Published: May 5, 2008 09:38 am

EKU commencement ceremonies May 10

Special to the Register [Scroll down to 8th paragraph.]

Spring Commencement ceremonies at Eastern Kentucky University on Saturday, May 10, will recognize approximately 1,700 degree candidates.

The 10 a.m. ceremony will recognize degree candidates in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business and Technology.

The 3 p.m. ceremony will recognize degree candidates in the Colleges of Education, Health Sciences and Justice and Safety. All ceremonies are in Alumni Coliseum.

The morning keynote speaker will be William Daugherty, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of Directors for NGAS Resources Inc., headquartered in Lexington.

NGAS is an independent exploration and production company focused on unconventional natural gas basins in the U.S. that support repeatable drilling opportunities, mostly in the southern portion of the Appalachian Basin.

The company has been recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 100 fastest-growing small businesses and as one of America's 100 Best Small Companies.

Daugherty, a graduate of Berea College, serves on the EKU Foundation Board of Directors.

The afternoon keynote speaker will be Craig Williams, Berea, a 1978 EKU graduate who has received international acclaim for leading a grass-roots effort to ensure the safe disposal of obsolete chemical weapons stored at the Bluegrass Army Depot in Madison County and at similar locations nationwide.

Williams has testified before Congress, and Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Ben Chandler have both said that Williams knows more about the issue than any other individual. In 2006, Williams was the North American recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

Both speakers will receive honorary degrees.

Student speakers on behalf of the morning and afternoon degree candidates, respectively, are Felicia Hall, Richmond, and Andrew Bender, Berea.

In all, 1,694 degree candidates will be recognized: 1,297 bachelor's degree candidates, 290 master's degree candidates, 99 associate degree candidates and eight specialist degree candidates.

College receptions for the respective graduates and their families will be conducted in the Fred Darling Gymnasium in Alumni Coliseum immediately after each ceremony.

The public is welcome to attend both ceremonies.

"We've never had someone working directly for us with her level of expertise at no cost," he said.

Marsh, who has a master’s degree in public health, specialized in biological and chemical warfare agents, has previously worked for: the Centers for Disease Control; the Peace Corps; the State of Missouri; Portland, Ore., Veterans Medical Center; the U.S. Public Health Service; and the Red Cross.

She will be working with the CWWG through mid-September.

"I am looking forward to working with the CWWG coalition on these most timely and important pieces of their overall program," Marsh said.

The CWWG will benefit greatly from Marsh's expertise, Williams said.

'Because her assignment was routed through EPA’s National Homeland Security Office, the CWWG will increase the opportunity to assist in our nation's efforts to provide greater chemical security for the general public," he said.

Marsh is specialized in the areas of chemical and biological weapons training, emergency response, chemical security and homeland security.

"She'll be researching and pulling together information about hydrolysate (waste created by chemical weapon neutralization), other secondary waste materials and agent airborne monitoring systems" Williams said. "I have been voicing concerns for a long time about the level of (nerve agent) monitoring capabilities that exist here as the number of workers building the (chemical weapons) disposal facility increase. They are close to the storage area, and that's been a concern of mine for years."

One of the primary focuses at the moment has to do with the methodology being used by the military to determine which materials are safe to be shipping off site, Williams said.

The question as to what will be done with the hydrolysate, or waste created by the chemical weapons disposal plant, remains under review as it has for several years.

"It (the waste) would go a long distance and most likely end up in a poor and already contaminated community," he said. "We've been trying for years to have the Army provide information associated with this waste."

Several of the concerns include: What is in the waste? How much will be generated? Where will it be going? and How is it going to be treated? Williams asked.

"The Army has refused to provide us with that information," he said.

However, those involved with the work being done at the Blue Grass Army Depot have been much more open and transparent, he said.

Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass is the contractor chosen by the Army to oversee construction, operation and closure of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant that is being built to destroy the 523 tons of chemical agent (GB and VX nerve agents) that has been stored inside rockets and artillery projectiles, some since the early 1940s.

The disposal process is a project of ACWA (Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives).

Visit www.cwwg.org for more information about the coalition and its mission.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.