I will be attending the Faculty Senate meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28 as one of my three meeting requirements for the semester.

Meeting 1/3: State of the City address

New Huntington Mayor, Steve Williams, presented the annual State of the City address Friday afternoon to Huntington residents and city council members.

Williams used The State of the City address as a way to establish his plans to make the city of Huntington better and to no longer be the “butt of the joke.”

Williams addressed several subjects during his 45 minute speech, including the city budget, beautification, increasing the arts in the city by creating a council for the arts and bringing more business to the area.

Williams strayed from his prepared speech due to nerves, but managed to speak more openly about the subjects he finds important to make the city a better place for all those who live in and visit it.

The mayor said Huntington’s government is the most efficient in this part of the country, saying the residents of Huntington “get more with less.”

He made no hesitation to thank the city employees for the work they do and the long hours they put in, and said they deserve a pay raise, which has not been seen since 2007.

He also mentioned beautification of the city and will begin to crack down on residents who leave "junk" on their property visible to other residents. Williams said property owners must take responsibility for the area they own, and that means keep it looking nice and not like a junk yard.

Williams continued to say he plans to meet with area landlords because everyone in Huntington deserves a safe place to live. He said nearly half of Huntington residents are renters.

The mayor also discussed increasing the arts in the city by creating a council for the arts, which Williams said is "long overdue." He said he has a goal of bringing more film business to the area, because there have been filmmakers coming to the area to produce projects. He said hopefully one day producers and actors will come to "Hollerwood" instead of "Hollywood."

Williams will be creating the mayor's office of film, theater and broadcasting with the goal of anyone coming into the office knowing every step that has to be done in order to conduct business in Huntington.

He also wants to create an office for physical fitness, due to Huntington being one of the unhealthiest communities in the United States. He is going to have "mayor's walks," inviting members of neighborhoods to walk and talk about the community, encouraging refreshing exercise to make Huntington a healthier place.

The $43 million budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year is $1 million more than the 2012-2013 fiscal year budget, with no tax or fee increases for Huntington residents. 

***This will be run as a brief in the 2/18 version of The Parthenon.

2013 State of the City address- EXTRA CREDIT

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams
presents the State of the City address
Friday at a city council meeting.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams addressed City Hall Friday to give the annual State of the City address.

The speech lasted about 45 minutes and touched on several topics including the city budget, a beautification plan and the art community bringing more business to the area.

Williams strayed from his speech and seemed nervous presenting it. The State if the City address was the first time community members had heard Williams speak as mayor of Huntington since his inauguration last month.

Assignment #9 - State of the Union address

Watching the State of the Union, Tuesday.

Obama began his fourth State of the Union address Tuesday night by quoting President John F. Kennedy – “the Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress…it is my task to report the State of the Union – to improve it is the task of us all.”

A number of topics were discussed throughout the speech including jobs, immigration reform, education reform and gun control, as well as a few surprise topics such as raising the federal minimum wage and cyber threats.

The topics I anticipated being discussed during the speech included gun control, gay rights, women’s rights and immigration. He touched on all of these subjects at least once, but he also discussed some topics which could have been considered unexpected, such as climate change and raising the federal minimum wage. 

According to a survey conducted by Quinnipiac University, 35 percent of Americans wanted the economy to be discussed, and 15 percent of Americans said gun control was a top priority. The survey also said 12 percent of Americans were concerned about healthcare. These three topics were all heavily discussed during Obama’s speech.

The president announced a “fix-it-first” plan, which is a program to be used to put people to work when repairs are urgent. He also mentioned a Partnership to Rebuild America plan, which will make sure taxpayers do not have to have the whole burden of paying for these repairs.

Budget was the third thing Obama discussed during his speech, saying the deficit has been reduced by more than $2.5 trillion, mostly due to spending cuts and raising taxes on wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

Health care is a topic that took up several minutes of the address. He said his Affordable Heath Care Act is already slowing the growth of the cost of health care. Obama urged Congress to support him and make his plans a reality to ensure all Americans can afford health care, no matter their financial standings.

Obama shifted his discussion and mentioned the addition of more than 500,000 manufacturing jobs in the past three years, after cutting jobs for the past 10 years. The addition of three manufacturing hubs in America was announced, and also included Apple bringing jobs to America for the production of Mac computers. These additions will bring many more jobs to America, lowering the overall unemployment rate in the country. 

Climate change is a topic he discussed, mentioning 12 of the hottest years on record have occurred in the past 15 years. The president said it is important for the future of our children to find a solution to climate change and the rising temperatures and terrible storms wreaking havoc on different parts of the United States. Step one will be reducing pollution, and then to find more sustainable sources of energy.

A surprising topic of discussion was education, specifically preschool education. In most places, preschool is not a necessary form of education, possibly causing children who do not attend to be behind before they even start kindergarten. Obama also mentioned American high schools lacking in educational success, compared to high schools in Germany, where graduates leave with an educated equivalent to an American community college education, and prepared to enter the workforce. He said a high quality preschool will help children from falling behind in the “race of life,” and no child should be behind academically due to a poor education system.

Immigration reform took up another several minutes of the State of the Union address, and it was a topic expected to be discussed. Obama mentioned stronger border security and more boots on southern border in order to reduce entrance illegal immigrants to the lowest numbers in 40 years. He also suggested background checks, requiring immigrants to pay taxes and also learning English to become a citizen. He said real reform means fixing the legal immigration system.

Obama plans to finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this year, so men and women will finally make the same wages for the same work. Along with that, he plans to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.

“Let’s tie the minimum wage to the cost of living,” is an idea Obama agreed with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on. There is no reason anyone who works full time should live under the poverty line. Although inflation would cause prices of goods and services to go up with the rise of minimum wage, it will still likely help a lot of people in their day-to-day lives.

America will complete its mission in Afghanistan, and over the course of 2013, 34,000 military troops will return home to their families.

“By this time next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over,” Obama said, giving hope to Americans with family members overseas fighting for their country.

Gun control was the last topic discussed Tuesday night. Obama said many supporters of the second Amendment have come together for common sense reform, including background checks prior to the purchase of guns and senators working together on laws to prevent selling guns to criminals.

Obama said each person and family who has lost someone or been injured due to gun violence, especially in the last two months, deserves a vote in Congress.

The president told a story hitting close to home for him, of a 15-year-old girl named Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed one mile from his Chicago home, one week after his inauguration, where she performed.

There have been more than 1,000 deaths since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Conn., because of bullets, which is 1,000 too many.

 “They deserve a simple vote,” Obama said in support for stronger gun control laws for former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Pendleton, the families of Newtown, Aurora and Blacksburg victims, as well as the other communities across America who have experienced gun violence recently.

It was made clear that not every act of violence can be stopped, but we can help shrink the number of violent attacks occurring in the United States.

I predicted a surprise during the speech, and Obama gave me several. Overall, I think my predictions were about 75% accurate, with some topics being simply overlooked or just not thought of at all.

The president gave Americans a lot to anticipate for in the coming year – of course, Rome was not built in a day, and all of these changes will not happen overnight, but if American citizens can stick together, things can change for the better. United we stand, divided we fall.

2013 State of the Union predictions

Rachel Ford
JMC414
Jan. 30, 2013
State of the Union prediction column

Millions of Americans will tune in to President Obama’s first State of the Union address as a second-term president on Feb. 12 when he addresses the nation on how the country is doing and what he plans to do throughout 2013.

Obama will take the podium to address the United States about the upcoming issues he hopes to tackle in the upcoming year, such as gun control, equal rights for gay men and women, immigration and rights for women.

The 2013 address will be Obama’s fourth State of the Union. It is not customary for a newly elected president to give a State of the Union, so he did not give a State of the Union address in 2009.

The purpose of the State of the Union address is to give the citizens of the United States a report on the condition of the nation. It also allows the president to present his planned agenda and things he considers a priority.

The ability for the president to give the annual address is stated in the United States Constitution. Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 states the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

The president will likely discuss several hot-button issues, many of which have come to light in the recent past.

Gun control is an issue that has been on the minds of Americans since the Newtown, Conn., tragedy in December, resulting in the deaths of more than a dozen children. The president is pushing for tighter gun control laws due to the recent shootings that have happened nationwide in an attempt to make communities safer. It’s predicted this topic will take up a considerable part of his State of the Union address and be a stand-out topic throughout the evening.

The topic of gun control is recent, as it had not been addressed in past State of the Union addresses by Obama.

During his first term, President Obama began fighting for equal rights for same sex couples. President Obama publicly announced his support of equal rights for same sex couples and gay men and woman individually, as well as repealed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in late 2010, allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military.

Obama was the first president to mention the subject of equal rights for gay men and women in a formal speech, and was the first president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address. It is likely his plans for the fight for equality will be mentioned somewhere throughout the course of his speech, although it will probably not be a large part of the address.

The president will also likely discuss equal rights for women. This was another topic mentioned briefly during his inauguration speech, and will probably be discussed more in depth during the State of the Union. According to his official website, he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act in 2009, which would allow women the right to be paid the same as men for doing the same amount of work. This topic was discussed during the 2012 address, where Obama said, “An economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work.”

Obama is also trying to keep abortion a legal practice, believing women should have final say in what happens to her body, with help deciding from a doctor—the president believes politicians should not be involved in any way with decisions made by individual women.

Women were recently granted the ability to fight in combat in the military for the first time since 1994. The president may address this topic and what it means for the future of the United States military, as well as what it means in terms of equal rights for women.

Immigration is an issue President Obama will likely make a high priority. He wants to continue to control borders, but also wants to make it easier for people to become citizens. Wants to approach it broadly with a bipartisan view. The president wants to have a completely restructured immigration laws for citizenship, and it is predicted that will be a topic he mentions more in depth during his speech.

Obama’s official website summarizes his views on the issue of immigration by saying “President Obama refuses to give up on DREAM Act. He believes that young people, who were brought here through no fault of their own, should be able to earn citizenship through military service or the pursuit of a higher education.”

President Obama also is likely to discuss several other issues that are important for the continued success of the United States, but only few will be seen has high priority issues. There is always room for a surprise and the eyes of those watching will be on Obama as he makes first State of the Union address as a second term president.

The State of the Union address began in 1790, when George Washington gave the first address to the newly formed United States. According to the “History, Art & Archives” section of the House of Representatives website, Washington gave, to date, the shortest address, at just more than 1,000 words. The longest address was given by President William H. Taft in 1910 at 27,651 words. President Obama’s 2012 address was about 7,000 words.

http://www.barackobama.com/gun-reform?source=gunreform-20130117-hp

http://history.house.gov/Institution/SOTU/State-of-the-Union/

http://www.barackobama.com/equal-rights

http://www.barackobama.com/immigration

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/dont-ask-dont-tell-timeline/

United States Constitution

Transcripts for past State of the Union addresses

Tri-State Airport Authority- Beat Report #1

Tri-State Airport Authority

People I talked to:

1) Beckie McKinley – Marketing Director for 14.5 years

2) Jerry Brienza- Airport Director for four years

Current projects:

1) Remodeling interior of airport
2) Looking to find replacement airline after departure of Delta in 2012.
3) Building more taxiways (major 2013 project)
4) Possible planning of new parking structure (very early, planning stages)

Huntington Tri-State Airport is referred to as a “little city” by airport employees. The facility has its own police department and fire department, as well as two restaurants (Tudors and Gino’s- to be opened soon). Tri-State Airport also has a jet center, used for private airplanes, and also is home to a FedEx building, where packages are sorted and shipped.

Future:

1) I plan on talking to the president of the Airport Authority, Kevin Gunderson.
            2) I also plan on getting to know the members of the airport police department and finding out information about what is actually reported to them as far as crime on airport property, as well as what the do on a day-to-day basis.

Inauguration 2013: Restoring faith in a younger generation

Watching the 57th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 21, 2013

Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. have a lot in common. They both lived their lives with a common theme -- you can achieve anything, as long as you set your mind to it and work hard.

From King's famous advocacy for equality among the races, to Obama fighting for equal rights for homosexuals, both of these men will go down in history as black men who saw something that needed to be changed, and worked hard to make it a reality. 

During King's notable 1963 speech, "all men are created equal," is a line he said which has gone down in history. Fifty years later, Obama followed up to the famous speech by being the first president to mention homosexuals in his inaugural speech.

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," Obama said during his speech, which became a buzz, much like King's speech did 50 years ago.

All people, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation or lifestyle, are created equal, and that is one belief both King and Obama want to restore to the country, especially the younger generations who will grow up to be the future of the United States.

Obama is the first black president the United States has ever seen, which is history in itself, showing the accomplishments King made on the world, but with his own fight for equality, he made sure his the 2013 inauguration would be one to remember.

The inauguration of the president of the United States is a long-standing tradition and an important part of our nation’s history.

The tradition's purpose is to honor the incoming president in a formal manner, allowing the citizens of the nation to witness history. 

The Presidential Inauguration has been a tradition in the United States for more than 200 years. It began in 1789 with the inauguration of George Washington as the United States' first president.

On Monday, President Barack Obama was publically sworn in as a part of the 57th Inaugural Ceremony.

The official, private swearing in was Sunday within the White House. This year marked the seventh time in United States history when the official inauguration day fell on a Sunday.

Monday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an annual celebration of the life of one of the leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The last time the public inaugural ceremony fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was in 1997, the day of President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration. 

While sitting on my couch Monday morning, I watched the inaugural ceremony on television, feeling more like an American than I had in a long time. However, while millions were sitting at home, more than 800,000 people were at the National Mall to witness the event, each with an American flag in hand, reminding viewers at home how united Americans can become, and we are not as divided as it may seem sometimes.

“No matter how many times one witnesses this event, its simplicity, its innate majesty and most of all its meaning that sacred yet cautious intrusting of power from ‘We the people’ to our chosen leader never fails to make ones heart beat faster as it will today with the inauguration of President Barack H. Obama,” Senator Chuck Schumer said during the opening remarks of the ceremony.

Both inaugurations of President Obama are important to the history of the United States, primarily because he is the first black president this nation has seen, and that itself shows the progress the United States has accomplished since King's time.

If it was not for the work of Martin Luther King Jr., there is a chance Obama would never have become president. Although King's life was cut short, he changed the world in ways he wanted, but probably never would have expected.

“Faith in America’s Future” was the theme for the 57th inauguration ceremony.

The theme represents “the perfect embodiment of this unshakable confidence in the ongoing success of our collected journey is an event from our past,” Chuck Schumer, New York senator said during the opening remarks of the ceremony.

The theme of the ceremony could also be related to King and all he did for civil rights in the 1960s. If it were not for him, it is possible none of those people would have been at the National Mall on Monday celebrating what could be considered a result of King's work.

Without our past, we would not have our present, or our future.

To have faith in America’s future means to have faith in the younger generations, which means the younger generations need to have faith in themselves and those around them.

“Americans have always been, and still are a practical, optimistic, problem solving people,” Schumer said. “America always rises to the occasion. America prevails and America prospers…those who bet against this country have inevitably been on the wrong side of history.”

Schumer’s speech had a tone saying America can do anything, and anyone who believes otherwise, will be proven wrong, because as a whole, the nation can achieve anything it sets its mind to, anywhere and at anytime.

“The opportunity to become whatever our mankind, our womankind allows us to be,” Myrlie Evers-Williams, a civil rights activist said during the ceremonial invocation. “This is the promise of America.”

Evers-Williams invocation gave the feeling to those in attendance as well as those watching at home that the United States gives everyone the chance to be what they want to be, which is because the freedom of America allows it.

The president’s inaugural speech had allusions to King's "I have a dream" speech given 50 years ago – an appropriate gesture in honor of the holiday honoring King and the public inauguration ceremony being on the same day.

The similarities of the two speeches could mean a couple of things -- things have not really changed in the 50 years since King stood at the podium, or things are changing in a positive way, but we have different, but related priorities today in 2013.

What these two men have in common is they both believe in people, and they believe everyone should have the same rights, and if everyone comes together, change can happen in a positive way.

Obama mentioned gay marriage – a topic widely discussed, which the president has publicly showed his support for, as well as equal rights for women during his speech – issues he will address during his second term as president.

President Obama is the first president to publicly address same-sex rights in a formal speech. The progress he has already accomplished in his first four years in office is a foreshadowing of the changes to come, hopefully within the next four years. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal," King said in his famous speech. That line could be applied to black Americans in the 1960s or gay men and women today. The message is the same: we cannot stop until everyone has equal rights, regardless of their skin color, sexual orientation, or origin. 

These are subjects are things Obama is clearly passionate about, similar to King and his desire for equality between black and white Americans. Obama could even be considered a modern day version of King in this way. 

King was a strong advocate for civil rights and helped lead the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s before being tragically assassinated in 1968.

The way King advocated for civil rights for black Americans in the 1960s is similar to how Obama is advocating for same-sex rights today, 50 years later.

King’s dreams stated in his famous 1963 speech are still in progress of becoming a reality, but with the help of President Obama, they are coming true.

If you believe in something, there is no way it cannot be a possibility. Strange things happen all the time, so dream big.

President Obama has a lot on his plate for the next four years, but millions of Americans have faith in him, just as he has faith in America.

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Sources used:

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp (Jan. 21)

http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/

http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/facts-and-firsts

http://change.gov/learn/inauguration

http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf (for reference)

Inaugural coverage on CNN