This week we’ll be taking a look at events on the world stage. And perhaps no place is generating more news coverage right now than Egypt.

What is going on in Egypt? What is going on in the Middle East? Perhaps we are starting to see a certain former president vindicated. Here is what George W. Bush said back in 2003:

“As recent history has shown, we cannot turn a blind eye to oppression just because the oppression is not in our own backyard. No longer should we think tyranny is benign because it is temporarily convenient. Tyranny is never benign to its victims, and our great democracies should oppose tyranny wherever it is found. Now we’re pursuing a different course, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. We will consistently challenge the enemies of reform and confront the allies of terror. We will expect a higher standard from our friends in the region, and we will meet our responsibilities in Afghanistan and in Iraq by finishing the work of democracy we have begun.”

This was the Bush doctrine of supporting the creation of democracies in the Middle East. Many people here in the US joked about that doctrine at the time. It looks like the people in Egypt are taking it seriously. President Bush was right: people everywhere want to be free.

Today we continue our conversation about the power of iPads in the classroom. Since we began our project in December, more and more schools have caught on. Even the New York Times has noticed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html

This article profiles some of the schools that are using iPads around the country. It notes:

“The iPads cost $750 apiece, and they are to be used in class and at home during the school year to replace textbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.’It allows us to extend the classroom beyond these four walls,’ said Larry Reiff, an English teacher at Roslyn who now posts all his course materials online.”

Exactly. The iPad means that the education process never stops. And that’s why we need more of them in our schools.

Since our announcement last month at Dallas Christian School and our announcement this week at Abilene Christian School, people have asked about how the iPad might work in the classroom. Take a look at this link:

http://teacher.ocps.net/groups/ipodsintheclassroom/

This website lists the various apps that are available and describes what all they can do. Want to help kids learn basic math? There is an app for it. Want help building lesson plans for elementary school social studies? There is an app for that, too. Want to teach languages? There is an app for that as well.

The iPad is literally a library of endless resources all right in front of the child on a computer screen. That’s why we’ve made this investment and that’s why we can’t wait to see the dividends in the future as our kids emerge better educated and better prepared for the workplace of tomorrow.

Abilene Christian Schools Launch Connect@ACS initiative
School to give iPads to 40 teachers and, by Fall 2011, to all high school students

It’s the start of a new era at Abilene Christian Schools. As part of the school’s Connect@ACS initiative, 40 Apple iPads will soon be in the hands of all staff on the ACS campus. In a ceremony this morning, the devices were distributed and faculty will begin collaborating and training with experts from Abilene Christian University to craft lesson plans that will incorporate use of the units in the classroom.

“This initiative will prepare our students for the intersection of learning while giving them tools to use that will equip them for the future,” says Craig Fisher, president of Abilene Christian Schools. “We are diving into an area that will take our students and our faculty – our entire school – fully into the 21st century, and we’re ready to make use of the most cutting-edge tools the market has to offer.”

The iPads are a gift from entrepreneur and long-time ACS supporter Randy Hill. Hill, who is also the father of an ACS student, believes Apple’s tablet device has the potential to revolutionize how teachers teach as well as how their students access their course work, notes and raw data from the Internet. Hill previously funded a similar project, ChargerTech, at Dallas Christian School.

“We can’t keep teaching kids the way I was taught and the way many adults learned their reading, writing and arithmetic, let alone giving them that instruction in the way it was delivered a century ago,” says Hill, who has just been named by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the board of the state’s Emerging Technology Fund. “I’m thrilled to help ACS accomplish its goal of becoming a more innovative institution that can get these students ready for the jobs of the future – many of which don’t even exist right now. And I’m thrilled to do with Apple, which is a company that is always using new technology to solve old challenges.”

Plans call for all of Abilene Christian High School students to receive their own iPads in August 2011, at the start of the school year. iPad carts will be available across campus for use by students in PK-middle school as well.

Abilene Christian Schools’ partnership with ACU will give faculty access to the latest research and training in the ever-expanding world of mobile learning technology.

“We look forward to supporting the Connect@ACS initiative,” says Dr. Billie McConnell, director of ACU’s K-12 Digital Learning Institute. “Schools need to be developing their students’ critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills. Making use of the latest digital tools is one of the most important ways they can accomplish their mission.

“At ACU, our students and faculty are immersed in the day-in-day-out process of adapting this technology to the classroom, and we’re succeeding. We look forward to sharing our experience with ACS,” says McConnell.

Hill’s company, APT Advanced Trailer, revolutionized the American peanut industry with its patented semi-trailer that procures (dries) and transports peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom.

Last month we announced funding for an initiative to provide iPads for teachers at Dallas Christian School. Today, we’re announcing a similar initiative at Abilene Christian School.

We do so for two reasons. First, we believe in Christian education. We believe we need it and we believe it can make a difference in the life of a child.

Second, we believe technology is the key to unlocking the future. If teachers have iPads, teachers will teach better and children will learn more.

I’ll have more to say about this topic throughout the week. So stay tuned!

Fresh off his inauguration this week, Texas Governor Rick Perry wasted little time in naming new appointees to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory Committee, including Texas entrepreneur Randy Hill.

“I’m honored to be chosen by Governor Perry to serve as his appointee on the ETF Committee,” Hill said. “As an entrepreneur, I’m always looking for the next big idea. And that’s what this committee is about: providing funding to promising emerging technologies. This committee is a great example of how smart, strategic investments from the government can help stimulate economic growth. Being chosen to serve on this committee was a great honor. Now I’m ready to get to work.”

The committee recommends proposals eligible for funding under the Emerging Technology Fund to the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House, who then must unanimously approve funding for projects.

Hill serves as president and CEO of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP. He is a member of the American Peanut Shellers Association, National Peanut Buying Points Association, Georgia Agribusiness Council, and the Abilene, Lubbock and Vernon chambers of Commerce. He is also a board member of Christian Homes of Abilene and Disability Resources Inc. Hill received a bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University. He replaces Joel Fontenot of Dallas for a term to expire Aug. 31, 2011.

Hill’s company revolutionized the American peanut industry by developing semi-trailers that procure (dry) and transport peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom.

Today we’re focusing again on the race to replace Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. And as mentioned yesterday, we believe Roger Williams is just the right person:

http://www.rogerforsenate.com/meet_roger/

If you click on the link above, it will take you to Roger’s bio. At the very bottom you will find this sentence:

“Roger has been a small business owner in Fort Worth and Weatherford, Texas for 38 years.”

Isn’t it interesting that the top two leaders of our country, the president and the vice president, have never run a business? How can we expect them to know how to create jobs when they’ve never had to do it?

We need Roger Williams in the Senate because he understands that businesses, not government, create jobs. And he will work hard to pass laws that make sense for our country and save dollars for our businesses.

Today we continue our series on public service by looking at the race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison. And one famous Texan has already made his decision:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/18/AR2011011801891.html

I’m glad to see that President George HW Bush has endorsed former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. After all, I’ve made that same decision. In these challenging economic times, we need a senator who knows what it’s like to meet a payroll and create jobs. And I believe Roger Williams has exactly that experience.

Also, I’ve gotten to know Roger personally over the past few years. So in the next couple of days, I’d like to share with you why I think Roger Williams is the right man with the right experience for the job.

We began the week talking about the importance of public service. We end by talking about one such public servant:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-hutchsider_14tex.ART0.State.Edition2.14800d4.html

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced she is retiring. Though I haven’t always agreed with her, I do respect the senator’s long service to our state. I salute her and thank her for her work on behalf of Texas.

Now the talk turns to who might replace her. A host of names has emerged including current Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and former Secretary of State Roger Williams. Next week we’ll talk more about the upcoming senate race, who I think should win and what the issues will be.

Today we continue our series on the importance of public service. And we do so by looking at last night’s memorial and the president’s remarks:

http://nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/president-delivers-message-of-hope-in-tucson-after-massacre-20110112

The president did something very important last night: he pointed out that it’s not just elected officials who serve. Many other people serve at staff levels, including one of the victims in last Saturday’s shooting:

“Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion – but his true passion was people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved – talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.”

Gabe Zimmerman did so much good for so many people. He won’t be forgotten. And his memory shows us all that public service makes a difference.

The tragic shooting this weekend in Arizona reminds us again that public service is just that: a service. And those that serve can sometimes pay an awful price.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was victimized by this senseless act. But we also want to pray for all our elected officials. We are so blessed to live in a country where people are willing to take time out from their careers and their families to do the work of the people. This is what a republic requires: people willing to serve.
May God bless Congresswoman Giffords and may God continue to bless our country.

The announcement our company made this week was done in Idaho. But its impact is much bigger than one state.

As this article notes, our nation faces an energy crisis:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/how-oil-could-kill-the-recovery/68933/

With so much of our oil coming from the Middle East and with India and China increasing the global demand on oil, the pain at the pump might get a lot worse a lot sooner than you think:

“If you thought $4 gasoline was bad, wait a year. Americans will pay $5 for a gallon of gasoline by 2012 as global demand grows faster than oil producers’ supply, predicted John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil and current head of Citizens for Affordable Energy. Without a significant investment in alternative energy sources, we’re on a collision course with ‘blackouts, brownouts, gas lines, [and] rationing.’”

Isn’t now the time to start a real effort to produce renewable energy? It is and we are at the University of Idaho.

Gas prices are heading up again:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/04/04greenwire-as-high-gas-prices-loom-new-congress-faces-pres-3445.html

That’s why we need to find new sources of energy…and that’s why the announcement this week at the University of Idaho is so important. The seed money that our company has given to the university will help fund important research on biomass, which creates energy by essentially burning wood chips.

In a few weeks, the university will have another announcement that will show that our company’s involvement with this issue is just getting started!

Donation Drives New Direction

of Bioenergy Research at

University of Idaho

Monday, January 3

Written by Alecia Hoene

MOSCOW, Idaho – A $25,000 donation from Texas entrepreneur Randy Hill and his company, APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, to the University of Idaho has funded research focused on converting woody biomass to energy.

The gift has allowed the university to install a pilot-scale pyrolysis unit at its steam plant. Pyrolysis is a type of incineration that uses almost no oxygen. When applied to an organic material like wood, pyrolysis yields biofuel plus a small amount of charcoal.

Armando McDonald, professor of wood chemistry and wood composites, researches pyrolysis of woody biomass to create bio-oil.

“This involves thermally cracking the wood to break it down into smaller molecules,” said McDonald. “The process yields about 60 percent bio-oil; 20 percent syngas, a gas mixture that is then used to fuel the operation; and about 20 percent char that can be used as a soil amendment.”

McDonald said the value of bioenergy methods like pyrolysis resides in the usability of all products generated. Such processes have the potential to generate substantial amounts of clean energy with little to no waste.

Hill also donated a biomass drying trailer and funding to install it at the university steam plant, and funding to formalize bioenergy and bioproducts efforts at the University of Idaho. In June 2010, the university received a proposal from Hill outlining a vision for the University of Idaho to establish a national level bioenergy research center. In that proposal, Hill committed to this and a number of other research projects and more than $700,000 in future licensing revenues benefiting the university’s bioenergy research. In August 2010, the university committed to the vision. University officials expect to make an announcement in the next two weeks.

“We are improving biomass drying equipment for faster drying equals less fuel, less cost and fewer carbon emissions. We see the University of Idaho as the go to place for innovative research in the future of bioenergy,” said Hill.

University of Idaho Sustainability Director Darin Saul sees research on woody biomass utilization as part of a larger bioenergy and bioproducts effort focused on regionally important feed stocks, including manure, oil seeds and food processing waste.

“Each feed stock has its own needs, byproducts and waste streams,” said Saul. “With this approach, we keep going cradle-to-cradle until each waste stream is turned into energy or a commercial byproduct. The goal is no waste, only energy and value-added products.”

McDonald, Saul and the bioenergy and bioproducts working group plan to collaborate with private sector partners to address identified bottlenecks in bioenergy/bioproducts industry development.

For more information about the university’s sustainability efforts, contact the University of Idaho Sustainability Center at uisc@uidaho.edu or visit www.uidaho.edu/sustainability.

About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s land-grant institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year. The University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation classification for high research activity. The student population of 12,302 includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars, who select from more than 130 degree options in the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Art and Architecture; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Law; Letters, Arts and Social Sciences; Natural Resources; and Science. The university also is charged with the statewide mission for medical education through the WWAMI program. The university combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities and focuses on helping students to succeed and become leaders. For more information, visit www.uidaho.edu.

About Randy Hill
Randy Hill is president and chief executive officer of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, a company whose invention revolutionized the American peanut industry by developing semi-trailers that procure (dry) and transport peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom. www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=208736