What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Philanthropist Bobby Willis to Build New $3.3 Billion Hospital for VA in Farmington, NM for Rural and Native American Veterans |
Proposed state-of-the-art Kirtland veterans clinic could provide as many as 8,000 jobs March 14, 2010, Farmington, New Mexico (Farmington Daily Times) — A proposed veterans complex in Kirtland centered around a new hospital, backed by a wealthy entrepreneur and costing an estimated $3.3 billion promises to bring state-of-the-art medicine and other benefits to veterans, as well as 8,000 jobs to the local economy. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
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| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
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Not Everyone is Facing GI Bill Delays
Written by Rick Maze
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 08:51
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September 29, 2009 - A retired Navy chief petty officer has jumped in to defend the Veterans Affairs Department's processing of Post-9/11 GI Bill payments, saying he received his benefits on time and without much fuss.
Kevin Ramey, a retired chief fire controlman attending Old Dominion University in Virginia, said Tuesday he applied months early for benefits and spent a lot of time making sure he was doing everything right. "I am one of the 27,500 people who received benefits on time," Ramey said. "A lot of pressure has been put on VA because of this program. I realize VA has an obligation to serve veterans, but to be fair, the veterans and the schools need to take some ownership as well. "My advice to veterans is to be proactive. Don't be afraid to ask for help. And share their experiences with fellow veterans and VA - the lessons learned this year will improve things in the future," said Ramey, who retired from the Navy in 2008 with 20 years of service. Ramey, attending graduate school to earn a master's degree in public administration, said he applied as soon as VA started processing pre-enrollment claims in May and received his eligibility certificate June 30. "This was not a delay. It was right in line with when VA said they would start sending out results," he said. Ramey said he picked a school after verifying it would be covered by GI Bill benefits and determining how many credits he would need to qualify for the monthly living stipend, which is paid only to whose who are attending more than half-time. He is taking six credits in a program where nine credits are a full load. He enrolled July 3, providing all of his paperwork to the school - but Old Dominion did not send an enrollment certification to VA for 21 days, apparently while waiting for other veterans to also enroll. Classes began Aug. 29, he said, and on Sept. 15 he received his book allowance and a pro-rated housing allowance for the days he attended school in August. That was the same day that the university received its tuition payment from VA. "There were a few delays along the way but, by far, the biggest delay was caused by the school, not VA," he said. Keith Wilson, VA's education service director, said last week that one issue could be that colleges and universities were holding onto enrollment certifications, which VA needs in order to finalize payments to institutions for tuition and fees, and payments to students for living stipends and book allowances. Thursday is a big day for the Post-9/11 GI Bill; VA will be making living stipend payments for students whose claims have been fully approved. Payments will cover September and any days a student was enrolled in August. Acknowledging that some students won't be paid on Oct. 1, VA is working on a process for issuing emergency checks beginning Friday. The $3,000 payments will be advance pay, deducted from payments once they begin, VA officials said.
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