Cancelled: School Resource Officers?

The School Resource Officer is the latest victim of #cancel_culture. Our schools are over-policed, they say. I beg to differ. Somewhere in America today, a young man is hatching a plan to kill people in a public place. That’s not me talking; it’s the gruesome statistic that these attacks are premeditated and predictable.

How quickly have we forgotten the televised body counts of school children? Between Columbine (1999) and Newtown (2012), many across the political spectrum hoped to wish the problem of school violence away. Not worth the cost, metal detectors criminalize inner-city youth, they said. Unfortunately that is not a responsible option today.  America has not put a high value on the development of youth. As far as school lunches are concerned, ketchup is a vegetable. Schools are often underfunded, or in large cities, the school funds misappropriated. Lapsing on recent school security advances would be par for the course.

The Director of National Intelligence has identified school violence as a significant national security threat, and it would be fitting for the Department of Homeland Security to devote some attention towards improving school security, as they have for airports and seaports. So far, however, these efforts have been led by individual states. In recent years, states like Maryland and Virginia have raised the school leaving age from sixteen to eighteen, seeking to leave no child behind from getting a high school diploma. Recognizing the risk of keeping unmotivated, and possibly troubled, teenagers in school, clear mitigation efforts were made. These include an increase of information sharing between government agencies, and to separate known dangerous juveniles from the general school population. Outcomes include hard measures like hiring school resource officers, and soft measures like training for teachers and the school community to take threats seriously, encouraging dialogue between students and authority figures, and acting on early indicators such as a disciplinary record of assault.

The School Resource Officer is partly a counselor and partly a police officer. They give a guiding hand to the wayward, and observe for inside threats (a cop can tell who is concealing a knife or handgun in his pants by observing his gait). In rare cases, they are the first responder to an emergency. This is why you can’t swap them one-for-one with a social worker. When an attack is successfully counteracted, it doesn’t stay in the news for long, and it’s nothing to celebrate. Only in America would a kid with a mission of menace reach the final line of defense. So to the school boards seeking to abolish the role of School Resource Officer, what do you think you are doing? While we can hope for a better day of peace and respect of others, the present conditions must be addressed today.

The Classroom and Coronavirus

In privileged quarters, students of elite colleges are asking for a “universal pass” on this semester’s courses. These colleges have returned the favor with Pass/Fail grading. (Anemona Hartocollis, NY Times, 3/28/20). Who are they to speak? Meanwhile, in the K-12 environment, contingency plans “tore off the bandage”, revealing deep discrepancies in our first-world society.

Internet access- Many families with broadband internet access face strict bandwidth limitations, which prevent full utilization of online meetings and classwork. Many rural households rely on dial-up internet, running over phone lines placed during the 1930’s Rural Electrification Act.

Technology- Among the working class, cell phones serve as the family’s primary link to the internet. Household surveys focus on whether or not a family has a home computer, etc. It does not consider if each member of the family- adults and school-age children- has a way to work online.   

Childcare arrangements- Among working-class and poor families, we might as well be back to the Upton Sinclair’s Chicago stockyards. Because of smaller and atomized families in a more mobile America, teachers have found that older children are taking care of younger siblings. In other cases, small children follow their mothers to attend chores outside the home. In certain quarters, teachers and the school system have been equated to child care providers; Kamala Harris was of this opinion.

Economic strategy for adverse time- This comes up in crisis management training for EMTs and fire squads: keep track of your receipts so the governor can hand FEMA the bill. Yet prior to this outbreak, the US had no clear strategy to handle the personal and small-business economic fallout of contagion. We are highly leveraged as a society, and run on thin margins as household budgeters, landlords, and business owners. Our savings rate is much lower than in Asia. Over the next year, displacement and eviction, as well as household consolidation into shared quarters, pose a risk of disruption to student’s learning.

Control of contagious diseases- Special protections for service workers, such as Plexiglas shields, were introduced too late. Outside of the medical field, transportation workers, police, and cashiers have been punished hard by the virus, with many untimely deaths. COVID joins a handful of other maladies whose patients receive care at government expense. Each of these diseases has a chapter in American history: Polio, leprosy, kidney failure (ESRF) and, until 1981, shipboard medicine.  

Branded by Social Media

The month of June means time for Beach Week, an annual, mid-Atlantic tradition. Celebrating the end of an academic year, unchaperoned high school and college students rent houses, inhabit hotels, and populate the beaches. It is a tradition dating to 1982 or earlier, when the Honorable Brett Kavanaugh, now the most junior US Supreme Court Justice, infamously attended.  During his recent Senate Confirmation process, lawmakers perused fading photographs, yearbooks, a Mark Judge novel, and hazy memories; looking for evidence of unsuitability and lapses in personal judgement.

Times are different today for the young. Smartphones and social media eliminate the possibility of plausible deniability; instead indemnifying any young adult who made a juvenile decision. Such is the case of Kyle Kashuv, whose admissions to Harvard University in Boston was rescinded for social media posts made at age 16. 

Laden with casually-strewn racial slurs, the posts reflect on Kashuv’s maturity at the time, and on the society in which he was raised. That was in Parkland, Florida. Rachel Slade, author of Into the Raging Seas, noted the state’s proclivity to racial slurs and use of the n-word. Fittingly to this case, William Faulkner’s  The Sound and the Fury, set in the 1920’s, demonstrated the culture clash between Southern racial hierarchies and Boston’s progressive attitudes on racial equality.   Today’s Harvard talks the talk of promoting racial justice. Does it walk the walk?

  Since World War Two, the US Army has taken a proactive role in fighting this kind of ingrained racism. In an era that still had segregated lunch counters, Blacks were assigned as Sergeants in charge of turning Southern White recruits into soldiers, physically and morally. Fixing prejudice hands-on, as the US Army has done, is something Harvard has shown unwillingness to do, in rescinding a young man’s admission letter. A more important observation, though, is that the digitally-native Generation Z is coming of age in a zero-defect culture; while previous generations got a pass on their youthful indiscretions- even into the Ivy League.   

“We are sorry about the circumstances that have led us to withdraw your admission, and we wish you success in your future academic endeavors and beyond”, wrote Dr. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions in a personal letter to Kashuv. 

(Source: Patricia Mazzei, NY Times, 6/17/19)

Tobacco 21 in the Tobacco Colony

It’s late at night in Arlington, Virginia, Fall of 2010. My friend, then a high school senior, walks into the local corner store with five dollars, and buys a pack of cigarettes to kick off his 18^th birthday celebration. A high school kid, a social influencer perhaps, with a legal pack of cigarettes in his backpack. He drew a cigarette out of his pocket, after class at the train station, with the suave of a 1950’s movie star. That is the problem, Dr. Northam, then a state senator, would argue. At the time, most Virginia restaurants had just gone smoke-free, at the insistence of Dr. Northam. He had a larger agenda in his sleeve. 

While negative effects of tobacco use have been known for 50 years, youth smoking as a pathology has only garnered attention for the past quarter-century. The smoking age in the greater DC area, and much of the South, was 16 into the 1990’s. For a few years that decade, there was a five-year gap between a smoking age of 16 and a drinking age of 21. Smoking just wasn’t a big deal.

Who would’ve thought that Virginia, with its four centuries of tobacco history, and continued influence of Big Tobacco, would be among the first to raise the smoking age to 21? It’s more surprising in light of a political culture that makes the Commonwealth “behind the times” on legislating social issues, from clean government reforms, to LGBT issues, boater education, semiautomatic rifles and handheld cell phones while driving. This new tobacco law, passed in February, will take effect in July. It is a very comprehensive law- on the proportions of Singapore or Sri Lanka: this change raises the age to both purchase and use of nicotine.

Neighboring Washington, DC raised its tobacco purchase age last year. Presumably, the many DC college kids interested in a tobacco fix would walk half a mile across the Key Bridge to Arlington, Virginia. Some of Georgetown University’s dormitories are actually in Virginia instead of DC. But this arbitrage in smoking age, a possible boon for small retailers, is nothing to be protected in what is an emergent science-driven economy. After all, Arlington, VA just snagged Amazon’s second headquarters. So legislation based on science (“smoking is bad for your health”), not superstition and presumptions (“protect tradition”) gets an upper hand in a New South state.    

Raising the smoking age in Virginia probably wouldn’t have happened if but for a perfect alignment of political power. A governor who is a pediatrician, a house majority leader who is a school teacher, and Big Tobacco (Altria of Richmond, VA) that approves the change. Dr. Northam, the Democratic governor, made changing the state’s tobacco culture a legislative priority. Kirk Cox, the Republican house majority leader, recalls the days when middle school students smoked in the school bathrooms, and is concerned about the current rise of the Juul e-cigarette. Other states are trying to pass similar bills to raise the smoking age, but they most often failed after passing one house of legislature: with apparent exception of Virginia, it is not a pressing priority outside of the Northeast and West Coast, places where “Nanny State” legislation is in vogue.

Virginia will allow active-duty military to continue purchasing tobacco at 18. With a carveout for military members, I predict loose enforcement of a higher smoking age in the military-heavy Tidewater region. It remains to be seen how this law will be enforced in college towns: the specific target of Tobacco 21 is high school smoking and vaping, while younger college students are merely “collateral impact” of the new laws. In the advent of Virginia's unique approach of a dual smoking age*, (18 for some, 21 for others), major retailers such as Walgreens and Wal-Mart have decided to stop selling nicotine products to young adults under 21, nationwide.

* California allows on-base sales at 18, while retaining minimum age of 21 "outside the gate". Maryland and Vermont will soon join Virginia with a dual smoking age

Double the Competition: Young Women and the Prep School

In honor of this past week's International Womens' Day:

In the 1980's, prep school enrollment was in decline: Generation X was simply smaller than the previous generation of boarding school students. Perhaps as individualists, they were more interested in MTV than structured, supervised life in the dormitory. At some campuses, the social fabric unraveled with problems like binge drinking and even drug scandals; hurting institutions' pristine, long-cultivated reputations. At the time, some boarding schools were co-ed, but many were either boys' or girls' schools. The boys' schools were renowned for producing America's leaders; the girls' schools most often known as finishing institutions for debutantes.

Few boarding schools have endowments like the two Phillips academies; so declining enrollment- and declining tuition income- posed an existential threat to the survival of fabled institutions. They needed more students. They were "seeking all kinds of kids". These included "Non-traditional" students like first generation preppies, those who attended public grade school, minorities, day students; but most importantly, young women.

The Hill School, located outside of Philadelphia, PA, was one such school that faced enrollment challenges. The quality of the learning environment was great as ever, but simply the quantity of students fell short. The school's reputation was such that daughters of alumni expressed interest in attending; enough so that the Hill School's future was guaranteed when the boarding school went co-ed in the 1990's. That was not the end: going co-ed, there came to be double the competition, in admissions, in awards, and so forth. The student environment drew foreign exchange students from Europe and Asia, who wanted to be part of the reinvigorated boarding school environment. Admissions is selective today. 

Once the gender barrier had been removed from the general psyche of prep schools, the weaker boarding schools closed: they fell behind what public schools in exclusive zip codes could offer.  You could call this efficiencies in the educational marketplace, when students and their parents now had twice the choices of boarding schools. In no small part, it was young women, and their aspirations, who saved prep school culture from the dustbin of American history. 

A Decade Ago: Sullenberger Sets the Flying Standard

In January 2009, America was still embroiled in the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession. Even in Washington DC, the effects were felt through fiscal austerity, especially at the local level in repose to falling property tax revenue; and through downsizing at Fannie Mae. I had become accustomed to the radio being bearer of bad news. But on the afternoon of January 15, 2009, the radio reported a strangest thing- an airplane landed in the middle of New York City's Hudson River with no loss of life.

I first heard this as I rode our school's shuttle bus to the train station. Back then, cellphones didn't have internet, so I learned more on the TV when I got home. While some passengers of US Airways Flight 1549 immersed in the icy water, many of the passengers and crew transferred from the wing of the downed aircraft to rescuing ferryboats, as if walking down a pier.

US Airways Flight 1549 was captained by US Air Force Veteran Chesley Sullenberger, then 57 and approaching the pilots' retirement age of 60-65. After spectacular performance in the Hudson River landing, his memoir, "Highest Duty", came out in 2010. It quietly demonstrated a middle-class guy trying to do better for his family. He had a real estate investment; and was paying the expenses after the commercial tenant had moved out. He worked in commercial aviation, a field where downward wage pressures are prevailing; and corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisition threaten the earned status of seniority and experience.

Less than a month later, and also in New York State, Colgan Air 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo. Colgan Air was a regional carrier, the kind where new pilots, fresh from school, start their careers at working-class wages. This accident uncovered ongoing pilot fatigue, and shortcomings in training and performance assessments. Compared to 'legacy carriers' like US Airways, regional airlines complied with federal regulations but did not embrace a safety culture. As Sullenberger's performance shows, experience and buy-in to excellence matters, when critical skills are put to a real-life test.

Since February 2009, though, American commercial passenger aviation has had a spotless safety record. A decade later, US Airways and Colgan are no more.

The Nerve Center of Atticus Sawatzki's Blog

To write a quick blogpost these days is not typical of me, but I do not want anyone to fear my disappearance from the written world of the internet. I am slightly busy with what we call "Sea Projects", due in a month, and representative of two trimesters of correspondence work at the US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). But I have the time to knock out a post. Just have to pull up Blogger and start typing.

 Perusing the instantaneous source of knowledge and brain-numbingness that is the internet, I have come across many dead blogs. Ones with insightful posts, and a sudden end; others, a quick decline, as if a feeling of guilt overcomes the negligent blogger before he or she give up his or her virtual ghost. Others, oh, they have such a great beginning, but only two posts were written before abandonment. And mine should not be one of them, though I seem to spend an awful lot of time between posts these days. So what am I doing today? An impromptu speech; a thank-you to my dedicated readers; and to the spike in readership that occurs when I choose a "hot" keyword for my post. (The most recent spike was written in reaction to my surprise at the "Excessive Profits Board" that President FDR had proposed).

At one time, my blog had founding principles: 1. To shake up the concept of the "news room"- aka citizen reporting 2. Provide a hyper-local news source for my close-knit middle school (St. Thomas Choirschool, NY) and high school (St. Anselm's Abbey School, DC) This was back in 2007, when Facebook had just opened to high school students- and, as high school freshmen, it felt like going to a party without a chaperone. People wanted to read about each other, and they turned to this blog to hear of the day's communal happenings. We also have to remember that smartphones were a novelty at the time, and it was easier to check into my blog (through RSS feed, or by clicking on "Favorites") than it was to enter Facebook, which required a username and password. Communications evolves at a steady pace, and, by Senior year, "everyone" had a smartphone with a Facebook app- and this allowed for 'spontaneous combustion'. In 2007, your status was: "Atticus Sawatzki is (fill in the blank)". In 2011, my graduation year, your status post could consist of that day's personal news. (Ditto with Twitter). Again, people want to read about each other; and Facebook was the medium where you could read about all your friends- daily, including Sundays; a media euphony. The last holdouts gave in and got a Facebook account, giving our class 100% attendance on the internet site. (The number of active users in my high school class has declined some since then).

 So now, my blog had earned the charm of print media. Near-daily posts, loved in 2008, were no longer necessary, since you could read 'all about it' on Facebook. So you could say Mr. Zuckerberg killed that aspect of this blog. So the natural inclination was to write longer and more thoughtful pieces- at a less frequent pace. 2011 was my plebe year at USMMA, and I had learned the message of "don't stick out". So only a few classmates knew about my blog- and YouTube channel. But in fact, there had been two plebe bloggers before me: one in the Class of 2013; she wrote thoughtfully of the emotional context of plebe life and a classmate, Jeff, who entertained the young men of the Academy. Both had the support of a sport's team: Softball and Lacrosse, respectively, and were therefore buffered from peculiar attention. Now the Class of 2014, through a friend, found access to my Youtube channel, which I had set on "Private" mode to avoid the publicity. So then I had to relearn the "Don't Copy my Bloggy" rap to satiate the sophomores. Then they went out to sea, and that was the last of it.

 Essentially, during those four years of high school, I had satisfied the founding principles. But it was also a greater force than my blog-- Facebook- which took the baton, and let me re-purpose this treasured piece of internet real estate called Atticus Sawatzki's Blog. For those of you waiting for my Blog Book- the print edition- I'm working on edits. I'll admit here that I'm a little shy about the cynical tone that resonates through some of those early posts.

What an Adventure...

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

My Experience with The Hill

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

AWOL from Blogging? I have an explaination.

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?

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

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.

Data Probe

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

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

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.

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

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!

Early Onset Senioritis

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

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

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

*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.