Tuesday Tidbits: Why Joe Biden rocks, WAPO Wonder bread, power and sex in the church and another broken bone

Why Joe Biden rocks
I've been a fan of Sen. Joe Biden's for one simple reason: he is a no-nonsense guy unafraid to speak his mind. It's a shame his presidential run didn't get very far ironically in part because of his forthrightness. If you missed his op-ed in last Friday's Wall Street Journal, I suggest you give it a look. There's also a video bit on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program below. Biden for veep? Secretary of State?

He does a nice job of talking about the current administration's squandered opportunities. There's this:

At the heart of this failure is an obsession with the "war on terrorism" that ignores larger forces shaping the world: the emergence of China, India, Russia and Europe; the spread of lethal weapons and dangerous diseases; uncertain supplies of energy, food and water; the persistence of poverty; ethnic animosities and state failures; a rapidly warming planet; the challenge to nation states from above and below.

Instead, Mr. Bush has turned a small number of radical groups that hate America into a 10-foot tall existential monster that dictates every move we make.

And this:

Terrorism is a means, not an end, and very different groups and countries are using it toward very different goals. Messrs. Bush and McCain lump together, as a single threat, extremist groups and states more at odds with each other than with us: Sunnis and Shiites, Persians and Arabs, Iraq and Iran, al Qaeda and Shiite militias. If they can't identify the enemy or describe the war we're fighting, it's difficult to see how we will win. (Bold is mine.)

Wonder Bread at WAPO op-ed
Last week was one of those weeks when I was working in triage mode getting through various deadlines so I missed getting some things posted that caught my eye. One was WAPO ombud Deborah Howell's look at the complexion of the paper's op-ed pages.

I love the Post, but I have to agree that its op-ed pages are so vanilla that I tend not to read them very often. The old tucks have been holding court so long (and vociferously) that I'm sure there's a "why bother" mentality of some would-be contributors.

But the answer to why bother is that this nation desperately needs to hear new voices. It's the only way to ensure our democracy, which frankly feels "less than" these days. And that's partly because we've been living under an administration that labels citizens as unpatriotic for having a difference of opinion. I saw a bumper sticker on a car in the Bay Village Library today that said, and I'm paraphrasing: Dissent is the truest form of patriotism. If you know anything of Bay Village, you know that it just warms my heart to know that there are few others like me in this town.

A variation of the same could be said of the Catholic church.

Power and sex in the Catholic church
On Thursday, June 5, Cleveland-based FutureChurch welcomes Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson who will speak on his book, "Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus." Father Donald Cozzens, who used to be a frequent celebrant at my church and is now teaching at John Carroll University, wrote the forward. The public lecture will be held at 7 p.m. at 3430 Rocky River Drive.

This is one of only 10 stops on his U.S. tour. He's been banned from speaking on church property in some places and word is Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon is not pleased with his appearance here in Cleveland, but (at least for now) is allowing it to take place.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese banned him because he believes his work is counter to doctrinal teaching. I wonder if Mahony has even read the book. Here's what he wrote to Robinson.

I have come to learn that you new book is being investigated by the Australian Bishops' Conference because of concerns about doctrinal errors and other statements in the book contrary to Church teaching.

I have also learned that His Eminence, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops, has urged you to cancel your visit to the United States.

Consequently, I am hereby requesting that your cancel you visit to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles now set for June 12, 2008. Canon 763 makes it clear that the Diocesan Bishop must safeguard the preaching of God's Word and the teachings of the Church in his own Diocese. Under the provisions of Canon 763, I hereby deny you permission to speak in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

What are they so afraid of that they would seek to deny someone's opportunity to have a voice? More to the point: WWJD?

Another broken bone
My little Mikey broke his wrist on Friday while riding his bike home from a friend's house. A very kind mom drove him and his bike home and I wish I knew who she was so I could properly thank her. (I was at my neighbor's and she had left by the time my older boys found me.) Today he is sporting a royal blue cast that goes above his elbow and is already filled with signatures from his friends and teachers. He wouldn't let me sign it first because he didn't want me to spoil the clean look. So I signed after school in very large lettering on the under side of his arm, "LOVE, MOM (smiley face)."

Fortunately, we are only looking at a total of four weeks for this injury and at most, some lost baseball games, a week or two of three-on-three summer hoops and some pool time.

My baby must have been on my brain because I had one of those bizarre dreams in the early dawn today where I was getting everyone off to school—high school and middle school—when a 2-year-old version of Mikey came around the corner and said, "Hi, Mama." And a surprised me said, "Hi, Baby Boy." It was so real that I could see and smell his little toddler face, with his precious little cheeks, his chubby bare feet and his long, fluttery eyelashes.

It was the very best kind of sweetness. Unfortunately, at a beefy 9 years old, there's no way I could balance him on my hip these days.




Word of the day
Manichean: a believer in religious or philosophical dualism
Example: "You're either with us or against us." — President George W. Bush

Latest Monitor story: 'Foreclosure tourism' is a ticket to opportunity

Here's a link to my latest story and audio in today's Christian Science Monitor, which provides an unusual look at the foreclosure crisis.

Monday odds and ends

I'm trying to keep my Mondays and Fridays as "office" days so I can sift through the myriad items requiring constant follow up. I spent the weekend proofing pages for a book project so my tired eyeballs could really use a break.

In addition to following up with folks I haven't seen in a while (thanks to the SPJ DSA), I'm also going through my reviewer checklists for fall titles from publishers, getting my writer's group submission together and setting up interviews for upcoming story assignments. Once the mail arrives, I'm also hoping to update my May receivables.

Meanwhile, I found an interesting contradiction in today's Plain Dealer that I thought I'd toss out for your reading and commenting pleasure. Did you happen to see the full-page ad on the back of the A-section for St. Martin de Porres High School? The ad states that every one of the 50 seniors of this private school for those of modest means was accepted into at least one college or university. Cool, huh?

There's no story in the paper on this school, but there IS a cover Arts & Life story on idol nonsense. Are you kidding? It's not as if "American Idol" is some new phenomenon sweeping the nation. It's a tired TV show with sinking viewership. WHY give valuable editorial space to Idol when the achievements of students at an alternative inner-city school are reduced to having sponsors (Forest City) buy ads for them?

If Idol is deemed such a cool story by the editors, throw it up on the web, where the cool "Idol" fans are anyway. I highly doubt they are reading the print version of the paper.

A new kind of urban school, committed to transforming students and preparing them for college deserves better than an ad.

This Catholic college-prep school is not run by the Diocese of Cleveland, but is one of 19 schools across the country in the Cristo Rey Network. Check out the 60 Minutes video about Cristo Rey in Chicago and tell me if you could get through the last 30 seconds without tears. Students, some of whom lack supportive home environments, are in school four days a week for a longer period of time during the day and then work one day at local companies, such as Forest City and even The Plain Dealer!

It's founding supporters are: The Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus, The Sisters of the Humility of Mary, The Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

I spoke with Kim Mantia, associate director of advancement for St. Martin de Porres, who tells me that she scheduled a college signing day with the top 11 students in the class of 2008 (the school's first graduating seniors) and no one from media showed. Now if this involved athletic scholarships, you can bet the city's sportswriters would be there.

A PD photographer who was covering the school during its first year in 2004 did come and he admitted it had been a while since he saw the students (as freshmen), when the paper was committed to observing and writing about its efforts. I certainly hope the PD plans to follow up because if you have any inkling of how difficult education reform is, you'll realize that success of this kind is truly inspirational and contagious.

Regardless of what they do, I plan to write about St. Martin de Porres because I happen to know a little something about education reform efforts. And the school's success is a BIG deal.

Word of the day
dichotomy: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities

UPDATE: My SPJ/DSA speech from today

The Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored me today with the chapter's Distinguished Service Award. I was proud to receive the award today at the City Club along with fellow honoree David Marburger. We also honored this year's SPJ scholarship winner, Melissa Kory, from North Ridgeville High School. I was so happy to have my good friend and fellow writer Jill Miller Zimon as presenter. Here's her speech, which was so incredible in that she sought out the input of so many friends. Thank you, friend.

Thank you, Jill, my dear friend and number-one traveling companion. You’ve been an important part of my professional growth. I’m glad to have you beside me.

Thank you to Betty Clapp and Steve FitzGerald and the rest of the Cleveland board for this great honor. I have one question: Didn’t anyone bother to consult Jerry Masek’s travel schedule before setting this date?

I want to congratulate my fellow honoree, David Marburger. Even though I could never afford to have you defend me in a lawsuit, I am grateful to know that you are working on behalf of journalists in Ohio. Well done, David.

And to Melissa Kory, whom I’ve just had the pleasure of meeting. Congratulations on earning your scholarship. Cleveland SPJ is proud of the ranks of young journalists it has supported over the years. As anyone who has ever served on the scholarship committee will tell you, it’s the best work we do. May you find the pursuit of journalism as rich, fulfilling, challenging, frustrating, inspiring and hopeful as I have.

This event marks the first time in my nearly 20 years as a journalist that my family life has crossed paths with my professional life. My parents, Chuck and Nancy Lewis, are here as is my husband, Dan, who frankly bears the brunt of all my professional frustrations. I’m so thankful for their love and support and patience when I am off on my crusades. Even though they are not here, I am profoundly inspired daily and hourly by my three boys—Ryan, Patrick and Michael. They represent the very best part of me.

***

I once heard someone describe journalists as frustrated idealists. I think that’s a fitting description of me and certainly of my work with SPJ.

I never really paused long enough to reflect on the work I was doing. I was so busy “doing.” My efforts with SPJ and leadership were always centered on inclusion. That’s why I joined in the first place. SPJ gave me a sense of belonging to my chosen profession.

From the very beginning of my professional involvement, however, I was challenging an organization that I felt was not inclusive or lacked strong communication. I counted myself fortunate, because for most of my off and on 22 years in SPJ, leaders listened when I questioned.

In January 1993, I was coming off of my first maternity leave. I was a weekly reporter for The Sun Press and frustrated because I wanted to become a better journalist and there were so few opportunities to learn. I was incensed when I learned that SPJ had held its national convention in Cleveland in the fall of 1992 and I, working at one of the city’s major news organizations, had no knowledge of that event happening.

I went to my first Cleveland chapter board meeting when my now 6’2” son was only eight weeks old with the intent of giving them a piece of my mind. Instead, I found myself volunteering at the tender age of 25 to chair the 1996 regional convention in Cleveland. It was three years away—plenty of time to get my SPJ sea legs.

And so I did, learning from the elder statesmen of the Cleveland chapter, especially Faye Sholiton, Tony Kozlowski, Jerry Masek, Lee Bailey, Stan Bullard, Bob Tayek and so many others who were all important to my development as an SPJ leader.

We join professional organizations out of the belief that it will somehow translate into work, preferably paying work. While that was never my primary motivator, my work with SPJ did lead to a job as assistant editor at a city magazine on the recommendation of Faye Sholiton, who was impressed by my management of the 1996 Regional. Just a few weeks ago I had my first story published in the Christian Science Monitor based on contact I had with the editor through the SPJ National Freelance Committee. A follow-up story will be in next week's Monitor.

No question I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities through SPJ. I’ve traveled to Texas, New York City, Tampa, Chicago and Las Vegas. I was one of the only female speakers at the East Asia Journalist Conference in Seoul, South Korea, where I also gave toasts, sang karaoke and drank boilermakers with journalists from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. I’ve fetched coffee for Gay Talese at an SPJ narrative workshop in Alabama (a service only previously rendered for my dad) and conducted an exclusive interview in Las Vegas with New York Times reporter Judith Miller just after her release from prison. I introduced William Zinsser, a journalistic hero of mine before an audience of hundreds in New York City in 2004.

I’ve written columns urging professionalism in freelancing, listening in leadership and caution in legislating press freedoms. I’ve interviewed some of journalism’s greatest practitioners, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Dana Priest and New Orleans Times-Picayune Editor Jim Amoss.

I’ve spoken about my work and encouraged good friends and colleagues to do the same. I’ve planned national conference panels and facilitated at the Ted Scripps Leadership Retreat. In fact, this June marks the first time in five years that I won’t be in Indianapolis for the annual leadership retreat.

And I’ve tried—through my articles, panels, e-mails and conversations—to demonstrate that the way we traditionally view journalism is limiting and that if SPJ was to survive into the future, it needed to broaden its concept of journalists. And that good, timely communication is a key component of that effort.

Just because we don’t work in a newsroom doesn’t mean we are not serious journalists. I’ve talked with freelance investigative journalists exposing medical malpractice on a broad scale, backpack journalists who travel the globe collecting vibrant video images in addition to words and storytellers whose gift for narrative through written and spoken word speaks to the humanity in us all.

This is all very exciting, but it isn’t necessarily happening in newsrooms.

Independent journalists, in order to survive, are naturally more entrepreneurial and experimental, which is why I pushed so hard for the freelance committee. How journalism is done is changing and I felt that for independent journalists offered depth and innovative thinking to SPJ’s ranks that it sorely lacked.

I talk a lot about making connections and bringing people together. That’s how I view leadership—sharing a vision in which people naturally feel a stake and are willing to get involved to make that vision a reality.

A good leader understands that HOW you say something is as important as WHAT you say.

When I questioned SPJ’s national leadership on a decision made last summer, I was told that if freelancers wanted to be involved in the many decisions SPJ leadership must make in short order, they could feel free to run for leadership.

Well, I was encouraged to run for SPJ’s national leadership ladder. But I had three very important reminders named Ryan, Patrick and Michael—of why my involvement with SPJ should rightly be limited.

During their preschool and early elementary years, I stayed away from SPJ, working out of my house to be near my three boys, something I continue to this day. But by 2001, I was getting calls from Jerry Masek to rejoin the board. If you know Jerry, you know how persistent he can be.

After a bit of a leadership shakeup I found myself as president of the chapter a year ahead of my term—and chair of the 2003 regional convention.

I was so grateful to have such terrific partners on the board, especially Jay Miller who was always supportive and helped me to see things that may have been obscured by my enthusiasm or lack of experience. He and the rest of the board tolerated my energy and agreed in 2002 to send me to my first national convention in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was not a good first national experience. I was so turned off by the old-boys-club that upon my return I fired off a series of e-mails to the national leadership challenging them on their openness. I touched a nerve with one who recognized that if the organization were viewed as closed and cliquish, it would not be very successful in attracting new and diverse members.

As a result of our e-mail exchanges, I learned about and accepted an invitation to attend my first Ted Scripps Leadership Retreat. There—while the national leaders stood in front of us one evening giving us a state of the society address—I pointed out the obvious contrast between the existing leadership and the future leaders in the audience. How could we be an organization committed to diversity when there was no one who looked like us or worked like us standing in front of the group?

To their great credit, the leaders of the time listened and recognized what I saying about the society’s public face and its goal to achieve diversity. The conversation that night turned to a frank discussion of the challenges and opportunities of serving nationally.

That would be my role. Nurturer for the ideals of SPJ on the one hand, critic when I felt the Society wasn’t living up to its mission to improve and protect journalism for all.

What makes me most proud as a member of SPJ is the work I did on behalf of freelance journalists. Up until I left last August, I was still pushing the society to get away from its newsroom culture and focus instead on individual journalists, however and wherever they did their work.

At the 2003 national convention in Tampa, I was struck by the number of freelancers in attendance, who had paid their own way hoping to become better journalists. We were milling around the halls of the convention because so much of the programming had little value unless you worked in a newsroom.

We talked over drinks and it was suggested that I attend the committee chairs meeting and inquire about starting a new national committee for freelancers to make sure our views were represented. By January 2004, we were up and running, fielding a number of inquiries from freelancers who had thought they would have to leave SPJ because they no longer worked in a newsroom.

I took the part-time position as membership manager for SPJ a few years later because I thought I could extend my work with freelancers and the Cleveland chapter to the rest of the organization.

It didn’t make sense to me that taking a paid position would suddenly alter the credibility of my input. But a paycheck effectively canceled out my ability to weigh in on matters affecting the national organization, something I had always felt comfortable doing.

My success, if indeed I had any in that position, was in implementing the early work of the freelance committee—a plastic membership card that could function as a press pass, and a searchable database of freelancers to help editors find qualified writers.

A year ago, when the database launched, freelancers were the largest growing segment of SPJ’s membership and their numbers were well over 500. That I was responsible in any way for making that happen made me incredibly proud.

I don’t want to go into the ugly details that caused my rift with SPJ national leadership. I’m sure it’s long forgotten. Suffice it to say that I felt the executive committee did not give due diligence to a legal matter, broke from its longstanding policy of not weighing in on labor/management issues because it has members of both, violated the hard-earned trust and support of a growing portion of its membership and willfully ignored the persistent and legitimate questions of two dedicated, long-time volunteers of the organization.

Under pressure from members, the board eventually reversed its decision. But the damage had been done. I had promised freelancers that SPJ cares about them just as surely as it cares about the many newsroom staffers in its ranks. I had sold members on inclusion.

Aside from reflecting a fundamental misunderstanding of the challenges and opportunities of working as an independent journalist, the leadership’s decision drew a line in the sand—the Society’s priority was protecting staffer jobs, even if that decision threw non-staffers under the bus. I had no choice but to resign.

Sometimes you have to rock the boat. Hell, sometimes you have to be willing to tip it over. You can’t be a journalist today and not recognize that it has never been more important to question even in the face of great adversity and accusations. And that demands courage and leadership—two things not always present in journalists.

But if you had 9,000 like-minded journalists, no matter where or how they worked, working equally hard and standing beside you then you could press forward in the face of pressure and subpoenas and threats of prison. THAT was the promise of SPJ.

I’ve tried to live that promise, to create a sense of fellowship—first here in Cleveland and later nationally—that we are united in our common purpose to improve and protect journalism.

My determination toward that end sometimes makes people uncomfortable. My husband says it gives him heartburn and honey, truly, I’m sorry about that. But I like to think that some of that fire is also what makes me a good journalist.

I confess that I was conflicted about receiving this award. I have not renewed my membership because I felt I needed some distance and perspective. My input was no longer valued. It was time to walk away and let others lead.

Aside from that, my achievements seem so micro in a profession that demands change on a macro level. I just wanted to make sure that the nation’s largest organization for journalists included ALL journalists, no matter how or where they work.

But as I stand here today, I realize that maybe change really IS made on the micro level, by bringing people along one by one. People like Jill, whom I first met four and a half years ago in an e-mail correspondence about the value of SPJ.

Or people like Jen Boresz, whom I first got to know in 2002 when she was Cleveland State’s student chapter president.

Or Amy Green, a freelancer in Orlando, Florida, who called a few weeks ago for my advice about becoming the next SPJ freelance chair. And the countless others I have met along the way.

It’s work I continue without my SPJ hat because I still believe you have to send the elevator back down. Countless people have taken the time to help or share information with me along my journey and I wouldn’t be standing here before you if they hadn’t bothered.

Being an SPJ leader for me has always been an ongoing struggle to balance the idealist with the realist. The Society will celebrate its centennial beginning next May. What will SPJ look like in the next 100 years? I will be watching to see which way the pendulum swings.

Thank you SPJ Cleveland for considering me worthy of the chapter’s highest honor.

Lighting a candle for Stephie

Bay Village tonight mourns the passing of 7-year-old Stephanie "Stephie" Lufkin. She was a first-grader at Normandy Elementary and the daughter of Bay Middle School sixth-grade teacher Katie Lufkin and her husband, Doug. Her Aunt Kelly is a photographer and has been capturing photos posted on flickr for the past few days that will break your heart.

Here's the obit on Stephie's grandmother and children's author Sara Holbrook's blog.

We're holding our children a little tighter tonight.

Pedaling for peace

"I believe in women taking a role to make peace in the area," Youssef adds. It's a perspective shared by most in the group: that dialogue by people like themselves, and not politicians behind closed doors, is the key to improving relations between countries and laying a foundation for peace.

From "Women on two wheels: A Middle East dialogue tour" in today's Christian Science Monitor.

Word of the day
buoyant: capable of maintaining a satisfactorily high level

Education reform is...

From Washington Post:

Reform "is like a bus -- you're either going to be on it [as a passenger] or you're going to be driving it," Greg Ahrnsbrak, a Denver teacher whose middle school received autonomy from the school system, told a crowd of educators at the Capital Hilton in downtown Washington today.

"I see no policy, as far as reform goes, from my union," he added. "We need people out there willing to take risks and do bold and imaginative things."

Education Sector, an independent think tank focused on better student outcomes, recently released a report on teacher views on reform, evolving profession and unions. Called Waiting to Be Won Over, the report contains these findings among others:

-- Three out of four teachers said they think too many burned-out veteran teachers refuse to leave because of the benefits and tenure.

-- Fifty-five percent said the process for removing ineffective teachers in their school systems is "very difficult and time-consuming."

-- Sixty-eight percent said they thought giving principals and teachers more control over schools would be better for students.

-- Twenty-five percent of the teachers said they would be willing to trade tenure for a $5,000 raise, while 29 percent said they would prefer to hold onto tenure.

Here's more educational food for thought this morning.

Should U.S. education be guaranteed?

Clay Shirky on cognitive surplus

Check this out from Web 2.0 Expo. The video is about 16 minutes, but well worth the time.



The entire presentation in couched in the context of a conversation he had with a TV producer pre-screening him for an appearance. His point: media targeted at you but not including you may not be worth sitting still for. Just ask your nearest preschooler.

Word of the day
audacity: the quality or state of having intrepid boldness

UB story: Benedictine seniors helping to end violence against women

Here's my latest feature in Friday's Catholic Universe Bulletin:

Benedictine seniors helping to end violence against women of the world
Senior Honors Theology project transforms beyond a graded effort; it’s now become an educational, social justice and charitable mission for change.
By Wendy A. Hoke

Spring sunshine is seeping into the windows at Benedictine High School where Senior Nathan Szabados is leading a discussion on the senior project. “We’re going to be planting a garden at Transitional Housing on West 25th Street,” he tells his classmates.

“Wednesday we need to make a meal for 50 people for Ronald McDonald House Meals the Heal,” he says. “We’re going to St. Ann’s to talk at the Masses, but I need someone to go to St. Gregory’s to talk about the project,” he says.

Szabados double-checks his list and then the group of about 25 breaks into small groups to tackle their assigned tasks.

What started as a senior project, something required for a grade, has morphed into a mission—to stop the cycle of violence against women. “Men of Benedictine Helping Women of the World” is their third-quarter senior project for Senior Honors Theology class.

“We did research and found that 50 percent of the area’s homeless are women and children affected by domestic violence,” says Jason Petroff. “It takes men to stop the violence.”

That an all-boys school is taking on the issue of domestic violence against women came as something of a surprise to area women’s shelters, says Szabados.

But they are passionate in their cause.

“This is one of those issues that doesn’t come up in society,” says Peter Barrett. “But not only does it affect the person who is abused, it also has a trickle-down affect for family and friends.”

When asked if any of the boys know someone who has been the victim of domestic violence, several nod solemnly. Beyond families, however, they also acknowledge the importance of discussing the issue with teens who may find themselves in abusive relationships.

“We’ve shared a lot of information,” says Barrett. “Nathan and I went to Regina High School and gave our presentation to five different classes. We also sold tickets to our benefit concert,” he says.

The concert, held March 16 at The Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, featured bands with Benedictine students and benefited the group’s project to the tune of $1,400.

“It was a forum to raise awareness,” says Barrett. Education is one part of the project.

Another is charity. Szabados contacted shelters to find ways to help, and so they are providing food and items needed to help the women.

“That’s the closest we can get to the root of the problem here,” says Barrett. But they are finding ways to use their time, too.

“Nathan has done a good job of identifying where we can go out and help to cook a meal or plant a garden,” says Petroff.

Of the money raised, 40 percent goes toward battered women’s shelters. The remaining 60 percent will be donated to a micro-financing Web site called Kiva www.kiva.org. “The site allows for loans to people in third-world countries that are paid back with low interest,” explains Riley Smith.

On a Mother’s Day Luncheon on May 4th, $1,500 of the $2,500 raised so far will be given to the moms, sisters, grandmothers and girlfriends of the boys to invest in the Kiva entrepreneur of their choosing right from the luncheon via three computers.

“We’re trying to get women who are important to us choose who they want the money to go to,” says Szabados.

There’s a symbolic purpose to this, say the boys. The money was donated to on a local level and will partially be used to support local battered women’s shelters. But it also is being channeled into supporting women of the world to become more financially self-sufficient.

“They can see their money making a difference and hopefully that will inspire them to keep going with this effort, not just in school but also beyond that,” says Stephan Dober.

Indeed, the boys would like to broaden the project to make sure it continues with younger grades and to reach out to parent and alumni groups.

“The project started as something we were doing for a grade,” says Petroff. “But after a while it stopped being about that and now we’re just doing it because we want to.”

“I realized there are different ways to help people,” says Szabados. “It’s not just about putting in time, but also spreading the word,” which he has done through the Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice, news media, masses and parent networks.

“I’m learning more about this issue as I’m forced to write about it to share in our presentations,” he says. “It’s not just a class now, it’s an organization.”

To donate to Benedictine High School Love Fund, call (216) 641-7053. You can drop of nonperishable foods, paper products or gift cards at Benedictine High School, 2900 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Or you can visit www.cbhs.net.

Word of the day
vellum: a fine-grained unsplit lambskin, kidskin, or calfskin prepared especially for writing on or for binding books

The perfect summer tennies

When I was in college in the 1980s, there wasn't a spring or summer that came without me sporting a new pair of Tretorn tennis shoes. Those were the warm-weather counterpoint to the L.L. Bean blucher moccasins of fall and winter.

I preferred the white canvas style, but would mix it up with the color of V on the side of the shoe (kinda like the Nike swoosh). My favorite was a pair with pink and blue plaid V that happened to match a pair of pink and blue madras shorts I had. Ultimate prep for sure, but this was the eighties.

The best part about Tretorns was the terry cloth insole, perfect for wearing with no socks and far more breathable than, say, your leather Keds. Plus, they look great with tan legs.

I decided that this spring I was going to go retro and sport a pair so I set about Googling them. I'll admit to a bit of sticker shock—$55 a pair! I'm sure I used to pick them up at TJ Maxx for $17.99. Not sure who carries them in stores today, but they are certainly available online.

American Eagle's new Martin + Osa line is even carrying a more modern version of the Tretorn. For my money, I want the traditional, terry-lined insole. They will be perfect to wear while riding my new (hopefully) bike that I want for Mother's Day. I've declare a moratorium on driving in Bay Village this summer in protest of outrageous gas prices. But that's another post.

Tuesday's hodge podge

We don't teach to the test...
If that's true then why did my third-grader bring home six—count 'em, six!—practice Ohio Achievement Tests last week alone? We've had them coming home and notes about how best to prepare for six weeks now. Extra help sessions for an hour after school twice a week and the occasional phone call home. Ugh! I shudder to think about what they are NOT learning in order to prepare for this test.

Journalism students get better GPAs?
PD reports today that high school students who participate in some form of journalism—newspaper or yearbook—"earn higher grade-point averages, score better on college entrance exams and demonstrate better writing and grammar skills in college compared with students who were not involved with their school's newspaper or yearbook." This is from a study by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

I'm not sure how it is in high school, but in my experience college journalism majors tended to get lower grades because they were so consumed with writing for the newspaper at the expense of their class work.

Storyteller blogs
Some of my fellow storytellers in the rapidly ending KnowledgeWorks project are blogging. Check out Tiny Mantras, Prefers Her Fantasy Life and Goat Bomb. A quick word about each.

Tracy Zollinger Turner of Tiny Mantras has raised mommy blogging many notches with her blogging about her son, Declan. Nice to see such an intellectual blog about being a mom. She's a veteran blogger, having been online for many years. But this one is particularly great.

Peggie Cypher, and her red-headed alter-ego Meg, is outrageous, provocative, funny, thoughtful and somewhat obsessive about certain topics (namely Wilco, John Cusack, hoppy beer and Colin Farrell) on Prefers Her Fantasy Life. But she's always surprising and entertaining. Behind the wit and occasional rant is another mother of three just trying to keep all aspects of her life humming in tune.

Please, please encourage Phil Neal of Goat Bomb to keep blogging. He has recently taken a full-time job, which will hinder his time. But he's also one of the most creative writers and thinkers. When we experimented by building out scenes in someone else's story at a workshop, he ran away with the grand prize for creativity. Egg him on because I think he'll be a unique blogging voice once he's done enough to get hooked. C'mon, Phil! We want some more.

Journos aren't having any fun
Well, at least the ones who don't embrace change as a good thing. Reminds me of teachers. Both professions are being thrust into a role of ongoing change and neither seems to attract people especially equipped to handle it.

The cure, I believe, is to get out of the malaise of group think that permeates newsrooms. Step aside, take a deep breath and inhale the possibilities. Amy Gahran takes a look at this fun-less phenomenon in Poynter this week.

In particular, engaging directly with your community can be fun and rewarding. Learning to monitor and improve the spread and impact of your work can be fun. And the process of learning anything new at all also can be a lot of fun. In fact, that basic craving for continual learning is what drew many of us to journalism in the first place. Remember that?

What's new at Creative Ink?
You may have noticed the addition of a photo on the Creative Ink banner. Or not. In case you're wondering, that's the early morning surf on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It's one of my favorite places to relax and unwind. I first wrote about it here. I find tremendous inspiration at the beach and that's another reason I've added the photo, to illustrate a source of creative inspiration for me. Plus, I think the photo makes the page look more interesting. What do you think? Do you have a favorite place?

Busy, busy, busy week
I'm working on another assignment for the Christian Science Monitor, revising my 10,000-word narrative on education reform at Cleveland Heights High School, working on a grant application, preparing for my monthly writers group, and reporting on a market for a writing newsletter.

Word of the day
highfalutin: expressed in or marked by the use of high-flown bombastic language (I like the word bombastic. Very onomatopoeic.)

A gift from friends

Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" was partly a magnificent gift from friends who in 1956 gave her a year's salary as a Christmas present so that she could devote all her time to writing. After writing, rewriting and nearly losing the pages to the New York winter, Lee's novel was finally published in 1960. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961.

Writers send their darlings out into the world with every hope and prayer that they won't be squashed on arrival. It is a most anxious time when the work leaves the writers hands and when it appears in its final form. Lee, who turns 82 today, had nothing to worry about. It was well received and included this from a Washington Post reviewer: "A hundred pounds of sermons on tolerance, or an equal measure of invective deploring the lack of it, will weigh far less in the scale of enlightenment than a mere 18 ounces of new fiction bearing the title To Kill a Mockingbird."

Her book is now required reading in high schools around the country.

"I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers but, at the same time, I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected."

Word of the day
denizen: one that frequents a place

In springtime, LAX rules!

Springtime means lacrosse in our household. While Ryan has given up playing this year in order to bulk up and prepare for football, Patrick has taken to the sport like a duck to water. As a seventh-grader, he plays on the combined seventh/eighth team at Bay Middle School. We're still learning the rules of the game, but it is very fun to watch. Here is Patrick, a midfielder or "middie," under pressure from Mentor players as he runs down the field with the ball. The Rockets won both games in last week's tri-meet against Mentor and then Gilmour Academy.

A 9-year-old's assessment of the NFL Draft

Today's NFL Draft begins at 3 p.m., but Michael has been talking about it since he woke up about 20 minutes ago. SportsCenter has been on since he came down. So while I'm getting caught up reading the New York Times Book Review, Mikey is giving me a rundown on today's draft. He does this often, always quizzing me on where a player went to college or who plays the best spread offense.

First going to the Dolphins in Chris Long. (He's been fascinated with the story of Howie Long's son since the Easter Bunny brought him a Sporting News NFL Draft magazine.)

Second going to the Raiders is Jake Long, he's an offensive tackle, you know, from Michigan. (Because, of course I should know this.)

Third is Glenn Dorsey going to Baltimore. He's that defensive end, number 72 from LSU. He's really good at tackling and sacking.

Fourth going to the San Francisco 49ers is Brian Brohm from Louisville. He's a QB.

Fifth going to the St. Louis Rams from Boston College, Matt Ryan, a quarterback.

Sixth is Andre Woodson, that quarterback from Kentucky going to the Houston Texans.

Seventh is Colt Brennan from Hawaii going to New Orleans Saints.

Darren McFadden is a running/quarterback. He plays both but he'll go to the Denver Broncos.

Going to New York Jets is Rashard Mendenhall from Illinois. He's a running back.

Going to the Detroit Lions is Mario Manningham from the University of Michigan. He's a wide receiver.

Browns don't have a first-round pick.

Those are my predictions. I'm psyched to see the draft cause there are so many good players.

And there you have it. Mikey's 2008 NFL draft predictions.

New Catalyst Ohio on college access online

Preparing an entire issue of a magazine to address issues of access to college in the state of Ohio is a mighty big challenge. It becomes even more complicated when the governor announces a major new initiative during his state of the state address that adds a new program to the discussion mid-way through the editorial production cycle.

That's what we faced with the April/May issue of Catalyst Ohio magazine, now available online. I've been serving as consulting editor there while Editor Charlise Lyles is engaged as a Kiplinger Fellow at The Ohio State University.

You're not an editor if you're not flexible. So we regrouped and and got another story assigned to look at Seniors to Sophomores (when not many in the state really had any notion as to what this program would look like, how it would be funded and how far-reaching it would be). I hope you'll take the time to read the work of some pretty dedicated professionals.

Word of the day
idiom: the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class

UB features and the end of an era

In addition to the Monitor story from yesterday, this has been a big writing month for me. I'm heading to Columbus tomorrow for the final KnowledgeWorks writing workshop, which will be a longer narrative on the past four years of education reform at Cleveland Heights High School. More on that later this week. For the third consecutive year, I've written mini-profiles of Judson's Smart Living award-winners. I'll link to those once they are posted online.

Friday's Catholic Universe Bulletin contains two of my stories, both are online. One is a profile of Tim Warneka, who has written a book about Catholic servant leadership. The other is a feature on Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Euclid, which this year commemorates the 150th anniversary of the last apparition of Mary before Bernadette in Lourdes, France.

Though I'm sure it won't be marked in the annals of Cleveland journalism history, this issue also marked the last for editor Dennis Sadowski. Last week, as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington, D.C., so too did Dennis. He's taken a position as a reporter/editor there with Catholic News Service.

I've known Dennis since the early 1990s. For the past three years, I've written regularly for him and I've gotten to know and respect his journalistic sensibilities. He trusted me to explore a new dimension to my writing when I approached him with a very vague idea I had about writing about Thomas Merton. He gave me permission to let my ideas wander and the freedom of time needed to make a story great. The Merton story went on to win first place in religion coverage in the 2006 Ohio SPJ Awards and I went on to become a regular contributor to the UB. Good writers appreciate good editors. It is a match made in heaven and is built on trust and knowledge of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Dennis knew how to match story assignments to the writer. His e-mails usually began something like, "I've got a great story for you." And he was nearly always correct.

Few people stay in the same job for the duration of their career these days, but Dennis was at the UB for 10 years, almost a mini-lifetime. So I thought I'd share a bit from his farewell column.

"After living my entire life within an hour or two of Lorain, God is challenging me to move from my comfort zone—yes, even working at the UB had gotten to be rather comfortable—to experience new horizons in a world full of hurt and hope. My hope and prayer is that I will continue to follow God's plan with grace and kindness and with as little anxiety as possible.

"Thanks, Cleveland, for putting your faith and trust in me to tell your stories."

Here are the latest stories.

Warneka builds on the principles of service
By Wendy A. Hoke

Tim Warneka has the peaceful expression of a Buddhist monk, approaching his Catholic faith in a Zen-like manner by giving his full attention to others. It’s a skill he’s been perfecting all of his adult life.

He combines all of his influences spanning nearly 20 years as a psychologist and black belt in Aikido to pioneer the concept of Catholic Servant Leadership, which takes the principles of servant leadership (service to others, collaboration, trust, empathy) and applies the Catholic faith as an overlay.

His book, “Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership,” provides a guide for discussion on how to use Aikido, emotional intelligence, servant leadership and tenants of Catholic faith to become a better leader.

“God was grooming me for a number of years,” says Warneka, a resident of Wickliffe and member of St. Noel Parish, Willoughby Hills. He spent his early years in Lakewood, attending St. Clement Parish and School where his parents were very active.

“I remember being in the church basement so often and realizing that there’s meaning here, that this place changes people’s lives and not just on Sunday,” he says.

Catholicism was like breathing, it was just there and his parents modeled faith and leadership in action. They led retreats, were active in the pro-life movement and hosted a Vietnamese family to live in their basement for six months.

But when he was in fifth grade, his family moved from the tight-knit Irish-Catholic community to Perry, where he first encountered peers with divorced parents, a Protestant community and public schools.

“It was rocky. I had my first experience of being marginalized because I entered a community in which friendships were made by first grade. I was on the outside,” he says.

He learned to appreciate different perspectives as a result.

But it was as a student at the University of Dayton that he found his calling. He met the Marianists and describes that as “life-changing.”

“They started handing me books to read and it was all over. I knew this was what I wanted to do,” he says.

He considered the Marianist novitiate for a while and even contemplated entering the Trappists, but one summer break he met his wife, Beth, who was working in a Catholic bookstore. He switched his major to psychology and never looked back.

Heavily influenced by the writing of Carl Jung, Thomas Merton, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Thich Nhat Hanh, Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, Warneka says he developed a deep respect for the individual subjective experience.

“To see the Marianists live that out was inspiring. They always had time for people. I came from a large high school and a family with eight people in the house. No one had time for anyone. But at UD, even the president of the university knew me by name. There, my reading and life experience came together,” he says.

After graduate school he became a psychologist, but today calls himself a life coach. “It’s therapy for people who don’t want to call it therapy,” he explains.

While he was in grad school at Loyola of Chicago, Warneka stumbled upon the other great influence in his life. He had been reading about Aikido, which is a nonviolent martial art that seeks to protect the person who attacks you. He walked into a center on All Saint’s Day in 1989 and found an international seminar taking place with one of the master’s from Japan.

“It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. The teacher moved like water through the students and around them. His movements were so refined and androgynous,” he says.
So what pulls his Catholic faith and his martial arts and his psychology together?

“Embodiment. Our culture is very anti-body. Being embodied is front and central to what it means to be Catholic. It’s in our basic prayers. People have the answers inside them. They just need to get clear and quiet long enough to hear what’s inside of them,” he believes.

Warneka hopes that his book and his Catholic Servant Leadership philosophy will take root and build awareness that we all have potential to be a leader if only we allow ourselves to be aware of our bodies and our emotions.

For more information on Catholic Servant Leadership, visit www.catholicservantleader.com

Hoke is a freelance writer.

A hundred little blessings
Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine celebrates 150 years of grace, devotion
By Wendy A. Hoke

EUCLID-When Vincent Mancuso was 10 years old he was visiting Little Italy for the Feast of the Assumption when someone accidentally shoved him. He fell and the pair of scissors in his hand pierced his right eye, leaving him blind.

The next month, his parents took him to Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Euclid for the annual closing of the grotto Mass. “My mother told me, ‘Wash your eye with the water.’ And so I did. When we got home I said, ‘Ma, Pa, I can see.’ They didn’t believe me. But when they took me to the doctor they learned that I could see,” says Mancuso, who turned 90 this month.

Over the next 80 years, that right eye has suffered from a detached retina and cataracts, but he still has vision. “Our Lady has always pulled me through,” he says.

Sister Rochelle Guertal, of the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity, director of the shrine, says they don’t proclaim any miracles of healing at the shrine, but rather count a number of blessings or graces, much like Mancuso’s. Indeed, an enclosed case on the grounds holds a crutches, braces and glasses no longer needed by those who were “healed.”

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France, where the Blessed Mother appeared in a series of apparitions in 1858 to a young girl named Bernadette. Euclid is home to the national shrine and is joining in the celebration.

Situated on top of a hill overlooking Euclid Avenue, the shrine stands today as an oasis of peace and devotion. When in full bloom, stately trees buffer the sound of the traffic below.

After the Civil War, the property was a vineyard, home to “Euclid grapes,” known for their distinctive flavor seasoned by Lake Erie breezes. Julia Harms, who owned the land with her husband, was a devout Catholic who always had a vision of the Blessed Mother on the property. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd would regularly pick grapes at the vineyard, so in 1920 when the Harms children decided to sell the land, the Good Shepherd Sisters took over.

Two years later, while on a trip to the motherhouse in France, the sisters were inspired to build a grotto similar to Lourdes on their site. And they were given a unique treasure from a Dominican priest--a piece of the stone being hewn into a statute of the Blessed Mother on the site where she appeared before Bernadette in Lourdes.

Today, that noted piece of stone is embedded into the rock of the grotto where the water flows over it and into a pool. The treasure makes Cleveland’s shrine unique among others throughout the country, including the grotto at the University of Notre Dame.

Over the years the Sisters of the Good Shepherd diminished in size and by 1952, the Trinitarian Sisters were looking for more property. They found the shrine, were given permission by Archbishop Edward F. Hoban, then bishop of Cleveland, to transfer their novitiate and continue the work of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Under their supervision the shrine has expanded to accommodate visitors from more than 44 countries and a number of regular devotees.

“Some people are hoping for miracles when they come,” says Sister Guertal. “I explain that sometimes the miracle is acceptance and that can be a bigger miracle than healing.”

More than anything, the shrine gives people an opportunity to silence to noise of modern life and to listen to God. “People come to be open to the Lord through the Blessed Mother. When they do, things happen,” Sister Guertal says.

Mass is held outside in front of the grotto at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday from May through October (weather permitting). Novenas, rosary processions and Stations of the Cross also are prayed regularly. The shrine remains open throughout the year.

Hoke is a freelance writer.

Word of the day
contemplative: a person who practices concentration on spiritual things as a form of private devotion

Christian Science Monitor carries my story on John Boyd

My profile of Cleveland Ward 6 City Council candidate John Boyd just went live on the Christian Science Monitor Web site. The story is teased on the front page of tomorrow's print edition and will run on page 20 as the Backstory feature.

The Monitor also includes a two-minute audio interview with me, which was nerve-wracking on a Sunday morning when the whole family is home, but ultimately a very cool experience.

Thanks to Bill Rieter, whom I've worked with many times on Catholic Universe Bulletin stories, for being available to shoot photos on short notice.

UPDATE 4/21 / 8 am: I had hoped the article would generate discussion, but that seems to be taking place this morning over at Writes Like She Talks.

Review: "Wit's End"

I didn't read Karen Joy Fowler's book, "The Jane Austen Book Club." I'm not sure why, but I remember reading a book blurb and just feeling as if I didn't get the point. That's not to say, of course, that many others haven't read the book and enjoyed it immensely. I mean, it was on the bestseller list for a spell.

When I got a publisher's copy of her new novel, "Wit's End," I decided to give it a try.

Despite the creepy cover photo of a giant green eye peering into a tiny door (more about that later), I went into the story with an open mind because the subtitle said: "What happens when your readers steal your characters?"

And the press materials went on about her exploration of the online life of fan fiction. Cool. Seems new and provocative. A side of online life I've not yet experienced.

Except that I really for the life of me can't figure out what this book is about.

It starts out with Shaker Heights native Rima Lanisell, who has lost her mother (a long time ago, I think), her father (of a long illness) and her brother (suddenly when he crashed the car while drunk). Familial relationships were bizarre with her weirdly close relationship with her younger brother, Oliver, and her strangely distant relationship with her father, Bim, who was a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer.

She was horrified by her father's revelation of things in his columns like her first crush. One Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist once told me that after a certain age (say 12-13), permission is required to write about your children's personal mishaps. Old Bim would have done well to follow that advice.

Anyway, Rima has left all of this misery and her middle school teaching job behind to visit her godmother, Addison Early at her home, Wit's End in Santa Cruz, Calif. Addison is a mega mystery author known as A.B. Early. And the people who inhabit Wit's End are all a little bizarre and I guess serve as surrogate family for the grieving Rima.

Addison, who has her own bizarre upbringing in that her parents were actually brother and sister—a fact only revealed to her when her "father" announced he was getting married and would now be her "uncle"—holes up in her studio working on her latest Maxwell Lane novel. She's written a bunch, including one with the character of Bim Lanisell, Rima's father, in which Bim kills his wife (Rima's mom?).

Apparently that novel iced the relationship between the real Bim and Addison, who from near as I can gather became tight while reporters covering the same story. In fact, it is sort of revealed though never really explained that Addison had an unrequited crush on the much-older Bim.

Rima becomes obsessed with a fan from Holy City, home to a mid-20th century cult led by an overweight, charismatic leader named William Riker and a place where Bim and Addison first met. And there are references to what she finds on wikipedias and blog entries.

In fact, that foray into the online fan world reveals that her life (and that of her dead brother's) has been speculated on by some of A.B. Early's fans. How? Not really sure. Because fact and fiction all seem to roll together in this story.

Addison and Rima are strangers and it's hard to feel as if they ever actually bond. Rima goes on her own little adventure with a crazed fan and learns something about Addison's real father, which seems to cause the book to jump the shark at the end rather then pull the meandering narrative strings together. Why do I say this? Because at the end, the character of Maxwell Lane—Addison's star sleuth—becomes an avatar in a new Web-based story and Rima talks to him as if he were real.

Confused? Yeah, so was I. I'm not sure what story Fowler was trying to tell. But I'll never look at doll houses in quite the same way. I never had one, but my sister did—and does. Addison used them to stage the murders in miniature for her novels. Very creepy.

Getting a taste of the writer's challenge

Last night I printed off a draft of a story I'm working on for my husband to read. It was 2,000 words and needed to be shaved down to about 1,200. He balked at first. "I'm not a journalist, what would I know about what needs to be cut?"

"Just give it a read and see where there are places that don't move the story forward," I told him, with pleading eyes.

I've never asked this of him before, but this story is for a new (to me) national market and I really needed someone to give me another perspective. I know he's very interested in the subject, so I felt he was the perfect first reader. Well, there's that and the fact that I've threatened on occasion to leave him out of my book acknowledgments (when I eventually write a book) because he never reads what I write.

He was a captive audience and I took advantage. I'll hand you your dinner when you read my draft.

Immediately he started in and noticed a missing word or two. I handed him a red pen and the power that comes whence. He kept shaking his head and I'll admit I was worried. When he finished he said, "I don't know how you're going to cut this. Everything flows and it all seems to be so important to the story."

Welcome to my world, to the journalist's world. Where half is the most we are permitted sometimes.

He was good at identifying main themes in the story and really good and picking up those missed words (a, is, in, etc.), the ones we tend to lose when our fingers and brains move too quickly.

I was glad to have his comments. But I still needed to make cuts. So I slept on the story and ripped into it again today. It was tough, but there's a point in rewriting when you're less sympathetic to your own writing, but only a tiny bit and only because you eventually want to be finished with the story.

When he called I was just finishing the final touches. I read it to him over the phone. "What did you cut? It sounds like you didn't lose anything?"

That, my dear, is the point.

Word of the day
riposte: a retaliatory verbal sally

And one more today on writers v. editors

Couldn't resist sharing this gem by Michael Kinsley in Time.

When I was an editor, I reasoned like an editor. But these days I am a full-time writer, and I have put away the editorial mind-set. Now I say, before you criticize writers, you should write a piece in their shoes.

Did you say paranoid? Is it paranoid to wonder why an editor hasn't returned your calls for two weeks, even though she has been sitting on your piece for four? Did you say egomaniacal? What self-respecting egomaniac would put up with the enraging powerlessness of the freelance writer, totally dependent on the whims of half-literate editors for a pathetic drip-drip-drip of income. Oh, for a regular paycheck and health care, so you wouldn't have to suck up to some jerk of an editor for the next mortgage payment. ("Yes, I see. You want it to be iambic pentameter with internal rhymes. I've never read an analysis of the political situation in Pakistan done that way before. What a good idea!")

So this is an apology to any writers I may have treated callously over my years as an editor. If I didn't answer your e-mail, I'm sorry. If the check was late or the amount less than agreed on, please forgive me. If I shut my office door, turned off the lights and hid under the desk when I heard you coming, I deeply regret such childish behavior.

On the Internet, they don't have editors. Or they don't have many. Writers rule, and a thought can go straight from your head onto the Net. That used to sound hellish. Now it sounds like heaven.

Happy Tax Day!

I realize, of course, that the title of this post is an oxymoron, particularly for the self-employed. But, as luck would have it, somehow my hubby and I have managed to survive another tax season relatively intact. Of course, we have the benefit of a wonderful accountant who every year my husband says, "Whatever we're paying her it's not enough." Or, "That's the best money we spend."

And so it is with all good humor that I share this post from Salon freelance writer Catherine Price. Enjoy the chuckle. As for me, I am showered and heading to the coffee shop to finish writing a story.

Sleuthing through an ancient text

In some small way I suppose I fancy myself a bit of a detective, only I use my sleuthing in uncovering what's not been written about others. This story in today's Christian Science Monitor about the restoration of the Archimedes Codex is exactly the kind of work I'd like to do were I not a writer.

The Archimedes texts were copied in the 10th century by an unknown scribe in Constantinople, then a major center of the Christian world eventually to become a center of the Islamic world. Three centuries later, another scribe washed, scraped, and otherwise tried to remove the text from the book's parchment. This person undid the book, rebound it in the opposite direction, then, on the imperfectly cleared pages, wrote his Christian prayers in Greek over the original text, which was also in Greek, and still discernible in a faint rust-colored thread running beneath. This procedure was common in medieval times: Parchment was scarce. Thus, the Archimedes Codex became a palimpsest, a twice-used book.

The findings gleaned from it have raised Archimedes's status as a thinker higher than anyone might have expected. Noel describes him as "the most important scientist who ever lived."

Most significant among the discoveries was the knowledge that "Archimedes was the first to calculate with actual infinity in the mathematics of the West." That is to say, he was operating at an intellectual level that didn't become common in the mathematical world until the 17th century, nearly 2,000 years after his time. The Archimedean texts, Noel writes, make the mathematics of Leonardo da Vinci "look like child's play."

Will Noel, one of the curators at the Walters Museum in Baltimore who worked on the restoration, admitted he originally harbored a "simmering animosity" toward the person who defaced Archimedes original work. But as he later came to realize, this person protected the valuable information contained so that it would remain, albeit buried, some 2,000 years later.

Word of the day
equivocal: of uncertain nature or classification

Swamped and loving it

When work is in the toilet and you're an independent, it's standard practice to start throwing stuff out to see what sticks. After about six months of not trying very hard to get new projects, I found myself in dire need of a kick in the ass.

I got one in the form of my taxable income for 2007. Tax time can be an eye-opener. Over the past six weeks, however, I've launched an all-out marketing assault. For the next few weeks, I may have limited posts here because so much has come in over the transom. Some of it I sought, others sought me.

I'm amazed at how certain organizational tools—marketing sheet, budget, revenue projections, invoice tracking—led to a stronger sense of purpose in the kinds of work I want to pursue. All pistons are firing (but I better not say that too loudly or I might jinx myself).

The next two months are going to require more time than usual to get it all done, but it's such delicious stuff. Here's a little taste of what I'm working on:

Five stories for the Universe Bulletin:
• Our Lady of Lourdes 150th anniversary
• Profile of pioneer in Catholic Servant Leadership
• Feature on high school student senior project
• Vatican Splendors exhibition at WRHS
• St. John's Bible at John Carroll University

Mini-profiles for the 2008 Judson Smart Living award-winners

Final editing for April/May Catalyst Ohio magazine

Copy editing for Kovel Antiques & Collectibles Price List 2009, published by Black Dog & Leventhal

Final KnowledgeWorks narrative (about 12,000 words)

Feature for new national Sunday newspaper insert

Feature for Christian Science Monitor

Market report for ASJA newsletter

Ideas beget more ideas and my pitching cup runneth over so I'm sure this list will continue to grow. Enough mini-celebrating; it's back to work. I'll be posting and linking to finished work here in the next few weeks. Don't mind if I give myself a little, "Woo Hoo!"

Word of the day
prolific: marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity

Writing advice from Barbara Kingsolver

"I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer's block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don't. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done." — Novelist Barbara Kingsolver on her job as a technical writer

Last week I finished reading her book, "The Poisonwood Bible." While I don't have the time this week or next to give it an appropriate review, I will just say that it ranks as one of the finest novels I've ever read. The first 75-100 pages are slow-moving, but it picks up after that and for the next 475 pages. A riveting portrait of women's survival, a country struggling for independence and America's subterranean presence.

Ted Gup: "Attendance is mandatory"

CWRU professor, journalist and author Ted Gup has a terrific piece in the April 11, 2008, issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education titled, "So Much for the Information Age."

He begins:

I teach a seminar called "Secrecy: Forbidden Knowledge." I recently asked my class of 16 freshmen and sophomores, many of whom had graduated in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes and had dazzling SAT scores, how many had heard the word "rendition."

Not one hand went up.

This is after four years of the word appearing on the front pages of the nation's newspapers, on network and cable news, and online. This is after years of highly publicized lawsuits, Congressional inquiries, and international controversy and condemnation. This is after the release of a Hollywood film of that title, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

I was dumbstruck. Finally one hand went up, and the student sheepishly asked if rendition had anything to do with a version of a movie or a play.

I nodded charitably, then attempted to define the word in its more public context.

The timing of my reading this piece is interesting because I had just concluded a phone interview with a woman who was a native of England, but has lived in the states for 40-plus years. She was expressing her concern about the American educational system's lack of attention to civics, geography and basic world history.

Gup shares a similar concern, stating that for all its supposed connectivity, this cohort remains remarkably out of touch with the world.

In recent years I have administered a dumbed-down quiz on current events and history early in each semester to get a sense of what my students know and don't know. Initially I worried that its simplicity would insult them, but my fears were unfounded. The results have been, well, horrifying.

Nearly half of a recent class could not name a single country that bordered Israel. In an introductory journalism class, 11 of 18 students could not name what country Kabul was in, although we have been at war there for half a decade. Last fall only one in 21 students could name the U.S. secretary of defense. Given a list of four countries — China, Cuba, India, and Japan — not one of those same 21 students could identify India and Japan as democracies. Their grasp of history was little better. The question of when the Civil War was fought invited an array of responses — half a dozen were off by a decade or more. Some students thought that Islam was the principal religion of South America, that Roe v. Wade was about slavery, that 50 justices sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, that the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1975. You get the picture, and it isn't pretty.

These are college students at a prestigious university, presumably interested in pursuing journalism. And they don't know that Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan. Or that India is a democracy. Or that South America is largely Catholic continent!

Gup's point to his students is that attendance to his class is mandatory; it only works if everyone participates. The same, he says, can be said of a democracy.

High school—and probably middle school—history teachers should take the first five minutes of class weekly or even daily to have a current events quiz. Make it three to five questions, but use it as a test to see if students are reading, listening to or watching the news. Our democracy depends on an informed, engaged citizenry.

Word of the day
dunderhead: dunce; blockhead

Celebrating Lady Day

"Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain." — Billie Holiday

Today is the birthday of Billie Holiday, born Eleanora Fagan, in Philadelphia in 1915. She is, quite simply, one of my all-time favorite vocalists. I love that she never sang the same way twice. Her singing reflected her mood. She led a tragic life, which led to an untimely death at the age of 44, but her influence lives on. She is a legend.

Here's Billie singing my favorite song. It's not so much the lyrics of this song as it is the emotion with which she delivers this performance. The longing is palpable and it's hard to listen without feeling it in the deepest recesses of your soul—the place where your heart is most vulnerable.



Billie's music is nighttime music. So tonight, turn out the lights, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, and put Billie on the stereo. And then offer up a toast to legends living and deceased.

Word of the day
luminous: emitting or reflecting usually steady, suffused, or glowing light

Did you know?

The Pony Express only lasted 19 months. Pony Express Mail Service was started on this day in 1860, with the first run—from its home base in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California— taking 10 days to cover 2,000 miles. It quickly became obsolete when Western Union Telegraph lines were completed in 1861.

Word of the day
obstinate: perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

Curiosity as female trait

"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery." — Victor Hugo

Maybe this is why women make such great (albeit underpaid) journalists...

Widening income gap

Here's lovely little stat from the March/April issue of Columbia Journalism Review from a 2002 Indiana University national survey of journalists:

"...researchers found the median salary of female journalists to be $37,731—nearly 20 percent lower than the $46,758 pulled down by male journalists, a wage gap that widens as journalists grow older and more experienced."

A wage gap that widens as journalists grow older and more experienced??? Are you kidding?? No wonder women leave this profession in droves.

The article isn't available online, but the gist is that female journalists can get along in this business if they either become "one of the boys" (and still get paid less despite having "more education, better contacts and broader personal networks") or choose to become "one of the girls" writing about those subjects that benefit from the "women's angle."

Blech!

Taking a shot in the dark

H/T to Michelle O'Neill for sending a link to this piece by writer Cornelia Read. It's long and somewhat winding, but if you know anyone touched by autism it is time well spent. Hell, it's time well spent if you care about good public health policy, accountability, reliable journalism, doctors/researchers with a backbone, curtailing special interests.... I could go on and on.

At dispute is thimerosal, which was used as a preservative in childhood vaccines. If you have a child born between 1989 and 2003, he or she received vaccines with this preservative containing mercury. My kids were born in 1992, 1994 and 1999. When my youngest was born, I remember expressing horror at the number of vaccinations he received at one time. Of course, he got them because that's what pediatricians recommended.

Do you remember those chubby little thighs getting poked two, three and four times a visit? The silent cry of your child, followed by the wail? The colorful band-aids quickly applied to cover up the prick? The suggestion of Motrin to alleviate any pain? The warnings of reactions to the shots that you presumed would never come? You scoop up your baby and snuggle him or her close knowing you have at least a few more weeks reprieve before they are stuck once again. I'm not disputing the great advantage of childhood immunizations (though I resisted the chicken pox vaccine for many years because of its newness and only succumbed when all my efforts to expose my children to the chicken pox had failed).

I don't know what the answer to catastrophic autism rates are, but I do know that good research must continue on all fronts and that calling a matter "closed" is scientifically unsound and could detrimentally impact hundreds of thousands of children. I have many more questions about this issue than answers.

What happens when all of these autistic children become adults? What happens to the veracity of research when findings are whitewashed to benefit a desired outcome? How does that impact researchers in general, not just for autism? Search for the cure for cancer...unless you discover something financially devastating...and then we'll have to alter your findings.

As a journalist, if you take a look at some of the mainstream news articles about this issue, journalists are quick to point to the CDC as the authority on this issue, often discounting the parent perspective or that of researchers or even public officials who have expressed concern. In addition to the failure of the public health community, it appears the mainstream media may have added insult to injury. Better scrutiny to studies, statements, legislation and money must be paid.

Read's post references articles in:
Time
Rolling Stone (see related on MSNBC)
Dr. Marcia Angell, who took a parting shot at pharmaceutical companies when she left her post as editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine

Kennedy is an attorney and environmentalist who has spent years working on issues of mercury toxicity. He frequently encountered mothers of autistic children imploring him to look at the link between mercury-based thimerosal and autism rates. He was skeptical, until he read the Simpsonwood transcripts referenced below.

From Kennedy's Rolling Stone article informed by documents obtained through Freedom of Information request.

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Georgia. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The agency had issued no public announcement of the session -- only private invitations to fifty-two attendees. There were high-level officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the top vaccine specialist from the World Health Organization in Geneva and representatives of every major vaccine manufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly "embargoed." There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.

The federal officials and industry representatives had assembled to discuss a disturbing new study that raised alarming questions about the safety of a host of common childhood vaccines administered to infants and young children. According to a CDC epidemiologist named Tom Verstraeten, who had analyzed the agency's massive database containing the medical records of 100,000 children, a mercury-based preservative in the vaccines -- thimerosal -- appeared to be responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and a host of other neurological disorders among children. "I was actually stunned by what I saw," Verstraeten told those assembled at Simpsonwood, citing the staggering number of earlier studies that indicate a link between thimerosal and speech delays, attention-deficit disorder, hyperactivity and autism. Since 1991, when the CDC and the FDA had recommended that three additional vaccines laced with the preservative be given to extremely young infants -- in one case, within hours of birth -- the estimated number of cases of autism had increased fifteenfold, from one in every 2,500 children to one in 166 children.

Even for scientists and doctors accustomed to confronting issues of life and death, the findings were frightening. "You can play with this all you want," Dr. Bill Weil, a consultant for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the group. The results "are statistically significant." Dr. Richard Johnston, an immunologist and pediatrician from the University of Colorado whose grandson had been born early on the morning of the meeting's first day, was even more alarmed. "My gut feeling?" he said. "Forgive this personal comment -- I do not want my grandson to get a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we know better what is going on."

But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry's bottom line. "We are in a bad position from the standpoint of defending any lawsuits," said Dr. Robert Brent, a pediatrician at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. "This will be a resource to our very busy plaintiff attorneys in this country." Dr. Bob Chen, head of vaccine safety for the CDC, expressed relief that "given the sensitivity of the information, we have been able to keep it out of the hands of, let's say, less responsible hands." Dr. John Clements, vaccines advisor at the World Health Organization, declared that "perhaps this study should not have been done at all." He added that "the research results have to be handled," warning that the study "will be taken by others and will be used in other ways beyond the control of this group."

… The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to "rule out" the chemical's link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten's findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been "lost" and could not be replicated. And to thwart the Freedom of Information Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine records over to a private company, declaring it off-limits to researchers. By the time Verstraeten finally published his study in 2003, he had gone to work for GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to bury the link between thimerosal and autism.

And then there's this conflicting statement in the New York Times following the vaccine court's decision in favor of Hannah Poling:

“Let me be very clear that the government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism,” Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. “That is a complete mischaracterization of the findings of the case and a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today.”

Sure would be nice to get to the truth or even some approximation of truth. The government phased out thimerosal in vaccines by 2003, the CDC and FDA bought up a bunch of the leftovers and shipped it off to developing countries (!!). Some it left here to be used in vaccines for older children (presumably better able to tolerate the mercury levels). Lost in all this discussion of mercury levels and public health policy and who pays what are the hundreds of thousands of children who have been diagnosed with autism and their families.

I'll leave you with this snip from Cornelia Read in the comment section of her post:

Brett, as you no doubt know I've got fraternal twin girls. They had the same shots at the same ages--same lots, same doctors, etc.

One was the "dominant twin" the first year--hit all her milestones first, etc. Between 12 and 13 months she stopped looking up when we said her name, stopped most of her babbling (they'd both been using words by that point), stopped looking us in the eye, stopped playing with her sister. By the time she was two and a half, she had completely lost her language. She's never spoken again, except for repeating a phrase someone else said twice, over the last 12 years.

...

I try really, really hard not to imagine what life would have been like if they were BOTH okay, because if I think about that, it makes me break down and sob every damn time.

When I read that description of Hannah Poling, I had to leave the computer for about an hour, because I know just what that was like for her parents--to watch a child recede from you when there's not a DAMN thing anyone can tell you about it, and certainly not a damn thing they can do to stop it.

To find out over the years that there might have been a way to stop it, that the government might have been able to act in time to save several hundred thousand children from this horror (and probably millions more around the world), is goddamn heartbreaking.

Word of the day
obtuse: lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect

Robert Frost on poetry

"A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching out toward expression, an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the word." — Robert Frost (born March 26, 1874)

Word of the day
doppelganger: a ghostly counterpart of a living person: 2) an alter ego

The sparkle of a rainy day

The calendar may say spring, but in Northeast Ohio we know there are many gray and rainy days to endure before the sun's warmth coaxes reluctant buds to open. Living so close to Lake Erie means spring also brings a blanket of fog that is pulled back the further inland you drive.

So while we may gripe and groan about the weather, Christian Science Monitor assistant photo editor Joanne Ciccarello explains how "a rainy day has its own sparkle."

Word of the day
vexing: causing or likely to cause trouble, distress or agitation