The Grammar Nazi

10 days later...

2012-01-19T16:51:00.000-06:00

It's been 10 days since Simpson College told me I would not be returning next year due to budget cuts. Aside from finding myself incredibly unmotivated to support the college at this point, I haven't given up on my students. And they haven't given up on me. I want to first publicly thank the students who have vocally and otherwise protested my layoff. I want you to know I'm still in your corner, and I remain completely devoted to you and the classroom and my responsibilities to you.

I've spent the past 10 days reflecting on what it is, exactly, I want to do next. I honestly still don't know. I thoroughly enjoy teaching, and I can honestly say the students at Simpson have been among the best I've ever taught. I love our interactions and relationships. The faculty here have been overwhelmingly supportive as well, and I will miss them terribly when I leave.

In the meantime, my search is underway. I have to say that today's high temperature of 14 degrees has me looking South as much as possible (sorry, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, I won't be applying for your vacancy), but I remain open. My wife is also being incredibly supportive, telling me that I should be looking for my dream job. Frankly, I thought I had it here, which is what makes things so difficult. Hopefully, the next place that hires me will appreciate me and see me as a valuable asset. I still don't know if that will be in higher education. Since I'm over 40, though, I'm not sure how to reinvent myself at this point. I have to say I find myself extremely frustrated. I've applied for three jobs in the past week. I was very selective and applied only for places I felt I would be valued and for which I would value working. I imagine if I'm still unemployed come May, that selective application process will fall by the wayside. We'll just have to wait and see.

I could always plant a chile pepper farm and enter the salsa business....

So, I need a job...

2012-01-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I was "laid off" from Simpson College Tuesday afternoon as part of a major cost-cutting initiative. Enrollments here are at an all-time low, and the college is hemorrhaging money, and letting faculty go is now part of the way to get students to come back. Yeah. It makes no sense to me, either, but it is what it is.

As I begin the job hunt again -- something I honestly wasn't ever hoping to do again, because I liked it here at Simpson -- I find myself wondering two things: (1) Do I want to stay in higher education, given the climate nationally, and (2) is there anything out that there that is stable at all? I love teaching, and I'm rarely happier than when I watch that proverbial light bulb go off over a student's head during that moment when he or she "gets it." I have also started a small side hobby, a Twitter feed called @comminternships, dedicated to helping college students land that first job during and after college. It has also expanded to a regular blog post at College Media Matters. I will endeavor to continue that regardless. In fact, I am already considering ways in which I might be able to monetize that in the future. Let's just say it may be time for me to practice what I preach in the classroom regarding entrepreneurial journalism.

The nice thing has been the parade of students and faculty stopping by to tell me they can't believe I, of anyone, was let go. The fact of the matter is that wear a lot of hats here -- I teach three classes a semester minimum (I usually teach an overload or two in our night program as well); I advise the newspaper, magazine and the radio station; and I serve as the internship coordinator for communication and media studies. Now, all of those duties are going to be distributed among the three remaining journalism faculty members -- each of whom is already stretched to the limit. I feel sorry for them, because my departure hurts them almost as much as it hurts me.

I am hopeful this job search is as fruitful as my last. When I chose Simpson, I had four other job offers on the table at the time. This seemed, at the time, to be the most stable option. One lesson learned: I'm clearly not a good judge of stability.

If you have any knowledge of job options, please let me know.

Another random, belated update

2011-11-08T19:54:00.000-06:00

Today, my wife sent me a text message following a meeting at her job. During that meeting, one of her coworkers asked another coworker to make some "verbiage enhancements and adjustments" to a document. I have no idea what this document is, or any other context of the meeting, but I do know that at least one of her coworkers is a monumental moron when it comes to communicating effectively and clearly with his or her coworkers.

When did it become standard practice for corporate America to make standard communication as convoluted as possible? Why can't you just ask someone to edit a document? Why do we have to utilize something instead of just use something? What's wrong with clear, plain, simple English?

I'm back, baby, and I'm angry...

2011-09-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

A new semester has started, and after several months of neglecting my blog, I'm back with a vengeance. It's the third day of classes at Simpson College, and while for the most part I am very pleased with my students this semester, a few of them have really touched a nerve. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know what that nerve is: Some of my students this semester -- enrolled in a communication practicum class whose very catalogue description tells them they have to write -- are complaining because they have to write.

This upsets me on a number of levels. The first is that pretty much every student in this class, which is a new course that combines several old practicum courses into one, is a communication major. They either have a Multimedia Journalism designation (and I've heard no complaints from these majors), or they have an Integrated Marketing Communication designation, which is Simpson's iteration of public relations, and it's the major from which I'm hearing the bitching. Yeah, I said it, and now I'm going to tell you to quit your bitching.

I've talked with several of my colleagues about it, and we all remain amazed that these students believe they can get through a degree in Communication and Media Studies with little or no writing required of them. I was told by the faculty member who works most closely with IMC students they expect they will graduate and immediately become account or marketing managers, and therefore don't need to know how to write. I guess they've not bothered to do any research whatsoever into their chosen careers and read the job descriptions, every one of which lists "excellent oral and WRITTEN communication skills" as the top job requirement. I wonder what they consider "written communication skills" to entail? Their Facebook posts, most of which are grammatically incorrect? Their drunk Tweets sent at 2 a.m. from The Zoo Bar? The text messages they send nonstop before, during and after class?

It's a puzzle. I run a Twitter feed called @comminternships, where I tweet and retweet dozens of internship and entry-level communication jobs -- most of which are in the field of public relations -- every day. I read every job description I tweet, so to ensure that the information I send out is real and not some kind of spam that's slipped through the cracks. I've never seen one that doesn't strongly emphasize the need for the student not only to have the writing skills, he or she also needs the proof those skills exist. In other words, there better be a portfolio of written work.

I recognize that there will always be a group of students who, for whatever reason, just don't get it. But for the love of God, if you declare yourself a communication major, you should, at the very least, be prepared to write. Otherwise, I think it's time to find a new major.

Indianola Middle School bomb threat notification

2011-03-24T10:27:00.003-05:00

Here's the e-mail notification sent this morning regarding the bomb threat received by Indianola Middle School:

Attention Parents:

A staff member found a note today that referred to a bomb threat around noon in a specific room of the building. District procedures have been followed and will continue to be followed. The classes were placed in “stay put” meaning students did not travel from room to room while the noted area and adjacent areas were searched. Students will be returning to their regular schedule. A planned evacuation will take place surrounding the noon time that the threat noted.

If you feel that you need to pick up your child from school, please contact the office at 961-9530, ext. 3156.

Annette Jauron, Principal
Indianola Middle School
515-961-9530, ext. 3100

Confidentiality Notice: This email and any attachments may be covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.§§2510-2521and may contain privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you should not review, use, disclose, distribute, copy, or forward this email. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete/destroy any and all copies of the original message.

First off, screw the privacy notice. Second, really? Kids stayed in place while the building was searched for a bomb? That's district procedure? Third, you are going to wait until the alleged bomb is allegedly set to detonate before evacuating? That's district procedure? I knew I moved to a rural, rather undereducated area, but this just seems ignorant beyond belief to me.

I already knew Duncan was probably the smartest kid in the middle school; now I find out he's also smarter than the adminstrators? Good grief.

A fascinating social media tool...

2011-02-14T09:13:00.004-06:00

This morning as I was checking Twitter (my new morning regime that has long-supplanted reading a print newspaper over a cup of coffee), I noticed I was mentioned in a tweet (it's a good idea for everyone on Twitter to track their @mentions by others):

New-Media Educators Daily is out! http://bit.ly/dcQjaq ▸ Top stories today via @thomfound @cityjournalism @andybechtel @thegrammarnazi

I had not heard of New-Media Educators Daily, so I clicked the link to find out what this was. It's a newspaper, or, at least, the latest evolution of newspapers. In essence, it's a creation of a day's tweets in a newspaper layout, complete with sections. Here's a screen grab of this edition:

The issue of New-Media Educators Daily that featured
one of my Tweets as a "top news item."

At first, I was under the impression this Twitter user was a coding genius -- and he may be. But what @ryanjz (Ryan J. Zeigler, a self-described "aspiring tech journalist") has done is use an online aggregator at the website http://paper.li/ to create an aggregation of the day's tweets in one of the Twitter lists that he follows. What's a Twitter list? It's simply a collection of people you follow on Twitter. You can create a list of people, or you can create a list from hash tags (#), or keywords, people create on Twitter. I follow more than a dozen lists. Why? Well, it separates the people I follow into categories. It also allows me to find tweets by people I don't follow on topics of interest to me. I have created several lists of people that include twitterers whom I do not follow, but I want to see what they say on that specific topic. Following lists comprised of hash tags allow me to follow everyone else who has an interest or passion in that specific topic.

So, what this website has done is created a way for people to simply type in their lists and, presto, you have a webpage that looks like a daily newspaper comprised of the day's tweets that contain URLS from your twitter list. The paper updates every 24 hours, and it includes the previous 24 hours' tweets. It's still in beta testing, but it hasn't stopped me from playing with it. I've created two newspapers since I started writing this blog: One for media website and journalists I follow (The media Daily: http://paper.li/thegrammarnazi/media) and one for Simpson College, where I teach (The #SimpsonCollege Daily http://paper.li/tag/SimpsonCollege). The latter presently has no content because, apparently, no one used the Simpson College hashtag in the previous 24 hours.

Some of the fascinating things I have discovered at first glance (keep in mind I'm so fascinated by this thing I'm writing a blog about it fewer than 30 minutes after finding it) are that it included embedded ads (making it look like a real newspaper); it divides your tweets into sections (including such titles as arts and entertainment, business and education) using keywords in the tweets, and it's surprisingly accurate at doing so; it includes an embedded live view of all the tweets in the list you used to create the paper; you can automatically promote it each day with a tweet sent to your followers; subscribe to it via RSS; embed the code into your blog or website (see the right side of this blog for a sample); archive previous editions and more. To put it mildly, I won't be getting as much done today as I anticipated as I play with this new social media tool.

You'll notice I italicized one interesting aspect of the tweets that are aggregated: They must contain URLS. In other words, it tries to weed out tweets that are just a person's musings or ramblings, and includes only tweets that link through to additional content. I'm guessing, though I don't know this for certain, that the reasoning behind this is to include tweets that ostensibly contain more depth and provide additional substance than just the "I just bought a new dress" tweet. I will be monitoring this paper each day to see what's included and what's excluded from the paper.

And, while my paper The media Daily has been out for just 42 minutes, I already have three subscribers. I wonder how many I'll have once I tweet I've created it and post this blog? Yet another interesting experiment!

A disturbing grammatical trend...

2011-02-10T08:49:00.003-06:00

Now that we are four weeks into the new academic semester, I have had multiple opportunities to grade my students' work. This semester, I'm teaching six classes, including three practicums. I'm grading papers for courses ranging from the entry-level Introduction to Communication Studies up to a 300-level journalism history course. The history course is the most diverse, as it is an evening course with a number of nontraditional students, many of whom are working professionals.

But, it doesn't seem to matter whether the student is an older working professional or a freshman just out of high school, one trend is clear -- grammar is dying across the board. My freshmen are particularly weak at it, making mistakes that lead me to consider drinking heavily to dull the pain of all the red marks.

I know that at some point these rules were taught to them -- at least, I presume they were. I know they were taught to my 12-year-old son, who spent last Saturday during down time at a taekwondo tournament reading some of the papers I was grading for a class. He was constantly commenting on the poor grammar, with statements such as "these are college students?" and "I learned that in the third grade! Good grief!" However, at some point between elementary school and college, it appears teachers quit giving a rat's ass about grammar in favor of "content" and "ideas." At least, that's what my students today are telling me. My question: How can you effectively convey an idea in writing if I can't understand it for your poor grammar?

Some mistakes I saw this week that made me cringe: "granite" for "granted," "boarder" for "border," "then" for "than" (at least 10 people did this), "incontinence" for "inconvenience," and I won't even begin to rant on the hundreds of punctuation errors. Apparently, no one at any age or level of education has a clue for when a comma is needed, or not.

Several years ago, when I was teaching at a different college, a student group held a faculty spelling bee as a fundraiser. I participated, as did many of the other faculty. I remember this vividly, because I was so stunned it happened, but the first five faculty to lose? English faculty members. The last three standing? All journalism faculty. The English faculty defended their defeat by saying they are more focused on the message and its meaning when they teach. The journalism faculty were at constant war with the English faculty over the inability of students who had supposedly demonstrated competency in ENG 101 and 102 in order to qualify to take the first reporting class, because the students we were getting couldn't master simple subject-verb agreement. The argument from the faculty remained the same. Again, how can you understand the message if you can't read it?

Of course, the bigger question is, can this problem be fixed? I don't know the answer to that question. I welcome your suggestions.

Social media on the rise, but does anyone know how to use it?

2011-01-25T12:35:00.001-06:00

This report on Mashable Monday says that social media use in 2010 jumped 20 percent. My Simpson College colleague and department chair Brian Steffen blogged over the weekend about how we can turn Twitter into a journalism tool. Meanwhile, tools such as this blog saw a decline in use in 2010, the same Mashable story reported. What does this mean? But an even bigger question is, do we even know what we are doing on here?

The Mashable report indicates that people are moving away from delayed communication online (websites, blogs and the like) and more toward real-time communication, which sites like Twitter, Facebook and foursquare provide. However, do we really understand -- both as journalists and consumers of news -- how to use these sites as journalism tools? For that matter, do we even understand how to the use the sites themselves, as tools for journalism or something else notwithstanding? One student asked me today why bother learning them at all.

As this semester started, Steffen and I both noticed that more of our students were already on Twitter than in prior semesters. However, it's not yet a majority of students, and I still had to show a few students at the start of this semester not just how Twitter worked, but how to set up an account. While we like to think these tools come to our students intuitively because they grew up in a "digital world," the fact of the matter is many of them do not understand it.

As Steffen pointed out, he, I and our peers came of age before these tools existed. As Steffen said in his blog post over the weekend, "I’ve had to pick up a lot of tools and techniques on the fly during my years of teaching, but I don’t think that I’ve ever — until now — had to teach a tool that was evolving right before our eyes." And Twitter isn't the only tool on that list.

My students in my Journalism 2.0 class are already stressing over the requirement that they create a blog and update it regularly. They must also maintain and frequently update a Twitter account related to multimedia journalism. How often is regularly, they ask. I tell them ideally, daily, but I'll accept weekly. They stress they may not have the time to do it weekly. I feel their pain. I started this semester with the goal of blogging at least once a week, and I'm finding it more and more difficult to set aside time to do it. In fact, I started writing this blog post Monday morning. It's now Tuesday afternoon, and I'm still not finished with it. However, if I am going to be effective in teaching these new media tools, I must find the time myself to immerse myself in them -- and keep them updated (as well as myself updated) to remain relevant in the classroom.

But, the question remains, how do we teach our students to use these tools appropriately. Here's a tweet from earlier today from one of my students: "sajdhsjdadjjsa'ldkjsadh! thats the best way to express how mad i am for having to be up and not having class til 2!" Not only is it irrelevant, it's grammatically abhorrent (a rant I'll save for another post). When that student starts looking for a job or an internship, and a potential employer searches the Web for information about that student, will that tweet hurt him? Maybe. Maybe not. But if all other things are equal, that single tweet might be the tiebreaker in the job search. And if all of his tweets read like that, he may not even get to the interview stage.

Beyond that, how do we teach them to blog, Facebook, use LinkedIn, foursquare and the like? And which of these tools will be dead and buried when some of these freshmen graduate in four years. Who remembers Google Wave?

Teaching our students how to use the tools that are in vogue now may not be as important as teaching them how to recognize which tools are emerging -- even if they are just going to be a flash in the pan -- and make them relevant to their careers as quickly as they can. And, once that tool falls out of favor, to recognize that as well and move along to the next tool. Early numbers say this "traditional" blog and others like it are falling out of favor, while Twitter, Facebook and other microblogging tools are on the rise. It's probably only a few short years before microblogging fades away for the latest, newest form of instant communication. Technology and time will tell.

Another example of why copy editors, indeed, are necessary...

2011-01-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

Charles Apple has a great post on his American Copy Editors Society blog today regarding a mistake in today's issue of the Iowa State Daily. It's a small typo, but it has BIG consequences. As in, the difference between sexual consent and sexual assault.

You can read what Charles wrote here, because it says it so well. But, for those to lazy to click through, here it is:

The front page story

The jump page

The typo from the jump....

If that is accurate, then there are a lot of people who are going to be seeking to have convictions overturned....

New semester, new year, new goals

2011-01-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

With the start of the new year and a new semester, I'm also starting with a new goal: Blog at least once a week. If I can tweet several times a day, I'm pretty sure I can find the time to blog at least once a week. What about? Well, my passions, of course: journalism, technology and, of course, good grammar.

As a journalism educator, it's my job to stay on top of all three of these topics. My students must become expert communicators. To do so, they must first of all understand the basics and importance of grammatically correct speech. I remain amazed at how many of them can't string together a simple subject-verb agreement. I need to drill it into their heads the best job they can ever hope to have includes repeating the phrase "Would you like fries with that?" if they can't master simple grammar. Every human resources and corporate executive I've ever known repeatedly tells me the first screening process for applicants is whether or not the cover letter and resume are perfect. One grammar mistake usually relegates said applicant to the trash heap.

Next up is the technology component of communication. One of the Twitter feeds I maintain is @comminternships. I use that Twitter feed to post internships in the field of communication, more and more of which require students to have social media and communication technology skills that didn't even exist 10 or even five years ago. It's becoming more and more urgent for students to recognize the need for them not just to know how to use these technologies, but to actually use them, daily, and to use them professionally, not as a way to let their friends know where the nearest drink specials are. They need to realize their potential employers are going to search for them on Google, and follow them on Twitter, and friend them on Facebook, and anything they find that brings their character into question will hinder their ability to get a job. It's not just a goal to teach them to use the tools; I have to impart the importance of using them responsibly.

And last, but not least, there's the journalism component. Just having a blog and posting whatever you think is news does not make you a journalist. You need to be able to critically evaluate that information. You need to ensure that the information you share is relevant, ethical, fair and accurate. Speaking of accuracy, how many supposedly reputable media organizations on Saturday falsely tweeted the Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) had died, when in fact she had not? What kind of journalism is that? Is it journalism at all? I was taught to get it right, not get it first. But today's multimedia journalism world is far more focused on getting it first instead. That's not journalism. That's gossip. My Twitter friend Mallary Tenore, a journalist who covers the news for The Poynter Institute's website, has a great column just about that very tragedy. My friend Joseph Blake may have said it best in this tweet on Saturday: "Dear CNN: If you have to use the words 'perhaps', 'maybe', 'not sure', or 'we think' then you should just shut up before you open your mouth." It may be time for journalists to step back from the instant communication and make certain what is being reported is right before it's reported.

One thing that comes to mind regarding reporting the death of celebrities is that news organizations and public officials seem to have a double-standard. Typically, when a non-celebrity dies, the response from officials and media is "the identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next-of-kin." Why isn't that courtesy applied to celebrities. Did Rep. Giffords husband deserve that kind of trauma, just because the media wanted to get it first? Even if she had died, didn't he deserve the dignity of finding that information out privately, and not publicly? We need to get back to that, and if you're not trained to do it, you won't ever do it.

So, that's my opening rant for 2011. We'll see what the rest of the semester, and year, brings.

Holiday rant

2010-11-01T14:53:00.000-05:00

Halloween just ended. Yet, everywhere I look, there's no evidence of Thanksgiving. Just Christmas.

Even at the Galt House hotel, where I just spent five days, had a Christmas tree in its lobby on Halloween Eve. WTF?

I'm going to be so sick of Christmas by the time it gets here, I won't want to celebrate it. However, that will be OK, because by Christmas Day, I'm sure every business in the country will be celebrating Valentine's Day.

So true...

2010-10-14T11:01:00.001-05:00

Further proof that grammar is dead....

2010-09-23T14:38:00.000-05:00

Remind me never to enroll my son in the South Bend, Ind.,

school system.

English is dead, and I don't feel so good myself...

2010-09-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

Today, my friend Libby shared a link on Facebook to an obituary that appeared in Sunday's The Washington Post. This was no ordinary obit. It was a cleverly crafted ode by Gene Weingarten lamenting the loss of the English language. You can read it here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/13/AR2010091304476.html

I've read it three times. The first time through I was amused by it, mainly because it is so cleverly crafted. As an aficionado of the English language, I truly love reading perfectly proficient prose. Which brings me to the thoughts that came to me during my second reading:

What the hell happened to our ability to write that well? When did writing become the bane of our existence? What happened in our society to cause high school graduates to choose their college major based upon how little they will have to write? Why is the only time students actively protest the actions of college administrators and teachers is when we require them to take a course designated as "writing enhanced" to graduate? And that begs another question: When did college curricula become so weak that it became necessary to add courses to them called "writing enhanced?" And what really burns me: Students who tell me they are majoring in a particular communication sequence just so they don't have to take a designated writing course.

My third reading came after I shared the column with several of my students, and it became abundantly clear to me none of them got the joke. As I reread the column, I realized that practically no product of America's education system during the past 20 years or so will get the column, because their reading comprehension doesn't extend to that level. What does this portend (a word I used in a Facebook postnthis week that actually confused some people!) for our society? How long until this country literally becomes functionally illiterate? And are we there already? And, the scariest question of all: Can we fix it?

Logo fail

2010-09-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

My friend, former student and fellow grammar aficionado Evan Barker stumbled across this sign posted in his small town in Kentucky, which is preparing to welcome the World Equestrian Games. At least, I think that's what they meant:

Why Qwest internet sucks

2010-08-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

Here's the end of my just-completed online chat with a Qwest Communications representative regarding getting high-speed internet in my new house. It seems my next-door neighbor can get it, but I can't. And they have no desire to see that I ever pay them money for their service. Take a look at the abject stupidity that is Qwest Communications:

Steven Chappell: I can't understand why the person in the other half of my duplex can get service and I can't. There's no explanation you can offer that makes sense regarding that.

Curtis E. (20692): Because all the available internet lines are take at this time. I do apologize.

Steven Chappell: How can you have a cap on available internet lines? It just seems in this day and age that should not be a problem.

Curtis E. (20692): Once again I do apologize for that.

Steven Chappell: So, essentially, I have to wait for someone to cancel their service or die before I can get service?

Curtis E. (20692): Yes, when a line will come available.

Steven Chappell: But you can't add me to a waiting list?

Curtis E. (20692): I do apologize but I do not have a waiting list to add you to Steven.

Steven Chappell: So how do I know when service is available to me?

Curtis E. (20692): You just have to keep calling us and asking if your address is now available for internet service.

Steven Chappell: Why can't you set up a database to add me to a waiting list? How damn difficult is that for you morons to do?

Curtis E. (20692): I do apologize but I do not have a waiting list to add you to Steven.

I give up.

The knee is on the mend

2010-08-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last blog post, but I wanted to give everyone a knee update. I've been hitting physical therapy really hard since the brace came off last month, and I have nearly regained full range of motion in the knee. I've been cleared to walk up and down stairs, and even though it's still painful to do so, I'm trying to do so as often as possible to strengthen my knee.

The PT has me working on a strengthening regime that has me pressing weights with my leg. I've nearly doubled what I can press with the bad knee in two weeks, which is way ahead of schedule. I don't think they realized just how strong my legs were to begin with, especially since they were unable to get a baseline weight strength on my good knee, because it was stronger than their machine could measure. So, the goal is for me to be able to leg press 250 pounds and call it good.

My last local PT visit will be next Thursday (Aug. 19), and then I load up the truck and move to Indianola to join Crista and Duncan, whom I moved up July 31. Then, I have to find a new PT and orthopedic surgeon to continue my treatments there. That should be just delightful.

Day 1 sans the brace

2010-07-13T21:58:00.001-05:00

I have finished my first day of physical therapy without my brace. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, however, I am in more pain than I've been in several weeks.

I didn't think it would be as difficult to walk without the brace as it was with it, but I have found it to be so. Walking without the brace has been a completely new experience. My leg, of course, feels much lighter than it did before. As a result of that, I walk with a funny gait much like the one I was walking with when I was wearing the brace. However, I do enjoy my new found freedom. I was able to drive today with out any difficulty. It was very nice to have my mobility back and to be able to drive myself and not rely on my wife to do the driving for me. I am certain she is enjoying the extra time she will now have free from being my chauffeur.

I have at least two more physical therapy appointments, and probably three, before my next trip to the doctor. I will find out then how much longer I'll be going to physical therapy. My therapist thinks I'll be going at least six more months, so I'll have to find a new physical therapist when we moved to Iowa.

Free at last! Free at last!

2010-07-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Thank God Almighty, I am free at last!

The immobilizer came off today! Woo hoo!

And, it was quite by accident.

Crista had picked me up to take me to a lunch meeting. On the way, I was tightening the straps on the immobilizer, because, as they were wont to do, they had come loose. One of the straps, in fact, the most important strap, broke loose when the plastic ring holding it in place snapped apart. I am scheduled for my eight-week post-surgical doctor's appointment next Wednesday, when I was hoping to be freed from the brace. So, I called the doctor's office to see about a replacement brace until then. I was placed on hold for a while, and then connected to the doctor, who told me since I am seven weeks past, and since my physical therapy was progressing so well, I could remove the brace a week and a day early!

After lunch, Crista took me home, and I DROVE MYSELF back to work. It was the first time behind the wheel in eight weeks, and it felt so liberating to be able to drive myself rather than rely on the loving kindness of my wife. I know she's thrilled to be relieved of the inconvenience of that brace, too. It restrained her almost as much as it restrained me.

However, in just the three short hours since the brace came off, I've noticed a few things. My pain has increased. I've been about a zero most days, except for a short while after exercising or physical therapy. In the past three hours, my pain has achieved and maintained a steady three level. I am very limited in my range of motion. And walking is very weird. My leg is so much lighter without that heavy immobilizer it just feels strange to walk. However, it's a good strange, and I'm not complaining about that.

My next physical therapy appointment is in 20 minutes. We'll see how that goes now that I've been freed from my chains.

Knee update

2010-07-07T13:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since the last update on my knee, but there's not been much to report. I'm still trapped in the immobilizer, and I'm still going to physical therapy. The pain is pretty much nonexistent except when I'm doing my exercises. Of course, the immobilizer remains a major annoyance, as I still can't drive because I'm too tall to sit behind the wheel with my leg locked into a straight position.

The scars are starting to fade, but they are still tender to the touch, and my tibia is still sore as well because of the giant screw inserted into it to hold my new ACL in place.

On the positive side, I've not endured any usual cravings or behavioral changes from the dead man implanted in my knee.

My next doctor appointment is July 21. I'm very hopeful that the brace comes off that day, because if it doesn't, we're going to be in trouble, as we are moving to Iowa July 31, and I've got to drive our moving truck all the way up there and fly back and live solo for three weeks afterwards. So, doctor's permission or not, that brace has to come off.

Lou Ann Zelenik must never be elected

2010-06-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

From the Tennesseean's politics blog:

Lou Ann Zelenik, a former chair of the Rutherford County Republican Party and a candidate to replace U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon in Congress, says she supports the opponents of a proposed mosque in Rutherford County.

In a statement released this afternoon, Zelenik says the mosque plan is a threat to a nation’s “Judeo-Christian tenets.” She says American Muslims have not separated themselves from “their evil, radical counterparts” and says that until they “find it in their hearts” to do so, “we are not obligated to open our society to any of them.”

"There are those in our society who bow before the throne of political correctness, as if it itself were the god that would save our coun try. Those people live in a fantasy world that never was and never will be. Those who cower in silence are equally wrong. The People of Rutherford County all need to stand together and say, 'enough is enough.'"

Clearly, this woman is crazy. She couldn't care less about the Constitution of the United States, and she's likely, based on these statements, an outright racist. Everything I've read or hear her say is borderline batshit crazy, and this is no different.

Anyone who votes for her has no common sense.

Knee update

2010-06-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

I made my first foray outside the house other than a trip to the doctor today, going to church and then out to lunch. It was a painful, but worthwhile, experience. I was just so tired of being trapped inside the house. I've been trying to layoff the pain medications because of how groggy they keep me.

The knee is definintely getting stronger. I'm still stuck in the immobilizer, though. And my exercises outside the immobilizer make me incredibly sore. It's amazing how tight the knee is. And the damn staples are itching like crazy. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday, when I hope to lose the immobilizer. I am also supposed to start physical therapy at the end of the week. I am down to one crutch. I hope to be off of them completely in a week or two. I'll give another update after the doctor's appointment on Wednesday.

Allograft, day seven

2010-05-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

A week has passed since my surgery, and not much has changed. I have begun limited range-of-motion exercises, which is more work for Crista than it is for me. She removes my immobilizer and then tries to bend my knee into a 90 degree angle. It's not easy for her,as my leg weighs a lot, is large and bulky, and doesn't have much flexibility right now. My rehab is turning out to be as much of a workout for her as it is for me. All I do is hurt a lot.

I'm still taking oxycontin and percocet, and I have to admit I can see how people can get addicted to that stuff. However, my prescriptions have no refills, so I need to start slowing down the intake before I run out and have to quit cold turkey.

Even though I'm supposed to rest, I'm going stir crazy trapped in the house. I am a people person, and I need to interact with others again soon. I'm getting bored. My wife is wonderful company, but I'm sure she's getting sick of me by now. I feel guilty relying on her so much. I need to get up and about for both our sanities.

I really hate that tomorrow is Memorial Day, and for the just the second time in my adult life, I won't be grilling out. My favorite thing to do is cook and eat outdoors, but tomorrow, my grille will be silent and cold. Now that's just sad.

Allograft, day four

2010-05-27T08:32:00.000-05:00

OK, so I skipped day three, but there wasn't much to report. I had my post-op doctor's visit, where I learned I needed five incisions, have approximately 12 staples in and around my knee, and had two holes drilled in my bones. Oh, and I learned I have to keep this immobilizer on for at least two more weeks, which means no showers! I am going to be ripe. Plus, have you ever tried sitting on the toilet in an immobilizer? That is not fun.

The doctor said my surgery went as well as he expected. There had been some additional tearing of my LCL, so they repaired that while they were in there. I should start PT after my next doctor's appointment on June 8.

If you want to see photos of my knee from the doctor's visit, check out my Facebook profile.

Allograft, day two

2010-05-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

I spent most of the day in a drug-induced haze. The pain wasn't as bad as yesterday, except when I have to move. The nausea is gone, so that's good.

My follow-up appointment is tomorrow morning at 10. I'll let everyone know what he says as soon as I can.

Allograft, day one

2010-05-24T22:53:00.000-05:00

I had my allograft (cadaver ACL replacement) today. I went into the surgery center at 6 a.m. By 7 a.m., I was anesthetized and have no memory of anything after that until I woke up in bed at home around 2:30 p.m. Crista and I both feel I was discharged and sent home way too early, given how incoherent I was at discharge.

Since waking up this afternoon, all I've felt is intense pain. If the oxycontin is working, I would hate to think how much I would hurt without it. I've been too nauseated to eat much, and have spent most of the day drifting in and out of consciousness. If I had known how much this was going to hurt, I might have not shown up for the surgery.

My knee is in an immobilizer, and I can't bend my left leg at all. My follow-up with the doctor is Wednesday morning.

Here's hoping tomorrow is better.

Knee surgery in T-minus six hours

2010-05-24T00:24:00.000-05:00

It's just after midnight, and I find myself wide awake, knowing that in fewer than 6 hours, I'll be going under the knife for an allograft, which is the scientific name for cutting into the bone of my knee, removing my existing ACL and replacing it with the ACL from a cadaver.

I had knee surgery back in December, on the same knee, for what the MRI technician said was a torn MCL and LCL. It turns out that the technician did a crappy job reading the MRI. The LCL was torn, and repaired by my surgeon, but the MCL was actually fine. However, the ACL, it turns out, was shredded beyond repair, which necessitated this second surgery.

The recovery on the first surgery wasn't that bad. I was up and walking within a couple of days, and had full range of motion within a month. However, everything I've heard and read about this surgery indicates it's going to be a much, much more difficult road to recovery, and hence my apprehension and insomnia.

I'll post updates to this blog as pain and time permit. If you are interested in following my recovery, keep an eye on this blog.

Oh well, on the plus side, I should have time over the next couple of weeks to clear out nearly 90 hours of unwatched shows on the Tivo.

It's official, we're moving to Iowa

2010-05-17T13:38:00.000-05:00

I have accepted a position as a journalism faculty member at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. I know this will come as a surprise to many of you; but some of you already knew about it. Crista and Duncan will be moving to Indianola on July 31. I will be following them on Aug. 20 after finishing up work here.

It's been fun being back in the South, but it's not been without its sorrow. As most of you know, we left northeast Missouri to move back here due to my parents being ill. I got to spend one year with my dad before he died; and my mom died one year after that. Then, last year, my dad's brother passed away. Crista lost a beloved great-aunt during that time, and we've had other family upheaval that's, quite frankly, made our four years in Tennessee a bit more sorrowful and much more stressful than we would have liked; but had we not been here, our lives would have been pretty much impossible. I'm very thankful God provided a job for me here that would support my family and allow us to deal with the needs that were put before us.

However, God has now provided another opportunity. It's not near what we consider home, but it's not all that far from where we called home for nearly 10 years, so it's not unfamiliar to us. I'll be teaching journalism and advising student media at a small, private, Christian liberal arts college. It has a strong program and a strong faculty. The entire college has just 1,500 students, so it will be a very intimate atmosphere; one in which I get to know the students well. I'm looking forward to that.

At the same time, I'm saddened at leaving some students behind with whom I've made strong connections, and I regret not being here to see the MTSU Student Media Center through to completion. However, if everything works out, I'll be leading the development of a similar center at Simpson, which excites me as well.

The move comes at a good time and crossroads for us. Duncan has just crossed over into Boy Scouts, so he's at a good point to shift into a new troop. He should earn his black belt in taekwondo on June 25, completing a three-year journey in that sport. That will provide him the opportunity to step back for a while before deciding whether or not to continue in the discipline, and the black belt will afford him multiple opportunities should he decide to pursue it. He's finishing the fifth grade, and though he would have stayed at the same school here, moving to Indianola means he'll be entering middle school with everyone else, so he'll be no different in that everyone will be new to the school in the sixth grade. We will, however, miss the outstanding gifted education he has received at The Discovery School. I'm pretty certain we'll have to work hard as parents to ensure he continues to be challenged. I've seen nothing to indicate Indianola's gifted program is anywhere near as advanced as what he's had here.

Also, Crista's father is retiring this year, so while we'll be living several hundred miles away, it's not as if his work schedule will dictate if, when or for how long they can visit. I know Dad likes to complain about driving anywhere that takes more than an hour, but as parents are alway fond of telling their children, adversity builds character. It's not as if he's going to have to hurry to get anywhere any longer!

We've made a lot of good friends in Tennessee these past four years, and we're going to hate saying goodbye to them. The goodbye to our church family is going to be especially hard, but also the friends we've made through taekwondo and Scouting will be difficult to leave as well. However, life is all about change, and we'll weather this change as we have all the other change in our lives.

Crista and Duncan will moving up the first of August, and I'll follow on Aug. 20, just in time for Duncan's 12th birthday.

And, of course, I'll continue blogging, Facebooking and tweeting, so I'll be in touch.

We are safe

2010-05-03T19:02:00.000-05:00

We are safe here in Middle Tennessee. Most of the damage has been north of us in Nashville, but there are pockets of flooding around Murfreesboro. Duncan enjoyed a day out of school because of road closures. MTSU postponed finals but still required everyone to come to work.

Well, the election is over

2010-04-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

And none of the candidates I supported won. In fact, as is always the case in Murfreesboro, it's simply the elite who get elected. To make it worse, they are legacy elections. For some reason, this town thinks that only the children of former elected officials should be elected to office here. It's ridiculous. And, based on the interactions I had with several of them, they think it's their birthright. They don't care about the town. They only care about preserving their family's legacy.

It's pathetic. I truly believe the current makeup of the Murfreesboro City Schools Board, led by the dictator that is their director, dooms our children to a mediocre education at best for the foreseeable future. The only member of that board that I believe cares about the best interest of children is Nancy Duggin, and sadly, she's very much the minority on that board.

Murfreesboro City Elections Experiment, Day Five

2010-04-13T09:04:00.000-05:00

My original blog post has been updated with three more responses. I heard from City Council candidates David Boyce and Brian Vaughn, and from School Board candidate Eric Newell, Monday.

I also learned through a Sam Stockard column in the DNJ that City Council candidate Bill Shacklett has dropped out of the City Council race -- after early voting had already started -- to declare as a candidate for the 34th District House race, after incumbent Rep. Donna Rowland dropped out at the last minute as part of a plan to ensure there would be few, if any, Democratic opponents for a weak Republican candidate. Shacklett, however, has not advertised this, and is still receiving votes that should be going to other candidates, since he has no intention of serving the term. I am appalled by that.

One depressing trend is emerging: Most of our candidates are grammatically illiterate.

Updates as events warrant.

Murfreesboro City Elections Experiment: Day 2

2010-04-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

Twenty-four hours ago, I e-mailed every candidate in the Murfreesboro City Elections on April 20. My April 8 blog post lists all of the candidates, the questions I asked of them, if they have responded, and their responses.

All e-mails were sent between 11 a.m. and noon on Friday, April 9.

MAYORAL RACE
So far I have heard from both mayoral candidates. Neither of them impressed me with their responses. I would really like a third candidate, to be honest. Mayor Bragg simply passed along my complaints to other elected officials; he wasn't willing to address many of them himself. That's not a sign of good leadership.

Candidate Davis' responses were overly superficial and showed a lack of depth of thought. I would really like to know how he thinks he can cut city debt by cutting taxes, given that tax revenues are already declining at a rapid rate, which is increasing the city's debt.

In all honesty, I would prefer a third candidate.

CITY COUNCIL
Of the nine City Council candidates, I have heard back from two of them. I am reserving judgment until I hear from more candidates. If I don't hear from any more by the end of the weekend, then I'll pass judgment in absentia.

SCHOOL BOARD
Of the six candidates for the school board, I have heard back from three of them. Again, I am reserving judgment until I hear from more candidates. If I don't hear from any more by the end of the weekend, then I'll pass judgment in absentia.

Murfreesboro City Elections are April 20

2010-04-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

Are you going to vote?

Are you going to vote informed?

I hope the answer is yes to both questions. I'm going to help with that. Today I e-mailed every candidate on the ballot with questions I felt were important. I'm going to let you know how that turns out. I sent a set of questions to the two mayoral candidates, a set to the nine council candidates (remember, you can vote for three of them), and to the six school board candidates (again, you can vote for three).

These are the questions I asked, and the responses I received. All e-mails were sent between 11 a.m. and noon on Friday, April 9.

CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR
Tommy Bragg (incumbent)
Tim Davis

The e-mail (identical to both candidates):

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. What do you see as the three most pressing issues facing the city in the next four years, and how do you propose to deal with them.

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?\

3. One of the biggest problems I have in my subdivision is trash. My son and I regularly fill a 15-gallon trash bag with trash that has blown into our yard because people do not properly secure their trash cans, or just litter indiscriminately. Many of the items I'm picking up are beer and liquor bottles that are discarded from moving cars, and I've had to replace my mailbox in the past year because either drunk or belligerent teens have decided to destroy it. I rarely see police patrolling my neighborhood, probably because it's considered middle class and not a major crime area. However, these problems annoy most of my neighbors. What do you propose to do for those of us dealing with these petty crimes on a daily basis?

Thank you for your time.

Tommy Bragg's response was received less than one hour after I sent my e-mail. Here is his response:

Briefly, the three significant opportunities facing our city government are maintaining superior municipal services within the tax dollars allotted by residents and business owners, continuing to keep traffic moving with road improvements and maintenance and, third, continuing our economic development efforts for new and existing business job expansion and growth.

I believe my record of fostering balanced budgets, cooperative efforts with all our state and local government leaders, and insistance on hiring and retaining only the best city employees should be continued to enhance these opportunities.

As to school issues, I would question the premisr you suggest. The city and county school board have worked cooperatively to improve roads, extend utilities, build tennis facilities for high school teams and residents, and provide new schools within the city and nearby areas.

There have been honest disagreements over who should pay the bill. The city, in any instance, wants to protect our taxpayers from having to bear an uneven share of costs. Thus, we work together to divide costs so that all county residents can share the benefits.

You have an elected school board member who represents you and would be interested in your comments regarding Central.

As to any neighborhood issues, you may have a homeowners association to use as a sounding board to raise awareness of your concerns. If not, then forming a gathering of like-minded neighbors can be helpful. Similar concerns are raised throughout any community and I would be happy to speak with you regarding any means our city staff can provide assistance.

Tim Davis responded 10 and half hours after sending my initial e-mail. His responses are below.

1. Debt; the current city debt is over $203 million. Jobs; Murfreesboro's unemployment rate is higher than the national average. Crime; according the Murfreesboro Post we have over 20 gangs in Murfreesboro.

We must reduce our city debt by lowering the taxes, which will allow money to flow which will create jobs.

With more revenue coming into the city we can reduce the debt and hire more Police officers and create a better community.

2. As Mayor I will give direction to the City Council to work with the Murfreesboro School board so that we ensure that no child is disadvantaged. I have promised that following the City Council session that the podium will be open for public input. This practice is currently not allowed. This will give you and the other citizens the opportunity to address issues such as schools.

3. This issue relates to my first statement of crime. I hate litter. I see it on a frequent basis, people just throwing trash out of their car. The car in front of mine on the way to my office this afternoon threw a piece of paper out her window. I blew the horn. We have to start at the elementary school level and teach not to litter. We also need to crack down on those who litter. A cleaner community is better for us all.

I thank you for your questions.

I ask for your vote. Early NOW thru April 15th

Election day April 20th.

Tim Davis

CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL
David Boyce
David Edwards (incumbent)
Madelyn Scales Harris
Shane McFarland (incumbent)
Thomas Connor Moss
Mark Nobles
Bill Shacklett (has withdrawn from the race. Read Sam Stockard's analysis of this decision here.)
Brian A. Vaughn
Doug Young (incumbent)

I sent the same e-mail I sent the two mayoral candidates. Their responses are below.

David Boyce responded at 10:27 p.m. Monday, April 12. His e-mail response follows:

Thank you Steven for taking the time to get involved in the political process.

Q1. The three biggest problems we will face is unemployment, a growing debt, and crime.
   Our current unemployment rate is higher than the county, state, and national average. The fastest way to stimulate our own economy is to lower property taxes. The extra cash left in the private sector would increase economic activity and cause job growth which would also cause the city to collect more tax revenue. Another thing we can do to help our economy is to reduce the heavy regulations and ordnance's that this city council has placed on our business community. We have lost several business because they did not want to deal with these issues.
   We currently owe over 203 million dollars in debt. Growing our economy will help reduce this. We also need to justify each expenditure the city makes and cut out all the "would like to have" items and focus on the "must have" items. I have also introduced a plan that would change the way city government thinks. Currently all departments will spend any money they have left over at the end of the fiscal year because they are afraid that their budget will be cut if they turn in any money. Lets tell all the departments up front that unless there is across the board cuts, those departments that turn money in will be guaranteed full funding next year and for each dollar they turn in and city will return 50 cents. Under this plan a department could turn in $30,000 dollars, get guaranteed full funding next year and receive $15,000 back next year to help pay for a capitol project. There are also some smaller ideas I have that would save a lot when combined together.
   Improving our economy would also help out on the crime rate. However their are more gangs moving into the Murfreesboro area. I think our right to bear arms under the 2nd amendment is important especially on the green-way. Our police department already has very good equipment to work with so I would just like to see a more coordinated effort between the city, county, and state officials to fight crime.

Q2. This really sounds like a issue to be worked out between the school boards but I would be glad to help solve any problems that might come up because that is what I do for a living, I solve problems.

Q3. I would be happy to come over to your home and take a look at the situation. To be honest it would be hard to offer any real answers without seeing the property and knowing its location.
I hope this has answered some of your questions. I'm for limited government, more freedom, less taxes, and more job growth. I'm a Major in the TN Army National Guard, in management in the private sector, and belong to the NRA and the Heritage Foundation. I hope this info will help lead you to voting for me. Also please excuse any bad grammar for I have only been sleeping about 3.5 hrs per night. Thanks David

David Edwards has not yet responded.

Madelyn Scales Harris has not yet responded.

Shane McFarland responded seven hours after I sent my initial e-mail. His e-mail response follows:

Thank you for your email.

1) I don't think you can narrow just one issue that we have in the City that we will be dealing with in the next four years. The obvious answer is the economy, but I think there are so many things that we will be dealing with. Supporting our safety providers and continuing to make sure that our community is safe will be a top priority. I will continue to work on the budgeting issues to make sure that every tax dollar is spent wisely. Education is a top priority. I will continue to work with the City administration and teachers to make sure we provide an education that is second to one. I would propose that we continue to look at ways that we use technology to lessen tax burden and increase our operations efficiency. I would also propose streamlining several departments to make sure that customer service is job 1.

2) I have talked with several County School board members to try to find a better way to work together. I honestly think the willingness is their between the school board and the City Council, but there is no willingness with the current Superintendant of Schools to cooperate with the City. I have proposed and will continue to push for meetings with the County School board to better address the Citizens of Murfreesboro. We all are Rutherford County residents and County tax payers. We should not be penalized for living in the City of Murfreesboro. There should be no distinction made between a county resident and a Murfreesboro City resident. I will continue to push for these ideas.

3) I will continue to support putting more police officers on the street. We have to be able to have our officers in proactive situations where we can patrol areas and not just deal with reactive issues. I will continue to support finding ways to better use our officers in ways that enhance every member of the community. If you will let me know your subdivision, I will request patrol to help alleviate some of the issues. I think we have to work with our residents when we have input to make sure any crime or potential crime issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

I have made it a point over the last four years to always listen to resident input and follow through. I will always follow up on resident requests and resident complaints. That is my job!

I would appreciate your vote and support. You can always email me or call me @ 642-9244.

Sincerely,

Shane

Thomas Connor Moss has not yet responded.

Mark Nobles has not yet responded.

Bill Shacklett has not yet responded. He has also withdrawn from the race. Read Sam Stockard's analysis of this decision here.

Brian A. Vaughn responded by e-mail at 10:39 p.m. Monday, April 12. His response follows:

1. Reducing debt- by becoming more efficient, higher training and the tools to accomplish more in less time. If we do not address the debt we could end up with city taxes in the $8000-$10,000 annual range for each of our houses, like it is in New Jersey. Jobs- We need to attract industrial, technology and high end jobs here that will also create labor positions. This unemployment and abandonment of buildings is costly and bad economically for the city. Planning- right now we have no long term plan to address paying off debt, or what our city will look like in twenty years. The planning and zoning commissions could work together with the historical commission to set an idea of what we need/want and how to get to it on a longer idea than just one year. We are currently approving and building with no comprehensive plan in sight. If this is not addressed we run the risk of a really poorly planned city with bad infrastructure and city employees that are not valued.
2. This is a complex question and I do not have enough information to answer because I am not yet "on the inside". The fundamental problem you have already alluded to; the city and county don't talk. One of my priorities is to fix that. We need a good, humble crew from the city to the county.
3. I think we need to do a few things- off the cuff I would see how many police officers we actually have policing the streets. I think the ratio of desk jobs to street police will amaze both of us. I think tickets for beligerent littering could be written if necessary but I also think if we could get communities to be responsible for their neighborhoods and have some pride in their city that would go a long way, especially if citizens know they are backed by the police and council when they do the right things for the right reasons. I also think the city should invest more in the neighborhoods that have neighborhood groups and a passion to combat trash and violence and other issues, people that invest.
These are all great questions Steven and one thing I am certain of; I won't try to make any of these decisions by myself to make a name. I am not in this for me; I simply, without other motives, want to help our city to be the best in the nation... according to us.
Please contact me with any other questions you may have and I hope to meet you face to face in the future when begin tackling some of these issues. REMEMBER- VOTE VAUGHAN on April 20th.

Thanks,
Brian Vaughan for City Council. (615) 598-4357

Doug Young responded by phone call 21 minutes after I sent the e-mail. We spoke for nearly 15 minutes about the issues in the e-mail. He also took the time to ask me about other issues I felt the city needed to address. He promised to call the chief of police today and seek more patrols in my neighborhood, particularly at nights and on the weekends, when public drinking seems to be an issue with the college kids who live on my street. He talked about looking into issuing citations to people whose yards were clearly unkempt, which is a violation of city ordinance. He talked about how the school boards need to have a better relationship, and that it was something that needed to be addressed. In response to my first question, his major concern is the city's ability to continue to be able to provide adequate city services with declining revenues. I was impressed by his answers, his concern, and his prompt response to my call.

CANDIDATES FOR MURFREESBORO CITY SCHOOLS BOARD

Ray Butrum (incumbent)

Kevin N. Fisher

Patrick McCarthy

Eric Newell

Dennis L. Rainier

Mary McKnight Wade (incumbent)

Because I have a son, I place more emphasis on this election than the other two. I tailored at least one of my questions to the candidate specifically. I have to say regarding the two incumbents, I have little expectation of receiving a response, as earlier this year, when I e-mailed every member of the current board regarding the upcoming vote on the school calendar, only current board member Nancy Duggin bothered to return my e-mail and discuss the issue with me. As far as I'm concerned, she's the only current member of the school board who actually cares about parents and their kids.

Ray Butrum responded about six hours after I sent my initial e-mail. I have not yet called him directly, as he asked me to do. As soon as I am able to do so, I will post that discussion.

The e-mail sent to Mr. Butrum:

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. You said in your profile that the most pressing issue is is repairing and restructuring the climate, culture and reputation of the board and system. I assume this stems from the low scores that have emerged from some schools as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. What is your opinion of that law, and do you think it has been beneficial or detrimental to our children's educational development? What would you like to see done with this law?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools, whom you praised in your profile, seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she is making and proposing, such as the school calendar issue. I know several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she refuses to answer or return those calls. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Mr. Butrum's response:

Mr. Chappell,

Thanks for the email and questions. I appreciate your interest in the school board and the upcoming election. You questions are good ones and seem to be well thought out. Rather than writing my responses, I would hope that you might be able to call and I can answer them in person, by phone. My explanation of some of them may take a few minutes and will probably generate more questions. Please feel free to contact me at my cell (584-3197) to talk. I teach a grad class today from 4:30 - 7:30 and should be available after that. On Friday I am free after 4 and will be free to talk most of the weekend. Please call at your convenience.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you.

Ray Butrum

Kevin N. Fisher responded with a phone call within an hour of my sending the e-mail. The e-mail I sent Mr. Fisher:

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. You are one of the few candidates to address parental involvement as a major issue affecting our schools. As a parent who is very actively involved in my child's education, I agree that's a problem. But, I think it goes far beyond school choice. In fact, a major part of the problem are parents thinking that sending their child to the correct school will solve all of their child's problems, when, in fact, just getting the parent involved in the school would go a long way toward solving those problems. I volunteer at my son's school, and I haved worked with kids who tell me their parents have never read with them, sat down with them to help with homework, or even come to a school event. In my opinion, school choice does nothing to help with this issue regarding parental involvement. Do you have any ideas to motivate parents to get involved with their child's education on a proactive basis?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she is making and proposing, such as the school calendar issue. I know several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she refuses to answer or return those calls. The receptionist at the MCS office acts like she doesn't even know what we are talking about when we call. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Mr. Fisher and I talked for nearly 20 minutes. He is a strong, strong proponent of parental choice and parental involvement. He supports school choice, but he also has some ideas for getting parents involved directly with their children's school and their education. I firmly believe in parental involvement, and that if parents were more involved with their child's education, our schools would not have the problems they have now. Mr. Fisher agreed that more needs to be done to ensure all of our children are given equal access to education, and that discrimination for any reason is intolerable (read my earlier blog on the Central Magnet debacle). He agreed that bus service to Discovery School should not be cut just for financial reasons; that the impact of that cut must be fully explored before any decision is made (however, director Dr. Linda Gilbert seems to have no such concerns). We also talked about his background as a corrections officer and a single parent, and how that will shape his decisions as a member of the school board. He talked about the need to make our schools more safe, and brought up an issue that has not been mentioned much: The recruitment of gang members in our elementary schools. He talked about seeing younger and younger kids being recruited into gangs as a corrections officer, and that security and safety needs must be addressed in the future. He said that the board needs to be proactive, to prevent it from happening, rather than reactive. Again, I liked his viewpoint. As a single parent, he talked about the needs he has, and how he often finds school officials to be unwilling to respond to him when he has concerns. He wants to open lines of communication and ensure that all children, regardless of background, socioeconomic status or ability, are treated fairly.

Patrick McCarthy responded 11 hours after I sent my initial e-mail. My e-mail to Mr. McCarthy:

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote. Having met you on more than one occasion, and knowing your wife through The Discovery School, I feel I know most of your answers. But out of fairness, I feel the need to ask you the same questions I've asked of the other candidates.

1. You identified Race to the Top as one of the major issues facing the schools in the coming year. How do you see Murfreesboro City Schools making use of that money?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she is making and proposing, such as the school calendar issue. You, however, have praised her on your blog. I know of several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she has yet to answer or return those calls. The receptionist at the MCS office acts like she doesn't even know what we are talking about when we call. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Mr. McCarthy's response:

Great questions. Let me take them in reverse order.Yes, my initial response to the new director was positive based on the early indicators of a more open, collaborative approach. You point out two recent examples that raise legitimate questions on that front. In such cases, I certainly am willing to speak out. In fact, I just posted a new blog entry on my website (www.mccarthy4kids.com) earlier today that explicitly opposes the bus proposal (and the administration's role thus far on this issue).Your second question hits on two big issues with me. The first is fairness. As you'll see from my blog entry on the busing issue, fairness concerns stir me to action.

The second issue is developing a more cooperative, coordinated relationship with the county board. During my first term on the city school board (2004-08), I was the only city board member who took the initiative to attend county board meetings and to individually meet with the county board chair and director. I did so explicitly to improve the relations and coordination with the county. However, my term ended before that developed further. I believe that I have a positive rapport with their chair (Mark Byrnes), and although we may disagree at times, we are mutually respectful and capable of frank and meaningful dialog. That's a critical starting foundation.

You also raise an important question about how we will handle Race to the Top. I've become involved with Senator Frist's State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) to help lead current research into the best ways to improve Tennessee's education systems (including, of course, Murfreesboro city schools). While that's not yet complete, it's certainly clear that we need to target enduring education infrastructure investments and not momentary stopgap expenses.

I'm not sure if this is longer or briefer than you were looking for, but you're welcome to call me anytime if you want to talk about any of this further. My cell number is 615-418-2126. You're welcome to keep in touch by email anytime too.

By the way, if I'm elected, I will continue to be responsive to any comments or questions that you have in the time ahead.

Thanks for your interest,

Patrick McCarthy

Eric Newell responded Monday, April 12, at 9:16 a.m., nearly three days after sending my initial e-mail.
My e-mail to Mr. Newell:

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. You said in your profile that the most pressing issue would be to ensure the Race to the Top changes include ambitious yet achievable goals that benefit students, and whose measurements are fair and equitable to the teachers. What kinds of changes and measurements do you think need to be implemented?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she is making and proposing, such as the school calendar issue. I know several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she refuses to answer or return those calls. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Mr. Newell's response:

Steven,
I apologize for taking so long to respond. Its been a busy weekend.

1) Race to the Top is basically a plan that places as much as 50% of a teacher’s evaluation on student performance. In other words, it holds teachers accountable for student performance. The plan calls for setting goals that are “ambitious yet achievable.” I want to see that these goals are fair and provide rewards for those who do a good job improving student achievement. As you may know, Tennessee’s application was approved and the state has been awarded funds from this program.
2) I believe it is important that both the city school system and the county school work together to see that all students in our county are successful. I would make every effort to be an advocate for city school students to see that admissions policies are fair and beneficial to all.
3) I am disappointed to here that your calls are not being returned. As a board member, I would hold the director accountable for responding to parent concerns in a timely and effective manner. If an issue was being ignored, I would hope I would be contacted to see that the matter is addressed and meet with the director to see that this is not how issues are handled.
I would like to see bus service for Discovery School students continue.

Thank you so much for your questions and this opportunity to respond. Please contact me again if you have additional questions or wish to discuss these further.

Eric

Dennis L. Rainier has not responded.
My e-mail to Mr. Rainier (sent through his Facebook account):

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. You said in your profile that the most pressing issue is being sure that No Child Left Behind measures are met. What are your opinions of No Child Left Behind as policy, and would you like to see that act overturned, or at a minimum, revamped to solve its problems? Or, do you like the act as it is?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she making and proposing. I know at several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she refuses to answer or return those calls. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Mary McKnight Wade has not responded.
My e-mail to Ms. Wade (sent through her Contact Us page on her election Web site):

As I begin my exploration of the candidates for the Murfreesboro city elections, and after reading your profile in the Murfreesboro Post, I would like to ask a few questions of you, that I hope you will answer to assist me in my quest to determine for whom I should vote.

1. You said in your profile that the city schools have been appropriately managing its fiscal issues, yet the DNJ recently had a story discussing how school board members were spending lavishly at a workshop in Nashville, even paying for expensive hotel stays at Opryland when the board members could have commuted to the workshop. How do you respond to that? How is that being fiscally responsible?

2. The relationship between the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school boards has deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the admissions policy established for Central Magnet School. What kind of role can/should you play in ensuring that kids who attend city schools aren't disadvantaged by decisions made by the Rutherford County School Board?

3. The new director of Murfreesboro City Schools seems to have entered into a tyrant mode of late, ignoring requests and calls by parents about decisions she making and proposing. I know at several people who have tried to contact her about her proposal to eliminate bus service to the Discovery School, but she refuses to answer or return those calls. How do you deal with her in issues like this? And what's your stance on bus service to Discovery School students?

Throw what?

2010-04-02T15:49:00.001-05:00

Sprint PictureMail, originally uploaded by Grammar Nazi.

I wonder how much money was spent on these glossy, full-color posters that are all over campus? And am I the first person to notice the grammatical mistake?

Multimedia Journalism Presentation

2010-03-29T08:33:00.000-05:00

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddxb2dmm_76c7qwvs3s

Celebrate by diagramming this sentence, revealed!

2010-03-05T09:04:00.000-06:00

Here's the answer to yesterday's National Grammar Day challenge:

Happy National Grammar Day

2010-03-04T12:55:00.001-06:00

Celebrate by diagramming this sentence!

What are these made from again?

2010-03-01T21:47:00.001-06:00

Everyone should watch this

2010-01-29T10:51:00.001-06:00

It's hilariously accurate:

Bad apostrophe!

2009-12-31T18:35:00.001-06:00

Hoodlum hatred

2009-12-22T23:40:00.000-06:00

Some sorry thugs just deliberately took out our mailbox. I know, because I was sitting in the living room next to the front of the house when I heard it happen. There was a loud thud, followed by loud laughing and a "Yee-Haw" by some illiterate redneck, and the sound of a car speeding off.

By the time I got up out of the chair and looked out the window, they were rapidly turning onto Gold Valley, and I couldn't see anything about their car.

I'm wagering they are the same thugs who took out the mailbox across the street last week.

Dilbert speaks the truth

2009-11-17T08:56:00.000-06:00

Why are people afraid of a child learning?

2009-09-03T13:50:00.000-05:00

So, Barack Obama has decided that education is important enough that on Sept. 8, "the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning," according to Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a letter to school teachers detailing the purpose of the speech. The letter includes links to suggested classroom exercises for teachers before and after the speech.

I've read the letter. I've read the classroom materials. It's pretty straight-forward. It's all about getting students excited and motivated about their education, and about encouraging them to take responsibility for their actions and their futures. It seems just like the kind of message every parent should want their child to hear. And who better to deliver that message than the president of the United States? He is the most powerful man in the free world, and he's the leader of our country, whether you like him or not. As such, he deserves our respect. And, last time I checked, children respecting their elders and their leaders was considered a virtue.

Unless, of course, the president isn't a member of your political party. Then, he's the devil incarnate hell-bent on "indoctrinating" your children to his "socialist agenda." It has nothing to do with simply educating your children.

I thought a major part of education was to teach children to think critically, make informed decisions and learn through knowledge. However, if you are going to deny them access to knowledge, and tell them they can't listen to the president of the United States speak because you don't agree with his message or agenda, and simply keep your children ignorant, how will they learn? Oh yes, I forgot, knowledge is power. The learned tend to be able to make informed decisions, and not blindly follow those who espouse rhetoric based upon fear. I can name five people I work with -- at a four-year public university, no less -- who hate Obama because he's not white. I can name several people with whom I attend church whose racism has been blatantly exposed when they talk about Obama. Racism is simply a product of an uninformed, uneducated individual. It's based upon fear, not knowledge. By denying our children this opportunity, you continue to spread this same fear and deny children the knowledge they need to be our future leaders and decision makers.

The chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Jim Greer, has gone so far as to claim that Obama's speech is meant to infiltrate these children's minds and brainwash them against their parents and against American ideals. Good grief!

My son attends what is supposed to be a high-achieving academic magnet school. Today, the principal felt compelled to send out a robot phone call to parents because of the endless phone calls she was receiving from parents who don't want their children exposed to the president's message next week, telling us we can send a note to our child's teacher if we don't want him or her to participate in this activity. I'm sorry, but that's just ignorance at its highest. I would expect these parents, who are mostly affluent, highly educated individuals, not to be so ignorant and closed-minded. Many of them recently fought hard, alongside me, to see that their children's educational futures weren't denied by an obtuse school board. They claimed they wanted their children to learn in a high-achieving environment that exposed them to challenging ideals, forced them to become critical thinkers, and to learn from the best knowledge that could be provided. I thought they were more enlightened than this.

I guess not.

Britain has its own Grammar Nazi!

2009-08-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's nice to find a kindred spirit. I once walked around my college campus with a Sharpie, correcting errors on posters, so I feel his pain.

Apostrophe warrior Stefan Gatward's mission to correct our wayward grammar
He has been called a vandal, a graffiti artist and a pedant.

Even his admirers admit he is "a bit of an old codger". But Stefan Gatward – accountant, former private in the Gordon Highlanders and now Anglican day chaplain – remains unrepentant.
Known as The Apostrophe Man of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Mr Gatward shot to fame last week after taking the law (or at least a bylaw) into his own hands by adding a missing apostrophe to the street signs on his road.

St Johns Close became St John's Close and overnight Mr Gatward gained respect and derision in equal measure. While many of his neighbours congratulated him on his stand, the apostrophe was scratched off three days later.

Fearful of an appearance at a magistrate's court – or should that be magistrates' court? – Mr Gatward decided not to paint in the apostrophe again.

However, determined to halt the slide of the Queen's English into what he regards as a babel of Americanisms and street slang, he has instead embarked on a tour of the spa town in order to point out the grammatical howlers which besmirch its street signs.

Read the rest here.

My response to the Rutherford County School Board

2009-08-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

Below is the draft of what I plan to say during the open comment section of the RCSB meeting on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009. If anyone has any feedback for me, I would appreciate it.

Gentlemen of the Board, I find it very necessary to respond to your work session discussion regarding the CAMS admission policy upon which you plan to vote tonight. While some of your arguments have great merit, and while I agree with some of them, others are based upon flawed assumptions and information which I feel it necessary to address before you vote on this proposed admissions policy.

First, I think we are all in agreement that you were elected to this school board because you care about the children in Rutherford County. You were elected to represent each and every taxpayer and each and every child in this county. It is your duty as an elected official to ensure that each and every child has an equal and fair opportunity to obtain the best education to which he or she is entitled. I firmly believe each of you wants to do that. This magnet school will be a great means to that end, and I, along with the parents in this room, am delighted that this school will be available to our children. But if you vote for these admissions requirements as written, you will deny some children in this county the opportunity to obtain the very education this new school is meant to provide. You will, in effect, be violating your policies, which state under the Role of the Board of Education, "The Board will provide, within the ﬁnancial limitations set by the community, the best educational opportunities possible for all children." A vote for this policy as written will violate that policy, clear and simple.

Dr. Mark Byrnes, you said at Tuesday's meeting that, and I quote, "One of the reasons government is not trusted is they keep going back on their commitment." Your quote implies a promise was made to McFadden students that they would have a magnet school education through the eighth grade. Yet, you also said no written guarantee was ever made. Your own attorney, Mr. Jeff Reed, told you at the work session, and again I quote, "There's been no contract. Zone lines can be changed at any time, admission standards can be changed at any time. That's all at the discretion of the board. There's been no written contract with parents of McFadden School, and you can't guarantee zone lines with admission to certain schools." Your own attorney has contradicted your argument that this board must honor its unwritten commitment. To quote a famous philospher, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." What is more important to this board: Ensuring a unwritten commitment to a small group of students, or the commitment you made to each and every student in this county when you ran for public office and were elected to this board?

Second, Mr. Donald Jernigan himself pointed out that even though he has a grandchild in first grade at McFadden, he's not certain this middle school will be appropriate for that child in five years. He agreed the child should have an opportunity to attend, but he questioned the need to grandfather in that child. How can anyone possibly say that a kindergartner, who by virtue of an interview is admitted into McFadden this fall, will be ready for a middle school and high school magnet environment in 2015? Even if that student meets the minimum enrollment requirements, is it fair to that student to place him or her in a school where he or she may be 10 points or more behind his or her peers who tested in exclusively on merit? Is it fair to the teachers? Is it fair to anyone?

Mr. Donald Jernigan went on to say, however, that current middle schoolers should be allowed in, even hinting that their scores shouldn't matter, that their self-esteem should be considered. However, Superintendent Harry Gill said this is to be a high-achieving school known for its academics throughout the state. If we are going to make exceptions for kids because we don't want their feelings hurt if they don't qualify, then what's the point of an admissions standard at all? Additionally, the concern was raised that we would be hurting these kids if they had to leave McFadden for one year, go to a new middle school for eighth grade, and then to a new high school for ninth grade. However, regardless of what happens with this admissions policy, that's still going to happen to this year's seventh graders at Central. Sacrifices will have to be made if this school is to achieve its fullest potential. The only way this school will achieve the respect and reputation you desire it to obtain is to ensure that it enrolls the best and brightest students in Rutherford County. Each and every student must meet the same admissions requirements. You can't create one policy for one group of students and a second policy for another group of students. Yet, that's exactly what your current policy sets forth.

Third, Mr. Rick Wise, you said this was the same issue as when the Discovery School moved from Bellwood to Reeves-Rogers, but it's not. That was, literally, just moving a school. The policies did not change. The admissions requirements did not change. The scope, breadth and mission of the school did not change. All of that changes with CAMS. This is not just moving a school from one building to another, as Mr. Terry Hodge himself said at the work session. This board voted, unanimously, I might add, on April 24, 2008, "to develop the magnet school around an academic focus for mathematics and science and a Career and Technical Education focus on engineering and health sciences." However, according to its own Web site, "students at McFadden School of Excellence are provided with a wide range of learning activities and experiences in all areas of written, oral, and visual communications." It's mission theme is "Communications through Technology." I don't know about you, but mathematics and science seem to be a completely new direction than written, oral and visual communications. The argument made by many people that you are simply moving one school to another here does not fit with your own mission statements for these schools. That must be considered. And, I argue, the admissions standards for this school should emphasize those test scores that directly apply to this new school's mission. If science and math are going to be the emphasis of this school, then it should be the science and math TCAP scores that have the greatest impact on admission. Not just any two, and certainly not minimum standards met by a student from a school with an entirely different educational focus.

Finally, and I can't emphasize this enough, there are far, far more areas regarding this new school on which we agree rather than disagree. We are all excited about this new school and the opportunities it will offer the children of this county through the 12th grade. It would be a travesty if this debate created a rift regarding this school between the parents and children who all want the same thing: an education that best fits our children's needs. I simply hope that each of you recognize for that to take place, this school must be equitably accessible to each and every child in the county.

Thank you for your time and your service.

Board work session transcript

2009-08-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

The Rutherford County School Board met Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 5 p.m. for its regular work session meeting to discuss items on the agenda for its regular meeting set for 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13. The majority of the time was spent discussing the admissions policy for Central Academic Middle School. Below is the transcript of that discussion. Members of the public were not allowed to speak at the work session, but may speak for a maximum of three minutes at Thursday's meeting. My next blog post will be my interpretation of this work session.

Transcript:
Rutherford County School Board Work Session

Aug. 11, 2009

5 p.m.

Speakers:

Dr. Mark Byrnes, Rutherford County School Board Chairman

Mr. Wayne R. Blair, School Board member

Mr. Grant Kelley, School Board member

Mr. Terry Hodge, School Board member

Mr. Harry Gill, Superintendent of Rutherford County Schools

Mr. Rick Wise, School Board member

Mr. Dorris Jernigan Sr., School Board member

Mr. Donald Jernigan, School Board member

Mr. Jeff Reed, School Board attorney

Byrnes: If you want to speak on Thursday night, you are certainly free to do that. I've talked to different people on different sides of this debate. I am pretty certain we know what the issues are and the sides are, so I'm not sure it's going to be incredibly useful for 25 people to get up and say anything. But you have that right and you can certainly do that, but you need to keep your discussions to three minutes if you do that.

We welcome your presence here, but this is not a rally. Do not cheer, boo or hiss. That is not welcome here.

There's been a lot of communication about this issue and we're all for the public being involved, but what I'm hearing second hand is that some miscommunication has taken place. First on the city-county issue and how McFadden's admission policy figures into this debate. In this issue I don't see how it's particularly relevant. Our GIS person plugged the McFadden enrollment numbers into his database and found 206 city students and 195 outside the city. When you consider Murfreesboro residents only make up 40 percent of the population, then they are overrepresented, so this argument doesn't work.

Another miscommunication is that the committee who did this was comprised of McFadden parents. They were employees who just happened to be McFadden parents. Could we have done a better job with that committee, probably. But it wasn't unfairly loaded with McFadden parents.

The proposed grandfather clause is the middle school only. No proposal before the board that said the proposal would grandfather the kids through high school. Doesn't say that now. Never has. I will close with this comment: We've heard a lot of arguments, and 90 percent of them say we need to do what the fair thing is. The problem is all sides have a different idea of what fairness is. Screaming that is not much of an argument. I think most board members recognize there is some reasonable case to be made on both sides, and our job Thursday night will be to decide what is most fair. I understand it's a passionate issue. You're talking about your kids. We're all parents up here, we fully understand the passions involved. I think we need a little less passion and a little more rationality on this.

Full disclosure I am a McFadden parent, and I will not vote on Thursday, but I will not give up my right to say what I think.

GILL: There weren't any backroom politics. No deals were struck with anybody. I think the policy is fair, but if you are a parent at Discovery, you probably don't. It's a fair recommendation from my perspective, so I'm going to propose to the board to approve the policy as it was presented to the board.

BYRNES: Slightly edited. New version is on the Web site.

DORRIS JERNIGAN: This only applies to the kids in sixth, seventh and eight at McFadden, right?

GILL: No, every child at McFadden.

HODGE: Are we discriminating?

REED: The question has come up if you establish a grandfather clause is that discriminatory. You have to identify a class. Under this policy, there's no evidence of that in this case. Not race, gender or anything. This is just the board setting its own admissions policy in terms of this school. Under state law, local school boards are given broad policy to determine the admission criteria of the new magnet school. It's not like you are trying to do any profiling. No discrimination based upon this policy.

DORRIS JERNIGAN: I received an e-mail that talked about a contract. I'm not sure there was a contract. There's been discussion about there being a contract with McFadden parents about that school. A contract can be written, implied, or verbal, by someone who has the authority to make that agreement. In my seven years on the board we've never made such an agreement with a McFadden parent their child could go all the way through the eighth grade. We have moved kids from one school to another school, which we are going to do next fall, so I just have a problem thinking there's been a contract.

REED: There's been no contract. Zone lines can be changed at any time, admission standards can be changed at any time. That's all at the discretion of the board. There's been no written contact with parents of McFadden School and you can't guarantee zone lines with admission to certain schools.

GILL: We tested out, and we're here eight years or nice years, and we think it's a fair thing to do to move all the McFadden kids over to the new magnet school. I think we kind of addressed that. We wanted this magnet school to be a school that challenged kids. We want this to be recognized as a high achievement school.

BYRNES: I haven't heard anyone argue there's a legal contract, but there is a commitment. One of the reason government is not trusted is they keep going back on their commitment.

WISE: When Discovery School moved, didn't they move those kids from one school to the other? Isn't that the same issue? I'm not taking a stand one way or the other, I'm just making a statement on that issue.

DORRIS JERNIGAN: The word contract keeps coming up, and we don't have a contract. My daughter told me we were set on zone lines, and I told her don't count on it. The way things are in the community change is going to happen. Change is going to have to happen.

HODGE: I've struggled with this from the get-go. It's not moving from one school to the other. I know people think this is unfair. Time will tell when they get there. If they don't pass, they'll have to go someplace else. In my opinion sixth, seventh and eighth grade ought to be able to go, but K-5, I don't know.

BLAIR: It came down to two questions for me: Do we move sixth, seventh and eighth, just move them over. and the other question was do we work out a compromise that students who come into this highly academic program be challenged and have a chance to be successful. I think we have a responsibility to these McFadden students and parents. I think your staff put together as fair a compromise as you could, and I'm going to support it.

DONALD JERNIGAN: When did we set upon the sixth through 12?

GILL: It's been a year and half that we've been trying to have this magnet school concept approved. It was about 18 months ago that we settled in on a grade structure.

DONALD JERNIGAN: That's a date that students at that particular time are there. But after that, people knew what was going on. The sibling rule, you say we dropped that, or it changed. Would you please explain that change to me, Mr. Gill?

GILL: As it is, kids who are in K-8 right now would be grandfathered into the school. We recommended we drop that altogether. Total drop.

DONALD JERNIGAN: I have two grandchildren at McFadden. One is an eighth grader this year and one a first grader. I thought about this a lot from that standpoint. From first grade to the sixth grade there might be some changes there. Grandfathering him in? I don't know. Giving him an opportunity, yes. Grandfathering? I'm not so sure.

I would hate to see a child who's been in McFadden all these years, K-8 situation, if they are a rising sixth grader, and then to say or seventh grade, look, you can't go to the new school, because of whatever, you're down the list. Your scores are good, but you're down the list, in a middle school somewhere else in the county. I think we can be prudent with that child, but the kids who are in K-5 or K-6 schools in the county or in the city, they know they are going to change, they've known that all the time. I think we have to, in my mind, we have to protect these kids that fall in that category.

There will be a lot of interest in this school. But just because there's a lot of interest doesn't mean a lot commitment. But when it comes to those who express interest and those who are committed. That number will dwindle.

GILL: When we started a discussion of a magnet school, we wanted a school with an accelerated curriculum. There are people in McFadden and Discovery School who scored in the 50th or 60th percentile. We talking about a significant disparity in how they are scoring. We're not going to win this in whatever direction we go. If kids have to go to Rockvale, or whatever, these are great schools, and it's not like they're going to be left out of a good education. I think we start discriminating when we say you don't have to meet the minimum standards to get in.

DONALD JERNIGAN: The seventh grade is going to be the one who loses out here. If you don't give them some flexibility, you are sending them out and you are automatically categorizing them. They didn't make it. The only reason they didn't go is they didn't make it. You are throwing the red flag up on them. For that middle school group, it's a difficult time, and we're saying you've got a seventh grader, and going to be an eighth grader next year, to say she had to go to Christiana Middle School, she went to McFadden all those years but couldn't make the grade for Central, I just have a hard time with that.

Byrnes: Gosh, you say going to McFadden all these years, then have to go to a different school in eighth and then a differnet one in 9th, walking a fine line here. There are those at McFadden who aregue that any sort of qualification is inappropriate because it's not required now. We really need to think about that.

Blair: I'm sympathetic and I've struggled with it and I continue to support the director's recommendation because I want to make certain the kids are equipped and ready for that sort of challenge. That challenge is coming. The academic curriculum.

Wise: If you do this all the wya down to K you are going to be dealing with this for a long time. For the 6, 7 and 8, I can understan d, but if you do it all the way down to K, it's going to keep coming back "we did it for this one, we did it for this one." I'm leary of that.

DONALD JERNIGAN: That's why I started it out about the date.

BYRNE: We need to look back before Thursday to see when that was set.

DORRIS JERNIGAN: I sat down this morning, and made some notes, and these are my thoughts. We need to get it right. It will change even in the second year. This is a one step, two step, three step process. These kids will come from the city, the county, private schools and maybe even home schools. And where will home schools come up with these grades that we are dictating to be these requirements. Transfers? How can you have a transfer? There are county children who are going to schools outside this county who may decide to transfer back when this school goes into effect. I don't want to rule out kids from Eagleville, Smyrna or LaVergne. I am worried we are underestimating people. If I see it as a battle between McFadden and Discovery, I'm not going to get in that mess. I want as many to step forward and make application to attend the Magnet School. I have a concern about the sixth grade student in the Murfreesboro School System. If they wait to apply to come to the Magnet School in seventh grade, are they at risk? Yes, we'll have 25 more in the seventh grade than in the sixth grade, but I have a concern for the child who will be a sixth grader next year. They are already having a number of sixth graders coming out of the City schools to go into the County system. They are losing money. Dollars the state provides that goes to the county system. I understand dollars drive our concern.

Do we only accept just the top scorers? We have a baseline here, but does that limit diversity? Free and reduced lunch students. Are we going to say because you don't meet the top scores, you don't come to this school? We need diversity in this program. I don't want to limit it only to the top, top scores.

I think we delay the vote to survey all the schools, city and county, to determine the interest. we can't assure the sixth grader out of the city system there will be magnet seat when they reach the seventh grade.

Finally, sports, we have in place a program in the county, if your school does not offer this sports program you can do sports at another school. Can magnet school kids go to their zoned school and participate in sports?

GILL: We will offer all sports but wresting and football. But we've got those bases covered.

DONALD JERNIGAN: We've talked about a lot of things, but until we take a vote and a commitment, that's what it is, talk.

DORRIS JERNIGAN: It's easy to express an interest, it's more difficult to make a commitment. I think if you take a survey, you throw out a third of them, because they will never follow through.

BYRNE: None of this is final until we vote it that way Thursday night.

Machiavelli, meet the Rutherford County School Board

2009-08-07T12:16:00.001-05:00

Today, the Daily News Journal has a story about the admissions policy being proposed for the new Central Academic Magnet School. The policy, supported by most, if not all, members of the Rutherford County School Board, is a monumentally flawed document that favors certain students (specifically, children who currently attend the county magnet school, McFadden) above others. The policy is not based upon admission by merit; but rather, a favored-sons status. You see, the chairman of the RCSB, Mark Byrnes, has a child at McFadden. As did two-thirds of the people who drafted the admissions policy, including the new school's principal, John Ash, who drafted the original proposal for admission. Where are your ethics in this process? Where are your morals?

Schools Superintendent Harry Gill sees nothing wrong with the policy. Today, he's decided to make a good-will gesture to members of the community by asking the board to cut a provision that would provide favored status to siblings of CAMS students, a policy even more discriminatory than the basic admissions policy, again excluding children based upon merit. Mr. Gill, your good-will gesture remains a sham. The core of this proposal still smacks of favoritism, elitism, discrimination and entitlement. It is wholly unfair, and is essentially design to ensure that many of the best and brightest children of the county will, indeed, be on the outside looking in when this new school opens. Unless, of course, one of their parents sits on the School Board or was drafted by the board to write the admissions policy.

The only fair admissions policy is one that provides each and every child living in Rutherford County equal consideration for admission. It's a policy that requires each and every child to take the same test, and meet the same standards for qualification. It's a policy that ensures no child will be admitted ahead of another child simply because of where he or she attended elementary school, or who his or her father happens to be. Those who have drafted this policy, and those who support it, appear to disciples of Machiavelli. Simply put, their ethics state they will do whatever it takes, regardless of the harm it causes, to maintain the status quo. In this instance, the status quo means their children gain favored status over others, regardless of qualification.

Perhaps before these school board members take a vote, they should look at what happens to board members who ignore what's right for their personal gain. Today's Chronicle of Higher Education has a story about the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, all of whom are being asked to resign in a report drafted by a state-appointed panel that found every single member of the board violated state ethics laws in how its policies admitted students. An excerpted summary states: "The Illinois report, prepared by an Admissions Review Commission appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn, says that since 2005, about 800 applicants with ties to trustees, politicians, and donors received preferential consideration for admission. The applicants' names were flagged on an internal list known as "Category 1," or the "clout list," and were funneled through a pipeline supported by their well-connected sponsors." The parallels between what these trustees did and what the Rutherford County School will do if it passes this policy are stunning.

Gentlemen of the school board, and I say gentlemen because our school board is comprised entirely of white males and contains absolutely no diversity (much like CAMS will be if this admissions policy is enforced -- check the TDOE report card if you would like to compare McFadden's diversity [90.7 percent white; the second-whitest elementary school after Lascassas Elementary in Rutherford County, including Murfreesboro City Schools] to other schools in the county and city), if you pass this policy as written, you will violate the very trust the citizens placed in you when you were elected to your current positions. We elected you with the expectation you would protect our children, treat them fairly, and provide each and every one of them with the opportunity to obtain the best possible education. This admissions policy is a blatant violation of that trust. It's time for you to reject this policy that smacks of back-room political deals and Washington politics, and for you to do the job you were elected to do: educate our children fairly.

Guess who cheated on his wife?

2009-06-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

Yep, Gov. Mark Sanford.

Case closed.

The political party of family values certainly has a terrible track record with family values, doesn't it? I'm still trying to figure out how the conservative political mantra that gay marriage is a threat to traditional families works when it seems to me that extra-marital affairs are a far bigger threat.

What the hell was Mark Sanford doing?

2009-06-24T09:15:00.001-05:00

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was missing for more than four days late last week and early this week.

First off, how does a head of state disappear for four days, with no one, not his wife, his children, his chief of staff, his security detail, I mean no one, having a clue where he is?

This man has been in the news a lot for his opposition to the state accepting stimulus money, often for reasons that are clearly based on the fact he simply wants nothing to do with anything Barack Obama does. I think Obama could offer to heal every sick person in South Carolina, and Sanford would object simply because Obama is a Democrat.

But I digress.

When the leader of your state disappears for four days, leaving the state without anyone in charge (suppose there had been a disaster, or some other unanticipated event, that required his, and only his, signature or approval to deal with), something is wrong with that person mentally.

To top it all off, he clearly had no means of contacting the outside world, because when he finally did call to check in, he had no idea anyone was looking for him.

What? You are the governor of a state. You disappear for four days. And you think no one is going to look for you? 

Clearly, this man is mentally incompetent and should not be the governor of South Carolina, or any other state.

Now, he's apparently told several different stories as to where he was during his absence. First, he was believed to be in Atlanta. Then, his staff said he told them he was hiking the Appalachia Trail. Now, he claims he was in South America.

WTF?

Surely there's something in the law in this state that says mental incompetence disqualifies you from serving out your term. If not, he needs to be removed by whatever legal means necessary, before he severely damages his state.

Of course, he's no Rod Blagojavich. Or Elliott Spitzer (who, apparently, New Yorkers now want back in office). However, he's still nuts, and needs to go.

Rutherford County Election Commission thinks it's above the law

2009-06-23T16:49:00.000-05:00

Well, it's chairman and a crazy member do, at least.

I was going to rant about its claim that it doesn't have to abide by state laws when it meets. Then, I read Christian Grantham's blog post on it, and decided he said it as well or better than I ever could. So, I'm asking everyone to just read that.

http://www.nashvilleistalking.com/2009/06/in-defense-of-tennessees-sunshine-law/

How bad will Gannett papers become?

2009-06-22T09:38:00.001-05:00

It was announced today that Gannett may be laying off another 4,500 newspaper workers in July, out of a total 41,000 nationwide. This comes on top of thousands of layoffs by Gannett in the past year, including several at our local papers, combined with eliminated vacancies.

How bad has it made the Daily News Journal, my local source of news? In recent months, almost unreadable. I had noticed a steady increase in typos, grammatical and style errors, design mistakes and the like since the layoffs began, but nothing as egregious as what I read in three days this weekend.

Friday's edition misspelled "linebacker" in headline as "inebacker." Sunday's edition misspelled "European" "Europen" in a headline, and proceded to repeat, word for word, the same story in two separate sections of the paper. I'm not even going to try to count all of the mistakes I found in the body copy. 

This is abhorrent. How Gannett can think it will possibly retain readers by cutting staff to the point that the paper becomes unreadable is beyond me. I fully expect Gannett to completely collapse within two years, if not sooner. If you work for them, I hope you have a fall-back plan.

"Parish" the thought

2009-06-16T11:34:00.001-05:00

Duncan and I were heading to taekwondo Monday night when we passed a church on Halls Hill Pike near our house. Duncan shouted out to me that there was a word misspelled on the sign. I looked, and he was right. So, we stopped to take this photo:

Now, Duncan's only 10, so he didn't get the joke that comes with this misspelling on a sign outside a church. However, I'm still proud of him for knowing it's wrong.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if someone would like to buy Dave Brown a dictionary....

The year the media died

2009-06-04T14:20:00.000-05:00

Great parody video of The Year the Music Died that pretty much sums up what's happened to big media. If you aren't a media person, don't bother.

Sad day for my friends at The Birmingham News

2009-06-04T10:52:00.000-05:00

The first thing I noticed in my Twitter feed this morning was the announcement that The Birmingham News is cutting all salaries 10 percent, announcing buyouts, and eliminating all part-time positions and internships.

That's a sad day for journalism, especially when you consider that Birmingham has already lost its best local daily, The Post-Herald.

Now, Birmingham residents will be less well served in terms of local news coverage than before. The News is also planning to close all of its suburban offices, which means even less coverage of local politics and news for the vast majority of subscribers, who live in those suburban zones. It had already announced mandatory furloughs and a benefits freeze in March.

I am very fearful for the many friends of mine who work there, as well as for the community that will be even less well served than before. And, given the corrupt history of Birmingham and Jefferson County politics, who is going to be left to uncover the malfeasance that permeates those two governments? Alas, I fear soon, no one will be.

The New York Times proves it no longer gets it

2009-05-29T14:36:00.001-05:00

This week, the New York Times appointed its first-ever social media editor, a woman named Jennifer Preston. She is a longtime New York Times journalist, and she's also a book author and adjunct professor at Columbia University. Her journalism skills are not in question, nor is her journalism experience or knowledge of the traditional aspects of the field.

It's her social media skills that are in question. 

She didn't have a Twitter account until she became social media editor. As near as anyone can tell (here, here and here), she doesn't have a Facebook or a MySpace page. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but those three Web sites are essentially the epicenter of the social media universe. If you don't use them, have never used them, and therefore likely have little or no working knowledge of how they are used, how on God's green earth can you possibly effectively serve as a social media editor? If the New York Times wanted to really effectively use social media in its reporting, if it really wants journalism to meld with social media, then shouldn't it have hired someone with at least a modicum of understanding of what it does? Shouldn't her first tweet have been something more profound than "How should @NYTimes be using twitter"? I mean, come on, a decent social media editor should have answered that question during the freaking job interview!

The internal memo sent to staff announcing her hiring confirms that question wasn't asked. In fact, the memo pretty much implies that her job is just figuring out what the hell social media are -- and that she'll spend most of her time talking to staffers who already use it. WTF? Shouldn't one of them have been named social media editor?

The rumor circulating around the newsroom at the Times is that she wasn't hired to help the staff better use Twitter. It was to monitor their use of it and put the brakes on it. Times deputy managing editor Jonathan Landman is quoted in the May 26 New York Observer pretty much saying such: "Mr. Landman said that Ms. Preston was tapped to help ensure 'some consistency about what we consider good uses of [social media] and bad uses of it.'”

In addition, Executive Editor Bill Keller went on a newsroom tirade earlier this year when details of meetings involving restructuring at the Times were spread via Twitter. His statements at the time indicated he didn't want staffers using the service.

People constantly ask me why I think newspapers are important. Why they should survive. Why we should fight for them. I tell them it's because they are the last wall protecting this country from government run amuck. Broadcast television no longer practices journalism; it's just a bunch of screaming idiots shouting their opinions at the American public. Blogs written by "citizen journalists" again are little more than individual spouting their personal opinin. They lack the investigative prowess and discernment, as well as professional objectivity, provided by trained journalists. Newspapers are all that's left of true, meaningful, investigative journalism. But if those papers can't accept, embrace and effectively use new media technologies and distribution methods to gather, parse and disseminate their work, then that work becomes useless because no one will see it. The Times, quite frankly, no longer gets it.

New video about me

2009-05-27T10:57:00.000-05:00

I have a G.O.D. complex, I have just learned. That's Grammar Obsessive Disorder. The video here explains it all.

What's wrong with this calendar?

2009-05-26T15:40:00.001-05:00

Grammar woes

2009-05-21T22:07:00.001-05:00

I spent the past two days mingling with incoming fall freshmen. This group of students are supposed to be our best and brightest. All have earned scholarships. I expect a highly literate, articulate bunch of students.

Hardly.

What is being taught in our schools today that these kids can't use proper grammar. At all. It was very depressing.

When bad grammar happens in the forest...

2009-05-07T16:07:00.000-05:00

And no one is there to correct it, does it happen?

I ask this question because today I had to have some automotive work done on my car. The two mechanics were very good at auto repair -- they showed me everything that was wrong, and offered me multiple options for every repair to save money -- but they had to be the two most grammatically illiterate men I've ever met. I cringed every time they spoke, and nearly bit off my tongue to keep from correcting them, for fear my auto repair costs would skyrocket with each increase in price.

I don't know what was more painful for me personally, keeping quiet, or the $489 repair bill.

Font fight to the death

2009-05-06T09:42:00.000-05:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Star Trek will live longer, prosper further, with this reinvention

2009-05-05T14:10:00.001-05:00

I had a chance to see the new Star Trek movie at a preview event this weekend. It is unbelievably good. Speaking as a die-hard Trekker, who went into the screening expecting to be disappointed and angry when I left the theater, I was not. I was completely impressed with almost every aspect of the movie. Only two things happen in this film that are so far removed from Trek universe canon I had a difficult time accepting them, but even then, they still fit. I won't spoil them for you, but I will post a thread about them once the movie has been out about a week or two to get feedback on them.

The weakest part of the film is, as usual, the villain. Nothing can compare to Khan. Chris Pine does a great job as a new, young Kirk, and he doesn't in any way make it a parody of Shatner. Zachary Quinto is a fantastic Spock. Eric Bana did what he could, I think, with the Nero character. However, the development of that character was incredibly weak, which I blame in part on the intent of the script, which was more to reintroduce the seven primary Star Trek characters and not Nero. The movie far exceeds my expectations in its handling of the Star Trek original seven. I was disappointed not to see a nurse Christine Chapel in the film; however, we got to be blessed one last time with Majel Barrett Roddenberry's voice as the ship's computer.

Leonard Nimoy's Spock, is, as usual, what you would expect. He plays a more mature, more comfortable-as-who-he-is Spock. My biggest gripe is the absolutely illogical way in which he first appears in the film. I have a better chance of winning back-to-back Powerballs without even buying a ticket than the chance encounter filmgoers will witness that brings him into the movie.

Karl Urban's McCoy is probably the closest we see of all the original seven to being extremely true to the original actor's portrayal, but I don't consider it a parody. It's a true interpretation of McCoy. His introduction is hilarious. I just loved how he summarized every single personal detail we learned about his life in the series in one sentence.

Zoe Saldana gives us an Uhura we've never seen before, but one that has always been hinted at beneath the surface. And, she's a sexy Uhura, and looks so much better half-naked than an old Nichelle Nichols did in Star Trek V.

Jon Cho does a great job with Sulu. He has a lot more screen time than Sulu has had outside of Star Trek VI, and he runs with it. Cho has a lot of action scenes, and some good dialogue.

Anton Yelchin steals a few scenes as Chekov, but mostly he's no more than a glorified extra in the film. I wish he had more to do, but like in the original series and throughout the movies, he's more comic relief than anything else.

Which brings me to Scotty. Of all the original series characters, I think he's my most beloved just for what James Doohan did with the role. He clearly had fun with it, and he always had at least one scene that made me laugh. Yet, at the same time, you could tell just how serious he was about the role as well. Simon Pegg, I thought, was a huge gamble to be cast in the role. All I think of when I hear his name is Shawn of the Dead, and let's face it, that movie nor his role in it lead one to believe he would make a good Scotty. When we were already more than halfway through the movie with still no Scotty sightings, I was thinking that maybe he was so bad in the movie the producers had cut all of his scenes. Then, he shows up. Pegg NAILS Scotty. He was dynamic, funny and intelligent. When the movie ended, my biggest regret was Scotty was introduced so late in the film!

A lot of other characters familiar to the Trek universe are introduced throughout the film, and most are fleeting introductions with no new information. With one exception. Bruce Greenwood is a good Capt. Christopher Pike, and die-hard Trekkers will notice the nod to the original Capt. Pike at the end of the movie. In fact, die-hard Trekkers will enjoy this movie on a completely different level than those who are just casual fans or completely new to the Star Trek universe. Tons of Easter Eggs are hidden throughout the movie for die-hard fans, and I'm not going to spoil any of them because that would ruin the fun of spotting them. However, I will say you need to stay and read the credits, because a few are hidden in there as well. For example, Cyrano Jones is credited as the singer of some songs in the movie. If you are a Trekker, you know what that means, if not, you miss the joke, but you aren't cheated of anything, either.

For the first time ever, we see Kirk's mother, but only as she's giving birth. We meet his father as well. Sarek and Amanda appear, and I have to say neither lives up to my expectations of those characters as they were developed by Mark Lenard and Jane Wyatt. Then again, neither has very much screen time, either, so I can live with it.

A number of people make cameo appearances in the film, the most notable of which is the actor who plays the head of Star Fleet Academy. Many people already know who it is, but again, if you don't know, the surprise is fun, so I won't say. Most of the cameos are uncredited, nonspeaking roles, so you have to keep your eye open for them.

Some scenes that haven't already been spoiled by the plethora of trailers on the Web and TV do surprise or enthrall as well or better than those teased. I have to say one of my favorites was the look inside a Vulcan educational institution. The classrooms are the coolest thing they've developed for such a minor scene in a movie. Another good scene is the often-mentioned but never-seen Kobayashi Maru test, which you finally get to see unfold.

And, a couple of the teasers are misleading. You will genuinely be surprised when the entire scene unfolds on the big screen versus what you are led to believe will happen in the trailer.

Whether you are a Star Trek fan or just a fan of good action movies, you'll be delighted when you see this movie. I'm going to watch it again this weekend, only this time, in IMax.

And, I still can't wait.

Murfreesboro Magazine: "Ethic" Proportions

2009-04-13T20:15:00.000-05:00

This is from the cover of this month's Murfreesboro Magazine, a publication produced by Gannett primarily as an insert for the Daily News Journal, though you can buy a subscription, though I can't imagine why you would.

This month, the magazine's cover story is on "ethic restaurants," though I have no idea what that means, unless they are talking about restaurants that employ questionable morals in the preparation of my food. I think they meant "ethnic" restaurants, which just shows that all the layoffs at Gannett clearly included anyone who can read.

I can undertand mistakes in a daily newspaper. Stories miss deadline, happen on deadline, and you have a daily pressure to get everything done in a limited amount of time. This is a monthly, glossy, four-color expensive product. You would think there would be some quality control. And someone to proofread the cover. But they must have all been on furlough when this went to press.

That said, I expected to read about multiple restaurants in the referenced cover story. I mean, the word was plural, right? However, I did not. The cover story featured one -- one restaurant! Murfreesboro probably has more ethnic restaurants per capita than any city in which I've ever been, and I'll include New York and San Francisco in that. Yet, apparently, only one restaurant made the cut. There's a very incomplete list of "ethnic" restaurants that's clearly a paid ad on the page before the story about Sushin, but that's it. And it places "Demos' Steak and Spaghetti House" under Mediterranean, though aside from spaghetti and lasagne, which has been Americanized to the point it's not Italian at all, it has nothing Mediterranean on the menu. And the list omits some of our most ethnic restaurants, such as Cuzco, which is an outstanding Peruvian restaurant (review coming soon on my food blog).

And while Sushin is good Sushi, it's not the best in the 'Boro. That belongs to Sakura, which isn't even on the list. I imagine Sushin got the feature story because it bid the highest for the honor. The entire "review" read more like an advertisement than an honest assessment of the food available. Yes, Sushin is good, but it's not nearly the quality the story made it out to be.

So, in a word, Murfreesboro Magazine sucks.

Food blog has launched

2009-04-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

I have finally launched my food blog. I've moved it to WordPress, simply because I want to diversify my online blogging technology knowledge. I'll eventually give it its own domain name, I've just not gotten around to that yet. However, for now, here it is:

http://eatingmurfreesboro.wordpress.com/

The dead in Alabama suffer bad grammar, too.

2009-03-10T14:49:00.001-05:00

You have a Picture Mail from Steven Chappell

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From the road that leads to my grandparents' grave. Sigh.

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I'm back, baby!

2009-02-03T16:01:00.000-06:00

After an unceremonious, sudden disappearance not caused by me (don't ask, I don't want to talk about it any more), The Grammar Nazi is back on Blogger. However, few, if any, of my old posts survived. I'm still searching for caches of them on the Web. If and when I find them, I'll try to repost the best of the bunch. Sadly, however, it looks like I'll be mostly starting over from scratch, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'm considering transforming this into a Murfreesboro-area food blog, mainly because I've been eating a lot of good restaurants lately. And these are restaurants I want to stay around, so I want to encourage people to eat there.

If anyone out there, for some really weird reason, ever saved any of my old blog posts, please let me know and forward them to me. I would appreciate it.

And now, I'm off to teach Media Writing and rant about bad grammar!