The Globe has an interesting article today by Marcella Bombardieri about how aging faculty members might be affecting the university hiring system. The thrust of the piece is that professors who refuse to retire may be "plugging the pipeline" for young academics hoping for one of the rare plum professorial gigs, resulting in a conflict between the wisdom of elders and the fresh new ideas younger academics might bring.
But the article doesn't mention the bigger problem that leads to the Geezer Vs. Whippersnapper battle - if someone retires, the university doesn't always have the funds or the inclination to fill an open space with young blood.
The discussion board related to the article suggests that the "plugged pipeline" comes from somewhere else. One poster by the handle of "SomervilleSlug" called the issue a "red herring" because more and more tenure-track positions are being replaced by adjunct faculty.
Bombardieri herself wrote a recent piece about how "more than half the faculty at Boston University, Northeastern, Tufts, and Harvard are part-time or are not on the tenure track." If that's the case, then the problem isn't geezers defiantly clutching their desks with one hand while beating off the whippersnappers with a stick. The problem is administrations that cut costs by hiring people on the cheap (adjuncts and lecturers get paid less and, in many instances, don't get any benefits to speak of). That doesn't mean that the adjuncts and lecturers are any less intelligent than the professors, but it does mean that these teachers - many of whom teach more classes, depending on the school - don't get the perks that go with being full-time faculty.
In a city filled with universities and their associated full-time and part-time professors, the "plugged pipeline" could have a serious impact on Boston's economy. It's hard to get by on an adjunct or lecturer's salary, and Bombardieri's articles make clear that a problem is brewing in terms of academic job quality in this city. Good college teachers will leave for more affordable places, and eventually students - and the parents who foot the bill - will catch on that schools are raising the cost of education without paying the people who do the teaching.
Somehow, I feel like I am becoming a geezer. After my bike accident, I have used a cane. I feel like poking a young whipersnapper...
Friday, December 29, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
being old IS funny
Friends ready with a few timely geezer jokesBy Emmet MearaSaturday, December 16, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
I don’t even like Roslindale Leo, Natick Jerome or Moneybags John. Yet they are my dearest, most valued friends.
Leo had been a thorn in my side since, on the night I met him, he invited me to fight on the lawn. And it was my lawn. He ended that night vomiting on the same lawn, an act witnessed by my sainted mother (she actually asked if he would like a tuna sandwich.) Years later, as I lay dying (I recovered) in a Gloucester hospital, Leo asked my (soon-to-be-ex) wife if she wanted to go to a New Year’s Eve party. When she demurred, he said, "He will never know."
Nice guy. In ensuing years, he tried several times to kill me on canoe trips, tipping the craft into ice-filled waters, hitting me over the head with a log and ignoring each bit of advice.
At least you can pick your friends.
I had no choice with Jerome. He came along with the Twomey-Meara clan, disguised as a cousin. Jerome’s claim to fame is that he went back to college and got a music degree, at prestigious Berklee College, at age 55. Then, as testament to this milestone, he never played his guitar again.
He is also known for the night during his rock band days when he played a guitar solo while standing back-to-back with the gorgeous lead singer. His (soon-to-be-ex) wife leaped upon the stage, wrestled the sticks from the drummer and started beating the gorgeous lead singer. Jerome, a trouper, kept right on playing. But, since the gorgeous lead singer was married to the bandleader, Jerome lost the gig, and later, the wife, who took the house and furniture with her. Jerome was left alone, with only folding chairs from the neighborhood funeral parlor for company.
Moneybags John came into my life when he married the (almost) beauty queen from next door in Tenants Harbor. He is a marathoner, perilously thin and takes great pleasure in remarking on my expanding girth and shrinking financial resources. He loves it that my Florida land purchase set off a national, if not international, crash in real estate. John carries a calculator to determine up-to-the-minute calculations on his financial worth and eventual Social Security windfall. Certainly, no one celebrated his open-heart surgery last year, but the event did cut down on the "Emmet is fat" jokes.
John was a naval officer. I could tell how well-trained he was during my brief sailboat ownership when I approached a Rockland dock and threw him a line. I was no naval officer and admittedly failed to secure the line to the boat. But when I looked up, the Navy vet was standing there holding it, instead of lashing it to the dock. We both fell down laughing, praying to God that no one witnessed the feeble act.
The point here (there is one) is that this dastardly trio was born before I was, some of them by several months.
I was born on Dec. 22, along with one Meara Van Der Zee, destined for a career in Hollywood.
That means that I can send them "old" jokes all year long with the understanding that I am still young, at least compared to them.
Now, the days are dwindling down to a precious few. They have already experienced the pain that is age 66 and the tide is turning. Their e-mails grow more and more bitter. The same jokes are now bouncing back.
That’s not funny.
Now that I am next in line, I wonder why I ever had anything to do with this trio in the first place.
Wait till next year.
I don’t even like Roslindale Leo, Natick Jerome or Moneybags John. Yet they are my dearest, most valued friends.
Leo had been a thorn in my side since, on the night I met him, he invited me to fight on the lawn. And it was my lawn. He ended that night vomiting on the same lawn, an act witnessed by my sainted mother (she actually asked if he would like a tuna sandwich.) Years later, as I lay dying (I recovered) in a Gloucester hospital, Leo asked my (soon-to-be-ex) wife if she wanted to go to a New Year’s Eve party. When she demurred, he said, "He will never know."
Nice guy. In ensuing years, he tried several times to kill me on canoe trips, tipping the craft into ice-filled waters, hitting me over the head with a log and ignoring each bit of advice.
At least you can pick your friends.
I had no choice with Jerome. He came along with the Twomey-Meara clan, disguised as a cousin. Jerome’s claim to fame is that he went back to college and got a music degree, at prestigious Berklee College, at age 55. Then, as testament to this milestone, he never played his guitar again.
He is also known for the night during his rock band days when he played a guitar solo while standing back-to-back with the gorgeous lead singer. His (soon-to-be-ex) wife leaped upon the stage, wrestled the sticks from the drummer and started beating the gorgeous lead singer. Jerome, a trouper, kept right on playing. But, since the gorgeous lead singer was married to the bandleader, Jerome lost the gig, and later, the wife, who took the house and furniture with her. Jerome was left alone, with only folding chairs from the neighborhood funeral parlor for company.
Moneybags John came into my life when he married the (almost) beauty queen from next door in Tenants Harbor. He is a marathoner, perilously thin and takes great pleasure in remarking on my expanding girth and shrinking financial resources. He loves it that my Florida land purchase set off a national, if not international, crash in real estate. John carries a calculator to determine up-to-the-minute calculations on his financial worth and eventual Social Security windfall. Certainly, no one celebrated his open-heart surgery last year, but the event did cut down on the "Emmet is fat" jokes.
John was a naval officer. I could tell how well-trained he was during my brief sailboat ownership when I approached a Rockland dock and threw him a line. I was no naval officer and admittedly failed to secure the line to the boat. But when I looked up, the Navy vet was standing there holding it, instead of lashing it to the dock. We both fell down laughing, praying to God that no one witnessed the feeble act.
The point here (there is one) is that this dastardly trio was born before I was, some of them by several months.
I was born on Dec. 22, along with one Meara Van Der Zee, destined for a career in Hollywood.
That means that I can send them "old" jokes all year long with the understanding that I am still young, at least compared to them.
Now, the days are dwindling down to a precious few. They have already experienced the pain that is age 66 and the tide is turning. Their e-mails grow more and more bitter. The same jokes are now bouncing back.
That’s not funny.
Now that I am next in line, I wonder why I ever had anything to do with this trio in the first place.
Wait till next year.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
King George proclamation
Here is a quote from W's visit to Phoenix today. Apparently, he thinks we are idiots and will believe his scare tactics in the campaign which will be dominated by the bizarre story of Congressman Foley who was the chair of the committee charged with protecting children, but who was clearly being very weird with children.....
"If the people of Arizona and the people the United States don't think we ought to be listening in on the conversations of people who can do harm to the United States, then go ahead and vote for the Democrats," Bush said."If you want to make sure that those on the front line protecting you have the tools necessary to do so, you vote Republican for the safety of the United States."
I am sure that a number of people in the front lines and being killed are not Republicans. How can he think we are not in this together?
I read a letter yesterday that said that perhaps the Republicans had been trying to win for so many years, perhaps they do not know what to do when they won? I fear they had no plan other than to make their buddies in big business rich. They certainly have been doing that. One of these years the bills will come due. Remember the inflation of the 70's and 80's? That was paying for the outrageous spending in Vietnam. Our pensions will go up in flames to pay the outrageous price of creating another war in Iraq. Maybe we will be able to install OUR dictator, but that will not last long.....
Wake up and smell the napalm.....
"If the people of Arizona and the people the United States don't think we ought to be listening in on the conversations of people who can do harm to the United States, then go ahead and vote for the Democrats," Bush said."If you want to make sure that those on the front line protecting you have the tools necessary to do so, you vote Republican for the safety of the United States."
I am sure that a number of people in the front lines and being killed are not Republicans. How can he think we are not in this together?
I read a letter yesterday that said that perhaps the Republicans had been trying to win for so many years, perhaps they do not know what to do when they won? I fear they had no plan other than to make their buddies in big business rich. They certainly have been doing that. One of these years the bills will come due. Remember the inflation of the 70's and 80's? That was paying for the outrageous spending in Vietnam. Our pensions will go up in flames to pay the outrageous price of creating another war in Iraq. Maybe we will be able to install OUR dictator, but that will not last long.....
Wake up and smell the napalm.....
Friday, September 29, 2006
Love the commercial about milk shakes
They are playing a commercial on TV with a couple of guys shaking cows and singing part of Kelis' Milk Shake song. I am amazed there is not outrage over this. I guess the geezers have not seen the lyrics to the song. For the assistance of both of my readers, here you go.....
My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeI know you want it, the thing that makes me, what the guys go crazy for.They lose their minds, the way I wind,I think its timela la-la la la,warm it up.la la-la la la,the boys are waitingla la-la la la,warm it up.la la-la la la,the boys are waitingMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeI can see youre on it,you want me to teach thetechniques that freaks these boys,it can't be bought,just know, thieves get caught,watch if your smart,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeOnce you get involved,everyone will look this way-so,you must maintain your charm,same time maintain your halo,just get the perfect blend,plus what you have within,then next his eyes are squint,then he's picked up your scent,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waitingMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to charge.My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to charge.
I think it is a great play on the song.....and I like the song originally.....
My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeI know you want it, the thing that makes me, what the guys go crazy for.They lose their minds, the way I wind,I think its timela la-la la la,warm it up.la la-la la la,the boys are waitingla la-la la la,warm it up.la la-la la la,the boys are waitingMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeI can see youre on it,you want me to teach thetechniques that freaks these boys,it can't be bought,just know, thieves get caught,watch if your smart,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to chargeOnce you get involved,everyone will look this way-so,you must maintain your charm,same time maintain your halo,just get the perfect blend,plus what you have within,then next his eyes are squint,then he's picked up your scent,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waiting,la la-la la la,warm it up,la la-la la la,the boys are waitingMy milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to charge.My milk shake brings all the boys to the yard,and they're like,its better than yours,damn right its better than yours, I can teach you, but I have to charge.
I think it is a great play on the song.....and I like the song originally.....
Saturday, September 09, 2006
geez, some guys need a date....
I'm glad I am from Wisconsin:( And they stopped at Walmart to buy comdoms before they went to the cemetery.....ewwww
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. - A lawmaker says he will propose a law to outlaw necrophilia in Wisconsin after the attempted robbery of a grave in Cassville.
Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, said he was stunned to learn there isn't such a law in effect in the state, which he said leaves law enforcement with few tools to use in such cases.
Twin brothers have been charged in Grant County Circuit Court with attempted third-degree sexual assault and attempted misdemeanor theft in the incident last Saturday .
Someone had called police after seeing suspicious activity. Authorities said they found a hole had been dug down to the vault of a girl who was killed in a motorcycle accident Aug. 27, but the vault had not been opened.
Sheriff Keith Govier said the three never had any contact with the victim but had seen a newspaper obituary on her death, which included a photo.
Court documents quoted Radke as saying one of the accused had wanted to dig the body up for sex.
Attempted third-degree sexual assault carries up to five years in prison and a fine of $12,500, and the theft charge carries up to four months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Laws against necrophilia in other states carry penalties of up to eight years.
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. - A lawmaker says he will propose a law to outlaw necrophilia in Wisconsin after the attempted robbery of a grave in Cassville.
Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, said he was stunned to learn there isn't such a law in effect in the state, which he said leaves law enforcement with few tools to use in such cases.
Twin brothers have been charged in Grant County Circuit Court with attempted third-degree sexual assault and attempted misdemeanor theft in the incident last Saturday .
Someone had called police after seeing suspicious activity. Authorities said they found a hole had been dug down to the vault of a girl who was killed in a motorcycle accident Aug. 27, but the vault had not been opened.
Sheriff Keith Govier said the three never had any contact with the victim but had seen a newspaper obituary on her death, which included a photo.
Court documents quoted Radke as saying one of the accused had wanted to dig the body up for sex.
Attempted third-degree sexual assault carries up to five years in prison and a fine of $12,500, and the theft charge carries up to four months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Laws against necrophilia in other states carry penalties of up to eight years.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
87 year old bicyclist
Nothing hurts worse than a broken hip I think. I broke my pelvis a little more than two years ago. Aches when the weather changes.
But, back bicycling
An 87-year-old Palo Alto man suffered a broken hip after he was knocked from his bicycle in a collision with a left-turning vehicle at Middlefield Road and Colorado Avenue Friday.
Police Sgt. Sandra Brown said the unidentified man was crossing Middlefield when his bike was "tagged" by a vehicle making a left turn, driven by a 21-year-old Menlo Park man. She said police are still investigating the case and interviewing witnesses.
The accident, which occurred about noon, was reported to the public by a resident posting an item on Town Square, www.PaloAltoOnline.com.
Brown said from preliminary reports, "It looks like the pedestrian was actually on a bike crossing the street and was tagged by the vehicle," which was making a left turn. The driver remained at the scene, she said.
The bicyclist was taken to Stanford Hospital, and Brown said as of early Friday evening she was still awaiting word on his condition.
But, back bicycling
An 87-year-old Palo Alto man suffered a broken hip after he was knocked from his bicycle in a collision with a left-turning vehicle at Middlefield Road and Colorado Avenue Friday.
Police Sgt. Sandra Brown said the unidentified man was crossing Middlefield when his bike was "tagged" by a vehicle making a left turn, driven by a 21-year-old Menlo Park man. She said police are still investigating the case and interviewing witnesses.
The accident, which occurred about noon, was reported to the public by a resident posting an item on Town Square, www.PaloAltoOnline.com.
Brown said from preliminary reports, "It looks like the pedestrian was actually on a bike crossing the street and was tagged by the vehicle," which was making a left turn. The driver remained at the scene, she said.
The bicyclist was taken to Stanford Hospital, and Brown said as of early Friday evening she was still awaiting word on his condition.
Friday, June 30, 2006
A quote we all should listen too
The idiocy of the war is summed up in this quote.....bring them home....
"I don't know if this war is worth the life of Terry Lisk, or 10 soldiers, or 2,500 soldiers like him," Colonel MacFarland told his forces. "What I do know is that he did not die alone. He was surrounded by friends.
"A Greek philosopher said that only the dead have seen the end of war," the colonel said. "Only Terry Lisk has seen the end of this war."
"I don't know if this war is worth the life of Terry Lisk, or 10 soldiers, or 2,500 soldiers like him," Colonel MacFarland told his forces. "What I do know is that he did not die alone. He was surrounded by friends.
"A Greek philosopher said that only the dead have seen the end of war," the colonel said. "Only Terry Lisk has seen the end of this war."
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Geezer still got it
Won a whole pile of stuff on a local radio rock show for an email I sent in.....woo hoo!
Tonight I announced the winner of the "Lopsided" July 4th Party Pack e-mail contest.CD's: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Rammstein, Wheatus, Gnarls Barkley, The Streets,Divided By Zero, Sissy The Singer, Ashley MacIsaac, Eagle Seagull, <>DVD: Joanna's Angels Vol.1Here is the winning e-mail:I have been a fan of your style of music selection for years. However, since the Lopsided World of L has been on the air, my wife, who has never been a big fan of the music I listen to, has come to LOVE the World of L as much as I do. If I forget to turn you on, and believe me in your mid 50's your mind seems to get slippery about some things, she reminds me to turn you on. After 34 years of marriage, what more could I ask for?Well, I do ask for those other things that just flashed through our minds, but I am used to rejection...Rock on! My wife will be looking forward to the albums :)Mike MillerPhoenix, AZ. 85018*Thanks to all the labels and artists that provided the items*
Tonight I announced the winner of the "Lopsided" July 4th Party Pack e-mail contest.CD's: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Rammstein, Wheatus, Gnarls Barkley, The Streets,Divided By Zero, Sissy The Singer, Ashley MacIsaac, Eagle Seagull, <
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
My geezer hero
Hope I grow up just like him!
Perhaps it's not surprising that a lawyer who rides his bicycle to work every day can find splendor in a snowstorm.
Ronald Wallenfang, 62, is an indefatigable bicycle rider.
In a rare instance when he can't pedal downtown from his home in Germantown - a round trip of 42 miles - he'll find time to get miles in during the day.
He's cycled around three of the Great Lakes - always starting from Milwaukee. He's taken two extensive bike trips in Europe. In 1998, he rode from Los Angeles to Milwaukee.
The highlights are many, including shivering alone in a cold thunderstorm on a desolate road on the north shore of Lake Superior.
"At first you feel you are going to die," he said of his Canadian ride. "And then you're afraid you're not."
He owns three bikes - a Trek 520 touring bike, a Trek 7500 hybrid and a single-speed Redline with wider tires that performs best in icy conditions.
When a storm in late March coated Milwaukee's trees with a blanket of snow, Wallenfang was ecstatic.
"For sheer beauty, my bike ride to work today was about as good as it gets," he wrote to an online chat group for recreational bicyclists.
He described how the Oak Leaf Trail was cordoned by snow-covered flora, bright as flocked trees at Christmas. He likened it to "riding into the entrance of a magical kingdom."
Of rides and religion
Since 1993, Wallenfang has ridden 238,000 miles - an average of nearly 50 miles of cycling a day.
He does it with daily rides to the office - a trip that includes long stretches on Bradley Road and the Oak Leaf Trail. Some days he picks longer routes.
On Saturday mornings, he takes a shortcut down Fond du Lac Ave. to serve Communion at Old Saint Mary's Catholic Church downtown.
His vacations often are solitary sojourns in which he sets his own pace and spends much of his waking hours pedaling from one hotel room and a warm shower to the next.
A self-described "compulsive churchgoer," the only thing that will stop him is a Mass.
One of his daughters who books hotels rooms while he is on the road has been known to use the Internet to look for Masses as well.
The highlight of all his rides was pedaling into suburban Atlanta late one summer night in 2005. He was riding from Philadelphia to Savannah, Ga., and coming through Atlanta to visit his son and family on his way to Milwaukee.
His daughter-in-law Charlotte was pregnant and 10 days overdue. He was awakened at five the next morning as Charlotte and his son were off to the hospital. At 8:30 a.m., the baby was born. He rode his bike to see mother and baby at the hospital and continued his ride to Milwaukee.
The most picturesque trip was in Germany along the Mosel River from Koblenz to Trier. As he followed the undulating Mosel, he passed vineyards, quaint towns and Roman ruins.
"An added bonus for me," he wrote to his chat group, "is that after I got a room in a nice little Gasthaus a few miles from Koblenz, had a bottle of the local white wine together with my pork whatever, and gone to bed, I was soon awakened by a 20-piece band playing marches and other songs on the street in celebration of a local guy's 80th birthday. So I went out and enjoyed that."
Keeping the streak alive
Wallenfang is not one of the Lycra crowd who races up and down Lake Drive. He averages 13 to 15 mph on his commute. His chief attribute is his endurance, and sometimes he trades his touring gig for something more competitive.
In 1999, he finished first in the 55-to-59 age group in the National 24-hour Challenge in Michigan, when he rode 326 miles.
Last summer, he came in seventh and covered 301 miles. Leg cramps slowed his pace after "I tried to run with the hounds. This is the kind of thing that teaches you a lesson."
Cycling, he admits, is an obsession.
His wife, Mary Ann, sometimes calls the bicycle his "iron mistress."
A math major in college, he uses a pocket calendar to detail his daily mileage and temperature outside.
He whiles away the riding with little games of calculus, figuring out how many miles he's gone and how many to go as the scenery and his variables constantly change.
His cycling is a "combination of enjoyment - it takes your mind off work - there is the physical fitness aspect to it and the environmental consciousness of saving gas," he said. "You put that all together and it becomes part of your self-identity."
Wallenfang, a partner in Quarles & Brady, has worked at the law firm since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1969.
He starts his commute at 6 a.m. In the winter, he begins before sunrise, outfitted with bike lights and reflective clothing. It takes 1 ½ hours to get to his office at the 411 Building on E. Wisconsin Ave.; his winter commute can take two hours.
When he gets to work, he cleans up with handy wipes and puts on clean clothes that he keeps in his office. If he has a business appointment 3 or 4 miles from his office, he will get on his bike.
His first cycling trip was in the summer after his second year of law school when he rode home to Milwaukee from Cambridge, Mass.
Then came a long period of wandering in a sedentary wilderness. His weight ballooned to 240 pounds on his 5-foot, 9-inch frame.
He didn't start riding seriously until his six children were older, and four were already out of the house. On business or family trips, he will bring along a bicycle or rent one to make sure he gets in some riding time.
He does it all to keep up his streak. His latest is relatively modest - he's ridden his bike every day since Aug. 6, 2005.
His longest streak - from March 6, 1998, to March 21, 2003 - ended abruptly when he was hit by a car in Whitefish Bay and separated his shoulder. He was off the bike for three weeks.
In another car accident, he broke his shoulder blade in 1990.
The potential of accidents or injury must be balanced with the obvious health benefits of riding, he says. At 200 pounds, he is built solid, like a tree trunk.
"The advantage of riding is that maybe I would be dead from a heart attack," he said.
Still, he thinks he is riding a little slower than a few years ago and he feels aches and pains more than he used to.
On his latest trip - a 2,218-mile ride from Key West, Fla., to Savannah to Arkansas to Milwaukee from April 21 to May 6 - his average number of miles per day slipped from 170 to about 140.
His knees also bother him from all of the riding. "I have trouble genuflecting in church," he said with a chuckle.
But the hunger to ride hasn't subsided.
He still needs to knock off four states that he hasn't ridden - South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
And then there's this little trip he is planning in Europe.
He wants to ride from Nordkap, an isolated village at the northern tip of Norway, to Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, a ride of 3,400 miles.
Perhaps it's not surprising that a lawyer who rides his bicycle to work every day can find splendor in a snowstorm.
Ronald Wallenfang, 62, is an indefatigable bicycle rider.
In a rare instance when he can't pedal downtown from his home in Germantown - a round trip of 42 miles - he'll find time to get miles in during the day.
He's cycled around three of the Great Lakes - always starting from Milwaukee. He's taken two extensive bike trips in Europe. In 1998, he rode from Los Angeles to Milwaukee.
The highlights are many, including shivering alone in a cold thunderstorm on a desolate road on the north shore of Lake Superior.
"At first you feel you are going to die," he said of his Canadian ride. "And then you're afraid you're not."
He owns three bikes - a Trek 520 touring bike, a Trek 7500 hybrid and a single-speed Redline with wider tires that performs best in icy conditions.
When a storm in late March coated Milwaukee's trees with a blanket of snow, Wallenfang was ecstatic.
"For sheer beauty, my bike ride to work today was about as good as it gets," he wrote to an online chat group for recreational bicyclists.
He described how the Oak Leaf Trail was cordoned by snow-covered flora, bright as flocked trees at Christmas. He likened it to "riding into the entrance of a magical kingdom."
Of rides and religion
Since 1993, Wallenfang has ridden 238,000 miles - an average of nearly 50 miles of cycling a day.
He does it with daily rides to the office - a trip that includes long stretches on Bradley Road and the Oak Leaf Trail. Some days he picks longer routes.
On Saturday mornings, he takes a shortcut down Fond du Lac Ave. to serve Communion at Old Saint Mary's Catholic Church downtown.
His vacations often are solitary sojourns in which he sets his own pace and spends much of his waking hours pedaling from one hotel room and a warm shower to the next.
A self-described "compulsive churchgoer," the only thing that will stop him is a Mass.
One of his daughters who books hotels rooms while he is on the road has been known to use the Internet to look for Masses as well.
The highlight of all his rides was pedaling into suburban Atlanta late one summer night in 2005. He was riding from Philadelphia to Savannah, Ga., and coming through Atlanta to visit his son and family on his way to Milwaukee.
His daughter-in-law Charlotte was pregnant and 10 days overdue. He was awakened at five the next morning as Charlotte and his son were off to the hospital. At 8:30 a.m., the baby was born. He rode his bike to see mother and baby at the hospital and continued his ride to Milwaukee.
The most picturesque trip was in Germany along the Mosel River from Koblenz to Trier. As he followed the undulating Mosel, he passed vineyards, quaint towns and Roman ruins.
"An added bonus for me," he wrote to his chat group, "is that after I got a room in a nice little Gasthaus a few miles from Koblenz, had a bottle of the local white wine together with my pork whatever, and gone to bed, I was soon awakened by a 20-piece band playing marches and other songs on the street in celebration of a local guy's 80th birthday. So I went out and enjoyed that."
Keeping the streak alive
Wallenfang is not one of the Lycra crowd who races up and down Lake Drive. He averages 13 to 15 mph on his commute. His chief attribute is his endurance, and sometimes he trades his touring gig for something more competitive.
In 1999, he finished first in the 55-to-59 age group in the National 24-hour Challenge in Michigan, when he rode 326 miles.
Last summer, he came in seventh and covered 301 miles. Leg cramps slowed his pace after "I tried to run with the hounds. This is the kind of thing that teaches you a lesson."
Cycling, he admits, is an obsession.
His wife, Mary Ann, sometimes calls the bicycle his "iron mistress."
A math major in college, he uses a pocket calendar to detail his daily mileage and temperature outside.
He whiles away the riding with little games of calculus, figuring out how many miles he's gone and how many to go as the scenery and his variables constantly change.
His cycling is a "combination of enjoyment - it takes your mind off work - there is the physical fitness aspect to it and the environmental consciousness of saving gas," he said. "You put that all together and it becomes part of your self-identity."
Wallenfang, a partner in Quarles & Brady, has worked at the law firm since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1969.
He starts his commute at 6 a.m. In the winter, he begins before sunrise, outfitted with bike lights and reflective clothing. It takes 1 ½ hours to get to his office at the 411 Building on E. Wisconsin Ave.; his winter commute can take two hours.
When he gets to work, he cleans up with handy wipes and puts on clean clothes that he keeps in his office. If he has a business appointment 3 or 4 miles from his office, he will get on his bike.
His first cycling trip was in the summer after his second year of law school when he rode home to Milwaukee from Cambridge, Mass.
Then came a long period of wandering in a sedentary wilderness. His weight ballooned to 240 pounds on his 5-foot, 9-inch frame.
He didn't start riding seriously until his six children were older, and four were already out of the house. On business or family trips, he will bring along a bicycle or rent one to make sure he gets in some riding time.
He does it all to keep up his streak. His latest is relatively modest - he's ridden his bike every day since Aug. 6, 2005.
His longest streak - from March 6, 1998, to March 21, 2003 - ended abruptly when he was hit by a car in Whitefish Bay and separated his shoulder. He was off the bike for three weeks.
In another car accident, he broke his shoulder blade in 1990.
The potential of accidents or injury must be balanced with the obvious health benefits of riding, he says. At 200 pounds, he is built solid, like a tree trunk.
"The advantage of riding is that maybe I would be dead from a heart attack," he said.
Still, he thinks he is riding a little slower than a few years ago and he feels aches and pains more than he used to.
On his latest trip - a 2,218-mile ride from Key West, Fla., to Savannah to Arkansas to Milwaukee from April 21 to May 6 - his average number of miles per day slipped from 170 to about 140.
His knees also bother him from all of the riding. "I have trouble genuflecting in church," he said with a chuckle.
But the hunger to ride hasn't subsided.
He still needs to knock off four states that he hasn't ridden - South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
And then there's this little trip he is planning in Europe.
He wants to ride from Nordkap, an isolated village at the northern tip of Norway, to Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, a ride of 3,400 miles.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
just getting over the mumps
Mumps hits IowaMELANIE S. WELTEThe Associated PressPublished March 31, 2006, 10:20 AM CST
DES MOINES -- An outbreak of mumps is sweeping across Iowa, the first in nearly 20 years, and it's puzzling health officials and worrying parents.``We have probably, at this point, what we would call an epidemic of mumps,'' said state epidemiologist Dr. Patricia Quinlisk.As of Thursday, the latest report available, 245 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of mumps had been reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health this year.The first cases were reported in mid-January.``It started in eastern Iowa. It's spreading across the state. We have now seen possible cases in three of our bordering states,'' Quinlisk said.Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska may have one or two cases of suspected mumps, but Iowa is the only state in the United States with so many cases of the virus, she said.Health officials have not identified how it started.Mumps is an infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache and swelling of the glands close to the jaw. It can cause serious complications including meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries and deafness.The virus is in 36 of Iowa's 99 counties. Dubuque, Johnson and Black Hawk counties in eastern Iowa are reporting the highest incidences.College-age students, those 18- to 22-years-old, have been infected the most, but other age groups are also seeing cases.When 11-year-old Will Hean starting feeling ill in mid-January, his family thought he had a bad case of the flu.But this was different.His face was swelling. So was his throat. His body temperature reached 103. His parents, Wayne and Karen Hean, of Davenport, took him to their family doctor, who sent him to a specialist.``He had the full-blown case of the mumps,'' said his father.``It was on both sides of his cheeks and his throat swelled up. Poor little guy. He was miserable,'' he said.About two weeks later, the Heans' daughter, Kate, 21, also started feeling ill and her face and throat started swelling.She had the mumps too.Hean said he was shocked. Both children had been given the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR. So had their other son, 13-year-old Jimmy, who did not get the mumps.A mumps vaccine was introduced in 1967. People born before 1957 are believed to have been exposed to mumps during childhood and should be immune.``The vaccine is working,'' Quinlisk said. ``The vaccine certainly was made to cover this particular strain because it's a fairly common strain of mumps.''Quinlisk said, however, the vaccine is about 95 percent effective.``What that means is out of 100 people who get vaccinated, 95 of them will have lifelong immunity and will never get mumps even if they're exposed,'' she said. ``Unfortunately, five percent or 5 out of every 100, the vaccine doesn't take.''The last mumps outbreak in Iowa was in 1987 when 476 people were infected. Until this year, less than 60 cases were reported annually, with only one to three cases reported in the past five years.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which was notified of the mumps outbreak in Iowa on Feb. 9, has identified the strain as genotype g.That genotype has been identified in recent outbreaks in Canada, in two New Jersey cases imported from Ireland and an ongoing mumps outbreak in the UK, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said.The mumps epidemic in the United Kingdom began in 2004 and peaked in 2005 when 56,390 cases were reported in England and Wales, according to the CDC.In 2004, New Jersey had eight cases of the mumps. For 2005, there were seven cases, but those numbers are not final, said Nathan Rudy, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.New York reported a cluster of cases at a summer camp in 2005. An investigation by state health officials identified 31 cases of the mumps. According to the CDC, the outbreak was most likely introduced by a camp counselor who traveled from the UK and had not been vaccinated for mumps.``Eradication is only as effective as the population remains at high levels of being vaccinated,'' Russell said. ``That's the health message that we always emphasis over and over again.''
DES MOINES -- An outbreak of mumps is sweeping across Iowa, the first in nearly 20 years, and it's puzzling health officials and worrying parents.``We have probably, at this point, what we would call an epidemic of mumps,'' said state epidemiologist Dr. Patricia Quinlisk.As of Thursday, the latest report available, 245 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of mumps had been reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health this year.The first cases were reported in mid-January.``It started in eastern Iowa. It's spreading across the state. We have now seen possible cases in three of our bordering states,'' Quinlisk said.Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska may have one or two cases of suspected mumps, but Iowa is the only state in the United States with so many cases of the virus, she said.Health officials have not identified how it started.Mumps is an infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache and swelling of the glands close to the jaw. It can cause serious complications including meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries and deafness.The virus is in 36 of Iowa's 99 counties. Dubuque, Johnson and Black Hawk counties in eastern Iowa are reporting the highest incidences.College-age students, those 18- to 22-years-old, have been infected the most, but other age groups are also seeing cases.When 11-year-old Will Hean starting feeling ill in mid-January, his family thought he had a bad case of the flu.But this was different.His face was swelling. So was his throat. His body temperature reached 103. His parents, Wayne and Karen Hean, of Davenport, took him to their family doctor, who sent him to a specialist.``He had the full-blown case of the mumps,'' said his father.``It was on both sides of his cheeks and his throat swelled up. Poor little guy. He was miserable,'' he said.About two weeks later, the Heans' daughter, Kate, 21, also started feeling ill and her face and throat started swelling.She had the mumps too.Hean said he was shocked. Both children had been given the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR. So had their other son, 13-year-old Jimmy, who did not get the mumps.A mumps vaccine was introduced in 1967. People born before 1957 are believed to have been exposed to mumps during childhood and should be immune.``The vaccine is working,'' Quinlisk said. ``The vaccine certainly was made to cover this particular strain because it's a fairly common strain of mumps.''Quinlisk said, however, the vaccine is about 95 percent effective.``What that means is out of 100 people who get vaccinated, 95 of them will have lifelong immunity and will never get mumps even if they're exposed,'' she said. ``Unfortunately, five percent or 5 out of every 100, the vaccine doesn't take.''The last mumps outbreak in Iowa was in 1987 when 476 people were infected. Until this year, less than 60 cases were reported annually, with only one to three cases reported in the past five years.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which was notified of the mumps outbreak in Iowa on Feb. 9, has identified the strain as genotype g.That genotype has been identified in recent outbreaks in Canada, in two New Jersey cases imported from Ireland and an ongoing mumps outbreak in the UK, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said.The mumps epidemic in the United Kingdom began in 2004 and peaked in 2005 when 56,390 cases were reported in England and Wales, according to the CDC.In 2004, New Jersey had eight cases of the mumps. For 2005, there were seven cases, but those numbers are not final, said Nathan Rudy, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.New York reported a cluster of cases at a summer camp in 2005. An investigation by state health officials identified 31 cases of the mumps. According to the CDC, the outbreak was most likely introduced by a camp counselor who traveled from the UK and had not been vaccinated for mumps.``Eradication is only as effective as the population remains at high levels of being vaccinated,'' Russell said. ``That's the health message that we always emphasis over and over again.''
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A pi day record!
Congratulations to all the students involved!
Hi there,
My name is Veronica Han-G Benes and I am a MS Math teacher at Westlake Christian School, in Palm Harbor, Florida. I am sending you this email as I have emailed Gene Potter. He gave me your email address and suggested that I email you in regards to what our MS math class has done for National Pi Day, last Tuesday.
My students participated in several various events, which I received various ideas from mathwithmrherte.com. Some of them included citing as many circular objects in the world, circular songs, memorizing digits of Pi, measuring various objects for circumference and area as well as, making a Pi chain.
I understand that North Clayton High, (in an article written by Jeffrey Whitfield) stated they made a 5,000 link Pi chain.
Well, after some research I had seen on Mr. Herte's website that a school in Ohio had made a chain back in 2002 of 5201 links! I am so happy to say that my math students made a Pi chain of 7,095 digits!! It was so impressive that I had our local paper, St. Petersburg Times have a photographer sent over so they could take a pictuer. I am happy to say that we were photographed on Wednesday, March 15th in our Pinellas Times Section of the paper.
I was hoping you could help me so that I could have my students listed somehow, on a record list. In addition, I have a 7th grade student who has memorized 254 digits of Pi!!
I am so happy my students were able to participate in this experience and have a great time...
Please advise me how I can get my students noticed...
Thank you so much!
Veronica Han-G BenesMS Math Teacher
Westlake Christian School
1551 Belcher Road
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
Hi there,
My name is Veronica Han-G Benes and I am a MS Math teacher at Westlake Christian School, in Palm Harbor, Florida. I am sending you this email as I have emailed Gene Potter. He gave me your email address and suggested that I email you in regards to what our MS math class has done for National Pi Day, last Tuesday.
My students participated in several various events, which I received various ideas from mathwithmrherte.com. Some of them included citing as many circular objects in the world, circular songs, memorizing digits of Pi, measuring various objects for circumference and area as well as, making a Pi chain.
I understand that North Clayton High, (in an article written by Jeffrey Whitfield) stated they made a 5,000 link Pi chain.
Well, after some research I had seen on Mr. Herte's website that a school in Ohio had made a chain back in 2002 of 5201 links! I am so happy to say that my math students made a Pi chain of 7,095 digits!! It was so impressive that I had our local paper, St. Petersburg Times have a photographer sent over so they could take a pictuer. I am happy to say that we were photographed on Wednesday, March 15th in our Pinellas Times Section of the paper.
I was hoping you could help me so that I could have my students listed somehow, on a record list. In addition, I have a 7th grade student who has memorized 254 digits of Pi!!
I am so happy my students were able to participate in this experience and have a great time...
Please advise me how I can get my students noticed...
Thank you so much!
Veronica Han-G BenesMS Math Teacher
Westlake Christian School
1551 Belcher Road
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
Monday, March 13, 2006
Pi Day is here!
TUESDAY MARCH 14 (03.14) IS PI DAY -- When Math Geeks, Students & Quants Can Have Their Pi and Eat It Too
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2006--It's Pi Day because the date is 3/14 -- the first three digits of Pi.
It's celebrated across the United States by Math nerds, students, teachers and professors, from elementary school to university, and even die-hard Quants.
Contrary to the pundits, there is a groundswell of enthusiasm and interest in Math and Sciences across the spectrum. Pi Day is the most visible demonstration.
The annual ritual Drop of The Giant Pi, viewed live across the United States, takes place in cyberspace at Pi Day Ground Zero -- the Pi Department at MathematiciansPictures.com -- on March 14 at precisely 1:59 pm (3.14.1:59 -- the first six digits of Pi). The Countdown is already running live.
PI DAY COUNTDOWN, & GIANT PI DROP at:
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI_DAY_CENTRAL_Giant_Pi_Drop_MARCH_14.htm
Pi lovers don Pi Day shirts, display Pi Day posters and Pi scrolls, drink from Pi Day mugs, and serve pie in Pi Day aprons, as the Giant Pi descends majestically for its annual 'touch down.'
MEDIA "INTERVIEW WITH THE PI" (Visual & Voice):
Media interviews with the Pi (visual and voice) are available Monday March 13th and Tuesday March 14th as the Pi prepares for its Pi Day drop from the Giant Crane.
PI DAY GEAR: http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI-DAY.htm
EVERYDAY PI: (American Pi, Strawberry Pi, Pi-in-the-Sky, Apple Pi, Pizza Pi, etc)
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/sp_Pi_Variations.htm#PI_SHIRTS_POSTERS_MUGS
WORLD'S LARGEST PI POSTER (4 feet x 8 feet: One Million Digits):
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/Pi_One_Million_Decimal_Places_Pi_1_Million_Decimal_Places_poster.htm#PI_ONE_MILLION_DIGITS
Pi Scrolls:
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI-PANEL_scroll.htm#PI_SCROLLS
Please let us know if you are interested in order that minor technical details for Drop of the Giant Pi coverage, and the Interview with the Pi can be coordinated in advance.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2006--It's Pi Day because the date is 3/14 -- the first three digits of Pi.
It's celebrated across the United States by Math nerds, students, teachers and professors, from elementary school to university, and even die-hard Quants.
Contrary to the pundits, there is a groundswell of enthusiasm and interest in Math and Sciences across the spectrum. Pi Day is the most visible demonstration.
The annual ritual Drop of The Giant Pi, viewed live across the United States, takes place in cyberspace at Pi Day Ground Zero -- the Pi Department at MathematiciansPictures.com -- on March 14 at precisely 1:59 pm (3.14.1:59 -- the first six digits of Pi). The Countdown is already running live.
PI DAY COUNTDOWN, & GIANT PI DROP at:
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI_DAY_CENTRAL_Giant_Pi_Drop_MARCH_14.htm
Pi lovers don Pi Day shirts, display Pi Day posters and Pi scrolls, drink from Pi Day mugs, and serve pie in Pi Day aprons, as the Giant Pi descends majestically for its annual 'touch down.'
MEDIA "INTERVIEW WITH THE PI" (Visual & Voice):
Media interviews with the Pi (visual and voice) are available Monday March 13th and Tuesday March 14th as the Pi prepares for its Pi Day drop from the Giant Crane.
PI DAY GEAR: http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI-DAY.htm
EVERYDAY PI: (American Pi, Strawberry Pi, Pi-in-the-Sky, Apple Pi, Pizza Pi, etc)
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/sp_Pi_Variations.htm#PI_SHIRTS_POSTERS_MUGS
WORLD'S LARGEST PI POSTER (4 feet x 8 feet: One Million Digits):
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/Pi_One_Million_Decimal_Places_Pi_1_Million_Decimal_Places_poster.htm#PI_ONE_MILLION_DIGITS
Pi Scrolls:
http://MathematiciansPictures.com/PI/PI-PANEL_scroll.htm#PI_SCROLLS
Please let us know if you are interested in order that minor technical details for Drop of the Giant Pi coverage, and the Interview with the Pi can be coordinated in advance.
I used to live near these cities.....never thought about the names
Well, at least we don't live in Il-in-WAH
JAY RATH For the State Journal
The Bible tells us that God looked at the Tower of Babel, scattered its builders and confounded their tongues. This must be the earliest known literary reference to Wisconsin.
How else to explain our welter of impossible city and town pronunciations?
"I think my first week, it was Wau-POON. That was a lot of fun," says Christine Bellport, WMTV (Ch. 15) morning anchor. The California native arrived in Madison in August 2004, only to be ambushed by, of course, Waupun. There's an Associated Press guide to place name pronunciation, "Except - I'm not kidding you - a third of the time they're incorrect," says Bellport.
At northern Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet U.S. National Forest, public affairs specialist Cathy Fox has heard it all. Just looking at the name terrifies. "I had some poor guy call from California once," Fox recalls, laughing. "He said, 'I need to update some information on Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch' - I said, 'Go ahead. Try it!'• "
Only Wisconsinese features a silent "Q." The correct pronunciation is SHAW-em-gun. The strangest she's heard was check-wa-ME-gun. "That was the phonetically correct person," Fox says, coining a new meaning for P.C.
Our maps seem designed to embarrass. Take Rio and Theresa, two Wisconsin villages. You would think that no names could be easier to pronounce. You would be wrong.
Rio rhymes with EYE-Oh, and it's tuh-RESS-uh. Following this logic, the capital should be MADE-ice-own.
Similarly, there is the Strange Case of Muscoda, which you might expect to be mus-KOE- duh. There is hope that the emerging science of quantum mechanics and string theory may yet account for pronouncing it, instead, as MUSS-kuh- day.
We're not as dumb as we think when we bump into unfamiliar place names. We take for granted how much we do know. For example, which "ough" sound should one mimic when pronouncing the city 20 miles southwest of Madison? Looking to "rough," "through" and "thought," it could be called Stuffton, Stewton or Stawton. But somewhere long ago we learned that Stoughton is "STOW-tun."
Then there's the siren's song of familiar, look-alike words that lure us toward the shores of mispronunciation and public embarrassment. Oregon the state is ends with an "un" sound, but in Wisconsin the town is definitely "on." On the back of most nickels you see that Jefferson lived at mont-uh- CHELL-oh, but our Monitcello is mont-uh-SELL-oh. The city of Tomahawk presents no problem, but the city of Tomah does. It's TOE-muh. And you're welcome to take your bow and play the viola in Viola, so long as you pronounce the community's first syllable with an "eye" sound, and not the musical instrument's "vee."
Speaking of music, different meters playing at the same time is called a hemiola; think of a polka played as a waltz. The off-balance effect is as if the instruments are speaking on the wrong syllables. In Wisconsin, we make music of a different sort when we show preference to unexpected syllables. Take, for example, Gillett, which is JILL-it. Boaz is not "boze," but BO-az. And there's New BER-lin. Struggle as we might to be phonetically correct, how can we follow rules when there aren't any? It's not Bos-KOE-buhl, WAW-puk- aw and Muh-ZAHM-uh-nee. First second and third syllables are each favored, in order, in Boscobel, Waupaca and Mazomanie: BOSS-kuh-bell, Wah- PACK-uh and may-zoh-MAY- nee.
Against all reason we speak Vienna with an "eye" sound. But it's not Germanic tongues that tangle most. The French may have ceded the Wisconsin territory to the British in 1763, but they left behind the city whose name should be pronounced "bell-WAH." If you call it that when asking for directions, you'll never find your way to Beloit.
The "sheen" that ends Prairie du Chien would, to a French speaker, be "shee-EN," with a nasalized "n" on the end. Word pairs that are otherwise simple can set up illogical hurdles to pronunciation. Sportscasters who call it GREEN Bay make us snort. But why do we call it Green BAY, as if there are other green things nearby and we mean to refer only to the water? Still, green is GREEN in Spring GREEN. Why? Why, for that matter, is it Sauk CITY but never BEAVER Dam?
Many of us no doubt mangle names drawn from Native American languages, without even knowing it. Look how even the tribal name of the Ojibwa was so long mangled as "Chippewa." Oshkosh is named for the chief whose name was spelled that way, but it's also spelled as the Brooklyn- sounding "Oiscoss." Both spellings turn up in the 1827 Treaty of Little Butte des Morts, a pronunciation challenge in itself. It's no mystery why, history tells us, the chief was also called "Clam."
But we're led astray even within the context of probably- garbled Indian names, especially in the matter of our "aukees." If it's Mil-WAH-kee, Peh- WAH-kee and Oh-ZAW-kee, then why is Waunakee not Wah-NAH-kee, instead of Wah- nuh-KEE?
And then there's . . . Oconomowoc.
It could be a childhood phonics test, with its perfectly alternating hard and soft "O"s. The Wisconsin Historical Society says it's a corruption of "Coo-no-mo-wauk," a Pottawatomie term referring to a nearby waterfall, and that tired pioneers punned it as "I can no mo' walk."
Even the original pronunciation and meaning of "Wisconsin" are lost to us. Its listed translations range from "gathering of waters" and "river of red stone" to "river of the great rock" which, though picturesque, could hardly fit on license plates. The Historical Society says it's the English spelling of a French version of a Native American word. French explorer Jacques Marquette garbled it immediately in 1673, spelling it both "Meskousing" and "Miskous."
Be thankful, then, for failed translations and mispronunciations. Otherwise, instead of "On, Wisconsin!" we'd all be singing "On, Miskous!" But that's better than singing another translation of our state name: "On, Holes in the Bank of a Stream in Which Birds Nest!"
It would be easy to pronounce, though.
JAY RATH For the State Journal
The Bible tells us that God looked at the Tower of Babel, scattered its builders and confounded their tongues. This must be the earliest known literary reference to Wisconsin.
How else to explain our welter of impossible city and town pronunciations?
"I think my first week, it was Wau-POON. That was a lot of fun," says Christine Bellport, WMTV (Ch. 15) morning anchor. The California native arrived in Madison in August 2004, only to be ambushed by, of course, Waupun. There's an Associated Press guide to place name pronunciation, "Except - I'm not kidding you - a third of the time they're incorrect," says Bellport.
At northern Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet U.S. National Forest, public affairs specialist Cathy Fox has heard it all. Just looking at the name terrifies. "I had some poor guy call from California once," Fox recalls, laughing. "He said, 'I need to update some information on Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch' - I said, 'Go ahead. Try it!'• "
Only Wisconsinese features a silent "Q." The correct pronunciation is SHAW-em-gun. The strangest she's heard was check-wa-ME-gun. "That was the phonetically correct person," Fox says, coining a new meaning for P.C.
Our maps seem designed to embarrass. Take Rio and Theresa, two Wisconsin villages. You would think that no names could be easier to pronounce. You would be wrong.
Rio rhymes with EYE-Oh, and it's tuh-RESS-uh. Following this logic, the capital should be MADE-ice-own.
Similarly, there is the Strange Case of Muscoda, which you might expect to be mus-KOE- duh. There is hope that the emerging science of quantum mechanics and string theory may yet account for pronouncing it, instead, as MUSS-kuh- day.
We're not as dumb as we think when we bump into unfamiliar place names. We take for granted how much we do know. For example, which "ough" sound should one mimic when pronouncing the city 20 miles southwest of Madison? Looking to "rough," "through" and "thought," it could be called Stuffton, Stewton or Stawton. But somewhere long ago we learned that Stoughton is "STOW-tun."
Then there's the siren's song of familiar, look-alike words that lure us toward the shores of mispronunciation and public embarrassment. Oregon the state is ends with an "un" sound, but in Wisconsin the town is definitely "on." On the back of most nickels you see that Jefferson lived at mont-uh- CHELL-oh, but our Monitcello is mont-uh-SELL-oh. The city of Tomahawk presents no problem, but the city of Tomah does. It's TOE-muh. And you're welcome to take your bow and play the viola in Viola, so long as you pronounce the community's first syllable with an "eye" sound, and not the musical instrument's "vee."
Speaking of music, different meters playing at the same time is called a hemiola; think of a polka played as a waltz. The off-balance effect is as if the instruments are speaking on the wrong syllables. In Wisconsin, we make music of a different sort when we show preference to unexpected syllables. Take, for example, Gillett, which is JILL-it. Boaz is not "boze," but BO-az. And there's New BER-lin. Struggle as we might to be phonetically correct, how can we follow rules when there aren't any? It's not Bos-KOE-buhl, WAW-puk- aw and Muh-ZAHM-uh-nee. First second and third syllables are each favored, in order, in Boscobel, Waupaca and Mazomanie: BOSS-kuh-bell, Wah- PACK-uh and may-zoh-MAY- nee.
Against all reason we speak Vienna with an "eye" sound. But it's not Germanic tongues that tangle most. The French may have ceded the Wisconsin territory to the British in 1763, but they left behind the city whose name should be pronounced "bell-WAH." If you call it that when asking for directions, you'll never find your way to Beloit.
The "sheen" that ends Prairie du Chien would, to a French speaker, be "shee-EN," with a nasalized "n" on the end. Word pairs that are otherwise simple can set up illogical hurdles to pronunciation. Sportscasters who call it GREEN Bay make us snort. But why do we call it Green BAY, as if there are other green things nearby and we mean to refer only to the water? Still, green is GREEN in Spring GREEN. Why? Why, for that matter, is it Sauk CITY but never BEAVER Dam?
Many of us no doubt mangle names drawn from Native American languages, without even knowing it. Look how even the tribal name of the Ojibwa was so long mangled as "Chippewa." Oshkosh is named for the chief whose name was spelled that way, but it's also spelled as the Brooklyn- sounding "Oiscoss." Both spellings turn up in the 1827 Treaty of Little Butte des Morts, a pronunciation challenge in itself. It's no mystery why, history tells us, the chief was also called "Clam."
But we're led astray even within the context of probably- garbled Indian names, especially in the matter of our "aukees." If it's Mil-WAH-kee, Peh- WAH-kee and Oh-ZAW-kee, then why is Waunakee not Wah-NAH-kee, instead of Wah- nuh-KEE?
And then there's . . . Oconomowoc.
It could be a childhood phonics test, with its perfectly alternating hard and soft "O"s. The Wisconsin Historical Society says it's a corruption of "Coo-no-mo-wauk," a Pottawatomie term referring to a nearby waterfall, and that tired pioneers punned it as "I can no mo' walk."
Even the original pronunciation and meaning of "Wisconsin" are lost to us. Its listed translations range from "gathering of waters" and "river of red stone" to "river of the great rock" which, though picturesque, could hardly fit on license plates. The Historical Society says it's the English spelling of a French version of a Native American word. French explorer Jacques Marquette garbled it immediately in 1673, spelling it both "Meskousing" and "Miskous."
Be thankful, then, for failed translations and mispronunciations. Otherwise, instead of "On, Wisconsin!" we'd all be singing "On, Miskous!" But that's better than singing another translation of our state name: "On, Holes in the Bank of a Stream in Which Birds Nest!"
It would be easy to pronounce, though.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
good news for geezers?
The next few decades will see an explosion in the percentage of Americans over the age of 65, but the economic and social impact of this baby boomer sunset may be gentler than had been feared because of a significant drop in the percentage of older people with disabilities, a new federal study has concluded.
Released yesterday, the United States Census Bureau's 243-page report on the aging population, among the largest and most comprehensive on the subject that the bureau has ever compiled, showed that today's older Americans are markedly different from previous generations. They are more prosperous, better educated and healthier, and those differences will only accelerate as the first boomers hit retirement age in 2011.
"Older Americans, when compared to older Americans even 20 years ago, are showing substantially less disability, and that benefit applies to men and to women," said Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, on whose behalf the study was conducted. "All of this speaks to an improved quality of life."
What this suggests, Dr. Hodes said, is that while many of these older Americans will eventually become disabled, it will happen later with more of the years beyond 65 free of disability — an increase in what scientists call health expectancy.
And while, as baby boomers age, the growing ranks of the infirm will become a substantial drain on government coffers and devour health care resources, the total impact may not be as devastating as once feared, Dr. Hodes said.
The study showed that the percentage of those over 65 who had a disability that the report described as "a substantial limitation in a major life activity" fell to 19.7 percent in 1999 from 26.2 percent in 1982. There were signs the trend would continue.
Richard Suzman, head of the Behavioral and Social Research Program for the National Institute on Aging, said there was disagreement among those analyzing the results about why this drop occurred. But they assumed, he said, that it was at least partly a result of today's older Americans' being better educated and more prosperous than previous generations.
"People today have a better health expectancy than did their predecessors," Mr. Suzman said. "Education, in particular, is a particularly powerful factor in both life expectancy and health expectancy, though truthfully, we're not quite sure why."
Dr. Hodes cautioned that the growing obesity rate in America may neutralize the positive trend.
The new study, "65+ in the United States: 2005," involved no fresh research but was an effort to draw together all of the relevant information on America's aging population from nearly a dozen federal agencies, said Charles Louis Kincannon, director of the Census Bureau.
"The report tells us that the face of America is changing," he said.
In 1900, Mr. Kincannon said, there were 120,000 Americans over age 85, about 0.1 percent of the population. Today there are more than four million, about 1 percent. Indeed, Mr. Kincannon said, it is the nation's fastest-growing age group.
In July 2003, there were 35.9 million Americans over the age of 65, about 12 percent of the population. By 2030, federal officials predict, there will be 72 million older people, about 20 percent of Americans.
And they will be a substantially different class of people than previous generations. In 1959, 35 percent of people over 65 lived in poverty. By 2003, that figure had dropped to 10 percent. The proportion of older Americans with a high school diploma rose to 71.5 percent in 2003 from 17 percent in 1950.
All of these trends are expected to accelerate, and soon. "The future older population is likely to be better educated than the current older population, especially when baby boomers start reaching age 65," the report concluded. "Their increased levels of education may accompany better health, higher incomes and more wealth, and consequently higher standards of living in retirement."
And as younger workers become scarcer, many companies will have to find ways to convince their older workers to stay on the job longer, Mr. Kincannon said.
The report was not all good news.
Divorce is on the rise among older Americans, the study found, leading to concerns that broken families combined with low birth rates among baby boomers may create a situation where fewer people are available or willing to help care for their aging relatives, pushing even more of the burden onto government.
Also, the drop in poverty has not happened across all population groups. "There are subgroups among the old who still have fairly high levels of poverty, including older women, and especially those who live alone," said Victoria A. Velkoff, chief of the aging studies branch at the Census Bureau.
Ms. Velkoff said that while the aging population was more diverse than previous generations, poverty hit blacks and Hispanics, especially women, harder than whites. While 10 percent of older white women lived in poverty in 2003, 21.4 percent of older Hispanic women and 27.4 percent of older black women did.
Released yesterday, the United States Census Bureau's 243-page report on the aging population, among the largest and most comprehensive on the subject that the bureau has ever compiled, showed that today's older Americans are markedly different from previous generations. They are more prosperous, better educated and healthier, and those differences will only accelerate as the first boomers hit retirement age in 2011.
"Older Americans, when compared to older Americans even 20 years ago, are showing substantially less disability, and that benefit applies to men and to women," said Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, on whose behalf the study was conducted. "All of this speaks to an improved quality of life."
What this suggests, Dr. Hodes said, is that while many of these older Americans will eventually become disabled, it will happen later with more of the years beyond 65 free of disability — an increase in what scientists call health expectancy.
And while, as baby boomers age, the growing ranks of the infirm will become a substantial drain on government coffers and devour health care resources, the total impact may not be as devastating as once feared, Dr. Hodes said.
The study showed that the percentage of those over 65 who had a disability that the report described as "a substantial limitation in a major life activity" fell to 19.7 percent in 1999 from 26.2 percent in 1982. There were signs the trend would continue.
Richard Suzman, head of the Behavioral and Social Research Program for the National Institute on Aging, said there was disagreement among those analyzing the results about why this drop occurred. But they assumed, he said, that it was at least partly a result of today's older Americans' being better educated and more prosperous than previous generations.
"People today have a better health expectancy than did their predecessors," Mr. Suzman said. "Education, in particular, is a particularly powerful factor in both life expectancy and health expectancy, though truthfully, we're not quite sure why."
Dr. Hodes cautioned that the growing obesity rate in America may neutralize the positive trend.
The new study, "65+ in the United States: 2005," involved no fresh research but was an effort to draw together all of the relevant information on America's aging population from nearly a dozen federal agencies, said Charles Louis Kincannon, director of the Census Bureau.
"The report tells us that the face of America is changing," he said.
In 1900, Mr. Kincannon said, there were 120,000 Americans over age 85, about 0.1 percent of the population. Today there are more than four million, about 1 percent. Indeed, Mr. Kincannon said, it is the nation's fastest-growing age group.
In July 2003, there were 35.9 million Americans over the age of 65, about 12 percent of the population. By 2030, federal officials predict, there will be 72 million older people, about 20 percent of Americans.
And they will be a substantially different class of people than previous generations. In 1959, 35 percent of people over 65 lived in poverty. By 2003, that figure had dropped to 10 percent. The proportion of older Americans with a high school diploma rose to 71.5 percent in 2003 from 17 percent in 1950.
All of these trends are expected to accelerate, and soon. "The future older population is likely to be better educated than the current older population, especially when baby boomers start reaching age 65," the report concluded. "Their increased levels of education may accompany better health, higher incomes and more wealth, and consequently higher standards of living in retirement."
And as younger workers become scarcer, many companies will have to find ways to convince their older workers to stay on the job longer, Mr. Kincannon said.
The report was not all good news.
Divorce is on the rise among older Americans, the study found, leading to concerns that broken families combined with low birth rates among baby boomers may create a situation where fewer people are available or willing to help care for their aging relatives, pushing even more of the burden onto government.
Also, the drop in poverty has not happened across all population groups. "There are subgroups among the old who still have fairly high levels of poverty, including older women, and especially those who live alone," said Victoria A. Velkoff, chief of the aging studies branch at the Census Bureau.
Ms. Velkoff said that while the aging population was more diverse than previous generations, poverty hit blacks and Hispanics, especially women, harder than whites. While 10 percent of older white women lived in poverty in 2003, 21.4 percent of older Hispanic women and 27.4 percent of older black women did.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Not even a geezer
This is sad. He was such a good player in a small ball town. Really, the star of Minneapolis for a number of years. Probably could not live a life after baseball....
MINNEAPOLIS Mar 6, 2006 (AP)— Kirby Puckett died Monday, a day after the Hall of Fame outfielder had a stroke at his Arizona home, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 44.
MINNEAPOLIS Mar 6, 2006 (AP)— Kirby Puckett died Monday, a day after the Hall of Fame outfielder had a stroke at his Arizona home, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 44.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
sad waste of a car....
The Plot Thickens in Ferrari CrashA gun's magazine found near the wreckage may be connected to the accident, and a Scottish bank says it might own the destroyed car.By Richard Winton and David PiersonTimes Staff WritersPublished February 28, 2006The mystery deepened Monday in the case of the puzzling crash last week of a $1-million Ferrari Enzo on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.Sheriff's detectives said Monday that they believe a gun's magazine discovered near the wreckage is connected to the crash, and they plan to interview an unnamed person who they believe was in the car with Swedish game machine entrepreneur Stefan Eriksson.The crash has also garnered the attention of a leading Scottish bank, which has informed sheriff's investigators that it may own the destroyed car. At the same time, detectives are trying to figure out why another exotic car in Eriksson's extensive collection, a Mercedes SLR, was listed as stolen by Scotland Yard in London, said Sheriff's Sgt. Phil Brooks.The totaled Ferrari was one of two Enzos that Eriksson brought into the United States from England along with the Mercedes SLR, Brooks said. But detectives concluded that the totaled vehicle did not have appropriate papers and was not "street legal" for driving in California, he said.Detectives have been trying for nearly a week to sort out what exactly happened last Tuesday morning when Eriksson's Enzo — one of only 400 ever made — smashed into a telephone pole, totaling the car. Eriksson told deputies that he was the passenger and that a man he knew only as "Dietrich" was behind the wheel. But detectives have been openly skeptical of the story, noting that Eriksson had a bloody lip and that the only blood they found in the car was on the driver's-side air bag.Brooks said detectives have called in Eriksson for another interview. Eriksson has declined through the security guard at his gated Bel-Air estate to comment. An attorney who has previously represented Eriksson in civil matters, Ashley Posner, also declined to comment Monday.But some city leaders in Malibu, where the crash has been the talk of the town, were less circumspect."The guy should have had an IQ test," said Malibu Mayor Pro Tem Ken Kearsley, who has been following the coverage of the crash with a half-grin. The driver's IQ "couldn't come up above 60 if he was doing 120 on PCH," Kearsley said.But in fact, Brooks said Monday, the car was traveling 162 mph when it crashed, far faster than the 120 mph originally believed. The Ferrari, with just a few inches of undercarriage clearance, hit a bump at a crest in the road, sending the vehicle airborne and into the power pole, Brooks said.Brooks said they are investigating whether someone else may have been present and are trying to determine whether the recovered gun component is connected to the case. He declined to say more about the find or elaborate on the status of the Scottish bank and Scotland Yard in the case.The question of whether Eriksson was the driver is key to the case, Brooks said. Eriksson's blood-alcohol level was 0.09%, higher than the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle.Sheriff's officials are still trying to confirm witness reports that the Ferrari might have been drag racing with another car, and officials aren't sure if that's what happened.Sheriff's officials said Eriksson was an executive with a game company that attempted to take on Sony and Nintendo, but the firm collapsed last year.In Malibu, officials said they are not sure what to make of the accident.Kearsley said the stretch of road was not known for drag racing, but for run-of-the-mill speeders. He said the Sheriff's Department has had success for the last year and a half using radar and lasers to catch overzealous drivers. The lasers are not detectable to drivers, he said."It's straight as an arrow where the accident was," he said. "You really have to go out of your way to hit a telephone pole."Carol Moss, a longtime Malibu resident, activist and meditation group leader, said the accident came as no surprise."It was horrendous, but Malibu is full of idiots," she said. "There are a lot of wild cars and irresponsible people. The roads are dangerous. You always see people with those sorts of cars. You see some wild behavior."But, in keeping with her Zen frame of mind, Moss extended an olive branch. "Everyone is welcome to attend the meditation group. Even the drag racer."
Monday, February 27, 2006
The clumsy geezer
London - The police report described him as a "falling object" who lost control of his bicycle after being overwhelmed by the challenge of pedalling and waving at the same time.So ended the mystery of how President Bush collided with - and injured - a police officer while cycling at Gleneagles Hotel in Edinburgh on the first day of the G8 summit.The police report read: "The president approached the junction at speed on the bicycle. The road was damp. As the president passed at speed, he raised his left arm from the handlebars to wave to the police officers present while shouting: 'Thanks, you guys, for coming.'
"As he did, he lost control, falling to the ground, causing both himself and his bicycle to strike [the officer] on the lower legs. [The officer] fell to the ground, striking his head."The report went on to divulge how the president skidded 5m after knocking down the police constable, who was off duty for 14 weeks after the accident.The injured officer received a phone call of apology while on his way to the infirmary.
"As he did, he lost control, falling to the ground, causing both himself and his bicycle to strike [the officer] on the lower legs. [The officer] fell to the ground, striking his head."The report went on to divulge how the president skidded 5m after knocking down the police constable, who was off duty for 14 weeks after the accident.The injured officer received a phone call of apology while on his way to the infirmary.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
another geezer gone....
Hope Kolchak finds the strange creatures....
Darren McGavin, 83, a film and television actor who appeared on an almost limitless number of television series and shows and set a standard for cynical and hard-boiled gruffness as a reporter in "The Night Stalker" and a detective in "Mike Hammer," died yesterday in California.
A son told the Associated Press that he died in a hospital in the Los Angeles area. No cause of death was specified.
Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak on "The Night Stalker."
Few actors of his generation remained active longer. Mr. McGavin's acting career has been traced back to a 1941 stage appearance in "Lady Windermere's Fan." There were reports that he worked on a TV pilot last year. He won an Emmy for a role on the TV series "Murphy Brown."
But the 20 episodes of the "Night Stalker" series, in which he played a rumpled, grumpy Chicago news reporter whose determination to follow every lead allows him to save society from the dangers of the supernatural, seemed to define his career.
The episodes in which he played Carl Kolchak on ABC in 1974 and 1975 were distinguished by his portrayal of the dogged shoe-leather reporter and combined the appeal of the newsroom drama with the attractions of fantasy and the occult.
Before that, he played Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in the late 1950s, staying just this side of farce in his demonstration of the ultimate toughness of the private eye.
Documentation of his early life seemed sparse last night. In some accounts, he was born in Spokane, in others in the San Joaquin Valley area of California. Delano is listed for his father's middle name, Bogart for his mother's.
Mr. McGavin had a year of college in California, then went east to the Actors Studio.
Survivors include four children.
Darren McGavin, 83, a film and television actor who appeared on an almost limitless number of television series and shows and set a standard for cynical and hard-boiled gruffness as a reporter in "The Night Stalker" and a detective in "Mike Hammer," died yesterday in California.
A son told the Associated Press that he died in a hospital in the Los Angeles area. No cause of death was specified.
Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak on "The Night Stalker."
Few actors of his generation remained active longer. Mr. McGavin's acting career has been traced back to a 1941 stage appearance in "Lady Windermere's Fan." There were reports that he worked on a TV pilot last year. He won an Emmy for a role on the TV series "Murphy Brown."
But the 20 episodes of the "Night Stalker" series, in which he played a rumpled, grumpy Chicago news reporter whose determination to follow every lead allows him to save society from the dangers of the supernatural, seemed to define his career.
The episodes in which he played Carl Kolchak on ABC in 1974 and 1975 were distinguished by his portrayal of the dogged shoe-leather reporter and combined the appeal of the newsroom drama with the attractions of fantasy and the occult.
Before that, he played Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in the late 1950s, staying just this side of farce in his demonstration of the ultimate toughness of the private eye.
Documentation of his early life seemed sparse last night. In some accounts, he was born in Spokane, in others in the San Joaquin Valley area of California. Delano is listed for his father's middle name, Bogart for his mother's.
Mr. McGavin had a year of college in California, then went east to the Actors Studio.
Survivors include four children.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
another geezer gone....
LOS ANGELES - Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," has died. He was 81.
died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs "The Andy Griffith Show," and another Knotts hit, "Three's Company."Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown in August 2005.The West Virginia-born actor's half-century career included seven TV series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him TV immortality and five Emmies.The show ran from 1960-68, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series in TV history to bow out at the top: The others are "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld." The 249 episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.As the bug-eyed deputy to Griffith, Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character and doesn't mind being remembered that way.His favorite episodes, he said, were "The Pickle Story," where Aunt Bea makes pickles no one can eat, and "Barney and the Choir," where no one can stop him from singing."I can't sing. It makes me sad that I can't sing or dance well enough to be in a musical, but I'm just not talented in that way," he lamented. "It's one of my weaknesses."Knotts appeared on six other television shows. In 1979, Knotts replaced Norman Fell on "Three's Company," playing the would-be swinger landlord to John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt.Early in his TV career, he was one of the original cast members of "The Steve Allen Show," the comedy-variety show that ran from 1956-61. He was one of a group of memorable comics backing Allen that included Louis Nye, Tom Poston and Bill "Jose Jimenez" Dana.Knotts' G-rated films were family fun, not box-office blockbusters. In most, he ends up the hero and gets the girl - a girl who can see through his nervousness to the heart of gold.In the part-animated 1964 film "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," Knotts played a meek clerk who turns into a fish after he is rejected by the Navy.When it was announced in 1998 that Jim Carrey would star in a "Limpet" remake, Knotts responded: "I'm just flattered that someone of Carrey's caliber is remaking something I did. Now, if someone else did Barney Fife, THAT would be different."In the 1967 film "The Reluctant Astronaut," co-starring Leslie Nielsen, Knotts' father enrolls his wimpy son - operator of a Kiddieland rocket ride - in NASA's space program. Knotts poses as a famous astronaut to the joy of his parents and hometown but is eventually exposed for what he really is, a janitor so terrified of heights he refuses to ride an airplane.In the 1969 film "The Love God?," he was a geeky bird-watcher who is duped into becoming publisher of a naughty men's magazine and then becomes a national sex symbol. Eventually, he comes to his senses, leaves the big city and marries the sweet girl next door.He was among an army of comedians from Buster Keaton to Jonathan Winters to liven up the 1963 megacomedy "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Other films include "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966); "The Shakiest Gun in the West," (1968); and a few Disney films such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang," (1974); "Gus," (1976); and "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," (1977).In 1998, he had a key role in the back-to-the-past movie "Pleasantville," playing a folksy television repairman whose supercharged remote control sends a teen boy and his sister into a TV sitcom past.Knotts began his show biz career even before he graduated from high school, performing as a ventriloquist at local clubs and churches. He majored in speech at West Virginia University, then took off for the big city."I went to New York cold. On a $100 bill. Bummed a ride," he recalled in a visit to his hometown of Morgantown, where city officials renamed a street for him in 1998.Within six months, Knotts had taken a job on a radio Western called "Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders," playing a wisecracking, know-it-all handyman. He stayed with it for five years, then came his series TV debut on "The Steve Allen Show."He married Kay Metz in 1948, the year he graduated from college. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1969. Knotts later married, then divorced Lara Lee Szuchna.In recent years, he said he had no plans to retire, traveling with theater productions and appearing in print and TV ads for Kodiak pressure treated wood.The world laughed at Knotts, but it also laughed with him.He treasured his comedic roles and could point to only one role that wasn't funny, a brief stint on the daytime drama "Search for Tomorrow.""That's the only serious thing I've done. I don't miss that," Knotts said.
died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs "The Andy Griffith Show," and another Knotts hit, "Three's Company."Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown in August 2005.The West Virginia-born actor's half-century career included seven TV series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him TV immortality and five Emmies.The show ran from 1960-68, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series in TV history to bow out at the top: The others are "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld." The 249 episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.As the bug-eyed deputy to Griffith, Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character and doesn't mind being remembered that way.His favorite episodes, he said, were "The Pickle Story," where Aunt Bea makes pickles no one can eat, and "Barney and the Choir," where no one can stop him from singing."I can't sing. It makes me sad that I can't sing or dance well enough to be in a musical, but I'm just not talented in that way," he lamented. "It's one of my weaknesses."Knotts appeared on six other television shows. In 1979, Knotts replaced Norman Fell on "Three's Company," playing the would-be swinger landlord to John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt.Early in his TV career, he was one of the original cast members of "The Steve Allen Show," the comedy-variety show that ran from 1956-61. He was one of a group of memorable comics backing Allen that included Louis Nye, Tom Poston and Bill "Jose Jimenez" Dana.Knotts' G-rated films were family fun, not box-office blockbusters. In most, he ends up the hero and gets the girl - a girl who can see through his nervousness to the heart of gold.In the part-animated 1964 film "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," Knotts played a meek clerk who turns into a fish after he is rejected by the Navy.When it was announced in 1998 that Jim Carrey would star in a "Limpet" remake, Knotts responded: "I'm just flattered that someone of Carrey's caliber is remaking something I did. Now, if someone else did Barney Fife, THAT would be different."In the 1967 film "The Reluctant Astronaut," co-starring Leslie Nielsen, Knotts' father enrolls his wimpy son - operator of a Kiddieland rocket ride - in NASA's space program. Knotts poses as a famous astronaut to the joy of his parents and hometown but is eventually exposed for what he really is, a janitor so terrified of heights he refuses to ride an airplane.In the 1969 film "The Love God?," he was a geeky bird-watcher who is duped into becoming publisher of a naughty men's magazine and then becomes a national sex symbol. Eventually, he comes to his senses, leaves the big city and marries the sweet girl next door.He was among an army of comedians from Buster Keaton to Jonathan Winters to liven up the 1963 megacomedy "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Other films include "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966); "The Shakiest Gun in the West," (1968); and a few Disney films such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang," (1974); "Gus," (1976); and "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," (1977).In 1998, he had a key role in the back-to-the-past movie "Pleasantville," playing a folksy television repairman whose supercharged remote control sends a teen boy and his sister into a TV sitcom past.Knotts began his show biz career even before he graduated from high school, performing as a ventriloquist at local clubs and churches. He majored in speech at West Virginia University, then took off for the big city."I went to New York cold. On a $100 bill. Bummed a ride," he recalled in a visit to his hometown of Morgantown, where city officials renamed a street for him in 1998.Within six months, Knotts had taken a job on a radio Western called "Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders," playing a wisecracking, know-it-all handyman. He stayed with it for five years, then came his series TV debut on "The Steve Allen Show."He married Kay Metz in 1948, the year he graduated from college. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1969. Knotts later married, then divorced Lara Lee Szuchna.In recent years, he said he had no plans to retire, traveling with theater productions and appearing in print and TV ads for Kodiak pressure treated wood.The world laughed at Knotts, but it also laughed with him.He treasured his comedic roles and could point to only one role that wasn't funny, a brief stint on the daytime drama "Search for Tomorrow.""That's the only serious thing I've done. I don't miss that," Knotts said.
Monday, February 20, 2006
death of the 60's
CALGARY, Alberta - William Cowsill, lead singer of the 1960s singing family band The Cowsills, which inspired the TV series "The Partridge Family," has died. He was 58.Cowsill, who was suffering from emphysema, osteoporosis, and other ailments, died in Calgary, Alberta, on Friday, according to the family and Canadian record producer Neil MacGonigill. He had been in deteriorating health.The Cowsills, inspiration for the "The Partridge Family," recorded a series of top hits between 1967 and 1970, including "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" and "Hair."Four Cowsill brothers played in the band: Barry on bass, William on guitar, Bob on guitar and organ, and John on drums. Their mother, Barbara, and little sister, Susan, eventually joined the group.Barry disappeared after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on Aug. 29. His body was recovered Dec. 28 from the Chartres Street Wharf.The band's career began in Newport, R.I. They were spotted by a producer for NBC's "Today" show which booked them for an appearance that led to a record deal.The band broke up in the 1970s. William, the oldest brother, moved to Canada about 35 years ago, where he continued his music career with Blue Northern, The Blue Shadows and the Co-Dependents.Cowsill is survived by two sons.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Hemp should be legal....
North Dakota, three other states make pitch to allow hemp cultivation
Ag Commission Johnson says Drug Enforcement Agency ‘cordial,’ but cautioned about fed law complications
Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS, ND -- North Dakota and three other states made their case today with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and counterparts from West Virginia, Massachusetts and Wisconsin met with several DEA officials.
In a news release, Johnson said his department is drafting new rules to control the production of industrial hemp, and that he wanted to solicit input from DEA. The new rules would implement state laws, passed by the Legislature in 1999 through 2005.
DEA officials were “very cordial” but cautioned that the process of legalizing industrial hemp production would be extremely complicated under existing federal law, Johnson said in a statement.
“DEA has never responded to our earlier inquiries,” Johnson said, “but today, we were able to present our case and learn from them what may be required in terms of regulations and safeguards.”
According to the state Department of Agriculture, industrial hemp (cannabis sativa) is widely grown around the world and is used in the manufacture of textiles, papers and rope. Its seed is also used for food and feed. Oil derived from the plant is used in cosmetics, paints and medicinal compounds. The industrial form of hemp contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive drug delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana, although DEA currently does not recognize industrial hemp apart from marijuana.
The United States is alone among industrialized countries in banning cultivation of industrial hemp, Johnson said, adding that Canada lifted their band in 1998.
He said industrial hemp could do well in North Dakota as a valuable rotational crop and another income source.
Ag Commission Johnson says Drug Enforcement Agency ‘cordial,’ but cautioned about fed law complications
Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS, ND -- North Dakota and three other states made their case today with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and counterparts from West Virginia, Massachusetts and Wisconsin met with several DEA officials.
In a news release, Johnson said his department is drafting new rules to control the production of industrial hemp, and that he wanted to solicit input from DEA. The new rules would implement state laws, passed by the Legislature in 1999 through 2005.
DEA officials were “very cordial” but cautioned that the process of legalizing industrial hemp production would be extremely complicated under existing federal law, Johnson said in a statement.
“DEA has never responded to our earlier inquiries,” Johnson said, “but today, we were able to present our case and learn from them what may be required in terms of regulations and safeguards.”
According to the state Department of Agriculture, industrial hemp (cannabis sativa) is widely grown around the world and is used in the manufacture of textiles, papers and rope. Its seed is also used for food and feed. Oil derived from the plant is used in cosmetics, paints and medicinal compounds. The industrial form of hemp contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive drug delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana, although DEA currently does not recognize industrial hemp apart from marijuana.
The United States is alone among industrialized countries in banning cultivation of industrial hemp, Johnson said, adding that Canada lifted their band in 1998.
He said industrial hemp could do well in North Dakota as a valuable rotational crop and another income source.
Friday, February 17, 2006
poem
don't kiss your honey
when your nose is runny
you may think it's funny
but it's not.....
say it out loud....
when your nose is runny
you may think it's funny
but it's not.....
say it out loud....
Sunday, February 12, 2006
riding in comfort
Recumbent bicycle devotees sing praises of the low riders Comfort factor biggest reason cyclists make switch
Sunday, February 12, 2006
News Staff Reporter
The reclining cyclists on their low-riding bicycles may look a little strange. But those who've switched from the upright to the recumbent bicycle say they'll never go back.
"With some people, it's like they've rediscovered the bicycle,'' said Bob Krzewinski, coordinator of the Wolver-Bent Recumbent Cyclists. "All of a sudden they get on one of these things and start riding it, and they get a smile on their face and say, 'Wow! This is fun and comfortable. I didn't know bikes could be so comfortable.'''
Comfortable bikers will ride more, said Krzewinski, an airline pilot who lives in Ypsilanti. That will improve their health and make them less susceptible to obesity, too.''
On Saturday, the 25-year-old Michigan Human-Powered Vehicle Association met with the 10-year-old Wolver-Bent Recumbent Cyclists at the University of Michigan for their joint annual meeting.
As the owner of Ann Arbor Cyclery, 1200 Packard St., Jon Kieft has tested every kind of bike out there.
His hands-down favorite? The recumbent.
"I love it,'' he said. "I wouldn't ride any other bike after riding that. I'm not out to race, or ride hard off road. I ride recreationally with my family ... It's the comfort factor.''
He said recumbent bikes make up about 14 percent of his total bike sales, up from about 5 percent five years ago. Most customers are 40 to 65 years old and looking for a more comfortable ride, he said. The bikes range in price from $700 to $5,000, with the average bike around $1,600, compared to $700 for the average mountain bike, he said.
"They're becoming more and more popular, but a lot of people still haven't seen them,'' Kieft said. "They're not quite sure what they are, or why people are riding them. So they stare at you as you go past.''
Recumbent bicycles have been around since the late 1800s, but it was not until about 1990 that they started catching on in the United States. Enthusiasts claim they reduce the sore necks, shoulders, backs, hands, and bottoms that can result from riding a traditional bike.
John Vaughan of Ann Arbor bought his recumbent bike nearly three years ago. He now rides 1,200 miles a year during afternoon rides on local trails and streets.
He made the switch because his old bike made his hands hurt or numb.
"I have no discomfort at all now,'' said Vaughan, 51. "When I go on vacation, I take two- and three-hour rides without getting off the bike.''
The Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Association sponsors an annual race of recumbent cyclists, said president Wally Kiehler of Grosse Pointe Woods, noting that cyclists can exceed 40 mph.
"With the recumbent, there is no pain,'' he said. "If you work on the correct muscles with the recumbent and have a better bike, you can go faster, also.''
Robert Kay of York Township, a dealer of Greenspeed recumbent bikes, sells his bikes at crank-it.com. He switches between his recumbent bikes and mountain bike depending on his mood.
"Sometimes people think you're riding a wheelchair; they think you might be disabled,'' he said. "And we have a lot of disabled customers; people who don't have balance, or have ridden a bike in the past and gotten injured.''
He said his three-wheeler bike is particularly good for those with balance problems.
Krzewinski still keeps his old Schwinn road bike in the basement, but hasn't ridden it in years.
"I was getting aches and pains on a regular bike, and thought, 'There's got to be a better way,' '' he recalled. "Now I can ride all day without a bunch of pain.''
For more information on Michigan Wolver-Bent Recumbent Bicyclists, which sponsors monthly rides in southeast Michigan, visit wolverbents.org.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
News Staff Reporter
The reclining cyclists on their low-riding bicycles may look a little strange. But those who've switched from the upright to the recumbent bicycle say they'll never go back.
"With some people, it's like they've rediscovered the bicycle,'' said Bob Krzewinski, coordinator of the Wolver-Bent Recumbent Cyclists. "All of a sudden they get on one of these things and start riding it, and they get a smile on their face and say, 'Wow! This is fun and comfortable. I didn't know bikes could be so comfortable.'''
Comfortable bikers will ride more, said Krzewinski, an airline pilot who lives in Ypsilanti. That will improve their health and make them less susceptible to obesity, too.''
On Saturday, the 25-year-old Michigan Human-Powered Vehicle Association met with the 10-year-old Wolver-Bent Recumbent Cyclists at the University of Michigan for their joint annual meeting.
As the owner of Ann Arbor Cyclery, 1200 Packard St., Jon Kieft has tested every kind of bike out there.
His hands-down favorite? The recumbent.
"I love it,'' he said. "I wouldn't ride any other bike after riding that. I'm not out to race, or ride hard off road. I ride recreationally with my family ... It's the comfort factor.''
He said recumbent bikes make up about 14 percent of his total bike sales, up from about 5 percent five years ago. Most customers are 40 to 65 years old and looking for a more comfortable ride, he said. The bikes range in price from $700 to $5,000, with the average bike around $1,600, compared to $700 for the average mountain bike, he said.
"They're becoming more and more popular, but a lot of people still haven't seen them,'' Kieft said. "They're not quite sure what they are, or why people are riding them. So they stare at you as you go past.''
Recumbent bicycles have been around since the late 1800s, but it was not until about 1990 that they started catching on in the United States. Enthusiasts claim they reduce the sore necks, shoulders, backs, hands, and bottoms that can result from riding a traditional bike.
John Vaughan of Ann Arbor bought his recumbent bike nearly three years ago. He now rides 1,200 miles a year during afternoon rides on local trails and streets.
He made the switch because his old bike made his hands hurt or numb.
"I have no discomfort at all now,'' said Vaughan, 51. "When I go on vacation, I take two- and three-hour rides without getting off the bike.''
The Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Association sponsors an annual race of recumbent cyclists, said president Wally Kiehler of Grosse Pointe Woods, noting that cyclists can exceed 40 mph.
"With the recumbent, there is no pain,'' he said. "If you work on the correct muscles with the recumbent and have a better bike, you can go faster, also.''
Robert Kay of York Township, a dealer of Greenspeed recumbent bikes, sells his bikes at crank-it.com. He switches between his recumbent bikes and mountain bike depending on his mood.
"Sometimes people think you're riding a wheelchair; they think you might be disabled,'' he said. "And we have a lot of disabled customers; people who don't have balance, or have ridden a bike in the past and gotten injured.''
He said his three-wheeler bike is particularly good for those with balance problems.
Krzewinski still keeps his old Schwinn road bike in the basement, but hasn't ridden it in years.
"I was getting aches and pains on a regular bike, and thought, 'There's got to be a better way,' '' he recalled. "Now I can ride all day without a bunch of pain.''
For more information on Michigan Wolver-Bent Recumbent Bicyclists, which sponsors monthly rides in southeast Michigan, visit wolverbents.org.
Friday, February 10, 2006
a sad way to go....
An 88-year-old Evanston man was killed Wednesday after a refuse container truck struck him while he was riding a bicycle, said Deputy Chief Brian King of the Wilmette Police Department.
The truck hit Edward K. Meyer, of 2518 Jackson Ave., at about noon at the intersection of Isabella and Poplar streets, King said. The intersection lies on the border between Evanston and Wilmette. Meyer was riding in the lane of traffic when the truck backed up over him.
The truck carried a large refuse container often used at construction sites and was coming from a site in Elmhurst, Ill., King said.
Witnesses contacted the police department when the bicycle was seen under the truck, King said. The driver did not immediately realize the truck struck Meyer.
Meyer was killed instantly, King said.
Evanston police responded to the incident and assisted Wilmette officers in handling the accident.
A team from the Wilmette Police Department will investigate, King said. No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening.
The names of the company and of the truck driver had not been released Thursday evening.
The truck hit Edward K. Meyer, of 2518 Jackson Ave., at about noon at the intersection of Isabella and Poplar streets, King said. The intersection lies on the border between Evanston and Wilmette. Meyer was riding in the lane of traffic when the truck backed up over him.
The truck carried a large refuse container often used at construction sites and was coming from a site in Elmhurst, Ill., King said.
Witnesses contacted the police department when the bicycle was seen under the truck, King said. The driver did not immediately realize the truck struck Meyer.
Meyer was killed instantly, King said.
Evanston police responded to the incident and assisted Wilmette officers in handling the accident.
A team from the Wilmette Police Department will investigate, King said. No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening.
The names of the company and of the truck driver had not been released Thursday evening.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
a great bike idea
A modest proposal
Contributed by Greg Gordon/For the Kaimin
Tuesday, 07 February 2006
This column is dedicated to the memory of environmental studies professor Bert Pfeiffer, who never failed to stand up for his beliefs and put his words into his everyday actions without dogma. Bert actively opposed the Vietnam War, and exposed the use of Agent Orange, a risky and unpopular position in the 1960s. A committed activist, Bert rode his bicycle to campus every day rain or shine well into his 70s, when he finally retired. Trusting in the goodness of the campus community, Bert never locked his bike, but simply left it standing outside Rankin Hall. When my head was filled with despair of global warming, nuclear proliferation and postmodern angst, nothing lifted my spirit so much as seeing 75-year-old Bert wobbling across campus on his rickety, one-speed bike.
Let me see if I have this straight:
1. Global climate change is drastically affecting our weather patterns, creating droughts and hurricanes, melting ice caps, raising sea levels and causing the proliferation of exotic species and tropical diseases. It is wreaking potential havoc on agriculture and ecosystem resilience, not to mention totally messing with the skiing. Cars are a major source of global warming.
2. Missoula suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the country. Cars are a major source of air pollution.
3. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in this country.
4. We are currently embroiled in a terrible war over access to oil.
5. Parking lots require an enormous amount of space.
6. Bicycles are the most efficient means of transportation on earth.
7. Bicycles are non-polluting, quiet and healthy.
8. The Office of Public Safety reports a grand total of ZERO pedestrian/bicycle accidents.
9. ASUM is considering banning BICYCLES????
The reasons for such drastic action according to Kaimin guest columnist Christopher Lilly and ASUM Senator Jake Pipinich are, as near as I can tell:
1. Bicyclists are rude and wantonly mow down pedestrians. Umm, not too sure about this, so I called the Office of Public Safety and they have no record of any pedestrian/bicycle accidents. I can say that I’ve had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting someone yakking on a cell phone who stepsed out in front of me, totally oblivious to the world around her. Both parties apologized and went on their way. I’ve also been hit twice this year by cars, the drivers yakking on cell phones. Solution: BAN CARS AND CELL PHONES, and issue tickets for rude behavior.
2. Bicyclists have beards, don’t shower and wear wool hats. Solution: Enforced dress code on campus.
3. Bicyclists are immature. Acting in accordance with your principles so as to make the world a better place for ourselves, others on the planet and our children is immature, but driving your SUV 10 blocks, circling three times for a parking space, and then rushing across campus yakking on a cell phone and wearing pajama bottoms to class is maturity?
I propose ASUM consider the following:
1. Ban cars on campus. (Mobility-impaired excepted). There is more than adequate public transportation from anywhere in Missoula to UM. We can put all those parking lots to far better uses. Like a new business school or perhaps the George Bush Institute of Democracy where Pipinich and Lilly could find justification for inflicting their notions upon the majority.
2. Issue free bicycles to all incoming students. Those Ivy League schools give students laptops; UM has to compete. How can we compete with Harvard? We have a bicycle-friendly campus filled with healthy, vigorous students and faculty that trot up a mountain between classes. Note to Lilly: chicks dig hard bodies.
3. Issue free ski passes with registration. Hey, while we’re at it, why not?
4. Ban cell phones and immaturity and rudeness.
5. Ban pedestrians. You don’t hear bicyclists complaining, do you?
6. OK, here’s a real solution: Why not just make bike lanes? A couple of guys with a can of paint can solve the whole thing by painting bike lanes on those wide sidewalks.
Seriously, what worries me about this issue is how instead of seeking input to a perceived problem (did I mention zero record of any reported encounter?) Lilly and Pipinich wish to impose their will upon others by manufacturing a problem and instituting Draconian measures. This seems to be reflective of current political discourse since Dubya took office. We miss ya, Bert.
—Greg Gordon, graduate,
history
Contributed by Greg Gordon/For the Kaimin
Tuesday, 07 February 2006
This column is dedicated to the memory of environmental studies professor Bert Pfeiffer, who never failed to stand up for his beliefs and put his words into his everyday actions without dogma. Bert actively opposed the Vietnam War, and exposed the use of Agent Orange, a risky and unpopular position in the 1960s. A committed activist, Bert rode his bicycle to campus every day rain or shine well into his 70s, when he finally retired. Trusting in the goodness of the campus community, Bert never locked his bike, but simply left it standing outside Rankin Hall. When my head was filled with despair of global warming, nuclear proliferation and postmodern angst, nothing lifted my spirit so much as seeing 75-year-old Bert wobbling across campus on his rickety, one-speed bike.
Let me see if I have this straight:
1. Global climate change is drastically affecting our weather patterns, creating droughts and hurricanes, melting ice caps, raising sea levels and causing the proliferation of exotic species and tropical diseases. It is wreaking potential havoc on agriculture and ecosystem resilience, not to mention totally messing with the skiing. Cars are a major source of global warming.
2. Missoula suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the country. Cars are a major source of air pollution.
3. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in this country.
4. We are currently embroiled in a terrible war over access to oil.
5. Parking lots require an enormous amount of space.
6. Bicycles are the most efficient means of transportation on earth.
7. Bicycles are non-polluting, quiet and healthy.
8. The Office of Public Safety reports a grand total of ZERO pedestrian/bicycle accidents.
9. ASUM is considering banning BICYCLES????
The reasons for such drastic action according to Kaimin guest columnist Christopher Lilly and ASUM Senator Jake Pipinich are, as near as I can tell:
1. Bicyclists are rude and wantonly mow down pedestrians. Umm, not too sure about this, so I called the Office of Public Safety and they have no record of any pedestrian/bicycle accidents. I can say that I’ve had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting someone yakking on a cell phone who stepsed out in front of me, totally oblivious to the world around her. Both parties apologized and went on their way. I’ve also been hit twice this year by cars, the drivers yakking on cell phones. Solution: BAN CARS AND CELL PHONES, and issue tickets for rude behavior.
2. Bicyclists have beards, don’t shower and wear wool hats. Solution: Enforced dress code on campus.
3. Bicyclists are immature. Acting in accordance with your principles so as to make the world a better place for ourselves, others on the planet and our children is immature, but driving your SUV 10 blocks, circling three times for a parking space, and then rushing across campus yakking on a cell phone and wearing pajama bottoms to class is maturity?
I propose ASUM consider the following:
1. Ban cars on campus. (Mobility-impaired excepted). There is more than adequate public transportation from anywhere in Missoula to UM. We can put all those parking lots to far better uses. Like a new business school or perhaps the George Bush Institute of Democracy where Pipinich and Lilly could find justification for inflicting their notions upon the majority.
2. Issue free bicycles to all incoming students. Those Ivy League schools give students laptops; UM has to compete. How can we compete with Harvard? We have a bicycle-friendly campus filled with healthy, vigorous students and faculty that trot up a mountain between classes. Note to Lilly: chicks dig hard bodies.
3. Issue free ski passes with registration. Hey, while we’re at it, why not?
4. Ban cell phones and immaturity and rudeness.
5. Ban pedestrians. You don’t hear bicyclists complaining, do you?
6. OK, here’s a real solution: Why not just make bike lanes? A couple of guys with a can of paint can solve the whole thing by painting bike lanes on those wide sidewalks.
Seriously, what worries me about this issue is how instead of seeking input to a perceived problem (did I mention zero record of any reported encounter?) Lilly and Pipinich wish to impose their will upon others by manufacturing a problem and instituting Draconian measures. This seems to be reflective of current political discourse since Dubya took office. We miss ya, Bert.
—Greg Gordon, graduate,
history
Saturday, February 04, 2006
state of the union
I guess in this administration, if you don't agree, you don't get to go to the meeting.....oh, that's right, that is how he ran his campaign stops. Also, he never talks to people that disagree. Isn't it scary that he never gets to talk to real people.....
What Really HappenedBy Cindy Sheehant r u t h o u t PerspectiveWednesday 01 February 2006As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union Address last night.I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press. (Shocker) So this is what really happened:This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more?After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went.I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the underground tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight.The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting."I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct."After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there."I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain.What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shirt that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing.I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't.There have already been many wild stories out there.I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is time to take our freedoms and our country back.I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away from me...or you.I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much potential for good...there is so much good in so many people.Four hours and 2 jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am so upset and sore it is hard to think straight.Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too.
What Really HappenedBy Cindy Sheehant r u t h o u t PerspectiveWednesday 01 February 2006As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union Address last night.I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press. (Shocker) So this is what really happened:This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more?After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went.I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the underground tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight.The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting."I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct."After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there."I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain.What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shirt that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing.I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't.There have already been many wild stories out there.I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is time to take our freedoms and our country back.I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away from me...or you.I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much potential for good...there is so much good in so many people.Four hours and 2 jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am so upset and sore it is hard to think straight.Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too.
Monday, January 23, 2006
NOT a recommended trade....
SAN DIEGO - A man apparently tired of pedaling his bicycle ordered a woman out of her car Sunday then side-swiped a pole as he screeched away in the stolen Honda, San Diego police said.The 61-year-old woman was sitting in her car with the door open in an alley in Hillcrest when the man pedaled his bike over.
The carjacking -- which happened in the 3800 block of Seventh Avenue -- was reported at 12:35 p.m., SDPD Sgt. Rodney Vandiver said.
The man dropped his bicycle and ordered the woman out, Vandiver said, adding that the car swiped a pole on the way out of the alley.
The carjacking -- which happened in the 3800 block of Seventh Avenue -- was reported at 12:35 p.m., SDPD Sgt. Rodney Vandiver said.
The man dropped his bicycle and ordered the woman out, Vandiver said, adding that the car swiped a pole on the way out of the alley.
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