The Piedmont High School Version of RRRT; Readin', 'Ritin', 'Rikthmetic And Telecasting By SUSAN FANN
Morning announcements at Piedmont High School are not the way they used to be.
Instead of listening to the day's events via the intercom, students now watch taped news broadcasts produced by the students in the Digital Video Production class.
The class, new this school year, gives the students a chance to work on their writing skills, speech, and computer skills. It is open to all students at the high school and is a computer credit class.
The school purchased the equipment and computer program necessary for the class last summer. With only three days training, the instructor, Ann Sneed, said she and the class are still learning the system. The first taped broadcast was in the beginning of October.
Students are responsible for gathering information about upcoming events, preparing the script, and mixing graphics in order to produce a segment that will capture the attention of those watching in the classrooms.
The students tape their segments using a teleprompter and digital video camera in one class period. The following day they edit any bloopers, add visual enhancements and burn the segment onto a DVD for playback the next morning over the school's television system.
Each one enrolled in the class must act as announcer at some time during the course. Students who are a bit shy are allowed to have a co-announcer.
"Some people really don't like to announce, "said Sneed. '"The first nineweeks I didn't require everyone to act as announcer, but now it is one of the requirements."
The average segment is about three minutes long. When the new head football coach arrived, the students did an interview with him, covered the announcements and produced a short commercial for the library for a seven-minute segment.
The class averages about 20 students and each can express a touch of their own personality in the segments.
Each day the segment include the school announcements, club meetings, upcoming events, a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance. Sneed said some of the students end the program with a corny joke, the way the school principal did when the announcements were made over the intercom.
"Sometimes we include funny pictures of people," said Taylor Ford, a ninth-grader whose favorite part of the class is writing scripts. "I sometimes help others reword their scripts," she added.
Working with the computers to edit the shows is the fun part for Jacob Conaway, an admitted technology freak. "I'm not sure this is something I want to do later in life, but for now, I am enjoying the class," he said.

Local County Office Will Soon Have New Quiarters
In a few weeks, area residents will be renewing their auto tags and drivers licenses and paying property taxes in a different location.
As a part of the its current program of rearranging and improving property, the city had entered into an agreement with county officials to buy and remodel the building that adjoins the city offices on the north side. The building was formerly occupied by PCA Insurance, and will be known as the County Extension Office, according to City Clerk Bill Fann.
Customers entering from the parking lot will find a more spacious county area, with adequate room for printers, the drivers license machine and computer terminals.
One obvious advantage for city and county customers will be the elimination of two long lines. At the first and middle of each month, those wishing to pay their city utility bill and those want to take care of county business now meet in the small lobby of the city offices. When the new building is complete, the overcrowding problem will be eliminated.
Fann said a game of musical chairs will provide more room for city employees. All utility employees will be moved to the area around the parking lot entrance of the city's building. All utility records will also be housed in the utilities offices. Two employees with jobs not related to utilities will move to the new building.
One of the utility workers from the old Water Works, Gas and Sewer Board will be moved to the city offices, leaving only the manager's office and drive-through window in the old board building.
Fann said the design of the county offices is being aided by a computer assisted design prepared by the county, and the city's Maintenance Department is performing the work.
The new building will also contain a conference room that can be used by city board for their meetings. It can also be the scent for talking with groups visiting the city.
The two buildings will be connected by to doors.
The cost of the building was $56,000, with the city and the county splitting the bill. Fann estimated the materials for remodeling will be less than $5,000, with the majority of that being spent of flooring.
Fann said he could not give an exact completion date, but pointed out much of the work is already completed. He said the new facility should be completed and in operation by the first of next month.

Strictly Personal
Why Indecision Over Revamping State Constitution?
Have you ever wondered if some folks argue just to be arguing? I believe may be the case in the Legislature. According to reports, the lawmakers a split down the middle over a question that is a no-brainer.
Alabama's constitution was written in 1901. Be cause of its super long list of amendments, it is the longest state constitution in the nation. The document is a dinosaur and desperately needs to be changed. Not only is it outmoded, it costs the taxpayers money.
To give you an example, let say the folks in Mobile County want to open a park for snail races. Snail racing is not covered by any statute, therefore there would have to be an amendment to the constitution. To amend the constitution, the voters of the state would have to vote on the question.
First, I have no interest on what the people in Mobile are doing. It's their business. If they enjoy and afternoon or evening of watching snails race, fine. It doesn't appeal to me, but let them have their fun.
There is no reason why the people in Piedmont or any other part of the state should care what they do, yet the 1901 constitution requires an amendment.
Surely it is logical to agree that a streamlined constitution would benefit the state and its people. Why, then, is the Legislature split on the question?
This is a question that may have many answers. The first one that comes to mind involves AEA and Alabama Farm Bureau. They run the Legislature. By and large, our elected officials immediately fall into line when these two entities speak. If not these two, the lawmakers who oppose a constitutional remodeling could be marching to orders from different special interest groups. I don't necessarily subscribe to this theory, because I can't see how modernizing the constitution would financially benefit anyone.
Could there be a downside to this action. It would, of course take a lot of work, and it would require a vote of the people. Prior to that vote one newspaper in each county would have to publish the entire document for three consecutive weeks before the vote is conducted. This would give everyone a chance to read the proposal. Sure, this would cost a tidy sum of money, but the savings would soon be recovered.
You see, every time there is a statewide election in the offing, the Legislature usually passes some amendments. Each of these amendments must be published. In only a couple of elections, the cost of publishing the constitution would be offset by the savings on publishing amendments.
It would be a wise investment to any businessman. It would be a logical move. Is it the lack of business acumen or logic that prevents half the Legislature from revamping our constitution.
The U.S. Constitution is only two or three pages, depending on the size of the paper and the type. When you place it one a table next to the Alabama Constitution, it towers above the federal document because of the voluminous list of amendments.
This is just another way our Legislature has of embarrassing us and costing us money. A new state consitution should be a unanimous decision of both houses and should be at the top of the agenda. This project should receive only the best efforts from our lawmakers to produce a modern, document that would best serve the people of this state.
Our constitution should be a model for others, not the subject of jokes. With this in mind, the question for the Legislature is simple:
Should the Legislature be a model for others, or should it remain pretty much a joke?