while you were out…hiawassee loses

Just a short post in between cities and pianos…

Something big happened while I’ve been out of town and relatively unplugged from just about everything. This morning, I read that Hiawassee College has lost its federal court case against the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that SACS did not deny due process to Hiawassee in regards to the school’s financial resources. I assume this means that the students at the two-year college are ineligible for federal grants and loans.

This is disturbing, especially since my own alma mater, St. Andrews Presbyterian College (SAPC), is preparing for a similar battle.

Those of us who are following the SAPC case see a similar course of action. Last summer, we were discussing and debating SACS’ decision to defrock SAPC because of finances. Then, after SAPC filed suit against SACS and was granted a temporary order allowing accreditation to continue until a final ruling in federal court, we relaxed a little. The story took a pregnant pause until now.

This morning, I have scoured the net for updates, discussion, etc in a quick attempt to gather more information.  First, was SAPC’s own accreditation information update page; then, SACS’ statements and announcements.  From there, I found a few interesting articles and posts…

On April 14, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the June 1, 2007, judgment of the District Court of the Northern District of Georgia directing that the temporary restraining order be lifted regarding the reinstatement of Hiwassee College as an accredited institution by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Effective April 14, 2008, Hiwassee College, located in Madisonville, Tennessee, has been removed as an accredited institution with the Commission on Colleges.  (The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools)

FEDERAL COURT AFFIRMS SACS’ COMMISSION ON COLLEGES AS A PRIVATE INDEPENDENT ENTITY

 What criteria should our national accrediting organizations use on the Higher Ed Law Prof Blog.

The final federal court ruling of Hiawassee College v SACS 

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Accreditor’s Action Against Hiwassee College

Hiwassee may go out with a squeak instead of a roar, Jim Castagnera, The Greentree Gazette

Federal Court Upholds Accreditor’s Action, Charles Huckabee

Saturday at Hiawassee College, Tony Burgess Blog 

Hiwassee loses accreditation appeal,Tommy Millsaps, The Advocate and Democrat

St. Andrews and Hiawasse have both applied for accreditation through The American Academy For Liberal Education ( The American Academy for Liberal Education is a national organization dedicated to strengthening and promoting liberal education through accreditation and research.)

I hope to continue this story when I return home in June from a judging tour. Meanwhile, please feel free to post related links, comments, etc.

 

on the night table

RAINER MARIA RILKE

New POEMS

A Bilingual Edition

Translated by Stephen Cohn

Northwestern University Press, 1998 

 

 The Heart of the Rose

Where is the outwardness
to what lies here, within?
Whose wound was ever dressed,
bandaged in such fine linen?
Reflected here, what skies
lie open and at ease
as in a lake within
these open roses
in which all softly rests
as if no accidental hand
could shake or make it spill?
Unable to contain
the riches that are theirs
they pour out the excess
sharing their inwardness
to enrich the days; until
the whole of summer seems
one great room, a room within a dream.

–Rilke, translated by Cohn

 

on the night table

100 Great Poems

of the Twentieth Century

Edited by Mark Strand

W. W. Norton & Company (June 27, 2005)

 

the low down

 

Charlotte Jumper Classic, Sunday, March 13, 2008

 

Final Results: $500,000 Grand Prix

1. Anthem, Laura Kraut: 0/0/0/34.83
2. Rufus, Rodrigo Pessoa: 0/0/0/36.74
3. VDL Oranta, Chris Kappler: 0/0/0/36.84
4. Rolette, Ben Maher: 0/0/4/35.48
5. RMW Estina, Eduardo Salas Herrera: 0/4, Total 4 faults in 2 rounds
5. In Style, Ian Millar: 0/4, Total 4 in 2 rounds
5. Cristallo, Richard Spooner: 0/4, Total 4 in 2 rounds
5. Authentic, Beezie Madden: 0/4, Total 4 in 2 rounds
5. Vegas, Christine McCrea: 0/4, Total 4 in 2 rounds
10. Curius, Georgina Bloomberg: 0/5, Total 5 in 2 rounds
11. Hickstead, Eric Lamaze: Total 1 in 1 round
12. Up Chiqui, Kent Farrington: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Sapphire, McLain Ward: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Ublesco Cara Raether: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Onira, Brianne Goutal: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Sassicaia 11, Katie Prudent: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Crelido Michael Morrissey: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Carlsson Vom Dach, Will Simpson: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Rayana Chiara, Jonathan Asselin: Total 4 in 1 round
12. Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold, Margie Engle: Total 4 in 1 round

 

holding my breath at the Charlotte Jumper Classic

I couldn’t have had a better seat in which to watch 40 of the world’s best equestrians compete in last night’s Charlotte Jumper Classic Welcome Stake. l believe I held my breath over every rail, not because of nervousness, but because it was breath-takingly beautiful. 

I went to the Charlotte Jumper Classic just to see Beezie Madden ride that gorgeous Dutch Warmblood gelding, Authentic.

And what a site to see up close! Although they came in at 7th place in the final results with a time of 33.57 and four faults in the Welcome Stake, watching that particular horse and rider ranks first place in my personal equestrian interest and experience. 

I love Madden’s story, A Sunday Horse. She is a woman I really admire. Madden is the first  American to ever reach the top three world rankings in show jumping and one of only two Americans to win a Pulsar Crown prize. Madden and Authentic, a gorgeous 13 year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, were Gold Medalists in the 2004 Olympics. Just recently, the pair made the US Equestrian Federation’s short list for the 2008 Olympics.

In the end, it was Canadian Eric Lamaze and his 12 year-old Dutch-bred stallion, Hickstead, who took the biggest prize in the $50K purse with a time of 33.32 and zero faults. His performance was truly amazing and near perfect. Also among the list of Welcome Stake competitors was NC’s own Eliza Shuford of Hickory.

 

living in the present

I have missed writing for pleasure the past few weeks. Usually, living in the present is what brings the rhyme or reason to write a word or two each day; however, I’ve fallen under the curse of the Day-timer and Day-runner and they have come like a thief in the night to rob me of the precious now.

I’m supposed to be retired.
Instead, I’ve gotten myself into a bundle of trouble doing things that I only feel I should do, like judging piano auditions out of town for the next five weeks,  I’ve also got to get my little package to the IRS, go to DC for my daughter’s graduation, have an MRI and lab work done, pay bills, finish editing a dissertation, arrange for my animals to be taken care of while I’m away, and renew my driver’s license and passport. It’s quite enough to make me lie down on the sofa and put a cold compress on my head.

So, in a desperate attempt to regain my center and fatten up my spirit before the famine comes, I’m writing this afternoon (just to make sure I still know my way around a keyboard, if for no other reason). It would be so easy to write a pity party given the state of my calendarial affairs; but instead, I am opting for a kinder meditation on the topic of time through the stunning words of poet Mark Strand. Were it not for the economy of poetry, indeed, I probably would be bankrupt in terms of material for meditation.

Strand’s HOUR has been my spiritual tether for the past 10 days and will continue to be for at least 16 more days. Since April1, and knowing I’ve sacrificed my present to do other things and meet obligations, I’ve taken one line per day of HOUR as a prompt for peacefulness and an affirmation of the now. I’ve responded to HOUR with hourly thoughts of my own…the hour between the pages of a worn-out book…the last hour of the last day of the last week of the last year…the bottle-necked hour given to nothingness…the sweet hour of baby’s breath on my shoulder…

HOUR
Mark Strand

The extra hour given back to eternity
The hour gained by travelling west
The hour of the imagined empire
The deepest hour of the darkest sea
The guilty hour that precedes catastrophe
The hour that it takes to go from here to there
The haunted hour of the knowledge of death
The hour in which the moon darkens
The hour that moves through the mind like cloud shadow
The blue hour that rests on the roof of the house
The hour that is the mother of minutes and grandmother of seconds
The swollen hour of pain, enough, enough
The hour when mice run in the walls
The bronze hour of electrical weather
The cloistered hour of the nun’s great moment
The necklace of hours the widow wears
The numbing hours of a night in Nome
The sound of hours in the breathing of plants
The central hour that exists without you
The hour in which the universe begins to die
The hallucinatory hour that hangs forever
The hour of excess that equals two of self-examination
The hour that flashed on the skin
The hour of final music
The hour of painless solitude
The hour of moonlight upon her body

 

 

Interview with Anne Rice

 

See Jamie Arpin-Ricci’s interview with Anne Rice on A Living Alternative blog. It’s quite good.

 

on the night table

When the Diagnosis is Multiple Sclerosis:
Help, Hope and Insights from an Affected Physician
Kym Orsetti Furney, M.D.
Praeger Publishers, December 2007

This morning, I read an article on the Charlotte Observer website about Dr. Kym Furney’s new book,When the Diagnosis is Multiple Sclerosis: Help, Hope, and Insights from an Affected Physician. It looks like a very good resource for understanding and coping with MS.

“Furney’s well-researched and compassionate writing will not only empower people newly diagnosed with MS, but will give family members insight into the physical and emotional challenges for their loved one, challenges that she or he may not immediately be able to voice. This work also offers invaluable insights for healthcare professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, physical and occupational therapists.” (Praeger Publishers)

Furney’s book might not be a good one for everyone’s night table, but for folks and families who live with MS, it looks like a good source of support.

The Charlotte Observer article is quite good and includes and interview with Furney. You can read it here.

 

on the night table

Unaccustomed Earth
Jhumpa Lahiri
Knopf, available 1 April 2008

I had a note in my inbox this morning from a fellow disclaimer about Jhumpa Lahiri:  

Hi, everyone!  I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  I just wanted to give you a heads-up, in case you didn’t know, that Jhumpa Lahiri, author of The Namesake and The Interpreter of Maladies, has a new book coming out on April 1st.  It is titled Unaccustomed Earth, and like Interpreter, it is a collection of short stories.  I’ve seen great reviews.

Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth will be a nice addition to this summer’s on the night table and I’m looking forward to it. 

There is a really good article (The Writer Who Began With A Hyphen, Washington Post) about Lahiri and her Pulitzer Prize. It’s an old article, but quite interesting. There is also a web site at jhumpalahiri.com that’s a little on the side of doubtful, meaning there’s nothing other than lots of per-click line ads; but there’s plenty of legit Google results that highlight Lahiri and her accomplishments

More to come…

 

my grandbunny

Happy Easter.

Happy Spring. 

Me and my
little grand-bunny.