“Experience, philosophy key in sheriffs primary race” plus 2 more |
- Experience, philosophy key in sheriffs primary race
- Professor embraces ‘paperless philosophy’
- BaldwinCountyNow.com Launches Community First
| Experience, philosophy key in sheriffs primary race Posted: 07 Sep 2010 02:06 AM PDT Voters will be choosing between experience and philosophy in the Republican primary for Sheboygan County sheriff. Matt Elliott is pushing a law-and-order message and touting his 34 years of law enforcement, security and administrative experience while acknowledging a lack of political polish. Todd Priebe is focusing on his community policing philosophy while acknowledging he will lean heavily on others given a lack of administrative experience. The two face off in the primary on Sept. 14 for the right to challenge two-term incumbent Sheriff Mike Helmke in the Nov. 2 general election. The primary is the first in the sheriff's race since 2002, when Helmke was first elected. Priebe, 45, is an 18-year veteran of the Sheboygan Police Department and has spent the last 14 years in the community policing division. His campaign message draws on that experience and the current police chief's focus on community-police partnerships. Priebe said he would assign deputies to a consistent area — an approach similar to the current procedure — and have them focus on the people in the communities they serve. "It's building partnerships and relationship, identifying problems and working together to solve them," Priebe said. "When a problem does occur, those people in that area have a deputy they can go to and give information and work with the deputy on resolving the issue." Elliott criticized that approach as soft on crime. "He wants to hold hands with the felons and make them reintegrated into society. I want to lock them up," Elliott said. "The bad guys don't care about community policing." But Priebe, who founded the award-winning Neighbors Against Drugs program, argues his approach ultimately will prevent crime rather than just react to it. "Community policing is actually tougher on crime, I believe, because we're forming partnerships to gain better information that leads to arrests," Priebe said. "The end result of community policing isn't always an arrest, it is finding solutions to the root of a problem and solving it. … By being reactionary we're not solving the issues." (2 of 2) Elliott said his varied background makes him the ideal choice to head organization as wide-reaching as the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department. "Todd has no rank experience as far as upper management. I've supervised over 200-some people both in country and out of country. I'm experienced SWAT team, experienced K-9, experienced rescue diver, experienced Department of Justice trainer. Todd isn't. He's never held a management position in his life," Elliott said. "With my experience and background, I can run the detention center there and I can run the sheriff's department." Elliott, 56, spent 17 years as a prison guard and supervisor, eight years as an Elkhart Lake police officer and 18 years running Security Arts Corp., which includes Special Operations Detective Agency. He also has been a law enforcement trainer for numerous state and local agencies and has experience as a member or trainer in various law enforcement tactics and martial arts disciplines. Elliott is on a leave of absence from his security company, and he said that would continue if he is elected. He took the leave late last year when he began a seven-month stint as a defense contractor in Baghdad. Elliott's proposals include an inmate work program for non-violent offenders and a focus on quashing gang and drug activity in the county. He also supports concealed carry and is in favor of the proposed detention center expansion, saying it will increase the work force and allow the county to take in more state prison inmates and the accompanying state funding. "I'm not a politician — I don't know how to make it look pretty — but I will get the job done," Elliott said. Priebe said he will make up in vision what he lacks in leadership experience. "I will be surrounding myself with Sheboygan County personnel that do know and have the experience, and I will be dependent on them to help me on everyday issues," Priebe said. "What I hope to do as a leader is change the environment, where we promote innovation … and change the department-wide philosophy of community policing." Both Priebe and Elliott offered money-saving ideas in the wake of the sheriff's department's current financial struggles. Helmke has said massive layoffs could be coming, as the department remains $1.2 million above the county's budget target. Elliott said his first changes would come at the detention center, where he would hire more corrections officers to reduce overtime costs. He also pledged to turn down any pay increases while he is in office and offer without charge the services of his two dogs, which are trained in drug and explosives detection. "As a businessman, it's time for the sheriff's department to be run as a business so Sheboygan County taxpayers get the services they deserve," Elliott said. Priebe proposed making bailiffs and some other non-patrol personnel part-time. He said his community policing approach also will reduce crime and therefore save money in the long term. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Professor embraces ‘paperless philosophy’ Posted: 06 Sep 2010 09:42 PM PDT All that Kyle Jutras, a sophomore majoring in math education, and his fellow classmates need to bring to their honors class are open ears. That's because all textbooks, notes and assignments are provided online. The class, which is based on Edward Renner's virtual lecture podcast series Forums for a Future, meets three times a week — twice in a traditional classroom, where students discuss their opinions of the online content, and once in a mandatory virtual class, where they hold discussions with other classmates. Jutras, a student in Renner's honors social sciences class, said his instructor's "paperless philosophy" makes it easier for him to manage classwork. "This course really caught my attention," he said. "I'm a big computer person." Renner said he developed the idea for the class when he noticed that delivering mass lectures to audiences, particularly in the digital age of multitasking, was inefficient. "The way we used to teach isn't working," Renner said. "People who grew up in the digital age — millennials — are not going to change. We, the instructors, have to change." Renner said the students do not have to pay to use the podcast. Three years ago, before using his paperless method, Renner required that students purchase up to three textbooks for the same course. However, he said he found that "millennials don't like to read textbooks," and now utilizes excerpts from a dozen books made available to students via Blackboard. "You can either read 10 examples of the same thing or one striking example," he said. Renner said memorization is becoming futile in an age where students can easily extract information at any given time due to technological enhancements. Instead of requiring exams based on memorization, his students must actively engage in the learning process by responding to one another in an online forum. Students have access to his lectures at any time, which he said enhances the quality of class time. A topic that had previously taken him 20 minutes in class to explain is now condensed to a three-minute video online. "I have more fun teaching," he said. "Students begin to talk to each other as people, everybody knows each other's name, students' thinking becomes a public process." Melissa Adams, a freshman majoring in psychology, said the course is more engaging because of its tech-savvy nature. "I like using my computer," she said. "I don't have to write stuff (on paper). It makes it easier." Although he said he did not know of any other classes at USF that use a paperless philosophy, Renner said many schools across the nation are using online materials. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, students were given e-tablets to replace the standard notebook during a neuroscience course as part of a study. The results found that students in the bottom 25 percent of the class improved a letter grade after the e-tablets were introduced. The model was later presented at conferences nation-wide. "We have to rethink political, economic and social structures," Renner said. "It's our civic responsibility. What is it going to take to live in a global age?" This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| BaldwinCountyNow.com Launches Community First Posted: 06 Sep 2010 10:40 PM PDT As part of our guiding philosophy of "Community First," Gulf Coast Newspapers introduces what no other news media outlet can offer ... a network of community based newspapers positioned throughout Baldwin County with editorial staffs, local writers and history. "Garnering this strength, we intend to build a network of participation by inviting chambers of commerce, non-profit groups, museums, parks and preservations, service organizations, public and private schools, schools of instruction, and churches to become Community First partners. These groups will have uncensored access to www.BaldwinCountyNOW.com to post stories and announcements important to them ... at will and 100 percent free," said Bill Atkinson, Director of Online Media and Audience Development. "If a chamber has a ribbon cutting, they can promote that member business immediately on the web, in detail, with multiple photos of not only the ambassadors' group, but also the owners. They can use this to encourage memberships. Churches can post sermons, church events and announcements. Non-profit groups can post information that will help further their efforts, recognize their volunteers or just about anything," Atkinson added. "We're going to give them an open channel of communication to their communities through their newspaper online. Something they've never had before because of 'white [paper] space' limitations." What Makes A Community First Partner? Your Organization Does! Chambers of Commerce will post chamber related news in their respective categories found under the main heading, News From Our Chambers. There are sub-categories specifically setup for the five respective chambers in Baldwin County. Schools and Churches: Public and Private Schools and Churches can post news under their "community newspapers" categories for School News and Church News. Chambers, schools and churches may also post stories in the Baldwin Living and Baldwin People sections of the website. Non-Profit Organizations and Service Organizations: The two sections of the site where these groups can post stories and events are Baldwin Living and Baldwin People. There are a myriad of categories to choose from, again, depending on the subject matter. Gulf Coast Newspapers publishes The Daphne Bulletin, The Fairhope Courier, The Independent (Robertsdale), Spanish Fort Sun, Elberta-Lillian Ledger, The Foley Onlooker, The Baldwin Times (Bay Minette) and The Islander (Gulf Shores and Orange Beach) as well as a host of VISITOR publications. If your organization is interested in becoming a Community First Partner, click the link below and complete the form. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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