WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,826,065 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—73,578 VISITS A WEEK BY 1,111,506 VISITORS

Hits: 0

Based on reports of private conversations with New York Hospital insiders and city officials and candidates by a person attempting to mediate a solution, WPCNR has learned the prospects of New York Hospital adapting a conciliatory mood for negotiating a parkland deal in the SEQRA process are bleak.
The Concerned Citizens for Open Space Candidate’s Forum at the White Plains Public Library, last week revealed that New York Presbyterian Hospital has “the upper hand” on the city. The extent of this problem became soberly apparent last Thursday night. Prior to the Candidates’ Forum, William P. Harrington, the hospital dashing legal counsel, had a letter delivered by hand to members of the Common Council. WPCNR has obtained this letter.

Harrington letter is blunt.

The letter is harsher in tone than Harrington’s similar letter of June 18, 2001, when he admonished the Council to adhere to terms of the settlement. (See last week’s WPCNR story on “Candidate’s Forum.”)Here are Mr. Harrington’s statements in this new letter, dated October 1, 2001:

This letter is prompted by my clients’ deep concern regarding comments attributed to Common Council members in the September 2001 Edition of the White Plains Watch which raised, once again, the specter that the City will seek to illegally coerce the dedication of park land as a condition of the approval of Plan B.

Accordingly, I am compelled, once again, to demand that the Common Council comply with the Settlement Order.

What the rhetoric indicates

Note, if you will the words: “improperly rekindling,” “significant harm,” “will not tolerate,” “irrelevant, divisive,” “unequivocal position that park land is not available.” These are not the words signaling you want to negotiate. This letter was no olive branch. The letter produced a chilly atmosphere in the Candidate’s Forum and candidates danced around the issue to “Billy the Kid’s” written gunshots all evening long, while he watched from his fourth row seat like Jack Palance in Shane

Such a letter interjected into a campaign, connotes a very clear hospital strategy on the development of their property: They feel they have the high ground legally and will win the right to develop in a lawsuit, even if the council rejects Plan B. It appears to this reporter, the hospital is simply setting the trap once again for the Common Council. Will the council continue to walk into it, virtually writing Mr. Harrington’s briefs for him?

Intelligence from “The Hill.”

This hardball attitude is confirmed by recent statements from informed sources on “the Hill,” reported to WPCNR.
WPCNR has learned that private bipartisan overtures to the New York Presbyterian Hospital by one neutral personality, affiliated neither with the County, open space interests, or the city, well-known for their ability to achieve consensus, have been made. This person’s efforts were rebuffed strongly by a hospital executive as being out of the question at this time.

The inquiring party was told the hospital fully intends to develop their property for medical use. Our source was told bluntly they have no intention of land swaps, building repositioning, of any negotiating whatsoever. This is very recent information. It confirms what WPCNR learned from what the hospital said to candidates in September at a private briefing.

No more Mr. Rogers in the Neighborhood.

This flies in the hospital best interest to appear more neighborly by agreeing to reconsider site location of the laboratory research buildings they plan as part of the Plan B review. This, despite comments by Constance Hildersley, the NYPH Vice President for Retail Estate, that “the solution is in the (SEQRA) process” last Spring. Hildersley seemed to indicate at that time the hospital was flexible. The council fully expected to massage the location of the buildings in reviewing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Now, it seems when the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is reviewed, most likely in February 2002, it appears equally certain that the hospital has no intention of considering repositioning the proton accelerator and biomedical research buildings elsewhere on their property to be good neighbors. Does the hospital expect the SEQRA process to be a charade? It appears so in light of Harrington’s letter.

Are they expecting the council to reject Plan B, so they may pounce with a lawsuit that will make them masters of their universe with impunity?

Phantom Grants still are Phantoms

The World Trade Center attack severely jeopardized the federal and state grants the hospital was assured by Governor Pataki and Nita Lowey’s office last Spring that they were getting to build the proton accelerator.

The uncertain financial outlook buys the hospital valuable time to fight a strong lawsuit through the courts. No one is now in any hurry to get the accelerator in there. Geoffrey Thompson of Thompson & Bender, the hospital public relations person, is on record as saying the grant money is still a possibility. They are assured of it, he says. We shall see.

Getting the brief ready.

By rigorously enforcing the city settlement agreement, carefully noting the council’s reassuring statements to community special interest constituencies, the hospital appears to be compiling evidence. It is the evidence they need to convince possibly a judge that the council was predisposed to negotiating parkland for proton accelerator location all along even as the hospital prepares the Plan B DEIS. You could realistically argue the council was, (is not) reviewing Plan B in good faith at this moment.

An atmosphere of resentment

Last week the New York Presbyterian Hospital showed its humanitarian side in offering grief and coping counseling to the community in wake of the Trade Center attacks.

However, they show the shortsightedness of management in continuing playing legal hardball with the city. In view of the draconian effect the Trade Center Attack has had on New York State, aid for the proton accelerator may be a pipe dream.They may need the city cooperation very much in the months ahead.

The hospital land has more value.

One thing appears clear to this reporter: hospital land is more valuable to the hospital. Medical personnel may not really want to work at their offices in Manhattan anymore, let alone practice there. They could move medical facilities up here. They could refocus their biomedical research Center of Excellence idea along more contemporary needs.

The issue facing the next Mayor and Common Council.

This will be the number one priority of the next city administration: stroking the hospital to make a good neighbor decision.

How the next Mayor and Council will do that will require a great deal of skill at eating crow gracefully. It will require a public apology of sorts. It will need putting egos aside. Can our councilpersons do that?

They have to. There could be a summit conference of sorts. (A start could be made by quiet lobbying at County Executive Andy Spano’s conference on responding to a biological threat coming up.)

Getting the city out of this pickle, will require a stroking of hospital and New York Cornell Medical College management like you would not believe. Perhaps asking Governor Pataki and County Executive Spano to “reason” with the hospital

Pressure is on the hospital, too. They have to fund something in light of New York’s new needs. They have the place. They have the medical and federal lobbying muscle to get whatever they want. However, it would behoove them to give the appearance of benevolent community involvement.

Our Common Councils to come should beware of throwing away the “whip hand” to please a minority, or for making short term political hay to please well-connected special interests at the expense of the greater good.

The most creative minds in this city have to figure out what will bring the hospital into a frame of mind to share their property recreationally with the city. The hospital, quite reasonably, doesn’t see why they should have to.

The hospital is taking a hard line by issuance of the Harrington letter. That did not win any friends or influence people positively.

“The city,” my source who attempted to begin mediation efforts with the hospital last week said, “is in a no win position.”

Hits: 47

UPDATED!The White Plains Labor Coalition (WPLC) representing approximately 2,000 employees working for the City of White Plains including the City School District, Fire, Teachers and Retired firefighters with the exception of the police have endorsed Bob Greer for Mayor, and council candidates Rita Malmud, Glen Hockley and Tom Roach and Bill Ryan for County Legislator.

In a surprise development Thursday, WPCNR has learned that the Police Union has voted instead to endorse Mayor Joseph Delfino’s reelection. We have not been able to confirm at this time whether the Republican candidates have also been endorsed by the police union.

The WLC in their original release to the media, said Greer had shown consistent leadership and vision for the City of White Plains, and had heard the calls of working men and women, and has attempted to address those concerns on a one-to-one basis with the affected employees.

Praises Greer’s Analytical Techniques

“We take pride in supporting Bob Greer,” stated Duncan MacRae, the leader of the White Plains Labor Coalition. “He and his team are eminently qualified to deal with the complex issues this city faces in its efforts regarding revitalization. He does this with a sense of equity for the projects that are on the drafting board, the citizens who are affected by those projects as well as the city workers who will be providing vital support services. He has broken political ranks to support building projects that serve our city and its citizens in the past and we are sure he will vote his conscience in the future.”

Charges Mayor Delfino with discouraging rescue efforts at Trade Center

“He (Greer) sponsored commendations for White Plains professional firefighters who worked in rescue efforts at the site of the World Trade Center, while his adversary (Mayor Delfino) allowed city administrators to discourage those members from participating.”

Dolce declares “no compensation for volunteering firefighters” report “an absolute falsehood.”

The “discouragement” MacRae is referring occurred the week after September 11. There was a report circulated to firefighters to the effect that Fire Chief Mark Damon had said firefighters doing volunteer rescue work at the World Trade Center attack site would not be covered by workmen’s compensation if they were injured.

Commissioner of Public Safety, John Dolce, flatly told WPCNR Tuesday that Damon said no such thing and that the report was “an absolute falsehood.”

“When the individual who was quoted as saying this was interviewed by the Fire Chief (Mark Damon),” Dolce told WPCNR today, “He said ‘I must have been misquoted,’ and I have a signed memorandum by that individual to that effect. I don’t know where we’re going with this John.”

On September 14, WPCNR had asked George Gretsas, the Mayor’s Executive Officer, if such a policy had been issued, and he said that “of course, they would have been covered.”

Cites Greer’s active labor support.

MacRae further stated that “Bob Greer, Rita Malmud and the Democratic members of the City Council were instrumental in recently forming an alliance which assured that all White Plains employees would work with a current contract. They now, with Greer’s efforts, all work with a contract. His initiatives and communication with the general public have gained him the support of the Democratic Party, the Working Families Party and the Independence Party. He is also supported by the Westchester County Coalition of Professional Firefighters. We heartily support his bid for mayor and the bids of City Council colleagues Rita Malmud, Glen Hockley and Tom Roach.”

Labor for Ryan all the way.

Commenting on the Labor Coalition Support of Ryan, MacRae said in a released statement: “Bill has been a supporter of fire and police personnel in White Plains and Westchester County and has recreated the plan for the delivery of public safety services in our area. His initiative for open space in White Plains will save the taxpayers over one million dollars.”

It should be noted that Ryan’s plan for open space is for the county to contribute $500,000 to aid the city in purchase of the D’Elia property. Ryan initiated the plan after Mayor Delfino had announced to the Common Council purchase plans for the property and his timetable for asking County Executive Andy Spano for county aid to defray the $1.75 million purchase price.

Hits: 81

Networks have reached a new low, enhancing the emotional impact of news with soundtracks and graphics. Newspapers overdo grieving story.

When I first heard the US-Afgan War had begun Sunday, I tuned to WABC Radio. I was appalled to hear ominous soundtrack music cleverly playing underneath a talk show host’s interviews as well as recorded statements of President Bush and Tony Blair. It sounded like Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds.

The shameless news producers of the television networks have spent the last three weeks sensationalizing and wallowing in the misery and horror of the World Trade Center attack with bumber slides reading “America Under Attack,” “America Recovers,” “America Mourns,” “US Responds,” while planes whacked into the WTC towers 10 times an hour. The on-going affect on television during the period after attack was one of an unfolding “show” to be sold.

Make no mistake. The networks loved this story, Dan’s tears not withstanding. Interview after interview, dealt interminably on the suffering. Commentator after commentator provided juicy horrors about the hijackings. To this reporter’s mind, this is what is wrong with television and radio news today. Events are sensationalized to keep you watching. To entertain, no matter how morbid, more than inform. Stringing out 24-hour coverage means more reporting of rumor and innuendo, without facts that stabilize.

The New York all-news radio stations and info-stations were not above electronic enhancement either. On radio, the soundbiters spliced up worrisome little musical signature bits with voiceovers replaying screams of “Oh my God,” comments, played over music, to signal “more” of the ongoing rescue mission coverage.

I do not know about you, but these intro bits made me feel worse. I do not need to feel the pain. I feel it. However, radio in its ceaseless interviews with suffering families, made us feel that more. It was immobilizing, and I feel, irresponsible and ghoulish coverage to overproduce the attacks in this manner.

Now, as of Sunday night, CNN, NBC and CBS, Fox News have a war to cover. We can look forward to “America Strikes Back” slides and moving trailers, I presume. Correspondents in safari shirts, repeating what the anchorpersons have just said, only from locations. This is not news. This is allowing you, the viewer to participate in the adventure.

Lest we leave the print media unscathed, I have to say that the unending 24 pt type headlines, the funeral coverage and the eulogies could be considered legitimate coverage. But is it responsible, compassionate, constructive coverage?

Reading the eulogies (especially in The Times), must be moving. I have read the esteem in which many of the dead were held by colleagues and families. But, they certainly depressed me even more. I do not think it is good for anybody’s mental health to be reading day-after-day about these poor souls, and I tried not to. The injustice of the deaths, immobilizes and makes trivial our daily pursuits from a mental health standpoint.

This is not to mention the heaped-on misery that families talking about their dead relatives were put through by the reporters getting the information. What an awful job. (“This is John Bailey of the CitizeNetReporter, your husband was killed in the WTC, could you tell me what he was like?”) I cannot believe that families are calling up the papers to talk about these folks. Once again, the media is trying to make you feel a certain way. It’s telling you to have compassion. Believe me we feel, guys. That is not their job.

The Journal News has shown a compassionate side in eliminating their obituary line charges for families whose loved ones died in the attack. However, is it compassion to seek out these grieving mothers and husbands and interview them? I don’t think so. I think it’s getting copy. It is not news. Inevitably, you also have great praise heaped upon some victims, and less praise heaped on others.

Write stories on coping with the grief, yes. Write stories on how you might be feeling, yes. But, we have seen few stories that talk about how we the living can cope with the losses. The eulogies and funeral coverage may inspire others to make more of their own lives, true. But exactly what effect this perpetual funeral has on all of us is hard to decipher. One benefit is that it may bring us together to be more tolerant and compassionate of each other.

But, when will the media ease up on the eulogizing and coverage?Once you start doing individual profiles of every person missing, you are obligated journalistically (as The Times has discovered to its probable, behind-the-scenes chagrin), to writing over 5,000 of these thumbail profiles. At that rate, we should be reading Times WTC Victim profiles for the next year and a half, unless they cut it off after reaching a certain number.

Not that these thumbnails are bad. But are they good for us? Do they inspire you? Do they make you feel better? Do they make you less fearful? They make me feel bad, remorseful and determined to live better myself. Perhaps that is good. But we’ve never covered this kind of thing before. The papers do not know what to do about it, how to cover it, and are now stuck in traditional “aftermath coverage.”

As to news coverage of the new war on terrorism,
let us return to reporting. What is reporting? It is observation. Fact-finding. Confirming.

When Edward R. Murrow was reporting from London during World War II, he detailed the blitz. He reported without musical preludes, without “key slides.” He used his observations to paint what was happening. He did not have to ask Londoners “how they felt.”

Here is an excerpt from one of his broadcasts aired September 22, 1940, 61 years ago. It could have been written the night of September 11, 2001:
“I’m standing again tonight on a rooftop looking out over London, feeling rather large and lonesome. In the course of the last fifteen or twenty minutes there’s been considerable action up there, but at the moment, there’s an ominous silence hanging over London. But at the same time a silence that has a great deal of dignity. Just straightaway in front of me the search lights are working. I can see one or two bursts of antiaircraft fire far in the distance. Just on the roof across the way I can see a man wearing a tin hat, a pair of powerful night glasses to his eyes, scanning the sky. Again, looking in the opposite direction, there is a building with two windows gone. Out of one window there waves something that looks like a white bed sheet, a window curtain swinging free in this night breeze. It looks as though it were being shaken by a ghost. There are a great many gosts around these buildings in London. The searchlights straightaway, miles in front of me, are still scratching that sky. There’s a three-quarter moon riding high. There was one burst of shellfire almost straight in the Little Dipper.

Down below in the streets I can see just that red and green wink of the traffic lights: one lone taxicab moving slowly down the street. Not a sound to be heard. As I look out across the miles and miles of rooftops and chimney pots, some those dirty-gray fronts of the buildings look almost snow-white in this moonlight here tonight. And the rooftop spotter across the way swings around, looks over in the direction of the searchlights, drops his glasses and just stands there. There are hundreds and hundreds of men like that standing on rooftops in London tonight watching for fire bombs, waiting to see what comes out of this steel-blue sky. The searchlights now reach up very, very faintly on three sides of me.There is a flash of a gun in the distance but too far away to be heard.(c)

This is reporting, ladies and gentlemen. Do you see the difference?He reports a tense situation by describing it clearly. Here is Murrow’s description of a bombing raid on London October 10, 1940:
This is London, ten minutes before five in the morning. Tonight’s raid has been widespread. London is again the main target. Bombs have been reported from more than fifty districts. Raiders have been over Wales in the west, the Midlands, Liverpool, the southwest and northeast. So far as London is concerned, the outskirts appear to have suffered the heaviest pounding. The attack has decreased in intensity since the moon faded from the sky.

Thank you, Ed, as CNN would say.

In the weeks ahead, we are going to be seeing news conferences, stand-up pieces by reporters, and so much commentating it will make your head spin. It would be responsible if the networks and radio stations stopped packaging, overproducing, and underreporting. Observe and report what you see.

The great strength of Murrow was he reported facts which people could deal with here in America. He did not dwell on how terrible the blitz was. He interviewed, sure. But, always to get facts which by his delivery of them made the horrible palatable without fear.

I have a few news tips for the networks: Do not telecast and broadcast every soundbite from every side. Most of what is “spun” is propaganda. Report, do not distort. Interview, do not stick microphones in diplomats’, protestors’, congresspersons’, and Islamic and Israeli faces. Interviewing means asking tough questions in a sequence designed to produce facts.

Let us lose the intro and closing graphic and audio “bridges,” it is in poor taste. Let us return to reporting. We all feel low enough. Trust me.

© 1967, the estate of Edward R. Murrow. From the book, In Search of Light, the Broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow 1938-1961

Hits: 116

White Plains evened its record at 2-2 Saturday on the foot of Orlando Cruz mastering the 25-knot winds swirling across Donald D. DeMatteo Stadium in Yonkers. Jeff Lee, after setting up the first Tiger TD, in words of one fan, “looked like Lawrence Taylor” with sacks, tackles and whack-downs that frustrated Gorton all afternoon.

GOING INTO THE WIND, it was impossible to pass Saturday at windswept DeMatteo Stadium. The Tigers move on Gorton in second quarter action in Yonkers. WPCNR PHOTO

The mustang northwest winds whipsnapping across DeMatteo Stadium meant field position and proficient kicking would be needed. White Plains elected to receive, and Gorton took the East goal of the old stadium, so they would have the wind in the fourth quarter.

Wrong decision. It cost them two touchdowns in the first 6 minutes of the game.

A Jeff Lee 48 yard “Rebound” Sets Up First Six

Starting at their own 23, the tigers were facing a 2nd and 14 on their 17 after illegal motion. Darrell Mack dropped back, rolled away right and threw downtown 48 yards on the far sideline to flanker Jeff Lee, triple-teamed.

In the air he went, the ball was tipped high and as Lee fell to earth the ballwas batted down into his hands, and he cradled it in, as his back hit the turf for a 1st on the Wolves’ 34 yard line.

After two pass plays failed, Spencer Ridenhour, lugged the ball to the Gorton 27, and the Tigers faced 4th and 3 on the 27.

Mack dropped back as if to pass, freezing the Gorton secondary to the far side of the field and pitched the pigskin back to Ridenhour who turned the near corner and bulled to the 11 yard line for a 1st and 10. A counter play up the middle moved White Plains to the 3. On the next play, Spencer Ridenhour took a pitch back and bulldogged up the middle into pay dirt and it was, 6-0. Conversion was successful and within 3 minutes, it was 7-0.

Muffed punt snap sets up Tigers in seconds

Orlando Cruz, with the whistling wind at his back, kicked the football 60 yards into the end zone and the Wolves took over at the 20. After three plays, Gorton attempted a punt. The punter fumbled the snap and the Tigers recovered on the 10. Three runs found White Plains on the 5. On 4th down, Darrell Mack dropped back rolled to the right, passed to Wilson Moronta in the flat who darted into the far corner for 6. The kick failed, and within 6 minutes, it was 13-0, Tigers.

Tiger Dee pens the Wolves for full half as offense goes three-and-out eight possessions in row.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Wolf return man got up a full head of steam and reached the 45 in the open when Moronta met him head-on in a courageous, touchdown-saving tackle and Gorton started up at their own 45. The Wolves got a fast 1st to the Tiger 45 on a flat pass, but their quarterback fumbled a snap that bounded all the way to the left side line where the Tigers recovered at their own 42, as the first quarter ended. This was the deepest penetration Gorton was to get until midway in the 4th quarter.

Coach Santa Donato took to a conservative play-calling strategy moving into the wind. In their next eight possessions (unofficially) through halftime and until 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, they went three-and-out. They relied on Orlando Cruz’s sure punting to handle the wind.

In his first punt into the gusting wind from the Tiger 43, Cruz bounced it to the Gorton 32, a 25-yard punt from scrimmage.

Jeff Lee does his Lawrence Taylor Impression

Gorton tried to come back. Jeff Lee always seemed to be making the big play to stall Gorton drives. It started now. With a Gorton 1st on the 43, Lee batted down a pass over the middle, the receiver was just waiting to pull in.

On the next play, Lee nailed the Wolf QB for his first sack of the day blitzing up the middle and single-handedly bringing him down for an 8 yard loss.

Lee did this so often Saturday that a Tiger fan beside me remarked he was playing like Lawrence Taylor of the 1990 Super Bowl Champion Giants. On 3rd and 18, the Tiger line overwhelmed the Wolf passer. The Wolf punter shanked his first punt with the wind, setting up White Plains at the 50. However, they could not move. Three-and-out was to be a recurring problem the rest of the day.

If you can’t move it, let Cruz kick it.

No problem. Big Number 67, handling the snap perfectly punted into the wind with an elegant line drive low with a neat knuckle roll to the Gorton 15. I mean, Cruz got so much roll on his punts today it was amazing. On 3rd and 5 from the 20, Jeff Lee rampaged in from linebacker and recorded his second sack of the day, forcing another Gorton punt, this time a good one.

White Plains took over on their 43 and ended up back to their 35. With a lead, with the wind blowing back passes, the Tigers simply stopped passing and this hurt their ground game. Cruz made his only poor punt of the day but, no problem, Gorton’s returned muffed the punt and Jeff Lee was right there to recover it on the Gorton 43, with no time left in the first half.

Third quarter a wash with a kick from the past.

Attacking into the wind in the third stanza, Gorton used up valuable time with runs. They went three-and-out on their first possession. White Plains did the same. After an exchange of fumbles after two undistinguished series by both teams at midfield, the Tigers again stalled.

Kicking from his 40, Cruz punted with the wind and executed a thing of beauty, a coffin corner kick. Orlando’s majestic launching hit at the 15 and rolled 10 yards out of bounds on the Gorton 4, as the third quarter ended. The kick was a 45 yard punt from scrimmage (NFL quality!).

Gorton Boards with 5 minutes to go

Gorton doggedly ran the ball out to their 40 on 3rd down, where a great play by Evan McGuire delayed the drive for precious minutes . After three plays, the Wolves faced 4th and 4. Kicking with the wind, with a new punter this time, Gorton pinned White Plains back to their 14 yard line.

Then Orlando Cruz made his only poor punt of the day, popping it up, getting a blow back, and the 17-yard kick gave Gorton the ball on the White Plains 35 with 8 minutes to go. A pass on 3rd down set them up on the Tiger 15.

After three tries, Gorton faced a 4th and 10 on the 15 when the Wolf Qb found a receiver in the end zone to make it 13-6 with 4:22 to play. Jeff Lee raced in from out of nowhere to bulldog the run for a 2-point conversion.

Taking over on their own 35, the Tigers needed to make a first down. On 2nd and 7, Eric Dickey drove for a first down on the Tiger 45.

McCoy’s 55-yard second effort wraps it up

On the very first play, Jeff McCoy took a handoff and went into a pile, merged bounced off the massed Gorton linebackers and picking up an escort dashed down the middle for 55 yards into the end zone. 19-6, Tigers, and with the kick, the Tigers had put away the game, 20-6.

This game was a game won by defense and special teams, which played almost flawless football. Aside from the pummeling administered by North Rockland, the Tiger defense has been very respectable. We attribute the offensive doldrums Saturday to the windy conditions that took away the passing option for half the game. Next week the Tigers play Mamaroneck in Mamaroneck at 2 PM.

Hits: 104

The Undercover Freshman files this report on his first experiences in White Plains High School last month. As Sergeant Joe Friday would say, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
If virtue truly is rewarded, then high school is the reward for graduating middle school.

Don’t think about it for too long.

That’s one thing I have learned that really sticks in my mind so far about school:  if you think about something for too long, it makes less sense.

The best example of this is the schedules.  Now, in high school, there are nine “days” (Day One, Day Two, etc., like Letter Days back in middle and elementary schools).  Each day has eight periods.  Your schedule has nine classes.  Whatever Number Day it is, you skip that class.

For example, if it is Day One, you skip your first class. Some classes alternate.  For example, on some days, I have Biology Lab Eighth Period, on others, Project Adventure.  Which means that some days are both Day Ones and Day Sixes.  As I said, don’t think about it for too long.

          
On the first day, Thursday, September 6, we had all our classes, but shorter periods.  My first period was English Honors.

Over the summer, we were assigned to read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.  I found it to be stupidly unrealistic, poorly conceived, and exhibiting a great disregard to non-white, non-Christians.  Every time I finished a chapter and exclaimed, “I hate this book!” my father would say, “I’m sure you weren’t assigned to read it so that you would agree with everything it says.”

 
As it turns out, the instructor was considering a career in transportation in younger days. When he read Robinson, he loved it, and decided to pick up a career in teaching.

Right across the hall from English was room B-2, or the cafeteria/study hall.  During study hall, we were all forced to face front, sit on one side of the table, only two people per table, and not talking.

After study hall I had band, which is held in the auditorium.  To get to the auditorium I had to go down two hallways, down two flights of stairs, outside, and into a building.  After band I had study hall again, so I had to do the reverse.

The teachers in this study hall said they didn’t mind if we talked as long as they couldn’t hear us.  Everyone talked loud and got in trouble. 

After that study hall I had French, which was down several hallways, of course.  This worried me.  My schedule had “English Theatre” listed between French and Study Hall.

Now, you can’t hear the bell in B-2, so I thought I had accidentally cut a class. After French, I went to my English Theatre teacher to explain what had happened.  She gave me the material from the class, and that was it.

After French I had lunch.  Apparently, the school had yet to get organized, so lunch was free.  Really.

After lunch I had Global Studies Honors.  The teacher is British and liked me from the first thing I said.  He asked, “What is history?”, and I said, “What people think happened.”

He believes that everything is controlled by those big scary conglomerates and/or white males.  Conspiracy theories do well in his class.

After Global Studies came Biology Honors, which has, apparently, fallen into bad terms with the administration, who have assigned a small room with only desks, no tables, and no electricity. 

Last year, some students were helping the teacher pack up, but apparently they didn’t label the boxes,so the teacher doesn’t know what’s where.  The administration said not to unpack, incidentally, as they may be moving at any time.  We’re learning out of a book.  Sort of. The problem is, no one apparently learned anything in Science last year,so the teacher needs to spend a long time reviewing, saying, “What did you learn last year?!”

After that I went to Project Adventure.  My first reaction to the demeanor of our teacher was that she thought that we took Project Adventure rather than gym because we were easily unsettled.  “If you don’t feel comfortable with what we’re doing, that’s okay.  Class participation can mean just cheering other people on.”  I kid you not.

After that was math.  Math, keeping in line with the topic itself,was fairly uneventful.

That ended my day.  What can one say about a high school that is so ill equipped, yet so disorganized? At least I only have four years.