I Only Know What I Read in the Papers
Dear Readers:
On Friday, the Washington Post missed the local story in the
release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress report of
reading and math scores for fourth and eighth graders. The Post
had just one paragraph about the DC results: “In the District,
fourth-grade and eight-grade scores on the exam were flat. Overall, 10
percent of District students in each grade scored at or above
proficient.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14498-2003Jun19.html)
Just a tenth of DC students measured even proficient, and that didn't
make the headline or the story lead. The Washington Times got the
story. It headlined its article, “DC students are worst readers,”
and led with the paragraph, “The District's schoolchildren rank as the
worst readers in the country and only slightly better in some grades
than non-English-speaking children in the territories of Guam, the
Virgin Islands and American Samoa. . . .” (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030620-120913-1954r.htm)
Access the DC results of the NAEP at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp.
In the other major education story this week, Justin Blum and Jay
Matthews, in a two-part series in the Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11150-2003Jun18.html
and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14497-2003Jun19.html),
examined the mixed record of charter schools and the unmixed record of
DC Public Schools' failure to react to competition from the charters.
Not only has DCPS not reacted to the charter schools by strengthening
its own programs, it is proud of the fact that it hasn't:
“Superintendent Paul L. Vance said that none of the academic
initiatives he has launched since his appointment in June 2000 stemmed
from any effort to compete with charter schools. 'That has not been a
driver or force. It never occurred to me to look at charter schools in
that context,' he said. . . . Principals at regular schools said the
only adjustment they have made because of charters is to try to market
their schools more effectively to parents, through such steps as
producing lists of their accomplishments.”
Don't improve the programs; improve the marketing. That says it all
for DC government as a whole. When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
accurately said this week that the murder rate in Baghdad is lower than
in Washington, city government officials, led by Mayor Williams and
Delegate Norton, denounced him. Not because he was wrong; he wasn't. But
because he had the bad grace to call attention to the facts that they
would rather ignore. Williams and Norton and the rest of our elected
officials don't want to hold police officials responsible and
accountable for their failures; they don't want to hold the schools
accountable for their failures. Their anger, their resentment, is
directed instead at people who dare to call attention to those failures.
As the Post editorialized on Friday, “. . . local politicians,
eager to cry foul when disrespected by national figures, ought to
demonstrate a commensurate level of concern for District residents,
toward whom the District government can be particularly injurious.”
(“Misdirected Anger,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17828-2003Jun20.html.)
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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It’s Not Rocket Science
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
Not only are district employees and agencies misusing their credit
cards for millions of dollars of the taxpayers money, they are also not
paying the credit card bills promptly and have run up interest charges
of more that $170M over the last two years. This is crazy. There is a
very simple system to control credit card spending and eliminate both
fraud and interest charges.
My major aerospace employer issued American Express cards in
qualified employees names. These cards were to be used only for
legitimate company related expenses. When employees used the card they
immediately filed an expense report with a copy of the credit card
receipt. The employee was reimbursed for all legitimate charges and that
occurred before the employee received his bill from American Express.
The bill had to be paid in full by the employee at the end of each
month. Each month both the company and the employee received a statement
of all charges for the prior month. It was easy for the company to
discern any illegitimate charges since there would be no expense report
for those charges. You could not run up interest charges with the normal
American Express card since there are no partial payments with balances
to accumulate interest charges . This system worked fine and could
easily be implemented in the District. The first step is to recall all
the current cards and to force individuals and agencies to pay up their
accumulated balances and interest charges.
No doubt we will then find agencies who are dramatically overrunning
their budgets.
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Why are drivers allowed to sail up DC residential streets at 40-50
mph? I live at 6th and E, SE, and can't count the number of times
pedestrians have been almost hit crossing in the crosswalk. (Yes,
pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, as well as anywhere
else. Of course, it doesn't help that you had the right of way, and are
dead.) The speeders evidently want to make sure and get the green lights
at 6th and South Carolina, then at 6th and Penn, SE. This afternoon I
heard horrible screaming, and running out of my building found that a
German shepherd puppy had been hit at 6th and South Carolina. Evidently
the dog had gotten loose and run into the street, but if people would
obey the law and drive the limit, which is 25 mph in the District, there
would be less chance for these tragedies. Of course, the driver did not
stop, but fortunately a police saw the incident and went after him. Many
residents have been begging and pleading for a stop sign at 6th and E,
SE to slow down these maniacs at the wheel. Alas, nothing happens. Also,
I would appreciate it if I did not receive another letter in response
from a dog-hater out there, which happened the last time I wrote a
letter concerning dogs. (I was attacked for using the term “dog
park.” Horrors! Save our children from such an idea!)
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Children Story Writers in the DC-Area?
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Does anyone happen to know if there are any organizations of children
story writers in the DC-area?
I'd like to be in touch with other writers to try collaborative
writing using free Macintosh software called Hydra. http://hydra.globalse.org/.
In case it might be of interest, a story I wrote earlier this month is
posted on the web at http://www.his.com/pshapiro/sammysautographbook.html.
This story is written for a 2nd-4th grade audience -- the age range I
most often write for. I also write satire and would love to be in touch
with other satirists here in the DC area. The satire I've written can be
found at the bottom of http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html.
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The Most Bizarre Flag in DC History
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
Times of heavy rain and flooding have historically revealed
deficiencies in DC's drainage and sewer system. I am interested to know
how DC's sewer system has been holding up over the past months of rain
and super saturation. I dredged up this article from The Star
published on April 14, 1953, with a photo of what might be the most
bizarre flag ever created in DC history, with its beaming creator:
“Flag With Mud-Brown Field Flies in Fight for Sewer. A new flag —
done in the colors of sewer water and mud — today is the emblem of the
Arkansas Avenue Citizens' Association. The banner shows a dirty gray
circle labeled 'sewer,' rampant on a field of mud brown, supported by
two peculiar worms, flanked by two large question marks over the legend:
'In whom can we trust?' It was adopted last night. It symbolizes the
13-year fight to get storm-sewer relief in the group's area — the
vicinity of Fifth and Ingraham Streets, NW. The association was founded
to fight for that improvement. The Piney Branch relief sewer, under
construction now but not expected to be complete for a couple of years,
is a fruit of the battle. The flag is the handiwork of Mrs. Isabel A.
Thompson, secretary, who introduced it last night with great fanfare.
The gray sewer and the mud brown are self-explanatory. The strange worms
symbolize what Mrs. Thompson believes are in the water that inundates
her basement whenever a flash flood strikes. Brig. Gen. Louis W.
Prentiss, Engineer Commissioner, came to the meeting to talk up the
proposed $33 million public works program. He met some 50 devoted sewer
seekers and praised their effort and their flag. 'I think that's a fine
thing,' he said. 'Anybody who wants bigger and better sewers should get
behind the public works program.' President L. Seth Schnitman conducted
the meeting in the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Fourteenth and
Gallatin Streets, NW.”
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Defacing the Flag
Bill McColl, 9th and E NE, wccoll@drugpolicy.com
The only think being defaced is Democracy. Who gives a @$#^@ about
the DC flag when we are held captive by a hostile Congress. I've lived
here seven years and am sick of not having representation. And no, I
won't move out because I like DC and I'd rather fight to correct what's
wrong. I'm pleased that those few malls that display all the state flags
will now have to read this message even though they won't comprehend it.
I suggest a further change — the colors should be black because we're
in mourning for our Democracy. Actually, every city owned building
should be painted black. Frankly your reverence towards the symbol of a
captive city is unbelievable.
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Come on, Gary, get your priorities straight. In your message
“Defacing the Flag,” you claim that the proposed “No Taxation
without Representation” flag is no more than an “advertising banner
. . . defaced . . . by graffiti vandals.” Isn't this a bit like saying
that the civil disobedience acts of the 1960s betrayed proper lunch
counter and public transit protocol? Civil disobedience ain't pretty.
There may be fewer DC residents than pre-suffrage women or pre-voting
rights African Americans, but the denial of DC's Congressional voting
rights is still profound. Attention must be drawn to this, my friends.
Given the comparatively small number of tools in the pro-statehood
tool kit, we need to be creative. License plates, the flag, a DC state
quarter, renaming 16th Street as Washington, DC Avenue (ironically, DC
is the only state with no state-named avenue in the District) — all of
these are symbolic but important means to educate the average American
to our plight, and embarrass/inspire those who could right this wrong.
So, Gary, your “Golly, Mabel, that flag shor is purdy!” argument
doesn't hold water. But fret not, once we get representation in
Congress, things at the lunch counter and in the buses will go back to
normal, and you can return to your full-fledged flag fancy.
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As a reader of themail for a couple of years now, I've often wondered
how you would approach some of our city's unique problems if you took
time away from criticizing everything and actually proposed a solution
for a change. No, the new DC flag with slogan added will not be as
attractive as the old one. This was one of the major objections to the
new flag at a public hearing when Phil Mendelson's bill was originally
up for comment. But, as I testified, the point of this flag is not to
win any beauty contests. It's to get attention.
The license plates were a good first step, but they rarely attract
attention outside our area. This flag will fly above state capitols and
appear in history books across the country, bringing nationwide focus to
what has been largely a local issue for more than two hundred years. DC
citizens have been far too polite on the issue of voting
rights/statehood/home rule, and your post just proves it. To ignore an
opportunity for publicity such as this one in the name of prettier flag
for a little while is extremely shortsighted. What have you, Gary Imhoff,
been doing lately to advance DC's cause in Congress?
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Gary, you may expect responses to your message, “Defacing the Flag
in the Mail.” Your comment that the flag “is based on George
Washington's family crest” should be challenged. You have described
the flag correctly of course, two red bars topped by three stars against
a white field. Some accounts suggest that the two red bars, like the
bars or “stripes” (slave lashes — [my own theory]) in the national
flag represent the land comprising the District's “ten mile square”
that was contributed by Maryland and Virginia, two of the original
thirteen colonies. The three stars are said to represent the
three-Commissioner form of government installed in the District of
Columbia following Congressional dissolution of the territorial form of
government (too many former slaves elected to the territorial council
— my own theory again).
Have you seen George Washington's family crest? Actually, his
contribution was more important. The Congressional compromise that
settled upon the location of the District was reached in deference to
the first president. The federal seat of government was to be sited in
an area reasonably equidistant from the southern- and northernmost
states of the new union, militarily defensible and not directly exposed
to the superior navies of Europe as were Philadelphia, New York and
Charleston (an understandable post-revolutionary war fear) — and
accessible by a comfortable coach trip for George if he consented. Even
then, the journey from Mount Vernon was less than a half-day's ride,
along the scenic Potomac River.
As for the actions of the DC Council with reference to the flag, you
might be reminded that this is the same elected body that refused to
honor the discussions on the design of the flag for “New Columbia”
conducted by the Constitutional Convention elected by DC voters at the
ballot box and convened in 1980. In fact, the DC Council refused to
honor any of the work of the Constitutional Convention including
enforcing its directives as required by law (via initiative passed by
the majority of District voters). Oddly enough, District voters got more
respect from the US Postal Service which will deliver mail posted to
“New Columbia” instead of the “District of Columbia.” Try it.
[For those interested in the actual history of the DC flag, Mark
Richards sketched it out in two brief paragraphs two years ago in
DCWatch: http://www.dcwatch.com/richards/0106f.htm.
Two web sites that picture Washington's coat of arms are http://www.angelfire.com/mi/RedBearsDream/lineageGW.html,
which shows how it was adapted for Washington's book plates, and http://www.yorktownsociety.org/about_TYS/Symbols.html,
which shows how it was adapted for the Yorktown Society's coat of arms.
— Gary Imhoff]
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A Principled DC Flag for Freedom
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
By adding the words “DC — No Taxation without Representation”
to DC's flag, DC is not defacing its flag. The DC flag is elegant. Flags
are symbolic — a source of identity. DC's flag honors George
Washington; it is red and white (red can represent danger, revolution,
bloodshed of war, courage and power; white can represent peace,
surrender, and truce). The “rebellious” strips recall the days of
liberty poles in the colonies. Flags don't have to be artifacts of
history. Sometimes flags are about the living. Some flags are messages
from a group of people about who they are. The new DC flag is about the
fact that all DC residents are taxed without being represented — a
fact of history that has persisted far too long. All DC residents have
that fact in common, and that is a fact we intend to change. Do we
really honor George Washington and history by flying his family crest
over an area named for him that after two centuries still suffers with
taxation without representation, an area where self-government is still
not respected? This change to our flag is not an ordinary advertisement
for a trivial bill of goods.
I find that everyone I share the change with enjoys the irony. It
brings an instant smile. I can't wait to see it on every network TV
station. Already talk of the change is having an effect. An encyclopedia
has made note of DC's exasperation: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia.
For historic reasons, the law changing the flag specifies that the
change is temporary — temporary until DC wins equal rights. While
we're at it, why not start putting up Freedom lanterns in the most
interesting public structures of every one of our neighborhoods? And
ringing church bells for DC equality every Wednesday at noon? Long live
George Washington and the spirit of freedom!
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Community Technology Centers’ Network
Conference, June 27-29
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
A national nonprofit organization I support, Community Technology
Centers' Network, http://www.ctcnet.org,
will be having their annual conference in DC next week on Friday,
Saturday, Sunday. CTCNet is one of the largest national organizations
working to bridge the digital divide. Thanks for passing along word
about this conference to any technology access activists you know in the
DC-area. It's still not too late to register to attend. A copy of the
organization's latest newsletter was published on the web yesterday at http://www.comtechreview.org.
I was happily surprised to see the current issue includes a brief
profile of some my work in this field, http://makeashorterlink.com/?K51623305.
Some of the most active and exciting CTCNet affiliates in the DC-area
include Byte Back, http://www.byteback.org,
the Community Preservation and Development Corporation, http://www.cpdc.org/gateway/intro.html;
the New Technology Lab at For Love of Children, http://www.flocdc.org;
Capitol Hill Computer Corner, http://www.computercorner-dc.org;
Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center, http://www.cbmlc.org;
and See Forever, http://www.seeforever.org.
A complete list of CTCNet affiliates in the various states can be found
in the membership director on the CTCNet.org web site. Annual dues are
$100/year.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
These are some of my favorites for visiting out of town relatives and
the like: Mel Krupins in Tenletown, kosher style; Thyme Square in
Bethesda, “New American” style; The Vegetable Garden, on Rockville
Pike strictly vegan, so therefore kosher, but also low-fat and
delicious. Bon appetit!
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I'd like to recommend Victor McKoy, of Wills and Rose Homes. You can
reach him at 271-0941, or check his website at http://www.willsandrosehomes.com.
He did some excellent work for me, and completed it within a tight
deadline.
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I would again like to recommend carpenter and handyman Marcotulio
Orellana (licensed, insured, bonded) and his company, The Home Doctor,
301-942-7768, cell phone 240-793-0568. Marcos finished our restoration
begun by a crooked contractor and half finished by his nice
subcontractors until they too walked off the job. He has done many small
jobs for us since then. Marcos and his staff come with twenty years of
local recommendations; he gives fair, firm estimates free; his work is
done quickly and well.
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Handyman Still Wanted
Randi Seitz, rrs2623 at ay-oh-ell
Sorry to say, my experience was similar to Jeanne Thum. I spoke to
Mr. Condori last evening and he agreed to come to my house at 10 this
morning. He didn't show up, nor did he respond to my follow up phone
call (so far).
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