Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Day of Terror: The Sights and Sounds of Nine-Eleven

US President George W. Bush was visiting a Florida grade school on the morning...
Mr President, "America is under attach"


Der Spiegel (The Mirror) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.

September 11, 2001, 8:20 a.m. — Betty Ong, flight attendant, contacts American Airlines operations center: " We have been hijacked." She is flying that day third in command on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. Little does she know that Flight 11, a Boeing 767, has been diverted to the south tower of the World Trade Center.
8:46 a.m., World Trade Center, New York, North Tower — The hijacked Boeing 767, American Airlines Flight 11, rams into the skyscraper between the 93rd and 99th floors. Upon impact, the aluminum fuel tanks rip apart, spewing a torrent of fuel that is ignited by sparks from the shearing steel. Everywhere in the building people are screaming. Seized by utter panic, they clutch at chairs, cabinets, anything that gives them stability. They are crushed against desks and slammed into walls. And within seconds, they are incinerated by the inferno, leaving hardly a trace behind.
9:03 a.m., World Trade Center, New York, South Tower — The hijacked Boeing 767, United Airlines Flight 175, barrels into the skyscraper between the 77th and 85th floors. Apparently about to miss their mark, the terrorist pilots had to change course at the last minute. The United plane is traveling at a much higher speed than the American jet when it impacts — 586 mph vs. 486 mph. The ground moves, the earth seems to quake, and the sheer force catapults people to their deaths. The structural damage to the building is much more devastating than in the North Tower.

9:53 a.m., World Trade Center, New York South Tower — Kevin Cosgrove, on the 105th floor, makes contact with New York Fire Dispatch. Gasping for air the barely audible five minute conversation makes little sense until 9:59 a.m. … and then the bang and the screams. The South Tower implodes

We've seen the videos  from a different angle. But the audio, the frustrations of impending death, the care of emergency workers --- heartbreaking.








Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Education: After The Magnet School


Wednesday, November 9, 2011



No, it won't be a money maker nor will it break even but it will provide a greater return on investment with higher test scores and a narrowing of the achievement gap.

We have  seen rendering of our new Magnet School  and heard of its potential  for success.  If The State Board of Education fulfills its financial promises and the local board complies with the states contractual obligations The Magnet School should give Windham its greatest educational lift since the invention of the blackboard.  But what will the new school's influence be on Windham's existing schools.  450 students and a proportional number of teachers will move from  their existing schools leaving those schools vastly different.
Will the "cream students and great teachers" be skimmed off to Tuckie Rd. leaving Windham Schools an educational wasteland?

New York City hosts a magnet  or charter school on nearly every block of its deprived neighborhoods.  MS 223, a holdover school located in  the Bronx has endured the ever-growing number of charter schools, often privately subsidized and rarely bound by union rules, that have been unleashed on the city. These alternative schools constantly  skim off the neighborhood’s more ambitious, motivated families. And every year, as failing schools are shut down in New York   MS 223 must accept a steady stream of children with poor intellectual habits and little family support.

Ramon Gonzales, 223's CEO and his young cadre of   enthusiastic teachers have managed to keep the school above water while gathering awards and placing MS 223 one of the best middle schools in New York City.  But will the dream continue, is it sustainable?  The New York Times' Johnathan Mahler writes of the daily trials at Middle School 223, its Principal, the staff and students. 

MS223, The Bronx 



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Windham: Closing Down Transparency, Part 1 0f 3





Windham: Closing Down Transparency

DeVivo
Observing the local political process and those that make (or don't make) it happen, I often wonder what goes on in the minds of those newly elected on election night. Exactly when do they become the "authorities" or the "experts" that many become? When do they shed that pre-election humility and concern for those that look up to them and support them? When does their listening ability cease?
Do these things happen when the last ballot is counted or is it a slower evolution?

On Dec. 6, 2011, Windham's Town Council majority returned to their authoritive mode after the November elections. Election time is when most politicians pretended to listen to their constitutes. (Hard work, but a fact of life at election time.)

Councilmen voted 7-4  to change how the Council operates meet­ings, including the controversial elimination of the second public comment period.


Rivera
Voting in favor of the change were Councilmen Charles Krich, Thomas DeVivo, Joe Underwood, Kevin Donahue, Arnaldo Rivera, Christel Donahue and Jerry Iazzetta -- all members of the majority party.

Dissenting were Tony Fantoli, Lorraine McDevitt, Mark Doyle and Windham Mayor Ernest Eldridge.

The rationale behind the proponents' decision was to make council meetings more efficient. "We were finding people were coming to speak twice. This will encourage people to focus on what they have to say."

Being a one-party town  for years, there has been no incentive to inform the town's civic society nor to listen.  "The less they know, the easier it is to keep being re-elected."  Being re-elected guarantees the "good old boys and girls" keep doing the same old thing -- driving Windham to an unknown place. Wherever that may be.


December 2010 brought our schools a failing report from The Nagg School of Education, commissioned by the State Commissioner of Education. The Report of District Governance devoted  many paragraphs to the lack of or poor communication between the various town boards, the board of education and town citizens. They further emphasized that this major problem could be fixed with little or no cost.  They suggested that communications was the root of Windham's troubles.

The decision to eliminate the second public comment is deeply disturbing when put into context of other  moves the town council has made in recent years.

  • The Granicus Proposal:  To replace the audio-video system from the Philo Farnsworth era, used to broadcast meetings on the town cable channel.  The proposal has been lost in sub-committee
Krich
  • Ad-Hoc Open Government Communication Committee: To promote communications between government and citizens with a focus on enhancing interest and web-based communications  The first meeting took place in Sept. 2010, 19 months have passed without a second meeting.
  • Meeting Minutes:  According to The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, all towns are required to upload the minutes of a committee or commission meeting within 48 hours of that meeting to their website.  If the town is unwilling or incapable of complying they must shut down their web site.  In 2010 when this law took effect many towns choose to shut down their sites including the neighboring towns of Scotland and Andover. Windham flaunted the mandate.If there was an FOI  jail many Windham officials would be behind bars today. Of 140 meetings listed on the Board of Finance website, 65 have no minutes.  Interestingly enough, most occured under the tutelage of previous chairman McGrath -- and most occurred during budget season. The Town Council has improved the timing of uploading minutes, but is still non-compliant. Chances are, agendas are uploaded after the meeting occurs.  The Administration & Finance, Health & Human Service sub committee to the Town Council, and the Town Council-Willimantic Service District fail miserablely informing their citizens. The Town Council Recreation & Public Works Sub Committee has a commendable record.
  • Political Caucus: "A closed meeting of party members within a legislative body to decide on questions of policy or leadership." Windham, being a one-party town has used this legal mechanism for decades to successfully control town boards.  It is a  method for party leadership to control their members through intimidation. Most party members who perceive themselves to hold a minority point of view will be less likely to speak out for fear of being isolated, thus a few control the party, hence they control the direction of town government. For the taxpayer following the council's process of changing the meeting procedures, there was no need to offer an opinion or get excited. This particular legislation had been pre-decided in secret session. Eliminating the second council public comment option had been written in stone before the sham council vote.  Call it theatrics, call it smoke and mirrors, call it "Houdini-ism" -- I call it distrust in the neighbors we elect.
  • The Upstairs-Downstairs Magic Show:  The town hall renovated ballroom became available for overcrowded meetings in the 2010-11 budget season.  While this hall maybe great for social events, it is not up to snuff  for meetings.  Acoustics are non-existent, lighting feeble, the setting sun blinds both spectators and meeting participants, and best yet (for politicians) the room lacks both audio and video equipment.   Finance Chair, Barbara McGrath  used this room to her advantage.  When a hearing was expected to draw undo negative comments in her crusade to provide more funding to the school board, she would move the finance board hearing to the ballroom (no TV coverage) even if a sparse crown was in attendance. Conversely, when the school board filled the meeting room, hallway, and out the front door of town hall with those sympathetic to her cause, she chose to remain downstairs -- forsaking the much larger hall on the second floor. (TV coverage)
  • Playing Favorites:  We're splitting hairs here, but why should an "important person" be allowed an extra 45 seconds to talk over "Just Plain Joe" -- or someone with "more stature" be allowed to interject his thoughts during a meeting.  It doesn't happen often, but when a citizen is limited to exactly three minutes why are others accorded special status?
Underwood
Iazzetta
Kevin Donohue













Part 2 0f 3

Going through Town Council minutes on the Windham web site proves interesting. Sixty two meetings, 124 opportunities to speak ( 9- 21- 2009 to 12-. 6- 2011). Public hearings not included. The findings:
  • Total comments: 605
  • Early comments: 391 (2/3)
  • Late comments: 224 (1/3)
  • Most comments: July 20, 2010, 54 first comment session, 10 second comment session
  • Heavy participation always occurred during the first comment session when controversial items were on the agenda: union issues, ballroom naming, drinking in town hall, wrestling club, Card Street, senior citizens issues, magnet school concerns. 
  • Budget season 2011 saw a reversal in public comment.  More people spoke during the second comment session.  
  • Budget season 2010, near equal citizen participation.
"We were finding that it was the same people coming to speak twice,” those councilors voting to eliminate the second comment period claimed. “This will encourage people to focus on what they have to say.” In fact: 
  • (Nov. 2009-Dec. 2011), 81 citizens took advantage of both the first and second comment period at least once. Familiar names such as Stone, Santucci, Lary, Crane, DeVivo, Hoxie, Niles, Galucci, Fantolli, Montalovo, Veins, D'Auteille, Millard, Giordano, O'Brian, Jeffers, Doyle, Council members Iazetta & Underwood (who voted to elimanate the second public comment,) and Quercas.
  • Of the 81citizens speaking twice, 64 offered different subject matter during late comment. 
  • 14 contributor's repeated themselves to some degree.
  • Three speakers definitely repeated themselves. 
The most recent buzz at town hall is adding a third polling place. Windham's voting results have sunk to embarrassing levels. The November 2011 municipal elections saw a turnout of less than 15% ... Budget referendums, even less. Our authorities say the convenience factor is a detriment to voter turnout.
But, convenience has little to do with voter turnout:
  • Poverty and voter turnout go hand in hand. As poverty rates increase, voter turnout descends. When you don't know where tonight's supper will come from or how your fuel bill will be paid, voting is quite trivial.
  • When government shuts down citizen participation and stymies public engagement government suffers.
  • When government becomes hearing-impaired and forgets how they got where they are ...When government considers their position a God-given right ... ... we are on the brink of government breakdown and moral  bankruptcy.
Maybe someday a third polling place will be required, but first our councilors must change their tune. The town council should offer citizens increased -- not fewer -- opportunities to participate in policy-making and to provide town government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information.  Public engagement enhances government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions.

Government must be tuned toward a bi-lingual format.  We are currently shutting out hundreds of voters and potential leaders.

For once politicians must serve the town first, not their party. Our government cannot withstand power plays.  Yes, we know that one party controls town government, they always have.

In 2009, then state representativeWalter Pawelkiwicz concluded a speech for a Main Street substance abuse center dedication with these words: "Windham, may be the the second poorest  town in Connecticut, but we have heart."

Heart ain't going to do it, nor is closed government going to solve Windham's problems:
  • We need leaders with integrity and intellectual honesty.
  • We need politicians who respect their political opponents, treat their constituents like adults, and promote openness and transparency in government.
  • We need leaders with compelling ideas -- and the ability and vision to turn those ideas into action.
  • We need leaders who can see beyond the next election cycle and who have the political courage to lay the foundation for Windham's future success -- even if it means making unpopular decisions today.
  • We need leaders who are willing to work with those from across the aisle to get things done.
  • Most importantly we look for men and women who are not afraid to challenge their party’s leadership when that leadership is putting politics and partisan mudslinging above what’s best for  us all.
And so, Councilmen Krich, DeVivo, Underwood, Kevin Donahue, Rivera, Christel Donahue and Iazzetta ... when did it happen?
When did you grow too big and stop caring about the people who elected you? When did you see them as a herd of the needy that comes to you to find purpose in life? Oh come on, if you keep up this attitude, the herds of people will soon start disappearing. And what are you without your little people ? Who will consider you the authority that you pretend to be if there is nobody to listen to you?

Listen to us. Respect us. We'll do the same.

You May be interested in:  follow up, Windham, Closing Down Transparency



Windham: Closing Down Transparency
Part 3 0f 3

On January 5th and 6th 2012  I sent a query to the seven councilors that voted to stop the second comment session at town council meetings. (see sample below)  I wasn't really interested in their  response, I wanted to see the councilors reaction. On March 1, 2012 I sent a second query to those that did not respond initially.  The results:

  • Kevin Donohue:  Timely, thoughtful response
  • Christel Donahue: Timely, thoughtful response
  • Jerry Iazzetta: No resonse
  • Arnaldo Rivera: No reponse
  • Joe Underwood: Unable to contact
  • Charles Krich:  Thoughtful reply but prefaced that I couldn't use his quotes because of the media (email) used.
  • Tom DeVivo: Responded with a "no comment"

Your comments maybe published

Dear Councilor

Your rational for cutting citizen participation  in half at Council Meeting.?  Would you consider rescinding your vote?
 Thank you
John Monaghan





Thursday, April 12, 2012

Poultry, Thread and Whitewater




Poultry,Thread and Whitewater 

Keynote Speech
by
President, Eastern Connecticut State University
at
Rethinking the Latin@ Intellectual Ecology Conference
University of Connecticut
October 12, 2007 
History is so important because it is the only way in which we know where we have come from and why. And it guides us to where we are going. It is a tool to help us not make the same mistakes as we have in the past. Poultry, Thread and Whitewater is the real-life experience of Windham. It explores what is happening to Latin American families living in Connecticut.

Poultry. Thread and Whitewater is an important part of Windham's history and is recommended reading to all its citizens.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Baseball: Jack Buck Slept Here





Jack Buck Slept Here
Jack Buck





In the early years come October I'd suffer an ever small case of depression. By the holiday season it disappeared. I blamed it on the change of seasons and the prospect of many gray months ahead. Now in the autumn of my years, I know now it's the end of the baseball season. For whatever tidbit of depression I lived with, come the following season there was a new beginning with the coming of spring training and the prospect of 162 games — a new set of statistics and a new start. "Maybe the home team will win."


The 2011 season was rough. The team up the Pike had imploded in September and my team washed out in the early innings of the playoffs. What to do? While the bouts of micro depression stopped years ago I wasn't looking forward to the long gray months ahead. But wait! The Cardinals were in it, by the hairs on their chin. If only they could get past Milwaukee to face Detroit or Texas, the gray months would be shortened by a week or two.

I've always been a Cardinals fan.

First thing each morning in season, the box scores are analyzed in the Post followed by a re-check in the afternoon Chronicle. First the home team, followed by the team up the Pike and finally the Cardinals. Why the Cardinals? Never really knew until August 1992. A charter member of the Senior League, its hallowed history including the legends of Hornsby, Musial and Brock, McGee, Gibson and Smith. The St. Louis Fanatics, the Arch, the Clydesdale's, Budweiser and Jack Buck.

Finishing a grand tour in the summer of 1992, we (my son Mike and me) were brought up to the loge level of Buch Stadium and ushered into the broadcast booth of KMOX, the Voice of the St. Louis Cardinals. We were introduced to Mike Shannon who was busy getting ready for that night’s game with Montreal. Jack Buck was on his way out to get something to eat. "Come on guys, I'll buy you a hot dog." We followed the Hall of Famer to a cafeteria behind the broadcast booths. Munching on our hot dogs, he asked where we were from. Figuring no one had heard of Willimantic and thinking that someone connected to sports had heard of UConn's basketball program, I said "Storrs, Connecticut." His reply, "Know where Willimantic is?" I said yes and asked why he knew about Willimantic? "Spent the night there once." "Where?" I asked. “The town jail," he replied. "Why?" I asked again. Buck, growing up in Holyoke, Mass. had had a disagreement with his parents and ran away from home. Around 10:00 pm on a Sunday night he pulled into Willimantic, where he was immediately picked up and brought to the police station then located in Town Hall. His parents were contacted but no one was home. They and half of Holyoke were out looking for Jack. It was decided after speaking with the Holyoke PD that the wayward traveler would be the guest of the Willimantic Police that evening. "Slept like a log that night," he said. The next morning he was taken out for breakfast by a police officer. We decided it was probably to Lindy's.

The Cardinals extended my season this year, as they went on to beat Milwaukee and Texas to win the 2011 World Series in seven games. ESPN Radio's Dan Shulman tidily summed it up: "No team's ever has come from as far back as late in the season as the Cardinals did. No team has ever come back twice from being a strike away from elimination in the World Series. ... An epoch series not for the faint of heart."Thursday's sixth game, Joe Buck, Jack’s son and the lead play-by-play broadcaster for Fox TV, finished what he said was the most memorable game he ever has broadcast with a personal tribute to his late dad, who had a similar call two decades earlier in an eerily similar setting. As David Freese cracked his home run in the 11th inning late Thursday to give the Cards their miraculous 10-9 victory over Texas to force Game 7 — after they trailed by two runs in the ninth and 10th innings and twice were down to their last strike — Buck described the winning hit thusly: "Fre
ese hits it into center. WE WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT!"
Twenty years and one day earlier, his father was on CBS when Kirby Puckett homered, also in the 11th and also in Game 6, to give Minnesota a 4-3 victory over Atlanta. Jack Buck, working his last Series on national TV, described it this way: "Into deep left center ... AND WE'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT!"

Jack Buck & Mike Shannon









Thursday, April 5, 2012

Baseball: The Night The Lights Stayed on at McCoy





Monday, October 3, 2011

The Night The Lights Stayed On At McCoy


April 19, 1981. Easter Sunday morning, sometime after 2:00 a.m. The phone rings in the club house of McCoy Stadium, home to theTriple A affiliate Pawtucket Red Sox. It was for Joe Morgan, manager of the home team. His wife was calling.

Joe took the call in his office. He had been thrown out of that night's game with the Rochester Red Wings. He explained to his wife that the team was in an extra inning game and he would be home as soon as it was over. She flipped"You never used that excuse before Joe! You promised you'd take us to church tomorrow. I know you're drinking beer and playing poker. Oh, and shut those field lights off down there. The city can't afford those electric bills and I can't sleep with the lights flooding into the bedroom."

Yes, the east side of Pawtucket was like Times Square that night. After 2:00 a.m., the concession stands were open with free food to those still in the stands. At 4:07 a.m., league officials called the game. Paw Sox owner Ben Mondor issued life-time passes to the 19 souls that sat through a cold miserable night to watch history being made. The score was tied, 2-2.

Joe Morgan never made it home that night. He slept on his office couch. He did go to church.The marathon resumed on June 23 before 5,756 fans. Millions more listened or watched worldwide. Pawtucket, a sleepy old textile town on the banks of the Blackstone, had never seen such excitement. Rochester columnist Bob Minzesheimer wrote that day, “Not since the time they had to shoot the drunken camel at the city zoo has there been this much excitement in Pawtucket."

It took just 18 minutes on June 23rd to finally end the contest and rewrite history. The record still stands.  Thirty three innings, twenty three days — the longest ballgame on record. The Paw Sox won, 3-2.


CBS Nightly News

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Welcome to Windham Week









Welcome to Windham Week

You won't find breaking news here. We are here to compliment local news media with analysis, comparison, contrasts — and even those hard-to-find statistics and facts about local institutions, events, traditions, history, and more. You won't find half-cocked rants — and no regurgitated drivel. Just fluff-less news.

Rounding out our content will be features about baseball, America’s Pastime, and life.

So … Give us a look. Let us build your trust. Put us on your "speed dial." And, tell your friends.

We start off with an eight-part blog on Windham's schools: what went wrong,how it went wrong, and the main players that let it go wrong.

For future reference, we will devote a disproportion amount of blog space to education — for if our schools fail , so will Windham.

In anticipation of opening day of Major League Baseball we will add two baseball blogs on April 5th and 6th. These should be enjoyed by all and don't have much to do with our favorite pastime other than both occurred in a baseball stadium.

On April 12, 2012 we will begin a three-part series on Windham's town council and how several members are attempting to close government to its citizens.

windhamweek.blogspot.com