BRIDGET-ANNE HAMPDEN
 North
Carolina Lottery Commission
By John Galles
Bridget-Anne Hampden was
appointed to the NCEL Commission in November 2005 by Governor
Easley. At that time, the Lottery was embroiled in a lot of
controversy as a result of inappropriate actions by individuals who
had been previously appointed. Her appointment brought some very
interesting responses from her friends, but Hampden saw an
opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children in North
Carolina from an educational perspective. She described her father,
a headmaster, who continually emphasized the importance of education
to my siblings and me. So her acceptance of the position on the NC
Lottery Commission was very much in keeping with her desire to make
a difference in the area of education and a fitting tribute to her
father.
Ms. Hampden began with a focus on the crisis of education at a
national level. She remarked that U.S. students ranked 29th in math
out of 34 nations in a recent report by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. U.S. students were in a group
called significantly below average. She commented that the National
Science Foundation has also noted a sharp decline in the enrollment
of Science and Engineering graduate students in the U.S.
Additionally, foreign graduate student enrollment has declined as a
result of fewer student visas in the aftermath of 9/11.
She went on to articulate facts from Erskine Bowles' Inaugural
Address, including:
- In the past 4 years, the
UNC system turned out a grand total of 3 physics
teachers.
- For every 100 8th grade
students in NC, just a little over 50% or 58 will
graduate from high school, 38 will go to college, 28
will come back for a second year and less than half of
the number (18) who began college will graduate.
She also added:
- In the 2005-2006 State
Writing Assessment Tests, 50% of NC's 4th graders scored
in the "proficient" ranking; 46.2% of 7th graders and
33.2% of 10th graders accomplished a similar ranking.
- Over the past year, the
UNC campuses produced more than 3900 potential teachers
yet today North Carolina must hire more than 11,000
teachers each year.
- North Carolina's
immigrant population has increased by 58.1% between 2000
and 2005.
- North Carolina ranked
3rd for companies considering an expansion or
relocation.
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She was clear that NC continues to be
an attractive place to live and work; however with each new family
that relocates here, there is a significant impact felt on our
infrastructure - both social and otherwise. As a result, there are
simply not enough schools.
Implementing the NC Lottery is an attempt to help address the
growing educational needs of the state. She said that the commission
is estimating $1.1 billion in lottery revenues which will return
approximately $400M (or 35%) to education. She said that the
Governor has pledged to make these funds additive.
In the first 3 months of operations, gross receipts were $225.0
million - one of the highest gross receipts for a lottery in similar
states in the U.S. Just in July alone the lottery grossed $75.3
million! To date, overall gross receipts have been close to $360.0
million.
Under the lottery legislation, 35% of the gross receipts will be
earmarked for education. The commission is instructed to distribute
these proceeds as follows:
- 50% (or $200 million)
will be used for reduction of class size ratios in early
grades to 18 children per teacher and for
pre-kindergarten programs for "at-risk" 4 year olds who
would not otherwise be served in high-quality settings.
- 40% will be used for
school construction. Roughly 65% of these funds (or $104
million) will be distributed to each county in North
Carolina based on enrollment.
- 10% will be earmarked
for college scholarships for students who qualify for
the federal Pell Grant. These scholarships can be used
at North Carolina public and private universities and
community colleges.
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Ms. Hampden is proud of her service
and pleased to contribute to the improvement of education in North
Carolina.
Head Table:
Jim Woodward, Chris Kemper, Luther Moore, Shannon Vaughn, Edwin
Peacock, John Armistead; Invocation: Matt Joyner
Visitors &
Guests:
Worth Williamson; Health &
Happiness: John Nicolay; Song: Meg McElwain; Piano: Thomas Moore
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Rotary Club of Charlotte
841 Baxter Street, Suite 118, Charlotte 28202
chltrot@bellsouth.net 704-375-6816 |
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Brian Gibson had
successful gall bladder surgery and is expecting to return
to work around the 23rd; Alan Adler's
mom had surgery to repair a broken arm and shoulder; New
Orleans native, Bill Stegelmeyer,
shared photos he has taken of Hurricane Katrina cleanup
efforts over the last year; Floyd
Davis introduced
Christian Ogbonna as the club's newest member.
Contact Christian at
Christian.ogbonna@sfandr.com;
David Barnhardt, John Johnson, Lynn
Johnson, Al Nikles, Sandy Osborne, and
Ruth Castleberry served
an all-time record 105 teachers shopping at Classroom
Central. Ruth has a few volunteers lined up for the club's
monthly commitment, but 3 to 5 more Rotarians are needed.
Contact Ruth if you can help out; Charlotte was selected as
one of just a few communities across the country to be the
home for a new Kroc Community Center. Joan Kroc, widow of
McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, gave the Salvation Army an
estate gift in excess of $1.6 billion. Salvation Army Major
Todd Smith, Ed Ruff,
chairman of the Kroc committee, and city leaders announced
Charlotte's grant will be $70 million; Sympathy is extended
to the family of John
and Mary Beth Snyder in
the death of Mary Beth's mother, Patti, last Friday;
Pat Rodgers and
Katie Tyler contributed
to a couple articles on growth in the construction industry
and use of prefab materials at the building site;
University City Rotary Club
will have a golf tournament at Rocky River Golf Club of
October 4th. Anyone interested in supporting this tournament
can contact Steve Eyler at 704-536-6042.
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SAVE THE DATE:
The District's Rotary Foundation Banquet will be held
November 16th at the Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel.
Past Rotary Foundation Trustee, Ray Klinginsmith, will be
the keynote speaker. President-Elect
David Zimmerman will be responsible for
tickets, which will be available in the upcoming weeks.
GOLF
UPDATE:
This week's Classification challenge is extended to
Non-Profit/Churches (Floyd Davis
to coordinate) VS Education (Gene
Bratek stood to say "both of us will do our
part." Guess he's the coordinator).
Alan announced a wine reception for club
members will begin around 5:00, which is about when the
tournament should be wrapping up. Bring your spouse/guest
for the reception, fellowship, and dinner - which should all
conclude around 7:30. Chip Scholz
did a fine job of auctioning off a suite package provided by
the Charlotte Checkers, with Mike
Rash coming in with the winning bid. Thanks Mike!
In case you've forgotten, the tournament will be held
Monday, September 11th at Cedarwood Country Club.
Registration will open around 10:00 or 10:30, box lunch
provided on the carts, tee off around Noon. NO ROTARY
MEETING on Tuesday, September 12th. |
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Attendance
Record |
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8/22/06 |
8/23/05 |
| visitors &
guests |
17 |
9 |
| club
members |
169 |
182 |
| total
attendance |
186 |
191 |
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New Members | Resignations |
Bill Griswold
Christian
Ogbonna |
Hope Lanier
Jim Dalgleish |
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| Roaming
Rotarians |
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Jerry Walters, Birmingham |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
29 Billie and Bill Nichols
30 Marilyn and Roger Sarow
01 Dot and Tebee Hawkins
01 Anne and Lee Morris
02 Kimberly and Todd Owens
03 Rose Marie and Gene Bratek
03 Judy and Sam Woodard |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
30 Budd Berro, White Plains, NY
30 Sam Woodard,
Greensboro, NC
31 Ed Lewis, New Haven, CT
31 Ed Sanz, Louisville, KY
02 Todd Smith, Bradenton, FL
03 Ed Driggs, Reno, NV
03 Meg McElwain, Ripley, MS
04 Martin Waters, Charlotte, NC |
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