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Courier-Journal
February 5, 2003
Students at 3 schools cash in at UPS
1,200 college workers in academic program share $550,000 bonus
More than 1,200 student workers at the United Parcel Service air-package sorting
hub in Louisville learned a valuable lesson last semester: Persistence pays.
The University of Louisville, Jefferson Community College and Jefferson Technical
College students shared about $550,000 in academic bonuses last week -- an average
of nearly $460 apiece -- through a new program to encourage students to stay
in school and earn their degrees. The three schools and UPS are partners in
Metropolitan College, which began in 1998 as a way to provide UPS with a stable
work force of parttime employees.
The students already get free tuition and allowances for textbooks and housing
-- plus at least $8.50 an hour and benefits -- for working between 10 p.m. and
4 a.m. at the UPS Next Day Air Division. The bonus program further rewards students
who stay in the program and move toward a degree.
''We've wanted this program to provide, as far as we possibly can, a cost-free
education for everyone,'' said Dan Ash, executive director of Metropolitan College.
The bonuses will help pay for expenses not covered by the existing workstudy
benefits, he said.
The dropout rate for Metro College workers is slightly above that of other
students, but that didn't prompt the bonus program, Ash said.
''Generally speaking, this is not so much an effort to fix anything that's
wrong,'' he said. ''All of us in higher education want to see students stay
at their academic efforts and persevere.''
Students receive $500 for completing six credit hours or more in a semester
without dropping, failing or accepting an incomplete on any class. Those who
earn six hours but fail to finish a course are awarded $350. Generally, students
take nine to 10 hours per semester, Ash said.
Additional bonuses will be awarded to students who remain actively employed
for three straight semesters and reach ''academic milestones'' of 30, 60 or
90 credit hours. Students earn $600 at each milestone, up to $1,800.
Graduation bonuses ranging from $400 to $1,400 will be awarded to students
who earn their degrees and have been employed at UPS for at least six straight
semesters.
Bonuses were distributed last Thursday and Friday for academic work completed
in the fall 2002 semester.
UPS supports the bonuses because they reward students for staying in school
-- and that means they are more likely to stay with UPS, said John Kinney, the
company's work force development manager.
The students already are making a big difference at Worldport, the air hub,
Kinney said. The student workers have a good record for attendance and tardiness.
''The Metro College profile is exactly where we want to be with this,'' he
said.
UPS pays for half the tuition of its student workers. The rest comes from federal
or state grants, or from the college. Students with at least six credit hours
each semester and at least 18 credit hours per year are eligible for $1,240
in housing reimbursement per year. About 1,750 students participate in Metro
College.
The bonus program was worth $500 for Joseph Cathey, who just graduated from
the University of Louisville with a degree in sports medicine and exercise science.
The extra money ''helps a lot,'' said Cathey, 31, a Paducah native who now
lives off Fegenbush Lane. The program is ''a good idea. I think it helps motivate
people to stay in school and to get their education and graduate,'' he said.
The Daily Independent
February 5, 2003
Program at ACC to help students learn about financial aid
ASHLAND - The investment of one Sunday afternoon could pay off for prospective
college students seeking help paying for their studies.
Financial aid professionals will be on hand at Ashland Community College and
17 other sites across Kentucky for College Goal Sunday - a free program to conduct
workshops and assist students through the paper maze of financial aid applications.
"Filling out the forms isn't complex, but it is tedious and people can
make errors. We want to emphasize the importance of getting it done right the
first time," said Martha Persinger, coordinator of financial aid at ACC.
It is sponsored by the not-for-profit Kentucky Association of Student Financial
Aid Administrators in cooperation with the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance
Administration.
The potential consequences of making errors on a state financial application
can be severe: if the applicants don't correctly amend the application and return
it by the March 15 deadline, they lose their chance of getting grant money,
Persinger said.
At ACC the program will be at 2 p.m. in the Teleconference Room in the main
building.
There will be a computer set up so that those who want to can fill out and
submit applications on line, Persinger said.
The program targets disadvantaged and low-income students, said ACC spokesman
John McGlone.
However, all who believe they may qualify for aid may attend, Persinger said.
The program isn't a recruiting tool for ACC, she said. "We want to encourage
people to go to college. We're not going to stick an ACC application in their
faces."
Participants will get help filling out the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid, which is required of any student seeking federal financial aid, including
grants and loans, McGlone said.
Minor students should bring their parent or guardian and their parents' completed
2002 1040 form or other 2002 income and benefits information, he said.
Persinger warned that there are financial aid workshops periodically in the
area that charge fees for assistance. "No one should have to pay to complete
the application," she said.
The ACC financial aid office is available on a continuing basis for advice
on aid, she said.
For more information about financial aid or College Goal Sunday, call 1-888-452-7322.
Messenger-Inquirer
February 6, 2003
OCTC purchases new rapid prototype machine
A new rapid prototype machine at Owensboro Community and Technical College
can do with superheated plastic and a few minutes what would normally take several
weeks to do with metal.
But more important, the $30,000 machine will produce graduates with the latest
and most modern skills in machine tool technology, said Nick Brake, dean of
technical programs.
The machine is proof that the community college isn't waiting for a new advanced
technology center to advance its technology instruction, Brake said. The machine
was purchased through federal grant money.
"This is not just a fun little toy," Brake said.
The machine, at the Frederica Street campus, is essentially a "three-dimensional
printer," said Danny Moseley, an instructor in the college's machine tool
technology department. It looks much like a soft drink vending machine.
Using computer-generated designs, the machine builds a plastic model layer
by layer from melted coils of plastic that look much like string trimmer line.
The machine actually takes an image and slices it into layers that are a 10,000th
of an inch thick before painstakingly building each layer in the machine, said
Steve Bailes, associate professor of computer-aided drafting.
When finished, the models are used to create metal molds from which the parts
can be mass produced.
Creating an inch-long part takes about an hour, Moseley said.
That compares to the weeks and thousands of dollars required to produce a prototype
the old fashioned way: machining the part with drills and saws from metal, Brake
said.
"And then the part may not work because it was built manually," Brake
said. "You have to throw it out and start over. This is the modern approach
to the way manufacturing is done these days."
Only a handful of instructors and students have experimented with the machine
so far because "the learning curve on a machine like this is pretty severe,"
Brake said.
But eventually, the machine will be used by more than 100 students in the machine
tool, computer-aided drafting, industrial maintenance and other degree areas.
And the machine could eventually also lead to the creation of its own degree
program, Brake said.
The machine may also be used by local manufacturers like MPD to make needed
parts for their manufacturing processes. The next closest rapid prototype machine
is in Louisville, Brake said.
"We're talking with several groups to use it because they spend a lot
of money to do this," Brake said. "But our primary mission is to help
create employees that are integrated and well-rounded in manufacturing."
The use of rapid prototype machines has "ballooned" in recent years,
Bailes said. But only one other community college in Kentucky has a machine,
he said.
Messenger-Inquirer
February 2, 2003
People in the Arts
Owensboro artists Steven Driver and Chris Dayman are exhibiting samples of
their work at an exhibit at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.
The exhibit features a series of charcoal and mixed media landscapes by Dayman,
and wood-fired pots, vessels and teapots by Driver.
Driver is a professor of art at Brescia University, and Dayman is an art professor
at Owensboro Community College.
The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 20 at Gallery East on the Cuyahoga
Community College campus. For more information, call (216) 987-2473, or visit
the gallery's Web site, at http://www.tri-c.edu/fineart/galleryeast.
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