Sally Lunn
Dear Bakers:
It's been such a nice day, baking a nice loaf of Sally Lunn bread
(you know Sally Lunn bread; it's an old American recipe, an eggy,
buttery, slightly sweet loaf, even better than challah) and listening to
several Bill Evans albums, including his duet album with Toots
Thielemans. I'm in too good a mood to argue with the people who were
offended that I would satirize the mayor's and councilmembers' deep,
deep concern for education in DC's public schools. Besides, this issue
of themail is long, so I have a good excuse to keep my introduction
short, and just to present Mayor Williams's and the City Council
Education Committee's complete plans to raise educational standards,
improve test scores, and give DC's students more opportunity, once they
have eliminated democratic control of the schools:
There, that's over.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Councilmembers Urge Delay in Teacher Pay
Kathy Patterson, Councilmember, Ward 3, kpattdc3@aol.com
One reason Councilmembers pressed the Board of Education to rescind
its illegal July action “canceling” negotiated pay raises was to
enable the school system to renegotiate those contracts, particularly
the contract with the Washington Teachers Union that requires a 9
percent raise effective today. You can't ask a union to reconsider a
contract when you stand in violation of that contract. As noted here
Sunday, the Board did rescind the July action and directed
Superintendent Vance to seek to reopen negotiations.
Tuesday eight Councilmembers sent a letter to the WTU urging
renegotiation. I trust the fact that that is more than a majority is not
lost on union leaders who have their own, other, difficulties these
days. If the union does not renegotiate the 9 percent raise by reducing
it or, my preference, delaying it but retaining the base increase, the
Board will be forced on October 15 to take far more damaging action to
balance its FY 2004 budget. Number crunching by respected analysts and
advocates came to the same place: while there are other modest savings
to be found at this late date, a sound budget also requires some
reduction in the multi-millions required for the 9 percent raise.
The Board president has, regrettably, continued to press for
additional money from the Mayor and Council — more, even, than the $21
million we committed to transfer to schools based on balancing the DCPS
budget and securing line item authority again from Congress. A realistic
assessment by parents, teachers, Board members — and everyone else —
comes to the same place. New money from the city, spending cuts by the
Board, and a scaling back of the teacher pay raise are all necessary to
keep the schools in balance for the new fiscal year.
###############
Mayor Calls DC Murder Rate “Disaster,”
Woos New Residents
Dominic Sale, dominicsale@yahoo.com
During his plea this week to the National Conference of Mayors in
support of school vouchers, Mayor Anthony Williams set the stage by
painting a grim picture of DC's social fabric, specifically calling
attention to the murder rate. “I've got a city which is one of the
most polarized, divided cities in the United States,” the Mayor
continued, “I've got 200 people dying every year of homicide. Half of
the people in the school system drop out of the schools. To me, that's a
disaster.” According to MPDC statistics, the average annual number of
homicides in the District during the Mayor's term is actually about 244.
By latest count there have been 184 homicides in DC this year, up 4.5
percent over the same period last year and on pace for 274 by year's
end.
Bucking the national downward trend for large cities last year,
Washington, DC, reclaimed its dubious distinction of "murder
capital of the U.S.," with a 12 percent spike in total homicides
from the previous year. From 1999, Chief Charles Ramsey's first full
year of service, through 2002, total murders have risen 8.7 percent, and
all other major types of violent crimes have followed a similar trend.
All the while, homicide clearance rates have dwindled to below 50
percent as a shell-shocked and intimidated public has shied away from
cooperating with the police in crime investigations.
The Mayor's Scorecard for the MPD, which sets performance goals for
the Chief, sits tucked away on the city's web site, an embarrassing
reminder of a road to failure paved only with good intentions. Of each
of the last three years, only one of his three goals was met, even after
downward revisions were made to some of the targets. In all fairness,
the Mayor and Chief are not entirely to blame for the murder-go-round in
the District. Last week, the Washington Post reported on the failure of
the courts to convict eleven of fifteen homicide suspects this past
summer. Not surprisingly, detectives are frustrated and victims'
families are aghast, and jaded public resigns itself to living in a city
where bodies pile up at several times the rate of convictions. To add
insult to injury, DC's homicide rate has been a popular target as of
late for the satirical media, including Comedy Central's The Daily Show
and political cartoonist Tom Toles. Just last week, widely-read online
lampoon The Onion jokingly portrayed the Mayor proudly explaining away
DC's antithetical murder trend as a testament to the city's
“realness.”
For DC residents, there is an eerie familiarity to this latest round
of public ridicule. It was not all that long ago that William's
notorious predecessor Marion Barry, vaunted to the national media,
“outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates
in the country.” All jokes aside, Washington's murder rate is no
laughing matter for a Mayor whose goal is to draw 100,000 new residents
to the city with his nouveau-hip “city living, dc style” marketing
campaign. Although the city still dwells among the highest for rates of
other types of violent crime, DC has historically been the nation's
standout in the headline-grabbing homicide category, making for a public
relations nightmare. Continued attention to the murder rate could sound
a death knell for the Mayor's plan before it even gets traction. A
significant enough spike could even trigger a fragile DC recovery to
return to the old trend of urban flight and blight so recently assumed a
thing of the past. In light of the Mayor's newly critical rhetorical
tone and the Chief's seemingly desperate declaration of a state of
emergency, don't be surprised if Williams' next scorecard for Ramsey is
for a golf course in a retirement community far, far away from DC.
###############
Have You Dialed 911 Lately?
Kenneth Lyons, Paramedic, President AFGE Local 3721, Kendu256@aol.com
As the call goes out for a suitable replacement for DC Department of
Health Director, John Buford, the public should not stop there. The
restructuring of our debilitating health care system must begin at the
very foundation. Have you dialed 911 lately? Being placed on hold,
dropped or disconnected calls, not enough dispatchers, equipment
failures are all what awaits an unsuspecting caller. And if you are the
fortunate few that are able to navigate this maze of mismanagement, and
your emergency requires the assistance of the DC Fire and EMS
Department, the true depths of this mismanagement and misappropriation
of your tax dollars, like a splash of cold water in the face, becomes
all too apparent. Have you dialed 911 lately?
Promises made by the our elected officials and fire chiefs both past
and present spoke of reduced response times and greater community
outreach and preparedness. Have you dialed 911 lately? The inability to
adequately staff ambulances with trained emergency medical technicians
and paramedics or emergency rooms with nurses have resulted in patients
waiting on cots in ER’s for hours before they are seen. Have you
dialed 911 lately? The taxpayer of the District of Columbia having
poured millions of dollars into the experiment called the DC Healthcare
Alliance, have forked over a mere 154.5 million dollars, a 26 percent
increase to an agency (DC Fire and EMS) that over the past twenty-five
years has made the same promises those who would advocate the closure of
DC General Hospital have made, “A more efficient and effective service
without the negative financial impact.” Have you dialed 911?
The unsuspecting public have been led to believe that the failure of
our health care infrastructure began dramatically with the closure of DC
General Hospital, this could not be further from the truth. There is a
reason that observers of health care regard emergency medical services
as the “canary in the mine.” The sickness of our health care system
was apparent thirty years ago and evident in emergency medical services
but ignored, I can only hope that like that canary times has not
expired. Have you dialed 911 lately?
###############
Can someone in your department please tell me when the dangerous,
life-threatening behavior of the Metro police dispatchers will be
stopped? My wife (who is eight months pregnant) and I have had several
horrifying experiences not just with criminals in the District but with
Metro Police Department's dispatchers: On Sunday, September 28, my wife
and I called 911 on a cell phone to report a suspicious man carrying a
crowbar, wearing a hood covering much of his face and casing cars as he
walked by. When I looked suspiciously at him from across the street he
said, “What the f*ck are you looking at?” and appeared to move
momentarily in our direction in a threatening way. I described the man
to the 911 dispatcher and said, “He is walking from 15th and O Street,
NW, to 16th and O Street, NW.” The dispatcher, much to our shock,
repeatedly asked “What direction was he going? I need to know what
direction he is going.” Any fifth grader with a map knows that this
would be westbound. But my shock at the dispatcher's ignorance and
delays prevented me from disseminating the other critical details of the
incident and from a patrol car's arriving in time to investigate. Later
in the same evening, my wife and I reported this incident to the two
patrol offices who arrived at the scene. When we reported the scandalous
incident with the dispatchers, the patrol officers said this behavior is
typical. They expressed similar disgust with the competence and training
of the police dispatchers, agreeing they often have little knowledge of
the city or basic geography.
On Sunday, September 7, my wife and I were unpacking our rental car
near 16th and O, NW, when we heard a woman's harrowing scream down the
block. I ran down the block towards 15th and O, NW, towards the woman to
help while dialing 911 on my cell phone. As I was running down the
street, the assailant drove his bronze colored SUV in my direction to
escape, nearly running me over. When I got to the woman, she was sitting
on the sidewalk with blood running down her face onto the sidewalk. Her
dress appeared to be partially removed at the shoulder and she mumbled
something about being punched in the face. When I reported this to the
dispatcher the dispatcher repeatedly argued with me about whether this
was both a sexual and physical assault as I described or just a physical
assault. I demanded that she just take my report and send a patrol car
immediately to the scene. But she chose to debate me instead. This
wasted valuable time necessary to catch the assailant. Due to the island
in the middle of 16th street at O NW, the assailant could have been
easily caught, since he could turn in only one direction when he was
escaping the scene. But only if the dispatcher had not wasted valuable
time debating with me on the phone.
One evening in September of 2000 at about 1 a.m., my wife and I
called 911 to report that we were held up at gunpoint adjacent to the
Takoma Park metro station on Eastern Avenue. We were placed on hold for
several minutes. When the dispatcher came on the line, I said we were
held up at gunpoint within a few feet of the Takoma Park Metro station.
Again, I was shocked when the dispatcher then asked me an address. I
said Takoma Park Metro station again assuming he didn't hear me
properly. He repeated that he needs a street address and couldn't
dispatch the police without a street address. I was absolutely shocked
and outraged that this dispatcher did not know where Takoma Park Metro
station was or know the codes necessary to bring it up in the dispatch
system. Again, valuable time was wasted that significantly increased the
likelihood that these assailants threatened the lives of other residents
of the city.
I need to know what Metro Police is going to do to fix these
problems, beyond filing an official complaint. I want to know what
dramatic steps will be taken because dramatic steps are necessary. By
dramatic steps I mean disciplinary action, demotions, firings, hiring
new people, new training programs, etc. I don't mean paperwork that goes
into a file or to be reviewed by a committee that takes no meaningful
action. The deaths and assaults of District residents appears to be
increasingly the fault of incompetent and/or poorly trained police
dispatchers.
###############
Police Fundraising
Ted Gest, tgest@sas.upenn.edu
Is anyone else offended by getting phone fundraising pitches
purporting to be from police officers? I got another one today from a
man who said he was from the "Metropolitan Police Department
[pause] Fraternal Order of Police." When I demanded to know if he
was a police officer, he quickly backed down and said he is a
professional fund raiser. I consider this misleading at best.
[It is worse than misleading. Neither the MPD nor the Fraternal Order
of Police does any telephone solicitation of the public. — Gary Imhoff]
###############
What Price Parking?
Winston Bull, bulwin@aol.com
On a recent evening last week, a gentle light rain beginning to fall,
I was in search of a parking spot at about 7:00 p.m. to attend a lecture
at the Spy Museum. I had dreams of finding a street spot. Of course,
those dreams shriveled up like a frightened turtle, so I started
checking out the pay lots, figuring that the various valet services such
as offered at the Hotel Monaco were way too expensive at $9. I pulled
into the lot on the Northeast corner of 9th and E. A happy gentleman
came out to greet me. I asked him, “How much?” He said, “Twenty
dollars.” He said it was MCI night, so that was the rate. I said I was
not going to the MCI center. He didn't care. I didn't stay. I went off
and paid a valet nine bucks, which suddenly seemed surprisingly cheap.
My point is, is there no law in effect against raising prices on big,
high volume nights like that? If not, shouldn't there be? It strikes me
as rather similar to the gasoline price gouging that comes in times of
shortage or after a storm (see last week!) and on which the Feds tend to
frown and crack down. Who might want to look in to this?
###############
Info on Debris Removal
Mary L. Myers, DPW, mary.myers@dc.gov
Isabel made quite a mess, knocking down 350 street trees and damaging
hundreds more across the city. The District debris management crews
cleared hundreds of streets and alleys and we still have work to do!
Over the next three weeks, we will have contractors hauling away those
big trees that were pushed to the side following the storm. Crews will
be working in neighborhoods from October 6-24. Residents may take
advantage of this cleanup opportunity by gathering limbs and branches
from their own yards and taking them to the curb for collection. The
crews can only collect the debris placed on public space! Leaves and
small debris can be bagged and set out with the regular trash.
Residents who don't want to wait for crews can take storm debris to
the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station at 4900 Bates Road, NE, from 1-5
p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. The transfer station
will also be open to residents on two Sundays, October 12 and October 19
from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
###############
Poverty Rising in DC?
Anne Pierre, peirre@cpbb.org
The DCFPI report on new Census Bureau income and poverty figures has
been revised. That paper highlighted new Census data showing that
poverty has risen and income has fallen in DC in recent years. Upon
further analysis, we determined that the increase in poverty — from
15.0 percent in 1999-2000 to 17.6 percent in 2001-2002 — was not
statistically significant. While these figures suggest that poverty may
be rising in DC, the data cannot be used to make this determination
conclusively. The decline in median household income in the District,
however, was statistically significant.
The revised report can be found at http://www.dcfpi.org/9-26-03pov.htm
and http://www.dcfpi.org/9-26-03pov.pdf.
###############
Advertising Sign Empowerment
Richard Layman, Northeast DC, richlaymandc@yahoo.com
Phil Carney wrote about the proliferation of advertising signs posted
on trees, etc., in DC's public space. I'm all about empowerment. Take
the signs down yourself. I do. Each sign costs about $5 to make. Quick
removal means the perpetrators think twice before putting them up again.
###############
The Role of the School
Erich Martel, ehmartel at starpower dot net
Ed Dixon wrote (themail, September 28) in response to my “Inaugural
Column” on DCPSWatch that it is a “fact that public education exists
to address socioeconomic conditions.” Public education exists for many
reasons, including the reform and uplift vision of Horace Mann. In the
sentence he quoted, I wrote that “external socioeconomic factors”
were not “the primary obstacles to student achievement.” I was
commenting on the obstacles to student achievement in public education,
i.e. DCPS, not on the purpose of education. In a future column, I will
examine the goals of public education and offer examples of public
schools that successfully educate students from socio-economically
disadvantaged backgrounds.
When schools make socioeconomic advancement or equity their central
goal, they end up abdicating the one task they are designed for:
teaching students and expanding their literacy skills and bodies of
knowledge. When students graduate from high school with proficient
reading and writing skills and mastery of the subject-area bodies of
knowledge at a level of proficiency on par with their age peers around
the country, they are well on their way to overcoming disadvantaged
socioeconomic status. Because our schools fail at that assigned
responsibility, they perpetuate rather than remove obstacles of
socioeconomic background.
The following advice from W.E.B. DuBois is still well worth
considering: “[T]he school has again but one way, and that is, first
and last, to teach them to read, write and count. And if the school ails
to do that, and tries beyond that to do something for which a school is
not adapted, it not only fails in its own function, but it fails in all
other attempted functions. Because no school as such can organize
industry, or settle the matter of wage and income, can found homes or
furnish parents, can establish justice or make a civilized world.”
(Address to Georgia State Teachers Convention, 1935)
###############
I am not a Mayor Williams fan. However after reading the Barras
Report commentary on the Mayor's desire to take over the school board,
the commentary by Gary Imhoff on the same subject sounded like it came
from an inexperienced, rebellious teenager.
###############
Do you think all readers recognized that this first item
[“Democracy Is the Problem,” themail, September 28] was invented
satire? It fooled me for a moment. Especially dangerous is the use of
quotation marks and the name of a real person. Your case will come
across as stronger if you find you can work with what was said in fact.
When you have to make up quotes that say what you think was meant, you
weaken your argument.
I might add that the history of the DC School Board and DCPS does
little to buttress your “trust the people” text. I read Cafritz
Cooper's letter Sunday. She may have a couple of points, but overall
DCPS is so bad that there is little point in defending the Board and the
system. I am a volunteer tutor at Alice Deal JHS. We have in the Grade 7
math class I work with a Downs syndrome boy who belongs elsewhere. He
cannot do any of the work even the weakest students do, but he is
trainable, I am told. He sits quietly and doodles. He is well behaved
and pleasant. Why does DCPS keep him idling in an ordinary classroom?
###############
I grew up in a family of civic activists in Philadelphia during the
reign of Mayor Frank Rizzo. I have a healthy respect for government
watchdogs and the kind of oversight that DCWatch could and occasionally
does provide — as when Dorothy Brizill sinks her teeth into health
care, or she exposes fraud in the Mayor's petition fiasco last year. But
I take issue with the kind of facile observations that Mr. Imhoff too
often dishes in his flip introductions to themail every week. I am
particularly disappointed by his charges this week that Mayor Williams's
only interest in removing the District's Board of Education is to
plunder the schools' real estate. This is a serious charge and should be
accompanied by some evidence. It's not funny and it's not informative
— it smacks of a lazy civic observer doing cartoon analysis. Mr.
Imhoff's skepticism too often tilts into bizarre paranoia. Most
importantly, it does little to advance serious civic dialogue. Mr.
Imhoff, you owe the citizens of the District and DCWatch better.
###############
After the School Board is abolished I look forward to abolishing the
for-life City Council and the office of Mayor.
###############
With all due respect to Mr. Freund's logic (and Gary Imhoff's
admiration of this logic) that Metro should have waited until winds
reached 40 mph to close down the system, I certainly would not have
wanted to be mid-trip between say the Crystal City and the Smithsonian
stations, where the train crosses the Potomac on a narrow trestle above
water, when the winds hit that speed. Metro did the right thing.
###############
Setting the Record Straight on Health Care
Vanessa Dixon, vmdixon@earthlink.net
An initial offering in themail (September 17) by Rene Wallis
regarding primary care versus hospital care prompted two responses, one
from Michael Bindner and another from me. Rene's counter response in
themail (September 25) falls into the same old unfortunate drone of
pitting primary care against hospital care. Further, Rene misses the
point and is incorrect in a number of assertions. First, in my initial
response, I defended both DC's hospitals and primary care. That basic
point was evident from the title of my submission, “Both Clinics and a
Public Hospital” [in themail, September 21]. Second, Rene claims that
DC has a lot of hospitals — eighteen according to the DC Hospital
Association web site, including specialty hospitals and eight full
service hospitals. In terms of the specialty hospitals, let's take a
closer look: four are available only to active duty military/veterans
(and two of them are not in DC); two are long-term care/nursing homes,
one provides rehabilitation services, and three are mental health
facilities. The bottom line is that the specialty hospitals do not
provide the usual and customary services that the general public
typically requires. The eight full service hospitals report overwhelmed
ER’s and extraordinary levels of inpatient admissions. All but one of
the eight full service hospitals is located on the western side of DC.
Therefore, the eastern half of DC, the area with the greatest incidences
of illness and injury, has one hospital. That hospital is Greater
Southeast, which has lost its accreditation, was recommended for loss of
its license in March 2003, and recently was cited for six unnecessary
deaths. Please be clear that DC does not have enough hospital beds to
serve the city. Please be especially clear that the eastern half of DC
is virtually devoid of viable hospital care.
As for the alleged “well paying” hospital industry, the data
(local and national) do not support Rene's assertion. The city's
hospitals were operating at a net loss prior to DC General's closing,
and they are close to the brink of disaster since that tragic event.
Rene states that hospitals are run by people who “are not known to be
altruistic” in terms of accurately reporting their profits/losses. The
same, of course, can be said of those who run clinics. The mayor
certainly claimed that the reason for closing DC General was to cure a
system that was bleeding money. As Rene accurately noted, the system
that replaced DC General (the Alliance) also is expensive. What Rene
does not say is that the Alliance is more expensive than was DC General
and serves far fewer people. DC General operated under the legal
obligation to provide care to DC 's 80,000-100,000 uninsured and
underinsured DC residents. The system that replaced DC General serves a
mere 30,000 people due to restrictive income eligibility guidelines.
Therefore, the Alliance provides diminished services for more money than
DC General received for having provided a full range of services. Let's
look at some of the costs of operating the Alliance: a) Greater
Southeast (which administers the Alliance) receives $60 million per
year; b) at least four additional health care facilities receive
substantial funds to provide supplemental services, and all have
requested more money; c) additional costs include a $12 million gift
loan to Greater Southeast, a $20 million property tax abatement to
Greater Southeast and Hadley (which is not part of the Alliance), and
most recently a $30 million emergency infusion to Greater Southeast; d)
although the original contract with Greater Southeast has been modified
eighteen times (I believe), each time resulting in fewer contractual
responsibilities, Greater Southeast continues to receive the original
contract amount. Will the real “cash cow” — Greater Southeast —
please stand up?
The most important point is that indigent health care is a government
responsibility, just as are public education, trash collection, law
enforcement, and other vital services. DC General was the public
hospital and required public funding. Would Rene refer to the public
schools, trash collection, or law enforcement as "cash cows"?
On the one hand, the city acknowledges its responsibility to provide
health care services by virtue of having created the Alliance to replace
DC General. On the other hand, the city dishonors this basic
responsibility by defending the Alliance — a woefully failed program.
It is clear that DC residents are in desperate need of increased access
to primary care. The answer is not to attack vitally needed hospitals or
the necessity for a public hospital in a municipality the size of the
Nation's Capital. Access to quality health care is the real issue —
this includes hospitals and primary care.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Fall Festival at Ellington, October 4
Susan Gushue, smgushue@starpower.net
The fall festival at Duke Ellington School of the Arts is this
Saturday, October 4, from 12-6. It is a recruitment fair, an opportunity
to see student work, meet faculty, and enjoy a beautiful fall day in
Georgetown. Performances are free and there will be food for sale. There
is a lot going on this Saturday all over DC, but do stop in at 35th and
R Streets, NW. The students are fantastic and you'll get to see a little
of each department's work.
###############
Stamp Act Congress Rally, October 4
Andy Catanzaro, andy@stampouttax.com
For over two hundred years DC residents have not had full voting
representation on Capitol Hill. We need your help to change that! Come
to the Stamp Act Congress' rally at Dos Gringos to learn what you can do
to get Washington DC full voting rights! Learn how to use our stamp to
“Stamp out Taxation without Representation in Washington DC!” This
is just the beginning of our conversation with America, and you can be a
part of this grass roots movement. Please join us in our historic rally
Saturday, October 4, at 3:00 p.m., Dos Gringos Cafe, 3116 Mount Pleasant
Street, NW (http://www.dosgringoscafe.com/map.htm).
Fun for all ages! Food! Stamping money!
###############
Andrea Smith at Georgetown, October 6
Inmaculada Peral, inma_peral@yahoo.com
Amnesty International USA’s Washington, DC, Women’s Human Rights
Action Team presents Andrea Smith. She will address the topic of
violence against women in communities of color on Monday, October 6, at
7:00 p.m., at Georgetown University, 1507 Leavey Center, Bulldog Alley
(First Floor). From Rosslyn Metro take 38B to Farragut, from Dupont
Metro take G-2.
Andrea Smith is a longtime anti-violence and Native American activist
and scholar who is cofounder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence,
a national organization that utilizes direct action, critical dialogue
and grassroots organizing to address this critical issue. Admission is
free. For more information, contact Jennie at dcwhrat@yahoo.com,
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women.
Cosponsored by AFIRMS, Amnesty International-Georgetown University
Chapter, and Georgetown Sexual Assault Services Group.
###############
Live and uncensored, another outrageous night of storytelling at
Washington Storytellers Theater's Speak Easy. Fibs, Falsehoods,
Stretchers and Prevarications: A Liars Contest, Tuesday, October 14, 8
p.m. at HR-57, 1610 14th Street, NW (between Corcoran and Q Streets). $5
admission. With host Stephanie Garibaldi of WIT fame (Washington Improv
Theater) and liar extraordinaire Bill Mayhew.
Get your best bald-faced lie ready to compete in WST's first ever
Liars Contest. Washingtonians will go head to head to see who can tell
the best six-minute lie. When else will you have the opportunity in the
Nation’s Capital to tell untruths with abandon and be rewarded for it?
All are welcome to sign up. Call 301-891-1129 or E-mail info@washingtonstorytellers.org
in advance to secure a place. Judges will select the Big, Bigger, and
Biggest Liars who will receive an assortment of coveted prizes. Stories
will be judged on originality, craftsmanship, delivery, timing, and
audience response. Witness for yourself who will walk home with the
Golden Shovel. Audience will vote on such possible categories as: Most
Outrageous Lie, Most Believable Lie, Best Plot Twist, Best Use of a Pun,
Funniest Lie, etc.
###############
National Building Museum Family Programs,
October 18, 26
Briana Hensold, bhensold@nbm.org
Masonry Mania Family Festival, Saturday, October 18, 10:00 a.m.-4:30
p.m. Free. For all ages. Drop-in program. Families, groups, and
individuals are invited to explore masonry materials and techniques
during this fun-filled day in which professional craft workers will
reveal the secrets of their trade through interactive demonstrations.
Amateur masons can build a brick wall, construct an arch, help create a
tile design, and try their hands at masonry restoration. Kids of all
ages can create masonry sculptures and build with cardboard bricks.
Visitors can also watch as representatives from the International Union
of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) complete their projects for
BAC's International Apprentice Contest. Free. Registration not required.
Scout groups, however, should call 272-2448 or E-mail scout@nbm.org
to register. Appropriate for all ages.
Jetsons: The Movie, Sunday, October 26, 12:00-1:30 p.m. Free. Drop-in
program. In this Hanna-Barbera feature-length animated film from 1990,
George Jetson and his family move to a new planet. This film is
presented in conjunction with the exhibition Up, Down, Across:
Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks. Halloween Haunted House
Workshop, Sunday, October 26, 2:00-4:00 p.m., $11 per house for Museum
members; $16 for nonmembers. All ages. Registration required. Create a
spooky haunted house to decorate your window on Halloween! Families use
wood and cardboard to construct a house or barn and then adorn it with
miniature ghosts, monsters, and jack-o'-lanterns.
The National Building Museum, created by an act of Congress in 1980,
is a private, nonprofit institution that examines and interprets
American achievements in building through exhibitions, education
programs and publications. The Museum is located at 401 F Street NW, at
the entrance to the Judiciary Square Metro station on the Red Line.
Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday
from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Museum Shop and
Café. For public inquiries, call 272-2448 or log onto http://www.nbm.org.
###############
National Building Museum Lecture, October 21
Briana Hensold, bhensold@nbm.org
Earlier this year, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
selected Studio Daniel Libeskind to redesign the World Trade Center
site. In this exclusive Washington appearance, Daniel Libeskind will
discuss his proposal for the World Trade Center, as well as his belief
that the source of architecture is “the very substance of the soul and
constitutes the structure of culture itself.” Noted for cultural
projects such as the critically acclaimed Jewish Museum in Berlin, and
extensions to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Royal
Ontario Museum in Toronto, Libeskind strives to create buildings that
“awaken our desires, propose imaginary conclusions.” This lecture is
copresented with the National Capital Planning Commission on the
occasion of its international meeting of capital planners. Tuesday,
October 21, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; $23 Museum members, $30 nonmembers,
$15 students. Prepaid registration required. National Building Museum,
401 F Street, NW (Judiciary Square Metro, Red Line).
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Membership Services Assistant
Rae Kelley, rkelley@asprs.org
Membership services assistant needed for nonprofit organization.
Person serves as the primary point person for customers with regards to
membership and subscription issues, and is responsible for providing
membership services in a timely and professional manner. This includes
answering requests for membership applications, renewals, and back
orders/claims. In addition, handles cash receipts, bank deposits
preparation, accounts receivable, and data entry of financial
information and conference registration; researching payment problems.
The Membership Services Assistant also assists in outreach and public
relations programs to increase individual and corporate membership.
Provides assistance to Membership Manager and Finance Manager.
Requirements: two year degree with strong working knowledge of
databases and MS Office suite of software required. IMIS Membership
database knowledge and experience a definite plus. Excellent
administrative and organizational skills, written and oral communication
skills preferred. Motivated self-starter, must work well as a team
member and be able to interact with customers and staff in a
professional and effective manner. Ability to work on multiple projects
and meet deadlines is essential. Some travel required. Bachelor's degree
or two-year degree plus work experience preferred. We desire applicants
interested in long-term, stable employment, in an excellent working
environment. ASPRS is an equal opportunity employer. Send resume, cover
letter, and salary history to ASPRS, Attn: Communications Director, Fax
301-493-0208 or E-mail kimt@asprs.org.
Salary commensurate with experience.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
3.4 acres of land for sale in Spotsylvania, Virginia, in Civil War
battlefield area. Owner financing. Very hot property. $100,000. Call
331-4418, E-mail GlobalExtension@aol.com.
###############
Table, Chair, and Trivial Pursuit
Erica Nash, nashe@starpower.net
1) I brought back from Italy a genuine gem of a table. Great
condition! Solid walnut, quite heavy. Italian antique, artisan hand
made. Height 30.5", Width 23 1/4", Length 78 3/4". $1500.
2) One foldable very comfortable fabric scooped chair for den or modern
bedroom/living room. Off white color. Brand new. From IKEA bought for
$40 four weeks ago. Sale price $20. 3) One Trivial Pursuit newest
version #6. Used five minutes and found to be very challenging.
Purchased brand new for $46 on September 23 during power-out days last
week. Would like $25 or best offer.
E-mail me for pictures: Erica Nash, nashe@starpower.net,
333-0262.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Can anyone suggest an alternative E-mail group host to Yahoo? What I
need is a place where you can set up file-folders in an account, where
members of the public at large can get in and look at the files. Yahoo
had this until late July, when they scrapped this feature — a severe
loss in functionality. Of course, this provider should be free and
technically stable.
###############
Can anyone recommend a good chimney repair person? I am talking about
the outside masonry and crowns, not the usual masonry job. My neighbor
and I are considering High's Chimney Service for a repair job on our
mutual chimney. If anyone out there has used them, please let me know.
###############
Does anyone have any recommendations for where I can have my car
detailed?
###############
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