Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
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| State bound.... Van Horn High School’s Calculator team captured the REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP this past weekend at the Regional U.I.L. Competition held in Levelland. To gain the distinction, the team had to beat the team from Plains, Texas which is coached by Brad Friesen, a former student of our coach, B.O. Buchhorn. Mr. Buchhorn told the Advocate that we beat Plains by one problem! The Calculator team will compete for the State title in two weeks. By the way, this is the 4th team that Mr. Buchhorn has coached to state-level competition. Pictured above are members of the team and their coaches. They are (L to R): Rutesh Bhakta, coach B.O. Buchhorn, Rebecca Mendias, Julio Baeza, Jackie Grado, Ram Patel, and coaches assistant Michael McBirnie. |
- The Texas Film Commission is proud to partner with the Alpine Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Leadership Institute to present “When Hollywood Comes to Town,” a workshop to show your community how to put its best foot forward for on-location filming.
At this day-long workshop, you’ll:
* meet film industry professionals, covering topics including how location decisions are made
* learn how to document your locations for inclusion in the Texas Film Commission’s database. (Bring your digital camera for hands-on instruction.)
* receive templates and instructions on how your city can create an effective, professional and film-savvy film policy.
A sample course outline is here: http://www.texasleadership.org/pdf/course_outline/Outline1370.pdf
Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, Museum of the Big Bend, northeast corner of the Sul Ross State University campus; 432.837.8143.
Register via www.texasleadership.org/register.html; under the “Select a Course” option, choose Course CRS1370 – May 5. You may pre-pay or be invoiced after the event; in either case, please pre-register online, as space is limited.
Participation in this $25 workshop is your first step towards your city’s certification as a Texas Film Friendly Community, and the workshop fee is the only cost associated with certification.
For more information on the program: http://governor.state.tx.us/film/film_friendly/program_certification/
Past workshops have been consistently rated as “excellent.” A few quotes from participants:
* “We’ve been looking for this information. So nice to get it all in one session.”
* “One of the best seminars I’ve ever attended.”
* “I have attended a lot of classes and none have been as fun or interesting as the Film Friendly one last week.”
* “The instructors seemed like friends.”
The registration fee includes lunch.
CDRC&D names its new coordinator
Patti Barney has been named the new Chihuahuan Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Area Coordinator. The Chihuahuan RC&D covers a large portion of the Trans-Pecos region. Counties covered within the area include: El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Brewster, Presidio and Jeff Davis. The vision of the Chihuahuan Desert RC&D Council, with whom Barney works with and through, is to help rural communities prosper through improved natural resources.
Although new to the area, Mrs. Barney brings forth a wealth of background experiences, training, and education. Barney, originally from Massachusetts, has ties to Throckmorton County where her great-grandparents homesteaded in the late 1800’s. She visited the family cattle ranch frequently in her formative years. She attended and graduated from Texas A&M with a Range Science degree and landed her first full-time position with the (then) Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in Abilene, Texas, as a range conservationist. Working her way up the occupational ladder has landed Barney in Albany, Texas, and Craig, Colorado. Later she was promoted to District Ranger for the USDA-Forest Service in central Nebraska on the largest hand-planted forest in the world.
Patti Barney is a life member of the Society for Range Management (SRM) and her hobbies include: board games, traveling, ATV riding, swimming and cooking. She is married and has three children; the youngest son will graduate from high school in Nebraska in 3 weeks. Patti’s husband, Chris, will join her later this summer when their youngest son leaves home for college.
“Mark Donet, the recently retired RC&D Coordinator, built this program from the ground up. I hope to continue with the existing projects and develop new ones. My husband and I are thrilled to have this opportunity to live, work and play in West Texas. This is a beautiful and rugged part of Texas, and the people I’ve met so far have been warm and welcoming. It’s wonderful to be back in Texas!” Barney said.
The Chihuahuan Desert RC&D office is located in Alpine at 1805 State Highway 118. For questions or comments, contact the Chihuahuan Desert RC&D office at 432-837-9923, ext 109.
SRSU LVN program has 100% passing rate
by Jason Hennington, News Writer
For the eighth time in the past nine years, Sul Ross State University Vocational Nursing students achieved a 100 percent rate on the Texas Board of Nursing examinations.
According to the Projections data from the National Employment Matrix, employment of Licensed Vocational Nurses is projected to grow much faster than average. Employment of LVN’s is expected to grow by twenty-one percent between 2008-2018, much faster than the average for all occupations, in response to the long-term care needs of an increasing elderly population and the general increase in demand for healthcare services.
With a 100 percent pass rate, the Sul Ross LVN Class of 2009 is more than qualified to provide healthcare services to the population.
“Our goal is to fill the class with people who are qualified candidates to provide quality nursing care to the population,” said Donna Kuenstler, Vocational Nursing Program director.
Job opportunities are expected due to replacement needs and workers leaving this field permanently. This would cause a need for employees, especially in rural areas, so LVN’s willing to relocate will have good job prospects.
“It’s mostly due to advancing education to the RN (Registered Nurse) level and from retirement,” Kuenstler said.
LVN’s are eligible for licensure after completing a state approved training program in practical nursing.
“The Sul Ross nursing program is a year-long program that included expert classroom and clinical instruction,” Kuenstler said. “Students spend January through December accomplishing 50 semester credit hours of curriculum.”
During the program at Sul Ross, students are given rotations as a part of the program.
“Clinical rotations include nursing homes, hospitals, medical offices, psychiatric facilities, and local schools,” Kuenstler said. “We want to continue to advance the quality of care to the facilities in our area.”
Students who enroll in the Sul Ross Vocational Nursing Program will have advantages of small classes, but would need to apply soon as they can.
“This time of year is the busiest time for us,” Kuenstler explained. “Try to apply by August for January 2011 classes. We have small classes with a max of twelve people.”
Students in the program have a tendency to find assistance or possibly jobs prior to completing the program.
“Many times, graduates are employed locally before they even complete the program,” Kuenstler said. “Numerous scholarships are available while in the program, and hospitals may provide loan pay-offs for work contracts after licensure.”
Kuenstler said that upon licensure and completion of pre-requisite courses, graduates are eligible to transition to a LVN to RN program. All pre-requisites for associates or bachelor’s degrees are available at Sul Ross State University.”
For more information, contact Kuenstler, (432) 837-8171 or dkuenstl@sulross.edu.