"Congrats On Not Failing"

Four hundred students formed the Titans' Class of 2008 at a ceremony held last week. Each grad was allotted two tickets to the ceremony, but an occasion this auspicious called for all 3 of us to attend. I thought I'd be able to get 1 additional person (Jessica) into the ceremony. We'd advised grandparents that seating was restricted, and we knew it would be nearly impossible to smuggle 4 more people in.

We decided that John and Jessica would use the tickets. "I'm Andrew's Mom," ought to have been enough to get me into the gym. At the door, two bouncers directed me to wait along the wall. Apparently, being Andrew's mom didn't hold the gravitas of 'I'm with the band'.

Some of us who were waiting along the wall might be allowed in if space permitted, after everyone had taken their seats. If not, I was welcome to watch the ceremony via CCTV in the auditorium.

Soon, an unused single ticket was turned over to the door security. Since I was the only 'single' waiting along the wall, I was allowed to pass. From our seats in the 2nd-last row I could see a bit of the stage apron.

John snapped this picture before Andrew walked up on the stage to receive his diploma. Folder in hand, Andrew then walked down the stairs and along the aisle where John was waiting for the grand close-up......but the battery didn't have enough charge to use the camera.

For your benefit, I've outlined Andrew in the queue (click photo to enlarge). Take my word for it, he received his diploma; hence the headline - a quote from Jessica's praises to her brother after the ceremony.

Sign Of The Apostrophe

From this sign, I understand that a person named JOB is looking for work.

Suggested reading for the employment agency that posted this sign:

Tags [Outdoor Advertising]
[Look for a Job] [Punctuation]

You Are A Genius!

This blog is rated at Genius.
You read this blog.
Ergo, you are a genius!

Summary	Value
Total sentences (landing page)	1069
Total words (landing page)	4065
Words with 1 Syllable	2025
Words with 2 Syllables	892
Words with 3 Syllables	519
Words with 4 or more Syllables	629
Percentage of word with three or more syllables	28.24%
Average Syllables per Word	1.94
Gunning Fog Index	12.82
Flesch-Kincaid Grade	8.77

The Gunning-Fog Index and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level results indicate approximately how many years of schooling it would take someone to understand the content.



Gunning-Fog Index Algorithm =
(average_words_sentence + number_words_three_syllables_plus) * 0.4
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Algorithm =
(0.39 * average_words_sentence) + (11.8 * average_syllables_word) - 15.9


Tags: [Readability Tests]  [Critics Rant]
[Gunning-Fog Index]  [Flesch-Kincaid Level]
[Good Will Hunting]

Put Away the 'Discrimination' Placards

Stacey Fearnall, a waitress at Nathaniel's Restaurant in Owen Sound, was laid off after she shaved her hair off in a local fundraiser for a cancer charity.

The 36-year-old raised almost $2,700 in pledges over four months and then had her thick, red locks shaved off in a local Cops for Cancer event on the weekend...When she showed up for work Tuesday at Nathaniel's restaurant in Owen Sound, an upscale eatery, her employers told her to take the summer off -- without pay.     (Full article...)

In April, Fearnall approached owners Jeff Ferris and Dan Hilliard. They told Fearnall "they would not be pleased" if she shaved her head in the fundraiser. They encouraged her to participate in a way that would not affect her job at Nathaniel's.

At first, I thought this was a case of a woman who lost her job because of her cancer.
That would be discrimination.
That's not what happened here at all.

Rather, and despite being warned, Fearnall chose to participate in the fundraiser by shaving her head. Removing her hair violated Nathaniel's dress code standard for employees. They're allowed to outline acceptable standards. Tim Horton's doesn't allow visible piercings. Show up for a shift with a nose stud and you'll be sent home. McDonald's doesn't allow a visible tattoo; cover it or go home.

And she wasn't fired. She was laid off until she was able to comply with the company's expectations. Hilliard offered some accommodations to her, by suggesting she cover her head - a hat appropriate to the restaurant's ambiance would have been sufficient - and return to work.

If Fearnall lost her hair due to alopecia, chemotherapy or any unavoidable circumstances, and was fired my reaction would be completely different.

Sorry, but I can't turn the wheel of sympathy for her. She made her choice - the fundraiser over her job. She knew that consequences at work were likely. Ferris and Hilliard are just following through.

Poorly handled? For sure. Discrimination? No.

I commend her on the contribution to the fundraising...but the charity should have come up with a different name - Cops for Cancer? Are the police in Grey-Bruce really FOR cancer?


[Stacey Fearnall]  [Nathaniel's Restaurant]
[Owen Sound]  [Cops for Cancer]
[Ontario Human Rights Commission]

Photo by: James Masters (Owen Sound Sun Times)

Schools Advised to Reject Middle Class

Professor John White, a member of a committee established to advise on curriculum changes in the U.K., will explain the suggestion that 'middle class' academic subjects should be removed from the national curriculum in junior high schools.

Children should no longer be taught traditional subjects at school because they are "middle-class" creations, the advisory panel concluded. Lessons should instead cover a series of personal skills.
Pupils would no longer study history, geography and science but learn skills such as energy-saving and civic responsibility through projects and themes.     ..the full article..
Energy conservation is a meaningful unit within a broader science course; ecology and conservation belong in geography; civic responsibility lessons are a by-product of studying history. It's necessary to understand how the past influences the present and predicts the future.

Available at chapters.indigo.ca

Geography, history, science and the arts are underfunded in education now - partly because funding levels consider student achievement on standardized tests. The standard tests focus on English and Math, yet an entire generation struggles with arithmetic, grammar, reading comprehension and writing. The panel's report claims that 'the aims [of changing the curriculum] include fostering a model pupil who "values personal relationships, is a responsible and caring citizen, is entrepreneurial, able to manage risk and committed to sustainable development".'

I support these goals, but I don't understand how removing social sciences is going to achieve them; however, I see there may be a buyer for my proposed course on Communication for Youth.

Among the units covered in my suggested class would be Communicating in Spontaneous Situations (Small Talk) and Conventions of Conversation.
The course would cover initiating, participating in and ending conversations. We'd discuss using humor, irony and sarcasm effectively, as well as the importance of thinking before speaking.

I can't decide if Communication for Youth will be a prerequisite or co-requisite of my proposed Common Sense 101.
I'll see what Professor White and his pals think.

Tags: [Prof. John White]  [Curriculum Review Committee]
["Middle Class" Subjects]
[Mark Bauerlein]  [The Dumbest Generation]

Prank Turns Into Pane in the A$$

Three men in The Netherlands ran down a street in Utrecht with their pants pulled down in the back 'for a joke' ... At one point the 21-year-old 'pushed his behind against the window of a restaurant' that broke and resulted in 'deep wounds to his derriere.'    (More...)

The owner of the restaurant did not press charges after the men agreed to pay for the repairs to the window.
This would be a great story if the restaurant happened to be called The Full Moon Cafe.

No doubt, the unnamed 21-year old will be the butt of jokes from his friends for a while.

The Devil's in the moon for mischief [Lord Byron (from Don Juan)]

Addendum 6-4-08: I can't help but wonder, if this had occurred in a more litigious country, would the Mooner sue the restaurant for faulty glass resulting in the serious injury to his butt?

Tags: [The Netherlands]  [Mooning Prank]
[Lord Byron]  [Don Juan]
[Full Moon Cafe]