and the hope of living with God for eternity.

Prayer - Father God, we thank you for Jesus Christ whose joy it was to do your will. We thank you for your grace – that from the beginning You willed to save us through your Son. We pray that our joy may be the everlasting joy that is found in Jesus Christ. Help us, Father, to walk as children of the King in this world and to be obedient to your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“The Christ Centered Church With a Program of Prayer and Progress ”

Reverend Dr. R. B. Holmes , Jr.

“The Christ Centered Church With a Program of Prayer and Progress ”“The Christ Centered Church With a Program of Prayer and Progress ”

“The Greatness of Joy”

By Cleo Johnson

This week, the Capital Outlook continues a nine-week series of Men’s Devotionals.

“Lord, Set Us Free”By Joe Taylor

7www.capitaloutlook.comCapital OutlookNov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

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www.capitaloutlook.com8 Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011Community News

John and Laurise Thomas Dr. Vivian Hobbs Byron and Kimberly Menchion

2011 Farm FestWhen: Nov. 4 Time: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.Location: FAMU Research and Extension CenterQuincy, Fla. Call: 850-599-3546

ZumbaFestWhen: Nov. 12 Time: 10 a.m. – 12 Noon Where: Jack McLean Where: Jack McLean Community Center GymCost: $10 Advance or $15 at Door Call: 850-556-0627

FAMU“College of Law Open House & Tailgate Party” House & Tailgate Party” When: Nov. 19Time: 9 a.m. – 12 Noon Location: College Law201 Beggs Ave. Orlando, Fla.


On Sept. 30 through Oct. 1 the National As-sociation of University Women (NAUW) Tallahas-see Branch hosted its 87th Annual Southeast Sectional Conference.

The Tallahassee Branch is one of the larg-est branches of the NAUW in the Southeast Section. It was founded more than 54 years ago by the Rev. Bernyce Clausell, and 13 women who became char-ter members. The branch continues to grow under the current leadership of Presi-dent Jerry D. Gilmore, who has served for the past two years.

“Being a member of NAUW has been a reward-ing experience,” Gilmore said. “I’ve had the oppor-tunity to share my experi-ence and knowledge with the Tallahassee Branch. We

are given the opportunity to work with so many children and adults. I feel like this gives me an opportunity to give back to the communi-ties and serve children in Leon County in whatever way I can.”

The guiding precepts of NAUW are education, literacy, youth, health, na-tional and international af-tional and international af-tional and international affairs, and the community. The members enhance their professional development, focus on community de-velopment, encourage and award scholarships for eli-gible students in the com-munities. The association networks with other orga-nizations providing activi-ties for youth focusing on literacy and other ongoing programs.

“We are very con-cerned about the literacy program that faces us in this country,” Delores Owens, the national president of

NAUW said. “We feel that we can make a difference by having all of our mem-bers in some way involved in a tutorial program, and we try to encourage each member to tutor an indi-vidual student to help them become a better reader or a lover of reading.”

In attendance for the 87th Southeast Sectional Conference were mem-bers from: Tallahassee; Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; Charlotte, Clayton, Concord, East-ern-Wake, Elizabeth City, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Halifax, Hamlet, Hope Mills, Laurinburg, Lumber-ton, Lumberton-Fairmont, North Hampton, Raleigh, Roberson-Scotland, Smith-field, Wadesboro and Win-ston-Salem, N.C.; as well as Hampton and Richmond, Va.

On Sept. 30 guest speaker Leon County

School Board Member Georgia “Joy” Bowen graced the podium. Also, the honorable Mayor John Marks and Leon County School Board Superinten-dent Jackie Pons greeted members during the annual conference.

NAUW members were entertained by the Tallahas-see Girls Choir of Choice, praise dancer Mikayla Ross-Simmons, mime dancer Jase Lindsey, the Tallahassee Branch’s 2011 Scholarship recipient; Ce-celia Madry and the Talla-hassee Branch Choir.

A special presentation was given to the NAUW’s Tallahassee Branch found-er, the Rev. Bernyce Clau-sell and M. Lucille Wil-liams. The women are still involved in the organiza-tion today. Williams’ award was accepted by her son Ronald Williams, Ph.D.

NAUW has a rich

history − last year the or-ganization celebrated 100 years. NAUW is comprised of five branches throughout the United States including the Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, North-central and South-central. This year the association plans to help individuals outside of the United States.

“We hope to start an international branch in Li-beria and we expect to do that in February of 2012,” Owens said. “When we go there, we will do some teacher training in the schools that they are trying to rebuild, that are run by high school students. It’s our goal to go over there and spend some time train-ing these young people, so they can be better teachers for their elementary school students.”

National Association of University Women 87th Southeast Sectional Conference

Members of the Tallahassee Girls Choir of Choice

Attorney Carolyn Cummings was the chair-person for the conference.

Another glance at local Jack and Jill of America Inc. “Diamond Celebration”

Tallahassee Mayor John Marks

Tallahassee Branch President Jerry Gilmore (left) with Delores Owens (right), NAUW national president.

Wives and mothers of the Tallahassee chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc. All Photos By LEWIS JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY

(left to right) Cydeon Trueblood, former Tallahassee Chapter member; Cecka Trueblood Green, legacy member and Tallahassee Chapter Vice-President, with her husband, Marvin E. Green, Jr.

(left to right) Tamara Turnley Robinson, national vice-president representing the Southeastern Region, Eva C. Wanton, 13th national president, Zaneta Batchelor, Tal-lahassee Chapter president; and Sharon Bourgess-Jones, Immediate Past Member-at-Large

Dr. Eva C. Wanton

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By Beth Kassab, Business ColumnistSpecial to the Outlook

Cue the dancing girls. Send in the deal-ers. And let’s roll the dice, fingers-crossed, that Las Vegas-style casinos will lift Florida from its economic malaise. After all, how bad can it be to let Florida’s worldwide brand forever be altered from family-friendly beaches and theme parks to adult playground and money trap?

Just think of all the new low-wage service in-dustry jobs that new casi-nos would inject into our economy. And don’t forget the crime and social prob-lems that often follow ca-sinos.OK, so it’s that bad.The latest push in South Florida and Tallahassee to allow three commercial ca-sinos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties is in full swing.

This is the worst get-rich-quick scheme we’ve seen in this state since swampland was peddled as a high-return investment.

And that is exactly what it is, an opportunistic grab at money and power seized when the state is grappling with historic un-employment, foreclosures and rotten consumer confi-dence.

The casinos – Ma-laysian company Genting Group, which paid $236 million for waterfront property in Miami cur-rently occupied by the Mi-ami Herald; and Las Vegas Sands, which is looking at another site – are tout-ing themselves as potential shocks to restart a flat-line economy.

Certainly, limited gam-bling is already here, and the state hasn’t deteriorated into deviance and deprav-ity.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida runs seven casinos from Tampa to Hollywood. Voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties approved limited slot machines by a slim margin in 2004. Dog tracks and Jai-Alai frontons have been around for de-cades. And the state itself profits from selling Lottery tickets.

But this latest play would likely just be the first step toward removing the limits on casinos in Florida. The proposal calls for three new commercial casinos. And that could be just the beginning.

Already we’re hearing noise from some Orlando hoteliers that if Miami gets full-fledged Vegas gam-bling Orlando may want it, too.

Before we know it, there could be pitches for commercial casinos all across the state, and then we risk going from limited gambling to unlimited bet-ting that such moves are the right ones for the economy.

And there’s plenty of evidence to suggest other-wise.

Nevada, the best-known tourism and gam-bling destination in the U.S., is not an enviable business climate. There isn’t a single Fortune 500 company unrelated to ca-sinos based in Nevada; that state also leads the country in foreclosures. And At-lantic City, N.J., watched casinos cannibalize other

local businesses once they moved in during the 1970s.

Walt Disney World and other tourism and business interests are opposed to casinos in Florida for that very reason.

Casinos often subsi-dize hotel room prices and meal costs, which would put downward pressure on hotels and restaurants vi-tal to Florida’s economy that aren’t offering bargain room rates along with free prime rib.

Disney is also con-cerned that its brand, one of the most recognizable in the world, and Florida’s Sunshine State image will be diminished over time.

But this shouldn’t be about protecting Disney or the interests of anyone else who profits off of Florida tourism’s status quo.

The argument should be focused on the state’s long-term outlook and our ability to take a step back from today’s economic

crisis and just say, “No thanks.”

For Florida, the path to prosperity in the form of high-wage jobs and new in-dustries is better found the old-fashioned way: through a focus on education, creat-ing a skilled and desirable workforce and fostering an environment where innova-tion and business can thrive because people are willing to invest in it.

That should be Flori-da’s gamble.

It’s too risky for Florida’s image to roll the dice on casinos

By Alicia McKnightOutlook Contributor

During the North Florida Veterans’ Forum and Luncheon on Sept. 22, guest speaker Patri-cia O’Neil presented a research piece entitled: A Study of Veterans’ Behav-ioral Health Needs, Gaps and Recommendations in Maryland and How it Might be Relevant to Flori-da Veterans.

“Target more outreach leaders of the faith commu-nities to ensure awareness, knowledge and skill to ef-knowledge and skill to ef-knowledge and skill to effectively engage with Vet-erans and their families,” she said. “An effective outreach program needs to be developed by collecting veteran’s mailing and email addresses.”

O’Neil is recommend-ing that Florida “develops a five-year strategic plan based on gap analysis that focuses on systematically closing gaps and ensuring behavioral health and so-cial service needs of Flor-ida veterans are effective-ly met.”

T h e r e are count-less veterans in Tallahas-see who do not know what help is available for them in Leon County.

“ T h e r e is so much information out there,

if they can get a little bit here hopefully they can get something going,” said Charles LeCroy, past com-mander of the American Legion Hall.

Allied Veterans gave a special presentation of $200,000 to the Veterans Foundation, a direct sup-port organization of the Florida Department of Vet-erans Affairs. The organiza-tion also donated $5,000 to the American Legion Hall.

“Our organization has given more than 6 million to veteran organizations in the last five years,” said Jerry Bass, national com-mander for Allied Vet-erans,” he said. “We are proud veterans, helping other veterans.”

A portion of the dona-tion will go toward emer-gency funds to veterans and their families. Additionally, some will go toward assist-ing the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities at Florida State University.

“The donation will be

used to assist veterans and their families who are in great need,” said LeCroy.

Forum addresses veterans’ needs

(left to right) Charles LeCroy, past com-mander of the American Legion and another veteran.


On Oct. 19, the League of Women Voters of Flori-da launched “Be Ready to Vote,” our voter service campaign for the 2012 election season, which will make voting as accessible and convenient as possible for Florida citizens!

Through the use of cut-ting-edge smartphone tech-nology provided by a part-

nership with Microsoft Tag, Florida voters will be able to directly connect to their Supervisor of Elections to ensure that their voter reg-istration information is cur-rent and complete.

For more information about “Be Ready to Vote,” visit BeReadyToVote.org and check out the follow-ing positive reaction to the campaign launch:

New app unveiled for voter information

WDBO OrlandoOct. 19

Checking your voter registration status is now just a matter of pulling out your smartphone thanks to a new program unveiled Wednesday by the League of Women Voters of Flori-da. Florida is the first state to use this technology.

“Be Ready To Vote” campaign in the newsLeague of Women Voters of Florida teams with Microsoft, Florida supervisors of elections to reach voters via smart-phone

Date Opponent / Event LocationTime

10/31/11 vs. Indiana Uni-versity of PennsylvaniaTallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

11/07/11 vs. Georgia SouthwesternTallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

11/11/11 vs. JacksonvilleTallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

11/14/11 vs. UCF Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

11/16/11 vs. Stetson Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

11/20/11 South AlabamaTallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T3:00 p.m. ET

11/24/11 vs. Massachu-setts Paradise Island / The Baha-mas4:30 p.m. ET

11/25/11 Harvard or Utah / Battle4Atlantis Paradise Island / The Baha-masTBA

11/26/11 Battle4Atlantis Paradise Island / The Baha-masTBA

11/30/11 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich.7:30 p.m. ET

12/05/11 Charleston Southern

Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

12/11/11 UNC Greensboro Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T1:00 p.m. ET

12/18/11 vs. Loyola Mary-mount Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T3:00 p.m. ET

12/22/11 at Florida Gainesville, Fla.7:00 p.m. ET

12/30/11 Princeton Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

01/04/12 vs. Auburn Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

01/07/12 at Clemson Clemson, S.C.4:00 p.m. ET

01/10/12 at Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Va.7:00 p.m. ET

01/14/12 vs. North Caro-lina Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T2:00 p.m. ET

01/17/12 vs. Maryland Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T9:00 p.m. ET

01/21/12 at Duke Durham, N.C.4:00 p.m. ET

01/25/12 at Wake Forest Winston Salem, N.C.7:00 p.m. ET

02/01/12 vs. Georgia Tech Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

02/04/12 Virginia Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T1:00 p.m. ET

02/08/12 at Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass.7:00 p.m. ET

02/11/12 vs. Miami Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T1:00 p.m. ET

02/16/12 vs. Virginia Tech Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

02/18/12 at NC State Raleigh, N.C.1:00 p.m. ET

02/23/12 vs. Duke Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T7:00 p.m. ET

02/26/12 at Miami Coral Gables, Fla.6:00 p.m. ET

03/01/12 at Virginia Charlottesville, V.A..7:00 p.m. ET

03/04/12 vs. Clemson Tallahassee, Fla.Tallahassee, Fla.T12:00 p.m. ET

10 www.capitaloutlook.com Classified/Sports Nov. 3 - Nov. 9, 2011

Notice Under Fictitious Notice Under Fictitious Name Law Pursuant to Name Law Pursuant to Section 865.09, Flori-da Statutes NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned desiring to en-gage in business under the fictitious name of MVP fictitious name of MVP Event Planning located at Event Planning located at 122 Dawn Lauren Lane, in the County of Leon, Tal-lahassee, Florida 32301. Vivian Pope intends to reg-ister the said name with the ister the said name with the Division of Corporations of the Florida Department of the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee, Flor-ida. Dated at Tallahassee, Florida this 28th day of Oc-tober, 2011. PUB: Capital Outlook

CLASSIFIED

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Legal NoticeFSU Men’s Basketball

2011-2012 SCHEDULEBy Florida A&M Sports Information

The Florida A&M Vol-leyball team picked up their sixth conference win of the season as they defeated the Mid-Eastern Athletic Con-ference newest member Savannah State, 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-14) here Sunday afternoon at the Al Lawson Center.

FAMU (8-12, 6-1 MEAC) had a pair of Lady Rattlers to finish in double-digit kills as Kath-erine Huanec finished with a team high 12 kills, fol-lowed by Maria Ceccarelli with 11 kills. Diana Gonza-les led the Lady Rattlers in assists with 36, while Karol Marquez led the team in digs with 20.

The Lady Rattlers won the first set commandingly

as FAMU finished the set with a 9-0 run to win the set 25-8.

In the second set, FAMU pulled out a 25-17 win as they held off a late rally by SSU.

In the final set, the Lady Rattlers would down the Lady Tigers 25-14, cap-ping a 12-4 run by FAMU.

SSU (0-21, 0-6 MEAC) was led by Bryana Gadis with a team high five kills, followed by Bianca Helton with three kills. Ashlee Butler led the Lady Tigers in assists with 10, while Bridgette Stephens led the team in digs with 11.

The Lady Rattlers will return to action on Friday, Nov. 4 as they will travel to Greensboro, N.C. to take on the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies in a MEAC contest.

Lady Rattlers tame SSU Tigers 3-0 in MEAC action

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