Jon Lowder

Reading, Writing, Rithmetic Without Books?

Celeste went to our youngest son's open house yesterday at Meadowlark Middle School.  She said that in at least two of his classes the students will not be receiving textbooks.  Rather there is a classroom set that will be shared by all of each teachers' classes and they are looking into making the materials from the textbooks accessible online.  Celeste's question to me: "So where do all our tax dollars for education go?"

This question seems particularly relevant in the wake of my post yesterday and Esbee's post about school supplies and the "Letter to the Editor" in the Winston-Salem Journal re. why our kids' supposedly free education still requires parents to come up with money for school supplies.  When the school doesn't supply textbooks for students then we're talking about failing at the most fundamental level, not on the level of "nice to have" extras.

You could argue that this is simply our schools moving into the 21st century, BUT if you're going to make that move then you darn well better make sure that everyone is able to move with you.  Some questions that immediately pop to mind:

• What about the kids who don't have internet access at home?  If the answer is "They can go to the library" then I have to ask, "What if the library is closed at 6?" or "How do they print off any materials they might need?", or "How do they get to the library if their parents are working" or "What if the library is open but all the computers are occupied?"
• What if your access goes down for the evening?  Will you be given extra time to turn in your work?
• Finally, from the way the teachers were talking about it Celeste wasn't sure that the book materials would definitely be available online?  If they're not how are we as parents, some of whom haven't looked at this subject matter in over 25 years, supposed to help our kids with their homework?

Like I said this might work if the school system had provided every student with a laptop and if WinstonNet had gotten their free wireless network up and running so that everyone had free internet access.  But neither of those things happened and they probably won't happen anytime in the near future, so the "digital divide" still exists and if the schools are putting reference materials online then they are putting those kids on the wrong side of the divide at a further disadvantage.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm no Luddite, and I wish the teachers at our kids schools would use the online tools available to them even more than they do, but I also would expect that if they want to communicate with parents then they wouldn't just post it on the website but also send a note home.  Believe me, there are plenty of people still out there who don't check the website or don't check their email everyday.  Shocking as it is to someone like me it's a reality.  So until they can be absolutely sure that every child and their family has access to the online tools the school system's administrators need to stick to their knitting and provide the students with the basics they need to do their learning.

I'm going to try and find out if this "classroom set" of textbooks is a system-wide policy with the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools.  I'm going to contact the school district and see if someone will talk to me, so stay tuned.  Maybe we're misunderstanding what the teachers said, but my gut tells me this is a cost saving measure with the schools, and if that's the case then they can consider me the leader of the pack in fighting against any future bond initiative until they get this mess fixed.  Before they lay another brick I want to see textbooks in every student's hands.

Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce Insults Our Intelligence

On the front page of today's Winston-Salem Journal there's an article titled "Groups Lobby City for Break"
and the thrust of the article is that the Chamber and the local realtors and developers are asking the city for a moratorium on new development regulations.  From the article:

Winston-Salem should impose a moratorium on any new business regulations, including a proposed tree ordinance, because of current economic conditions, say the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, real-estate agents and homebuilders.

The chamber's request, sent to the city last month, says that Winston-Salem has enacted too many ordinances in recent years that add to the cost of doing business. The letter specifically mentions ordinances that affect sidewalk and street standards, storm-water regulations, sign regulations and even an ordinance that requires business owners to remove graffiti.

Okay, I understand that the Chamber's job is to advocate for businesses in the city so I don't begrudge it the position it's taking.  It's a later paragraph that they use to help justify their position that just blew my mind:

The number of zoning cases coming before the planning board is down about 50 percent from last year, a measure that the chamber says is evidence, in part, of "the difficulty doing business here."

What?  The Chamber wants us to believe that adding sidewalks and other such regs are going to keep developers from building?  I have to call "BS" here, because developers build anytime they think there will be a buyer.  You could require them to plant 100 pink ceramic elephants on every acre and they'd do it if they thought they'd have a buyer.  No, I'm thinking that perhaps our country's epic housing decline and credit crisis might have just a little to do with the decrease in zoning cases.  Heck, Paul Norby, the director of the City County Planning Board, says exactly that in the article.

Like I said, I have no problem with the Chamber doing what they think is in the best interest of their members, but they should at least assume that the good citizens of Winston-Salem aren't all a bunch of dumbasses and refrain from condescending arguments such as this.  And if nothing else they should realize that it makes them look like they're the realtors' and developers' lap dogs, which they may very well be. 

BTW, I joined the Chamber last year and unfortunately I've only been able to make an event or two due to the fact that all the events seem to conflict with other obligations.  They did a wonderful job of outreach to me when I joined and it's through no fault of theirs that I haven't been able to do more with them.  I'm hoping to get more involved over the next couple of months.  On the other hand, I often find myself disagreeing with their public policy initiatives so I'm thinking they may not like having me around if I start piping up on the issues and letting them know what I think about many of their government affairs positions.  I don't think that will win me the Dale Carnegie "How to Win Friends and Influence People" prize.

Tax Free Frustration

Once again we've reached the infamous tax-free weekend where we're encouraged to buy all our kids' school related stuff without having to pay sales tax.  One problem: we don't have specific supply lists for the kids.  Following is a rant, and if it sounds familiar it's because I ranted on the same topic this time last year.

This year we have one kid in middle school and two in high school.  I was able to find a generic supply list on the middle school's website, but even then I had to find it by digging through their site and locating it in the "Document Manager" folder about four levels down from the home page.  Maybe they sent the list home with the kids at the end of school, but even so wouldn't it be safe to assume that many folks lost it and that it would be a good idea to have a link to it from the school's home page?  Also, the last item on the list says "Individual team lists with team specific supplies will be available at Open House."  Going to their handy-dandy calendar I find that the Open House is August 19, over two weeks after the tax-free weekend.

As for our two older kids there's a nice note on the high school's home page that students in Algebra I, Algebra II, Advanced Functions and Modeling, Pre-Calculus, Calculus should purchase one of three calculators for use in those classes.  Unfortunately there's no mention of which calculator geometry students should purchase.  We learned the hard way last year with our oldest that you want to make sure you get the right calculator for geometry.  We're hoping that his sister can use his from last year, but since it's a different teacher we don't know if she'll recommend the same calculator or not. And of course I couldn't find anything resembling a supply list on the school's site.

I'm willing to bet that the teachers and administrators blame the state for having the tax holiday too early, and maybe they're right. Heck, last year the Winston-Salem Journal editorial page went so far as to blame the tourism and real estate lobbies for getting the state general assembly to require schools to open later so that families could vacation at the beaches through August. (You can read the excerpt on my post from last year; unfortunately I think the original editorial is behind the paper's firewall). But until the General Assembly acts and pushes the tax holiday further back couldn't the teachers and administrators throw us a bone and have their lists ready and posted on the website by the end of July?  They don't even have to make photocopies, just post them on the website! 

When you think about the money involved you begin to realize that this stuff adds up.  Specialized calculators can run you $100 or more, and by the time you throw in three ring binders, folders, presentation materials, special books, etc. you're talking at least a couple of hundred bucks per kid.  Multiply that amount by 7% and you're looking at real money.

Look at it this way: If we don't include things for which we don't need a list, like clothes, shoes, backpacks, etc. then maybe we're talking about saving $15-20 in taxes on the items from the teachers' specific lists.  Heck, let's be even more conservative and say it's $10.  Well at my kids' high school there are roughly 2,000 students so at $10 per student that's $20,000 in savings.  Isn't getting a supply list online by the end of July worth $20,000?  Now take that $10 across all 51,000 students in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County system and you're talking half a million dollars that parents could be saving on the tax-free weekend.

Think about what $500,000 can get you.  You could fill a Chevy Suburban's gas tank 1 1/2 times, or give the superintendent a 2% cost of living raise (I know, cheap shot).  Seriously though, this is crazy.  If you're going to have a tax-free weekend specifically for school purchases then doesn't it make sense to let parents know what they need to purchase?  Until the state changes the date for the weekend wouldn't it make sense for the school board to require that schools/teachers have their lists up by the week before the tax holiday?

As I wrote last year there might be a good reason for this.  Teachers may not come back to work in time to get their lists together, but how much does it change from year to year?  Why not have it up on the school's website before they go on summer break?  Or as my wife pointed out last year, why did we have those lists on time two years ago but not last year or this year?  Maybe the teachers need an incentive.  Well here's one: we parents might not be so pissy when they hit us up for $3 for this party, and $5 for that achievement prize, and $2 for those extra hand outs to augment their lesson plan if they would help us out on these supply lists.    

The Flinstones, Sponsored by Winston

I just stumbled across this Winston-sponsored Flinstones episode.  It begins with Fred and Barney sneaking a "Winston break" while Betty and Wilma do chores, and then later you see a piece where the announcer says the show is sponsored by Winston and then Fred sings a jingle.  Here it is:

glumbert - Flinstones Cigarette Commerical

Not a Good Time to Be in the Restaurant Biz

Two weeks ago I posted a rumor I'd heard about South by Southwest, closing its doors (I had a VERY reliable source) and that post was picked up by Smitty who confirmed that the restaurant had indeed closed.  Today I read in a post by Laura Giovanelli on the Journal's food blog that in addition to South by Southwest the Cotton Mill had also shut down. I never made it to the Cotton Mill, but based on Laura's opinion of it I'm truly sorry I missed it.

The restaurant business is brutal any time, but during tough economic times restaurants, particularly higher end restaurants, struggle even more. When money is tight the first place most people will cut their expenditures is eating out, and when you have the combination of higher food prices and higher gas prices like we have now a restaurateur has to work very hard to get people through the door.  As Laura says in her post:

Sometimes, I try to brush off all the economic gloom and doom. Maybe I’ve listening to too much NPR, I’ll think. But it’s been obvious for months now that local restaurants are struggling, particularly the higher end ones, the ones with white tablecloths and the like.

I'm fairly certain we're going to see quite a few more "white tablecloth" restaurants close their doors in the next year or two.  Of course others will eventually replace them, but that doesn't help the many owners who have worked so hard to build their businesses and develop a loyal fan base.  From a selfish point of view it also doesn't help the customers who lose their favorite dishes, or the places that house so many cherished memories like anniversary dinners, graduation celebrations, etc.

To end on a positive note I recommend that you check out the Journal's food blog Dishing it Out.   It's coauthored by Michael Hastings and Laura and they do a great job of keeping it fresh. Personally I think it's the paper's best blog now (sorry Ken).

South by Southwest a Goner?

Rumor I heard at the kids' swim meet on Tuesday: South by Southwest, a great little restaurant on S. Marshall Street in Winston-Salem, is closing its doors.  Not sure if it's true, and if it is I'm not sure what the reason is, but I will say that if it's true I'm really bummed.  I loved their fish tacos.

If you have any info on this please feel free to leave it in the comments of this post or email it to me at jon.lowder AT gmail.com.

Winston-Salem's Best

Smitty's posted his 2008 "Best of Winston-Salem" list and you can find it here.  Congrats to Esbee for once again winning Best blog. SarahSouth got an honorable mention which is well deserved.  I regularly check in with her blog to see what the young 'uns (anyone under 40) in this city are up to.  I also love her wine cellar posts.

I generally find myself in agreement with most of the winners, runners up and honorable mentions in the various categories, but I do take exception to the runner up for Mexican restaurant.  As far as I'm concerned Mi Pueblo offers extremely average Mexican food and La Botana by Hanes Mall is much better, but hey this is a subjective list and we're all entitled to our opinions.

BTW, the owner of Mi Pueblo is building a ginormous house down the street from me.  I need to post a picture so you can see for yourselves, but I think the house stands as testament to how many people disagree with me about his restaurant's food.  Lots of people must love the place because their bucks are bankrolling a palace.

Esbee the Muckraker

I was sitting on the deck reading the morning paper while slurping my cuppajoe when I stumbled upon an article in the Local section titled Salem Promo Attracts Notice with an accompanying picture of Oprah Winfrey in standard graduation ceremony dress.  It sounded hauntingly familiar and I knew why when I read this:

What kind of women go to Salem College?

Let's hear it from someone who experienced it firsthand …

Oprah Winfrey?

The indomitable talk-show host attended Tennessee State University, but the above lines from a promotional video for Salem College are generating a lot of buzz online.

The video aired last fall as part of a showcase of Piedmont colleges done by WFMY-TV.

Lucy Cash recently posted it on her blog, "Life in Forsyth," spurring a wave of reaction.

"Everyone seems to be reading that blog," said Jacqueline McBride, the director of communications at Salem College.

I knew it!  Esbee, aka Lucy Cash, wrote a post about the rather misleading Salem College promotional video featuring Ms. Winfrey.  It's misleading in the sense that it makes the average person think that Ms. Winfrey has a deeper relationship with Salem College than her appearance as a commencement speaker in 2000.  Esbee really is a muckraker isn't she?

But let's take a step back and look at the bigger picture and see the news cycle for this particular story. First there's the fact that this video was produced by a local television station, WFMY, for a feature on local colleges.  So a local station, with its own news operation, didn't see anything untoward about the school's allusions to Winfrey's ties to the college.  Next, the school so likes the video that they buy it and post it on their website and their own YouTube channel.  So far, so good.  Over six months later Esbee finds the video and posts about it. **Correction received via email from Esbee: "Small correction: Salem didn't put the video up until last week. It aired six months ago, but i didn't see it until they posted it on YouTube." ** Then, almost two weeks after that the Winston-Salem Journal picks up the story and runs with it.

This leads me to ask the same question I've been asking for at least two years: why in the world doesn't someone at the Journal figure out a way to get Esbee under their umbrella?  I suspect they get plenty of story leads from her that she never gets cited on, which I understand is the way the game is played since her blog is a public domain and Journal staffers have as much right to read it as we do, but they don't get any of her traffic.  Instead they've floundered about with their own blog efforts, trying to get their already stretched staff to blog in addition to their reporting, but not realizing that just because you can write a news piece doesn't mean you can be a good blogger.

Folks like Esbee, entrenched in their community, gifted with a "voice" that attracts local readers like honey to pollen, are gold.  You can't fake what she does and you can't snap your fingers and say to your metro reporter, "Hey, I want you to invent something as creative as 'And I mean exact'."  I'm not even saying they should have tried to hire her.  They could have simply approached her with some sort of offer that would have allowed her to retain her independence and yet benefit them with traffic and ad revenue.

But who knows.  I'm sure there's some perfectly logical reason, and who's to say Esbee would have gone for it.  Maybe they did try to woo her, but somehow I doubt it.  This is the same organization that is trying to survive by making the tactical decision to cut head count, which in my humble view is a strategic error that could sink the business.  I've written many times that the one advantage that newspapers have always had is their "feet on the street" and depth of coverage of local events.  Sadly, that 'tis no more.

Oh, BTW, Esbee's next "And I Mean Exact" is being posted at 1 p.m. today.  Be there or be square.

Behold the Power of Email

A couple of days ago I wrote about an email I'd received concerning the decision by the county to eliminate all but one position at the Tanglewood Tennis Center.  Well, lots of other people received that same email and forwarded it to others, and many in that larger universe of people decided to let the powers that be know that they thought it a bad decision.  That resulted in the following email hitting my inbox last night:

Hi Everyone~

 

Thank you just seems so small in comparison to the overwelming outcry of support that you have given to keep our Tanglewood Community Tennis Center Family intact and running as usual! I just received a phone call from Mr. Sanders-Pratt (Assistant County Manager) that they are going to leave me in my current position at Tanglewood Community Tennis Center! All of the programs that you know, love and support will continue through the season with the State Combo Tournament in November!

 

I have heard through grapevines that some are planning to attend Monday Night's Commissioner Meeting. You all have gone to such major lengths for us and I am so thankful to you all for that to be unnecessary now!

 

All of this could not have been acheived without this "Tennis Community Family"! Gordon and I cannot thank you enough! It has just been so overwelming and amazing to see so many people that came together as one big tennis team to win this match!

 

I do not know how far all of these emails have reached. I am sending this to the same ones that I sent to before in hopes that you will contact those that you have to help spread this great news!

 

Again, Gordon and I cannot believe the overwelming support everyone has shown for us! We will never forget all the friends we truely have in all of the tennis community!

 

~Gordon, Angie, Samantha and Ryan~

Looks like the lights will stay on for at least the near future.

Personally I don't think it was the "noise" alone that caused the county folks to reconsider their decision.  It might have enlightened them to the fact that more people use the tennis facilities than they thought, but that alone wouldn't have done it.  After all, there are lots of public courts in Forsyth County that require no full time staff and are available to all players.  I'm thinking that having multiple people point out the potential revenue lost from events like the BMW Combo is what tipped the scales and helped them realize that cutting a couple of positions would cost more than it would save.

Budget Cuts Hit Tanglewood

Those of you who live here in Forsyth County, NC probably have heard that the board of commissioners asked those working in the government to make cuts in order to keep from having to raise taxes.  Of course they claim that they're doing this in our tough economic times because it just ain't right to ask struggling citizens to pay more taxes, but if you believe that I have some swampland in Florida to sell you.  Whatever.  The cuts have to be made somewhere and at Tanglewood at least one of the cuts they are making is in the department that manages the tennis facility, pool and Mallard Lake.  Here's text from an email sent to the community of tennis players by one of the folks affected by the cuts:

Hi Everyone~

 

     First of all, let me start by saying how much all of you all have meant to Gordon and I at Tanglewood Community Tennis Center! I have been here for 16 years, Gordon 17 and Ryan 3 years. We have had the privilege to meet so many incredible people. Thank you for such an amazing experience! You all have taught me so much about myself including my strengths, my weaknesses and have helped me to gain the confidence I need to move forward from here. I will treasure this experience and the friendships I have made forever! It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that it looks like I will be leaving you all at Tanglewood Community Tennis Center.

 

     With that being said, I am not leaving Tanglewood Tennis by my own will. Tanglewood Community Tennis Center as you know it will no longer exist. I was told today that my job and Ryan's job is being eliminated as of June 30th. I have been offered a library position within the County as a way to not totally be out of a job. At this point I am considering all options and trying to move forward from here. This is especially hard for us with our budget numbers being better than ever. Our department, Tennis and Mallard Lake (Pool comes separate), is up a record 34% with the next highest being golf at 7%. We have also lowered expenses by $20,000.00. If we had been doing bad financially or had made some big mistakes along the road, then this elimination would not be as devastating as it is to us now. The County just said that it was due to budget cuts.

 

     So what does this mean for you? There are many things still to be sorted out since this all came to us today. You all have supported this facility all through the years and helped to make it the success that it is - thank you for that! We will still try to provide the services that you have come to love and expect but we will have to be creative with that considering we only will have one full time staff member and no part-time or seasonal help. With only Gordon left to manage on his own: tennis, pool and lake, the scope of our leagues, programs, tournaments and special events will more than likely no longer exist or will only be able to be offered on a limited basis. We are so sorry for this for you all have supported and grown these programs for so long. We are who we are because of you! We will finish up this session of the men's and women's league but will no longer be offering any new ones until we see what the realm of possibility will be.

 

     As for the USTA Mixed and Combo leagues, we will still have the USTA Mixed kick-off on June 13-15th weekend, but this will more than likely be our last "hoo-rah"! Matches will more than likely be played at Hanes Park and Visions. It appears we will not have the staff to cater for it at Tanglewood.

 

    We were suppose to have the BMW State Combo Tournament here again for a record 4th year! However, with the loss of my position at Tanglewood, at this point, I do not see how this will be possible. There was a good possibility of being awarded this tournament for even more years, but that doesn't seem likely now either. This tournament brings in 2000 players with $2 to $3 million being brought in to our community over one weekend through hotels, restaurants, etc. Thank you to all those who volunteered to make this event such a success for our community!

 

     In closing, Gordon, Ryan and myself THANK YOU for your support, friendships and believing in us as a team all these years. Gordon will still be at Tanglewood Community Tennis Center to try and carry on as best he can! We have put too much of our hearts, lives and total commitment into this facility to see it fail now! We are not asking you to do anything further, but if you wish to express your supporting thoughts, experiences and hopes that this decision can be reconsidered, below are contact email addresses for County Commissioners and phone numbers for the County Manager and the Assistant County Manager who are over us and ultimately made this unfortunate decision:

Well, the second to last paragraph is one that ought to interest folks.  Although the vast majority of folks in Forsyth don't play tennis we all have the opportunity to enjoy the park facilities.  The fact that Tanglewood is able to draw people from outside the community to spend money that in turn helps subsidize the park system we enjoy should be celebrated, not put in jeopardy.  Just as the wine festival last weekend drew 20,000 people to the park, the tennis tournaments that Tanglewood hosts draws  thousands of participants throughout the year, and they spend money while they're here.  Kind of crazy, huh?

Tourism dollars are a hot topic locally because of county commissioner Ted Kaplan's tiff with the Travel Development Authority (TDA).  I'm wondering how events like the BMW State Combo fit into that picture?  Does the TDA help the park system market their events to the outside world?  If not, is this what Kaplan is talking about when he says he wants to see more TDA funds spent on grants to organizations to be used to promote and host events like this?

This is but a small bit of the picture, one that I'm interested in because of my involvement with local tennis.  Is it the end of the world?  No, not at all.  But it does help us understand what budget cuts mean in the real world.  Maybe keeping taxes frozen at current rates and reducing county services is the right thing to do, but it almost certainly will mean hearing multiple stories like this one. Sure we're each saving some money on taxes, but we will also be losing services.  Most of you won't care about this particular service, but I can almost guarantee that there will be a service cut that you do care about.  That's the road our county leaders chose to take and it's up to us to decide if it's the right one.