April 1, 2008
Morning Roundup: April Fools
Good morning, Washington, and welcome to the most irritating day of the year to be on the internet. It's April Fool's, and every web developer who ever took an improv class will be using the occasion to confuse and irritate you with lame online parodies that are, in truth, only slightly more ludicrous than their actual products. Oh, fine, we'll admit it: a few, like Google's yearly effort, will probably be kinda, sorta funny (or maybe not). That doesn't excuse it! Now on to your safely humorless morning roundup:
Fenty Presents Budget to Council: Yesterday Mayor Fenty testified before the city council about the first budget that is solely a product of his administration, as the Post explains. The document calls for a modest spending increase of 0.7% and continues the mayor's stated focus on education. The council reacted with calls for more specifics, which Fenty says will come as the budget process continues.
Wilson Students Walk Out: Dissatisfied with the measures being put in place to curb fighting, the Post reports that yesterday about 100 Wilson High School students left the building and held a peaceful protest on the school's football field for half an hour. Faced with persistent violence problems, Chancellor Rhee had put a temporary plan into place that confined students to classrooms during lunch until a more complete solution could be worked out; the students apparently weren't willing to put up with their newly curbed freedoms, or the lack of input they say they've had in the solution-finding process. Other students protested the measures by promoting their own lunchtime anti-violence plan or by wearing black armbands.
It's Like a Swimming Pool in Every Glass: WTOP reports that the Washington Aqueduct will be temporarily changing the chemicals it uses to purify the water for D.C., Arlington, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax. Instead of chloramine the system will employ chlorine during a period beginning March 7 and lasting about five weeks. Aside from a more detectable odor the switch shouldn't have any practical effect on consumers, although the story states that some environmental groups think pregnant women should avoid tap water during this period.
Briefly Noted: Mother of slain children had expressed concerns about their father... Va. Tech decides not to build additional memorial... Police impersonator robs Montgomery County bank... Prince William police to give update on immigration crackdown today... Md. likely to repeal tech tax...
This Day In DCist: One year ago it was a Sunday; we published the classical music agenda and not much else. Two years ago George Mason's NCAA Tournament run came to an end.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user hcwoodward
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Wow. Up before 9:00 A.M. And yesterday with that early go home now post.
I'm impressed with the temp overload's posting times.
ack. I mean overlord.
i'm glad to see the chancellor et al taking what's close to a zero-tolerance stand against negative behavior at wilson, but really, there a clear disconnect here. there has been worse violence in recent years at cardozo, anacostia, and ballou high schools, but they didn't get this kind of attention. i'm not saying anything about rhee's attention (she wasn't here, how could she have anything to do with that). i'm talking about community attention.
maybe it's just me, but this sure seems to be getting more play in the media than violence at the other schools.
@IMGoph
Do I really have to state the obvious here about why violence at Wilson gets more community/media attention than violence at Ballou, Anacostia, or Cardozo?
If I didn't know better, I'd say that Fenty looked at the plateauing real estate market and overall economic slowdown and predicts declining tax revenues. This stands in stark contrast to the Council, who looks at DC residents and sees a perpetually expanding revenue machine composed of affluent suckers with bottomless wallets attached.
I guess I owe him a Coke.
no, rat, you don't. and i didn't really have to put up my observation in the first place, because it's really that obvious. guess we just need to OD on "duh" today.
"Internet" is always capitalized.
Just saying.
I'm aware of that style rule, but it's ridiculous enough that I intentionally eschewed it.
hillrat, IMGoph: Maybe y'all could enlighten the rest of us? (By which I mean me.)
Internet is always capitalized? What if it's Internets?
Internet may always be capitalized, but the more hip, "inter-hoopty," needn't be capitalized.
Wilson is surrounded my million dollar houses.
Anacostia and Ballou?
Not so much.
Wilson is also one of DCPS's better performing schools with the kinds of students and parents DCPS needs if it's gonna fix itself. If Wilson parents become afraid of sending their kids to school and ship them off to charter schools or private schools or MoCo schools (for a hefty fee), DCPS is screwed.
Mellbell, what they're dancing around is the fact that Wilson, unlike Ballou, Anacostia, and Cardozo, has White students. Granted, they're still in the minority at Wilson (21%), but that's like the Republican party compared with Cardozo (
I can see both sides on this. On the one hand it's easy to see racism in the disparate reactions to violence. On the other, you could argue that the reaction towards Wilson is justified in that it is one of the higher performing high schools and seems to attract at least some middle class (and even some upper-middle class) families. If violence were to take root there, those families might pull out and the scores and reputation of the school would fall. It seems that the implicit assumption is that the measures taken at Wilson would be futile at Ballou et al. That may be a correct assumption.
Internet is a generic networking term and is not capitalized in that context. There are many internets, depending on the exact definition used. However, this usage is dated and confusing, and that is why terms like intranet and extranet were created.
The fact that Wilson HS is surrounded by "million dollar homes" really has nothing to do with it. It's the HS where the academically enriched DCPS students go to.
You have to apply to go there, and admission generally is due to grades. Students at Wilson can come from Anacostia.
Historically though, Wilson has been for the most part immune to newsworthy violence. I am sure there have been scuffles in the hallway. I mean, it's not a Catholic school.
I think what Rhee wants to do is stop the violence now before it escalates to eggregious proportions, i.e. Ballou for the very reason Cranky mentions.
Internet is a generic networking term and is not capitalized in that context. There are many internets, depending on the exact definition used. However, this usage is dated and confusing, and that is why terms like intranet and extranet were created.
no. not really.
@mellbell
I would say that it's the . . . uh . . . "demographics" of the schools in question that leads to the different responses to violence.
When I say "demographics" I'm not only talking about the racial makeup of the schools, but also the percentage of low-income students as well. In fact, the percentage of low-income students may be the long pole in the tent because if you had a bunch of violent incidents at McKinley Tech I'm guessing you would see similar press coverage.
Didn't Marion Barry send his son to Wilson, even though they lived in Anacostia?
It's a school with a very good reputation in DCPS. Sad to say, violence is expected in schools like Ballou or Anacostia b/c of the high number of students who are poor. Wilson, apparently, hasn't seen those levels of violence b/c of its more middle and upper-middle class appeal. And the parental involvement in Wilson is exactly the sort of involvement DCPS desperately needs if it's to survive.
Standard usage:
"...an internet..."
"...the Internet..."
trifecta: How can I respond so such an eloquent rebuttal? yes. really.
According to AP style, you capitalize the i in Internet when referring to the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web). You need not capitalize the i or the e in intranet or extranet.
You should also capitalize the w and separate out the two words in Web site.
I'm sorry, but you're all wrong. The correct usage is "internets" or "interweb." In some locales its also acceptable to use the colloquial "intertubes" or "satan-net."
Speaking of demographics, if you're Latino or anything darker than this I would suggest you NOT drive in PW county tomorrow or this evening.
Speaking of demographics, if you're Latino or anything darker than this I would suggest you NOT drive in PW county tomorrow or this evening.
Gawd! I am so glad I don't live in that shit hole county any more.
@ hillrat - You know, I would go with the exact opposite. PW County has assured all that it's not gonna do any sort of racial profiling at all when it comes to checking up on illegals. So....why not send over legal Latinos to drive around PW County and test that theory? Even better - send them over AFTER making sure their car is visually functional (i.e., no malfunctioning taillights, dangling license plate, etc.) and have them comply with all driving regulations (speed limits, signaling before lane changes, etc.).
I truly laugh at PW County, and especially the Corey guy who was gonna ride the illegals horse all the way to the Richmond statehouse. They are in a financial disaster and the foreclosure situation is gonna continue killing them. But at least there won't be none of them illegals in PW County anymore! Sure, the county will be a financial basketcase full of empty homes, but it'll be illegal-free.
PW County is a redneck county only included in our Metro area because of suburban sprawl to the south. They are hicks and should be treated as such.
What's capitalized in the phrase "It's a series of tubes?" Just Tubes? Series and Tubes? Neither?
@Cranky
I love it! Unfortunately obeying the law is no guarantee of not getting hassled in PW County. I was harassed by the police more in PW County than any other place I've ever lived or been.
When I went to Wilson, kids who lived within Wilson's boundaries (like me) did not have to apply. Only those who lived outside its boundaries had to apply (I'm not sure if admission was based on academic merit/promise, or if it was more of a lottery, though...). As far as I know, that hasn't changed.
Marion Barry's son went to St. Albans.
Also, WWW does not equal Internet. It is but a part of the vast time-waster that is cyberspace.
It's also a series of tubes. Or so Ted Stevens says.
I'm pretty sure the out of boundary application system is based upon a lottery, not a merit system. I think it used to have an element of first-come-first-served, where parents would line up in the middle of the night. But nowadays I think it's straight lottery. Actually, this seems to be a pretty good description.
I'm not sure about the charter school applications. Those may have a merit-based application, but I kind of doubt it. However, I'm pretty sure that the magnet schools (e.g. Ellington, SWW, etc.) do have a merit-based application system.
"The fact that Wilson HS is surrounded by "million dollar homes" really has nothing to do with it. It's the HS where the academically enriched DCPS students go to.
You have to apply to go there, and admission generally is due to grades. Students at Wilson can come from Anacostia."
Drew, I believe that you are confusing Banneker with Wilson. Banneker is where you have to apply, its the magnet school. While you can attend as an out of bounds student there is a defined school district, and it isn't in Anacostia.