Rudolph Giuliani and the OxyContin people

Rudolph Giuliani and the OxyContin people

Well, now if I were the President of this land

You know, I’d declare total war on the pusher man.

God damn the pusher.

Steppenwolf

Rudolph Giuliani wants to be President of the United States. He claims to be tough on criminals.

In some cases, he is—unless the criminals hire him to be their lawyer.

The people who make OxyContin did something horrible: they sold a drug they knew was addictive and acted like it wasn’t.

I thought the makers of OxyContin got off easy when they agreed to a $600 million fine. Three of their top executives paid an additional $34 million. No jail time.

It was an wimpy settlement with a company that sold over $9 billion dollars of OxyContin.

The reason for the government’s light tough was found in the Washington Post. Rudolph Giuliani was a lawyer for the company that makes OxyContin.

>The Post said that Giuliani personally met with government lawyers more than half a dozen times.

>The story gets more outrageous if you read the “The Blotter” blog by Brian Ross of ABC News. Ross said that Giuliani and his team have advised OxyContin’s makers for the past five years.

According to Ross, Giuliani personally met with the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when the DEA’s drug diversion office began a criminal investigation into the company.

No wonder the OxyContin people got a sweetheart deal: Giuliani is not a guy government bureaucrats want to mess with.

Imagine yourself as a government official and Rudolph Giuliani walks in to negotiate with you. There is a very good chance Giuliani could be soon be President of the United States.

That means you are sitting across the table from a guy who might be your boss.

If a frontrunner for President of the United States wants a good deal, you are going to think hard before you say no.

The OxyContin makers may not have strong morals, but they do have brains. They hired one of the best lawyers money could buy.

The irony is that the old Rudolph Giuliani would have loved to have gone after the OxyContin makers. Rudy got his start as a federal prosecutor and liked to go after white-collar types.

Here was the perfect situation for the old Rudy. You had a company that knew their drug would make people addicts. The company officers devised a plan to market OxyContin to as many people as possible.

The old Rudy would have shut down the company and thrown all the officers in jail.

The new Rudy cut his clients a sweet deal: no one will spend a day in jail. The federal government considered the crime to be a misdemeanor like noodling. Prosecutors are beating their chest about a $600 million fine that is only about 6% of OxyContin total sales.

$600 million is just a cost of doing business. It won’t even hurt the company’s stock price.

$130 million was set aside for the claims of victims. That sounds incredibly low. Everyone who went to the doctor for a bad back and came out a drug addict has a claim. There are thousands of people addicted to OxyContin, and hundreds died.

When you see round ups of street dealers, many are addicts trying to feed their addiction. Many of those addictions wouldn’t have happened if Giuliani’s clients had not been greedy, reckless and stupid.

A better punishment would be to make the company execs take their own product for a couple months and then kick the habit in a county jail cell.

It would give them an idea of what really happened.

The Steppenwolf song “The Pusher” is a graphic depiction of someone addicted. The character wants the President of the United States to declare war on pushers. That doesn’t just mean rounding up junkies and street dealers: it means doing something about big pharmaceutical companies too.

Giuliani is not the President to make that happen.

When the OxyContin people go to meet their maker, I hope that the response they get is, “God damn the pusher.” It would make up for the government letting them off the hook.

Don McNay is the author of the Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. His award-winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service.

Unbridled Typos

Unbridled Typos

“When I think back on all the c___ I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.”

-Paul Simon

I learned how to type in high school. I had the worst penmanship in my school, and the principal personally signed me up for a typing class. He said it would change my life.

He was right. I became a wiz in the days of manual typewriters. When computers came along, I was set.

I could never have gone into journalism without my ability to type quickly. Typing is the only mechanical skill that I have. I can’t fix machinery, but I can always find a job typing.

Although I have grown to appreciate my typing skills, Barbara Erwin doesn’t share in that same affinity.

When certain items on her resume were found to be false, she dismissed them as “typos.”

Ms. Erwin may need a remedial course in typing.

She also might need a course in semantics. In my high school grammar classes, we used different words than Ms. Erwin for incorrect information.

One popular definition was “a lie.” Other definitions were “a falsehood” or “a misrepresentation.”

“Typo” never made the list.

Erwin’s resume said that she was named Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Administrators.

There is a slight problem: the Texas Association of School Administrators does not give out a Superintendent of the Year award.

Ms. Erwin’s “typo” made her appear as though she had won an award that didn’t exist.

Now that she is coming to Kentucky, I wonder if Erwin can teach Kentuckians how to win awards that either they didn’t earn or that never existed in the first place.

I would like to be a named a Nobel Prize winner. It doesn’t have to be from the Nobel Prize committee. If the National Association of Tractor Drivers wants to give me their Nobel Prize for Literature, I would be glad to accept.

If there is no Association of Tractor Drivers (I didn’t check) or they don’t give out Nobel Prizes, I still want to be able to list the prize on my vita.

Listing myself as a Nobel Prize winner would boost my resume, and I want Ms. Erwin to show me how it is done.

If Ms. Erwin can teach me how to pad my resume and blow it off as a “typo,” she might be worth the money Kentucky is paying her.

Being a Nobel Prize-winning author will help me make a lot of money

Just like Erwin’s fake Superintendent of the Year award helped her get a $220,000-per-year job.

I am distraught that Kentucky would hire an education commissioner whose knowledge of typing and semantics are so weak. For $220,000 a year, they ought to be able to get a better candidate.

When a government entity makes a bad hiring decision, I don’t get angry at the person being hired; I get angry at the people doing the hiring. In this case the hiring was done by the Kentucky Board of Education, whose members were all appointed by Governor Ernie Fletcher.

The Kentucky Board of Education didn’t care that Ms. Erwin had falsehoods on her resume or that she couldn’t type.

I’m not sure which is worse. We don’t want someone spreading false information to be in charge of education.

We also don’t want someone who doesn’t know how to type: typing is an essential skill in the technological world.

I haven’t been to China or India, but I bet their education commissioners know how to type. If we are going to compete, we need an education commissioner who is a competent communicator in addition to their other skills.

Despite my bragging about speed and skills, I often make typing and grammar mistakes. In the days of manual typewriters, I applied for a job with a misspelling in my cover letter.

The human resources director sent it back and said that I would not be considered because of the mistake.

That company had a pass/fail grading system for their hires. It looks like the Kentucky School Board grades on the curve.

When our children become adults and compete in the world economy, they will find that the world does not give “gentleman” or “gentlewoman” A’s They will have to be well-educated in order to survive.

I’m worried that Ms. Erwin does not have the skill set needed to help Kentucky compete in a world economy.

Admittedly, she does have one thing going for her.

She seems to have experience in writing creative fiction.

Don McNay is the author of the Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher. His column is award-winning but has not been awarded the Nobel Prize by any organization of any kind. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. He is on the Board of Directors for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Tax Dollars for Flunkies

Tax Dollars for Flunkies

“And if you give me weed, whites and wine, and you show me a sign, then I’ll be willing, to be moving.”

-Lowell George (Linda Ronstadt)

Political candidates don’t need weed, whites and wine to get moving, but apparently they need an entourage.

To run for office means you never are lonely. Almost every modern candidate has a “posse” larger than a heavyweight boxer.

Republicans and Democrats disagree on many issues but seem to be unanimous on one point: none are in favor of dropping their posse.

Most flunkies are a combination of hubris and insecurity. Many are insufferable, self-important and afraid to leave the candidate’s side. Thus, they make it impossible for “real” people (people who don’t spend every waking second thinking about politics) to get near those supposedly running to serve them.

It’s not good for candidates and not good for the people that they will govern.

As bad as the “posse” gets on the campaign trail, it gets worse when a candidate wins and puts all of the coat holders on the government payroll.

On my list of ways the government wastes money, taxpayer-paid flunkies are at the top.

They don’t produce any beneficial services and often take the place of someone who can.

I’ve been an occasional campaign flunky, and in small doses, it can be fun. In 1988, I helped arrange for Al Gore to practice with the University of Kentucky basketball team. I drove his car, fetched his Diet Cokes and arranged for him to have gym clothes.

I didn’t buy the gym clothes myself. I had my campaign assistant (a flunky to the flunky) do that. But I handed Al the clothes and made sure they fit.

They did.

It was an important job, and I took it seriously. Probably too seriously.

Self-importance is a defining characteristic of campaign flunkies. Many view themselves as latter-day St. Peters guarding the pearly gates--even if they are a flunky for an assistant water works commissioner.

I don’t mind if the coat holders are volunteers and not paid staff. If someone wants to spend their free time buying a candidate’s underwear, I don’t see any harm in it.

I get annoyed, however, when a candidate wastes campaign donations on a large paid staff. I get out-and-out angry when that staff winds up on the government payroll.

I’ve watched “debates” this year for candidates running for president. No candidate has ever mentioned cutting back on their entourage or perks.

Even the wacky guy from Alaska didn’t touch the issue. I KNOW he doesn’t have an entourage.

Cutting back on perks used to be a hot topic.

In the 1970’s, California Governor Jerry Brown made national news by living in an apartment instead of the California Governor’s mansion.

Brown was incredibly popular at the time. His approval rate broke records, and he won every presidential primary that he entered in 1976. He got in late and was up against Jimmy Carter, who also preached austerity. Carter carried his own luggage and stayed at supporters’ houses to save money.

Frugality was an issue then. It is forgotten now.

As candidates fly to campaign fundraisers in corporate jets that they borrowed from their “friends,” I wonder how many meet an average person in an average day.

I’m sure that their entourages can ward off encounters with any real people--except for the occasional photo ops with bellhops in their hotel suites.

I’d like some assurance that public officials pick their advisors because of their capacity to serve the public, not because of their ability fetch Diet Coke.

I’m not sure what kind of person would really want to be a professional coat holder. Anyone willing to do it for a career would have to have a distorted view of the world.

I don’t want that distorted view in the West Wing.

I understand that presidents and presidential candidates need to have tight security around them. I’m not so sure that people running for governor or city counsel do.

Having an entourage seems to almost be a pre-requisite for running for office these days.

I’m going to vote for the first person to break the trend.

Don McNay is Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky., where we don’t spend clients’ money on flunkies. His award-winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com and read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. He is on the Board of Directors for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Former Fat Guy for President

Former Fat Guy for President

"Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.”

-Fleetwood Mac

“Don’t Stop” was the theme song of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton when he ran for president. Now another Arkansas Governor is running for president, Republican Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee and Clinton have different ideologies, but thinking about tomorrow is their common message.

President Clinton, Governor Huckabee and myself have all fought obesity. Clinton solved his weight problem after emergency bypass heart surgery.

Not a great strategy.

Huckabee did it by losing 100 pounds in a medically-supervised weight loss program. He kept it off and has since become a national model for how to battle obesity.

I’m starting a medically-supervised plan this week. I need to lose as much as Governor Huckabee did.

I lost 90 pounds in 1989 but did not keep it off. After recently reading Huckabee’s book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, I saw where I screwed up.

When I lost the weight, I thought I was cured. I thought I would never be fat again.

I was wrong.

I quit going to the support group and fell back into old eating patterns. I gained about a pound a week.

If you gain a pound a week for two years, you gain 104 pounds.

And that’s exactly what happened to me.

Huckabee made a subtle but important point: obesity is treatable, not curable. Like people addicted to alcohol or drugs, food addicts need to always be in a stage of recovery.

I don’t think everyone gets that. Unlike alcohol or drugs, food is not something you swear off completely.

The key is to replace bad habits with good habits. Driving to fast food restaurants has to be replaced with healthy eating and exercise.

Huckabee’s personal wake-up call was a diagnosis of diabetes. He did not set out to lose any specific poundage goal; he just wanted to get his blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar to back normal levels.

His motivation was to add years to his life.

I know I can lose weight but have the habit of hitting a goal and gaining the weight back. Huckabee made me realize that battling obesity is a journey that has no end.

The alternative is an early grave.

Insurance companies offer something called “rated-age” annuities.

To get people to understand them, I explain that these annuities ratings are the mirror opposite of life insurance. People have to pay more for their life insurance if they smoke, skydive or do things that reduce how long they might live.

Rated-age annuities work the other way. Insurance companies invest a lump sum and send a person money for the rest of their lives. They will give an unhealthy person more each month than a healthy one. They don’t plan on the unhealthy person being around as long.

I recently gathered my medical records and applied to several companies for a rated-age annuity.

The consensus was that I would die at age 68. Unless I end my obesity, I will die about 9 years sooner than other men my age.

That was a serious wake-up call. The insurance company actuaries and medical underwriters have billions of dollars riding on their research, and they are usually accurate.

The only way I can prove them wrong is to lose weight and change my lifestyle.

I went back to the medically-supervised program that helped me lose 90 pounds.

This time I am going to get it off and keep it off.

My ace in the hole is Don’s Get-Fit Guys group.

I started the Fit Guys group three years ago and encouraged men in Richmond to join me. We first called it Don’s Fat Guys but changed the name to suit our goal. Three years later we are going strong. We don’t push a particular diet or plan, but everyone in the group has lost weight on their own by focusing on healthy habits.

We will fight to keep those habits for the rest of our lives.

My politics are probably closer to Clinton, but Huckabee seems like my kind of guy. He is a recovering fat guy and likes rock and roll. He can’t be all bad.

Having battled and treated his obesity, he will not stop thinking about tomorrow.

Don McNay is Chairman of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond Kentucky where we want everyone to think about tomorrow. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. His award-winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service.

Don’s Get Fit Guys meet every Tuesday at 5 p.m. at 122 North Second Street in Richmond, Ky.

Defense Dept. does not protect soldiers from payday lenders

Restricting Payday loans and fighting financial rip offs of soldiers are passions of mine. I'm enclosing my column for this week that covers both subjects and links to some previous columns. I noticed on Wednesday that an article I wrote in December about Kentucky Gubernatorial candidate, Steve Beshear went from zero hits on my website to 400 in an hour. Payday loans have become an issue in the Kentucky Governor's race. I am enclosing links to both of those topics. Have a good week. Please listen to the Joe Elliott show on Monday. I was postponed when Kentucky hired a new men's basketball coach. If they hire a woman's coach on Monday, I may be postponed again but eventually I will make it on during a slow basketball night. I do understand my place in the Kentucky universe and it is not ahead of basketball. Also, come see me at the Bluegrass Festival of Books. The link for more information is one the left. My nephew, Nick McNay, will be with me. He does not have a book to sign but many say he has more charm and better looks than his uncle. I am hoping to do an article about the Fit Guys group soon. We lost one of our key members, David Grandgeorge, who is now pastor of a church in Guyton, Ga. Don Don McNay don@donmcnay.com www.donmcnay.com Defense Department Proposal Does Not Protect Soldiers "Don't take me half the way." Crystal Gayle The Department of Defense just made a big surge but needs to finish the job. I'm not talking about the war in Iraq; I am talking about the war against financial companies that prey on military personnel and their families. I heard that the Department of Defense was issuing a proposed rule titled, "Limitations on Terms of Consumer Credit Extended to Service Members and Dependants." My first reaction was jubilation. I've written many columns about financial companies taking advantage of military personnel. I thought the solution had finally come. Then I read the proposed proposal issued in the April 11th Federal Register. I am not going to hang a sign that reads, "Mission Accomplished." The proposal does some good things. It limits payday lenders, vehicle title lenders and refund anticipation lenders to "only" 36% interest. Believe it or not, 36% is a huge improvement. Payday lenders claim they can't make it on such paltry amounts. Steven Schlein, spokesperson for a payday industry trade group, said that after these regulations become effective, "there won't be any payday loans to military people." We ought to make that day a national holiday. I would celebrate but I know it is a wasted effort. Predatory lenders will be back. Financial service companies have high-powered lawyers and lobbyists that will help them get back in business. It won't be hard since the Department of Defense proposal is filled with loopholes. The rules don't apply to rent- to-own companies or banks that charge fees for high-interest credit cards. The combination of fees and interest could easily push a soldier's credit card rate above 36%. If a government ban does not cover all the loopholes, it is useless. I learned that lesson the hard way. I've spent almost all of my working life setting up structured settlements. Structured settlements are designed to keep injury victims from running through their money. In the 1990's, some smart people figured out how to buy the structured settlement payments from injured people and make huge profits. Several of us lobbied state and federal legislatures, pushing for laws that would keep settlement purchasers under control. Kentucky was the first state with model legislation, and it passed unanimously. Almost every state and eventually, the federal government, put laws on the books, but all left some loopholes. We could have made a proposal that completely put the purchasers out of business. We didn't. They decreased activity for a couple of years, but now they are back, stronger than ever. A bunch of new players got into purchasing structured settlements, including a corporation that offers structured settlements to injured people. They set up structured settlements and then send the injured people letters asking if they want to sell them back. The settlement purchasers figured out the loopholes--just like the payday lenders will do for military personnel and their families. Instead of a 14-page proposal on the Federal Register, I could amend the Defense Department proposal to three simple points. 1. No financial institution may charge a military person or their families a predatory interest rate or fee. 2. If a financial institution is found guilty of charging a predatory interest rate, the corporation will be immediately dissolved, and the assets (including all personal assets belonging its officers and directors) shall be forfeited to the U.S. Treasury. 3. If this act occurs during a time of war, the company officers and directors will be conscripted into the armed services and serve in the war zone for the duration of battle. I don't think the Department of Defense proposal will keep military personnel from being ripped off. I know my proposal will. The Department of Defense has the perfect opportunity to do something to help soldiers. We are in a long and protracted war, and almost everyone in the country wants to help the soldiers fighting it. There is overwhelming public sentiment to ban predatory lenders to soldiers, and the Department of Defense has a chance to completely stop it once and for all. This is an issue where we need to say mission accomplished. It is not a time to go half the way. Don McNay is Chairman of McNay Settlement Group. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. His award-winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service, and he is on the Board of Directors for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Articles about financial companies taking advantage of soldiers Stop Scamming Brave Soldiers. January, 2005 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/148/9/ Payday Loans, Soldiers, and Donations to Congressmen, Saturday, 23 September 2006 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/148/9/ SAVE OUR SOLDIERS FROM PETER LYNCH H http://www.donmcnay.com/register/August.03.2004.php SENDING A MESSAGE TO PETER LYNCH http://www.donmcnay.com/register/August.23.2004.php Don McNay on the Joe Elliott Show I will be on the Joe Elliott show on Monday, April 16th at 9 p.m. Joe has a tremendous show on WHAS-AM in Louisville. It is 840 on the AM dial and can be picked up around the United States. you can also listen on the internet at http://www.whas.com/main.html Articles about Payday Loans in the Kentucky Governor's Race Citizen Beshear and the Check Cashing Companies, December 17, 2006. http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/187/44/ Steve Beshear Appearance on Bill Bryant's Newsmaker's (towards bottom of the page) Monday, January 22, 2007 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/196/44/ Lunsford Wants to Restrict Fees and Rates of Payday Lenders by Ronnie Ellis, CNHI News Service, April 11, 2007 http://www.cnhins.com/allheadlines/cnhinsall_story_101161033.html Lunsford Calls for Restrictions on Payday Loans. Polwatchers (Lexington Herald Leader Political Blog) April 11, 2007 by Ryan Alassi. http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2007/04/lunsford_calls_.html Lunsford Poised to Attack Beshear? Bluegrassreport.org, April 11, 2007 http://www.bluegrassreport.org/bluegrass_politics/2007/04/lunsford_poised.html Bluegrass Festival of Books I will be signing copies of my book, The Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher at the Bluegrass Festival of Books. It is in Lexington's Civic Center on Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be a number of big name authors at the festival and I am honored to be invited. Find out more about the festival at: http://www.bluegrassfestivalofbooks.com/

Find out more at: DonMcNay.com McNay Settlement Group The book: Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher

Don McNay Author & Syndicated Columnist Don McNay is an award winning syndicated columnist and author who views life with a rock and roll attitude. He is the author of The Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher. McNay writes a weekly business and social commentary column and a bi-weekly column that focuses on Kentucky politics. All columns intertwine commentary with lyrics from popular songs. Don's columns appear in the Richmond (Kentucky) Register and syndicated to over 200 cities through the CNHI News Service. He has also written for Trial Magazine, National Underwriter, Claims Magazine, Probe, Trial Diplomacy Journal and numerous business and legal publications. McNay is one of the world's most successful structured settlement consultants for injury victims and lottery winners. He has been named to the Million Dollar Round Table for 22 consecutive years and to the Top of the Million Dollar Round Table eight times. He has spoken to over 100 legal and financial groups around the United States, Canada and Bermuda. He holds several professional designations and was a director of the National Structured Settlement Trade Association from 1998 to 2001. McNay has appeared on numerous television and talk radio programs and is a frequent guest on Kentucky Educational Television's Comment on Kentucky. McNay has Master's degrees from Vanderbilt University and the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and was inducted into the EKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1998. Don has been featured in Forbes Magazine, The Lexington Herald Leader, The Courier Journal, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Registered Representative Magazine and Financial Planning Magazine. Don McNay don@donmcnay.com P.O. Box 747, Richmond, Ky. 40476-0747

Don McNay on Joe Elliott Show

Don McNay on the Joe Elliott Show

I will be on the Joe Elliott show on Thursday at 9 p.m. Joe has a tremendous show on WHAS-AM in Louisville. It is 840 on the AM dial and can be picked up around the United States. you can also listen on the internet at http://www.whas.com/main.html

Anniversary of Ollie McNay's Death

Anniversary of Ollie McNay's Death

Thursday, 29 March 2007

Monday, April 2 marks the first anniversary of my mother, Ollie McNay’s death. The death of my mother and sister in the same year has been one of the toughest challenges my family ever faced. We are moving forward and doing well. Through mom and Theresa’s death, I have been able to re-connect to several childhood friends and it has been great to have them in my life again. I am enclosing some articles that give you a better idea of who she was. I particularly enjoyed the second column about a collector for MBNA bank who claimed to talk to her a couple of months after she died. I wish he really could have talked to mom. For several reasons. http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/61/9/ http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/34/9/ http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/40/9/ http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/63/9/ I made a very tough decision to list mom’s house for sale. My nephew, Nick McNay, oversaw an extensive renovation project and did an amazing job. I am enclosing a link to the various pictures. For those of you who saw the house before the renovation, it is an entirely different world. http://www.sibcycline.com/viewlisting.asp?mls=341402&b=NKY&p=RESI&s=SFRD&m=1&sender=SearchResults llie and Theresa McNay Scholarship Fund Thursday, 29 March 2007 My sister, Theresa, and I made the decision at mom’s death to create the Ollie McNay Nursing Scholarship at Eastern Kentucky University. The scholarship is designated for a nursing student who is a single parent at Eastern Kentucky University. Ideally the student will be from Kenton County or Northern Kentucky. When Theresa died in October, we changed the name of the scholarship to the Ollie and Theresa McNay Nursing Scholarship. Theresa was not a nurse but a single parent like my mom. It seemed appropriate. The fund needed $10,000 to be endowed. It made the $10,000 goal, primarily from people who read my newspaper column online. Most of the contributions were in the $25 to $50 range. I am truly grateful for the outpouring of support. It meant a lot to me and my family at a very difficult time. Now of course, I am asking you to give again. I would appreciate any contribution you can make. You can send donations to: Ollie and Theresa McNay Nursing Scholarship, EKU Foundation, Eastern Kentucky University, CPO 19A, 521 Lancaster Ave, Richmond, KY 40475 Eastern Kentucky University allows you to make donations via credit card. Since mom was apparently speaking to credit card company representatives well after her death, it may be the appropriate way to go. If you donate online, please designate the Ollie and Theresa McNay Scholarship in the right corner. https://lv0.net/Form/EKUDevelOffice/EKUAFS