Jason William Keith’s Blog

A study conducted by CEOs for Cities suggest that neighborhoods that are accessible to amenities, services, and public transportation by foot, command higher housing prices than those that are not.  The website Walkscore.com actually rates neighborhoods from a scale of 1-100 based on their walk-ability.

Conway has an average score of 43 and my apartment has a disapointing score of 5.  Meanwhile a friends apartment in Burbank, CA scores an impressive 75.

Conway Chamber of Commerce is  putting together its long range plan and would like your help prioritizing its goals for the next 15 years.  You can take the survey here.

Priorities on my list included:

• Young Professionals
• Sidewalks
• Parks & Recreation
• Beautification
• Art & Culture

I am not a fan of the show and only saw him perform a few songs, but he defied the odds and became this year’s American Idol. I have never met him, but a few friends of mine that I take very seriously hold him in very high regard.

Good luck Kris.

A study by Peter J. Rentfrow, Samuel D. Gosling, and Jeff Potter concluded that Arkansas is one of the ten most nuerotic states in America.  The study is based on the Big Five Personality Test.

You can take the Big Five Test Here to see where you stand.  You can also see what states you have the most in common with by plugging in your scores here.

For the record my Neuroticism score is 32 and I have the most in common with people in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.  Arkansas falls 21st on my list, which explains a lot of conversations I have with my friends and coworkers.

Conway housing prices are up about 16% according to Zillow.  Conway prices are shown by the red line while the national averages are shown by the green line.

It has been a true pleasure watching Nathan lead the Bear’s offensive unit over the past several years.  He has served as an excellent example of a top notch person. player, and leader.

Today, UCA announced that Nathan Brown has been invited to play in the Senior Bowl.  Brown is the first player in the history of the school to receive an invitation.

See the full story here at UCASports.com.

Via KATV

Conway - The University of Central Arkansas announced Thursday that it will be making significant budget cuts in the coming months to offset a budget deficit.

Speaking at a budget forum, UCA interim president Tom Courtway told the crowd the school will suffer from a cash flow deficit by the end of this year.

The university plans to implement, among other things, a salary freeze and cutbacks in travel and advertising, in order to erase the debt.

(Tom Courtway, Interim UCA President) “I don’t believe–quite candidly–that we’re going to wipe it out in six months. I think that’s an unrealistic expectation. But I do think over time we will eliminate it.”

Courtway says the university will draw on its $6 million credit line to finish out this year. He does not expect any layoffs.

Whatever your outlook on the economy, it is more likely that UCA’s budget problems are due mostly to the high-profile advertising campaigns and expansion efforts that the university has finance over the past five years.

I was catching up on Golf Channel’s The Big Break:Kaanapali and took notice of a young female golfer by the name of Christina. Not only was she and excellent golfer, but she also looked very familiar. I didn’t catch her last name or any of her biography information, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was the same Christina Lecuyer that played golf at the University of Central Arkansas. I knew the odds were slim and wrote it off as a coincidence.

The following night I saw a commercial on the Golf Channel that had a short clip of Christina. The resemblance was enough to inspire a Google search and low and behold it is the same young lady I met in academic writing during my freshman year at UCA.

So here is wishing Christina the best of luck on the show and her golf career (she already has talent by the bucket loads.) Go Bears!