Mark Robertson, the principal of Lake Washington High School--where the controversial Antioch Bible Church meets in the gym every Sunday [see "School Spirit," Sept 29]--tries to keep his roles as the school's leader and a member of the controversial church separate.
His roles may have blurred last June, though, when Molly Silver--who was coeditor-in-chief of the school's newspaper, the Limited Edition--wrote an opinion piece about Antioch. Her journalism adviser killed it. Silver suspects that's because Robertson attends Antioch. Moreover, he and the church's leader, Ken Hutcherson--the outspoken preacher who's leapt into national politics on an antigay platform--are reportedly friends.
Silver is a freshman at New York University now, studying journalism. Last May, while she was still a LWHS student, Silver read stories about Hutcherson lobbying Microsoft to withdraw its support of Washington State's proposed antidiscrimination bill. Those stories also referenced Lake Washington High School. "On the day that the New York Times spotlighted it, I realized that barely anyone at my school was aware of the travesty that was occurring in our gym every Sunday, though it had reached the status of national news," Silver says.
Silver already knew about Antioch's Lake Washington High School connection--she and other newspaper staffers were often in the school on Sundays putting the finishing touches on the paper, and they'd see Antioch members roaming the halls. "We had to sometimes kick them out, because we would need the journalism classroom," she says. "It pissed me off that these bigots had rights to use our school, though I knew it was completely legal."
The above is from Amy Jenniges' "Thou Shalt Not Publish" (The Seattle Stranger) and was e-mailed by Karla. Thursday. Indymedia roundup. This one is the grab bag entry on various topics.
Cindy e-mails to note Erik's "Santa Barbarans Make Arnold Listen" (Santa Barbara IMC):
Santa Barbarans came out in large numbers today even though they weren't invited to Governor Schwarzenegger's "town hall" meeting. They made sure the Governor heard where Santa Barbara stands on his anti-education, anti-worker agenda.
Lots of people (at least 150) showed up outside a garbage dump today to meet Governor Schwarzenegger. They told him what they think about his anti-education, anti-worker, and anti-health care ballot initiatives set to appear in the November 8 Special Election.
The Governor, trying his best to keep this meeting under wraps, secretly invited a few select supporters to attend his so-called "town hall" meeting at a giant refuse processing facility on the east side of Santa Barbara. Those select few were contacted late last night and only told of the location and time of the meeting after submitting their RSVP. The Governor is afraid to actually face the people of California because he knows his ideas won't stand up in a real town hall meeting where the public is free to ask questions.
Hundreds of firefighters, teachers, students, mothers and fathers stood outside the processing plant this morning, chanting "Keep Unions Alive! No on 75!" and "Hey hey, ho ho, Schwarzenegger has got to go!"
Durham Gal e-mails to note Besha Rodell's "The life of a tomato" ( Raleigh-Durham's The Independent Weekly):
Joan Holeman holds her hand out and displays the seeds she has saved from last year. She and her husband, Charles, have been growing German Johnson tomatoes on this land for 15 years. Charles' family has been farming on this land on and off for well over 100 years. Late in the winter, Joan sows the seeds, and another crop of tomatoes is born on the Holeman farm.
Every living thing has a life story, and the life story of a tomato can be very different depending on where they are grown and for what purpose. The biggest differences between a tomato grown on the Holeman farm and a tomato grown on a much larger, corporately owned farm are the economic beneficiaries of that tomato's life and the quality of the nutrition and taste it provides the consumer. While it is still debatable how much the chemicals and hormones used in industrial farming affect the consumer, there is no doubt that the product is fundamentally different from a naturally grown product. The rules and regulations regarding what you have to do to call your produce organic are too strict and complex for the Holemans, as they are for many of the area's small farmers. But the Holemans do their best to produce the most natural products they can manage. This is the life story of one of those products.
Charles and Joan grew up within a mile of each other on this farmland in Person County between Rougemont and Roxboro. They started their first day of school together in the same school. They are old-fashioned Southerners--quiet, humble, polite to a fault and grateful for the gifts they have. The Holemans consider themselves lucky that they live in an area of the South with so many good farmers' markets and a population that is willing to support those markets.
Melanie e-mails to note Grace Hood "Under corporate control: Scripps buys the Colorado Daily, and adds to its Denver-Boulder fiefdom" (Boulder Weekly):
If you didn't know what you were looking for, you may have missed last Tuesday's announcement that E.W. Scripps purchased the Colorado Daily. The announcement landed on Page 7 of the Daily, buried underneath a full-page Liquor Mart ad and the stories "Parties gone wrong" and "Students without academic requirements having a tough time getting into CU."
Boulder's other daily newspapers, the Daily Camera and its offshoot Dirt, both Scripps-owned, took a similarly disinterested approach to the news event. The Camera published a small news blurb on the first page of the business section, while Dirt buried the same news write-up in its paper.
Media experts are raising concerns about the lack of competition in the Boulder and Denver media markets. Boulder's dailies are now 100 percent owned by Scripps, a $2.2-billion corporation operated out of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Denver, Scripps owns the Rocky Mountain News and is associated with the Denver Post through the jointly operated Denver Newspaper Agency. The only publications in the Boulder/Denver market not owned by or affiliated with Scripps are Boulder Weekly, which is independently owned, and Westword, which is owned by News Times Inc.
The death of independent daily publications is not unique to Colorado. At the end of WWII about 80 percent of American daily newspapers were locally owned and 20 percent of newspapers were group-owned, according to media critic Richard McCord. By 1996, the numbers were reversed, and they are growing toward corporate domination. In theory, media critics agree that corporate media ownership diminishes the quality of the news due to factors like decreasing newsroom resources. However, some observers say that the independent spirit of the Colorado Daily was gone long before Scripps entered the picture. With talk of increased health benefits and deeper pockets, perhaps Scripps' ownership of the Daily won't have as much of a negative impact as some fear.
Portland e-mails to note Topher's "Remembering Matthew" (Portland Indymedia):
Seven years ago today, Matthew Shepard died as the result of a hate-motivated beating in the heart of America. Matthew's attack and resulting death brought the fear, discrimination and hatred that homosexuals have to live with every day to light and made the rest of America aware. Some people could say that we're gaining ground. Within the past several years, we've gained the attention of the mass media (and their sponsors). We've also had a brief affair with marriage. However, when I go back home to the mid-west, I'm still afraid of pick-up trucks. So how far have we really come?
Whatever. If I'm walking through the gay ghetto at night, back to my car and I feel my safety is in jeopardy, I'm not going to get on my cell phone and make a call to my senator to come save me. Hell, I don't even feel comfortable enough to call the police. They may be just as bad as the thug(s) following me. I would like to see the legislation pass (obviously) although ultimately, I do not think that it will help. With a man like George W Bush in office (and there will be many many more men like GWB in the president's seat), how can any queer feel secure? 'The state' doesn't care about queers. How can it, especially when the man who sits at the top of the pyramid, W himself, doesn't give two sh*ts about queers? I think that the one answer is community awareness. Help for queers won't come from some law written in Washington. Reaching out to the community, educating people in how hate in all of its forms can be harmful is a good place to start. That being said... The Laramie Project will be shown on October 16 at Laughing Horse Books on SE 36th and Division at 7 pm. The Laramie Project is a docu-drama set in Laramie where Matthew was killed, during the trials of his attackers. The transcripts were taken from over 200 of the residents of Laramie, exposing their fears, bigotry and feelings not dealt with. A short discussion will take place afterwards. Vegan treats will be provided. A $2-3 donation is asked but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. I know that this video showing is not the answer. However, I believe that it's a start. I hope to see you there.
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