Shepherd University presents Phase II Arts Center Proposal

Here in Shepherdstown, WV, we have very few major local conflicts… but one I discovered

John Doyle before the presentation.

shortly after moving here close to three years ago was the amount of complaining by a few locals being coordinated by their State Delegate John Doyle over the design of the Phase I Arts Center building at the University.  Most of the original arguing went on before I moved to town… when I got here, drawn by the Nationally famous Contemporary American Theater Festival and the wonderful intellectual capacity of this small village (which was far superior to Hagerstown, MD, where Elly and I were living), the Phase I building was already about to open and, over the years, we have been to theater performances, art exhibits  and related receptions there and found it a great structure and perfect art location.

Viewing the designs.

Now, a number of locals who live, apparently, in 19th Century Houses across Rte 480 and who want Shepherdstown to stay a century-and-a-half-years-old in design, have returned to the presentation made at the University tonite to announce Phase II, and raised their issues again about the architectural design, copper shingling, round rooflines, etc. However, a relatively large number of residents, yours truly included, spoke in favor of the buildings and completely outnumbered the complainers.

President Suzanne Shipley

The Phase II building will include a new Arena Theater (around 180 seats) which will be used by CATF in the summer and by the University the rest of the year; scenery, prop and costume shops; upper and lower lobbies; sculpture and painting studios; classrooms and more.

Dr. Suzanne Shipley, Shepherd’s President, introduced Doug Moss, Architect for Holzman Moss Bottino, who

Presenting the Model

presented the building design, and then answered questions, getting stuck in about 20 minutes of brouhaha from the design protesters. Ed Herendeen and a few of the CATF people, Mayor Jim Auxer and a number of other locals listened closely to the rest of the presentation, asked questions about handicap access and other design elements, and, in general, were impressed with the designs.

Phase II of the Center for Contemporary Arts is slated to be built on Shepherd’s West Campus at the intersection of Route 480, Shepherd Grade, and West Campus Drive. The second phase of the building is funded by an $11 million state appropriation –  and, to be fair, Delegate Doyle has worked very hard to obtain the State funding and should be praised for his fund raising activities.

I’m looking forward to Phase II being constructed and know that, some years down the road, we’ll be entering the complaint fray with Phase III, which will add two more theaters and three more buildings to the mix.

Here’s an upcoming danger you may never have thought of…

Robert Richardson, professor of Physics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, co-chaired an inquiry into the impending shortage convened by the US National Research Council, an arm of the US National Academy of Sciences. The results of the inquiry posts a shortage problem (a waste problem, actually, as are most of our misuse situations) you may be surprised by.

The telegraph has an article that you can start here… but go in and read it all:

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk The world’s reserves of helium are running out the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Robert Richardson, has claimed. Experts have warned that the inert gas is being sold off far too cheaply and that resources could run out within 25 to 30 years. Prof Richardson has called for America to reconsider its policy to sell off its helium reserves by 2015 as a result. A US law, passed in 1996, has ruled that the US National Helium Reserve, located in Amarillo, Texas, should be sold off within 20 years. Helium, a non-renewable resource, is used in MRI scanners (which are cooled by the gas), airships and also by anti-terrorist authorities who used it for their radiation monitors. It is created by the radioactive decay of terrestrial rock and most of the world’s reserves have been derived as a by-product from the extraction of natural gas. Around 80 per cent of the world’s reserves are in the American South-west. However, because the gas is sold so cheaply there is no incentive to recycle it.

Professor Richardson also believes that party balloons filled with helium are too cheap, and they should really cost about $100.00 to reflect the precious nature of the gas they contain.

In his words:

“Once helium is released into the atmosphere in the form of party balloons or boiling helium, it is lost to the Earth for ever, lost to the Earth for ever.”

Krugmann explains the Bush Tax Cut expiration…

Start here, then go into the NY Times and read the rest. Your clarity on the subject will improve 100%:

clipped from www.nytimes.com We need to pinch pennies these days. Don’t you know we have a budget deficit? For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy. But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people in the country. What — you haven’t heard about this proposal? Actually, you have: I’m talking about demands that we make all of the Bush tax cuts, not just those for the middle class, permanent. Some background: Back in 2001, when the first set of Bush tax cuts was rammed through Congress, the legislation was written with a peculiar provision — namely, that the whole thing would expire, with tax rates reverting to 2000 levels, on the last day of 2010. Obviously, the idea was to go back at a later date and make those tax cuts permanent. But things didn’t go according to plan. And now the witching hour is upon us. Read the rest HERE.