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This is as close as I can get to my apartment in Chicago on Google Maps. (See Google Street View steers Clear of Obama’s Neighborhood.) Here is an aerial view from Bing Maps:
tags: annarbor, chicago, dc, providence
Having discovered the C-SPAN Video Library this morning, I came across this Q&A with Michelle Rhee, the new Chancellor of the DC Public School system. She sounds competent and I am of excited to see what she will accomplish. Here is some background on her from the New York Times.
Ms. Rhee, 37, a Korean-American, will be the first schools chief in 40 years who is not black. In Washington, 95 percent of the districtâs public school students are black.
And Ms. Rhee has never run a school or a school system before. Not even a little one.
But she seems undaunted by the criticism and the challenges ahead, pointing out that through the teacher project, she has volumes of experience with many largely minority, urban systems. Sitting down recently with parents and community leaders, Ms. Rhee recalled, she looked around the room and said: “I know what youâre all thinking. Whatâs this Korean lady doing here?”
“How did you know?” blurted out a woman in the front row, as the room broke out in laughter.
“Thatâs O.K.,” Ms. Rhee answered. “We can get it out of the way now.”
In the interview, she said she has found that racial differences dissipate as parents understand her motivation. “I have never met a single parent who did not want the same things for their kids that I want for their kids,” she said.
Ambiance of Metro Might Take a Sharp Turn:
Zachary M. Schrag, who wrote “The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro,” said those at Metro haven’t always been aware of its architectural significance. “It’s one of the three great works of public architecture in Washington since World War II,” he said, along with the National Gallery’s East Wing and Dulles International Airport.
Even changing the color of the blinking platform edge lights at Metro Center from white to red was a “massive departure from the landmark architectural design,” Schrag said. Metro is testing different-colored light-emitting diode bulbs that are more energy-efficient. Red means stop, and Metro wants to see whether that will keep riders from getting too close to the platform edge.
A few riders have noticed the change. “The red ones are ugly,” said Mary Burke, who rides the Green and Red lines. “They look like the gates of Hell.”
Many riders, while appreciative of Metro’s unique architecture, say their priority is reliability. “It’s a Cadillac system, and that’s part of the problem,” said Fred Marinucci, a Red Line commuter for 20 years. “It’s hard to maintain a Cadillac system.”
Still, the more time riders have spent on the New York subway, the more they appreciate everything that makes the Washington Metro different.
In New York, “it’s not a question of red lights or white lights at the platform,” Schrag said. “It’s a question of how much gum you’re standing in.”
That’s right. I hope they don’t change it too much. The Metro is one of the few bragging points for us. Let’s not mess it up.
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Did you know they they make video games in Bethesda? (Well, technically Rockville.) The Business section had an article on Bethesda Softworks the other day, An Inside Play to Sway Video Gamers. The best part of the article was an illustration from Fallout 3, which takes place in a post apocalyptic war Washington. Check it out:
I never though someone would make a video game that takes place in somewhere like DC.
tags: dc, gaming, webloggish
The bill seeks to increase the House permanently to 437 seats, from 435. In a bipartisan compromise, one seat would go to the overwhelmingly Democratic District, which has a nonvoting delegate in the House. The other would go to the next state in line to pick up a seat based on the 2000 Census: Utah, which leans Republican. Several Republican House members assailed the bill this week, noting that the Constitution reserves representation for residents of states, not districts. Supporters countered with a section of the Constitution known as the “District Clause,” which gives Congress sweeping powers over the city. Legal scholars have disagreed over who is right.
tags: dc, news, webloggish