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1. A local newspaper editor did a column saying that if high schools test athletes for drugs, they need to test students in other extracurricular activities, too.
I agree, and I wrote her this note.
I agree with your column on drug testing.
As a National Honor Society and Gay Straight Alliance adviser and a parent of kids in those groups, drama, chorus and other activities (including swimming and cheerleading), I have always advocated for rules that cover all groups because the courts have said that extracurricular activities are a privilege not a right.
I think that drug codes and behavior codes are important for all these activities. Sports usually have them, as does NHS. But other groups do not.
I am also a firm believer in academic eligibility policies. At the very least, kids in activities such as drama, student government, etc.;, should have to meet the same state minimum standards as athletes.
However, those standards are fairly low (at least in Massachusetts and Connecticut), and I believe schools should hold kids to higher standard than the state. While I was at the school in Connecticut, we put through an academic eligiblity requirement (a modified C-rule that required a C- average and factored in failures). There was an appeals board and there was a tutoring, and it all worked fairly well.
It definitely improved grades.
One of the groups that I have found needs the most support is drama. My kids were into drama, and I love drama kids, but there was a pretty good percentage of kids who struggled. At that school, the drama director was very supportive, so it worked).
2. I found this news item intriguing.
MoveOn to pay full rate for ad after NYT admits mistake
MoveOn should have paid $142,000 -- not $65,000 -- for its "GeneralBetray Us" ad in the New York Times, according to the newspaper. Aspokeswoman says an ad representative made a mistake. MoveOn says itwill send the Times $77,000 to make up the difference. Public editor Clark Hoyt: "I think the ad violated The Times's own written standards."
3. OK, this is a first. I was reading a thread, on s sports journalists site, and it got "haiku-jacked."
4. I also saw that one of the shoe retailers on amazon.com is offering free shipping for -$5. That's right. They give you a rebate.
5. I am reading the last book in Harry Turtledove's alternate Civil War series, "In At The Death," and it's terrific!
6. "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales?" Not so much with the good. More with the eh.
I agree, and I wrote her this note.
I agree with your column on drug testing.
As a National Honor Society and Gay Straight Alliance adviser and a parent of kids in those groups, drama, chorus and other activities (including swimming and cheerleading), I have always advocated for rules that cover all groups because the courts have said that extracurricular activities are a privilege not a right.
I think that drug codes and behavior codes are important for all these activities. Sports usually have them, as does NHS. But other groups do not.
I am also a firm believer in academic eligibility policies. At the very least, kids in activities such as drama, student government, etc.;, should have to meet the same state minimum standards as athletes.
However, those standards are fairly low (at least in Massachusetts and Connecticut), and I believe schools should hold kids to higher standard than the state. While I was at the school in Connecticut, we put through an academic eligiblity requirement (a modified C-rule that required a C- average and factored in failures). There was an appeals board and there was a tutoring, and it all worked fairly well.
It definitely improved grades.
One of the groups that I have found needs the most support is drama. My kids were into drama, and I love drama kids, but there was a pretty good percentage of kids who struggled. At that school, the drama director was very supportive, so it worked).
2. I found this news item intriguing.
MoveOn to pay full rate for ad after NYT admits mistake
MoveOn should have paid $142,000 -- not $65,000 -- for its "GeneralBetray Us" ad in the New York Times, according to the newspaper. Aspokeswoman says an ad representative made a mistake. MoveOn says itwill send the Times $77,000 to make up the difference. Public editor Clark Hoyt: "I think the ad violated The Times's own written standards."
3. OK, this is a first. I was reading a thread, on s sports journalists site, and it got "haiku-jacked."
4. I also saw that one of the shoe retailers on amazon.com is offering free shipping for -$5. That's right. They give you a rebate.
5. I am reading the last book in Harry Turtledove's alternate Civil War series, "In At The Death," and it's terrific!
6. "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales?" Not so much with the good. More with the eh.
