If this week is not bad enough already, today we were called together for an emergency staff meeting to learn that there is a list, probably a prank, with names on it—and the date April 20.
April 20 is Hitler’s birthday; April 20 is Smoke Pot Day; April 20 is the day of the Columbine High School massacre. April 20 is 4 days following Virginia Tech.
We’ll have heightened security and a visible police presence, but the day will take a long time from start to finish, with everyone holding their breaths and praying that nothing happens. Many parents will opt to keep their children home, and many students will make that decision regardless of what their parents tell them to do.
For many of us, it’s just not worth running the risk that this time, it’s not a prank.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
...and counting
The “Final Forty” have arrived, the final 40 days for my service to secondary education in the state of California. Sort of. I will continue to teach at the community college for at least one year while I transition from an overly full-time employee to a retiree.
There are 40 desks in my classroom, so here’s the image: each day, I will remove 1 desk; when the room is empty, I hand in my keys and drive home.
Prior to emptying the room, there are 2 quick units of instruction to finish up, as well as the state-mandated testing to slug through. We’re going to finish the STAR in 4 days, but it’s going to be an ugly 4 days! My suggestion, that we have 4 minimum days devoted solely to testing, received a laugh, so we’re going to try to fit all of our classes in and among the testing period—and survive to teach another day.
Mandated testing is only of value as it applies to the individual—but it doesn’t apply to the individual. There are never 2 consecutive days when the same student population is on campus, much less 2 consecutive years to validate the progress or lack thereof vis a vis a testing program.
If single students’ test scores were compared annually, that data may have some validity, but that doesn’t happen: we look at school trends. If that’s the way we’re going to view the data, why not just randomly pick 10% of the student population and give them the tests to see how the school is doing? Less hassle; less cost; the same or similar results: data for public consumption.
The good news is that the exit exam has finally arrived: statewide, 91.4% of the high school seniors are passing it, and at my site, that number is 98% 2 years running. Now, this is not jump up and down and yell huzzah: it’s an 8th grade test! Anyone who can NOT pass it should be ashamed to protest their failure to perform!
And thus begins Day 40.
There are 40 desks in my classroom, so here’s the image: each day, I will remove 1 desk; when the room is empty, I hand in my keys and drive home.
Prior to emptying the room, there are 2 quick units of instruction to finish up, as well as the state-mandated testing to slug through. We’re going to finish the STAR in 4 days, but it’s going to be an ugly 4 days! My suggestion, that we have 4 minimum days devoted solely to testing, received a laugh, so we’re going to try to fit all of our classes in and among the testing period—and survive to teach another day.
Mandated testing is only of value as it applies to the individual—but it doesn’t apply to the individual. There are never 2 consecutive days when the same student population is on campus, much less 2 consecutive years to validate the progress or lack thereof vis a vis a testing program.
If single students’ test scores were compared annually, that data may have some validity, but that doesn’t happen: we look at school trends. If that’s the way we’re going to view the data, why not just randomly pick 10% of the student population and give them the tests to see how the school is doing? Less hassle; less cost; the same or similar results: data for public consumption.
The good news is that the exit exam has finally arrived: statewide, 91.4% of the high school seniors are passing it, and at my site, that number is 98% 2 years running. Now, this is not jump up and down and yell huzzah: it’s an 8th grade test! Anyone who can NOT pass it should be ashamed to protest their failure to perform!
And thus begins Day 40.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Slanguage: Just Say "Ho"
It occurs to me that whatever language I use to refer to myself can also be used by others to refer to me—or to themselves. Thus, if I am black and refer to myself as “nappy headed” and/or as a “ho,” if all others are truly equal with me, they, too, can use that slanguage either about themselves or about me. I will not find it offensive because it is how I describe myself, and, perhaps, others. If we are equal, there cannot be two standards of language application, one for blacks and the other for non-blacks, because that is what defines racism: terminology that is applied to a person based solely on the race of that person.
Many times I have heard Oprah talk about “nappy” hair, laughing and joking about the texture of certain kinds of hair shared by a variety of nationalities, including Afro-Americans. Never once did I assume that Oprah was making a racial statement or sexist slur, but just that she was talking about the characteristics of hair while in the process of entertaining her audience, many of whom do not have nappy hair. When Ellen, whose audience is predominantly white, middle-class women, compliments performers on being “pimped out gangstas,” she’s approving of their appearance and performance, not denigrating someone for selling sex on the streets or committing criminal acts. Jerry Springer depends on his guests coming together in a public arena and identifying each other “pimps,” “hos,” “sluts,” and “gangstas,” slanguage that seems to be an integral part of the presentation of current cultural lifestyle issues.
This slanguage has come into society via the black culture, where it is used to imbue an individual with status. Pimps, hos, and gangstas are what BET is all about, are what rap music is all about, and are what young people today use as role models for their own future. It’s no longer just a black thing, but a lifestyle and slanguage that is used by young people who want to find and fit into a certain social status. The same way that society found it hard to believe that Mark Fuhrman, a cop, never used the “n” word, I assume that there are few, if any, young people today, especially those designated as “minority,” who have not called one another—or themselves—pimps, hos, and/or gangstas because this slanguage is part of the common lexicon in today’s society.
Daily I hear both male and female high school students refer to themselves and one another as “pimps,” “hos,” and “gangstas,” often in terms of bragging about expensive possessions or clothing choices that assure them of their social status with their peers. This slanguage is not confined to African-Americans, but is used generationally by those who want to fit in to a Hip Hop or Gangsta culture, regardless of their ethnicity. Because I come from a generation that finds it derogatory to call anyone either a pimp or a whore, I don’t, but the message I have received from the media and certain cultures is that it’s okay to call men “pimps” and women “hos,” and that there is status in being called a “gangsta.”
The terms "pimps," "hos" and "gangstas" are not just socially inappropriate, but criminal designations, according to the laws of this country, so I’m not sure why anyone—regardless of race, religion, politics, or social affiliations—would choose those terms to describe themselves or others. A person who wants to earn respect from others first needs to have self-respect; people who refer to themselves as pimps, hos, and gangstas lack self-respect, and those who apply that slanguage to others lack respect for others.
As for the thinking that I can call myself a term defined as derogatory in another culture because it’s a status symbol in my culture, I don’t think so: if it’s derogatory to one person, it’s derogatory to all people, regardless of race. Conversely, if it’s acceptable to one culture of people, then it’s acceptable for all cultures of people, regardless of race. Sending mixed messages creates a situation in which no one knows either what is or what is not acceptable at any given time to any given person in any given situation. Thinking that I can use the slanguage, but you can’t because we aren’t of the same race, makes language a racial issue. If we don’t want slanguage such as “pimp,” “ho,” and “gangsta,” to be part of our culture, everyone needs to stop using it, not just the white comedians and social commentators.
As an individual, I have the power of “no,” which means I choose whether to listen or not to listen to any one at any time and in any situation. I choose not to watch BET because I am offended by the dress, the presentation of self, and the profanity-laced slanguage that is used as a means of communication. I feel that the performers on this TV station parody the culture they purport to represent, and if I were black, I would be offended by the negative stereotypes typical of BET. Men are dehumanized as sexual action figures whose sole job is to strut like a peacock adorned in ostentatious jewelry and prison tattoos, flashing gangsta signs; women are personified as cheap, scantily-clad sexual objects whose goal in life is to be sexually promiscuous.
If I were black, I would demand that these derogatory cultural caricatures be banned from the media. However, as long as that is the assumed standard for being black, no one should be surprised when the rest of America jumps on the bandwagon in an effort to establish a social or cultural bond with the black performers who seem to set the standard for their race.
If all black people do not want to be characterized by the media images, then they need to be the first to clean up the images that the rest of society sees. Black speakers long ago took to the bully pulpit to decry the negative stereotypes from the earlier days of TV, the slave mentality, the “southern nigger” syndrome, the poorly-educated ghetto populations, but it appears to me that the majority of blacks are glad that those images have been replaced with pimps, hos, and gangstas. If that’s not what black culture is, then stop presenting it to society as what you are. If that’s how you want to be seen by society, then don’t protest when that’s how society sees you.
Don Imus was doing what he’s been doing for far too long: using poor judgment to pillory people in the name of humor. I find him offensive on a good day, so I don’t listen to him, the same way that I find Joan Rivers’ sexually explicit comedy offensive, can’t stand Don Rickles’ sense of humor, and will not watch a profanity-dependent movie directed by Spike Lee. I applaud Bill Cosby for telling “his” people to get an education and become part of the culture in which they live. I am appalled at men, such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who turn their race into their religion, and then foist it on the American public as national morality.
Don Imus lost his job, not for what he said, but for what the black community has said about what he said, which is reactive racism and has no place in our society. It is appropriate to hold Don Imus—and anyone else—to account for their public pronouncements, but an appropriate reaction to his poor judgment is his public apology, his private apology to the team of women athletes he offended, and a suspension from his radio broadcast.
It is not, however, appropriate to fire Imus for doing what is done commonly in this society by black performers: using black stereotypes and inappropriate slanguage in the media as part of a performance. If that’s why Imus was fired, then let the unemployment lines begin to form and take ALL media performers who use offensive black slanguage and stereotypes off the air!
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees the right to free speech to all its citizens, not just its black citizens. If the slanguage and the stereotypes originate within the black community, the message is sent to all citizens that it is okay to use those same images and slanguage to communicate with the black community. If that is not what the black community wants, it is up to them to clean up their own backyard, not posture in public and put the blame on the white community for a situation that the black community has not only created, but continues to promote as the model of a black lifestyle.
Many times I have heard Oprah talk about “nappy” hair, laughing and joking about the texture of certain kinds of hair shared by a variety of nationalities, including Afro-Americans. Never once did I assume that Oprah was making a racial statement or sexist slur, but just that she was talking about the characteristics of hair while in the process of entertaining her audience, many of whom do not have nappy hair. When Ellen, whose audience is predominantly white, middle-class women, compliments performers on being “pimped out gangstas,” she’s approving of their appearance and performance, not denigrating someone for selling sex on the streets or committing criminal acts. Jerry Springer depends on his guests coming together in a public arena and identifying each other “pimps,” “hos,” “sluts,” and “gangstas,” slanguage that seems to be an integral part of the presentation of current cultural lifestyle issues.
This slanguage has come into society via the black culture, where it is used to imbue an individual with status. Pimps, hos, and gangstas are what BET is all about, are what rap music is all about, and are what young people today use as role models for their own future. It’s no longer just a black thing, but a lifestyle and slanguage that is used by young people who want to find and fit into a certain social status. The same way that society found it hard to believe that Mark Fuhrman, a cop, never used the “n” word, I assume that there are few, if any, young people today, especially those designated as “minority,” who have not called one another—or themselves—pimps, hos, and/or gangstas because this slanguage is part of the common lexicon in today’s society.
Daily I hear both male and female high school students refer to themselves and one another as “pimps,” “hos,” and “gangstas,” often in terms of bragging about expensive possessions or clothing choices that assure them of their social status with their peers. This slanguage is not confined to African-Americans, but is used generationally by those who want to fit in to a Hip Hop or Gangsta culture, regardless of their ethnicity. Because I come from a generation that finds it derogatory to call anyone either a pimp or a whore, I don’t, but the message I have received from the media and certain cultures is that it’s okay to call men “pimps” and women “hos,” and that there is status in being called a “gangsta.”
The terms "pimps," "hos" and "gangstas" are not just socially inappropriate, but criminal designations, according to the laws of this country, so I’m not sure why anyone—regardless of race, religion, politics, or social affiliations—would choose those terms to describe themselves or others. A person who wants to earn respect from others first needs to have self-respect; people who refer to themselves as pimps, hos, and gangstas lack self-respect, and those who apply that slanguage to others lack respect for others.
As for the thinking that I can call myself a term defined as derogatory in another culture because it’s a status symbol in my culture, I don’t think so: if it’s derogatory to one person, it’s derogatory to all people, regardless of race. Conversely, if it’s acceptable to one culture of people, then it’s acceptable for all cultures of people, regardless of race. Sending mixed messages creates a situation in which no one knows either what is or what is not acceptable at any given time to any given person in any given situation. Thinking that I can use the slanguage, but you can’t because we aren’t of the same race, makes language a racial issue. If we don’t want slanguage such as “pimp,” “ho,” and “gangsta,” to be part of our culture, everyone needs to stop using it, not just the white comedians and social commentators.
As an individual, I have the power of “no,” which means I choose whether to listen or not to listen to any one at any time and in any situation. I choose not to watch BET because I am offended by the dress, the presentation of self, and the profanity-laced slanguage that is used as a means of communication. I feel that the performers on this TV station parody the culture they purport to represent, and if I were black, I would be offended by the negative stereotypes typical of BET. Men are dehumanized as sexual action figures whose sole job is to strut like a peacock adorned in ostentatious jewelry and prison tattoos, flashing gangsta signs; women are personified as cheap, scantily-clad sexual objects whose goal in life is to be sexually promiscuous.
If I were black, I would demand that these derogatory cultural caricatures be banned from the media. However, as long as that is the assumed standard for being black, no one should be surprised when the rest of America jumps on the bandwagon in an effort to establish a social or cultural bond with the black performers who seem to set the standard for their race.
If all black people do not want to be characterized by the media images, then they need to be the first to clean up the images that the rest of society sees. Black speakers long ago took to the bully pulpit to decry the negative stereotypes from the earlier days of TV, the slave mentality, the “southern nigger” syndrome, the poorly-educated ghetto populations, but it appears to me that the majority of blacks are glad that those images have been replaced with pimps, hos, and gangstas. If that’s not what black culture is, then stop presenting it to society as what you are. If that’s how you want to be seen by society, then don’t protest when that’s how society sees you.
Don Imus was doing what he’s been doing for far too long: using poor judgment to pillory people in the name of humor. I find him offensive on a good day, so I don’t listen to him, the same way that I find Joan Rivers’ sexually explicit comedy offensive, can’t stand Don Rickles’ sense of humor, and will not watch a profanity-dependent movie directed by Spike Lee. I applaud Bill Cosby for telling “his” people to get an education and become part of the culture in which they live. I am appalled at men, such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who turn their race into their religion, and then foist it on the American public as national morality.
Don Imus lost his job, not for what he said, but for what the black community has said about what he said, which is reactive racism and has no place in our society. It is appropriate to hold Don Imus—and anyone else—to account for their public pronouncements, but an appropriate reaction to his poor judgment is his public apology, his private apology to the team of women athletes he offended, and a suspension from his radio broadcast.
It is not, however, appropriate to fire Imus for doing what is done commonly in this society by black performers: using black stereotypes and inappropriate slanguage in the media as part of a performance. If that’s why Imus was fired, then let the unemployment lines begin to form and take ALL media performers who use offensive black slanguage and stereotypes off the air!
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees the right to free speech to all its citizens, not just its black citizens. If the slanguage and the stereotypes originate within the black community, the message is sent to all citizens that it is okay to use those same images and slanguage to communicate with the black community. If that is not what the black community wants, it is up to them to clean up their own backyard, not posture in public and put the blame on the white community for a situation that the black community has not only created, but continues to promote as the model of a black lifestyle.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Highway I.E.D.
Buzzing along I-10 at 70 mph and looking to merge right toward the off-ramp after passing a slow-moving vehicle, I was suddenly stunned when a huge explosion went off next to my car. My first thought was that someone in the car next to me had fired a shotgun at my car; however, once my heart rate calmed down, I realized that I was in no immediate danger and began to look for the cause of the explosion.
The SUV in the lane next to me, the slow-moving vehicle I needed to pass on my way to the exit ramp, was driving on the freeway on a "donut," the temporary tire designed to get the car off the freeway and into the gas station, and it blew. In my area, the "donuts" are called upon to provide long and faithful service far beyond the short trip to safety for which they are designed.
It was a relief to see the SUV swerve onto the shoulder, rather than careering across the roadway, as there were several children in the back seat, obviously in the care of the female driver, who could barely be seen above the dashboard. All too often these sudden roadway emergencies send inexperienced drivers into panicked reaction mode, which ends in tragedy.
There has been a noticeable increase in traffic fatalities recently, perhaps tied to the influx of snowbirds, but probably more attributable to reckless driving practices. Some recent examples include:
**Entering the left-turn lane at an intersection, waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear, beginning my left turn, and being unexpectedly cut-off by an idiot in a huge pick-up truck who is turning left onto the same road I am heading toward--at the same time I'm making my turn! He's using the on-coming traffic lane to cut off several of the cars in the turning lane, but he didn't manage to hit any of us--this time.
The SUV in the lane next to me, the slow-moving vehicle I needed to pass on my way to the exit ramp, was driving on the freeway on a "donut," the temporary tire designed to get the car off the freeway and into the gas station, and it blew. In my area, the "donuts" are called upon to provide long and faithful service far beyond the short trip to safety for which they are designed.
It was a relief to see the SUV swerve onto the shoulder, rather than careering across the roadway, as there were several children in the back seat, obviously in the care of the female driver, who could barely be seen above the dashboard. All too often these sudden roadway emergencies send inexperienced drivers into panicked reaction mode, which ends in tragedy.
There has been a noticeable increase in traffic fatalities recently, perhaps tied to the influx of snowbirds, but probably more attributable to reckless driving practices. Some recent examples include:
**Entering the left-turn lane at an intersection, waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear, beginning my left turn, and being unexpectedly cut-off by an idiot in a huge pick-up truck who is turning left onto the same road I am heading toward--at the same time I'm making my turn! He's using the on-coming traffic lane to cut off several of the cars in the turning lane, but he didn't manage to hit any of us--this time.
**Coming to a T-intersection where through traffic (me) does not stop, but traffic coming off the intersecting road does. My posted speed limit is 55 mph, but no matter how close to the intersection I am in the morning or how much I slow down, several vehicles pull out in front of me, necessitating that I slam on the brakes and dive for the shoulder to avoid a collision. This morning, I held down the horn the entire time I was braking and moving out of the way of the little red Honda packed with dayworkers hoping for $10 an hour by crowding the corners at the local 7-11.
**Cruising down the main road on the way to the freeway, 5 miles an hour above the speed limit, same as all the other drivers, I was subjected to a shower of sand and desert rock from the asshole driving the big pick-up truck--on the right shoulder--around all the traffic. Everyone was honking horns and throwing the finger, but this guy was too busy off-roading to notice.
**And my favorite, the stretch of the road clearly marked "NO PASSING" that is a challenge to the gardeners and the pool workers, who are not only driving little 4-banger pick-ups, but are also loaded down with the tools of the trade. They have no acceleration, but somehow think it's important to pass all the vehicles in front of them in the "no passing" stretch. Perhaps they don't read road signs in English or don't know what the double yellow line means? Perhaps they don't realize that those two lights headed their way are at the front end of a vehicle being driven by a person who will die if/when hit head-on?
In the almost 10 years that I've been driving these same roads, I can count on one hand the number of law enforcement vehicles I've seen patrolling. They do show up when there's an accident, and more and more of the accidents are fatalities, but I'll bet that some of the deaths could be prevented by law enforcement patrolling and pulling over the egregious offenders I deal with every day I drive to work.
And while they're at it, perhaps law enforcement can check for driver's license, current registration, and insurance? An unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a piece of crap car that can't pass the smog requirements and isn't insured probably isn't too worried about causing an accident.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
... and eat it, too!
A person who is retiring should make a transition, rather than an abrupt full-time work, then nothing change of life. As I’ve been both sick for the past 10 days and grading papers, I’ve had on the TV set to provide background noise, sometimes keeping me awake and other times giving me white noise conducive to napping.
My eye has been caught by the food network, the one that has cake decorating challenges. Today, it was 10 top decorators paired with a teammate not of their own choosing, designing and completing a cake in relays. First, one member of each team had an hour, then swapped with the other team member, a rotation that took the first 6 hours of the competition. For the last 2 hours, both team members worked on the final assembling and decorating of the project.
For those who had a plan, the system worked well; for those who didn’t communicate well, it was tense, to say the least. One team did such a poor job of communicating that the next team member redid everything the previous hour had accomplished! Talk about one step forward and two steps backward. For the most part, however, it was amazing to see how the cakes were sketched, carved, stacked, and decorated in record time and with spectacular results.
And I think I’d like to do that.
As I’ve been watching the cake decorating, my mind has been wandering back to that period in my life when I did some cake decorating—and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed designing a cake and then making it come to life, but nothing I ever did was on a scale 1/10 of what the professionals are doing on the TV programs.
The pros use fondant, a taste I’ve never developed, to get the smooth outside of the cake that shows off all the detail added to it. There are layers stacked at crooked angles and all kinds of whirligigs and geegaws added to the cakes, and the results are spectacular. I doubt that I could ever achieve that level of expertise, but I wonder if I could practice and get myself to the level of decorating cakes at Von’s or Albertson’s bakeries?
It’s just a thought, but one I’m going to allow free reign for a while.
My eye has been caught by the food network, the one that has cake decorating challenges. Today, it was 10 top decorators paired with a teammate not of their own choosing, designing and completing a cake in relays. First, one member of each team had an hour, then swapped with the other team member, a rotation that took the first 6 hours of the competition. For the last 2 hours, both team members worked on the final assembling and decorating of the project.
For those who had a plan, the system worked well; for those who didn’t communicate well, it was tense, to say the least. One team did such a poor job of communicating that the next team member redid everything the previous hour had accomplished! Talk about one step forward and two steps backward. For the most part, however, it was amazing to see how the cakes were sketched, carved, stacked, and decorated in record time and with spectacular results.
And I think I’d like to do that.
As I’ve been watching the cake decorating, my mind has been wandering back to that period in my life when I did some cake decorating—and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed designing a cake and then making it come to life, but nothing I ever did was on a scale 1/10 of what the professionals are doing on the TV programs.
The pros use fondant, a taste I’ve never developed, to get the smooth outside of the cake that shows off all the detail added to it. There are layers stacked at crooked angles and all kinds of whirligigs and geegaws added to the cakes, and the results are spectacular. I doubt that I could ever achieve that level of expertise, but I wonder if I could practice and get myself to the level of decorating cakes at Von’s or Albertson’s bakeries?
It’s just a thought, but one I’m going to allow free reign for a while.
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