THE REAL DEAL
Western North Carolina’s educational institutions must re-emphasize the importance of mathematical skills at all levels — from basic addition and subtraction to advanced statistics, analysis and predictive modeling — if mountain students are to succeed in the modern workforce. That was the message hammered home last Thursday by panelists at the opening of a two-day conference of WNC educators at Western Carolina University. The conference was the first activity of the new WNC P-16 Education Consortium, formed by Chancellor David O. Belcher. The consortium brings together a group of regional leaders to address education needs, toward the goal of improving the knowledge and skills of the WNC workforce. More than 80 educators from across the region attended. The panel of five business leaders — Phil Drake, CEO of Drake Enterprises in Franklin; Jeanne Ellis, a manager at Biltmore Estate; Tony Johnson, director of WCU’s Millennial Initiative; Lumpy Lambert, assistant general manager at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort; and Keven McCammon, site manager for Facebook’s data center in Forest City — urged educators to continue to stress the importance of math to their students and to show them how math is used in everyday life. Drake told conference attendees that his
Phil Drake (standing), CEO of Drake Enterprises in Franklin, reminded more than 80 educators from across Western North Carolina of the importance of mathematics skills for the region’s workforce. companies based in Franklin — from a Internet service provider to an accounting software developer to a printing house — cannot find enough qualified employees from the region to meet demand. “I’m looking for people who are very analytical and for those who have the general concepts and can identify them,” said Drake, who is a member of the WCU Board of Trustees. “There’s not anything in my company that doesn’t require math.” The conference was made possible by grants from the N.C. Ready for Success Program and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund through the N.C. Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center. http://youtu.be/lDlonsnE0t0.
While there will in fact be fewer days to vote early during an election, early voting sites will remain open longer. The number of early voting hours will remain the same, even though the number of days will decrease. state to allow same day registration. “Rather than being more restrictive than other states, our election laws are now much more in-line with what other states do — states, by the way, that have successful elections with many citizens exercising their Constitutional right,” Swanson said. Later, Smathers countered Swanson’s argument, asking if the majority was best. “What if somebody said, ‘Western, you know [Appalachian State] is doing this?’” Smathers said. “What happened to the thinking ‘We should be better than everyone else?’”
Smoky Mountain News
registered voters in the state. “I own a Jeep, and I could fit half the people found to have committed voter fraud in my Jeep,” Smathers said. “We have a saying, at least in Haywood County, ‘You have to know when you are digging with a bulldozer or digging with a shovel.’ That is a shovel problem, folks.” Still, requiring voter ID is popular, according to Cooper’s digging. Depending on the study and the wording of the questions, anywhere between 69 percent and 82 percent of Americans favor voter ID laws. In N.C., the number was 66 percent, Cooper said. One of the more prevalent rumors about the new voting laws is that early voting is truncated. However, that is not a whole truth. While there will in fact be fewer days to vote early during an election, early voting sites will remain open longer. The number of early voting hours will remain the same, even though the number of days will decrease. “This is where you get the Democrats saying they are shortened, and Republicans are saying they are lengthened, and they are both right,” Cooper said. Swanson argued that with the new laws, N.C. is simply coming into alignment with the voting laws of many other states. For example, he said, Ohio was the only other
If it is too much hassle for students to vote where they go to college, they can always vote back home using their parents address. But that would mean traveling back home on Election Day or getting organized ahead of time to request an absentee ballot, have that ballot mailed to them, fill it out and mail it back. Using a mail-in ballot would actually be a side-step for students who want to vote locally where they go to school but avoid the whole photo ID rigmarole. A college student can register to vote where they go to school but then simply request an absentee ballot be mailed to them, avoiding having to go to the polls and risk a snafu with the photo ID. One of the stricter changes initially proposed in the new state voter laws would have forced college students to vote in their home counties, typically at their parents’ address. Otherwise, the state would not allow their parents to claim their children as dependents on tax forms. The change would scatter the youth vote, which tends to lean Democratic. It did not make into the final passed bill, however. The Watauga County Board of Elections recently made national news after closing a polling site at Appalachian State University. The move reinforced criticisms that the bill isn’t aimed at ensuring voting integrity as its backers claim but was instead an effort by Republican lawmakers to make it harder for left-leaning student voters to cast ballots.
Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2013
A major challenge will be getting the truth about the law out to students about what exactly they need to do in order to vote. The rumor mill is already spinning about how the voting law will affect elections. “A lot of students don’t know what the bill says,” Clayton said. “A lot of it is rumor.” Most students aren’t receptive to learning about the actual changes, Clayton said, because they have already made up their minds about the law. WCU officials send out emails every year instructing students about voting and will do the same when the key voting law changes go into effect in 2016 to ensure those who want
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Business leaders to educators: strong math skills a must
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information out there for WCU leaders to pass onto their students, but Miller said the university wants to ensure its students have a chance to vote. “All of our students, we would love to see vote and take part in the democratic process,” Miller said. “Each student will have to make his or her decision as to what best suits them.”
to vote in Jackson County can. “A lot of them consider this getting involved in the community,” Lovedahl said.
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A college student can register to vote where they go to school, but then simply request an absentee ballot be mailed to them, avoiding having to go to the polls and risk a snafu with the photo ID.
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