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Group promotes historic preservation in development
"A city's downtown serves the entire community by providing a sense of place and ownership independent of those who hold the deeds." Those were the words of world-renowned downtown revitalization expert Donovan Rypkema following a recent presentation sponsored by Preserve Lexington. The group, formed in 2006 to promote awareness of downtown Lexington's historic and cultural fabric, brought Rypkema to town to speak to city leaders about the economic value of recycling historic structures for contemporary uses. He noted that virtually all of the successful downtown revitalizations he has studied have taken great care to enable the preservation of structures that speak of a community's character.
In an interview with Business Lexington, Rypkema also urged Lexington to do more to encourage synergies between the downtown and its adjacent university campuses. He added that the best way to judge the health of a downtown is to ask, "Are there people on the street?" And he said the best way to ensure that they are is to provide a balance of residency, retail, food and beverages and entertainment.
UK gets new supercomputer, rankings
The University of Kentucky has acquired a new IBM supercomputer. The state-of-the-art IBM System Cluster 1350, acquired under a two-year lease totaling $2.6 million, offers a theoretical peak performance of 16 teraflops of calculation capacity. According to UK officials, that means the new machine can handle up to 16.3 trillion calculations per second. Research areas that will make use of the machine include biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, mechanical engineering, physics and astronomy.
Based on rankings released in November 2006, the new supercomputer would place UK among the top echelon of American universities with research supercomputers.
UK HealthCare's Chandler Hospital is ranked among the nation's top 100 hospitals and one of the top 15 major academic medical centers according to Solucient, an organization that has been identifying America's top performing hospitals since 1993. The study compared patient safety, financial performance, efficiency, and growth in patient volume and clinical outcomes (how well patients fared).
The 2006 Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study appears in the March 12 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.
KySat Conference in May
The first annual KentuckySat (KySat) Conference, set for May 3, will focus on the inaugural 2008 Mission and the broader space, science, and engineering issues surrounding the initiative and emerging small satellite industry.
KySat is an ambitious joint-enterprise involving public organizations, colleges and universities and private companies in a student-led initiative involving the design, build, launch and on-orbit operation of small satellites to promote science, technology and engineering, innovation and education.
Included at the conference will be presentations and discussions centering on KySat1 systems, design, launch and on-orbit operations, future SmallSat/KySat payloads, important space science issues and talent development (education). The Conference is open to all interested individuals — including students.
Presenters will include Scott Hubbard, Carl Sagan Chair for the Study of Life In The Universe, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute; Bob Twiggs, director, Space Systems Development Laboratory, Stanford Aeronautics & Astronautics, Stanford University; Greg Schmidt, associate director for Strategic Planning, Space Directorate, NASA Ames Research Center; and The KySat Student Design Team.
There is a registration fee of $25 with a special student rate of $10. This charge includes lunch and all conference materials. Visit www.kysat.com for more information and to register.
BookExchange partners with eCampus.com
The BookExchange, launched in 2004 by students at the University of Kentucky, has partnered with eCampus in a deal that will benefit the BookExchange, eCampus and most importantly their customers.
The BookExchange was designed to connect local students wishing to buy or sell textbooks for a reasonable price. The Web-based service started at the University of Kentucky (www.ukbookexchange.com) and has since expanded to numerous universities throughout the country. The service is completely free for students to use. Company officials said students could save significant money by buying a book directly from another student, thus eliminating the middleman. The problem with the old system, they said, was that some books weren't always posted on the site, which led to a dead end for the user.
"The new partnership between the BookExchange and eCampus solves this problem," said Brian Raney of the BookExchange. "If students can't find a book for sale from another user, they are referred to eCampus, which will deliver the book right to their door free of shipping charges. The BookExchange receives a small commission for each referral." BookExchange principles Raney and Luke Murray connected with eCampus CEO Matt Montgomery at a Lexington Venture Club meeting. Both parties saw the potential for synergy and pursued a mutually beneficial partnership.
The BookExchange hopes to have the new features implemented on their site by the end of the semester. The agreement between the BookExchange and eCampus extends beyond the University of Kentucky BookExchange to all of the campuses that both companies serve.
Koinonia Computing merges with Lexington IT firm
Koinonia Computing, Inc., a 22-year-old, Louisville-based custom application development company, recently merged with NetSource Technology Group, Inc., a Lexington-based IT infrastructure and Web services company that specializes in a full range of computer, networking, hosting and Internet services. Kurt Reibling facilitated the merger. Koinonia Computing, Inc. will continue doing business as Koinonia Computing but will operate under the parent company umbrella of NetSource Technology Group, Inc. (NetSource) along with other NetSource companies MetroConnect.Net and Lexit Solutions.
The current management of Koinonia will retain day-to-day responsibility of sales and operations of the company's high-end application development services while leveraging the market resources and other IT services provided by NetSource.
Koinonia offers a wide range of tailored software solutions and customized applications using popular desktop suites, industrial-strength database systems and the latest programming environments. Koinonia specializes in application development, Internet development, help desk and outsourcing for small, medium, Fortune 500 and government accounts. The company's developers are experts in large-scale .NET data-driven projects, C++, Java VisualBasic, HTML, Microsoft Access, FoxPro, SQL/ODBC programming and architectural design for databases hosted on Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase.
Small Biz Development Center wins accreditation
The Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) at UK's Gatton College of Business and Economics has received full accreditation from the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the national accrediting body for Small Business Development Centers. Only 20 percent of SBDC programs nationwide receive full accreditation without conditions. The program was recognized for its experienced staff and innovative programming.
Lexington on "Gaydar"
Lexington has made The Advocate magazine's first ranking of the nation's "Top 10 Best Places For Gays and Lesbians to Live." The March 27 edition of the magazine says, "You can't discount the role horses have played in the progressive social climate in Lexington. Churchill Downs in Louisville is where the Kentucky Derby is held, but Lexington is where the history of horse breeding and racing resides. In recent years, out lesbian couples have begun to emerge as prominent players in the horse farm business." The article cites the presence of gay public officials — Vice Mayor Jim Gray and State Senator Ernesto Scorsone — and notes the city's ordinance protecting gays and lesbians from job and housing discrimination. According to the article, "Drag queens, the civil rights movement and an enduring arts and music scene all have contributed to Lexington's gay-friendly nature" and adds that the city has "a number of 'gayborhoods', gay bars, and a gay community center."
Other cities making the magazine's "Top Ten" include Santa Fe, Dallas, Tucson, and Ferndale, Mich.
Miracle League registration underway
The Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League (TBML) will accept spring season applications through March 31. The spring season will run April 14 — June 2 in Lexington, excluding Derby and Memorial Day weekends. The cost is $40 per child with financial assistance available.
The TBML is a non-profit corporation formed to give children with any special needs, physical or mental, an opportunity to play baseball in an organized league. The Miracle League field at Shillito Park is the only one of its kind in the entire state.
The YMCA of Central Kentucky is responsible for the operation of the field, facilities and league operations. The league is open to children ages 5-19 and kids can register to play at www.bluegrassmiracleleague.org or by contacting Kevin Haury, executive director of the Scott County YMCA/Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League, at (502) 863-4841 or khaury@ymcaofcentralky.org.
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