Why don’t you talk to some of the parents from inner-city and hopeless school systems, whose children are fortunate enough, for whatever reason, to now be in a charter school?

I will not defend a system. The public school system in America, if it did but know it, needs charter schools the way that Coke needs Pepsi to stay competive.

You guys know I now work overseas. I interviewed roughly seven ties for this job. The last interview was with the president of the organization. He let me know, rightly, that regardless what country he sent me to, that to be successful, I had to play a skillful role assisting the locals from behind the scenes. Indeed, he was very straightforward when he told me our organization (in reference to working with the locals in their respective countries) could not “want it for them greater than they wanted it for themselves.” Bingo. Words to live and work by. I cannot want things for the peope of W.Va more than they want it for themselves. I couldn’t want it for that agency more than the folks that work there or are impacted by it.

DCT’s blog is like light that splits the darkness. It touches on meaningful and important issues that affect one of the most important questions that government officials should ask: “How do the people want to live their lives?”

But, I want DCT to ask in some of these posts going forward “Why don’t the people care more? Why aren’t they angrier? Why aren’t they more involved? Why settle when things can be better?” It’s not enough to go after the so called leaders – it’s time to turn this shit around and ask and demand more from the people. I think this is exactly the blog for this to take place.

Thank you for speaking up and drawing attention to the continued distortions from our state “leaders”

Leading the WVNET charge is Dan O’Hanlon, retired chief judge of the Cabell County Circuit Court and Judge of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Justice. He was first elected to the bench in 1984. Based on newspaper reports, O’Hanlon appears well thought of in the Governor’s Office over the years. Today, he appears to be the WVNET director.

His tie to information technology? He served as the chairman of the technology committee for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals since 1993. He was also instrumental in establishing video conferencing technology in courtrooms in 1999, which has saved buckets of dollars in prisoner transportation costs and other aspects of the court system.

So — WVNET will move from the contested space they now occupy that is reportedly sought by nearby neighbor Mylan Pharmaceuticals for expansion. To a building WVU is rumored to be buying for over $3M, a building said to need a new roof and to be lacking in structural strength to support all the equipment and people targeted for that location.

Hopefully, hizzoner will be sufficiently savvy to negotiate a land sale price that will cover any upgrades the destination will require (say $1M at a guess), as well as the expense of moving all the equipment, communication lines, and any additional equipment that is needed (perhaps as much as another $1M). Say a total of $5M.

Will Mylan pay the $6.5M a HEPC appraisal says the less than one acre of land in a prime location is worth? Stay tuned……

My quote: There is a Devil, there is no doubt, but is he trying to get in you? Or is he trying to get out?

Both poets unknown to me. However, the point is made I believe.

As a lawyer, and you are, you are probably stepping with the legal issues of what you posted. George Bush said water boarding was ok because “his lawyer told him it was legal.” On the other hand–let us explore the nature of the human.

But wait, we already have. King Henry the Eighth killed almost 70 thousand of his homey’s on account of the disagreement they had with him.

Piss somebody off in power and you will find your head on the chopping block. Just ask Anne Boyelen. Not to say all is lost. Her child Elizabeth became a queen of fortitude.

What blows me away is the fact that this information was right there in NEWSWEEK, TIME and the US World News Report prior to this astounding bullshit news and Bill Clinton’s cronies said so. These magazines reported that nothing was wrong, no Hell Cats loose in Iraq prior to the invasion with switching tails. Saddam was just a busy dictator. They miss him, according to news on Brit TV.

As far as my knowledge is concerned, I have been gentle with your opine.

But in my various roles at an institution involved in founding WVNET, I do know that Henry, his predecessors, the WVNET staff, and the member institution directors and committee members led the computing charge in West Virginia. When Charleston was busily issuing edicts and putting up roadblocks, WVNET collectively was finding ways to get things done. WVNET’s attitude was always “let’s see how we can do this”. How we can develop contracts folks can use to get technology, be it hardware, software, or services at the best price? Need an email system? We’ll write one. Need a statewide dial up modem program? We can do it. In short, WVNET provided great bang for the dollar in creating or supporting valuable services for state government, K-12, and high education.

There is significant irony in how WVNET has been handled lately in view of the state’s Tech Park development and HEPC’s move to it. Presumably, the state views its plunge into the Park as a move signaling West Virginia might be able to diversify away from a coal based economy to one supporting 21st Century technology innovation.

At the same time, serious questions arise when the GTO and HEPC want to dismantle an organization that has consistently contributed to innovation in state education for more than three decades. If the state wants to move ahead, seems to me it should build on success rather than tear something down and start all over again.

If the state does not know how, maybe figuring that out should be Henry’s special project. I suspect he has an idea or two.

Very truly yours,
The West Virginia Media

Call me. Just got off the telly with a ghastly woman – government funded hack, no less.

We’ll crack these nuts and dogbones in no time at all.

:)

I am sure that WVNET thinks we are all nothing but luddites – and to a degree, they are right. This is just another case in government were an agency does good and few people think about it.

Media does not cover government when it works well – only when it is bad. And, subsequently, government agencies have a very small and tight communications budget (which would explain why some agencies are always in crisis communications mode.) Only Tourism gets money to market.

WVNET seems like a good company that does good things. I hope it continues to be – whether in Charleston or at its home in Morgantown.

I would have spelled that B-e-l-l-e.