StarbuckedDear Neighbors: When I moved to the District in the 1980, I ate my first meal at Vesuvio’s Pizza at Connecticut and Q in Dupont Circus. I never went back and the restaurant closed 16 years later. (If you want to imply a causal effect, you’re on your own.) Vesuvio’s was a landmark sitting on prime real estate, and PepsiCo wanted the real estate badly, according to the Washington Business Journal. (I read it so you don’t have to.) Opening soon will be WrapWorks, offering a new food concept that will be Starbucked down our throats. It’s a roll-up fast-food joint, offering non-Mexican style burritos such as "Coat and Thai Chicken" and "Ken and Barbecue," according to the Journal. If you can’t wait for the December opening, check out the first District WrapWorks in Georgetown, which opened this week. And, alas, the parent company, WrapWorks, son of Chevy’s Mexican, daughter of Taco Bell, offspring of PepsiCo (and assuredly owned by Bill Gates), plans to open a WrapWorks on every corner and in every mall in the region. Take careful note if your neighbor has their property for sale. Good news for transplanted New Yorkers (and heart transplant specialists). Jerry’s Subs & Pizza is changing its pizza formula from DC-crusty to New York cheesy. I miss those New York pizzas with the melted mozzarella running off the paper plate. And my doctor reminds me to continue missing them. ////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\\/////\\\\ Also free! dc.movie: Short movie reviews and movie discussion. To subscribe, send an email message to story@intr.net and note the name of the newsletter in the subject line or body of the text. Cheers, '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' UDC Thursday night’s (October 17) DC Story reproduced uninformed musings of Ed T. Barron. I can report that the University of the District of Columbia projects a $16 million revenue shortfall only because the city regularly raids UDC appropriations to help the District finance its deficit. The rapid reduction in appropriations— to $38 million- -has so concerned UDC’s general accrediting body that it formally warned the city about undermining the integrity of the university’s academic programs. As for enrollment, Channel 9 took a Polaroid snapshot— Day 6 of student registration- -and characterized it as a Picasso masterpiece- -the final student count. Registration continues as I write this, so even I have no final official count of Fall semester enrollment. Neither does Channel 9. One very new Channel 1 reporter whose anchors reported UDC enrollment down one -third compared to last year apologized for the premature- -and, therefore, inaccurate- -portrayal. Mr. Barron is right about one thing: UDC is not Princeton, Yale, or Harvard. It’s also true that Yale is not Princeton and Harvard is not Yale, All comparisons are odious. What UDC does better than most other institutions is mainstream often underprepared students that traditional universities are too timid to touch, corrects their deficiencies, and strengthens their weaknesses. Those who survive the intellectual rigors and graduate more than hold their own in toe -to -toe competition with Ivy League alumni. We’ve got the list of UDC -trained Ph.D.’s, M.D.’s, CPA’s, RN’s and computer scientists to prove it. John H. Britton UDC Director Public Affairs JBRITTON@UDC.EDU [The Executive Director of the Control Board stated this week that UDC wasn’t going to receive addition funds. He indicated that revenue shortfalls were caused, at least in large part, by poor management. CFO Tony Williams announced this week that he is going to appoint a financial "czar" to control and correct the University’s financial fiasco. The appointee will report to Williams, not UDC president Tilden J.LeMelle. And the Washington Times reported that UDC’s payroll records include dead people. Recordkeeping was so poor that the university could not confirm that dead folks were not receiving checks. Jeffrey Itell ----------------- DC and Detroit The Mayor and City Council of DC should spend some time in Detroit meeting with their counterparts. The Motor City is emerging from 20 years of doom and decline under the Coleman Young regime, which was constantly at odds with an uncaring state legislature and fearful suburbs. Michigan Governor John Engler made it clear that Detroit must lead itself out of an era of despair, without a rescue from the state. Does any of this sound familiar to DC residents? How is Detroit making any progress? It takes someone with the integrity of Dennis Archer to clean house, end the bickering, and forge new partnerships. Construction permits are up in Detroit for the first time in 30 years. City leaders are meeting with business leaders. Dennis Archer’s new team is giving Detroiters hope, while the DC Mayor, Council and bureaucracy are giving us excuses. ----------------- Uptown Cafe Jeff Porten asked I’m mourning the loss of Uptown Cafe — used to eat the $10 dinner special all the time. (The fish entrees were always good.) I noticed that Alero’s now has a window screened with the words Uptown Cafe and an art deco image — anyone know the story on that? Well, years ago the space had been used for "The Uptown Cafe" .It was an art deco, american cuisine sort of place. The owners had their heart in the right place, but the few times I went the food was cold and the service "with a smile" was incredibly slow. It folded after only a few months. Then a series of "Mexican" restaurants used the space. Alero is the third. None has removed the old window decor maybe because it is so attractive, or maybe because it is too expensive. Anyway, the window and the decor are old, not new. ************** Margie siegel MASiegel@aol.com Jeff Porten reports that the window at Aleros’ now says Uptown Cafe — it refers to an earlier incarnation of an Uptown Cafe, also not successful, that preceded the current run of Mexican restaurants. I’d like to hear any reports about Alero’s — we went to its predecessor once, and I haven’t seen any familiar neighborhood faces dining there. I’ve seen several chefs inspecting the Kenny Rogers site lately, perhaps a seafood restaurant is what one told me he was considering. The owner of Coppi’s says he will be open for brunch on weekends, but no weekday lunch. The choices remain limited for us Home Aloners, on the rare occasion we want to go out to lunch. --------- Take Away Food As one (or 2 if you count our household) who finds take-out (or better delivery) my preference after a long work day .. it’s simple: eating in comfy clothes sans panty hose, in my own home with someone else doing the cooking is preferable to hearing others’ conversations and staying in work clothes. I’m not surprised that Yenching and other restaurants are doing a great carryout busn. ---------- Crime >John Whiteside and others who like to think that DC is Oz...get real. If you believe you go through each day unscathed by crime, you’ve been laying down in the poppies too long. Hello? I’m trying to remember where I wrote that DC is "Oz," or even implied it. My point was the DC is not some kind of out-of-control Wild West city. It’s a medium sized American city with all the accompanying problems. But to read dc.story, you’d think we were all coming home each night to cower under our beds to avoid the bullets flying through our windows. DC’s crime problem is very real (as are the city’s other problems). But in my short time here I’ve noticed that Washington has a real culture of complaining that, in my opinion, only helps convince outsiders that their exaggerated fears of the city are realistic. I’ve lived in inner-city neighborhoods in Boston, and in the downtown of a depressed upstate New York city. Those areas were not all that different from a lot of what I see in Washington. Yes, we have a problem. But it’s hardly unique, or as severe compared to what a lot of urban America lives with. ------------- DC Traffic Latest cause of traffic jam - a group of five scantily clad ladies plying their trade at 6:30 am at 11th and New York Ave. Normally at that hour of the morning, the commute is a breeze, but sure enough, every time this particular group is on duty (becoming more frequent), traffic crawls along. Has something happened to move business to 11th St? Think the police are interested? ------------ Whitman-Walker / Bell Atlantic Sorry to hear Deborah Fort had trouble. Please try again. When I called, I went through the automated response system in about 2-3 minutes. It’s for a good cause. ---- Jury Duty I haven’t been on jury duty for a while (was called twice, then was out of the country for a few years, and now live in - gasp! - Arlington, where they haven’t found me yet), but my experiences in DC were interesting. The first time was awful. Then (early 80s I think), you had to report every day for two weeks, and I didn’t get to serve on a single jury. (I had gone to law school, though I never practiced, and I knew a couple of recent crime victims, so I was pre-empted out.) Only compensation was the chance to get in some reading, play Trivial Pursuit, eat lots of lunches in Chinatown, and get fixed up by a fellow juror on a blind date (which as usual didn’t amount to anything). The second time was an interesting civic expererience - affirming, even. I served on a routine drug possession case, and I was pleased and humbled by the seriousness with which the matter was taken by my 11 colleagues. The panel included, surprisingly, a cop, and except for being older than average was probably as broad a cross-section of the DC populace as I had ever spent any extended time with. The cop-juror thought she was guilty as sin, but the rest of us had reasonable doubt. In the end, to avoid a deadlock, he too voted "not guilty" in the hope that if she was, her brush with the law would motivate her to clean up her act. It was an interesting experience. As a citizen, I was proud and honored to have had the opportunity. ---------- Jury Duty Despite the pompous blathering of a few people, questioning the frequency of jury duty is not an attack on our basic system of justice. Instead, it simply calls to question whether the burdens we bear as citizens are fairly distributed. My wife and I seemed to be called at the minimum interval allowed. (In fact, one year my wife got herself excused since she was called too soon after her previous service.) The problem appears to be that D.C. has a very large proportion of its population in the criminal justice system, but cannot call upon people in close in areas (such as Bethesda) to be part of its jury pool. The people in those areas take advantage of the advantages of being part of a metropolitan area with a central core, but escape some of the burdens. The result is that some of us are called frequently to serve on juries. It is not whining to ask that we are treated as fairly as possible in this process. ********** Stephanie "My ethnic group is MYOB" Faul steph@clark.net All this talk about jury duty has obviously had an effect — I received my summons yesterday. To my horror, the form asked for my race and marital status, supposedly "To assist that all people are represented on juries." Say what? It’s illegal for a private employer to ask for such information as a condition of employment. Why is the D.C. government asking for it? I crossed through that box and did not answer. For some reason, silly me, I thought that being a mentally competent adult citizen of the District of Columbia was sufficient qualification for jury duty. In any case, if their sampling method really *is* "random," as they claim, the racial and marital composition of the jury pool should be fairly predictable given the demographics of this city. ********** Larry Seftor 74740.2023@compuserve.com Despite the pompous blathering of a few people, questioning the frequency of jury duty is not an attack on our basic system of justice. Instead, it simply calls to question whether the burdens we bear as citizens are fairly distributed. My wife and I seemed to be called at the minimum interval allowed. (In fact, one year my wife got herself excused since she was called too soon after her previous service.) The problem appears to be that D.C. has a very large proportion of its population in the criminal justice system, but cannot call upon people in close in areas (such as Bethesda) to be part of its jury pool. The people in those areas take advantage of the advantages of being part of a metropolitan area with a central core, but escape some of the burdens. The result is that some of us are called frequently to serve on juries. It is not whining to ask that we are treated as fairly as possible in this process. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events Masquerade Ball and Silent Auction The National Capitol-Area Expansion Committee of the Starlight Foundation is working to strengthen the capitol-area presence of the Starlight Foundation, an international non-profit organization that helps brighten the lives of seriously ill children ages 4 through 18 years. Starlight grants special wishes to these kids such as trips, tangible items, meetings with celebrities and other fun and unique experiences. Starlight also runs programs in over 1,000 hospitals around the world. I am selling tickets to a Masquerade Ball and Silent Auction on Sat., Oct. 26th from 8 PM to midnight at the National Press Club (529 14th St., NW). Tickets are $45 each. Prizes for the auction include a trip to St. Croix, fur coat, basketball tickets and much more. There will also be light fare, a band and cash bar. The evening promises to be a lot of fun and proceeds will go to a great organization. Michele Duchin duchin@ncqa.org -------------------- Every Sunday 11:00am, Coed Touch Football on Washington Mall. Meet at carousel infront of the Castle. Nov. 17 Coed Paintball at Virginia Adventure Game, 9:30 am Route 7 to Leesburg. After about 21 miles turn left on Route 659, then three miles and right on Sycolin Road, look for sign to your left. Dec. 7 Coed Paintball at Virginia Adventure Game, 9:30 am Questions call Bruce McBarnette at (703) 404-8429. Bruce McBarnette mcbarnet@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.market APARTMENT IN ROME, ITALY FOR RENT: One bedroom apartment, beautifully furnished, with balcony, very secure, walking distance to Colosseum, Piazza di Spagna, Via Veneto, etc. No children, no pets. Fax (910) 630-5032 for more details. Short and long-term leases available. CARLAW CARLAW@iadb.org********** For sale: 1. Heavy-duty diaper-changing table with pad and LOTS of storage room (4 big drawers + a shelf compartment). Good condition. $85 or best offer. (These suckers retail for $200+.) 2. Two twin/daybeds with tailored olive-green covers. Again, heavy-duty, with mattresses in fine shape and ball casters on all feet. Make offer. Francine madrobin@ix.netcom.com Call 301-585-7857 ************** For Sale AKAI STEREO RECEIVER, [Model AA-R22], mint condition, $85 (202) 244-8598 Fred Davidson Fdavidso@Bxa.doc.gov ********* For sale: halogen dining room chandelier. A very unique light. It conveyed with my house when I bought it, but I was told it retailed for about $600. Now I’m turning my dining room into a home office, and I need something else. The light is ceiling mounted and contains two lights surrounded by thick glass. Very contemporary. Asking $200 OBO. Please call for more information. Martin Lynds martin@appi.org ********** need office space Does anyone know of a company who provides furnished office space, including computers, printers, fax, telephone lines, copier & secretary? Jenna Norwood norwood@ari.net *********** For Sale: Defiant Encore wood stove, excellent condition, black, $1,100. In December 1995, our heat pump had the iffy’s, the fireback on our old Vermont Castings’ Defiant was cracked, andd long work hours prevented fixing things. We bought the beautiful Defiant Encore as a replacement, but it looked too small and didn’t work the way we had hoped in our big space. We rebuilt our old stove, so benefit fromm our mistake and give this great Defiant Encore a good home! Michael and Ginny Spevak mspeva02@medlib.georgetown.edu r202-244-8644 w202-362-9119 ********** Home PC Computer Assistance I’ll help you choose and buy the best model for the lowest price, get your computer up and running, teach you the ins and outs of Windows 95 and applications, show you how to maintain your system, build special applications for you, and get you up and running on the internet. $60/hour. 202.244.4163. Jeffrey Itell Story@intr.net |
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