Quotes, Notes & Anecdotesadministration.wv.gov/newsletters/Documents/depjul00.pdf · check-ups so that serious ... July 2000 Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes Page 3 Up Close and Personal

July 2000 Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes Page 1

Employee of the Month

Alice Thibodeaux is a Valuable Resource of Information

w DepartmentWelcomesthe Children'sHealth InsuranceProgramw Let's Get to

Know CabinetSecretary JackBuckaleww Governor's

InternshipProgramAssistsAgenciesw What's Your

Favorite Placein the State?w People Talk

Sneak PeekINSIDE...

Alice ThibodeauxJuly Employeeof the Month

Alice Thibodeaux, a Procure-ment/Accounting Officer forthe West Virginia State Agencyfor Surplus Property under thePurchasing Division, is the De-partment�s Employee of theMonth for July.

A 24-year veteran of stategovernment, Alice is respon-sible for maintaining personnelrecords, including overtime.She also handles all procure-ment, travel and accounting forthe agency.

Alice also supervises the

Many friends, family and col-leagues joined Governor CecilUnderwood on May 26 to swear-inJack Buckalew as Cabinet Secretaryof the Department of Administration.

Buckalew succeeds Joseph Markus,who held the position since 1997and recently accepted a position aschief financial officer with e-Securityin Florida. In January of 1999,Buckalew was appointed Deputy Sec-retary for the Department.

"Jack Buckalew has contributed thepast five decades to honorable pub-lic service to the state of West Vir-On May 26, Governor Cecil Underwood joined Jack Buckalew's

friends and colleagues during his swearing-in ceremony atwhich he became Cabinet Secretary of Administration.

"Showroom" sales, and handles the preparation for the publicauctions, such as scheduling security, concessionaires, andauctioneers.

According to one of her co-workers, �Alice is always willingto perform whatever job that needs to be done in her area aswell as in other areas." Another co-worker adds, "She has per-formed a large variety of jobs within state government and hasdeveloped knowledge in many different areas."

In her spare time, Alice enjoys spending time with her family,including her two grandsons. Other hobbies include reading,cooking, sewing, boating and working with the people in stategovernment.

Please join Cabinet Secretary Jack Buckalew at the Employeeof the Month presentation at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, July 3 inDunbar at the West Virginia State Agency for Surplus Property.

Governor Underwood Swears in Jack Buckalew asDepartment of Administration's Cabinet Secretary

Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes

A Monthly Employee Newsletter Published by the Department of Administration

July 2000 · Vol. 8, Issue 7

Continued on Page 3

Page 2 Quotes, Notes & Anecdotes July 2000

Helping West Virginia's Children

Department of Administration Welcomesthe Children's Health Insurance Program

By Meghan NutterCommunications Intern

Thousands of West Virginiachildren have a better chanceof growing into healthy adultsas a result of a new state pro-gram offering free health in-surance to youngsters whoseparents meet specific eligibil-ity guidelines.

The West Virginia Child-ren�s Health Insurance Pro-gram (CHIP) enables eligiblechildren up to the age of 18years old to receive free medi-cal, eye and dental benefits.Over 80 percent federallyfunded, this program wasplaced under the jurisdictionof the Department of Admin-istration during the 2000 Leg-islative Session.

Beginning July 1, 1998,Phase I of the program pro-vided health care to childrenages 1 to 5 years old, whosefamilies do not exceed 150%of the Federal Poverty Level.This phase is serviced by theWest Virginia Medicaid Pro-gram.

Phase II includes childrenages 6 to 18 years old and isserviced by the PublicEmployees InsuranceAgency (PEIA).

Scheduled to beginsoon, Phase III in-clude children offamilies whose in-come level is between151-200% of theFederal Poverty Level.These families will have asmall co-payment when theyuse the insurance.

Applicants are screenedthrough this program and, ifdeemed eligible, will receivea Medicaid or PEIA card. CHIPDirector Lynn Sheets stressedthe popularity of this program.

�I really can�t think of anybad points to the program.Phase I currently has 1,424children enrolled, Phase II has10,074, and 4,540 childrenwere enrolled with Medicaidbecause we found that they

were eligible,� Sheets said.�The idea is to educate par-ents to get their kids preven-tive care. With this insurance,they can get them to the doc-tor for immunizations andcheck-ups so that serioushealth problems can be pre-vented.�

CHIP has teamed up withthe Healthy Kids Coalition tohelp spread the word to par-ents. �We have a 100% suc-cess rate,� Sheets said. �Weexpected to have 700 kids eli-gible for Phase I, but we have1,424 enrolled.�

For additional informationon the Children�s Health In-surance Program, please visitits website at www.wvdhhr.org/wvchip/default.htm.

Applications are free andare available at its website,at all local Department ofHealth and Human Re-sources offices or by calling1-888-WV-FAMILY.

CHIPS DirectorLynn Sheets ispleased with thepopularity of thisnew program whichis now administeredunder the Depart-ment of Administra-tion.

Got Milk?State Officials and Local Celebrities

Joined to Celebrate Dairy Week

In celebrationof Dairy Month,the Departmentof Agricultureheld Dairy Day atthe State Capitolon June 7. The events in-cluded a celeb-rity milk mus-tache contest,followed by an 8ft. sundae madewith vanilla icecream, chocolate syrup, caramel, nuts, whippedcream and a 12-inch cherry. Free samples were offered to the crowd that gath-ered for the event.

We have a 100% success rate.There were supposed to be 700kids eligible for Phase I, and we

have 1,424 enrolled.Lynn Sheets, Director

Children's sHealthInsurance Program

Employees with threeor more full years of ser-vice as of June 30, 2000,shall receive an incre-ment check equal to $50times the employee�syears of service, not toexceed 20 years of ser-vice or $1,000.00.

Increments will be dis-bursed as a separatecheck on July 31.

Tenured WorkersReceive Bonus


Up Close and Personal ...Cabinet Secretary Buckalew Discusses Future Initiatives

West Virginia hasbeen very goodto me, so when

the Governorasked me to dothis, I saw it as

"pay back" time.

Jack R. BuckalewCabinet Secretary

Department ofAdministration

ginia," said Governor Under-wood. "I believe that thisqualifies him to lead the De-partment of Administration."

Buckalew complementedhis predecessor by describinghis contributions as a "posi-tive legacy" to follow. He con-curred with the Governor invowing to continue to see the$4 billion pension obligationbond proposal move for-ward.

Joining Buckalew at thisspecial ceremony was hiswife, Eula, son Kenneth,granddaughter Laura,brother Marshall and sisterInez. He also noted other in-

Jack BuckalewContinued from Page 1

dividuals attending the cer-emony who had made an im-portant impact on his life.

"I can't promise success, butwith the help of the people Iwork with and of God, I knowwe will be successful,"Buckalew concluded.

Quotes, Notes& Anecdotes is published bythe Department

of Administration

Cecil H.Underwood

Governor

Jack R. BuckalewCabinet Secretary

Diane HolleyPublic Information

Officer/Editor

Special ThanksMeghan Nutter

Kaye Parks

A Famil y Affair ....Joining Cabinet Secretary Buckalew andGovernor Underwood was (l-r) son Kenneth, wife Eula, grand-daughter Laura, brother Marshall, and sister Inez.

Cabinet Secretary Jack Buckalew did not seek the job of lead-ing the Department of Administration...in reality, the proposi-tion came to him. "I did not ask for the job but decided thatwhen Mr. Markus left, things would never be the same and myexisting job also would be changing...West Virginia has beenvery good to me, so when the Governor asked me to do this, Isaw it as "pay back" time," Buckalew said.

Before short- or long-term goals will be established,

Buckalew and DeputySecretary Dot Yeagerare meeting with alldivision/agency direc-tors to discuss variousplans, activities andpotential problems,and to learn moreabout the responsibili-ties and duties of each of-fice. "As a result of thesemeetings, we will set somedepartmental goals andmay possibly make somechanges," he said.

One of the Department'smost publicized projects is the$4 billion bond proposalwhich Buckalew vows willcontinue to be pursued. "Thisproject is really out of ourhands now...it has a life of itsown," he said, indicating thatthe State Legislature ap-proved the proposal.

There are many factors,such as the interest rate fluc-tuation, which affects itsimplementation. "The Legisla-ture added into the scenariosafeguards which have to bemet. The bond market has tobe right and at this time, it isnot right...but, I think it is anexcellent concept."

Buckalew stressed the vari-ance in the responsibilitieswithin the Department, rang-ing from employee insurance,budgeting, personnel, retire-ment, information services,purchasing, grievances, eth-ics to aviation.

"Basically, we are a serviceorganization to other stateagencies and from what Ihave seen so far, the employ-ees do an excellent job. I want

Continued on Page 6


Department Interns Gain Valuable Skills

CPRB's MakesEnhancementsto its Website

Have you checkedout the Consoli-dated Public Retire-ment Board's websitelately?

Phase II of the siteimplementation iscomplete, allowingfor the public todownload formselectronically!

CPRB Director Bet-ter Ireland creditsthese enhancementsto employees VickiSutton and JohnBeane.

Visit its website atwww.state.wv.us/admin/cprb!


Have you notice a few newfaces lately in the Department?Nine student interns have beenhired through the Govenor'sSummer Internship Program tohelp assist our agencies anddivisions with special projects.

Since 1989, this programhas been designed to keepWest Virginia college studentsin the state after graduation.To participate, students mustmeet specific GPA guidelines,have completed at least oneyear of college, and attend aWest Virginia college or be aWest Virginia resident attend-ing an out-of-state college.

Let's get to know our studentinterns a little better!

Ray Henson, an account-ing major at Marshall Univer-sity, is working at the PublicEmployees Insurance Agency.�I decided to participate in theinternship program to gain ex-perience with computer net-working and to apply my skillsto the �real world,�� he said.

Also working for PEIA isJon Abraham, a biologygraduate from West VirginiaUniversity, who plans to at-tend WVU's Dental School inthe fall. �After dental school,I will be working with insur-ance companies on a dailybasis. It will be nice to havesome experience with ahealth insurance agency.�

A senior journalism majorat WVU, Meghan Nutter isusing her writing skills in thePurchasing Division by work-ing on various publications.�I wanted a job in the fieldof journalism, but didn�t wantto be the gopher at a localpaper. Hopefully, this intern-ship will help me find a job

in West Virginia after Igraduate.�

Jayson Cabell, an internat the Division of Personnel,has participated in the in-ternship program for thepast three years. He is pur-suing a double major in Fi-nance and Marketing atConcord College. �This in-ternship is an educationalexperience that is also fun.The knowledge you gainwhen working with dead-lines and how to handle co-workers is something youcan�t learn in a classroom.�

There are four internsworking for the Consoli-dated Public RetirementBoard (CPRB). Crystal McLaughlin attends the West VirginiaUniversity Institute of Technology, majoring in Elementary Edu-cation. �I think this internship is an honor, and hopefully it willopen doors to many opportunities in the future.�

Terri Spurlock plans to major in either Finance or Public Re-lations at Marshall University and has been focusing on businesscourses. �In the future I can see myself working with people in abusiness environment. I hope to be in a career that I enjoy, whichalso allows me to support myself.� Terri is looking forward to thechallenge of being a Resident Advisor next year at Marshall.

Meredith Foster believes that the internship program is worth-while because it offers college students good experience for fu-ture jobs, and it certainly adds dimension to a resume. A seniorat Virginia Tech, she is majoring in financial planning, with aminor in business administration. �I decided to do this intern-ship, because retirement planning and loans are such big partsof financial planning. Any experience I could gain in this areawould be helpful to me in the future.� Her future plans includegoing to law school.

Christopher Stone, a business/marketing major at West Vir-ginia State College, chose to participate in the internship program toimprove his business skills. "Everyone here is patient, friendly andhelpful. I actually feel that I am doing something worthwhile.� Chrisstrives to live by his strong values, and hopes to some day be a DaleCarneige Instructor and motivate people to do good in their lives.

James Ashwell, an environmental science major at the Uni-versity of Charleston, is working with the General Services groundscrew. "I enjoy this work because it keeps me shape and it fits intomy major by teaching me about types of soils and plants and theproper ways to use chemicals to treat grass."

Welcome each of these student interns to the Departmentof Administration!

Jayson Cabell

Meghan Nutter

Terri Spurlock, ChristopherStone and Crystal McLaughlin

Jon Abraham and Ray Henson


Wild, Wonderful West VirginiaState Tops the Rank for Favorite Vacation Spots

Travel WestVirginia!

Here's Our TOPTEN List...

White water raftinghas become apopular activity forstate residents aswell as individualsfrom around theworld.


Based on responsesfrom our Departmentemployees, below arethe top ranked vaca-tion spots in West Vir-ginia:

1. Canaan Valley2. Pipestem3. Cass Scenic

Railroad4. Summersville

Lake5. The Greenbrier6. Pocahontas

County7. New River

Gorge8. Watoga State

Park9. Holley River10. Monongahelia

As the summer seasongets into full swing, the ques-tion arises as to where to gofor vacation. Before spend-ing hours in the car goingacross several states, con-sider a retreat in your backyard.

West Virginia has somuch to offer...How abouta family trip to the moun-tains? ...White water raftingdown the New River Gorge?...Dining at The Greenbrier?

A GroupWise electronicsurvey asked our Depart-ment employees to sharetheir favorite West Virginiaspots. The most popular wasCanaan Valley, located inDavis, due to the various ac-tivities it offers, includingfishing, horseback riding,hiking, swimming, golfingand, most importantly, thebeautiful scenery.

Many employees con-curred that all state parks area good choice because theyoffer something for every-one. Other favorite parksnoted in the survey werePipestem, Holley River, andWatoga. Cass Scenic Rail-road and Summersville Lakewere also considered primechoices.

Several employees gavetwo thumbs up to TheGreenbrier Resort becauseof its exquisite beauty andlocation; however, othersopted for a more rustic stayat a cabin in the GreenbrierValley and cooking on awood stove.

Several employees sharedtheir own "best kept secrets"

in the state, many of whichyou may have not known ex-isted. Roughing it with noelectricity or running water isa great way to get away fromthe busy life, according tosome employees. The soundsof a lazy river and rustlingleaves are a nice break fromthe hectic business world.

"There is nothing more gor-geous than canoeing or raft-ing through the New RiverGorge, because it is so wildand you see a lot of things youcan't see from the road or atrail," one employee said. "Youmight think you wouldn�t havetime to notice the scenery be-cause you are shooting downthe rapids, but there are slowerparts of the river where youcan look around and catchyour breath." The Gorge isalso a favorite of rock climb-ers and mountain bikers.

A recent Division of Tourismsurvey conducted at eight statewelcome centers indicatedthat travelers from 43 states,Canada, and Europe selectedWest Virginia as their favoritedestination of choice in this re-gion. Why? The beautifulscenery is what attracts peopleand makes them prefer to visitWest Virginia rather than otherstates in the area.

If you are not into outdooradventures, there are plenty ofother activities that you canenjoy. Try taking a tour of his-toric towns or glass factories,or visit one of the many com-munity fairs this summer.

West Virginia Celebration2000 is a statewide millen-nium celebration, which isassociated with many fairsand festivals throughout the

summer months. For moredetails on West Virginia Cel-ebration 2000 events, pleasevisit its website at www.wvcelebration2000.org.

As you can see, a vacationtraveling throughout West Vir-ginia could be the alternativeto your summer vacationplans. Since you do nothave to travel such a longdistance to our 'state trea-sures', a trip closer to homecan start earlier and endlater..in short, there will bemore time to enjoy your va-cation and relax!

Remember... shouldn'tyou feel rejuvenated aftera vacation, not physicallyexhausted?

Whether you want to bepampered at The Green-brier or rough it campingat a state forest, there issomething for everyone inour beautiful state. Thissummer, try white water raft-ing or llama trekking...Findthe adventure that best suitsyou!

For a complete listing ofactivities and events in WestVirginia, please visit theWest Virginia Division ofTourism's website at www.state.wv.us/tourism.

Photograph Courtesy ofthe Division of Tourism


AD

MIN

ISTRA

TIVE N

OTES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... in July!1 Sharon Pruett ........................ CPRB

Mike Riggs ............................ IS&C2 Forrest Loudin ............... Purchasing

Roselie Price .......................... IS&C3 Kathy Young ......................... CPRB5 Priscilla Bickley ...................... PEIA

Kristi Shew ............................. IS&CPaula Van Horn .................... CPRBRoger WIlliams ...................... IS&C

6 Debbie Anderson ............ Personnel8 Georgia Armes .................. Finance

Michael Belcher ..................... IS&CVanessa Cox ................ Purchasing

9 Marie Terry ............................ PEIA10 Jim Jackson .................. Purchasing11 Kevin Kinder .......................... IS&C

Serena Marty .................. Personnel12 James Fisher ....... General Services

John Johnston ............... PurchasingJack Pullen ............................ IS&C

15 Mable Jones ...................... Finance16 Margo Perkins ....................... PEIA

Terasa Robertson .................. CPRB17 Robert Kilpatrick .......... General Srvcs.18 Mary Jane Arvon ................... CPRB

Sue Lore ............................. IS&C

Welcome...to James Fisher (General Services); Michael Gray (Per-sonnel); and, John Hoover and Betty Lanham (Secretary's Office).

Best Wishes...to Teresa Martin (Personnel), Pat Loudin (Purchasing),Jennifer Moses (PEIA), who recently resigned, and to Nancy Love(Purchasing), who retired from the Department of Administration. JohnBeane recently transferred from IS&C to CPRB.

Congratulations!...to Rhonda Cole (IS&C) who was promoted froman Office Assistant I to a Telephone Operator, and to David Gilbert(Purchasing) who was promoted from an Office Assistant I to an Infor-mation System Coordinator I.

Marriage Vows Exchanged...Leasing's Carolyn Coiner married HerschelThomas on April 22 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Carolyn's son, Josh,was presented with a medalion from Herschel during the ceremony,making the wedding a 'family affair'. ALSO...Personnel's Tamra Youngmarried P.J. Rogers, owner of North Putnam Hardware, on May 20.

Diplomas Abound!...Public Information Officer Diane Holley completedher masters degree in Corporate and Organizational Communicationfrom West Virginia University. ALSO...IS&C's Joe Perks completed hisbachelor's degree in mathematics from West Virginia State College.

A Class Act Speaker...BRIM's Director Chuck Jones recently offered thecommencement address to the associate degree recipients of BluefieldState College, which is Jones' alma mater.

Aerial Port Rodeo Champs...The 130th Air National Guard Aerial PortSquadron, commanded by Major Randy Huffman (DEP) and ChiefMaster Sergeant Ronald �Dee� Bowe II (husband of Personnel's JeanieBowe), won the World RODEO Engine Running On load/Off load(ERO) competition held at Pope Air Force Base, NC., on May 10.Personnel's Judie Kessler's son, Brent, also served on the rodeo team.Congratulations to these world champions!

PEOPLE TALK

19 Arthur Hendricks ................. IS&C20 Jennifer Hanna ................... IS&C22 Earl Guthrie ................... Finance23 Daniel Eddy .......... General Services

John Gibson ....................... IS&CMike Michaelson ....... General Srvcs.Cricket Powell ............. GrievanceBrian Pratt .......................... IS&CTerry Tallman ..................... IS&C

24 Jim Bone ............................ IS&CPatricia Powers .................. CPRBFrank Stopher ..................... IS&CYvonne Wilhelm .......... Personnel

25 Melvin Ashbrook ............ Aviation26 Dolores Huffman ......... Personnel27 Kelli Doyle ................. Purchasing

Joyce Kinder ....................... IS&CHarold Matthews ....... General Srvcs.Sue McMinn ....................... BRIMDenise Russe ...................... IS&C

28 Barbara Beane ................... PEIAJoe Smith .................... Personnel

29 Tammy Haynes ................... IS&CMick Olah ......................... IS&CDanny Sizemore ....... General Srvcs.

30 Lee Ann Carnahan .......... GrievanceDenise Spatafore ........ Grievance

to continue and possibly enhancethis level of service to other agen-cies."

One of the existing programswith which the cabinet secretary hasbeen most impressed is the Em-ployee of the Month program.

"When visiting the different divi-sion during the recognition cer-emonies, I see a good group ofpeople and this program is an ex-cellent way of showing our appre-ciation by offering some rewardsand recognition for the hard work-ing people that we have," he said."I've always thought, maybe be-cause I was one of them, that WestVirginia had a great workforce ofpublic employees. They are veryconscientious and dedicatedpeople and I feel very proud to bea part."

Buckalew explained that over his40 years of public service, he haslearned many things along the way."Hopefully, I can take those past ex-periences and draw from them so Iwon't make the same mistakes.When you are working and mov-ing forward, mistakes will happenbecause you are dealing with theunknown. Hopefully you won'tmake the same mistakes twice," hesaid.

After serving in the military,Buckalew joined the West VirginiaState Police until 1983, retiring asLieutenant Colonel.

He completed his masters de-gree, served as assistant supervi-sor for International Training atNorthwestern University and taughtat the Institute of Police Technol-ogy and Management, Universityof North Florida.

In 1989, he returned to the StatePolice as its Superintendent until1993. In 1994, he was elected tothe West Virginia State Senate andserved until 1999.

Jack BuckalewContinued from Page 3