Princeton Company Gets Develpment Loan for Green / Historic Project

The $5 million dollar loan from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority will assist the company in adding nearly 40 new jobs. This counts as a "tripple word score" for the area, as the increased employment will take place at the historic rail yards of Princeton, WV and will encompass the restoration of several buildings on the National Register and the installation of new equipment capable of reclaiming 90% of dicarded metal.

Full Story here.

Adventures in Diversity

Some of my best friends are…. sorry, different article. I am a big fan of affirmative action and sensible diversity regulations, especially in public sector jobs, being a native Appalachian I can certainly understand how generations of cultural and economic disadvantage become a self-repeating cycle that only direct intervention of some form can remedy. Specifically, if appropriate precautions have been taken to make sure all communities are notified of an opportunity, and all applicants are equal in ability, then I see no harm in selecting an economically disadvantaged person over someone else that has had and will have other opportunities.

As a practical progressive, I appreciate the idea that in modern America it would make more sense to base affirmative action plans on socio-economic class rather than gender or ethnicity. It could reasonably be argued that poor whites from Mingo County are in as much need of assistance as poor blacks in Mississippi.

I recently sat on a search committee to hire a member of upper management for a large public university. The search committee itself was 50% women and included 2 of the highest ranking African – American administrators the university employed. Notices of the position were advertised in professional minority publications and a well – known search consultant firm was hired to make it a true, broad national search.

But after sifting through many “race-blind” resumes, conducting phone interviews with the semi-finalists, and spending large numbers of university work-hours on the process, the search was suspended indefinitely for only one sited reason: the emerging candidate pool was not diverse enough. That is, the top 2 to 4 candidates were all white men.

The real problem was that in my opinion there were at least two exceptional candidates who would have been a great asset to our institution – passed over because their skin or gender were not correct.

In my view, non-discrimination means making sure that everyone has a fair shot. It should not mean reserving spaces at the table for specific physical attributes based on non-professional criteria.

New Uniforms for WVU Football?

Here are some images of the possible new WVU football uniforms. Rumors persist that the "alternate" jersey will be worn for the 100th Backyard Brawl. There was some talk on fan sites about using a "throwback" uniform for the event, which is problematic, since the old WVU logos sucked so much.

possible New Uniforms:

Home

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3028/wvunewunihomegn8.gif
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Away
http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/218/wvunewuniawayak6.gif
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Alternate
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1753/wvunewunialternateqc8.gif

Old Logos:

Huge Explosion in Ghent

I am having a hard time procesing the gas station explosion in Ghent, WV. I have driven by that place hundreds of times and stopped there for gas, cash and soda at least 50. My cousin used to work a couple of miles from there and stopped there almost everyday after work.

More importantly, I can't fathom the cosmic "justice" of people who were just stopping for gas or a sandwich at the little Subway shop that was in the building, or people working there at jobs that must have been less than satisfying, becoming vaporised becuase they were in the wrong place, or in the case of the fire fighter and EMT who died, just doing their best to serve the people. Not in a war zone, not near an oil well, or a refinery or some other dangerous place. Just a gas station near a ski resort.

There are also rumors in the local community, that the call to the local fire department about a gas leak was made the day previous to the explosion, but that is just a rumor at the moment.

It is late and this is bothering me, so sorry if I am rambling, but just looking at the pictures is overwhelming, having a personal knowledge of the place. (see Article)

I suppose if I am drawing any personal insights from this it would be:

1. I have not for some time been a believer in a deterministic, paternalistic god, as it would require me to have faith in something who would be by definition cruel in my estimation. Events such as this simply reinforce those internal views. But then again, I am sure that the same is true for people of that type of faith, who just believe all the more blindly in the face of random death. In adulthood I believe that most often traumatic events tend to reinforce who we are, not change us. And so, our greater efforts should rest on not trying to change people, but working on living with each other as they decide whether or not to change themselves, or when necessary, helping them to survive a world that is ultimately cruel without the milk of human kindness.

2. Try as we might to live safe, insured insulated lives, we all live under the despotism of chaos. Therefore, if you do not like your life, and have the means to alter it, you are a fool not to do so. Now. AS far as we know for sure, you only have this chance and you have no real idea when that chance will be over. It might be on your way home from work this very day.

3. For the untold billions who do not have the power to alter their life course, it remains the moral obligation of those of us who can, to empower those whom we can.

2007's First Mining Deaths in WV

On the morning of Saturday, January 13, 2007 James D. Thomas, 48, North Tazewell, Va. and Pete Poindexter, 33, of Rock WV became West Virginia's first mining deaths of 2007 when a roof collapsed at the Brooks Run mine in McDowell County, where safety violations were issued as recently as December 6. The mine had been cited 57 times in 2006.

I would offer my sympathies in any such event, but even more so in this case as the event took place near both my wife's hometown and mine.

It is hard to know which would be preferable from the victim's family point of view. If this were but an "act of God" would the randomness of the event enrage you and add to your grief or act as a salve? If it turns of to be a case of operator negligence, an all too familiar case in West Virginia history, would knowledge that death was preventable result in destructive dreams of vengeance or would the cause of justice for a fallen family member in the long run sustain you?

My Short Film - "Where Heroes Lie"

So here is a movie I did back in 2004. Not exactly high quality but gets points for base humor!

It was "inspired" by thinking about what superheroes do on their day off.