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June 9, 2004

Gambling

Dear Gamblers:

The proponents of the slot machine initiative — the District of Columbia Video Lottery Terminal Initiative of 2004, formerly named the Lottery Expansion Initiative of 2004, and before that called the Jobs, Education and Healthcare Lottery Expansion Initiative of 2004 — got a free pass and special favors from the Board of Elections and Ethics this evening. As you recall from the last issue of themail, the proponents paid for, privately printed, and mailed a phony “supplement” to the DC Register containing the revised text of their proposed initiative in order to save a week in their tight schedule to get the issue on the November general election ballot. But even though the Board of Elections acknowledged that this publication was irregular, unethical, highly questionable, and possibly illegal; even though it called for an investigation of how the phony Register came to be published; it decided to reward the proponents for their bad behavior. It went ahead with its hearing this evening, and didn't require the proponents to wait for the publication of their initiative in a legitimate issue of the Register.

In making this decision, the Board relied upon one more gift to the slot machine proponents from the Secretary of the District, Sherryl Hobbs Newman. Although Ms. Newman had previously repudiated the ersatz, simulated “supplement” to the Register as not being an official publication, she failed to do so in her letter to the Board of Elections. And her failure to repudiate it completely gave the Board the excuse it needed to allow the proponents to benefit from their misdeeds. When the representative of the gambling interests, former Councilmember John Ray, was asked whether the proponents would publish another special edition of the Register with the Short Title and Summary Statement of the Initiative that the Board approved this evening, in order to save another week on their schedule, he refused to reply. And when Wilma Lewis, the Chairman of the Board, was asked whether the Board of Elections would ask the Secretary to publish an expedited issue, she also evaded a direct reply, until she was pressed several times, after which she finally conceded that the Board could only make the decision to ask for a special issue of the Register after a public meeting.

It's 3:00 a.m. For the past hour I've been watching C-SPAN, which has been showing two endless, unbroken lines of mourners pass by Ronald Reagan's coffin lying in state in the Capitol's rotunda. And now, suddenly, the lines have stopped moving, and the circular aisle surrounding the coffin has filled with people standing still, and silently, as the military honor guard changes shift. It's an amazing group of people because it isn't composed of the honored dignitaries invited to the official ceremonies. These are Washingtonians, what we call “ordinary” Washingtonians. They're us. They're black, white, Asian, of all ages from babies in strollers to young children and teenagers — a surprising number of children and teenagers — adults, and the elderly. They are coming out in the middle of the night simply to stand and gaze at the flag-draped casket on the black-draped bier. And then, in five minutes, the honor guard ceremony is over, and the continuous lines start moving again. The sight is strangely more moving than any of the speeches and encomiums of the past few days. We don't talk about national and international politics in themail, but this isn't about politics. This, too, is part of why it is special to be a Washingtonian. We are each, while we are here, a small part of this moment, as we are of so many landmark moments in the history of our country. For all the frustrations of living in this city, it's an honor to be in this special place.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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The End of Education Standards
Susan Ousley, slousley at ay oh ell dott com

The Acting Superintendent, who signed as Superintendent, wrote to all parents, “As you are aware, the end of the school year is vastly approaching.” That was the part of the proof-of-residency letter I understood. The rest was worse.

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Taxation Without Education
Victoria Lord, tory@ aya dot yale dot edu

The Capitol Hill Cluster School is organizing a walkout to protest the budget cuts to DC Public Schools. The cuts will result in the loss of teachers in every school in the city. The walkout is scheduled for Thursday, June 10, from 11:30 to 12:30. Please join us by staging a walkout of staff, students, and parents at your school. Make your voices heard — DCPS cannot afford any more budget cuts! For questions, call Kristen Hartke, 543-0805, khartke@olg.com; Barbara Riehle, 543-1635, barbara@erols.com; Suzanne Wells, 547-2477, mgodec@att.net; or Victoria Lord, 544-1921.

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June 10 School Walkout
Darlene Allen, dcpartentteacherassociation@msn.com

Momentum is growing for the June 10 walkout to protest the DCPS budget cuts. Parents, teachers and students at schools across the city will leave their schools at 11:30 a.m., and form human chains around their schools. Banners and posters with the walkout theme "Taxation without Education" will be carried, and "No Taxation without Education" will be chanted. The walkout will end at 12:30 p.m., in order to minimize disruption to instructional time and allow teachers and students to return to their classrooms.

If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Hartke (543-0805, khartke@old.com), Barbara Riehle (543-1635, barbara@erols.com), or Suzanne Wells (547-2477, m.godec@att.net). Please call us to let us know if your school is participating in the walkout so the media can be alerted. Please don't miss this opportunity to make your voice heard. The end of the school year is fast approaching. The budget cuts are moving forward, and this may be our last opportunity to stop them.

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DC Public Schools Opening September 1, 2004
Frances Harvey, harvey@peoplepc.com

I am not sure if the parents of DC public school children realize it, but DC public schools are opening a week earlier for the new school year. Instead of opening the Tuesday after Labor Day, September 7, the schools are opening the prior week, on September 1, 2004. So parents are not only having the school year extended to June 23, 2004, they are missing out on that long week before Labor Day. DC public schools are the last to close in the District, and the first to open. All the private schools finish earlier and start the day after Labor Day.

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DMV Services Friday and Saturday
Mary L. Myers, mary.myers@dc.gov

DC Department of Motor Vehicle offices and facilities will be closed as part of the D.C. Government's observance of President Ronald Reagan's funeral, with the following exception: citizens with vehicles that have been booted and/or towed may visit DMV's 65 K Street, NE, location between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. to pay required ticket and release fees in order to retrieve their vehicles. Driver licenses, vehicle registrations, and inspections expiring on June 11 will be granted a one-day extension. All penalties resulting from failure to transact business on this day will be waived. Ticket hearings previously scheduled for Friday are being rescheduled and customers are being notified directly. Driver road test appointments previously scheduled for Friday are rescheduled for the same times on Saturday, June 19, and customers are being notified directly.

On Saturday, June 12, the following DMV facilities will be open, as normal, for service: Service Center at 301 C Street, NW (Judiciary Square Metro stop), 8:15 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.; Southwest Inspection Station at 1001 Half Street, SW, 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.;

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Adrian Fenty, Michael Fauntroy on Public Access TV This Week
Ben Slade, info@OurNationsCapital.org

This month on public access cable TV, talks by DC Councilmember Adrian Fenty and George Mason University Professor Michael Fauntroy (son of Walter Fauntroy) on federal restrictions on DC and how they contribute to DC's structural budget imbalance. These talks were given at a April 27 luncheon held by Our Nation's Capital, an organization dedicated to educating people about the contributions of federal restrictions to the District's structural budget imbalance. The luncheon presentations also cover other aspects of the federal governments relationship with the District. The luncheon presentations will be broadcast on DC public access cable TV channels (DCTV) at the following dates and times of the broadcasts: June 11, 10 p.m.; June 14, 4 p.m.; June 16, 8 p.m.; June 22, 2 p.m.; June 25, 5:30 p.m.; June 29, 6:30 p.m.; June 30, 6 p.m. The public access cable TV channel numbers in DC are Channel 6 on Comcast; Channel 11 on Starpower.

Note that since these presentations, Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced an $800M bill to help correct structural budget imbalance. See the Our Nation's Capital, http://www.OurNationsCapital.org, for more details.

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Hardy Middle School
Nora Bawa, botanica@isp.com

In the ongoing saga of Hardy Middle School, allow me to add one viewpoint that has not yet been covered. Being firmly against tracking in general, and having no knowledge about the Hardy situation, as an educator I have a different take on out-of-neighborhood schooling. Since a good school, anywhere, is the product of a strong, democratic and dedicated principal and an involved PTA, why is it that concerned parents in Shepherd Park and other east-of-the-park neighborhoods don't improve their neighborhood schools, instead of busing their kids to mostly white schools? Do they think just sitting with white students is a prize? It's not that west-of-the-park schools get more money — the formula is the same for all DCPS. Some of the schools, like Wilson, are just as run down as those in Anacostia.

What my own government students established, when we discussed this problem some time ago, is that in schools in which parents are concerned (and usually middle class, black or white), the schools are better because the parents insist on a good principal and good teachers. Wouldn't it be better to improve more schools everywhere in DC, through the activism of parents like those who send their kids out of their locality, rather than bemoaning bad behavior in schools that track children who are bused in? Just a question . . . any answers?

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DCPS Policies and Hardy Middle School
Victoria Lord, tory at aya dot yale dot edu

I wanted to write and correct a misapprehension that may have arisen due to Ms. Chittam's letter concerning Hardy Middle School [Patricia Howard-Chittams, themail, May 16]. A quick check of the official DCPS web site makes it clear that Hardy is a majority African-American School. Only 110 Hardy students are white, 27 are Asian, and 58 are Hispanic. In fact, despite this city's constant disdain for schools "west of the park" and certainty that they are white, well-funded, and well-favored, the truth of DC is that almost all of our schools, with the exception of three or possibly four elementary schools, are majority African-American -- and that includes the schools west of the park.

Ms. Chittam also excoriates Wilson and Banneker for having selective programs that she assumes are to avoid the No Child Left Behind Act (and by implication, to avoid taking African-American children). In fact, both of these schools are majority African-American -- the highly selective academic program at Banneker has only eleven white students in the entire school. All high schools in the city are, and have always been, allowed to use selective criteria for accepting students from out-of-boundary areas. This process preceded the No Child Left Behind Act and arises primarily from the types of programs offered by the schools. The selective Duke Ellington School for the Arts (also majority African-American) takes only students who demonstrate a high level of artistic ability. This makes sense for a program that works with students to develop their skills in this area. I hope this helps people clarify their thinking on what really goes on in DCPS.

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Response to “Angry About the School System”
Esther Cohen, richarddotsteacyatgtedotnet

[A. Marsh, anitangela@hotmail.com, wrote in themail, June 6:] ?[W]hat makes African-Americans angry about white people as a group and what we, unfortunately, have to teach our children, in 2004, that white people as a group are racist and unworthy of your trust. Shame on you for making that home training a necessity in 2004!?

No! You never ever have to teach your children to paint any group with one brush! You teach each child to reach for his or her own potential. You teach the children that there will be challenges for many different reasons, and laying blame is not part of surmounting the challenge. Each of us will lay blame in our own minds, and I think that's nearly unavoidable, but each of us needs to work hard to be sure that our children are able to see a goal to reach, not an excuse to fail. Badmouthing others accomplishes nothing.

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Reply to A. Marsh
Bryce Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

Your letter accusing me of racism is, alas, proof that what I said in my remarks is true. You leap to ad hominem arguments (calling me racist) instead of answering my comments. What about accepting my very harsh, but I think accurate, criticism? Stop playing the race card. Buckle down and do something positive about fixing the problems that blacks have created in their own school system.

Here are my specific suggestions: 1) Join together with other, like-minded parents and force the teachers and principals unions to do their job. This could be done through membership in groups like Parents United to motivate parents to demand better teaching in the schools. 2) Publicly criticize at public gatherings and in the black media those black parents a) who speak Ebonics, b) who don't offer their children a stable family life, c) who don't provide enough food at home so that their kids' minds are alert at school, d) who don't read and don't encourage their children to enjoy reading, d) and who don't discipline their children, thereby creating chaos in the classrooms when their children run amuck.

By the way, I was being sarcastic when I said I was pleased that the Hardy school principal streamed the students according to their actual ability, because this gives white and black liberals a politically correct issue to get riled up about. I think all of us blacks and whites should protest the numerous other problems in the DC schools as well, something we don't do because it's politically incorrect.

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WASA Replies
Johnnie Hemphill, johnnie_hemphill@dcwasa.com

[Reply to Leila Afzal, themail, June 6:] WASA has established criteria to determine the selection of blocks for inclusion in the lead service line pipe replacement program. WASA is aware that some residents on Ordway are anxious to have lead service line pipes replaced, and it is our objective to be both responsive and prudent. Unfortunately, the information available to WASA is not consistent with your opinion as expressed in themail@dcwatch, and the information does not support the selection of these blocks for inclusion in the replacement program at this time.

WASA engineering staff have performed a detailed evaluation of the blocks included the District of Columbia Department of Transportation 2004 work plan. The information we have does not support selection of Ordway between 30th and 34th Streets, NW based for several reasons: Upgrading versus Reconstruction: DDOT records indicate that its work on these blocks of Ordway are an upgrade, not a reconstruction. Percentage of Lead Service Line Pipes on a Block Compared to the Block Total; one criterion used for block selection by WASA on DDOT projects is the percentage of lead service line pipes on a block that are recorded as lead. WASA selected all blocks in DDOT's 2004 plan with the number of lead service line pipes compared to the total number of service line pipes equaling 37 percent lead and greater. There are 36 service connections from 30th to 34th on Ordway, but only three are identified as lead. On these blocks, the number of lead service line pipes compared to the total number of service line pipes yields a percentage of 8.3 percent lead service line pipes compared to the total. Sample Test Results: another criterion WASA used was the number of water sample results exceeding the action level. Our evaluation listed the total number of samples received, the number sample tests greater than 15 ppb and the number of sample tests greater than 300 ppb. On these blocks, our records show only one water sample submitted, with a test result below 300 ppb. So again, unfortunately, the information we have does not support the selection of these blocks for the replacement program at this time. Please free to contact me if we can provide additional information or be of any further assistance.

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Contributing to Howard, Betting on Jones
Kathleen Patterson, kpattdc3@aol.com

Gary! That would be HOWARD Dean, not John Dean! And you got me . . . I was cheering for Smarty but no money was involved. Cheers.

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DMV
James Treworgy, jamie@trewtech.com

[Reply to Larry Seftor, themail, June 6:] As a one-time frequent DMV critic myself, I'm surprised at your trouble because I've found them to be a lot better lately. The $25 charge is quite curious, because inspection has never been a separate charge — it's included in registration. Maybe it's for residential parking — I believe the fee increased recently or is scheduled to increase, which might explain the discrepancy between the amounts. This wouldn't excuse DMV rejecting a mailed-in payment because of this change, but I wonder if they really would have done that. Anyway, did you attempt to renew your registration online? It takes only a minute and it has always worked for me in the last four years or so since this system became available. Since the notice comes about 6-8 weeks before registration expires, I've always had plenty of time. You get a positive confirmation via the web and E-mail in case you need to prove anything later, and the document has always arrived within days of renewing online. I have also obtained a duplicate driver's license online with minimal effort.

My in-person experiences (only one lately: with my wife to renew her old-school driver's license) have also been good, no substantial lines. As for security, I had a small pocket tool on my key chain that doesn't even have a knife on it rejected by the security folks. It's even gotten through airports before. I was impressed.

Anyway, this is not to say the problems you experienced aren't legitimate, but rather to offer another perspective and also suggest always trying the online services first since they seem to work well.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Houses and Gardens of Brookland, June 13
Carol Herrera, herreraca@hotmail.com

The Greater Brookland Garden Club is presenting its fourth annual Houses and Gardens of Brookland tour on Sunday, June 13, from 12 noon to 5 p.m., followed by a reception/picnic from 5- 6:30 p.m. at Jeff Wilson and Alvin Truesdale’s 1896 Victorian House at 1250 Newton Street, NE. All ticket holders and volunteers are welcome! A 32-seat Trolley will circulate continuously from stop to stop, which; in addition to all new houses and gardens, the formal gardens of the Franciscan Monastery, the tropical gardens and white sand beach of Island Jim's Crab Shack and Tiki Bar, and the gardens of St. Anthony's Church and the Ronald MacDonald House; includes the historic Brooks Mansion, current home of DCTV, located at the Brookland/CUA Metro station. Tickets are available for $12.00 at “Petals Ribbons and Beyond” flower shop at 3906 12th Street, NE, between Quincy and Randolph Streets. For information, phone 636-2048 through Saturday, June 12. Tickets will also be for sale on the tour day, Sunday, June 13 for $15 at Petals, Ribbons, and Beyond and at Brooks Mansion at the Brookland Metro station.

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Indian Music and Dance at the Corcoran, June 14
Dorothy Marschak, dmarschak@chime-dc.org

I would like to recommend this wonderful program. Brian Silver has given programs for CHIME in libraries and schools for four years which have received glowing evaluations. In additional to concertizing internationally on the sitar, he is the Chief of the Urdu section of Voice of America. The Corcoran Museum of Art and APCA present Shubha Sankaran, surbahar; Brian Q. Silver, sitar; and Swamidas Dalvi, tabla in a concert of Indian music and dance from August Strindberg's A Dream Play. Monday, June 14, at 7:00 p.m., at The Corcoran Museum of Art, 500 17th Street, NW (use the New York Avenue entrance). For more information, call 639-1700. Admission $18; $15 for museum members, and if you purchase by telephone (639-1770), press 1 and mention the Open Theater flier for the discount; advance purchase requested.

The music, including the dance pieces, was composed especially for the widely-discussed Open Theater production (http://www.opentheatre.org) in September/October 2003, at the Takoma Theater, of August Strindberg's A Dream Play; in this mystic drama about life as illusion, the daughter of the Vedic God Indra descends to earth and enters the lives, dreams, and delusions of human beings in order to discover the human experience. This production was the first of A Dream Play anywhere in the world to present the Indian aesthetic — with music, dance, and mudra — so completely infused throughout the performance. This concert presentation will feature the music in extended form, the dances (choreographed by Christel Stevens), and selected readings from the play by some of the original actors, with music underscoring the words.

Shubha Sankaran studied instrumental music with Ustad Imrat Khan, and vocal music with the late Pandit Srikant Bakre. She recently completed a ten-concert tour with the Gundecha Brothers — the last program being for the Indian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. For more information go to http://www.surbahar.com. Brian Q. Silver studied sitar with the late Ustad Ghulamhusain Khan, and has performed with Shubha Sankaran throughout South Asia and the US, as well as in Europe, North Africa, and Central and South America. He recently received an Artist's Fellowship from the D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information go to http://www.surbahar.com. Swamidas Dalvi learned tabla for eight years from Pandit Nageshkar in Mumbai, then studied further with the late Ustad Alla Rakha. He has performed throughout the East Coast of the United States, most notably with the distinguished vocalist Veena Sahasrabuddhe. For more information on APCA (Advancement and Promotion of Charitable Activities; Jitendra Kumar, Trustee), go to http://www.apca-usa.org/

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Summer Sublet Available
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

We have at least one room available in our house this summer. Please visit http://www.mathteachingtoday.com/rooms.htm for details.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Cheap German-to-English Translation Needed ASAP
Peter O'Toole, PO2L - at - yahoo - dot - com

Looking for very reasonable German-to-English translation of German-issued vehicle title. About four pages of text similar to US titles (owner name, address, etc.). Need as soon as possible (can fax document to translator or deliver by hand to downtown/upper NW/Cap Hill)!

Please contact Peter O'Toole: PO2L - at - yahoo - dot - com with your rates.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Broadband Service
Norma Zane Chaplain, nzc2@columbia.edu

Please let me know if you have a broadband connection that has been working well.

[This could be a good topic for public replies -- what has been your experience with the companies that offer DSL and cable broadband locally? Anyone using a satellite broadband connection at home or work? -- Gary Imhoff]

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Legal Help for Spanish-Speaking Neighbor
Paul Zender, pz90@yahoo.com

Does someone know of an agency that could help my neighbor with the rental of her basement? She speaks very little English and needs help with the rental and background check forms.

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