[via email]

IMPORTANT CONFERENCE UPDATE

Here is the status of the dates of the Legislative forum/workshop and the 2006 Bloggers Conference:

We have decided to move the conference to FRIDAY, JANUARY 6th, 2005 and SATURDAY, JANUARY 7th, 2005. We realize that not everyone will be able to make the conference with the change in date, and we apologize. However, in the poll we took last week, a majority indicated that they would be able to make the 6th and the 7th. If you can't come, we'll let you know how it went and send you some materials from the event.

As we mentioned in the letter that went out with the poll, the Communications Directors of the House and Senate Dems, our primary contacts here, were clear that the 6th would be the best date for getting Legislators. Staff, including the governor's staff, are just as likely to come any of the dates we choose. That's the main reason why we decided to move the date. Also, holding the conference earlier is more advantageous if we want to work together during the session.

The program for the Forum/Workshop is still being finalized and we welcome input. As of now, it will probably be half forum and half workshop. The first hour will probably be a forum with bloggers and the occasional legislator/staffer discussing the role of the blogosphere and how we can and have assisted our Democratic legislators. The second hour will probably be a workshop with discussion groups of legislators, staffers and blog writers in different interest groups sharing ideas and then reporting back to the full group. The forum/workshop will be followed by a reception for all participants nearby.

We'll have more details shortly about accommodations. We are very excited about this event and we're looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it to Olympia there in a few weeks!

Andrew Villeneuve and Lynn Allen (on behalf of the Planning Committee)

[via email]

Postal Service Suppresses Article Praising Olympia Workers

USPS concerned that praising productivity of workers in Olympia would not send the right message.

For Immediate Release 12/19/05 

Contact Clint Burelson, President 360-970-2965

Statement by Clint Burelson, President

The Postal Service suppressed an article scheduled to appear in a Postal Service publication that praised the Olympia Processing & Distribution Facility for its ranking as the most productive plant in the entire nation for a plant of its size. The article was pulled at Postal Headquarters because a story praising the productivity of the workers at the Olympia Plant could potentially harm the Postal Service’s efforts to transfer mail operations from Olympia to Tacoma. Currently, local, state, and congressional representatives, citizens and the unions are working together to oppose the transfer of the Olympia mail to Tacoma.

"To the Editor:
BRRRAAAAKK BUK BUK BRRRAAAKKK!!!!!
Thank you,
Friends of the Coop."

The second letter was by faculty member Craig Carlson, Oct. 7. Why he wrote it isn't really important, since I think it can stand by itself without any explanation:

"To the Editor:
I never said 'Everything is everything.' What I said was, 'The only reality is the transition of one's ideas into rhythm and beautiful movements.'
Craig Carlson."

Carlson, who is unfortunately no longer with us, originally had a huge beard and long hair when he came to TESC. One day his students arrived in class and he didn't show up. As they waited, they started complaining and gossiping about Craig. It turned out he had been there the whole time. Craig had shaved his beard and cut his hair real short and no one recognized him.

We never learned Spider's real name, but we all knew him by sight. He was a thin fellow who was a runner and a regional cross-country ski champion. In the mid-1970s he was a frequent sight on campus and the Parkway as he transported himself on skis with wheels, using ski poles to propel and guide his way. It was a weird experience to have him silently and quickly glide past you from behind.

Spider was also involved in campus governance committees, but he was mostly known for the dry land skis. Although TESC did have some unofficial sports teams before 1980, you had to work hard to find them. So, by default, Spider was as close as we had to a star athlete student during Evergreen's first decade.

Spider Burbank, where are you today?

How to Talk with Anyone About Iraq:

A Practical & Participatory Workshop

Tues. Dec. 20

Come to this practical workshop to develop skills in talking with the public or other people who have different thoughts and feelings about the Iraq war. Liv Monroe conducts it, so you know it will be good! This workshop will be useful even for people who already attended Liv’s workshops on Sept. 11 or Sept. 13, because Tuesday night’s workshop will focus more specifically on Iraq and will offer lots of practice.

We’ll start at 7:00 p.m. sharp and end at 9:30 p.m. at Traditions Café, 5th & Water SW.

This is part of the “People-to-People Outreach Campaign

This probably shouldn't be too unexpected, given how much time/money has been poured into education about both. But what has increased?

"In the study, 9.5 percent of 12th-graders reported using the painkiller Vicodin and 5.5 percent reported using OxyContin in the past year. Long-term trends show a significant increase in the abuse of OxyContin from 2002 to 2005 among 12th-graders."

I think this is interesting because, in my opinion, many in this country are quick to get their children on prescription medication for any perceived ailment, whether it's physical or mental. It shouldn't be a surprise, then, when the "solution" to any problem is to start throwing pills at the kid, they'll eventually begin to abuse it.

I must have good bus karma today. Of course, the fact that there is a bus every 15 minutes along my route helps immensely. Running errands, even in the rain, was no challenge at all.

A friend calls our public transit buses "land ferries". I especially understand when I ride #41 after dark from TESC to town. The bus rolls along smoothly, lights are dimmed, often voices are hushed and sleepy. Surely there is water beneath us. 

No charge for riders, all this is free. The shuttle service is named Dash.

Tangerine, lime, lavender, and raspberry buses. I wonder if the colors of the new buses will inspire equally playful color use elsewhere in town.

A quote from the ever rotating line-up of quotables at antiwar.com.

At least that was before this week, and the wire-tapping story came out. As of now, there is nothing that this man could do to make me like him at all. He betrayed us. He spyed on us. He subverted our democratic process in order to gain ground in a "war on terror" that he was mishandling. I don't think any of these things can be disputed. I don't care why we went to war, I think that conversation is a dead-end. The fact is that we went to war and it has been mishandled by the Bush administration.

I'm worried that people are going to just let this blow over. George W. Bush not only broke our laws but he violated our constitution. This is not nothing, this is a big deal. We need an immediate independendant investigation. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, and the facts seem to be pretty cut and dry, we need an impeachment.

This is not a blow-job in the oval office or lies of omission, this is not cherry picking intelligence to make a case for war, this is a direct and premeditated violation of the law. Our president spied on us. There is no justification for this. The president, by the letter of the law, does not have the power to authorize domestic wire-taps without getting the courts permission. It's covered under FISA, and most importantly, the constitution.

He also violated our trust, and we should not forget that.

Now is the time for all the doves to make some noise. Now is the time for all the lefty's to take to the streets. Now you have a cause worth causing a commotion about. Now you have a fight you can win.

Community Jubilant Over 4-year Learning Nod 8-17-66
Olympia's College-- It's In The Bag 3-8-67
Dan Evans Signs Olympia's College Into Law 3-21-67
Biologist-- Businessman-- Aeroplane Maker-- Who Will Our President Be? College Clues Drop Up As Candidates Culled 10-26-67
Olympia's Infant College : Where It's Going-- And Who Put It There 12-1-67
College Hopes : 6,000 By 1977 : But Actual Size Of Olympia's College Depends On 'Political' Money Decisions 1-19-68
Our College Gets A Colorful Name : Trustess Call Signals For Evergreen State 1-25-68
Our Three Colleges 8-1-69
From The Exotic To The Drab : How Will Our College Be Garbed? 11-21-69
Evans Will Have No Part Of Delaying Our College 2-19-71

After the College opened in the Fall of 1971, the sense of local ownership vanished from the headlines. During the 1971-72 time period, it was common to see Olympians give a sidelong glance and ask each other with a smug smile, "Been out there yet?" This would be followed by some witty observation like it was hard to tell the boys from the girls.

The fun was about to begin.