Just a quick mention, in relation to something I thought about while responding to a comment. I wonder why there isn’t a stronger push for community colleges in the DC metro area?
A little info on me. I have about 12 or 20 (I have to look) credit hours from my hometown community college. At least 4 credit hours I took while still in high school. The county school system had this great program where we could get a head start with college by taking courses at the CC (comm. coll.) free of charge. Since a huge bunch of us were going to go to Univ of Florida, FSU, FAMU, or another state university it was a great way to knock out some required courses for free. Later, I went to CC during the summers so I could get Cs in classes I was going to do badly in anyway, so why not get a C for about $29 a credit hour, vs a D (these were weed out classes) at $45 a credit hour?
My mom got her Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA) certificate from the CC, and that is what she’s doing now in her semi-retirement. My sister is a CC drop-out, but she was aiming for something in the veterinary field. So I’ve experienced and seen how CCs are useful in a community in helping people get jobs by giving them specific training. When I hear about job training around here, it (and please forgive my ignorance) doesn’t sound like more than advice on doing a job interview and introduction to a computer. And this goes back to another problem I mentioned before of the community trying or asked to support programs it has no direct dealings with, difficulty judging the efficacy of those programs. Basic skills have value, but I wonder how far it gets you in an environment where more workers have that skill set, plus this, that, and something else.
Day: May 1, 2008
When quaintness attacks!: Washington Globes
I say get a ladder and a can of spray paint if you haven’t been able to sleep because of the quaint globe street lights that add that historic feel, but pollute the night sky and creeps around your blinds keeping you awake. In today’s Post there is an article about “Washington globe” lights and how they impact the quality of life of residents who can’t sleep or see less of the night sky because of these street light fixtures.
I tagged this under historic districts because along with brick walks these quaint looking lights follow. And sometimes they don’t have to be in historic districts but they are there for the aesthetics. The high powered light bulb isn’t historically accurate but there for street safety and though making the street safer by shining a penetrating light, that same light penetrates parts where it is unwelcomed.
When I bike into and back out of Georgetown, I pass by one of these so fashioned globe street lights and have noticed the house side of it blackened with what could be spray paint. In the day, it looks sort of vandalized and ratty, but I gather it does the job to abate the nighttime annoyance. The other side of the street is protected by thick leafy trees, so they don’t have this problem.
Make the ghetto go away, and work together
Of course, we all recognize that if we are ultimately to improve psychological and physical conditions for minorities there must be total elimination of ghettoes and the establishment of a truly integrated society. In the meantime, however, all those working for economic and social justice are forced to address themselves to interim programs which, while not totally changing the situation, will nevertheless bring about improvement in the lives of those forced to live in ghettoes. And so, whiel [sic] many of those steps may lead to limited integration, those which do not must clearly be seen as interim steps until the objective situation makes a more fundamental approach.
and later
… Labor, Housing and the Office of Economic Opportunity, ought to work with the people of Shaw in developing, coordinating and concentrating their various programs upon social and economic problems of this area.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at a March 13, 1967 rally for Shaw