Franklin County Recorder Terry Brown explains the ID card will help veterans access different services.

“Someone can identify who the veteran is and they can use that for discounts; so whether they’re going to a restaurant or a retail establishment to get their discounts. If a family member needs to have proof of service so they can receive proper honors at a funeral,” says Brown.

Photo ID cards for veterans will be available at Veterans Memorial until 5p.m. Monday and Tuesday from 8a.m. to 7p.m. It only costs $1 for the card.

Cards to low income and homeless veterans will be free.

After that ID cards can be attained at the Recorder’s office.

Stark County started a similar ID program last year.

Click on the “Listen to the story” bar at the top of the page for a variety of comments from visitors to the greenhouse about the flower.

“Lots of art museums have interactive experiences with guests but they tend to be in other parts of your building. We’re willing to experiment with them actually being in the gallery. So we’ve introduced post it note stations where we ask you a question and you tell us what you think. And you can respond to something another visitor has said.” Says Maciejunes,

Nine other museums and libraries also received the award.

“Here’s the rod we’re going to put this in and we’re going to ignite some powder and that melts that into a solid piece. The best electrical conduction is solid pieces.”

Teacher Terry Hassell supervises high school students as they perform a welding exercise. The lessons came during a career day at The Electrical Trades Center on the near west side. The center is trying to attract young people looking for a career that does not involve a desk and a chair.

“In construction you get something done, and you can see it. It’s kind of different pushing a pencil you know. You see what I mean it’s just a personal choice and a lot of these guys like what they see,” says Hassell.

Eastland Career Center junior Jon Duty decided to pursue construction work after hearing an electrician talk about job opportunities.

“Just the way my brain thinks and the circuits and laying everything out and to know that you have a hand in building something. You just drive past something and say like I worked there,” Duty explains.

Electrician and union member Steve Lipster, says the skilled trades face a looming worker shortage. For example, as aging electricians retire, the union will need 400 new workers over the next decade.

Lipster says the number of apprentices who move on to become journeyman had dropped through the years. He blames high schools which encourage all students to earn a four year college degree.

“The reality is they just haven’t been exposed to the kind of work we did and the rewards that come with it. It’s a very satisfying occupation but things like high school shop is pretty much non-existent anymore so students have not been exposed to the joys of working with their hands, being able to measure, create something,” says Lipster.

But he says they have time to adjust.

“We saw this coming. This isn’t something that was a big surprise for us. That’s when we started these outreach activities that have really born fruit for us, so I know there’s this kind of human cry about skilled workers and all of that and sure it’s a concern, but I really feel pretty comfortable we’ve taken the right steps to make sure that we have the right people,” adds Lipster.

Ohio is ranked 10th among the 50 states for having the oldest workers in the skilled trades. The staffing firm ManPower Group says 57% are over 45 years old.

39 year old apprentice Joe Day earned his engineering degree and worked at a computer for a decade before deciding it was time to do something more hands on.

“With this program you learn the actual theory behind it and then you actually go out and you see. You apply your theory on the job, so that’s the major thing that I get out of it that I like about it,” says Day.

Other trades are adjusting. The local Plumbers and Pipefitters union does not predict an immediate shortage of plumbers, but it has seen a shortage of entry level applicants. Spokesman Mike Kelley also partly blames a bias by school officials against careers in the trades.

A spokesman for a union that represents carpenters, and masons says attracting young people requires a continuing effort. The union recently held a test for new apprentices and does not know if it will have enough to fill all jobs.

To help trades workers who also want college credit, The Electrical Trades Center teamed up with Columbus State 12 years ago to form a special program. Those who complete it earn an associate’s degree paid for by the center. J.D. White coordinates the skilled trades program at Columbus State.

“We think by having this college articulated pathway it’s really going to help to recruit and draw people to the trades,” says White.

White says more than 2,000 people have completed the program and gone on to seek jobs in construction.

After working at least 1,000 hours, trainees can move into an apprenticeship where they will spend several years mastering electrical work to become a journeyman.

“You don’t have to run for office yourself, but I hope many of you do at all levels, because our democracy needs you. And I promise you it will give you a tough skin, I know a little bit about this. President Wilson once said if you want to make enemies try to change something,” Obama said.

Obama pointed out the turmoil in government and the tragic events from the Boston bombings to the shootings at Sandy Hook elementary, at a high school in Chardon Ohio and at a Colorado movie theatre.

The President stated that active citizenship can light the way toward a better nation.

“We are blessed with God given talents and inalienable rights, but with those rights come responsibilities with ourselves and others, to one another, and to future generations,” said Obama.

Graduate Jessica Jolly from Detroit, Michigan earned her Master’s degree in Health Administration and was excited the President spoke.

“It’s just super, it’s really amazing. This is historical for me and my family having the first African American President speaking at my graduation. It holds a lot of significance,” said Jolly.

22 year old Jessica Persinger of Washington Courthouse earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Human Ecology. Persinger says the President has led the way to making the most out of your life.

“To me he’s like the most important man in America. He makes a lot of great decisions for our country and he’s very important for the future of America. So it’s just very influential for him to come to speak to us. For someone who has come so far and he made a great person out of himself,” said Persinger.

Persinger and other graduates passed through metal detectors and bag checks as security was stepped up since the Boston Marathon bombings last month. Police also used bomb sniffing dogs and some rode on horseback to secure the stadium.

Graduate Michael Rose of Houston, Texas felt unsure of what would be accepted in The Shoe.

“It seems like the commencement committee had to scramble a little bit trying to figure out when we needed to be here and you know messaging was difficult. So definitely we felt I don’t want to say chaos, but we definitely feel the challenge that they had to do trying to run the event and get everyone through security,” Rose said.

President Obama also addressed challenges during his speech. He said the only thing certain about the decade ahead is that things will be uncertain. And he said while Americans have not been a people to place all of their faith in government to solve problems, government is not always the problem.

Obama also said the graduates have reason to have hope for the future.

“You’re graduating into an economy and a job market that is steadily healing. The once-dying American auto-industry is on pace for its strongest performance in 20 years, something that means everything to many communities in Ohio and across the Midwest,” Obama said.

Several graduates told WOSU they were headed back to school though for advanced degrees instead of looking for a job in their chosen career.

Watch President Obama’s commencement address as well as other highlights from the ceremony at 7:30 pm tonight on WOSU TV.

“You can tell you’re working in professional fields because of how you converse, and act and dress and everything,” says Molly Weissman with PNC Bank.

She and several other employers meet with students at Cincinnati’s DePaul Cristo Rey High School at lunchtime.

About 50 businesses and non-profits partner with the two-year old school to give students work experience as they study college-preparatory courses.

Students at Cincinnati Cristo Rey High School work
during normal school hours to prepare for life after
graduation. A similar school is opening in Columbus
this fall. Photo by Debbie Holmes/WOSU

They answer phones, sort mail, and organize presentations while at their jobs, five days a month, during normal school hours.

Fourteen-year-old Freshman Imani Vann works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“I thought it would be much more difficult to handle school and working at the same time, but surprising it’s very easy,” says Vann.

Employers pay the school about $6,500 per student which goes to their tuition. State school vouchers are expected to supply about $5,000 per student, if they come from under-performing schools, and the rest of the money needed comes from fundraisers.

President of DePaul Cristo Rey, Sister Jeanne Bessette.

“We believe this is a powerful way to lift another generation of people out of poverty by giving them an educational opportunity that normally you have to pay a lot of money for,” says Bessette.

Cristo Rey Columbus is scheduled to open in August with a freshman class of about 100 students. Renovations at a temporary site will get underway this month.

“This side of the hallway we will have one classroom, and we will knock out the walls that are the east, west walls.”

In 2014, a permanent school building will open downtown at the old Ohio State School for the Deaf near the Columbus Metropolitan Main Library.

President of the new school, Jim Foley says the Archdiocese of Columbus is sponsoring the new school that will emphasize a college-preparatory education and job experience.

“We’re taking students that in many cases are 2 to 3 years behind academically. So we’re not taking kids that are testing, coming into high school at the junior level,” explains Foley.

The school day and school year are longer and tutoring is available after school.

Fourteen-year-old Miriam Garcia is looking forward to being the first in her family to go to college. Garcia says her parents who immigrated from Mexico are very supportive.

“They want me to succeed, they had the opportunities but they didn’t take them. And they want me to succeed, they want to see me succeed and I want to show them I can. I want to make them proud,” says Garcia.

Garcia is Catholic, but students of all faiths are welcome. They all however must study four years of Catholic theology.

Regional President of Commerce National Bank, Jennifer Griffith says her company will employ four students.

“We want them to help us do some database work, keeping our databases accurate, up to date, engaging with our professional staff,” explains Griffith.

In early August, the freshman class will undergo two weeks of work training where they’ll learn what is expected of them in the workforce.

“Also seeking to address rapid changes in the way people can and want to receive news and information, The Plain Dealer Publishing Company will adopt a new home delivery schedule for its newspaper. Beginning late this summer, The Plain Dealer will continue to be published in print seven days a week, readily available at thousands of outlets throughout Northeast Ohio, with home delivery offered three days a week, including Sunday. All 3-day home delivery subscriptions will include access to the 7-day e-edition.”

Spokesman Jeff Warner says the district found out last week about how much more state funding should be coming. Warner says that will save cuts to high school transportation, middle school athletics and the length of the school day.

“It was a very pleasant surprise. Obviously it reduces the impact to the reductions we have to make. We still have to make about $15.5 million in reductions in order to maintain a positive cash balance through the end of next year,” says Warner.

Warner says Superintendent Gene Harris has now proposed cutting 11 of her administrators in next year’s budget, instead of only 2.

Protests have become a regular occurrence on the Wilberforce University campus. Last month about 150 students and teachers picketed and called for the school’s president Patricia Hardaway to resign. Student leader Brandon Harvey organized the protest.

“Those students were protesting, trying to fight for change. I think things have to change now. We have to tear down the dorms, build new ones. We have to spend the money, take the risk,” Harvey says.

Last fall, several hundred students and faculty marched to the administration. Students threatened to withdraw from the school that has seen sharp drops in enrollment and growing financial problems.

The small campus sits alongside a country road, several miles from Xenia. Wilberforce is a private, coed, liberal arts and historically black university, or what’s commonly referred to as an HBCU. The African Methodist Episcopal Church bought it outright after the Civil War.

Today campus buildings show wear and tear. The bookstore is closed and in disrepair. From the outside, dormitory buildings look sturdy. Inside there are a lot of problems.

Wright Hall is closed for students, while Valentine Hall that is attached is open but only a few rooms are occupied because the others have heavy water damage.

A burst water pipe in Jackson Hall forced students living on the second floor to move up to the third.

Even a dormitory built within the past decade has issues. Senior Ran dall Leneau describes one of them.

“There are times when water will actually drip from the upper level to here and as you see the mold will build up in that corner and it makes the paint peel,” says Leneau.

“There’s no magic bullet and that’s what I say to anyone who is looking for a quick fix,” says Wilberforce University President Patricia Hardaway.

She admits the school has its challenges.

“We’re working on moving to raise the funds to renovate those dorms; we demolished one dorm that we would like to use the footprint to build a new one. Those things are not going to happen within a few weeks or a few months,” explains Hardaway.

Hardaway says Wilberforce faces budget problems similar to what other universities face. The school has an annual budget of $16 million. According to tax returns for the fiscal year ending June 2011, Wilberforce ran a half-million dollar operating deficit. 2007 and 2008 tax returns show losses of up to 3 million dollars a year. The school’s total debt stands at $24 million dollars.

“Everyone has to recognize that the economic environment that Wilberforce is facing is not strictly Wilberforce. The entire world is facing the same economic downturn that is impacting everything,” says the university president.

Hardaway says the cost of educating students is much higher than what students pay. This year’s tuition is just over $12,000. That’s about a third of the $30,000 average tuition cost at private schools nationally.

Hardaway says the school has tried to bridge the gap by holding fundraising events and increasing alumni donations and grants. The school gets up to 40% of its funding from the federal government.

Over the past 7 years, Wilberforce’s undergrad student population has dropped dramatically from 800 to about 500.

President of the Wilberforce Faculty Association, Richard Deering blames the decline in students to cuts in core academic programs. Today there are only 17 core programs, down from 37 a few years ago.

“It was as though we were in deep financial difficulty and therefore the university had to cut its majors in half in order to be able to accommodate what was going on at the institution. I think it was a very negative kind of thing,” says Deering.

To save money, the University stopped contributing to employees’ retirement. Employees, including president Hardaway took a pay cut. For Deering, frustration mounts.

“We have had no new regular faculty members at the university since the fall of 08. We have new visiting faculty, we have temporary full-time faculty, adjunct faculty,” says Deering.

The cuts prompted an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s office, but the year-long probe found no financial wrongdoing.

But some students say putting band aids on head wounds won’t be enough to attract the students Wilberforce needs.

Senior and Vice President of Student Government, Shenell Dixon.

“We’re the first, the first historically black college, the Wilberforce University, so we should get the support we need to let the students succeed,” says Dixon.

President Hardaway says her fight continues.

There is no knight on a horse that’s coming in anywhere to say here. So we are exploring and following all available opportunities,” insists Hardaway.

But many students and faculty say the school’s problems will not be solved until there’s a new administration.

Margaret Graham assesses 40 year old Michelle Mingle who has come to Ohio State’s Total Health and Wellness center with a racing heartbeat.

“Based on the fact that you’ve had these heart palpitations over the past month and that has occurred several times, we’re going to go ahead and do an EKG,” says Graham.

Graham is not a doctor – she’s a nurse practitioner. That’s a nurse trained to diagnose patients who can prescribe certain drugs.

In fact there is no doctor at the clinic which is run by OSU’s college of nursing. It opened last month at University Hospital East.

“I think that as we get more and more people in the health care system, on the health care rolls we have to use the best provider for the situation and make sure that all providers are able to practice to their full scope,” says Graham.

In addition to primary care nurse practitioners, the clinic includes a pharmacist, dietician, and a social worker, and soon a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. A physician is available by phone or e-mail if necessary.

Mingle’s visit helps put her mind at ease.

“Kind of maybe a little worried about heart disease, but she’s made me feel more comfortable that maybe it’s not,” says Mingle.

Without this clinic, Mingle might have gone to the emergency room – which is much more expensive. Keeping patients like Mingle out of the ER is one of the goals of the nurse practitioner run facility.

Director Kristie Flamm says the east side location is convenient to bus transportation and close to low-income patients who will soon be covered under the Affordable Care Act.

“In the long-run this should really save health care dollars if we can prevent heart attacks, if we can prevent strokes, if we can identify diabetes early in patients and get them treated for their diabetes and prevent the long-term complications,” says Flamm.

The clinic recently received a $1.5 million federal grant.

A recent study indicated that Ohioans are 29% more likely to visit the ER than the national average.

It’s estimated misuse of the E.R. amounts to nearly a billion dollars of wasted health care dollars in Ohio every year. A billion dollars for visits that could be avoided and handled in a primary care setting.

In addition to the cost savings, more nurse practitioner-run clinics could help the healthcare system overcome a shortage of primary care doctors.

Miami University last fall set up a Nurse Practitioner clinic on the Oxford campus for its more than 3,000 employees.

Miami economics professor Melissa Thomasson says before the clinic opened employees frequently went to the E.R., if they had the flu or an ear infection because there are not enough primary care providers in the area.

“We did have a pretty high number of people who went to the E.R. for such things and again the copay to the employee is $100 but when that hits our health plan it’s billed out to like $1200,” says Thomasson.

Doctors seem to welcome the shift to nurse practitioners.

Tim Maglione speaks for the Ohio State Medical Association which represents 20,000 physicians.

“It’s something that the physician communities support and embrace as a kind of a team-based approach to care. A multi-disciplinary team based approach to care is where we’re moving today in health care,” says Maglione.

Maglione adds that having a physician to consult with will be important in complex cases though to maintain quality of care.

Ohio Hospital Association’s Jonathan Archey says the group supports parts of the federal health care law.

“When you can allocate resources more effectively you can provide the care more efficiently and the idea is to make it better for the patients and also better for the cost curve as well,” says Archey.

We could see more of these clinics Under the Affordable Care Act. The federal government will spend nearly $2 billion to add more than 12,000 primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the next 3 years.