xt7zs756j01s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zs756j01s/data/mets.xml The Kentucky Kernel Kentucky -- Lexington The Kentucky Kernel 2006-07-06 Earlier Titles: Idea of University of Kentucky, The State College Cadet newspapers  English   Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Kentucky Kernel  The Kentucky Kernel, July 06, 2006 text The Kentucky Kernel, July 06, 2006 2006 2006-07-06 2020 true xt7zs756j01s section xt7zs756j01s THE

Kentuc

GET YOUR GAME ON: Former UK pitcher Brandon Webb named to National League

All- Star squad for July 11 clash with American League BACK PAGE

ky Ke rnel

 

Thursday. July 6, 2006

 

Nelson A. Felix Jr. walls on a tenor saxophone Tuesday as part of downtown' 5 Fourth of July
activities. An estimated crowd of 20. 000 watched the evening '5 fireworks display.

(

Ellc mm | snrr

Above: Tuesday night’s fireworks display, seen here from

the Fifth Third Bank building's roof, lasted 16 minutes.

JULIE nrznniicii l snrr

Right: The crowd lined Main Street in downtown Lexing-

ton Tuesday to watch the Fourth of July parade.

Celebrating 35 years of independence

Thunderstorms don't deter crowd
from Fourth of July celebration

By Julie Fitzpatrick
THE KENTUCKY KERNEL

Tuesday’s afternoon
thunderstorm didn't stop
fireworks from popping or
deter concertgoers on the
Fourth of July.

In fact. the rain pro-
vided a welcome respite
from the afternoon heat
—— and it

helped fire up "They re the

spectators for

the annual pa perfect ending

rade.

the day, Faith
Cassell said day
she had to take
a break from
the parade to
sit in the
shade. prompt-
ing a Lexing-
ton police offi-
cer to stop and
make sure that she was
all right.

"All these men in their
uniforms are just too
much for me." Cassell
joked.

Cassell. and her
coworker Linda Rice. both
UK Healthcare employees.
said they enjoyed them-
selves downtown.

"We enjoy coming,"
Rice said. “Even in the
heat. it's worth sweating
for.“

Included in the festivi
ties were many vendor
booths. which boasted

items ranging from cus-
tom wire and glass wind
sculptures to combination
lock change banks.

Bleeding

:Iic mm | sm'r

Earlier in to a perfect

Stephen Schuler Gross

on Tuesday night’s
fireworks in downtown Lexington

Following the parade
was “Red, White and
Boom," a concert spon-
sored by local country ra-
dio station 98.1-FM The
Bull. Performers included
Brad Alford, Eddie Bar-
ber. Ashley Monroe, Car-
olina Rain. Gary Nichols,
and Eric Church, with
Sara Evans
headlining.

After the
third band
played. rain
threatened to
overwhelm the
audience. But
Paula Patton
and James
waited
out the storm.

“Sara Evans
is going to put
on a good
show," Patton
said. “and we‘re
going to stick it out."

She did stick it out ~~
and her patience was re.
warded.

Evans closed the show
with “A Real Fine Place to
Start." then gave an en-
core performance ot‘ Be-
linda Carlisle's ‘805 clas-
sic. “Heaven is a Place on
Earth."

Tuesday's downtown
festivities ended with a
fireworks display that lit
the sky

Stephen Schuler was
impressed with the Show.

“They're the perfect
ending to the perfect day."
Schuler said.

E-mail
featuresaz kykernelcom

live hands. a parade and lots oftircuorks kept downtown Lexington loch 'l‘ucsdai.
lI‘ronI a musical iiicdlch that included cicnthing from il\C conceit—hall hands to counm'
sin gets to thI lIl I/iIIc,‘ iIds lIII3»
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Thursday
July 6. 2006
Pilot 4

inions

Editorial Boaid

Crystal Little. Editor in chief
Chris Johnson, Managing editor
Wes Blevins, Opinions editor

  

Tim Wiseman, Sports editor
Douq Scott, Staff columnist
Andrew Martin, Staff columnist

 

 

IN OUR OPINION

Don’t declaw
CATS reform

Kentucky’s Department of Ed-
ucation might be trying to curb a
new program approved earlier this
year by the General Assembly.

Under the plan. the American
College Test will become part of
Kentucky’s academic achievement
tests by the 2007—08 school year.

The collaboration of achieve-
ment tests, collectively known as
the Commonwealth Accountabili-
ty Testing System, or CATS. is
used to gauge schools' account-
ability in teaching vital subjects to
prepare students for college.

But the state‘s Department of
Education, according to the
Louisville Courier-Journal, has
been “kicking around" ideas to
minimize the impact of the ACT
on the current CATS exams.

Under the department’s pro-
posal. the ACT will count only 5
percent toward schools‘ overall
state accountability score.

Some people inside the Depart-
ment of Education, the Courier-
Journal reported, have concerns
about how disruptive adding the
ACT might be to the state account-
ability system.

The primary sponsor of the
bill requiring high school students
to take the ACT. Sen. Dan Kelly (R-
Springfield) said the legislature in-
tended the exam to carry heavier
weight for schools.

He attributed the Department
of Education proposal to people
being “closed-minded about ad-

justing the current test." he told
the Courier-Journal.

It should be worth noting that
legislators did not pass the mea-
sure on a whim. Rather. “Ken-

tucky has been a leader” in such
measures in education reform.
said Ross Wiener, policy director
at the Education Trust in Wash-
ington. DC, in the Courier-Jour-
nal.

Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for
the Department of Education. said
despite the proposal, students will
still have incentive to perform well
on the ACT because of its impor-
tance in college entrance and
scholarships.

That‘s true for those students
who plan on attending college -—
in 2004, 49.3 percent of Kentucky
high school graduates enrolled in
colleges or universities —— but
what about the other half of stu-
dents who maintain no vested in-
terest in earning high scores?

Weighting the ACT at only 5
percent for school accountability
will give those students no further
incentive to learn the skills neces-
sary to earn a high score; nor will
it give teachers incentive to ensure
students are taught vital subjects.

It would be reasonable to as-
sume that the state legislature in-
tended the ACT to hold more
weight when lawmakers passed
their bill earlier this spring.

Department of Education bu-
reaucrats should defer to the will
of the legislature when imple-
menting those laws designed to re-
form education in the Common-
wealth.

Kentucky’s students deserve
better. The General Assembly has
done its part to help reform high
school accountability. The ball is
now in the Department of Educa-
tion's court.

 

UK athletes’ in-class competition
must mirror athletic endeavors

Last month. 47 UK student-
athletes were named to the 2006
Southeastern Conference Spring
Academic Honor Roll.

To be selected, students must
have a grade-point average of 3.0
for either the preceding academic
year or have a cumulative GPA of
3.0 at their university: Students
must also be on scholarship; and
must have completed 24 semester
hours of non-remedial credit.

UK students represented on
the Honor Roll are from the base-
ball team. men‘s and women's
golf teams. softball. women‘s ten-
nis and men's and women's track
teams.

To be certain. the 47 students
who made the Honor Roll deserve
our accolades. The pressures of
traveling and performing with an
athletic team. combined with the
rigors of college education can
take their toll on academic and
athletic performance.

But as we‘ve seen. UK athletes
excel not only on the field of play.
but also where it really matters:
in the classroom.

The SEC Spring Honor Roll
numbers revealed something
else. however Out of 12 SEC in-

stitutions. UK‘s 47 Honor Roll
students ranked 10th. ahead of
only Ole Miss and the University
of Arkansas.

UK stands 63 students behind

SEC leader South Carolina at 110. ‘

Rivals Tennessee and Florida
claim 75 and 85. respectively

While we laud the accomplish-
ments of the 47 individuals who
represent UK. we have to wonder:
Why did UK stand near the bot-
tom of the conference in the 2005-
06 academic year?

Hopefully the scarcity of UK
student-athletes on this year's
Honor Roll represents nothing
more than a one-year anomaly

UK should set a goal this sum
mer to at least double UK's repre-
sentation on next year‘s list.

When we write our editorial
next summer praising the stu-
dents on the SEC Spring Honor
Roll. we hope to congratulate
them for being at or near the top
of these standings.

UK has been rising through
the ranks of the SEC in numer-
ous sports. It‘s time for student—
athletes to begin to compete with
their SEC brethren in the class-
room as well.

 

 

l‘eiiiperaiure Anviiial) i ’(‘l

 

Global Temperature
(meteorological stations)

   
   

--~~ Annual Mean
-——- 5-year Mean

 

 

,(
limo woo i92o

NJ“

Year

 

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies

1960 HMO Zilll

 

 

 

 

77. l..l

Nkf’imal Chiller/I‘ll! pram/s .'

UK ConsuVAJiW

 

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FOX

 

 

 

 

 

 

TONY FISHER, THE KENTUCKY KERNEL

 

Environmental apocalypse likely not on the horizon

In this information age there
lies a paradox to be confronted.

It is said that Western culture
promotes the
free exchange of
ideas, yet
specters of con-
formity linger
e v e r y w h e re.
This is most
troublesome to
the enlightened
skeptic. who to-
day is constant-
ly haunted by a
dogmatic intel-
ligentsia. ubiq-
uitous political
correctness and a hostile politico~
media complex.

Take the issue of global
warming. Nearly all climatolo-
gists who study the phenomenon
of global warming believe it re»
sults. at least partly if not pri-
marily. from human activity via
the greenhouse effect: Carbon
dioxide, once released into the at-
mosphere. traps the sun's heat
and warms the planet.

Seizing on the scientific re-
search and prediction. scientists.
environmentalists and the media
have concocted an avalanche of
cataclysmic scenarios. This trend
is best epitomized by Time Maga-
zine‘s April 3 cover. which shows
a polar bear floating on a glacier
beneath the foreboding words.
“Be Worried. Be Very Worried."

So far. these prophets of doom
have denounced critics with suc’
cess as corporate flunkies, right-
wing ideologues. curmudgeonly
contrarians or misinformed
heretics. And they continue
preaching their apocalyptic
gospel. promising worldwide cata~
strophe unless industrialized
countries repent now. To them.
the debate is over.

And along comes a most un-
likely skeptic. one hard to pigeon-

    

Andrew
Martin

KERNEL COLUMNISI

' hole: author Michael Crichton.

Now. Crichton is not a climatolo-
gist; he writes fiction novels and
used to be a practicing medical
doctor.

But his grasp and employment
of complex scientific theory and
fact in books such as “Jurassic
Park." “The Lost World" and
“Prey” have been so widely
praised by the mainstream media
that it would look disingenuous
to try and paint him as a fool now.

In 2004. Crichton wrote a nov-
el called “State of Fear." in which
he castigates the envir