CSU: Man arrested for bomb threats, guns

CSU police. (CSU)

Columbus State University Police arrested a Phenix City man Monday morning, just after they believe he made his fifth bomb threat against the institution.

Lawrence E. Price, 45, of 67 McMurrian Drive, was charged with five counts of making terrorist threats, and one count each of carrying a weapon to school, possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime and obstruction of a peace officer, according to a CSU statement.

University Police identified a location where the calls had originated and during an undercover operation Monday morning, and identified the suspect after a call indicating the presence of a bomb at CSU was made to the Columbus Police Department and to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Police closed in and arrested Price in a university parking lot.

Inside Price’s 1997 pickup truck, officials found two rifles, a shotgun, a small handgun, a compound bow, an axe, an antique saw, three bottles of alcohol and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. A Bomb Squad dog checked Price and his truck thoroughly and found no indication of explosives. University Police alerted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Phenix City Police.

The incident follows two bomb threats against the university in the last two weeks. Officials evacuated the faculty building for several hours after the second call.

The Columbus Police Department, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s bomb squad, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took part in the investigation.

Price was enrolled in the biology program, the statement said.

Click here for related GPB coverage, and here for coverage of CSU affairs.

CSU Names Presidential Search Committees

Brown plans to retire on June 30, 2008. (Courtesy CSU)

Columbus State University is looking for a new president.

Dr. Susan Herbst, University System of Georgia executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer is to announce the appointment of two committees charged with implementing a national search to replace President Frank Brown, who announced on Aug. 13, that he would
retire on June 30, 2008.

Brown, currently the longest-serving president in the University System of Georgia, will have been president of CSU for 20 years upon his retirement, a CSU statement said.

George Stanton, CSU vice president of academic affairs and search committee chairman will lead an informal, public discussion about the presidential search process at four p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, in room 215/216 at the Cunningham Center on the main campus.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of CSU.

Multi-million dollar donation to CSU music school

Sixty-eight Steinway pianos onstage, as seen from the balcony of the Bill Heard Auditorium of the Columbus RiverCenter For The Performing Arts. (Dave Bender)

A single multi-million dollar donation to Columbus State University in southwest Georgia has allowed Columbus's Schwob School of Music to purchase no less than 68 new Steinway pianos for their students.

(L-R) Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music, Maxine Schiffman, Rex Whiddon, director of major gifts and university stewardship and former director of the music program at The Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, onstage with the Steinway pianos. (Dave Bender)

Donor Maxine Schiffman joined CSU officials and Steinway representatives at a ceremony Tuesday, held onstage at Legacy Hall in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. 44 upright pianos and 24 grand pianos, valued at more than $2.5 million were on hand, and will be purchased as a result of the gift.

"Steinway pianos are the standard, according to Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music.

"Offering all our students Steinways – and nothing but Steinways – to practice with and to perform upon throughout their years at Schwob prepares them best for their musical careers.

"Experience with and exploration of the well-maintained Steinways in the RiverCenter will set the level for professional expectations in piano sound throughout the lives of Schwob faculty, students and in the Columbus community," Cohen said in a statement released by CSU.

In 2007, CSU named Maxine Schiffman an honorary alumnus, according to the statement.

Stage spotlights gleam off the polished wood of several of the Steinway grand pianos onstage. (Dave Bender)

The University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University and Spelman College previously became all Steinway schools.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at CSU.

CSU Graduation Set For Saturday

CSU belltower. (file photo/Dave Bender)

Columbus State University will recognize about 450 degree recipients in a commencement on Saturday.

The ceremony also will feature an honorary degree presentation to Thomas B. Buck Jr., a senior member of the CSU Foundation Board of Trustees. A well-known business and civic leader, Buck is credited for playing an important role in the growth of CSU and Columbus.

Expanded graduating classes in the past three years reflect a 35 percent enrollment increase since 2001, the university said in a statement released to the press.

A live Webcast will be available at http://graduation.colstate.edu. A high-speed connection is recommended, and a room in Lumpkin Center and Fine Arts Hall auditorium will be set up for attendees seeking an alternative viewing location, the statement said.

Click here for more GPB News about CSU.

CSU: state nursing grant is good Rx

Columbus State University officials are optimistic that $3 million in competitive grant awards from the Board of Regents Nursing Education Initiative will alleviate the nursing shortage statewide.

CSU is to receive $141,043 to increase nursing faculty salaries to more competitive levels; increase admissions to 96 applicants to the bachelor’s of science in nursing program; and increase student retention and graduation rates to produce 66 additional graduates by 2010, a school statement said.

June Goyne, chair of CSU’s Department of Nursing said that:

“Beginning around 2010, nursing faculty retirements are going to begin increasing exponentially across the state. Unless more nurses with master’s degrees are attracted to nursing education careers, the state’s ability to graduate nurses is going to fall dramatically while the need for nurses continues to rise. Right now, nursing faculty salaries that are not competitive with clinical salaries for similarly educated nurses is our major obstacle.”

CSU’s efforts are part of a statewide goal of dramatically increasing the number of nurses in the state. Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

CSU plans 9/11 memorial events

Columbus State University’s Cunningham Center will be the site for a day-long “September 11 Remembrance Day.”

Opening at 9 a.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 11, the event will feature educational displays; community public safety exhibits and demonstrations; videos, artifacts and stories from “Ground Zero” in New York; musical performances; and a closing vigil at 8 p.m. and military fly-over at 8:15 p.m, according to a university statement. Remembrance events will include:

• Ground Zero artifacts including a 1,700-pound piece of World Trade Center steel, rescue equipment, personalized notes and messages and flags
• Personalized items memorializing 9-11 Pentagon victim Marjorie Champion Salamone, provided by her mother, Lillian Champion of Pine Mountain
• Simultaneous and continuous large-screen video presentations of the “Inside 9-11” documentary; live news feeds from remembrance events in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania; and a compilation of local news interviews from 2001 with local officials and ground zero rescue workers.
• Hazardous device response demonstrations utilizing both a robot and explosives-sniffing canine
• Musical performances, from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., by high school ensembles.

Columbus Consolidated Government, In conjunction with the activities at the Cunningham Center, CSU students will stage a brief, “CSU Remembers” vigil at the clock tower, starting at 11:55 a.m. and including a tolling of the tower bell at noon.

Groups expected to take part in the event include Columbus Consolidated Government, the Muscogee County School District, the Muscogee County sheriff’s and fire departments, Homeland Security, God Bless Fort Benning, the Columbus Museum, the Salvation Army, the Community Emergency Response Team, CSU’s Cunningham Center for Leadership Development, and the university’s Student Government Association and Student Activities Council.

CSU commemorates King legacy

Richardson emphasizing a point in his address to faculty and students at CSU, on the anniversary of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Columbus State University celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s today, at a ceremony held on the anniversary of his birth.

Benjamin Richardson, Muscogee County's Solicitor-General and guest speaker, says much of King's legacy has been accomplished:

“I think a lot of Dr. King's legacy has been fulfilled, in terms of opportunities that weren't there before. For instance, my position: I am the first African-American Solicitor-General in Muscogee County. I know without Dr. King and others, that wouldn't have been possible.”

Students and faculty, seen here, repeatedly applauded during Richardson's address. (Photo: Dave Bender)

But Richardson, speaking to a roomful of over 100 students and faculty, says they risk squandering the civil-rights leader's legacy out of apathy and indifference:

“However, those rights and opportunities were not given without much struggle. Dr. King and others fought – and sometimes died – in the civil-rights movement to provide us so many opportunities for us today. But it seems we take those hard-fought rights and opportunities for granted. Unfortunately, we allow those same rights and opportunities to go by the wayside...”

Richardson especially called on the students not to waste their right to vote in coming the elections, and to stay in school.

Click here for more GPB News reports about Dr. King and his family.

CSU To Test Emergency Notification System

Columbus State University will test its new emergency notification system, CougarAlert, on Wednesday, sending a message to thousands of e-mail addresses and phone numbers at once.

The Dec. 19 test will be only for faculty and staff. A broader test, including an emergency drill and student notification, is planned for early 2008, according to the university.

The university bought the system during the summer, and officials spent the fall collecting and compiling emergency contact information from students, faculty and staff. Each group was asked to update online their emergency contact information to ensure the system’s effectiveness.

CougarNet and local media outlets will also be used to inform faculty, staff and students about an emergency. The university’s newly revised emergency action plan is at: http://police.colstate.edu/emergencies.asp.

The school reminds recipients that the Dec. 19 message is only a system test and that no action will be required. For more information, go to http://www.colstate.edu/CougarAlert.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at CSU.

Columbus: CSU holds vigil for VT victims

Click on image to view slide show of
Columbus State University vigil.
(Ledger-Enquirer)

Columbus State University faculty and students held a memorial vigil Thursday to honor the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Students signed a large poster that will be sent to to the VT student government, according to a report in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper.

Click here to view a slideshow of the event.

From a memorial letter on the GPB Radio website:

It is with great sadness that GPB learned of the death of Pine Mountain native Christopher James "Jamie" Bishop in Monday's tragic shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Jamie, who was 35, was the son of Michael and Jeri Bishop of Pine Mountain. Michael is writer-in-residence at LaGrange College and is a two-time guest on Cover to Cover, GPB's monthly radio book club.

Click here to read more.

Columbus: 'Red Clay, White Water and Blues'

“Red Clay, White Water and Blues,” a series of programs on the history of Columbus hosted by a Columbus State University history professor returns for a second year.

“The public response to these programs has been phenomenal,” said Virginia Causey, associate professor of history at CSU. “Dozens of people have requested that the programs be continued.”

Causey will moderate the hour-long programs planned for 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of most months from October 2007 through May 2008, according to the school.

Upcoming topics, locations and speakers for the history series include:

• Oct. 4: Indians in the Chattahoochee Valley
• Nov. 1: The Civil War in Georgia
• Dec. 6: The Tuskegee Airmen
  

Details about the programs are online at http://history.colstate.edu/program.asp.

CSU president announces retirement

Columbus State University President Frank D. Brown announced on Monday that he will retire at the end of June, 2008, according to a statement released by the school.

Brown, who has held the position since January, 1988, and is the school's third president made the announcement at a staff luncheon:

“For almost 20 years now, you have allowed me to serve as your president. Never could I have imagined the shared vision and singleness of purpose we have found together. The college which some us found when we arrived has matured and has been transformed with your guidance and hard work. I thank you for letting me be a member of your team!"

The Ledger-Enquirer newspaper reports that the Georgia Board of Regents would begin searching for his replacement in January.

CSU To Examine Global Warming

Columbus State University is joining more than 1,500 U.S. colleges and universities in a “Focus the Nation” teach-in on global warming and potential solutions during the week of Jan. 28.

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, a “Climate Matters” faculty lecture will feature a presentation titled “Snowball Earth: Life Without Global Warming,” and “Alien Atmospheres — Lessons from Venus.”

A flagship event will take place Wednesday, Jan. 30, where participants will view and discuss the “2% Solution” Webcast, from a video produced by the National Wildlife Federation and aired by the Earth Day Network, a university statement said.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of environmental issues.

$300,000 bond for CSU bomb threat

A Columbus judge has raise a previous bond set for a Columbus State University student accused of threatening to bomb the school.

Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Doug Pullen raised the initial $46,000 bond to $331,000, according to a Ledger-Enquirer newspaper report. Pullen, referring to the raised amount, said:

"I totally disagree with the bond amounts. This is more than reasonable considering what he's accused of doing."

Click here for previous GPB News coverage of this incident, and here for more reports of similar threats at Georgia educational institutions.

Columbus: State water issues on tap

The Georgia Water Council is set to discuss statewide water issues at a town hall meeting Tuesday evening in Columbus.

State agency heads and legislators dealing with water management are expected to attend the planning session, to be held at Columbus State University.

The event will be hosted at Founders Hall on the CSU campus from six to eight PM, and is open to the public.

More information on the subject is here: www.georgiawatercouncil.org.

Opposing a taxing proposal

Opposing a taxing proposal from Dave Bender and Vimeo.

A statewide fiscal watchdog group is taking issue with a far-reaching tax-reform plan to impose a state sales tax instead of property taxes.

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) is fronting a coalition of groups opposed to a plan by House Speaker Glenn Richardson to abolish property taxes. Instead, Richardson's proposal would tax all goods and services sold in Georgia.

Alan Essig, who heads the Atlanta-based think tank spoke at Columbus State University Tuesday. He says Richardson's plan is ill-advised:

“Right now it's all guesswork, and are we going to blow up the tax system based on guesswork? Again, it's something we really need to think about before we do it.”

Along with Essig, a panel of city, school and local hospital officials discussed the plan's pros and cons with close to 100 Columbus residents.


Essig addressing the audience at
Cunningham Center at CSU.
(Dave Bender)

Columbus remembers 9/11

CSU students singing national anthem at clock tower.
(Dave Bender)

Columbus State University's historic clock tower rang out at noon Tuesday as faculty, students and city residents gathered to remember the grim events of September 11, 2001.

Tony Oxford, president of National Security Associates is a security specialist who spent several weeks working with recovery crews at the World Trade Center site after the attacks. He told GPB News that the recovery operations left a deep impression on him:

“It was a very humbling experience, a life-changing experience, and it gives us an appreciation for America, what America stands for and why we live here - and why we continue to fight to keep America what it is today.”

An honor guard of Columbus fire and law-enforcement officials stood at attention near relics of the attacks, at an extensive multimedia exhibition.

Honor guard at attention near steel remains recovered from WTC site. (Dave Bender)

A central display featured a torn and twisted steel column recovered from the base of one of the twin towers.

A table featuring documents and relics from the attack on the Pentagon was set out in memory of Marjorie Champion Salamone, a Defense Department employee who was killed in that suicide attack. Salamone grew up in Pine Mt., and attended Troup High School.

"God Bless Fort Benning" flag. (Dave Bender)
A support group called, "God Bless Fort Benning," hung a commemorative 26-by-32-foot American flag in front on the exhibit's venue at The Cunningham Center. 700 children of service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed the panels of patriotic messages.

Busloads of high school students from Muscogee County schools attended the events, which included educational displays; community public safety exhibits and demonstrations; videos, artifacts and stories from “Ground Zero” in New York; musical performances. A vigil at 8 p.m. and military fly-over at 8:15 p.m are to close the exhibit, according to a university statement.

Col State 9/11 page.

Columbus: poly-sci expert considers Obama-Clinton odds

Muscogee County

Barack Obama will have an edge over Hillary Clinton in Muscogee County, according to a Columbus State University political science expert.

When polling stations open in Georgia Tuesday morning, Columbus headquarters for the two Democratic contenders will have tried to outdo each other, for what one analyst calls the progressive, liberal voter.

Tom Dolan, who chairs the political science department at CSU, says over 4,000 voters cast their ballot in Early elections in Muscogee County so far; the highest the county has seen:

"I suspect Obama will do better in Georgia and I suspect he'll do better in Columbus."

Dolan says while Obama attracts younger voters, they were less likely to actually get to polling stations.

County voting officials are predicting a 25% local voter turnout in tomorrow's primary, and state officials put the overall numbers at about 30-percent.

Click here for more GPB News primary election coverage.