The Summer of Our Discontent
Dear Correspondents:
All right, this time there's another long issue and I really will be
brief. Just let me say that the Washington Times is back to beating the pants off
the Post on reporting local news — see Jonetta Rose Barras's important
coverage in the Times of the hidden bad news in school test scores, which were
successfully spun to the Post as good news, and compare that to Colby King's
continued attacks in the Post on parents for being involved in their children's
education. (Andrea Carlson, below, noted the same hidden bad news in a message to themail
that was sent before Jonetta's column was published.) And the Times is giving
front page coverage to the serious problems with the nomination of Augusta's Fire Chief
Ronnie Few as DC's fire chief — which the Post is largely ignoring. (See the
actual Augusta Grand Jury reports at http://www.dcwatch.com.)
There's more to come out about the Few nomination in the coming days and weeks. To be
fair, the Post's Yolanda Woodlee gave good coverage of the Mental Retardation
Administration hearings, which the Times skipped entirely. (See the testimony at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/mrdda.htm.)
Maybe the moral is just that we need a lot of media around, even media like themail.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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DC Home Rule Versus Chief Ramsey
Tom Matthes, tmatthes@vais.net
“In a perfect world, I would love it if we didn't have any handguns,
but that's not what I'm striving for politically, nor is it attainable.” Rosie
O'Donnell, quoted on the Internet. “Well, I appreciate his help.” Police Chief
Charles Ramsey, quoted Thursday on WTOP, on his sarcastic reaction to City Councilman
David Catania's proposal to have 60% of police officers on street patrol.
Is DC Police Chief Charles Ramsey a friend of home rule? Right after the
Million Mom March, the chief testified on Capitol Hill in favor of “uniform” gun
laws across the U.S. Aside from the implicit violation of federalism (a system DC
statehood advocates presumably want the district to join), uniform gun controls would
result in a congressional fiat to cancel the city's law banning ownership of handguns. As
Rosie O'Donnell, the march emcee, acknowledges in the above quotation, the marching moms
want handgun registration and licensing, but would allow citizens to possess them. So when
the chief took up the political issue of national gun control legislation, he undercut a
law he is sworn to uphold.
Is the chief a believer in small “d” democracy? When he sneers
at what he calls the “help” of a councilman proposing police regulations Mr.
Ramsey opposes, he is insubordinate. Mr. Catania's legislation to force the police to put
more officers on the street may (or may not) be micromanagement, as the chief argues. But
any public servant in uniform is obliged to respect the civilians elected to make law and
policy. Remember Douglas MacArthur, fired by Mr. Truman in the middle of the Korean War
for publicly contradicting the president's policy on how a limited war is to be waged.
General MacArthur, it is safe to say, accomplished far more than Charles Ramsey ever will,
but was nonetheless expendable. The Council, the mayor and home rule advocates everywhere
should be calling the chief on the carpet for his arrogant assumption Council members are
there to “help” him, instead of the other way around. From now on, less Doug
MacArthur and more Dick Tracy, Mr. Ramsey.
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Let the Chief Do His Job
Marc Battle, Howard University School of Law, MBattle@law.howard.edu
The City Council has recently passed the much discussed budget amendment
which would compel the MPD Chief Ramsey to deploy at least 60% of his sworn officers to
duties in PSAs. The sponsoring and supporting council members cited citizens' concerns
that police are not visible enough walking beats in neighborhoods, among other concerns.
Councilmember Catania expressed particular frustration with the specialization of the
department into “units” concentrating on gangs, guns and other areas of concern.
One member even specified that when the 60% level is achieved, he needs wants to see 60%
in full uniform — not undercover officers, detectives or on specific details. Since
when is the City Council qualified to determine what the tactical deployment of the MPD
should be? How much law enforcement training do these elected officials have that would
impart them with the specialized knowledge to fight crime effectively? By all appearances,
these members would rather make their constituents feel good by mandating police
procedures that may or may not represent the best way to truly serve and protect this
city. Chief Ramsey, or any other chief in the world, is at the helm of the department
because he is a law enforcement professional. If the council is going to dictate to the
department what its tactical deployment should be, why do we need a chief at all? Do we
tell doctors how to run emergency rooms? Of course not — the doctor is the expert. Do
we tell lawyers how to draft their briefs? That would be silly — you might as well
proceed pro se. So why is it acceptable to tell a law enforcement professional how he must
deploy his forces? It is NOT acceptable, but the council does it because it CAN. That, in
so many words, was the position taken by Kathy Patterson as she expressed her outrage that
the Chief would complain of being “micro-managed.” She concluded very clearly
that it is the council's mandate to give orders and chief's obligation to follow them. But
the council must have the (obviously not-so-common) sense to defer to the experts when
expert opinions are required. It is utterly ridiculous to claim that plain-clothed
officers should not be counted in the patrol of a neighborhood simply because constituents
don't recognize “Officer Friendly” from a block away. To tell the truth,
“undercover” officers stick out like a sore thumb in most of the high-crime
areas, while they might blend in smoothly in some of the more affluent areas of the city.
Yet another dynamic of race and class in the nation's capital. The bottom line is —
Chief Ramsey was hired to use his expertise in law enforcement to serve and protect this
city, not to use some “feel good” PR approach to give residents a false sense of
security. If he complains that he is being hamstringed by this council by their uneducated
imposition of tactical requirements, his concerns should be taken seriously and remedied
promptly — not discarded as the council did so arrogantly last week. The 60% mandate
is a number more arbitrary and/or aesthetically soothing than it is a strategically
derived goal seriously intended to reduce crime.
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I applaud Larry Seftor's comments, pointing out that one person defended
the police for bringing back her car each time it was stolen, when it was the job of the
police to prevent the thefts on the first place.
I have never met so many people who defend our lousy District Government
civil servants, especially the police. The vast majority of the police defenders are,
ironically, the citizens who work with them as orange hats, in PSA meetings and so on.
They know how truly lame the cops are. Yet over a period of time, they seem to adopt the
viewpoint of the police and begin making excuses for them. Is this the Stockholm Syndrome
at work, where terrorist kidnap victims increasingly identified with their captors'
viewpoints? I'd like citizens to tell me why so many DC residents are “enablers”
for a dysfunctional police force. Why do people act this way?
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Buried News on Test Results
Andrea Carlson, BintaGay@aol.com
In case anyone missed the big, exciting news about DC Public School Test
Results which were reported in today's [June 1] Post on page 7 of the District
Weekly section, here are some of the results. 90 percent of DC 11th graders scored below
grade level in math; 87 percent scored below grade level in reading. A proud moment for
Mrs. Ackerman, I'm sure. What a shame that we “parent activists” and
“micromanagers” were so hard on the poor superintendent that, instead of
continuing on her course of reform, she just had to take that $197,000 salary in San
Francisco. Maybe she was thinking about these results last week when she stated to a San
Francisco newspaper reporter that DC has no good schools. Not her problem, is it?
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The attacks on parents in The Post are intolerable and
irresponsible. They only make it more difficult for us to solve the real and complicated
problems facing this school district. Here are some facts concerning parent activists and
their concerns. I'm a parent activist. I live in Ward 5 and I have 4 children currently
attending DC public schools. I've had children in the school system since 1988. Until last
year, my children attended school in Ward 5. Most of my friends are activists. We live all
over the city. We have children at Bunker Hill, Ellington, Wilson, Walls, Spingarn,
Roosevelt, Brown — you get the picture. I'm not sure if Mr. King and Ms.Ladner don't
know we exist, hard to believe since we've written to both of them, or whether we just
don't fit their version of what is “really” happening in DC. Far from the
picture that Joyce Ladner and Colby King would paint, the activist community is made up of
people whose chief concern is children, not the superintendent. Parent activists are a
group more diverse than the populations in the city, but we can agree on the fact that we
are our children's advocates and that we must be included in decision making that affects
our children. Parent activists were responsible for Ms. Ackerman's being hired as chief
academic officer in the first place. Parents asked the Control Board and General Becton to
give us an educator to make decisions about education. Little did we know.
One of the most maddening things about Mr.King's and Ms. Ladner's accounts
of public education in the District is that it perpetuates the myth that parents at
successful schools are taking from the kids at less successful schools. The numbers just
don't support that view. All the schools can stand to get better. The blame game should
really stop. The schools aren't working for everyone. They never have. How do we fix it?
WE. WE. Why would we want our superintendent to fail? The pundits in this city are the
ones who make an easy living spouting empty rhetoric about who is to blame for the failing
schools. Parents don't have time to spew venom; we just want to get the schools working.
General Becton said at his press conference when he resigned that the one
thing he would do differently was include the community more. His advice fell on deaf
ears. A list of major policy decisions without community input: Testing and retention
policies. The weighted student formula (until information was leaked to the public). The
changes in out of boundary registration. School boundaries — a state secret.
Pending-changing start times for all the city's children (When Ms. Ackerman stated the
start time change wasn't final she mentioned she would have to consult two groups —
the Control Board and the Washington Teacher's Union.)
A quick review of schools where many parents found Ms. Ackerman difficult
to work with: Langdon Elementary School, Montessori program parents, Ward 5; African
Centered School, Webb Elementary,Ward 5; then Rabaut, Ward 4; then Taft Junior High, Ward
5 again. Garrison Elementary School playground situation, Ward 2; Hardy Middle School
playing field rental, Ward 2; Hearst Elementary School, located in Ward 3 — 60% of
their children coming from out-of-boundary; Paul Junior High School, Ward 4; Backus Junior
High, Ward 5; Garrison Elementary, Ward 2; Fletcher -Johnson, where the Odyssey of the
Mind team finds itself without funds to attend the competition that they qualified for.
Not only Hearst, not only Paul. These are only the situations where a parent or parents
got some media coverage. If parents were quoted saying negative things about the
superintendent, they could expect to hear from their children's principal that they needed
to keep it to themselves. Parent activists did not run Ackerman out of town. She left for
more money and a hope of greener pastures.
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More on Jury Duty
Kathy Sinzinger, EditorCD@aol.com
My jury duty in D.C. Superior Court was much less stark in its racial
aspects than what Gloria White recently related of her experience in federal court. In
fact, I've often questioned the way so-called “experts” and jury studies have
characterized race as so important in selecting juries; maybe the perception has just
become, to some extent, the reality.
People are people — and whether we are white or black or purple has
much less to do with the way we make our adult decisions than the environment in which we
grew up. In my case, my cultural background as a Hungarian-American and the hardships many
of my relatives experienced as working-class, Eastern European immigrants who got to this
country on freighters — not cruise ships — had a tremendous influence on the
value system I was taught. And I was also taught to open my mouth and use my brain to
question people in positions of authority and my peers who tried to tell me that
“red” was “green” or that “wrong” was “right.”
While I was in the racial minority during my jury service in a drug trial,
I was actually the 12th juror who held out to the end of the jury room discussion before
agreeing that the defendant was indeed guilty. I insisted that we talk about the case,
rather than just voting and going home — we were, after all, making a decision that
would affect the rest of a person's life (I was not the foreman). I found most of my
fellow jurors, who were primarily black (I am white, if that's not obvious), to be using
what I considered to be good, reasoned judgment in making their points, and most of the
discussion had nothing to do with the defendant's or the jurors' skin color (the defendant
was black). The one juror who was ready to send the defendant to Lorton the minute the
jury room door closed was found, in discussion, to be basing his knee-jerk decision on his
anger over facing drug dealers daily in his neighborhood rather than on any facts
introduced in the case. The only real racial aspect I encountered during deliberations was
an attitude that I judged more to be born out of a quality of daily life than out of
jurors' race — in fact, the only way to even call it a racial aspect is to note that
the people on the jury who seemed to have a “lock them up and throw away the
key” attitude were black folks who said they lived in poor neighborhoods beset with
drug dealing.
I think we're all guilty of being too quick, at times, to ascribe an
individual's attitude or behavior to an entire race or ethnic class of people, when
well-reasoned thought would tell us to do otherwise.
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Chicken Out is Now Chicken IN
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
The remodeling of the outside dining area of Chicken Out on Massachusetts
Avenue, just north of the Crate and Barrel (at 48th Street), is now complete and there is
an additional 400 plus square feet of inside dining area for this semi-fast food
operation. There were no hearings about this addition, no public notices to those who live
nearby. How did this major expansion happen? Must be a loophole in the law. The new
addition has a soft cover (canvas?) for a roof. But don't be deceived by this soft roof.
The new space is clearly an expansion of the inside dining area and not shown on the
original plans as interior dining space. I would hope that, despite this illegal
expansion, that Chicken Out should have to pay some additional taxes on this expanded
space. Now, if I could only find a loophole that would allow me not to pay my D.C. taxes.
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It seems to me that 100% securitization of whatever tobacco money D.C.
receives is the only viable path for the foreseeable future. It's a shame, because there
are many pressing needs that the settlement money could pay for. But there is not a single
senior official in this government who will be able to refrain from treating that cash as
their own personal sugar tit; there has probably not been one since before Boss Shepherd.
This is not an issue where D.C. has to prove anything to the Control Board or anyone else.
But everyone who pays attention to city politics can name a plurality of Council members
who they feel are financially irresponsible. I personally wouldn't let Harold Brazil hold
my wallet, much less trust him to do what is right with millions of dollars of
“windfall.” I'm sure everyone who reads themail can either agree with that
sentence, or can simply replace Harold's name with that of one or more other Council
members, and/or the Mayor. This money is the result of decades of abuse of the system by
the tobacco industry; to allow a single administration to spend it is logically
indefensible. The citizens of D.C. need to be sure that this money will not simply
evaporate; the current administration is palpably incapable of making that happen.
P.S. Please no more movie reviews, thanks.
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Movie Fun at the Regals
Kerry Jo Richards, kjr1@yahoo.com
The Uptown can hardly be beat by any theater, any time of the year. But
that said, I find that the Regal Theaters (Ballston, Rockville) are excellent —
clean, stadium seats, good screens, good sound. Tix prices aren't too high either.
On a related matter — remember the good ole mailing list DC Movie? It
was run by Jeffrey Itell, too, and I remember how great it was to get free movie tix once
in a while and have an outlet to discuss the shows I'd seen. Judging from the response to
the movie theater question, and the impromptu movie reviews, I'd say people miss DC Movie.
Is there a similar list out there?
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The Ugly Truth About Theaters and Wake Up and Smell
the Coffee
Lois Kirkpatrick, lois.kirkpatrick@co.fairfax.va.us
It's all about the money, honey. A theater like the Uptown, which,
granted, is the best way to experience epics (I saw “Dances With Wolves” there)
can also only pack in about 500 people max. If you don't have blockbusters that fill the
house week after week, you just can't make as much money as a multiplex, which can pack in
about 1,000 people max, and can afford to show non-blockbusters at the same time.
High school classes should start at 9:00 so teens can get more sleep?
Give.me.a.break.com! If teens are all that worn out in class, they should go to bed
earlier. But maybe that option requires too much responsibility and common sense. Yeah, I
guess you're right; we should continue letting teens think the world revolves around their
whims and fantasies, and that real life (i.e., paying jobs) will never require them to
exercise a little self control.
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I agree with other writers that the Uptown is the place to see movies in
D.C., but I'd like to pass along a criticism that has been noted in the past. The story
goes that the Uptown uses smaller projection bulbs than would be required for the size of
its screen as a cost saving strategy — resulting in a darker image. It was further
noted that sometimes for a special event (e.g., a premier) an exhibitor will actually
bring in right-sized bulbs for that showing. I have no proof, but next time you see a show
at the Uptown, judge for yourself.
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Another Movie Palace
Sally Fallon, SAFallon@aol.com
How about the MacArthur Theater — all we have to do is get CVS out of
there.
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I'm wondering if other people have had the same frustrating experience as
I did in trying to extract a prescription from the CVS pharmacy at 3400 Wisconsin Avenue,
NW. The wait line always seems to be no less than twenty minutes, and when I finally reach
the counter the staff is always unable to find my prescription. On May 31, for example,
five people, including myself, were told that their prescriptions were unavailable, hadn't
been called in (when we knew they had been), or couldn't be found. What's with this
pharmacy? Does anyone have a better/competent/intelligent one they could recommend?
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I would like to draw lister's attention to the fate of Klingle Valley,
which is the part of Klingle Road closed off to traffic which runs between Rock Creek Park
and Woodley Road. Abutting the road is a thin strip of US Park Service land. It is just
north of the zoo; as you walk north on Connecticut Avenue you can look down into it from
the bridge just south of Cleveland Park. The road was closed about eleven years ago by DC
DPW because it flooded often, needed constant repairs, and was hazardous. In the meantime,
nature has come back with a vengeance — tree roots and water have busted up the
concrete and washed away underground pipes and walls. Abutting the historic Tregaron
Estate, it is now an absolutely beautiful park, marred only by the trash which jerks throw
off the bridge into the valley. It is used by joggers, bikers, dog walkers, kids on school
trips, walkers, etc. Take a walk through there sometime — it really is a peaceful
oasis of greenery.
Klingle Valley is now in danger of being lost, so that some shmoe from
Maryland can drive to his job at the Reagan Building more easily. There is movement afoot
to spend millions to try to repair the road and open it to traffic. Two nights ago, the
Woodley Park resident's association voted to keep the street closed to traffic, as did the
Cleveland Park ANC and numerous environmental groups. We now have the historic opportunity
to INCREASE the size of Rock Creek Park by closing the road permanently and turning it
into a bike path. Yes, that's right, we may miss the opportunity to add more green space
to this city. What do you like better, parks or highways? Which do you think we need more
of in our city? I believe Carol Schwartz will hold a hearing on this June 7. Please
attend.
PS: American Film Institute has the coolest movie theater, with the auto
parts hanging off the walls. Also the first “stadium style” seating. It is
rather underused. However I heard somewhere that AFI was moving out to the suburbs! Can
anyone confirm or deny?
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I Need Some Schooling or the Mayor Is Full of It
Again
Buck Downs, bdowns@columbiabooks.com
So, what are the benefits that accrue to the city in issuing Industrial
Revenue Bonds? I ask because of the Mayor's recent cloud about the Council's inaction on
the American Red Cross package. To me, it looks like another sweetheart deal with no
payback for D.C., other than the perennial “prestige,” etc. Doesn't D.C.
basically hold the bag for ARC's development financing when they issue these bonds? That
seems like total B.S., ARC's noble mission notwithstanding. Does ARC pay the District for
the cost of the money? If not, someone tell them to get their financing they way the rest
of us do. Non-profit they may be, but they are a mega-million-dollar organization ($1.5
billion dollar annual budget, according to the Gale Encyclopedia of Associations), and can
certainly get a bank loan. This is simple cronyism masquerading as development, which is
all too commonplace in our government.
So, I look pretty curmudgeonly there, or at least in need of some
education about Industrial Revenue Bonds. Mayor Williams sez it's quite a privilege to be
able to issue them, but funny I don't feel privileged. I feel like Big $$ are being Pissed
Away Again by Whoever is In Charge.
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DC “Folklife” (But Not Political Life) to
Be on Display at Smithsonian
R.J. Fox, charsel@springmail.com
I'm interested in hearing readers' opinions on the upcoming annual
Festival of American Folklife on the Mall. You may know that DC will be featured as one of
the cultures on display. Has anyone seen the promotional brochure for the DC display? It
includes a very large picture of African American teens playing basketball on an outdoor
court surrounded by a less-than-appealing decaying inner city urban environment. While
this may be an accurate portrayal of DC folklife, I anticipate that many people will find
the portrayal racist.
Also, from what I understand, there will be little or no mention made of
DC's status as the last Congressional colony whose residents have no voting
representation, and are subject to every half-baked whim of the right-wing Congress. Maybe
DC residents need to produce their own display of folklife so that tourists will see the
whole picture.
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Regarding Joan Eisenstodt's suggestion of 7-day resident permit parking,
Boston has a system like what you propose. You get a sticker for your neighborhood (free
of charge, once you demonstrate that you have the car registered there) that allows you to
park in resident spots. Those spots are residents only, all the time. No two-hours without
a sticker. Neighborhoods have a mix of resident-only spots, visitor spots with 2-hour
limits (with our without meters), and there are a few variations on the theme — for
example, areas where it's two-hours for anyone without a sticker during business hours,
and resident-only at night and on the weekend. In reality, it didn't work any better that
what DC has. I lived in a very congested area (the South End), kind of like Adams Morgan
on the worst night ever all the time. People parked illegally in the resident spots, and
enforcement couldn't keep up with them. People would risk the $20 ticket rather than pay
$10-15 to park in a garage — they often didn't get the ticket. When visitors who
drove came over, it was a real pain — we would try to park in a visitor spot, then
vacate it for them and park in a resident spot (if it was a weeknight and there was some
hope of finding one).
I like the DC system. I think it's reasonable for people to come visit
briefly and park on the street — I just wish there were some way to deal with weekend
evenings, like zoning some of the resident parking to be in effect all weekend long. It
helps that parking in DC is — at least compared to Boston — a breeze. (I know
that's not a typical opinion, but if you've lived in Boston you have a different
perspective on it.)
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Apparently Joan Eisenstodt (who believes residential parking rules should
be in effect 7 days per week) never has out-of-town guests. Whether those guests are
friends or relatives driving from out of the area or others visiting from the DC suburbs,
I don't think I would like to spend my time at the local police station getting visitor
permits. Imagine deciding to have a bbq one afternoon and running over to the police
station to ask for five permits immediately. (And don't tell me the guests should take
mass transit. You know that is not always feasible depending upon where they are coming
from, where I might live, and what the guest might be doing before or after coming to my
house.)
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I live in Glover Park on 42nd Street. Because my block is not zoned for
residential parking, DMV will not issue me a residential parking permit. This means that
when I park my car near the Tenley Metro or Van Ness Metro or Woodley Park Metro to take
the Metro to work, I risk getting a $20 dollar ticket. So here I am, a DC resident, and I
can't get a residential parking permit UNLESS I have more that 51% of residents on my
block sign a petition to get my block zoned for residential parking. I work full time and
I volunteer at a DC public school. I don't have time to have a petition signed when all I
want is a residential parking permit. I sent a letter to my councilmember requesting
assistance. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
[The person at DMV who denied you a residential permit was misinformed.
Any resident whose car is registered at his home address can pay for a residential parking
permit for parking within his ward. Whether your block has residential parking limits is
irrelevant. Try again, and ask to speak to a supervisor if you are denied. The telephone
number for DMV information is 727-5000. — Gary Imhoff]
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Taxation Without Representation? A License to
Exhort
Stan Wellborn, STANW@aecf.org
I hesitate to wade into this issue, but I'm a little surprised that the
question of adding the “Taxation without Representation” slogan to DC license
plates hasn't gotten more public discussion. So far, I understand that the City Council
has endorsed the proposal unanimously, Mark Plotkin is pushing it hard, and the Mayor now
backs it too, so it may well be a fait accompi.
At the same time, there may be some judicial precedent that should be
taken into account. If I'm not mistaken, there was a US Supreme Court case some years back
over the issue of the “Live Free or Die” motto on New Hampshire license plates.
The Court ruled that such mottos could be construed as government-compelled propaganda,
and that alternative license plates must be made available to citizens who disagreed or
felt uncomfortable with political or advocacy hortatory on publicly funded signs or
insignia.
While I am agnostic on whether it is a good or bad idea to have a
statement of historical fact added to our cars, I am somewhat sympathetic to the view that
car owners ought to be given a choice of a more neutral alternative. In some ways, a
bumper sticker might accomplish the same purpose — and get more attention.
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An Informal Census For DC
Jon Desenberg, JonDes@hotmail.com
As a brand new huge Black Land Rover SUV blasted by me in my Adams Morgan
alley the other day I got a lock at its License Plate, AW 3487. It seems like the city
went to the new lettering system just two years ago, and they've already gone through
thousands of new plates. In the early 90's, we had to plead with people to register their
cars here, much less live here; today it's a whole different story.
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Baseball in Brooklyn and Legends in U.S. News
& World Report
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso@capaccess.org
In the May 31 issue of themail, Ed T. Barron reminisces about his time in
“Ebbets Field watching Reese, Snyder, Furillo, and that great center fielder, Pete
Rieser backing up that great pitcher, Don Newcombe.” Actually, Pete Reiser never
backed up pitcher Don Newcombe. The team traded Reiser to the Braves before the 1949
season, Newcombe's first as the Dodgers' first black pitcher; the two were never
teammates. Moreover, Reiser stopped playing centerfield regularly for the Dodgers after
the 1942 season, when he entered military service. From 1946-48, Carl Furillo was the
team's regular centerfielder. Skoonj moved to right in 1949, replaced in center by Duke
Snider, the Dodgers' regular centerfielder through the team's move to L.A. in 1958.
In the same issue of themail, Gary Imhoff wrote that a story Ed Barron had
reported in an earlier issue of themail was not 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').” Actually, Leo's
column does not suggest the affirmative-action director “banned” either word.
The column claims only that he “put out a memo asking all student leaders to refrain
from any use of the word picnic.” A request is not a prohibition. Moreover, Leo does
not even try to link the affirmative-action director to the dropping of the word
“outing”; he claims only that the word somehow “offended gay
students.” Finally, Gary has more faith in U.S. News & World Report
columnists than I would. I'd want to see this incident reported in a news story (rather
than an opinion column) before having confidence of its veracity. It still sounds like an
urban legend to me, and reminds me of some of the more outlandish stories Stephen Glass
invented for The New Republic. (Incidentally, I tried an Internet address and
telephone search on the name Leo gives for the affirmative action director and could find
no one by the name listed in or near Albany.)
[This incident was initially reported in the Albany Times Union
on April 18, 2000, “Describing This Event Is No Walk in the Park,” in which the
affirmative action director, Zaheer Mustaffa, is cited by name (accessing the article
costs a dollar, so there's not a direct URL — do a search from http://www.timesunion.com/library). Mustaffa
is also listed as the affirmative action director on the University's official web site, http://www.albany.edu/tree-tops/docs/feature2000/5-15/pula.html.
Unfortunately, neither the Albany Gazette nor the University's Student Voice
has on-line archives, so other local newspaper coverage isn't readily accessible. The only
urban legend here, or more accurately Internet legend, is the false etymology that has
been invented for the word “picnic,” claiming that it is a racial slur. This
probably began as a prank or a joke, but it's been circulating on the net for several
months, and no amount of correction will stop it. I'm sorry, but I don't think that every
protest or claim of offense should be treated as valid regardless of its truth or falsity,
and I do think that a proper response to someone who claims that the word
“picnic” is offensive is “you're wrong, and don't be silly.” —
Gary Imhoff]
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
School Governance Referendum
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com
The ANC Assembly, a voluntary organization of ANC commissioners citywide,
is sponsoring forums throughout the city on the School Governance Charter Amendment Act of
2000 which will be on the ballot on June 27, 2000. The forum for wards 3 and 4 will be
held on Thursday, June 8, 2000, from 7-9 p.m., at the Peoples Congregational Church at
4704 13th Street, NW. Parking is available in the church lot. Please encourage your
neighbors to come. For more information, call James D. Berry, Jr., at 387-8520.
###############
Meeting on DC Congressional Representation
Richard Steacy, richard.steacy@gte.net
The Washington Ethical Society, Neighbors, Inc., and DC Vote are
co-sponsoring an open-to-the-public discussion on whether it “is time for DC citizens
to be fully represented in Congress.” Jamin B. Raskin, co-council in a federal
lawsuit to obtain such representation, will be a speaker. You and your friends are
cordially invited to this discussion and a reception. Tuesday, June 13, 7:15 P.M. at the
Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th Street, N.W. (at Kalmia Road, N.W.).
###############
Meeting on Giant Redevelopment
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com
The Cleveland Park Historical Society is sponsoring a public forum on GFS
Realty's proposed development for the Giant at Newark St. and Wisconsin Avenue, NW, on
Tuesday, June 6, 2000, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Park Congregational Church at 34th
St. and Lowell St., NW.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Yup, Another Summer Sublet Urgently Needed
Josh Gibson, Adams Morgan, LEDCBID@aol.com
My organization (a community development nonprofit in Adams Morgan) has
three interns coming to DC this summer. Two are housed, but the third just had his two
housing options fall through at the very last moment. He arrives Monday, June 5 and needs
something fairly soon after that. Preferably, he would like a ten to twelve week sublet of
a furnished studio, one bedroom apartment, room in a group house, etc. Adams Morgan, Mount
Pleasant, Dupont Circle, or Woodley Park would be the best locations, but at this point he
can be flexible as far as that goes. Rent would have to be $700/month or less, preferably.
Please contact Josh Gibson at ledcbid@aol.com.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Local WebSpace Search Engine
T. Jr. Hardman, TJH Internet SP, thardman@earthops.org
Once again, I want to call people's attention to the still-commercial-free
Greater Washington Metro Regional WebSpace Search Engine. It's located at http://earthops.org/Harvest/brokers/Washington_Metro/
— and as I recently added 15 gigs of drivespace, with 5 megs dedicated to the
search-engine, it's searching a lot more widely and deeply than ever before. Why, it even
indexes 12500 “objects” (pages or files) at dcpages.com! Searching 54 sites only
about the Washington DC area, it's aimed at local government and local commentary. Still
24/7 — for five years now — and soon coming to you at DSL speeds! And of course,
it's still Linux.
###############
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