Going Uptown
Dear Uptowners:
We need more than just one movie palace like the Uptown, which we all
love. I propose another grand screen at a renovated Tivoli Theater. HGTV's (Home and
Garden Television's) Restore America series has filmed a show on the still
endangered and threatened Tivoli that will be shown on June 4 at 10:00 p.m. (District
Cablevision channel 202, also available on Dish and DirectTV satellites). There must be
some other good movie theater screens around. Come on, let us know your secret favorite;
we won't tell.
It's a long issue of themail, so I won't even rant about the politics of
envy and spite evidenced in Joyce Ladner's and Colby King's recent columns in the Post,
in which they complain that the problem with DC schools is that there are too many
involved parents who want too many good services for their kids, and that any kid who gets
a good public education in a school on the west side of the park is taking it away from a
kid on the east side of the city. I won't even point out how stupid it is for Ladner to
have written: She [Kathy Patterson] is but one of the many critics on the council,
in the mayor's office, on the control board, in Congress and among the 'parent activists'
who feel they know more about how to reform a greatly underperforming urban school system
than the superintendent. Would they tell their children's pediatrician how to examine
their children and recommend their own course of treatment? Ladner, of course, is
the former member of the control board who assumed she knew better than a former school
superintendent, who pushed taking authority away from the elected school board, and who
heckled members of Parents United and berated a District judge because they pushed for
schools that were physically safe, at a minimum.
Yeah, right, the best way to ensure that your child gets a good education
is to pay no attention, leave it to the "experts," keep your mouths shut, and
don't complain. That's also why it's best to eliminate an elected school board. The less
involvement that the public has with the schools, and the less control we have over them,
the better they will be. But I'm not complaining; no, not me.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The best movie theater will always be The Uptown. It is the last of the
theaters from the golden age of movies, with a truly large screen, a full balcony, and
great audiences, as well as new seats and a great sound system. What more could one want
(besides more parking, but with this is the City so take Metrobus or rail, especially with
Metro's extended weekend hours)!
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The balcony seats at Uptown theater are probably the best approximation of
stadium seating that also gets you one of the biggest screens in downtown. The
stadium seating at Mazza Gallerie is worth one or two visits, but probably not worth the
extra price (and the screens are NOT the biggest). For regular priced seats in a
"stadium" format, just go the Hoyt on Route One in Alexandria (south of Crystal
City).
The Uptown is still the best big screen, in my opinion, although it is
starting to show signs of wear and tear. Seats are not as comfortable as at many other
locations. Most comfortable seats are probably in the two larger rooms at
Wisconsin Cineplex Odeon. Worst theaters would include the Outer Circle, which has become
a total stank hole and worthless shoe boxes like Janus and Tenley Circle. Dupont Circle
Five (Cineplex Odeon) is still the best repertory house, until Visions opens this summer
in the old Embassy Theater space.
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Gladiator at the Uptown
Natalie Hopkins, Nhopkins@hazmed.com
Go to the Uptown to see Gladiator. It is a spectacle movie that needs a
good venue. I'm ordinarily not a fan of violent adventure movies, but this one is good
summer fluff if you can take a little blood. We're talking the Romans after all.
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Fair City Mall and Others
Sid Booth, SidBooth1@aol.com
Just saw the Hank Greenberg Story (a grand slam!) at the Cinema Arts
Theater in the Fair City Mall. Sound/screen were excellent, multiplex theater
accommodations quite nice, chairs exceptionally comfortable, with lumbar pad. Management
seems to care what the customers think has chairs/tables for schmoozing, drinking
and eating prepared salads and other unexpected food treats. Ample outdoor (free) parking,
but it's a long trip from Mt. Pleasant (35 min. on Memorial Day, probably longer other
times) but this is a fairly new arts theater and I wanted to check it out
while awaiting the opening of the new theater at 19th and Florida. Also still a good
venue, with $1 validated indoor parking, are the Wisconsin Avenue Cinemas, whose
relatively new hardware provide excellent presentations of sounds and sights. No question,
the Uptown continues to offer outstanding equipment, decent seating, super convenience to
Metro, but parking? Whoa! Remember the Post headline when Star Wars (the
original) opened some 20 years ago? The Movie that Ate Cleveland Park!
Best recent experience: the Multiplex 16, Lubbock, TX, great sound/sight, comfortable
stadium seating and arm rests with cup holders that can be folded up and out of the
way. What a concept!
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My favorite is the Avalon which has an angelic cherub painted on the
ceiling holding a roll of movie film. It's also big, and the seats seem to be well
situated. The Cinema theater on upper northwest Wisconsin has pretty good seats and a
nice-sized theater (I like theaters big so you get the sense of experiencing something
with a real crowd. The oohs and ahhs in a small theater just don't do it).
General Cinema's higher prices are a deterrent, but it's a nice movie
theater (I haven't done the Club Cinema, but the regular theater
has well placed, roomy seats (stadium style so everyone can see) and a good selection.
And, if you get the Entertainment 2000 books, you get twelve coupons which
give you a $5.00 ticket price at General Cinema. That beats the AMC and Loews Cineplex
deals in the book, which require you to mail in a coupon to get the tickets. (These books
also offer two for one deals at many local restaurants and other things like dry cleaning
and car wash discounts.)
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Baileys Crossroads and Shirlington
Lee Perkins, lperkins@cpcug.org
Bailey's Crossroads for Mission Impossible 2. Seats not comfortable and
cup holder make getting into and out of seat a pain. Screens smallish but ok for what was
a glorified cartoon anyway. Plenty of bargain price screenings. Theaters are clean,
audience polite, staff nice, and you can park inside the garage on weekends for free. If
you like big screens and comfortable seats, and even nice staff, go to the Shirlington.
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Janus Movie Theater as Torture Chamber
Ralston Cox, Dupont Circle / Strivers' Section, rcox@achp.gov
My vote for the worst movie theater in D.C. goes to the Loew's Cineplex
Odious (oops, I mean Odeon) Janus at 1660 Connecticut Avenue at R Street. The seats are
appalling (lumpy, misshapen, springs coming out or creaking/screeching when you move
around in your seat), the seating is badly cramped (at best), the theater is filthy, the
view from some seats is blocked by columns and don't even THINK about buying their
incredibly overpriced styrofoam (mis-labeled as popcorn) topped with melted
God-only-knows-what. The HVAC system is regularly on the blink I've worn coats
during movies in the summer and winter trying to make up for over-zealous A/C or absent
heating.
On the good side, they do show some movies that don't get much of a run at
standard theaters. If you must go, just expect to be uncomfortable. I'm holding out hope
for the renovated Embassy Theater on Florida at 20th which plans to open as an art
house theater in late summer. Please, God, let it be good and let it put the Janus
out of its misery for good.
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Summer Movies: Mission Impossible 2
Stacey Whitmire, swhitmire@att.com
Don't bother seeing Mission Impossible 2. It's the worst piece of movie
trash I've seen in a while due to the horribly bad dialogue, drawn out love interest that
is not very interesting, the hokey native music they play every time the love
interest appears on the screen surprise, she's a person of color (if I were her,
I'd be mad), and the laughable stunts that go well beyond ridiculous. I hoped to see the
fun spy gadgets and clever physical stunt tricks that Ethan Hunt used in the first MI, but
instead saw only two or three cool gadgets and many more laughably unbelievable stunts,
such as when Hunt kicks a gun buried in the sand and it flies, impossibly, directly into
his hand. Also, the dramatic pauses that pepper the movie are melodramatic.
This movie was made for movie goers that have seen it all, but Tom
Cruise's nonchalant delivery every time he does something fantastic is droll.
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Your Mission: See MI2!
Matthew Kessler, matthew@stand.org
Given the rainy weather in the nation's capital over Memorial Day weekend,
it gave me the perfect opportunity to throw caution to the wind and see Mission Impossible
2. I say it like that for two reasons: one being that I am indifferent to Tom Cruise as an
actor (last movie I saw him in was Eye's Wide Shut ... do not see this movie). The second
is that I am not a huge action adventure person. I was a little worried going in that I
would not understand the movie, given that I have not seen MI1. I was definitely proved
wrong. I am sure there were references to MI1 that people who have seen MI1 would
appreciate much more. The sequel, however, was written in such a way that a first timer
like myself would understand. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a technical movie
meaning that you do have to pay close attention (make sure you get your popcorn and go to
the restroom before the movie starts). If you don't pay attention most likely you will
lose track of what is happening.
Tom Cruise gave an awesome performance. He was perfect for the part; suave
yet rugged, kind yet ruthless, and of course there was a little attitude thrown in there
which rounded out the character perfectly. The cinematography and special affects in the
movie are the best I have seen in a while and the equipment and high tech gadgets are of
James Bond quality. Woo and Cruise have put together an edge of your seat, nail biting,
action packed picture. I highly recommend spending the $9.00 to go to the big screen and
see the movie. If you wait until the video I don't think the small screen will do it
justice.
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Memorial Day Week End, and how many families have lost a son or a
daughter? A mom or a father, a cousin or a neighbor to a murder this past year? How many
unsolved murders does our city have now? The odds are tremendously powerful that if you
decide to kill another human being in the District of Columbia, that's right take
the life of another person you'll stand at least an 80% chance of never being
caught! That's a powerful, and FRIGHTENING message! The closure rate on homicides
currently is approximately 20%. Well below the national averages, which means 8 out of 10
killers go without reprimand, jail time, or even being accused.
What is being done about this? The City Council finally passed some
guidelines for the Chief of Police beginning next year, with budget 2001. We should all be
thankful to Councilmember David Catania for bringing the bill for a vote, and certainly to
the other members of our city council that voted it through. But the questions is, since
most of them have sat on their hands for years and allowed the problem to get to where it
is today, will they work to see that it is enforced? It's time for action, it's time for
action by our Council to stand up for the people that put them if office, and demand a
change to current policy within the Metropolitan Police Department, to assure us that
something is being done. If they don't, then all of us should stand up for our own good
and begin to vote them out of office one by one. Frankly a good place to start is by
getting Brazil out. He chairs the oversight committee for the Police Department. Is he
afraid to speak up and to sponsor legislation that sets higher standards? Does he think
well enough ahead to know that something must be done? As residents of this city, we
deserve better. Let's think of these things and these people that are not providing us
with all that we should have.
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A correspondent to themail recently wrote defending the D.C.
police by noting that when her five cars were stolen (some more than once), the police
recovered them each time. In my book, having that many cars stolen is damning proof that
the police are not doing their job which is to prevent crime, not act as a lost and
found agency.
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Is this the DMV or Am I Having Root Canal?
Nick Samuels, nsamuels@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
First, to John Whiteside's question, if you have a valid out-of-state
registration for your vehicle, you do not have to pay the excise tax. This is only for new
cars being registered in the District, or for cars with expired out-of-state ones (and
remember to bring your out-of-state registration with you to the DMV).
However, my experience at the DMV's C Street office last week was
something a bit worse than being drawn and quartered. I had moved within the District and
needed a new driver's license and residential parking permit, and since I'd just received
a registration renewal, wanted to do that as well. I went on a Wednesday to take advantage
of what the DMV advertises as a low-volume time on a day when it's open until eight p.m.
Suffice is to say that the numbers I was given reported waits of forty-one and
thirty-three minutes, respectively.
More troubling, however, was the rudeness and searing incompetence of the
employees there. This was a simple transaction, and no one seemed to know what to do, and
took it out on me that they didn't. I didn't seem to be the only one having problems: at
window after window, drivers were being frustrated by DMV staff who clearly couldn't care
less whether they helped or not. I encountered one man who was new to the District, and
asked if it was always this way. I didn't know what to say. It's embarrassing that the
agency that many of us have the most direct contact with and that new residents
experience first is such a mess. And it never seems to get better. After last week,
any considerations aside, I think the only way to force change there is to privatize (and
it's a shame change has to be forced).
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Traffic Choke Point on Massachusetts Avenue
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Each day, during the afternoon rush hour there are traffic tie ups at
Massachusetts Avenue just north of 49th St. NW. Mass. Ave. essentially becomes a single
lane back south of 49th Street due to cars making left turns from Mass. Ave onto Yuma
Street for entry in Spring Valley North. This is a dangerous intersection with cars trying
to break through the southbound traffic on Mass. Ave. Almost a year ago, and without any
hearings or notices, the DPW installed a traffic light with a left turn signal to permit
cars to safely turn off Mass. Ave. and enter Spring Valley North.
Unfortunately the DPW did not do their homework, either before or after
the installation of the traffic light. The problem is that they installed the light, not
at the intersection of Yuma and Mass. Ave, but 100 yards north of Yuma St., where 50th St.
NW, intersects Mass. Ave. The biggest mistake they made, however, was in not following up
to see what the impact of the left turn signal is. It has absolutely no effect. Drivers
entering Spring Valley, including trucks servicing Starbucks, Chicken Out and Sutton Place
Gourmet, continue to turn left at Yuma. All of these left turning vehicles could enter
Spring Valley North much more safely and without tying up Northbound traffic by simply
driving another 100 yards to 50th St., and then turning left using the left turn signal.
The solution to this choke point problem is to put a "NO LEFT TURN" sign at Yuma
Street prohibiting left turns during rush hours in both directions.
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Phil Greene writes of his success in dismissing a ticket for parking by an
unauthorized no parking sign. Parking adjudication is not always so rational.
About three or four years ago, a misunderstanding between myself and my apartment building
management led to my car's getting ticketed and towed from my building parking space. The
ticket was for parking on private property without the owner's consent. Acknowledging the
error, building management retrieved my car (at no cost to me) and signed a letter
supporting my petition to dismiss the ticket. Nevertheless, one year later, my petition
was rejected and the ticket affirmed. I asked building management if they'd prefer to
support an appeal or to pay the fine; they agreed to pay the fine, which we did. Eight
months later, I applied to re-register my car. Instead of getting my new tags in the mail,
I received a photocopy of the letter denying my petition to appeal the parking ticket.
Let's hope Phil Greene's experience shows that parking enforcement has become more
rational since then.
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Parking Permits and Spaces Redux
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
When last we spoke about this issue, it was contentious, but I am still
convinced the City would be doing a great service to its tax-paying residents by allowing
ONLY those with the correct neighborhood permits to park on city streets (at least in
residential neighborhoods) seven days a week versus just five. The influx of out-of-state
cars on weekends in our Capitol Hill neighborhood is staggering. We who live here find
ourselves, if we can even find a parking space, up to ten blocks from where we live. This
weekend, we saw no fewer than ten cars on our street with out-of-state licenses. At this
point, we'd even pay a little more for the privilege of knowing we might have
a space on our own street!
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Rollerblading Hit and Run Verdict
Lee Perkins, lperkins@cpcug.org
What bothers me is what bothered me when I first heard about the hit and
run, namely, what on earth was that idiot child doing rollerblading in the dark
during rush hour? You all DO remember that in January at 5:30 p.m. it is pitch
black. In this case, I think that the verdict the jury rendered was correct
manslaughter, not murder.
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Jury Behavior
Joan Eisenstodt jeisen@aol.com
Larry Seftor's comments echoed my own regarding the jury in the DeLeon
case .. and the behavior of one juror. My husband recently served on a DC grand jury and
said one of their jurors slept through much of the testimony and then asked inane
questions because he had been asleep during pertinent testimony and other jurors'
questions. I don't think jurors are given enough information about expected
behaviors nor what to do if that is violated. Then again, in the grand jury situation, my
spouse said the juror was awakened and complained about but not removed.
The outcome of the DeLeon trial seems to me, a non-attorney, a miscarriage
of justice and one over which there should be some action ..the very least of which is to
instruct juries about dealing with inappropriate behavior.
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I, too, found the reports about the hit-and-run trial worrisome. I have
served on juries twice in the District, once in District Court and once in Federal Court.
Both experiences were fairly frustrating. In both cases, the defendant(s) were black and a
majority of the jurors were black. My second experience, in Federal Court, was by far the
more frustrating. I found that the jury was fairly racially polarized, with the black jury
members much more willing to ignore evidence and make excuses for the defendant's criminal
behavior with the white members (and any dissenting black members) eventually caving in to
the intransigent beliefs of the minority. One piece of advice I have from my experience,
if someone is EAGER to serve as jury foreman, they probably shouldn't be chosen. In the
first of my experiences, the person who wanted to be foreman was ill-prepared for the task
and in the second the person who wanted to be foreman was confrontational, unrelenting,
and fairly racist. There were several others on the panel who would have made good jury
forepersons. I think the foreperson should be chosen with more care. All that said, I
think it is important for people to serve on jury duty. My college-age daughter has been
called for jury duty this summer and I think it will be a very worthwhile and interesting
experience for her.
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Selling the Tobacco Windfall Funds
Sharon Cochran, secochran@aol.com
Am I getting this right? My understanding is that some members of the city
council want to sell the monies from the tobacco windfall, for as little as 10 cents on
the dollar, to have themselves a immediate nest egg? Does Ed Barron really think that this
is a better idea than the mayor's idea of spending the tobacco funds for neighborhood
health clinics and insurance? This money was intended for and belongs to the DC citizens
who need health care, not to the investment banker friends of Jack Evans. Some folks might
think that this is flat out stealing from citizens of the District. Despite Ed Barron's
misgivings, I think that the health of District citizens are worth investing in and a much
better long term investment than a new Jag for some New York banker.
[Actually, this is wrong. It is the Mayor, and possibly some of his
supporters on the Council, who propose selling the expected future years' income from the
tobacco lawsuit settlement in order to get current income (though I believe he expects to
get considerably more than ten cents on the dollar). The majority of the Council opposes
this, and wants to securitize most of the money, as Scott McLarty writes
below. Gary Imhoff]
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In the May 28's themail, Ed T. Barron wrote, The Mayor wants to
spend most of the windfall income from the tobacco settlement on new programs that would
make health insurance available to seven thousand folks who don't have medical insurance
and for some health clinics in neighborhoods where medical care is not accessible.
This is not true; the Post misreported the story. Both the Mayor and Council
advanced plans to securitize most of the Tobacco Settlement (75% of $61.4 million).
Securitization means putting the money into special accounts, which would help
establish DC's financial solvency. The trickle of revenues from the securitized money,
we're told, would go towards services. But DCPCA explains that payments generated
through securitization will likely be tax-exempt. As such, any prior assignment by the DC
City Council related to programming (including health care initiatives) would be
overridden and the monies could only be used for capital improvements. The
securitization idea wasn't an inspiration of Council members, it's from the Control Board,
and it reveals priorities that have little to do with the well-being of the people of DC.
DCPCA, DC Action for Children, the Coalition on the Tobacco Settlement,
and the Health Care Now Coalition have urged people to call Council members and tell them
that repairing DC's social safety net (especially tobacco prevention and health care
coverage and services) is more urgent than bailing out DC government's reputation for
ineptness. In response, Councilwoman Linda Cropp said at the budget mark-ups on May 19
that these are Council goals, but there's no money in the budget. The initial purpose of
the Tobacco Settlement was to help states (and DC) repair the damage to health care and
the social fabric caused by nicotine addiction, and help prevent future addiction. Were
DC's share of the Tobacco Settlement directed towards services, we'd have some money in
the budget ($1.2 billion dollars over the next 25 years) to cover a lot more than, say,
seven thousand of DC's 80-thousand-plus uninsured, and to reverse DC's atrociously high
infant mortality and low male life expectancy. The final mark-up for the Tobacco
Settlement money is June 6, at 10:00 am. Council's main switchboard number is 724-8000.
[Again, the Mayor has opposed securitization, and his proposed FY2001
budget allocated $64.1 million for immediate programmatic expenses; this is the subject of
on-going negotiation between the Council and the Mayor. There is no legal restriction on
spending the income from any securitized funds; any income received by the government is
tax-exempt, so that status has no impact on its use. The income from the funds would not
have to be spent on capital improvements. Gary Imhoff]
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A Mistake on the Lake?
Philip Blair, Jr., pblair@worldbank.org
Our sister city Cleveland is engaged in a four-year experiment in school
governance, and maybe we can learn something from it. The Cleveland public school system
is almost exactly the same size as ours, and Cleveland has many problems in common with
Washington, and almost all other big-city systems. In 1995, a federal judge put the
Cleveland public school system into the control of the State Department of Education. In
1998 the Ohio state legislature gave control of the Cleveland public schools to the mayor
of the city, who appoints the entire nine-member Board of Education and the CEO. In 2002,
the voters are scheduled to vote on whether to keep the new appointed board or return to
an elected board.
As the proposal was being put into effect, Clevelanders were pretty evenly
split: 46% had some confidence that the mayor would be able to improve the schools, though
51% did not share that confidence. Now, at the end of May, a new poll shows that 68% of
Cleveland's voters would return to the elected school board, and only 20% favor continuing
with mayoral control. The preference to return to the elected Board holds across race,
income, and gender. A suit is in progress to determine if the voters can decide the issue
prior to the scheduled 2002 elections. This result is surprisingly, perhaps -
linked with general satisfaction with the CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who has been in
office for 18 months. 35% of the poll respondents see improvement under her regime, vs. 9%
who see deterioration.
I read about this in the Cleveland Plain Dealer: check out their
web site at http://www.cleveland.com/news;
there is a May 29 article by Scott Stephens and Joe Frolik on the recent poll commissioned
by the Plain Dealer.
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D.C. Public Schools Art Show at Reagan National
Airport
Dave Comstock, Glen Burnie, MD, ramperdc@erols.com
Please pass to the involved schools and students. Sorry it's taken a while
to get to you, but late is always better than never! I would like to take a moment to
thank the fantastic artists of the D.C. public school systems for the wonderful works of
art that graced the terminal at National Airport. I am an employee there for US Airways,
and you all helped fill some of my down time! I would get a break from loading and
unloading the airplanes and head up to the front of the terminal to stroll around the
temporary gallery you put there for our enjoyment. It was such a pleasure to see the
talent and imagination displayed there for all of us. Just think! People from all over the
world pass through our airport every day. You brought pleasure to an enormous group of
people! Thank you all and continue to expand your minds through art and other hobbies. You
will be happier later in life for it!
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Sleep and School Starts
Steph Early to rise Faul, steph@faul.com
The call for later high school starting times for teenagers has a sound
scientific basis: teenagers' circadian rhythms make them stay up late and sleep late.
These sleep patterns are biological, just like adolescence itself. Early starting times
mean the kids simply don't get enough sleep, which impairs their ability to learn. Lack of
sleep raises blood levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and has a similar effect to
aging, and sleeping six hours or less a night sharply elevates the risk of having a drowsy
driving crash. So starting high school at 9 (which used to be the standard 30 years ago
anyway) makes good sense and will eliminate the problem of teens being too tired to learn.
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Kenneth Nellis, nellisks@aol.com, writes: In a recent issue of
themail a writer wrote, 'In the past year, I posted messages to this listserv about. . .
.' The term 'listserv' is frequently incorrectly used to refer to various E-mail
distribution systems. In fact, Listserv is a registered trademark licensed to L-Soft
International, Inc., http://www.lsoft.com, and refers
to their specific software product that performs this automatic function. themail does not
use the Listserv software.
It seems that the term listserv has become the generic
catchword for this type of service; just as xerox has become for copying,
kleenex has become for disposable facial tissue, dutch cleanser
for powdered cleanser, etc. I don't think Xerox or Kleenex are worried about their brand
name being utilized this way, so why should L.Soft International? Thanks for letting us
know the origin of listserv.
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Communication, Sensitivity, and Jackie Robinson
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso@capaccess.org
Ed Barron writes of a NY group that wanted to hold a picnic or
an outing" to honor the former black catcher of the Brooklyn Dodgers,
Jackie Robinson. Supposedly the group gave up the terms picnic and
outing under pressure from African-American and gay interest groups. This
story has the flavor of an urban legend. Its credibility suffers from its apparent
confusion of Dodger infielder Jackie Robinson, who never played catcher, with fellow
Hall-of-Famer Roy Campanella, Robinson's Dodger teammate and the team's first black
catcher.
Expression has two functions: emotional release and communication. For
emotional release, your language need only satisfy yourself. If it makes you happy to use
words like niggardly, and you're speaking mostly for emotional release, go
ahead. But for communication, use language tailored to your audience. To communicate
effectively, avoid language that will distract your audience from the message you're
trying to communicate. When speaking, to avoid distracting your audience, avoid words
especially seldom heard words that sound so much like more often heard,
heavily charged words, that your listeners will have to stop paying attention to your
message, if only for a second or two, in order to process the word you spoke in its
context, and realize that you intended no offense (WHAT did he say?). Of
course it's silly to consider the word niggardly itself offensive. But to use
the word, especially when speaking to an African-American audience, is to communicate,
subliminally, that you don't care whether your audience gets distracted from your overall
message. It's a more subtle message of disrespect than the word nigger, but
it's still a message of disrespect. It's the same reason people refer to the mouth harp
less and less as a Jew's harp. Does using these words help your audience
understand what you're trying to communicate? For many audiences, a word like
niggardly will distract more than it will help. Fortunately English has such
richness that giving up niggardly, at least for spoken communication, will
cost little. Like any living language, English continues to develop. Words fall out of
favor for various reasons (the increasing ascendancy of impact to replace both
effect and affect is a notable current example). Effective
communication which includes sensitivity to your audience is the best reason
for careful choice of words.
[The story isn't an urban legend; John Leo described the incident in his
column in US News and World Report: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000522/22john.htm.
It happened at the State University of New York, Albany, where the affirmative action
director banned the use of the word picnic (and later outing) with
the explanation, Whether it's true or not, the point is the word offended.
Gary Imhoff]
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Baseball in Washington
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Oh wouldn't it be loverly to have a major league baseball franchise right
here in Washington. Wouldn't that just stick it right up Angelos' nose. But there's little
chance of that happening. One thing that could help would be for all D.C. voters to help
elect Bush in November. If Bush were elected and the electorate in D.C. showed strong
support for him, we'd have a real ally in getting a major league team here.
And, while on the subject of baseball, let me correct a part of my posting
last Sunday when I noted that an event was held in honor of Jackie Robinson, a former
Dodger catcher. I originally thought that the event had been held in honor of
Roy Campanella, who was a former catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the same era as
Jackie. Jackie, however, was an outstanding second baseman for the Dodgers and also played
a little first base in his later years. Ah those wonderful days in the sun filled
bleachers of Ebbets Field watching Reese, Snyder, Furillo, and that great center fielder,
Pete Rieser backing up that great pitcher, Don Newcombe. Let's get a team here in D.C.
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CLASSIFIEDS HOUSING
NYC PhD Looking to Rent
Meredith Davis, mpd6@columbia.edu
PhD research fellow at the Smithsonian September 2000 - June 2001 looking
to rent an apartment or share one. Can pay up to $1100 per month; allergic to suburbs. Any
advice or leads welcome.
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Co-op apartment for sale by owner $138,000. Can't beat the
location! One block off of Connecticut Ave. in the heart of Cleveland Park. Just steps
from Metro, shops, and restaurants galore. One bedroom plus den, table-space kitchen,
hardwood floors, nine-foot ceilings, extra closets. Located in a charming older building
with all new windows. Looks out on a large yard with gardens and picnic tables. Shown by
appointment only 966-2833.
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CLASSIFIEDS PETS
Give a Dog a Home
Francesca Dixon, fgdixon@aol.com
Beautiful, all-black German Shepherd, AKC registered, born Sept. 98, very
playful, needs room to run and a family that can spend lots of quality time training him.
Excellent watchdog. Best offer. 347-4909.
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CLASSIFIEDS DONATIONS WANTED
Needed: Refrigerator
Matthew Kessler, matthew@stand.org
Stand For Children (a non profit grassroots organizing organization)
looking for someone to donate a refrigerator. Will pay for pick-up. Please E-mail matthew@stand.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS HELP WANTED
Job Opportunity for Paralegals
Clare Feinson, cfeinson@erols.com
The company I work for, Aspen Systems Corporation, is looking for
qualified paralegals to work in its Federal Services Division in downtown DC. If you are
hired after my referral and work for Aspen for 90 days, you and I each get $500. I don't
know anything about the paralegal jobs they are in a completely different division
of Aspen but I do know that Aspen is a relatively decent place to work, with good
benefits. If you are interested, please contact me directly at cfeinson@erols.com or at work, cfeinson@aspensys.com. I need to forward your
resume to Aspen by June 21.
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CLASSIFIEDS RECOMMENDATIONS
Seeking E-mail Listservice
Jon Katz, jon@markskatz.com
Please recommend a good e-mail listservice that can offer the option of
one consolidated daily message rather than an automatic message each time that it is
ready.
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Need Help with My PC
Greg Jones, GMON6612@aol.com
Can anyone suggest someone to come to my house and help get my PC going
again? After I turn it on, it freezes at the Starting Windows 95 screen.
Nothing I've tried so far gets it past that point. (This occurred while I was downloading
an update of my Norton antivirus program. I was disconnected from AOL after the download
but while the new virus information was being installed.)
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CLASSIFIEDS CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
D.C. POLITICAL HOSPITAL: Gilbert Allen has been working in the transportation division of
D.C. General Hospital for one year. Allen's daily duties consist of driving sick and
underprivileged D.C. residents to the hospital's clinics and main campus at 19th and
Massachusetts Avenue SE.
In all, Allen's employment at D.C. General is a pretty unremarkable thing, save for one
detail: He is the son of Ward 8 Councilmember Sandy Allen, who chairs the D.C. Council's
Committee on Human Services. Gilbert Allen denies any link between his job and his
mother's power. I applied for the job and it was open, he says, adding that he
received no help whatsoever from Sandy Allen.
But Gilbert Allen's hiring also it marks another politically savvy move by John Fairman,
CEO of the D.C. Health and Hospitals Public Benefit Corp. (PBC). The CEO has spent his
five years at the hospital quietly assembling a political machine that has all but
guaranteed the outcome of that debate: Plenty of money for the hospital, with few strings
attached.
Read the entire Loose Lips column here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
SATURDAY: Davis Memorial Goodwill Industries record sale, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Davis
Memorial Goodwill Industries, 2200 South Dakota Ave. NE. Free (sales proceeds benefit
Goodwill's job-training and placement programs for people with disabilities).
TUESDAY & THURSDAY: The Hope Diamond Mystery, a 1921 movie serial. Chapters 4-8 show
Tuesday and Chapters 9-15 screen Thursday; each program runs a bit longer than two hours.
At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, and Thursday, June 8, at the Library of Congress' Pickford
Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html.
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