By Jim SaundersThe News Service of FloridaSpecial to the Outlook

A Leon County circuit judge Sept. 30 blocked a plan to priva-tize 29 prison facilities, ruling that lawmakers violated the Flor-ida Constitution by approving the changes in the fine print of the state budget.

Judge Jackie Fulford’s ruling had an immediate effect: The De-partment of Corrections (DOC) suspended Sept. 27 scheduled opening of bid proposals from companies that want to run the prisons.

Fulford, in a six-page order, said the constitution required law-makers to change state law or use an already-existing department review process before privatiz-ing the prisons. Instead, legisla-tive leaders put the privatization plan in budget fine print, known as proviso language.

“Based on the record before it, this court concludes that if it is the will of the Legislature to itself

initiate privatization of Florida prisons, as opposed to DOC (ini-tiating it), the Legislature must do so by general law, rather than ‘using the hidden recesses of the General Appropriations Act,’ ” Fulford wrote, partially quoting

a decades-old Supreme Court rul-ing.

Fulford’s order was a victory for the Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA), which along with three correctional officers, challenged the plan this summer.

The PBA has long fought prison privatization efforts, which elimi-nate state jobs.

“You’ve got 4,000 officers today (who) just breathed a sigh of relief,’’ PBA Executive Direc-tor Matt Puckett said shortly after

By Brandon LarrabeeThe News Service Of FloridaSpecial to the Outlook

A state commission officially set Jan. 31 as the date for Flori-da’s presidential primary, cast-ing aside rules agreed on by both national parties and sparking a stampede to January by a handful of traditionally early states.

On a 7-2 vote, with former Democratic Sen. Al Lawson of Tallahassee joining with the panel’s six Republicans, the com-mittee chose to essentially leave Florida’s date where it was when the dustup over the calendar be-gan. The commission itself was created by the Legislature as part of an effort to avoid a showdown with the Republican National Committee (RNC) while ensuring Florida kept a prominent place in the GOP primary process.

The move means Florida will likely lose half of its delegates to the Republican convention next year in Tampa, the only one of the two major conventions that will

officially decide a contested nom-ination. President Barack Obama currently has no challenger in the Democratic primary, and one is not expected to emerge.

But supporters of the Jan. 31 date said brokered conventions were a thing of the past, and the momentum and fundraising boost

from winning a megastate like Florida would overwhelm the loss of delegates in a heated pri-mary. They largely dismissed the threats of retaliation by the RNC.

“If the party wants to pay for the election, we’ll pick whatever date they want,” said House Ma-jority Leader Carlos Lopez-Can-

tera, R-Miami. “But as long as the voters of the state of Florida are paying for this election, I be-lieve it is my constitutional duty to make their impact as great as possible and their voice heard as loudly as possible.”

And former Gov. Bob Marti-nez said Florida would still have sway on the delegate counts.

“Even if we’ve got half, our half is greater than most of the states that went before us,” he said.

Most of Florida’s delegates will be allocated according to which candidate wins each con-gressional district, though a hand-ful will be given to the overall winner of the state.

In a move supporters said proved their point, the Republi-can Party of Florida and CNN an-nounced hours after the decision that they would host a debate in Jacksonville sometime between Jan. 22 and the primary.

Opponents said the state was

Vol. 37, No. 40: Section 01 Tallahassee, Florida Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

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See PRIMARY, Page 2

See PRIVATIZATION, Page 2

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Gift card reseller not delivering deals

If you think getting a $100 Walmart gift card for $50 sounds like a deal too good to be true – you may be right. Online consumer groups and Florida regulators have been fielding complaints about cardilly.com, an Internet outfit that offers to sell deeply discounted gift cards from multiple retailers. Consumers say Cardilly has taken their money but not provided the promised gift cards.

1-800-New-Rules?For-profit lawyer referral

services have operated in Florida since the mid-1980s, but the businesses didn’t get much notice until a few years ago when some of the larger ones, such as 1-800-ASK-GARY and 1-800-411-PAIN, began aggressively advertising. In radio and television commercials, the companies urge motorists to call a referral service as soon as possible after a crash and get linked to a lawyer and doctor.

As the industry has grown, the marketing has become more sophisticated: 1-800-ASK-GARY is paying an estimated $375,000 a year for three years to put its name on a major concert venue in Tampa; 1-800-411-PAIN introduced a 411-PAIN iPhone app this year that allows accident victims to “catalog and report an accident to 411-PAIN, including pictures of the vehicles involved, photos of drivers’ licenses, insurance cards and license plates, and record any bodily pain you have.”

The advertising has attracted attention from more than potential clients. The Florida Bar created a special committee this year to investigate the services and determine if it needs to regulate them.

Florida sets January 31 primary, defying national GOP

Person of the Week

See POW, Page 2

Judge takes drug test injunction under advisement

Congratulations Capt. Audrey Smith . . . Page 5

Taggart sets new heights

Marshall J. Taggart Jr.

See TEST, Page 2

By Terrika MitchellOutlook Staff Writer

Local families turned out for Tallahassee Regional Airport’s (TLH) first Airport Funfest and BBQ Challenge. This is the be-ginning of many initiatives to reconnect the facility with the community, according to the man with a plan.

“We realized that people have been linking with other net-works,” said City of Tallahassee’s new Assistant Director of Avia-tion Marshall Taggart Jr. “This event coincides with the airport’s 2020 Vision to bring consumer allegiance to the airport.”

Taggart joined the TLH team on Feb. 1, focused and motivated to take on a challenge.

“Tallahassee has a unique

Fulford, in a six-page order, said the constitution required lawmakers to change state law or use an already-existing department review process before privatizing the prisons. Instead, legislative leaders put the privatization plan in budget fine print, known as proviso language.

By Michael Peltier The News Service of Florida Special to the Outlook

A federal judge in Orlando on Sept. 26 gave Florida officials 14 days to respond to a lawsuit challenging the state’s ability to drug test applicants for temporary cash assistance.

Following testimony Sept. 26, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven refused to immediately issue an injunction barring the Department of Children and Fam-ilies from conducting the drug screens for new applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

A lawsuit filed by a Univer-sity of Central Florida student, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is ask-ing the federal court to strike

down the law passed by Florida lawmakers earlier this year. At-torneys for Luis Lebron contend the blanket screenings are uncon-stitutional because they amount to suspicionless searches.

Scriven took the motion for an immediate injunction un-der advisement. She can rule on it before the 14-day extension she granted the state to counter Lebron’s motion for class action status on behalf of other TANF recipients who must now pay for and pass drug tests before receiv-ing cash benefits.

Lebron’s attorneys argued that the state had no reason to sus-pect that he abused drugs. Lack-ing any concern over public safe-ty, the state is barred from making such a presumption, they said.

“The governor and the Legis-lature sent their lawyers into court

today to advance a very startling proposition. They argue that some Floridians, namely poor families with children who qualify for temporary public assistance, are not protected by the Constitution of the United States,” said ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon.

The state countered that Leb-ron was allowed to seek benefits or not and he chose to forgo the federal assistance by not taking a test.

“No one forces an applicant to take the test. The plaintiff was notified of his right to refuse and has exercised that right,” the state wrote in its initial response. “Be-cause any invasion of the plain-tiff‘s privacy rights is purely consensual, no search within the meaning of the Fourth Amend-ment‘s prohibition on unreason-able searches and seizures has occurred.”

A U.S. Navy veteran, Lebron is a single, custodial father who is scheduled to graduate in Decem-ber. He was denied benefits when he refused to take the test, which costs between $25 and $45.

Backers of the measure, in-cluding Gov. Rick Scott, say pri-vate businesses have been requir-ing such tests for years and gov-ernment should be no different. A survey released Sept. 28 by the Drug and Alcohol Testing Indus-try Association, a trade group for testing companies, found 57 per-

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven

Former Sen. Al Lawson (left) of Tallahassee supported the January primary date in a 7-2 vote. Rep. Cynthia Stafford (right) voted against the move, saying, “We’re going to play a major role regardless...”

Judge throws out prison privatization plan

Special to the Outlook

As businesses look for opportunities to grow their companies and gain market share, it is critical that they understand new and emerg-ing demands from consum-ers, especially within grow-ing segments, wherever they do business. As the population of the United States evolves to become more ethnically diverse, the complexity of such an ef-fort has grown.

To help close the gap and give insight as to how to address the needs of the growing diverse base, Nielsen – along with the

National Newspaper Pub-lishers Association (NNPA) – developed The State of the African-American Con-sumer Report to better il-lustrate the qualities of the African-American commu-nity, the business opportu-nities that exist and the best methods for a productive connection between busi-nesses and this community.

The African-Ameri-can population is, today, the largest racial minority group in America, with a population of close to 43 million. This market seg-ment’s growth rate contin-ues to exceed the overall population’s growth and

is making continued gains in the area of education and income. The collec-tive buying power of the African-American popu-lation is projected to be at $1.1 trillion by 2015. Col-lectively the group over-indexes in several key cat-egories (television viewing, mobile phone usage and trips to grocery channels) and exerts a large influ-ence on popular culture and trends, indicative of the high growth industries of the future. The three ar-eas of focus for this report include a review of demo-graphic characteristics, a survey of the programs and

mediums favored by the group, and a look at overall consumer packaged goods buying behavior.

The report is also available at nielsen.com and nielsen.com/africana-merican – Nielsen’s mi-crosite which highlights

tailored information to the African-American commu-nity.

2 www.capitaloutlook.com Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011Capital Outlook

Primary from Page 1Fulford released the opin-ion Sept. 30.

An appeal is widely ex-pected, though Department of Corrections spokes-woman Gretl Plessinger said officials were studying the ruling and “determining our options.” The depart-ment is the defendant in the lawsuit, though the Legisla-ture approved the privatiza-tion plan.

House and Senate leaders also indicated they were reviewing the ruling. But Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and House Appro-priations Chairwoman De-nise Grimsley, R-Sebring, disputed arguments that legislative leaders put the prisons plan in the proviso language with little scru-tiny.

“The bottom line is that the language was approved through a public and trans-parent process,’’ Grimsley said. “Any accounts that the language was placed into proviso at the last min-ute are incorrect.’’

Haridopolos said, in part, that the Senate’s bud-get proposal included pro-viso language about priva-tizing prisons before ne-gotiations with the House began.

“Later, that proviso language was amended during the normal confer-ence (negotiating) process – completely in the sun-shine,’’ Haridopolos said in a statement released by his office. “It was not, as some reports have indicated, add-ed in at the 11th hour of the legislative session.’’

Puckett said the PBA had heard rumblings ear-

lier about privatization but didn’t expect the plan to be so far-reaching. He de-scribed Fulford’s ruling as a “pretty strong condemna-tion on how they did this.’’

Similarly, St. Peters-burg Rep. Darryl Rouson, the ranking Democrat on the House Justice Appro-priations Subcommittee, said a “full and fair debate is necessary” on privatiza-tion issues.

“Today’s ruling reaf-firms that it is entirely in-appropriate for legislative leaders to avoid a thorough debate about a controver-sial issue like prison priva-tization by tucking it in the fine print of the state bud-get,’’ Rouson said in a pre-pared statement.

The proviso language offered a roadmap to priva-tize prisons, work camps and other types of correc-tional facilities in 18 coun-ties across the southern part of the state.

Jonathan Glogau, chief of complex litigation in the Attorney General’s Of-fice, argued during a Sept. 29 hearing that the proviso language did not ensure that privatization would oc-cur.

The language called for the Department of Cor-rections to solicit propos-als from private companies and then submit a plan to the Legislative Budget Commission by Dec. 1. If approved by the commis-sion, the proviso said the department “may” award a contract to a private com-pany.

But Fulford did not ap-pear to buy that argument, writing that the proviso language “mandates that DOC privatize numerous facilities in a single pro-curement.’’

Also, she said lawmak-ers did not follow a privati-zation process that already is in state law. That process gives the Department of Corrections a major role in doing analyses and decid-ing whether to move for-ward with privatization.

“(The) court reiter-ates that DOC could have privatized the prisons un-der existing law, so long as DOC acted consistent with existing law, or the Legis-lature could have passed a new law permitting priva-tization,’’ she wrote. “This court merely reaches the simple conclusion that the Legislature may not change existing substantive law by a proviso in an appropria-tions act.’’

Privatization from Page 1

niche that needs to be ad-dressed,” he said. “I saw (coming to TLH) as a tre-mendous opportunity to transform the airport into a viable commercial region.”

Before moving to Tal-lahassee, Taggart was the senior concession manager responsible for new busi-ness development and mar-keting, in his hometown airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Air-port.

“He brings a great deal of experience,” said Sunil Harmon, aviation direc-tor for City of Tallahassee. “He has been instrumental in attracting local business and accomplishing near-term goals such as develop-ing a cohesive marketing plan and making physical improvements (to the air-port).”

Taggart had not planned to work in a direc-tor capacity with an airport but was approached with the opportunity in 2000 while working at the City of Chicago’s Midway In-ternational Airport.

As director of conces-sions, Taggart managed and developed more than 55,000 square feet of new retail, news and gift, food and beverage, and business services space. Thanks to

his efforts, in 2005 Airport Revenue News magazine named Chicago Midway Airport Best Mid-Airport in the concessions program category.

The Clark Atlanta University (CAU) gradu-ate received a bachelor’s in accounting in 1992 and a master’s in public adminis-tration, with concentrations in urban administration and public finance management in 1997. Taggart said that taking college tours and visiting classes as a part of Georgia State University’s Upward Bound influenced his decision to attend col-lege.

“To see African Amer-icans in those positions put the fire in the belly for me to realize ‘Hey, I can go to college too,’ ” Taggart ex-plained.

As the oldest of three children and a first genera-tion college student, Tag-gart influenced his siblings to pursue college. He also inspired his mother to at-tend and graduate from Morris Brown College.

However, his inspira-tion also expands into the community as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., which he said helped him understand how to deal with people, their likes and

dislikes. Taggart noted that his

proudest honor is the Dis-trict Award of Merit for his work with his son’s Boy Scout pack, 3310, “teach-ing character and how to have respect for yourself and others.”

Taggart also spends time with his 14-year-old son playing the trombone – an instrument the former CAU band member has played since he was 12.

“I really enjoy music, especially college bands,” he said. “I think it makes you a well-rounded per-son.”

Thirteen years ago, Taggart married his former accounting tutor, Sherri. The couple also has a 12-year-old daughter.

Jay Townsend, assis-tant city manager in charge of development and trans-portation, considers Tag-gart a “good catch” as well.

“One of (Taggart’s) first tasks was to mold a leadership team,” Townsend said. “It’s a dif-ferent role for his position than in the past but he has exceeded expectations.”

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

POW from Page 1

unnecessarily antagonizing the parties and upending an agreement between the RNC and national Demo-crats aimed at ending a crush of states voting early and short-circuiting party primaries.

“We’re going to be prominent regardless,” said Rep. Cynthia Stafford, D-Miami. “We’re going to play a major role, regard-less. So, again, why don’t we just do it the right way and, again, comply with the rules that have already been established?”

For its part, the RNC said the actions of Florida and a pair of other states who broke the rules, Michi-gan and Arizona, did not make the plan a failure, even though Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina will now all jump ahead of Florida to preserve their premiere status in the nominating contest.

“While the primaries will now start earlier than planned, the overarching goal of the current rules was to allow more states and voters to have a role in choosing the next Republi-can nominee for president,” RNC spokeswoman Kirst-en Kukowski said. “This goal will be met.”

In a conference call with reporters after the Florida vote, senior RNC officials said the state would still face penalties for breaking the rules.

“There’s not some kind of waiver,” one offi-cial said. “There’s nothing that’s going to happen (to restore delegates).”

Even so, the move caused an uproar among of-ficials in the earlier states, who vowed to respond to Florida’s move – even though, with the exception of Iowa, that would also cause them to lose half their delegations. Chad Connel-ly, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party quickly blasted Florida’s decision.

“Rogue states have once again dictated the Presidential nominating calendar. ... States who have worked so hard to maintain the nominating calendar should not be pe-nalized and the offenders, including Florida, should lose their entire allocations of delegates at the National Convention,” he said.

cent of employers conduct drug tests on all job candi-dates.

Critics argue that re-cipients are being singled out based on a myth that poor people are more likely to use illegal drugs. They point out that other gov-ernment programs such as student loans, food stamps and business grants do not require recipients to be screened for drug use.

So far, the state says only 2 percent of recipients have tested positive for ille-gal drugs, a failure rate that is below that of the general population. A 2009 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser-vices found that 8.7 percent of Americans age 12 and older reported using illicit drugs.

Test from Page 1

The state of the African-American consumer

Cloves Campbell, NNPA chairman (right), joined Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen (left) in releasing the report during a press conference at the National Press Club.

Luis Lebron

Rep. Darryl Rouson

3www.capitaloutlook.comLocal Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

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Keller Williams Realty is committed on all frontsBy Paul DelvaOutlook Staff Writer

When it comes to pur-chasing a quality home, it’s imperative for a prospec-tive homeowner to deal with a quality realty com-pany to guide them through the process. Being the sec-ond largest residential real estate company in the U.S., Keller Williams Realty has proven itself as a viable option for any potential homeowner.

The Texas-based com-pany was founded in 1983 in Austin and has opened nearly 700 offices across the U.S. and Canada. Its lo-cal office was established in 1995 and now employs about 200 associates.

One associate, Cecil Higgs, has been with the company since 2005. His specialty is helping people find residential homes and

housing. He said he is proud to work for the com-pany because of its reputa-tion.

“The company has a philosophy that is consis-tent with my own Christian

foundation,” Higgs said. “Emphasis is placed on God first, family second and then the business.”

Higgs also acknowl-edges the company’s com-mitment to its associates.

This is expressed in the Keller Williams Realty mission, “to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living.”

“It’s a family-oriented company,” Higgs said.

Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to providing a better future for its clients. Higgs has demonstrated this commitment.

One client, Rahni Spencer Wright, purchased her home in 2007 with Higgs’ assistance.

“He always seemed very reliable, well in-formed and very proac-tive,” Wright said. “That’s the kind of person that I felt would be best for handling a decision that involved a large amount of money.”

Keller Williams Realty is also committed to giving back to the community.

Higgs said the com-

pany has organized door-to-door food drives and hosted golf tournaments to raise money for research and other worthy causes.

Keller Williams Realty also has an initiative called KW Cares. KW Cares was initiated to support associ-ates and their immediate families in times of intense adversity due to abrupt emergencies.

“Associates came from all over the country to the aid and support of associ-ates impacted by Hurri-cane Katrina and the recent devastation in Missouri,” Higgs said.

Company associates also say that its success comes from the fact that they have a say in how the company is run.

Debra York is the di-rector of career develop-ment.

“(Keller Williams Re-

alty) places the focus on the associates over the com-pany,” York said. “With Keller Williams Realty it’s all about the agent.”

The agents, in turn, are all about their clients.

“(We) go beyond the call of duty to help indi-viduals attain homeowner-ship,” Higgs said.

Cecil Higgs can be reached at Keller Williams Realty Town & Country (850) 201-4663.

Paul Delva can be contacted at pdelva@capi-taloutlook.com.

By Alicia McKnight Outlook Contributor

Infiniti Mincey, a se-nior at Amos P. Godby High School, is an active teen that loves to learn.

Mincey values learn-ing so much that, she said in her spare time, she likes to flip through a dictionary to learn random words.

The 17-year-old Vida-lia, Ga. native is currently taking Advanced Place-ment and Dual enrollment classes.

“I don’t have a favorite subject in school because I’ve always been intrigued by all of my classes,” said Mincey.

Mincey is involved in the National Honors Soci-ety at Godby High School and Professional Opportu-nity Program for Students (POPS).

Maya Angelou is Mincey’s role model and she hopes to become like Angelou.

“She is an inspirational

woman with powerful word usage,” Mincey mentioned. “She has a horrendous past that, to most, would be unbearable and hard to overcome. But instead she did not let where she came from or what she’d been through hold her down from achieving her goal.”

The University of Mi-ami has been one of Minc-ey’s top college choices since beginning high school – though she is still undecided.

“It is a very wonder-ful school with an excellent pre-profes-sion program in the arts and sciences s e c t i o n , ” said Mincey.

Mincey aspires to be-come a med-ical doctor in a hospital or with a pri-vate practice.

If given the opportu-

nity to travel anywhere in the world, Mincey would choose Italy.

“I love the method of transportation – taking boats from one place to the next,” said Mincey.

Mincey is currently reading 1408 by Stephen King.

“I had always wanted to read the chiller after see-ing the movie,” said Minc-ey.

Besides the clubs and other activities Mincey is involved in, school is her first priority.

Mincey puts learning second to none

Infiniti Mincey

“The company has a philosophy that is consistent with my own Christian foundation. Emphasis is placed on God first, family second and then the business,” said Cecil Higgs.

Special to the Outlook

On Oct. 2, Florida A&M University (FAMU) celebrated its 105th Coro-nation. This year, repre-senting the university as Miss FAMU is Nakena R. Cromartie and Mr. FAMU Fredrick Johnson. Cromartie is pictured with Mauriona Nikki King min-utes before the coronation activities began.

Saturday’s activities include the Homecoming Parade. FAMU’s Home-coming Game will be held at Bragg memorial Stadium at 3 p.m. on Oct. 8.

To view a complete list of FAMU’s 2011 Homecom-ing schedule, visit famu.edu.

FAMU jump starts Homecoming festivities with coronation

Cromartie is pictured with Mauriona Nikki King min-utes before the coronation activities began.

Special to the Outlook

The Homecoming Parade will begin at Bre-vard and Monroe Streets and proceed south until it reaches Gaines and Monroe Streets where it will turn east and end.

This year’s parade will give three awards for over-all conformity to the theme; Originality, Creativity, Col-or Eye Appeal, General Eye Appeal, and Craftsmanship based on the Homecom-ing Theme – “This Is How We Do It: The Ultimate Homecoming Experience.” Only those participants that pay the required entry fee are eligible to compete for the monetary awards. The judging committee will de-termine the final placement of entries, and their deci-sion is final.

Each of the following are considered one entry for the parade:

• Marching Band (Free) • Float primary towing ve-hicle ($100) • Walking elements - maxi-mum of 25 people ($100) • Car/Van/Motorcycle ele-ments - maximum of four vehicles $150

FAMU student clubs/organizations are required to pay a registration fee of $25 per group. However, if the club/organization wishes to compete for the monetary awards, they are required to pay appropriate fee listed.

Monetary Awards1st Place $5002nd Place $3003rd Place $200

Floats, cars and trucks must be appropriately dec-orated. At a minimum, en-tries will have a sign locat-ed on the front and sides of the vehicle identifying its activity. Vehicles that are not appropriately decorated WILL NOT be allowed to participate in the parade.

For more information regarding an entry in the parade, contact FAMU’s Army ROTC at (850) 599-3515 or 599-3516.

“This Is How We Do It” Homecoming Parade route

By Marc H. MorialNNPA Columnist

“When ... the Supreme Court gave its

seal of approval to capital pun-ishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that cap-ital punishment would be admin-istered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital pun-ishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.” - Former United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

September 21 was a sad day for American justice. On that date at 11:08 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, the State of Georgia ad-ministered a lethal injection into the body of 42-year-old Troy Da-vis and put him to death. With his dying breath, Troy Davis maintained his innocence in the 1989 shooting death of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Al-len MacPhail. For 20 years, the shadow of doubt that hung over Davis’ conviction grew so large that it galvanized anti-death pen-

alty advocates around the world, including hundreds of citizens wearing “I am Troy Davis” T-shirts who kept a solemn vigil outside the Jackson, Ga. prison until the final hour.

Over the last 20 years, the National Urban League and doz-ens of other prominent organi-zations and leaders argued that Davis’ conviction was in serious doubt. Seven of the nine wit-nesses who originally identified Troy Davis as the murderer, later recanted their testimony. And no murder weapon or other physical evidence was ever found linking Davis to the crime. That is why we joined the NAACP, the Con-gressional Black Caucus, Am-nesty International, former presi-dent Jimmy Carter, Nobel Laure-ate Desmond Tutu, Al Sharpton, former FBI Director William Sessions, Pope Benedict, former Georgia Congressman, Bob Barr and others in calling for Davis’ exoneration or at least further in-vestigation.

The racial subtext of this case cannot be ignored. Davis, a black man, was convicted of killing MacPhail, a white police officer. While African Americans make up only 13 percent of the popu-lation, more than 42 percent of death row inmates are black. Over

75 percent of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nation-ally, only 50 percent of murder victims were white.

Since 1973, a total of 138 men and women have been exon-erated or had their death sentenc-es commuted based on post-con-viction findings that proved their innocence – five of them in the state of Georgia. And, according to the Innocence Project, “Sev-enteen people have been proven innocent and exonerated by DNA testing in the United States after serving time on death row. They were convicted in 11 states and served a combined 209 years in prison– including 187 years on death row – for crimes they didn’t commit.” These disparities and problems cast a long shadow of doubt over our criminal justice system.

People of conscience can disagree on the death penalty, but it is unconscionable by every standard to execute someone who very well might be innocent. Our hearts go out not only to Mr. Da-vis’ family, but also to the family of Mark MacPhail who will never know for sure that his killer was brought to justice.

Legendary Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall was

unequivocally against the death penalty and would have been a dissenter in the 11th-hour Su-preme Court decision allowing the execution of Troy Davis. Mar-shall felt, as we do, that as long as questions of equity, fairness and fallibility persist, we must stop executions and give death row in-mates every chance to prove their innocence.

Marc H. Morial is the presi-dent and CEO of the National Ur-ban League.

By Charlene Crowell NNPA Colum-nist

The holi-day season will soon be upon us. It is the

traditional time when consumer spending surges make the an-nual difference between retailers reaching profits or red ink. But according to a recent consumer study conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of BankRate.com, many consumers have already begun tightening household budgets.

“Forty percent of Americans say they have cut back on spend-ing over the past 60 days due to the roller-coaster stock market or concerns about the economy,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst. “This

type of widespread cutback in consumer spending, if sustained for any length of time, is how re-cessions are born.”

Beyond consumer spending, the study also compared consum-er comfort levels today against those of 12 months ago in four other measures: debt, savings, job security and net worth.

If you’re feeling as if your total assets are fewer than you’d prefer, there are many others holding that same opinion. Across all education levels, consumers said their net worth is lower today than a year ago.

Older Americans, ages 50-64, are feeling the most financial stress. Half on this age group are less comfortable today with their savings than last year. They are also the most likely to have al-ready cut back on spending.

Although consumers earn-ing $75,000 or more were found

more comfortable with their sav-ings levels, they too are spending less.

When consumers considered their personal debts, over half surveyed – 51 cent – found they were about the same as last year. This finding suggests that while consumer may manage debts, becoming debt-free for half of Americans is long-term goal, not a short one.

Job security was perhaps the worst measure. More than half – 60 percent – job security is as elusive now as it was last year. Conversely, only 16 percent felt their jobs were safer today.

David Denslow Jr., a distin-guished service professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Florida and a re-search economist for the Bureau of Economic and Business Re-search offered his interpretation on lingering job insecurity.

“This increased concern ranges from dropouts to college graduates, from the less-skilled to higher earners, from the young to those approaching retirement. And it is remarkable for the be-ginning of the third year after the official end of a recession. The third years of the previous two re-coveries saw rapid job gains. This time may be different.”

In the face of questionable job security, lingering debts, meager savings and lower net worth – the usual merry tone of the holidays may offer less cheer. The economy has taken the form of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Charlene Crowell is a com-munications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at: Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

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4 www.capitaloutlook.com Opinion Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

Congressional Black Caucus gathering shows complexity of Black America

By Julianne MalveauxNNPA Columnist

I don’t know how many Af-rican-American

people came to Washington for the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference (CBC ALC), but there were more than 5,000 gathered at the dinner that featured President Barack Obama as a speaker.

Though the halls of the Washington Convention Cen-ter were full, and it did my eyes good to see people lined up to buy books, some say that the econo-my may have dampened atten-dance. To be sure, the corporate presence did not seem as strong as it has been in the past, yet it is always gratifying to see Ingrid Sanders Jones and the Coca-Cola Co. sponsoring the prayer break-fast, which sizzled this year when the Rev. Freddy Haynes totally threw down.

The high point of the confer-ence may have been President Obama’s strident and almost an-gry speech, challenging Congress to pass the jobs bill, and explain-ing why it must pass. Watching the president, he appeared to be undaunted, but certainly frustrat-ed, by the legislative gridlock and the total lack of cooperation he has been experiencing from Con-gress. If those assembled reach out to their legislative represen-tatives, not all of whom are CBC members; perhaps it will make some difference.

Another high point of the

dinner was the range of wonderful honorees present. They included EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, and also the indomitable Rev. Joe Lowery, who at nearly 90 has as much fire in his belly as he did 50 years ago. He lifted his fist, roused the crowd and exhorted us to keep fighting injustice. He is an amazing example of a civil rights warrior, and he deserves every honor that is bestowed on him.

That may have been the highest point but, from my per-spective, the legislative con-ference contained many highs. There were more than one hun-dred brain trusts, panels or other gatherings both at the convention center and in nearby places, as several organizations also use the legislative conference week as a time to organize their own meet-ings. The White House Histori-cally Black College and Universi-ty initiative, for example, held its conference on Sept. 19-20, before the CBC legislative conference. With everything that is going on, the ALC is a cross between a pol-icy conference, a family reunion, with a few evening parties thrown in for good measure.

Somehow the majority press gets away with focusing only on the party aspect of the gathering. The Washington Post printed a piece that talked about the ingre-dients for a successful CBC party. Ho, hum. Why not a piece about the ingredients for a successful brain trust? Why not some re-porting on the range of issues ad-dressed. There were panels on the environment, the foster care sys-tem, education, wealth, business

development, criminal justice, global affairs and more.

A highlight for me was vis-iting with students from four el-ementary and high schools that were organized by Congress-woman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas. Our panel’s task was to encourage them to consider ca-reers in math and science. With a NASA astronaut, a math educa-tor, an engineer, and this econo-mist on the panel, the students got lots of reinforcement to consider untraditional careers. It was great to see young people gathered and open to learning.

Too, Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, always puts together a panel on youth, which is attended by young people from his congressional district in Baltimore. This year, Cora Masters Barry moderated the panel and brought her young people from D.C.’s Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. Four Bennett students, and hundreds of college students from other cam-puses, were in attendance. While the cynical may say that the CBC conference is the “same old, same old,” it is interesting to view the ALC through the fresh eyes of our young people who are so ea-ger to learn and to make a differ-ence.

Women’s issues were well represented. Melanie Campbell convened the Black Women’s Roundtable with an overflow crowd. Congresswoman Karen Bass, D-California, convened the International Black Women’s Policy Forum to explore the issue of health disparities.

Tony Brown once said that if the ALC were canceled for just one year, that money could be used to fund significant initia-tives in Black America. He may be right. At the same time, I’d like to challenge the Congres-sional Black Caucus Foundation to document some of the out-comes of the ALC, which might include legislation inspired, busi-ness deals closed, scholarships funded, students exposed. If the accomplishments were clearly documented, perhaps, the main-stream press would talk purpose, not party, when they reference next year’s ALC.

Julianne Malveaux is presi-dent of Bennett College for Wom-en in Greensboro, N.C.

A long shadow of doubt: The execution of Troy Davis

Troy Davis was executed by the State of Georgia in September. Prominent organizations and leaders argued that Davis’ con-viction was in serious doubt.

How will consumer confidence affect year-end spending?

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson organized a visit with students from four elementary and high schools during the conference.

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

Students attend college with the hope of earning a good job. Some major in business administration to become a corporate ex-ecutive. Others may major in education to become a teacher. Whatever the ma-jor, those that follow the appropriate career path, combined with their per-sonal interest and commit-ment to the profession, lead to the ultimate objective: employment.

With the alarming un-employment, high school and college dropout rates, the questions to be asked are: What career path can lead to captain of the Tal-lahassee Police Department (TPD)? What education is essential for this position? What advice does the cap-tain give to students who desire to pursue a career in law enforcement?

On Oct. 3, Audrey R. Smith, a native of Cordele, Ga. was officially sworn in and promoted to Captain of the Tallahassee Police Department. As the mother of two children, Larrynnee

and Justus, she becomes the highest-ranking African-American female in the department and the second female of color to hold such title in the agency’s 170-year history. Argatha R. Gilmore, current Chief of Police for Lake City, Fla., was the first.

Captain Smith joins the TPD Command Staff as leader of the Special Op-erations Division. She will be responsible for oversee-ing the planning of special events city-wide and work-ing closely with university officials and city entities and community organiza-tions to create safe venues where citizens of Tallahas-see can enjoy structured events. Units under her command will also handle traffic enforcement and air-port security.

According to Capt. Smith, a combination of education and work expe-rience was instrumental in preparing her for the new assignment with TPD. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s in applied social sciences with an emphasis in public admin-istration from Florida A &

M University. She is a cer-tified public manager and has several hundred hours of specialized training in topics ranging from com-munity policing to incident command to leadership strategies.

Over the past 23 years, Smith has served the TPD in a variety of assignments. In addition to being a patrol officer, she is certified as a crime prevention practitio-ner and burglary/auto theft investigator. Promoted to Sergeant in 1996, Smith worked in patrol, served as the agency’s accreditation manager and led the Crime Prevention Unit as the state of Florida’s Crime Preven-tion Unit of the Year in 2006. Smith was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant

in 2010 where she was one of six watch command-ers in the Patrol Districts prior to becoming the as-sistant division commander in Criminal Investigations Division Property Section. She is also an assessor and team leader for the Com-mission on Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation and a member of the Black Law Enforcement Execu-tives. With all these posi-tions, Smith is considered a leader amongst her peers for employing innovative approaches to problem-solving. Glen Sapp, assis-tant chief of police in Quin-cy, Fla. and college class-mate of Capt. Smith says that “she has always been a bright, positive and ‘get it done’ type of person.”

Captain Smith says that she knew at an early age that she wanted to be a police officer. Although the profession does not al-ways require a college de-gree, she opted to pursue her calling by first obtain-ing a degree in criminal justice. Smith promised her mother that she would acquire a college degree prior to entering into a law enforcement career. Capt.

Smith says that “continu-ing her education and ob-taining a master’s degree was a personal goal and ac-complishment.” Although it was not a prerequisite to her positions at TPD, Smith says she is a firm believer that knowledge is power and that “staying abreast of current trends and issues in the community and law enforcement leads to sound decision making.”

As an advice to stu-dents, Capt. Smith says that Law enforcement agencies should be representative of the community that it serves. Minorities are need-ed at most law enforcement agencies to balance agency demographics. Smith feels that African-American stu-dents who are interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement should re-member that obtaining rank is not an automatic accom-plishment. As with most ca-reers, one typically begins in an entry level position such as patrol prior to mov-ing into more specialized areas such as investiga-tions. Smith says that per-severance, dedication and hard work are character-istics necessary for move-

ment into specialized areas and for upward mobility. Applicants must be moti-vated to perform but realize that upward mobility does not occur overnight. Move-ment at any level involves rigorous training and prep-aration.

Congratulations Capt. Audrey Smith on your new appointment and untiring commitment to the Talla-hassee Police Department and the community!

Dr. Ronald W. Holmes is the National Superinten-dent of Education for the National Save the Family Now Movement, Inc. He is a former teacher, school administrator, and district superintendent and can be reached at rwholmes@cap-italoutlook.com.

5www.capitaloutlook.comEducationOct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

Universities pressured to boost science, math degreesBy Lilly RockwellThe News Service Of FloridaSpecial to the Outlook

Florida’s colleges and universities are fac-ing mounting pressure to graduate more students with science and math de-grees as part of a statewide effort to more closely align workforce demands with college degrees and keep Florida competitive with other states.

The business com-munity, in particular, has clamored for a de-emphasis on liberal arts degrees, such as philosophy and history, toward more practical de-grees, like engineering and computer science, to keep pace with demand. Busi-nesses recruiting for these high-paid, high-skilled jobs say they have to look out of state to fill positions, and Florida is ranked “average” compared to other states in student preparation for sci-ence and math careers.

One study by a pro-business public policy ad-vocacy group issued this year said the state needs 100,000 more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) gradu-ates by 2015 – an extraor-dinarily ambitious goal that one university official said

had “zero” chance of being achieved.

Florida’s colleges and universities say K-12 schools are partially to blame for the STEM defi-cit. Schools need to do a better job making sci-ence and math interesting to middle school and high school students, they said.

“It starts with students losing interest in science and math as early as middle school,” said Florida State University (FSU) professor of biological sciences Joe Travis, who is also the for-mer dean of FSU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Florida isn’t alone in its STEM mania. It is part of a broad national effort to produce more science and math graduates to meet global demand and stay competitive compared to other nations, such as Chi-na.

Even President Barack Obama weighed in dur-ing his State of the Union speech this year, vowing to recruit 100,000 more sci-ence and math teachers to help interest more students in those careers.

Florida university and college officials, who are largely on board with the shift toward STEM de-grees, say there are myriad

obstacles that prevent them from quickly churning out more graduates.

For one, universities have a long history of of-fering a large variety of de-grees that are in demand by students, and what is popu-lar with students may not match up with workforce demands.

“It doesn’t work like the draft, where you can tap a kid on the shoulder, and say ‘You are a physics major,’ ” Travis said. “You can’t make students major in something in which they are not interested.”

State University Sys-tem Chancellor Frank Bro-gan said universities have to be responsive to student demand.

“Often times we offer more of what is in demand and if psychology degrees are in greater demand (with students), or if Fine Arts are in greater demand than STEM education, we of-fer more of them,” Brogan said.

But he acknowledged that Florida is “woefully undersubscribed” in STEM fields.

Another barrier uni-versities face is the expense of offering STEM degrees. It is more expensive for a university or college to of-

fer a bachelor’s degree in biology than one in history. That’s because biology in-volves smaller classes, held in laboratories with ex-pensive equipment, while a history class just needs textbooks.

Students pay the same for each degree, so essen-tially liberal arts degrees help subsidize STEM degrees. To shift toward more production of STEM degrees would require a big investment that cash-strapped universities don’t have. For instance, Paul Cottle, an FSU physics pro-fessor, said the university is anxiously awaiting legisla-tive approval of funds for a new physics classroom building that would help accommodate more stu-dents.

And there is the trou-ble of getting students interested in science and math at a young age. That’s why Obama and others are promoting the idea of train-ing more K-12 teachers in math and science. Some universities have started programs to help steer sci-ence and math majors to-ward teaching, but it is not an easy sell, Travis said.

At Florida State, the school is in its fourth year offering FSU-Teach, a pro-

gram that helps students get science or math degrees simultaneously with an education degree. Students who choose this program are essentially giving up a higher salary they could make in the private sector, Travis said, and many don’t stay in teaching very long.

Cottle joked that he tells his students that FSU-Teach is a “little like join-ing the Peace Corps.”

Some groups have started floating other solu-tions, such as offering in-centives to bring students into STEM careers.

TaxWatch released a report last week that floated the idea of STEM tracks in high school, similar to Ad-vanced Placement courses, and using Bright Futures or another scholarship pro-gram as a vehicle to incen-tivize students.

Cottle is a big sup-porter of incentives, argu-ing that the state should use Bright Futures as a vehicle for STEM incentive by making eligibility contin-gent upon taking a calculus or physics class.

“Students coming out of college now need to be prepared differently for the economy,” Cottle said. “If we really are going to make that change in a reasonable

period of time, five years or so, we need to put incen-tives in the system.”

Others are not con-vinced incentives will work.

“You could offer peo-ple incentives, but what incentive would you of-fer them that is better than what is already out there in the private sector, which is the potential for a really good job?” Travis said.

For example, Travis said the starting salary for a geologist is $60,000 to $70,000, in part because there are not enough geol-ogy majors to fill demand. “The geology departments around the nation have to work really hard to get stu-dents to walk into class,” he said. He said this lack of interest stems from how geology is taught in K-12 schools.

When earth sciences are taught, he said, it’s done in a boring way, such as memorizing types of rocks.

“If we don’t get them interested in science and math when they get here, you can’t increase the num-bers beyond what you start with,” he said.

What career path can lead to captain of the Tallahassee Police Department?

Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.

Special to the Outlook

Benjamin Davis, an award-winning broadcast journalist and digital jour-nalism professor, has been hired as the CBS Harold Dow Visiting Professor at Florida A&M University (FAMU).

Davis, a two-time Columbia-Alfred du Pont award winner, has 30 years of experience working for major broadcast companies such as ABC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC.COM and Nation-

al Public Radio. He also was an adjunct professor at Rutgers University School of Journalism in New Jer-sey, where he gained nine years of experience teach-ing courses in broadcast and digital journalism.

Davis is an entrepre-neur who developed the Digital Media Pyramid writing style and found-ed Mediafriendly.com, a company that helps major media companies locate diversity experts. He also worked with students at Rutgers to create itsonbad.com, a website geared to 16 - 25-year-olds.

“I hope to live up to the expectations that Har-old Dow would have want-ed, which are pretty high,” said Davis.

Dow was a long-time CBS News correspondent who came to FAMU and spoke to students as part of the Division of Journal-ism’s 35th anniversary in 2009. Dow died in Au-gust 2010. CBS officials

announced last year that they would donate funds to support hiring a visit-ing professor as part of its diversity initiative and as a tribute to Dow.

Crystal Johns, CBS news director of develop-ment and diversity, said, “We are very happy to sup-port a program that will be such a wonderful recogni-tion of all that Harold Dow embodied.”

Davis will be teach-ing broadcast news writing and broadcast announc-ing classes. He also plans to “teach students about the digital media pyramid, which is a model I created to replace the more than century-old inverted pyra-mid...”

A luncheon reception to honor Davis is scheduled for Oct. 14 with the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication (SJGC) Board of Visitors (BOV) and faculty.

The CBS Harold Dow Visiting Professor position

will be funded for three years by CBS, accord-ing to SJGC Dean James Hawkins, Ph.D.

“This professorship will strengthen the quality of our broadcast journal-ism program, to another level,” Hawkins said. “Our students will be even more competitive when they are ready to enter the world of work.”

Hawkins also thanked Kim Godwin - who is a se-nior producer for the CBS Evening News, an SJGC alumna and BOV member for lobbying CBS for this professorship.

Benjamin Davis is the CBS Harold Dow Visiting Professor

Benjamin Davis

Special to the Outlook

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE) reported on the large and growing racial gap in scores on the SAT college entrance examina-tion.

This year, for the first time, The College Board calculated the percentage of students who took their test that were ready for col-lege-level instruction. The American College Testing Program, the group that ad-ministers the rival ACT col-lege entrance examination, has been issuing a college readiness analysis for sev-eral years.

The College Board set the benchmark score at 1550 on the combined read-ing, mathematics and writ-ing SAT. According to The College Board, this bench-mark score “indicates a 65 percent likelihood of a stu-

dent achieving a B- average or higher during the first year of college, which in turn is indicative of a high likelihood of college suc-cess and completion.”

“Students who meet the College Board’s Col-lege Readiness benchmark are more likely to enroll in, succeed and graduate from college,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton.

The College Board data shows that only 15 percent of African-American SAT test takers achieved the benchmark score indicating readiness for college-level instruction. This is less than one third the level for white students

Study shows only 15 percent of African-American SAT test takers are well prepared for college

Special to the Outlook

The Florida A&M Uni-versity (FAMU) Lyceum Series is proud to pres-ent award-winning gospel singers, The Clark Sisters, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Hall Auditorium.

Tickets are now avail-able through ticketmaster.com and the FAMU box of-fice for $45, $30 and $20, depending on the location of the seats.

This is the fourth time this year that all sisters will perform together. Further-more, this is only the sec-ond time the Clark Sisters have performed on a col-lege campus since their last performance at FAMU in the 90s.

With a compelling, commanding fusion of styles as diverse as blues, jazz, R&B and classical, the Clark Sisters, which consists of sisters Jacky, Twinkie, Karen and Dorin-da, created a sound that was new, fresh and entirely their own.

On Live – One Last Time, their newest release and first album together in more than 12 years, is truly landmark work. The project is an epic undertaking of unprecedented scope.

With virtually unlim-ited range, dazzling dy-namics and multi-textured runs, riffs, and scats that have long been hallmarks of their singular vocal style, the Clark Sisters sound has given inspiration to count-less singers of today. With millions of album sales to their collective credit, that select circle includes gos-pel, mainstream R&B and pop stars.

The sisters, born be-tween 1951 and 1960, all showed prodigious musical talent from early childhood, and were raised under the careful musical and moral

tutelage of their pastor fa-ther and mother.

The seeds for what would become Live – One Last Time were first planted

by Karen’s husband when he suggested the foursome reunite to give posterity and the flocks of still-faithful Clark Sisters fans a taste of

some new “sisters” materi-al, as well as new, live ren-ditions of a large number of Clark standards.

Live – One Last Time was recorded in July 2006, before a sell-out crowd of 6,000 in Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Cen-ter.

For more information, contact the Office of Com-munications at (850) 599-3413.

Isaiah proclaimed in chapter 61, verses 1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because

he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recover-ing of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Yet, today, many still suffer from these same things. If you were to read any newspaper, listen to the news on radio, watch the news on television or the internet, you would read or hear that many of us are still poor, broken-hearted, captive or blind to

one thing or another, and bruised. We are enslaved by one another, by our own emotions and by our sins.

This enslavement is like an emotional bruise on humanity. An emo-tional bruise is much like a bruise on an apple. It may not show immediately, but there is a dark spot in the person’s personality that will show up. One may think that an emotional bruise will simply go away in time, but instead, it gets worse and worse and can affect the whole of one’s personality.

Furthermore, a person who has been bruised of-

ten becomes rotten in their personality and influences those people around them also to become rotten in their personalities. Bruised people bruise other people.

Underlying it all is Satan, as foretold by God in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Satan creates a down-ward spiral of emotional bruises leading to sins lead-ing to bruises and so on. This cycle can ensnare us and hold us fast (Proverbs

5:22, Psalms 9:16). Satan seeks to destroy us through slavery to sin.

But Jesus came to save us from all of this – to set us free.

In the temple at Naza-reth, He read the words of Isaiah 61:1-2 and said, “To-day this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21).”

He came to free us from Satan and to address our poverty, broken-heart-edness, captivity, blindness and bruises. He also came, as proclaimed by Isaiah in verse 61:3, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them

beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the gar-ment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” In other words, He will replace all of this suffering with beau-ty and joy, with everything we need to live in victory (2 Peter 1:2-4). All we have to do is have faith (Philip-pians 4:13).

Believers can minister to the bruised by sharing the theme Scriptures (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-3) in their lives. They will bring freedom to all!

Men’s Devotional –– “Lord, set us free”

6 www.capitaloutlook.com Religion Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

Women’s Devotional –– “Abundance from Above” The Capital Outlook continues its weekly women’s devotionals.

This week’s devotion is prayerfully presented by Brenda Gittens. John 10:10The way that God

promotes someone is a lot different than the way we would. Our way to get pro-moted would be to work very hard, learn the way the system goes and then use that same system to get fur-ther ahead. Our way may rely on contacts, favors and even “who you know.” Our way may be based on rub-bing elbows with someone, or could even be credited to

something called “luck.” We would also pro-

mote someone else based on these same factors. Ei-ther way, we will work very hard for promotion, and af-ter we get it or give it, we like to take the credit for all that has been done!

Let’s look at God’s way of promoting. He delights in exalting the humble person. “For who-ever exalts himself will

be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11).Someone who is humble is not proud, and they don’t mind “going down to get up.” They know that some-day, for reasons that are only known to God, they are going to be invited to move on up a little higher!

When it’s all said and done, with an act of our will, we need to step down

from our own agendas for our lives. Then as we pray and spend more time with the Lord, we begin to pick up small everyday insights into God’s great big plans of success for our lives.

As we continue to walk in obedience and faith, and stick to His agenda, our promotions to success that God has for us will happen!

PRAYER: Lord God,

if you find any trace of pride or self-promotion in our hearts, we ask that you take it away, and then give us the attitude and heart of a humble servant. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Scripture Of the Day: “For whoever exalts him-self will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 14:11 (NKJV)

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

Reverend Dr. R. B. Holmes , Jr.

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

“Lord, Set Us Free”

By Rev. Dr. Matthew M. Carter II, J.D.

“God’s Promotion”

By Brenda Gittens

The Clark Sisters will perform at FAMU for the first time since the 90s on Oct. 7.

Lyceum Series to present gospel music group The Clark Sisters

Special to the Outlook

The Florida A&M University Developmental Research School (FAMU High) and Lincoln High School classes of 1956 cel-ebrated their 55th reunion with several activities which were held in August.

Activities began with registration and a reception at Staybridge Suites and ended with worship ser-vice at Macedonia Primi-tive Baptist Church. Other activities included: a picnic that featured senior games such as basketball, horse-shoe, table tennis, badmin-ton, swimming and fishing; a White Party, which fea-tured casino games, wine tasting and line dances; a visit to FAMU High and Old Lincoln High campus-es and a reunion banquet and dance.

Tommy Mitchell Sr. was the master of ceremo-ny for the banquet, which was held at the Tallahassee-

Leon County Civic Center. There was no speaker, but former teachers in atten-dance were introduced.

Those at the banquet were Lucille Brown and Anita Abrams of Lincoln, Edwina Martin of Grif-fin and Jerry Crawford of FAMU High.

Robert “Chucky” Crawford played the saxo-

phone as members lighted candles as a memorial trib-ute to the 14 classmates that had passed since the last re-union.

Other program partici-pants included Marcellus Long, Jennie Collett, Mary Avent, Eveline Duhart, Dourest Robinson, Mary Balcom, Ollie Lucas, Wil-lie McGhee, Hazel Owens, Lee Etta Proctor, Jessie Simmons, Bennie Walker, Cressie Wilson, Mary Wy-lie, Obadiah Sims, Frances Logan, Jerome Colson and Geneva Colson.

7www.capitaloutlook.comCommunity NewsOct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011

FAMU and Lincoln classes of 1956 reunite

FAMU Homecoming Foot-ball GameFAMU vs Howard UniversityWhen: Oct. 8 @ 3 p.m. Where: Bragg Memorial Stadium

2011 Retail Beverage Council “Educational Seminar & Trade Show” When: Oct. 9-11Where: Omni Orlando Re-sort @ ChampionsGate Sherry Whitney @ 888-357-3824

FAMUThe School of Journalism & Graphic Communication Career FairWhen: Oct. 18 from 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.Contact: Yanela Gordon @ 850-412-5395Email: yanela.gordon@famu.edu

Alpha Kappa Alpha Soror-ity, IncorporatedCHI UPSILON OMEGA“A Social Justice & Human Rights Community Education Forum”When: Oct. 22 Time: 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.Where: Smith-Williams Center Annex2295 Pasco St.Contact: Teion Harrison @ 850-459-8387

Centennial Bank believes in the importance of getting out in the

community. Where our customers are. So if you need us, we’ll be

there for you. Even after hours. That’s why you can find us on the

basketball court. Or wherever you happen to be.

Planning Committee: (seated) Eveline Duhart, Lee Etta Proctor, Bennie Walker, Obadian Sims, Ollie Lucas and Hazel Owens. (standing) Cressie Wilson, Jennie Collet, Dourest Robinson, Frances Logan, Geneva Colson, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Avent, Marcellas Long, Jerome Colson and Mary Wylie. (Below) Class of 1956

Former Teachers: Jerry Crawford and Lucille Brown (seated), and Edwina Martin and Anita Abrams.(stand-ing).

The Brogan Museum brings the Titantic to town By: Alicia McKnightOutlook Contributor

The Mary Brogan Mu-seum welcomed the Titan-ic: The Artifact Exhibit on Sept. 2.

Over the past 15 years, more than 22 million peo-ple from Paris to Los Ange-les have viewed the exhibi-tion, which will be docked at the Brogan Museum un-til Jan. 2, 2012.

“The Brogan Museum was approached with an opportunity to host this wonderful exhibition,” said Trish A. Hanson, chief op-erating officer.

Guest have the option to travel back in time to that fateful night in 1912. Memories of that catastro-phe resonate throughout the exhibition.

“This exhibition brings a very human element to this story,” Hanson said.

More than 100 leg-endary artifacts conserved from the ship’s debris field are showcased, offering

guests a poignant look at this iconic ship and its pas-sengers.

“The museum thought it was fitting to host this exhibit at this time, as April 15, 2012 will mark the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the ship,” said Hanson.

Hanson mentioned bringing an exhibition to a museum is not an easy task.

“The Titanic exhibi-tion arrived in two semi-trucks and required tem-porary staff in addition to our regular employees and representatives from Pre-miere Exhibitions to install it,” said Chucha Barber, chief executive officer of the Brogan Museum.

The Brogan hopes to attract current and new au-diences to the museum.

“It was an important engineering achievement and promoting engineer-ing, science and technology is core to the Brogan Mu-seum’s mission along with visual arts and humanities,”

said Barber.To highlight the open-

ing of the Titanic, The Bro-gan Museum hosted a black tie gala on Sept. 22.

“We hope to inspire people of all ages to under-stand the relevance of the amazing advances in ship-building that took place

with the Titanic’s creation and promote science-rich careers among young peo-ple today,” said Barber.

For more information about the Titanic: The Ar-tifact Exhibition, visit the-brogan.org.

Photos by ALICIA MCKNIGHT

Artifacts recovered from the wreckage and stories from passengers are displayed throughout the exhibit. (top right) Third-class cabin and place settings are shown.

www.capitaloutlook.com8 Oct. 6 - Oct 12, 2011Classifieds

How do you save? Let us count the ways.Begin with BOGOs—buy-one-get-one-free deals

you’ll fi nd throughout the store. Then check out

our Publix private label values. Finally, fi gure in

the hundreds of items on sale every day. They all

add up to a lower grocery tab. Go to publix.com/

save right now to make plans to save this week.

to save here.

LEON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMIS-SIONERSJOB OPENINGS

THE FOLLOWING POSI-TIONS HAVE A CLOSING DATE OF: October 7, 2011

Information Professional(Full-time position @ N.E. Branch)

Facilities Support Technician II

THE FOLLOWING POSI-TIONS HAVE A CLOSING DATE OF: October 14, 2011

Information Professional(Part-time, 20 hours per week position @ B.L. Perry Branch)

Information Professional(Part-time, 10 hours per week OPS position @ Main Library)

THE FOLLOWING POSI-TION HAS A CLOSING DATE OF: October 21, 2011

Health & Wellness Coordina-

tor

THE FOLLOWING POSI-TIONS ARE “Open Until Filled”

GIS Database Analyst

GIS Technician(Two positions available)

Application Development Analyst(Applications & Database)

THE FOLLOWING POSI-TIONS ARE “OPEN CON-TINUOUSLY”

Paramedic (PRN)EMT (PRN)

For additional information on these positions and other 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

THE SCHOOL BOARD OF LEON COUNTY announces a regular meeting to which all

interested persons are invited to attend.

TIME: October 11, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.

PLACE: Howell Center, 3955 W. Pensacola Street

PURPOSE: Business Meeting

An Agenda Review Workshop for School Board Members who wish to attend is sched-uled for 3:30 p.m. on Monday, October 10, 2011 in Portable #2, 2757 W. Pensacola Street. All interested persons are in-vited to attend.

In accordance with the Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act, persons needing a special ac-commodation to participate in this proceeding should contact the Superintendent’s office not later than five working days prior to the proceeding.

For further information please contact:Superintendent’s OfficeLeon County Schools2821 W. Pensacola StreetTallahassee, Florida 32304(850) 487-7247

Signed: Jackie Pons,Superintendent

CLASSIFIEDSEmployment

Announcement

Preaching, Praise & Prayer!

“THE JOY OF JESUS!” Philippians 4:4, John 15:11, Psalm 30:5

Wonderful Wednesdays!!

Wonderful Wednesdays – Noon!!

Wonderful Wednesdays - 7:00 PM!!

October 5, 2011

Reverend Dr. Joseph Wright, Pastor Jerusalem Baptist Church

Tallahassee, FL

Reverend O. Jermaine Simmons Pastor

Jacob Chapel Baptist Church Tallahassee, Florida

October 12, 2011

Reverend Perry Robinson, Pastor New Mt. Canaan Baptist Church

Jacksonville, FL

Reverend Jeremiah Robinson, Pastor

Royal Tabernacle Baptist Church Jacksonville, FL

October 19, 2011

Reverend Torin T. Dailey, Pastor First Baptist Church of Oakland

Jacksonville, FL

Reverend Dr. James Bouyer, Pastor New Jerusalem Baptist Church

Thomasville, GA

October 26, 2011

Reverend Kirby Freeman, Pastor New Trenton Baptist Church

Emerson, OH

Reverend Michael Jackson, Pastor Springhill Baptist Church

Jacksonville, Florida

BETHEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH REVEREND DR. R. B. HOLMES, JR., PASTOR

141ST Church Anniversary & Pastor’s 25th Anniversary

The Capital Outlook would like to share your events with out readers

Call (850) 877-0105 for more information