Failed Promises
Dear Promise Keepers:
The effort to blame an elected school board for the problems of the
District of Columbia Public Schools is sadly misplaced. The city’s
public schools haven’t been under the control of an elected school
board for the past ten years. The Control Board replaced the elected
school board with an Emergency Transitional Board of Trustees in 1996.
The Control Board’s promise was that a clear line of authority and a
strong leader, General Julius W. Becton, would ensure rapid improvement
of the schools. Becton’s 1997 report, “Moving Toward an Exemplary
System: A Report on the First Year’s Efforts to Reform DC Public
Schools” (http://www.dcpswatch.com/dcps/9711.htm),
makes for much more instructive reading a decade later than it did when
it was released. What reading it now teaches is not to believe promises
of quick and easy school reform brought about by a clear line of
authority and a strong leader.
In 2000, Mayor Williams proposed a charter amendment to replace the
elected school board with a mixed mayorally appointed and elected school
board. He promised that that would make the mayor directly responsible
for the schools and give him a clear line of authority to improve them.
The motto of the campaign to reduce the number of school board members
and replace half the elected members with mayorally appointed members
was “Accountability, Leadership, Change.” What that experience
taught is not to believe mayoral promises that mayoral leadership and
accountability will change the schools.
Now that we are scheduled to return to an all-elected school board at
the next general election, Mayor Fenty is determined to prove that he
has learned nothing from two failed school board takeovers in the past
decade. His solution for the schools? Yet another school board takeover,
yet another attempt to blame a democratically elected school board —
which we haven’t had for the past decade -- for the problems of the
schools, and yet another set of phony promises that if he can just
eliminate democratic impediments and replace them with a clear line of
authority and a strong leader, he’ll improve the schools rapidly and
easily. What’s amazing is that anyone who has been around for the past
ten years would consider being fooled yet again a third time.
Council Chairman Vincent Gray has scheduled a series of city council
hearings on Mayor Fenty’s takeover plan, starting this Thursday. The
press release is at http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/070112.htm.
Mayor Fenty’s 100-day action plan is at http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/070111.htm
— I’d welcome your comments on it.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Ten Reasons Why I Oppose Fenty’s School
Takeover
Crystal Sylvia, crystalsylvia@yahoo.com
As a DCPS parent and DCPS social worker I have experienced first hand
the overwhelming problems that plague the public school system in DC. As
a community activist I have participated over the years in the fight for
real reforms to improve our schools. Below are ten reasons why I oppose
Mayor Fenty’s plan to takeover our schools.
1) While campaigning for the mayoral primary, Fenty never uttered a
word about taking over the schools to voters nor did he include it in
his education platform. It was only after the primary that he shared his
plan. Fenty’s landslide victory was a mandate for change not a
recycling of Williams failed legislative proposals. Why did Fenty hide
his intentions during the primary race? 2) This plan is undemocratic in
two ways. Firstly, since Fenty did not include a school takeover in his
campaign, he does not have a mandate to take such drastic steps without
going to DC residents. Not only should we have public hearings as
Council Chair Gray has scheduled, but the takeover should also be put
before voters as a referendum since it radically changes the governance
structure of the schools. 3) Secondly, the takeover is undemocratic
because Fenty is asking Congress to change our city’s home rule
charter to allow the takeover. He is doing this while at the same time
planning a march to Congress to demand statehood. Fenty is insisting
that he is only going to Congress to prevent a long drawn out divisive
debate on the issue. The takeover undermines democracy and our fight for
statehood. 4) The takeover will mean one more layer of bureaucracy in DC
Public Schools. Fenty will have authority over the superintendent and
the council will have line item control (micromanaging authority) over
the DCPS budget. This type of top-down approach is already one of the
main criticisms of DCPS by parents and teachers. Under Fenty’s plan,
those who know best how to improve the system (parents, teachers and
students themselves) will be even further removed from any real decision
making power. The takeover just adds one more layer at the top. 5) Let’s
look at alternatives to a takeover like showing more support of Janey’s
Master Education Plan and Master Facilities Plan. Janey has also
recommended that a moratorium be placed on new charter schools which are
draining money and resources out of the school system while at the same
time performing no better than DCPS.
6) It is quite alarming that the people Fenty has chosen to spearhead
his education reform efforts, Victor Reinoso and Neil Albert, are very
closely tied with the Federal City Council (FCC). For those who may not
be aware, the FCC operates like a shadow government of Washington, DC.
It pushes pro-business legislation and development in DC and leverages
tremendous power among our elective officials. Many people are rightly
speculating the possibility of a land grab of DCPS property by
developers. 7) Ever since Fenty’s announcement of a takeover, all of
the focus on DCPS has been overwhelmingly negative. The media, city
leaders, and DC residents are only discussing how DCPS is dysfunctional.
While in no way can one deny the huge problems that exist in DCPS, it is
important to recognize that there are a lot of great things happening as
well. It is very demoralizing to students, school staff, and parents to
constantly hear only the bad. It makes you just want to give up hope. 8)
As a parent who chose to run for mayor and prioritize his efforts on
improving public schools, it is very disheartening that Fenty also
chooses to send his two children to private school. Almost all of the
people in power (mayor, city council members and school board members)
do not have a child enrolled in DCPS, yet they claim to know what is
best. 9) The takeover will be yet another turnover of leadership in DCPS.
The instability of leadership within DCPS has been one of the main
obstacles to true reform. The takeover will mean new initiatives to
replace the “old” initiatives, which are only a couple of years old.
Even though Fenty is going to keep Janey for now, the leadership and
direction of DCPS is going to change with the takeover. So while we are
waiting for this to happen DCPS is being paralyzed- why bother planning
for the future when the takeover will create so much change. 10) Fenty
should use all of his energy and resources supporting and fixing the
problems of other DC agencies that he has control over that directly
impact our students. Major improvements are needed in the Department of
Mental Health, juvenile services, substance abuse services, Department
of Human Services and with improving our students and their family’s
access to quality health care and safe affordable housing. All too often
DCPS is saddled with the responsibility of trying to educate children
whose families are in crisis or are in desperate need of support
services.
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Too Much on His Plate
Ed T. Barron, etdb1@macdotcom
Mayor Fenty has declared that he wants to address two hundred
problems in his first one hundred days in office. Far better to very
selectively pick just a few big problems and work diligently to solve
them. The lure of being all things to all people could result in few big
problems being solved. Take it slow and learn as you go is my advice to
our new mayor.
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Not every citizen in the District of Columbia (including native and
longtime Washingtonians that may not be on the active front line for
statehood or may not have been involved in the civil rights movement) is
ready to abdicate their rights to permit a takeover of the school system
by another elected unproven body. Certainly no one wants to be an
impediment to responsible, positive change or wants to rain on anyone’s
parade; however, not all voters are willing to rubber-stamp an
initiative to alter the home rule charter without going through the
legal process and we do not expect our leadership to change the rules to
enable them to do so without our advice and consent.
It would seem that any major changes to the District of Columbia’s
home rule charter should be brought to the citizens in earnest through a
referendum and not just through public hearings where the results can be
open to interpretation. It would be presumptuous of elected officials to
think that because voters trusted them enough to elect them that
citizens are ready to give them carte blanche to change the
structure of elected government as they see fit. A mandate to win is not
a mandate to dictate or a license to amass more power and influence
without permission of the electorate. Everybody is not so sure that
reducing another elected representative body to an advisory panel is the
best thing. In fact, elected and advisory seem to be an oxymoron in many
respects. Mayors Williams and Barry were not granted this authority and
now the citizens are expected to grant a new mayoral administration in
its infancy this power. Washington, DC, is a unique jurisdiction and
maybe in a city with limited democracy, an elected school board with
power and independence is the right structure
It is mind-boggling to see that in 2007 elected officials are willing
to circumvent the home rule amendment process by appealing to the powers
to be in Congress to make it convenient to sidestep a vote by the
citizens in the nation’s capital. Historically, Congress has long
wanted to make changes to our city with the mere waving of their hand
(or five hundred plus hands) and often has wanted to use the District of
Columbia as its personal laboratory to try out their pet projects not
implemented back in their home districts. There has long been resistance
by citizens and city leadership to keep Congress out of our governing
affairs, whether they be Republicans or Democrats. Now, with the
blessings of a Republican mayor from New York, we are expected to be
ready to bypass the home rule charter to get a quick, convenient fix in
the name of education for our children. With all due respect, that is an
ingenuous proposition. At least give the semblance of respect for the
Home Rule Charter and citizens’ rights by ratifying any vote to change
the charter via a referendum. The council could still impose its will by
overturning it like it has done with some citizen initiatives. Note that
when the initiative guaranteeing housing for the homeless became a
fiasco, the citizens overturned it through a referendum/initiative. They
were smart enough to do what they needed to do. Why not trust them now
with a referendum?
In addition to having a referendum, the District should avoid the
disenfranchisement of the citizens of Wards 4 and 7 by waiting until
they have their elected council members in place to fill the seats
vacated by the new mayor and council chair. (It would seem like a
conflict of interest for the mayor and chairman to represent their
interests in this matter now that they are in their citywide positions.)
During the special election campaigns, citizens could vet this issue and
show their support for or against with the councilmembers that they
elect May 1. Each ward should have a leader to vote on this major issue.
I don’t recall the school takeover proposed as a key initiative in the
2006 elections, otherwise I wonder the elections would have turned out.
It doesn’t appear that anyone that pushed the idea at the time was
elected. Wards 4 and 7 should demand that they have their elected
council members in place before any major action takes place on the
school takeover. Too bad there wasn’t a way to appoint an interim
councilmember as the DC Democratic State Committee was allowed to do
with the at-large vacancy a few years ago. It would be almost sacrilege
to have changes to school governance without Wards 4 and 7 having their
elected councilmembers to vote their interest.
In closing, I prefer to have an elected school board with power
representing each ward and advocating and implementing the positions of
the electorate. Should that not be possible, have a sunset provision
that closes out the new governance act in five years or do and allow the
citizens to revisit the change at that time. I do not like the hybrid
and look forward to the return of an elected school board with more than
cosmetic, advisory responsibilities. Dust off the studies pertaining to
education and schools and see what really works. Look at best practices
in the suburbs and private schools. As a product of the DC public
schools and the parent of two graduates of DC public schools, I know
that there are a lot more issues with the schools than governance. Look
at expectations, families, neighborhoods, student peers, and what goes
on in the classroom. Leave school governance alone until you look at
what really matters. And don’t use a fancy title like Chancellor
instead of Superintendent to make the takeover seem more palatable.
Citizens don’t have to have their rights abated to have smart,
educated children in the nation’s capital. That is an old calculated
argument that falls on death ears by those that understand that their
can be balance between democracy and an educated people.
###############
Thomas Boswell’s piece in the Post on January 12, "A
Bad Break," [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102091.html]
told the story of a sad less-than-fitting farewell to the legendary Hall
of Famer and former Nationals’ manager Frank Robinson. This is a tale
of a clash of perceived slights, major league egos, and management that
wants a clean break from the past. Baseball is a game of many
traditions. The uniforms, the rules, and the parks are literal
cathedrals. I remember going to my first game back in the summer of 1972
to see the Mets play in Shea stadium. The perfectly manicured field, the
smell and taste of the hot dogs smothered in sauerkraut and sweet
relish, and searching for the toy at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box
are memories that are still fresh in my mind. It was there that I
learned the difference between a squeeze play and suicide squeeze play,
a dinger and a dink, and to appreciate the athletic artistry of the twin
killing. I still have memories of some of the more colorful fans eagerly
pointing out which players were the stars, the utility men and the bums.
In just one afternoon, I was in love with the game. Then Reggie Jackson
came to town and I was an instant Mr. October and devout Yankee fan.
This was what I was looking forward to when the news first broke that
the Expos were coming to DC. I could already picture taking my then
two-year-old son Zachary to see the new Nationals team and buying his
first baseball cap. I wanted him to have the same experience and to grow
to love the game just as I had as an eight-year-old. The first season
Zach got his cap, a few snacks, and the chance to see the renowned
skipper in action. Year two, we didn’t do so well, but we still had
the ol’ man standing at the top of the dugout stairs, leaning against
the railing with eyes squinted, and barking instructions to our guys and
insults to the umps . . . so there was hope.
After reading that Post story I got a sinking feeling; like
the kind Cub fans must have felt when they talked about Da Curse of the
Billy Goat or Red Sox fans had with the Bambino; which brings me to
another of baseball’s traditions — superstitions. In the case of The
Babe, a bad trade brought about the curse, and as for the Billy Goat, it
was a perceived slight. I sincerely hope the Lerner family steps in and
gets team president Stan Kasten and general manager Jim Bowden to honor
tradition by offering Frank Robinson a position with some measure of
substance to merit his dignified stature in the game. And if they still
don’t get it, fire those two bums and get someone with a real
understanding of the importance of building World Series champions like
Bob Watson or John Schuerholz to take their place. Because the last
thing I want as an American pastime purist and a DC taxpayer is for the
new District-financed stadium to become home to an eternally cursed
baseball team — with the lame annual rally cry of we’ll get ‘em
next year!
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I’m having a very interesting internal debate with myself over this
new soccer stadium plan. On one hand, it would seem it’s something I
should be happy about. You see, I am a soccer fan, having passionately
followed the game internationally for thirty years. For the first five
years of DC United’s eleven-year existence, I covered the team as a
beat writer for a now defunct online company called CyberSports in 1996
and 97, and later as producer of a weekly TV soccer show called
Screaming Eagles TV from 1998 through 2000. I should like the fact this
soccer team wants to have its own stadium in the city. But I am not
happy, and that’s because there seems to be something not above board
about how this is playing out.
My initial understanding was the Poplar Point land transfer to the DC
government was to grow the city’s tax base. When I heard two years ago
of DC United’s wishing to build at Poplar Point, I was all for it. At
that time, it was my understanding there was to be one hundred fifty
acres of land transferred with no restrictions on how it was to be used.
Later, as I read more about the plans, and was somewhat involved as a
member of the Poplar Point advisory committee, I found that almost half
of that land — seventy acres — had to be used for parkland purposes
including wetlands and monuments. Of the remaining eighty acres,
thirteen had to be set aside for future bridge and WASA projects. That
means of the original one hundred fifty acres, only sixty-seven are
available for development.
Five Major League Soccer (MLS) teams have moved from larger NFL and
college stadiums to smaller ones of under 30,000 seats that teams have
built over the last five years. None of those stadiums, including one
currently under construction in Harrison, NJ, in the New York
metropolitan area, has taken fewer than twenty acres for its stadium and
parking. If that is the case here, and if DC United gets their wishes,
the actual amount of Poplar Point acres left for "economic
development" for the city is under fifty acres of the original one
hundred fifty.
In preliminary plans unveiled in November for Poplar Point
development, there were to be three neighborhoods or areas established.
One along Howard Road, one in an area called W Street, SE, extended, and
one that would be linked to Good Hope Road. All of this development
would take place west of I-295, not on the side of Anacostia where the
MLK and Good Hope business district are. Further, it appears that of
these new Poplar Point neighborhood footprints, a stadium would only fit
in the area that would be W Street extended one, across I-295 from the
back of the Anacostia Professional Building on land that is currently
the home the US Park Police and its Helipad. Its been stated that for
that land to be used, for a stadium or any other purpose, the Park
Police facilities would have to be moved, at city expense, to another
site that is strategic for them.
Mayor Fenty grew so popular citywide in part for his feet-in-stone
stance and votes against the sweetheart deal giving the Washington
Nationals a $630 million stadium. Yet he has reportedly told DC United
officials, in fan supported environments, that the city will build them
a stadium. Why the flip-flop now? And, even if the city says DC United
has to build its own soccer stadium, who is going to pay to move the US
Park Service offices and helipad? That move that might actually cost
more money than building a steel and concrete 27,000-seat stadium.
There is a public meeting planned at Ballou High School on January 20
to discuss these plans [see meeting notice below], and I would hope
citizens with a real concern come out to hear these plans and
participate in the public discussion. There have been some advocates for
the stadium, and they point to a turnout at Ballou last winter where DC
United unveiled their stadium plans during what was like a pep rally
sponsored in part by the Anacostia Coordinating Council. Free cooked
meals were served up and soccer balls were handed out, and the
auditorium was packed. Some stadium supporters use this as evidence that
East of the River and Ward 8 support a stadium. The same type of
enticement will be offered on January 20 to again stage a show of
support. Maybe people will come out to show they support a stadium, or
maybe a breakfast and lunch is too sweet to turn down regardless of
their stance. Only the attendees can tell you for sure. But if the offer
of a goody bag can get people to come out and paint a picture of support
for an issue, then maybe the video slots people could learn a thing or
two in how to stage an event to show support for something when just the
opposite might be the real desire.
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The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities prize for fiction should
go to Claude Bailey, sports commission general counsel, for this
whopper: “This art is only being leased to the stadium. . . . It
belongs to the arts commission so we don’t get into these cap issues.
It’s a loan essentially.” (Michael Neibauer, “Deal Should Clear
the Way for Stadium Art,” http://www.examiner.com/a-496113~Deal_should_clear_the_way_for_stadium_art.html).
Statements of the Project Consultant (Washington Post,
December 7, 2006, Page B04) clearly prove the $2 million project is
site-specific. Reusing any of it would require recreating the physical,
cultural, and social environment of the original, an impossibility.
Calling such work a “loan” or “lease” bends reality well
beyond the breaking point. It is like calling dental work a “loan.”
###############
Leo Alexander’s posting about the North Portal Estates buyout [themail,
January 10] reflects my position to a tee. Who at DCRA will be called on
the carpet for this colossal mistake? And it’s not an isolated case.
On January 10, the Northwest Current detailed the story of the
city’s on again/off again plans to build a firehouse on Georgia Avenue
opposite the Safeway in Brightwood. The former (and now current)
property owner had been threatened with eminent domain if he didn’t
sell to the city. But after hearing residents’ concerns about a
firehouse in that location — residents were not consulted prior to the
purchase — the city has sold the space back to the former owner so
that he can proceed with his development plans. The article said nothing
about how much money changed hands in these deals, but I have a sneaking
suspicion that, once again, we taxpayers got taken for a ride.
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Revised MLK Day Holiday Trash and Recycling
Collection Schedule
Vera Jackson, vera.jackson@dc.gov
District government offices will be closed on Monday, January 15, for
the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Most services will
be suspended, including DPW trash and recyclables collection, street
cleaning, parking enforcement and towing. All services will resume on
Tuesday, January 16. Trash and recyclables collection schedule will
slide one day for the remainder of the week citywide.
The Fort Totten Transfer Station will be closed on the holiday.
Regular hours for citizen drop off are from Monday through Friday from
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Why I Oppose DC Statehood and Congressional
Vote
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees2006@verizon.net
I have received from readers of themail questions about whether I am
anti-DC and opposed to statehood and a vote in Congress. My answer to
these readers is: the reason I oppose statehood and a Congressional vote
is rooted in the corruption of the government of the District of
Columbia, from the Office of the Mayor to the city council and across to
the heads and management of many agencies of the District of Columbia.
DC is a modern day Tammany Hall.
DC will never realize its dream until the federal government abolish
Home Rule, abolish DC government as we know it, and place all DC
governmental agencies under their federal counterparts to weed out the
corruption and incompetence. Maybe fifteen to twenty years from now, we
can start all over again with a new DC government with a mayor, council
and release the agencies back to local control.
Hopefully this will set the record straight for all who wondered.
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HPV Vaccination
Bernie Arons, arons@ndri.org
I’m not sure that themail is the best venue for medical and
scientific discussion, for example, to discuss and disabuse people of
the notion conveyed by Ralph Chittams [themail, January 10] that
cervical cancer is due to sexual promiscuity and that young woman should
not receive protection but abstain from sexual contact. We know how well
that approach is working to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS or teen
pregnancy. I believe I will restrain myself and not take the bait.
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Is Virtue Good Policy?
Bill Coe, bceedeec@aol.com
Mr. Chittams [themail, January 10] has clumsily tipped his cards by
inserting a gratuitous crack about anti-Christian zealotry at the end of
his screed on the new HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine. After so
carefully parsing his words and eliminating sectarian language from his
piece, he slips up and shows his religious stripes after all. Like so
many sad good Christians, Mr. Chittams doesn’t want better medicine,
or better science, or better public health. He wants better people.
Good luck with that! I think he’s in for a disappointing surprise;
he won’t find his fellow creatures much improved before and until he
reaches the Heaven promised to true believers. Once there, he’ll learn
that many of the perfected souls around him arrived on that far shore as
a result of policies such as the one he advocates. It is true, strictly
speaking, that the vaccine in question does not directly prevent or cure
cervical cancer. It does, though, act against the four strains of HPV
that cause seventy percent of the cervical cancer diagnosed among women,
and its effect on these viruses is one hundred percent beneficial.
Moreover, the value of the vaccine is shown to be greater as it is
administered to ever younger girls.
Here’s a political puzzle for Mr. Chittams to solve. He might go
his congregation for an answer. Nearly ten thousand American women came
down with cervical cancer last year alone. The rate of infection for
women in DC was 53 percent higher than the national average. Among all
groups, African-American women suffered death from cervical cancer most
frequently. Is a “system-wide true love waits program— the remedy he
really wants to sell in this particular community? Good luck with that!
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This is to advise that the January 2007 on-line edition has been
uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com.
Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports,
editorials (including prior months’ archived), restaurant reviews
(prior months’ also archived), and the text from the ever-popular
“Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current
classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to
January 2003) also is available in PDF file format directly from our
home page at no charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you
will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including
all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on February 9
(the second Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version
will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at
the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community
news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.
To read this month’s lead stories, simply click the link on the
home page to the following headlines: 1) “First Case From New Historic
District May Set Precedent at Odds with Assurances Given by HPRB Members
During Hearing to Consider Establishing”; 2) “DC Jewish Community
Center Honoring CEO Arna Mickelson — Has Led JCC for 20 Years”; 3)
“Shaw Neighborhood School Part of Experience Corps’ Program for
Tutoring Kids in the Basics.”
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Taking DC to the Next Level: It’s Not Just
About Kids
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
NARPAC looks closely at the inaugural addresses of Mayor Fenty and
Chair Gray. We accept these short statements as the least inhibited
expressions of their initial overall policy goals. We find lots to agree
with, and a few things either exaggerated or omitted. The unanswerable
question, of course, is whether their "going-in" positions
will in any way relate to their "coming out" positions several
years hence. The focus on education seems exactly right, particularly
when viewed in the context of "rebuilding the family and the fabric
of the community". The hooker will come if/when these objectives
are inappropriately narrowed down to unrealistic goals for eighth grade
NAEP reading scores while setting no goals for upgrading fifty years of
DC school dropouts. We touch these issues lightly at http://www.narpac.org/CMR.HTM#inaugad07
and http://www.narpac.org/INTHOPHO.HTM.
This would be a good time for all the city’s self-appointed movers and
shakers to bag the whining and lend a helping word or hand.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Stand Up and Stand In for Darfur, January 15,
17
Ron Leve, theron@comcast.net
The local Darfur Advocacy Committee is sponsoring a weekly vigil at
the Embassy of Sudan to protest the genocide in Darfur. This takes place
each Wednesday from 12 to 1 p.m. in front of the Embassy at 2210
Massachusetts Avenue, NW, just three blocks from the Dupont Circle Metro
stop. In addition, there will be a special rally on Martin Luther King
Day, January 15, at the same time. We who live in the Washington area
are privileged to be able to personally participate in these protests
and have a responsibility to stand-in for the thousands elsewhere in the
country who, but for distance, would be grateful for the opportunity
that we have.. Please show your support by dedicating an hour for this
purpose.
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Interesting Events at Woman’s National Democratic Club, January
16, 25
Pat Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com
Tuesday, January 16, Helen Thomas is an ongoing legend in journalism.
She will tell us about her latest book, Watchdogs of Democracy?,
a manifesto on the precipitous decline in the quality and ethics of
political reporting. Thomas has been the first in many ways in the world
of national journalism. For example: first woman officer of the National
Press Club after it admitted women members and first woman officer of
the White House Correspondents Association. This is a WNDC Educational
foundation Event (tax deductible). Checks should be payable to WNDC-EF.
Bar opens at 11:30 a.m., lunch 12:30 p.m. Members, $19; nonmembers, $25.
Thursday, January 25, Colonel Janis Karpinski, Former Brigadier
General and Commander of Abu Ghraib, will discuss her experiences in the
US Army, particularly in the Middle East, her views about the Abu Ghraib
prison scandal, and her book, One Woman’s Army: The Commanding
General Tells Her Story. Bar opens 11:30 a.m., lunch 12:30 p.m.
Members, $19; nonmembers, $25. A WNDC Educational Foundation Event.
checks should be payable to WNDC-EF. Both events at the Woman’s
National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Contact Patricia
Fitzgerald, 232-7363 x3003 or pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.
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Town Hall Meeting with Mayor Fenty on Substance Abuse, January 17
Rob Fleming, rflemin@verizon.net
Members of the DC community who are in long-term recovery from
substance use disorders and their friends and supporters will meet with
Mayor Adrian Fenty on Wednesday, January 17, at 6:30 p.m. in St.
Catherine’s Hall at Providence Hospital, 1140 Varnum Street, NE. They
will discuss the city’s drug and alcohol problem and opportunities to
solve it, based on their own experience. If you, your family, or your
community have been adversely affected by alcohol and other drugs, come
out and join the discussion. And if you yourself are a living
testimonial that recovery works, come carry that message to the Mayor
(and his friends and supporters). The meeting is being organized by the
District of Columbia Recovery Community Alliance. Need more information?
E-mail Recovery@RecoveryWorks.org.
###############
National Building Museum Events, January 17-18
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
Wednesday, January 17, 6:30-8:00 p.., 2007 Vincent J. Scully Prize:
Witold Rybczynski. Author, scholar, professor, and architect Witold
Rybczynski has investigated and chronicled the fields of architecture
and urban planning for more than twenty years. His publications include
the J. Anthony Lukas Prize-winning A Clearing in the Distance
(1999); The Look of Architecture (2000); and articles for The
New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker.
The Museum is recognizing Rybczynski’s valued contributions to
architecture and urban planning with the 2007 Vincent J. Scully Prize.
Following a public prize ceremony, Rybczynski will give a lecture on
demand-side urbanism, exploring four paradigms of 20th-century American
urbanism and how the designs of American cities have been fundamentally
affected by market demand. $12 Museum members and students; $20
nonmembers. Prepaid registration required. Walk-in registration based on
availability.
Thursday, January 18, 6:30-8:00 p.m., lecture: ecoMOD: Designing
Ecological, Modular and Affordable House Prototypes. Assistant professor
John Quale founded and directs the ecoMOD project at the University of
Virginia School of Architecture, established to design and build
ecological, modular, and affordable house prototypes. Two projects,
ecoMOD1 (a two-unit affordable condominium in Charlottesville, VA) and
ecoMOD2 (in Gautier, Mississippi, to house a family displaced by
Hurricane Katrina), have already been completed. Professor Quale will
discuss both projects; the design of their newest initiative, ecoMOD3, a
housing prototype for aging populations; and more. This lecture is held
in conjunction with the exhibition The Green House, which will be open
for viewing. $12 Museum Members and students; $20 nonmembers. Prepaid
registration required. Walk-in registration based on availability. Both
events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary
Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
###############
Poplar Point Plan, Ward 8 Public Meeting
Justice and Sustainability Associates, rsvp@jsallc.com
The public is invited to one of the most important public meetings
ever in Ward 8, on the Poplar Point Plan. Saturday, January 20, 10:00
a.m.-2:30 p.m. 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., breakfast and open house; 11:00
a.m.-2:30 p.m., public meeting and discussion groups. Box lunch
provided. At Ballou Senior High School, 3401 4th Street, SE. Help
determine how this public site can be used to best serve the Ward 8
community: affordable housing, parks and recreation, soccer stadium,
environmental restoration, retail development, and job creation. For
more information, call 406-4040 or E-mail poplarpoint@awcdc.com.
Sponsored by the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, Councilmember
Marion Barry, Anacostia Coordinating Council, Anacostia Economic
Development Corporation, ANC 8A, ANC 8B, ANC 8C, ANC 8D, ANC 8E, Board
of Education Representative William Lockridge, Congress Heights Citizens
Association, Fairlawn Citizens Association, Far Southeast Family
Strengthening Collaborative, Fort Stanton Civic Association, Seventh
District Citizens Advisory Council, U Street/Historic Anacostia Block
Association, Ward 8 Business Council, Ward 8 Democrats, and Women Like
Us.
###############
Understanding Credit, January 20
India Young, india.young@dc.gov
Saturday, January 20, 1:30 p.m., Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood
Library, 3660 Alabama Avenue, SE. Patrice Phillippe speaks on
understanding credit and learning to save, covering the following
topics: (CAAB) Capital Area Asset Building, saving and prospering, and
saving for life. For more information, call 645-4426.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
Donated Macs Needed
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
I’ve been recently hired to teach video editing to a small group of
highly motivated and talented teens in Anacostia. I’m on the lookout
for some donated Macs which these youth can use to practice at home.
Alternately, if you’d like to chip in to help buy some Macs, I’m
accepting small donations via PayPal. I’ll use such funds to buy these
secondhand Macs (http://tinyurl.com/szvu9).
###############
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