i couldn't agree MORE with chris dodd on this one

for years i've been saying, ALL kids right out of high school (especially those who are planning on attending college) should be made to do some type of community service. in return, i think their education should be paid for (if going to a state school) or subsidized (if going to a private school).

i'm all with the adults doing service as well. i'm lucky - my company DOES allow for volunteer work/community service during work hours. (however, i've done most of my volunteerism on my own time)

Dodd Urges Mandatory Community Service


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) -- Aiming to create the first generation in which all Americans serve their country, Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd is offering a range of initiatives to encourage -- and in some cases compel -- community service.
''All Americans should serve our country,'' the Connecticut senator said in remarks prepared for delivery Saturday. ''Endowed as we are with so many gifts, is it too much to ask that we each give something back to this remarkable place?''
He proposes making community service mandatory for all high school students, doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011 and expanding the AmeriCorps national service program to 1 million participants by the end of his presidency.
Requiring high school students to perform community service will give them a chance to acquire new skills while meeting the needs of their communities, Dodd said........

grrrls and sports

REMIGINO-KNAPP, center, the athletic director for West Hartford schools, stands with other female coaches for the district: Pam Moffo, from left, Susan Startzman- Daly, Sue McAuliffe Curnias and Kathy Walling. Remigino-Knapp was a student at Hall High School when female coaches staged a boycott in 1971 to fight to be paid for their work in the West Hartford schools. A year later, Title IX would help pave the way for further equality for girls and women in athletics. (MARC-YVES REGIS I)

i went to hall. i went around that time period as well. i hated sports (and to this day i hate MOST sports exept for my beloved red sox. oh ok, i like hockey too and perhaps the celtics in their heyday) in high school. i hated them with a passion. i did play field hockey and was good at it. goalie. as far as i can remember, that's about all we played among other schools. i don't think we played basketball or baseball, or similar sports. there is no reason GRRRLS can't play competitive sports in high school if they want to. they SHOULD have every equal opportunity boys do. we're MORE than cheerleaders.

i was quite the rebel when i was in junior and high school. i know i was SICK of playing golf in high school (to this day i HATE it so much i cannot even express it accurately). i don't remember if i was a sophomore or junior (i don't think i was a senior) but i decided to do something for me and all the other grrrls in all of the other high schools. i tried out for the boys basketball team. i was NO good. that was NOT the point. i didn't want to make the team. i wanted THEM to know i should have the SAME chance of playing on a team that competed against other schools as any other student. penis or not.

even back then i was a rabelrouser. of course they kicked me out of the gym but i felt good and i think i made THEM feel more uncomfortable (i'm good at that).

(oh and i remember ms rosenkrans too! a shout out to her)

Female Coaches Played Hardball A Year Before Title IX, Boycott Led To Wages

By LORI RILEY, Courant Staff Writer

Betty Remigino-Knapp's father won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Her mother grew up with a tennis court in her backyard and played football and baseball with the boys in her neighborhood. Lindy and June Remigino encouraged their four daughters to play sports, but there was little offered for girls in West Hartford in the 1960s.

When Betty entered Hall High School in the fall of 1969, she played some field hockey and basketball and ran track. But the sports were a far cry from girls high school sports today. The schedules and travel were limited. The girls wore the same uniforms for all three sports. There was a "girls gym" - smaller, no bleachers, no scoreboard - and a "boys gym" - bigger, with bleachers and a scoreboard.The girls didn't complain. They were just happy to be able to participate........

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i wasn't going to write about this at all

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i wasn't going to write about this at all

a shout out to the farmington valley school in avon

thank you for your tribute to our fallen

Avon students pay tribute to fallen soldiers

by News Channel 8's Jodi Latina

(Hartford-WTNH) _ Students from an Avon school's civics class brought their classroom to the capitol today. They're paying tribute in a unique way to American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq.
The lawn of the state capitol was transformed into a makeshift memorial.
18-year old Jack Vivert, a senior at the Farmington Valley School in Avon, read some of the 3,500 names he and his classmates wrote down on paper. Each piece shows the name of an American soldier killed in the line of duty in Iraq.
These students are part of a civics class that often does hands on projects. This one took two weeks to make, along with a lot of emotional investment.
"Everyone talks about how much they hate the war but no one's doing anything," Vivert said...........

plan b at one way fare

UPDATE (click link to the right for pictures) - july 13 2007 : opening july 13 2007

(chris and eddie)

(chris, eddie and cathy)

i FINALLY ran into shawn yesterday. he and al are hard at work at one way fare in simsbury. he was SO excited. i've not seen him like this in a LONG time. all he could talk about was the lighting he got for the bar. they're being specially blown somewhere in ny (that is SO shawn!).

at any rate, i hear the joint should finally be open in approximately two weeks - give or take.

(shawn at the half door after a hard day of working at plan b at one way fare - all pictures taken at the half door by the way)

i can't wait. i know how hard they work to get everything perfect (yet you DO feel at home).

(dottie and marianne)

why is it i don't trust

what our government says about dragon skin armor???

at any rate, that is neither here nor there for gareth mello. let's wish him well along with all of the other deployed troops from connecticut AND the rest of the states as well!
(let's hope some day, some how, somewhere, there is NO MORE red tape and our troops can get ALL of the equipment they NEED WHEN they need it)

Steeled To Fight For Body Armor Marine's Father Pressing To Maximize Protection

By DAVID LIGHTMAN, Washington Bureau Chief


SOMERS -- Gordon Mello made sure his son, Gareth, took swimming lessons as an infant.Gordon Mello's brother had drowned at a young age, and he vowed to do all he could to teach his children how to deal with danger.
Protecting his son inevitably got harder as Gareth grew up. "You watched him get plunked by a pitch in Little League," the father recalled. "But you also know that learning the ability to bounce back develops confidence."Gareth Mello today is a 24-year-old Marine corporal, headed back to Iraq for a second tour of duty, and his father still feels a yearning to protect him. He's bought him $1,470 worth of equipment, including a Dragon Skin vest routinely used by some U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to compensate for what the military is not providing...............

voices in conflict

it's NOT about the war, it's about the troops! (and mr lanza is correct. that IS what it's about) oh yeah, and principal canty is a giant weenie


Canceled school play about Iraq brings out real drama
Connecticut students find themselves in the national spotlight when their principal shuts down their play.

By Harry BruiniusWilton, Conn.

Stone-faced and grim, six boys from Wilton High School are marching in formation, stomping out the ominous rhythm of foot soldiers, and saluting from their chests. Together, they stop to shout: "For all the free people that still protest, you're welcome! You're welcome!"
It's a defiant rap, first written by U.S. Marines in Kuwait to taunt those who protested the first Gulf War, and now incorporated into a spring play, "Voices in Conflict," a dramatic series of monologues taken from interviews and letters from real soldiers in combat. This scene, however, has the most complicated stage directions, and Courtney Stack, a junior in charge of the choreography, is barking out orders, showing the boys how to move their feet and swing their shoulders as the pounding march becomes a flowing hip-hop groove. ........


Kids' Iraq Play Hits Big Stage After School Bars It
Wilton, Conn., Kids Get Standing Ovation for Off Broadway Performance

A group of high school students in a small Connecticut town wanted to perform a play telling the stories of actual soldiers in Iraq. But their school said no, afraid it might offend members of their community.
Although the students were silenced on their own stage in Wilton, Conn., they were given another -- Off Broadway in New York City.
Nick Lanza, a performer in the play, said it isn't about the war, it's about the troops.
"For us, it's pro-troops," Lanza said, "It's about the troops' feelings, what's happening to the troops, not whether or not war is an issue."..........

original posting and more voices

the grrrls (and some dreadful softball news)

cathy is back in town for a couple of days. I MISS HER MUCHO!!! here are cathy and lk hangin'

and i'm afraid i have some bad news. the masterbatters are 0 and 12!!!! (i told them i was going to run to my car. i had some extra skirts in there they could borrow)