Monday, May 8, 2017

8th Annual “Eat. Drink. Read. A Culinary Event for Literacy, ”

Thursday, May 18 is the date, for the San Diego Council on Literacy’s (SDCOL) 8th Annual “Eat. Drink. Read. A Culinary Event for Literacy, ” in which our local chefs’ create an original dish that corresponds to their favorite books. CEO Jose Cruz never lets up on his mission: to raise the level of literacy throughout our county.
LW: What is the illiteracy situation in our county today? What are the steps/initiatives/programs that SDCOL implements to foster progress?
JC: San Diego County is not that much different from the rest of the country when it comes to the percentage of individuals who are affected by low-level literacy skills: 20 percent.
Oddly enough, the percentage of children who are not reading at grade level by age 3 to 4 is similar to percentages for adults. However, in some communities, 35 to 40 percent of adults are only reading at about the 4th to 5th grade level. Of course, when parents don’t read well, the odds are pretty good that their children will not receive the help that they need to emerge as readers. Because of their own reading skills, some adults are not able to read to their children, or play word and song games, or engage in language building activities that children need to improve as readers and thinkers.
Now, the San Diego Council on Literacy is teaming up with a group of non-literacy service groups to gain their support in addressing fundamental family stability issues that interfere with learning. We know that we need more than literacy instruction to break cycles of dependence and dysfunctions. With other health and human service partners, we can help families deal with food, shelter, childcare, and mental health issues that affect quality of life and success in school.
By working with our partners in targeted low-income communities, we can make real change happen. We are bringing more attention to the need for children’s books at home. The research shows that 60 percent of low-income children have no books at home. How are these children supposed to achieve in the same way as their more affluent peers? Here, we have an easy gap to fill. People can help by donating new or like-new books.
LW: Are there any specific communities and/or ethnic groups in which illiteracy seems to be a particular social issue? If so, can you elaborate on the seeming causes?
JC: Illiteracy is cyclical; it runs in families with generations of adults who never learned to read and who were never able to help their own children read. While there are low-income children being raised by adults – or in families – who do not read well but whose children succeed in school, statistically, the odds are against these children. With family stability, we support education. With education, we support employability. With employability, we support prosperity – or some degree of it. And with this prosperity, we reinforce more family stability.
Latinos represent the ethnic group with the lowest level of literacy. The problem is not so much a difference in first languages. The problem is the total package of socio-economics…basic resources that are lacking and that affect family living to the extent that education does not happen, that children miss too much school due to chronic illnesses or come to school hungry or do not have books at home or do not have someone to read to them or never develop the habit that some families have where going to the library is a regular activity. Family stability, language development, critical thinking and reading at home are the foundations for learning. Where these are lacking, all populations are vulnerable.
LW: Do you find any connection between illiteracy and crime?
JC: Yes. 33 percent of inmates in state and federal institutions read at the lowest level of literacy. A total of 70 percent of inmates in state and federal institutions are low-literate or only marginally literate. More astounding is that, when inmates engage in educational activities, the likelihood of them returning to prison is decreased significantly, by up to 35 percent. What does that tell you?
LW: Are our schools effectively teaching reading, writing? What role can parents play in conjunction with schools?
JC: Schools know how to teach reading. We would like to see them more prepared to address the basic reading skill needs of students who did not learn by the ages of eight or nine. The odds are three to one that these students will ever catch up. We need to help our schools secure the resources that they need, so that no child leaves elementary school without reading at the fourth grade level or better. Also, again, what happens at home affects what happens in schools. In low-income communities, where basic needs are an issues, teachers are asked to address whatever a child brings to school in the way of emotional and physical needs. It’s a bit much for everyone! This is why working in partnerships, in smaller, targeted. low-income communities, makes sense.
LW: You have been at the helm of “literacy” here for 32 years. What motivates you to keep at it? What have been your greatest challenges? The best – or worst – changes in the status of literacy? With each generation, or influx of immigrants, do you have to begin all over again?
JC: I am a giver, bordering on being a co-dependent! So, it means a lot to me to help others help themselves. When you see people, especially adults, come forward and say, “I want to learn to read,” or, “I want to read better because of my children,” it gives me, us, an opportunity to make change happen in a way that is exciting and life changing. What can be better than that? Reading is vital to success in school, in families, and in careers. Without it, people are trapped in under-achievement and quite often never gain the opportunity to live up to their potential. Life is precious. We should all have the opportunity to succeed at it. In today’s world, reading is more important than ever.
I don’t like to think in terms of “starting over.” Our message is that it’s never too late to learn. We all have our own starting place and we should accommodate people from where they are in their lives.
My greatest challenge has been the ongoing need to communicate to funders and other agencies the role that literacy plays as a solution – and the role that illiteracy plays in our social challenges. Too often, we become distracted by symptoms that look like problems…when they are not. We need to go to the sources of our problems. Illiteracy is one of the root causes for what is ailing so many individuals and families.
LW: What are SDCOL’s most promising programs?
JC: Our creative collaboration is the key.
LW: “Eat.Drink.Read.” – – the price is right, the cause is just! What can attendees expect this year?
JC: We have added a few new twists to this year’s event. We have a contest for chefs and some incredible silent auction items. The whole of the Air & Space Museum as our event site is a good one – it will be open to attendees. Guests will love the live music and the variety of food and drink that they can try. All funds raised will support our services, our work. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of new people on May 18. It’s going to be a good time!


Tickets to the Thursday, May 18 San Diego Council on Literacy’s 8th Annual “Eat. Drink. Read. A Culinary Event for Literacy takes place at the Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park. Tickets are $75 per person. For more information, visit http://www.literacysandiego.org/eatdrinkread/.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

WHAT NOW? And … On the Bright Side ….

Presidio Sentinel San Diego, APRIL 2017

By Laura Walcher


If there’s some benefit to having tripped into a New York City sidewalk pothole, trashing my ticket to “Hamilton,” sending my lovin’ kin, as a result, into an unexpected adventure of ambulances, emergency rooms, changed schedules, and so on, it’s that now, in a technologically-impressive boot and armed with crutches and canes, I have sooo much time to read … well, everything.  Along with Mr. Trump (to begin with, I decline calling him “President”) and the on-going despicable and untrue tweets and “news” he generates, I’m now an opinionator on ..everything!
 
 Mr. T’s  driver’s license says he’s 6’2”; but he says he’s
6’3’.   His weight at both heights is estimated at 30-plus more lbs. than he admits to.  If only …!  Instead of aspiring to the presidency, I wish he would’ve noticed Cedric McMillan’s amazing physique as, mega-muscled, McMillan won the 2017 body building competition in Columbus’ Arnold Sports Festival.  Now, winning a body-building competition would’ve been much more satisfying to the ego-centric Mr. T. than the presidency,  and much more satisfying for us, since body-builders need only stand there and look pretty.  Moreover, all that weight Mr. Trump denied could’ve been turned into muscle.

Gone Guys:  You just can’t say anything, anymore:  noting that surprisingly few women  have risen to the role of advertising executive, Saatchi Chairman Kevin Roberts opined that perhaps women have less “vertical ambition” than male counterparts.  Ho-hum.  He got whopped but good for what he said was merely a ”miscommunication.”  Never mind:  he’s gone. 

Over at Uber, which hasn’t had enough problems, four execs just bailed, including their bally-hoo’ed  “president of ride sharing, “ after only six months on the job.  In exiting – without comment – Jeff Jones joins top company executives Raffi Krikorian, Gary Marcus, and Amit Singhal in their race out the door.  Who hasn’t left (yet?) is Travis Kalanick, CEO and company co-founder, whose well-publicized battle with a driver made headlines. Said Kalanick, he’ll seek “help, ” but it’s not clear whether he meant finding new leadership, a new temperament, or both.

Found guys:  if not fortune, at least fame has come to the Kelly family after Robert E. Kelly, the BBC commentator whose opinions about South Korean politics, were hilariously torpedo’d by his 4-year old daughter and baby son, squirming in the arms of his wife, who desperately tried to shepherd the kids out of the camera’s eyes during an otherwise very serious interview.  Despite having been a regular BBC guest for years,
the awkward incident catapulted him into international fame. Importantly, as noted far and wide, he disputed a theory for why he’d never gotten out of his chair:  “I was wearing pants,” he humphed.   

If you (still) believe the news, you are a growing minority, sad to say.  Trump trumpets his own lies, even while attacking  “the dishonest media”  - but be assured, me, you can believe.   I promise, I’ve carefully verified every word I’ve reported in this column. 

Under the circumstances… what else do I have to do?  ###





Monday, March 6, 2017

WHAT NOW? PEACEMAKER AWARDS, Not a Moment Too Soon!

Presidio Sentinel San Diego
 March 2017
By Laura Walcher
Absent the 20th century world wars, can we remember a
time since, so filled with conflict, seemingly invading every aspect of our society,  seemingly propelled by  American’s thin-skinned, rash president?  Tough times.  All the more reason to recognize, honor and celebrate the National Conflict Resolution Center  (NCRC)– resolutely deepening their programs and outreach, inspiring us to seek peaceful resolutions to our conflicts – and showing us how.

The organization’s annual Peacemaker Awards are coming up
In April – and not a moment too soon.

We asked Steve Dinkin, NCRC’s CEO, how he sees the world today, and how the organization addresses our challenges.  Why, indeed, can’t we just get along?

LW:  In writer Tyler Cowen’s new book, “The Complacent Class,” he says that Americans have “lost their mojo” – that is, unable to work up the interest or energy to solve our country’s problems.  Heaven knows, that includes economic, racist, political and personal conflict!  Yet these days, NCRC is all over the map, advocating for and teaching conflict resolution.  Not exactly ‘complacent?’  Do you still think  that “conflict is inevitable, but manageable?”

SD:  Yes.  Yet, I think that one of the biggest problems we face today is that society has become increasingly conflict avoidant. And that may very well be why we are in the state we are in now. People are hiding behind computer screens and smart phones to push back against one another, instead of having meaningful face-to-face conversations that help move issues forward. No matter how far technology takes us, nothing will ever replace the importance of a conversation between two people with differing ideas. We have to teach people how to respectfully disagree again.

LW.  Somewhere in my “stacks,” I have a four-page brochure for a seminar called, “Dealing with Difficult People,” but NCRC goes ‘way beyond those challenging folk.  Is conflict, mediation always about “difficult” people?

SD:  On the contrary. Most people are reasonable and other-wise level-headed, but we all get pulled into conflict and tend to lose our cool when emotions take over. It’s important to acknowledge that. It’s important to know that conflict will happen  - and it’s okay. Just make sure you have the tools needed to deal with it properly when the time comes.

LW:  Resolving conflict:  isn’t it enough to say you’re ‘sorry!’ ?

SD: The idea behind successful conflict resolution is not that you have to constantly apologize or end up agreeing with the person with whom you are in conflict.  In fact, if you offer a false apology, you are more likely to continue to have issues with that person, because, for you, the conflict is not fully resolved. But if you can agree to hear the other person, acknowledge that they have been impacted by the situation and work with them to move forward, that is often enough to get the situation resolved.

LW.  Too much conflict today, we recognize, is between citizens and police. Is NCRC specifically addressing that now?

SD:  We work with citizens and law enforcement in many ways.  Through the County of San Diego Live Well Initiative, we facilitate discussions between residents of communities like Southeast San Diego or City Heights and local law enforcement,  plus provide communication training to both  citizens and police so that the two groups have an opportunity to interact in positive ways. We also train youth – from middle school to university students – in conflict resolution techniques, which touch on how to work collaboratively with those in authority.  

LW.  You’ve expanded NCRC’s services significantly – and importantly - to ever-younger teens, youth. What motivated you to  establish , “Avoiding the Pipeline to Prison” – ?

SD: From 1980 to 2008 the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled from 500,000 to over 2.3 million, making us the most punitive nation in the world! More and more, we have seen that youngsters get caught in this system. For many who are arrested for crimes such as vandalism or battery, the punishment doesn’t end when they serve their jail time. By then, they have missed school, disconnected from many positive aspects of society and become acquainted with other criminals. It’s easy for them to end up back in the system over and over again. So, we clearly need a new way of looking at how we deal with youth who have committed criminal acts.

The “Avoiding the Pipeline to Prison” initiative focuses on Restorative Justice - an ancient practice based on a timeless truth that restitution has greater value than retribution. It shifts the focus from legal rules to human needs and from punishment to responsibility. It addresses the personal impact of wrongdoing on the victim, the offender, their families, and their community. All parties work together to repair the harm, ensure accountability, and make a fresh start.

Restorative Justice works. It dramatically reduces recidivism. It eases symptoms of emotional pain among victims. It builds solidarity within communities. And, it lowers the spiraling costs of criminal prosecution and incarceration. Remarkably, in an era of growing political discord, restorative justice is winning support from conservatives and progressives alike.

LW:  Does NCRC have any plans to address the current toxic Trump moves, and in his wake, increased racist, religious, cross-border, and international hostile activity?  Surely non-peaceful!

SD:  Society as a whole needs to unite to fight hate-speech, racism and violence.  To this end, NCRC has joined forces with KPBS to launch a Community Heroes Initiative whereby four times a year, San Diegans will nominate community heroes who are making a difference in addressing some of the most contentious problems of our time.  Once the “hero” has been selected, NCRC and KPBS will hold a town-hall meeting to hear from the hero as well as citizens, so that we may find common ground and solutions to many of these troubling issues.  Starting in 2018, these four heroes will be recognized at the Peacemaker Awards Dinner.  

LW. Fortunately, NCRC does see ‘peace’ in this year’s awards; possibly the world’s most urgent undertaking. Who are the Awardees this year, and why have they earned your attention, admiration?

SD: Our three Awards this year:

The Southern Poverty Law Center, for their "Teaching Tolerance" program. This award-winning, multi-media platform for building an inclusive society, is empowering educators across the country to guide students away from bias and conflict and toward empathy and unity.
        
Basketball legend Bill Walton and his wife, Lori, are being honored for focusing so much of their philanthropic service on their passionate belief in the value of civic spirit and the power of human aspiration.
        
And, Rachel’s Challenge is the organization named after Rachel Joy Scott's posthumous legacy of kindness that emerged after her death in the Columbine High School massacre. The work of this organization is transforming schools by disrupting patterns of bullying with a culture of compassion and civility. ###

The 29th Annual PEACEMAKER AWARDS, will be presented Saturday, April 8, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency, La Jolla at Aventine, 5:30 – 9 p.m. RSVP:  619-238-2400,  xl222; lcolejones@ncrconline.com



Sunday, February 5, 2017

WHAT NOW? AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT ….or, “HAPPY” VALENTINE’S DAY!


By Laura Walcher

So, if I were living in pre=historic times, it might never occur to me to consider whether or not I’m happy.  Better, back then, to be lucky.  You know, to find food, vs. to be food. 

Historian and author Darrin McMahon (“Happiness: A History.”) says happiness  … has demonstrably changed over the years.  Pre-historically speaking, one didn’t have the time, interest or energy to ponder questions of happiness. 

Try survival.  

You could hyphenate happy, but then you might reverse the whole thing:  one could be “trigger-happy:  i.e: bad for one’s enemies;   or, “clothes-happy,”  in which an obsessed person can shop herself into bankruptcy. 

Happy, however, is surely what we want to be on Valentine’s Day, although, “happy,” oddly, does not always connect to love.  Let’s face it:  love doesn’t always make you happy. In fact, love can make you miserable:  it can be unrequited.  Obsessive.  Unhealthy.  Fatal (as in “fatal attraction.” Ouch.)

Not that we don’t advocate for love.  When it works.  Doesn’t it expand, deepen, reinforce happiness?  Yet, happiness?  Love?  Both highly iffy.  

So, how are you?  Truly, no matter how we are, in idle social intercourse, we normally respond to this polite question:  “fine, thanks!”  We might even add,  “and, you?” whereupon we’d get a similar answer.    Now, you know
that response is often just not true.  My sister Mimi Chenfeld, has never in her life responded with,  ”fine, thanks!”  Her  response is richer.  More interesting. Philosophical. Debatable.  Fun? “ Other than life and death,” she may reply,  “ sickness and health, war and peace, love and hate, I'm OK." Not that she’s always so long-winded; another of her responses might as easily be … ”When?”  

Isabelle Walcher, at 20, muses: “What’s the difference between happiness and  contentment? I am generally more  - and less -  content  with my choices and the people (and animals!) I surround myself with. But, am I always ‘happy?’ Don't think so, nor do I want to be!” 

In the New Yorker, writer John Lanchester, reminded us that the Declaration of Independence asserts that “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” is one
of our major pursuits. And rights.  

But, rats.  It’s so elusive, isn’t it?  I say, we may believe in it, but let’s not depend on it.  I might walk happily out of the house, only to meet a surly neighbor.  I could happily play my flute ‘til I hit a wrong note (That’s my imagination speaking, I never do that); I could cheerfully run Fen round the ‘hood and suddenly have to retrieve him from some aggressive Boxer,  thus  swiftly eroding my happiness. Resonates, doesn’t it?  And we won’t count the hundreds of other big and little occurrences in life that threaten our good moods. 

So, my personal conclusion is – let’s don’t think about it too much. Let’s be grateful for “good” love.  For bursts of happiness.  Compared to nearly all the rest of the world, we’re in great shape.  

Lucky for us. 


###

Monday, January 2, 2017

WHAT NOW? HE’S DRIVING ME CRAZY. NO, REALLY

Presidio Sentinel San Diego, January 2017

By Laura Walcher

For a variety of reasons of which I will spare you the details,
I have of late been charged with being the driver. 

Normally, this would not be a big deal; after all, I’ve been driving since before …well, let’s just say I’ve been driving
cars since we all drove standard shifts. 

So by now, y’know,  I’m a reasonably confident driver.  I don’t speed.  I don’t weave.  I pay (reasonable) attention.  I don’t forget my seat belt, and I don’t forget to check the rear view
and the side view mirrors.  I don’t follow too closely, and I break for pedestrians. 

(Well, I won’t kid you: over the years I have had two or three
accidents, but they were all the other guys’ fault.  Maybe except
for that ugly and hostile lady into whose car I backed into when – c’mon – it was perfectly obvious that I was  pulling out;  she should’ve stopped for me.  One lousy little
broken fender,  fr’pete’sake. You would’ve thought her Mercedes  had died and gone to heaven.)

Back before I did all the driving, if the Mister and I went anywhere together, he was always behind the wheel.   It’s just a guy thing.  So now that I have to do
all the driving, that guy thing has changed into this guy
thing:

“HISSSSSSS!”

That’s him, suddenly curled up in the passenger seat, freaked out for no good reason.  Hissing.  We’re on the freeway,  so  there’s no way I’m braking to a sudden stop, but  his hiss  has at least stopped my soul:  cold. “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?” I delicately propose. 

OK, it varies:  Didn’t you see that car?  Did you even read  the speed limit?  Did you look to see whether you can pass? 

Secret:  that terrifying hiss can definitely propel me to do  - or not do - all those things he proposed. 

Then there’s the “GULP.  What could possibly, you ask, merit his Gulp?  It is so alarming that I could really crash into the sidewalk instead of what I was probably doing, which was carefully, carefully paralleling into a perfectly – sized parking space.  (Confession:  once, just once, I nipped the car behind me, but I left a very sincere apology). 

THE FOREHEAD SLAP.  This is actually my least favorite.   If I’m kind’ve cheery, I don’t mind the hiss and the gulp.  I can get even. But to begin with, the forehead slap is loud.   And since I’m not watching him, for all I know he’s smacked his head against the window.    Well, here’s the truth:  the forehead slap is usually his own internal strife: why did G. allow him to be in
such unspeakable danger?  Isn’t life difficult enough?  Can his marriage be saved? Did he do something awful to deserve this? That kind of thing. 

Poor guy.  Doesn’t he get    that it’s me he’s driving crazy? ###