By Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida Special to the Outlook

Facing objections from pub-lic hospitals, a panel appointed by Gov. Rick Scott could call next week for revamping local hospi-tal-taxing districts --- including turning them into “indigent health care districts.”

The Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Dis-tricts discussed a draft report on Dec. 20 that also could lead to lo-cal votes on district taxing powers and call for more oversight of the sales or leases of public hospitals.

Commissioners, who have been studying hospital districts since May, likely will finalize the recommendations Dec. 29, as they meet a New Year’s deadline for sending the report to Scott and lawmakers.

“The real work is going to happen on the 29th,” said Chair-man Dominic Calabro, president and chief executive officer of Florida TaxWatch. “I think we’re going to bang it out on the 29th.”

A key part of the draft would re-label districts as “indigent

health care districts” and try to prevent tax dollars from getting funneled to only certain pub-licly funded hospitals. The basic concept is that money should be able to flow to wherever indigent patients get care, whether that is public hospitals, private hospitals or other types of providers.

“I think we’re looking at moving more towards a focus on providing indigent health care,” Calabro said.

But commission member R. Paul Duncan, a health-policy ex-pert at the University of Florida, said he is concerned that such a change could lead to creation of a “kind of charity hospital system” that only would serve low-income and uninsured people.

Duncan said public hospitals would not have as much money to buy equipment and modernize facilities to compete with private hospitals. As a result, he said in-

sured patients might drift to the better-equipped private hospitals, leaving behind low-income and uninsured patients --- and, ulti-mately, affecting the quality of care at public hospitals.

Hospital-industry officials have closely watched the com-mission’s deliberations, though it remains unclear whether lawmak-ers will act on the recommenda-tions during the 2012 legislative session. Scott recently said such action might wait until 2013, as redistricting will dominate much of the upcoming session.

Nevertheless, Scott, who made a fortune as chief executive of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain, has made clear he would like to see changes in public hos-pitals. In a March executive order creating the commission, Scott said in part that the panel should determine whether it is “appro-priate to convert government-operated hospitals to different governance models (and) what the process should be for such conversion.”

During the Dec. 20 meeting, representatives of public hospi-tals objected to several parts of

By Florida A&M Sports Infor-mationSpecial to the Outlook

Confirming that student in-deed belongs before athlete, sev-eral Rattlers and Lady Rattlers walked across the stage at the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium on Dec. 16 night to get their de-grees.

In what was near capacity for the 9,000+ seat arena, as family and friends from all across the country gathered to come see the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. Visibly absent from the event was the FAMU Symphonic band, which normally plays at the event; but a recording of the band was piped in over the P.A. system.

With television trucks on hand and the world watching, the tension was thick enough to cut

with a knife. As the moment of the entry of the FAMU admin-istration came, a certain anxiety built. There clad in his green robe, donned with the artistic presidential medalion, emerged one Dr. James H. Ammons. Then

the Rattler spirit shined brightly like the sun. Several graduates as well as the people in attendance greeted and cheered him, break-ing protocol to shake his hand and offer words of encourage-ment, while he was still in the

precessional. This set the tone of unity for the entire ceremony, that FAMU would stick together.

Congressman, James Cly-burn, who was scheduled to speak, had to be replaced, as con-gress would take critical votes over the week’s end prohibiting him from attending. In his place was Dr. Larry Robinson. Robin-son recently returned to FAMU after being nabbed by President Barack Obama as an assistant secretary dealing with environ-mental issues. Robinson oversaw several issues dealing with pre-dicting the effects of the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Robinson had some wise words for the graduating seniors. He spoke of his time in school and how it prepared him for life’s challenges. He also told the kids several times, “You can get any-where you want to go from Flor-ida Agricultural and Mechanical

Vol. 37, No. 52: Section 01 Tallahassee, Florida Dec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

Inside

Briefs

This Week’s Word

50 Cents

Alumna returns 7

PRST STD

U.S. PO

STAG

E PAID

Tallahassee, FLPerm

it No. 562

AD

DR

ESS SERVIC

E REQ

UESTED

OPINION / 4EDUCATION / 5RELIGION / 6COMMUNITY NEWS / 7

“Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will

be restored; Renew our days as of old...”

Lamentations 5:21 (NKJV)

www.capitaloutlook.com

See PANEL, Page 2

See GRADUATION, Page 2

1363 E. Tennessee St, Tallahassee, Fla. 32310

Bi-Lo buys Winn-Dixie for $560 million

The supermarket chain Winn-Dixie is being sold for $560 million to Bi-Lo LLC, the companies said on Dec. 19, creating a large grocery operator in the South. The combined company will have about 690 stores and 63,000 workers in eight states in the southern U.S. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. will become a privately held subsidiary and its ticker will be removed from the Nasdaq. Each Winn-Dixie stockholder gets $9.50 per share in cash, a 75 percent premium to the Jacksonville, Fla. Company’s Friday, Dec. 17, closing stock price.

Florida’s foreclosure mediation program ends

Florida’s mandatory foreclosure mediation program has been terminated, according to a letter signed on Dec. 19, by Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady. The program, established in 2009, required lenders to participate in a mediation process with struggling borrowers prior to repossessing a home.

Florida motor vehicle agency warns against what it calls deceptive websites

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is warning customers about websites not affiliated with the state’s DMV that are luring people into paying additional fees to apply for or renew driver licenses. DMV officials called the websites deceptive and said links to them, which often appear as advertisements when people use search engines like Google or Yahoo to find the DMV website, ask users to input their name, address and credit card information and charge anywhere from $25 to $50 to route them to the official DHSMV website. DHSMV does not require a surcharge to use any of its websites -- www.GoRenew.com and www.flhsmv.gov.

Hospital panel set for year-end report

Youth of the Week

See YOW, Page 2

Stand up for voting rights

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

Williams plays the right notes

Kalon Williams

See VOTING, Page 2

By Alicia McKnightOutlook Contributor

“I want people to look at me and say, look that’s a real leader,” said Kalon Williams a 14-year-old freshman in high school.

“I attend the Leon High School, home of the mighty li-ons,” said Williams.

Williams is taking Spanish I, Biology, Algebra I honors, Eng-lish I honors, Guitar I, and Or-chestra.

“My favorite subject is Al-gebra because it’s filled with a variety of problem solving equa-tions,” said Williams.

Some of Williams’ hob-bies are playing the violin, video games and helping others.

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA ColumnistSpecial to the Outlook

At the heart of a democracy is the fundamental right to vote. Yet for black Americans, espe-cially, the right to vote is histori-cally blood-soaked and sacred. We paid a heavy price to get the right to vote. But it is not just a legal right; it is also a moral re-sponsibility to vote given the tremendous sacrifice by so many of our fore parents that success-fully waged a tireless struggle to dismantle American apartheid. Today for more than 45 million black people in the United States, we cannot afford to take for granted this important civil right and civic responsibility.

I strongly urge support for the NAACP’s “Stand For Free-dom” national campaign against voter suppression in America. Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP president and CEO, is taking the right courageous leadership on this critical issue. Jealous em-phasized, “It’s been more than a century since we’ve seen such a tidal wave of assaults on the right to vote. Historically, when voting rights are attacked, it’s done to fa-cilitate attacks on other rights. It is no mistake that the groups who are behind this are simultaneous-ly attacking very basic women’s rights, environmental protections, labor rights and educational ac-

cess for working people and mi-norities.”

The NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund just issued a report entitled, “De-fending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America.” The national study “details a plethora of voter sup-pression initiatives, most of them pushed in states with large Afri-can-American populations and where voting turnout has surged.” The forces of repression have been hard at work. From the very moment in the aftermath of the election of Barack H, Obama to be president of the United States, there has been a systematic at-tempt to suppress and prevent another large voter turnout from the African American community

together with other communities of color.

The 2012 elections will be the most important elections in our lifetime. The strength of the struggle today to protect voting rights will in part be determined by how strong a grassroots move-ment is built in all of the states where Blacks and Latinos make up from 30 percent to 40 percent of the voting age population. Racial discrimination is always found to most acute in those states and areas of the nation where the percentage of the black popula-tion is the highest. We must be vigilant concerning these attacks. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as-serted years ago, “An injustice any where is a threat to justice everywhere.”

FAMU student-athletes shine bright at graduation

FAMU tennis player Marc V. Atkinson accepts his degree from President Ammons.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP president and CEO

R. Paul Duncan, a health-policy expert at the University of Florida.

Dominic Calabro, president and chief executive officer of Florida TaxWatch.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott adopted measures that prohibit persons convicted of felonies from vot-ing for life.

Special to the Outlook

Tobacco Free Florida re-launched its website, www.tobaccofreeflorida.com, in time for the New Year, when many Florid-ians resolve to quit tobac-co. The new, user-friendly website provides substanti-ated information to encour-age tobacco users to quit and offers the tips and tools needed to quit successfully.

Seven out of 10 adult smokers report that they want to quit completely.

While many people have quit, more than 2.5 million Floridians, or 17.1 percent of the adult population, are current cigarette smokers despite the known dangers of smoking. Tobacco use remains the leading pre-ventable cause of disease and premature death in the

U.S. Cigarette use results in an estimated 28,600 deaths in Florida each year.

Website FeaturesThe new website pro-

vides users easy access to and information about To-bacco Free Florida’s three free quit resources:

• Online: Enroll in the Web Coach®, which will help you create your own web-based quit plan that’s right for you, visit https://www.quitnow.net/florida.

• Phone: Call the Florida Quitline at 1-877-U-CAN-NOW to speak with a Quit Coach who will help you assess your addiction and help you create a personalized quit plan.

• In-person: Visit

the Florida Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Network’s website, http://ahectobacco.com, to locate your local AHEC and sign up for Quit Smoking Now group classes.

“The website showcas-es the numerous negative health effects of tobacco use and the many benefits of quitting, along with in-formation on smokeless tobacco,” said Kim Ber-field, Deputy Secretary for the Florida Department of

Health. “The website also provides a Quit Kit with helpful tips to make quit-ting easier, useful sugges-tions on how to overcome urges, and advice on com-mon withdrawal symp-toms and how to overcome them.”

In early 2012, Tobacco Free Florida will expand the website to include sec-tions on helping others quit, a variety of tobacco-related issues in the state, informa-tion for teens, and much more.

Special to the Outlook

To further engage citi-zens in the fight against crime in Tallahassee and surrounding communities, Big Bend Crime Stoppers (BBCS) recently intro-duced “TipSubmit” App. To install this free app, tip-sters can search for “Tip-Soft” or “TipSubmit” on the Apple App Store or An-droid Market.

TipSubmit Mobile will allow tipsters to sub-mit secure and anonymous

tips to Crime Stoppers, law enforcement agencies or School Safety Officers and Administrators. Thousands of communities, schools and government agencies are covered by this ap-plication since it connects directly with TipSoft, the world’s largest and North America’s only, truly anon-ymous tip reporting sys-tem. Tipsters could receive rewards of up to $1,000 in the U.S.

This new application augments the currently ex-

isting methods of phone, web, and SMS Text-a-Tip which the TipSoft appli-cation already supports. Enjoy the convenience of communicating with law enforcement via your mo-bile device while having much more functionality available to you than SMS

Text-a-Tip offers alone. No short code or keywords required. Auto-locate the nearest agency that you can submit to or select an agen-cy manually. Include imag-es and video with your tips and have fully anonymous two-way dialogue and real-time chat with the receiving agency.

For more information you can visit www.bbcsi.org.

2 www.capitaloutlook.com Dec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012Capital OutlookBig Bend Crime Stoppers get mobile app

FAMU football player Curtis Holcomb accepts his degree.

More than 25 differ-ent measures have already been passed by state legis-latures in at least 14 states that will restrict or prohibit the voting rights of Afri-can-American and Latino-American voters. Some of these repressive and coun-terproductive measures in-clude:

Restrictions to early voting: the early voting pe-riod has been reduced in a number of states. This will mostly affect black voters, as research shows African Americans have been much more likely to take advan-tage of early voting. They

accounted for 22 percent of early voters during the 2008 general election in Florida;

Restrictions to vot-ers with felony convic-tions: Two states (Florida and Iowa) adopted mea-sures that prohibit persons convicted of felonies from voting for life, whilst oth-ers restrict felons for voting for a number of years after their convictions;

Residency restric-tions: some states have increased the amount of time a citizen must live in a state in order to be entitled

to vote. This particularly affects African-Americans and Hispanics, as they are more likely to move from state-to-state, and are there-fore less likely to have lived in there for the re-quired length of time; and, tighter restrictions to voter registration: requiring citi-zens to have photo-ID, with documentary proof of their citizenship. Some states will not accept student ID, even if issued by the state, whilst those elderly vot-ers who were born during the time of legalized racial segregation, and who were therefore not issued with birth certificates, will also

have difficulties at election time.

According to the New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice, an estimated five million black, Latino and other voters could po-tentially be prevented from voting in the 2012 elections if we do not challenge and change these retrogressive attacks of our voting rights. Thus, the outcome of the next critical national elec-tion is completely at stake surround this situation. We are not making enough pro-test and noise about these new Jim Crow attacks. Let’s stand up, speak out,

and take appropriate ac-tion. We support the vot-ing rights demonstration at the United Nations led by the NAACP and other civil rights and labor organiza-tions. Stand for freedom, justice, equality and em-powerment everyday ev-erywhere!

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is Senior Advisor for the Black Alliance for Educa-tional Options (BAEO) and President of Education On-line Services Corporation and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN).

Panel from Page 1“In my spare time I

spend time with my fam-ily,” said Williams.

Williams is a member of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra.

“I am also in the gui-tar ensemble with my sister Kayla,” said Williams.

Outside of playing in-struments, Williams tried out for the basketball team.

“ Everything was fine until we had to dribble with our left hand,” said Wil-liams.

Williams plans on ap-plying to Texas Christian University.

“Yes, I want to attend college, I want to attend TCU home of the horned frogs,” said Williams.

A dream career of Wil-liams is to work as a U.S. Marshal.

“I want to serve my country by enforcing jus-tice and law,” said Wil-

liams. The first president and

one of America’s founding fathers, which is George Washington is Williams’ role model.

“He was known to many as a leader by his work ethic and his bold decision in life,” said Wil-liams.

If Williams had the opportunity to travel any where in the world he would go to England.

“I would like to see the amazing site that we do not see here in the United States,” said Williams.

Williams is a mem-ber of a prestige organiza-tion called The National Achievers Society.

“The National Achiev-ers Society is a group of young scholars,” said Wil-liams, “I have been with this group for three years.”

YOW from Page 1the draft report.

For example, Jim Zingale, an official with the Safety Net Hospital Alli-ance of Florida, questioned the accuracy of some of the report’s findings. He said they might have been true for individual hospitals but were presented as applying to the broader array of hos-pital districts --- which are set up and operate in vary-ing ways.

One part of the draft report that drew heavy dis-cussion on Dec. 20 calls for setting up a “sunset” process to review district taxing authority every eight years. Local referendums would have to be held to again approve the taxing authority.

But William Woeltjen, chief financial officer of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, said such a requirement could harm

the ability of public hospi-tals to issue bonds to make improvements. That is be-cause bondholders would not be assured that tax dol-lars would be available in the future to pay off the debts.

“That is really going to impede the ability of hospi-tals to finance their opera-tions and finance their pro-grams,” Woeltjen told the commission.

Calabro acknowledged that the final recommenda-tions likely would have to address the potential effects on bonding. He said, how-ever, that the commission thinks voters should be able to review taxing authority.

The draft report also touches on a legislative controversy about putting new requirements on the sale or lease of public hos-pitals. A lobbying battle erupted last year about bills

that would have required such deals to be approved by circuit judges --- a battle that again is expected to play out during the 2012 session.

The draft does not pro-vide detailed proposals for addressing the issue, but Calabro said it is important to make sure sales or leases are in the public interest.

At least part of the is-sue stems from the botched merger of Volusia County’s public Bert Fish Medical Center with the non-profit Adventist Health System. That deal was scrapped af-ter it was disclosed that the Bert Fish board violated the state’s open-meetings law in discussing the merger.

“What you want to make sure is it’s not an in-side job,” Calabro said.

Voting from Page 1University.”

The success of FAMU athletes on the field is sec-ond only to their success in the classroom. A prime ex-ample of that was the grad-uation of Curtis Holcomb. Holcomb was a standout football player for the Rattlers. In the 2011 NFL Draft, he became the first draftee in over a decade for FAMU. The well-rounded Holcomb got injured in training camp and returned to campus to complete the final semester of his degree.

FAMU athletic direc-tor Derek Horne said the feat underscored the mis-sion of the department. “We always emphasize that we are here to prepare our student-athletes for what they are going to do after their last play. You can’t play forever, no matter how good you are. Our founda-tion is built on the principle that you can get a free edu-cation by playing a sport. We mandate that all our student-athletes take ad-vantage of the opportunity before them because the decisions they make today, will affect them for the rest of their lives,” Horne said.

Athletes from Page 1

New and improved site aims to help Floridians quit tobacco

3www.capitaloutlook.comCapital OutlookDec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

The H&R Block Emerald Prepaid MasterCard is issued by H&R Block Bank, a Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated.

Fees may apply. Emerald Card is a trademark of HRB Innovations, Inc. This product may not be available at some locations. MasterCard, the MasterCard Brand Mark and Priceless

Client: MasterCard Worldwide (U) (MCRU)Product: General (GEN)Job #: N11MC039

Ad #: 381Headline: Turning paper into plasticVisual: H&R Block / Mastercard Card ArtSpace/Color: Page 4/CPublication: Columbus Times

Bleed: NoneTrim: 9.88” x 20”Live: NoneGutter: None

AD: NoneCW: NoneCD: NoneAP: NonePP: April Gallo

Created by Interface Graphics, a division of McCann Erickson

Print/Export Time: 12-1-2011 5:47 PMPrint Scale: 100%User Name: joe.congoProof #: 3PM: Amy BlitzerAccount: Jena ChoiInDesign Version: CS4Version Code: NoneColor Specs: 4/C

Document Name: IG_N11MC039_381_03.inddDocument Path: ME Production:Volumes:ME Production:MasterCard:Newspaper:N11MC039:IG_N11MC039_381_03.inddFont Family: Frutiger (47 Light Condensed, 66 Bold Italic, 65 Bold; Type 1; OK), DIN (Regular; Type 1; OK)Ink Name: CMYKLink Name: IG_HnR_Block_Emerald_NEWs_Rast_MRG.psd (234 ppi; CMYK; Up to Date; 148.99%), USA_4C_63mm_2.5.ai (Up to Date; 54.84%)

Slug

Nam

e: M

E Mag

Nwp

T:9.88”

T:20”

Turning your paper into plastic : priceless®

Apply for the H&R Block® Emerald Prepaid MasterCard®—

a smarter, safer, and more convenient way to pay than cash.

Easy to get: No bank account or credit check required.

Easy to use: Shop online, over the phone, and for everyday purchases

wherever Debit MasterCard is accepted. Can your cash do that?

The H&R Block Emerald Prepaid MasterCard is issued by H&R Block Bank, a Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated. Fees may apply. Emerald Card is a trademark of HRB Innovations, Inc. This product may not be available at some locations. MasterCard, the MasterCard Brand Mark and Priceless

are registered trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated. ©2011 MasterCard.

Visit an H&R Block tax office to get your refund loaded onto an Emerald Card.® Go to hrblock.com/emeraldapply to learn more.

By Wesley Martin

W h e n hazing is m e n t i o n e d , mixed feelings are often

aroused. Depending on the environment, most are careful disclosing true sentiments on the subject.

Many believe one should not suffer physical harm in any social situation. But as a culture, we believe in “paying dues.” Concurrently to the aforementioned, there are also huge societal pressures to “fit in” and be accepted.

Because hazing not only has various degrees, but faces, many are careful on how they approach the timeless and universal matter.

From the 1684 expulsion of Harvard student, Joseph Webb, to the February 2011 death of Cornell University sophomore, George Desdunes, it’s evident, sadly, hazing is part of the very fabric of our country’s collegiate educational system.

On a mass collective level,

most agree that hazing is wrong: it’s against the law.

Florida law states: hazing is the subjection of another to extreme physical or mental harassment, usually associated with initiation into a social organization.

The Chad Meredith Act, named after an 18-year-old University of Miami freshman that died in a November 2001 hazing incident, deems hazing a third-degree felony. It’s a crime punishable by up to five years in jail if the victim is seriously injured or killed.

The act says regardless if the victim/initiate consents one could still be charged with hazing.

Society always asks who would willingly subject him or herself to physical and verbal abuse? Alternatively, why would others risk their education and criminal records to participate in this behavior?

What we don’t ask is: what is the driving forced? Why is this issue so persistent? It’s social acceptance.

In order to have productive lives, we all have basic needs that

need to be met. Nourishment and shelter are two obvious examples. But meaningful interpersonal relationships are genuine needs too-often overlooked. Many feel compelled to be accepted by people they admire.

According to a 2008 University of Maine study, 55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing. This practice is a slice, as uneasy as it makes some feel, of their culture. To the untrained eye, it seems superfluous. But every culture has its norms. Hazing is just that.

It’s a significant tool used during many rites of passages and initiations. Hazing and initiations, coupled together, are considered to cause a fundamental process of change within the person being initiated. Hazing carries weight because it is an instrumental element in the very experiences relating to the “metamorphosis” of the initiate.

To those engaged, these rituals and behaviors mark entrance into a group. Some feel they’re paying their dues.

Others will argue that

hazing is not needed to facilitate bonds – that it’s dangerous. But ultimately hazing is an issue of one’s personal moral code. It’s a personal choice.

There aren’t many certainties in life: tomorrow is not guaranteed. Still, I highly doubt an individual believes he or she will lose their life when participating in extra-curricular activities.

If one’s general intent is to not cause harm to others, hazing will seem counterproductive.

Want to stop hazing? Like all things, it starts in the home. We must teach acceptance and self-worth. We must watch what we communicate to our children.

Recalling past hazing experiences and relaying them to children makes huge impressions. Don’t give them that frame of reference. More than peers, individuals have a strong need to relate to and emulate their parents.

Most importantly, we must teach them not to harm others.

By Dr. Benja-min F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Colum-nist

The is-

sue of income inequality in the United States demands our attention and so-cial action. In particular in the African-American community, the economic inequities are so real and institutionalized; we are more and more aware of how the devastating impact of income inequality continues to cause a downward spiral of the quality of life African Americans and oth-ers who are entrapped in the deep mire of poverty, pain and hope-lessness. The dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is just as relevant today as we move into 2012 as it was back in 1963 at the March on Washington.

King’s dream was the Ameri-can dream of freedom, justice and equality for all. Yet we all should be reminded that by the begin-ning of 1968, King was very con-cerned and focused on the ques-tions of poverty and systemic eco-nomic injustice. The Civil Rights Movement, with the historic co-alition between the Black church, organized labor, liberal whites, Latinos, students and peace ac-tivists, and many others from a diversity of organizations, had reached a transformative stage in its evolution. The time had come to expose and challenge the dia-bolic connection between racial injustice and e conomic inequity.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) under Dr. King’s leadership boldly called for a “Poor People’s Campaign” to plan a massive “occupation” of Washington, DC in 1968 to challenge the prevail-ing and pervasive stranglehold of economic injustice not only for black people, for all of “God’s children.” The Rev. Andrew Young, at that time, was one of

Dr. King’s most trusted assis-tants. With respect to the call for the Poor People’s Campaign, Young stated, “We intended to arouse the conscience of the na-tion around the issues of poverty as we had challenged the nation to reject segregation. We hoped the process of training and mo-bilization would empower poor people in a new social movement that transcended race.”

Today, in just a few months time since their initial demon-strations, the Occupy Wall Street movement has been successful in staging major non-violent civil disobedient protests from New York City to Los Angeles and throughout the U.S. around the issues of income inequality and economic injustice. But beyond the growing number and size of the Occupy Wall Street protests, their greatest accomplishment thus far has been the raising of awareness on a national level about the contradictions of pres-ent-day income inequities and injustice.

That is why I am so grate-ful for the vision and responsible outreach of Russell Simmons, the Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, Zach Mc-Daniels, Bishop John R. Bryant, the Rev. Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr., and many other black clergy leaders from across America who have affirmed, “Occupy the Dream” as ecumenical coalition of church leaders who are join-ing with the brothers and sisters of the Occupy Wall Street move-ment to push for economic justice for all in the legacy of the dream of the King. We are part of the 99 percent who are challenging the 1 percent who increasingly control the wealth and future prosperity of the nation.

The Black church in America continues to be the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement and all successful movements for change in this nation in the last 100 years have involved the pres-ence and the visionary activism

of the Black church. Now with the increasing poverty, dispro-portionately high home foreclo-sure rates and loss of property, unemployment, the lack of the best quality education for our children, absence of good health care delivery, discriminatory and unjust intergenerational incar-ceration, fiscal crisis for Histori-cally Black Colleges and Univer-sities (HBCUs); deterioration of our communities and business, and a growing sense of despair among millions of our youth, it is imperative that African Ameri-cans should not wait passively for someone else to speak out and take action for the economic re-covery of Black America.

Occupy the Dream is the revi-talization and revival of the spirit, consciousness and activism of the Black church community work-ing in strategic coalitions with others to demand and acquire eco-nomic justice and equality. Thank God for the Occupy Wall Street movement and for reminding us of our challenges, responsibilities and opportunities today to make a big sustainable differences in the quality of life in our commu-nities and for all people who cry out for a better way of life. On Jan. 16, 2012, we will be calling

on the Black church and other people who believe in freedom, justice and equality to come out and demonstrate with us in front of Federal Reserve Banks across the nation in both a symbolic and substantive visible protest against the growing massive income in-equality in America.

Occupy the Dream is about building the “Beloved Commu-nity” that King envisioned. King said it best, “Change do not roll on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous strug-gle. And so we much straighten our backs and work for our free-dom.” Yes, we must straighten our minds, backs, money, spirits and souls. We have to work for economic justice….. We have to work for the empowerment of all people. Occupy the Dream! Stop income inequality. The American Spring is coming in 2012. The freedom train is rolling…. Get on board today. Occupy the Dream.

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 (HSAN).

Capital Outlook

Published by LIVE Communications, Inc.

1363 East Tennessee St.

Tallahassee, FL 32308

Capital Outlook Bulk Rate,

Permit No. 562 Postage Paid at

Tallahassee, FloridaSend address

changes to Capital Outlook

1363 East Tennessee St.

Founded in 1975 byStephen K. Beasley

Publisher/PresidentRev. Dr. R.B. Holmes, Jr.

Education EditorDr. Ronald W. Holmes

Office ManagerTaralisha M. Sanders

Advertising(850) 877-0105

advertising@capitaloutlook.com

Editorial and Advertising Office

Phone: (850) 877-0105Fax: (850) 877-5110

Email: info@capitaloutlook.

comWebsite:

www.capitaloutlook.comAnnual subscription

rate: $40Published weekly on

ThursdayAdvertising and

Information Deadline: 5 p.m. the

preceding ThursdayOffice Hours

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

4 www.capitaloutlook.com Opinion Dec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

The parental role against hazing

Occupy the Dream

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., national director of “Occupy the Dream,” left, and Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, national spokes-man of “Occupy the Dream,” right, after announcing the integration of “Occupy The Dream” into the Occupy Wall Street movement on Dec. 14, 2011.

By Judge Greg Mathis

Y o u ’ r e hearing more and more col-lege graduates complain that

the costs they incurred to obtain a degree just wasn’t worth it. In fact, a good number of the Oc-cupy Wall Street protesters that are rallying in cities across the nation are recent college gradu-ates. They’re upset over the rising costs of college education and the amount of student loan debt they now carry. They’re questioning whether or not higher education is worth the cost.

The answer is yes.To be fair, a college educa-

tion can be expensive. Tuition rates vary, depending on the type of school, but the average cost of a four-year, private college is $35,000 a year. Tuition at four-year public colleges is lower, coming in at just under $14,000 a year. Many students take on quite a bit of debt to pay for their education, with the average stu-dent graduating from a four-year school owing around $24,000.

Starting out your profession-al life owing that much money can be overwhelming. However, considering what your future would be like had you not gone on to pursue higher education easily puts things in perspective. A person with only a high school diploma can expect, on average, to earn around $1.2 million over

the course of their lifetime, while those with a bachelor’s degree will earn about $2.1 million. Of course, the field you pursue and how successful you are deter-mines how much you ultimately earn over the course of your ca-reer. But, the message is clear: in-dividuals with an education will make more money over the long term.

It’s not just about money. Educating yourself, whether it is via a traditional university, a junior college or a trade school, opens doors that would normally be closed. The U.S. is currently in a recession and just under 9 per-cent of the population is out of work. But, when you break down the unemployment rate by educa-tion level, you’ll find that only 5

percent of those with a bachelor degree are unemployed, com-pared to a more than 10 percent unemployment rate for those who only have a high school diploma.

The value of higher educa-tion is clear. Yes, it’s expensive. But you should view it as an in-vestment in your future, one that has significant returns. You may have to go into some debt to obtain it, but if you stick it out, you’ll be able to pay that money back because your long-term in-come will be nearly double – or even triple – than it would had you not pursued an education. Finally, after all is said and done, no one can take your education away from you. That confidence in your achievements is priceless.

Pursue higher education

By Terrika MitchellOutlook Staff Writer

Florida officials are rallying students, parents and educators from all 67 counties to participate in its annual Black History Month art and essay con-tests, and Excellence in Education Awards by Jan. 20, 2012.

The theme for this year’s contests is African-American Pioneers Who Advanced Science and Technology: Past, Present and Future.

This year, two art con-test winners, in kindergar-ten through third grades, will be selected. Last year’s winners received a $250 gift certificate. Only three participants total – one each from elementary (4-5), middle (6-8) and high school (9-12) – will be awarded Florida Prepaid College Foundation schol-arships this year.

“We are proud to rec-ognize African-American individuals and their suc-cesses, which have made our state a leader in culture and diversity,” said Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll in a press release from the governor’s office. “As Flor-ida’s first African- Ameri-can lieutenant governor, I hope to continue expanding on Florida’s already diverse environment.”

In addition to the con-tests, students, parents, teachers and principals are invited to nominate full-time African-American educators for the Black History Month Excellence in Education Award and receive a check for $1,500. Last year’s recipients – one elementary teacher, one middle school teacher and one high school teacher – also took home a $250 gift card for education materi-als.

“It is important to re-

member that Black His-tory is American history,” said District 3 Leon County School Board Member Maggie Lewis-Butler. “Leon County schools strive to make sure that our curriculum is ahead of the state standards and bench-marks when teaching Black History – and that means using innovative programs like Blended Lives and teaching Black History throughout the year.”

Lewis-Butler said that the board has passed all information regarding the contests to teachers in or-der to encourage county-wide participation. She also recognizes local essay win-ner Candace Daymond who was one of six to receive a four-year Florida College Plan scholarship from Flor-ida Prepaid College Foun-dation last year.

“This essay contest is something I would definite-ly encourage any student – especially an African-American student – to par-ticipate in because it allows you to not only t a chance to receive scholarship money, but to dive into the research of your culture,” said Day-mond, 17, who now attends Florida A&M University. “I was able to look into my own community to see who has made a big impact in the business world.”

Daymond says the scholarship has also helped alleviate financial worries

as a college student. She is able to concentrate more on her studies.

Those interested in participating can find ad-ditional information like downloadable nomination forms, submission details and more on the contests’ official website, www.FloridaBlackHistory.com. Winners will be notified the week of Feb. 13, 2012, ac-cording to the site.

“The Florida Depart-ment of Education is proud to partner with Governor Scott on the Black History Month 2012 Art and Es-say Contest,” said Educa-tion Commissioner Gerard Robinson. “This opportu-nity provides an education-al experience for students to learn more about the contributions of African-American leaders through-out our state’s history. In keeping with our renewed efforts to enhance STEM education, this year’s essay contest is themed, African-American Pioneers Who Advanced Science and Technology. We encourage all teachers to work with their students to identify the cultural contributions that have strengthened our state and country.”

Terrika Mitchell can be contacted at tmitchell@capitaloutlook.com.

Special to the Outlook

Kenya Hicks, Tashea Stanley-Dixon, Khadija Darr, and Kenji Kuykendall grew up in Waukegan, Illi-nois, about 40 miles north of Chicago. They have all been close friends since they were 12 years old. All four girls became preg-nant while in high school and all four gave birth to sons. All four fathers abandoned the teenagers before they gave birth. All four girls were obliged to go on welfare temporarily so that they could provide for their children. Kenya and Khadija dropped out of high school. One might have bet these four teenag-ers were doomed to a life of poverty in single-parent homes. If you took that bet, you would have lost.

The four teenagers made a pact to support each other and succeed despite the fact that the odds were against them. Through education and hard work, they were determined to give their children a better life. All four went back to school, worked when they were not in school, and received help and support from friends, family, and each other.

Today all four women are in their 30s. They all have graduated from col-lege. By the end of next year, all four will have

MBA degrees.Kenya Hicks was

supported by her parents, grandmother, sister, and friends as she completed an associate’s degree at Rob-ert Morris University and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College in Mis-souri. It took her 12 years to complete college. She is currently pursuing an MBA at the Keller Gradu-ate School of Management. She is in the process of starting up a home service agency. Hicks states, “We inspired and supported each other relentlessly to finish college no matter what challenges we faced so we could change the di-rection of our journey and rewrite our destiny.”

Tashea Stanley-Dixon enrolled in a community college and worked at night calling homeowners who were delinquent in their mortgage payments. It took her eight years but she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College. She too, is enrolled in the MBA program at the Keller Graduate School of Man-agement. She is now a cer-tified paralegal.

Khadija Darr earned an associate’s degree at Rob-ert Morris University and a bachelor’s degree at Co-lumbia College. Almost 90 percent of her course work was completed online. She

is currently enrolled in the MBA program with a con-centration in accounting at Concordia University in Chicago. She currently op-erates her own T-shirt com-pany and has a tax prepara-tion business. She plans to become a certified public accountant.

While working vari-ous jobs and taking care of her son, Kenji Kuykendall attended a community col-lege part time over an eight year period and earned her associate’s degree with honors from the College of Lake County. She then went on to complete her bachelor’s degree in 2008 with a specialization in workforce education de-velopment from Southern Illinois University. She graduated magna cum laude. Currently Kenji at-tends Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and will earn a MBA with a specialization in organiza-tional behavior in January. It was a 14-year journey to complete her education. She now is works in hu-man resources for a major pharmaceutical company in Chicago with aspira-tions of becoming a human resources executive offi-cer. She lives by the mot-to, “Hard work does pay off.” She could not have achieved her goals without the support of her family and friends.

Ronald Holmes, Ph.D.Education Editor/Vice President

People work for 30 plus years to retire and then expect a return on their time investment. This might include a combina-tion of savings, pensions, annuities, royalties and social security. In a stiff economy, school districts are faced with budgetary shortfalls. They are looking for innovative and efficient ways to improve student achievement while manag-ing tight budgets.

So the questions to be asked: How can school dis-tricts benefit from a zero-based budgeting model? How should the zero-based budgeting model be created to show a return on invest-ment? How does the expen-diture budget differ from the zero-based budgeting model?

According to research, zero-based budgeting is defined as a “technique whereby each manager’s budget must be justified from scratch or zero for all existing and newly request-ed programs.” This process is conducted each fiscal year compared to budget-ary decisions being based

on previous year’s funding level.

To get a better under-standing of zero-based bud-geting model, I interviewed Superintendent Kelt Coo-per of Del Rio Consolidat-ed Independent School Dis-trict in Del Rio, Texas. As superintendent with experi-ence in multiple school dis-tricts, Cooper says that the zero-based budgeting mod-el “analyzes human materi-als and data to determine if there is value” in activities being funded. He believes that all activities must have a purpose and desired out-come. School leaders must be able to defend their rea-sons for spending. They must measure the effective-ness of the activities to de-termine if there is a return on investment.

In order to show a re-turn on investment, Cooper says that the zero-based budgeting model must crit-ically analyze whether the activities being conducted are meeting their intended objective in the most ef-ficient way. He explained that many schools organize staff development activities just for the sake of having activities to satisfy federal guidelines. Cooper pro-vided an example where a school district spent al-

most $15,000 to promote a district-wide parental involvement activity at a community civic center, however, less than 20 per-cent of the parent popula-tion attended the event. In addition, the activity was a duplicate to an open house activity meaning the bud-get could have been spent in some other capacity and at a cheaper cost. In a similar case example, Coo-per talked about a Quilting Club that had a sizeable stipend and functioned for eight years without any stu-dents. The return on invest-ment was nil yet the prin-cipal was maintaining the program on the books and transferring the funds to his student activity account.

Through the zero-based budgeting model, Cooper says that there are baseline facts you cannot ignore, such as teachers’

contracts. However, he be-lieves that you still can look at efficient ways to budget activities to meet the needs of the organization.

When newly appointed Superintendent Dr. Cher-yl Atkinson of DeKalb County School System was questioned about how she would address spending at a recent roundtable meet-ing for faith-based leaders, she said the county will implement the zero-based budgeting model and focus its attention on what is best for children with regards to spending. Atkinson further noted, however, that she has to first staff on non-negotiable items and train principals to be good lead-ers in spending funds.

In contrast to the zero-based budgeting model, Cooper says that most school districts use the ex-penditure model by simply reviewing the revenues and expenditures from the pre-vious year with the under-standing that everything is fine. These districts engage in cutting activities from the budget without little or no consideration of what can be cut as oppose to as-sessing the effectiveness of programs from year to year. They fail to review every budget item at school and

determine if the activity was successful or not. Coo-per believes that the school budget should be tailored to the needs of students. It should include things that you can measure and evaluate periodically and annually.

Cooper cautions schools from budgeting for one thing and then spend-ing on another. He says that if you budget items for football equipment, then the funds should be spent for football equipment, not pizza. In addition, Cooper cautions schools from cut-ting funds from the budget when items have already been approved. He says this is a disservice to the school and contradicts the zero-based budgeting process.

Cooper’s favorite slo-gan regarding the zero-based budgeting model is that, “if it is worth doing at all, it is worth doing excep-tionally well.” He believes that people should view the budgetary process as if they were spending their own money. He believes that school districts should treat the zero-based budget-ing model like a business allowing the business plan to drive the process. On the same note, Cooper be-lieves the school improve-

ment plan should drive the process for planning, implementing and measur-ing school activities for their effectiveness. He em-phasizes that if the activi-ties provide favorable out-comes, they demonstrate a return on investment and, consequently, get reinstated for the subsequent year.

So, just as a person working for 30 plus years expects a financial return on investment of those years, the school budget-ing process must take into account what is the most favorable return on invest-ment for the dollars being spent. Thus, school leaders must assess the best use of taxpayer’s dollars and bud-get the money as if they are handling their own invest-ments for the future.

Dr. Ronald W. Holmes is the author of Education Questions to be Answered. He is the National Super-intendent of Education for the National Save the Fam-ily Now Movement, Inc., a former teacher, school administrator, and district superintendent and can be reached at rwholmes@cap-italoutlook.com.

5www.capitaloutlook.comEducationDec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

How can school districts benefit from a zero-based budgeting model?

Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.

Against all odds: A story of tenacity, hard work, and higher education

(left to right) Kenya Hicks, Kenji Kuykendall, Tashea Stanley-Dixon and Khadija Darr.

Special to the Outlook

Xavier University in New Orleans has signed an agreement with the government of China to establish a Confucius Institute on campus. There are more than 300 Confucius Institutes worldwide and 80 are in the

United States. Universities and school systems that establish a Confucius Institute receive support to develop Chinese language and cultural courses.

Under the agreement, Xavier will begin to offer courses in the Mandarin language during the spring 2012 semester. A group

of students from Xavier will travel to China this summer to study at Hebei University.

Xavier will be the first historically Black college or university and only university in Louisiana to have a Confucius Institute.

Xavier University of Louisiana to establish a Confucius Institute

Fl. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll

Statewide Black History Month contests get local support

Leon County School Board Member Maggie Lewis Butler

By Ashley HogansOutlook Staff Writer

An upcoming gospel

singer by the name of Daniel James has been singing for the gospel of God since the age of 3. As a child, James has always had the passion for singing, especially growing up in a musically inclined family.

“I have a family of eight siblings, and we are singers, ministers, musicians or a combination of the three,” said James.

James was raised in a household where his mother made sure he and his siblings attended church every Sunday. As an adolescent, he realized God blessed him with a voice to minister to individuals by song. James remembers singing and feeling the presence of a large crowd of people as a youth.

“While singing on the side of the house, I always felt a massive amount of people around me,” said James. “So I felt that God introduced the people that I would eventually help or encourage at a very young age.”

James became the gospel choir director at Florida A&M University in1994, leading sopranos, altos and tenors for five years.

During his tenure, he met many mainstream gospel singers such as Kirk Franklin, the Clark Sisters and Donald Lawrence. He was also featured on FAMU’s CD release, “Twinkie Clark-Terrell presents the FAMU Gospel Choir.”

James is a songwriter

and also arranges music. He has released two

albums in the past, and recently launched his third CD on Veterans Day titled “Be grateful.”

“I named it ‘Be Grateful’ because I think we all need to have the transcend value of what it means to have family, friends and freedom,” said James. “I released it on Veteran’s Day because these freedoms were not just given to us; they were fought for us, and I am hoping with KJV Records, it will draw a line in the sands that music should not be entertaining but engaging. When it engages people, it fulfills people.”

James and KJV records hosted a launch party on Friday, Nov. 11. KJV Records, a production company owned by James,

is designed to promote the message of Jesus Christ through the production of gospel music to raise the awareness of music worldwide.

“I feel like it’s my season,” James said. “When you see the season, and you see that door and that opportunity, I just maximize on it. I felt like that was the great thing to do from such a great organization such as FAMU’s Gospel Choir.”

James works as an accountant in Tallahassee while also making it his duty to sing the gospel statewide. He currently sings every 5th Sunday at the House of Blues in Orlando during the “Sunday Gospel Brunch” and is known for his mix of jazz, show tunes and hip-hop ballads.

“I think music is a vehicle for me to share compassion with people of all races,” said James. “I have been tailored to have more of a universal appeal, and not like a pop singer, but I think I understand the platform that is presented to me. I think that comes with age and maturity.”

James Daniel’s music can be purchased at www.danieljamesonline.com or Amazon.com.

Ashley Hogans can be contacted at ahogans@

capitaloutlook.com.

6 www.capitaloutlook.com Religion Dec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

Devotional — “Reflections”

By Dennis FisherSpecial to the Outlook

Not long ago, I passed a milestone marking 20 years since I began keeping

a spiritual journal. As I reread my first few entries, I was amazed I ever kept it up. But now you couldn’t pay me to stop!

Here are some benefits I have received from journaling: From life experiences, I see that progress and failure are both part of the journey. I’m reminded of God’s grace when I read how He

helped me to find a solution to a major problem. I gain insight from past struggles that help with issues I am currently facing. And, most important, journaling shows me how God has been faithfully working in my life.

Many of the psalms are like a spiritual journal. They often record how God has helped in times of

testing. In Psalm 40, David writes: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps” (vv.1-2). Later, David needed only to read that psalm to be reminded of God’s faithful deliverance.

Journaling may be useful to you too. It can help you see more clearly what God is teaching you on life’s journey and cause you to reflect on God’s faithfulness.

For Further ThoughtTo begin a journal: Record your struggles, reflect on a

verse that is especially comforting or challenging,

orwrite a prayer of

thankfulness for God’s faithfulness.

Reflecting on God’s faithfulness in the past

brings hope for the future.

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

Reverend Dr. R. B. Holmes , Jr.

Daniel James

Daniel James “Be Grateful”

Special to the Outlook

Ashley Butterfield, a native of Cocoa, Fla., is happy to spend Christ-mas with her family after a 2-year stint w/ the Peace Corps.

“Well, my plans are still in the works,” said Butterfield. “I am work-ing desperately trying to

convince my mother and older sisters to have a non-traditional Christmas din-ner. I threw around the idea of an Island-style seafood Thanksgiving, which I pre-sented as a tribute to my father, who is from Turks and Caicos Island, but my American born family members were not buying it. However, I think this

Christmas I will get my seafood wish.”

On Nov. 1, the Florida A&M University alumna touched down on Ameri-can soil for the first time in two years following a “life-changing” experience in Africa with the Peace Corps.

“In the fall of 2007, the beginning of my senior year of college, I asked myself, ‘What do I really want to do? What would really make me happy?’ My answer was to get out there and see the world,” she said. “The Peace Corps fit. It afforded me an oppor-tunity to catch my dream, whilst making a positive contribution to my profes-sional career.”

Abroad, Butterfield has traveled to 11 coun-tries in Africa: Swaziland, where she did her Peace Corps service, South Af-rica, Mozambique, Zim-

babwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt. In addition to Africa, she has traveled to Jordan, which is an Asian country in the Middle East.

Butterfield, who earned her bachelor’s de-gree in health care man-agement in 2008, says volunteering is paramount because “none of us exist in isolation.

“People might not realize it, but the qual-ity of their neighbor’s life, their community’s life, af-fects their own,” she said. “Those without take to supply their needs, be it il-legally by theft, or legally through social policies de-signed to support the poor by milking off the almost poor working class.”

In 2006, Butterfield, along with students from FAMU, Morehouse, Spel-man, James-Madison Uni-

versity and other HBCUs from around the country participated in Katrina on the Ground, a grassroots initiative in which college students volunteered dur-ing their Spring Breaks in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

“Before going to New Orleans, I did not feel con-nected to the hardships of the people,” she said. “Like September 11, I internal-ized it as an event. A tragic event, yes, one in which I watched on television and felt momentarily sad about. But as an American, being that these tragedies hap-pened on American soil, I assumed that the govern-ment was, or soon would be, taking care of it all. It wasn’t until I arrived in New Orleans that I realized what had happened, how the people were neglected during the storm and still were being neglected post

Katrina. Once there, I let God use me.”

The Peace Corps works to emerge in essen-tial areas such as informa-tion technology, business development and contrib-uting to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Peace Corps vol-unteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their chil-dren and their communi-ties.

“I am blessed to share that I have had so many awesome, once in a life-time, experiences that it is merely impossible to se-lect a favorite memory,” she said. “I have danced with 60,000 topless virgins, swam beside the largest shark species in the world, fed a pack of wild hyenas and even dislocated my ribs bungee jumping. This ex-perience has been unreal.”

7www.capitaloutlook.comCommunity NewsDec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012

Ashley Butterfield spent two years in Africa as part of the Peace Corps.

FAMU alumna returns home after two year mission in Africa

LEON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERSJOB OPENINGS

THE FOLLOWING PO-SITIONS ARE “Open Until Filled”

Application Development Analyst(Applications & Database)

IT Technical Support Spe-cialist II

Sustainability Program Co-ordinator

THE FOLLOWING PO-SITIONS ARE “OPEN CONTINUOUSLY”

Paramedic (PRN)EMT (PRN)

For additional information on these positions and oth-er job openings:• Go to www.leoncountyfl.gov/HR/jobs/joblist.asp• Call our Job Line at (850) 606-2403• Watch Comcast Channel 16 (Tuesdays 9am-12am)• Visit Human Resources, 315 South Calhoun Street, 5th Floor, Suite #502

An Equal Opportunity Em-ployer

HIRING (APPLY NOW!!!)Immediate opening in busy office for an Personal As-sistant/Receptionist. This position is responsible for basic office duties and handling and routing office phone calls to the appropri-ate party.The candidate must be or-ganized, well-spoken, and reliable. Good computer

skills and basic under-standing of technology is also required.This is a part time posi-tion with hours of 11am to 3pm, Mon. -- Fri. We offer a competitive sal-ary plus health benefits. To apply for this position please email your resume to George on (workatfurni-ture2@gmail.com.)

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SECOND JUDICIAL CIR-CUIT, IN AND FOR LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NUMBER: 2011-CP-604

IN RE: ESTATE OF

DELORES ROBERTS,

Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administra-tion of the Estate of DE-LORES ROBERTS, de-ceased, File Number 2011-CP-604, who died testate is pending in the Circuit Court for Leon County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 301 South Monroe Street, Tal-lahassee, Florida 32301. The name and address of the Personal Representa-tive and the Personal Rep-resentative’s attorney are set forth below.

ALL INTERESTED PER-SONS ARE NOTIFIED THAT:

All persons on whom this notice is served who have objections that chal-lenge the qualifications of the personal representa-tive, venue or jurisdiction of this Court are required to file their objections

with this Court, WITHIN THE LATER OF THREE MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All creditors of the de-cedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this no-tice is served within three months after the date of the first publication of this no-tice must file their claims with this Court WITHIN THE LATER OF THREE MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and persons hav-

ing claims or demands against the decedent’s es-tate must file their claims with this Court WITHIN THREE MONTHS AF-TER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS, DE-MANDS, AND OBJEC-TIONS NOT SO FILED WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

The date of the first publi-cation of this Notice is De-cember 22, 2011.

Personal Representative:LAWRENCE L. ROB-ERTS919 SAN LUIS ROAD.Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Attorney for Personal Rep-resentative:Martin L. Black, Esquire219 East Virginia StreetTallahassee, Florida 32301850-222-1343

CLASSIFIEDS

Employment

Legal Notice

In a time of an uncertain economy, this book provides so-lutions for improving America’s schools through federal funding, programs, services, community partnerships, ac-creditation 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, discrepancies and issues, this book can be useful to graduate students, professors, researchers, university administrators and education state agencies. While America’s schools are faced with numer-ous challenges in today’s society such as the lack of family

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

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

stability and parental involvement, this book also provides a roadmap for successful and struggling schools in the U.S.

Want to Know More About Prayer and its Power?

Need Someone to Pray for You or a Loved One?

Have a Praise Report?

Tune into WTAL 1450AM Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

at 11:30 a.m. For

Hosted By Rev. Dr. Frank McDonald

CALL 850-877-0105

For Sponsorship Opportunities

CALL

850-671-1450 For Prayer Requests and

Praise Reports

Special to the Outlook

Informed Families/The Florida Family Partner-ship (I.F.) announced that 10-year-old Mirah Abula-ban, a fifth-grade student at Sealey Elementary School in Tallahassee, won the 26th annual Red Ribbon Week’s contest “It’s Up to Me to be Drug Free.” The nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign reaches more than 6,000 schools throughout Florida every year, and 80 million people nationwide. “As schools across Florida cel-ebrated Red Ribbon Week this year, our new con-test helped students take the message home,” said Peggy Sapp, IF’s President and CEO. “By entering the

contest and decorating their homes together, families carried the message to their communities.”

Students from through-out the state entered the contest by decorating their homes together with their parents - mailboxes, front doors and fences. Parents uploaded photos to I.F.’s website and Facebook page, then friends and fam-ily voted and the entries with the most votes won (throughout six regions in Florida). “The $1,000 gift to our school from In-formed Families comes at a crucial time, and we are very appreciative at Sealey Elementary,” said Principal Demetria Clemons. Mi-rah’s mother, Esperanza Abulaban, adds: “This re-

ally encouraged parent in-volvement and created the opportunity to begin this dialogue at home about such an important issue for families. Parents from throughout our neighbor-hood were also informed, and the message spread ev-erywhere. We printed flyers and sent them to all the par-ents, and the kids were so eager to enter the contest.” Mirah’s 6-year-old brother, Zaid, also worked on the project with his sister and their parents.

“Informed Families is very grateful to all who participated in this year’s contest,” adds Peggy Sapp. “We received so many wonderful entries from across the state, and an outpouring of support with

over 22,000 votes in dur-ing the two-week voting period. We are so happy for the winning families who will receive an iPad2 for themselves and $1,000 for their school.” The winning entries are online at www.informedfamilies.org.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was a national partner again this year for Red Ribbon Week. “SAM-HSA was honored to con-tinue being part of this ef-fort for many years, and we hope together we will con-tinue to reach more audi-ences to prevent substance abuse within our families, schools, and communities,” said Frances Harding of SAMHSA. Also partner-

ing was the DEA: “Par-ticipating in Red Ribbon Week each year shows you care about having a healthy body and a clear mind free of drugs,” said Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator of

the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. “Take the pledge, because it’s up to you and me to be drug free!”

Mirah Abulaban, a fifth-grade student at Sealey Elemen-tary School won the 26th annual Red Ribbon Week’s contest.

Sealey Elementary student wins red ribbon week 2011 contest

All Night CROP When: Dec. 30 – Dec. 31 Time: 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. 820 E Park Avenue, A-100AN EXCITNG 12 HR CRAFT NIGHTCost: $40.00 ppINCLUDING: A Beautiful

Design Studio available for sewing, Lots of Tables for; Scrapbooking, Jewelry Mak-ing and Card Making. Incred-ible Gourmet Meal, Refresh-ments, Professional Massages, Exciting Entertainment Fun, Door Prizes and More!

Fees Due: Dec. 28 Call: April Vicary at 850-264-6024 or 850-656-0432 Anderson Chapel AME Church“New Year Revival Services”Time: 7 p.m. Nightly

1307 Harlem StreetWhen: Jan. 4Rev. Jeffery GrahamBethelonia AME ChurchTallahasseeWhen: Jan. 5Rev. Lee E. PlummerSt. James AME Church

Quincy, Fla.When: Jan. 6Rev. Freddie E. Glenn, PastorAnderson Chapel AME ChurchTallahassee

www.capitaloutlook.com8 Dec. 29, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012Capital Outlook

Publix will be open until 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve.

And open until 7 p.m.New Year’s Day.

Happy New Year