Wrapping up a three-day post State of the Union tour that has forecast Mr. Obama’s narrative for his re-election battle with Republicans, Mr. Obama said it was the governments obligation to narrow the gap between rich and poor. He proposed a $1 billion grant competition to reward states that take action to keep college costs down, and a separate $55 million competition for colleges to increase their value and efficiency.

“I am only standing here because scholarships and student loans gave me a shot at a decent education,” Mr. Obama told the crowd at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan, where students braved early-morning snow to stand in line to see the president.

“Your president and your first lady were in your shoes just a few years ago,” Mr. Obama said. “We didn’t come from wealthy families. The only reason we were able to achieve what we achieved was because of education.”

Mr. Obama’s proposal would also require colleges and universities to offer students a comparison that shows postgraduate and employment records for their institutions.

As is typically the case when the president speaks on a college campus, the event was high energy, complete with a marching band playing fight songs to warm the crowd up beforehand. And Mr. Obama, who is clearly already in campaign mode, was revved up. He further lit up the crowd with the obligatory “Go Blue” cheer.

“Easy applause line,” he acknowledged.

“We want this to be a big bold generous country where everybody gets a shot,” Mr. Obama told the crowd in the Al Glick Field House. “If there’s anywhere that can teach us about how to bring back manufacturing, it’s the great state of Michigan.”

One night after a Republican debate that saw Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney beating each other up on everything from immigration to personal finances, the president, without mentioning either man, still sought to draw a comparison between his vision for the country and the Republican vision, which he painted as more of a fend-for-yourself one.

The purpose of Winston’s Gang, according to senior Kathryn Leetch, is “to get Fulton and Westminster connected,” by inviting area children through eighth grade to attend Westminster sporting events and letting them get to know the athletes.

“We want them to feel comfortable here,” Leetch said. “We’ve always wanted the people of Fulton to come see our games, and we want to go out in town and get involved.”

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where from thousands of hopefuls, one star is born? Well, Rufus On Fire readers, heres your chance to play starmaker and help pick the new voice of sports in social media!

XFINITY is looking for the next renowned sports social media star through its Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The winning candidate will serve as the new voice of XFINITY in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

From February 9-19, you can review qualified entry videos and vote for the contestant youd like to see advance to the finals of the XFINITY Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sporting events the weekend of March 8-11. Fans can head today to Facebook.com/XFINITY and click on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab to vote for your favorite personality (once per day)!

Will you choose the brainiac with the encyclopedia of stats, the former jock who knows the game inside out, or the corporate type who gets the marketing side of the business? You decide. Vote today at Facebook.com/XFINITY!

As always, thanks for reading!

Villageliu, who prior to joining Heartbeat worked as VP/Senior
Strategist at McCann Healthcare and as a manager at ZS Associates, has
extensive experience in brand strategy development, sales force
effectiveness, and market research. He will be leading some of
Heartbeatâ??s key pharmaceutical engagements focusing on the HCP audience.

Nadine Leonard, Heartbeat Ideasâ?? SVP, Strategy and Client Service, said
of the new addition, â??What really drew us to Alejandro was his
combination of marketing savvy and depth of understanding of the HCP
customer. His experience as a strategist and his knowledge of the daily
challenges faced by the pharmaceutical sales force makes him incredibly
well suited for a role as a client services leader here at Heartbeat as
we continue our focus on creating breakthrough marketing programs.�

Villageliu said of his decision to join Heartbeat, Since its inception,
Heartbeat has been steadfastly dedicated to innovation and using
technology with purpose. For example, they donâ??t just make a detail aid
on an iPad, they turn the iPad into a powerful tool that is specific to
the brand and engages the HCP customer in a unique and meaningful way. A
company with this commitment to adding value to clients seemed like the
perfect fit for me.

Originally hailing from Panama, Villageliu was trained as an industrial
engineer at Georgia Tech and earned an MBA in Marketing and Operations
from The Wharton School of the University Of Pennsylvania. His client
experience includes Alexion, Allergan, Amgen, Johnson amp; Johnson, Kowa,
Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and UCB.

About Heartbeat Ideas

Heartbeat Ideas creates indelible brand experiences for an increasingly
digital world. A privately held, full-service agency, Heartbeat is
committed to ideas and innovation in the emerging marketing environment.
The companyâ??s proprietary GRADE^TM toolset enables Heartbeat
to mine competitive and audience insights from the complexity of the
digital landscape, while the agencyâ??s versatile engagement process
flexes to meet the needs of both traditional and digital environments.

Founded in 1998, Heartbeat Ideasâ?? clients include Allmusic, Amgen, Con
Edison, EstÃe Lauder, Johnson amp; Johnson, McGraw Hill, Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Merck, Sanofi, and UCB.

Imagine sitting at an Arizona or Arizona State football game and suddenly hearing the public-address announcer bark, Last call!

Crazy? Maybe not.

Several Arizona representatives have proposed a bill that would open the door to selling beer and wine to the general public at state university sporting events.

My gut reaction was never as I envisioned stadium students sections turning into a raucous gathering of depravity accompanied by an Otis Day and the Knights soundtrack.

And then I remembered they were like that anyway.

Anyone who has been to a football game knows how many undergraduates leave at halftime, go to their dorm room or a tailgate party to drink and then come back, said Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, one of three sponsors of House Bill 2785.

West Virginia University, which began selling beer at home games in September, is making a strong case for taking this bill seriously.

First, some background.

Like most universities, beer and wine already are available in restricted areas of suites at Arizona and Arizona State football games. Additionally, beer will be sold at Wildcats baseball games this season, an opportunity that opened with the teams move to Hi Corbett field.

Twenty major universities, twice the amount from a decade ago, sold beer to non-suite fans at their football stadiums this past season, according to a survey done by the Des Moines Register.

The Arizona bill was introduced by Ableser, Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, and Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, who each represent districts housing one of the states three major universities. The bill would merely create a pilot program to test the issue under the watch of the Arizona Board of Regents and in consultation with the department of liquor licenses and control. Proceeds would benefit the schools athletic departments.

Ive done a ton of work trying to better my community and specifically ASU, said Ableser, who has undergraduate and masters degrees from ASU and is working on his doctorate. The reality is we dont have the T. Boone Pickens and Phil Knights of the world. We dont have huge (fundraising) foundations.

Financier Pickens and Nike co-founder Knight are deep-pocket boosters for Oklahoma State and Oregon, respectively.

The financial struggles of public universities have left many searching for other revenue streams.

That was part of West Virginias motivation, too.

Nothing in my mind sees anything wrong with beer sales, Mountaineers Athletic Director Oliver Luck said. But each situation is unique and has to be treated that way.

The Mountaineers served beer for the first time at their seven home games in 2011. Along with the decision came a very specific set of rules

Sales would be suspended early in the third quarter. Fans no longer would be able to leave the stadium once they entered. The university found that many people who left the facility would drink while they were away.

ASU allows fans to leave and return during games with a hand stamp. Arizona does not.

Representatives from both schools say their policy is not to comment on proposed bills.

The beer sales at West Virginia had an interesting result. Incidents related to alcohol consumption decreased 25 to 35 percent, Luck said. The tighter controlled environment, beefed-up security and a new exit policy made for a healthier atmosphere.

And the athletic department netted about $750,000 from its cut of sales and additional beer sponsorships.

Make no mistake. Luck, who is the father of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, did his homework. He is a Rhodes Scholar finalist, a lawyer, a former NFL player and a well-regarded executive who was determined to consider every angle.

He has received calls from other athletic directors asking about the Mountaineers experience. His reviews are favorable, but he reminds them that each university and community is unique.

What will become of the proposed Arizona bill? Political observers say the outlook isnt good because three democrats are sponsoring it.

At the very least, it could spark conversation. In these times of economic hardship at the public-school level, its a good start.

Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin.

In the past year, Weiser resident Jane Betts has been diagnosed
with two different types of cancer — cervical and thyroid.

As a distraction for both Jane and her husband, Bill Betts, both
retired educators, they have rediscovered hobbies to keep their
minds and bodies occupied during the ordeal.

Jane spends much of her free time sewing, from tutus for
children and adults to costumes for Halloween to purses and many
things in-between. She spends her down time in her basement with
her 16 sewing machines, including eight sergers.

“Sewing is therapy for me,” Jane Betts said. “It is something I
enjoy doing. The spare bedroom is full of stuff I have sewn.”

Jane Betts has shipped her items all over the United States, as
well as overseas to London.

“It is fun. There are some things you never see around here,”
she said.

As for Bill Betts, he began wood-working — crafting boxes,
cutting out wooden puzzles and even making Christmas gifts for his
children.

He donates some of this time to the Weiser Little Theater,
helping build sets.

“I always told my students, in a community, you take from the
community,” Bill Betts said. “You need to pay rent.”

Part of paying rent for the Betts is by donating their time and
talents to the communities they love, and have grown in. Bill Betts
is part of the Indianhead Fly Fishing Club and helped build the
community pond in Weiser.

Jane Betts has donated much of her time and energy into making
book bags for students, as many as 500 in a single year.

“We have always had the mindset that we wanted to be involved in
the community, and we did,” Jane said.

Tuesday afternoon, as the snow flakes began to fly outside their
home, the Betts shared story after story about how their lives have
changed and how things have worked out differently than
expected.

The way their life has turned out turned out to be a blessing in
disguise.

Shortly after college life, the Betts accepted a home economics
position with the University of Idaho Extension Service in Weiser
and as a Fruitland High School math teacher.

They said they were just looking for positions that were close
to each other, with the only other option being in the Hood River,
Ore., area. The couple decided on the positions in the Treasure
Valley because Jane Betts’ mother was living in the Boise area.

The couple said their plan was to only stay a couple years in
the area and then move to another part of the nation, doing this
until they had done and seen all that they had wanted to do.

“Our jobs were such that we got to know a lot of people,” Jane
Betts said. “We don’t plan to leave here.”

Along with beginning their careers in Weiser and Fruitland, the
couple settled in a home just south of Weiser, not far from the
county line, where they raised their two children.

Jane Betts ended up spending 15 years as the extension agent for
the university, and Bill Betts continued his teaching career and
also added in some coaching as well as their family continued to
grow.

After Jane Betts’ position was cut, she was able to find a
position at Weiser High School, teaching a wide variety of classes,
ranging from teen living, adult living, parenting and child
development, occupations and economics and other classes. She
retired from Weiser in 2007.

Bill Betts retired from the Fruitland School District in 2007,
after two school years of working part time for the district.

During their careers, both Bill and Jane Betts have been named
Idaho Teacher of the Year by the U of I Alumni Association. They
figure Bill Betts has taught about 3,800 students through the
years, while Jane Betts taught about 3,000 students. That figure
does not count how many lives they have touched in the classroom
and in the community, however.

William Anderson is a news reporter at the Argus Observer. He
can be reached at (541) 823-4815 or by email, williama@argusobserver.com.
To comment on this story, go to www.argusobserver.com

Thanks to February For the Love of Art Month, there are lots of unique ways to show your love, from original cards and art works at shops, galleries and markets, to festivals, performances and other special events, many of which are free. Pick up a For the Love of Art Month Event Guide, distributed at locations around Las Cruces and Mesilla, or download your own copy from the ArtForms website at www.artformsnm.org.

Take your valentine to everything from a quilt show or a tea dance to a passionate flamenco dance performance or an art show.

Heres a sampling of romantic ideas to get you started.

ArtForms Show and Sale, 9 am to 7 pm today, 9 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday at Las Cruces Convention Center, will feature 50 booths representing the best of southern New Mexicos many forms of art.

Landcuts exhibit featuring Heather Bradley and Karina Hean, MFA graduates from New Mexico State University, opens with an artists reception 4 to 6 pm today and runs through March 3 at Unsettled Gallery and Studio, 905 N. Mesquite St. Light refreshments will be served. Hours: 10 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm Saturday. Info: (575) 635-2285.

Nopalitos Galeria For the Love of Art Month group show opening reception 6 pm today,

A mutual love of model trains, for example, keeps Carolyn Speidel, 77, of Raleigh, and grandson Dennis Clay of Bartlett, 27 on Feb. 12, especially close. She became fascinated with trains in 1954 while on a trip from New Jersey to Pensacola, Fla., to see her husband-to-be. Later, as her hobby took hold, her now-late husband, William Speidel, went along for the ride, helping her set up and break down her displays. But it was grandson Dennis who inherited the Lionel locomotive gene.

As a young teenager, from Thanksgiving to New Years he would lay out the trains and tracks on our living room and dining room floors. … Elaborate layouts. … Elevations and tunnels.

The excitement, Clay explains, is in the timing: seeing one train, losing sight of it, and then having another appear somewhere else on a track.

While Speidel loved travel by mind and model train, senior center friends Joe and Maurine Tanner of Memphis took to the road. Hes 84, shes 80. Theyve been married 60-plus years and visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii together.

Maurine collected about 150 decorative spoons designating sites they saw, and eagerly displayed them to Hobby Day visitors. She also brought in some of her collectible ceramic buildings, including a replica of Nashvilles Ryman Auditorium of Grand Ole Opry fame.

At the next table, husband Joe Tanner displayed his meticulous needlework, a hobby he took up to keep his hands busy after retiring from 40 years as a paper machine operator at Kimberly-Clark. His elaborate Western scene on a basket is an original crewelwork in acrylic yarn. A 16-by-24-inch framed, needlepoint Nativity scene incorporates human figures from a pattern and everything else, from sky and sheep to dove of peace, from his own creativity.

Nearby sat retired Northwest Airlines ground crew member Bob Vincento, 68, of Memphis, among cardboard boxes of balsa airplane kits like those he has fancied since he was 10. His favorite model planes? Two World War II models: the British Spitfire and the German Messerschmitt Bf-109 — the latter kit within reach for a fresh start. A plane with a 30-inch wingspan, he said, is the biggest Ive ever worked on.

Retired Memphis Veterans Medical Center nurse Joyce Wiggins, 66, of Raleigh leans to the more whimsical. A world traveler herself, she collects American-made Annalee stuffed toys, pins and ornaments depicting fanciful human and animal folk.

I have 225 Annalee dolls, Wiggins said, from a caroler about 4-feet tall to a 3-inch ornament or pins. I have memories that go with many of them. I look at them and it just makes me smile.

Smiles make the day for hobbyist Sandy Stephens, 67, of Frayser too. The retired Kroger cashier has many hobbies, she said, but she presented proof of only a few: her feel for growing plants and crafting garden art. I have a small yard and a lot of shade.

Hobbies, she said, indicate her love of life. It is ironic, then, that she is fighting for hers.

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer in October 2010, and have two more scans coming up, she says. Oh, Ive been worried, but Im doing much better.

I was having cancer treatments last spring, so I couldnt get out in my garden. My church members came in to help. I didnt want to sit and stare at the walls — though some days I must — so, I kept up the garden myself all summer.

Making pretty things and growing pretty things are important to me. Last year I had 102 potted plants on the deck and in the garden.

This year, she had the stories and photos to share.

It was recommended that drinks industry sponsorship of sport and other large public events in the Republic of Ireland should be phased out through legislation by 2016.

The report states that Irish 16-21 year olds list alcohol advertisements as five of their top ten favourite advertisements, and that four in ten 16-21 year olds have an alcohol branded item of clothing, with 26% owning a rugby/football jersey that has an alcohol brand logo.

Recommendations also put forward in the report include a 9.00 pm watershed for alcohol advertising on television and radio; prohibition of all outdoor advertising of alcohol; and all alcohol advertising in the print media to be subject to stringent codes.

Dr Tony Holohan, Steering Group chairman, said: “Ireland has had a long and sometimes difficult association with alcohol. As a society we must understand, accept and deal with the negative consequences that arise from our use and misuse of alcohol.

“It is for this reason that I present these recommendations as a whole, very much in the hope that they will be adopted as Government policy. While in many areas individual measures might have been recommended that would go further, I regard the overall set of recommendations as reasonable and pragmatic, and I hope that they will help to significantly and positively alter Ireland’s relationship with alcohol.

“It is my strong belief that these recommendations, taken together, provide a practical, pragmatic means to achieve this. I am, nevertheless, very conscious that to some the recommendations will be far-reaching and radical, whereas to others they will be seen not to have gone far enough.”

#13;

• This is the first Valentines Day for Kens Old Fashioned Candy Shop, which opened this fall. The store is filled with affordable and high quality Valentines Day gift ideas, including small rose-shaped chocolates complete with stems, as well as little stuffed animal keepsakes. The chocolate room in the back of the store features tons of chocolate, which you can put in one of the many heart-shaped boxes for purchase. The store is still accepting orders for chocolate-covered strawberries, which can be picked up starting Saturday. Boxes and candies can be purchased for less than $5.

#13;

• Blue Iris Flowers has the traditional array of roses and traditional arrangements that can still be ordered. The store is also stocking cards and stuffed animals so you can purchase all you need in one place. What is new this year are beautiful orchids in different colors, which the store is selling for under $40. Store owner Allison Glascock said the orchids are selling well, but many people are ordering traditional things, such as a dozen roses.

#13;

• Regions Restaurant is open on Monday, Feb. 13 for those who cant go out on Valentines Day. According to the restaurants Facebook page, there are still a few reservations available for Valentines Day, as well as Monday, Feb. 13.

#13;

• Carpe Culina, a food and pastry gift shop run by Catonsville resident Ona Cavey, has some home-made chocolates and other pastries available for purchase. To see some of the treats, go to her Facebook page.

#13;

• GL Shacks has a special menu available for Valentines Day, which includes shrimp bisque, stuffed tilapia and herb crusted lamb. The restaurant also has a soup and salad special running all weekend.

#13;