Apparently, according to some people, graduating from college is important. I suppose that there is some merit to this point of view. I mean, in Tennessee, we're 46th in the country in education, so I guess that we can't oppose young people going to school. Still, in individual cases, it does seem to be a loss. For example, today is Kate Adcock's last day in the TCASK office as she returns to finish her degree at Rhodes College. As some of our readers may know, Kate has been working in our office this summer, for neither pay nor course credit, and, honestly, I'm not sure what we would have done without her.

This summer, a major project for TCASK has been planning the Tennessee Student Conference Against the Death Penalty. As a student herself, Kate has taken on the lion's share of the organizing for the conference. She's been making phone calls, planning workshops, doing research, and supporting all kinds of work around our efforts. In addition to which she's been a terrific addition to the atmosphere here in the office (what with two cranky men here all the time).

Last night, the working group of students who have been working on the conference, joined by TCASK Executive Director Randy Tatel and a number of Kate's friends and family, joined her for a farewell dinner to express our thanks and appreciation for all that Kate has done.

So, while we are sure that Kate is going to do terrific things at Rhodes (she'll still be working as a TCASK volunteer), and that she will go on to do unbelievable things after she graduates, we will certainly miss her in here in the office.

For us, it has been a learning summer. Primarily we've learned just how useful meaningful volunteers and interns can be. I'm suggesting that every group look hard into developing internship opportunities for college and high school students in their organizations. I know that we will, especially with all of the colleges in Nashville. So if you are in any college in Tennessee, particularly in the Nashville area, think about interning with TCASK in the coming year, perhaps in the Spring semester. In the meantime, all our best wishes and thanks go out to Kate Adcock, as she finishes up an incredibly productive summer here with TCASK.