Steven Litt, the PD’s architecture writer wrote a post about the legacy of outgoing Cleveland State University President Michael Schwartz.  His analysis was centered around, no surprise, the new architecture that was a part of Cleveland State’s Campus.

Litt’s praise is based on the replacement of some of the more drab elements of CSU’s campus:

That plan envisioned transforming CSU into a residential campus packed with amenities and street-friendly buildings that would spark an urban revival on fallow acres around the campus. It’s very much like what other universities are doing across the country, from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania to Notre Dame and Ohio State University.

Cleveland State has since committed roughly $280 million on its own or in partnership with developers to build 11 projects, all by different architects, but all aimed at piercing the university’s hard, concrete shell.

I think that the buildings that got replaced (especially the University Center) needed to be replaced (I can’t wait to see Rhodes Tower go the way of the dodo) but an aggressive (and necessary) physical plant redevelopment does not a good university president make.

CSU attempted to be more exclusive under the tutelage of President Schwartz. Why did this garner support when being an open and inclusive university did not. That is more the fault of the community and not the University. When the barriers (financial, social and economic) to higher education are getting higher, Schwartz’s CSU seemed to proceed undaunted.

Don’t get me wrong, nothing is wrong with higher standards at public universities in particular and public institutions in general but isn’t it the university’s job to educate those who come for that purpose? Not just those that can afford it or are already capable?

Now that my family has land that we may use for a while, we are growing our own food... and enough for many other families, it seems. One $1.07 packet of radish seeds planted in May is already many pounds of crisp, bright, beautiful, healthy fresh veggies... and eating my first fresh radish of my life taught me radishes are actually delicious. Same for Kale, and all the varieties of lettuce covering our farmland... really fresh pesto is to die for... can't wait for the carrots and shallots!

UT’s President Lloyd Jacobs had some interesting comments that were made in email exchanges in the continuing story of the Arts & Science College that among them suggest throwing a Dean under the Bus:

“For several days I thought the best thing to do was to throw [Lee] under the bus and get on with our agenda,” Jacobs wrote to Rosemary Haggett, the university’s provost. “Maybe thats [sic] still the best thing – input please …

“However, we probably can’t do that because we can’t reward the bad behavior that the [Arts and Sciences] folk have displayed, I think.”

As the article points out there are more details at the Arts & Sciences Council E Forum.

Today an editorial focuses on Why Scott should be saved in the Blade. It’s a recommended read for those of you following the Scott High School story and it also should be pointed out that:

The Ohio Schools Facility Commission of the Board of Education of the Toledo City School District, Lucas County, Ohio, will hold a meeting in room 309 of the Thurgood Marshall Building, 420 East Manhattan Blvd., Toledo, Ohio, 43609-1267, on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.

The OSFC Committee will meet for the purpose of discussing items for the special Board Meeting to be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2008 as well as to consider other items as may officially come before the Committee.

From NBC4i:

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal Weekend Special Edition [written by Dayton resident and president of the pro-charter school Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Chester E. Finn, Jr.] painted a grim picture of Ohio’s economy.

…

The article started, “Once known as the Mother of Presidents, Ohio is now getting poorer, older and dumber –- and making all the wrong moves to reverse the situation.”

Governor Ted Strickland’s office was drafting a response Monday, NBC 4’s Mikaela Hunt reported.

The office will ask the paper to write a follow-up, too.

A spokesperson for Strickland called the op-ed piece a “very hard-edge partisan political attack” and cited the state is creating a job atmosphere that has a lot of potential, Hunt reported.

You can leave a comment to the question NBC4i asks, “Do you agree with the op-ed piece or with Gov. Strickland’s office?” the only problem being that there is no “piece” from the Strickland office yet, but you know what they mean, I think.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History and MOCA Cleveland explore the link between bird watching and conceptual art at a two-part event this Saturday.

MOCA’s latest exhibit, “A Bird in the Lens” features artist Jean Luc Mylayne, who spends hours, days, weeks, and even months gaining an intimate knowledge of the environment and birds that he photographs. Mylayne’s conceptual practice bears formal similarities to bird watching, a popular and passionate activity for many Northeast Ohioans.

Andy Jones, Curator of Birds at the Natural History Museum will lead a one-hour introductory lesson on bird-watching along the trails at the Shaker Lakes Nature Center starting at 8:30 a.m. Afterwards, ‘migrate’ to MOCA where Assistant Curator Megan Lykins Reich leads a tour of the Mylayne exhibition.

Space is limited; Reservations required by June 30, 2008. RSVP by calling Megan Lykins Reich at 216.421.8671 ext. 26.

If you caught the post last week (A Day on the RTA) you may have noticed the "upcoming post" mentions...so here we go!

At one point or another you may have driven by the large red Cleveland sculpture, but have you ever tried to climb it? Impossible, unless maybe you are super tall!

The Free stamp is one of the most controversial works of art displayed in the City of Cleveland designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Located in Willard Park to the East of City Hall, this massive aluminum and planted steel sculpture is difficult to miss with its large red handle sprawling across the lawn and metal base sinking into the ground displaying the word “FREE” in backwards letters to passersby on Lakeside Avenue. Some people see the Free Stamp as an inspiring work of Pop Art that represents our liberty as American citizens and reflects our City’s industrial progress. Others view it as an eyesore that is inappropriate for a location at the heart of the City’s Civic Center. This debate has been going on since the piece was first commissioned in 1982 and still echoes throughout the City today.



Oldenburg and van Bruggen designed the Free Stamp at the request of Standard Oil and admit that it was one of the most difficult works of art they have ever created. The controversy began soon after Standard Oil was awarded permission to tear down the old Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO) building located on Public Square. As construction of the new building began, SOHIO decided that it wanted a fresh work of art to display outside its doors, directly across from one of the City’s historical landmarks, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. After seeing the “pad” of land with which they had to work, Oldenburg and van Bruggen, who are famous for making large replicas of common objects such as spoons, ice cream cones, and bowling pins, proposed the idea of creating an enormous stamp.

The original design for the sculpture was an upright, self-inking stamp, with a red handle which looked like a giant exclamation point. The first design allowed access so that people could actually walk around inside the stamp, but management at SOHIO soon agreed that such a structure would require a lot of maintenance. The design was then restructured to look like a hand stamp on an ink pad. The question was then raised as to what word would be placed on the stamp. The artists wanted a word that would serve as a statement, like a one-word poem, but could also be found on a real office stamp. The physical dimension of the work was also a consideration as the diameters of the Free Stamp left room for only 4 letters. Van Bruggen suggested the word “Free” to represent liberty and independence and to make a positive statement in the heart of the City.

Just as construction on a revised design began, SOHIO underwent a change in management. The new managers did not like the idea of placing a massive piece of pop art on Public Square, especially a 50-foot stamp. Several opponents of the Free Stamp feared that the message conveyed by the work would invite jokes about the condition of Downtown Cleveland, which during the 1980s was in need of revitalization. SOHIO gave Oldenburg and van Bruggen the opportunity to relocate the stamp, but the artists did not want to move it. The location at Public Square added to the artistic expression of the work in a way other locations could not.

Production of the Stamp was halted for several years and pieces of it were placed in storage in Indiana. As BP America assumed management of SOHIO, executives wondered why the company was paying so much to house a huge stamp. Interest was renewed in the work of art and Mayor George Voinovich invited Oldenburg and van Bruggen to Cleveland in hopes of selecting another site to display their work. Although the Cleveland Museum of Art was considered, the artists wanted their work to be seen in the heart of Downtown and set their sights on Willard Park for its proximity to Public Square and because of its location to Cleveland’s government offices.

Placing the Free Stamp in Willard Park immediately drew opposition from Council President, George Forbes, who did not support the idea of the City of Cleveland accepting a rejected work of art and displaying it right outside of City Hall. Once again, the artists had chosen their location as part of their artistic statement and were unwilling to compromise their artistic integrity. This time, they threatened to destroy the work entirely if the City did not want to display it.

Before the artists could act on their threat, Election Day 1989 had passed and newly elected Mayor, Michael R. White, and Council President, Jay Westbrook, expressed their interest in this unique work. BP America finally decided that it would donate the Free Stamp as a gift to the City and offered to maintain it in its new location. City Council accepted this generous gift and the Free Stamp was brought out of storage and redesigned to accommodate its new space.

The lawn at Willard Park inspired Oldenburg and van Bruggen to alter the position of the Free Stamp so that it would lie on its side, as if it had toppled over on someone’s desk. Van Bruggen felt that the new design reflected the Free Stamp’s history as it was “flung” from Public Square only to “land” in Willard Park. Production on the Free Stamp resumed and it was brought to Cleveland in pieces to be assembled in its current spot.

The Free Stamp was officially inaugurated on November 15, 1991.

Chester Finn wrote: Ohio ranks 41st in the percentage of adults with bachelor’s degrees. Though it has many fine colleges, their young graduates don’t stick around. They head for the coasts or for “happening places” in between, none of which (with the partial exception of Columbus) happens to be in the Buckeye State. Bright Ohio kids aren’t [...]

How gross is this!

From WND --

A 60-year-old science teacher at the Brevard County Juvenile Detention Center in Florida has been arrested and charged with 15 counts of unlawful sex with minors and one count of filing a false police report.

Palm Bay police said Adrienne Laflamme told her 17-year-old student to conceal their sexual liaisons, including a threesome with a third student, and drug use so she wouldn't lose her job, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

She reportedly began the four-week heated affair with the inmate student within days of his release. The boy's mother said the teacher regularly picked the boy up from their home to have sex with him at her own residence.

The affair continued for several weeks, and Laflamme had sex with the student at least 15 times, including one threesome with a 14-year-old boy. More...

Laflamme has been added to WND's ever-growing list of female teachers that have had sex with students.

The boys mom is an idiot! What type of parent would allow their child to be picked up by a teacher from the detention center he just was released from?

As for the poor boys.... it's just a shame she wasn't a young hottie!

One of GCBL’s dedicated interns, Lora DiFranco, is featured in an interview on MTV’s social activism site think.mtv.com. Lora publishes a “zine” (a homemade magazine) for young people interested in becoming active in sustainability. It features tips on how to reduce your environmental impact, do-it-yourself projects, art, and personal stories written by high school and college students in Northeast Ohio.

After talking to teens, Lora found that many feel powerless to affect change at school or in their communities. GreenLight’s articles and events all aim to show young people that they already possess many of the skills needed to make a positive difference in their communities.

"GreenLight is a way for young people to express creativity and have fun while educating themselves and making change," says Lora.

The Willoughby Hills native takes advantage of the strong local music community to reach people that might be interested in environmental issues. “As a newcomer to Cleveland’s local punk scene, I’ve been blown away by the impact that music can have on young people. Music gives people a sense of community, and this is my vision for GreenLight, too.”

When thinking about other forms of media that are available to this age group regarding environmental issues, the Internet is the first thing that comes to mind. However, by printing a zine and having a physical final product, Lora hopes that GreenLight will be more present in the lives of readers. It’s also exciting for young contributors to see their writing and art published in the zine, leading to a more invested and dedicated group of contributing youth.

read more

Two weeks ago, City Fresh's Maurice Small met with friends in East Cleveland to discuss City Fresh, urban farming, and how we may convert a typical urban convenient store, Brown's Market, into a pilot City Fresh local foods market. During our discussions, Maurice mentioned that a dedicated urban farmer may earn more than $30,000 per year from sales of food grown on one typical urban lot (say 1/10th an acre). That being the case, and considering our ever-growing need and realigning demand for locally grown food, and the fact food may be grown locally as cost effectively as elsewhere in the world, it occurred to me that the highest and best use for most of the land now cleared, abandoned, blighted and wasted in our urban neighborhoods is for urban farming. So that is a use we are now planning to be core to redevelopment of the Star Neighborhood. Intrigued? Discuss and plan for this reality with Maurice and friends this Tuesday, from 6-7 PM, at that house on Roxbury, in East Cleveland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Apologies for the dearth of any meaningful posts here of late. I could say I've been too busy, because I have. It's been quite a frenzied month of story assignments, project beginnings, projects ending, projects hopefully getting underway. It's all good and I feel very blessed, indeed. But there's a good amount of hard work involved. In addition to my regular features for the Catholic Universe

Ashley Martinez, a seventh grade student at Eberhart Elementary School in Chicago, won a brand new Dodge Caliber for her strong school attendance record. But at just 12-years-old, Ashley will have to wait another four years before she can even drive her prize.

The Chicago Public Schools offered the car as part of a system-wide effort to boost school attendance, which has been around 91% for the past few years. The state average is 93.7%, which puts Chicago Public Schools consistently below that level.

Through April of this year, the school district acheived an attendance average of 89.4%, which means that the attendance has dropped off even more. School officials, however, attribute the decline to a change in the way rates are calculated.

Over the past few years, the school district has offered a range of rewards for good attendance including: iPods, laptops, vacations to Wisconsin resorts, and evening paying the family's mortgage or rent for a month.

Some experts do not approve of programs such as this which reward children for doing the minimum, for showing up, as it is already expected of them.

Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools chief, is standing by the district's program:

read more

The question asked in the title, is not known, the Ohio Department of Education does not appear to be interested in “educating” any of us when it comes to information such as what was reported in today’s Columbus Dispatch in an article that is about:

A glitch in the school-funding formula awarded some districts extra money and shortchanged others.

But fixing it will cost 188 districts statewide a total of $6.4 million, and 17 of the districts are in central Ohio.
(more…)

Cleveland State University's current President, Dr. Michael Schwartz, announced Monday that he will be giving up his post at the end of the 2008-2009 academic school year, effective July 1, 2009. Following a one-year sabbatical, Schwartz says he will return to CSU, but this time to teach.

CSU is now in the market for a new president. The school's board of trustees will begin a nationwide search for his replacement. If they are unable to find a replacement by his July 1, 2009 departure date, an interim president will be appointed.

Dr. Schwartz has served as CSU's president since May 2001. During his time there, some of his most notable accomplisments include the gradual raising of admissions standards as well as the $250 remaking of the school's campus.

Dr. Schwartz issued a statement today in which he said:

“After serving as president for seven years, I feel that the advancement of CSU and the accomplishments of its faculty, staff and students have far exceeded my expectations.

read more

There has not been a lot of attention in the main stream local media about Scott High School and whether the decision made is going to be to renovate, build a replacement or do nothing. For those of you interested in what’s happened recently, an article written on June 3rd in the Toledo Journal is a recommended read for some of the background information. There is also an updated report on the Urban Coalition website as to a OSFC committee meeting that took place on June 19th.

More information on what the exact decision will be is expected soon…As an update after I posted this article I received an email that shares an article written in the Midwest Urban News along with another link asking the question:

“Why is there so much concern for the Seneca County courthouse, resulting in many articles in the Blade, while there appears to be very little, if any, concern for a historic building and institution right here in Toledo that is on the chopping block.”
(more…)

Two weeks ago, City Fresh's Maurice Small met with friends in East Cleveland to discuss City Fresh, urban farming, and how we may convert a typical urban convenient store, Brown's Market, into a pilot City Fresh local foods market. During our discussions, Maurice mentioned that a dedicated urban farmer may earn more than $30,000 per year from sales of food grown on one typical urban lot (say 1/10th an acre). That being the case, and considering our ever-growing need and realigning demand for locally grown food, and the fact food may be grown locally as cost effectively as elsewhere in the world, it occurred to me that the highest and best use for most of the land now cleared, abandoned, blighted and wasted in our urban neighborhoods is for urban farming. So that is a use we are now planning to be core to redevelopment of the Star Neighborhood. Intrigued? Discuss and plan for this reality with Maurice and friends this Tuesday, from 6-7 PM, at that house on Roxbury, in East Cleveland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

I am shaking my head in disbelief!

From the PD --

Bedford schools Superintendent Martha "Marty" Motsco has been named the 2008 winner of the Superin tendent's Out standing Per formance Award in Ohio by the Cleveland-based Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. Under her leadership the past 11 years, the school system has made significant improvement in academic achievement, especially in reading and math. She will receive a $20,000 award to be used for a project of her choosing in Bedford.

Click here to see our test scores over the past several years. For years our district has been at the bottom of the "Continuous Improvement" rating.

Would you say a significant improvement in academic achievement has been made?

Here is a good account of the alternative newspaper sale from John Ettorre on Working with Words. It helps fill out the details of the story: