Atticus Sawatzki's Blog

Glitz, Glamor, Salt, Reasonable Profits Board

2012-01-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hot topic around the Academy, SONY is making a picture about the "Maersk Alabama", the ship which in April 2009 was taken by pirates in the Mediterranean. Several midshipmen from the USMMA found out about the casting call in New York directed to "all merchant mariners". Although sea time (which the USMMA upperclassmen have) is recommended, at least two Plebes have been pre-screened and approved for the casting call. Word came through the vine that one of the directors wanted USMMA midshipmen participation in the casting. Although midshipmen from the USMMA and cadets from the other Maritime Academies regularly sail on US-flagged ships, including the Maersk Alabama, I'm not sure if any cadets were on board the ship at the time. SONY is casting mariners for authenticity (can you make a Hollywood actor look salty?), and their ability to provide knowledge to the filming crew and star actors, Tom Hanks included. Filming will be in Morocco this Spring.

Midshipmen who have received call-backs from the casting agent will get a long weekend to go to the casting call, and have a little time to relax in the City.

A link to the announcement of the casting call sent to the Alumni Foundation, which trickled down to midshipmen in 4th Company:
http://www.usmmaaf.com/s/1175/index.aspx?sid=1175&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1470&ecid=1470&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=1427

And an USMMA grad's take on being selected as a prime candidate for the role of 2nd Mate for the casting call: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=529839

It seems like the movie industry has come a long way in attentiveness to settings since they regularly featured skyscrapers in downtown DC (non-existent). Don't have a list of those movies which commit that venial sin, but Seth MacFarlene's cartoon sitcom "American Dad", based in Langley, VA, shows silhouettes of skyscrapers in rooftop scenes downtown.

And a little talk:
There's a soundbite going around Facebook about six members of Congress wanting to set up a presidential-appointed "reasonable profits board" for oil and gas companies to determine a reasonable profit, and tax everything- up to a rate of 100%- above that amount. Sounds like an FDR Plan from 1942. It seems as if the disbelief is aimed towards the "reasonable profits" quote, not the concept of having companies pay taxes on oil extracted (or shrinking R+D and "depletion" tax benefits).
With loosening of total state control over business, Cubans are embracing the capitalist spirit.

A Gentle Slide Towards Recognition

2012-01-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

A Happy New Year to our readers!

Draft: Editing not complete.

I was at my desk yesterday cleaning out and reorganizing folders I use for class when three firstclassmen midshipmen officers entered the room, talking. I shot up to attention, before being put at ease so that I could continue on with my business. The two were talking about rearranging the standard arrangement of room furniture for third- and fourth-class rooms, and were going to give their recommendations to the higher-ups- the commissioned officers. They were just chatting to each other; the people who look at plebes with stern faces and tell us to "get on our face"- do pushups- were concerned with finer details like room design. It was easiest to use a plebe's room, since there would be less items lying around on top of the drawers in the room. Ideally, there would be nothing on top pf the drawer or dresser in a plebe room.

Wondering whether two drawers that looked the same size were actually the same size, they measured my roommate's drawer under the desk, and the one inside the wardrobe. They were not the same size; one is two nches deeper than the other. They tried moving the dresser from in front of the window to under the desk, beside the already-present drawer. In moving the dresser, they uncovered alternative bedding- a sleeping bag. "He's got to hide that better", remarked the Company Commander. (Only firstclassmen are authorized to leave out unauthorized bedding during the day).

If they had heard what sounds like cans moving around inside a drawer (the one under the desk is a personal drawer), they might have instincitvely asked:
"What's that rolling around in there?" They know what plebes keep in personal drawers, in addition to leisure reading material, office supplies, extra uniform supplies, and socks and shirts folded the way laundry service folds- rather than the "proper" way: there might be snacks, Red Bull, bottled Frappucinos, headphones, "civilian" clothes.

A plebe's collection of food and snacks grow soon after the end of Indoc: it starts off with Power Bars and Gatorade (less sugary than the drink staple Powerade served in Delano!) The belief that health and wellness checks (the only time personal drawers can get inspected) will result in Class Twos being issued (up to six weeeks of restriction for "Failure to Comply with Direct Order" to follow the Plebe rules) keeps a plebe from keeping even those "unauthorized" granola bars in his or her room. If a package with food comes in the mail, it is to be handed over to the guardianship of the MIDN Company Training Officer, the firstclassman who deals with plebes specifically. The CTO gets tired of playing rationeer with the grub, and hands the responsibility of being custodian of plebe grub to "team leaders", thirdclassmen who were just plebes a few months back themselves. They know the real deal: keep it in a personal drawer.

There is that first liberty, and the plebe might come back with some grub. If you can't share it all, keep it. There hasn't been a health and wellness check yet. Then Cookie Cafe starts up, and the mothers who run the close-to-weekly cookie event insist "I couldn't bear to tell (Johnny's) mother that I couldn't take some to go". What a good alibi for being found with cookies in your drawer! Oh-- and if you want to eat the grub, you better wait til you can close your door at 10pm.

But in fact, it took a certain plebe two trips (that were observed by midshipmen officers) to the NEX to buy unauthorized food and drink in a boiler suit, with buttons popped, before being put on the mast list (the list that tells you that you need to see the Company Officer to explain yourself). It was then we learned that having unauthoried food and gear in our personal drawers wasn't such a crime.
By November, Plebes are participating in team sports and other activities in full swing; and sometimes it's just not possible to make it to breakfast or dinner. Enter food and vending privileges. These are also doled out as payment or reward to Plebes who give up an hour or two to do something for the Regiment, such as helping set up or take down table or counting pushups for the Fitness Test. Upperclassmen also take classes too, and are worried more about their own GPA than whether or not that bag of chips you have on your desk was authorized or not.

But then, what is a health and wellness check, and do they ever happen?
Yesterday, one company had a health and wellness check. 4th Company, but in time, all the companies should be checked. Although most rooms would undoubtedly pass without problem, there are possibly life-altering consequences (it's that serious) if something is found. By something we are not talking about Twinkies or even tobacco, but liquor mostly- and evidence of illegal substances. With the only penalty possible being instant expulsion, you've got to be moronic to even consider using that stuff: this sentiment rings through the Regiment. But liquor-- it appears on Midshipmen spirit T-Shirts, is use is humorized in morale emails, and, by George, the upperclassmen even drink it (in moderation) on liberty! What if a midshipman actually had a bottle of the real thing wrapped in a shower towel?

Because possibly ending someone's career isn't a laughing matter, the search has got to be done "right". Two Company Officers, and a series of high-ranking midshimen officers, proceeded through the main deck of the Regiment (transiting via companies except through zero deck- the basement level- is not permitted by underclassmen) towards the company that was getting inspected. Turns out, the COs only looked into firstclassmen rooms. In their minds, perhaps, the firstclassmen should be the ones to set an example for the plebes. For plebes, it is a good feeling that our police are policed.

Being 21 or not is irrelevant on campus*: no midshipman is permitted to have a hard drink on campus, unless you're a firstclassman at the pub or a formal event in the Officers' Club. Being under 21 just gives the investigating CO a few more words to say to the penitent. Interestingly, although plebes are more likely to get written up for having that stuff on campus, the first class has the most to lose: commissions have been lost to bad choices. If any midshipman needs to act like an officer, it is the first class. And they have the privelege of going out any day of the week, unlike the rest of us! There is more understanding of a Plebe making that kind of mistake: Ocassionally, a plebe does become curious about "that kind of thing"--in uniform. Often, they are good kids who never even got close to the cooler in high school, but New York presented too big a temptation. Make that mistake early, do the time- Class I for bringing discredit upon the Academy- (6 to 12 weeks restriction, plus up to 100 Extra Duty- community service- hours), and don't do it again. That was your one chance for exploring bacchannalism, by the way.

I'll note it here that CO's "pick on" second and firstclassmen the way that firstclassmen have plebes. To CO's, it seems, all eyes are already on Plebes, and thirdclassmen are already accountable for the actions of two plebes at any given time.

So keeping that sparkling water in my personal drawer on the down-low, I trudge on as a plebe looking forward to that Recognition day--probably before May- that we win, for almost finitude, some upperclass priveleges.

*Maybe at many colleges it's only enforced in Freshman dorms, but, having lived in a class rates environment, I find it hard to understand the rational of hard drink privileges in the dorm set merely by being 21 (State colleges usually have that requirement for on-campus dorms), rather than setting it as a class privelege- say, a Sophomore- or Junior- year onset privelege. RA's at some colleges have floor maps showing which rooms are "wet rooms" and which ones are not- some require both roommates to be 21, some do noe. One of my high school classmates happens to live in a "wet room"- though his roommate is 21, he is an observant Muslim, and doesn't associate- buy, sell, or drink- with that stuff. On that note, I don't even see the need to allow that stuff in the dormitory. Allowing it just encourages its use; no need to mention how trying to age-restrict in the dorms is a complete joke: a closed door, no loud music, and a less-than-nosy RA is all it takes to "express one's adulthood" by chugging away in a less-than-mature manner.

Checking In

2011-12-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

Been enjoying the Christmas Break. Met over half my high school classmates at a parent-sponsored event Tuesday night. Spent Christmas in Canada with family- Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. I've resumed keeping a daily journal, and will pull out the highlights to post on my blog. Felt very productive today, and this is the icing on that cake. Did a 4-mile run on the C+O canal, did homework, played the violin, and even picked up doing work on a short comic book that I started back in 2005. Just opened a can of worms. At least it's a kid-firendly book!

Typical Mid-year Plebe Weekend

2011-12-04T19:05:00.001-08:00

On Saturday,the Regiment held a regular Class B room inspection. These happen occasionally on Saturday mornings. At 9am, you stand outside your room with your roommate (unless you're a firstclassman), and stand at attention (if you're a plebe/ fourthclassman like I am) until and after your room is inspected. The Class B lasts about an hour and a half; the actual room check lasts about 10 minutes. Sometimes, other duty calls a midshipman to be absent from inspection. My roommate was at a swim meet, and I was at EMT class. A good deal, right? Well, our room passed (though, since my roommate was out since Friday morning, less cleaning was done in my room for inspection than usual).

When both roommates are gone, the parts of the scoresheet that involve personal appearance and knowledge are omitted. But did we get off too easy? Since we're plebes, yes. I'm on the list for room reinspection tomorrow. So I've lived this weekend in essentially a sterile room, and spent an extra few hours today making sure my room and my uniform is perfect for inspection. Why so much dedication to cleaning? Tomorrow's inspector emailed me to let me know that he would not be as lenient as Saturday's inspector. On the other hand, we don't have to stand outside our room for as long as we would on a Saturday. That's plebe life.

Furthermore, liberty was secured (not granted) for plebes. That was a surprise, since we were on track to get some after the inspection. Since the firstclassmen who give us liberty were in Atlantic City for the weekend (just about all are 21 now...), we thought that they had forgotten that we were 'stuck' on campus (except for off campus runs). So tonight we found out that we had done a motivational spirit mission on Thursday night in celebration of the 200 nights the firstclassmen have until graduation, but had not gotten permission to do so. It involved bringing up 13 sailboats to spell "200" on the grass-- $40,000 worth of waterfront equipment. Someone was not happy about it, and that was how liberty was not granted. I've had a typical plebe weekend, as the upperclassmen will say. But plebe life only lasts so long.

Key to note, I got an achievement award--in the form of weekend passes- for a 3.6 GPA last trimester. I seek to keep that up. That means more times studying and less time being regimental. First off, EMT class runs through the plebe training period two of four nights a week (Weekends start on Friday...). So I've noticed I'm already being less of a plebe. As the Academy's unofficial slogan goes, Academics first, regiment second; or the more practical "people get kicked out for academics, not for having a dull shine on your leathers--though try not to end up on restriction" (you will not hear a regimental firstclassman say these phrases, except during exam week). Then why did I clean my room this weekend? An insufficient score equals restriction: extra duty hours and forming up every few hours on weekends and twice on weekdays. Not a good list to be on.

So asides from academic "judgment days", where two 20%-of-a-course-grade tests take place on the same day, this is as hard as plebe life gets. Halfway through already, 2015.

I've already lent the link to a Class of 2013 midshipman's blog to cover for my infrequent postings while I've been at the Academy, but I'll lend it again:

usmmamidshipmanstake.blogspot.com

Also are less comprehensive blogs: attempts which started strong but were set aside by the pressure of more pressing duties at the Academy (homework, etc.):

Class of 2015, 3rd Company (Bro Co): http://www.arroganceonthehighseas.blogspot.com/ //Disclaimer: written by a restricted plebe. Has a Holden Caulfield vocabulary and mindset.//
Class of 2013: http://usmma2013-kp2013.blogspot.com
And, since we like to point out our classmates when they're being "different", here is just one of many hometown articles about classmates before they head off to the Academy. Drill Instructors like to find these articles, as well as Facebook profiles, to get a background on their charges before Indoc begins. Guess how one of my platoonmates got the name "Toga Tom"?

http://www.celebritysentry.com/post/teen%E2%80%99s-call-of-duty-high-seas/http://www.celebritysentry.com/post/teen%E2%80%99s-call-of-duty-high-seas/

In DC's West End, don't even think about using coupons.

2011-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Looking for that 'refined' neighborhood, free from the 'grossness' of America's big-name food companies? Need to be hip? Don't even want to see a non-'hip' grocery store in your neighborhood? You've got good company in DC's West End. Not even New York could compete. We'll bet you that even in the poshest neighborhood, you'll come across a food store that sells name-brand products. Not in the West End.

Word came through the grape vine that the 'regular' grocery store in my West End-Foggy Bottom neighborhood is closing. The Watergate Safeway, as it is known, saw little competition until 2006, when Trader Joe's opened 5 blocks away with a $1million deal sweetener from the neighborhood association (it was clear in the mind of community leaders that Safeway was slacking on performance). Well, this Trader Joe's instantaneously became the highest-grossing outlet on the East Coast (see the discussion on the link). Now Whole Foods has opened up in the neighborhood as well. Can the neighborhood support three supermarkets? Maybe-- if Safeway would have stepped up its game. Bare shelves were a frequent occurence, and the store format is often described as "odd" or "peculiar"-- check the Yelp page. It's been described as "straight from the '60's". I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know.

From what I understand, the store still turned a profit. The main reason for Safeway bailing is that the owner of the property wants a 20 year lease renewal. Next is the corporate strategy of consolidation: the chain opened a rebuilt store of its "urban" design (swanky lighting and higher prices), located a 10 minute drive uptown. That store, known as the "social safeway", performed better as the suburban design it was. Nevertheless, it seems as if the chain assumes that most customers drive to the store, and would drive to the new store (In fact, most arrive on foot, and according to city stats, over half of the residents in the neighborhood don't have cars). Furthermore, Safeway in the DC area has taken a new face as a property developer. A number of outlets are being redeveloped with condominiums or apartment placed on top of the store. Watergate, with the complex already built up, did not fit that model.

Given the way that this store's economic model was shaken in the past five years, I would have shaky hands if I had to sign that lease renewal.

1500 people signed a petition to "save" the store, but it's business first. Despite its faults, this Safeway did supply some of the regular groceries people are used to seeing: marshmallow fluff, 5 pound bags of sugar, and national brands. Betty Crocker? Pillsbury? Yoplait? No more in my neighborhood.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8616/want-a-trader-joes-then-add-more-residents/

Sir, We're Not All The Same.

2011-10-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

So for the first time since fourth grade, I'm attending a co-ed school. The ratio is pretty unbalanced (7:1), based on the fact that this is a military institution where half the students are engineering majors. But the ratio is better than in my high school, and especially than my middle school, where we were cloistered save for a trip to an occassional preppy mixer. Sure, some of the guys in high school had girlfriends. Senior prom, there were some steady dates. They meet their classmates' sisters while putting on musicals and plays,and at family functions like the athletic banquet. They also met girls at church, and in their neighborhood, and at late-night 'social gatherings' (house parties) in Bethesda, Rockville, Captiol Hill, New Alexandria, or University Park.

USMMA's Co-ed decks (but some decks only) are a natural means of mingling. What a difference living with potential dates make. All-boy high school had nowhere near the rumor mill that coed school makes. Furthermore, it's a bigger deal about who's dating who at a school where you recognize all your schoolmates' names.

But who gets friendship and who doesn't? It seems as if varsity athletes are too much, too brute to handle. Ditto the football team. Exceptions are the sailing and crew teams, and certain "adorable" members of the injury list. Certain girls fall for boys in running suits and crutches. Academic difficulty? Women don't want to be with a sinking ship. The Academy's mission is to appoint the 'best and brightest'. (During Indoc, the Drill Instructors made a deal about it: America's Best and it takes you a whole 30 seconds to arrange yourselves in height order??) But, at least to the girls, some Academy boys are 'better and brighter' than others. The boys with the best success tend to be sweet talkers with fluid voices, section leaders, 19 or 20 (rather than merely 18), able to party responsibly (able to get to Penn Station and board the 119 am or 319am train without assistance), have a GPA above 2.6, and are recreational athletes. Yes; I've heard this about recreational athletes at every college: they get dates. So it comes through the pipeline that a plebe boy and a plebe girl had a whole night of fun together in the City. Well, I was going into the pool one evening, and I saw their two names in the logbook. Flip back through the log, and there those two are: always swimming for fun together! If you do pay a visit to another gender's room, the door has to pop open 89 degrees, and the boy better have a shirt on. That last rule doesn't apply in athletic areas. Doesn't studness pays off?

And it progresses. After first meeting, a boy and a girl will first come to sit together in the dining hall. Then the boy will go to the girl's room for help on homework. Then they'll go out together on liberty. Next thing, they're exercising together, and then, they'll go to each other's rooms just to talk. I've seen it progress like that more than once.

For everyone else, there's a whole world waiting for young men in officers' uniform.

Outside the Fence

2011-10-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

Last year, as an associate editor of the school paper, I learned the adage:Old news is crud news. I wrote this expose on the surprise liberty the Regiment got the weekend before Labor Day weekend for Hurricane Irene, but, that was like, 2 months ago now! I'll find some way to post it so that I don't appear cras. But on that note, it was a welcome surprise to be tromping around a weekend before we were "supposed" to. Now that we're "Accepted" into the Navy and we got our eagles, we look at our former selves in blank-chested summer whites with a smile of amusement.

I'm not sure how prevalent automatically-graded online homework assignments are these days, but, looking back on my soon-to-conclude first trimester, I had a lot of homework. Sure, it reinforced concepts, but my notion of college as a free-for-all where you do homework for your own understanding and not necessariy for a grade, was smashed. Oh- that and sleeping in class. Acceptable at regular colleges, but not at an Academy. I guess it's the taxpayers who would rather have us learning in class than sleeping through it. But since we got caffeine privileges on Acceptance Day, sleepiness- in class or during evening study hours- hasn't been a problem for me. My fix- cafeteria coffee. Once or twice a day. Two-thirds of a mug, no nonsense, maybe sometimes with one packet of sugar and a bit of half and half. I treat it with care: I didn't drink it in high school, but in college, it keeps me working as late as I need to. I understand it's addictive, but I haven't built up a tolerance or physiological attraction yet.

Maybe I don't need the coffee anyhow. The upperclassmen say that first trimester is the hardest, because plebes aren't used a "working adult's sleep schedule". Wake up at 0600, regimental life to 0745, carry on about the school day, sports and homework and dinner, rack-in at soonest time possible (as in 2200/ 10pm if you're lucky; most nights closer to 11pm). So maybe I'm adjusting.

Power Squadron weekend trips for the two weekends before Columbus Day Weekend. First trip was on the YP 679, the Liberator, a true-blue-and white ex-Navy working ship. 108 feet in length and three decks, with a nice galley and mess, and a good rear quarterdeck for grilling and chilling-- and working the lines. Yes; a lot of what us plebes (or rookies, as we are called on the waterfront) learn while working and being underway on a boat is what we'll learn on paper in the classroom. It's good to have a leg up.

So we took the YP out to search for an anchor the sailing team lost the week before. Underway at 0600 on Saturday, first overnight trip: very exciting. We located the anchor, but found out that our equipment wasn't right for lifting the anchor. So we headed into Port Jefferson, NY, and had an evening on the town before retiring to the quarterdeck and shooting the breeze. It was a great time being out in the field, learning on the job and getting to know classmates and friends a bit better than before. A nice break from campus life.

So the plebes back on campus had liberty that Saturday the eleven of us plebes were out on the YP. Well, college kids do what college kids do; and we're held to higher standards than the average college student. And since most everything at the Academy is about teamwork, we sort of let the team down when we let a handful of our classmates, "our own", take liberty with too much liberty. For that, our Midshipman Training Officer promised us a "fun" weekend. So when the opportunity to get underway again came available, I sprung at the chance to go out to Greenport, NY, by Shelter Island near the tip of Long Island.

This time, we would take the trip in our regular Power Squad boat, a 46 foot Grand Banks known as Maximon. A fine yacht, with plush leather seats and good berthing areas. A smaller vessel, there were three plebes (rookies) and three upperclassmen, as well as the Waterfront Director (most comfortable boat, perhaps?), on board. Got underway Friday afternoon, rendezvous for BBQ with the other boats, as well as the Liberator, which also came, with a different and smaller crew. Some of the plebes from the last trip were present; others were back on campus. Studying, I reckoned. I had done most of my homework on Friday before heading out; and I brought some with me. I told my skipper, "as long as I can get my homework done on board, I could leave campus every weekend". We stood watch for 4 hours at a time, rotating with an upperclassman between handling navigation and taking the helm. Crusing through the night, we arrived bright and early in town. Each of the vessels made a day activity: one boat went fishing, another testing out the sonar, and the Maximon went for a crusie around Shelter Island. Good pizza lunch at an Italian place in town,and dinner at Claudio's Crab Shack. A nice clean evening as the town was pretty much closing up for the season. Port Jeff., in comparison, is an year-round town. "Good Morning Viet Nam! played on the TV VHS while getting ready to snooze. Underway for the Academy on Sunday.
...

I just wanted to cut a post, so that my readers know that I'm about and well.
I'll write to you all soon.

Inside the Fence

2011-08-07T09:41:00.001-07:00

"Last published on July 5 2011".
That was well over a month ago.
I think I'm settling into the Academy. Now it's been so long since I've blogged last that I will have off-campus liberty the weekend after next- Acceptance Day Weekend into the Naval Reserves.

I've come across a blog, written by a first year midshipman, that details out all the aspects of Academy life and the evolution from Plebe Candidate (less than 2 months in) to recognized Midshipman 4/c (in the Spring), and onto upperclassmanship. While no two Academy experiences are identical, we go through "all the same stuff", although his Indoc might have been more physical that Indoc 2015. I don't know where he got all the time to blog, because that time is a luxury that I wish I had. Now last time I was working on this post was two weekends ago. Then I would have said that the blog doesn't pick up for two long weeks. It picks up right around now. I'm looking forward to some of the things mentioned, such as "plebe retreat". I have no idea what we will be doing, and I doubt that the upperclassmen will let us roast marshmallows (as mentioned in the blog), but it sounds like a welcome respite.

My Weekend (Aug 6-7)
The Weekend that should've happened:
Class A Inspection
Power Squadron Team Movement to New York Harbor
Homework
Sleep
Midnight Muster
Sleep
Chapel
Homework
Phone Call
(Weekend ends at 1800)

The Weekend that happened:
Class A Inspection
Rugby Match (spectator)
Watch Duty
Sleep
Midnight Muster
Sleep
Watch Duty- some homework done
Chapel
Frisbee (highlight of weekend- who would've guessed?)
Phone Call
Some Homework
(Weekend ends at 1800)

Weekends can be very pleasant for plebes; especially those weekends where the upperclassmen leave campus en masse. Sometimes, they linger around until us plebes are allowed to hit the racks, so that we always see upperclassmen when we're awake. The best weekends, though, are the ones we are afforded rack-in, that is,extra sleeptime!

And the link:
http://usmmamidshipmanstake.blogspot.com/

What an Adventure...

2011-07-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I am about to experience one of those major changes in my life, the last one of which occurred four years ago. I'm going to a new school. Not just that, I'm going to college; not just college, either. Tomorrow I leave Washington to go to Kings Point, New York, to attend the US Merchant Marine Academy. I will report on Thursday, July 7, as a "Candidate", two weeks after arrival I will be elevated to the status of "Plebe Candidate". The Academy promises that I will have very little free time, especially as a Plebe. To cut to the chase, I'll be blogging less often; much less often, if at all, for this first trimester at the Academy.

My readers, it has been my joy to have blogged for you over these past four years. I started blogging while I was attending my final year at the Saint Thomas Choir School. Back then, I didn't have much time to blog: free computer use time was limited to half an hour Saturday evening, and an hour and half Sunday evening. Yes; some of us entrepreneuring students figured that we could also use the Computer Lab on Friday evenings when the other students, the nurses, and teachers on duty were all downstairs watching a movie with the lights off. Not recommending current Choirboys take that liberty, but I sure enjoyed the time making and editing digital newsreels with my brother, JT and MP; and building up what I considered my "online empire"- my blog, a general website, and a Youtube account. I've heard that the Choir School has since modified its student computer use policy to reflect the modern digital age, but my memories remain in the past.

My first week at St. Anselm's was filled enough with anxieties of fitting in, or standing out in a good way. I never had to stand in the front of the room as the new kid to introduce myself, but word about this particular afterschool pursuit of mine made it around the block. When it came to what made me stand out among freshmen at St. Anselm's, it was my blog. Over the summer before Freshman year, I had gone on a paid-for three week venture with the Choir School, and over the course of five or so blog posts I delineated our daily travels, highlights, and mishaps, including that night half-spent at the Waitrose supermarket waiting for a replacement bus. Side note: The next day, my brother sent home a postcard with Windsor Castle ablaze- how fitting to the occasion. So in Freshman year, Sophomore year, I blogged just about daily. It was like a challenge to be a daily journalist. I got to blog on a variety of subjects circling my life: cameos on classmates, and "hit reports" on how tests went. It took two years to shed that "new kid" title; I was informed by a class leader that you're a new kid until a newer kid arrives, but the epithet was just tongue-in-cheek: I had already left my mark on the Class and the School.

Then came Junior year, and somehow, I found myself busier than ever. It's probably because I found myself as a two-sport man these two past years at school. You can see on the sidebar on my blog how the quantity of my output decreased. But I must say, though, that the quality, in my opinion, rose precipitously. I got into a grander reach of topics, including politics, and my running gaffe on April Fool's Day. The constraints on my time pushed me to hunker down and get into "the zone" when I did blog. I found that I'd spend more time per post than I had given before. So while I let my regular production of my Youtube video series JangooVision fall to the wayside, I kept up on the blogging.

Jangoo- where did the name come from, you may ask. I had a classmate, and we were not really on amicable terms. In English class, each of us were asked to design a concept and put it to words. This classmate had created his universe of hand puppets, a la silent coyote, and named this universe "Zoltan", which I found out to be a Hungarian composer's name. Now my automated fast food restaurant concept needed a name. Not wanting to have to ask to use the name, I found one to use. Jangoo: I found the name one Sunday while reading through a St. Thomas Church Bulletin. Jangoo is an Australian organist's first name. As I told a classmate who is a fan of my JangooVision videos, I own that name like a trademark. On that note, I've followed the Library of Congress' guidelines to ensure that my work falls under copyright protection laws, even though my official registration is pending.

During my high school years, my blog had filled a niche market: same day community feedback on school happenings. Since my Sophomore year, teachers and administrators have come to me, gently reminding me that my blog was one of the first search results for topics ranging from CUMUNC and WAMUNC, Model UN Conferences, to tributes for an alumnus. My blog got me a position on the Priory Press, which allowed me to access readily a plethora of back-issues, which have served as inspiration for a number of this year's blog posts. Blogging and Youtubing, as one particular fratriarch of four brothers would attest, really makes me someone to remember.

Thank you to all my readers, and I hope to blog again.
Atticus Sawatzki

In Conclusion...

2011-07-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Just before I go off to the Academy, I've got a little bit of local politics for my readers to ponder.

Marc Elrich's got to go:
It sort of disturbs my sleep at night that Mr. Elrich, member of the Mont. Co. MD County Council has commented on multiple occasions that he would like to turn the local power utility, which also serves Washington, DC, into a government run enterprise under the guise of "power to the people". He is, by the way, an elected official, and given the voting record of his comrades, including 8-1 approval for a bag tax, it worries me that shareholders in PEPCO's holding company, many local residents included, will find their shares devalued, and dividends non-existent, by populist moves of the legislature. I'd like to let my readers know that our local transit system was owned and operated by a privately-held corporation, and it took no government subsidies from 1862 until 1973. The transit system is now a gov't run enterprise, and it took $239 million from local and federal government coffers in the last fiscal year. Mr. Elrich, Venezuela is a dangerous path to follow.

Then there is his abstention on a 7-1 vote over the County's Disability Pension Policy. Reports the local paper, the DC Examiner, this vote created a two-tier payment system which differentiated levels of disability: partial and full. Reads the paper, "thus a broken finger no longer qualifies a County employee the same pension benefits as a paralyzed colleague would receive". Telling local county workers "no" is a rather "progressive" move in our area, but Counties across the area are facing severe budget crunches, and need to reign in on politically painless to cut cash giveaways to scrupulous public servants.

Looking ahead:
Both Maryland and Virginia are hosting US Senate races in 2012. In Maryland, Mike Steele (R) lost to the now-incumbent, then Rep. Ben Cardin (D) with a 9-point margin in 2006, probably over his support for the military actions in Iraq. Mr. Steele has not come out of the woodwork to challenge Dan Bongino, ex-Secret Service, in a Republican primary. It'll be interesting to see how much Bongino's lack of elected office experience and his support of Medicare Vouchers will affect him in the campaign. As for Mr. Steele, it has been historically difficult for Maryland politicians to win a rematch against an incumbent; namely the 1998 and 2010 Gubernatorial races, where Republican candidates faltered by significant margins after close losses in 1994 and 2006.

Some in the National GOP is already counting Virginia as a hatched egg as they try to make it to 51 seats in the Senate. It's looking to be George Allen (R), former Governor, and Senator elected in 2000 and outed in 2006, vs. Tim Kaine (D), Governor elected in 2005 for the maximum one four-year term. Has it really been five years since Mr. Allen dropped that slur heard round the Country?

2014 is the next Governor's race in Maryland. Incumbent O'Malley has hit his term limit, leaving the seat open with no clear successor. On the Democrat's side, Attorney General Gansler, who billed himself as one who "targets polluters"; and Comptroller Franchot, who tromped around the State giving commendation to businesses which do "more with less", and branding himself as an effective "fiscal watchdog" and an opposer to new taxes. Lt. Gov Anthony Brown may enter the race, but no Lt. Gov., Republican or Democrat, has won a governorship in the 40-year history of the position. On the Republican side, Harford County Executive David Craig is positioning himself for a run at the seat, collecting contributions even though he is term-limited. Other possibilities include Mike Steele popping out of the woodwork, and, don't think about it, Bob Ehrlich making a fourth run for Governor, but probably not.

2016 will be interesting for the local community. MD Gov. O'Malley is positioning himself to run for the Democratic ticket in 2016. According to political watchdogs, he has played the party line on every single issue in the book. Such dedication to ideals can really propel a candidate to the national ticket. O'Malley is not yet 50 years of age, mows his own lawn, and stars in a band, O'Malley's March, which has cut 5 CD's, and plays pretty decent music. His election record is stellar, too: Baltimore City Council, Elected mayor in his 30's, only person to unseat a gubernatorial incumbent in 2006, pulled a 14-point lead over the former Gov. Ehrlich by pasting him as the incumbent. Take this when Ehrlich was polling above O'Malley early in the campaign. By the way, O'Malley never mentioned, or showed, in any of his TV ads that he was the governor- safe move for the time. His weak spot, though, is his adhesion to liberal policies, which he often rode to extremes in his first five years. However, he has made a change in tenor, publicly announcing that he signed an executive order to "streamline paperwork" for businesses, and it was also announced that he ordered a study on bituminous shale production within the State. That sounds a bit like his foe Mr. Ehrlich's "drill baby drill" policy that would have been put in place if he were given the Governorship in 2010. Perhaps, locals will forget about his "Chavezian" days when he appears on national TV (again) in 2015.

Depending on how the stars align, a Virginian may also be coming onto a Presidential Primary Ballot, for one or two parties, near you.

Then what about Mike Steele, onetime Lt. Gov? Could he be the VP on the 2012 Republican ticket? Would that be enough to swing Maryland to the Republican side for the first time since 1984? Or does Obama still have an unshakeable grasp on the State?

Credits:
http://bongino.com/
http://marylandreporter.com/2011/04/28/blog-gansler-franchot-in-early-stages-of-2014-race/

One Week to the Academy

2011-06-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Basic Cadets headed out to the US Air Force Academy last Wednesday, and Plebes have trickled in over three days to the US Naval Academy for I-Day, which happened yesterday. US Merchant Marine's Plebe Candidates report next week- after the Independence Day Weekend.

Last Wednesday, my DC Congresswoman Norton held a small reception in a House Committee Room on the Hill. Arriving with half an hour to spare, I found out that I'd be giving a short speech to the audience. So there I am under the statue of Rep. Rayburn scrawling out a list of thank-yous, with my brother chiming in with helpful suggestions. Mission complete in good time. Norton's Naval Academy appointee also found himself writing on short notice. Actually, he gave a good chunk of his speech unscripted, and did a very fine job.

A Fox 5 news camera popped in. Norton gave a talk, which focused on her pet issue, DC's voting rights. The 'keynote' speaker, a 2005 West Point Grad from DC, and the new member of the Congresswoman's selection board, also harped on the topic: He relayed his experience as a member of the Army in Iraq- with no vote in Congress- music to the Congresswoman's ears. He relayed to us an encounter he had with a top-ranking Iraqi official during the planning stage for the first parliamentary election. The West Point Grad let this official know that the half-a-million people in his home city had no vote in their 'parliament'. He said it twice, so that the message was not lost in translation. Says the Iraqi: "No democracy is perfect".
Another perk- us four nominees had our names mentioned in the Congressional Record, and were cited in the local paper, The Northwest Current. The president of the local chapter of the USMMA Alumni Association insisted that we attend the affair on Sunday in Fairfax, VA. Our family accepted the invitation.

With plenty of time to spare afterwards, my family took a walk around the halls of the Rayburn. Near one of the main entrances onto Independence Avenue is ex-Rep. Weiner's office, with sign still next to the office's door. Our send-away reception was not the only social event going on: the opulence of some affairs was over the top. One event was decked with candlelights, lush green tablecloth, and artistically placed bottles of wine. For the record, we had sodas, and cheese and vegetable platters- and a tray of cooked sushi.

Then on Sunday, I attended an alumni association "Welcome Aboard" for the US Merchant Marine Academy at the Westwood Country Club. Rep. Connolly welcomed us to his district, VA-11, and his country club. The banquet hall had panoramic windows overlooking the bustling life of the golf course: carts and all. In half an hour after the buffet brunch, the Rep. spoke on a whole range of topics. Some pertaining directly to the event included his "divinity deferment" from Viet Nam, and the sheer number of Academy nominees he made from his Congressional District, 49, with 26 to West Point. That's the highest number of any District in the US, Connolly reports. Connolly is proud, too, of his five-star rating on Veterans' Affairs issues by a servicemen's organization. He pointed out to the audience that he pushed for full veteran status for Merchant Mariners who encountered hostilities from U-boats "before the Navy got into World War Two". On piracy in the Mediterranean, he reminded the audience that "Thomas Jefferson took care of that 200 years ago; if he could do it then, we can definitely take care of it now". On Libya, Connolly feels that US involvement is a necessary endeavor; however, he believes that it was wrong for Obama to not have consulted Congress earlier. "War; that's the Congress' business". Connolly voted with the majority of Congress for a one-year authorization. He wishes that the authorization was for a shorter term of time, but he notes, "that was what we had on the table". Connolly then opened up to a Q+A session. He is up for re-election next year, as all the Reps. are. On the deficit, he notes that, as a moderate, he believes that to actually get a balanced budget, both cuts and revenue increases are necessary. "Last time Congress balanced the budget, taxes were about 20% of earnings, average. It's down to 15%. If we are serious, we've got to bring it back up to 17% or 18%". He also remarks, "Pray to God we do something by August 2nd".

At both events, at least one person would raise the point of the "fair nomination process" evident in the DC area. Yes; in some parts of the country, Reps. and Senators pick nominees singlehandedly, but around here, where the nominations can get competitive, the job is left to the specialists. The chair of Norton's nominating staff described the task of deciding who gets the nomination: "It comes down to who has the best chance of admissions. It's difficult, and sometimes emotional, but based on our track record, it's effective".

Push ups, Sit ups, Pull ups, and Running: that is my agenda for the next few days.

My Experience with The Hill

2011-06-12T16:00:00.001-07:00

I started to spend an hour after school on Tuesdays with the "Abbey Elephants" on account of a cordial invitation from my friend who is the organizer of the club. A good number of the members are actually deep into all the names and frictions of Capitol Hill. I, for one, don't feel a need to know exactly who's going to win in New York-10 or Utah-2 or Arizona-3. I supposed that, though, since we're going to school in Washington, somebody could have a lobbyist for a father, or an advisor to a Senator, the State Department, or even the President. I do have the unique distinction, though, of being one of only two classmates who have voted in a real Statewide Election before college. DC had that April 26th Special Election a mere 9 days after my birthday, and one classmate was 18 before the Midterms back in November 2010.

There's also a Young Dems club competing for the "swing" members. Jacob, the leader of the Dems club, already had a DC-government technocrat, and head of DC's Young Dems organization, speak for the club. This is not to mention the three "Deficit Donut Sales" Jacob had set up. So, to keep the membership rolls afloat, our leader, C., who also interns summers on the Hill, decided to go arrange a tour of the Capitol for us through his grandfather's office in the Senate. His grandfather? I wonder what he does on the Hill. So the date was tentatively set for Monday, June 6. "Rendezvous 10am Hart Senate Building. Take Metro; you won't find parking. Staffers can have snob values, those from some offices more than others; dress in school formals".

The Capitol Police, when outside of the tourist zones, are cordial, and getting into the Senate offices is a mere matter of going through a metal detector and knowing your destination. I had a few minutes to wander through the spacious lobbies of the Hart Senate Building, the most modern of the three. Clad in white marble, it's fortunate for the Senators that pictures of the interior haven't made their way into popular debate. I couldn't find the gold bathroom, though.

In good time, our group was all together; three new graduates (including myself), four rising Seniors, including C., our host and intern, and a rising Junior and his dad the school Disciplinarian. With one elevator ride, which was complemented by the onrush of aides and staffers on every other floor, we arrived one turn and twenty steps from our Senator's office. Inside the glass door, an enthusiastic aide sat us in the conference room, our envoy filling most of the seats at the oval table. She then closed the door. On one wall were images of Arizona, just one of the Grand Canyon, but which, all in their own right, "makes me want to go there", commented a classmate. On the opposite wall is a detailed paper map of Arizona, ready to be inked and delineated, it seemed. Opposite the head of the table is the State Seal and Flag, and on the fourth wall, a table bearing a TV, and a framed letter congratulating the Senator for his support of the Ballistic Missile Program. The clock on the wall had a little yellow light that flashed every thirty seconds, and two seconds before the minute as well. Our leader, C., commented with a sense of peeve that "leadership groups" regularly come into the office and ask, sometimes almost demand, that they see the Senator. "This meeting", our leader commented, "was scheduled a month ahead of time and around the Senator's schedule".

At 10:05am, Senator Kyl (R-AZ) opened the opaque door from his suite of offices and walked the two steps to his seat. All of us, seated and passing the breeze, shot up to standing position, as fast as we ever did, in utmost respect. He must have been at ease, with none of us lugging a laptop or scribbling onto a steno pad or wearing press credentials. Any political gaffe he had with us would have not hit the newsstands. Senator introduced himself, and then went around the table to each person, asking their name and shaking their hand with a firm grip. He walked with sprite in his step and appeared to us as sharp and engaged. When he got around to our classmate, intern, and leader, the two broke into a hug preceded by the familiar title, "Grampa!" Well, yes, even Senators have grandchildren.

Senator Kyl laid out to us the generalities of his life as a Senator: "Fly in Sunday evening...do some business on Monday...Shorter sessions on Mondays and Fridays...Spend most of midweek in committee when we're not in session...Fly home Friday evening...I enjoy it, though". Despite his responsibilities as not only a Senator but the Senate Minority Whip, he has been keeping part of an eye out on the budding youth political clubs in Arizona as well as ours at St. A's. Asks the Senator: "Do you have a debate team?" "Well",explains one rising Senior, "we have a Model UN team". Says Sen. Kyl: "Get a debate team; tell the Headmaster that a Senator told you so". He goes on addressing his grandson: "and you and Jacob should put together a debate on some political topic. And just as long as you know that it's just for fun; I mean, take it seriously though; you won't have any of the lasting contention that your school is afraid of".

"Any Questions?", Senator Kyl asks. F-Dogg brings up the first, "I'm interested in your point of view on what role the Government should have in business". Sen. replies that this is an "interesting question which the government has been dealing with for at least the past hundred years; and now especially with this current Obama administration and the unprecedented actions taken by Congress in the economy...it has become a very important question". "Take GM, for example. We did it by fiat rather than by the bankruptcy rules, and that is where it gets messy. Look at who got left behind; the everyday people with the million dollar or so liability claims- left out in the rush". He continues: "The biggest thing, mediawise, that'll be going on this week in the Senate is the Debit Card Rule. From my perspective, banks aren't utilities; so we really should try to keep out of the way..." Sen. Kyl does appear to become passionate about topics he has a strong opinion about.

The next question came from me, about what it took to get where he is today. "Twenty years as an attorney; then I ran for Representative, and I won that. Eight years, and then the Senate race. Not too many primaries; when they did happen it was pretty straightforward; Arizona is strongly Republican". "My advice for anyone contemplating running for office is to live life a bit; don't go straight into it right out of college". "Connecting with the voters is very important, too. Obama was on top of that...he'd have a rally and then he'd tell everyone in the crowd to text him, and then he'd get the information of hundred, thousands of people all like that. McCain had issues with that; Obama's supporters would get customized emails, like, "Dear Chris...can you help us out?", and McCain's emails would say, "Dear Voter". That's what we got to work on in this next election". A staffer came in with a camera, and posed us flanking the Senator. "Will sign and send to you", the boss announced. We then carried on. How much does a Senate bid cost? "Last election, 15 million dollars".

A staffer knocked on the door. "Come in", said the Senator. Poking her head in, she announced that the PM of Singapore had arrived and was seated in the Senator's office. Says the Senator, "Pleasure to have spent the time with you". "Thank you, Senator". Taking the elevator to the Basement, I remarked, "Can't believe it; just spent 25 minutes with the Senator Jon Kyl, and we aren't even political assets". That chum time with the Senator at his office, indeed, may have been priceless. How many high school groups can actually make that happen? Let's see; St. Alban's, G-Prep, Gonzaga; but the list is short and their guest lists, from what I sense, would be politically driven. Ahhh...

These days, the entire Capitol building is restricted to staff or staff-escorts. Tourists arriving through the Visitor Center are issued "Visitor" passes, which lets them tour designated areas with a tour guide. This pass does not cover the Senate subway, to the chagrin of what I guess is at least a hundred visitors a month. Is that because there is the potential of constituents finding themselves in a capsule with too much concentration of power in one confined space? Fortunately, our envoy received "Official Business Escorted" passes, which allowed us to go wherever a higher-up (intern or greater) would take us. That includes the subway. Our host and intern told us the story about the intern who took his friends on a three-hour thrill ride on the three different subway lines.

Still, there were some areas off-limits to us and to C.: in Hill lingo/jargon,these areas are called APO: Authorized Persons Only. This designation covers other Members' offices inside the Capitol, not in the least Speaker of the House John Boener's well-marked office near the Rotunda. According to our host and intern, "you'd just run into a bunch of cops if you went in there".

After getting properly credentialed, and having all our carry-along items probed by a chemical sensor, our group boarded the automated Hart-Dirksen Subway. The trains arrived with clockwork regularity. Each car on the train held about 8 people each; maybe 7 Senators, as well as the Senate Seal, emblazoned in the center of the car. It was a smooth ride, and the flags of every state provided a change of scene from the sparkling white fluorescent walls of the tunnels. Soon enough, we were in the "tourist" part of the tour; we visited the Brumidi ceilings, the old Supreme Court chambers, State Statues, two from each State, and the stairway where contentions used to be settled with duels. With a few turns and two stairwells, we were in the Senate Minority Whip's well-apportioned office; magazines galore. (In contrast, most Senator's Capitol offices are a simple hide-away room when one wants peace from the press). In good order, though, our next guide arrived to escort us through the Right-wing Caucus Room, and onto the Senate floor. Haven't read Time Magazine in a while.

I tell you, what thrilled me the most were the "inside" parts of the tour. A few of my classmates and I were able to snap a photo from the Senate floor before we were told that Senator-eye point of view photography was not permitted. A classmate flipped through Harry Reid's copy of that day's Order of Business. That was as far left into the chamber as we were led.

There were other young people denizening the chamber: two members of the Congressional Page School spread themselves and their study materials out on the floor right under Senate Minority Leader's Mitch McConnell's chair. To clarify things up, the chamber was empty that morning, as it is most Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. According to our floor guide, "the only time that the Senators are usually all together is during voting". Rush to the vote they do: there is usually one elevator in each bank of elevators that is reserved for Senators (and their invited guests) only. To keep the exclusivity, most of these elevators are staffed. (These days, most of the other elevators are self-service). In a time frame before and after voting sessions, the Senate Subways are reserved for Senators only- the mere hundred of them. Less endowed staffers get to hike it, or wait out the time. Everyone- save some interns and tourists- knows their place in the hierarchy.

Our intern gave us some anecdotes about life in the Senate: about the "candy desk", and the Senate dining room. The most recent (and second) time our intern dined there, our Senator passed him and his companion off to the dining staff as "press". Which brings us to lunch time at 1pm; a traditional time for the Hill to go lunching. (My Mom works in the neighborhood; she knows to lunch before 1pm). For something different, our intern took us off the Hill to the Good Stuff Eatery. That was when I had to split; but, what an adventure.

Oh, and before we left the grounds, our intern collected our spiffy-looking credentials, counting them up to return to a security desk. If anything, it's the staff who feels the pressure for returning the creds: like in many homes, the guests hardly get flack; it's the hosts who do. What I did get as a souvenir is a gold-embossed calling card. The other trinkets, I can get those at the gift shop, any day.

The Senate Dining Room Menu: Bean Soup is Available Every Day.
http://go.compass-usa.com/senate/content/home.asp

Entries into my Calling List

2011-06-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

"Entries into my Calling List"... did I pick up that phrase from the Choir School in New York?

So, as a continuation of last post's discussion, you'll get to see snippets I have for each of the events I attended over the past week or so:

R 19 0900a-1100a Final Final Exam
In the class "Sacred Masterpieces". Most of exam was a take-home essay; portion at school was the rather enjoyable aural section.

R 19 1130a-0200p Alumni Association Pizza and Yearbook Signing
"Welcome to the Alumni Association". Enjoyed plenty of pizza, guacamole and chips, and mud pie.

F 20 0715p-1159p St. A's Prom at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza
Dinner of bread rolls, arugula salad, fillet Mignon, and cheesecake was excellent. Dance music got more spice as the night went on.

Sa 21 1200a-0900a St. A's Afterprom (Official but not School-Endorsed)
Don't tell any of my classmates about this, but I actually was in my own bed at home by 1am.

Sa 21 0500p-0900p Track Team Hot Dog Party
A small and cozy get-together; got to watch replays of best moments in the 2011 St. A track season. I appeared in more than one of the clips; apple pie stunning; classmates attending affair had just woken up, recovering from afterprom.

Su 22 1100a-0200p Baccalaureate Mass
"Half of graduation", as the President of the School put it. Taking the Mass part of graduation now rather than the following Saturday makes "Vespers of Graduation" a much more manageable (reasonable length) event.

Su 22 0400p-0830p Party at the B-----n home
Just had enough time to change into casuals. Classmates and I watched cars make 3-point turns to turn back the other way from the part of the block Mr. B-----n had cordoned off for our use. Bocatto Gelato outing; and Red Hot + Blue served up the meat and slaw.

M 23 0830a-0400p Outbound Senior Retreat
Hush-Hush; I don't want to spoil any surprises for the younger students.

R 26 0630p-0930p Viewing of "The Hangover II"
Sorry, fellas; I was lifeguarding that evening. The movie, at 1 hr 45 min, is short compared to most feature films today; couldn't catch you all afterwords. If you'd had chosen the later screening, though...

F 27 1045a-0130p Graduation Rehearsal and Locker Cleanout
Persnickety-ness at its finest; at least it came with pizza.

Sa 28 0200p-0600p Graduation Prep, and Vespers of Graduation
Most important day of my life so far? Well, if it was, I took it pretty chill.

Sa 28 0700p-1100p Party at the S-----n home
Because Dr. and Mrs. S-----n found out that a six foot sub feeds more than just an extended family. Those of us with other last names passed our time in the basement den enjoying ping-pong, wifi, and Airsoft.

Su 29 0100p-0500p Party at a swanky home, courtesy of the G------t Family
What's more swank than chilling around in a house featured in the Wall Street Journal? Pool party, what's up! The opulence of the manor was astounding; every aspect of furnishing was extraordinary. In what shop can I find rocket-ship one-use hand towels or straws with a plastic fish at the end? Now what a way to celebrate.
I'm ever thankful that the host of the manor entrusted his home to us new graduates for the afternoon, to Mr. G------t for putting his relationship to his boss on the line,
and to all of those who gave time, talent, gifts, and homes to make graduation season a blast.

AWOL from Blogging? I have an explaination.

2011-05-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

When I last wrote on May 18 2011, I had finished all but one exam, the "Sacred Masterpieces" Aural final. This was before a whole host of events over two weekends, which have served as an excuse for my lack of blogging. As I sometimes do, I'll lay out what went on in list format:

R 19 0900a-1100a Final Final Exam
R 19 1130a-0200p Alumni Association Pizza and Yearbook Signing
F 20 0715p-1159p St. A's Prom at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza
Sa 21 1200a-0900a St. A's Afterprom (Official but not School-Endorsed)
Sa 21 0500p-0900p Track Team Hot Dog Party
Su 22 1100a-0200p Baccalaureate Mass
Su 22 0400p-0830p Party at the B-----n home
M 23 0830a-0400p Outbound Senior Retreat
R 26 0630p-0930p Viewing of "The Hangover II"
F 27 1045a-0130p Graduation Rehearsal and Locker Cleanout
Sa 28 0200p-0600p Graduation Prep, and Vespers of Graduation
Sa 28 0700p-1100p Party at the S-----n home
Su 29 0100p-0500p Party at a swanky home, courtesy of the G------t Family

Oh, yes, and my favorite reason to put off blogging: I got to hit the sack and go to bed. I'll pull this one as a reason to give briefs on each social event- later.
But, as you and I can see, the St. Anselm's Community makes sure that Graduation is a big affair.

Snow Days- Was this a good year?

2011-05-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Montgomery Co. MD to students and parents: Sorry; you should've had two 2-hour delays on April 25 and April 26. All absences for those two mornings are excused. Reason? Tornado warnings issued at 6:30am on both mornings. Reason that these delayed openings were not announced? The County makes the call by 5am.

In our area, school delays and closings usually only happen for snow and ice in winter; and the occasional September hurricane, more often a tropical storm. Cancellation of after-school activities is also common for heavy rains. Closing for tornadoes, in an area that receives few, might seem to parents a little incredulous to believe.

Mont. Co. batted average for giving snow days this year: 4. One was given for an ice storm: that day, I actually couldn't get to school safely. Three were given for one Jan. 27-29 snow event, which left 6 inches on the ground in DC, but a whole 12 inches ten miles north in Mont. Co. The County, usually quick to give snow days, made a dubious call for one late-season weather event, giving a 2-hour delay instead. There was a whole 3 inches of snow on top of half an inch of ice on the ground upcounty. Neighboring PG and Frederick Cos. gave the day to the students. Mont. Co. would've probably given students that day and another in February, if it wouldn't trigger an extension of the school year, and if there were not so many "teacher development days" this school year. Given that we took all four of those contingency days, from our perspective, this year was "perfect". Students would need 10 days off in all- rare indeed- to make any further gains: school year extensions are typically capped at 5 days.

St. Anselm's now has gotten its own banner on Fox 5. While some teachers at school have expressed frustration about what they consider "wimpy" calls from Rockville, snow day calls are still based on Mont. Co. MD for liability reasons. What the school really wants, though, is to be able to make calls when Mont. Co. is out of school for teacher days without resorting to a phone tree. Some parents still live email-lite, but sending a shoutout to students on Facebook would work, though.

As for neighboring DC, only one snow day (Jan. 27) was called this year. The other days which Mont. Co. got off, including that ice storm, were 2 hour delays. But this was enough to trigger an extended school year; for some reason, DC had not put in any buffer days against the 180 day minimum. The Board of Education is looking into why the schedule turned out this way this school year.

Snow and ice totals set a record for the East Coast overall; however, three of the five major storms that hit Philadelphia missed DC, which made this winter season an underperformer for the city; yet, by catching one of those missed major storms, and picking up some clouds from the mountains, snow totals were slightly above average in Mont. Co.

Sources: Washington Examiner Weather Page, May 2011; Northwest Current (DC), May 18 2011.

The Fun Never Stops

2011-05-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

St. Anselm's school year for upperclassmen works as follows: regularly-scheduled classes end the Friday before the start of the two AP weeks. Given that students typically will take three or more of these 3-to-4 hour tests, it makes reasonable sense to not even worry about having classes these two weeks. Given the tests' comprehensive nature, students feel entitled to a multi-hour r+r period after taking the test. I do too. The administration's support for leaving time after the last class and before exam week is that teachers will get to use all their classtime up to AP weeks teaching new material. Students would then study on their own with a review sheet, and come in if they want help. Washington Christian Academy in Germantown, MD, also uses this open scheduling system during AP weeks, to my knowledge.

So you may think that this time as a two-week reprieve, but read this: Teachers can still have due dates on papers and projects, and athletic teams still hold practice. Despite this, I know that some students have used this time to catch up on missed vacation, but apparently that's not me.

I finished my last AP of the year, Biology, on Monday at noon. Yet, I've been up and around, at school handing in papers and prize submissions, finishing on the engineering class' group semester project, attending track practice, and handling all of the pre-enrollment material for the Academy ahead of July. Oh, and I shouldn't forget about the social events, nor the exams next week.

Sceptics of open scheduling during AP weeks can see that, well, at least a few students are putting their larger chunks of open time to good use.

First blog from wireless device

2011-04-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging from an iPad right now as I return from Pennsylvania to drop off Little Brother. I'm just getting the hang of this device; it's an adjustment to get used to using two keyboards (one for qwerty and the other for numbers).
Now I've got a bit to write about; first off is the DC Special Election that occurred on April 26th. Turnout was higher than expected (I got to participate). Surprising enough, the Republican on the ballot, Pat Mara, came within 1,200 votes of winning over the widely recognized Vince Orange. That is a 5% spread in a highly Democratic city.

Next is our own school elections. Seniors don't vote in these, but it was interesting to see that the students elected the kids with the "too cool" attitude. They are the people whom the Seniors "like, but..."; this nonchalant attitude swill give the second place candidates a heavy say in how things are run.

Golf Carts

2011-04-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Each year, more and more houses are built further and further away from city cores and reliable transit services. While many developments are intentionally planned for walkability to a "town center", many homes are built out of this range. Then consider this: how many car-enabled residents would value the two-minute drive over the twelve-minute walk? Then consider the implications for the non-car enabled- say, younger teens. Are we sure that all of these pre-adults want to "endure" the round-trip walk? (Take Mom's taxi service out of the picture for now). Simple solution- bicycles. As I believe, most American kids have one in their garage. Bicycle infrastructure- either a wide shoulder for the road or a wider sidewalk, and bike racks in good repair- would enhance this transportation mode's appeal for all, and increase younger teens' sense of mobility.

In the meanwhile, as developed areas have continued to sprawl, States have been raising minimum driving ages, although the trend has cooled off in the past year. (Thankfully, the Allstate-insurance sponsored National STANDUP Act failed after the last election). What this has likely led to (I should find evidence or uncover it myself) is that teens are probably spending more time at home. Furthermore, another issue with higher driving ages is reduced employment opportunities because of lack of transportation. I suspect that the decrease in teen (ages 16-19) summer employment is at least in part directly linked to this issue. (Mama and Papa have been your chauffeur for so many years now...).

Working close to home has its perks, but America has a mobile workforce, teens traditionally included. If the teen is lucky, he or she will find a job within their means of commuting- by foot or bike. So how do we extend the mobility range of pre-licensed teens? Give them powered wheels. Easy-to-use and maintain powered scooters and mopeds are practical options that can give "reliable transportation" to more teens, thereby increasing their competitiveness in the entry-level job market. Such scooters are common in Europe, although less so in America.

Part of this is a culture thing- in days past, before 17 yo driving ages and passenger limits- teens in high school probably had little problem finding a ride, so there wasn't too big of a suburban teen market. The next thing is that a number of states require license plates on select classes of scooters and licenses for operators. However, in many states, golf carts, even when driven on a public street, are exempted from these vehicle and operator licensing requirements- and are ubiquitous in a number of communities. So perhaps we could see more of these vehicles around in the future.

Note that I did not list socioeconomic implications on the diffusion of teens in the workplace: many licensed teens don't have access to cars due to economic factors. The effect of this can be quite pronounced; at a park where a car is a virtual necessity to access, the high-school aged waterfront lifeguards were clearly a standard-deviation-plus above socioeconomic norm even for the tony County the park was in.

That Empowering Time of Year Again

2011-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Every year on April 17 since age 12, I've been getting more rights and privileges. A while ago, I tried to find a comprehensive list online, but I couldn't find one. Here are a few benefits of growing up that I've compiled for people from ages 12 through 35:

12- sit in the front seat of a car.

13- COPPA doesn't apply anymore- that means you can get an online life! Also, pre-registration of voters and organ donors.

14- eligible to work part-time, fly commercial alone, get a glider pilot license, minimum age to be charged as adult in some states, get married in some states (with parental consent, of course).

15- be a lifeguard, sit in an airplane exit row, get authorized on a credit card, take aspirin, fly alone on most airlines.

16- There's quite a bit of things you can do; a lot of them are related to 16-y-o's making adult choices. Some include eloping to Elkton and get hitched, w/o parental consent in some cases, moving out of home, saying adios to school in most states (editors note: Use this option to make learning work for you; not to slack off!), age for a standard marriage in a number of states, adult membership in many social clubs, work a full 8 hour day/ 40 hour week, take a Fed Reserve tour, register to vote (if 18 by next general election), get a driver's license, full-privilege ATM card and checking account, qualify to work in a number of semi-skilled professions such as pool operations and entry-level shipping jobs, get a pilot's license, get an adult passport, cross international borders without a notarized letter of consent, participate in a blood drive w/ parental consent in some states, use a weightroom or spa or sauna without an adult, participate in certain vices pertaining to the ATF's domain (though not purchase them).

17- watch an R-rated movie without an adult, participate in a blood drive (w/o parental consent), vote in a primary (some states), join the military.

18- Voting, signing forms yourself, graduating from young driver restrictions, and participating in behavioral surveys is just the start. Essentially you get all the adult goodies except as below...

19- clubbing age, and marriage age in some states and, yep, some states raised the tobacco purchase age. Intent? Keep high school kids out of these activities.

20- this is when you're an adult in East Asia (20 by the Western or Eastern age-counting system?).

21- clubbing age in a number of areas of US, legal etoh purchase age in US, rent a car or hotel room, sign a mortgage in some states, CDL in some states, some heavy machinery licenses, get a concealed weapons permit.

23- become a commercial pilot

25- lower rates on insurance and , become an US House Representative

30-become a Senator or Governor in many states

35- become President or Vice President

And then we have what I'll call the AARP-type benefits that kick in at 55 with Senior Discounts and adult living communities.

My birthday is tomorrow, or later tonight by grown-up terms. I had plans to attend a Landon-endorsed rooftop event to dance my way to legality, but it was cancelled due to rain. In lieu of this turn of events, a friend invited me to go clubbing tonight. "Well", I said, "I'd have to wait 'til midnight. I'm done with teen clubs- over the line". "No, this party starts at 2(am)". Now how would I stay on good terms with my parents if I clubbed my sleeping time away? So I've spent this night at home, tonight feels like a last bachelor party for me- a final night unconstrained by adult responsibility. Yet, shouldn't I be on the edge of my seat waiting for midnight to hit to indulge in legal-aged excess? While I'm not biologically 18 until 8:15pm tomorrow, I'm legally adult in less than 2 hours. Some of the privileges I've already enjoyed, such as signing a waiver for an event on April 30th. Some I will enjoy soon, such as voting in DC's special election on April 26 (single votes hold more sway in special elections!). I'll keep my readers up to date as I exercise these privileges.

Next up: Golf Carts for Suburban Early-Teens!

Astrodyntech Found Another Way

2011-04-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's my ethical obligation to let readers know that I posted my most recent post on April 1. In reality, no corporation has created a mass migration for the purpose of getting a corporate candidate into Congress. However, I must say that my last post was not all fiction; corporate-backed candidates do sit in Congress, and at much less of a cost to corporations than Astrodyntech's grand plan. Nevertheless, wouldn't it have shock value for a big corporation to form a political party?

The President of Astrodyntech got results back from a study which uncovered that other corporations and big companies got the people and policies they wanted into office with the following:

Lobbyists- hey, Mr. Congressman; if you vote for this, you'll look smart.

Setting up a magic show: big companies make it rain- for example, everyone likes more jobs in town. Attribute these jobs to Mr. or Ms.' policies, while he or she is running for office, and you make a friend.

Private Industry does it better, and at a lower cost- Everyone wins: the politician, the taxpayers, and the big companies, especially.

Flat Tax Rate- this is part of the next point, but wouldn't Average Joe like a simpler tax return? The millions of small...uh... lots of businesses in America would like that too.

Trickle Down Economics- This policy's popularity is a product of the following point: the IRS has a monopoly on government based wealth spreading, but the free market will spread the wealth. It's got to happen, right?

Fear of monopolies - Competition makes a better product. If one organization collects your tax money, how do you know that it's being collected in the best way possible? Outsource the IRS to the highest bidders. Sell the right to collect taxes from w million number of people at up to xyz rates. That's a contract Astrodyntech would love.

While these candidates fall under two big tents, the GOPs and the Dems, rather than carrying outright the name of a corporation, it's a small detriment in comparison to the huge costs of maintaining an under worked plebiscite in a company town.

Now there are enough political blogs, and plenty of them have IP addresses originating from the Washington, DC Area. It's about time I step off the political bandwagon. Next topic if nothing supersedes: Golf carts- a Suburban 14-Something's Upcoming Necessity?

April 1: Astrodyntech Bids for 1st Corporate Seat

2011-04-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Residents of the DelMarVa peninsula have been wondering about the sudden increase in moving trucks coming through their part of the woods. In March of 2010, according to exclusive and anecdotal reports, Astrodyntech opened shop in Delaware, and accepted applications over 230,000 people from all over the world. These people then were required to relocate to company housing in rural southern Delaware. Observers note that this mass migration was just in time for the decennial census, and that this mass influx at this time was both economical for the fledgling company and just large enough to win Delaware a second seat in the House.

Since then, the company has moved another 110,000 staffers to this new boomtown. It is becoming apparent that the redistricting board made a pinkie-swear with the President of Astrodyntech to not "gerrymander" the new boomtown by keeping it in one cohesive Representative District. Delaware is not one of eleven states that is required to report such redistricting to the Feds, as per the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Says Delaware State Historian Angie DeFlow, "Ever since the DuPont family started making chemicals, our state has always sold out to corporate interests". VPOTUS Joe Biden, formerly a US Senator from the State, released the following statement regarding the feds' response: "We have no grounds to invade their property until we have a warrant, which we don't have. We're really curious, though, so we'll jump on the next opportunity. An example of an opportunity might be a coworker coming to the cops with a workplace smoking violation. Then the Labor Department can get in there and see what's going on; but for now, our administration holds nothing against Astrodyntech". Says Delaware Governor Jack Markell: "It's a great opportunity for all Delawareans to have such an influx of new talent and new investment. For us, it's no small wonder that Delaware would be the breeding ground of democratic innovation. By the way, come some time and enjoy our tax-free shopping". Marylanders are wondering with envy why this debacle isn't playing out across the Mason-Dixon Line. Although the Maryland State Senate Leader declaimed this Astrodyntech maneuver as a "desecration of democracy", Lisa Gladden spoke with tearful eyes, as if this debacle was a missed opportunity for Maryland.

Astrodyntech is a privately held corporation which was incorporated in November 2008 in the State of Delaware. Main shareholders include many politicians and ex-politicians at all levels of government, not to neglect Halliburton's hefty share in the enterprise. Regarding the controversy that has arisen regarding the number of power players who hold stock, the President of the Company stated that "We're paying our team members 25 thousand a year, each, plus benefits, for cushy work. If we were paying to play, we could've bought that Illinois seat from Blago back in '09 for 600 grand". The company, asides from these brief comments, has remained mum and kept a low profile, and employees are dedicated to a confidentiality policy, with not whistleblowers coming forward yet.

Based on those figures provided, Astrodyntech will pay out around $7.5 billion in payroll this year. Considering the real cost for the Company, though, we estimate that three-quarters of those funds go back into the Company through rent, the company store, and work they actually get from their stiffs. The employees now are mostly occupied with building this new city; but once everything is built, one can only wonder if the stiffs will spend their days loafing around the grounds.

Residents of Delaware have mixed views. Pizza shop owner Donatello "Buddy" Rissoto, 38, states: "So here's a company that started in the middle of the Great Recession, and now has 300,000 some employees. They (Astrodyntech) deserve something". Another commenter, retiree Jake Barnes, 76, takes a different view: "Look, a survey in the Sassafras High School News reports that the name Jack Markell doesn't ring a bell to a third of the students, a good number of them who are registered voters. Thank you, www.youthvote.org. If the survey had asked for the Governor's name, I suppose half the students couldn't answer correctly, one l or two. By the way, he's their Governor! Politicians are taking advantage of dimwitted, angry, voters. Back in my day, by the way, the voting age was 21, not 17. Yes, I said 17; and I fought in Korea, too."

Update...
Just today, a candidate for the 2012 2nd District Election emerged from the largely secluded boomtown. The Astrodyntech party was officially recognized a few days ago by the state. The petition for recognition of this party came in with significant bump over the required signature count. Pundits state that, at least 75%, closer to 90%, will have to vote their boss into power if she is to win. This high threshold is based on predictions for high voter turnout as citizens will want to counter the corporate candidate in this historic Election. The pundits also predict that a number of the signatories on the party's petition just wanted to see this party become legitimate, but will have cold feet at the voting booth.

The candidate stated that she, who has given no identity other than Astrodyntech so far, will most likely align with Old Time Republicans, but says that she looks forward to the day that "the movers of the American Economy, financiers of public education, wars, welfare programs, subsidies, Social Security and Medicare, and American Civil Society", what we think is codespeak for large corporations, will get a fair say in the democratic process. "It's been "look out for the little man" for a century now. Let's change the tide".

Says economist Jack Johnson, "The success of Astrodyntech relies on the outcome of the election. What the employees realize is that, if the company doesn't win, the leadership will declare corporate bankruptcy and walk away scotch free. If this happens, then all the little guys and gals are out of work. We are certain that the staff is being coached about this is in the daily 'employee meetings'". There is a stock benefit in employees, which Johnson says is a cruel ploy to get employees to politic harder for this corporate candidate than they otherwise would. In summation, no Republic has lasted forever; this may be the start of the fall of democracy in America". But, Johnson also quips, "If Astrodyntech was thinking straight, they might've gone for a lower turnout midterm election. On that thought, they'd have gone for a low population state like the Dakotas to get the bang for their buck: the two Senate seats would've come for free".

Data Probe

2011-03-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Is that true? I have not blogged in 20 days?

Since Feb. 27, I have have attended 3 games of the St. Anselm's 64th Annual Basketball Tournament, and played the role of a cop as well as a groom in the school's revue of Neil Simon. That accounts for the weekends, but what have I been doing Monday through Thursday? I passed my CFA (fitness test) the Friday before March 1. The next Monday, Track practice started, followed one week later with "Heck Week" leading up to opening night for the play. That week was quite a scene: during rehearsal, between my two appearances in the play, I slipped out to complete 75% of Track practice...on 2 occassions. Then, on the night of the dress rehearsal, I had the thrill of getting wet and muddy with a greatly reduced component of the team. I later found out that the County had cancelled after-school activities for that afternoon on account of sustained heavy rain, and flooding. Fortunately, I had a set of dry clothes.

This is not to mention the late night outing to the diner this past Saturday (into Sunday morning), which, when compounded with the time change, has been putting me out of commission at 10pm a few nights this week. So as I recover from early-March madness, I find that it's great to be able to focus on track- and getting on top of homework.

Short from the Abbey Dome: As a schoolmate says, we "spanked" WIS with a 48 point lead, and we took Washington Latin as well with a 30 point lead. This was a far cry from the league tournament, where the Abbey won two nailbiters before falling prey to Cov Life's, again a nailbiting, debacle.

As for today, I found it quite odd that the school admin didn't utter the term "St. Patrick" until this morning over announcement. No official shenanigans today, no official reminder to dress in green. In lieu of this, the students showed up in a green tide, and one of our english teachers served up Irish soda bread. As for the admin, perhaps they did not want us to lauch into spring break too early: it starts at 12 noon tomorrow.

To do list:
Take CPR Renewal
Arrange Easter weekend
Work on 2 long term school projects
Gracefully decline offers from two colleges
Practice Violin
Prepare for and attend Model UN COnference (last in my HS career)
Wait for April 1 (acceptance rush day) to finalize college plans
I've bidden my time.

10 Days in the Life of a High School Senior

2011-02-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on this blog forum since I left for a retreat. I applied, back in the Fall, to go on the retreat as a Senior leader, and got sloted as a substitute. Meanwhile, one leader took up the offer on an all-expenses weekend trip to a certain educational institute in Tennessee (Vanderbilt). This was to occur on the same weekend of the trip, and so one substitute- Al- got placed on the trip. One week before departure, the adult planners found out that more people were going on the trip than originally thought. Enter myself; so that's how it went down.

In those four days,I was unplugged. No internet connection; no cell phone tower in range. That was pretty nice. Then reality said that I was out two business days!
There was some catch-up to play; Merchant Marine Academy matters to handle; b-ball playoff games to watch (including two-hard-won matches and my first witnessed overtime success). That pulls us straight into this weekend.

On Friday, I spent the entire stretch from 7:30am to 10:40pm on campus at school save a 15-minute milkshake run before the start of the at boy-girl mixer at 8pm. Come to think of it, I was in class only to 2:45pm. After this, it was orchestra, a final physical activity for the Academy, play practice, and to get some meaning out of the next 2 hours, Vespers at the monastery, enjoying a meal with the monks, and cracking down on some homework. This was all before that aforementioned mixer. Theme: Country club. I'd say I won 3rd place in the attire category; my polo, Nautica, and neatly ironed dress khakis were a bit traditional to Sean's and Matt's argyle sweaters and pastel shirts, and chill attitude. The ratio was decent, but a number of our female guests seemed more interested in effeminate parlance between themselves than in mixing. Compared to earlier dances, companionship was a little harder won. I got what I wanted from it, and went home in high spirits. I was home a few minutes after 11pm.

On Saturday, my schedule read: r+r from mixer, Violin, lunch, shopping on the Pike (if you're from DC/MD, you'd understand), haircut, parallel parking, league playoffs. Yes, Abbey Basketball made it to the championships to play the near-invincible Cov Life. Cars filled up the three level parking structure- and that with plenty of carpooling; amazing for a high school event. The league held the event at a Gallaudet University venue, and charged us to watch the game. There were a lot of people shelling out $2 or $3 to watch; that included a healthy majority of Cov Life's student body.

Don't get me started: at halftime, my team was up by 10 healthy points. We held the lead from 2nd quarter straight though 3 minutes left. Then stuff happened. Cov Life broke loose. Some of our fans lost the Abbey's trademark classiness for a few minutes. They won on a 3-point made after an extended hold, 57-60. I sort of anticipated it, because this was the team that had chiseled out 8 points against us in the last 40 seconds in a regular season game. By the way- I didn't know that was possible. So, games shouldn't come down to the final 40 seconds. But when they do, teams typically are respectful: not messing up the opponent's foul shots by jeering, for one. Regarding this game, I never felt sick in my stomach like I did when I got home from this one. I was pacing at home past midnight, unable to sleep over my uneasiness with Cov's behavior. We've had tough losses before, but never have I witnessed such sore something-ship from a high school game. In my dreams, I relived entire plays from the game; I felt the enthusiasm of taking the second quarter as our own; then, snapping out of that dream, I realized that the game was over. Out of all of this, one point of pride for this year's Abbey Hoops is that we've never suffered a loss that was not "tough".

I spent a good 3 hours doing backlogged math packets this afternoon, but it sure feels good to be caught up with math. If I would not have been so bothered by last night's 9pm championship chutzpah, I probably wouldn't have the desire to crack down so hard on homework. Anyway, parent-teacher conferences are coming up. Backnote: I resisted the temptation to pack math homework for the retreat. That would be considered a "distraction from duty" as a Senior leader.

Media Influences School Straw Polls

2011-02-11T19:18:00.001-08:00

For various reasons, the voting age is set for 18; no higher, no lower. It's basically a moral imperative that the age is no higher than 18, under the old-enough-to-fight, old-enough-to-vote rationale. Many believe that lowering the suffrage below 18 could not democratically happen for a laundry list of reasons. Parental coercion and influence is probably the biggest factor keeping mid-age teens from the polls. How will you ensure that the kids aren't getting paid off by Mom and Dad for adhering to conformist views?

One way we can view this influence in action is through all-school straw polls, most commonly held around Presidential election time. For the sake of this analysis, we will look at Middle and High School results (age ~11 to 18). We find that children of openly political parents are very likely to adhere to their parents' views. (This is moot if the two parents support opposing candidates!). However, this correlation is no causation.

From the sample of children of political parents, when these youngsters voted against their parents' candidate, more children of conservative parents voted for the progressive than children of liberal parents for the conservative. While youth are often by nature progressive, this natural tendency does not explain the full extent of voting trends in school straw polls.

Media geared to youth tend to be left-leaning; I call out Time's TFK publication in particular. Some networks take sides (Rupert Murdoch?), others inadvertently show support for one candidate over another, by amount of airtime and general portrayal of a candidate. If a majority of publications favor one party over another, who gets the benefit of publicity? Young people like a youthful leader, and, in recent elections, there has been no shortage of youthful Democratic candidates who have graced the covers of nationwide publications available in school libraries. For children of non-political parents, the Media seems to be the most important factor in influencing a child's opinion about a candidate.

We also have to watch out for teachers; in their course of affairs, their political views may come out in discussion of current affairs. Teachers need to make sure that their (younger) students receive a balance of political views, if such opinion does play out in the classroom.

Most importantly, though, young voters are most drawn to charismatic candidates- such as Barack Obama. In the Saint Anselm's 2008 Straw Poll, the current POTUS drew a majority of votes across all grade levels, especially in the younger grades.

Let's Thrive This Big 28

2011-02-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

February is a short month, but for us Abbey Boys, there's a good schedule ahead:

Of course, today is the Super Bowl. Students are taking both sides; some of us hope the Steelers win on account of one notorious Latin teacher. For the record, I'm on the Steelers' side.

Feb. 10- according to the Facebook Page, the Abbey-WIS Game Away happens. One of my favorite aspects of this yearly match is the logistical side of things: how to move 150+ students, without school-provided transport, across town.
If all goes correctly, I will be a GRAD-uated driver. I plan to pick up my adult license on Tuesday (2/8). It's just a paperwork thing, but stuff happens.

In the past issue of the Priory Press, our sports reported gave a history on the Abbey-WIS rivalry. It started out with a spat over seeding in a league bracket back in 2000 or so.

There us another, more chivalric, notion that we have: a WIS kid insults an Abbey Boy. Rather than throwing fists, the two decide to settle by observing the outcome of the next WIS-Abbey B'ball game. The game ends with a tie, and WIS asks for overtime. The ref complies, and the Abbey wins. Both the Wis kid and the Abbey kid maintain that their team had won, and that was how the rivalry started.

Feb. 17-20- 2 important events happen this President's Day Weekend. Juniors and some Seniors take a Kairos Retreat. I can't reveal details, but it's a great experience. For a number of others, there is a NAIMUN- the N. American Invitational Model UN Conference at Georgetown University. For the Seniors, it's the second-to-last Conference of their High School Model UN Careers. We'll certainly put our experience to good use, saving the world in 96 hours.

TBD- the first Mixer Dance of the year. Stu Gov pulled off October's Homecoming in stellar fashion. However, the "Jersey Shore" themed dance had to be postponed twice: once on account of city plumbing work, and the next time on account of snow policy. Look forward to a Country Club-themed fete at the end of this month.

2 Day Weeks Are Easy

2011-01-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

On a snow day, I'm obliged to blog. As unusual as it is, I've been productive these past two days. When I'm productive, there isn't usually much news. Down in West End DC, the snow total amassed 4 inches, a respectable amount. In the northern suburbs of Fairfax County, VA and Montgomery County, MD, over 8 inches of snow blanket the ground. Get this- in parts of Mont. Co, the snow totalled two digits- 10.2 inches in moderately populated Damascus, and 11 inches in more rural Boyds, according to WTOP reports. Why do suburban snow totals matter? Because St. Anselm's follows the Mont. Co snow reports. Why?

There are several reasons. Mont. Co. is the lowest common denominator when it comes to snow. Back in the '90's, the County picked up a reputation of being the first to close. This snow-phobia has diminished somewhat: 3 inches of snow on farmland doesn't guarantee a day off- it didn't last season, and it didn't two weeks ago. The second reason is that a plurality of students come from Mont. Co, and adding students who live within walking distance of the county line would make a clear majority. A third reason is that DC the city rarely issues snow days: DC expects kids to trudge through snow to a Metrorail or major bus route, even when cars are snowed in on the sidestreets. At least half of St. Anselm's students rely on a car or SUV some part of their journey to and from school. Reason four is that the other schools in our league abide by MoCo's judgment. If your friends are out to play, then so will you! Then there's brand recognition and association. Mont. Co., as well as Fairfax, VA, do an excellent job in public school education; many schools in these counties rank top in the Nation. Mont. Co. Public Schools is the biggest absorber of students between 8th and 9th grade at St. A's. Reasons for making the leap range from "availability of females" to "my gosh they've got Smartboards in every classroom!". To my knowledge, DC Public Schools has not lured off any rising freshman in recent history.

One proposal that arises in the County is whether or not to split the County's schools into two snow districts, so that South County gentry from Bethesda and Chevy Chase (like my classmates) don't get a free ride whenever Sugarloaf Mountain gets a white coating. This suggestion is off the table, though, because enough students from Upcounty travel to Mid-and Down-county schools for advanced level curricula, lacrosse, etc., that a split system would be unfeasible.

It's my last year in the K-12 ed system, so I'm not concerned about this, but some keen, younger students are aware of "changing demographics". As DC the city becomes more cosmopolitan and attracts well-heeled families,the schools increase recruiting efforts in the rowhouse neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and West Georgetown. As a result, pushy parents from snow-light DC may get the schools to adhere to the DC school closing announcement,and call to an end the easy flow of snow days.

4 Day Weekend

2011-01-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I went down to the car; I needed it that day to shuttle equipment and people around at school. The night before, around 10pm, freezing rain started to fall from the sky. Tuesday morning, indeed, there was about half an inch of ice all around- sidewalk, and on the car windshield. I turned the car on, and started to chip at the ice with a gloved hand. I tried using the ice brush, but it wasn't much use. After a few more hacks with my hand on the ice, I called upstairs to tell Mom that, "I'm taking the train today". "Come up, there's no school today", she replied. Snow days come when you least expect them.

Dr. King, General Jackson or Lee, Commemorate as You Wish.

2011-01-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

Illinois was the first state to designate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a state holiday in 1973. MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1986(Fed holidays are a big deal for the DC area), and by 1993(Arizona was the lager), all states had some sort of holiday on the third Monday of January. Some jurisdictions refuse to commemorate holidays that mark a single individual. On that point, some politicians pointed to the need to commemorate all of our Civil Rights activists. New Hampshire and Utah had names such as Human Right's Day to mark the day. On the other hand, some states were less altruistic to the concept of world-as-a-family: South Carolina and Virginia conveniently moved their Confederate Commemoration days to overlap the third Monday in January. Since 2000, though, Virginia's Lee-Jackson Day has been moved to the Friday before the third Monday in January. By 2000, the official name for the holiday in mid-January had been changed to MLK Day.

As for the shrugging of shoulders over designating this day a holiday, it's nothing new. The politically acceptable reason is that MLK day was planned to be too close to the excesses of the holiday season! (Remember that Christmas Week was just three weeks ago?) There is also the reason of relevance. In the DC area, it's a big celebration and commemoration with a deep social context. The influence of MLK is less prevalent in some parts of the country, and thus understandably, isn't as widely celebrated and commemorated. Some counties, usually in areas which do not widely celebrate the day, choose to have school on MLK Day, but some don't have a firm stance. At least one county in North Carolina decided to use this holiday as a snow make-up day. The sudden change really ruffled some feathers.

So whatever you celebrate or don't, enjoy your Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Obecalp(2) by New Age Pharm House

2011-01-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

These days, doctors and other authorized prescription writers like to prescribe medications- especially those that give the doctor a generous kickback. When pharm means kickback- that's 1K to 5K dollars. You know, not too much work to get that new car. As long as no one gets side effects, all's happy and well.
On the other hand, Obecalp has no side effects, and is a low-cost alternative that reaches the same placebo effect which fancy, expensive, and time-consuming solutions may do. Obecalp is so revolutionary that it's not on the medicare/aid schedule yet. Don't let the doctor prescribe an unnecessary medication which pads his or her pockets and milks yours! There are many different forms of Obecalp specifically suited to each patient's needs:

Obecalp: (active ingredient: carbonated sucrose dehydrogenase) is a powerful remedy that is prescribed by doctors for many different conditions. Ask your doctor if Obecalp is right for you. Side effects may include a craving for sweetened items or even tooth decay; withdraw symptoms include sugar crash.

Obecalp Lite: (active ingredient: saccharin) goes easy on your waistline, and is suitable for those with conditions which counteract Obecalp Regular.

Obecalp Once-a-day: (active ingredients: aspartame, gelatin) Don't let taking Obecalp get in the way of your daily routine! Once-a-day Obecalp is formulated with two layers to provide both fast acting and long lasting relief.

Obecalp PM: Specially formulated to reduce risk of tooth decay when taken at bedtime.

Obecalp for Kids: (active ingredients: moderate fructose corn syrup, niacinamide) Obecalp for Kids increases immunity to schoolhouse germs and has been proven to increase levels of physical activity among youngsters. Comes in groovy grape or bubbly bubble gum flavors. Side effects may include hyperactivity, which can be counteracted with Ritalin.

Obecalp Xtreme: (active ingredient: agent Y) Feeling tired after midnight is a chronic condition, which, if not treated, may lead to serious problems that can hinder your performance throughout life. Obecalp Xtreme contains the natural ingredients found in OTC Aspirin medication. (some varsity athlete): All your friends are taking it! What are you waiting for?

Obecalp Antacid: (active ingredients: sucrose, sodium bicarbonate) Regular antacids only mask acid reflux! Obecalp Antacid has been shown in clinical trials to cut to the root of the problem. Do not take if overly full from food or drink.

Obecalp KO: (active ingredients: ethanol, petrolatum gel, castor oil, methane by-products) Remember those bygone college days when you were so full of vitality, yet could get a good night's sleep? If you've lost that pep, you may have a condition. Ask your doctor if Obecalp KO is right for you. Obecalp KO may cause drowsiness. Do not operate hazardous machinery or a vehicle until you know this medication's affect on your motor abilities.

DISCLAIMER: This product, Obecalp, is actually a marketed item with a valid patent. Name is used under fair use through the spoof clause. The concept for derivative products such as Obecalp for Kids was created by the author of this blog. Look for these items, under a different trademark, on your local pharmacy shelf in coming years.

Back to Business, Jan. 3

2011-01-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

This week is the 1 year anniversary of the DC bag tax. The bag fee is nickel and diming at its finest: for most people, it's not worth shopping across the border to avoid the fee. However, a Giant Grocery right on the border (on the MD side) reported an unexplainable uptick in business this time last year. At least a number of residents had beef with the principle. Of course, you can always bring bags to the store to avoid the 'fee', but that's a hipster thing. But-the idea is not going away: This year, San Jose, CA (population near 1 mil.) jumped on the bandwagon and banned plastic bags.

DC also gets a new mayor: Vince Gray. He represents a return to the status quo: Gray put the long-time teachers who were fired for alleged incompetence to the top of the rehire list. This is good old DC. Although shifting demographics should have favored the "progressive" (Adrian Fenty*), many of the 'new residents' of DC actually vote absentee ballots in their home state. This left the 'authentic' residents to decide the fate of the bike-lane-and dogpark-loving mayor.

*Lost the Democratic Primary, Won the Republican Primary by write-in, but declined the nomination. On Election Day, Fenty won some Northwest precincts through an insurgent (and not endorsed) write-in campaign.

Happy New Year, Pacific Ocean!

2011-01-01T19:40:00.001-08:00

I know that some readers of my blog subscribe to an RSS feed. You receive updates for posts of all sizes and relevance. You suggested that I write a bit less, but more in depth, and I heeded your advice. Thank you for your patronage. The reason I am here is simply a technicality. The dateline posts in California time; so at 12am local time (DC) earlier today, it was 9pm out on the West Coast. When I celebrated 2011, folks in Seattle, Berkeley, and elsewhere on the West Coast were enjoying their last few hours of 2010. Moral of this post? Understand that sometimes the dateline on my posts can be a calendar day off the content I write about!
Happy New Year; the dateline reads Jan. 1 this time around, if California didn't drift too far into the Pacific overnight!

New Year 2011

2010-12-31T21:06:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those special readers who made my Christmas extra-Merry. It means a lot to receive your thoughts and kind words. 2010 represented a decrease in quantity of posts, but, as I believe, an increase in quality. What I mean is that, in these last few months, I've started doing research for a number of the posts. Another factor is college. Although I got the bulk of my work out by November, some new colleges popped up on my list- and they were not Common App. I sent my last college essay (those take time to write well!) at 3pm today. I gave it to the postman passing by in the neighborhood. Some good news too: I received full acceptance to Univ. of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, and to the Maritime College of New York. A number of the other applications are still in the works. I must note that I made a good step forward at Maritime's neighbor across the Sound, the US Merchant Marines. I made sure to apply only to colleges where I'd be happy (not just ok with) to go come Fall semester, so I'm in a good position right now no matter what happens April 1.
Happy New Year as we head into year 2 of this new decade!

Before I Snooze, Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas

For us in the DC Area, the official qualification for a white Christmas seems a bit strict. That would be one inch. This morning, we got a dusting. The effect was best on the river though. With the recent cold water, the river was frozen thick and appeared as if we had received a healthy snowfall. We received 3 inches last week.
Snow and Christmas seem to go so well with each other.

We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Consumer Test: Roll-Sort

2010-12-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Some have said that sorting through half-dollar rolls provides the most collector coins, because they don't change hands much. Others claim that dimes offer a better return on time, because the date's so small on the coin. One frustrated collector whimmed that nickels are a better deal. Little Brother and I tried all three options on 60 halves, 400 nickels, and 250 dimes. The dimes were duds; the halves turned up nothing this time, but the nickels showed the greatest variety. Of 400 nickels, 10 were more than 50 years old, and one was a silver WWII nickel. According to Internet reporters, 1 of 1000 dimes is silver, so our sample was probably not large enough. I cannot dash over halves though; over the summer I came across two full rolls of silver halves. I figure that any coin that ends up in regular rolls of halves has already been mulled through by another collector. Seek hand-wrapped rolls.

Infrastructure and Debt

2010-12-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm on Winter Break now, so readers can expect more insightful and numerous posts over the next two weeks.

Increasing national debt seems to have bipartisan support. This recent legislation aggravates the Fed's fiscal condition. It's old news now, but I have to bring it up for the record. Giving tax breaks to all (rich and poor and those in between) is an easy way to get re-elected -until someone forecloses on the Feds.

Manhattan's population, both in terms of residents and visitors, has grown steadily over at least the past 20 years. In the meantime, a single new link to access the island, from Mainland US, or the outer boroughs, has been built or rebuilt since the 1950's. This newer link would be a single rail tunnel started in the 1960's, finished in the 1980's. Likewise, no new subway has been opened since 1940, save for a few miles in the 1980's. There is supposedly a new tunnel being built under the East River to Grand Central,but we can't verify progress until the trains start to run. For all I know it could just be a money pit- sort of like the cancelled Hudson Tunnel Project. Gov. Christie: things don't get cheaper! As for the Hudson River, no new span- rail or auto- has been built since 1936. Modern technology has allowed for increased efficiency of the train tunnels, but some time you need infrastructure!

MD 200 (codename for Outer Beltway) appears to be almost complete on the first 5-mile section. On-time completion is still within the allotted timeframe. I would have appreciated it if the road were open today- would've saved time over winding through backroads!

First Snow

2010-12-12T19:03:00.001-08:00

As my classmaate across the table was working away on math, I kept my joy to myself. When I got up to go outside before the flurries stopped, J. wanted to know what I was doing. "Catching some flakes", I explained. He put his work down and stared intently out the window. Sorry, J., for distracting you. Outside, I let youthful enthusiasm get the best of me as I lallied around on the path to the upper building. An exchange student from China asked, "what's that?". Snow. He was gone before I could find out if he got snow frequently at home.

Then I saw in the tabloid paper; "snow showers", forecasted for Monday (tomorrow). I can remember the joy that a fresh snowfall would bring as I woke up at 6am, as if there was to be school. Snow settled overnight, as the yellow of the streetlight reflected on the thin layer of white on the road in the pre-dawn sky.
Actually, back to reality, snow during an exam period isn't too desireable; you've got to take the tests sometime.Thus, it is bittersweetness I feel as the forecast dissipates.

We've Got Creativity

2010-12-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Every competitor to American dominance (and holder of the fed's debt)seems to be sending satellites, trinkets, and people into space while we stagnate. They, too, seem to have kids who are smarter and more dedicated to learning than our videogaming youth. These international kids major in STEM disciplines, of all things! So, is America behind?

Who was...
First to launch the forerunner to mid-20th century rocket technology (Goddard),
First Space Tourist (Dennis Tito of California)
First to send an Iphone to Space on a 4-figure budget("Brooklyn Space Program"*)First to privatize Space. I heard that the backer of the SpaceX program is actually from South Africa, but history books will remember this as an "American" endeavor.

The SpaceX launch earlier this week resembled what the government did about 50 years ago. However, one main difference is that this project was spearheaded by private industry. If a private company built a craft that terminates the lives of 2% of its occupants, there'd certainly be outrage, and shutdown by the feds. But if the government does it, it's simply a Christopher Columbian Odyssey. In 55 or so years of government management through NASA, the space program notably sent men to the moon (but none in 37 years), and a shuttle (which would be an antique if it were a car). As in a number of other homegrown tech-related industries, the government spearheaded initially, but then there came a time for private industry to take over.

* http://www.brooklynspaceprogram.org/BSP/Home.html
___

Mercedes has this "exclusive" social network for the under-30 set. But clearly the website was written by someone over 30: I'm one of too many of my "demographic" for the club. In big letters from them: Sorry. In fine print, there is a link to the general survey page, but the damage had already been done. Okay, another luxury car company would actually appreciate my interest in their business (my loyalties are with Volvo).

But consider this: if I were a potential customer, I'd be totally turned off. Rule 103 of marketing: make your customer feel special. Now suppose that down the road, I decide to go to a Benz dealership. I'd have fun with the salesman. Don't ask me about the chicken games I'd set up for him, but I'd get the run for my money. The set-up line might possibly be;"I know that something that happened between me and this company 30 years ago isn't your respnsibility, but someone's got to take the fall." The result may end up with me taking that electronic checkbook out the door in confidence(if cars will be sold in stores then), or in a good laugh.

Old Establishments

2010-12-04T19:19:00.001-08:00

America's oldest college, Harvard University was established in 1636.
This date takes on the Yamasa Soy Sauce makers by a mere 9 years.
William and Mary is a then-lifetime younger, coming in at 1693.

News reports cite several examples of restaurants and inns dating back to the 11th century. The Hoshi Inn in Komatsu dates to 718.
As for an organization outside Japan, the Worshipful Company of Bakers dates to 1155. The Medieval guild is something you may have read about in your World History textbook. Nice to know that they're still alive and well.

One thing to take in mind is that most of these oldest establishments are not, and have never been in their histories, conglomerates!
A prime example of the dangers of diversification is Kongo Gumi, a Japanese Temple Building firm that has been in continuous family operation since 578, just a century after Ancient Rome's fall. However, the latest generation of family leaders branched out to commercial real estate in the 1980's, and, well, bad idea. The company, debt-ridden, was absorbed in 2007. Read this Bloomberg article:http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_589621.htm

Turkey Day

2010-11-25T19:20:00.001-08:00

As I have for the past 3 years, my brother and I returned to the Choirschool in New York for a night on the town. So what usually happens is that the younger alumni will come over for cocktails and dinner, play some basketball with the 8th graders, then try to see a movie. After banging on the dark windows of three or more theaters, we'd resort to hooving around Times Square.

However, this year is the first year in which the cinema was open past 11pm Wednesday before Thanksgiving. In years past, even in New York City, you couldn't catch a Thanksgiving overnight flick. As a group, we watched Harry Potter 7.1. It really wasn't my style; I'd have preferred the plot to take place at Hogwarts. There was a lot of action, noises, and shrieks in the film, which should've been unfriendly to peaceful sleep. I must have rolled through a whole sleep cycle during the film, because I didn't feel tired at all afterwards.

The GAP student was very cordial and overly generous; he lent out the living room of his 1BR apartment in the Choirschool to us graduates. It was cock-crow time when we came back from the food cart run,and almost dawn when we turned off the lights. I thought I'd pull an all-nighter, but by my usual school wake-up time of 6am, I was fast asleep and missed my alarm clock set for Sunday wakeup of 7:30am. That was the second time I slept through the alarm.

I made it to mass on time (11am), but it was such an adventure to cross After being engulfed in a mass of people, Gus and I were able to get into the empty-enough Subway and ride a loop-around trip to the church east of the parade. The service was brilliant; I had become unaccustomed to the acoustics of the grand church, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue. A meander through the wonders of Port Authority and Penn Station (with Tim Hortons!) preceded our departure by Megabus from the city. Too soon was it time to leave, and maybe next trip I'll allot more time to see the city.

Early Onset Senioritis

2010-11-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

I opened the mailbox and pulled out an envelope that I thought to be rather thin. I was pretty anxious when I realized it came from a "quick decision early action school". I peeked for a key word: either Congratulations!,or Regretfully,.../a dry Thank You. Then I saw the word "Congratulation" blazed in gold on the outside of the manila envelope. I suspected what was inside, but wasn't 100% certain (maybe they wanted more information). As it turns out, that day yesterday, I got an acceptance letter to U Pitt, Pittsburgh. Most of the content of fat envelopes has been moved online, as it appears from the "enclosed details". Pittsburgh is a school that I'd be very happy to attend come Fall 2011. As a result of my personal college ranking, I was able to cancel plans to do applications to several lesser picks of mine. It's not even Thanksgiving and I have a place to go. Early Action is wonderful.

"Why aren't you having a party?" asks Dad as I'm quietly doing homework. "Homework", I reply. No Senioritis for me, yet. Upon the insistence of those around me, I'm still applying to "high reach schools" in New England. Furthermore, the Honors College requires a maintenance of a 3.5 GPA (the SAT threshold was the easy part, right). Notwithstanding this, I have a Service Academy Nomination interview over Christmas Break (that's technically in second semester). Senioritis is not a legitimate condition to them.

What Just Happened

2010-11-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be one hour longer. As you set back your clocks (the ones that don't automatically reset), don't forget to check your smoke detectors as well.

As I am not a political pooh-bah,but rather a busy student, I did not have the luxury of time to wing around Downtown DC for Gray's celebration of victory* then up to Baltimore to hit up some political celebrations for both MD Governor contestants. First,I must ask, how much is it a victory party when you "win" 42% to 56%? Yes, you're the one with the 37%. Some issue concerning voter discouragement robocalls arose from a message along the lines of;"take it easy tonight" Your candidate won so you don't have to go to the polls". All or nothing shot, isn't it? Four days after the election, (formerly) incumbent candidate Gov. Ehrlich's Rockville, MD campaign office stood deserted save for a large poster in the window and some furniture and yard signs.

*over an unofficial campaign to write-in Fenty the incumbent. Fenty, a pro-charter school, pro-business democrat won the DC Republican nomination but declined the offer.

So, we didn't lose many incumbents in our area:
Local congressional politicians in a feedback loop

Decades ago, a pro-government candidate won the vote of a constituency of government employees.

The government hasn't left the area. No reason to shake things up politically.

The candidate is still in office, but very powerful now because he (or she in Mikulski's case) has seniority.

When you've got seniority,you bring home bacon. This means bringing more government money and people to the area.

You wouldn't want to vote against bacon, would you?

No Test Material on This Page

2010-10-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that anyone involved knows that October SAT scores came out today. I know that it was hard to get through between 12:01am and 2:00am, as the needlessly worried students stayed up to see the event. The lines probably were also heavy from 6:00am to 8:00am, as the early to bed crew started to rise. Mom convinced me that I should save the surprise as an afternoon treat. Why'd I want to check at 6am? "So I wouldn't wallow alone". Commiserating is a sport. In fact, SAT was the topic of our shortened day. Busy with a Latin test for a good part of the time, I wasn't able to run to the Publications Lab to check my results. After all, I don't have my SAT login code memorized.

If you're wondering, I did a swell job. Only thing, is that the scholarships get bigger the closer to 1600 you get. At some point I have to stop worrying. Talk about restoring sanity, though.

Brief Points

2010-10-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

*Mole Day was yesterday, 6:02am- 6:02pm (6.02 x 10^23). It's nice to see science being relevant in culture.
*Computer is running excessive virus scans. There's nothing to fear but fear itself, "radialpoint".
*Watched "The Social Network" on the silver screen yesterday evening. Very well presented; sad that it ended after 2 hours (just about on the dot). There were racy scenes; probably not suitable for little kids or grandma. College students seem to appreciate this movie the most.
*Finishing up on that college essay. Found a hook and a decent line and typed it up. I just need a few transitions.

Happy Half Birthday

2010-10-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

That's 17 and a half. The high-IQ kid's show "Arthur" makes a stand about Prunella's ego-eccentricity when she throws a 9-1/2 birthday party (wow- almost double digits!) The little celebrated, often ridiculed milestone marks halfway from last April to legal. I don't plan to do anything extravagant; it'll just be less of a hassle (no more "Mommy can you sign off on this").

More essentially, I spent part of this weekend over the state line at Holy Cross in Bethesda. It was a Model UN event, and a well-orchestrated one at that. I could rave for the food (Panera-esque bread bowl beat the taco option 10-1), but the dynamics of the committee sessions were a draw as well.

ALL the below is simulation, not breaking international news...

I repped VietNam in SPECPOL, dealing with the Pakistan Flood Crisis. Naturally, I chummed out with China and N Korea. I couldn't help but side with Lebanon :). Trusting the Pakistani government was an edgy position to take- but edgy in Model UN means fun. The chairs (the high school co-eds who ran the committee and imputed punishment to disruptive nations) kept reminding me and my friends (allies) that we were poor and therefore irrelevant to providing aid relief. Our little club befriended America and won over "that rich country" we needed to pass the bill. The chairs thought that China should fix its own poverty issue before bailing out Pakistan. Things were going oh-so-well; I was about to get my resolution passed, until a Crisis happened. Yes, it put egg on my face. A report came out stating that the Pakistani government was a leaky tube that lost 60% of aid money to evil-doers. Away with US support and my Resolution went out the window. Somebody on the Crisis committee is going to get a nuggy tomorrow in class...

Columbus Day Again

2010-10-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

As a testament to my new-found busyness, I haven't posted since October 1. Meanwhile, stuff has happened. I plan to get all my college materials out by Oct. 28. Yes, I know that some colleges give applicants preferential treatment for getting in applications early. I know that some don't, but I want an universal deadline- for simplicity's sake.

It's Columbus Day again. The Feds and most schools are off today. Private industry was humming, so were the schools which take Yom Kippur off instead. Yes, a number of private schools as well as a few school systems in the New York Tristate Area and two in Maryland. What did I do today? Accept today as a day to get caught up on school work- and catch a nice jog on the C+O Canal.

Months Change and Laws Change

2010-10-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, a tropical storm made a lake of the soccer field.
Today, a crisp autumn day replaced the summer heat. These pleasant days should become more frequent in the closing days of "the year of the weather".

But more importantly, a new law may change some bad habits. Repeatedly on this blog I declare texting while driving a really bad idea. While I'm not a fan of legislation, there's a change I'd like to inform everyone about and it may actually apply to you.

Marylanders seem to have an affection for talking( and texting) while driving. A law went into effect today banning use of handheld cellular communications devices by all classes of drivers, except for emergency calls. Car phone use seems to be the cause of most bad driving in the DC area. Don't expect Maryland drivers to "get better" overnight. According to a Wiki chart, MD is the only state with a lenient ban on adult/experienced drivers; it's (only) a secondary offense. In the other 6 no-phone states and DC you can be pulled over solely for using a phone.

Did you read this post on a mobile device?
Are you also trying to drive?
Then pull over so you can spend undivided attention on my blog!

Organizational Charts by Teens

2010-09-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

House Day. You don't appreciate the work it takes to put the day together until you do it yourself. No, I did not do it singlehandedly, but the Student Prez. and Veep spent many hours preparing and the whole House Day ready to intervene. When the duties for the day were divied up, the task came down to each individual. As a peripheral member of the "Student Gov" through the student paper, I was given the nerdish role of supervising Trivia. My duties came down to this list:

Find your House Members (the system was devised in 1987, before Harry Potter) and mark their hands A- D for rotations.
Ask yourself these questions:
Where this group of kids is supposed to go:
Which group should be arriving next:
Did anyone get lost, voluntarily or intentionally*?
For trivia: find replacements to fill seats left vacant by disappearing souls.

*Note to pundits who think us at the Abbey are nerds: Kids were skipping out of Trivia, not Football.

Even good planning can fall to pieces. I applaud quick response to a fiasco relating to the scavenger hunt. It took the kids 15 minutes (out of 45 planned) to complete the odyssey. After one rotation (of 4), the activity was scrapped and the old standby of "Protect the Wall" resurrected. The kids were grateful, too, that there was one less academic activity for the day.

After finding enough warm bodies to fill Trivia seats, I was getting a little fever for the game myself. Even though Seniors aren't technically allowed to, I got my turn to compete on stage just before the day was over. My brilliance did not overwhelm the other Grade 9-12 contestants, so I wasn't by-lined after answering 10 questions!

A clear-cut test of organizational success is the ice cream service. How long was the wait? Not long at all, since we pre-scooped.

The temperature reached over 90 degrees with high humidity, but no results of heat casualties. Accolades for water service and frequent-enough breaks from activities. By the last rotation at high noon, I received plenty of help for inside the air conditioned theater!

Fall and a Server

2010-09-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today us in the National Capitol Region experienced the simple delight of cool, clean, crisp air in the morning. A forebearer of fall, the darktime cool will extend into the daytime hours. After plugging college applications for a good part of the afternoon, I decided to learn more about the heart of computer-to computer communication; ie, the basis of the internet.

A student whom some would attest is morally opposed to computers was plugging lines of code into Java for AP Comp Sci. It's easy to teach a young dog new tricks. On that basis, I quickly learned how the digital world works.

The internet is not exactly a bunch of tubes with trucks. It is, however, an efficient post office system of sorts. Your computer request information in a protocol manner and the server responds, possibly asking you for your credit card number. This back and forth happens frequently on your trip to the WWW. These days, the dialogue is continuous. The tube concept derives from this development. In more primitive days, the information would travel via regular phone lines (ohh- graphics were such a pain to load!) By the way, the computer would tie up the phone line while using the internet!

With the advent of DSL, this problem disappeared. I remember the surprise the first time a call came through while looking up info (that's all there was back then!) Back in the dial-up days, blogging might have been done on computer software, then with modem flipped on, the text would be transmitted to the server. Doing work online (ie writing blog posts) was, to my knowledge, not common. Back then we also relied on landline phones and couldn't tie them up for an hour.

Now who wants to be an internet historian?

Patriot's Day ACT

2010-09-11T19:06:00.001-07:00

This passage is based on material from practice tests and post predrafted on Sept. 10. I took the test this morning at West Potomac High, South Fairfax, VA; the last available site in the Anselmer's sphere of influence.

The ACT is a great relief for the College Board student. Looking at the prep material, there's a greater patriotic element in the literature comprehension selection than in the SAT. On this chain, the ACT also contains more material which the mainstream of collegebound students would find interesting.
Many of my classmates who scored in the 1800's (of 2400 potential) topped 30 (out of 36 potential). The ACT conversion indicates a 27 would be expected. Thus, it's fair to say that you, too, might do better on the ACT. Is it right for everyone, though?
You ought to have taken math through the Algebra 2 level; and had a thorough teacher at that.

Learn to conceal your laughter at bad grammar
You don't need a big lexicon
While reading passages, think of ways you'd shorten the text
Know that the ACT wants you to be succint and direct,like the archetypical American.
You will spend more time with the calculator
Some problems will resemble math class
Don't get discouraged by the dense language of the intercultural reading passage. The ACT only has one.
You should be able to analyse data and make logical leaps as the time presses short

Is it a forewarner of America's future? The science section was designed to be pressed on time, compared to the english and math sections. The math is at a challenging level for most test-takers. Some pundits have used the ACT as positive proof of poor math and scientific ability in American youth!

A teacher who will remain nameless has the tendency to let his students' essay-writing skills deteriorate after 2 semesters. The east coast SAT- slicker may find the transition back to AP's (especially AP English Language!) Not to fret. While the ACT has been favored upon by talent searches such as John Hopkins U's CTY, more east coast colleges have come to accept the test from Iowa.

In DC? Enjoy cooler weather and track work...

2010-09-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

In just a few minutes, the eastern branch of the DC Metro's Red Line will close for major overhaul. Having rode the line a few hours ago, nothing seems amiss on the trackbed. This is the trackkeepers' job; to intervene before the bottom falls out. From my engineering-dad's perspective, there will be a fascinating array of work-crews and equipment on the trackbed from 10pm tonight until 5am Tuesday morning. That's 79 hours of intensive care for the tracks that carry hundreds of trains a day.
Most people won't mind, though. They're out of town, far away from the DC Metro and its temporarily truncated service. If all goes well on the tracks this weekend, my Tuesday commute will be a bit better than before.

School's Fun

2010-08-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today was my first full day of school since May. The transition wasn't too hard, as I'd spent plenty of hours this summer at the Abbey kicking around the soccerball. What took me back was my realization, on the Metro ride home, that I'd just spent sunrise to sunset at school. I ought to not have been; the administrators assured us 1st semester seniors that we'd have enough to do.

There is a good shot I missed out this season's issue of prime lockers (24 cubic feet) and settle for one half the size. I mean , there were about 18 Seniors eligible (i.e. currently play a sport and allege that a regular locker would not fit their sporting equipment)for the 22 units. I sense that the Juniors took a few of them nefariously. What I get now is a good selection of neighboring real estate.

(As a matter of micropolitical correctness,I'll add commentary on other subjects later).

In AP Biology, there was a sense that memories- from Freshman Biology- last: the teacher recalled JH, now a student gov't leader, machoing his lab partners on his ability to tolerate the stench before he himself got woozy on formaldehyde.

We participated in a great textbook issue. For the first time, the textbooks really feel like 20th century technology. In recent years, we have saved our backs with online editions for home use. However,many conceded that this is the year we should've transitioned to e-readers. In the Pub(lications Lab, two seniors were hashing out our class' eternal keepsake, the yearbook, and two other leavers were working on the glossy-paged periodicals we kindly critiqued award-winning literature. I received my first homework assignments of the year. As a matter of good policy, I made at least a token effort to complete the assignments before starting the weekend.

In IE (intro to engineering), I'm earning credit for what I do on my own: think of how to make things work. For the team portfolio (a semester-long lab report, in other words), I'll have to insert some calculations. I think the more tedious they look, the better it will be received by the PhD. Certain that the Doctor wouldn't approve of any idea we generated on day 1,I left good sketches in my notebook for closer to the first advisory grades. The details of these, and of many of my and my classmates' maligned and horrid ideas will remain sealed until presentation day in December.

15 hours until I wake up and go to school

2010-08-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Enjoying my last day of summer break. Soccer preseason is the most sleep I'll get during the school year. All in all, I'm looking forward to senior year- asides from the class which gave me a vague homework assignment. There's no more time to spruce up assignments or say that I should be doing xyz with my time. As it's said at the Service Academies: Plebe Summer- you didn't have to worry about homework! Now I do. See everyone tomorrow!

I recommend everyone pack their bags for school tonight, because you will be disoriented waking up at 6am, possibly in the dark.

Sum up a month?

2010-08-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

Last published July 31?! What have I done with my time?
Here is the hierarchy of media, according to my soon-to-be overlord of publications (If you remember from my May postings, I got a job for the student paper at school).
Good news
No news
Old news
Lame/ pagefiller news
I've gone for the second choice, basically.

I've been off of pool work for a week now, and I must say that this past week was the fastest gone- in my life, perhaps. Nothing happens in town in August, and I haven't done too much of note. Maybe I'll let you in on the Tuesday saunter around Capitol Hill, into Eastern Market, the Library of Congress, Union Station, and the Folger Shakespeare (Mr. F made money in oil, not coffee). Didn't do the Capitol Visitor Center, though, b/c I didn't feel like going through a "double" security screening. Nice itinerary, though. Rolling a wheel and tire Wednesday down the street to the gas station during a rainstorm was comical, though.

Maybe you want to get to know a little more of what I've done: I finished reading my third Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises. If you found a deep message in this book, please write me! (The others: FWTBT and Old Man). I've started to write out the family tree of the Greek goddesses and gods, but still need to comprehend (read: read) The Iliad and The Aeneid. Amazingly, I've gotten more homework done at work than during my time home.

Soccer preseason is going on. PT during Navy Summer Seminar seems like cake compared to Coach's special relay-runs mixed with PT. We do this drill black-flag day (hot n humid)or not. There's plenty competition for the Varsity spots: more talent than ever on the St. A's team.

I've also slept away a little under 40% of this past week. I accredit that to biological recovery from soccer.

Can't believe that I haven't told you all about my weekend sailing or my weekend to Long Island. That'll come soon. I promise.

A Brief Interruption to Discuss a Pertinent Issue

2010-07-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Insurance companies, especially Allstate and State Farm, have been burning risk pool money for lobbying congress.
In this case, they don't want to insure minors, a high-risk group (though not as high as the 75+ group)

To the public, they rally in the name of "saving 11". That's the daily number of teen auto deaths. It is a valid cause, but the approach to ameliorating this tragedy must be scientific and not political. This way, we will get the best result on lives saved.

Having held a Learner's License for 12 months, the medley of rules in each state of the nation gives me different levels of privileges. In some states, learner's cards are commuted to full licenses. Learning drivers' operating hours vary significantly For example, DC restricts driving hours to 6am-9pm, a number of states restrict from 1am-5am. Travelling with the family, it only meant a larger number of seating arrangements (i.e. brother and I in front seats, parents in back). The STANDUP ACT would change this by "standardizing" driving ages by increasing to the greatest common factor.

Washington, we have regional variations. In some states, increasing age minimums has had an effect on lowering accident rates. I have second thoughts about the effect it has had in some others. We have something called a "free state" complex north of the Potomac. In Maryland, a statistic provided by www.idrivesmart.com explains that 5% of drivers in Maryland are unlicensed. Why? Fear of the MVA is the short reason. Also, laws are more loosely enforced than in Virginia, which throws the books at young drivers, esp. from out-of-state. Just putting it out there, it's easier to change laws (make licensing more available) than change the custom of "self-initiation".

I'll be dwelling on Maryland's case for a while. Most of my angst teen readers are Maryland-licensed drivers). Perhaps the MD has the most extreme case: 15y9m for a learner, and now 16y6m for a Provie. If you're under 18, you can't get a "real license". You get automatically installed enhanced privileges at 16y11m reworded to be a prophetic "151 days thenceafter".

Of course, your old man or lady can officially put on your brakes. All it takes is a nice letter to the MVA "asking for them to take away Timmy's license" (Thank goodness you can't do it one-click online).Timmy, good luck trying to get a judge to rule your parent "incompetent".
If a 17-year old can operate an army tank, why isn't a civilian friend able to operate a pleasure vehicle?
Because he's irresponsible, says the AARP? I, and the general public, believe that experience, not maturity, (yes, there are immature teens out there. We can shape 'em up with: a job that is not make-work). Some politicians and youth-fearers think otherwise.

You really don't understand how annoying pedestrians can be til you've wheeled around the city. With that experience, I'll bet your bottom dollar that you'll be a better and more aware pedestrian. It had an effect on me.

There's also the matter of civic responsibility. What's the social impact of being reliant- on a parent- to register for voting or for the draft? Answer- you'll never grow up if you're a recipient of such state-mandated coddling!

Welcome to your pool. Your life is in the hands of pre-sixteeners. Good luck finding the manager. He's 17. Trust 15-year-olds with the safety of pool patrons, don't trust 17-year-olds with cars.

At least it will have one positive effect: increased young voter turnout. Yep, in my conversation with young Marylanders,they're anti-incumbent over the recent licensing-age reshuffling. Some of them are going to vote, too, because they feel as they've been insulted.

Another tip: Make kids buy their own car or insurance. Several entitled children I know have caused serious damage to their "grown-up" toys. The ones who put personal investment into their rides tended to have clean records.

Come to think of it, there are two groups of "bad drivers"- those coming in, and those going out. When our time comes, we may well consider "supportive legislation" for drivers "in their golden years".

I haven't even gotten to the matter of states' rights. Like much maligned legislation, the standupact is an unnecessary impediment to individual states. Some states (like California and, on most points, Maryland) have driving codes that adhere to a "national standard". Most states don't, and most states don't have a problem with that.

The worst-conceived provision in the STANDUP ACT is raising the Learner's License age to 16. Duh- isn't that when you traditionally get a full license? Other than that, it undermines safe driving practices that are initiated by the family and approved of on various levels by each state. Say, learn at 14, drive alone at 16 gives a full 2 years of learning experience in the more impressionable years! Maryland would be double-undermined. The learning stage, just increased last year, would be cut back to the length it was in the first place. A little-known provision allows for no age restriction on driving with a certified instructor (experience and coursework counts toward state requirements if done since your 15th birthday).

Some personal suggestions:
Parental Involvement
Parents: Give experience while they're young: before "wheel envy" sets in.
Drunk/Buzzed driving is totally unacceptable and morally wrong
Do something about chronic speeders. Habits form young
Fatigued driving is also a bad idea
Bona-fide commuting rarely results in tragedy. Let teens carpool with each other. Consent forms make sense for minor passengers.
Bad things happen at night. You should know where your kids are at 10pm. You know, trust but verify. Thanks, Ronald.
"Night driving is the strangest thing". I said it myself. Kids should have monitored experience, and lots of it, before attempting to go solo at night.
Shock therapy: imagine all the bad things that could happen if you
Discuss Insurance rates
Accidents during necessary trips are a tragedy. Accidents during cruising or chilling times is a too frequent occurrence. Idleness can lead to trouble. Boaters and pilots file float plans. Driving kids should do the same.

Amazing story: A friend, now at the USAFA in Colorado, volunteered himself and his F-150 to hospital duty during our recent blizzards. He was 17 then.

Note: I follow all restrictions placed on my license.

West 2010: Day 0, Appalachian Plunge

2010-07-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Clean-up was easy; at the local pool, things are squared away so that guards can focus on guarding people and summer youth focus on cleaning. Within an hour, the car was laden with hundreds of pounds of provisions. After 2 blocks due east to access the bridge, we were headed due west, for the next 2500 miles. The sun was hot this July 5, and the sun would bake Washington for the next week. The sun set red with particulate dust as we rounded Hagerstown. Traffic was moderate but dealt with by my newly learner licensed brother. One thing I remember about the west is the "strange" fuel octanes. 91 is the recommended octane for our vehicle; we have 87. 89, and 93 in our area, but this station 70 miles out had the fuel. I-68 through Maryland was quaint, to say the least, with rolling hills that dragged mile through mile. The heavy car gyrated from 45 to 70 miles per hour in an attempt to save the engine from undue stress. I handed over the wheel back to my brother outside the WVA border...and woke up under the awning of a conference hotel in Morgantown, WVA.

Leading Up To Vacation

2010-07-22T17:55:00.001-07:00

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted. A lot has gone on. It sounds cliched, but when you consider the time it takes to prepare for a 6,000 mile odessey by auto, taking the trip, and recovering from it, I'll say my current internet presence is a wonderful addition to the world scheme.
July 3 was my last day prior to vacation with my regular co-workers. Work had just gotten harder and I didn't want to rub it in , so I just gently mentioned "wedding and reunion" prior to signing out. I was also gentle on the managers, who were sorting out staffing matters. (It's great to work somewhere that you're basically essential).
July 4 was dedicated to sailing (that's another blog post to be written)...and to God. It's Sunday, after all. The Mass had a patriotic tint that was most appaernt in the recessional hymn, "God of our Fathers". Sailing is a good workout, I'll tell you. I still had time for tradition; hot dogs, watermellon and fireworks. Like I've attended every Palm Sunday mass since I was born, I've faithfully attened each National Mall July 4 Firework display since 1993 in some form or another (That was the 17th).
My main priority on July 5 was to complete the DODMERB ROTC/Service Academy physical, a necessary and important step for the aspiring midshipman. Make a good impression: As the Naval Academy mantra goes, "to be late is to be forgotten". Being on-time was not an issue with light traffic and an ample allowance of time to travel on my part. Since I was going on such a long trip, I decided to pull a day's work so I wouldn't forget what work is. I was assigned to a neighborhood pool of mine; little brother is based there and was more than eager to see me; he called 3 times in 70 minutes.

A tired combobulation on a discount state workforce

2010-07-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

A small-gov't dream! State employee salaries all reduced to minimum wage!
The bureaucracy should've never grown so big. I mean, a wage freeze seems to have solved the deficit in most places. A wage super-cut will fix a problem in no time.
But think of the children.

I am not an expert on Cali Labor Issues, so I'm not sure if the pencil pushers saw this coming. It's not nice to pull surprises on people's income: Is it even legal?
Any wage recoking will have to happen with newbies: A number of gov't jobs can be used as a fallback option for those who can't make it in the private sector. Then there are jobs that require a competitive workforce. No way else to recruit than competitive wages. Sorry, in America gov't work is not about honor and duty to the fatherland.
What the state workers need to do is drastic to keep their quality of life, ie strike. In DC Parks, we're pretty convinced that if our wages were cut, we wouldn't work.(I make summer job income and not a handsome salary). I got to mention that we have bargaining position as there is currently a mild staff shortage. Supposedly, there are better paying jobs for youth elsewhere.

Disclaimer: I am a modestly compensated state gov't worker who lives in Gov't City.

Try to imagine this news headline:
Obama to California: Drop Dead.

Sailors, Seneca, Sunday

2010-06-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

I had a dream. I was in a white sailor's suit, saluting then piloting a ship. That was a nice dream.
On a summer Sunday, I have little to do after the extraordinary morning church festivities (Patron Saint's day, SS Peter and Paul).
Twenty miles away from home, a lake in a regional park in Upcounty Mont.Co. looked appetible as my family finished business off in Germantown. The lake was Seneca Lake, in Black Hill Park.

On the small beach were young-looking lake attendants in Yellow polo and Khaki shorts chillaxing under an umbrella. Gosh, that's the future summer job of many DC lifeguards.(The DC guards say the pay and benefits are better across the state line, but that they demand experience). Really, they were environmental police. They were there to, in a friendly way, remind you that what you dump in the lake is what comes out of the tap next week. For this reason no swimming or motorboats are allowed. It makes the Lifeguards'/ Dockhands' job easier: any soul soaking in the water is either in distress or mischeivious. Let's call these people Tap Water Guards.
I'll just say that it's a huge difference in scenery: Poolside versus Lakeside.

I took a look at the Baywatch episode list. As expected, the plots are way over dramatized. That's understandable, but that show's got a lot of wild things going on. Still have yet to see my first episode.
In the real lifeguarding world, a reach-from-the-deck a day is an impressive record. It's also a sign that someone's neglecting prevention.

We call it Father's Day

2010-06-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Price of Tysons Buffet for two: $45
Running into a pack of classmates on the way home through Bethesda: Priceless.

What is a free day to me?
Navy respects Sundays just as I do: it's something special. After morning PT, you're off until noon to pursue religious activities. In fact, the day is tagged as "yard liberty", aka, you can walk around casually; just stay on campus.
It must've been an act of God- I've never been that tired after a buffet (in Rockville). Already late in the day, our party decided to not pursue the cooler clime of North Central Maryland and decided to return home.
Sleepy, I caught sight of kids that looked like they went to St. Anselm's. Mom thought so too. We pulled around a corner and I doubled back to meet them, in Summer Seminar attire. We shot the breeze for a minute, dicussing a Brazilian friend's antics after the world cup game (the series that I have missed out on, but not regretted). If they had to see it to believe it, though, I'm Navy.

Remember, TH, to practice parallel parking before taking the road test!

Five Days in Annapolis, Been Changed

2010-06-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

Article I of the US Armed Forces Code of Conduct:
"I am an American fighting in the forces which defend my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense".

EMT teams raced around campus Wednesday as we performed a half-version, 7 hour synthesis of Sea Trials, a keystone experience for Plebe (Freshmen) Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Although our whole squad of 7 pulled through, not every shipmate did. Some stopped on their own volition; others went out with a zap and bang. On our squad's final trial, fatigued, wet, and sore, we clumsily bear-crawled down a hill. We had a perfect sightline of EMT's working on a fellow shipmate. I suppose that the Midshipmen didn't put up a courtesy curtain because "that there ain't the worst you'll see in battle". The openness of the event also allowed us to say to ourselves and to our squad buddies: "That kid has (darn) good dedication".

I had a co-worker tell me that I was nuts for considering to attend a service academy. Multiple times over the week we were reminded, directly and indirectly, of what you'll have to be prepared to give up if you attend the Academy. Examples include time with friends and family, civilian clothes, "regular college stuff", your life. Our squad leader,a Midshipmen of the Class of 2013, took us to Memorial Hall, a most revered and hallowed space. We perambulated the hall in our buddy pairs. He pointed to the columns of WWII Midshipmen casualties. The usually peppy gymnast just stared. "That many", he murmured. We then went over the wall bearing plaques for the casualties of recent graduating years. The squad leader showed us our place on the wall: "Remember, we are at war and will likely be at war when you graduate". What I want to do is pilot from the bridge of a large ship. My title would be Surface Warfare Officer. My buddy wants to train to be an aviator- not on recon missions but as a Marine Aviator, in the middle of the field of action. I was not dissuaded, neither was he. We know that with privilege comes responsibility. "Where else will someone let you, age 25, take out a $40 million jet and burn $18,000 of fuel in a single trip?"

That's what's so great about being a Naval Officer- the end product of Academy life. Now clean words here will not describe how much I loved the daily challenges- including and especially Sea Trial Day, a "tough day" even when it comes to real-life plebe year. This is the best part- I never expected that I would like it so much.

I reencountered that shipmate the next day at "Graduation". He told me in a serious tone,"Too bad that I missed Indoc last night 'cuz I was in the hospital".
What a beast.

Shipmate Anonymous, what you missed was the awesome experience of being placed under pressure by rising Sophomores who are testing out their newly-earned authority for the first time. Reality Check: What'cha gonna feel if your wood-clad ship was on fire? Personally, I was in a sweat based on the high expectations, but I kept cool under pressure. I wasn't 'dropped' (for reparation in the physical form) as much as I or any of my fellow squadmates had expected.

At least we had this sometimes rebellious reply in our sleeve: " Sir, order to the helm Sir". Never Sir a Ma'am, though.

Five Days in Annapolis

2010-06-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have never been in the JROTC or taken a formal military science class or attend a military-centric school. That said, I'm off to Annapolis tomorrow for a five-day taste of the Naval Academy. I don't know what to say about a naval career; I've heard to keep an open mind about it.

Over Spring Break, I was looking up internship programs, the federal STEP (Summer temp. youth program), and other summer activities in general. Frankly, the application for the Navy program was not too hard. The hardest part was class rank. It was not an objective number from my point of view; our school doesn't supply it. In that case, the USNA stated to estimate. I lowballed my estimation for class rank, in deferrence to the math whizzes in my class and some others who applied with numbers 3, 5, and 7.

--I also applied for the USCGA Aim Program, but an apparent computer glitch prevented me from submitting my portfolio of paragraph essays.--

I applied later than my peers. When I first heard of their intent, one had already received a letter of acceptance. "First round pick", we say. I received a similar letter on formal stationary soon after the deadline. I suspect some of my other classmates received theirs as well. They haven't been vocal about it, though. As the school mantra goes, "As GPA's are competitive, so is everything else".

A Line Gone Out

2010-06-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

On the bathroom counter lies a soup bowl filled with water, and a three-ringed bouquet of flowerheads suspended on the surface of the water. It's been over a week since graduation, where Hf. Riechert put those flowers in unfunctional yet artistic glass bowls. Yet, those live flowers still look fresh.
In retrospect, it's only been two weeks since the last final exam, but it has felt like it has been so long ago. Well, it's summer now, and a slow summer seems to be a good one.

SAT II, Round 1

2010-06-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

SAT II today...
I took the tests at Holton Arms
Halfway between home and my violin instructor
(I was not the only one- other kids had their violins too, for after the test!)
I was originally scheduled for two- French and Chemistry
But I decided to throw in a Math II at the end
It turns out that when you take SATII you get the whole book of 30-something tests- and can choose which one to take at what time.
I heard US History is a popular impulse purchase.
The folks in Jersey say that they'll just bill your family for the extra tests.
Does this invoice delay my scores?

Donut Day

2010-06-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

6/4 = National Doughnut (or Donut) Day.
In honor of this special occasion, I jogged over to the local Krispy Kreme (paradox), and took large bites into my Boston Kreme Donut that did not cost me a penny. Dunkin' Donuts is doing the same (the local college, GW, with its hoard of New Yorkers and Connecticut people, imported a DD to our area). While I'm in SATII prep mode, Little Brother is running a comparative "taste test" that will take him across the city and until 11pm.
Now say what about America's waistline?

Class of '10 (not me)

2010-05-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

What's the chance?
Sent across town from my usual work site
and to the place down the street from school
for an event I wanted to attend?

I fidgeted with the duty schedule. When could I take a break- 40 minutes was what I needed. I found a gap- and I got the blessing of the manager to go off-facility. I threw on my casual best and ran for about 6-7 minutes until I reached the school auditorium. I picked up a brochure and read and chanted along with the grads and school community. I fulfilled a promise- I had not missed graduation!
I engulfed myself in the rituals and the camaraderie for the brief 15 minutes I had.
I took a peek at the young men in white suits on stage, then wished the exchange students well and sprinted back to work- making it back on time.
I took a good look at each of their framed spreads. All were able to list 6 achievements. Some had a NMSC (PSAT-related) tag on the crossbar. I took a good look as to imprint one last image of them in my mind.Some I had taken class with , some I hadn't,some I took two with. Some wished I had taken a class (one wished for more than 2), and some wish that Juniors were not allowed in Seniors' classes. We spent some time figuring out who would be the director of the HUD (after designing a bunch of exclusive resorts), and who would be the next Sec. of State (a name like Chancellor gives you a certain lead). We took some time too to figure who'd give the speech for the Class of 2035 (of course during Nick Johna's reign). There was an after-grad party, apparently, in the boardroom above the theater. There were two contemporary-aged co-eds crooning to two newly grads, appareled in casual attire. Don't worry, we iced one of them (we took one guy outside). Ah, next year the controversial class of 2012 will be taking care of our party.

Cure for "Appalachia Syndrome"

2010-05-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

It's all about access. That was the cure for Maryland Panhandle's three western counties. Since the 1950's, national planners have made good road contruction a key part in bringing this region to East Coast standards. Witness I-68. It's advertised as "the better way to Ohio and Points West". Sorry, Penna., but the septuagenerian turnpike doesn't make meet with a 19-year young double-shouldered beauty. There is variety, too; entering Cumberland you're thrown onto an inner-city style skyway.
A drive into the heart of West Virginia is a nauseating experience. While fun on a rec trip, your starch-suited investor's won't like the thrill.

http://actionallen.blogspot.com/2006/07/interstate-68.html
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-08-02/news/1991214041_1_western-maryland-interstate-68-missing-link

Field Day 2010

2010-05-21T19:29:00.001-07:00

Good organization and planning- or lots of people. After a video introduction, field day went on to be a great success. In reality, I am quite tired from it all!
Especially dodgeball: For my taunts, I became a perrenial target. This meant that I was dodging foam balls by rolling over to the side. This was injurious to the ankle, but like a young horse I hobbled back to stature.
Ice cream distribution went well for once, thanks to our leaders' great providence.
Great job, guys!

Moore House won this year, but I'm sure Main has a great shot at next year's cup.

Quick Reflection Before Field Day

2010-05-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ah, the pressure is sort of off. All I have to do is some last minute GPA tweakers- spare oustanding assignments. But that won't mean that I won't enjoy field day. Be there or be squared- by the 1/2 power (haw haw haw).
Next week what lies in store I don't know; grades are due on Tuesday, and only then can I let go. But that's soon.
Got to get out early to set up the events.

Mid-Exam Report

2010-05-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

According to the Wall Street Journal, success is a confidence game. How the two are related is unknown (does confidence come from likely success or does success come from sheer confidence?). This is the science behind good luck charms. Note, though, that superstition leads nowhere. Do your work and have faith in yourself.

Even though I have spent less time studying for these exams, I've felt that I've been doing a better job on them than in past exam cycles. What I mean is that I finished successfully and honorably within the 2 hour time frame. Now what this means is that I've actually learned something. Part of the solution may be a good night's rest. I was tempted last night to stay up to finish studying, but I decided to hold it off for the morning. This latter choice I took, and it was a good one.

Got to hit French now.
Coming up soon on this blog: Bring on the soda tax!

Go-Go a No-No near MoCo

2010-05-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

What is GoGo? Just like Mambo sauce and Chinese carry-out, it's a part of DC culture. DC urban culture, that is- and by Urban we mean East of the Creek. Yeah.
A student organization from a tony, forward-thinking school in Tenleytown (west of the Creek), decided to hold one such event. Typically rowdy, go-go events are not something you bring West of the creek. But it was only meant to showcase urban culture in a whittled-down, sanitized way...
The debacle lived up to its rowdy reputation.
Imagine coming home to your quiet residential street at 5pm on Friday. After dinner, you go out to the front yard...and your neighborhood is taken away. Rowdy youth whose identities you don't know shout like it's the Battle of the Republic. Styrofoam containers litter the sidewalk. You get the idea.
For these tranquility-loving residents who associate themselves with suburban culture, this debacle hardened perpetual fears, concerns, and anxieties about what goes on...in town.

I'd link a gogo video, but it's too graphic/crude for this blog. Look up "Mambo Sauce gogo" if you're really curious.
If you need a dose of our suburban culture, check up 90210. It resembles 20854. However, most of NW/ west of creek is a bit more subdued.

Source: Northwest Current, a community publication.

Don't Judge a Concept by its Title

2010-05-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

There has been discussion on the topic of "net neutrality". Some internet service providers (ISP's) have a propensity for judging web content and determining an "appropriate" speed at which you can access it. Some in Congress want to bar this practice. What this proposal is is essentially banning a book based on its partiality (no-it's not a radio fairness doctrine matter- read on). What is more disturbing is that people who like the sound of "neutrality" but do not understand the heart of the matter are passing judgement- this is Congress.

You may like a lesson in IP jargon:
Key people:
ISP--Utility Co.--Data Transmission--You-- The Fed

For those who don't understand the technicalities, there is a difference between ISP and "The Internet". An ISP is an internet service provider that provides your portal to the internet. Your ISP provides the software and a home modem and DSLAM (server) that get bits and bytes over the phone or cable line (but does not necessarily set you up with a browser). Think of the internet as a fancier way of talking over the phone. More often than not, the ISP will foot the data transmission bill (read on); if you get a flat rate bill for internet service regardless of how much time you spent online, this is you. Think AOL or NetServe. As a limited-supply utility, the utility company is required by law to allow any ISP to operate on its phone lines- and give a good bulk rate for data transmission to the ISP. In fact, this applies to any ISP who asks. Essentially,ISP's can start up when they want, like a private business in a unregulated sector. While Congress is not proposing a Control Board, this proposal demonstrates either the lack of technical awareness or the desire to strongarm private endeavors. If you are offended that your ISP prioritizes web traffic you're not a part of, switch to another provider. Or take the can-do American approach- build your own system!

Caveat- If you happen to be somewhere that there is only one ISP, your rights to impartial service may be ensured by antitrust/monopoly policy. Check US and Sate code to determine if this applies to you.

Better Grades

2010-05-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ah, on the brink of my final AP. But unlike the others (Comp Pol and Music Theory), it seems as if every other American student will take an English AP. Will that raise the stakes or not?

As a student striving for a high score, I encourage testtakers who decide to give up to not cancel their scores. This lets the people who don't try get the 1's and 2's and those who try better scores. Plus, it'll save you ten bucks. If you don't want to let your college see your slack status, then by all means order a non-report of your score. But pls don't cancel.

Take the load, Cont.

2010-05-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

I already received a tipoff on the quality of the food
Rockland BBQ. There was cole slaw, and we were each doled 1/4 of a decent sized chicken and ribs that slid easily off the bone. To top that, a pasta salad and dinner roll were piled on. Creamy cake and beverages were available at our discretion. The sumptuous feast occupied all of us at the table for a while. The chickpeas in the Baked Beans was an interesting aside and made good small talk. At this long table were a bunch of Sophomores at on periphery, Seniors decking the center and Juniors (including myself) at the end, topped of by a "7th form" graduate of 2009 who assisted with the baseball team this season. One main topic among the Seniors was the matter of the highlight Scholar- Athlete Award. I don't know the exact qualifications to receive it, but I heard that only 4 out of 40 Senoirs qualified for consideration. We talked about the surprise John Kelly had on his face back in '08 when he received the honor.

Each coach from fall, winter and spring had a reunion with his or her team. There were gaps in attendance to this fete, especially among the JV and Middle school-alt teams. For Winter coaches, "the snow cut 1/3 of our season at the most inopportune times" was a common theme. I was cited by Coach Defour ('06; UMD '09) for being a good sport. It was unexpected on my part. I suspected that I had that surprise John Kelly face on me at that time. The descriptions he gave made me blush a bit. I will say, though, that I was a rookie walk-on in August with no High School soccer experience. I and my teammates received my Certificate of Completion. "See you all on Varsity next year!". With five-plus graduating Seniors on the soccer team, there is room for a good portion of JV to advance. As more sports were listed, my high-caliber neighbors amassed trophies. There were enough on the table, from Breslin's to Blake's to Bragale's, to replicate the Forum Romanum.

This year, I participated in two sports for the first time. March is a bit tough for me. Last year I had Lifeguard training; this year I had play practice. I heard that the coach didn't take well to her top player, a Senior, kowtowing to G-Visitation for the first two weeks of tennis practice each season. The airline tradition of Senority First does not apply to meritocratic sports teams. There's a difference in leniency between the top player, and higher-seeded players (two of whom were also in the school play), and me. So, to keep it short, within the same week I was on the Track team.

I think I may have sent a bad tone by stepping out right before the Tennis presentation. Notwithstanding, I got back in time to see the awards given out. Sportsmanship award? Nah man! This here is the biggest arguer on the team. Knowing each USTA and league rule doesn't make you a gentleman. Our suspicious were shattered, though, when Ms. Lane gave Rob a trophy for his contributions. Some of us do not agree with putting Freshman on Varsity teams, much less middle school boys. In her description of him, she explained that he might have well been on Varsity since fifth grade. The call was six years, and Rob also got the four-year letterman plaque with the Fuzzy A.

In some Spring sports, one received a Cert of Completion. It's quite symbolic, though. Baseball and track still have champs to complete. You're not done 'til you're done.

Then there was the highlight of the evening: the scholar-athlete award. Some call it our version of the Rhodes Scholarship. Who would get it? NVD? Mikey? Denny? It was Rob. It was a change as much as Pope JPII. Award history had favored the more "jocky" type, with an edge for student gov't leaders, but this year not so much.

Which begs the question: Who will it be next year?

Take the load

2010-05-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

It was 5pm when I had left the locker room. 2 hours before the Athletic Banquet meant enough time to finish that precalc practice exam. But,as I was to find out later, Mom was looking at it and kept it out of my backpack. So I settled for French. That was until a Reaganite Militarizer came into the lounge and put on "Top Guns". It was great. Let me clarify. Sortie action shots made the movie worthwhile. There were a few icky spots to fast forward through, but mostly clean and touching.
It was 7 pm too soon, and I had to forcefully tear myself away from the screen.
To be continued...

Exotic Trips by Car

2010-05-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

A survey of my classmates indicated that nearly all of them have visited Canada, by land, sea or air. However, not so many have visited Mexico. I have to warn you that dawdling in many countries is different than taking a fling in USA north. The US State Department offers a pamphlet on things you should know before you travel down south. As a matter of fairness, border crossings in Canada have been secured in recent years to the level as they are down south, so no big surprise there. Don't see surprised if you see a chicken truck.
Pay the special protection fee- you'll need it

Don't drink tap. Some nice hotels have central water purifiers, but don't risk it!

Make sure that the currency exchange gives you recent coinage rather than devalued older money.

Keep a low profile and don't look out of place (DC people are pretty nice about this; cartels may not be so tolerant).

Navigating traffic circles in Mexico City is a futile task.

Read an official travel guide and do not goose step down there based on this information. Of course, booking an impulse trip to Cancun is a different matter.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Stealth and Steam

2010-05-04T18:59:00.001-07:00

Purple among the tide of blue, us Panthers found wedges among the hoards of runners. The mission was direct- 2 laps. For some, this was just a formal way of cooling down from a 1 or 2 mile jaunt. For me, it was a warming up to longer-distance adventures- next season. The fact that we were bunched didn't bode well, but after the shot went, we all found our places. I was looking for my 75% tempo that I would maintain for the first lap. Passing was a bit difficult, though, because of the crowd of runners. Lap 1- not too tired. Shout-out indicated 1 min 22 sec elapsed. Not bad for a metered pace. By our good training, we have gained the skill of passing in the final lap. Especially fun and devious is the stealth apporach. Tail your victim and pass late in the run. So, in the last 200, us in purple increased our pace and bolted in the last 150, because this was it for the season.
Now this is the fun part- I have not received an official reading. Thus, I estimate that I would have cut about 7-10 seconds from the second lap and therefore run a sub-2"40'. Not bad for my track record.

A Great Sleep Proposal

2010-05-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

Early to bed and Early to rise...(Ben Franklin)
is essential in the early nature of first bells at America's finest high schools.
Thus, I have a solution that I have finally been able to implement.
8 hours is the same whether 8-4 or 12-8 or whatnot. I propose that we sleep 10p-6
a. Of course, under normal operating condition, such devotion to shuteye would create an acute backlog of work. But, if those conditions were altered (college?), then such beautiful rest will be able to be obtained.
Getting up at 6a doesn't make going to bed at 10p too hard. But going to bed early on a late-rise Sunday is unnatural. However, we must not resign to sleepy and cranky Mondays. Just get up a little earlier on Sunday. That means going to bed early on Saturday and thus on Friday as well. This means people without nightlives? I guess so. Maybe we could cause a cultural change.

College Board's Customers

2010-05-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

An SAT last Saturday, and an AP tomorrow.
For the millions of students taking the battery of testing products, the people in Princeton are building a cash cow.

Got a Job

2010-05-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

"There is the f(x) club. You see, you need to be a function to get in this club. If you fail the vertical line test, you have to stay out on the street. Now inside this club there's a special room. VIP lounge. Call it what you want. But only one-to-one functions are allowed inside".- From MCAS (Mr. C------ Appreciation Society), a Facebook group.

On Friday, the last day of class instruction for Juniors, the Headmaster posted the list of leadership assignments. The plebicite-elected, Admin approved presidents, designated House Heads and social chairs. Up for grabs- publicity and treasurer. Later that day, up went page two, listing the school media positions. Yearbook was predictable; our in-house shutterbug and technoratus got his due. The RA- resident artist (specializing in pen drawings and dermal doodling) made it a team. THe key to the Priory Press (student publication) was given to the three people who I knew to have applied. That would be the stellar writer and SAT smasher (I've heard rumors of a perfect score!), a prolific web-writer, and myself. I admit, I am a prolific webwriter as well. So who's an Editor and who's Staff?
That's something we'll probably be discussing.

Happy Birthday, Augustus!
Happy May Day.

I'm An Affiliated Voter Now

2010-04-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Discussing communism is one thing. It's a different matter when you're discussing communism with the student from China. In Communist China, membership in the Party is dispensed on an exclusivity basis. In fact, only 7% of the population is a card carrying member. In Comparative Politics, we learned that some young Chinese die to be members. You must love communism to be a member, though. Such an affiliation can put you on the US blacklist. The Party's less ideological now than it was in Mao days. In fact, there are now businessmen in the club. We call this hypocriticism. Fortunately, our student sees a future in a free world enterprise and does not expect to be a technocrat. Being a member of the Party, he says, doesn't guarantee you the best job anymore.

In America's multiparty system, parties vie for membership. Exclusive parties don't work. Maybe they used to in the 19th century, but not today. From my laptop, I can join any number of political parties, from the GOP to the DNC to Larouche's cult or the Greens. I just did join one, and it only took about 2 minutes.
They fiddled around with the idea about being 18 in the disclaimer, but they didn't ask anything of it. If you can register to vote prior to 18, then so goes.
Some day, I'll come out of the woodwork on which one I joined.

In support group:
"Yes, I have something to admit."
"We're behind you all the way"
"I'm a member of the ********** party.

T+F@Landon

2010-04-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

2 gymnasiums, 2 full sized fields and a lax area.
There's probably a jousting area that I didn't get to see. This is Landon School, on Wilson Lane in Bethesda, MD. Years ago, I was at this athletic-heavy school for a tour. Now I was here for track.

2" 45' was all the time that I took to round the track twice (800m total), but I could feel those 8 seconds. I promised myself that I'd give my all in the final 200m. I did; I passed and charged. I knew today would be better; I relieved myself, removed a retainer, tightened my laces, and did not have a cold rain on the parade. Yet, my lungs were pressing against the ribcage. I suspected I ruptured a few capillaries; I think that explains the metallic taste that I had internally after the run.

Was it really 7pm? It was. But I was home by 8pm. Sometimes, track meets are held- locally.

School Concert

2010-04-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

A novel concept: the choral and orchestral concerts were combined this season. This was done for a number of reasons: larger audience, less dates on the calendar, etc. I noticed that first point as we circled around the campus to find a parking spot coming in. The two sections were separated by an intermission in which the orchestras prepped up. All the ensembles played well, and the semi-pro Jazz ensemble rocked the house as usual. As a special tribute, the Hearn brothers (with Brendan, the cellist, a graduating Senior) played a virtuoso Irish jig. Although I'm a bit peeved about the refreshments being finished before the end of the orchestral performances, the sum that I did have before playing was gorgeous. It seems to be a great way to close an Alumni weekend.

Not for money but for glory

2010-04-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

Amazon the web retailer has started to offer cash to bloggers who drop the name of specific products in their posts. The pay rate is based on how many click-throughs you get from your blog to an embedded link to Amazon. This, of course, causes partiality which some would say is hazardous to the free-minded world. That said, if I were to sell promotions on this blog, then I would clearly identify the pay-to-say sections. But from my point of view, it'd take a lot (and not pennies or dimes)for me to sell out my audience.

(note that name-dropping in content-enbedded ads is different that a general sponsorship or advertising that is kept separate from the journalistic material).

The You-Can't-Join-Club

2010-04-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

How does a prestigious club become prestigious. Is it exclusivity? If so, then does it mean the lower the invitation rate is (if there is one at all), the higher the response rate will be? In a prestigious and secretive Facebook group that I am in, new members are discussed before being sent an invitation. Turns out, the invitation acceptance rate is a clean 100%.So then, does being exclusive imply prestige? No, not as cliques are involved. Could selectiveness be used as a marketing tool? It sure has been and is.

Hot Water

2010-04-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Secretaries' day. But most officials consider this day "Administrative Professionals' Day", for the sake of professionalization of every career path, or just for greedy managers who want in. Else, it could just be that Secretaries are synonymous with pensions-disappearing.
To the satisfaction of "working girls" (quoting the 1991 Carly Simon movie), there is now (and has been for a while) a day called "Take your Daughter to work day. Egalitarian fathers, or mothers, bring their daughters to work so they can see that their opportunities aren't limited to secretary, stewardess, nurse or teacher. Now I remember the grade-school debate about TYDTWD: why couldn't the boys take the day off from school? (One boy did; he was ridiculed for the rest of the year). So, in a bow to gender equality, more and more boys took part in (and ruined?) the tradition. Today's Earth Day as well, and being the busybody that I and all my friends are, were unable to attend the festivities on the Mall. Thus, the isolation between us working conformists and environmentalists with leisure time grows.

Take this to the typing pool and leave in the 20th century.

Retrocession: Modern Precedent

2010-04-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

Some say that to think that Maryland would ever want to take back DC is crazed talk. There is no Civil War, and lots of people actually live, today, in Maryland's part of DC. Thus, there is to be only one big city in Maryland, not two. But the State that is is not gobbling the whole city, but nibbling it from the tip. No one seems to ever think of this friendly precedent: For one reason or another, the Wilson Bridge from Oxon Hill, MD, to Alexandria, VA, was built so it crossed across DC's very southernmost tip. All that is at this tip is water and an apparent sandbar. When a new bridge was built last decade, Maryland urged the DC council to cede the part of the city's aqueous holding that was under the bridge. That way, neither VA or MD could ask DC to pitch in to the maintenance fund. This change may have affected the residency of several bald eagles and sea gulls, but, as for humans, no one maybe except the guy who opperates the drawbridge.

Fling on Mt. St. Alban's

2010-04-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

After a few minutes of door-checking, my mother and I came across a medieval-looking door at St. Alban's in Washington. Inside was the party we were looking for. At St. Thomas, I had been spoiled with these sort of social events. Alumni get-togethers with the choirboys present and obedient as live entertainment, and, on some rowdy occassions, napkin. But the older I've gotten, the more I've got to contribute to these get-togethers. As a chorister, all I could say was yessir, nomaam and dunno. It's nice that the choir came to see me. Yes. As part of the Development program, the choir has been travelling on 2-day junkets. But they particularly like the DC area: Overall, a nice place to be, lots of alumni, lots of high-church families to share their homes with the choir. Having read the prep-school analysis book "Preparing for Power", I was particularly attuned to what was going on. How little could you eat? I had one macaroon. How long could you talk? COuld you gracefully exit a conversation? Any faux pas? So, it works out for both of us.

Only 50 years til retirement?

2010-04-17T19:14:00.001-07:00

A firend, then 14, said that you're old at 17, not 16. I sure feel different than I did last year at this time. Nevertheless, I received a great outpour of encouragement on Facebook. Everyone knew the date.
4/17. Atticus Sawatzki's birthday. My parents did, too. My mom had something to say: "And me? I was the one who did work that day."

I didn't make a big deal about this birthday. I don't know why; it could possibly be due to entitlement fatigue. At age 13 I was able to put my life on the internet. At age 14, I was allowed by law to work, at 15, get a joint card account, sit in an airplane exit row and be a lifeguard (by US standards). At 16, a library of congress card, a motor vehicle learner's licence and most adult benefits. Some of these benefits are leagues deep in the law. Why'd I want to start riding a bike helmetless? Or ride in the back of a speeding truck, unsecured?

But about the anticlimax- it's because it's on a Saturday! I don't have to worry about bruised arms until Monday.

Thank you, Tom and Kathy, too.

The Tax Death Spiral

2010-04-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, a politician will decide to raise taxes for whatever purpose. This is done early in the term, so folks will forget Indeed, what happened in Maryland happened to be a smart move: The bottom fell out mid-term, and no one's discussing raising taxes. But when your neighbor Virginia manages to keep taxes low through fiscal responsibility, that's when you know you don't have a captive population. Indeed, tax records presented by the right-leaning Washington Examiner indicate that over 100 millionaires have left one county of Maryland for Virginia, presumably, since the instatement of the populist-based millionaire tax. What do you do when the result doesn't work as intended? Hold the tax rate? Bad idea. Raise it? There goes the Tax Death Spiral. As taxes rise, more and more people will flee. Then, when you start taxing the middle class- whizz bang, there goes your neighborhood. Thus, what remains is a failed state with a chronically ill budget. Witness any big city in the last part of last century.

So what do you do when you become the maverick of tax increases? Lower them. While that means less revenue in the short run, this is the only redeeming path to a decent state future. This applies to all sorts of taxes, including real estate, income, sales tax and any fees one thinks of imposing.

R&R

2010-04-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

What a rough week back! At least by Monday night I was back in the academic spirit- sort of. It took til about last night to get that get-go fervor back into me. As for chem test, well, if it takes 2 days to fill out your index card cheat-sheet (vs the usual 45 min session), then I should have taken it as a cue. Oh well. Fortunately I get a second shot backed up by an alternative third shot. In retrospect, I coul've kept a 1-hour-per night study hall standard. But I was burned out over break. The week was occupied much by sports practice, but c'est la vie. Think of this- now, over the weekend, I have all the homework time I need!I've been ferociously working on a play for the VSA young playwright's competition. I'm trying to do a decent job, and not to rip off too much from my classmates' life experiences. What I mean is not to pull a Marcel Duchamp and skirt work to make a point. If I wanted to make a point, I think I'd put some effort into it.

Great Vigil of Easter

2010-04-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

I took my first trip to the local parish's GVE (Great Vigil of Easter) service. It was a big deal. The service started at 9; when I checked my watch after service, it was past midnight. We had run the whole gamut. I've done GVE's before, but none as late or as lengthy or spiritually intense. Think of this: Now how did a friend from St. Thomas Choirschool land at our same church? "The music world's really small. So, naturally, I happened upon St. Paul's". It is a special place that offers three choral services each Sunday, and one of few US Churches to offer weekly treble Evensong. Said a former classmate from NewYork now at Georgetown Univ., "That is the loudest congregation I've heard". At St. Thomas in New York, the parishoners let the choristers do the singing.

Oh busy week

2010-04-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

There are two camps that the school students fall into: Going on vacation or doing lots of work. And by going on vacation they mean actually up-and leaving by car or plane: one more day in Washington and they're on the work train. Seeing that I'm still in Washington,one can conclude this break doesn't feel like a vacation. Internship and summer program apps, job apps, vague homework assignments, you name it.

Mon- Orthodontist (braces off- yeah!), Nat'l Geographic- special film on Terra Cotta Soldiers (tix for exhibit sold out), Orthodontist for retainer.
Tues- Jog, movie @ Nat'l geographic on shipwreck research, Church rehersal @715p.
Wed- Supreme Court Marshal's list invitation to court hearing, CPR renewal@ 5p.
Thu- Do money moving with savings act. b/c interest rate is so low, Lifeguard Backboarding review, CPR Class part 2.
At least I've been getting enough sleep this week!

WAMUNC XII

2010-03-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Position Paper
Ireland
What Happened
DISEC- WAMUNC XII

I did something foolish on Wednesday night- stay up late to finish a position paper. First off, it wasn't a real work of art. It was enough to scrape by. Thursday night- oh then I realized I shouldn't have done that. Just try then to get a coherent sentence out of me. I probably turned the Dais off when he banged the gavel to end my speech and I squelched- "What?" The topic: "Virtual Nuclear States". Vague. Making details would certainly take time and effort. It sure did.

Friday, I felt bad for myself. I had come home late, did a tiny bit of homework, woke up school-time (what feels like "before the rooster crows"). The other delegations? Sleep in (to about 7:30am) and take excursions. I suspect the other regional schools let their MUN kids take Friday off. As a goodbye surprise (before spring break), I had the joy of an English test and taking "special delivery" status in the Ottermobile. Well, I had my fun the weekend before.

Friday? Not bad. A schedule fluke meant I came in late to hear a pro-proliferation professor preach his controversial view. I had to get in the game. Sleep-shorted or not, this was the right time. I found a way to become the leading signatory of a paper- write my own. I handed this, written on a 5x7 canary pad in pencil, to the Chair. "Well, can you make it nicer?". We had a swell classroom in the evening- the room in the School of Media Building was set up to replicate a cutting-edge newsroom you see on TV. GW's big on emulating 'real life'. I got my sentences straight, and rushed to finish transcribing that working paper of my own. It was not too long later before there were 8 working papers on the table. That was too many in any seasoned MUNner's opinion. As a diplomat, I merged my paper with that of Spain's. A lot of it was redundant, and, as the college kid had just spent 30 minutes typing my'comprehensive paper' into the computer, must have annoyed the Dais.

Saturday? Great! This was crunch time. I understood that any prize or commendation hinged on this day, and I respected this fact. I tried not to do anything outrageous to annoy the Chair, and I think I succeeded that day. Basically, we spent all six committee hours repping the paper and making it digestible to the most countries as possible. Clauses of mine came and went. Seeing that the main authors (sponsors) of papers were spending 'quality time' with the Dais, I decided that I had to boost my role as a non-nuclear state and make my contributions seem, well, important. I felt I did the best I could. Next topic, I assessed myself, I would dominate. The vote came late in the day. I spoke eloquently against closing the list without wasting my minute. In a committee of 80 with an inclusive Chair, you don't get a lot of speaking time. Especially if it's DISEC and you don't have nukes. The vote came. Res. 1.1 cleared the hurdle. I was not enthusiastic about it, but sold my vote for two votes on the Spain/Ireland paper (1.4). Res 1.2, written by a classmate (Slovakia- M.C.) to get brownie points, also passed, albeit being a short addendum 'to any suitable paper'. Res. 1.3, was weeded of conflicts with already-passed 1.1. The cruel, pro-proliferation paper, failed, to my pleasure. Res 1.4, my 'baby', won yea vs nay, but failed because of the high number of abstainers (38 yea, 32 nay, 11 abstainers and some who didn't vote). Hey, they were afraid to say no! Res. 1.5, Portugal (classmate's- YO-A) paper and Res. 1.6 failed as well. Time was up. I had done alright. Our delegation as a whole rocked the committee.

Sunday? I was on fire!! The stars were lined up for me. Every Palm Sunday I've been alive I've been at church. I didn't want to break the record of 15/15, but realized that the non-faithful college students running the show had me in a tough spot. 9am start for committee vs 10am on Sunday. Deliberate, I thought. But 7:30am mass at my parish just off of GW worked just fine. I felt- delivered. I used a Starbucks gift card I had to buy a Pike's place to wash down the sugary aftertaste of the fundraiser donut I had just bought and took the pretentious white cup to committee with me. We were ready to move to topic B- India vs Pakistan re Kashmir. Within 10 minutes the Japanese delegate had working paper 2.1. The Chair was convinced it was pre-written. Ireland strategic victory! But the Dais looked at it. It was rejected for the mention of "Santa Claus". I called for a 5 minute Unmoderated Caucus. I could then blow my paper through as WP 2.2. I collected signatures- I needed 16. The Oman decided to help me with the paper. He was intellegent about weeding out things that DISEC was not authroized to do- military withdraws, for example. We also didn't have to worry about funding. That would be a great relief for me (I added bonuses for all those nations that voted yea on the Resolution). Japan removed Santa claus and reintroduced. The chair swiftly moved to voting procedure. I motioned. "Wait, there's another one coming" "That was not a point or order, Ireland." The prim demeanor of the room was devolving. Portugal put on sunglasses to complement a cream colored suit to become the "Great African Warlord". Oman, rushing to get brownie points, continued to push that paper of mine. I know that feeling all too well. Voting procedure. At this point, one could only stall Darth Vader with an Unfriendly Amendment. Girl Scout Cookies for all were unaminously (let DPR Korea- our own R.S.) approved. To all those who downvoted the Resolution and promoted Independence of Kashmir would get big cash payouts from the UN 'general fund'. Using the only bit of Irish political position in existence, I required that no lard would be used in cookies distributed on Fridays and that states in violation of this would cede their batch to Rome. The amendment was shot down (what, they don't want money?). Both India and Pakistan nuked Ireland. Ah, you know you did something wrong if that happens to you. Then for superlatives, I was called "most likely to become a politician". Oh well. I was also called the best leprechaun. Wink.

After committee, I refilled my Decaf coffee. They gave me a new cup, too, on account of Swine Flu- all for 55 cents. Some other classmate-MUNners came by: "Say, Deng Xiaoping (M.McC.), if you won some award would't you have to share it with everyone?" "Theoretically". The slideshow- it was great. STAMUN (our delegation) didn't get a lot of awards. Except for our committee. We took the lower rungs by force. Malaysia (CMcC) and the man dressed for success (Portugal- YO-A) were commended. Ireland wasn't cited, neither was Res. 1.2's author and key voice Slovakia. Deng won his award. As an involved fan, our Faculty Advisor noted the trend of less awards. "But, it's not about the awards". Slovakia on the UNDP (not M.C.) promoted his traditional views on human reproductive health. Abstinence, Chastity. Not incredibly popular among the young, but the man deserves a commendation by our school's Youth Christian Fellowship Group. I had my beliefs: Travel cutbacks by other schools because of budget issues. WAMUNC feels a need to make as many long-distance travellers feel welcome. They know we'll be back- but the school from Honduras? So here's another year to STAMUN! "Next year, the game plan will be different". No matter how much I dwell on the topic of awards, remember, Model UN isn't about awards. Initials were given to protect conferenceers' privacy.

Kairos, Open and Shut

2010-03-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have been up for the past 38 hours, save a 3-hour and 1-hour nap. This is what you do when you're at one of these certain events shrouded in secrecy. Actually, we had the opportunity to get a 'sleep', an offer I did not take. I'd say more, but I don't want to ruin any surprises for future generations of Kairoseers.That said, I strongly encourage all sophomores to come. In fact, depending on my level of conviction, I will zealously recruit you all to go!
LTF man!!!
This page has been censored beyond belief.

Off again, half past 8.

2010-03-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

Four Days. That's the time I'll be away. After all, the Kairos experiment seems to be more than a build-up- to the encouragement of self reflection. There will be a bus, and one that has an undercarriage for luggage- one of those hoity-toity coach buses. We also brought in snacks- for "long, discussion-filled nights". And on earth I've been asked to bring Crisco! Won't Sterno do just fine? Or, I hope he just means "Nabisco". As a practical matter, bags needed to be packed. No punchlist. I've done "away from family" trips before, up to two weeks' length, in another continent. But there was an item-by-item checklist! So, we'll see how the packing goes. One note- admin didn't tell us to stay under 50 lbs. Then there are the subjective things. Is there a gift shop? Rest stops? (btw I'm not sure what state we're going to! 3 hours can mean anywhere from New Jersey to West Virginia!) Any faculty members riding along? Better be a sycophant. Religion department? Pack Pieper, or the Catechism. History teacher? The Cold War by Gaddis seems fair. My plans for going to bed early? Squat! I have four days of internet social life to do, violin-playing, and so on.

This Entry Passed by Student Life Censors. All Revealing Details Have been removed and Replaced.

One Long Week

2010-03-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

What a week. If you're hooked to my blog, you'll see that something strange happened this week (hint: no posts!). There was a lot of play practice, a lot of assignments to pass through the chute, and SAT prep. So, here's a little story: Wednesday, second period. I settle down for ethics class, and in comes a classmate from French IV. "Doug, Atticus. Test." "Huh?", we muttered as we threw our books into our bookbags and quick-stepped to the test (uhh- those middle schoolers are so loud when they move from class to class!). But our messenger got more than us- a hysterical department head to pull him from Chem class. National Exam. French, 2010. Level 4.
The next day was the latin test (didn't take it); the Spanish (not taking it) will be next week. Homeworkwise, there was not much in the past week; upcoming SAT, school play, sports try-out, an absent english teacher (who did not forget to leave work for us!). My mantra has been, for the past busy month, "March 15". That day, I am free from the Play, free from tryouts, free from SAT prep. That day is coming soon.

DOn't forget to Spring Forward- and check your safety devices' batteries.

Sing and Run in the Snow

2010-03-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

In spite of all the February snow, the tennis season intended to start on time. This, however, could not be done with three inches of the white stuff on the ground.
So the first two days were indoors.
But what do you do if you're activities are overlapped? Fade out, say hello, excuse yourself and dissapear into wood work.

Take that, SG.

2010-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Feb 26.
The festivities were toned down a bit; the student gov't appeared complacent. Don't some of them remember Pimlico? Was there something special that we had to anticipate? A DC Public School was added to the tournament roster, with all connotations and denotations (a sure defeat by a much more athletic team?)
I was caught outside at the starting buzzer; I was out on an info mission- play practice that day or not? Tied at nine; 9-19 at the quarter; 23-33 at the half. While losing, the situation was not hopeless. Not one bit. The Panthers pulled up as close as 1 point to the opponent, Potomac's "Heights" school. The lead disappeared with foul shots and quick layups; we slipped on fundamentals, too. But the spread disappeared again to 4 points with 3 minutes left in the game. But by 1 minute the game was written. There was 9 points between the teams. From second place last year, we had fallen that far.

Admissions Office

2010-02-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

Your Brag Sheet displays some impressive ladership abilities.

We wish that your GPA would be a bit hogher, but you are on track to have a stellar semester.

Now you say you're doing an SAT prep course.

Your app package and heart seem to be in different places.

Tell us more about Choirschool.

Yes, that's true. You come back another week for the SAT II's. SAT I's gotten too long to put both on the same day.

Let me interject...

Even WPI demands more of applicants.

Discipline.

The college want to know: what can you contribute to their school? That's a make-or-break deal. They need people to fill their clubs.

Embrace your talents. Sell yourself for who you are.

No, we have to get that number on your transcript changed.

Is that really what you want to do?

They'll forgive you on that.

If you are really serious about it, you'll need an Independent Study project or some thing or other.

A humanities sort of guy?

That was how it was 30 years ago.

Here, take this note to class with you.

Lankering at Lakeforest

2010-02-20T18:12:00.000-08:00

"It's about 4 minutes up this road, no more."
This was the distance from a violin lesson in Derwood to Lakeforest Mall. I heard things about the place, that it is an 'urbanized hangout'. I held that fear as we entered the parking lot. There was a penetrating mall cop presence- none that I saw in upscale malls like the Tysons Galleria, nor downscale ones like Silver Spring's City Place. There were empty storefronts. Looking up thorough the prismatic shaped skylight, there were several brown patches on the ceiling, something I took to be as neglect. Mall cops on foot, in uniform, on Segways. The marble tile floor, however, was still spic and span; the escalators worked and looked appealing to ride.

What we had come here to do was to see a special Chinese New Year themed exhibit. There was a small set-up on the first floor, visible from the terraced second story. That was all? Alas, there was loud music, of the traditional kind. It sounded...far eastern. There must be more to the festivities. In the central atrium, display tables and a main stage was set up. There was a performance by what seemed to be an after-school kung-fu troop. There was soul, and physical presence. These festivities were much more than a matter of political correctness. (Tomorrow is the event's last day).

Addendum: The empty storefronts and splotches on the ceiling were concentrated in one wing only; the rest of the mall was quite alive and well. Now what was up with all the mall cops?

A mall on its way out:
1) Increased security presence
2) Empty Storefronts
3) A disappearance of printed media and credit card offers
4) Discount retailers (unless it was an outlet mall to begin with)
5) Fountains turned off
6) Escalators not functional
7) Turned-off lights
8) Emptiness; a general 'dead' feeling