not the NY jets kicker

Rising Deficit, Rising Debt, and the American Consumer

2010-12-12T16:15:00.000-06:00

FDA and Four Loko

2010-12-12T16:10:00.000-06:00

New York Jets Midseason Report - Followup

2010-12-12T16:08:00.000-06:00

American Economy - Bush Tax Cuts

2010-12-12T16:06:00.000-06:00

The best investment opportunities in the next decade

2010-12-05T16:28:00.001-06:00

US Economy - Interesting Facts December 2010

2010-12-05T16:21:00.000-06:00

Recession Unemployment Medicare Medicaid Social Security Defense Budget Politics Politicians Poverty

2010-12-05T16:20:00.000-06:00

Cam Newton and College Football Scandals

2010-12-05T16:08:00.000-06:00

New York Jets -- Super Bowl Contenders for 2011?

2010-09-05T16:18:00.002-05:00

Video Game Addiction -- Who's to Blame?

2010-09-05T16:18:00.001-05:00

Bill Wilson and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

2010-09-05T16:17:00.005-05:00

Generation Y (Why?) -- We want quick fame and fortune

2010-09-05T16:17:00.004-05:00

The Pill -- A Miracle in Contraception?

2010-09-05T16:17:00.001-05:00

Money for Nuthin'

2010-09-05T16:16:00.004-05:00

The Purpose of Education -- Know Thyself

2010-09-05T16:16:00.003-05:00

Crisis in Schools -- Transcendental Meditation (TM) can Help

2010-09-05T16:16:00.001-05:00

Why Health Insurance Companies Reject Claims

2010-09-05T16:15:00.004-05:00

Local TV Ads and Children

2010-09-05T16:15:00.003-05:00

Wallstreet, Too Big to Fail, and Obama's Speech

2010-09-05T16:15:00.001-05:00

Junk Food -- the new Cocaine

2010-04-18T16:35:00.003-05:00

Joe Mauer, the Twins, and Hoby Baker

2010-04-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

Scapegoats in World Political History and in the US Today

2010-04-18T16:33:00.001-05:00

Global warming and crime statistics

2010-04-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

The Problem with Education in America

2010-04-11T16:55:00.001-05:00

Does a Tiger Change Its Stripes?

2010-04-11T16:46:00.001-05:00

Nike's Gambit

2010-04-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

The Chinese Crackdown on Private Emails

2010-04-11T16:38:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it? Astonishing Statistics about American Society -- Part 2

2010-03-07T21:35:00.000-06:00

Soldier Suicides in Iraq and Afghanistan

2010-03-07T15:27:00.000-06:00

Iran/Iraq War -- The Truth

2010-03-07T15:26:00.001-06:00

Internet Pornography Reaches all Age Levels

2010-03-07T15:21:00.000-06:00

Gore Vidal

2010-03-07T15:20:00.000-06:00

Super Bowl 2010 Half-time Show -- Starring "The Who"

2010-02-07T16:09:00.000-06:00

Super Bowl 2010 Preview and Predictions -- Saints Vs. Colts

2010-02-07T16:05:00.001-06:00

Christmas Day Terrorist - The facts and the folly of it

2010-02-07T16:02:00.000-06:00

The Birth of Infortainment

2010-01-09T15:35:00.000-06:00

Iowa Hawkeye Nation Triumphs

2010-01-09T15:34:00.003-06:00

Slamming Joe Namath -- Part 2

2010-01-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

College Bowl Game Preview 2009

2010-01-09T14:33:00.000-06:00

A New Professional Sport -- College Football

2009-12-20T16:12:00.000-06:00

Health Care Bill -- Stimulus Money for the Health Insurance Industry or Real Reform

2009-12-20T16:09:00.000-06:00

Tiger -- Caught by the Tail

2009-12-11T16:28:00.000-06:00

"Blind Side" -- The New "Home Alone "

2009-12-11T16:20:00.003-06:00

Is Money Destroying College Football?

2009-12-11T16:20:00.001-06:00

Andre Agassi -- Marketing Genius?

2009-12-11T16:18:00.000-06:00

The Cost of the Afghan War

2009-12-06T16:18:00.002-06:00

Jerry Jones -- The George Steinbrenner of the NFL

2009-12-06T16:18:00.001-06:00

Is College Football a professional sport?

2009-12-06T16:12:00.001-06:00

John and Kate plus 8 and White House Crashers

2009-12-06T16:11:00.000-06:00

Can we afford Health Care and Defense?

2009-11-27T15:25:00.001-06:00

Joe Mauer -- Money or Minnesota

2009-11-27T15:16:00.002-06:00

Your Brain on Football

2009-11-27T15:07:00.000-06:00

Quick Hits: Muslims, Millionaires, and a $250,000 fine

2009-11-22T16:26:00.001-06:00

Are Public Colleges in California Going Bankrupt?? Studen

2009-11-22T16:20:00.001-06:00

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Minnesota Gophers

2009-11-22T16:00:00.000-06:00

Fort Hood Shooting Update

2009-11-22T15:59:00.000-06:00

Iowa Hawkeyes vs Ohio State Buckeyes 11/14/09

2009-11-15T15:05:00.000-06:00

Gender Inequality in the World, Part 1

2009-11-15T14:57:00.000-06:00

Slamming Joe Namath

2009-11-15T14:47:00.002-06:00

Obama's Weekly Basketball Game

2009-11-15T14:47:00.001-06:00

Can you believe it? Astonishing Statistics about American Society -- Part 1

2009-11-11T20:39:00.001-06:00

Baby boomers and their fathers - Veteran's Day 2009

2009-11-11T20:32:00.000-06:00

Ft. Hood Tragedy -- Under the Radar?

2009-11-11T20:24:00.000-06:00

Warren Buffet invests billions into BNSF

2009-11-11T20:17:00.001-06:00

Final Analysis: Yankees vs. Phillies World Series 2009, Yankees Win

2009-11-11T20:12:00.001-06:00

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Northwestern Wildcats 11/7/09

2009-11-08T15:07:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: The exorbitant cost of college education

2009-11-08T15:05:00.000-06:00

Elizabeth Lambert Plays Rough against BYU

2009-11-08T15:00:00.000-06:00

Gubernatorial Elections New Jersey 2009

2009-11-08T14:56:00.000-06:00

New York City Mayoral Elections 2009

2009-11-08T14:50:00.000-06:00

Election Day 2009 Analysis

2009-11-08T14:48:00.001-06:00

The Extravagant Cost of a College Education, part 2

2009-11-04T20:34:00.001-06:00

Yankees Phillies World Series Game 6 Preview and analysis

2009-11-04T20:28:00.000-06:00

11/4/09 -- College Football Preview and Analysis

2009-11-04T20:16:00.000-06:00

Yankees vs Phillies World Series Game 5 preview and analysis

2009-11-04T20:14:00.000-06:00

Executive Greed, Greedy, Greedier part 3

2009-11-02T16:26:00.001-06:00

Big Ten Conference Iowa Hawkeyes vs Indiana Hoosiers 10/31/09

2009-11-02T16:20:00.001-06:00

Childhood obesity

2009-11-02T16:13:00.000-06:00

Howard Dean -- a forgotten man in the democratic party

2009-10-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

The extravagant cost of a college education

2009-10-30T16:20:00.000-05:00

Empty Seats - a Yankee Fan Betrayal 2009 World Series Yankees vs Phillies Game 2

2009-10-30T16:14:00.001-05:00

Executive Bonuses - Greed, Greedy, and Greedier, part 2

2009-10-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

2009 World Series Yankees vs Phillies Game 1 preview and predictions

2009-10-28T16:28:00.002-05:00

Caffeine Addiction, part 1

2009-10-28T16:22:00.001-05:00

Executive Greed has gone overboard in the US

2009-10-28T16:15:00.001-05:00

Our Electronic Planet

2009-10-26T16:38:00.002-05:00

Jasper Howard Connecticut Huskies vs. West Virginia

2009-10-26T16:37:00.000-05:00

John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry 150th Anniversary of the Civil War

2009-10-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

Is baseball competitive or just entertainment, part 3

2009-10-26T16:33:00.001-05:00

is professional baseball competitive or just entertainment, part 2

2009-10-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

is professional baseball competitive or just entertainment

2009-10-20T15:53:00.000-05:00

THE 550 POUND TEENAGER

2009-07-23T13:27:00.004-05:00

A mother of a 550 pound teenager was recently arrested and charged with parental neglect- this is a felony in the state of South Carolina where she lives-anyone who read this story-without knowing the facts might conclude that she is entirely responsible for her son's life-threatening obesity-but even a cursory look at the facts tells another story- it turns out the mother is a single parent who works two shifts a day-which means she is hardly at home at all during the week- except to rest-and most of saturday too-she obviously has very little money- and cannot afford to put her child in treatment-she was accused of failing to act upon offers of free treatment for her child- this is simply not true-in one case of a so-called scholarship for weight reduction treatment-the boy was turned away-because he was too fat-above and beyond what the facility believed they could successfully treat-nonetheless the mother was blamed for this-as if she had not tried at all to find some help for her son-it may be that the state authorities were looking to publicize the arrest to gain attention for the childhood obesity problem in the US-that is the best case scenario-but as the facts come out there will properly be a sense of compassion and sympathy for both the boy and his mother-and maybe-if he does get the help he needs- his case can be an inspiration to others to address this very serious issue in our country.

CURRENT EVENTS JULY 22ND 2009

2009-07-22T14:59:00.004-05:00

THE NEWS IS FULL OF STORIES ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE ISSUE-HOW TO ACHIEVE SOME KIND OF NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM-IT IS LONG OVERDUE-AT LEAST 40 YEARS OVERDUE-BUT IT IS STILL IN JEOPARDY AS POWERFUL PRIVATE INTERESTS ARE ONCE AGAIN TRYING TO STALL LEGISLATION OR STOP THE PROCESS ALL-TOGETHER-ONE PROPOSAL THAT WAS MADE TO INCREASE REVENUE AND PAY FOR THE PROGRAM IS A TAX ON SODA POP-THE SOFT DRINK COMPANIES ARE ALREADY AT WORK LOBBYING AGAINST THE PROPOSED TAX-A SERIES OF COMMERCIALS CAREFULLY CONCEALS THE REAL POWER BEHIND THE AD CAMPAIGN- THE COMMERCIALS ARE OSTENSIBLY BY THE COUNCIL AGAINST THE FOOD TAX-IT IS OBVIOUS THAT COKE-PAPSI AND THE OTHER LARGE FOOD ANS SOFT DRINK COMPANIES ARE BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN-THE COMMERCIAL I SAW THAT HAS RUN MANY TIMES DURING THE NEWS PROGRAMS I WATCH SHGOWS A FAMILY AT A COOKOUT IN THE EVENING- THEY ARE ACTUALLY CAMPING OUT- IT ALL LOOKS VERY WHOLESOME AND HEALTHY-THE COMMERCIAL EMPHASIZES THAT THE PROPOSED TAX WOULD ALSO INCREASE THE COST OF JUICE DRINKS-NOW FOR THE REALITY-SOFT DRINKS LIKE COKE AND PEPSI ARE A SCOURGE TO NATIONAL HEALTH- THAT IS THE TRUTH- THEY ARE SO FILLED WITH CAFFEINE AND SUGAR THET THERE IS VITUAL;LY NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE WHATSOEVER IN EITHER DRINK- NONETHELESS A COKE OR PEPSI DRINKER USUALLY STARTS THE HABIT AT ABOUT 2 OR 3 AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME-IT IS INVARIABLY THE PATENTS THAT GET THEM STARTED-COKE AND PEPSI ARE FACTORS IN CHILDHOOD OBESITY-TOOTH DECAY-AND DIABETES-THEY SIMPLY ARE NOT HEALTHY BEVERAGES AND ONE DAY THE WHOLE TRUTH WILL BE KNOWN-AND POSSIBLY WHY THE TRUTH WAS CONCEALED- IT IS ALWAYS PROFIT-MONEY IS AT THE ROOT OF ALL THESE DECEPTIONS-AND THE POWERFUL MONEY INTERESTS IN WASHINGTON ARE A BIG REASON THEIS BILL WILL PROBABLY NEVER PASS-LETS BE HOPEFUL THOUGH AS IT IS TIME FOR PEPSI-COKE AND THE OTHERS TO START GIVING BACK FOR SOME OF THE DAMAGE THEIR PRODUCTS CAUSE THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Frank McCourt

2009-07-21T14:15:00.003-05:00

A series of high profile people have passed away recently-Michael Jackson-Walter Cronkite-Karl Malden-one after the other- it makes you wonder who will be remembered as time goes by- will all of them?- certainly MJ will and Walter Cronkite is sure to be remembered-probably a few streets named after him- maybe a school or college-karl Malden maybe not so much but who knows- he was a great actor-one of the best of his generation-and michael Douglass may make a gesture of some kind- but the redent death of Frank McCourt should not be forgotten-his life is extraordinarilly inspiring- not for the books-they are inspiring for the quality of the writing and the fact that he won a Pulitzer Prize-but for the fact that at age 66 he pursued a career as a writer and succeeded so well at it-he spent 30 yeras teaching in the NYC Public School system before that-most of it at Stuyvesant High School-but at a lot of other schools as well-he was a good teacher-plain and simple-he talked about teaching all the time-in interviews and in his work- you can learn so much about how to be a good teacher just listening to his stories- and what wondeful stories they are- oh to have had a chance to have a lunch with him or just shoot the breeze some afternoon- i love the writing assignments he would think up for his students- one was to have them write their own obituaries- another was to have them write an excuse for missing school or a class or for not turning in an assigment- this is very funny and he relates some of the most unusual and imaginative excuses he read during his career- he mentions a disciplinay repoort he found at Stuyvesant that he found on the actor James Cagney-apparently he had been forging a few excuses himself during his time there-frank McCourt can also be a source of inspiration for those of us who have lived with or been raised by or have a friend or relative who is an alchoholic- that is what ANGELA'S ASHES is about in part-TEACHER MAN and TIS are about his life as an immigrant in NYC and his career as a teacher-I share a lot of life experience with this wonderful man-i have been a teacher for 30 years-and i have spent the last 15 years coming to terms with the disease of alcoholism and how it has shaped and influenced my life-My hope is that he will not be forgotten- that his work will be read for many years to come-but that also that his valuable insights into the teaching profession will be noted and followed for even longer-james B Turner

CURRENT EVENTS JULY 20TH 2009

2009-07-20T14:40:00.003-05:00

The last month has brought a lot of news-most of it sad but some that just marks time for anyone over the age of 45-the deaths of Michael jackson,Walter Cronkite and karl Malden-have all connected us to our past in some way-but it is always intriguing to look at how and in what ways they are connected- some connections can be rather close and surprising-almost serendipitous- otheres may seem a little forced-one event i might add would be the first walk on the moon by astronaut neil armstrong-also in july of 1969-Walter Cronkite loved the NASA program- his most emotional moment on the air was not arguably the JFK assassination but when he saw Armstrong step on to the Moon the first time-Michael Jackson- whose death preceded cronkite's by about a month was famous for his MOONWALK-first seen by a large tv audience at the MOTOWN 25TH ANNIVERSARY TELEVISION SPECIAL-wonder if Uncle Walter was watching then-it was about 1982- a year after he retired from the anchor chair-the tv and cable coverage of MJ's unfortuante death brought out a key issue in how the news is reported these days-the coverage is almost always over done in an event of this kind but in maichael jackson's case it was overwhelming-every single station it seems gave it wall to wall coverage for weeks and it is still going on- there is no detail too trivial or mundane to discuss endlessly and get everyone's opinion on- this lasted through to the memorial service the next week but it is still going strong 2 weeks later-this is not how they covered the news in uncle walter's time- Elvis presley got a short discrete mention when he passed away and arguably he was as big a star as amichael jackson-as Dan Rather said when he was asked how Cronkite would have viewed the saturation coverage-he would have been appalled-he was alive at the time so he must have seen something about it but as he was suffering from Dementia he may not have taken it all in-Karl Malden is famous for a lot of reasons- he was in some great old films-i.e.-ON THE WATERFRONT AND PATTON for instance but he was well known to tv viewers in the 70's when he starred in a tv series called THE STREESTS OF SAN FRANCISCO-his co-star and partner in the series was Michael Douglass-who just received a lifetime achievement award from THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE-which is commonly known as AFI-the presenatation ceremony was televised on the night of july 19th 2009-just two days after Malden passed away- he was referred to on several occasions during the telecast and he was seen and heard during a taped segment at the end of the show- Michael Douglass referred to him as a second father-and malden said he would have been proud to have a son like Douglass-now how to connect all three-that is a little more difficult-but what the three deaths represent is an important pasaage for those of us who remember them so well- and all three were outstanding- the younger generation might wonder what all the fuss is about- you could not say you really knew who michael jackson was if you did not see him with THE JACKSON FIVE in the early 70's-this was an amazing start to an amazing career-and anyone who watched the news regularly from 1962 to 1981 knew who Cronkite was-he was in some ways the most famous man in America at that time-karl Malden less so of course-but he had a way of turning up and often through the 50 years of his acting career- that is in film tv and cable-so that's the way it is-Monday july 20th 2009

INFOTAINMENT

2009-07-15T14:58:00.005-05:00

A NEW WORD WAS COINED ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO-RIGHT AROUND THE TIME EVERYONE HAD CABLE TV AND A CHOICE OF ABOUT 15 STATIONS FOR THEIR NEWS-THE 15 OPTIONS INCLUDES THE NETWORKS-ABC-NBC,AND CBS- for a short time the networks held to the old standard when deciding what to broadcast on the nightly news shows- but cable pressed the envelope with more and more gossip and entertainment news and the networks soon followed- it is all about competition for viewers and the competition is very intense- i recognise the pressure to be relevant and viable- but the standard for news stories is low right now- you can hardly see a difference between what is entertainmant news and or hard news- the entertainmant category would include stories that are chosen mainly because they are entertaining as opposed to relevant or important-there are many examples i could give but i will stick to the most egregious cases- the first one that comes to mind- and probably will never be surpassed is the FAMOUS WHITE BRONCO CHASE-almost everyone saw it or heard about it at the time- it was around 1992 when oj simpson was arested as a suspect in the murder of his wife nicole- he was released on bail but told to remain in the area and report on any travelling he planned to do- as far as I know he was not supposed to leave the state of California- on the day of the bronco chase NBC was broadcasting an NBA championship basketball game- not an inconsequential event for sports fans and for almost every NBA basketbasll fan-NBC stopped there coverage of the game to switch to a livew broadcast of the Bronco chase- it was a critical point in the game- i found out later that every other network had done the same thing only earlier then NBC- the cable news stations were all covering it live- the problem was it only had the potential to be a significant news story if you want to call it that-if oj simpson went to the airport or tried to leave the state they would have some real news- but if he just drove around with 18 police cars following him there was no story- not really- and that is exactly what happened- he just drove around for a time and then went back to his house- meantime the network anchors were doing a sort of play by play of the event- it made them seem ridiculous as there was nothing really to report after seeing the police cars following oj's bronco-nontheless they stayed with the chase for over an hour with virtually nothing to show for it-and what made it all the worse was the absurdity of the situation-people who knew the networks were covering the event went out of their way to wave to the tv cameras and wave to oj- often shouting encouragenment or somethiong else who knows- but it truly looked like a circus event-and none of the networks had the good common sense or courage to leave the story and go back to regular programming-NBC was given a pretty harsh judgement at the time but all this has long been forgotten- what we have now is the equivalent of a car chase everyday-maybe not as memorable- but there is always some story the networks cover incessantly and the cable stations cover all day long- the michael jackson story is a great example- at first it made sense to cover it- even for a few days or until the memorial at the staples center- but now it has become absolutely ridiculous- every little thing said every little wrinkle in the story iis covered ad nauseum-the prescription drug controversy- latoya's claim that he was murdered= the child custody issue- anything and everything-i am tired of trying to watch the very significant Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings only to have the coverage interupted by something about Michael Jackson- or someother news story of dubious importance-this is not to say that all the stories are not important in some way- some are- but the coverage- incessant coverage- is just too much-nothing really important or new is reported- they use any excuse to give an update and almost anyone can get in on the story-the cousin of a pharmacist who filled a painkiller prescription for Mr jackson can get on the news for a short interview- ok maybe a I am exagerating now but anyone- virtuallly anyone can see my point- in fact they already know it-the first thing the networks and cable stations would say-after trying to justify these decisions-is that i can simply turn off the tv or watch something else- but when the Sotomayor hearings are on i don't want to- most of the time i just change the channell when they get off the story but virtually every station eventually does get off the story- to report the latest in a story that has not really changed in any apprecialble way-last thing- i noticed that when CNN does a panel discussion these day almost all the panelists are looking at their laptops- they are not even listening to one another- i see this on other stations as well- and the reporters at the sotomayor hearings are doing the same thing- anything at all could be on those laptop screens- just use your imagination for a minute-i will have more on this subject in a future article-one interesting statistic is the man hours lost in office pools when the NCAA Basketbsll tournament is going on- they find that an amazing percentage of office workers are watching the games on their computers or at least keeoping track of the scores- how many of these people also have a bet on the game-games or the entire tournament? - almost all of them would be my guess-all for now

EDUCATION TODAY NO. 10

2009-07-14T14:02:00.003-05:00

The current trends show an even greater degree of a business oriented model entering the field of education at all levels-Recently President Obama urged women and mothers in particular to seek out loans to continue their eduacation on line-I get about 10 advertisements a day on this-I cannot imagine what the good purpose would be in all this- eduaction neceesarily requires a classrom and a teacher or professor present - sitting in front of a computer all day is not good for anyone and especially a mother with children-this is part of the economic stimulus plan as much as anything else- bringing needed revenue to college and universities- it is entirely uninspiring and unrewarding to not have the person to person interaction with the teacher-and the idea that the advantages will some how counter balance the disadvantages shows an ingnorance of the fundamantal principles of education- Socrates was the first great teacher in Western Civilization the socratic method which involves a dialoguie between teacher and student cannot be replicated on a computer- it is a meeting of the minds and hearts of the teacher and student and last time i checked a computer did not have a heart- the personal relationship of teacher to student is what makes learning useful and effective- the mutual interest of both are part of the process-so are the mutual rewards and it is the teacher who usually learns the most in the process- the trust that is created in the process-the trust that leads to a committment by both is the main thing- computers are not a substitute in this respect and probably never will be- i recently had to battle with an administrator who wanted me to put my class in a computer lab to use a software program called READ ON-while it has its merits-it was never meant to replace a teacher or be a substitute for the teacher student relationship- the administrator could not see this- he could only see the efficiency of the process and the money that would be saved by not hiring more teachers-this is what is going on today in the field of education- not just here but around the world- i will have more to say on this subject later.

DECORUM

2009-07-12T13:37:00.003-05:00

The interesting part of being a fomer teacher is seeing my former students at later stages of their lives- college-graduate school and beyond- my first students-back in 1979 are 48 years old now- it is always nice to see a former student-they are always respectful and apprciative-but i have found that recently many of them assume a first name basis with me-without having requested it or having been invited by me to do so- i have mixed feelings about it-some are just trying to act older then they are-some may think it is grown -up or a mature thing to do-i am a little startled by it as i simply would never have done so- not at my present age of 53-and certainly not at the age of 18 or 19-which is the age of some of my students who refer to me in conversation as Jim-and address me the same way in public and in private- in a school setting i think it is still a very important rule to refer to your colleagues and coworkers by their surname- at least in front of the students-outside the school or at any other time- i think the appropriate form of address is first names-any colleague or administrator who holds a PHD should be called DR in front of the students but at no other time unless it is requested-I live in a small town and see my former studnets on a regular basis - shopping in the grocery store, at the movies, somewhere on the sidewalks-it is a common experience to be called jim-even the college students do it- i imagine some of their professores have given them this privelege so it is assumed to carry over to their former HS teachers-i usually say nothing about it-but i feel a loss of some kind-if they address me as jim-as i would expect a friend to do- it might suggest that we are friends of some kind- if that is true then i am no longer their teacher- and in some respects i am no longer their former teacher either-the last school i taught at had a variety of customs where the froms of address were concerned- some teachers invited the first name basis -others did not- i always insisted on being called Mr Turner-and i referred to everyone else the same way- especially the parents- unless they requested that i address them by their first names- as i am older then a lot of parents now i go along with it-and have no problem with it- i guess it is a sign of the times-certain formalities have been lost and maybe that is a good thing- but the tendency to assume a first name basis by students who are as much as 30 years younger then me is still a little difficult to get used to-if i met a formewr teacher of mine-who would likely be in their 60s or 70s-it would be mr-mrs or miss-could not do it any other way unless instructed and even then i might be a little reluctant- i will still always enjoy seeing my former students- it is wonderful when i do-but when they call me jim-i feel a sense of loss that is hard to explain-well to each his own-and bless their good hearts either way.

EVERY MOTHER'S SON-EDUCATION 9.

2009-07-11T14:12:00.004-05:00

One thing i have learned over the course of my thirty year teaching career is that every mother wants her son to grow up to be a GOOD MAN-you might say that she wants her son to be a great man but that is not usually the case in my experience- A GOOD MAN-is what she wants- a great man is nice-some might dream they grow up to be a President-but usually the mother realizes that a great man may have a lot of challenges in life- and maybe less of a chance for a happy personal life- a GOOD MAN-is one who is decent and kind- who loves his wife and children and who takes care of them-a good man is one who knows the joys of having a family-and who knows that doing the right thing is more important then loss or gain-to put it simply- he puts right or wrong over loss and gain-this kind of man is largely the result of a good upbringing-it is the mother herself who helps to shape his character etc- but the father plays a very important role too- after the mother and father teachers have a vital role to play-but actually above even teachers can be someone in the school who is neither a teacher or a parent-and that is a coach-i would add theatre directors, art teachers, music teachers and anyone else who guides and nourishes the growth of a child-my experience was largely with coaches-i would listen to them when i wouldn't listen to almost anyone else-i listened to them because i respected them-but also because i wanted to play and they had the power to decide whether or not i did-the coaches i had through middle school to graduaution taught me as much as any teacher did in the classroom- and it wasn't just fair play and teamwork-they taught me the value of hard work-practice- sacrifice-and looking after my teammates- they taught me about loyalty and honesty and always giving my best-they also placed the value of integrity over winning a game- to not cheat or stand around quietly when some one else did-i sensed that many of these coaches wanted to win- wanted to win badly- but they knew the higher value was to always find the right way to give each player the lesson he needed-one lesson was to give the prima donnas the lesson thet the team could get along without them-The coaches would never let anyone think there was a double standard for the prima donnas and they would never let the prima donna think the team could not get along without them-the only way the prima donna can think he is above the others is if the coach would rather play him in a game then sit him down if he needed to be benched-a prima donna brags and claims credit and doesn;t think the same rules apply to him as they do to the other players-he needs the lesson of his expendabiltiy badly and it is a great thing when he gets it- so many college and professional ahtletes seem to have never been taught this valuable lesson- sports magazines and news shows are filled with stories of great atheletes and former athletes behaving like the world revolves around them- they get used to this because everyone else encourages them to think that way- people clean up their messes-make excusues for them and pay them way too much money-they also receive admiration and praise entirely out of proportion with their accomplishments-this is not a GREAT MAN or even A GOOD MAN-this is a child who never grew up-coaches are so vital to the growing up process it is almost impossible to place a value on it-but so are theatre directors, music teachers, dance teachers and art teachers-anyone who supervises teaches or coaches an activity the students love-they have the greatest responsibility of anyone in the school-and so many of them do such a wonderful job- we hardly notice it because the coaches with the best won loss record get all the credit- or the teacher with the prize winning artist or musician-when actually it is the teacher or coach who brought out the best in the student who deserves the most credit-and this does not mean that the student was the best-just that they were able to see their potential and begin to work to achieve it- this is the real work of education- to show a student that he has the potential to be great and he has within him all that he nedds to be good-and that is ultimately what the parents expect and want from their child's teachers and coaches.

Al-Anon

2009-06-30T14:16:00.002-05:00

After years of sitting alone in my apartment-isolated,-feeling self-righteous,wronged and superior-I decided to attend Al -anon meetings -where i could bring my feelings of self righteousness and superiority to an air-conditioned room.