Oil Museum director stakes new claim White retires as director, but takes new role at East Texas Oil Museum Christine ritter Features Editor Joe White, the only director in the 37-year history of the East Texas Oil Museum, will retire and a new director will take his place. Although White is retiring, he won’t leave KC for good. His office will move to the M. Kenneth Whitten Applied Technology Center and he will continue to work with the Oil Museum, writing
a history of the museum along with documenting artifacts and raising money. White has worked with the museum even before it was built. “I remember the day they bulldozed and hauled off the debris from the filling station and then leveled it with sand, and hauled in the clay for the foundation,” White said. Before White came to KC, he taught history at Stephen F. Austin State
University as a graduate assistant, and then taught government at Blinn College before coming to KC in 1971 to teach history, government and economics. Placid Oil Company approached the city of Kilgore about building a museum on campus. Paramour, the principal artist, needed someone local who had working knowledge of the oil field. White’s name was suggested because he had published an article in graduate school, and had been hired to do historical research and retrieve artifacts for the museum. As the museum was nearing completion, the college advertised for a director, but couldn’t find someone
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn meets KC president, Kilgore Mayor
willing to work weekends and holidays. “Lynn Welch, the job site secretary at that time, suggested I apply and I put my letter of interest in the mail,” White said. White interviewed with KC President Stewart McLaurin three different times, totaling five hours, because he had so many questions. “I was talking about giving up a career in the classroom for the unknown,” White said, “No one really knew what this museum might do, and I didn’t want to give up the assurance of having a teaching job.”
JOE WHITE Retiring from East Texas Oil Museum
See RETIRE on Page 3
Friday, September 12, 2014 Vol. 78 No. 2 Serving Kilgore College since 1936
Also congratulates STEM program aimed Rangerettes on drill team’s 75th anniversary workforce development
Senator’s East Texas trip includes campus stop Cornyn’s visit focused on STEM program Dustin taylOr Web Editor
U
pon arriving at KC, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was greeted with a smile. He met the Rangerettes, whom he presented with a letter, congratulating them on their 75 year anniversary. Cornyn then sat down to have a discussion with college faculty, the Kilgore mayor, R.E. Spradlin III, and other leaders from the Kilgore and Longview area. The subject of the day was Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Cornyn, a supporter of the STEM program, wanted to see what KC’s two-year programs were offering in the field, as well as what kind of job opportunities they afford. “Congress just passed a workforce training reauthorization bill, recognizing that there are about 4 million jobs that employers are looking for trained work force,” Cornyn said. “So there’s work to be done, but not the people with the skills to do them.” With so many job openings, KC is trying to help fill that void with technical classes. An experienced high-end welder with a 2-year degree has plenty of opportunities in East Texas. There are 200 job openings, starting off at $25 an hour, according to Bill Holda, KC president. KC offers degrees in welding, diesel technology, and corrosion. STEM is a program aimed at trying to fix the gap in the technical side of the workforce. With so many employers in need of workers but a severe lack of them, some high schools are preparing more students for a field of study. Students who take part in the program take courses with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and science. They also get a more hands-on approach with how they are taught, allowing them to be well
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Dr. Bill Holda and U.S. Senator, John Cornyn discuss work force training opportunities at the two-year college level. versed in the practical use of the knowledge. “This is really exciting. This is the common-sense answer to, ‘How do you improve people’s wages and income?’ The answer is to help them to learn new skills that will result in them earning a good salary,” Cornyn said. “So I think that this is, to me, one of the most exciting
things in education because you have young people who necessarily do not always see the tangible benefit of their going to school or seems to abstract that you learn things like chemistry and physics, but this shows how those principles that you learn in school can be applied to preparing people to earn good money and well-paying jobs.”
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So there’s work to be done, but not the people with the skills to do them.
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– John Cornyn, U.S. Senator
Stadium scores giant jumbotron DeVOn BrOOKs Sports Editor A new football season always requires changes. R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium is shared by the Kilgore High School and KC, and now both teams will be able to enjoy the brand new state-of-theart jumbotron scoreboard. The scoreboard was installed during the summer and it’s almost impossible to miss. Its measurements are 32’W x 24’H x 8”. The digits on the scoreboard will be presented in red and the custom striping will be cardinal red. The biggest feature on this scoreboard is the Custom Video Display.
Its measurements are 13.01’ H x 22.02’ W 20mm. (192 x 336 pixel matrix). The video display will replay game action and will also display names and pictures of the players throughout the game. Other features include a nonilluminated sign, Decorative Truss, Decorative Truss Backlit Logo, and a Custom XSB-10 Sound System. All the features that go along with the scoreboard itself, except for the sound system, was provided by NEVCO, which is the Integrated Display and Scoring Solutions Company. The jumbotron scoreboard cost
an estimated $300,000. It was paid for by supporters from the Kilgore community. According to athletic director Jimmy Rieves, eight businesses bought advertisement for static signage that will always remain on the scoreboard to help pay for it. Opportunities exist for video commercial advertisements to generate revenue every year. “It brings a new way to bring the experience closer to the fans,” Rieves said. Both teams will get to try their hand at the new scoreboard this Friday and Saturday when they take the field for the first time at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.
Special to THE FLARE
Dion Burns, left, and Charlie McGinnis of Texas Scoreboard Services, Conroe, install the new scoreboard at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium in Kilgore. The scoreboard contains a large LED video display.
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