I recently renewed my subscription to The Concord Review, a 20-year-old national journal of high-school history students’ essays.

This journal is part of a larger effort to promote "varsity academics," with academic pursuits and ambition – including the writing of serious high-school term papers – intended to achieve equal status with athletics in U.S. high schools.

Related projects include the National History Club and the National Writing Board.

The originator of these ideas is Will Fitzhugh, who wrote this May 25 article.

For a provocative math- and science-oriented take on U.S. education in global context – especially how high-school students spend their time in different countries – see the documentary "Two Million Minutes."   

I attended much of the June 2 event at which Ward 10 aldermanic candidates Allan Brison and Justin Elicker spoke and answered neighbors’ questions.

As a Ward 10 resident, I am supporting Justin Elicker for alderman. 

It’s nothing personal.  Along with David Streever and other neighbors, I urge partisans of one side or the other to keep the tone of this debate as civil and respectful as possible. 

Allan Brison has real virtues, and we should appreciate his service on the Board of Aldermen.  He demonstrates civic spirit, a refreshingly modest ego, and a propensity to ask questions.  He cares and has helped bring disparate blocks of the ward together.

Why, then, support Justin instead?  Here are a few specific reasons – some in response to concerns raised by others in posts on the New Haven Independent website:

*First, I take Justin at his word that he is not merely passing through New Haven but rather intends to make it his home.  Aside from the admirable number of New Haveners who actually were born here, many of us were once new to town.  Imposing an extra-legal, arbitrary residential litmus test (one year? two? five? twenty-five?) for civic participation – especially within the narrow confines of each small ward – would deny us the involvement of many neighbors.

*Second, his being a renter rather than a homeowner is in itself irrelevant.  One could well argue that many New Haven renters have as much at stake as, and less cushion than, homeowners in our community.  (Disclosure: I rented in East Rock until six years ago, when I purchased a condo apartment and – once married and a parent – eventually a house.  So paying rent was my concern before property taxes were.)  Surely many renters are more financially vulnerable than most homeowners. Granted, the most vulnerable are not necessarily grad students in East Rock, some of whom enjoy family financial support.  And homeowners looking to sell at this sluggish moment in the real-estate cycle may feel trapped, with property-tax bills at odds with their ability to pay or to escape the burden through profitable sale of the property.  Still, census-tract data (as in the ROOF analysis described here) would reveal the facts about the ability of renters versus owners, in one neighborhood or another, on average to withstand economic turbulence.  Of course, some portion of landlords’ tax bills are in effect passed on to their tenants, too.

*Third, Justin has impressed with his leadership – along with Betty Thompson – of the Friends of East Rock Park (FERP).  The group’s revival would not have been possible without Betty’s and Justin’s vision and action.  Their good-humored prodding, hard work, and example have boosted FERP and the neighborhood’s already strong sense of community, as well as its connection to larger happenings across the city (biking, clean-ups, etc.).  This bodes well, both Justin’s role in the progress and Betty’s endorsement of his candidacy.

*Fourth, Justin’s concern for promoting economic development – one of New Haven’s greatest needs – helps to distinguish him.  His studies at the School of Management, as well as at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, are no coincidence.  He recognizes the importance of cultivating private-sector growth, including in the area of green jobs, and promises to work with other New Haveners in this regard, as part of a broader effort to strengthen the City’s tax and job base.

*Fifth, while single-party rule has serious limitations – with groupthink and stasis real risks – there is room for creative thought within a caucus.  Justin can be one of these creative thinkers, with both specific plans and a resourcefully cooperative disposition for getting things done in areas including public safety, transportation, and other municipal services.  He is of course still learning, as anyone with a curious mind should be.

Finally, voting isn’t primarily about making a statement of protest; it’s about translating intentions into practice.   I comment as a former door-to-door environmental campaign canvasser (summers 1986 through 1990) for Connecticut PIRG, a Nader-inspired organization.  Like both Justin and Allan, I view the environment as a significant priority.  Some Democrats (and certain Republicans, for that matter) can be as environmentally oriented as Green Partisans.

Emerson said, “Not insulation of place, but independence of spirit is essential.”  Justin would be less likely than Allan to be isolated or insulated within the Board of Aldermen.  Justin would also be independent enough to introduce alternative, effective ideas as he works vigorously to accomplish the work of the ward and of the city.

In the controversy over President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame (approaching this weekend) and his pro-choice views in relation to this Roman Catholic institution, there has been surprisingly little if any reference to the precedent of Mario Cuomo's Notre Dame speech a quarter of a century ago.

Then governor of New York, Cuomo gave this September 13, 1984 speech, "Religious Belief and Public Morality: A Catholic Governor's Perspective."  (text courtesy of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life)

Early on, Cuomo asked, “Must politics and religion in America divide our loyalties? Does the ‘separation between church and state’ imply separation between religion and politics? Between morality and government? Are these different propositions? Even more specifically, what is the relationship of my Catholicism to my politics? Where does the one end and other begin? Or are the two divided at all? And if they're not, should they be?”  He continued, “To most of us, the manipulative invoking of religion to advance a politician or a party is frightening and divisive.”

Such excerpts don’t do justice to Cuomo’s remarks, which should be considered in their entirety.

On the current controversy, see also:

May 15, 2009, by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times
On Abortion, Obama Is Drawn Into Debate He Hoped to Avoid  
“The president's delicate balancing act over the explosive issue is being put to the test with the confluence of two coming events.”

May 14 NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104107546

April 6, 2009, by Dirk Johnson, New York Times
South Bend Journal:  Invitation to Obama Stirs Up Notre Dame
“The president's planned commencement speech at the fabled Catholic institution has pitted abortion opponents against students excited about the high-profile speaker.”

April 12, 2009, by Richard V. Allen
Op-Ed Contributor:  Degrees of Acceptance at Notre Dame  
“Let President Obama deliver the Catholic institution's commencement address, but don't overlook his policies on abortion by giving him an honorary degree.”

“Glendon declines Notre Dame medal,” an  April 28 Boston Globe account

With our young son’s having had a few asthma episodes, my wife and I are planning to attend a June 3 lunchtime presentation on pediatric asthma by Dr. Douglas Idelson, who heads pediatrics for the Yale Health Plan.

Ashika Brinkley, who directs the New Haven Health Department’s asthma initiative, is quoted in this May 8 Allan Appel article on Asthma Awareness Month.

She was earlier featured in this December 9, 2008 Melinda Tuhus article on asthma.

This New York Times video addresses asthma.

Asthma is also among the concerns of Environment and Human Health, Inc.  

Following on the April 27 post below, here's word of a study from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven:

"Some Nonprofits Feeling Pinch," April 30, 2009 New Haven Register article by Mary O’Leary:
 
“In general, nonprofits are having a hard time raising money, but arts organizations and youth groups seem to be particularly challenged, according to a recent local study.  The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, in a report issued this month, said it found that funding is the main concern of agencies, particularly larger organizations who are dependent upon state grants.”

“Will Ginsberg, executive director of the foundation, said they had a 50 percent increase in applications for grants and a 40 percent increase in the total amount of funds sought. ‘There is a lot of anxiety,’ not only tied to the state budget, but also around the drop in corporate giving, Ginsberg said. ‘This is a period of unprecedented stress,’ he said.”

On April 27, the Hartford Courant published my letter to the editor, "Cheap Shot Taken At Nonprofit Leaders," in response to Robyn Blumner's April 21 opinion piece.

Following on the April 12 post below . . .

An April 17 Yale Daily News article by Shahla Naimi notes that "Applications to Nonprofits Skyrocket":

“Applications to national post-graduation service programs such as Teach for America, Peace Corps and AmeriCorps have reached record proportions this year, driven by graduates seeking stable employment in a crumbling job market and looking to fulfill what some have termed the ‘call to service’ of President Barack Obama.  Applications to TFA this year broke organization records, rising 42 percent over the 2007-’08 application cycle to reach a total of 35,000. That figure includes a record number of Yale students: 16 percent of Yale seniors applied to the program this year, up from 11 percent in the class of 2008. Meanwhile, nationwide applications to public service program AmeriCorps have more than quadrupled.”

Other recent items in this vein:

  April 20, 2009, Hartford Courant article, by Kathleen Megan

"College Grads Job Hunting with Volunteer Spirit" “Gabriel Ellis-Ferrara always wanted to go into the Peace Corps. Now, with the economy in a slump, he sees this possibility with its two-year commitment as an even better option.” 

  April 18, 2009, New York Times account by Steven Greenhouse

Business Grads Looking Beyond Wall Street  “Business students graduating this year know they are less likely to get a job offer in investment banking. For some, that's liberating.”

  April 26, 2009, Hartford Courant opinion piece by Maryam Roberts

'Economic Draft' Forces Many Into Military “In 2008, all four branches of the armed forces met their recruiting goals for the federal fiscal year, as 185,000 men and women signed up for service. This was the highest number of people joining since 2003. The number probably will rise as the economy gets worse.  The Army offers attractive signing bonuses of $40,000, as well as support with college tuition and valuable job training.”

  April 21, 2009, New York Times article by Fernanda Santos

In MTV Style, Mayor Urges New Yorkers to Get Out and Volunteer  “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, with the aid of MTV News, announced a new plan to encourage volunteerism among city residents.” 

There are many reasons to deplore the current state of our economy, the unemployment and under-employment affecting people of all ages, their families and their communities.  The emerging relative appeal of lower-paying service and organizing jobs offers a measure of consolation.  It promises to draw additional talented, energetic people into professions in which they can have especially useful effects.

Earlier blog posts (e.g., in 2008 and on March 10, February 24, and January 18 of this year) discussed themes of service and the blend of professional and volunteer roles that is needed across our country and communities. 

The Partnership for Public Service is one resource. 

Note that the Serve America Act includes portions of the Service for All Ages initiative that Senator Chris Dodd and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro introduced in February.  LEAP and Public Allies, through which Solar Youth's Gamaliel Moses originally came to that organization, are among the New Haven groups that have had AmeriCorps partnerships.  They might be able to expand -- or at least remain steady during an adverse economic and philanthropic period -- as a result of the Serve America Act.  This would be good news for the youth of New Haven and for causes such as literacy, with tutoring receiving a boost.

The following four linked articles suggest the context for the balance of this post, appearing below them:

  April 12, 2009, By STEVE LOHR
With Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King?
“Public service, government, the sciences and even teaching look to be winners, while fewer shiny, young minds are embarking on careers in finance and business consulting.” 

 April 07, 2009, By SAM DILLON
Report Envisions Shortage of Teachers as Retirements Escalate  
“Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation's 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors.”

 March 24, 2009
Editorial:  Expanding National Service
“A measure to enlarge the opportunities for Americans to participate in productive national and community service is a sound investment in the nation's future.”

 March 19, 2009, By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
House Passes Expansion of Programs for Service  
“The House voted to approve the largest expansion of government-sponsored service programs since the Kennedy administration.”

. . . . .

Today's New York Times article featuring Marshall Ganz -- who co-taught a course I took in grad school -- is a reminder that Barack Obama's first public interest work was not as a community organizer in Chicago.  Even earlier – roughly a year after earning his bachelor’s degree from Columbia – he joined the staff of New York PIRG, as Janny Scott’s October 30, 2007 Times article  describes.  According to Scott, after about a year at a business research firm, Obama “was hired by the New York Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization that promotes consumer, environmental and government reform. He became a full-time organizer at City College in Harlem, paid slightly less than $10,000 a year to mobilize student volunteers.”

Writes Janny Scott, “Nearly 20 years later . . . Gene Karpinski, then executive director of U.S. PIRG, a federation of state watchdog groups, met Mr. Obama in Boston. It was at the time of the 2004 Democratic convention, when Mr. Obama delivered the speech that made him a party luminary. Mr. Karpinski introduced himself. And, he recalled, Mr. Obama told him: ‘I used to be a PIRG guy. You guys trained me well.’”

. . . . .

Nearly 20 years after my own last PIRG experience, I feel similarly appreciative toward the organization and its work.  I will always be “a PIRG guy,” despite my anger in 2000 toward Ralph Nader, a widely admired inspiration within the PIRG movement who alienated many of us with his destructive presidential run. 

I canvassed door-to-door for ConnPIRG for five summers during high school and college, from 1986 through 1990.  Toxic waste and air pollution were the key issues we discussed then, often after introducing PIRG for its role in enacting Connecticut’s “lemon law” protecting purchasers of used cars.  We roamed eastern and central Connecticut from the Storrs office, venturing from the challenging turfs of then middle- and working-class rural towns (e.g, Ashford, Chaplin, Ellington, Willington, which have subsequently become somewhat more upscale bedroom communities) with which I was familiar as a former student in regional school district 11, to the more welcoming college-town surroundings of Mansfield; the Willimantic to Hartford corridor of Columbia, Coventry, Bolton, Hebron, and Marlborough; the sprawling suburbs of Glastonbury and South Windsor; the central towns of East Hampton and Portland; the affluence of Avon, Chester, and Essex; and the conservative skepticism of East Windsor (which then had KKK sympathizers) and East Lyme (which required each canvasser to obtain a photo ID “vendor’s permit”). 

The hours, which involved working all afternoon and evening and virtually not seeing one’s family or friends all summer except for weekends, were slightly crazy.  The pay was, past about a 5 dollar hourly wage assuming collection of a nightly contributions “quota” (then $75), commission-based and therefore irregular.  Approaching strangers at their doors and asking them for money, and to mobilize, could be tough.  Doors were slammed, insults hurled, snarling dogs an occasional hazard.  Still, I was hooked.  I relished the job and could not go back to the farm work that I had done an earlier summer, and which my brother continued to do readily.  Among my points of persuasion, in encouraging citizens to support ConnPIRG with their cash and their membership, was that it was a vehicle for engaging college students, on their campuses and at their state Capitol, in social change.  Door-to-door canvasser became part of my identity, as the summers of my later adolescence were substantially absorbed with this endeavor.  Though another summer job the next year -- with UConn Upward Bound -- was similarly rewarding and drew me toward working in education, the PIRG experiences will always endure, too.

Now, as a middle-aging husband and father, I am an unusually easy sell -- okay, a pushover -- for the ConnPIRG canvassers who make it to my door most summers.  The spinning off of Environment Connecticut in recent years brought some questions and led me to split my modest contributions.  (1000 Friends of Connecticut and Environment Connecticut as well as ConnPIRG are among the state groups that merit support.)  But this PIRG guy will always welcome the canvasser at the door over the telemarketer on the phone.

There is a PIRG alumni network in which I hope to become more involved, having so far been only occasionally in touch with a few contemporaries from two decades ago.  If any PIRGer should see this post, please say hello.  The eclectic fellow travelers of the PIRG circuit, many of us with our eccentricities, are among its virtues.

. . . . .

Years ago, these pieces included related themes:

  2000 October 30 Boston Globe "Don't Mistake a Low Youth Vote for Apathy"

  2000 May 31 Christian Science Monitor "Graduating to Public Service: Is It Affordable?"

  1997 June 7 NY Daily News "Charity Needs Pros"

My aunt, a former chemistry teacher and then a nurse, in the 1970s once baked marijuana brownies for my grandmother.  She was suffering from breast cancer that had become bone cancer, and it was hoped the pot might ease her chronic pain. 

A friend of mine with a severe spinal-cord injury, who endures tremendous digestive pain despite a quadriplegic condition that has cost him use of his arms and his legs, would surely appreciate the legalization of such remedies in Connecticut.  Unfortunately, Governor Jodi Rell vetoed 2007 legislation that would have made medicinal marijuana legal in this state.

New Haven’s state senators, Martin Looney and Toni Harp, have rightly called for Connecticut to move toward decriminalization of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.  While a judiciary committee compromise led the threshold amount to be cut in half – to half an ounce – the legislation deserves support as a step toward treating low-level pot offenses as civil infractions drawing a fine rather than criminal record.  Precious police and judicial resources should be directed more toward preventing and punishing violent offenders and dealers of drugs.  Gauging the example of Massachusetts, Connecticut could save several million dollars a year from the enactment of this measure.  (It was estimated that with one ounce the threshold, $11 million might have been saved.)

Drunk driving and other abuses of alcohol present more serious public problems than low-level use of marijuana.  Pot should be legal for medicinal use and – over the governor's veto if necessary – in small amounts should be regarded as a civil rather than a criminal issue.  Cancer-stricken grandmothers and their families, and other sufferers of chronic pain including those in a quadriplegic condition, should hardly be the targets of law enforcers with far graver threats to confront. 

Senator James Webb of Virginia has wisely introduced federal legislation to examine comprehensively the system by which the United States incarcerates so many – including non-violent drug offenders – at such great cost and with such mixed results.   A March 2009 Pew report concluded increasingly high incarceration rates have failed to reduce recidivism much. More than three percent of American adults – more than 7 million individuals – are in prison, on parole or probation.

Additional articles, from the NYT:

   March 30, 2009, on the Webb bill
Editorial:  Reviewing Criminal Justice
 “A bill that would establish a national commission to review America's prison system should be “given high priority in Congress.”

  March 26, 2009
Editorial:  Relief for Patients
“A decision to no longer prosecute dispensers of medical marijuana should bring relief to the people who need the drug for health reasons and free up law enforcement.”

  March 24, 2009, by REBECCA CATHCART
Shift on Marijuana Policy Delays Sentencing
“A federal judge postponed the sentencing of a man convicted of running a medical marijuana dispensary and asked the Department of Justice to clarify its position on such cases.” 

As previewed in the March 18 post below, State Rep. Brendan Sharkey was a guest at this evening’s East Rock Community Management Team meeting.  Before hearing from Rep. Sharkey, the team received information tonight from engineering director Tom Sgroi of the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority (created in 2005 to serve New Haven, East Haven, Hamden, and Woodbridge) about a repair project near East Rock Park. 

After this glimpse at a specific case of a regional venture, Brendan Sharkey – who represents Hamden and co-chairs the General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee – discussed the Smart Growth Working Group and legislative proposals for broader regional cooperation in Connecticut.  One incentive: federal dollars – on which Connecticut has been missing out – that may be available for regions that work more systematically to submit and implement qualifying Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS), which our state surely needs.  He mentioned the South Central  Regional Council of Governments, one of 15 such regions in Connecticut – probably two or three times as many as we need in our small state.   Building upon this existing structure or a modified version of it, the proposed legislation would foster more extensive planning and – through one bill – funnel one penny of the 6 percent sales tax back to the region of origin. 

Rep. Sharkey acknowledged the immediate political obstacles to this measure, since the fiscally challenged state government can currently ill afford to yield one-sixth of its sales tax revenues to the regions.  However, over time this could become more palatable, especially as economies from greater regionalism emerge.  Savings might come from areas including public health, public safety/emergency preparedness, engineering/public works, and special education.  Key aims include not only preservation of open space but also redevelopment of old industrial brownfields, better and cleaner transportation options – with expanded parking around train stations needed – and reasonably priced housing located near those transit points.  (He cited 360 State Street, with its proximity to trains, as a smart-growth example.)

A reduced reliance on the property tax is one goal.  Level funding of payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT), for tax-exempt nonprofit or state-owned properties, is assumed.  For hubs such as New Haven that will continue to host many regional services, this is a clear concern.

In response to a question, Rep. Sharkey reported that the Planning and Development Committee has approved the bill to allow municipalities to delay by a year phase-in of property revaluation.  For New Haven, that will mean a one-year reprieve in the continuing shift of the tax allocation from commercial to residential taxpayers.

Participants in the neighborhood meeting included, for example:

*Aaron Goode of the New Haven Bioregional Group

*Philip Langdon of New Urban News

*Peter Stein of the Regional Growth Partnership

*Betty Thompson and Justin Elicker of Friends of East Rock Park 

*members of New Haven's citizen budget review panel (Allan Brison, David Cameron, and Alex Marathas)

While certainly no panacea, regionalism does hold promise.  The concept applies as much to Connecticut's relationship to neighboring states as it does to sections of our own state.

In news related to the posts of March 10 and February 10 below. . .

Hamden State Rep. Brendan Sharkey  of the Smart Growth Working Group is expected to speak briefly at the Monday, March 23 meeting of New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood Community Management Team at 7 p.m. at East Rock School on Nash Street.

Related articles appear here and –- with particularly direct implications for New Haven taxpayers and advocates of payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) -- here.

More, from Smart Growth Online . . .

A May 27, 2008 post -- archived here -- discussed related issues.

. . . . .

The February 10 post below mentioned “the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has been chronically exploited in recent years, with dollars diverted from their intended purpose: matching funds that states and localities commit to conservation.”

Now, two recent Times articles:

March 14, 2009 Editorial:  Promised Land
“Federal dollars promised to complete long-pending acquisitions of threatened lands across the country should not be diverted.”

March 12, 2009  New Budget Reflects Shift Toward Conservation
By NOELLE STRAUB, Greenwire
“Beyond the increased funds for many Interior Department agencies, the budget proposal as President Obama has outlined focuses on acquiring more public land, addressing climate change issues and raising fees on the oil and gas industry.”

Also, Yale Law alum Van Jones, founder of Green for All, will be the Obama administration’s “special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation.”  The New Yorker  profiled him in January 2009.

Since the February 25 post below, a few more items related to guns and gun violence:

 *The effort in Connecticut to explore "microstamping" as a means of identifying shooters and traffickers.

 *The cost in lives, including in New Haven, where most recently Thomas Daniels and Maurice Nicholson were killed.

 *News of Illinois pastor Fred Winters, shot in his church in a brazen attack.

 *Southwestern Germany’s horror: having a troubled teen commit mass murder using one of his family’s 16 legally held firearms.

 *A similar killing spree in Alabama, and controversy in D.C., are mentioned in this New York Times editorial:

  March 13, 2009  Editorial:  Now Alabama
“The latest rampage in Alabama is yet another bloody example of why Congress should pass the national assault weapons ban.”

The January 26 post below combined UConn basketball with other commentary.

With some regret because UConn lost, I confess now to having watched to the end of the extraordinary Big East basketball game just completed in which Syracuse defeated the Huskies in six overtimes!  For the Huskies it is now on to the NCAA tournament next week. 

Fans can hope that this UConn team does not resemble the arguably more talented, deeper 2005-06 team that was upset by George Mason and generally underachieved in the tournament, winning only narrowly in earlier games that tournament and easing up on its relentless shot-blocking in its final contests.  This year's team includes two players from that squad as well as several more who endured the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, the latter of which ended prematurely due to point guard A.J. Price's severe injury in last year's first round.  This year's team also is trying to cope with a key player's absence, in this case Jerome Dyson.  

Ever the optimist, I almost perennially pick UConn to win the tournament -- and twice, in 1999 and 2004, my bracket has actually been right.  Let's hope that again a five-year interval will prove favorable.  I'm going with the Huskies notwithstanding the doubts.

Time for a few hours of sleep. . . 

To extend the post of February 10 below, here are a few pieces that connect issues of smart growth, farmland preservation, conservation more broadly through useful service, and green jobs.  The funding of such policies via the Community Investment Account, established by a 2005 Connecticut law, is under threat.

This February 20 New York Times editorial was persuasive:
Editorial:  Two Early Tests on Guns
“The Obama administration should reverse a policy that allows loaded firearms in parks and repeal an amendment that denies police information about guns used to commit crimes.”

My maternal grandfather was an avid hunter who owned many rifles and once brought his Colt 45 revolver along on a 1970s camping trip in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, to protect my brother and me (then about age six and seven) from the potential threat of a grizzly bear.  For my 11^th birthday, my grandfather gave me a .22 caliber rifle.  My father once shot a deer, and to this day, my parents' freezer often contains venison from deer shot on their or nearby land.  This is to say that I am not opposed to hunting or gun ownership per se.  Hunters and other sportsmen are often dedicated custodians of the land and advocates for environmental protection.

But broader use of concealed weapons is dangerous, and national parks should be free of loaded firearms.  Police also need more access to data in order to focus on criminal trafficking and use of illegal guns.

On our honeymoon in northern California a few years ago, my wife and I encountered a strikingly hostile man (and his similarly charming, foul-mouthed wife) on the winding roads between Muir Woods and Muir Beach.  They tailgated us mercilessly for driving slowly on those treacherous and unfamiliar roads before finally passing us illegally when the road briefly straightened, about a quarter of a mile before our shared destination: the parking lot at Muir Beach.  Then, when I confronted them in the parking lot about the tailgating and passing maneuver that could have caused an accident (all in the interest of saving them a minute or so), the man leapt out of his car and into my face, practically foaming at the mouth and viscerally berating us for driving cautiously.  I remember vividly a sense of gratitude that the man was not armed, for he seemed the type who might have resorted impulsively to using a gun if given the chance.

The recent New Haven incident described here is an illustration of the risks of gun proliferation.

This 1999 op-ed argued for reasonable gun control: “The pervasiveness of handguns, combined with the extreme insecurities or delusions of troubled individuals, should make us wary.”

"History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas."

President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight was memorable.  Amid his grand themes of addressing employment, education, energy, health, debt, and security, a few salient points: 

  *the balance of education resources, reform, family and individual responsibility

  *shutting off the TV and video games; instead, reading to kids

  *the example of Leonard Abess Jr., a bank executive who shared his wealth with colleagues who helped earn it.

Theodore Roosevelt encouraged us "to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure."   Barack Obama has big ambitions and seems prepared to endure some failures in the pursuit of great gains, at a momentous period in history.

On the day "Slumdog Millionaire" is predicted to win best picture, here's an update to the posts of January 24 and December 11 below.  To accompany those thoughts, let's juxtapose several articles that together evoke the promise and progress -- as well as the problems -- of India:

Op-Ed Contributors:  Taking the Slum Out of 'Slumdog'
By MATIAS ECHANOVE and RAHUL SRIVASTAVA , February 21, 2009
"The squalor in Dharavi depicted in 'Slumdog Millionaire' is unjust. To understand such a place solely by the generic term 'slum' ignores its complexity and dynamism."

Op-Ed Columnist:  No Way, No How, Not Here
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN , February 18, 2009
"The defiance of Islamist terrorists by Indian Muslims stands out against a dismal landscape of Sunni Muslim suicide murderers who have been treated by Arab media as 'martyrs.'"

Op-Ed Columnist:  Yes, They Could. So They Did.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN , February 15, 2009
"In New Delhi, it was refreshing to meet idealistic young people who are not waiting for governments to act, but are starting their own projects and driving innovation."

T. Friedman here cites the work not only of two “recent Yale grads” but also of the Indian Youth Climate Network.

Attack on Women at an Indian Bar Intensifies a Clash of Cultures
By SOMINI SENGUPTA , February 09, 2009
"A mob attack on women drinking in a college-town bar is laying bare the limits of freedom for young Indian women."

From IndiaPost.com, here's a review of Daughters of India, a book by Stephen P. Huyler.  According to the reviewer, Prem Souri Kishore, Huyler “is donating a portion of the book’s proceeds to benefit numerous organizations that work to empower women including the Global Fund for Women, the Self Employed Women’s Association and Fold Arts, Rajasthan.”

Tom Condon’s February 8 Courant column argues “The Time’s Right for Preservation.”

Lise Hanners of the Nature Conservancy made a similar case in this December 21 piece.

This February 6 New York Times article documented progress toward the statewide goal of preserving one fifth of Connecticut’s land as open space.  According to that article by Gail Braccidiferro:

“The purchase of the 143-acre [Sunrise] resort moves the state closer to its ambitious goal of owning and preserving about 10 percent of Connecticut’s overall area as public recreational space in the next 14 years. Cyndy Chanaca, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Environmental Protection, said that the state’s overall open-space goal is to protect 21 percent, or 673,210 acres, of Connecticut’s land by 2023, with private and municipal land trusts and environmental groups owning what the state does not. She said that the state was 72.1 percent of the way toward its goal, with 485,817 acres having been designated as state or local open space.”

More than $1 million of the funds for the purchase of the Sunrise Resort (in East Haddam) came from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has been chronically exploited in recent years, with dollars diverted from their intended purpose: matching funds that states and localities commit to conservation.

William Cibes and Ned Lamont argued February 1 for a “smart growth, pro-growth strategy” – of which preservation of open space should be a part.

Cibes, Lamont, and others (including Heidi Green of 1000 Friends of CT and Shelley Geballe of Connecticut Voices for Children) are members of a group behind "Prosperity for All: A Blueprint for Connecticut's Future."  Another member of the group is Matthew Nemerson, who promoted an energy tax toward competitiveness in this December 28 piece.
. . . . . 

The sale to the state of development rights is one of the preservation routes that Tom Condon mentions in his February 8 column and which organizations like the Working Lands Alliance and Connecticut Farmland Trust support.  In the summer of 1985, I worked throwing hay for the farm of Walter Stone Sr., who sold his development rights to the state (as a Middletown farmer recently sold his development rights) and thereby did a service to his northeastern Connecticut community beyond his many years as First Selectman.

Of course, funds are especially limited now with the bleak fiscal constraints Connecticut is under.  Yet investing in education, health, transportation, open space preservation, and housing does not have to be a zero-sum equation.  Effectively targeted measures can prepare our state and its people for a more promising future.

The growing momentum for sensible regionalization of services is encouraging; it can save money and impede sprawl. 

The New Haven Ecology Project, Solar Youth, Urban Resources Initiative, and New Haven public schools such as Barnard Environmental Studies Magnet connect local natural and human resources.

ConnPIRG and Environment Connecticut are among other worthy organizations deserving mention here.

This 1995 and this 1996 opinion piece discussed related issues.

Sharing with President Obama an interest in basketball – in my case, UConn and Celtics basketball especially – I noticed a couple of related articles.

In this January 22 column "Inauguration Inspires Calhoun" the Courant’s Jeff Jacobs describes the civic-minded and politically engaged coach of the UConn men’s basketball team, Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun.   

This January 22 Boston Globe piece, by Julian Benbow, features one of Calhoun’s greatest former players, now known as one of the NBA’s most professional and best people, Ray Allen.

An October 2008 article, "Domestic Violence No Game,"  expressed concern about the alleged conduct of a UConn player who was expelled before ever playing a game.  This article should be understood in the context of Calhoun's, his players', and the university's many significant accomplishments.  The recent features on Calhoun and Allen suggest this broader context.
. . . . . 
Having been a fan of UConn basketball since the freshman year (1978-79) of Corny Thompson and Mike McKay just before the Big East began -- those games in the old UConn Fieldhouse were a treat for a kid! -- I especially remember two games from the 1990s as the best so far I have been able to attend in person:

 *The stunning 1990 contest where the hitherto humble Huskies upset Georgetown (and Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo), transforming the Hartford Civic Center crowd into a joyful thunder as UConn opened with a 14-0 lead;

 *The 1996 Big East Championship game in Madison Square Garden where the Huskies shut out an Allen Iverson-led Hoya team in the final minutes, culminated by Ray Allen's winning shot.  (A friend had obtained seats so close to the floor that we could observe the petitely powerful Iverson snacking on cookies nearby on the Georgetown bench.)
. . . . .

Of course,  I never got remotely close to the privilege of playing with or against Ray Allen at any level!  But surprisingly, there is just a degree of separation or two between his glorious basketball career and my laughable one.

A January 15, 1995 New York Times account cites Ray Allen’s role in a UConn victory over Big East rival Providence, led by a 6 foot 8 senior forward who, as a 6’5’’ high-school freshman, once goal-tended my shot in a 1986-87 game.  With that goal-tend, the future Providence player contributed one-eighth of my meager 16-point (1 point per game) total as a varsity basketball player in 11^th grade! 

(I was more at my level the year before, averaging 10 per game on the JV as a sophomore on a – how shall we say? – talent-starved, victory-challenged team whose highlight was its irrepressible coach, Stephen Hill.) 

I’ve never much regretted passing up the chance to earn a second varsity letter in 1987-88, though the introduction of the three-point shot in our league that year would have been tempting.  Instead of riding the pine and having my shots goal-tended, I opted that winter to volunteer in Nashua, New Hampshire and northeastern Connecticut for the nascent Presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis.  Twenty winters later, Nashua was again the destination on behalf of another primary competitor, as mentioned in the January 20 post below. . .

This January 21 New York Times article by Jodi Kantor vividly illustrated the compelling stories and pluralism of the Obama extended family:

"A Portrait of Change:  In First Family, a Nation's Many Faces"

One could argue there is not only biography and demography here, but also implications for both domestic and international relations.

A June 2006 essay asserted: “A happy consequence -- and a cushion -- of increasing globalization will be more global families. Call this intimate diplomacy. Countries including the United States and Canada have long prospered through immigration. Further weaving together the planet's continents and citizens should be our aim. Love and marriage -- the deepest forms of trade and investment -- complete the tapestry.”

Last night my wife -- who is from New Delhi and remains a citizen of India -- and I saw "Slumdog Millionaire." The night before, a friend of ours had recommended it with the disclaimer that she admitted a favorable bias: she knows the author, Vikas Swarup, of the novel on which the film is based.

The movie  is generating controversy.  According to a Tribune Newspapers article by Mark Magnier, “The story of an impoverished street child in Mumbai, which has won 10 Oscar nods, is a stereotypical Western portrayal, Indians say, that ignores the wealth and progress their country has seen. . . . Even as American audiences gush over [the film] some Indians are groaning over what they see as yet another stereotypical foreign depiction of their nation, accentuating squalor, corruption and resilient-if-impoverished natives.”

Having seen the movie last night, my wife and I can understand the criticism.  But on balance we liked and would recommend it – and wouldn’t want to reveal details to anyone who might see it.  We'll have to talk with friends and colleagues from Mumbai itself to get their views.

This 2006 account, “From New Haven to New Delhi,” discussed some contradictions and complexities of India.