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November 19, 2014
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Incarceration Education or Captive Learners By Josh Newby
Currently, the Florida Department of Corrections houses more than 100,000 inmates in 56 state prisons. These inmates range in age, race and criminal history. All this punitive action is not cheap, either, as it costs the government about $30,000 per year to care for just one inmate. Once upon a time, in the early 1980s, the United States had the 21st highest percentage of its population in prison among industrialized nations. Today, we are first. Though many factors are to blame for the nation’s high incarceration rate, it cannot be ignored that about 70 percent of criminals enter prison without a high school diploma or GED, due mainly to high behavior-related dropout rates. Many individuals will reenter the correctional system within years of being released, due to nearly nonexistent job and social reentry opportunities. In efforts to cut down on recidivism, focus on inmates being productive, employable members of society, and thereby reduce costs, the DOC has decided to be tough on crime in a new, inventive way, by offering students a quality, career-focused education while they fulfill their sentence. By earning a diploma during their time in prison, inmates are not only better behaved and more occupied during their incarcerated time, but are also more able to attend college or find meaningful work afterward. If prisoners do not receive accredited education during their time of incarceration, however, the inmate is about twice as likely to be re-incarcerated within three years. Without what is considered the bare minimum requirement for job selection, former prisoners often find it difficult to not return to a life of crime. Pensacola-based Smart Horizons Career Online Education is a private online school district, the first in Florida, that was contracted to develop an accredited career-focused online education program for the state’s inmates following 2011 instruction from the Florida Legislature. The instruction charged the DOC to issue a request for proposal to establish a pilot online diploma program to serve up to 400 inmates. The state recently expanded the existing online high school degree program from eight to 15 facilities across the state. “Previously, prisoners were only able to earn a GED through longstanding education programs provided by the department,” said Dr. John Lewis, chief of education for the DOC’s Office of Re-Entry. “While there is no legal or technical difference between a GED and a diploma, but there is a perceptual difference.” After a prisoner is integrated into the correctional system, he or she is given a basic educational assessment
test. Some individuals need help with the most elementary principles of reading and arithmetic, while other individuals can read, write and more on a 10th or 11th grade level. Those who are more advanced are given the opportunity to take the GED test and early their diploma in that way. Others, however, are offered Smart Horizons’ career-focused education program, completely paid for by the Florida Legislature. “Our work with Smart Horizon Career Online Education on this effort is a tangible expression of our commitment to the Florida Department of Correction’s vision of changing lives to ensure a safer Florida,” said Lewis. “Earning a high school diploma is a very important event in people’s lives and this is especially so for inmates who have traditionally faced educational challenges.” The company also offers prisoners certifications in childhood education, office management, transportation services, food service, healthcare and more, so that inmates will be equipped to enter growing and in-demand job fields upon release. The ultimate goal is to keep offenders from returning to prison. “Our mission at Smart Horizon’s Career Online Education is to prepare students for entrance into the workplace by delivering quality, supportive, and career-based online education,” said Dr. Howard Liebman, CEO and superintendent of the Smart Horizons district. “I can think of no better partner than the Florida Department of Corrections and their students for us to fulfill this mission. We couldn’t be more pleased to see the success and expansion of our program together as we work to help change the lives of these inmates.” The online school is conducted differently than traditional high school, with participants declaring their major first and working through the applicable 18 credits toward that end goal. “These individuals have an end goal in mind, and they are mindful of that goal,” said Liebman. “We want to give them something different than what failed them in the past, while rehabilitating them as people as well. When people accomplish something, they feel better about themselves.” A prisoner can be neither too young nor too old to participate in the program, and they do so at his or her own pace. Currently, about 156 incarcerated students are enrolled in the Career Online High School. Once all 15 sites are up and running, the program will have the capacity to serve up to 336 participants at any one time, according to Lewis. Participation in the program is voluntary, but its popularity has increased since beginning. “Since its inception in 2012, around 570 inmates have participated in the program,” said Lewis. “Of
those, around 470 earned high school credits, and over 230 earned a high school diploma.” The program’s retention rates are also quite admirable, exceeding 90 percent. “Of course, we do have somewhat of a captive audience,” conceded Lieman. Eventually, Lewis would like to see the DOC or another state agency offer prisoners who obtain their diploma help with job or college placement once they leave prison. He also believes that Florida’s program could serve as a model for other states. Lieman also believes that the Florida system could serve as a model for other states, though he admitted that there are a number of
UWF named 2015 Best for Vets College by Military Times The University of West Florida was recently ranked No. 35 out of the Top 100 Four-Year Colleges in the “Best for Vets: Colleges 2015” list by Military Times. The list is developed using a detailed questionnaire with more than 100 questions that analyze each school’s complete offerings for veterans. It serves as a tool for service men and women to determine the school and degree programs that will most effectively benefit them. The rankings factor in service member enrollment, percentage of tuition covered by the GI Bill and availability of specific programs to help service members. Additionally, data compiled by the U.S. Education Department, including academic success measures, is con-
sidered. The extensive evaluation process also factors in statistics commonly used to track student success and academic quality, including student loan default rates, retention rates, graduation rates and student-faculty ratio. To see the complete “Best for Vets: Colleges 2015” list, visit www.militarytimes.com. “We are certainly excited to continue being recognized as an institution that is serious about serving our veteran students and treating them with the deserved respect they have earned – and we do so with incredible passion,” said Marc Churchwell, director of the UWF Military and Veterans Resource Center. “What is also important to note with this
recognition is the larger perspective of the growing support for veteran students at campuses nationwide. Even though we are all rank ordered, it should not be viewed as a competition. We are doing the most we can with the resources available.” The UWF Military and Veterans Resource Center assists military and veteran students as they transition from a military environment to campus life. The center offers academic advising, tutoring, counseling and assistance with GI Bill education benefits and disability accommodations, in addition to other services. For additional information about UWF’s support for military and veteran students, visit the MVRC website, uwf.edu/militaryveterans.
roadblocks in the way. “Obviously with a prison, the first priority is security,” said Lieman. “The internet connection has to be very secure, and in some states, inmates are not even allowed on the internet. We need to get these correctional facilities more flexible resources so that students can take receive education offline. It needs to be more transportable and right now it’s not. The students are essentially confined to the computer lab.” The new contract for the expanded program took effect on Sept. 20 and the next Florida Department of Corrections facility to start using Career Online High School will be Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County, Fla. Then,
six other institutions will be added to the program over the next few months to bring the total number of facilities in the FDOC system offering Career Online High School to 15. At the end of the day, Lieman says that this program is all about collective impact—impact on an inmate’s knowledge base, workforce viability, emotional and mental states, and hopes for the future. “When I go to graduations across the state, I’ll talk with these prisoners about their experience,” said Lieman. “One participant told me that he kept a picture of his daughter near his computer keyboard for inspiration. That’s really what it’s all about.”
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The Summation Weekly NEWS FROM THE BAR ASSOCIATION
LEGAL SERVICES OF NORTH FLORIDA OFFERS FREE CLE TRAINING Legal Services of North Florida (LSNF) invites you and your members to participate in this free CLE training. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. NOVEMBER LUNCH AND LEARN CLE TELECONFERENCE TRAINING — EMPLOYMENT LAW PRIMER AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS — LSNF is proud to announce its November Lunch and Learn CLE training with the presentation on Employment Law Primer and Recent Developments featuring Tallahassee attorney, John C. Davis on Thursday, November 20, 2014 from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 p.m. EST. VIEW TRAINING OUTLINE AT http://lsnf.org/documents/cle112014.pdf CLE Credits: General 1.0 HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN TELECONFERENCE Call-in Number: 1-888-537-7715 Access Code: 41232734# (call-in number is different outside the US, let us know at john@lsnf.org) — PRE-REGISTER BY EMAILING JOHN FENNO AT JOHN@LSNF.ORG — On the morning of the training those who pre-registered will receive an email containing updated course materials and CLE credit information. LSNF is in its fourth year of offering its one-hour-long Lunch and Learn CLE training primarily to attorneys in the 2nd Judicial Circuit at its offices in Tallahassee free of charge and is now inviting attorneys from the 1st and 14th Circuits aas well as out-of-state members of The Florida Bar to participate via teleconferencing. Look for the announcement about December’s CLE training. For more information contact John Fenno at john@lsnf.org.
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2014 CONTACT: Edward P. Fleming, Chair First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission TELEPHONE: (850) 477-0660 Office of Governor Rick Scott State of Florida The Capitol 400 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 Re: November 2014 Interviews- 1st DCA JNC Dear Governor Scott, The Judicial Nomination Commission for the First District Court of Appeal conducted two days of interviews Wednesday and Thursday, and completed our deliberations Thursday evening. We are pleased to submit to you, in alphabetical order, the following six applicants the JNC found to be best qualified out of the 25 applicants for the position: 1. Judge Gary Bergosh 2. Judge Ross L. Bilbrey 3. Judge Kevin Blazs 4. Judge James C. Hankinson 5. Susan L. Kelsey 6. Judge Waddell A. Wallace, III Thank you for giving us the privilege of serving the State of Florida in this critical role in the process of selecting the best qualified appellate judges for our district.
Respectfully submitted, Edward P. Fleming Chair, Judicial Nominating Commission First District Court of Appeal
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NEWS FROM THE BAR ASSOCIATION
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November 19, 2014
CAPITOL NEWS
STATE SUED OVER DEER-DOG HUNTS IN PANHANDLE
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
A retired U.S. Air Force pilot and National Rifle Association member wants the state to stop hunters from using dogs to track down deer around his Panhandle property. Claiming they have been threatened by hunters and that dogs chasing deer can scare rescued horses, William Daws, Jr., and his wife, Ouida Gershon, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Leon County circuit court against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The lawsuit seeks to stop deer-dog hunting in the portion of the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area where they have lived since 2005. Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Wednesday she couldn’t comment on pending litigation. Daws, a hunter who spent 23 years in the Air Force, including combat service in Vietnam, isn’t seeking to outlaw the deer-dog practice in Florida, just around his section of the management area where he and a number of other people live. Such hunts are allowed 44 days a year. “If they close it to deer-dog hunting, hunting is still allowed,” said David Theriaque, the attorney for the couple. “It’s not as if you’re closing the wildlife management area to hunting. It’s just that this particular form of hunting would be banned.” Deer-dog hunters use canines to trail deer through the woods. The dogs are unleashed when deer tracks are found or when hunters are within areas deer are known to frequent. The hunters typically follow in pickup trucks to where the
dogs are expected to round up the deer for shooting. The state commission was advised by staff at the Sept. 10 meeting in Kissimmee that closing more areas to hunting with dogs is possible, “however, interest in hunting with dogs remains extremely high.” A total of 155 permits were approved for the 2014-2015 season. In seeking both a temporary and permanent injunction to halt the state agency from allowing the hunts to occur in their section of Blackwater, which runs up to the Florida-Alabama border, Daws and his wife are asking for at least $15,000 in damages, claiming the state agency’s issuance of permits to deer-dog hunters has deprived them of their constitutional rights as property owners. “They are hunters, they support hunters,” Theriaque said. “It really boils down to they have bought land and the state is allowing people to run their dogs through. The state can stop this in a heartbeat by saying we can close deer-dog hunting in that portion of Blackwater.” The 191,651-acre Blackwater area in Okaloosa County and Santa Rosa counties consists of public land that is interspersed with a number of privately owned properties. In 2005, the commission reduced the allowed space within Blackwater for deer-dog hunting from 78,172 acres to 19,589 acres, while also closing a number of roads to the hunters. According to the lawsuit, the couple has sought changes to deerdog hunting for four years as efforts to protect rescue animals they care for on the property has re-
sulted in being “harassed, bullied, and threatened by deer-dog hunters, including deer-dog hunters firing their guns over the heads of the Daws.” “They don’t leave their property during daylight hours,” when it’s deer-dog season, Theriaque said. “What happens is the deer jump over the fence, or they’re already on the property, and dogs and houses don’t mix well, especially dogs that are in hot pursuit of deer.” In an affidavit last week, William Daws said the ongoing conflict with deer-dog hunters has resulted in verbal threats, the couple’s mailbox being shot, threats to tear down fencing, and derogatory graffiti written in the road in front of the their home. The commission has acknowledged complaints from area homeowners, and the agency has sought to reduce conflicts between homeowners and hunters. In September the commission approved a change that would require dogs used for pursuing or hunting deer, fox or coyote within permissible areas of Blackwater to be equipped with devices that include Global Positioning Systems and behavior correctional capabilities, in other words shock collars, to keep them within allowed hunting grounds. However, because costs for the receivers and collars can run $650 to $1,100, the rule doesn’t go into effect for two years. Daws and Gershon argue in the lawsuit that control devices aren’t completely reliable for dogs that are running leash free as “it is well established that dogs cannot read ‘No Trespassing’ signs.”
Weekly Roundup: Nov. 10-14 A Big Supply of Demand By Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
It was a demanding week in Tallahassee. The Florida Supreme Court demanded that a Republican political consultant turn over documents related to the state’s 2012 redistricting process, continuing a legal battle that has raged for more than two years. That ruling will also give the public a look at documents that a Leon County judge said were key to his decision over the summer to toss the state’s congressional districts. Florida Democratic Chairwoman Allison Tant demanded that a group of Democratic “bed-wetters ... shut up” instead of continuing their attempt to unseat incoming House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach. Pafford and his allies spent the week more quietly attempting to show that the challenge would die out on its own. And a group of students demanded that new Florida State University President John Thrasher make a series of changes to prove that the university wouldn’t be in the thrall of conservative forces. Of the demands, the only one that seemed certain to produce results was the one by the Florida Supreme Court, which has the authority to compel people to follow its orders. ‘DESIGNED TO DELAY AND OBFUSCATE’ Two things stood out in the Supreme Court’s decision to reject GOP consultant Pat Bainter’s efforts to keep his redistricting records private: the harshness of the language used by the majority opinion in the case, and the fact that all seven justices on the famously divided court agreed that Bainter’s documents should be publicly released. The decision means that evidence from Bainter and his consulting firm, Data Targeting, Inc., will no longer be kept under seal. Justices said Bainter waited too long to argue that releasing some of the documents would violate his First Amendment rights. And in writing for five members of the court, Justice Barbara Pariente accused Bainter of stalling at best and dishonesty at worst.
“We simply do not countenance and will not tolerate actions during litigation that are not forthright and that are designed to delay and obfuscate the discovery process,” Pariente wrote. Joining Pariente in the opinion were Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince and James E.C. Perry. In a separate opinion, justices Ricky Polston and Charles Canady supported the outcome. The documents were used during the summer as part of a trial over a challenge by voting-rights groups, including the League of Women Voters of Florida, who argued that the Republican-dominated Legislature drew congressional districts that violated a constitutional ban on gerrymandering. But the documents have remained under seal, and the public was barred from the courtroom during Bainter’s testimony. “Today’s ruling from the Florida Supreme Court will finally force sunshine into the shadow process that has robbed the citizens of Florida of their right to fair representation in Congress,” said David King, one the coalition’s lawyers, in a statement following the decision. “ ... We think it is beyond time to lift the veil of secrecy and ensure that all proceedings going forward are open and fully transparent.” Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis ruled in July that GOP consultants managed to taint the redistricting process by submitting maps under the name of another individual. In his decision throwing out two congressional districts that he said were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit Republicans, Lewis wrote that the documents were “very helpful to me in evaluating whether (the voting rights groups) had proved that first prong of their theory.” The maps were later redrawn during a special session in August. ‘MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH’ The fact that Tant was upset with House members threatening a revolt against Pafford doesn’t come as much
of a surprise. Depending on what you count as a decision to keep or get rid of a leader, Democrats in the chamber have made seven such decisions in the last two years. But it was a little surprising that Tant held so little back in a lengthy criticism of those backing a rebellion by Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach. The rebellion came after Democrats lost the governor’s race and six House seats in the Nov. 4 elections. “I’m ready for the bed-wetting to stop. You know, you can go ahead and continue to whack each other over the head about what went wrong, what didn’t go right, what we could have done better —- the coulda shoulda woulda,” Tant told The News Service of Florida in an interview this week. “Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it’s a done deal!” The statement came in a five-andhalf-minute harangue aimed at the dissidents. It was a none-too-subtle message to drop the challenge before a caucus meeting Monday. Whether that will happen is another matter entirely. Incoming Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, said Wednesday that Pafford has “more (votes) than he had the last time he ran,” when Pafford won on a 29-12 vote with one abstention. Jenne said he hoped the caucus could avoid a contested election next week. “It’s just not necessary,” he said. “The votes are where they are.” Meanwhile, Pafford announced that he would keep Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, as the No. 2 Democrat in the House. Rep. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat who was supposed to be leader before a fundraising dispute with Tant, narrowly defeated Jones last year when he won the initial race to head up the caucus. “I look forward to working with Mark to solidify the caucus as one body, to recognize the importance of standing as one, and fighting as one, for the things we believe in,” Jones said in a release announcing her appointment. “Now it really becomes a greater re-
sponsibility to stand united as Democrats to fight for what’s most important to us.” ‘A PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUE’ There are many ways Thrasher could have spent his first morning as FSU president: Measuring the drapes is a popular cliché. He could have learned how the coffeemaker worked. Instead, the 70-year-old former state senator from St. Augustine spent the first hour in his new position engaging with a group of about 25 confrontational students who had vocally opposed his recent appointment and now refuse to recognize him as the school’s new president. If there was good news in the confrontation, it’s that the students were not uncompromising in their position toward Thrasher. Instead, they came with demands. Those demands included ensuring that grants and agreements involving the school and the FSU Foundation were open to public review, and ending a 2008 contract the school has with the Charles Koch Foundation to help fund the economics department. Rather than agreeing to or rejecting each item, Thrasher said he would need time to research the demands. “As long as they want to have a productive dialogue, I’m more than willing to do it,” Thrasher said after the meeting. “ ... This university, by the way, has 42,000 students, and I’m interested in all of their interests and making sure the university thrives.” The students, who also listed in their demands that Thrasher admit he “lied” to the students about campaign funding received from the politically influential Koch bothers, called his refusal to accept their demands “insulting” and “disappointing.” “We’re going to keep pushing the administration to protect the university from violations of academic freedom,” said Ralph Wilson, a seventh-year graduate student who is among the leaders of the student group. “... We have to harness the power that students have, and thanks to people like John Thrasher and
politicians, it’s a decreasing amount of power that students have.” Meanwhile, the chain reaction of special elections set off by Thrasher’s resignation from his Senate seat kicked up a stampede of lawmakers and politicos hoping for their chance at legislative fame (or infamy, depending on what you think of the Legislature). On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott set elections for Thrasher’s seat and the seats of two House members who have decided to run to succeed Thrasher. Voters will fill the seat in Senate District 6, Thrasher’s Northeast Florida district, along with the House District 17 seat held by state Rep. Ronald “Doc” Renuart, R-Ponte Vedra Beach, and the House District 24 seat held by Rep. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton. Special primaries for the three seats would be held Jan. 27, with the special general elections set for April 7. District 17 is in St. Johns County, while District 24 includes Flagler County and parts of St. Johns and Volusia counties. At least three Republicans were already lining up to succeed Hutson. Paul Renner, who recently moved to Palm Coast after running for a Jacksonville-area House seat, and Sheamus McNeeley of St. Augustine have both filed for the special election. Also, Palm Coast Republican Donald O’Brien has opened an account to run for the seat in 2016, a move that could be a precursor to running in the special election. STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Supreme Court orders the release of redistricting records belonging to GOP consultant Pat Bainter. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We have to marshal our energies, put on our big-girl pants and move the heck down the road. The bed-wetters need to shut up, and we need to move on.”—-Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant, on a fight within the House Democratic caucus over the leader for the coming legislative session.
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CAPITOL NEWS
Judge Strikes Down Pot Rule
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
An administrative law judge Friday struck down a rule proposed by health regulators as a framework for Florida's new medical-marijuana industry, finding multiple flaws in the controversial rule challenged by the state's largest nursery and other growers. Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins sided with Miamibased Costa Farms and others that objected to the Department of Health's use of a lottery to pick five licensees that will grow, process and distribute strains of non-euphoric marijuana authorized by the Legislature and approved by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year. The lottery process is invalid because it is “vague, fails to establish adequate standards for agency decisions and vests unbridled discretion in the agency,” Watkins wrote in a 71-page ruling.
In addition, the rule is “arbitrary … in that the ultimate decision as to which applicant will be approved is left to chance, rather than logic and an evaluation of all necessary facts,” he wrote. “Assuring the dependable delivery of consistently high-quality, low-THC medicine is too important to be left to chance. Rather than minimally qualified applicants, citizens of the State of Florida, including sick and vulnerable children, deserve approval of the most qualified growers, processors and dispensers of lowTHC cannabis,” Watkins wrote. Health officials claimed that using the lottery system would reduce potentially drawn-out litigation over the selection of the five dispensing organizations and refused to back down from the selection process despite protests from nursery owners at public
hearings where the rule was vetted. But Watkins said the Department of Health needs to pick the most-qualified applicants to grow and process marijuana low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. The Legislature intended for the low-THC cannabis to be “reasonably available and accessible to patients needing this medicine,” Watkins wrote. “The evidence adduced at hearing supports the common sense notion that this objective requires selecting the most dependable, most qualified dispensing organizations to cultivate, process, and dispense low-THC cannabis as prescribed by physicians. The proposed lottery rule to select these special franchises by chance creates risks that substantially reduce the likelihood of this objec-
tive being met,” Watkins wrote. Supporters of the low-THC, high-CBD strains of cannabis believe the substance can eliminate or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy. Under the new law, patients with other spasm-causing diseases or cancer would also be eligible for the strains of marijuana if their doctors order it, and if their doctors say they have exhausted all other treatments. In his ruling, Watkins also rejected the department's argument that all applicants that made it as far as the lottery would be equally qualified to cultivate, process and dispense the low-THC cannabis. The criteria laid out in the law regarding applicants' security and safety plans, inventory-control plans, location and transportation plans and financial ability can be “compared on the merits using ordinary business judgment without special knowledge of technical methods of production or preference for any one technical approach,” he wrote. “While the department's present inexperience in technical program areas may make comparison more difficult, it can avail itself of expert assistance to determine which applicants have superior programs and the best chance of success,” Watkins wrote. “There is no discernable reason why the exercise of the department’s reasonable discretion in applying the criteria should not determine which applicants are approved.” Watkins also rejected health officials' contention that it would be difficult or impossible to compare the applications because the applicants may use different methods to process the extract from the cannabis. “Different proposals can be evaluated in the exercise of reasoned judgment as to which will best serve the need identified consistent with the statutory objectives and criteria,” he wrote. The judge agreed with Florida State University economics professor David Cooper who said that the lottery system would likely reduce competition between providers and could make the product more expensive for consumers, especially problematic because insurance won't cover the substance's cost.
The rule is also invalid because it imposes a vague “‘qualification' regime” not included in the statute that fails to create adequate standards for the health officials’ decision-making process to determine which applicants get entered into the lottery, Watkins wrote. Health officials did not immediately say whether they intend to appeal Watkins's ruling. The new law requires the health department to have the regulatory structure in place by Jan. 1. “The Department of Health will consider all options that will most expeditiously get this product to market to help families facing serious illnesses,” department spokesman Nathan Dunn said in an e-mail. Watkins also decided that several other portions of the rule were invalid, including who can apply and when they must pay an application fee. The law limited potential applicants to nurseries that have done business continuously in Florida for at least 30 years and are registered to grow at least 400,000 plants. About 75 nurseries meet the criteria. But the rule would have allowed nurseries to pair with other entities to be eligible for the licenses. The rule would have restricted nurseries to a single application but would not have imposed any limit on the number of applications other businesses involved with the nurseries could make. Watkins found that the agency “relaxed” the requirements in the law regarding applicants and that the plain interpretation of the statute means that only nurseries that meet the criteria are eligible to get one of the five licenses. Costa Farms vice president Peter Freyre praised Watkins's decision. “We feel today’s resolution is the right decision for the state’s sick and suffering patients who will be helped by the use of lowTHC cannabis --- their medication should be produced by the best and most qualified applicants, not the luckiest. We look forward to working with DOH to craft a rule based on quality and we hope to get to work as soon as possible,” Freyre said in a statement.
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November 19, 2014
BUSINESS NEWS
Your People Skills Are Getting Flabby: Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Communication Skills by Loosening Your Smartphone Grip Digital connectivity is no guarantee of a human connection. Communication expert Geoffrey Tumlin shares seven ways to step away from the screen and strengthen the communication skills that are essential for productive and meaningful relationships. By Geoffrey Tumlin, CEO of Mouthpeace Consulting LLC
In the always-on digital age, we’re all guilty of indulging in communication shortcuts. We email our colleague Jim instead of walking ten steps to his office. We half-heartedly listen to our kids while fooling around on our smartphone. We let an incoming call go to voicemail and reply with a text message instead of picking it up. We email a client instead of scheduling a face-to-face meeting, which we know would be better. These shortcuts save time, but they are costing us something valuable: Some of our “old school� communication skills are getting dangerously rusty. “Our overwhelming preference for quick and easy communication is causing our more difficult communication skills to erode from lack of use,� says Tumlin, author of Stop Talking, Start Communicating: Counterintuitive Secrets to Success in Business and in Life. “It’s easy to email a client, but far more difficult to persuade the same person in realtime that our product is best. Telling squabbling colleagues to ‘grow up’ might make us feel better momentarily, but helping them resolve their conflict might improve their relationship forever. And complaining that our boss ‘just doesn’t get it’ is much easier than trying to engage her in a productive discussion about a legitimate work issue. “To keep our more difficult, but essential, communication skills limber in an environment where quick and easy communication is the norm, it’s essential to regularly exercise our higher-order communication skills,� recommends Tumlin. “The kinds of productive and meaningful relationships we want can’t be sustained by emails and texts alone. When we reach for our more difficult higherorder communication skills, we need them to be up to the challenge.� Here, Tumlin shares seven ways to strengthen our vital higher-order communication skills: Offer praise. Praising sounds easy, but it’s harder than it looks because we do it infrequently and because it often creates an awkward moment. “A common disconnect in organizations is that supervisors think they give plenty of praise, but subordinates feel like they never get enough,� says Tumlin. “Remedy that by looking for opportunities to provide work-related compliments. “Delivering praise in real time (that is, face-to-face or by phone) is a higher-order communication exercise because it forces us to push through the awkward moment that often accompanies a compliment for a job well done,� he adds. “And persevering past awkward conversational moments without abandoning an interaction helps inoculate us against giving up too easily.� Give negative feedback. We may praise infrequently, but our record for
providing negative feedback is much worse. Most feedback never gets communicated for a simple reason: We don’t like giving it, and the other person doesn’t like receiving it. And people who claim they like giving negative feedback aren’t giving feedback at all—they’re criticizing. Unfortunately, there’s one small problem with criticism: It never works! “The failure to give negative feedback is a major opportunity lost. An enormous amount of organizational learning never happens because it’s easier to sit on important
feedback than to give it,� Tumlin says. “Giving timely and relevant negative feedback is a true test of our higher-order communication skills because it forces us to do something we’d rather not do, and it forces us to continue past the resistance to our message.� Persuade. Trying to land a client? Negotiating a deadline with a colleague? Trying to convince your spouse to spend the holidays with your family this year? See how well you do in a real-time conversation instead of hunkering down to write an email. “Sending a computer-mediated message doesn’t test your ability to think on your feet and adapt your persuasive message in real time,� says Tumlin. “No matter how good you are at organizing a persuasive email, some of your important influence attempts will happen face-toface. Instead of being caught flatfooted—especially when the stakes are high—exercise your realtime persuasion skills with enough frequency so you stay quick on your feet.� Argue. Few skills have suffered more in the digital age than our abil-
ity to argue intelligently. Online comments are filled with ad hominem attacks, invective, and worse; accusatory emails fly back and forth between otherwise rational people; and it often seems like all we are doing online is arguing right past each other. We need to make a concerted effort to shed the counterproductive arguing habits we’ve picked up
in the digital age and revitalize our ability to thoughtfully and effectively make our points. “Arguing is an essential communication skill,� says Tumlin. “Knowing how to express ourselves when we disagree is what prevents small issues from becoming large problems. Arguing—sensibly, smartly, and effectively—is a higher-order communication skill we can’t afford to lose. It’s never been easy to keep emotions from seizing control of arguments. But without practice, we won’t stand a chance, and our most important relationships will suffer the damage.� Offer support. Sometimes, posting a condolence note on Facebook or sending a supportive email to a struggling colleague just isn’t enough. When the chips are down for people we care about, we need communication skills that can step up and provide real comfort.
Face-to-face messages of support are just plain powerful, but they often don’t get delivered, because we convince ourselves that we don’t know what to say. But that’s a mistake, says Tumlin. “A good rule of thumb when providing support is the less certain you are about what to say, the simpler your message should be,� recommends Tumlin. “Tell a colleague who’s just received a career setback that you believe in her. Tell your grieving boss that she’s in your thoughts. Tell your upset friend that you’re there for her.
That’s enough to show that you care and to make a connection. “And if your support happens to cause an outpouring of emotion, perfect words still aren’t necessary,� he adds. “When comforting, you never have to worry about finding just the right words. Your expression of support and your presence are what really matter.� Resolve a conflict. What happens when no one at work knows how to effectively defuse a conflict between feuding colleagues? Or when there’s no one around who can deescalate a squabble at home? Offices and homes without an effective peacemaker are minefields of anxiety, grief, and drama. “Conflict resolution is a challenging communication skill,� says Tumlin. “Encouraging people to climb down from entrenched positions and set aside differences requires diplomacy and precision. But it’s the peacemakers who get people talking again and who prevent relational damage from taking a wider toll.� Don’t say something. For a major
communication challenge, try not talking when you really want to. Why’s that so hard? “The clearest signal you shouldn’t say something is usually an overwhelming feeling that you should,� says Tumlin. “But it’s the ability to choke back impulsive and harmful words that distinguishes great communicators from everybody else. “Some of our most significant communication ‘victories’ actually happen when we don’t say a thing,� points out Tumlin. “The criticism we let die on the vine, the smart question we don’t ask, the comeback we choke back, and the insult on the tip of our tongue that stays there are unsung communication heroes, silently protecting our most important relationships. Some of the best evidence our higher-order communication skills are strengthening will come from all the things—the fights, the damage, and the relational turmoil— that never happen. Nothing seems more antithetical to the digital age’s ‘express yourself’ ethos than sitting on your words, but not saying something is a skill that’s never been more important in our hypercommunicating era.� “Not all of our communication can happen effectively along lowerorder channels,� says Tumlin. “Sometimes we need to do difficult things with our communication, like resolve a simmering conflict, persuade a reluctant client, or lend support to a struggling friend. “Even though it takes longer and is more difficult, walk over and talk to a coworker instead of sending an instant message. Call a friend who’s mourning the loss of a parent instead of posting your condolences online. And fire up the car and go visit your client instead of just sending another email,� concludes Tumlin. “The kinds of deep, productive, and meaningful relationships we want can’t survive on quick and easy communication alone.� About the Author: Geoffrey Tumlin is the CEO of Mouthpeace Consulting LLC, an organizational development company; the founder and board chair of Critical Skills Nonprofit, a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to providing communication and leadership skills training to chronically underserved populations; and is the author of Stop Talking, Start Communicating: Counterintuitive Secrets to Success in Business and in Life (McGraw-Hill, August 2013). As a frequent media guest, Geoffrey’s writing and ideas on communication and leadership have appeared in Fast Company, Inc.com, Fortune.com, CNNMoney, Investor’s Business Daily, Fox Business, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Globe and Mail, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Yahoo! Small Business Advisor, Monster.com, HR.com, SiriusXM radio, and hundreds of other media outlets. His scholarly writing on communication and leadership has appeared in journals, newspapers, and textbooks, including Discourse Studies, the International Leadership Journal, the Encyclopedia of Leadership, Employment Relations Today, and five editions of Professional Communication Skills. You can learn more about Geoffrey Tumlin at www.tumlin.com, and you can reach him by e-mail at geoff@tumlin.com.
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The Summation Weekly
November 19, 2014
NOV. 19-25 COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS & WINE PAIRINGS WITH CHEF IRV MILLER Nov. 19 Enjoy a Cooking Demonstration and Wine Pairing at Jackson’s Steakhouse with Chef Irv Miller. For the Nov. 19 demonstration Chef Irv will present “Southern Sweet Treats.” Tickets are $45 and there will be two seatings at 5 pm-6:30 pm and 7:30 pm-9 pm. For reservations call 217.2347. 5K WALK AND RUN PROMOTING FAMILIES AND ADOPTION Nov. 22 FamilyFirst Network will hold their 4th annual Footprints to a Forever Family 5K run and walk at Bayview Park. The 5K run/walk will begin at 9 am, with a children’s fun run beginning at 10:30 am. An award ceremony will take place after, with music, snacks, drinks, door prizes, and more. Registration is $20 for walkers and runners through Nov. 16. Long-sleeve t-shirts will be given to the first 200 registered people. Registration from Nov. 17 through the day of the race is $25. There is no charge for the fun run. All proceeds from this event benefit FFN’s adoption services. For more information, please visit footprints5krun-walk.kintera.org. THE ART GALLERY AT UWF PRESENTS “VISCERAL, A BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS EXIT EXHIBITION” Nov. 20-Dec. 6 University of West Florida graduating seniors Nikki Neel and Christian Steffanini will present “Visceral, a Bachelor of Fine Arts Exit Exhibition” at The Art Gallery (TAG). A reception will take place Nov. 20 from 5-9 pm at TAG, located in Building 82, the Fine and Performing Arts building, on UWF’s Pensacola Cam-
pus. Paintings, video installations, and statues by Neel and Steffanini will be showcased during “Visceral.” TAG will be open Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and Saturday from 12 to 4 pm. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call Nick Croghan at 850.474.2696. AT BLUE MORNING GALLERY THIS MONTH Through Nov. 22 This month Blue Morning Gallery will feature the Spotlight on Art Show Endangered, through Nov. 22. This show breathes new life into the artwork of Valerie Aune, oil and acrylic painter; Melinda Giron oil, acrylic and mixed media; and gourd painter, Trisha Mack. Each artist has chosen to paint different animals or birds from the Endangered Species list. The artwork depicted has been chosen in order to shed light on certain dwindling world wildlife populations. Species include the barn owl, wood storks, honey bees, a Sumatran Elephant are just a few of the featured endangered species. School is back in swing and Scout troops looking for an opportunity to earn Art Badges are encouraged to contact Blue Morning Gallery, specifically contact Mary Anne Sweida at masweida@gmail.com, or admin@bluemorninggallery.com Blue Morning Gallery is located at 21 Palafox Place. Hours are Monday-Thursday 10 am-5 pm; Friday and Saturday 10 am-8:30 pm; and Sunday 12:30-4 pm. For information, call 429.9100 or visit bluemorninggallery.com. PMA PRESENTS KIM HOWES ZABBIA: CREATIVITY VS. FEAR Through Nov. 29 This exhibit by Kim Howes Zabbia, Louisiana artist, author and teacher, covers 24 years of work from 1990
CALENDAR to now. Currently represented by Ariodante Gallery in New Orleans, Kim has had sixteen solo exhibitions since earning her MFA in Studio Art at LSU during which time she developed her “No Fear” philosophy— that of opening her mind to allow the subject matter to evolve from within.” The artist will be giving a “No Fear” painting workshop on Nov. 1. For more information visit pensacolamuseum.org.
PMA PRESENTS GUILD HALL: AN ADVENTURE IN THE ARTS Through Jan. 4 This exhibition features paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by a variety of significant artists that lived and worked in East Hampton area on Long Island in New York over the past 140 years. Included among the artists represented in the collection are Chuck Close, April Gornik, Childe Hassam, Ibram Lassaw, Roy Lichtenstein, Thomas Moran, Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, David
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NOV. 19-25 Salle, Andy Warhol, and Jane Wilson. For more information visit pensacolamuseum.org.
PMA PRESENTS PAT REGAN: ROOTS & REMEMBRANCE Through Jan. 3 During this exhibition artist Pat Regan will be debuting a new body of work at the Pensacola Museum of Art. As an artist, Regan garners much of her inspiration from her lifetime of painting as well as the red clay banks of her Mississippi childhood memories. Regan attended Pratt Institute in Venice, Italy where she studied art and architecture. Regan’s art has been exhibited in multiple galleries and museums, and many of her pieces have been represented in private collections, including King Juan and Queen Sophia of Spain. For more information visit pensacolamuseum.org.
ICE FLYERS 2014-2015 SEASON The back-to-back SPHL champions the Pensacola Ice Flyers are back at the Pensacola Bay Center for thrilling ice hockey. All home games begin at 7:05 pm. For more information call 432.0800. Nov. 11 vs. Louisiana Ice Gators Nov. 14 vs. Louisiana Ice Gators Nov. 21 vs. Huntsville Havoc Nov. 22 vs. Huntsville Havoc Nov. 26 vs. Columbus Cottonmouths LOST VIRTUE: PENSACOLA’S RED LIGHT DISTRICT AT THE DESTINATION ARCHAEOLOGY RESOURCE CENTER Through January The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) is opening a new temporary exhibit titled Lost Virtue: Pensacola’s Red Light District inside the Destination Archaeology Resource Center. While the women who worked in Pensacola’s red light district left few written records behind, archaeology is helping to tell their story. Several artifacts associated with the women who worked in Pensacola’s red light district during the late 1800s and early 1900s uncovered through archaeology will be on display for the first time. The DARC is located on the first floor of the Florida Public Archaeology Network headquarters at 207 East Main St. (next to Fish House). Admission is free. The exhibit will be on display until the end of January 2015.
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THHE MEDIUM THE MEDDIUM By Gian Carlo Menotti November 7, 9, 11, 13 & 15, 2014
By Giacomo Puccini January 23 & 25, 2015
Enjoy opera this fall with the dark and eerie tale of a crooked clairvoyant driven to madness and murder. This spinechilling opera is an intimate black box production. At the Pensacola Opera Center
Get swept up in this deeply moving tale of enduring love and the anguish of love lost, illustrated through lush orchestration and characters that touch the very heart of our humanity. At the Pensacola Saenger Theatre
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PIraTeS P IIra ra r aTeS e pEnzAncE p En nzA AncE An
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By W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan March 13 & 15, 2015
Hold on to your pirate hat for the swashbuckling fun you’ll have with this classically clever comedy packed with wit, trickery and contagiously buoyant melodies sure to get you humming along. At the Pensacola Saenger Theatre
www.pensacolaopera.com • (850) 433-6737 Michael Greutman
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November 19, 2014
The Summation Weekly