Re: Mr. Wellstone goes to school
Steve Sumner (home) wrote: > >From the Minneapolis School Board > "MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE ENCOURAGE DEPARTMENT > OF CHILDREN FAMILIES AND LEARNING TO USE MORE THAN ONE INDICATOR TO > DETERMINE STUDENT SUCCESS". > > Hello Mr. Wellstone, they are called standard measurements for a reason. > This is the same failed thinking that has been abolished by schools all over > the state. "We need more than one test because we don't look good enough by > the one that requires standard measurements". Yes, standard measurements, particularly minimum measurements, are important. Our kids need to meet a basic standard. But Wellstone--and presumably Carol Johnson--are also right. One standardized test does not a student measure. There's more going on in the student's head that can be measured and should be measured in addition to the standardized test results. So a kid can pass the tandards test, what about the kid's social skills--that will be necessary to get a job and keep it too. How about problem solving when the problem isn't just a mathematical answer? How about ingenuity? A kid needs that to advance in life. How about self-confidence? Ability to defend a position when necessary. > > > This clip comes directly from the school board's communications department > .. > "At a December 20 news conference, MPS Superintendent Carol R. Johnson > and U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone criticized the state's list of > underperforming schools and stressed a single test score cannot measure > the complexities of educating children in urban districts. The state > used a single indicator performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive > Assessment tests to measure a school's progress or success. Schools > that are not projected to reach 1420 on the MCAs within six years, based > on a comparison of different schools across time, were targeted as need > improvement" on a list released December 20. Twenty-one out of the 56 > schools on the list are Minneapolis public schools. After more than > five years of building one of the toughest accountability systems in the > state, I can stand here and tell you that in a large urban district like > Minneapolis our teachers and students work incredibly hard," said > Superintendent Johnson at the press conference." > > Yes, teachers and students "work" really hard, but there are a number of > issues that need to be addressed. > 1. Increase parental involvement. Kids need the parents engaged in the > learning process. NO amount of money is going to affect this, and there > isn't anything the school board or the "administration" can do to solve it. > Parents...be parents! We can shout all day about parents parenting, but we also have to face the fact that some parents just don't have the stuff for parenting--maybe they weren't well-parented. Maybe they won't parent like their parents did, but don't know another alternative. If we want to bring all the kids along to good grades and a good future, people are going to have to step in when parents don't parent. How does that happen? > 2. Stick the money that the system already gets into the classrooms. Stop > spending the money on non education related items such as YMCAs, etc > 3. Lower transportation costs. Do we really need all this busing? Don't > think so! NAACP lawsuit transportation costs big time $$. Shipping kids > from one end of the city to the other, insane. At the time busing was instituted as a "solution" to segregated schools, it didn't really have the ability to solve the problem. What was needed was subsidies to move bunches of families of color into all white neighborhoods and keep community schools. At the time we did not have the political will to opt for the long term solution, hence busing. Because "we the people" allowed a non-solution then, we are paying the price now. Busing wasn't ever designed to solve anything, just to make us feel like we were doing something. > 4. Lower administration costs. Stop playing the shell game with the numbers > to make the administration costs look good. According to the school board > the administration can't be cut anymore, because it already is cut lower > that a major corporation would be spending on admin. B as in B, S as in S. > The true numbers aren't represented correctly in the report. > 5. Keeping focused on what works. Forget all the "feel good" methods. Give > these kids a solid base to start from, and lift up the ones that are gifted > to more advanced programs. > > There are great Minneapolis schools, and there are those that just plain > stink to high heaven. The difference is a steady hand on the administration > tiller, parents that are involved in the school and their child's work, and > a teaching staff that keeps their eyes focused on the one and only > goal...teaching kids. In a country that runs almost entirely on a money economy, maybe our best bet is to pay kids to learn. Then it's their job with rewar
RE: Mill City
Wade Russell: Schools are organdized into independent stand alone districts. The boundaries of a school district may or may not be the same as that of a city or county or other political entity. For example, the Minneapolis Special School District #1 has boundaries almost identical to the City of Minneapolis. The Robbinsdale school includes the area that makes up the city of Robbinsdale as well as several other areas (now, don't quote me on this) including New Hope, Brooklyn Center, parts of Golden Valley and I don't know what else.School districts have their own taxing authority and get much of their money from property taxes. The State of Minnesota also gives school districts money according to some formula.The City of Minneapolis does not operate schools. The Minneapolis school district operates schools. Sincerely, Dean Zimmermann Commissioner Mpls Park Board. Dist 3 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 612-722-8768 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 9:50 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Mill City I guess I'm lost. If the city does not fund schools, according to Ms. Collier, who does? I seriously want to know how it breaks down. Does the state or county fund public schools? If so, than why aren't urban schools as lavish as the suburban schools. Oh, and by the way, there is absolutely nothing admirable about a corporation that can't draw it's employees by offering a decent living wage, or that uses public tax dollars to increase it's profit margin. Especially when that same corporation pays its CEO an annual salary of tens of millions of dollars. A company that knows it has a city's leaders in its pocket to cover building expenses so it can use the saved dollars for publicity and tax write offs is anything but admirable. In fact, such a company is despicable. wade russell longfellow
RE: mill city Montessori
As a businessperson, I helped start a charter school in our city that is still running today. And there were other business partners including McDonalds. None of those businesses slotted spots for our employees; we were interested in the common good. As for demand, with such a huge demand for more community schools in our neighborhoods (isn't it about 30% open areas without guaranteed community schools) you would think we'd be more focused on meeting that demand than the demand of a downtown corporation using it's money to buy school slots for its employees and then hanging the school out to dry because of an internal business decision. Now our Superintendent, who just doesn't have enough to do already ;-) , has to find ways to rescue this school and convince Target to do the right thing. Bah humbug! I say it would be better for them to pay living wages and provide full medical benefits to all their employees. And in response to one poster, I do not hate Target and TIF. I shop at Target and I believe TIF when used appropriately can be a wonderful vehicle for our community. But there is nothing wrong with wanting to create a higher standard and hold both our elected officials and our corporate citizens accountable to those standards including the use of our tax dollars. Happy Holidays everyone. Russ Peterson Ward 9 Standish R U S S E L L P E T E R S O N D E S I G N "You can only fly if you stretch your wings." Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID Founder 3857 23rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407 612-724-2331 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: mill city montessori
Hey, Denny, thanks for remembering! That was my story! (I think it was the Reader, though I worked for both so even I get confused...) While I am not an absolutist about corporate support of the schools, I wrote at the time (and continue to believe) that it was wrong for Target to "purchase" several downtown school spots, and attach the requisite public school teachers. Originally, I think, the school was mostly Target kids, with others (mostly minorities) thrown in for diversity. I have no problem with corporations subsidizing a downtown school, but it just seems wrong to make the result so directed. If a bunch of big hitters wanted to thrown in for a downtown school, without a student-spot guarantee but with the understanding that a big downtown school would make their workplaces generally more attractive...well, I'm for that, because people still have an equal chance to get in. But that might not be a big enough "return" for a private business to capitalize. And I acknowledge that getting new funding into the schools somehow can be a good thing for all, because existing resources can serve the rest of the students. Since then, the charter movement has really picked up steam. Wonder if downtown businesses could set up their own charter. Could they then restrict enrollment somehow? Would that be more palatable done via charter? (At first blush, I think not.) The bigger thread is whether there is still a demand for downtown spots, and if so, how can we fill it to equally serve all parents and their kids? David Brauer King Field - Ward 10 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 8:39 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: mill city montessori There were and are lots of questions about Target (or any business) sponsoring a public school. It would have been nice to air that debate years ago. List members may remember a cover article on the topic in City Pages (or was is the Reader?) when the school opened. But none of those questions should affect thinking about TIF. Target has no legal or moral responsibility to continue to sponsor the school. It was, from the start, a service to its employees, with some significant external benefits. Mill City Montessori was generally seen as an first-rank school, so it would be worthwhile to keep its staff and program together. Wanna bash Target or its TIF victory, fine. But this is not the hammer. Dennis Schapiro Linden Hills
Re: Mill City
I guess I'm lost. If the city does not fund schools, according to Ms. Collier, who does? I seriously want to know how it breaks down. Does the state or county fund public schools? If so, than why aren't urban schools as lavish as the suburban schools. Oh, and by the way, there is absolutely nothing admirable about a corporation that can't draw it's employees by offering a decent living wage, or that uses public tax dollars to increase it's profit margin. Especially when that same corporation pays its CEO an annual salary of tens of millions of dollars. A company that knows it has a city's leaders in its pocket to cover building expenses so it can use the saved dollars for publicity and tax write offs is anything but admirable. In fact, such a company is despicable. wade russell longfellow
Re: Mr. Wellstone goes to school
--part1_25.f03a882.27741fbe_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I think it's very interesting that the study about the standards came out approximately six weeks after the election. One of the questions that I had about the referendum was whether previous referendums had done anything to improve test scores in schools. I was pretty well reprimanded by people on this list that that was immaterial that we really needed to have the referendum to lower class sizes. Now we find out that 20+ schools have lower scores and the students need help. I'm not sure that lower class size is the answer. Someone much more experienced that I in education is going to have to answer that, but there has to be an answer somewhere. Karen Collier Linden Hills --part1_25.f03a882.27741fbe_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I think it's very interesting that the study about the standards came out approximately six weeks after the election. One of the questions that I had about the referendum was whether previous referendums had done anything to improve test scores in schools. I was pretty well reprimanded by people on this list that that was immaterial that we really needed to have the referendum to lower class sizes. Now we find out that 20+ schools have lower scores and the students need help. I'm not sure that lower class size is the answer. Someone much more experienced that I in education is going to have to answer that, but there has to be an answer somewhere. Karen Collier Linden Hills --part1_25.f03a882.27741fbe_boundary--
Re: Mill City School/target
maybe related to this: This year the Target Foundation changed it's funding criteria. While they previously funded a variety of nonprofits and grass roots arts projects, the word on the street in the nonprofit community is target's new funding criteria is: "Programs to keep poor people poor (emergency service programs only) and large splashy arts projects they can put their name on." >I am surprised that nobody mentioned the pull out from Mill City School by >one of our esteemed local companies. The quote in the paper said it was a >"business decision." I wonder if they weighed that against the huge subsidy >they got from the taxpayers of this city to build their new downtown digs. >With our impending debt burden, maybe we should make a "business decision" >and withdraw our TIF funding. I'd love to hear the reaction from some of >our elected officials including city council and school board. > >Russ Peterson >Standish >Ward 9 >.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.> sheldon mains, seward neighborhood, minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED] the shameless agitator in the electronic town square
Re: Mill City
--part1_79.df29fae.27741e82_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The City does NOT fund the schools. Therefore, to say that the City could provide money for the Mill City school is just not accurate. I agree with the previous "list writer" who recommended separating your hatrid of Target and TIF from Target's support of a school for their employees. If I remember correctly, that whole school thing came about at a time when Target was having difficulty getting people to come downtown to work at their facility. This was an inducement for their employees with children to have children come to work with their parents and get their education. I think it's admirable that a corporation would do that. Karen Collier Linden Hills --part1_79.df29fae.27741e82_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The City does NOT fund the schools. Therefore, to say that the City could provide money for the Mill City school is just not accurate. I agree with the previous "list writer" who recommended separating your hatrid of Target and TIF from Target's support of a school for their employees. If I remember correctly, that whole school thing came about at a time when Target was having difficulty getting people to come downtown to work at their facility. This was an inducement for their employees with children to have children come to work with their parents and get their education. I think it's admirable that a corporation would do that. Karen Collier Linden Hills --part1_79.df29fae.27741e82_boundary--
Mr. Wellstone goes to school
>From the Minneapolis School Board "MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE ENCOURAGE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN FAMILIES AND LEARNING TO USE MORE THAN ONE INDICATOR TO DETERMINE STUDENT SUCCESS". Hello Mr. Wellstone, they are called standard measurements for a reason. This is the same failed thinking that has been abolished by schools all over the state. "We need more than one test because we don't look good enough by the one that requires standard measurements". This clip comes directly from the school board's communications department .. "At a December 20 news conference, MPS Superintendent Carol R. Johnson and U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone criticized the state's list of underperforming schools and stressed a single test score cannot measure the complexities of educating children in urban districts. The state used a single indicator performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests to measure a school's progress or success. Schools that are not projected to reach 1420 on the MCAs within six years, based on a comparison of different schools across time, were targeted as need improvement" on a list released December 20. Twenty-one out of the 56 schools on the list are Minneapolis public schools. After more than five years of building one of the toughest accountability systems in the state, I can stand here and tell you that in a large urban district like Minneapolis our teachers and students work incredibly hard," said Superintendent Johnson at the press conference." Yes, teachers and students "work" really hard, but there are a number of issues that need to be addressed. 1. Increase parental involvement. Kids need the parents engaged in the learning process. NO amount of money is going to affect this, and there isn't anything the school board or the "administration" can do to solve it. Parents...be parents! 2. Stick the money that the system already gets into the classrooms. Stop spending the money on non education related items such as YMCAs, etc 3. Lower transportation costs. Do we really need all this busing? Don't think so! NAACP lawsuit transportation costs big time $$. Shipping kids from one end of the city to the other, insane. 4. Lower administration costs. Stop playing the shell game with the numbers to make the administration costs look good. According to the school board the administration can't be cut anymore, because it already is cut lower that a major corporation would be spending on admin. B as in B, S as in S. The true numbers aren't represented correctly in the report. 5. Keeping focused on what works. Forget all the "feel good" methods. Give these kids a solid base to start from, and lift up the ones that are gifted to more advanced programs. There are great Minneapolis schools, and there are those that just plain stink to high heaven. The difference is a steady hand on the administration tiller, parents that are involved in the school and their child's work, and a teaching staff that keeps their eyes focused on the one and only goal...teaching kids. Steve Sumner Ward 1 Involved Parent
RE: MCDA and STA Associates news release
Can someone decode this release? The MCDA was ready to foreclose on STA, who looked like they would beat the MCDA to the punch by selling to a Chicago developer who would provide fewer jobs. Who forced whose hand here? Did STA checkmate the MCDA and force the agency to back down? Can anyone read tea leaves and say if the project is going in the direction of fewer jobs, or whether STA can pull a rabbit out of the hat and produce a project like the MCDA thought they were getting? David Brauer Kingfield - Ward 10 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Haugen, Elizabeth Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 3:47 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: MCDA and STA Associates news release Sears foreclosure is on hold while MCDA and STA Associates discuss redevelopment options. Please click on the following link to read the joint news release from MCDA and STA Associates. http://www.mcda.org/Content/Org/Newsreleases/STA.htm Elizabeth Haugen, Public Information Minneapolis Community Development Agency 105 5th Ave. S., Suite 200 Minneapolis MN 55401-2534 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (612) 673-5121
RE: Mill City
Maybe I'm just nuts here, but it seems to me that there IS a link between a for profit (very for profitable) deciding to discontinue sponsoring a public school for "business reasons" while they are willing to take our tax dollars on the other end to build their downtown corporate digs. Perhaps I'm just out of the loop in public policy thinking in this city, but as a parent and taxpayer, I'd say we just don't have our priorities straight. I can't understand how we are so short money for our schools, especially the physical environments, but we have a ton to give to for profit corporations. And then when they make a business decision to withdraw their support from a public school our elected officials are either silent or supportive of the situation - this blows my mind. Where is the public advocacy? Russ Peterson Ward 9 Standish R U S S E L L P E T E R S O N D E S I G N "You can only fly if you stretch your wings." Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID Founder 3857 23rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407 612-724-2331 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MCDA and STA Associates news release
Sears foreclosure is on hold while MCDA and STA Associates discuss redevelopment options. Please click on the following link to read the joint news release from MCDA and STA Associates. http://www.mcda.org/Content/Org/Newsreleases/STA.htm Elizabeth Haugen, Public Information Minneapolis Community Development Agency 105 5th Ave. S., Suite 200 Minneapolis MN 55401-2534 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (612) 673-5121
Bouza's rant in current Pulse
I would agree with many points Mr. Bouza makes in his recent cover rant. That he hopes to ignite a debate speaks mostly to his outsized ego. The debate started a long time ago. Tony is jumping on a rolling bandwagon picking up speed. I agree that newspaper reports and TV news spots can be insufficient and/or contradictory in detail, full of boilerplate from police public information officers, and even flat-out fabrications. It is difficult for the average citizen to know what really happened when the police have been spotlighted. Just as politicians like to cut deals behind closed doors, the police prefer to work shielded from the prying eyes of the public. I agree that there are "no supervisory fingerprints" in recent incidents involving Minneapolis police. Where, for instance, were the "supervisory fingerprints" in the recent shootout at Mickey's Diner? Why are we more likely to hear statements from the President of the Police Federation than we are from our police chief? Why are officers of the Minneapolis police given three days over Thanksgiving, three days in which they can get their stories straight, before providing statements to St. Paul police? Since officers in that shootout refused to be interviewed, does that then mean they did not undergo drug testing at the time of the incident? Those are just a few of the questions i might ask as a starting point. When Bouza writes "the simple fact is that outsiders are unable to distinquish between necessary force and brutality", I emphatically disagree. In effect what Bouza is suggesting is that civilians must stay out of the picture and leave those who are in the know, presumably guys like Mr. Bouza himself, be the final judges of police conduct. Heaven forbid! While it may be true that police inhabit a world of their own and rarely socialize outside it, never break the code of silence, and always circle the wagons when one of theirs comes under scrutiny, to suggest that one outside the ranks can never plumb the depths of their psyches and relate to them, or understand the fear associated with staring death in the face, or be an objective investigator of police conduct, dooms society to a future i do not want to inhabit and displays a depth of cynicism that precludes the advancement of civilization. Just one book I have read, "Above the Law", cogently written by one former NYC policemen who teaches at Temple University and a distinquished Professor of Law at UC-Berkeley, men who have done their work, clearly defines levels of force used by police. Skolnick and Fyfe tell us that unnecessary force is often the result of, poorly trained officers, whether that training be through ineptitude or insensitivity, hastily inserting themselves into situations from which they can only extricate themselves with unnecessary force, usually deadly gunfire. They are quick to add that these are often well-intentioned officers who make good faith mistakes. They continue, "good faith plays no part in brutality" and they liken it to lynching and lynching type behavior. The two notable incidents they cite in this category are those involving Rodney King in LA and Malice Green in Detroit. Bouza also throws into the mix a red herriing, namely mental health. In the incidents involving both Sean Hayes and James Fye, no mention of mental illness was ever suggested and yet they appear to indicate use of unnecessary force, at the ver least, as defined by Skolnick and Fyfe. But once again, we the public, see the events through the prismatic lenses of professional public information officers. A concerted effort is underway to cloud the issues the citizens of this city must address and Tony Bouza compounds the problem with glibness. What makes it most difficult for "outsiders" to discern differences is mostly that police investigators always control crime scenes; therefore the chain of evidence, including incident reports can and does go through numerous mutations before anyone with the slightest bit of objectivity and no real axe to gore, a person who seeks only the truth and perhaps a more humane society, has a chance to investigate. How can one suggest that the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department and the Hennepin County Prosecutor's office, have no bias. They are mere extensions of the thin blue line. They deal with these officers each day and rely upon them for their assistance and good will in doing their jobs. It is inherent in their jobs. And yet, each incident involving a death during the course of police work in Minneapolis goes through this review. Indeed, a compelling argument can be made for a review board or standing police commission staffed entirely by those very "outsiders" whom Bouza disses. Bouza is right when he states that most politicians don't know the right questions to ask? Apparently some police don't know the right questions to ask or what is more likely, they don't want to ask for fear they'll be compromised by the answers they h
lrt funding/schools
in saturday's startribune, kevin diaz wrote an article about the omnibus spending bill congress passed before it closed it's session. part of the money in that bill was $60 million for lrt in the hiawatha corridor and $75 million, I seem to recall, for education throughout the state to reduce class sizes among other things. my questins are: 1. is the $60 million earmarked for lrt the amount the city and state had expected from the feds and does it keep lrt "on track"? 2. how much of the money from the federal government will come to minneapolis public schools? was the minneapolis public schools share of federal dollars likewise what was expected? is it more or less than the city had received in the past budgets? how much of it will go to reduce or keep class size low? and assuming i've read all this correctly was this amount of money considered at the time of the school tax levy and the vote on extending the referendum targeted at keeping class sizes small? i hope these are not seen as impertinent questions? any answers? tim connolly ward 7 __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
Mill City
Dennis is right, it was originally conceived to have a school downtown for Target employees. However, the number of Target employees' children attending the school has dropped significantly. Other families have signed on to the program and I have heard only good stuff about Mill City. As to the idea of a corporate sponsor of a public school, that is a model widely used for charters schools around the country. They too are considered public. I do not know how many public school district schools fall into that category, but I would guess that Mill City is not the only one nationwide. It would be good to know that though, and to see how those schools are doing. Mill City is a very successful school program and the Superintendent is working with Target to remain in the current space one more year. The district is also looking for an alternative downtown space to house Mill City for the year 2001-2003 and beyond. Next year the plan is to have a 5th grade in the school as well so it is a K-5. There are a number of people who work downtown wholike having their children's school close to their workplace. The district remains optimistic about finding such a space. What ever you celebrate, I hope you all on the list have a happy and healthy holiday! Audrey Johnson 10th ward MPS BOE Director
Re: an unheralded demise
Well, if you can't get your science fix from the Strib try the following: http://www.eurekalert.org/news.pub.brief.html Much of it is medical, but they have articles on the latest cosmological find, ways of powering transportation systems, warnings of global warming effects, etc. I hadn't heard about the demise of the Strib science page but I haven't depended on it much recently anyway. Professor Rudnick is right in seeing this as a tragedy since it was geared to kids and getting them interested in science. We are already falling behind the rest of the world on this aspect of our education systems. .. > > And last Wednesday (12/6?), the StarTribune announced the demise of the weekly > > Science Page "in order to better integrate science-based stories with > > the rest of local, national and international news coverage. " > > .. > > So how well is the StarTribune doing in this brave new world> > Lawrence Rudnick > > Distinguished Teaching Professor of Astronomy > = > LR, Fulton Rich McMartin Bryant Neigborhood.
an unheralded demise
Let me start by agreeing with Lawrence Rudnick's posted arguments for strong local reporter coverage of science issues and dedicated space in the paper for science news. The correct date for the editorial he referenced is Dec. 8. I'd like to make the point that none of the articles he cites in noting the richness of scientific coverage by other daily newspapers all appeared in any one of those publications. In other words, all papers make editorial judgments about what stories they pursue and print, balancing space available against a endless oversupply of stories with which to fill that space. I've been as critical internally as many of you have been in this space in questioning the priorities demonstrated by some of those decisions. Since Mr. Rudnick's letter to the editor was undated, I'm not certain which Monday he searched the paper in vain for science articles. But a search of last Monday's paper using scien* to include wild cards found 10 articles. Throw out incidental references and there's still a 50-inch staff-written 1A article examining health concerns raised by platinum leaking into women's bodies from implants, a business section staff-written cover article about career conditions in the high-tech industry, and a Boston Globe article about adevantages in computer chip technology. Maybe it's not pure science, but I suspect most lay readers care more about applied science. Yours in scientific illiteracy, Steve Brandt StarTrib
Re: olson/racial profiling
This is my first post to this discussion group. I have been following your very interesting threads for a while. I have to stop lurking and start posting. Tim Connolly induced me to. I have to applaud him for being honest and saying what most people in Minnesota are afraid to say in public. We all profile and we do it every day. I am white, 53 years old, Jewish, and not born or bred in Minnesota (although I've lived here for over 20 years). Culture is learned behavior that is passed down from generation to generation. Part of culture is the evaluation of behavior which is based on values, attitudes, and mores. I learned how to view the world from my parents, who learned from their parents etc. My first critical social distinction was between jews and gentiles. We evaluated jews' behavior differently from gentiles' behavior. This was from a people who lived in ghettos and did not have civil rights in the wider society. I went to school with my parents' prejudices. They grew up in the crucibles of eastcoast immigrant neighborhoods that had distinct boundries. I learned how to evaluate the "other" through stereotypes but (and this is a big but) I had day-to-day interaction with the "others" over a long time. I weighed the stereotype against the sustained contact. Then came the Civil Rights Movement and the 1960's. We tried to trancend our prejudges. This is what I do everyday when dealing with people: are they Jewish or not? what is the stereotyped view? what is the transcended standard? Are they meeting this standard? This is my cultural calculus. We have to take this for granted or else we would go crazy with minute details. But this is how I see the world and I admit it. The police don't admit this. Certainly Chief Olson doesn't own up to his embedded prejudices. Most Minnesotans don't either. Yet daily social interactions are profoundly affected by these cultural categories and attitudes. When you overlay political correct attitudes over your imbred cultural attitudes you increase the gap between reality and expectations. I would like to hear from others what they think about this cultural evaluation and how it plays out for them here in Minneapolis. The Yiddish phrase for being candid is "shtell tuchis afim tish" which translates literally into "put your ass on the table." Thank you Tim for putting your ass on the table. David Wilson Loring Park On Wed, 20 Dec 2000, timothy connolly wrote: > let's be honest here. > > i am a caucasian male, 51 years old, partially reared > by an afican-american woman. i live mostly with > african-american men. i've spent my share of time on > the street with all that entails. i have lived here > and in virginia. i racially profile. i stereotype. i > may do it less than others but i do it. black people > also profile and stereotype though the effects may not > be felt by whites the way the majority's profiling is > felt by blacks given the majority's use of police to > do their dirty work. > > i still believe olson should not be reappointed. i > hold no illusion that this will be a panacaea to the > problems our city faces vis a vis profiling, police > over-reliance on force, etc. it is only a beginning. > > tim connolly > ward 7 > > __ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. > http://shopping.yahoo.com/ >
an unheralded demise
among the things you apparently won't be reading in the letters to the StarTrib is the following, a sign of Minneapolis mediocrity ill-befitting our self-image and aspirations === > To: Letters Editor: > I'm in culture shock. On Friday's (12/1?) editorial page, the StarTribune > admonished us, saying "America must cure its cultural allergy to math > and science - or risk having its children fall further behind." > But the paper has still not replaced its distinguished and only > general-science reporter, who left this summer for a post in Washington. > And last Wednesday (12/6?), the StarTribune announced the demise of the weekly > Science Page "in order to better integrate science-based stories with > the rest of local, national and international news coverage. " > > So how well is the StarTribune doing in this brave new world? Well, > if you had been reading Monday's New York Times, you could have read > about an agreement with the manufacturer of the popular pesticide > diazinon to pull it off the home market.Monday's Washington Post > highlights two somewhat contradictory pieces of new evidence regarding > the evolutionary connection between birds and dinosaurs. In Monday's > L.A. Times you would have found an interesting analysis piece on > scientific journals being compromised by corporate secrecy demands. The > Boston Globe brought its Monday readers an article about pyroclastic > flow, the superheated high speed destructive result of volcanoes. The > second of a five-part reprinted series in Monday's Baltimore Sun looks > at how fertilizer manufacted in Louisiana and used in the Midwest > returns to devastate fishing in the Gulf. > > But if you were reading Monday's StarTribune, an online search for > "science" shows no stories with science content. To the paper's > credit, there is a front page lead for an important global pact > regarding the "dirty dozen" toxins. And there is one interesting piece > from the Associated Press about three North Carolina high school > students who won the national Siemens Westinghouse Science and > Technology competition, analysing data from the Chandra X-ray satellite. > Unmentioned in the article is that their supervisor is Jonathan > Keohane, a recent University of Minnesota Ph.D. in Astrophysics, whose > work with me and NASA colleagues on exploding stars led to the students' > research. > > A click on today's (Tuesday) NY Times Science/Health Section brings 24 > new articles. But there's nowhere to click for Science in our paper. > If the Twin Cities are to stay well-informed on science issues, the > StarTribune needs a little relief from its cultural allergy. I wish it > a speedy recovery. > > Lawrence Rudnick > Distinguished Teaching Professor of Astronomy = LR, Fulton
mill city montessori
There were and are lots of questions about Target (or any business) sponsoring a public school. It would have been nice to air that debate years ago. List members may remember a cover article on the topic in City Pages (or was is the Reader?) when the school opened. But none of those questions should affect thinking about TIF. Target has no legal or moral responsibility to continue to sponsor the school. It was, from the start, a service to its employees, with some significant external benefits. Mill City Montessori was generally seen as an first-rank school, so it would be worthwhile to keep its staff and program together. Wanna bash Target or its TIF victory, fine. But this is not the hammer. Dennis Schapiro Linden Hills
Re: new year's resolution for the ciy
Mark - What a great idea! And for starters, why don't you send this one in to the Strib to get the ball rolling? Ann Berget Kingfield 10-10
new year's resolution for the ciy
this year i promise not to sweep my leaves into the street. I promise to visit my neighborhood corner store more, and Target less. I promise to vote, and write at least one letter to the editor. mark wilde windom park __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
