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Water policy and laws are “no match for Mother Nature”

Posted on February 13, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—In many regions of the United States, including Kentucky, water is endangered or in short supply. As the recent chemical spill in Charleston, W. Va., has shown us, what happens up river affects the communities below. Indeed, West Virginia and Kentucky are part of the same expansive Ohio River watershed that runs from Pennsylvania to Illinois. Water connects us. Our lives depend upon its quality and availability. Yet, more than 40 years after the creation of the Clean Water Act, our water is often compromised beyond use. How do people, laws and nature get along? Peter J. Longo, professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will provide insight in his presentation “Water Policy on the Great Plains: There’s No Fooling Mother Nature” on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 4:30 p.m., in Transylvania University’s Cowgill Center, room 102. The lecture is free and open to the public. Longo will offer an overview of the culture of the Great Plains and address the local ecology and laws related to water. “Water issues and resulting policies and laws [bind] the citizens and political actors of the Great Plains,” Longo explains. “However, policies and laws are no match for Mother Nature.”Longo holds a J.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He teaches, researches and writes about civil rights and liberties, constitutional law and environmental policy. His writings on water range from how laws affect farmers to a legal history

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Your perch or mine? Transylvania professor asks what makes cockatiels fall in love

Posted on February 12, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—This matchmaking service is for the birds. Transylvania University biology professor Becky Fox came up with a sort of “eHarmony for parrots” when she discovered how cockatiels’ personality types predicted long-term compatibility. She’ll share the results in an upcoming issue of the journal Zoo Biology. “It’s my hope that some zoos that are managing birds in captivity might find this kind of thing useful,” Fox said. If there were a Valentine’s Day for cockatiels, these findings would offer hope to any of the small, crested Australian parrots who are, shall we say, hawkish. The paper is based on data she collected in graduate school about a colony of captive cockatiels that have called the University of California, Davis, home since the 1970s. Observers, mostly undergrads, rated birds on personality traits and waited to see who they paired with. Then the researchers watched the birds for things such as how much they fought with their “spouses” (the species can form lasting relationships), whether they managed to hatch eggs and how well they coordinated incubating. Unsurprisingly, the survey showed birds that got along better were more skilled at coordinating behavior and raising chicks. But did this have to do with how well the personalities of these popular pets meshed? You bet. Turns out, birds of a feather don’t seem to flock together. Specifically, two aggressive birds—ones that will race across the aviary to knock another off a favorite food dish—aren’t a

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Transylvania accounting students offer free tax service to those with incomes of $52,000 or less

Posted on February 7, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University accounting students will assist taxpayers with an income of $52,000 or less in the preparation of Internal Revenue Service income tax forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ and Kentucky tax forms. The service is free. All forms will be filed electronically. The students cannot prepare Schedule C forms. Student volunteers will be available each Wednesday in February (5, 12, 19 and 26) from 3-5:30 p.m. at Transylvania’s Cowgill Center for Business, Economics and Education on Third Street. Free parking is available in the university’s general parking lots along North Upper Street. This is a popular program and taxpayers will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Transylvania accounting students, who have completed an income tax preparation training program, will work under the supervision of accounting professors to aid taxpayers. Individuals interested in this free service should bring with them all of the necessary information, including W2s, 1099s (interest income statements), state and federal tax returns from last year, the IRS forms received in the mail and the birthdates and social security numbers for any dependents. Transylvania has offered this free program to the Lexington community for more than 30 years. For more information, contact Stephanie Coriale at 859-233-8104.

Two sides of a burning issue: Transylvania to host Conversation on Coal in Kentucky

Posted on February 6, 2014July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

  Bill Bissett Mary Cromer LEXINGTON, Ky.—Kentucky has a complex—and sometimes contentious—relationship with its official state mineral. To facilitate a balanced dialog on the issue, Transylvania University will host a Conversation on Coal in Kentucky on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. in the William T. Young Campus Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, will reflect the ambivalent views of coal in the state. Over the years, the mineral has had a major impact on Kentucky’s economy—it provided jobs and ensured we had abundant energy at relatively low cost. But it also has raised environmental and health concerns. The dialog will feature Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, and Mary Varson Cromer, a staff attorney with the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center. “It’s an opportunity for us to offer a venue for this conversation—where you have different people with different perspectives talking about an issue, which really does not happen enough,” said Angela Poe, Transylvania’s sustainability director. Her office and the university’s Student Government Association Activities Board are hosting the dialog. Moderated by Tom Martin, a local journalist and writer for Transylvania’s communications office, the event will include time for audience questions and a coffee house discussion sponsored by the Transy Environmental Action League. The idea for the Conversation on Coal emerged while making arrangements for a Feb. 15 Ben Sollee concert at Transylvania. The Lexington native has drawn attention to the practice of

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