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February 7, 2007

Decorum and Disgrace

Dear Decorous Readers:

Under the chairmanship of Vincent Gray, this is the worst city council that the District of Columbia has ever had — and we remember the abysmal city councils of the 1970’s and 1980’s. But even in those days, when city council members were irresponsible and several of them were seriously stupid, at least they understood how to run public hearings, and they realized that public hearings were intended to give citizens of the District an opportunity to speak with their elected public servants. Their meetings maintained a certain minimum level of civility, decorum, and respect toward citizens. By contrast, this council is angry and mean. It is contemptuous of and hostile toward citizens, and its members don’t want to hear anything that differs with their preconceived opinions. Last week, columnist Adrienne Washington described councilmembers’ misbehavior during their hearing on Mayor Fenty’s school takeover bill: “witnesses, especially Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, were berated, badgered, interrupted, and not allowed to answer questions during a kangaroo-court-style inquest" (http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20070201-105011-2766r.htm).

But the hearing last week was just a warm-up for the disgraceful behavior of councilmembers today. The public witnesses today were overwhelmingly opposed to Fenty’s takeover, though there were some takeover supporters who were warmly welcomed by the councilmembers. Councilmember Mary Cheh, who is rapidly shaping up to be the nastiest and most disagreeable councilmember in DC history, made a point of assailing every witness who opposed the takeover with the dishonest argument that if they didn’t support Fenty, they supported the status quo and didn’t want the schools to improve. She deceitfully argued that the burden was on those who opposed the mayor’s takeover to explain why they did not support it. Councilmembers Barry, Thomas, and Catania weren’t far behind Cheh. They tried to outdo each other in their rudeness; they yelled at witnesses, misrepresented their testimony, refused to confront or even admit their arguments, and refused to let witnesses respond when they mischaracterized their testimony and subjected them to personal abuse. Council Chairman Gray’s chairing of the hearing set the atmosphere and encouraged the hostile attacks on citizens. Gray tolerated the most vicious of personal attacks from the councilmembers upon those who dared to testify, and he denied anyone who had been attacked, or whose testimony had been distorted and misrepresented by councilmembers, the right to respond.

The council is shirking its job. It’s not doing its own research into the failures of urban school systems that have had mayoral takeovers; it’s deliberately turning a blind eye to the failure of the Bloomberg takeover in New York City; and it’s ignoring the many examples of urban school systems (for example, Charlotte, Austin, and Houston, among others) that have progressed and improved markedly under independent school boards. It has refused to seek the advice of the numerous educational organizations headquartered in Washington, because it doesn’t want to know the facts. Instead, it’s ignoring and insulting citizens, students and their parents, teachers, and anyone who knows anything about the school system, and rushing headfirst into a debacle — all because it wants to control the money and the contracts and the land that the Board of Education controls now.

This meanness of the council and its mistreatment of citizens will have long-term consequences for the government of our city. The degradation of public hearings of the city council is designed to discourage citizen participation in and control of our government — just as the takeover of the school board is designed to eliminate citizen participation in and control of our schools. The behavior of these councilmembers is not just a disgrace; it is a deliberate attempt to denigrate, if not destroy, an important component of our city’s governing process.

Gary Imhoff and Dorothy Brizill
themail@dcwatch.com and dorothy@dcwatch.com

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Proposed New Regulations for Bars and Clubs
James Treworgy, jamietre@yahoo.com

The “Protection and Safety of Underage Persons Amendment Act,” as described in the Post article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501606.html) seems pretty silly. Rather than having people provide a “plan,” wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to tell people what they have to do? If there are no such guidelines, then how is an establishment supposed to know what to put in their plan in order to have it accepted? Does it even have to be accepted?

This whole mess started with a homicide that took place at a club that apparently has an extensive history of incidents. The question I can’t help asking is, why do we need to pass new laws every time something bad happens around here, instead of just dealing with the people who are irresponsible directly? Ninety-nine percent of the bars, restaurants, and clubs in this city operate problem-free for the most part, yet all will be punished as a result of a handful of incidents at known trouble spots. Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to worry about the trouble spots than suddenly have to enforce a slew of new regulations citywide, at places that are mostly not a problem?

Beyond the logistical absurdity of this, any legislation that makes it more difficult for adults legally to go to clubs that provide entertainment seems simply unfair. Entertainment should be available to all adults equally, and creating new draconian measures because of a handful of irresponsible clubs just ruins it for everyone. It’s simply unnecessary.

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I Hate to Say I Told You So
Richard Layman, laymandc@yahoo.com

One of my major complaints about approving the revised DC Comprehensive Plan last December was that Transportation Demand Management was barely discussed in the Transportation Element and that, in fact, TDM should provide the primary organizing framework for transportation planning in DC. (Although as an agency, DDOT also has to be focused on supply — infrastructure, including transit and roads). The only substantive (and barely substantive at that) provision for TDM in the Comp Plan is that it is required now for PUD matters. But since planned unit developments comprise such a small proportion of new projects, and because, frankly, TDM matters just as much if not more, for extant projects and institutional uses, this bumping up from a suggestion to a requirement has little impact. (Although I suppose I can say that I helped change one word in the Comprehensive Plan!)

The impact of this failure can be seen day to day in actions by the Board of Zoning Adjustment. Yesterday, BZA ignored virtually all the comments by DDOT submitted in regard to a matter on H Street NE (#17521). DDOT asked that 1) 7 percent of parking spaces (34 of 487) be reserved for car/van pools; 2) spaces be reserved for carsharing vehicles; 3) carsharing access be open to registered users 24/7; and that 4) the developer work with DC Department of Employment Services (the only tenant of the building) to have workers participate in Transit Check programs (this provides transit benefits to interested people instead of car parking). The developer agreed to provide five spaces for car/van pools and four spaces for carsharing, but not 24/7 access to those spaces. The developer refused to participate in TransitCheck. (I don’t know if DOES workers will get free parking. Probably.)

According to someone at the meeting, “[Board of Zoning Adjustment] Chairman Griffis commented on the community support for these parking facilities.” Leaders lead. Or not. One of the reasons that so many land use planning processes are contentious is that most of the people involved don’t know much about land use, placemaking, and transportation. I don’t blame the average citizen for that lack of knowledge. It’s up to public officials to help build the base of understanding. After all, they are professionals and paid to inform and educate. The BZA Chair has been nominated to become the chair of the Zoning Commission. There is outcry about this in certain quarters, which has been reported in the City Paper and the Examiner. I tend to think that such citizen outcry doesn’t matter, because this is about development and the Growth Machine, not about mediating citizen concerns and developer desires to build the biggest, most profitable project possible. But this abject failure to understand the necessary intertwining of land use and transportation planning makes me wonder how qualified Mr. Griffis really is to become the chair of the Zoning Commission. In fact, this matter alone might make me stand up and testify (against) at the confirmation hearing.

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Amazing Boilerplate Text in Fairfax County E-mail Received Today
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com

The following hard-to-believe text speaks for itself. Fairfax County, Virginia, prides itself on being techno-savvy, on the cutting edge of the new economy, and other similar blather. Looks like the “cutting edge” is severing Fairfax from the Internet. Being offline would be bad enough, but bouncing E-mail? For three or four days? Amazing. I wonder how many people won’t know in advance and will be baffled/frustrated/angered/outraged?

“Fairfax County information technology services will be unavailable beginning February 17 and resume on February 20. My account will be inaccessible during this time frame and any incoming E-mail will be bounced to the sender. In effect, Fairfax County will temporarily cease to exist online for this period. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

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Where Lincoln Is
Leah Gurowitz, gurowitzl@dcsc.gov

[Re: Aaron Lloyd, “What Happened to DC’s First Abraham Lincoln Statue?,” themail, February 4] The statue is currently located at the corner of 4th Street and Indiana Avenue, NW, near Court Building C. It was moved in order to allow for the renovation of the historic Old Courthouse which is being restored and will house the DC Court of Appeals. Once renovation is complete (scheduled for December 2008), the statue will be restored to its original location.

Local historians have told us that this statue was the first public monument to the fallen president and was constructed with funds contributed immediately after his assassination. The Old Courthouse itself also has a fascinating history. Daniel Webster and Francis Scott Key were among the eminent Americans who practiced law in the building. John Surratt was tried there as a conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Pierre L’Enfant set aside the area now known as Judiciary Square in his 1791 plan for the city of Washington. In 1820, architect George Hadfield’s neoclassical design won a competition for the District of Columbia’s first City Hall in Judiciary Square, which housed both the local government and also federal courtrooms. A north wing, including an ionic portico facing Judiciary Square, was designed by Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark and constructed in 1881-1883, by which time the building housed only judicial functions. Congress authorized a major renovation in 1916, which was completed in 1919. This renovation stripped away the north ionic portico and clad the building in limestone. The current renovation will restore the building to its original use: it will house the District’s highest court, the DC Court of Appeals.

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Christmas Trees
Patrick Pellerin, pellerin@verizon.net

Per Brigid Quinn’s posting [themail, February 4], we still have a number of Christmas trees along 47th street in American University Park. I guess if they are never picked up, these trees can be used again next year — a little spray paint, and who knows?

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Christmas Trees
Gwen Southerland, gwensouth@aol.com

[Re: "Christmas Trees," themail, February 4] My response to this article is that the Department of Public Works did not bring the Christmas tree into your house. You did, therefore dispose of it yourself. I understand that citizens have expectations for municipal services, but we the citizens create too many problems that often overwhelm the city government. Hence, take your Christmas tree to the nearest city dump and leave it there.

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Historic Preservation
Laurie Collins, Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Alliance, lauriec@lcsystems.com

In response to Jack McKay’s question on the hardship provision to the Historic Preservation Law, “Why is the historic preservation bureaucracy so up in arms because the Mount Pleasant ANC passed a resolution calling for such a provision?” [themail, February 4] There appears to be no justification for a hardship exception in the Walbridge Place case, since solutions are available to the applicant that would provide the Lucas’ with two legal and accessible means of egress, without the need for an exception to historic preservation law. The ANC’s stated rationale for passing this resolution was as follows: “This failure to allow exceptions for personal hardship may force residents of historic districts to live under cramped or unsafe conditions, or even to leave their longtime homes.”

This statement does not apply in this case. The Lucas’ chose to live in the basement apartment, where they have resided for some time under cramped, yet safe, conditions; and because the project involves a complete overhaul of the house: 1) the Lucas’ will have to relocate during the renovation of the property; and 2) the architect has complete flexibility to plan a new layout for the elderly couple that addresses concerns of safety and accessibility and that also complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the DC Building Code and Historic Preservation Law.

In addition, ANC1D left many important players out of this discussion — an oversight that portrays the ANC as one-sided. No public agenda was publicly posted listing this as an item to be discussed, no representatives of the Historic Preservation Office, the Office of Planning, or Historic Mount Pleasant were consulted or invited to appear to discuss this case, before the ANC acted. All of these entities have worked with the family on this matter and could have provided valuable factual information. In fact, had these people been consulted, this resolution may not have reached the floor for consideration. Since the ANC asked them for no input or comment, the facts were never presented. The resolution (passed 3-2 with one commissioner absent) appeals to emotion, but the facts provided by the Historic Preservation Office show there is no reason to change the law. Therefore, we asked that the ANC rescind its resolution as well and work quickly to resolve these issues with the city’s professionals, who have offered their services to the family, as well as to the ANC. The response by our ANC Chair to the Chair of the Historic Preservation Review Board? “Of course, as a public official you [Tersh Boasberg] will be welcome to make your five minute statement in our Public Discussion period, 7:00 to 7:20 on 6 February 2007.”

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Totally Missed The Point
Leo Alexander, leo_alexander1@yahoo.com

Don’t you just love it when you discover someone is trying to con you, like when supporters of illegal immigration deliberately omit the word “illegal” when they speak of their right to work in our communities, as if the only issues to be discussed are their rights and how being denied these opportunities is racist? I’ll agree that our immigration laws need some work, but you would be hard-pressed ever to convince me that their breaking our laws is somehow good for us in the long run. This isn’t a time to pussyfoot around and be politically correct. The message should be sent: come here legally or be deported. The rights of Washingtonians must be first and foremost.

Nothing was more ridiculous than seeing those pictures in the Metro section of The Washington Post on February 6 of a group of these con artists lobbying Virginia lawmakers for rights for illegal immigrants. Are they serious? I know I’m not the only one who thinks this nonsense has gotten out of control. Just think, if we were to allow amnesty to all the illegals, what would prevent corporate America from seeking a new, cheaper illegal work force tomorrow? Not one thing, because this addiction is about the bottom line — profit. At this rate, this madness never ends, and therefore illegals will never stop taking jobs from our local labor force. These illegal workers are criminals who blatantly flaunt our immigration process and break federal laws right at our nation’s doorsteps. They should all be arrested and deported along with their 14th amendment-protected progeny. These children should be citizens of their parents’ native countries, not ours; that constitutional loophole must be closed. And don’t tell me that if we were to enact such a policy that our economy would collapse — that’s baloney. The plain truth is Americans held these jobs before and want them back, but refuse to be exploited. Unimpeded illegal immigration only hurts the most at risk members of our community, people who are trapped on the lowest rung of our economic ladder; they deserve our empathy.

The second point that was missed was from a piece I wrote called “DC’s Field of Dreams.” The summary of my argument, and I used baseball to make my point, was that our local professional sports franchises should reinvest in the community. Their return on investment will be generated from the field of public opinion and goodwill. This means the owners of the Washington Nationals, Wizards, Mystics, Capitals, DC United, and the mayor should enter into a partnership to adequately fund and maintain a first-class sports academy for promising youth; where they will live and receive professional coaching, academic tutoring, mentoring, and a balanced diet. The sport is immaterial; it’s the environment and the opportunity, currently being offered to foreign children, that will save our own. How many more crime emergencies will it take before our elected officials realize curfews alone aren’t getting it done? I challenge our leaders to demonstrate their vision and exercise their power to demand results.

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Clarification on Blacks and Janitorial Work
Roger Scott, roger.scott@earthlink.net

[Re: Cecilio Morales, “Blacks and Janitorial Work,” themail, February 4] I would like to preface my comments by pointing to the article in the Washington Post on this issue. “Lawn-Care Entrepreneur Faces A Changing Racial Landscape” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020401088.html. I believe that this article discusses this issue quite well.

My comments in themail, January 31, were a direct response to a specific question regarding African Americans in the cleaning industry. By no means was I limiting the scope of African Americans to ”cleaning white professionals’ toilets,” nor do I believe that the author of the original question had such an intent either. Please reread my comments, in the context of the question to which I responded. I pour libation to all the ancestors that you have mentioned, and many more, for the contribution they have made with their minds, bodies, and souls. Just as any human being on this planet, personal/professional achievement is not curtailed by the quantity of melanin in your skin.

To slightly expound on the issue as you have presented it. The original discussion was related to low-income earners and hiring practices in this region. While income is not a preface for “success,” the issue refers to the opportunities available for those people who may not have the socially established credentials to obtain higher paying positions. Thus they have no other option than to vie for the jobs in question. There are much larger issues at play here that are not appropriate for this venue and that have been covered by published authors such as Welsing, Akbar, and A. Wilson. One such item would be access to education, which is a hot-button topic these days. I would be happy to discuss this matter with anyone outside of this forum, but I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings regarding my response.

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Blacks and Janitorial Work
Malcolm Wiseman, mal@wiseman.ws

[Re: Cecilio Morales, “Blacks and Janitorial Work,” themail, February 4] If the discussion has shifted from socioeconomic to racial, it mustn’t. Mr. Alexander’s seminal post is about a certain Yankee addiction and the negative impact of illegal labor on DC’s population. It is not about the aspirations of "DC Blacks," past or present, to anything. He is talking about what has happened to all of the legally hyphenated colonial-American residents of DC, especially the ones who are out of work now, due in some measure to illegal immigrant labor. That, and what (if anything) we can do about it. By the way, we do all know that all illegal aliens aren’t in the janitorial business, don’t we?

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Blacks and Janitorial Work
Carolyn Long, carolynlong@earthlink.net

I’m piping in once again on this issue, most recently addressed by Leo Alexander on January 18, Roger Scott on January 31, and Cecilio Morales on February 4. Mr. Scott was talking about employment with a janitorial service, which presumably doesn’t pay very well. What about construction jobs? Almost everybody who has worked on my house and my neighbors’ houses has been Latino; we were paying the contractor plenty, although I don’t know exactly what he was paying the men. What about domestic service jobs? I do know that when I was working full time at a mid-level government job my cleaning lady (first a Filipina, later a Latina) charged as much (in cash) for less than three hours work as I earned in an eight-hour day, making her hourly wage $25-$30. I assume that nannies charge a comparable amount.

So, despite the relatively good pay, perhaps there are too many reminders of the bad old days when service jobs were the only work available to black people. As I said in my earlier post, it is my impression that the black citizens of DC now have higher aspirations. The recent immigrants who cleaned my house eventually moved on to better jobs — one became a medical technician, one a teacher. I’d really like to hear the opinion of the African Americans in our community.

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Arrogance
Ron Linton, rmich@rcn.com

Well, Gary, your arrogance comment [themail, February 4] sort of invites nihilism to the extreme or conversely simply abject surrender to failure. You have to do better than that, so does Colby with whom I mostly agree and admire. I have no expertise in this area, but I do have my powers of observation. When I grew up in Detroit in the 1930s in a low income neighborhood, a lot of us dumb guys (about 80 percent white) weren’t doing too well in school. We hung out a lot on the streets and reinforced each others’ belief that school wasn’t going to do much for us anyway. The toughest, strongest, and fastest talking among us set the tone. They also seemed to be the guys who had the most dysfunctional families, and if there was a man in their house they got banged around the most. (I could outrun my father.) The classrooms where success occurred were the ones lorded over by tough, strong-willed teachers, male and female. I didn’t like them until years later, when I realized what they had accomplished. This was when we were eight, nine, ten years old; after that it was too late.

How does all this relate to our situation? First, if what we have doesn’t work and hasn’t worked, then why not try yet another way. But I do agree that running the system isn’t where it’s going to impact. It’s in the classroom, on the street, and in the home. I at this point don’t see what’s being brought to bear on that. Colby a few weeks earlier in another article said what was needed was to teach these youngsters how to think and communicate. He missed the boat there. My experience policing the tough streets of Washington taught me if anything that most of these kids knew how to think well enough that they knew how the police functioned, how stores operated, how to cut deals pedaling dope and goods, how to count and make change with big bucks. And they could communicate; we just couldn’t understand their language. Running the schools is only part of the problem. Getting a handle on leading these kids out of their low-income culture is the real challenge.

[Ron Linton chaired the Public Safety Committee of the Fenty Transition. — Gary Imhoff]

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Fixing DCPS Schools by Name-Calling and Impugning Motives
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

DC’s nationally-embarrassing education problems cannot be fixed by venting paranoia, claiming democracy denied, or impugning your new mayor’s efforts to get a grip on this persistent, largely sociological, problem (Imhoff and Pearson, themail, February 4). One portion of DCPS’s problems eminently qualifies for strong executive action. Since various school boards, parents and third party activists have been unwilling for twenty years to down-size the physical plant, and unable to fix the plumbing and other disrepair in right-sized facilities, it’s high time to resort to authoritarian measures. DC’s kids should at least benefit from attending schools in equal or better condition than their homes.

As NARPAC has repeatedly illustrated over the past ten years of analyses, the receptivity of kids to learning is more a function of their living rooms than their school rooms. Census Bureau and NCES statistics can demonstrate conclusively that kids’ test scores are directly related to the presence of, and educational achievement of, their parents. Single parents and undereducated, sometimes functionally illiterate, couples often live in poverty and generate progeny that follow in their footsteps. Newer data correlation across a sample of urban school districts, using 2005 testing and demographic data, confirms this relationship. These correlations are independent of skin color, though lifestyles (marriage rates, mom’s age-at-first-birth, and number of kids) do reflect ethnic customs. Police Chief Ramsey and Superintendent Janey both recognized these factors to be well beyond their control. Clearly, city government has far more tools to encourage lifestyle changes than does a school board. Both Mayor Fenty and Chairman Gray point to the key ingredient of family quality in their inaugural addresses. Even a serious second effort to educate school dropouts (i.e., likely parents) must be driven by forces beyond the school system.

Those unwilling to wait for our next web site data update, can find these earlier analyses at http://www.narpac.org/PEPI.HTM; http://www.narpac.org/PERENTS.HTM; and http://www.narpac.org/PESTPLAN.HTM. Why not forsake amateur psychology, name-calling, and red herrings, get a factual grip on the root problems, and accept a better way for your local government to solve them?

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Draft Obama Watch Party, February 10
Eric Marshall, mshall77@gmail.com

Senator Obama is about to make an historic announcement that he’s running for president. Please come out, meet like-minded individuals, have fun, and hear the Senator’s speech. Draft Obama is hosting a DC watch party at Busboys and Poets, this Saturday, February 10, at 10:30 a.m. at Busboys and Poets (2021 14th Street, NW). RSVP to mshall77@gmail.com or 380-5523.

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DC Public Library Events, February 13-14
India Young, india.young@dc.gov

Tuesdays, February 13 and February 27, 12:00 p.m., West End Neighborhood Library, 1104 24th Street, NW. West End Film Club. Bring your lunch and enjoy these films. February 13, Malcolm X; February 27, The Color Purple. For more information, call 724-8707.

Wednesday, February 14, 1:00 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Shepherd Park Wednesday Afternoon Book Club. Enjoy a lively book discussion of The Story of My Experiment with Truth by Mohandas Gandhi. For more information, call 541-6100.

Wednesdays, February 14 and February 28, 7:00 p.m., Petworth Neighborhood Library, 4200 Kansas Avenue, NW. Black History Month Program. Lecture and book signing by author and historian C.R. Gibbs: February 14, Black Inventors; February 28, The Forgotten Legacy. For more information, call 541-6300.

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Tolu2Books Reading and Discussion Club, February 14
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com

Tolu2Books Reading and Discussion Club will meet every second Wednesday of the month at the Northeast Library, 330 7th Street, NE, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the meeting room on the second floor. Starting Wednesday, February 14. Please join us and bring friends. For more information, call 331-4418.

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UDC Founder’s Day, February 22
Michael Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu

The University of the District of Columbia will begin a yearlong celebration of thirty years of distinctive service to the citizens of the District of Columbia at the UDC Founder’s Day Convocation. The Convocation, which will be held in the University’s Auditorium, is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, February 22, and is open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University. As part of the convocation, the University will also present four awards to honor excellence in educational leadership and service, as well as a lifetime achievement award for sustained and exceptional commitment to the University’s mission. The theme for this year’s Founder’s Day Convocation will be “Celebrating Thirty Years — Reclaiming Our Alumni.” The University’s first Board of Trustees publicly announced on August 1, 1977, the consolidation of the District of Columbia Teachers College, the Federal City College, and the Washington Technical Institute into the University of the District of Columbia under a single management system. Founder’s Day 2007 will mark the kickoff of a University campaign to attract graduates of UDC and all her predecessor institutions to return to their alma mater.

Prominent civil rights leader Thomas N. Todd will deliver the keynote address for this year’s convocation. An activist attorney widely known as “TNT” for his oratorical skills, Thomas N. Todd, who will be 68 when he addresses the UDC Opening Convocation, served as a lawyer in the US Army from 1964 to 1967 and joined the staff of the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago in 1967. In this capacity, Todd made history when he developed the first criminal case against a Chicago policeman for deprivation of an individual’s civil rights in 1968. Todd organized and established the first Civil Rights Office in a local US Attorney’s Office in 1969. United States v. Gorman, the first federal criminal case against a Chicago police officer, ended in a hung jury in 1971. Todd was the first full-time black law professor at Northwestern University, where he taught from 1970 to 1974. Todd has been admitted to practice law before many courts, including the Louisiana Supreme Court, the US Court of Military Appeals, the Illinois Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. A powerful spokesman for civil rights, Todd was president of the Chicago Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1971 and president of Operation PUSH from 1983 to 1984.

The seeds for higher education that grew into the University of the District of Columbia were first planted in 1851, when Myrtilla Miner founded Miner Normal School, a “school for colored girls.” In 1955, Miner, by then known as Miner Teachers College, united with Wilson Teachers College to become District of Columbia Teachers College. DC Teachers College merged with Washington Technical Institute and Federal City College in 1977 to form the new institution, the University of the District of Columbia. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, DC City Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, and other members of the District Council, as well as Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, have all been invited to share in the University’s commemoration.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS

AARP DC Volunteer Leader Position
Grier Mendel, gmendel@aarp.org

Are you a DC resident who knows the city, is committed to improving the experience of aging in the District and has advocacy or outreach experience? Have you held a leadership position in a community group, government advisory body, fraternal or religious organization, social welfare organization or trade association? If so, we may have the perfect volunteer opportunity for you. AARP DC seeks two leadership volunteers to join its Executive Council, help set annual priorities and guide efforts to benefit our community. If this seems like a great match for you or someone you know, please visit http://www.aarp.org/dc, E-mail cpage@aarp.org, or call C.A. Page at 434-7703 for more information.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Shortwave BBC
Russell Cramer, ruslcramer@yahoo.com

Can someone please tell me how I tune in to BBC. Until last week I went to bed reading my Guardian with BBC radio in the background (are there any other real international news media?) — a habit I developed twenty years ago when working in the Sahel. WAMU does not have the same coverage WETA gave us, and now instead of “Speaking of Faith” I have to listen to some airhead named Faith Salie and her so-called irreverent take on the politics of the day. (It seems we need to attach an entertainment factor to everything we do). So I went down to Radio Shack yesterday and paid $150 for a shortwave radio and stayed up until 1 am trying to tune in to BBC. Today I tried contacting the British Council and all I got was a recording directing me to their web site. I realize classical 90.9 is a more soothing path to slumberland, but I miss the richness of BBC. Help!

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