Montebello E-News

 September 18, 2008 

 I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835 – 1910,
better known by the pen name "Mark Twain", was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer.  Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the "Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations. During his lifetime, Twain became a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists and European royalty. 

 [Now that is a curious statement.  Is Twain saying that he is interested only in creative people?]

 1. Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

2.  The Beat of a Different Drummer, Part 2

3. Announcements

4. Fun Facts about the Wonder of DNA

5. The Flashback Quarterback:  From the Mouths of Babes

6. Be Aware and Share:  Will We Ever Get It Right? 

7. About Montebello E-News and “My Montebello”

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?  

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Pete Seeger, 1961  

I did not realize until I read all the lyrics that there was a powerful story in the lyrics, http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/flowers-gone.shtml.  

I wonder whether we would ever learn.  From the New York Times, July 3, 2008  

The’60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire
by Patricia Cohen  

MADISON, Wis. — When Michael Olneck was standing, arms linked with other protesters, singing “We Shall Not Be Moved” in front of Columbia University’s library in 1968, Sara Goldrick-Rab had not yet been born.  

When he won tenure at the University of Wisconsin here in 1980, she was 3. And in January, when he retires at 62, Ms. Goldrick-Rab will be just across the hall, working to earn a permanent spot on the same faculty from which he is departing.  

Together, these Midwestern academics, one leaving the professoriate and another working her way up, are part of a vast generational change that is likely to profoundly alter the culture at American universities and colleges over the next decade.  

Baby boomers, hired in large numbers during a huge expansion in higher education that continued into the ’70s, are being replaced by younger professors who many of the nearly 50 academics interviewed by The New York Times believe are different from their predecessors — less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate. ...  

When it comes to those who consider themselves “liberal activists,” 17.2 percent of the 50-64 age group take up the banner compared with only 1.3 percent of professors 35 and younger. ...  

“Senior people evaluate us for tenure and the standards they use and what we think is important are different,” she said. They want to question values and norms; “we are more driven by data.” ...  

But as scholars across fields argue, the historical era in which a generation develops — the Depression, wartime or peaceful affluence — is a defining moment for its members. “My generational paradigm is the end of the cold war,” said Matthew Woessner, a 35-year-old conservative and political scientist at Penn State Harrisburg. He and his wife, April Kelly-Woessner, a political scientist at nearby Elizabethtown College who is a year younger and a moderate, have been analyzing faculty survey responses for a new book. The notion that campuses are naturally radical or the birthplace of social movements, Ms. Kelly-Woessner said, was specific to the 1960s and ’70s. “I think the younger generation does look at it differently.” …  Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company.

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2008 by a local nonprofit organization.

1. What is the article about?

(a) A new generation of professors on university campuses has different views.

(b) The circumstances in which we grow up affect our views.

2. Should we be concerned?

(a) Yes, because the younger generation of professors cannot inculcate leadership without itself leading.

(b) No, because the younger generation of professors is addressing issues, but in a different way.

If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.
Henry David Thoreau, July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862,
 was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, sage writer and philosopher. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

…We have valued grades and scores more than learning. We have forgotten to teach you that all understanding begins with wonder and with following unexpected discovery in unknown directions. We have tried to stomp the wonder out of you by getting you to choose a track and stick with it. We have asked you to excel in every endeavor and to avoid anything that might diminish your record of excellence. When we rewarded you only for following all of our rules and not for making any of your own, we did more to close your minds than to open them. … I am sorry that we have taught you to value economic success over passionate engagement with your work. … http://www.theroot.com/id/46623
Melissa Harris-Lacewell

If you were to combine the two quotations above, what would you conclude?  That we have taken the “different drummer” out of the classroom?

Let us continue our respite from talking about problems by talking about solutions.  Below is a story about a tool which is cool, as excerpted from the book Tactics of Hope:

In 1989, while visiting an agricultural fair just outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, I [Trevor Field] came across a miniature model of a roundabout, or merry-go-round as it is often called, attached to a water pump.  The inventor was a local farmer and borehole driller who had dreamed up the idea to keep children entertained while they watched his rigs at work out in the farmlands. …

With the original architect and Paul Ristic, both of whom had an invaluable wealth of knowledge in the engineering field, we spent six years refining the original design of the PlayPump water system into what it is today.  We were not at first thinking about how the technology might have an effect on the global drinking water crisis. …when in one province of South Africa we noticed a complete shift in consumer buying patterns from one particular brand of bread to another, healthier variety, we realized that we could have the same positive impact with health messaging to influence behavior changes throughout the rural populations.

Our greatest success has been this realization that we could apply our professional expertise to make a significant social impact.  We have since created an integrated approach to our new invention, providing clean drinking water, encouraging kids to play and enjoy themselves, uplifting rural women who would otherwise walk miles carrying buckets of often-contaminated water for their families to share and giving sponsors a platform to showcase brands associated with vital health and social messaging. … We now face a crisis, which can be overcome by encouraging entrepreneurship, rather than dependency, to revolutionize distribution systems for basic human needs among the rural poor. …

In all, 950 PlayPumps have been installed in four African countries to date;  700 of these have been in South Africa alone.  Over 2 million people can access free, clean drinking water for the first time.  Nearly one hundred jobs have been created through the PlayPump maintenance program. ...

FOR YOUTH, TEACHERS, PARENTS.  Money for youth.  With generous support from the State Farm Companies Foundation, Youth Service America is offering the annual State Farm “Good Neighbor” Service-Learning Grant for youth-led community improvement projects across the United States and Canada (Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick provinces only). These grants of up to $1,000 support teachers and service-learning coordinators in engaging students ages 5-25 to implement service-learning projects for Global Youth Service Day, April24-26, 2009. … To learn more, … www.YSA.org/awards.  Questions? Please contact goodneighbor@ysa.org.  Deadline: October 15, 2008. …

FOR PARENTS AND PRESCHOOLERS.  Free, fun Fridays.  Every Friday through December 19, 2008, at 11 a.m. there will be stories, rhymes and music, followed by an art activity, at the Montebello library, 1550 West Beverly Boulevard.  For more information, 323.722.6551.

FOR EVERYONE.  City-council meeting.  The next regular meeting of the Montebello city council will be in the council chamber at city hall on Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 6:30 p.m.  If you wish to speak during orals, come before 6:30 p.m. and sign up.  If you have more to say than there is time allotted, prepare a one pager, make copies, and hand out before you speak.  For more information, 323.887.1363.

[A couple of the statistics below seem exaggerated.]  

There are more than a million animal species. There are 6,000 species of reptiles, 73,000 kinds of spiders, and 3,000 types of lice.  For each person there is about 200 million insects.  The 4,600 kinds of mammals represent a mere 0,3% of animals and the 9,000 kinds of birds only 0,7%. …  http://www.didyouknow.cd/animals/animals.htm

Two teenagers started a Web site.  In light of the deficiencies in teen education, as mentioned in the E-News essays “From History to Hysteria” and “Gatekeepers They Are, Sleepers Are We”, I found the following heartening:

The Vikings were fierce pirates and warriors who terrorized Europe from the late 700’s to about A.D. 1100. Brutal and fearsome they looted and burned parts of England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and Spain.  Other Europeans were so frightened of the Vikings that a special prayer for protection was offered in the churches: “God, deliver us from the fury of the Northmen.”

Most historians attribute the Vikings devastating effectiveness to their warships, which were swift and light and could be easily dragged ashore. This allowed them to strike suddenly and then quickly retreat to the safety of the sea. However, my wise father has identified another contributing factor—one that holds incredible significance for all of us: The Vikings rowed themselves to battle.

Unlike the Romans, who used galley slaves to row their great warships, the Vikings took full responsibility for this strenuous activity. This tells us two things: 1) the Vikings didn’t feel that rowing was beneath them—they pursued competence in every area pertaining to their success, and 2) they were seriously ripped. No wonder the people of Europe were afraid of these guys—their muscles were moving twenty-ton boats through the water!

Here’s The Rebelution’s challenge: Do hard things. Learn a lesson from the Vikings. Do hard things and you will carry the battle every time. If you are willing to take on responsibilities that others delegate or neglect you will gain the benefits of that exertion.

Too often we delegate the responsibility for our education, our character, our future, etc. to others who hold far less of a stake in how things turn out. And more often than not a failure to perform in the areas of character and competence are due to a lack of past exertion.

Look around you. Many American young people are doing little more than “making it”—and this in a culture of unbelievably low standards. Few shoulder the burden of doing more than is required—yet that was the key to the Viking’s success!
http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2005/10/
a-lesson-from-the-vikings-do-hard-things%E2%84%A2/

I imagine that, given unlimited funds, each of us could bring the dropout rate for public high-school students to zero.  But we do not have unlimited funds.  How would you attempt to solve the problem stated below?

The dropout rate for public high school students is bleaker than previous data have shown, according to new figures released Wednesday that state officials called the most accurate picture of a statewide "crisis" ever reported.

The data, released by the California Department of Education, showed mixed results for South Bay and Harbor Area campuses. Some local schools had zero dropouts, while others lost more than 40 percent of their students.

Statewide, 24.2 percent of students dropped out of school in 2006-07, the academic year that the study tracked. The figure was considerably higher than the 13.9percent that had been estimated under an old method that officials said was based in part on guesswork, but it was lower than some independent estimates. …  July 16, 2008 http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9903974?source=email

To learn about this newsletter, Montebello E-News, and the accompanying, growing Web site, “My Montebello”, visit www.mymontebello.com.  Also, you will find instructions and contact information for submitting announcements for publication in this newsletter, and for submitting stories to “Montebello Memories” at the Web site.