| CURRENT WEATHER: Clear, 94° |
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
November 7, 2003
CIVIC LESSON Beatty students get help for trip to D.C.
By MARK WAITE
Beatty High School government teacher Jerry Adcox said Beatty students have made 11 trips to Washington D.C., under the program. The Close Up program allows students to meet state and national leaders and explore the workings of the federal government, from lobbyists to senators, from the Defense Department to the Education Department. Adcox said Close Up is the nation's largest civic education program. Students will attend seminars in small groups with lobbyists, congressional staff members, embassy officials, as well as tour museums and monuments. The cost for each student will be $1,644, or a combined $64,116 for all 39 students, Adcox said; students had $59,184 left to raise without the county contribution. He said in previous trips, Nye County Commissioners provided a 50 percent match. "It's a very spendy proposition, there's no doubt about it," Adcox said. "We understand the financial condition this county finds itself in and we are more than understanding how difficult it is for you to apportion funds and decide where money should and shouldn't go." However, Adcox put in a good plug for the Close Up program. "It provides a lifetime of new experiences, contacts and new understandings of democracy and workings of government," he said. Often, citizens living in the West don't have a chance to travel all the way to Washington D.C., to see the workings of government, Adcox said. The 39 students will be the most who have ever attended the program from Beatty High School, he said. County Commission Chairman Henry Neth said he was 42 years old when he saw the nation's capital for the first time. He recalled the spectacular feeling seeing how our government functions. The trip will also be an important prerequisite when those high school students begin to vote, Neth said. "I'm thrilled to death to be able to support a program like this," Neth said. County Commissioner Patricia Cox added, "I think it's very impressive to have 39 students willing and trying to raise funding to experience what you can learn from our founding fathers in Washington D.C." Nye County School District Superintendent Rob Roberts said it is especially important students in the rural areas have the opportunity to participate in the Close Up Program. Adcox said the program is open to any school. He invited other Nye County schools to "piggyback" with Beatty High School's trip, as long as students can raise the funds. They plan to make the trip in April. Like many of the expenditures that passed Tuesday, county commissioners reached into the Payment Equal to Taxes revenue Nye County receives from the Department of Energy for the land value of Yucca Mountain to contribute to the students. |
