FVSU to hold Presidential Road Race
Runners and walkers will sprint for scholarships during Fort Valley State University’s first Presidential Road Race. The 5K races are set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 in front of the Health and Physical Education Complex. The top five winners of both races will receive gift certificates. Dr. Greg Green, chair of the Health and Physical Education department and Drs. Joseph Cunningham and Clarence Riley, associate professors of health and physical education are event organizers. Prizes will be given to each walker and runner who place in the top five.

“The Office of Student Affairs and the Department of Health and Physical
Education have collaborated to make this an annual fundraiser to assist deserving students receive a quality education at FVSU,” said Dr. Terrance Smith, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management. “We are delighted at every opportunity to provide assistance to our students. All proceeds will benefit future and current FVSU students.”

So far, more than 500 registrants have entered the contest. The race starts at Carnegie Hall, then travels down State University Drive and moves left onto University Boulevard. Contestants turn left on Carver Drive and proceed around to Carnegie Hall. The entry fee is $10.

In addition to the race, a raffle drawing to win an all-you-can-eat wings party for ten at Hooter’s will be awarded. To participate in the drawing, purchase tickets for a $1 during Homecoming Week.

For more information about the race or the raffle, visit the athletics office in the HPE Complex or call (478) 825-6220.

The Lizzie Chapel Baptist Church in Macon conducts the Manna Tutoral Program
from 2:30 PM - 8:00 PM. It's after school program for grades K-12 .
Every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2:30 - 8:00 PM until Mon, Dec 15th. Financial assistance available for those that qualify. Home work assistance, one-on-one and group tutoring, enrichment activities, and evening meals. Transportation and space limited. For more information, call 478 746-8033.

Larry Walker: A Life in Art — Oct. 31-Jan.10, Tubman African American Museum, 340 Walnut St. 743-8544. $3-$5, free for children under 4.

 

Recent Acquisitions: African Art from the Tubman Museum Collection — Jan. 23-April 11, Tubman African American Museum, 340 Walnut St. 743-8544. $3-$5, free for children under 4.

 

Local: Tubman Museum receives $1.5 million grant

Local: Macon City Council votes to maintain park in Pleasant Hill community

Local: Jones County Schools considers 4-day school week

Early voting begins in Georgia

If your hectic schedule ever kept you from getting to the polls on Election Day, Georgia law offers you a great solution - advance voting - designed to meet the needs of today’s busy Georgians. With advance voting you may choose to vote in person before Election Day simply as a matter of convenience. Advance voting allows any registered voter to cast a ballot IN PERSON on the Monday through Friday of the week prior to an election.

At the advance voting office, you must fill out an application and provide one of the permitted forms of identification. You will then be issued a ballot that must be filled out and cast while you are in the office.

Please note that you cannot vote on the day immediately preceding the Tuesday election. Traditional polling places will be open on Election Day. However, if you choose to advance vote you cannot cast another ballot at your precinct on Election Day.

On Monday, September 29th at 6 p.m., “The Mourning After” a bereavement group sponsored by Hospice Care Options and the GCSU Psychology Department is held in room 1-15 in the GCSU Arts and Sciences Building. The event is free and open to the public. (478) 453-8572

First day on the job, NAACP President launches online voter registration drive

In his first week as National President of the NAACP, and with only seven weeks to go until Election Day, Benjamin Todd Jealous has hit the ground running with a message stressing the need to register every possible voter.

“While unprecedented numbers of African Americans voted in this year’s primary elections, there are still an estimated eight million unregistered. That’s just too many” Jealous said.

This week the NAACP launched Upload to Uplift, the NAACP’s new Online Voter Registration Initiative to leverage the powerful, viral effect of the Internet. The registration tool, available at www.naacp.org, allows visitors to register and/or upload the email addresses from their address books in any major email program, like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and others, directly into the online registration system. No one else will contact your friends and family and the information will be completely confidential.

Those contacts then receive a personal and customized email from you, reminding them to register to vote and letting them know just how easy it is to use the online registration tool. They’ll also receive an Election Day reminders to go to the polls.

If you’ve got a web site or blog you can download the voter registration widget to display on your enabling even more people registered to vote. Just click the button on the right to get the widget.

If you haven’t registered to vote yet, get registered now. If you’re already registered, go one step further. Uploading your contacts only takes a few seconds to do, but it can have an important impact on this and future elections.

Fewer Ga. schools face sanctions under federal law
By DORIE TURNER - Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA --The number of Georgia schools facing the stiffest sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law is decreasing, bucking a national trend, according to a new national report.

But the report from the Center on Education Policy says the drop could be because Georgia sets the bar too low for what is considered proficient. The report looks at schools undergoing restructuring - the final resort for schools that consistently fail to meet federal benchmarks.

The number of Georgia restructuring schools fell from 51 in 2004 to 46 last year. Other states examined in the report - California, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio - saw the opposite trend.

Georgia has been accused by several national groups for making state tests far easier than they should be. Groups like the Education Trust say students score much higher on Georgia's exams than they do national tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

For example, one study by Editorial Projects in Education found that the rate of Georgia fourth-graders scoring at or above the proficient level in 2005 was more than 60 percentage points higher on state tests than on NAEP.

"Many states are struggling with this issue of how high they should set their standards, so Georgia isn't alone," said Jack Jennings, president of the Washington, D.C.-based CEP. "Georgia is trying to walk the line between raising standards and helping schools that don't do too well."

Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, said the state has been increasing rigor for the last few years by introducing a tougher curriculum and harder tests. But it takes time for that effort to yield results, he said.

"Obviously we have been raising standards across the board for several years," Tofig said. "I think the report is complimentary of the effort we're making to improve schools. We are trying to tailor. We don't want to do a one-size-fits-all approach to school improvement."

The No Child Left Behind law has a stepped approach to sanctioning schools that don't pass muster.

Schools that fail to meet federal benchmarks two years in a row are put on the national "needs improvement" list. After five consecutive years of not meeting standards - called "adequate yearly progress" - schools must create a restructuring plan.

That can include replacing administration and teachers, reopening as a charter school, having a state takeover of the school or entering into a contract with an outside group to run the school.

First lady speaks about literacy

FVSU faculty, administrators collaborate on book

Writing lab expands to meet students’ needs