D

An Abundance of Bushes at the Meyerson

No fewer than three George Bushes were on stage for an event at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center Monday night, including Jeb Bush’s son George P. P’s Uncle George, the former president known as W, referred interestingly to W’s dad, the one called George H.W., as “the real President Bush.” Then 43 talked some about the book he’s writing, saying it would tackle subjects ranging from 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq to Hurricane Katrina, his “freedom agenda,” and the financial meltdown. “My hope is that when objective history is finally written, that historians will use [the book] as a basis to understand our times,” W said. Then he proceeded to read an irreverant “excerpt” from the tome that had 1,000+ people rolling in the aisles. SweetCharity has the details.

Dallas ISD Maintenance Worker Gives Janitors Everywhere a Bad Name

For two years, I worked as a janitor at an elementary school. Things not in my job description that would have been frowned upon that I did during that time: work on my jumpshot in the gym; read the newspaper; open the snack stand so I could enjoy a tasty ice cream sandwich while I read the newspaper. Things that would have been frowned upon that I did NOT do during that time: carry a loaded weapon; shoot myself with it accidentally. Way to go, unnamed DISD maintenance worker.

Marquez Nabs Top Business Award

Texans Can! CEO Richard Marquez (pictured) was honored Thursday by the Dallas chapter of the Texas Association of Business as the 2009 Distinguished Business Leader in Education. Marquez, profiled in 2008 in D CEO magazine, joins such previous Distinguished Business Leaders as T. Boone Pickens, Raymond Nasher, Ross Perot Sr., Ray Hunt and Ebby Halliday. Congrats, Richard!

A ‘New’ Bush Makes His Debut at SMU

These days you seem to hear one of two things about George W. Bush’s new policy institute and presidential library, museum and foundation on the SMU campus. It’s either going to jam traffic so badly the area will resemble an L.A. freeway at rush hour–or nobody will come to the thing and, besides, the library will just have a couple of coloring books in it, anyway. This afternoon we got a decidedly different view from W and his wife Laura, who showed up at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium to outline plans for the public policy part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the George W. Bush Institute.

The Bushes took turns speaking at a single lectern on a very presidential-looking stage, with a backdrop including an American flag and these words in giant letters: Freedom. Opportunity. Responsibility. Compassion. W said his new institute would focus on four areas–education, health, human freedom, and economic growth–and added that he’s hiring some top people to do some groundbreaking work in those fields. The new hires include Sandy Kress, a former local chairman of the Democratic Party, and Mark Dybul, an openly gay man who served as the former president’s global AIDS coordinator.

Laura’s portion of the presentation, meantime, stressed that a “women’s initiative” would be a big part of the institute, with a major conference for Afghan women on the schedule for next March. That focus on women’s issues seemed smart–as did most elements of the Bushes’ plan for the presidential center, a $300 million project that will even be green: LEED Platinum-certified. Thus a “new” W was revealed at SMU today: serious, inclusive, bipartisan, a lofty thinker–much different from the beaten-down prez whose party lost everything last fall. And, the 1,500 or so people in the McFarlin audience seemed to like it. They gave the Bushes four standing O’s.

UNT to Move ‘Heart of the Eagle’ to Dallas

So says Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs about the intentions of the University of North Texas to officially put its base of operations in downtown Dallas:

“The heart of the eagle has just been moved to Dallas,” Burroughs said. “After 120 years, it’s not a positive step, and I have grave concerns with it.”

I grew up in Denton, but I did not attend UNT. This is a strange move, and it signals that the board of regents expects Dallas to become more important to the university system’s operations than the “main” campus in Denton. They’re calling it a “neutral” site for the governing offices, but they’re going to be much closer to the new law school and the south Dallas campus.

Why should those offices need to be in a neutral location? They’re hoping to supplant SMU as the favored institution of the Dallas business community? Chancellor Lee Jackson doesn’t like driving to Denton?

Bruce Parrott, Potentially Anthropomorphic District 3 School Board Candidate

I should probably, at this point, have further investigated the various candidates for the District 3 spot on the Dallas ISD school board, since that’s the district in which I vote. I’ve been busy. I’m sorry. But, in a way, I have been paying attention to at least one candidate. His name is Bruce Parrott. I drive past his signs every day. After a month or so of staring at those signs while stopped at this light or that, I’ve come to a conclusion. Based on his name and general appearance, I believe Bruce Parrott to be an anthropomorphic parrot. That’s right. A real bird. I don’t know how it happened, but there it is. I also may be staying up too late.

I don’t know. You tell me if I’m crazy, based on the most recent head shot I could find. It’s after the jump.

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Least Surprising Photo Ever? Tim Rogers Lectures the Staff About Word Usage

The topic: "blond" vs. "blonde." The book: Garner's Modern American Usage, a copy of which was recently purchased for the office for just such an occasion. The pedantic person reading from it, and thus extending the conversation for far too long: Tim Rogers.

First TEDxSMU Video is Up: Turk Pipkin Talks Nobelity Project

Remember when Wick said we’d alert you when videos from the TEDxSMU conference went up? I hope between the headline and that first sentence you see where I’m going. I watched this last night, and even though it’s 18 minutes long, much longer than I normally spend with online video that isn’t a comedy on Hulu, it flew by. And I may have agreed to build a well for an African elementary school. Not sure. Things got fuzzy.

Turk Pipkin at TEDxSMU from tedxsmu on Vimeo.

Leading Off (10/27/09)

1. MAVS DAY! MAVS DAY! MAVS DAY!

2. Mayor Leppert is trying to rush through a complicated package of ethics reforms, in the wake of former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill’s corruption conviction. Some council members want to take more time, some don’t think the reforms are needed, and none have answered my e-mails about how they think Erick Dampier will react to his new role occasionally coming off the bench. Where is your fancy talk of transparency now, city hall?

3. Southlake Carroll ISD is ditching its perfect attendance award so sick kids stay home. I, however, am still planning on maintaining perfect attendance at the games on my Dallas Mavericks ticket plan, starting with tonight against the Washington Wizards.

Autistic Student Gets $364 Ticket For Dropping an F-Bomb in Class

KRLD has the story here. It happened at Richardson’s Westwood Junior High at the end of last year; the teacher told the vice principal, who told the Dallas police officer who works the campus, who gave the kid a ticket. His mom says she’ll fight the $364 ticket, which I guess is why this is coming up now.

I’m of two minds on this: on the one hand, if you’re going to have your kid in a mainstream school, you have to expect there will be bumps along the way. On the other: I think if you’re going to allow autistic kids in your mainstream school, you have to expect there will be bumps along the way. I predict the media attention will get the ticket dismissed, and I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world.

TEDxSMU A Resounding Success, Ctd.

Mike Orren gives a full recap — well, as much of a recap as is possible – over at Pegasus News.

TEDxSMU A Resounding Success

On Saturday, about 400 people gathered at the Owens Art Center for TEDxSMU, an independent TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. I had heard of TED, seen some videos of talks given at TED conferences, and been told that it is an amazing experience. It is. 

The question speakers were given to answer was, “What will change everything?” The answers — given in 18-minute-segments — were so engaging, so practical, and so surprising that I am still trying to absorb them. I’m assuming that videos will be posted on the TED site soon, and when they are I’ll alert you.

Pulling this off could not have been an easy task, but it was very smart of SMU to do it. Because many of the speakers and performers were SMU faculty and students, the event was a brilliant introduction to some of the school’s most impressive talent. When Gerald Turner arrived as SMU’s new president 15 years ago, the school was a little island of mediocrity that few people in Dallas had any connection with. Saturday was a kind of coming-out party for the university SMU has become: an intellectual force radiating energy to the entire city. I have to admit, I was a sceptic. But now I’m a believer. The ideas flowing out of that place are simply astonishing.

How good was it? I sat there transfixed — without even thinking of breaking for my car — for eight hours.

Big Thought Backers Revel in Beating New York

The rivalry between Dallas and New York–on and off the gridiron–was a theme this morning when local bigwigs like Mayor Tom Leppert, DISD Superintendant Michael Hinojosa and former Cowboys fullback Daryl “Moose” Johnston gathered to pump up the Big Thought group, which supports local education. A few years ago, the Dallas nonprofit snagged upwards of $8 million for its Thriving Minds program from The Wallace Foundation, beating out some New Yorkers for the dough. Now Wallace is pondering whether to give Big Thought, led by CEO Gigi Antoni, another $4.3 million. At a breakfast for nearly 100 people at the Crescent Club, Hinojosa told the crowd, “I don’t want to tell Jerry Jones what to do, but we want to beat the [New York] Giants, so he might want to hire Gigi as his general manager.” Johnston piled on a few minutes later. “I grew up in western New York and played for the Cowboys,” he said, smiling. “So anytime we can get one up on the Giants–or knock Manhattan down a few pegs–I’m all for it.” The foundation is scheduled to make its decision next week.

Leading Off (10/02/09): Our Salute to Governor James Richard Perry

1. Gov. Ricky and attorney general Greg Abbott want to assure the good people of Texas: They will fight to keep a Dallas gay couple legally wed, to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage.

2. Dallas ISD board president Adam Medrano is accusing fellow board members of pulling a play from Gov. Ricky’s book: Don’t like what’s on a public meeting’s agenda? Conspire to get the meeting canceled.

3. So you’re Gov. Ricky’s cousin. You served on his re-election campaign steering committee. You’re enjoying an evening out on your backyard deck, just you and your shotgun. Long story short, you end up dead. Rest in peace, knowing that Gov. Ricky ”couldn’t pick [you] out of a lineup.”

A Red Balloon Over the Nasher

In the current episode of the “print product,” there appear two stories about an experiment we ran to determine whether the forthcoming Museum Tower might possibly interfere with the Nasher Sculpture Center’s wonderful installation Tending, (Blue). You can read Willard Spiegelman’s sober, insightful account of our caper here. Me, I just write jokes. Anyway, I’d forgotten till now that I’d taken this picture. In the final scene of my story, when the DSO’s PR director, Stacie Adams, catches me standing in their backyard, here’s what I was doing:

UP Mom Denies Prostitution Charges

Read Cynthia Martinez’s side of the story here. Spoiler Alert: she moved to the Park Cities for the schools.

Tincy Miller Apologizes for Religion Remarks

Dallas’ Tincy Miller, a member of the State Board of Education, asked a perfectly reasonable question about some of Texas’s new social studies books. Why, she wanted to know, would they have deleted information about Christmas and Rosh Hashanah in favor of discussing other global holidays like “Diwali”? (Drawing a blank? It’s the Hindu Holiday of Lights.) When Miller called Diwali little-known and lacking much “substance” on KERA-FM, the arbiters of political correctness leaped quickly into action. The upshot: Miller has now apologized for her remarks. Even so, I doubt she’ll be on anybody’s Diwali-card list this year.

Wylie’s Patrick Witt Leaves University of Nebraska to Be an Actual Student-Athlete at Yale

Good column here from ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel about Patrick Witt’s decision to leave behind potential glory as the starting quarterback at football-mad Nebraska in favor of Yale and potential glory years after his playing career is over. A snippet:

Witt arrived at Nebraska in 2007 with 15 AP credits. He found a locker room, he said, where he heard the refrain “C’s get degrees.” He saw Nebraska players who graduated in 2008 struggle to find the kind of job that might appeal to him. He knew his brother Jeff, a quarterback whose Harvard career ended in 2006 with a shoulder injury, would graduate in the spring and head to a job in the financial sector in New York. …

What Witt wanted is the vibrant academic atmosphere he has found at Yale in classes such as “Political Philosophy of Abraham Lincoln” and “Comparative Welfare Policy in Developing Countries.” He wanted a locker room where the level of humor rose above towel-snapping. Girls are a topic of conversation, but so is health care.

“People would look at me as if I had three heads if I brought that up in the locker room out there,” Witt said of the latter. “And it’s not like we’re discussing these things all the time in the Yale locker room. … You can be talking about football one minute and launch into a debate about politics the next.”

Leading Off (09/18/09)

1. It’s that time of year again. The Plano Balloon Festival launches/lifts off/takes to the skies/flies to the heavens/reaches new heights/heads off into the wild blue yonder/fills community newspaper stories with canned Chamber of Commerce quotes beginning today through Sunday. And the executive director of the festival wants you to get excited about how many toilets they’ve got this year: “From children’s activities to [number of] port-a-potties, everything we’ve done for the festival has gotten larger.”

2. Dallas teachers are finding work a less miserable place to be. Absolutely there are signs of progress. But I want to know what I’m betting every reader of that story wants to know: Which Dallas ISD elementary school scored a 1 (on the scale of 1 to 99)? How can they not disclose that even to school board members? Don’t they need to dispatch a team of emergency psychiatrists to that campus? Or maybe just bring in Dr. Phil? (Raise your hand if you already see how I’m setting up the third item.)

3. OPRAH! IS COMING! TO THE STATE FAIR! Maybe she can even bring Dr. Oz along. Together they could heal our hearts. Which will be under attack, figuratively and literally.

Dalton Sherman Scores Hug From Jenna Bush Hager

Tomorrow morning, Dallas ISD’s own Dalton Sherman will appear on The Today Show. Here’s a pic of him hugging it out with Hager, who is now a correspondent for the show. And here’s what the district says of Sherman’s appearance:

Student and speaker extraordinaire Dalton Sherman will be featured tomorrow, Sept. 18, on NBC’s The Today Show. Dalton, who is now a student at Dallas Environmental Science Academy, and his family were interviewed last week by new Today Show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager.

Since being the surprise keynote speaker at last year’s convocation held at the American Airlines Center, Dalton has become somewhat of a celebrity. He has appeared on Oprah and Ellen and has delivered speeches throughout the country. This past summer, Kids Who Care Inc. of Fort Worth created a musical that was inspired by his speech called District XI: Believe in Me. Dalton and his brother Demosthenes are now members of the production’s cast. The next performance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth.

Five Local Schools Get National Blue Ribbon Awards

Four of those — George Peabody Elementary, George Bannerman Dealey International Academy, School of Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, and Victor H. Hexter Elementary School — are in Dallas ISD. The other (The Classical Center at Brandenburg Middle School) is part of the Garland school district. Nationally, 314 schools made the list, 26 in Texas. It’s a big deal:

The award, given by the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes schools that excel or make dramatic improvements in the face of high poverty and other challenges.

You may recall that Tim’s kid attends Hexter. This year, I enrolled mine as well. This underscores my satisfaction in the decision to do so. Congratulations to all schools on being recognized.

Arlington ISD Fifth Graders Not Going to Hear Bush Speak After All

Remember this? Bit of a ruckus over the fact that Arlington ISD chose not to show President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren, but approved a field trip to hear former President Bush talk at a Super Bowl-related event?

Anyway, turns out that’s not happening anymore. Says Superintendent Jerry McCullough:

“In retrospect, I can see how the district’s decisions concerning these two events could be seen as favoring one event over another.”

And that’s enough to earn Eric Celeste’s patented: “You think so, doctor?”

Geoffrey Orsak Won’t Drop the Engineering Debate, But Edges Closer to Conceding My Brilliance

Let me give you a hint on how to live a peaceful life. It’s simple.  Never write an editorial dissing engineers. I don’t want to suggest engineers are senstive, but if you ever have the misfortune of stepping on one’s toes, be ready to call an ambulance.

Luckily, Geoffrey Orsak, dean of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, doesn’t seem so easily perturbed, probably because as an academic he’s developed some tough skin and sharp elbows of his own. In the forthcoming issue of Design News, he continues the debate we started on KERA’s Think a couple of weeks ago about engineering and the city.

Leading Off (9/11/09)

1. The Green Line rail opens four stops on Monday, including Deep Ellum and the South Dallas area near Fair Park. People hope it will help revitalize these areas. Spoiler alert: It will help once these areas are revitalized. Sorry to break it to you.

2. Dallas’ longest-running creepy HBO drama, The Clergy, has clearly jumped the shark. I mean, a stockbroker-priest scandal? Ridiculous.

3. And congrats to the Midlothian middle-schooler who saved a classmate who was choking on a chocolate muffin. And now, please fill the comments holding bin with immature comments that will make me giggle before I delete them.

Breaking Down President Obama’s Speech

You can go here for a full text of the President’s remarks to schoolchildren this morning. After the jump, I hit the (SOCIALIST!) highlights.

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