5 comments about Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences.

1. Passing for Who You Really Are
   
   Ward Connerly's mixed-race background and family reality taught him the oppressive nature of forced racial classification. Millions of Americans feel as he does, but we do not have the resources to do much about it. The most politically vulnerable aspect of forced racial classification is affirmative action, which most Americans see as inherently unfair and a contradiction of the Civil Rights ideal of not using the government to enforce a racial order. For daring to challenge the falsely labeled "progressive" idea that Americans should be divided into supposedly racially pure "whites" and so-called "people of color" (supposedly all those who are not "pure white"Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise And Triumph of the One-drop RuleThe Forgotten Cause of the Civil War: A New Look at the Slavery Issue), Connerly has endured constant threats and demonization by people who presume to pass judgement on the morality of their fellow Americans.
   
   Regardless of your political preferences, any honest person should acknowledge the heroism and idealism or Ward Connerly. Our country is imposing a false system of "racial" classification on us that is as ridiculous and harmful as the "Aryan" and "non-Aryan" classifications of the Third Reich. Connerly speaks for millions of Americans who cannot speak for ourselves.



2. As a young person growing up in America, and observing that some people are looked upon with disdain, over something as simple as skin color sickens me. Even more that we as a Nation condoned such behavior as a matter of Law. I read about internment camps for Japanese Americans, during World War II, and these people were treated this way because of their Nation of origin. But very few people in internment camps were either German, or Italian. Equally our enemy, but White.
   
   Remarkably, Americans of African decent who put their lives on the line for this Nation during World War II had less rights than German POWs, our enemies. What a sad state of affairs. These people fought for someone elses freedom, and had none of their own, in their own Nation.
   
   Dr. King led this whole Nation out of the darkness that was "Jim Crow", and caused a Nation to look at itself in the mirror. At the same time there were those of the Black race who did not support, and spoke harshly of Dr. King's efforts, relating he was just a trouble maker, and that He should go home, and leave the rest of us alone. Stop stirring up trouble.
   
   Trying to make a Nation treat all of its citizens with the same dignity and respect is stirring up trouble. Forcing a Nation to live up to the principle of "One man one vote", is stirring up trouble. These were the same kinds of Black people who fought on behalf of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Mr. Connerly fits here.
   
   As a people not all Blacks, nor all Asians, nor all Latinos, or all Whites, are universal in their thoughts or soulotions to the social problems in this Nation. Some like things just as they are. Others feel the Nation can and should do more to see to it that no group is left behind. Sadly this is not the case as Mr. Connerly sees things.
   
   Mr. Connerly rails aganist Affirative Action, saying it is more of a hinderance, than a help. OK. So what do we put in its place? Some say nothing. Let the sticks fall as they may. It will work itself out in the end. Others are more aggressive, such as Mr. Connerly.
   
   Mr. Connerly makes some good points, because one shoe does not fit all. Our education system is a good case. The system stinks. Instead of trying to make the student adapt to the education system, it should be the other way around. Something Mr. Connerly misses.
   
   Even now, compair so called Suburban schools to those in the Inner City and the difference is day and night. Mr. Connerly misses these differences as well. Inner city schools are over crowded understaffed, and lack parental input for various reasons. More money is continually spent on the Suburban schools, as opposed to the Inner city schools.
   
   These are the short comings Mr. Connerly fails to take into consideration when he speaks out aganist Affirmative Action. The there are programs set aside by some Ivy League Universities, for the offspring of the Alumni, for preferential treatment when it comes to addmissions. Mr. Connerly is not up in arms about these programs.
   
   His book should say level the "Playing Field" for all, but alas ths is a plateau this Nation wants to have anything to do with, and certainly not Mr. Connerly.
   
   I am dismayed that some other so called Black leaders do not think he (Mr. Connerly) should air this dirty laundry in public. The differences between Blacks. But it is after all Mr. Connerly's right to have his say.
   
   After reading this book I found Mr. Connerly to be that which Ronald Ragan taught us to be, a Covert racist, using code words such as "Most Qualified",and requiring College Degrees for certain jobs which never required one before Affirmative Action. Had the concept of a level playing field been in place when George Bush applied for addmission to Yale, he would have been turned away. He had neither the grades, nor the work ethics for entry.
   
   So do away with Affirmative Action, and all programs designed to give one an advantage over another. Money, background, the works.



3. What a total sell out. This book is complete hogwash. Thanks to his hateful policies the number of minorities in CA campuses has gone down drastically. Diversity is very important. How can we learn about each other if we never have the experience of being around each other. What a silly little man. There is still a lot of racism against minority people in this country and his idea of a colorblind society is really unrealistic.



4. Connerly's books is part autobiography and partly a history of the modern ideological shift against racial preferences. Connerly is a black man from a very modest background who found himself leading the fight against "affirmative action." He was the driving force behind California's Prop 209 and similar initiatives. The political intrigue behind this struggle is as interesting as Connerly's life and the philosophical issues underlying the controversy. A good read. The only disappointment is that the book was written in the year 2000, and the reader is left wanting more of an update.



5. He shows us that we shouldn't receive a helping hand because of the color of our skin, but that we should work hard to acheive what we can. He shows how someone that works harder to succeed is cast to the side for someone that didn't to make it to college just for them to fail and dampen the hopes of our hardest workers. That what's so damaging about affirmative action cause it tells people that they don't have to work hard to advance but that the government will always be there to play mommy and daddy.

No comments about Learning from Children: The Life And Legacy of Caroline Pratt (History of Schools and Schooling).

No comments about Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction.

5 comments about Risking It All: My Student, My Lover, My Story.

1. Heather Ingram has lots of excuses and rationalizations regarding her decision to have sex with a student. A student who by her own admission, had lots of learning and social difficulities. Heather romantizes her relationship with "Troy" and she struck me as a really immature 29 year old, who never emotionally matured past the age of 15. She talked about Troy being the kind of kid who never would have looked twice at her when she was back in high school. So, this kid, Troy, made her feel young, fun, vibrant and sexy, and she could relive this weird adolescent based fantasy with him. I found the book creepy, she Heather Ingram strikes me as a very selfish and childish person.
   
   It was bad enough that she slept with one of her students, but she ended up having sex with another teenager, Troy's best friend "because she was lonely" ohhh wah. What a disgusting woman.



2. Heather Ingram is an eloquent writer. She explains how she had an affair with one of her students very well. However, she downplays the seriousness of her choices: "I'm just a girl who wants to dance with her boyfriend". She also makes the reader uncomfortable with the way she sees her student as a grown man who is ready for a relationship with her. "He does not appear to be shamed by his suspension; (for doing drugs)he looks as if he is beyond high school, beyond trivial rules and punishment." Her writing continues in this fashion, putting a Danielle Steel style spin on a damaging, selfish, irresponsible decision. Ingram's sweet spin becomes quite taxed as she sleeps with a friend of Troy's while he is away. Ditto when Troy is arrested for sexual assault, assault and dealing drugs. She writes about her punishment and probation, seeming to indicate that she does not feel she should be punished at all. "I sit in front of Sue (her house arrest supervisor) my emotions raging and raw but my face impassive". In the end, she seems angry at the society that punished her for having a affair with a student. "Part of me is angry. Why would I want to go back into society - a society I now see as created and perpetuated by people who are predominantly unhappy...?" She also cannot say that she would not do it again, "I would like to say that I would not do it all again if I could relive the past, but given my emotional state at the time I cannot be sure." Heather has recently has Troy's baby, Troy has been charged with possession of cocaine. They are not together anymore. Maybe now her Danielle Steel view of the world has finally matured to accepting her mistakes.



3. I read this book in two days, found myself drawn to turn each page and it was definitely a good read, but Ms. Ingram is very sad, despite occasional mentions of her mistakes, she seems to have no remorse. I think it would almost have been buyable as a true love outside age had she not gone and slept (one night stand yet) with another student and friend of the original lover ! Agggh. Keep her away from the kids!



4. I think this was an absolutely fantastic book. We, the people, not the accusers finally get an insight of what someone is thinking while commiting a crime over a time period. I loved this book, it was the best one i have read since Lovely Bones.



5. I have to say I finished this in 1 day. Could not stay away from it. Story is soooo absorbing,
   the woman its about is weak, and looking to be accepted but no weaker than a NORMAL woman is about a man (In this cause I use this loosely), but again most normal women have relationshiops with MEN age suitable. Great story, heartbeaking in its truth.
   Hat goes off to author for reveiling heartfelt emotoin at the risk os sounding like a fool chasing your own youth. Makes you want them to STILL be together.

1 comments about The Grand Old Man of Maine: Selected Letters of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1865-1914 (Civil War America).

1. While some in the Civil War community complain of "Chamberlain fatigue," it is difficult to gripe about this marvelous new collection of postwar correspondence from one of the most articulate officers on either side of the conflict.
   
   Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain survived the Civil War - including a horrible wound at Petersburg - to become one of Maine's most prominent citizens. His postwar career included four terms as governor of Maine, a stint as president of Bowdoin College, numerous business enterprises, and perhaps most importantly, many years as a writer and lecturer on his Civil War experiences.
   
   The correspondence included by editor Jeremiah Goulka covers nearly every aspect of Chamberlain's personal and professional life. Chamberlain's heartfelt letters to his family, especially those to his wife Fannie, reveal him to be a loving, thoughtful husband and father. His relationship with Fannie, stormy and difficult though it was for many years, survived numerous crises until Fannie's death in 1905.
   
   Chamberlain's Civil War experiences transformed him, and his separation from the army often left him feeling restless. In 1870, Chamberlain wrote to the King of Prussia and offered his services in Prussia's war with France. In 1898, Chamberlain contacted the Secretary of War to volunteer for the Spanish-American War. Even with all his postwar positions and projects, Chamberlain never quite filled the space in his soul left empty by the end of the Civil War.
   
   Critics of Chamberlain, in his lifetime and in our own time, claim that he inflated his role at Little Round Top in an attempt to horde the glory of that important engagement. At least one letter included in this volume refutes this criticism. In a January 1910 letter to Union veteran and author Oliver W. Norton, Chamberlain says of his brigade commander, Strong Vincent, "He was a noble man, and I have not known an abler commander in his grade. Nothing could exceed his skill and energy in taking the position on Little Round Top and the confidence he inspired in his subordinates. To this the result of the fight on the left at Round Top is very largely due [emphasis added]."
   
   The correspondence also clarifies an often incorrectly reported fact concerning the July 1913 fiftieth anniversary reunion at Gettysburg. Chamberlain, while he visited Gettysburg in May as a member of the planning commission, did not attend the July reunion. Chamberlain's doctor strongly urged him not to go due to his declining health, and he stayed behind in Maine.
   
   Rather than being castigated for his prolific eloquence, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain deserves the timeless thanks of everyone who studies the Civil War. Jeremiah Goulka deserves thanks as well, for his skillful editing, and for giving us a deeper understanding of a genuine American hero.

No comments about Lessons from the Big Guys: What I Learned from Servant Leaders Jack Eckerd, Bill Lee, Hugh McColl, and Adolph Rupp (Education Titles).

4 comments about Arctic Schoolteacher: Kulukak, Alaska, 1931-1933 (Western Frontier Library, Vol 59).

1. 
   Abbie and Ed Morgan were adventurous and brave when they traveled to a remote Eskimo village to live among the people and serve them for two years. The actual photographs and details of their adventures are so interesting and transport the reader back to a time very different from today.
   You might also enjoy a new release, another book of courage and survival that takes place in early Alaska.
   When the Water Runs: Growing Up with Alaska



2. I came across Arctic Schoolteacher by accident. I had taken my kids to a summer program at a county library. While we waited for the show to begin, I browsed the shelves and came across this book. I have probably read 20-30 books this year, and Arctic Schoolteacher makes the top of my list. In it, the author tells the story of how she and her husband travelled to a remote Alaskan village in the 1930s as government employees. Abbie taught school, and Ed, her husband, oversaw the reindeer herd. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the book is filled with the numerous joys and sorrows that Abbie experienced in her two year stay in the Last Frontier. I only wish that Abbie had mentioned more about her life before Alaska, and about how she and Ed met. I am glad that the book included an epilogue by Abbie's daughter that mentions what happened in Abbie's life after Alaska.



3. A particularly moving story. This book takes place about the same time as "Tisha" but in the famed Bristol Bay Region in a village called Kulukak. It was published in 1992 and available in paperback, this book should be easy to locate.



4. I ordered this book because I like reading books about teachers in various parts of the world. This book was not about teaching,but about her life in Kulukak. That part was well written, but depressing. I guess it is what life was like there. Abbie Morgan handled the depressing landscape with humor and love. I was disappointed because it was not what I was looking for, but it does not mean that it is not a good book. If you are looking for a description of 1930 Alaska, then this is your book. Morgan describes life in this town with clarity and handles lifes disappointments with grace. She was an amazing woman to have worked there.

5 comments about Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician.

1. Teaching Genius is is an amazing opportunity for musicians, teachers and parents of aspiring musicians to get a glimpse of the world of developing a serious violinist. Dorothy Delay played some part in the development of most well known violin soloists living today. She had to have something amazing and the author of this biography does an amazing job of bringing you into Ms. Delay's world. I know that my teaching style was profoundly affected just by reading this book. I feel that Dorothy Delay's ability to motivate and inspire her students still continues through the hands of a new generation of teachers who have been able to get to know her.



2. This is, I think, the rare book about psychology of teaching violin. A teacher like Mrs. Dorothy De Lay is one among the millions. We could saw it from the former students of her whom accomplished the most prestigius positions in classical music. How I wished there is teacher like her here in Indonesia. How I wished that a lot ! Violin teachers should buy this book.. very insightful.



3. Some have criticized this book for giving an overly-fawning portrayal of Dorothy DeLay. However, this book contains an excellent chapter devoted solely to DeLay's critics, and it doesn't shoot the critics down; it discusses the criticisms in a fair way.
   
   Dorothy DeLay died in 2002 but her legacy lives on. This is the woman responsible for teaching Perlman, Sarah Chang, Midori, Salerno-Sonnenberg, Nigel Kennedy, Cho-Liang Lin, Mark Kaplan, Shlomo Mintz, Gil Shaham, Simon Fischer, and too many more to mention.
   
   I never played for her, but did watch a lesson she taught once. Admittedly, it was rife with many of the things of which her critics complain: She arrived about three hours late (Getting "DeLayed"), and once the lesson began she was constantly answering the knock at the studio door, the phone ringing, etc.
   
   However, knowing that many people sought to play for her at least once, so they could then put her name on their resume, she didn't always take these occasions seriously, especially given the hundreds and hundreds of violinists she heard in her life.
   
   Those special musical geniuses that DeLay *did* take a special interest in, though, she took a long way. While some violin teachers like to focus only on developing technique through scales and exercises, DeLay never failed to emphasize the musical, expressive, artistic side of the violinist's development. Whereas her contemporary Ivan Galamian would say "I don't teach music," meaning he only taught technique, musical interpretation notwithstanding, Dorothy DeLay would constantly ask her students things like "Where do you think this phrase is going?" and "What do you think is the most important note in this phrase?" and "What do you think Beethoven might have been thinking when he composed this passage?" So many music teachers today, of all instruments, neglect this area of development as they view performance as an olympic sport of technique. Yes, the profession is extremely competitive, but in such competition, when there are 1000 violinists that can hit the notes, the ones that stand out are the ones with a superior *artistic* finish.
   
   This book is an excellent survey of the inner world of Dorothy DeLay's studio; her philosophy, her former students, and much more. She was the single most influential violin teacher of the 20th century.



4. It's very interesing to know the inner workings of Juliard and business part of the classical world. It is sad but true that after so much hard work, the student may end up with no job (if you have no clout/connections)!
   But have to agree that the book has a "fawning" tone abt it. Also, the almost "out of this world" (lack of a better word) praises it heaps on some of Delay's star students makes parts of it difficult to read.
   But taking apart all these, it is still a pretty good read.



5. Being a violinist, I found it utterly foolish to not read a book about one of the best teachers of the instrument in the 20th Century. The first day I purchased it I read almost 200 pages, literally unable to put it down.
   The relationships Ms. Delay had with her students were not only educational ones, but personal friendships. How unreal that despite the graduation of many students, they still went back to her for lessons after landing their professional solo careers! Many times a violinist is too hard-headed and full of himself to get advice from another person, but such is not the case with the students of Ms. Delay.
   I felt, as I read the book, that I could not only relate to some of the technical issues the students had, but that I was actually receiving a private lesson from Delay without ever touching my violin.
   I definitely intend on reading this book again, and again, and again, with highlighter in hand. I have a completely different outlook on how I not only listen to the phrasing of music but in creating my own phrasing as well.
   The world has lost a teacher, but more importantly a wonderful woman, which many could call a friend and mother-figure.
   This was a fabulous book and I recommend it to every musician, no matter what instrument you play.

1 comments about Swing Low: A Life.

1. I really enjoyed reading "Complicated" but this book didn't have quite the same tone as complicated. It was still well written, but a little maudlin. I like to have a break from feeling low myself, and I think people DO read to escape, therefore, I can't say all that much was wrong with the book. It just wasn't a clear picture like Toews' other book was.

No comments about Tales Out of School.