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January 14, 2007

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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School Reform 2007
Kathryn A. Pearson-West, wkpw3@aol.com

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.

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Beware the Robinson Curse
Leo Alexander, leo_alexander1@yahoo.com

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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Poplar Point Shenanigans
Christopher Jerry, cjerrydc@gmail.com

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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Fine Art of Fleecing
Mike Licht, mikelicht@yahoo.com

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.”

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Oops. Now Guess Who Pays
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com

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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January 2007 InTowner
Peter Wolff, newsroom@intowner.com

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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