Des Moines, IA. Recognition for outstanding academic achievement has been given to Grand View University student Derek Fulton of Bettendorf who was named to the President's List for the 2012 Fall semester and to Amber Bloch, Ragan Duax, and Brian Frick, all of Davenport and each was named to the Dean's List for the 2012 Fall semester.

The students are named to the President's List for earning a grade point average of 4.0 while carrying at least 12 hours of classes.

The students are named to the Dean's List for earning a grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale while carrying at least 12 hours of classes.

Grand View University, with an enrollment of approximately 2,300 students, is an independent, liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has recognized students named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2012-2013 academic year.

Students who achieve at a high level academically are recognized by the dean at the close of each semester. To be eligible for the Dean's List, students must complete a minimum of 12 graded degree credits in that semester. Each university school or college sets its own GPA requirements for students to be eligible to receive the honor.

Adam Vesole, Bettendorf, School of Business, Dean's List

Mehmet Badur, Moline, College of Engineering, Dean's Honor List

Andrew Hoogerwerf, Rock Island, College of Engineering, Dean's Honor List

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CARBONDALE - January 16, 2013. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon issued the following statement in reaction to President Obama's proposals to increase gun safety.

"Today President Obama introduced gun safety reforms that merit our full consideration. As Lt. Governor I have sworn to uphold or constitution, and as a mother I cannot help but see the need to better protect our children.

?"Keeping guns from falling into the wrong hands is in the best interest of all Illinoisans, including law-abiding gun owners. Whether we are from large cities or rural southern Illinois, we are united in a desire for safety. I look forward to working with the President on federal controls and the Governor and General Assembly as Illinois undergoes the court-ordered crafting of a concealed carry law."

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City of Davenport, Iowa

Saturday, January 19, 2013; 9:00 a.m.

City Council Chambers, First Floor

I. FY 14 Capital Budget

GRANITE CITY - January 16, 2013. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon is calling on Illinois' newest Congressional members to join the federal Defense Communities Caucus, a group tasked with protecting military installations and surrounding communities nationwide. Simon's call came as she convened the state's military base retention committee at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) today.

"The military bases and installations across our state provide a great service to our country, and are also fundamentally important to our local economies," Lt. Governor Simon said. "At every level of government, we must advocate to keep our installations active and make sure the voices of our troops, their families and our defense communities are heard."

Simon serves as the chairperson for Illinois' Interagency Military Base Support and Economic Development Committee (IMBSEDC), which coordinates the state's activities and communications relating to current and former military bases. Simon said the state committee could work with the federal caucus to support policies to keep Illinois bases strong.

In an effort to encourage Illinois' newest Congressional members to join the caucus, Simon will send letters to new Reps. Cheri Bustos, Bill Enyart and Brad Schneider to highlight the importance of our state's military bases and their impact on the local economy and invite them to participate in defense community listening posts later this year. These three Representatives' districts include Illinois' largest military installations: Rock Island Arsenal, Scott Air Force Base, and Naval Station Great Lakes, respectively.

Simon said the Defense Communities Caucus can act as a unified, bipartisan voice for communities nationwide with active, closed or closing military installations. The caucus' advocacy could help pave the way for partnerships among the private, public and military sectors that could create jobs or ensure federal tax dollars are used efficiently. 

"As the federal budget is considered, we must keep in mind the value that our defense communities bring to our local economies and work to ensure that they remain strong and efficient to meet our state and country's needs," Simon said. 

The IMBSEDC holds quarterly meetings across the state and selected SWIC as the location for its first meeting of the year because of its proximity to Scott Air Force Base.

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Davenport, IA- The German American Heritage Center will be hosting its second Open House on Sunday, February 10th, 2013 from 12pm until 4pm. We are offering free admission for visitors to come explore the museum and its offerings while we celebrate the German festival of Fasching! It is a similar experience to Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carneval in Brazil! As a special offer for the 10th only, we are featuring a free $10 gift card with the purchase of a membership for new or returning members! Join us in the fun!

The German American Heritage Center is located at 712 W 2nd St. Davenport, IA. For more information contact Kelly at 563-322-8844 or kelly.lao@gahc.org.

TEEN FUN AT YOUR LIBRARY

Read to Survive, Survive to Read Teen READ challenge is Jan. 6-Jan. 26. Forms are available all Rock Island Library locations. Read, survive and win!

 

Please note that this month's Teen Gaming Night is at the Main Library.

 

More teen fun in January:

Jan. 17: Teen Trivia Night, 6:00 pm, Main Library

Jan. 22: Teen Gaming Night, 6:00 pm, Main Library

Jan. 31: Teen Iron Chef, 6:00 pm, Main Library.

 

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE KIDS NEXT FRIDAY?


Friday, Jan. 18 is an early dismissal day for Rock Island/Milan school. If you're looking for something to do, bring them to our Friday Fest movie at the Main Library.  "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" starts at 1:00 pm in the 2nd floor Community Room. It's rated PG.

 

GET IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE - READ!

 

Readers will be in the winner's circle, with the "Driven to Read" winter reading challenge at the Rock Island Public Library.

 

Challenges are available for both children and adult readers from Tuesday, Jan. 22 to Friday, March 1. Children from pre-school to 6th grades can pick up a Driven to Read reading log and choose to read either 16 books or for six hours of accumulated time. Prizes will be awarded at the halfway point and finish line.

 

Adults ages 18 and up may participate by completing one entry form for each adult book, eBook or audiobook completed during the Jan. 22 to March 1 challenge period. Entries will go into a random drawing for the grand prize of an Amazon Kindle Fire HD, or secondary prizes of gift cards and passes to restaurants, merchants and attractions.

 

Children's reading logs and adult reading challenge entries are due back to the library by 5:00 pm on Friday, March 1. Children may pick up prizes as they earn them; Adult winners will be called. Forms will be available starting Tuesday, Jan. 22 at all Rock Island Library locations.

 

Winter reading prizes are sponsored by the Friends of the Rock Island Public Library.

Rock Island, IL: The Rock Island Public Library board of trustees will host a public reception to introduce new library director Angela Campbell to the community. The reception is from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 30, in the Community Room of the Main Library, 401 19th Street, Rock Island.

Ms. Campbell begins her duties at the Rock Island Public Library on Monday, Jan. 21. She is relocating to Rock Island after two years as director of the Glenwood Public Library in Glenwood, Iowa. Before accepting the Glenwood directorship, Ms. Campbell worked at the Davenport Public Library from 2011 to 1997. Previous Rock Island library director Ava Ketter retired in May 2012 after 14 years as director, interim director and assistant director.

The reception is open to the public, with RSVPs encouraged by Friday, Jan. 25. To RSVP, please call the library business office at 309-732-7305.

ACampbell Headshot.jpg

 

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Former Marine Platoon Commander Notes 2013 Congress has
Least Active-Duty Veterans Since WWII

The U.S. military invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and has been there ever since; in fact, the government started and ended another long and costly campaign in Iraq within that period. All the fighting, dying, loss of limbs, family absences, stress and resulting post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, homelessness and suicide have been experienced by less than 1 percent of the population - combat veterans.

"Everyone says they can only imagine the hell of war, and it's true; if you haven't been in combat, you just don't know what it is like," says Ord Elliott, a former platoon commander with the Marines and author of The Warrior's Silence (www.ordelliott.com). The memoir, written over several decades, recounts the transformative experience of combat in Vietnam and how it informed his emerging understanding of war as a young man.

"The problem has gotten worse because the number of active-duty veterans in the U.S. Congress has been declining for nearly four decades," Elliott says. "This year's 113th Congress will have the fewest since World War II - just 19 percent of the 535 House and Senate members."

Elliott says he had no particular purpose in mind when he wrote down his memories and impressions of war, and the pages sat in the back of my closet for years - until the drums of war started up once again for the Middle East.

"I knew more young people would be used as cannon fodder for an unnecessary war, voted on by old politicians with nothing to lose. That's when I knew my writing could be used for something."

Much of his reader feedback addresses the apparent indifference by politicians to the suffering that will be endured by troops when the nation goes to war, says Elliott, a Princeton graduate. He says many feel thatThe Warrior's Silence - in the tradition of Karl Marlantes' Matterhorn and Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead - should be required reading for any politician pushing for a war vote. Several passages in Elliott's book detail the heavy toll of war:

• Resentment & anger: As a platoon commander, Elliott participated heavily in "the numbers game," which was the attempt to count the dead and wounded on both sides. "It became a far more fictional than real method of accounting," he says.Many times since then, Elliott has daydreamed about having Robert McNamara, the late Secretary of Defense who played a major role in the Vietnam War, run "point." "I wanted the politicians and the generals and the colonels sitting back in Da Nang moving pins on a map - I wanted those bastards on my point," he writes. "When you're on point, you're marching on the edge of annihilation, your last moment not a full breath away."

• Depersonalizing humans: In Vietnam enemies were called "Gooks;" today, we fight "terrorists,"or even the more blatantly racist "rag-heads." In addition to the many inane reasons given for the past several U.S. wars -which stay with vets as a nagging "why?" - embattled military personnel also carry with them the dangerous experience of having dehumanized people. "When you get back from combat, you know you've changed, but you don't know exactly how," he says.

• The good warrior: Dave Hackett, a friend of Elliott's in Vietnam, was the company's executive officer. "He was a good Marine who never questioned the war; he was a professional warrior who accepted the rules of the game he was in," Elliott says. One night, the two shared coffee while Dave retold the adventures of a Native American hero, as portrayed in a western-novel series, in which the protagonist was finally killed. The storytelling turned out to be prophetic.The next day the company was ambushedand Dave died in the firefight trying to save other Marines.Today's Marines are much like Dave, Elliott says. They are admirable in their willingness to charge into anything, and they are completely at the mercy of politicians' votes.

• Insight: "My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge," writes Catherine Webber, a former Oregon state senator. "Two years later, when I was only 6, he committed suicide. Ord's insight into the warrior's mind has helped me understand how what he endured could have trumped his love for me, my mother and my baby sisters. Had I known this 60 years ago, my life would have been much different. I have now finally found some closure and peace ...."

About Ord Elliott

Ord Elliott was a Marine Rifle Platoon Commander in Vietnam, and he is a Princeton graduate. He went on to build a successful career in management consulting. He is also the author of a book on organization design, The Future Is Fluid Form: Practical Steps for Designing Flat, Flexible Organizations.

CHICAGO - January 16, 2013. After participating in a call with the White House, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and governors across the nation, Governor Pat Quinn today issued a statement regarding President Barack Obama's public safety plan:

"I stand with President Obama in calling on Congress to adopt strong policies that will reduce gun violence. We must act now to protect the children and people of America.

"The President's action today is the first step of a comprehensive public safety plan that Congress must act upon. We all have a responsibility to ensure that military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines do not fall into the wrong hands.

"The American people should not have to go about their lives in fear of the kind of mass violence that can be inflicted by an assault weapon.

"The horrific tragedies that occurred in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut have cost our nation too many precious lives. While gun violence cannot be completely eliminated, we should not wait one more day to enact common sense measures that will save lives and help prevent these violent massacres." 

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