Andrea Taylor [ "Postmarks," Vol. Adults are too busy assigning blame for disasters like Columbine High School, restricting access to guns, and attacking the Internet that they pay no attention to the root causes of children's dissociation, rebellion, and violence.
School-age children dissociate because they cannot understand why compassionate, instinctive values -- like tolerance, kindness, and respect -- are not reinforced or rewarded. They rebel because they sense that teachers and administrators are, at best, helpless to control the bullying of the in-crowds and, at worst, co-conspirators with the popular children. And some of them resort to violence when they despair of ever living in a world with a value system that gives them a chance. I hope every teacher at Lamar Middle School, and every other school in our district, reads and rereads this letter.
There is only so much the faculty at any school can do to dispel the combat-zone atmosphere that pervades the clique caste system in all junior high and high schools, but at a minimum they should be conscious it exists, and that it is reinforced by many of the extracurricular activities, clubs, societies, and even award ceremonies.
We shouldn't abandon these accouterments of young school life, but we shouldn't magnify their exclusive effect. Andrea, hang in there. You have more in common with those clique kids then you know. They're scared of the unknown and desperately afraid of being alone.
That's why they form groups that are based on things so inconsequential as good looks or rich parents. When you escape from junior high and high school, it gets a lot better.
You'll find friends who have discarded the superficial values that surround you at Lamar. In fact, you'll be stronger for having survived. You'll be surrounded by people who value you for your diversity. And you will flourish. You're already a more talented writer than most college graduates could even understand. Michael M. Simpson Misleading Figures Dear Editor:. Smart Growth is described as a "Culture War.
Actually 2,, trips is a low figure for light rail. Most people make a trip to a designation then they have a trip back. So divide the 30, Realistically in the quarter year that's a daily total of 15, round trips on the DART. Austin's estimated mile start-up Green line light rail weekday trip ridership figure from is 23,, divide by two and the round-trip figure is 11, And not enough "Texans" on the train to make a measurable reduction in Austin's pollution levels or congestion. It's amazing how concern for the Eastside soars when some question such as light rail arises.
Rick Hall even finds Eastside concerns enough reason not to build a light rail system [ "Postmarks," Vol. I do not deny the impact of rail systems on the Eastside, but I feel the impact of displacement can be addressed with rent subsidies and public housing for those affected.
What letter writers such as Hall never point out is the effect our current car culture has on what Hall terms the "lower classes. Could you make room for some other people to have a shot at saving this city? Does Amy Babich pay you guys? Why doesn't she just get her own column and leave room for some other readers to have a voice? No one is listening to her anymore, anyway!
If you need space filled though, it works brilliantly. But I know plenty of other people are writing letters to you. And although Amy has made some great points in the past, her ongoing and seemingly guaranteed contributions are at the expense of other submissions, week after week.
Nothing personal Amy, but some people are being denied a chance to get their message heard while you try in vain to get redneck asshole yuppie lawyers onto bicycles. As Austinites, we pride ourselves on enlightened and progressive social policies. The time to act on these sentiments is now, as dozens of families are about to be kicked out in the street.
The Statesman reported that Royce Gourley, the new owner of the apartment complex on W. Sixth Street, has extended his tenants 10 more days to his one-month notice of eviction. Yet much was left unreported as he barred reporters from the meeting. When asked to provide information about which tenants are to be evicted, clarifying if these evictions are racially motivated, he claimed ignorance. In addition, as these tenants seek housing elsewhere, his office claims to have no tenant history for them.
Without this reference, these families have little chance to find an apartment, especially now, as college students are snatching up everything in sight. The city of Austin has discussed housing problems in the abstract for years, but for these families the clock is ticking: They have until August 10, and school starts on the Is it too much to ask for a few more months? Armando Rodriguez Jr.
Reviewing the Reviewer Editor:. In the field of journalism there is a maxim among reporters to double-check their sources before filing their writing with their publisher. Three of the four songs in which Raoul lambastes Bruce's writing were not even written by Bruce. All of this information is in the CD's booklet. Who is reviewing Mr. Hernandez's shoddy journalistic work? It is too late to prevent the damage that has been done by such poor reporting on Mr.
Hernandez's part. The review has been read by many potential purchasers who now have it in their minds that this album may not even be worth checking out, and my letter, if printed at all, will be buried in the "letters to the editor" section, far away from the "record review" section where it might expose Mr. Hernandez's carelessness. May I suggest The Austin Chronicle "Do the Right Thing" and print my letter in the record review section along with a new review by another Chronicle staff member who will be a bit more fastidious in their research.
You might also have Mr. Hernandez look up the meaning of fastidious in his dictionary and write the definition times after work one day as penance.
As for Mr. I regret the error -- fastidiously. It is interesting that Dallas Morning News noted this last week what Bush's contributors gained, who invested in his companies oil wells He went back to the people, whom he partied with in college, and scammed them out of money George W. All the rich people and executives should recall the Republican presidents -- Bush and Reagan -- ran us into a recession. Most of this is so rich people can transfer inheritance to their children, without paying taxes Not one cent of these goes to college grants.
The Chronicle has been talking about bluegrass quite a bit lately for the Chronicle , both in your recent article on the subject [ "Hill Country Breakdown," Vol. I have been playing bluegrass for 23 years, 18 of them in Austin, and I have a few observations. First, musical categories are useful for descriptive purposes. If someone tells me that a jazz band is playing somewhere, I don't expect to find a group with a Chuck Berry-style guitarist, playing "Maybelline.
It's not a musical value judgment -- I like Chuck Berry. The case is similar with bluegrass. People have certain expectations about what the term means. If the term is no longer adequate to describe all the music associated with it, perhaps it needs to be modified -- how does "alt bluegrass" sound? By the way, there's nothing new under the sun -- remember "newgrass"? Second, I feel that a straw man has been floating through some of the comments made in the aforementioned articles -- the dreaded "bluegrass Nazi," who is intolerant of all music not first recorded by Bill Monroe or the Stanley Brothers.
Vitriol from faceless strangers was the implicit price for his visibility. The more unexpected -- and more rewarding -- voices came from those unafraid of attaching names to their thoughts, or in some cases, darkest secrets.
Emails arrived by the dozens. The writers ranged from teenagers and senior citizens, and they all thanked him for putting himself on the line and sought his advice. Their stories reminded Hendrix of his own arduous coming-out process.
In April, news outlets from Cape Cod to Honolulu picked up the Associated Press story and published it in newspapers and on websites. When television trucks began arriving in Ypsilanti, Goodridge wondered if the attention might be overwhelming.
As the spring season approached and the media cycle reached its crescendo, he talked with Hendrix about everything for the first and only time. A friend had read about Austin in the newspaper and wanted to offer kind words.
Then came the second call. Then came the third call. Then the fourth. At some point amid the flood of supportive phone calls, she asked a friend where they read the story. Funny, after the breakthroughs of telling his family and then college teammates, then telling his story in publications nationwide, coming out to his hometown still stirred the most apprehension. The Blade story caught the Hendrix family by surprise, but it turned into the final piece of a sequence that started five years earlier.
Neighbors and friends from the community came up to Sue and hugged her. Said it was awesome. Church members emailed Austin. Said they were proud of him. The harsh rebuke never materialized. Yes, the words matter, Hendrix learned.
Sometimes, though, it matters more when there are none at all. Pete Bigelow recently left AnnArbor. He can be reached at pbiggs21 gmail. The closet is just a variation of segregation of blacks, because it is so easy to hate those you dont know, and so hard on the other hand to hate those you do know and respect.
And then you get the problem where the kid comes out and the parents go into the closet of denial. IMHO, marriage for gays is important. But breaking the back of the closet and getting most all the gays into the open will change America for the better.
And even gay marriage will become a no-brainer. I went to the DC pride parade last weekend with some of my gay friends. I was impressed that there were so many more commercial businesses represented in the parade. We are well on our way to helping our gay friends be acdepted as the great people they are and getting them equal human rights in our society. Alex B. Thanks for your thoughts.
On the contrary, I tried to choose comments that best reflected the overall comment discussions on each story.
The comments on the Outsports story were largely supportive of Austin, so I chose largely supportive ones. The ones on the Runner's World story largely did not support him, so I chose those ones.
The ones on the AP story on the Freep site were mixed, so I tried to represent all the opinions there. Hope that's helpful. Certainly, there are gay athletes at Michigan. Why have none of them come out? Is it because of the repressive and sexist atmosphere there? We don't have gay people here, apparently. Well, that's how the lawmakers are behaving, anyway. There are two things I don't understand here, and they're both related to the reporting of comments from other news sources.
I think that this is ridiculous because people will literally say anything for attention. Second of all, why does AnnArbor. Seriously, there is some point where we have to realize that some points of view really do not deserve attention.
My guess is that the rude comments were the least horrific of their ilk, and if A2News didn't publish any of there, there'd have been hundreds of comments about the liberal, biased media. If there were truly no story in the story, then this story would never be published.
How often is it published that a heterosexual male athlete lets his team know that he has a new girlfriend? When this story really is no story, then that will be a story. Funny animals are we. I've been told we can think. As what everyone would call an elderly male my hindsight seems better equiped then my foresight was when I was maturing. What is impressive about a 'No story' is the story of a young man learning about himself. He did it earlier then I and I'm not gay just to keep the record straight I think it's a story about what maturity really means.
Would be nice if others would understand freedom, lack of prejudice, and tolerance for different points of view. I ran in junior high but quit team sports when I came out in high school. The homophobia and intolerance were too overwhelming to even consider it. Stories like Austin's pave the way for all kids' ability to benefit from team sports.
Good Night and Good Grief. They have to have a website like that because of the hatred received from ignorant folks of a certain political persuasion. I love that there is an ad for the Deja' Vu all female review on the top of this page. I got one for Blockbuster Perhaps, some of the key words you have typed into your computer effect what ads they show you. I agree with Craig. I think that this story is more representative of reality than the hateful posts that appear on A2.
This is the story of a fine young man who has close ties with his family, his teammates, his classmates and his community. Someday in our future we can only hope that this will be a non-issue. Until then, cogratulations to the Hendrix family and the Eagles! What you said, David Briegel. I was surprised to find so few comments on this story. Surprised and heartened. I'm confused.
Complete with video? Because there is a story. Because as a society we still struggle with this sort of thing. I don't think we are close. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
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