HoCo chooses civility
September 25, 2007
I was on Route 175 in Columbia last week when I saw an odd bumper sticker on the car in front of me: “Choose Civility in Howard County.”
At first, I thought it was imploring Columbians to be more racially tolerant.
Since the (albeit small) sample of Howard County residents I asked didn’t know, I turned to the local blogosphere.
Sure enough, Hometown Columbia was able to point me in the right direction: Choose Civility is an initiative led by the HoCo Library that “intends to enhance respect, empathy, consideration and tolerance in Howard County.”
Their strategy for doing so? Recommended reading (“Choosing Civility” by P.M. Forni of the Johns Hopkins Civility Project), a Facebook group and car magnets.
At least they’re aiming near and far.
Anyone out there involved in this initiative care to comment? Are people in Hoco becoming more civil, or are those involved already the pillars of civility?
I, for one, will honk for joy if area drivers truly mend their ways.
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentNo girl power at comp sci class
September 25, 2007
On Monday nights, it’s 17 vs. 2 in my computer applications class at Montgomery College. If you count Bill, 18 vs. 2.
I’m taking a night class to learn Adobe Flash, a computer program that creates flash animations for the web. (When you see a message on your computer that asks you to install Macromedia Flash Player, you’re trying to view a file that I am learning how to create). I’m learning along with one other girl and 17 guys; Bill Humphrey is our teacher.
I expected a gender gap, but not this wide - after all, my class isn’t advanced computer programming, it’s an instructional course on a program that’s becoming increasingly widespread.
According to a recent AP story, however, the programs themselves might be at the root of the discrepancy: new research suggests that they aren’t designed with female thought processes in mind.
What this class has taught me in just two weeks is that those processes truly are different.
Right down to naming our files, I’ve taken a completely different approach to my exercises than my male counterparts. (I’m sure they enjoy glancing over at my screen to see short animations of dancing teddy bears and the like, but I could do without the World of Warcraft on theirs, so we’re even.)
Seriously, though - should we be working towards a middle ground, or are separate programs for separate genders worth considering?
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentHip-hoppin’ into court
September 25, 2007
Baton Rouge rapper Webbie and his Trill Entertainment label mate Lil Boosie are the latest Louisiana lyricists to find themselves in the crosshairs of a Baltimore lawsuit.
Webbie, born Webster Bradney Jr., and Boosie, born Torrance Hatch, were slated to perform at two popular city clubs last winter but never showed up, Baltimore-area promoter Tracye Stafford alleges in a lawsuit (subscriber-only link) filed Sept. 20. Entertainment lawyer Paul Gardner is representing Stafford.
New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne has been sued twice recently by students who were injured when loose cash was thrown from the stage into the audience at his concert at Morgan State University last year.
What’s with Baltimore’s bad legal blood with hip-hop artists from the Bayou?
-BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentLaw blog round-up
September 24, 2007
Why troll the Internet yourself for news about the law and the legal profession?
Here, as the beginning of a semi-regular feature on the On the Record blog, are a few of the stories and blog entries you’ll want to check out:
- Ron Miller over at the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has a post on what he calls the medical malpractice “crisis” in Maryland. The quotes, by the way, are his.
- This is from a bit ago, but James Rubin has a list at his Maryland Employment Law blog about the top Maryland wage law violations he sees in his practice.
- Tom Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who handles a lot of Supreme Court cases, has a list at ScotusBlog of which cases he thinks have a reasonable chance of getting cert this term.
- Above the Law has a funny post on an inmate who included something strange when he filed a lawsuit protesting his non-kosher diet — and the judge’s Seussian response to said strange object.
-CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentOne tax at a time
September 24, 2007
What do you think of Governor O’Malley’s one-tax-a-day announcement strategy?
In his article in today’s Daily Record, reporter Andy Rosen quotes Johns Hopkins University political scientist Matthew Crenson as saying, “It’s a very shrewd way to do it. To lay it all out at once would give the opportunity to different groups who are opposed to provisions of the program to join together.”
Crenson also said the gradual rollout gives O’Malley the opportunity to pull back pieces that draw heavy political flak.
House Minority Whip Christopher B. Shank, D-Washington, was not impressed with the O’Malley dribs and drabs gambit. “Marylanders are not fooled by smoke and mirrors,” he told Rosen. “They are smarter than that.”
So which is it—a good way to help people grasp the intricacies of a complex plan or a crass attempt to manage the news and give the governor maximum political cover?
-TOM LINTHICUM, Executive Editor
Sphere: Related ContentWhat’s up with the stem cell money?
September 24, 2007
Reporter Karen Buckelew reports today that more than four months after the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced recipients of its first $15 million in grants, the group still has not cut checks to any of the 24 winning projects.
Late paperwork from scientists and internal bureaucratic delays at universities are the main reasons.
Several commission members were angry. One, Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg, a professor of biological science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, had a suggestion.
“If people don’t get all their paperwork in in six months, this offer is no longer open,” she said.
What do you think of her idea? What else should be done?
-TOM LINTHICUM, Executive Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBaggy pants & crime
September 21, 2007
A member of the Baltimore City Council, Helen L. Holton, is looking to add one more thing to the to-do list of Baltimore City police: busting kids with baggy britches.
So I guess it’s not the drugs, guns and gangs on the street that reflect the “moral decay” of our society; it’s that darn hip hop fashion/culture that youth embrace so much. Should this even enter the legislative realm? Should it burden police who are already struggling with a soaring homicide rate? And what about the white kids in the ‘burbs who do the same thing?
This just takes me back to the glory days of junior-high teachers telling me that my Ozzy Osbourne jean jacket back patch meant I worshipped the devil and that our parachute pants were too tight.
So do oversized pants reflect a criminal nature, or just a lack of respect for belts?
-FRANCIS SMITH, Special Publications Assistant Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMcDonald’s rolls back "morning" to 5a.m.
September 21, 2007
When I turned on the car this morning, I heard back-to-back advertisements for the McSkillet burrito.
It seems like McDonald’s and I were destined to spend the morning together.
| View Larger Map |
You’ll have to forgive me if I seem less than lucid; there’s a good reason - it’s 5:25a.m., and though it looks like the middle of the night outside, here in McDonald’s, time stands still.
In 2.5 hours, when I begin my commute to work, the streets will be congested and pedestrians will clamor to run in front of my car’s path. Right now, there’s peace and quiet for all.
Except maybe for those in line.
That’s right, at 5:30a.m. in the McDonald’s on Rockville Pike and Marinelli Road, there’s a line. A middle-aged businessman, a retired war veteran (noted on his hat) and several Metro employees are waiting in line to order a hot breakfast. Having beat them by a few minutes, I’m already sitting with my helping of fast food.
This morning’s menu might be the same as always, but it’s hard to complain; I mistakenly received 2 hash browns, but hey, they’re two for $1.
As I look out the window, it seems traffic’s already picked up considerably since I arrived. Guess you (the early bird) have to rise promptly at 5a.m. to truly beat traffic (the worm).
Oh well. Time for some more fruit n’yogurt parfait as I try to determine whether this small contingent of the world is on to something.
Any early risers out there care to offer some insight?
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentFilm or digital? A photographer’s perspective
September 20, 2007
Any professional photographer who has been in the game more than 10 years is going to have a soft spot in his heart for film.
If anyone would have told me back in 1990 that a decade later I would be spending more time in front of a computer than behind the camera, I would have laughed. The transition hasn’t been overnight, but technology has definitely taken over the industry.
But as a recent Kodak survey brought to light, two-thirds of professional photographers continue to use film for special projects, even though they shoot digital out of necessity.
I have to admit digital photography has become almost 100 percent of what I shoot in my professional career. That’s because, for the most part, digital has surpassed film in image and reproduction quality, and nobody in the industry wants to deal with film anymore. Photo labs have been going out of business and most camera stores don’t carry darkroom chemicals now.
The truth is we live in a very “need it now” society and for that it seems we are willing to sacrifice a little bit of artistry.
I’ve heard people say that digital photography has made amateurs better and professionals worse. Anyone can take a decent photo these days because the camera does most of the work, and all the knowledge once needed to take a great photo without seeing an instant outcome is thrown out the door. Most pros I know (like the ones Kodak surveyed) still shoot some film for more personal and creative projects as a way of staying sharp.
Even still with all the bits, bytes, and bucks involved in the modern digital photography era, there is still nothing like the sight of a perfectly exposed transparency on the light table or the smell of fixer in the darkroom as your black and white masterpiece slowly appears under the safe light.
What about it, photographers?
-MAXIMILIAN FRANZ, Staff Photographer
Sphere: Related ContentAsti (eventually) stepped down
September 20, 2007
Well, it looks like Alison Asti can finally sleep at night.
After about seven months of intense media scrutiny, rampant rumors and political infighting, the Maryland Stadium Authority’s executive director is out of a job.
Wednesday, she reached a deal to resign with the MSA board and the Attorney General’s office. A visibly relieved Asti talked to reporters afterward, and, while not happy with losing the job she’s had for 14 years, at least she has the closure.
On the phone Thursday morning, she sounded relaxed and even joked around a bit.
Fred Puddester, the MSA board chairman, also was relieved. He stepped into the MSA in July and was immediately confronted with the political hand grenade that was Asti’s future, litigation with the Orioles and a threatened hunger strike by day laborers.
“This is a tough job,” he joked with reporters after Wednesday’s meeting. Wednesday afternoon, while reporters with looming deadlines sat for three excruciating hours like expectant fathers in one of MSA’s conference rooms, Puddester did his best Henry Kissinger imitation, going back and forth between the board, Asti and J.B. Howard — deputy attorney general — brokering a deal that would make everyone happy.
In the end, it seems to have worked. The board approved her resignation unanimously and now all that’s missing is the dotting of the I’s, the crossing of the T’s and the approval of the Board of Public Works. But take it from someone who has been covering this story with so many peaks and valleys for a while now, until the ink is dry on the agreement anything can happen.
So, do you think Asti was treated fairly? What happens at the MSA next?
Let us know what you think.
-LOUIS LLOVIO, Business Writer
Sphere: Related Content-
Business
Business posts- Busted energy-related myths
- Giant has makeover, reveals new logo
- Survey shows mixed results for MedImmune
- Ye Olde Roland Park Country Club
- Lowering the stakes
- Harbor East construction update
- O’s fans outnumbered
- Free tickets!
- File under “Bad Customer Relations” for Ravens
- Another week, another crane collapse.
Law
Law postsRecent Posts
- The Big Picture
- Busted energy-related myths
- Giant has makeover, reveals new logo
- Survey shows mixed results for MedImmune
- The $1.5M wife
- Ye Olde Roland Park Country Club
Recent Comments
- Ronald Henry Pierce: Not proud of how we came together, but proud to have her. Want to read about the chld’s...
- vampire: ROFL - that Bruce, he sure has a way with words. Karma, dude.
- Any Given Tuesday: To the previous commenter, unless you’re paid to submit comments to blogs, I’m going...
- Caryn Tamber: You’re right; I should have credited the Romenesko media blog, which is where I read the story...
- curious: Either you read the Seattle Times on a regular basis (unlikely), or you read about Shakespear...