Tuesday, June 29, 2004

I dont get it. Why is everyone women in particular such big usher fans. A couple of years ago, usher was just a regular guy. I bet most people who are fans now didnt know he had 3 previous albums, and probably cant name 6 singles. But when Usher makes songs about cheating hes praised. Maybe guys everywhere should just start cheating.

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Pin Oak Middle School announces new principal

Michael McDonough has been named as the new principal of Pin Oak Middle School. McDonough will replace Suzanne Sutherland, who will take the executive leadership position at A+ Challenge, Annenberg, where she will lead the secondary school reform movement for the Houston Independent School District, as well as suburban districts.

McDonough served as an assistant principal at Bellaire High School since August 2001. He spent the 2000-2001 school year as a principal intern, also at Bellaire High School.

Prior to that, McDonough spent six years as a mathematics teacher and head varsity soccer coach as Westbury High School. He began his teaching career in August 1992 at Attucks Middle School, where he taught mathematics for two years.

It just occurred to me: what's happening to the IB program at Bellaire now? Mrs. Bell is retiring, Mr. McDonough's moved on... That leaves Mrs. Johnsen?? Yeees...

McDonough holds a Master of Education in Educational Administration from the University of Houston-Main Campus. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Houston-Main Campus, as well as a Principal Certificate and a Mathematics Teaching Certificate.

"I'm very impressed by the commitment and passion that the faculty, staff and parents have for Pin Oak," says McDonough. "I am excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to greeting the kids upon their return in August."

District officials believe McDonough will be a great asset to Pin Oak.

"Mr. McDonough is very child-centered in his decision-making," says Sandra Streeter, West Central District superintendent. "He is also exceptional in his skills in instructional strategies, team-building and parent involvement. We can't wait to see the wonderful events and successes we know we will we with Mr. McDonough's leadership coupled with the enthusiasm and talents of the parents."

Can we say run-on sentence? : P

McDonough officially took over the reins of the middle school on June 7 and immediately began the transition into his new position, including a "Meet and Greet" session with the Pin Oak PTO Board members at their monthly meeting.

Pin Oak PTO members say they are pleased with his selection and look forward to an exciting future working in partnership with McDonough.

Lucky Pin Oak kids. You know, I just realized how great I've had it: my elementary school principal Mrs. Pola rocked, as did Mr. Muzyka, TH Rogers' vice principal, and Lawson and Salem weren't so bad, especially with the cool APs like McDonough and Ms. Forrester around. I really think that makes a difference in your schooling experience, y'know?

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

thank you :D

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Happy birthday Ann & Rose!!

(I know I'm late here, sorry, but I got it on-time on my blog. *sheepish look*)

Sunday, June 20, 2004

sometimes i think we lose sight of where we are going.
a lot of people sit through life looking backwards
at mistakes
at regrets,
at bitterness...
at failed relationships
at wasted time
at lost friendships

but i think if we look forward
and be grateful for what we have learned from the rough past...
life will look a whole lot happier.

Kristan @ 1:16 PM [link]    

One of the most interesting and well-written articles I've read in a while: The New York Times > Health > In New Tests for Fetal Defects, Agonizing Choices. (It's long, but oh man, it's good. And sooo important.)

Fetal genetic tests are now routinely used to diagnose diseases as well known as cystic fibrosis and as obscure as fragile X, a form of mental retardation. High-resolution sonograms can detect life-threatening defects [...] sooner and more reliably than previous generations of the technology. [...] Most couples say they are both profoundly grateful for the new information and hugely burdened by the choices it forces them to make. The availability of tests earlier in pregnancy mean that if they opt for an abortion it can be safer and less public.

So wait, they admit that this is abortion. So why isn't this raising the same kind of criticism as the other kinds? Is it less wrong, somehow? (Or is it the same and we just haven't heard much about it. I think maybe that's the case?)

But first they must decide: What defect, if any, is reason enough to end a pregnancy that was very much wanted? Shortened limbs that could be partly treated with growth hormones? What about a life expectancy of only a few months? What about 30 years? Or a 20 percent chance of mental retardation?

[...]

Activists for the rights of the disabled say that a kind of grass-roots eugenics is evolving that will ultimately lead to greater intolerance of disabilities and less money for cures or treatments. And even some doctors who perform abortions are uncomfortable as some patients choose to quietly abort fetuses with relatively minor defects.

Who's seen Gattaca? That's an awesome movie, just awesome, and this article reminded me of it and all the issues it brought up.

Are we eventually just going to try to engineer the perfect people? Are we going to tell people what they can and cannot do, what their limitations are? What if a couple wants a blue-eyed brown-haired child but gets a brown-eyed dirty blonde one? Or in China, a girl instead of a boy? Should they be allowed to abort it?

I know those are pretty extreme cases, ones to which I think pretty much everyone would say 'No, that's a fickle reason to not want a child.'* But my point is, where do we draw the lines?

She and her husband, Drew, of Marblehead, Mass., decided that the quality of the child's life, and that of the rest of their family, would be too severely compromised. "I don't look at it as though I had an abortion, even though that is technically what it is," she added. "There's a difference. I wanted this baby."

Um, what happens if this baby, even if it were disabled, had turned out to be the best thing for this family? What if it brought them together? What if responsibilities to the family kept the older kids from doing drugs? Made them all appreciate how lucky they were? Inspired one of the siblings to be a doctor and find a "cure" for Down Syndrome?

I don't necessarily believe any of that will happen, I'm only playing devil's advocate, so to speak.

(Also, she clearly didn't want that baby, or she would have kept it. She wanted a baby, at this time. Subtle difference.)

I do, however, agree that the child's quality of life would probably be significantly lowered. But then again, since I don't have any of these debilitated conditions I have no idea what their life is like. Maybe their frustrations, their ups and downs, their desires, are no greater or lesser than ours. Maybe we just think their lives are worse, when really, they're the same.

(I was just thinking of a man that was in my father's Rotary club. He was the son of another member, and he had Down Syndrome. But he was active in the club, in the community, and he was a nice, happy guy. Sadly, he passed away at a fairly young age -- about 30? -- but who's to say he didn't lead a perfectly wonderful life? I think he did.)

"People will come into my office in tears and say they've been against abortion their whole lives," he said, "but they'll make an exception for themselves."

Yeah, that's what bothers me: the double standards. And what's worse is that they're probably not even vocal about their change of heart. Because they're ashamed. *sigh*

I'm not saying people can't choose to know about the possibilities of defects in their children -- esp. if you've had a disabled/handicapped child already, I think it's a good idea -- I'm just saying that this knowledge is easy to abuse. And that worries me.

* #@(&#%!! OMG some woman in NY actually aborted three baby girls because she wanted a boy! AAAAHHH! Just adopt, you dumbass. Omg, that's so wrong, in my opinion.

...

I feel bad, 'cause it seems like this is becoming my personal soapbox. I really appreciated Adam's and Justin's comments on my last post. (Made me smile.) But would anyone like to post up stuff like this too? Or if you reply, you don't have to reply in a comment. (I like seeing everyone's colors. No, seriously. I love colors.) Or would people like me to stop posting this kind of stuff here?

Talk! : P

Friday, June 18, 2004

Abbreviation is a beautiful thing ; )

...

USNews.com: John Leo: Let's keep arguing (6/21/04):

This will stick in my mind as a good example of what has happened to debate in this country. Given a chance to speak his piece, the college president just got mad and got out. [...] In the current Atlantic, P. J. O'Rourke says that, "Arguing, in the sense of attempting to convince others, seems to have gone out of fashion with everyone." O'Rourke doesn't pay much attention, he says, to talk radio, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Al Franken, or Michael Moore because they just shout things at partisan audiences that already agree with their chosen shouter. Technology reinforces the decline of serious argument--now we can all go to a TV channel, a radio show, or a website that will protect us from those aliens across the moat who disagree with us.

That last sentence in particular made me think, 'cause I attended an Al Franken thing this school year, and it just made me sick. I mean, here I was thinking it was going to be hilarious, but all it was was this extremely liberal Democrat with a mic trash-talking everything that he didn't agree with. He tried to make jokes, but all I heard was bigotry and prejudice. I was wholly unimpressed. And I'm not just being sensitive because he dissed what I believe in -- far from it, I agreed with some of what he said. But, for example, I find Leno hilarious. Not Franken.

(In particular, Franken was harsh on the Iraq war and the war on terrorism, and pretty much all of his comments, if spoken in front of the troops, would make them either kill him or kill themselves. That ticked me off.)

It also made me wonder if maybe I'm not looking at diverse enough resources when I get information. I get NYTimes delivered to me via email, and I click on links other people post. I read Newsweek and sometimes the Chronicle. But what if they're all biased the same way and I just never knew it? (Still don't, I guess.) I dunno, it reminds me of that substitute who kept telling us that 80% of what we hear on the news is hooey and that we're being brainwashed. (Haha, who remembers him?)

In my remarks at the dinner, I talked about the birth of a "no debate" style on many campuses. When sensitivity and nonjudgmentalism are the dominant virtues, raising arguments can be perilous--you never know which unauthorized campus opinion will turn out to be a sensitivity violation. Better to keep your head down.

Isn't that sad? I've definitely seen that. So many times, people (self included, I'm sure) censor themselves because they're afraid of the consequences. I mean, obviously there are lines we shouldn't cross, but if we think/feel/believe something, why shouldn't we be allowed to say it? We still have the right to disagree, last I heard. So why are we all so afraid to exercise it publicly?

...

By the way, I'm not the only one who can post long opinion things here. Feel free. I'm just trying to jump-start some conversation. (And ranting's kinda fun. : P)

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Texas' Top Ten Percent Rule comes under fire.

Basically, rich/preppy kids are upset 'cause it's harder to get into top ten percent at their schools so they're getting denied by UT. But then small-town people are like, Hey, without that rule we'd never get a chance. And UT is more diverse than ever (even than when they used race as a factor in admissions). So what do you do? Cater to the wealthier, "better educated" people -- who do tend to make up the voting population more than the others do -- or do what will help the most people in general (which may or may not mean modifying the law)?

I'm kinda of the opinion that the Top Ten percent rule is a good thing. For one, it does create diversity, as it was designed to. Two, it gives kids in rural areas a chance, a goal, when they otherwise might not have had one. And three, it makes kids in urban schools (or whatever) work harder than they might have to try to get in and stay in the top ten percent. And my theory is that if you work pretty hard, you'll do pretty well, so even if you're not in top ten you'll be close, and you can get in elsewhere (or even into UT, just not via the guarunteed spots).

I know that in reality, things don't always work that way -- hey man, we all lived through that college admissions crap, and boy did it suck -- but nothing's ever gonna be perfect. (Sometimes I think rich people forget that and expect the world to cater to them.)

Friday, June 04, 2004

happy bday greg

Kristan @ 12:02 AM [link]    

Happy birthday Greg!

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

Ok since this place is dead, i decided to make a post that ppl need to respond to. Hmm my question is: "What should we do w/ iraq?" leave or stay or what?

quentin @ 11:46 AM [link]    

Feel free to email qsmith@velaw.com whenever you are bored between 9-5 =)