Newspaper Page Text
Telecommunications is topic at Rotary
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Glenn Bishop, lead telecommuni
cations instructor for Ben Hill—lr
win Technical Institute addressed
the Perry Rotary Club Monday on
the importance adapting to the
changes and growth in the
telecommunications industry at
their regular meeting.
"Telecommunications is a broad
term, but when I see the word
'lnternational' it means the same
thing to me as telecommunications.
The industry has grown tremen
dously since its divestiture. There
are a tremendous amount of jobs
available through vocational educa
tional training in the telecommuni
cations industry. In the last three
years, 80,000 jobs have been filled
by people with vocational educa
tional training in this field. To il
lustrate how sore the need for voca
tional training is, one guy who was
working for a telecommunications
firm found out the firm had run out
Rhude explains weather to Kiwanis Club
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Norman Rhude of the National
Weather Service spoke to the Perry
Kiwanis Club at their regular meet
ing Tuesday.
"Our mission is to supply as much
weather information as we can to
people in the agriculture and avia
tion industries and the general pub
lic. In Macon we work out of a five
man weather station. We collect
data from the various instruments
and enter the data into an on-line
computer which people can call to
find out the latest weather updates.
People kid us quite a bit about our
ability to forecast and I tell them
this is the only job I've ever had
where I have been wrong this often
and still get paid," Rhude laughed.
Rhude talked about local weather
man Bill Powell's education on the
difficulty of forecasting.
"Bill came to the weather station
every day for 12-15 months and
after about six months he asked me,
'How long does it take to get really
good at this.' I told him, 'Bill I've
been doing 30 years and I still get it
wrong," he said.
A Kiwanis member asked what it
means when the news says, 'There
will be 60 percent chance of rain."
' amr k qttdf ait UN’s
oMq h Hi ilr, "Ms catnLMi ki int EMMI ItMHt Mqir
Even Bank South was surprised to find Edna Flanagan, our checking « transferred things like direct payroll deposit and replaced her old checks
account champion, taking stage at the local grocery store. But _ . AT BmH for free. And even gave her automatic overdraft protection from her
apparently our savvy shopper was overcome with excitement after S K IB Ksavings account, money market or established line of credit,
trading in her old checking account at Bank South. H B WtW For a checking account that’ll make you a hero, stop by any Bank
Ana seized the opportunity of an empty microphone to exclaim the ™ South office today. When you trade in yoQr Old’ehttiidng^otfrit,
benefits of receiving sue months free checking. With no service charge Chanflß yOUP Hi B. ask about our low auto loan rates. And join Edna, the smart savvy
or minimum balance required. Bank South even helped Edna close out shopper who first told you about Bank South,
her old checking account. Issued her a new Bank South ATM card, 1 *
Offer good through December 'll, 1992. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer on the same product. Other restrictions and normal credit approval procedures apply. 01992 Bank South Corporation. Member FDIC.
of work, he found a new job two
hours later,” Bishop said.
Bishop emphasized the need for
business owners to keep abreast of
the latest developments in the in
dustry.
"In the old days everybody had a
dial phone but it took so much ad
ditional time just making the call,
something had to be done. So they
invented the touch tone system.
The priority today is faster commu
nication. Currently, phone lines can
carry messages 186,000 miles per
hour, the speed of light. We will
continue to improve the speed and
efficiency of telecommunications
systems. If a business owner does
not keep up, he will fall behind and
in a competitive market, very few
can afford to do that," he said.
Bishop said there are only two
centers in Georgia where telecom
munications vocational education is
taking place. He stressed the need
for an expansion of this program.
"lt is a percentage factor. We are
in zone 6 which covers 18 counties
so if a percentage is given it means
somewhere in that 18 county area.
That prediction is based on things
like how much instability there is in
the various weather readings, the
percentage of moisture, build-up of
pressure, etc. Based on those fac
tors it represents the probability
that rain could develop based on
our data," Rhude said.
Rhude was asked his opinion of the
Farmers Almanac's weather fore
casts.
"I think it is fairly good, especially
as a long-range tool. When you are
dealing with a larger body of data it
is a little easier to discern a pattern.
As a guide to overall weather trends
it is useful, but day to day the suc
cess rate for accuracy goes down,"
Rhude said.
The question of why weather pre
diction is often inaccurate was
raised by several club members.
"Meteorology is not an exact
science. You are trying to measure
an elastic envelope of air. We send
out balloons and take point readings
from the time the balloon is in con
tact with the atmosphere and our
guesses or based on the data pro
"You can call anywhere in the
world today within just a few min
utes. There is a satellite called the
Iridias going up in 1993 which will
allow every person to carry around a
telecommunicator in his or her
pocket enabling them to have a per
sonal phone anytime. What this
will do to ATT and Sprint is still
subject to question. The parallel is
similar to telephones versus using
the mail. The mail is still being
used, but telephoning has become a
much more widely used form of
communication. We need to be
prepared to adapt to the frequent
changes in technology. Vocational
schools provide training, seminars
and classes to prepare people to do
just that. New technology costs
money up front, it always does, but
good preparation and smart purchas
ing will save a business money in
the long run," he said.
Bishop said he expects the fax
vided by things like the balloon,
there is no way to have a non-stop
to the minute reading of the
weather. If you were to ask an
engineer to measure an elastic ob
ject that was constantly in motion
away from him, his measurements
wouldn't be nearly as accurate as if
the object were stationary, that is
what weather forecasting constantly
faces. We are pretty successful, I
would estimate we are operating at
about 80 percent accuracy," Rhude
said.
Rhude said the trend with govern
ment funding is an increased re
liance on computers and instru-
Macon College stats
presented to Exchange
By MERRILYNN AIKEN
Staff Writer
Beverly Peavy, Assistant Director
of Continuing Education at Macon
College, addressed the Perry Ex
change Club at noon Thursday
during their regular meeting.
Peavy informed the club that
when Macon College opened in
1968, student enrollment numbered
Cl
machine to eventually replace the
current mail system. The possibil
ity of sending a letter from one
place to another immediately
through a wire, rather than waiting
days for human delivery is largely
just a matter of time and cost.
"The young have adapted right
away, just try to compete in Nin
tendo with your kids to see what I
mean. It is the older generations
who need to be prepared for what is
coming. Vocational education is
one place where that preparation can
take place," Bishop said.
The Rotary Club is planning to
hold a parking lot sale Nov. 7 at
Stanley Furniture. Proceeds from
the sale will be used to benefit the
"Tremendous Teddy” program. The
program provides teddy bears for
children who have been involved in
an accident. The time of the sale is
still being discussed, but the club
plans to begin early in the morn
ing.
ments near airport runways.
"The system which is about to go
into effect measures several
weather factors at the end of a run
way, but only for that immediate
area. There is an increased empha
sis on weather reporting for avi
ation. Aviation weather is very im
portant, but the general public is
being somewhat shortchanged. If
they continue to get away from
weather stations, they will be able
to tell the present weather, but
could not report on visible moving
patterns, only an observer can do
that," Rhude said.
1,110; this fall student enrollment
reached 5,000. She explained the
average age of the student body is
27 and that 40 percent of the
students attend evening classes.
Next to Dekalb College, Macon
College is the fastest growing col
lege in the University System of
Please see EXCHANGE, page 10A
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL. SATURDAY OCTOBER 31.1992-:
Members of local AARP
offer Medicaid counseling
Members of the local AARP have been specially trained to counsel
individuals receiving Medicaid and Medicare. The Medicaid Medicare
Assistance Program will be conducted at the Perry Library. The pro
gram offers counseling for Medicare beneficiaries and their families
when they need help understanding Medicare, medical bills, supple
mental insurance or Medicaid.
Some of the services available at no cost seniors are processing of
doctor and hospital bills, preparation of health insurance claims, fil
ing of Medicare appeals, explanation of an individual's hospital
rights and Medicare benefits, review of Medicare supplemental insur
ance, exploration of Medicaid eligibility and weighing long-term
care options.
Contact any of the local senior volunteers to set up an appoint
ment. They arc Ed and Ramona Hawkins (987-0006), Beverly
Garrison (987-3846), Christine Hardy (987-4871), Ollin and Doris
Taylor (987-3323), Day (987-9284) or Betty Kelly (987-1604).
>
Westfield
Lunch Menu
2 Monday
Student Holiday
3 Tuesday
Pizza, Tossed Salad,
French Fries, Vanilla
Pudding
4 Wednesday
Baked Chicken, Butter
Beans, Corn on the Cob,
Corn Bread, Cookie
5 Thursday
Steak Nuggets, Macaroni
& Cheese, Fried Okra,
Buttered Roll, Jello
6 Friday
Hamburger, Lettuce &
Tomato, French Fries,
Fresh Fruit, Ice Cream
I Houston Home Journal I
987-1823 |
1 I
Houston
County
Lunch Menu
2 Monday
Hamburger on Bun,
French Fries, Fruit,
Cookie, Choice of Miik
3 Tuesday
Spaghetti, Tossed Salad,
Citrus Fruit, Biscuit,
Choice of Milk
4 Wednesday
Student’s Choice
5 Thursday
Chicken, Mashed
Potatoes, Turnip Greens,
Jello, Whole Wheat Roll,
Choice of Milk
6 Friday
Vegetable Beef Soup,
Peanut Butter/Jelly
Sandwich, Tossed
Salad, Fruit, Choice of
Milk
3A