The blog of Andrew J. Hill, his wife Mary Lynne, and their young son, Andrew James ("AJ"). It contains news and pictures from their time on the family farm in Fort Worth, Texas, 2006 - 2010.
Bro. Dan Sharpe (Marianist Residence, San Antonio), 83, who died 23 July 2007, in San Antonio. May he rest in peace. Bro. Dan had a lifelong devotion to education and ministered as a teacher and administrator for 40 years in St. Louis (Southside Catholic), San Antonio (Central Catholic and St. Mary’s University), Milwaukee (Don Bosco and St. Thomas More), Chicago (St. Michael’s) and Fort Worth (Nolan Catholic). He served in Provincial administration for eight years and helped establish the Marianist presence in Mexico. Visitation was 25 July 2007, 7:00 p.m. at the Marianist Residence in San Antonio. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated 26 July 2007 at 4:00 p.m. at the Marianist Residence. Fr. John Leies was the presider and homilist.
31 - Aug Denver, CO Bluebird Theater 02 - Sep Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival 13 - Sep Lexington, KY The Dame 14 - Sep Athens, OH The Union 15 - Sep Cranford, NJ Music Fest 16 - Sep Brooklyn, NY NY Music Hall 17 - Sep Boston, MA Middle East 19 - Sep Washington, DC 9:30 Club 20 - Sep Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's 21 - Sep Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live 22 - Sep Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theater 23 - Sep Atlanta, GA Unplugged in the Park 25 - Sep Athens, GA 40 Watt Club 26 - Sep Gainesville, FL Common Grounds 27 - Sep Orlando, FL AKA Lounge 28 - Sep Fort Lauderdale, FL Culture Room 29 - Sep Tampa, FL Crowbar 30 - Sep Tallahassee, FL
Beta BarFor the latest tour dates and to download posters, go to yeproc.com
The U.S. Public Service Academy will be America’s first national civilian university, a flagship institution designed to build a “more perfect union” by developing leaders of character dedicated to service in the public sector.
Modeled on the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a rigorous undergraduate education followed by five years of civilian service to the country. It will develop young leaders with the character, intellect, and experience necessary to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Join us as we build our generation’s defining public institution.
Clinton, Specter, Moran and Shays Call for Creation of United States Public Service Academy
Washington, DC - At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representatives James Moran (D-VA) and Chris Shays (R-CT) today joined with public service leaders, educators and students to call for the creation of a U.S. Public Service Academy. The U.S. Public Service Academy Act (The PSA Act) will establish an undergraduate academy designed to cultivate a new generation of young leaders dedicated to public service. Modeled after the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a four-year, federally-subsidized college education for more than 5,000 students a year in exchange for a five year commitment to public service following graduation.
"We face big challenges as a nation that will require an active leadership and citizenry. I have no doubt that Americans are ready, willing, and able to answer the call and that is exactly what this Academy would demonstrate every single day. The United States Public Service Academy will tap into the renewed sense of patriotism and civic obligation among our young people. I am proud to work with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress to make this idea a reality," said Senator Clinton.
"I am pleased to cosponsor legislation to establish a U.S. Public Service Academy," Senator Specter said. "The academy would develop leaders with a strong foundation in civics and provide the country with a generation dedicated to public service."
"The U.S. Public Service Academy will be the premier training ground for the next generation of public servants. Our public sector faces a brain drain with the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation. Based on the success of the U.S. military academies, we believe this institution will help close that gap, providing the foundation for the civil service leaders of tomorrow," said Representative Moran.
"We need a 'West Point' of public service, to encourage more young Americans to commit to a career in public service and the build the skills necessary to provide successful leadership in the public sector," Representative Shays said, who service as Co-Chair of the National Service Caucus. "I am so excited to work with Senators Clinton and Specter and Representative Moran to build bipartisan support for this powerful idea."
"The Academy is an historic opportunity to build an institution that will change the way young people perceive, prepare for, and pursue public service," said Chris Myers Asch, architect of Public Service Academy concept.
The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that more than two million teachers will be needed in classrooms across the country in the next decade. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the nation's 17,000 law enforcement agencies report that they cannot fill needed positions due to a lack of qualified candidates. Graduates of the Public Service Academy will help to fill these vacancies by serving their county for five years after graduation in areas such as civil service, the public sector, and other needed fields.
A recent study by the Higher Education Research Institute found that more than two-thirds of a college freshman class expressed a desire to serve others, though the rising cost of college tuition is a barrier to choosing a career in public service. The Public Service Academy will allow such students the opportunity to go to college and tap into the strong desire to serve that already exists among college students.
Prospective applicants to the Academy will follow a nomination process similar to that used for admission to the military academies where each senator and representative nominates candidates from their state for consideration.
Senators Clinton and Specter are joined in sponsoring the bill by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Representative Moran and Shays are joined in sponsoring the House version of the bill by Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Tom Davis (R-VA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Sam Farr (D-CA), Charles Gonzales (D-TX), Al Green (D-TX), Gene Green (D-TX), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Nick Lampson (D-TX), John Lewis (D-GA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). The PSA Act was first introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives during the 109th Congress.
Scenes from Wednesday, 18 July 07: Cardiff Castle; the Black Lion in Llandaff; and the grounds and residence halls of St. Michael's College in Llandaff.
On Tuesday, I stopped over in London to have lunch with John Pearson (Vice President for Operations, FIE) and to attend a lecture and a play with Dominic Janes (Director of Academic Programmes, FIE). Dominic and I attended the "Setting the Scene" lecture on "Love's Labour's Lost" by Michael Cordner from the University of York. We then saw the play afterwards, and here is the description from the Globe:
Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole directs a young company of rising talent in the Globe’s first production of Love’s Labour’s Lost
Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Dominic Dromgoole, directs his first production of the 2007 season, Love’s Labour’s Lost. Dromgoole has assembled a cast of rising talent – Gemma Arterton who joins the company straight from Cannes where she was unveiled as the lead in the new St Trinian’s film. Also joining Arterton direct from drama school are Oona Chaplin and David Oakes.
They are joined by Trystan Gravelle, recently nominated for the Ian Charleson Award, Michelle Terry who won great critical acclaim for her roles in the RSC’s The Crucible and The Winter’s Tale last year, and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith – acclaimed for his work at the Tricycle and Manchester Royal Exchange.
The young cast of new talent is ably supported by a company including John Bett, Christopher Godwin, William Mannering and Timothy Walker.
Self-denial is in fashion at the court of Navarre where the young King and three of his courtiers solemnly forswear all pleasures in favour of serious study. But the Princess of France and her all-too-lovely entourage have other ideas and it isn’t long before young love, with its glad eyes, hesitations and embarrassments, has broken every self-imposed rule of the all-male ‘academe’.
Shakespeare’s boisterous send-up of all those who try to turn their back on life, is a festive parade of every weapon in the youthful playwright’s comic arsenal: from excruciating cross-purposes and impersonations, to drunkenness, bust-ups and pratfalls. Even more, it is a joyful banquet of language, groaning with puns, rhymes, bizarre syntax, grotesque coinages and parodies. This heady combination enjoys its first ever outing at the Globe this season.
The production opens on 11 July, with previews from 1 July, and runs until 7 October.
Scenes from Monday, 16 July 07: the grounds and residence of the Jesuit community in Milltown Park; the grounds and building of the Irish School of Ecumenics; and the main campus of Trinity College Dublin, just before the rain.
Scenes from Sunday, 15 July 07: TCD, the entrance to St. Stephen's Green, flowers on Grafton Street, the accommodations at TCD - just above the day care center, where they have two of the little orange playschool cars! That way, AJ and Eddie could each have their own!
