Not just academic
When so many schools act as if what their students do is merely academic, University of Baltimore turns up the reality wattage by showing a master?s of fine arts thesis in its Student Center Gallery.
The details: Sue Tatterson, one of the first integrated design program graduates, is showing “Spirits of the Abandoned” about Maryland landmarks forgotten and left to decay. A dozen photographs from her thesis are on view through Sept. 12 in the gallery on the fifth floor of the Student Center, 21 W. Mount Royal Ave. The rest of the photos are available in a book by the same title Tatterson published and on her Web site. She plans a book for each state, highlighting work from others fascinated by left-behind places and what she calls “a constant cycle of abandonment and renewal … erasing the past in our process.”
It IS brain surgery
Can you hear me now? If Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa ever asks you that, it means he is inside your head, literally, and you should be able to answer him. But his amazing story raises a bigger question.
The details: The Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon was featured on “NOVA scienceNOW” performing awake craniotomy, in which patients are conscious and responsive while doctors cut cancer out of their brains. As miraculous as the surgery is, Quinones-Hinojosa?s story reveals even more complex social, economic and political cancers that demand even greater finesse. Two decades ago this great healer was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. He worked the fields. His rise from dire, intractable poverty to citizenship and world prominence saving lives is reason enough to grasp the fact that America?s immigration crisis responds to no simple-minded solutions. Stopping Quinones-Hinojosa at the border would have made the USA worse. We need the social surgery skills of awake craniotomy to cure immigration ills without destroying its benefits.
Spirit of enterprise
If it?s true strong economies are built from the bottom up, Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore get the award for solid foundations.
The details: This nonprofit teaches low-income women (and a few good men) the basics of starting and running businesses. Almost 90 percent of the 2,000 WEB graduates during its 19-year history have started businesses, with 71 percent surviving more than three years, each generating $70,000 a year in revenue, creating two additional jobs, adding to the tax roles and lowering the risk of cost to taxpayers. Now WEB is expanding to Anne Arundel County. Since bright ideas beget better ideas, this nonprofit just might incubate the next Microsoft.
Accomplishing the impossible
Baltimore City Schools Chief Executive Officer Andres Alonso promised to shake things up when he arrived last summer.But most people didn?t believe him. One year later he?s proved critics wrong by beginning to fundamentally restructure the once completely top-down bureaucracy.
The details
Earlier this year he promised to shift a large chunk of funding to schools from headquarters and did it. He also said he would give 300 central office employees the option to move back into the schools or leave. This week he said that process is almost complete. The changes are no panacea, but they mean real people can be held accountable for student performance, not a nameless and faceless bureaucracy.
Checking out savings
The economy may be tanking, but some of the best things in life are still free — like the library.
The details
Area librarians say more people are using the library than in previous years. Howard County officials predict a 20 percent increase in visits this year from last year. Librarians in Baltimore County and Baltimore City also say business is booming. One reason for the heavy foot traffic: Using library computers to hunt for cheap gas. In case you haven?t noticed, libraries are not just for books anymore. They offer access to some of the best online research databases, a wealth of magazines, newspapers and movies. So stay informed, go to your local library branch this summer and find out what you?ve been missing.
WORST IDEAS:
Constituent disservices
Legislators are supposed to help constituents navigate the government maze, right? Well, not if the legislator in question is being paid, the constituent is the company he is working for and disclosure of said relationship is less than full. State Sen. Ulysses Currie fits those criteria for good idea gone bad.
The details: Currie, chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, is a consultant for Shoppers Food Warehouse and intervened repeatedly with the State Highway Administration on behalf of Shoppers projects, according to 1,800 pages of documents SHA turned over to federal agents. The Prince George?s County Democrat did not list his consulting work for Shoppers as required. The FBI searched Currie?s home and Shoppers? headquarters May 29.
Public intentions:
Give Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston big points for the third-largest school system in Maryland having the fourth-highest graduation rate in the entire USA, but he needs a remedial lesson in civics.
The details: His high “blueprint for progress” standards that “we set for ourselves” deserve extra credit. However, demerit his misunderstanding of what?s public about public schools: Everything is. David Lever, executive director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, reported that poor communication between school and county administrators caused serious errors in a funding request. “… that whole letter was never intended to be a public document,” Hairston said. Wrong idea. Right idea: Unless specifically and narrowly exempted by law, all public communications are open public documents.
Hail to the … huh?
Blaine Taylor, the Towson author and perpetual candidate, is an official candidate for president. His name will not appear on Maryland?s ballot, but write-in votes cast for him will count. He was left off February?s Democratic ballot after State Elections Board officials refused to consider him a “viable” candidate.
The details:
While we are all for democracy, Taylor should scare anyone going to the polls. We have banned Taylor from coming to our offices and have also permanently banned the prolific letter-writer from our Letters page for sending profane and anti-Semitic diatribes directed at Examiner staff. Voters should follow suit and cast a vote that counts.
Using stimulus checks – for, uh, porn
The Adult Internet Market Research Company reported many members? Web sites have seen sales rise in the weeks since the economic stimulus checks began arriving.
The details:
A survey at one of the members? sites showed that 32 percent of respondents said they either signed up or renewed their membership because of the stimulus check. “Getting more people to buy porn was probably the last thing Bush had on his mind when he came up with his ?stimulus package,? but we?ll take it,” said Jillian Fox, a spokeswoman for LSGmodels.com, a AIMRCo member. With gas and electricity prices skyrocketing, along with consumer credit card debt, aren?t there more important things to spend money on?
It must be in our genes
Sure, legislators love to make themselves feel good passing laws that delude us into thinking they?re fighting crime. But the law of unintended consequences always prevails, and the load falls on those actually on the front lines.
The details:
Maryland must hire at least 25 percent more Forensic Sciences lab technicians, fast, to process thousands of DNA samples expected when a new law goes into effect in January requiring samples from any citizen merely charged with a violent crime, which in Maryland requires no real probable cause. Even if it passes constitutional tests, the law actually could hurt public safety by overloading the system, delaying matches needed for trials and pulling resources away from crime scene investigations.
