Tennessee Reconnect

---

Tennessee College of Applied Technology

primary person to contact for follow up questions about TCAT-

Lacey Reed

TCAT: Nashville

Enrolment Recruiter and Instructor

lacey.reed@tcatnashville.edu

p: 615.425.5500 ext. 5557

f: 615.425.5582

Marc Lens

Director of TCAT Nashville

Mark.Lenz@tcatnashville.edu

“If a student does not have the proper resources in order to attend school come see me.”

-gave the example that some students brought to his attention that one of their classmates had not been showing up for several days in a row. Her car was not working properly- so he sent the car to be repaired by the auto diesel program.

“if someone is intimidated by the application, which is free, or filling out the FAFSA send them our way and we will help them out. We are adamant about wanting to reduce all barriers to entry.”

---

TN Promise: primarily for people who’ve graduated from a ‘regular’ school in TN + received their diploma

• provides funds for two years of community college or TCATs
• part of the implementation of the so called “drive to  55”

• 

  drive to 55 is the goal for 55% of Tennesseans to have graduated from higher education programs or have a professional certificate by 2025

• currently only 25-35% college students graduate within 6 years
• also applies if persons are 19 years old at the time of November 2015 and has passed the HiSET
• TN Reconnect is considered to be an extension of this initiative of the “drive to 55”
  

  
  

TN Reconnect: good for TCAT, but not Community Colleges

• “last dollar grant”: which means that it takes whatever FAFSA determines the cost of enrollment and then pays whatever that amount is in total (not a fixed amount)
• students also have the option “refund checks” which upon completion of their program they are possibly eligible to get the money back the related expenses of attendance
• gas money etc.
• A great opportunity who have maxed out their student aid
• “more difficult” for those who have defaulted on student loans

    Steps to get the Tennessee Reconnect Grant:

1. Sign Up: for TN R. by May 15th
1. visit www.tnreconnect.gov
1. this is remarkably simple as it only requires basic information and the default should be enrolling people as May 15th is so close of a deadline
2. Apply: Apply to local TCAT by May 15th
1. note: no application fee
1. should choose program and location upon application
1. this is not set in stone (i.e. you can choose “nashville” and “Aesthetics Technology” and switch to say “Dixon and “Collision Repair” later
3. File: File the FAFSA and visit local TCAT by June 15th
4. Enroll: Finally enroll in a program and “launch your future”

    Eligibility:

1. Considered to be an adult according to the FAFSA
1. this means being able to check one of the following boxes:
1. 24 years old
2. married
3. Veteran
4. Active Duty
5. A Parent- having dependents they pay 55%+
6. Foster Care since turning age 13
7. Lack of Parents
8. Emancipated Minor
9. Homeless or at Risk of becoming Homeless
2. ^^^ Is on the bottom of page two of the FAFSA: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2015-16-fafsa-worksheet.pdf

-26 Locations in Tennessee, and they are in the process of greatly expanding

-There is a “refresher course” entitled Tech Foundations which all students complete before moving on to program specific courses.

• brush up on english
• basic maths etc.
• it is on the computer

   

-Market themselves as a great place for people who do not see themselves being able to go to a classic college

• do not have to write 10 page papers
• can attend part time and in some cases at night

TCAT Programs visit websites as different locations offer different programs

-some programs to do require high school degree

-some programs require additional pre requirements (exp trucking)

-not the best for accommodating physical disabilities (community college/traditional would be a better choice)

-length of programs: “at a student’s own pace” which is usually 12 months to 18 months

-residential: none

• Aesthetics Certificate
• Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technical Diploma
• Automotive Technology Technical Diploma
• Collision Repair Technical Diploma
• Commercial Truck Driving Certificate
• Computer Numeric Controls Certificate
• Computer Operations Technology Technical Diploma
• Cosmetology Technical Diploma
• Cosmetology Instructor Training Certificate
• Diesel Equipment Mechanics Technical Diploma
• Industrial Electricity Technical Diploma
• Industrial Electronics Technical Diploma
• Industrial Maintenance Technician Technical Diploma
• Landscaping & Turf Management Technical Diploma
• Machine Tool Technology Technical Diploma
• Manicurist Certificate
• Manicurist Certificate
• Massage Therapy Technical Diploma
• Medical Assisting Technical Diploma
• Motorcycle & Marine Services Technical Diploma
• Practical Nursing Technical Diploma
• Surgical Technology Technical Diploma
• Tool & Die Maintenance Technician Technical Diploma
• Welding TCAT Technical Diploma

Additional Notes:

-State funded Auto-diesel Program in the works!

-Nursing earns you a LPN, Licensed Practical Nursing, which is a bridge towards a RN

    -allows an individual to get a job while working on RN

    -cuts tuition significantly (metaphor of community college as bridge to 4 year degree)

-have a partnership with Saint Thomas and Skyline in terms of post completion placements

-Currently 76% of students who attend TCAT are on full scholarships anyway

-those who are not on full scholarship are usually deemed by FAFSA to be able to afford tuition

-There is no “out of state” costs, everyone is considered to be instate

Jobs for Felons,
Felon Friendly Employers

Last updated: February 2015

How to find your own leads and how this list was created:

1. Go to Exoffenders.net and look at the latest list of national felon friendly employers
2. In other window, pull up Google Maps in the area in which you are interested
3. Compare

Possible Downtown Nashville Employers Simply by Location

Possible Employment for Sex Offenders

Here is a list of downtown employers and their numbers that are not automatically excluded simply because of their location.

How to find your own leads and how this list was created.

1. Pull up Tennessee's Mapping Application
   http://tnmap.tn.gov/tdoc//
   -Red Zone Locations
2. In another window, pull up Google Maps
   -for employers and phone numbers
3. Compare

The Full List:

About New "Logo"

Art direction: Nicholas Blechman

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"The picture above was done for the Book Review a few weeks back for a review that David Leonhardt wrote about Angus Deaton’s new book, The Great Escape, which by Leonhardt’s account is an optimistic-while-sober account of how the inequality gap has narrowed over centuries and how that history should be mined for reconciling inequality’s present condition. This illustration found life on account of having the dumbest of dumb luck to discover separate engravings well over a century old of one very rich man and one very poor man sitting in my overstuffed files at home. Like the header promised: sexy, right?"
-Matt Dorfman

 See his blog @ http://metalmother.com/

Misconceptions of Poverty: The Tanning Bed

I used to work at a nonprofit in far Eastern Kentucky, specializing in emergency home repair. We would replace roofs, build stairs and ramps, install new floor systems, the works.

50-150 volunteers would come stay at with us in Appalachia each week. As a staff member, one of my greatest joys was to see people grapple with the idea of American poverty. For many of the youth, and even some of the adult leaders, coming on this mission trip was the first time they had really seen what poverty was like.

RACHEL DAWES

Look beyond your own pain, Bruce.

Rachel gestures at the filthy streets. Down dark alleys-

shadowy figures conduct business.

RACHEL (CONT'D)

This city is rotting.

...the bad people are rich and the good people [are] scared.

What resulted was often as week filled with progressively more frank discussions about poverty. The hands on nature of working inside impoverished homes combined with the newly found comradery of volunteers living together created an uncommon openness.

Staff and volunteers alike openly talked about how troublesome situations such as it a new mother to having to drive herself and her newborn an hour and half each way for repeated checkups. From a hoarder's mobile home cleanliness to a family's preference of a 40'' flat screen over holes in the floor, everything was open for discussion.

During one of these sometimes passionate discussions a red headed youth still in high school calmly approached me and told me a story.

"[Possiblypassino] you know, at first I wondered why the [Jones] had a tanning bed. Here we are in the middle of nowhere Appalachia and they have a tanning bed. We are building steps to their front door for godlessness sakes and they have a tanning bed. It seemed odd. But as the week went on and I got to know one another, I came to learn that Mr. [Jones] had back problems. He couldn't stand for very long and seemed to be in a lot of pain. They did not have enough money to have the surgery. None of the medications would rid him of the pain, but this dumb tanning bed relived him a little bit. I would have never known that if we had not worked in his house for a full week and gotten to know the family."

Have you ever asked saw someone as not really poor because "you know, they all have refrigerators and televisions, don't they?

According to the Atlantic they do. In fact 80% of low income households have a fridge, TV, microwave and a stove. "They can heat food and cool food and watch American Idol, no problem."

America's Toys Are Getting Cheaper While Essentials Are Getting More Expensive

Sources:
Why America's Essentials Are Getting More Expensive While Its Toys Are Getting Cheap
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/its-expensive-to-be-poor/361533/

Batman Begins Script
http://www.nolanfans.com/library/pdf/batmanbegins-screenplay.pdf

Chris Hedges: Empire of Illusion

Inaugeration 2013

Visualization: 4000 Years of World History

This is a map of 4000 years of cultural power.

Unveiling South Park: The Big Four

Unveiling South Park: Popularity and International

 Even with all of this having been said, South Park is still in the end both influential and aware of this influence on America. While the popularity of the show has somewhat declined significantly since its conception, Matt Stone attributes this drop off to previous news hype and the subsequent trimming of his audience to the “true” fan base, the show’s awareness is shown through the metafictional way of several characters speaking directly into the camera. But before the writer’s audience can be fully addressed, much less the deeper issues including the ramification of South Park’s influence particularly concerning the portrayal of the Middle East, it is pertinent to discuss why the show was chosen, a brief history, its construction, its continuing themes, and its eventual somewhat predictable form.

               South Park was chosen to be this essay’s subject of analysis because not only is the show edgy and popular, as already stipulated in the opening paragraphs, but because it is grounded in public perception. This latter trait is largely used to describe more traditionally analyzed media like The New York Times or Time but I would argue that South Park at times can be just as effective as print.[1] Cable television and increasingly the internet are used to deliver South Park episodes to a more global audience. South Park is and will continue to be written for consumption in the United States, but that hasn’t prevented nations like Australia, Canada and even Latin American and Russia to pick up the show. Cable television networks have smaller audience pools but they make up for this through specialization. South Park fans quote Cartman’s pronunciations of words like “authori-tie” and buy shirts by the millions each year. South Park may have become so successful in other countries, especially those speaking other languages than English, because of the show’s trademark of low-tech animation allows the character to be easily dubbed over. The international broadcasting of South Park isn’t completely smooth as one show in particular “Free Willyzx” featuring Vladmir Putin as greedy and weak caused the show to be censored in Russia.[2] Another part of South Park’s continued success lies in is its ability to adapt rapidly in order to make shows involving the latest hot topic. South Park’s SNL like work schedule, sometimes producing an entire from start to finish in one week, has enabled the show to be as timely as The Economist. For instance when the controversy over Terri Schiavo was all over the news in 2005, Matt Stone and Trey Parker were able to write, produce and even do the majority of voices in a week’s time for “Best Friends Forever,” a show dealing with euthanasia.[3] While periodicals deal with primarily the assimilation of facts, Stone and Parker unabashedly show their opinions of the debate as a whole.  This includes the writer’s portrayal of not only the events themselves but how they are portrayed in the media, private industry, public, and government. So in the aforementioned “Best Friends Forever” Stone and Parker focused not so much on euthanasia, as they interpreted this to be not the main issue, but instead the media coverage of Mrs. Schiavo’s death. As satirically shown through the death of Kenny, it could be easily recognized the disgust of Parker and Stone’s disgust of the media constantly showing the face of a dying women for political objectives.

---

[1] Both of which have praised South Park.

[2] Season 9 Episode 13.

[3] Stone and Parker do the majority of voices in every South Park episode. The writers digitally raise the pitches of their voices three half tones to do the voices of the children (up two for women’s voices and up five for chimpmonks). Original air date: March 30, 2005. “Best Friends Forever” was Season 9 episode 4.

Unveiling South Park: Intro

       Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s revolutionary show of South Park defies authority, hypocrisy, the polarization of American politics and elitism. It’s cult-like and wide ranging young audience seems to come for the controversy and stay for the increasingly sophisticated bathroom humor. Memorialized by plush dolls and t-shirts, South Park’s characters, which are simultaneously both loved and loved to be hated, propelled Comedy Central into mainstream television. America soon became addicted to the show’s voice of black humor which exposed the ridiculousness of modern America which had been deafened by the ceaseless shouting politicians, looped tabloids, and 24hour television news cycle.

               South Park’s twenty-two minutes of relentless and often vulgar satirical punches on the topics of censorship, capitalism, roles of women and minorities to the commercialization of Christmas and euthanasia have led some to mistakenly interpret the show as a vessel for social or political change. And while it may be true that South Park’s decision to confront controversial issues directly may often spark political, societal, or cultural conversations, it would be erroneous to overstate the initiation of such needed discussions as somehow South Park’s goal oriented advocacy for change. Instead the true purpose of the show, which would essentially go onto spawn the network that carries the critically acclaimed programing The Daily Show and The Colbert Report,[1] remains to be unquestionably the primary objective of entertainment. The writers have joked they would like to leave the change to people like Obama and seem to be genuinely uncomfortable when they are questioned by “eggheads” where their political leanings lye much less their desires for modification of American consciousness. As Jon Stewart often says, “the purest form of comedy is grounded in truth,” Parker and Stone’s South Park seems to be deeply rooted in such a philosophy. Just as the “eggheads” may overthink the objective of South Park to be advocacy for political, social, or cultural change, cynics erroneously proclaim South Park’s primary goal to be that of profit. While this latter claim may be true at one level, Parker and Stone do work in capitalist America, the decision for the writers to be one of the first shows to archive and freely disseminate  all episodes and clips of South Park on the web seems to discredit profit as a primary motive of the show.[2]

---

[1] South Park first aired in 1997 and by 1998 Comedy Central jumped from being disturbed in 9.1 million homes to over 50 million thanks to it being picked by more cable networks largely due to the show’s incredible popularity. It would be equally relevant to not that in South Park’s second year it had amassed eight of the top 10 most popular non-sports cable episodes on television (each episode hovering between 4 and 5.5 million viewers).  Johnson-Woods, Toni. 2006. Blame Canada!: South Park and Contemporary Culture. London: Continuum, p.6-8.

[2] I would like to first thank MLB for the use of the word “dissemination” without their expressed written consent. Legal streaming of Comedy Central became available in March of 2008 and the current website can be located at “SouthParkStudios.com.”