I knew Ron Crick from our days together at William Jewell College. We both played guitar though he was a real musician and I was a wannabe folk hippie. He introduced me to the New York folk music scene, and I remember clearly the day we found a Tim Hardin album in a record bin down in a Kansas City record store named Penny Lane. We listened to that record for hours and Ron regaled me with stories about New York and music –all of it infused with his own unique brand of humor.
I called him from Grand Central in NYC one spring morning. I had gotten a ride to the Big Apple for spring break. I was there with no money and no place to stay. All I had was his offhand suggestion that I call him if I was ever in New York. His Dad answered the phone.
“Stay put,” Ron’s dad said. “I’m coming after you.” Ron’s Dad took a train from their house in New Jersey into Grand Central to pick me up and take me back to his house. He paid for everything. When Ron finally showed up at his parent’s house he found me drinking beer with his dad. Of course I would stay with him. Tomorrow we go into the city to hear music at the Café au Go Go.
That next morning we did yard work for a neighbor lady and earned $40 which was just enough to pay for admission and transportation. The Cafe au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of 152 Bleecker Street. The club featured many well known musical groups, folksingers and comedy acts between the opening in February 1964 until closing in October 1969.
The club was the first New York venue for the Grateful Dead. Richie Havens and the Blues Project were weekly regulars as well as Harvey Brooks who was bass player in residence, the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt played frequently. The Grateful Dead played 10 times in 1967 and 3 in 1969. Jimi Hendrix sat in with blues harp player James Cotton there in 1968. Van Morrison, Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Oscar Brown, Jr., the Youngbloods, the Siegel-Schwall Blues Band, John Hammond, Jr., The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Michael Bloomfield, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Chambers Brothers, Canned Heat, The Fugs, Odetta, Country Joe and the Fish, all played there. Blues legends Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House, Skip James, Bukka White, and Big Joe Williams performed at the club after being "rediscovered" in the '60s. Before many rock groups began performing there, the au Go Go was an oasis for jazz (Bill Evans, Stan Getz), comedy, and folk music
That night we saw Roger Mcguinn (Byrds), Tim Hardin, and a new group everyone was talking about, Blood Sweat and Tears with Al Cooper. It was a watershed moment in my life. On one side of us sat a couple dressed in a tuxedo and ball gown. On the other side were two children of the street, completely stoned and filled with joy. I was on hallowed ground at the very Zeitgeist of my generation.
This was the night Martin Luther King was shot, April 4, 1968. Al Cooper said the band was “broken up” by the event and would we mind if they just played all night. About 3:00 a.m. or so Ron and I began to walk the streets in New York City. Ron struck up a conversation with some fantastically beautiful African American women. They were hookers, the first I had ever met. One of them took me by the hand and said, “You better get out town as soon as you can. White boys are getting killed in this town tonight.” Ron did not waste a moment getting us back to New Jersey. I think that hooker saved our lives.
The next day I took a train through Harlem north to Connecticut and saw cars burning. I saw gangs of young people roaming and looting. I was scared and my view of the world was forever changed. I could tell Ron Crick stories all night! He made a difference in my life. I miss his mortal coil, but I celebrate his presence on this earth and in our lives.
Ron Crick died June 23, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Friday, June 14, 2013
Think Twice ABout College
It
is Friday and I’m just saying…..
·
The cost of a college education in 1980 was $11,000 (in 2012 dollars)
now it is $29,000.
·
The average debt
for a graduate in 2013 is $35,200.
·
Recent
studies indicate that after two years in college, 45% of students
showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, and 36% showed
little change. Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with
students a few decades ago.
· 35% of students report
spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone. Yet, despite an
"ever-growing emphasis" on study groups and collaborative projects,
students who study in groups tend to have lower gains in learning.
·
50% said they never took a
class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages; 32% never took
a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week. (These facts from USA
Today)
·
There were 1.9 million unemployed college graduates in October,
according to the Labor Department, a third of them younger than 35.
·
About half of young graduates are either unemployed or are working in
jobs that don’t require a college degree.
DOL
·
The median worker with a degree in counseling psychology earns
$29,000…. and those with degrees in early childhood education earn $36,000
·
In 2008, 81 percent of adults thought college were a worthwhile
investment. This year, 57 percent think so.
·
Nearly 30% of Americans with associate's degrees now make more than
those with bachelor's degrees, according to Georgetown University's Center on
Education and the Workforce. In fact, other recent research in several states
shows that, on average, community college graduates right out of school make
more than graduates of four-year universities.
·
The average wage for graduates of community colleges in Tennessee, for
instance, is $38,948 -- more than $1,300 higher than the average salaries for
graduates of the state's four-year institutions.
·
In Virginia,
recent graduates of community-college occupational and technical degree
programs make an average of $40,000. That’s an almost $2,500 more than recent
bachelor’s degree recipient.
·
Recent reports increasingly
show that bachelor’s-degree graduates are unprepared for the workplace.
According to a Chronicle of Higher Education/American Public Media’s
Marketplace survey
of 50,000 employers, half said they had trouble finding recent graduates
qualified to fill positions at their company, saying that many lack basic
qualifications such as adaptability, written and oral communication skills, decision-making,
and the ability to solve complex problems. –
·
When a college is merely passing along technology as skills, they can’t
always teach them what they’ll need tomorrow. The technology they learn today will be different five years
from now. -Create-Better-Prepared-Graduates.aspx#sthash.OrpdZ4h8.dpuf
·
Obtaining a college degree appears, in important ways, to be valuable
because it's a reliable signal of diligence and conformity. As an individual,
that's just something you should know. But as a society, we should ask whether
there isn't some more cost-effective way young people can show that they're
willing and able to pursue multiyear projects.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Mud, Baseball and Father's Day
My Dad knew how to get a
baseball field ready for play after a big rain.
The St. Joseph Little League City Championship game,
played sometime in the 1950’s, would never have been played if not for Walter
Dunn.
He brought in a helicopter
to dry the field.
Dad knew to soak sawdust
with a mixture of coal oil and gasoline and spread it on the dirt. I can still picture him raking the
flames. He raked mud into
submission and had a knack for getting 25 or 30 guys to spend an entire
Saturday getting a field ready so the boys could play.
When we moved to Savannah,
Missouri, Dad brought his field-drying magic with him.
He knew where the water
would stand at the Savannah Park softball field and had us out digging trenches
in the rain. We worked well into
the early mornings preparing
softball fields for district championship play.
Dad knew how to do make a
soggy mess into a manicured infield. Mostly, he enjoyed giving a kid a chance
to play ball.
He didn’t just dry fields
for the big games. Walter had a
sense that a schedule was to be honored and a game should be played. It was the game he loved; and, what a
kids becomes when he makes a fine play or blasts a hanging curve over an
outfielder’s head.
I’ve saw him many times
sitting in a grandstand, watching a baseball game, and picking blisters from
raking mud. He was the reason the kids got to play.
I don’t have a Dad to
surprise with breakfast in bed or a sentimental card.
I do have a memory
however, and my Dad shows up there at the strangest times.
There was the Memorial Day
that my brother and I sat behind home plate, picking our blisters from raking
mud and getting a ball field ready for play.
Neither of us had a kid in
the game. We just up and
volunteered to help get the field ready.
“Field looks pretty good,”
we said to each other, and then enjoyed seeing kids get to play.
My brother and I had a
great Dad, and we still want to be just like him from time to time.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Missouri Public School Advocates
Mark Twain once told a story about how the Russian government had withdrawn money from the public schools in order to support its military’s presence in China.
“This is a monstrous idea to us,” Twain said. “We believe that out of the public school grows the greatness of a nation.”
Twain then went on to recall there once was a proposition in Hannibal, MO to discontinue public schools because they were too expensive. “It is curious to reflect how history repeats itself the world over,” Twain said.
Now, a century later, Missouri legislators are at it again. Another day, another deterrent to funds for public education. Here are Show-Me State facts. Missouri ranking 41st among states in education funding with teacher pay at a dismaying 48th. The cause for this decline is the lack of effort at the state level. While the average state funds 46 percent of school cost, our state is at a miserable 29 percent. On the college side, the picture is bleak. College tuition has almost doubled at state universities in ten years. Ten years ago, Missouri was above average nationally in the percent of its population having a bachelor’s degree or more. Now, we have fallen into the bottom third. Today, students and their parents are being asked to subsidize the valuable research and development done by our universities as well as fund aid to disadvantaged but deserving young people.
That’s why the Missouri Public School Advocates was founded, to ensure the stability and strength of Missouri public schools, colleges and universities. No matter what well-funded, out-of-state, critics want you to believe, Missouri schools are doing good work.
Over the past 20 years in Missouri, ACT scores and high school graduation rates have gone up, while the dropout rate has steadily declined. Finally, more than 900,000 of Missouri children k-12 grades attend Missouri public schools. That’s 90 percent of school-aged children! Another 140,000 attend a public university or college in Missouri. The vast majority of Missourians are products of the public school system. We are all mostly public school graduates. When you read the negative attacks on the public schools, it should be personal. That criticism is about you. It’s about me. It’s about your friends, family and neighbors their children and grandchildren! Had enough?
If you believe that public education is the cornerstone of democracy and are tired others trying to feather their own nest at the expense of children, it is time to stand up for public education. The Missouri Public School Advocate website http://mopublicschooladvocates.org/ has attribution for every fact I’ve written.
Please consider joining the people who love their Missouri schools and children, respect the role public education plays in and democracy, and think good schools build great communities. MPSA and public education need you now.
Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 -Mark Twain
Jim Dunn 830 Sunset Avenue Liberty, MO 64068 817-781-9029 dunn830@gmail.com
Twain then went on to recall there once was a proposition in Hannibal, MO to discontinue public schools because they were too expensive. “It is curious to reflect how history repeats itself the world over,” Twain said.
Now, a century later, Missouri legislators are at it again. Another day, another deterrent to funds for public education. Here are Show-Me State facts. Missouri ranking 41st among states in education funding with teacher pay at a dismaying 48th. The cause for this decline is the lack of effort at the state level. While the average state funds 46 percent of school cost, our state is at a miserable 29 percent. On the college side, the picture is bleak. College tuition has almost doubled at state universities in ten years. Ten years ago, Missouri was above average nationally in the percent of its population having a bachelor’s degree or more. Now, we have fallen into the bottom third. Today, students and their parents are being asked to subsidize the valuable research and development done by our universities as well as fund aid to disadvantaged but deserving young people.
That’s why the Missouri Public School Advocates was founded, to ensure the stability and strength of Missouri public schools, colleges and universities. No matter what well-funded, out-of-state, critics want you to believe, Missouri schools are doing good work.
Over the past 20 years in Missouri, ACT scores and high school graduation rates have gone up, while the dropout rate has steadily declined. Finally, more than 900,000 of Missouri children k-12 grades attend Missouri public schools. That’s 90 percent of school-aged children! Another 140,000 attend a public university or college in Missouri. The vast majority of Missourians are products of the public school system. We are all mostly public school graduates. When you read the negative attacks on the public schools, it should be personal. That criticism is about you. It’s about me. It’s about your friends, family and neighbors their children and grandchildren! Had enough?
If you believe that public education is the cornerstone of democracy and are tired others trying to feather their own nest at the expense of children, it is time to stand up for public education. The Missouri Public School Advocate website http://mopublicschooladvocates.org/ has attribution for every fact I’ve written.
Please consider joining the people who love their Missouri schools and children, respect the role public education plays in and democracy, and think good schools build great communities. MPSA and public education need you now.
Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 -Mark Twain
Jim Dunn 830 Sunset Avenue Liberty, MO 64068 817-781-9029 dunn830@gmail.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Guns Guns Guns
Do not tell me it cannot be done!
Do not mock my efforts to try.
We can and must do something!
Do I have to repeat their names every time we talk so that we don't always have to talk about you?
Do you really care more about “what if” than “what is?”
Can we come together on something or must we stay apart for nothing?
IMAGINE
“Imgination rules the world” ― Napoleon Bonaparte
“Imagination is intelligence with an erection.” ― Victor Hugo
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.”
― Carl Sagan
“Because fear kills everything," Mo had once told her. "Your mind, your heart, your imagination.”
― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein
“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” ― Oscar Wilde
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
“Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
-JL
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” ― Albert Einstein
Imagine the following world, which it's within our power to create: It's illegal to sell or possess a firearm--rifle or pistol--that can hold more than six bullets. And it's illegal to sell or possess a firearm with a detachable magazine. In other words, once a shooter exhausted the six rounds, he couldn't just snap in another six-round magazine; he'd have to put six more bullets in the gun one by one.
-Robert Wright
Imagine a few common sense ideas:
• Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004.
• To own a gun, you must first have a license -- and it shouldn't be easy to get. Every citizen needs to pass written and practical tests to obtain a drivers license. Nationally, you should need a license to purchase a handgun. To acquire the license, you should be required (no loopholes e.g. gun show purchases) to pass a background check and a written examination that includes gun safety and proper storage and then the gun can be shipped to you from a licensed dealer after a waiting period. Citizens have a right to bear arms, but guns are dangerous, too. So, get a license.
-Edward DesChamps
Imagine if:
• we encouraged the CDC and NIH from researching gun violence and the effects of gun control so we knew the facts.
• established dialogs with the gun owning community about their thoughts about how to reduce gun violence.
• strengthened regulations of gun purchases as well as limited the types of guns and ammunition that are sold to the general public.
• we focused on holding gun owners responsible for their weapons
• changed media coverage of mass shootings to the larger problem - gun violence that claims 30,000 American lives every year.
• we could agree that the POSSIBILITY of armed insurrection pales before the REALITY of people dying in America today.
• we expand gun buyback programs (the kind that recently made headlines for collecting rocket launchers in CA
• if there were no ads for real-world weaponry in the midst of a Call of Duty game because the industry agreed on some guideline for the game community
• if there was ready access to universal healthcare that provided care to mentally ill people.
Do not mock my efforts to try.
We can and must do something!
Do I have to repeat their names every time we talk so that we don't always have to talk about you?
Do you really care more about “what if” than “what is?”
Can we come together on something or must we stay apart for nothing?
IMAGINE
“Imgination rules the world” ― Napoleon Bonaparte
“Imagination is intelligence with an erection.” ― Victor Hugo
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.”
― Carl Sagan
“Because fear kills everything," Mo had once told her. "Your mind, your heart, your imagination.”
― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein
“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” ― Oscar Wilde
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
“Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
-JL
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” ― Albert Einstein
Imagine the following world, which it's within our power to create: It's illegal to sell or possess a firearm--rifle or pistol--that can hold more than six bullets. And it's illegal to sell or possess a firearm with a detachable magazine. In other words, once a shooter exhausted the six rounds, he couldn't just snap in another six-round magazine; he'd have to put six more bullets in the gun one by one.
-Robert Wright
Imagine a few common sense ideas:
• Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004.
• To own a gun, you must first have a license -- and it shouldn't be easy to get. Every citizen needs to pass written and practical tests to obtain a drivers license. Nationally, you should need a license to purchase a handgun. To acquire the license, you should be required (no loopholes e.g. gun show purchases) to pass a background check and a written examination that includes gun safety and proper storage and then the gun can be shipped to you from a licensed dealer after a waiting period. Citizens have a right to bear arms, but guns are dangerous, too. So, get a license.
-Edward DesChamps
Imagine if:
• we encouraged the CDC and NIH from researching gun violence and the effects of gun control so we knew the facts.
• established dialogs with the gun owning community about their thoughts about how to reduce gun violence.
• strengthened regulations of gun purchases as well as limited the types of guns and ammunition that are sold to the general public.
• we focused on holding gun owners responsible for their weapons
• changed media coverage of mass shootings to the larger problem - gun violence that claims 30,000 American lives every year.
• we could agree that the POSSIBILITY of armed insurrection pales before the REALITY of people dying in America today.
• we expand gun buyback programs (the kind that recently made headlines for collecting rocket launchers in CA
• if there were no ads for real-world weaponry in the midst of a Call of Duty game because the industry agreed on some guideline for the game community
• if there was ready access to universal healthcare that provided care to mentally ill people.
The only thing we cannot imagine is how much we are actually capable of doing!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tips on what to “Tweet” about your schools and students!
The never-ending challenge to be fresh, relevant and memorable on twitter can drive even the best school public relations professional crazy. Here are some timely tips on what to tweet.
1. Help your parents, teachers, or students solve problems. “Here’s Help” tweets about homework, parenting, bullying, etc. show you care and position you as an authority.
2. “Schoolpons” can generate interest in a wider variety of school events.
3. “Tip It” You are reading this tip list. People seem to really like short tips lists.
4. “Did You Know?” tweets about people, facts and places seem to work.
5. “Need Help Tweet” Seriously!…Ask for suggestions! They really do want to help out there.
6. Re-enforce MESSAGES with “Reminder Tweets”
7. “Be There Tweet” Where kids or teachers will be speaking or performing in the community.
8. “Notes; Quotes; Jokes of Folks Tweets” -be clever, entertaining and brief.
9. “Tweet Trivia” about upcoming sports events, debates, etc. Your audience will like those little know nuggets of information.
10. “New Announcement Tweets” are memorable because people like to be the first to know.
11. “Tease Tweet” your upcoming events and projects.
12. “News Tweet” the latest news about education in general.
13. “Ooohps” tweets are effective if something happens like the website went down.
14. “Ouch Tweet” for medium mistakes. “Urgent Message” the big stuff.
15. Invite publics to share a good moment with your schools.
16. Suggest school related hashtags.
17. Try “Tweet Chats” based school-related hashtags.
18. “Shout Out” to the people who follow you via tweets.
19. “Welcome and Thank” recent followers.
20. Post updates from your blog along with the link.
21. Drive folk to your other school social media with tweets.
22. Respond to tweets about your district.
23. Education success “Story Tweets” never get old.
24. “School Up” Tweets about sales on hats, t-shirts, etc. will increase traffic.
25. “Job Tweets” get read and passed on.
26. Create “Supporter” lists and give them a shout out. Sports, debate, elementary reading, youth friend lists, etc.
27. “Rope In” trendy topics and hashtags with a cool comment related to your schools good reputation.
28. “Tweet-Greet” hellos, and enjoy-your-day are nice starts to good days.
29. “Tweet and Tag” great teachers.
30. “Good News Friday” sweet tweet your school heroes once a week.
EXTRA: “Lunch Tweets” for some bizarre reason, never get old.
Be fun, timely and interesting on Twitter! Get people talking-and-telling stories about your district, schools and students. Don’t overdo it, but be consistent and upbeat. Clever and positive never go out of style. Remember:
1.) drive your brand,
2.) and advertise what you are selling!
Most important, get people connect to your district through social media.
1. Help your parents, teachers, or students solve problems. “Here’s Help” tweets about homework, parenting, bullying, etc. show you care and position you as an authority.
2. “Schoolpons” can generate interest in a wider variety of school events.
3. “Tip It” You are reading this tip list. People seem to really like short tips lists.
4. “Did You Know?” tweets about people, facts and places seem to work.
5. “Need Help Tweet” Seriously!…Ask for suggestions! They really do want to help out there.
6. Re-enforce MESSAGES with “Reminder Tweets”
7. “Be There Tweet” Where kids or teachers will be speaking or performing in the community.
8. “Notes; Quotes; Jokes of Folks Tweets” -be clever, entertaining and brief.
9. “Tweet Trivia” about upcoming sports events, debates, etc. Your audience will like those little know nuggets of information.
10. “New Announcement Tweets” are memorable because people like to be the first to know.
11. “Tease Tweet” your upcoming events and projects.
12. “News Tweet” the latest news about education in general.
13. “Ooohps” tweets are effective if something happens like the website went down.
14. “Ouch Tweet” for medium mistakes. “Urgent Message” the big stuff.
15. Invite publics to share a good moment with your schools.
16. Suggest school related hashtags.
17. Try “Tweet Chats” based school-related hashtags.
18. “Shout Out” to the people who follow you via tweets.
19. “Welcome and Thank” recent followers.
20. Post updates from your blog along with the link.
21. Drive folk to your other school social media with tweets.
22. Respond to tweets about your district.
23. Education success “Story Tweets” never get old.
24. “School Up” Tweets about sales on hats, t-shirts, etc. will increase traffic.
25. “Job Tweets” get read and passed on.
26. Create “Supporter” lists and give them a shout out. Sports, debate, elementary reading, youth friend lists, etc.
27. “Rope In” trendy topics and hashtags with a cool comment related to your schools good reputation.
28. “Tweet-Greet” hellos, and enjoy-your-day are nice starts to good days.
29. “Tweet and Tag” great teachers.
30. “Good News Friday” sweet tweet your school heroes once a week.
EXTRA: “Lunch Tweets” for some bizarre reason, never get old.
Be fun, timely and interesting on Twitter! Get people talking-and-telling stories about your district, schools and students. Don’t overdo it, but be consistent and upbeat. Clever and positive never go out of style. Remember:
1.) drive your brand,
2.) and advertise what you are selling!
Most important, get people connect to your district through social media.
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