Month: March 2019

Lehigh Northside parking lot mystery partially explained (24)

(24th in a series of posts on Lehigh University)

Deep Throat surreptitiously (good SAT word) passed Gadfly a new document regarding the new Lehigh University parking plan that contains the following bullet:

  • There will be a commuter lot added on the SteelStacks/Sands property off of Third Street and Founder’s Way, and a shuttle serving this commuter lot. More details about the commuter lot will be shared with the campus community by the end of March. The university will be funding the cost of this space, so there will be no cost to the employee to use this lot.

So why the big mystery?

Why couldn’t Lehigh simply say, yes, Gadfly, we announced in September and said nothing different until this week that there would be a Northside Commuter lot but actually it’s a commuter lot on the southside now — 3rd and Founder’s Way.

Instead they played dumb, as if there were no off-site commuter lot, and got Gadfly’s pee all warm.

No doubt a good reason for stiffing me. No doubt above Gadfly’s pay grade. Big business.

In the recent document, Lehigh indicates they have made some changes. They indicate that the first come/first served system has been dropped, and people on lower campus seem assured now of parking close to their workspace. Sounds like “bumping” has been eliminated or diminished.

Lehigh is, of course, still silent about the contract workers — Sodexo, ABM, BrightView, etc. They are not Lehigh employees, and thus are not referenced, though they clearly must be affected by the parking reorganization, and are separated out as such in the Lehigh July 2018 parking study (p. 16 if my notes are correct).

The 3rd and Founder’s Way lot is 3/4’s of a mile from Farrington Square at the bottom of lower campus, about the same distance as the “mythical” Northside lot.

Thus, I still don’t have an answer to my basic question of what’s happening with this lower-paid group, at least some of whom no doubt are Bethlehem residents and taxpayers.

But even if they aren’t Bethlehem residents and taxpayers, are the lower-paid workers being, as it were, “forced” to suffer some hardship to park off-site because they can’t afford the parking fee?

Remember that Lehigh has made a conscious decision to build on parking lots, losing approx. 500 spaces.

I keep saying that there may be no problem, but I’d like somebody who has thought about these people to tell me so.

Lehigh obviously made changes in the original program because of legitimate concerns, stiff questions, and resistance from faculty and staff on campus.

The contract workers probably have no similar voice or power.

Are they being treated fairly?

Thoughts on the Mayor’s presentation

(The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan, Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council)

Gadfly forgot to let you know about the free showing of and panel discussion about the documentary Paris to Pittsburgh Wednesday, March 27, 7pm (reception at 6:30), STEPS building (catacorner from the Chapel on Packer Ave.), Lehigh University. Tip o’ the hat to the ubiquitous Kathy Fox!

Dana Grubb is a lifelong resident of the City of Bethlehem who worked 27 years for the City of Bethlehem in the department of community and economic development, as sealer of weights and measures, housing rehabilitation finance specialist, grants administrator, acting director of community and economic development, and deputy director of community development.

Gadfly:

I would question the migration to artificial Christmas trees from live trees given that live Christmas trees are a renewable crop that are rather easily composted, and artificial trees are not. I believe this to be a false narrative that it is beneficial to the environment, rather that it is more a cost efficiency issue with their installation.

Also, I would agree that a new round of public education on recycling programs is very necessary, given that it’s been at least ten years since the City of Bethlehem undertook a comprehensive approach to advertising and education in order to get buy-in from residents and businesses.

I reside in one of the larger rental communities in the City. The solid waste container for my neighborhood is often stuffed with all kinds of recyclable materials such as cardboard, glass, plastic and metallic items. Although the complex is required as a commercial entity (not as a housing entity) to provide containers for the collection of these items, I’ve peered into those large roll-offs and have seen ordinary household waste co-mingled with what can and should be recycled. This contamination defeats the purpose and probably sends much of that material to landfills.

Finally, revising City ordinances to require solar energy panels on roofs of new development of a certain footprint would be a big step toward renewable energy independence given the proliferation of huge warehouses in our area. It would also allow for on property parking for tractor trailers and provide electric power to be used to service a rig, instead of it running constantly and spewing exhaust into the atmosphere.

Dana

Bethlehem going green

(The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan, Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council)

Dawn Nixon, “Lehigh Valley leaders discuss efforts to go green.” WFMZ, March 12, 2019.

On March 12 our Mayor Donchez joined with representatives from Allentown and Whitehall at the Lehigh Valley Mayors’ Sustainability forum  to discuss Valley efforts to Mayor sustainability“go green.”

The Mayor talked of converting to LED lights; working with UGI and PPL to reduce the amount of gas used by local businesses; such key components as green buildings, energy efficiency and conservation, water and wastewater systems and climate friendly transportation; and plans for a consultant to assist the city in developing a climate action plan.

“Mayor Donchez closed the forum’s discussion by commenting on how any efforts made by individual cities benefit the entire Lehigh Valley. ‘The more we work together on key issues, the better the Lehigh Valley will be as a whole,’ he said.”

Here for us are the key slides from the Mayor’s presentation showing work done and on the radar:

Sustainability 1

Sustinability 2

Sustinability 3

Susatainability 4

It’s Friday, March 22, do you know where your local Climate Action Plan is?

Now playing: award-winning film critical of charter schools (18)

(18th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Over a series of posts we’ve been thinking about charter schools and their place and role in public education in Bethlehem. Thus, this film is timely. And it is also — obviously — critical of charter schools. Probably very one-sided. Gadfly plans to see the film. And hopes some of you can too. It seems a wonderful opportunity to learn. But, as always in Gadville, we try to keep an open mind till we have all the possible information we can.

BackpackYou Are Invited to A Free Screening

presented by BASD Proud Parents and the Bethlehem Area School District
MARCH 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm  NITSCHMANN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Discussion to Follow
“BACKPACK FULL OF CASH” DOCUMENTARY – Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor, Matt Damon, BACKPACK explores the real cost of privatizing America’s public schools. Before the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the appointment of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, filmmakers Sarah Mondale and Vera Aronow couldn’t have known that the new administration would dramatically shift the national debate about education to the very issues at the heart of their film: charter schools, vouchers and privatization. Now, this timely new documentary takes viewers into the world of market-based education “reform”.
BACKPACK FULL OF CASH follows the tumultuous 2013-14 school year in Philadelphia and other cities where public education – starved of resources and undermined by privatization – is at risk. The documentary also showcases a model for improving schools – a well-resourced public school system in Union City, New Jersey, where poor kids are getting a high-quality education without charters or vouchers. BACKPACK FULL OF CASH makes the case for public education as a basic civil right. The film features genuine heroes like the principals, teachers, activists, parents and most hearteningly, students who are fighting for their education. Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, writer David Kirp and policy expert Linda Darling Hammond are among the national thought leaders who provide analysis in the film.

The final slates for the Council election (15)

(15th in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Gadfly hopes to be posting substantive info from the candidates soon, so that you can choose on more than just appearance!

Candidates for the one two-year position:


Candidates for the three four-year positions:

Can you identify them by appearance?

Make room for one more: Ashley Daubert running for Council! (14)

(14th in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Just learned that Ashley Daubert is running for the two-year slot, against Grace Crampsie Smith and Will Carpenter.

Ashley Daubert

Info from a Morning Call article:

  • registered nurse
  • campaign and political initiatives would be “quality-of-life centered”
  • “I decided to run for Bethlehem City Council because I want to be the voice for vulnerable populations in our great city; namely, the homeless, mentally ill, addicted, our children, and our aging residents”

Priorities:

  • Partnering with the Bethlehem Area School District to solve the lunch debt problem
  • Opening up dialogue to de-stigmatize mental illness and fight the opioid epidemic
  • Promoting policies, such as pedestrian safety, to protect senior citizens

Occupation:

Daubert is American Nurses Credentialing Center board-certified in psychiatric-mental health nursing and the clinical manager of the Lehigh Valley Health Network Street Medicine team, which provides services to the homeless in the Lehigh Valley. Last year, she launched a business, Daubert Home Care, that provides personal care services to senior citizens.

Charter schools: need to explore what school choice really means (17)

(17th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Timely to our discussion is the showing of the “Backpack full of Cash” documentary this Thursday, March 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm at NITSCHMANN MIDDLE SCHOOL, sponsored by Bethlehem Proud Parents – Free!

Anna Smith is a life-long Southside resident and Director of the Community Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of life in south Bethlehem by fostering economic opportunity, promoting community development, and empowering residents to actively participate in the decision-making process regarding the future of our diverse community.

Gadfly:

When discussing the concept of school choice, I think it’s important to ask “what is the role of public education in our society?” Scholars typically cite three primary goals of public education in a democratic society—1. Prepare individual students with skills necessary to succeed in our society (individual economic opportunity); 2. Prepare students to fill positions in the US job market (vocational training); and 3. Prepare students to be full participants in our democracy (education for active citizenship). Most schools try to balance these three aims as they design policies and curriculum, and throughout US history, there has been tension among the proponents of each approach. However, I doubt many would propose wholly eliminating any of these aims.

The concept of school choice allows individuals to privilege the first goal—individual pursuit of human capital for future personal gain—at the expense of the third goal (and potentially the second). Universal public education that integrates children of ALL races, ethnicities, incomes, abilities, religions, etc., in preparation for participation in a diverse society is antithetical to the concept of school choice in a society where major inequities exist in funding and resources across these demographic lines. If we allow individuals to act solely in their self-interest, many (if not most) students who already have access to more resources are going choose other options (private schools, charters) as a way to escape from underfunded public schools, creating both a vicious cycle of underfunding and a segregated system where marginalized students become further marginalized and isolated. When we center the question on the societal goals of free, universal public education, school choice just doesn’t make sense. Are we willing to give up the lofty goals of a society in which equal opportunity for success and civic participation is guaranteed to all? While we’re far from that reality, the more we expand opportunities for school choice, the more we concede that our society was set up to be unequal, and we abandon all aspirations toward meritocracy.

Many people like the idea of school choice, but I think it is worth exploring what that really means, and if it actually allows us to sustain a diverse democracy. Is making it easier to acting solely in one’s own interest good for our society as a whole?

Anna

You gotta listen!

The spectator value of last night’s City Council meeting from Gadfly’s roost in the cheap seats was totally front-loaded in the public comment space.

Yep, Council members did their business — necessary business — good business — especially involving $money$ (and big money, ’twas!) and approving resident members of City committees (have you volunteered lately?) and approving resolutions (especially of interest to Gadfly followers, resolutions of feasibility studies for the Rose Garden and a pedestrian bridge).

But you gotta listen to the quintet of resident speakers. It will only take you 15 minutes.

Barbara Diamond (min. 2:45) delivering Bethlehem Moment 8 on “Operation Book Move,” the community effort in 1967 to move all the books from the old library at New and Market to the current location in one day, and introducing 91-year-old Ed Beighe and his wife Eleanor — Ed was project chairman for the move.

Beth Behrend (min. 5:50) promoting a plan from the Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council to ban single-use plastic bags, with follow-up by Gadfly #1 Stephen Antalics (min. 12:33).

Bill Scheirer, Gadfly #2 (min. 8:55) presenting a wise disquisition on two major past problematic episodes before Council — 2 W. Market and the proposals from the Bethlehem Parking Authority — episodes well covered on Gadfly — spurring us to clear thinking, which requires weighing all relevant information.

Doug Roysdon (min. 13:04) supporting the resolution on the table (which passed) to seek funding for a feasibility study for a pedestrian bridge — which he did in a strikingly exciting way.

Gadfly will come back to talk about some of these presentations individually later, but he encourages you to listen now to sense how interesting these City Council meetings can be and how valuable public participation is.

And to be turning out or tuning in the first and third Tuesdays of the month.

You can catch the meetings live. Or at your leisure. You can even binge-watch. Just like Netflix.

Great opportunity.

Watch City Council Live (if you don’t have the hard-to-get tickets to be there in person) tonight at 7pm!

City Council meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7pm in the Town Hall rotunda. That means tonight. These meetings are now live-streamed on the Council webpage and on YouTube.

On the surface, the agenda doesn’t look too “exciting.” But a good many Gadfly followers will be interested that approval of resolutions to seek feasibility studies for the Rose Garden and a pedestrian bridge are on the agenda.

But you never know what might happen. In any event, Gadfly followers know that he is enamored of our resident voices during public comment. And he likes to record and distribute them. Democracy in action.

As example, he captured these comments at the recent Planning Commission meeting: citizens Murdock Saunders, Anne Evans (min. 3:08), and a woman whose name he couldn’t catch (8:18) cautioning the PC about a proposal for student housing in their neighborhood.

Listen to the clear, courteous, firm, fair, reasoned voices. Speaking up. Exercising their right. Your fellow citizens in action. Makes you proud. Makes you tingle.

But, though the agenda looks docile, anything could happen tonight. Impossible to anticipate.

But what if we could anticipate some things of interest?

Gadfly followers know that he has been making “modest proposals” about the various City authorities and boards making periodic presentations about what’s going on in their worlds that affect us — presentations that we could advertise so that you could tune in.

So that, for instance, you would know, say, that you could hear from the Parking Authority tonight about what’s going on in their hands and heads?

If you like that “modest proposal,” write your Congressperson . . . er, Councilperson. Email addresses on the Gadfly sidebar.

So, if you aren’t coming in person tonight, at 7pm go to the City web site >>> Quick links (bottom left) >>> City Council Meeting Agendas and Documents >>> “View Live Stream City Council Meeting” at the top of the page.

On that same page you can find the agenda for the meeting, any pertinent documents for the meeting – and, for later reference, the print version of the minutes plus audio and video recordings of the meeting.

You can also go to YouTube at <City of Bethlehem Council> for live-stream and archiving.

But being there is always best! Gadfly will save a seat for ya.

More info on Lehigh Valley Academy (16)

(16th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Timely to our discussion is the showing of the “Backpack full of Cash” documentary this Thursday, March 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm at NITSCHMANN MIDDLE SCHOOL, sponsored by Bethlehem Proud Parents – Free!

This info from Sara Satullo and Karen Beck Pooley much appreciated:

Sara:

IB is integrated into the curriculum, but not all students earn an IB degree. To do so, students must take exams akin to Advanced Placement tests. Not all do so. This is from the 2016 charter school renewal hearing for the school: “The school’s Class of 2016 included 50 graduates and 11 of the students were awarded a full IB-diploma, while a number earned some certificates but did not take all of the exams, Mauser [Susan Mauser, LVA CEO] said.”

Karen:

“Why Bethlehem school board approved charter school agreement.” Morning Call, November 29, 2016.

in 2016, when the LVA charter was up for renewal, Karen writes that the Bethlehem School Board generated “a long list of concerns and several reasons for denying the charter outright” and sought to negotiate an amended charter, but LVA “rejected all of [their] requests and offered no realistic counterproposals.”

Karen indicates that our Board was hamstrung by experience with the state Charter Appeals Board. Gadfly has read elsewhere that the Charter School lobby is among the most powerful in the state.

Provisions rejected by LVA included ceasing to cover school lunches, aligning LVA and BASD calendars to reduce transportation costs, and holding monthly public Trustee meetings.

Gadfly has an appointment with Dr. Roy next week on the questions Gadfly posed at the end of his last post.

H.D.: “If she went away [from Pennsylvania] her spirit would break; if she stayed, she would be suffocated” (11)

(11th in a series of posts on H.D.)

Finding H.D.: A Community Exploration of the Life and Work of Hilda Doolittle

The next event in this year-long series is a panel discussion on “H.D. and the Natural World,” Tuesday, April 16, 6:30-8:00pm at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Gadfly is following this wonderful program on Bethlehem-born world-renown author H.D. (1866-1961), the Lehigh Valley’s most important literary figure – who most of us, Gadfly included, know very little about.

Here again is the full recording of Prof. Mary Foltz’s lecture on “Challenging Limited Understandings of Gender and Sexuality” on March 6.

After the intro by Jennie Gilrain, Mary introduces the overarching questions we should think about during her talk (min. 2:30), introduces H.D.’s The Gift (min. 5:01), discusses and interacts with the audience about two poems by Rosa Lane for context (min. 8:04 and min. 20:54), and concludes this context by showing how the Lane poems set up four themes that characterize H.D.’s work (min. 30:25). Mary turns to The Gift for the main focus of her talk (min. 32.18) and the Q ‘n A follows (min. 1:14:50).

So now let’s think about the second slice of Mary’s lecture.

Gadfly is straight.

How can he know what’s it’s like to be . . . not straight?

How can he know what it feels like to be lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer?

Literature is a way of knowing.

Mary tells us that H.D., the Lehigh Valley’s most important literary figure, is a bisexual feminist poet.

How can Gadfly understand H.D. and her criticism of the damages of sexism and patriarchy?

Mary fosters that understanding of people like me who “will not know the pain of encountering others’ hatred as you express femininity or masculinity because you’ve been assigned a sex at birth that does not match your gender” through a discussion of two short poems by lesbian poet Rosa Lane.

Poetry must be heard.

Gadfly encourages you to read the Lane poems printed below along with listening to them read by members of Mary’s audience — people just like you.

H.D. 3

Read them. And think about them for a couple minutes. Then listen to Mary and her audience talk about them.

Rosa Lane, “Tomboy’s Toggle to Love”

Rosa Lane, “Boats Named Women”

Rosa Lane 2

Mary took the poems individually, got the audience talking about them, and then pulled things together in her words.

Gadfly would love to think you have the time to listen to the segments on each poem – but you must, YOU MUST listen to at least one!

So here are audio clips of the full segments on each poem with some teasers from Mary’s wrap-ups.

1) “Tomboy’s Toggle to Love”

“The child expressing lesbian desire in this poem, the longing to share love for another woman, feels like an alien in her own home. . . . What she is looking for is a community, a tribe, of others that can affirm her desire as beautiful and valuable. She sends a message in a bottle, but hears nothing back from the world, nothing washes ashore, that indicates she is not alone in her difference. . . . the desire for another woman is not something that she feels could be erased, her course is set from childhood to be lost to her community and family because of her difference.”

2) “Boats Named Women”

“This poem addresses how women are the vessels that support men in their journeys through the world in this fishing community. Women’s bodies. . . . are gutted hulls, not subjects in their own right, but bodies devoted to pleasuring men. . . . sexual intimacy here is described as the mother chopping off a part of herself to give to her partner.”

Mary then finishes her introduction to H.D. by setting out four themes that characterize H.D.’s work.

  • institutionalized sexism limits possibilities for white women
  • normative heterosexuality defines women’s sexuality as being objects of desire for men rather than subjects of desire
  • documenting the desire to surpass limited understanding of what women’s bodies are for
  • imagining and enacting alternatives to gender norms for women

H.D. 5H.D., Mary tells us, felt suffocated in Bethlehem and Philadelphia even as she loved her family and community.

“If she went away her spirit would break,” H.D. wrote of herself, “if she stayed, she would be suffocated.”

That tension tears Gadfly up.

Another slice of Mary’s lecture to think about coming in our next post. Moving there into a discussion of H.D.’s work itself.


Remember: the next event in this year-long series is a panel discussion on “H.D. and the Natural World,” Tuesday, April 16, 6:30-8:00pm at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Charter schools: What makes Lehigh Valley Academy so special for BASD students? (15)

(15th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Timely to our discussion is the showing of the “Backpack full of Cash” documentary this Thursday, March 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm at NITSCHMANN MIDDLE SCHOOL, sponsored by Bethlehem Proud Parents – Free!

Half of BASD’s total charter school enrollment is in LVA, for whom BASD pays $12m/yr.

LVA is seeking $45m for a new building and may be increasing its enrollment.

“30 percent of [LVA’s] students are Hispanic, 36 percent are white and 12 percent are black. Almost 50 percent are considered economically disadvantaged. The charter school has a 95 percent graduation rate, almost 10 percentage points above the state average.” (from Morning Call)

What makes Lehigh Valley Academy charter school so special? What’s the draw?

Please bear with a long description. Remember that as taxpayers we are paying $12m/yr. for LVA.

LVA’s distinctive feature seems to be the International Baccalaureate program (IB).

IB’s distinctive feature seems to be “International Mindedness.”

“LVA is the only fully authorized International Baccalaureate World School in Pennsylvania that offers an IB continuum to all students in grades K-12. Beginning with full-day kindergarten and continuing through a student’s senior year, LVA emphasizes inquiry-based learning and critical thinking to prepare a student for higher education and the 21st century globalized environment.”

“The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet. Central to this aim is international-mindedness. International-mindedness is a multi-faceted and complex concept that captures a way of thinking, being and acting that is characterized by an openness to the world and a recognition of our deep interconnectedness to others.”

“To be open to the world, we need to understand it. IB programmes therefore provide students with opportunities for sustained inquiry into a range of local and global issues and ideas. This willingness to see beyond immediate situations and boundaries is essential as globalization and emerging technologies continue to blur traditional distinctions between the local, national and international.”

“An IB education fosters international-mindedness by helping students reflect on their own perspective, culture and identities, and then on those of others. By learning to appreciate different beliefs, values and experiences, and to think and collaborate across cultures and disciplines, IB learners gain the understanding necessary to make progress toward a more peaceful and sustainable world.”

“An IB education further enhances the development of international-mindedness through multilingualism. All IB programmes require the students to study, or study in, more than one language because we believe that communicating in more than one language provides excellent opportunities to develop intercultural understanding and respect. It helps the students to appreciate that his or her own language, culture and worldview is just one of many.”

“International-mindedness is also encouraged through a focus on global engagement and meaningful service with the community. These elements challenge the student to critically consider power and privilege, and to recognize that he or she holds this planet and its resources in trust for future generations. They also highlight the focus on action in all IB programmes: a focus on moving beyond awareness and understanding to engagement, action and bringing about meaningful change.”

IB learner profile
———————–
In grades 11-12, IB offers 2 tracks:

Diploma Programme: Prepares students for effective participation in a rapidly evolving world. This is a demanding two-year curriculum that meets the needs of highly motivated students,and leads to a qualification that is recognized by leading universities around the world.

Career-related Programme  is a framework of international education that incorporates the values of the IB into a unique programme addressing the needs of students engaged in career-related education. The programme leads to further/higher education, apprenticeships or employment.
————————————–
The Diploma Programme curriculum

The Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum is made up of six subject groups and the DP core, comprising theory of knowledge (TOK), creativity, activity, service (CAS) and the extended essay. Through the Diploma Programme (DP) core, students reflect on the nature of knowledge, complete independent research and undertake a project that often involves community service.

The three core elements are:

  • Theory of knowledge (TOK), in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
  • The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.
  • Creativity, activity, service, in which students complete a project related to those three concepts.

How is TOK structured?

As a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge, TOK is composed almost entirely of questions.

The most central of these is “How do we know?”, while other questions include:

  • What counts as evidence for X?
  • How do we judge which is the best model of Y?
  • What does theory Z mean in the real world?

Through discussions of these and other questions, students gain greater awareness of their personal and ideological assumptions, as well as developing an appreciation of the diversity and richness of cultural perspectives.

As part of theory of knowledge (TOK), each student chooses one essay title from six issued by International Baccalaureate (IB).

The titles change in each examination session. Upcoming and past TOK questions include:

  • “To what extent are areas of knowledge shaped by their past? Consider with reference to two areas of knowledge.”
  •  “’There is no reason why we cannot link facts and theories across disciplines and create a common groundwork of explanation.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?”
  • “There is no such thing as a neutral question. Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.”
  • “’The task of history is the discovering of the constant and universal principles of human nature.’ To what extent are history and one other area of knowledge successful in this task?”

Some examples of the 4,000 word extended essay are:

  • “An analysis of costume as a source for understanding the inner life of the character”
  • “A study of malnourished children in Indonesia and the extent of their recovery after a period of supervised improved nutrition.”
  • “Doing versus being: language and reality in the Mimamsa school of Indian philosophy.”
  • “The effects of sugar-free chewing gum on the pH of saliva in the mouth after a meal.”
  • “To what extent has the fall in the exchange rate of the US dollar affected the tourist industry in Carmel, California?”
  •  “What level of data compression in music files is acceptable to the human ear?”

—————————————-

So the above should give us some idea of what the distinctive feature of LVA is.

Gadfly is not sure if the IB is required of all students or it is an option, a track. Need to find that out.

Gadfly also needs to know more about 1) how LVA is promoted, publicized (if at all) among BASD students, and 2) whether both BASD and LVA have done surveys on why these students are choosing to attend LVA.

So, with luck, more info later.

How are you feeling about the $12m?

Remember: timely to our discussion is the showing of the “Backpack full of Cash” documentary this Thursday, March 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm at NITSCHMANN MIDDLE SCHOOL, sponsored by Bethlehem Proud Parents – Free!

The best I can do

Jon Harris, “People of all faiths unite for peace in Allentown vigil honoring those killed in New Zealand mosque massacre.” Morning Call, March 17, 2019.

As I write this, there’s a vigil/ceremony for the New Zealand victims in Allentown.

And maybe it’s as much for “us” as for them.

I can not get there.

But my mind is there.

I happen to be rehearsing my reading of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” for a recording project with the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

And I can’t help reading Whitman — a man, a gay man, unparalleled in identification with American democratic values — through New Zealand.

At meeting today, a member asked for spiritual help “managing my rage.”

I understand.

New Zealand unmoors you.  kelson

The central message of Whitman’s poem defining the American Self is that “a kelson of the creation is love.”

It’s a great image if you know what a kelson is: the spine that runs along the bottom of a boat that holds it all together.

In the wake of such hate, it’s hard reading that line now with the old conviction.

But it’s the message I need to hear.

Whitman’s Self in the poem loves everyone. That’s what it means to be an American. Whitman’s hard message is that true equality is not based in law but in love.

There is no discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex, whatever because the law won’t allow it but because we see the inherent worth in everybody.

Whitman makes “appointments with all,” he resists anything better than “his own diversity,” he’s a “caresser of life wherever moving.”

After parading before our eyes presidents, and prostitutes, and peddlers among a cavalcade of people from all geographies, all castes, all moral strata, Whitman concludes:

these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them,
And such it is to be of these more or less I am,
And of these one and all I weave the song of myself.

I’m not sure I have managed my rage. But Whitman is working his way on me.

In the face of New Zealand, must hold on to and, more importantly, must act on the Whitman ideal.

How have you been thinking about these particularly horrendous events of the last few days?

 

The Gadfly at 6 months

The Gadfly is 6 months old today.

Time to reflect.

The statement of purpose on the About page begins with “God.”

Pretty pompous.  Gadfly 61

But I think I’ll leave it.

At least for another 6 months.

How else explain the “hang time” of Antalics and Scheier?

I think of gadfly as a special breed – Genus Antalicus.

Gadflying is a calling.

I think of gadflies as unofficial official representatives of the public.

Gadflies have a keen nose for inconsistency and hypocrisy.

Gadflies are institutional  memory.

And it’s not about winning.

It’s about witnessing.

I still believe in the fantasy Norman Rockwell small town.

I like to think of Bethlehem as that kind of small town.

I like to think of model democracy here.

I love the voices at public comment

whether about barking dogs or building high-rises.

The ability to speak is sacred.

Freedom of Speech
Norman Rockwell, Freedom of Speech

And good conversation makes community.

I believe that differences don’t have to divide.

Bethlehem needs a place for people to talk.

People tell me Gadfly fills a need.

Not enough people take advantage.

Not enough people initiate conversation.

Gadfly isn’t just Gadfly’s.

Gadfly needs more voices.

Gadfly wants you.

Speaking on Gadfly is empowering.

Speaking is exercising franchise.

Let there be more speakers on Gadfly.

Gadfly is grateful.

Followers are oxygen.

Onward.

A tip o’ the hat and a wave o’ the wings to Al Bernotas for the Gadfly image.

“Ganbi,” Ron, “Ganbi”

(3rd in a series of posts on Ron Yoshida’s pilgrimage)

https://88-photos.com/

Yoshida 5

A sign on the trail counsels pilgrims to Ganbi — “keep trying.” A word we all need to put on a stickie affixed to our bathroom mirror.

Yoshida 6

Meotoiwa — “husband and wife together.”  55 years married, I teared up.

Yoshida 7

Are you following Ron? Day 13 of his pilgrimage.

https://88-photos.com/

Need for a more robust discussion on the state of the City

(The latest in a series of posts on City government)

In one of his “modest proposal” posts a few posts back, Gadfly whined as gadflies tend to do (sigh) about the venue for the Mayor’s “State of the City” address, the audience for it, and the dissemination of it.

The content of the Mayor’s address is very positive, very upbeat, as such addresses are wont to be, but, I think, legitimately so. And Gadfly has admitted to wishing that the Mayor seek the spotlight a bit more and foster a widespread positive feeling about the good news among “the people.”

But the dissemination of the address seems better this year than last. Virtually immediately, there was an “announcement” on the top page of the City web site with a link to the audio of the address accompanying the Mayor’s slides. And there is a link to the printed text of the address at the top of the quick links on that page as well.

And the Call article that day is a prominent size: “Bethlehem mayor showcases city’s untold development story.” (The headline of the Call print version is “Bethlehem mayor stressed development; Donchez highlights investment numbers in State of the City address.”)

But that’s still not enough.

Gadfly’s whine is basically centered on the venue and the audience: As the Call says, “Donchez delivered the remarks Thursday to 250 business people at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.”

I say again. That just seems wrong to me. Symbolically. Probably not politically.

You aim your speech at your audience.

And, though the Mayor’s address contains much more, the Call headlines saw the address primarily through the lens of that venue and audience, focusing on the Mayor showcasing, stressing, highlighting development – even to the drama of revealing to readers an “untold story” of development.

And astronomical numbers dominate the content of the news story: one imagines an audience of slick-haired Gordon Gekko’s salivating at the Mayor’s financially erotic language: 190 million, 295 million, 54 million, 370 million, 22 million, 15 million . . . 1 billion! 1.3 billion! Even Gadfly swooned.

And, though there is more in the Mayor’s words, the Call reports that post-address questions centered, as one might expect in that venue and with that audience, only on “two big projects,” Martin Tower and the Sands.

Gadfly sees the “State of the City” address as an exciting moment for robust wide-ranging discussion from a broad set of perspectives.

We didn’t have that.

So Gadfly’s been thinking about a “modest proposal” of his own for next year.

Assembling, say, four people to complement the Mayor’s address with posts on Gadfly.

Complement not compete with, criticize, answer, or attack like what happens with our national “State of the Union” address.

Complementary views.

Aimed at fostering a sense of community.

The state of the City seen from a variety of angles, through a variety of lenses, using different metrics. Equally valid.

Gadfly hasn’t been around long enough to know. Who are the wise heads representing a range of perspectives that he might invite next year to fill this delicate and valuable role?

Give him your suggestions–

Use of Deed Transfer Tax from Casino Sale (2)

(2nd in a series of posts on Wind Creek Casino)

Gadfly:

First, I’d cut real estate taxes for city property owners by one-half mill, or approximately $750,000. Second, I’d put $1 million in a “rainy day” fund so the city has cash reserves for those times cash is tight (it would be repaid if borrowed from) or a special project arose that needed funding. Finally, I would take the remaining $4.2 million and plug it into city projects like streets and parks.

Dana

Signs that Wind Creek is coming (1)

(1st in a series of posts on Wind Creek Casino)

At the Planning Commission yesterday, perhaps the first visible “signs” that Wind Creek is taking over the Sands casino occurred as the PC approved the changed signage.

All went smoothly.

Wind Creek

Simultaneously, the Morning Call published a brief summary of Wind Creek’s petition to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, where final approval of the transfer will take place.

Financial matters.

Jon Harris, “Details of the deal: What was included in Sands Bethlehem-Wind Creek petition to the state?”

  • Wind Creek will acquire 100 percent of the interests in the gaming and retail entities, allowing it to own the structures and improvements on the site such as the casino, hotel, parking garage, event center and outlets
  • Bethworks Now will become the ground landlord, leasing the land to Wind Creek
  • Wind Creek has accepted a binding commitment letter from Credit Suisse for up to $1.4 billion in financing
  • Wind Creek is requesting that a change-of-control fee of $3.75 million be imposed

This is not the kind of info most of us care about, of course.

What we’re especially looking for is the amount of the Casino Transfer Tax (CTT) that the City of Bethlehem will benefit from as one-time revenue.

See the City 2019 budget p. 278.

See the column for “Casino Transfer Tax.”

The City estimated revenue from the CTT at $5,995,000.

But that was just an estimate for budgeting purposes. It may have little relation to reality. The actual amount is not known at this time. And could be significantly less.

What would you do with the extra money, however much it is?

In that column, you will find a list of specific proposed expenditures agreed upon by the City and Council based on the budgeted figure.

If the actual CTT income is less that $5,995,000, the City and Council will negotiate again, using that list as a basis, on how to allocate the actual amount.

Everybody will have different favorites on that list, but Gadfly knows that many followers will be pulling for the $50,000 that would be earmarked for the Rose Garden and the $40,000 for the pedestrian bridge study. Of course, these projects would be competing against such items as a fire truck!

Fingers crossed.

Wait till Monday! (23)

(23rd in a series of posts on Lehigh University)

The Northside Commuter Lot mystery.

Anti-climax.

Gadfly did not speak at the Planning Commission yesterday.

Deep Throat advised him to hold his water for 96 hours.

To look for Lehigh to speak to the campus community Monday.

Questions to be answered.

 

Martin Tower: compare your ideas with the developers (7)

(7th in a series on Martin Tower)

Ever closer to implosion. Will Gadfly have to wear dark glasses? Mask, for sure — he’s downwind.

Nicole Radzievich, “Developers reveal what’s in store for the Martin Tower site.” Morning Call, March 13, 2019.

After Martin Tower vanishes from Bethlehem’s skyline this spring, developers plan to replace it with a $200 million development that includes 528 apartments, a 132-room hotel, a restaurant, three medical office buildings and a gas station.

The residential part of the project would be arranged in three-story garden apartments along the eastern side of the 53-acre property with the three-story medical offices and other commercial development closer to Eighth and Eaton avenues, which is near other medical office buildings.

The gas station/convenience store would be near the corner of Route 378. A tennis court and pool complementing the apartment complex are also planned.

There would be eight acres of open space along a tree-lined hillside on the eastern edge of the property and sidewalks that connect to the adjacent streets, trails and parks, according to a sketch plan submitted by owners Lewis Ronca and Norton Herrick.

The Planning Commission is expected to review it as a sketch plan at its April 11 meeting. Sketch plans are discussed but not voted on by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission votes on land development plans. . . . The concept calls for 74 percent residential, 14 percent office and 12 percent commercial/etail. The property would be subdivided into nine lots.

Alicia Miller Karner, director of the city’s community and economic development department, also raised questions about the lack of density and hoped to work with the developer to make sure it includes features that emphasize walkability and bicycle safety.

“Sounding Board: What would be best use of Martin Tower property?” Morning Call, March 14, 2019.

See above. This might be too late. But Call readers answer the question: what would be the best use of the property?

  • senior living apartments with coffee shop and bus service
  • let market forces decide
  • Amazon headquarters site
  • high-end apartments
  • a Movie Tavern

Gadfly asks time before the Planning Commission today (22)

(22nd in a series of posts on Lehigh University)

Thursday, March 14

Brent, Darlene, and members of the Planning Commission (except Ms. Cohen, for whom I do not have a permissible email). Lawyer Durso has been copied through her firm’s web site.

Good People:

Take #5

I understand that the Wind Creek Sign Waiver Request is on the agenda for today — apparently a visible sign that the long-awaited casino transfer is near. Exciting times. Great.

I didn’t hear that the Lehigh matter would be added to the agenda, but then again I see that I didn’t ask for notice so that I could prepare if it were possible for me to make a presentation. Let me ask now. Is it possible that we can re-visit 124 E. Morton today? Can I be recognized?

As more evidence that something is amiss in seeming City and Lehigh professed ignorance of this off-campus parking option before the PC: in an Oct./Nov. “additional FAQ’s” document, Lehigh answered these questions regarding the “Northside Commuter Lot” from concerned members on campus.

1) “Will there be a bike share location available at the North lot?” (You will remember that I believe it was Lawyer Durso at the very end of the 2/21 meeting who emphasized bikes as part of the solution in relation to the questions I raised. But the answer was no help from bikes here.)

2) “Will the North Lot shuttle schedule be expanded over time to accommodate people who work outside the designated hours?”

3) “How long will the wait be for the North Lot shuttle?”

4) “If the Commuter lot option is selected, where will staff park during Musikfest, Celtic Fest . . . ?”

Can there be any doubt that the Northside Commuter Lot is a definite part of the Lehigh parking plan though it was not included in their parking study presented to the City?

I remind you that Lehigh has announced plans to commence the first-come, first-served sign up system April 1, and on Feb. 26 the Lehigh representative announced to the Mayor’s South Side Task Force that construction on 124 will begin in June.

Now is the time to get some inconsistencies straightened out.

I hope to hear from you about today’s meeting.

Ed Gallagher

Attack on councilperson damages credibility (13)

(13th in a series of posts on Walkability and Bikeability)

Steve Melnick has had a career in economic development for over 35 years in several states, with the last 20 years here in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley.

Gadfly:

Several points of debate have been raised recently that speak to the walkability issue in Bethlehem. Unfortunately when they are used to denigrate the opinion of a current city council person, they lose much of their credibility.

The points raised by Professor Thode may, in certain cases, be valid. However, Bethlehem is a unique community, and his advocacy of high rise development in our two urban cores is nothing more than a thinly disguised attempt to justify the fact that our leaders have allowed or, in certain cases, been forced into allowing developers to build what they want, where they want, with little or no accountability for our existing zoning and planning regulations.

Why do we have historic districts, conservation overlays and other zoning and planning regulations if we continue to ignore them? By the way, what defines our urban cores? Where do they begin or end? Is Stefko Boulevard in the urban core? Is the Lehigh campus part of the urban core? Experts usually avoid ambiguous terminology because it can skew perceptions.

Walkability is more than having access to supermarkets and medical facilities. It is true that the North side urban core has low density population. I view that as a positive attribute. Other communities that have allowed the subdivision of grand old homes and buildings into a myriad of apartments have seen the disastrous results of those actions.

Allentown, our neighbor to the west, has seen numerous high rise developments built in the last few years. Ironically, this increased density and alleged criterion for walkability according to Dr. Thode has resulted in not a single supermarket being located inside the urban core. Indeed, the Giant supermarket and Wegmans are 4 and 5 miles away from center square respectively.

I guess in that category we, as residents, have to make a judgment. Do we want crowded residential development to justify a supermarket on the north side, or are we willing to drive to one outside of the urban core and preserve the architectural beauty of our historic district?

Demographically urban core supermarkets market to the residents that surround their site. The C Town market on the Southside is the perfect example. Its product mix and pricing reflects the neighborhood it serves. I believe this debunks the low population density argument for the southside.

By attacking a current council person for advocating for sound urban planning, Dr. Thode has completely revealed his bias. Currently developers in Bethlehem have been allowed to build what they want, where they want with no thought to the existing zoning and planning regulations. Could Dr. Thode have an ulterior motive for attacking a candidate using the cover of academic expertise? Food for thought.

Steve

Charter schools: a Catch 22 for public schools (15)

(15th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Gadfly:

I like school choice, too. I don’t like school choice that can be made at the expense of our public schools, which is what our current system amounts to. The system we have now essentially amounts to a Catch 22 for public schools. People pull their kids and put them in charters because they are unhappy about the quality of their education, which diverts more funding from public schools, which lowers the quality of education further, which results in the loss of more students to charters. This cycle goes round and round, with educational quality in public schools going down as it does. If something is broken we should fix it instead of continuing to divert resources to alternatives. The current system does just that.

Josh Popichak

Now where was I? Oh, yes, charter schools (14)

(14th in a series on Education and Charter Schools)

Gadfly went to sleep on charter schools. We were beginning to think about how they affect the Bethlehem Area School District. Through cost. Taking resources from other needs. They are funded through our tax dollars. And thus they affect us all through our wallets.

It’s been a month since Gadfly posted on charter schools. Let’s pick up the ball again.

In post 11 Where do all the students go and why? (11) we saw that approximately 2100 BASD students attend charter schools, about 13% of the total student population, at a cost of 29 million in charter tuition this year, which is roughly 10% of the budget.

And we saw that BASD-area students go to 12 charter schools, but about half to the Lehigh Valley Academy Charter School.

Gadfly suggested that we take a closer look to try to figure out why so many are going to charter schools and especially to LVA.

Gadfly has to admit he kinda likes the idea of choice.

We can see some differences in the schools that would account for their attraction.

Two follow structured national and international programs. LVA is “an IB World School.” International Baccalaureate. Circle of Seasons is based on the Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education.

Several have a special focus. Like the Arts. For instance, our Charter Arts on 3rd St. is “a place where being an artist is celebrated.” Admission is “academically blind.” Students are accepted based only upon their artistic talent and potential. They audition for acceptance into one of seven arts majors: dance, instrumental music, literary arts, production design, theatre, visual art, and vocal music

Interesting. If you have a special talent you want to develop, or if you simply believe that such training has a general beneficial and perhaps utilitarian value, you can choose a school with a specific focus.

One looks very career/job oriented. Executive Education says “Our unique business education program is designed to meet the needs of the Lehigh Valley.  With the growth of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, we want to be able to provide quality employees for new jobs that are made available by this growth.”

Several have a multicultural or dual language emphasis. Appealing, perhaps, to immigrant populations.

The Lincoln founder “dreamed” of opening a public school where “at-promise” children and youth, who live in “at-risk” environments, and who are deemed “at risk” by our society, would receive a free, high-quality public education. As one of their students said, it was created “for students who want or need a second chance to have a better future.”

One has a mission statement quoting the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy. Wow!

Interesting range.

And like I said, I kinda like the idea of choice.

So Gadfly is getting more and more the idea that the “problem” with charter schools is not so much the curricular aims but how the schools are funded and how they are accountable.

Let’s come back next time and look in a bit more detail at LVA, the choice of about half of our BASD charter school students.