Harmony and Melody
Dear Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses:
It turns out that the story of our official song is more complicated and
less clear than I thought. Maybe the song written by Jimmy Dodd, our head Mouseketeer, is
DC's official song, and maybe it isn't. In any case, the story is too long to tell in
themail, so please go to http://www.dcwatch.com/gary/gri9910.htm
to read it and to find its lyrics, as well as the lyrics of our official march and of the
song that most school children in the first half of this century thought was our official
song.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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GWU New Proposed For-Profit Hospital Building
James McLeod, jmcleod@ibm.net
If you don't want the press to cover a topic, make it complicated. The
October Foggy Bottom News has a good, just-the-facts article on the GWU proposed
new hospital. The proposal to squeeze a new hospital building on the site north of the
Foggy Bottom metro has initially passed two hurdles — obtaining a special zoning
exception and a certificate of need.
The Foggy Bottom Association has requested the DC Court of Appeals (No.
99-AA-1105) to vacate the August 6, 1999, DC Board of Zoning Adjustment order granting the
exception. (In dissent, B.A. Comm. King appropriately called the Board's finding of no
adverse impact ludicrous.) As for the certificate of need, ANC-2A05 Commissioner Dorothy
Miller has filed an appeal with the Board of Appeals and Review asking it to review the
D.C. State Health Planning & Development Agency's approval of a certificate of need
for the hospital. The third hurdle is getting a building permit. Lloyd Jordan, Director of
the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, has put a hold on a building permit
until it receives an adequate environmental impact statement. GWU and its partner have not
said what it proposes to do with the existing building. Foggy Bottom residents have signed
petitions for a public hearing on the EIS.
At today's (10/6) ground breaking citizens held a protest rally. While
it's called GWU Hospital, the GWU only has a 20 % share of ownership. University Health
Services, Inc., of Pennsylvania owns 80% interest in District Hospital Partners, L.P., the
for-profit entity that runs the hospital. I've testified before SHPDA and the BZA in
opposition to the proposed hospital. My primary concern is for the safety of pedestrians
using the 23rd Street sidewalk between the Metro and Washington Circle. More than 1000
persons per hour use that sidewalk during rush hour.
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Calling for a Cab in DC
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Here's some friendly cab advice I hope is helpful to others. Thursday
evening I needed to deliver a donated computer to a friend who is doing good things with
computers and kids in southeast DC. So I thought it would be no trouble to call a cab to
transport me a mile to my friend's office. I started calling at 7:30 pm and discovered
that Diamond Cab doesn't pick up the phone. No answer for over an hour. Yellow Cab of DC's
phone number was busy. Continuously busy. Persistently, continuously, everlastingly busy.
So I tried calling every cab company listed in the yellow pages. Half of
them are out of business. The others did not answer, or service Maryland and Virginia
only. After 9 pm, when I reached the end of the list of cabs, I realized my only recourse
was to start calling businesses in the next category in the Yellow Pages —
Taxidermists. “I realize you folks are not a cab company,” I pleaded, “but
if you transport me a mile I'll pay you the equivalent of two stuffed animals. Three
stuffed animals. I'll pay you three stuffed animals if you'll just transport me a
mile.”
The moral of this story? If you need a cab in DC, the best thing to do is
to go out on the street and hail one, and then if you're transporting stuff, ask the cab
driver to take you to your origin to pick up the stuff you're transporting. The
alternative is having to call those taxidermists again, and they will surely tell you to
stuff it.
[Do you have a pizza parlor close? Maybe you can go there, order a pizza,
have it delivered to where you want to go, and hitch a ride along. Guaranteed delivery in
thirty minutes, you know. Does anyone have a recommendation for a cab company, or leads
for which companies are best to call in particular areas of the city? — Gary Imhoff]
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The Lowdown on the State Song
Nick Keenan, NBK@gsionline.com, Shaw
If you are willing to believe the DC Government about anything, you can
get the “official” answer to the state song question at the DC Government Web
site, ( http://ci.washington.dc.us/facts___figures.html
). Along with the population, motto, bird, flower, origin of name, and other tidbits
favored by elementary school geography teachers, there is the official “state”
song, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Hard to believe, but who would have thought
that the cherry blossom isn't the state flower either?
[Nick, this is just one more example of why you can't believe the DC
government about anything. Check the bird and flower, too. For the real story of the
official state songs, see my article. — Gary Imhoff]
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Ahh — THAT Song! Goin’ Back to the
Roots..
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
Carl Bergman's mention that the District song was adopted by the
commissioners jogged my sometimes fleeting memory. On 8/16/97, after Congress shifted
power to the Control Board, Colbert King recalled his DC childhood where unelected
commissioners had proclaimed the official song for the city. He reported that his
all-black racially separated peers sang it in a hand-me-down school in this
disenfranchised city — “WASH-ING-TON, the fair-est ci-ty in the greatest land of
all. Named for one, our coun-try’s fa-ther who first an-swered free-dom’s
call/God bless our White House, our Ca-pitol, too/ And keep- ev-er fly-ing the Red, White
and Blue.” King wrote “District residents shouldn't have to prove their
worthiness to have the same rights enjoyed by other Americans,” and added “We're
here, in part, because we let down.… We committed the cardinal sin of forgetting
where we are; of deluding ourselves into thinking that those downtown and Capitol Hill
smiles meant acceptance and that a golden age had arrived; of failing to remember the
hard, bitter truth that in this world there's never a time when we as a people are allowed
the luxury of sitting back and relaxing and enjoying our meager gains. We failed to pass
on what we were taught: that every generation has to press down and re-win the victory.
That, as long as we draw breath on this earth, its always a struggle.” Speaking of
irony. . . .
I made a trip to Independence Hall to see where those mean ole PA militia
men threatened our founders to get their pay for helping win the land. That event is said
to have led the founders to add the “exclusive jurisdiction” clause to the 1787
Constitution, setting up a unique little Kingdom for Congress. After the tour I had a
great talk with the guide. He was unaware of the relationship between that event and our
current lack of voting rights and pointed out that it was just as ironic as the two giant
portraits gracing the two rooms off the Senate Chamber. . . . Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette! . . . a gift of France which hung in the White House in DC until the British
vandals torched the place in 1814. . . . France gave the US a new set of portraits in
1976, now in Congress Hall. Maybe we should commission something similar with Istook and
Hutchinson to hang in the District Building. Also, a book published by the Office of the
Controller of “the city that loves you back” (Philadelphia: A New Urban
Direction) shows they have similar problems as DC (they still think they lost status
when DC won the right to host the nation's capitol — if they only knew the real cost
. . . maybe Philly is the “City of Divine Providence”). Anyway, they lost
500,000 people between 1970-1995 — about 400,000 were suburban bound middle-class
Caucasians. They have a 17-member Council. Their school board is appointed by the mayor
from a list provided by an Educational Nominating Panel (don't know who picks it). The BD
appoints the Superintendent. Maybe DC should shift some of those elected School Board
positions over to make the Council larger (At-Large)? DC shouldn't reduce its total number
of elected officials below the current 25 (for all state, county, and city functions this
has to the lowest in US). We won't get them back once gone. If we want a bigger Council,
couple it with the school board issue. Meanwhile, I'm headed to the city that beheaded
Louis XVI and the “let 'em eat cake” lady — a lesson about the cost of
ignoring public opinion!
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With regard to Ralph Blessing's Musings [in the last issue], I recently
heard a broadcast ad for Bell Atlantic Mobile. The voice-over was something to the effect
of “Select Bell Atlantic Mobile... Exercise your freedom to choose... You could even
[use this service to] call your congressman!”
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What to Do When DPW's Regular Telephone Numbers
Aren’t Responsive — Maybe
Ralph Blessing, rblessin@usia.gov
Our experience with the alleged all-purpose problem solver number
(727-1000) has been mixed. On one occasion, when a large tree branch fell in the street,
we had next-day action. Kudos! On a second matter, though, it was no different from the
“good old days” of DC government. We called three times over the course of a
month to get a burnt out alley light replaced. Each time was like starting the process
from square one, even when we had the reference number in hand. On the third try, my call
was forwarded to the appropriate DPW office, which reported that no request had ever been
submitted from the 727-1000 folks. In fact, the DPW person gave me her direct number for
future reference, since she has such a poor opinion of the 727-1000 approach. We also
tried 727-1000 when our block (neighborhood?) didn't have its recycling picked up a couple
weeks ago. Nothing resulted from that call either. At this stage, I'd give the 727-1000
system a “D,” but at least we don't have to dial 10-10-something-or-other in
order to get through!
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What can we do about the speeding on Irving Street, NW? Cars fly by at
45-50 mph sometimes; if DC needs revenue, this is a legitimate place to collect it.
Secondly, there seems to be more and more out of state cars parked on Irving St. and 18th
St. (between Irving and Kenyon Streets) due to the no zone/commuter status; last night I
had to drive around for 20 minutes to find a space; this area needs to be zoned just like
the rest of Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant must have many people living here without paying
taxes; this is a good place to start to enhance revenues, instead of milking its citizens
to no end. Please let me know how I can start these initiatives rolling in the right
hands!
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I suppose that given the unspeakable events that occurred during World War
II that it is understandable that fifty years later we are still learning about and coming
to terms with this history. For example, we are only just learning about the collusion of
supposedly neutral factions, the manner in which financial institutions supported and
profited from an alliance with Hitler's Germany, and the role of Pope Pius XII in Hitler's
rise (in John Cornwell's fascinating book). Given this time of reflection, and in light of
the statue of Mahatma Gandhi that is supposed to be placed near Dupont Circle, I think
that it is important to consider Gandhi's comments about the Holocaust. In 1946 Gandhi
said: “Hitler killed five million [sic] Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time.
But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butchers knife. They should have thrown
themselves into the sea from cliffs.” When asked: “You mean that the Jews should
have committed collective suicide?” He replied: “Yes, that would have been
heroism.” Jews may be small in number and may not have a representative in the
Mayor's office (as the “Asian and Pacific Islanders” do), but I still believe
that this statue is an affront that should be turned away.
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My goodness, when you threw in the Hawaii/Fiji/Italy option [for the
Millennium celebration], I suddenly realized where my heart really is. In DC, daydreaming
about freedom, Hawaii, Fiji, Italy and a winning lotto ticket, not necessarily in that
order. Oh, yeah, and the song, too.
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Books for Prisons
Margaret Yoma Ullman, ullmany@intr.net
I recently saw a request for books, mainly how-tos and biographies, to be
donated to people in prison, especially African-Americans. It was either in themail or the
Washington Post. I have lost that reference. Yesterday I was given a bag full of
just the right kind of books. Can anyone help?
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
If you're interested in calligraphy, check out the Washington
Calligraphers Guild's CALLIGRAFEST, Saturday, October 16 from 10 to 4 at the Falls Church
Community Center, 223 Little Falls St. (From the District go west on Route 66 to Exit 66,
Route 7 East, Falls Church. Go one-and-a-half miles on Route 7, then turn left at Little
Falls St. The community center is one-and-a-half blocks on the left.) There will be
demonstrations throughout the day, including introductory classes at 10:30, 12:15, and
2:15 (for a complete schedule, e-mail me). The works of dozens of calligraphic artists
will be for sale, in addition to a complete line of lettering supplies. Admission $5. For
more info and a look at what calligraphers are doing these days, see http://www.calligraphersguild.org.
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Free Concert
E. James Lieberman, ejl@gwu.edu
The Friday Morning Music Club orchestra, Sylvia Alimena, conductor, will
present a concert featuring Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, plus short works by Mendelssohn and
Wagner. Sunday, October 17, 7:30 p.m., Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, 6601 Bradley
Blvd., Bethesda. Free, and plenty of free parking.
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Mary’s Center Fundraiser
Leslie Sargent, LeslieSarg@aol.com
October 23, 1999: Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care's 11th Annual
Awards Gala and Auction. Mary's Center is a non-profit located in Adams Morgan and serving
District residents. Featuring a silent auction, tapas, Samba parade and live music. Black
tie and festive mask. Hall of the Americas, Organization of American States, 17th Street
and Constitution Ave., N.W., 8:30 pm - 12:30 am. For more information, call Marvin Johnson
and Adwoa Spencer (202) 483-8319, ext. 306.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Room in Group House or Studio Apartment Wanted
Julie Makinen, makinenj@washpost.com
A friend of mine from Japan is looking for an apartment or room in a group
house to rent from December 1999 or January 2000 through December 2000. She would prefer
something close to a Red Line Metro stop, such as Tenleytown, Cleveland Park or Silver
Spring, or someplace on the H2/H4 bus lines, such as Mount Pleasant. If you know of
something $500 or under that is coming available, please let me know. She is a quiet
non-smoker with no pets who is studying at Trinity. Her English is passable. Thank you for
your help.
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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES
Web Page Designer Sought
Jon Katz, katz@erols.com
Marks & Katz, LLC, a Silver Spring trial law firm, seeks a web
designer to help us launch our first web site. We will consider both part-time and
full-time web designers (including students). Please e-mail Jon Katz at katz@erols.com.
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CLASSIFIEDS — USED WANTED
Full bed with firm mattress and box springs — or just the mattress
and box springs. I believe in re-use and recycle before I look at brand new. Can you help?
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