April 7th in themail
Dear Friends:
I don't have anything particularly interesting or amusing to say right
now. Do you? If so, please share it with the rest of us. We would love to hear from you.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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After about a month of being on the road and just getting hooked back up
to my E-mail via a new server, I read stuff related to the Mayor's UDC announcement and
noticed that no one has picked up on the fact that DC government doesn't own the UDC
campus as GSA is the owner. Maybe that is why the Post or others aren't talking
anymore about this proposal. Having worked in DC government for ten years and a longtime
resident, it bothers me that the Mayor and his staff don't do their homework.
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I like to listen to radio news on my car radio when I drove home from
work. After spending a day essentially out of touch with the world, I like the sense of
reconnecting. Most of the time I can use WTOP, the news station, for this purpose.
Unfortunately, starting this week, WTOP is broadcasting Orioles games, preempting the
news. Don't get me wrong, I think that those who enjoy listening to baseball on the radio
should have that available to them. I just don't understand why, with all the radio
outlets in the DC area (many with overlapping formats), it is either news or baseball. I
especially don't understand why WTOP ties up both an AM frequency and an FM frequency to
simulcast the game. It would seem pretty simple to broadcast baseball on one and news on
the other. I seem to remember a time when most of AM radio was simulcasts, and it became
evident that this was not the best use of public airwaves. Simulcast are, fortunately, now
uncommon.
I don't expect WTOP to modify its behavior so that I can listen to the
news. So my question is whether anyone has found other radio outlets for news. There used
to be an AM station that simulcast CNN (I think), but that has gone away. Any suggestions?
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A Technical School in DC
Harold Goldstein, dcbiker@goldray.com
Ed suggests that “A technical school will, however, provide a viable
educational opportunity for a large number of students ...,” and that is surely true.
But I don't think it productive to turn the state university into a technical high school.
Want to add a new “by test only” school? That's another story (which may or may
not be a good thing here at this time).
Brooklyn Tech has returned to its place as an ace NYC school, along with
Bronx Science and Stuyvesant, but these are schools that require tests for admission and
are drawing on a school system that is well over ten times the size of the DC system, and
while average scores may be comparable there are more “much better than average”
kids to draw on. And, make no bones about it, the reason these schools are SO SUCCESSFUL
is that there is NO COMPARISON between their population and the average high school
population. Can DC support such a school without really debilitating the rest of the
system? Maybe not.
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UDC — Need More Evidence?
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Just in case you need more evidence that the UDC administration is totally
inept, here's the latest. Within the last three months, Sidwell Friends School sent the
Administration of UDC a proposal that would allow the pool at UDC (currently a total
disaster) to be restored and refurbished by Sidwell Friends School, at Sidwell's expense.
In exchange, the Sidwell Friends students would have access to the pool on stated hours,
not to conflict with use of the pool by UDC. The upshot of this proposal — no
response at all from UDC. Hello earth, is anyone home?
Gary seems to think that the Mayor is pitting one community against
another by suggesting the move of UDC to Anacostia. I don't hear any community folks in NW
D.C. complaining about the move. The complaints are only from the inmates and the keepers
of that institution.
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Hyping the Attendance Figures
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Made my first visit to RFK Stadium last Saturday to watch my first Major
League baseball game in D.C. RFK is a nice ball park, getting a little long in the tooth,
but a decent ball park by any average fan standards. There were lots of folks there
enjoying the warm day and to see “The Man,” Mark McGwire. I was astounded on
Sunday to see the reported attendance was over thirty thousand. That means that for most
of the ball game more than ten thousand folks were in the rest rooms or waiting on line at
food vendors. There were almost thirty thousand empty seats for the whole game. Perhaps
the ticket takers had their thumbs on the turnstile counters (much like the butchers of
old when they weighed your meat order). I guess hyping the numbers is a ploy to impress
those who would relocate the Expos to warmer, friendlier climes.
One of the things that baffled me on Saturday was the lack of diversity of
the attendees at the game. I went to some ball games in St. Louis a few years ago. Busch
Stadium is located right in the heart of downtown St. Louis, a city much like D.C., with a
very strong majority of blacks who live there. At the games I attended, you could count
the non whites at the ball game on not too many fingers and toes. The same was true last
Saturday at RFK. Perhaps five percent of the attendees were non-white, and this in a city
with a very big non-white majority population. One might say the ticket prices were high
(they were). But the diversity at Wizards games is far more evident, and they have ticket
prices that my loan officer has rejected. I'm not sure what has happened, but there was
more diversity on the field than in the stands at RFK last Saturday and that is not a good
sign for any team that wants to relocate here. Next month, when I make a trip to Camden
Yards (to boo Angelos) I'll take attendance to see what is happening there. 'Tis a
puzzlement.
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Joan Eisenstodt asked about tree removal... perhaps Call Bill Breck (? on
last name), the city arborist, at 727-5319. he's in the office from about 7 a.m. to 3 pm.
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The Dead Tree Problem
Francesca Kranzberg, francie@dcjcc.org
In answer to Joan Eisenstodt's question about tree removal — I
suggest that you call your council member — and keep calling. It may take awhile
— it took us over a year to get three trees removed from across the street from us
— but most of that year was during the former administration. The most recent removal
took about 3 weeks — but then I called our rep (Charlene Drew Jarvis) at home at 8 in
the morning when I thought the city had sent a crew out to cut down the wrong tree. It
turned out that the tree they were cutting down was diseased, but in the process of
finding that out we got promises from the city to take out the dead one — promises
which were carried out within the aforementioned 3 weeks. So, if need be call your council
member at home early in the morning!
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All news reports I have heard, on NPR, WGMS, CBS-TV, ABC-TV and PBS have
said the following: do not send “in kind” contributions like clothing, blankets,
food, etc. etc. There are simply not enough transit facilities in Albania (airport too
small, trucking too slow, etc.) to handle material aid. Instead, the reports are that we
should send MONEY. Money is being collected by UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
Red Cross, check your favorite church charity. Apparently, the cash can be used by aid
workers on site in Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro to obtain the “in-kind”
items most needed, and we are not supposed to send normal disaster relief items we would
think of at first.
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In response to Andrea Sexton's question about where to donate to the
Kosovo relief effort, the American Red Cross is accepting financial donations. You can
even donate on-line. The address is http://www.redcross.org
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I'd like to respond to three separate postings in the most recent issue:
1. If you can't get a response about various problems in your neighborhood from the
appropriate city agency, call your City Council member. This has worked pretty well for us
(in Kathy Patterson's district). 2. Please do not start a drive to send clothing to
Albania. I have read that relief agencies specifically request that all donations be
monetary because of the extreme difficulty of getting supplies such as clothing or food
from here to there. 3. We are very impressed with our own realtor (who is also a friend
and neighbor): Nancy Lieber of Begg Long & Foster, phone 202-338-2012. 4. Now, a
question of my own: does anyone have a good long distance mover to recommend?
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Gala Ball, Philippine American Bar Association
Jon Katz, katz@erols.com
The Philippine American Bar Associations' annual Induction and Gala Ball
takes place Saturday, May 15, 1999, at 6:30 p.m. The $40 admission covers a pre-dinner
reception, full dinner, live dance music, and partying until 1:30 a.m. Expected MC: Mil
Arcega (NBC newscaster). Best Western Hotel, 6400 Oxon Hill Rd., Oxon Hill, MD. Call Jon
Katz for tickets: (301) 495-4300.
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I have been running workshops on being naturally thin in Vermont and will
be doing several in D.C. next week. Natural thinness is a non diet no guilt approach to
good eating, good health, increased energy and weight management. The 2 hour workshop
costs $15 and space is limited. For information email me before 4/12.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Piano
Nancy Davidson, nddavidson@earthlink.net
Baldwin grand piano, 5'6", light walnut, with bench. Excellent
condition. $4,000. Call 202-337-6482.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DRUMMER WANTED
Schoolhouse Rock Live
Chad Eric Hickerson, Chadster@aol.com
The upcoming Spring production of The Foundry Players is the musical
version of “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” and we are still in need of a drummer. The
position is volunteer and you will have a great time, we promise! And you never know, you
might even get hooked on theater! Performances are May 7-23 but help will be needed
throughout the rehearsal process. Call 202-332-3454 for more information. The Players are
located at 16th and P Streets, NW at the Foundry United Methodist Church. We are DC's
oldest running community theater, having been putting on shows for 53 years.
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CLASSIFIEDS — APARTMENT WANTED
Room to rent sought in the Dupont Circle area or anywhere thereabouts.
Married female working professional who commutes to DC for work for the week wants to find
shared housing situation. Ideal “apartment mate” as most weekends will travel
back home. Wanted for anytime May 15 onward. Please contact Rachel Anderson at gorandya@aol.com
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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
Williams' Win-Lose Predicament: Last July, mayoral candidate Anthony A. Williams was in no
position to turn down potential supporters. He had jumped into the race only a month
earlier and had stumbled through his first few campaign appearances.
Rival contenders Jack Evans, Harold Brazil, and Kevin Chavous were hammering the former
chief financial officer (CFO) for his unfamiliarity with the District, selling out to
Congress, and other political felonies.
Against that backdrop, the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), a multi-denominational
church alliance dedicated to “holding elected officials accountable,” approached
Williams with a mass following and an agenda. WIN was looking for commitments on crime
reduction, education, home ownership, jobs, and democracy. Williams endorsed the WIN
position on each item.
Most of those positions were no-brainers for any mayoral hopeful. The centerpiece of the
WIN agenda, however, posed something of an ethical brain buster for office seeking pols.
The goal was worthy enough — invest $30 million in after school and youth programs
citywide — but the plan contained a special pleading provision: $3 million earmarked
for the expansion of WIN's own after school programs.
Read the entire Loose Lips column this Friday at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
Friday, April 9: Honky Tonk Confidential, Angry Johnny & the Killbillies, and '52
Pick-Up, at 9 p.m. at American Legion Post 176, 6520 Amherst Ave., Springfield. $6.
Sunday, April 11-18: Director Rob Tregenza's mini-retrospective, featuring "Talking
to Strangers" and others, at 4 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art's East Building
Auditorium, 4th & Constitution Ave. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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