To the west coast, Middlebury College is still not quite a brand name. Most who know it, have it lumped in with the dozens of small liberal arts colleges in the northeast. Well, today, the West Coast and Bay Area get a chance to see a glimpse of Middlebury as the Middlebury College Rugby Club plays at Stanford University in the Division II finals at 1PM PST/4PM EST.
You can also watch Midd’s incredible rugby team on USA Rugby: http://www.mediazone.com/channel/rugby/jsp/2006/usarugby.jsp
One of my class assignments for “International Political Economy” is to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper on the broad topic of what the U.S. policy should be in toward the world economy. This is not an uncommon assignment. Up through 5th grade, teachers have students write in as an exercise in writing and critical analysis. What is uncommon about this assignment was that for the first time, my grade depended on whether I was published or not. A- for a local newspaper, A for a regional newspaper, and A+ for a national newspaper.
I submitted my letter to the San Francisco Chronicle and it was published this morning:
‘Greening’Editor — I am jealous of the “Like Christmas” Earth Day celebrations this past weekend in the Bay Area. After all, more hybrid cars than ever zoom up and down the hills of San Francisco. More families than ever cram aisles to get organic produce at Whole Foods. I bet some have even sprung for a carbon offset offered by PG&E to become “carbon neutral.”
But should we really be celebrating when the “greening”’ of America does not include the poor? How many hybrid vehicles are parked in driveways in Oakland’s poorest neighborhoods? How many Bayview residents have bought organic produce lately?
It is clear that “greening” should be more universal. In terms of the world economy, the United States must lead with a policy that reflects a clear vision to build a “green economy” to lift the poor out of poverty with “green jobs.” Perhaps then we can celebrate Earth Day with real exuberance, as if Santa left us presents under the tree.
I guess it helps to know I can hook a San Francisco audience and know the readers well. Years of Two Cents entries helped too…
I made SF Chronicle Two Cents today responding to the question: Can California Cut Greenhouse Gas by a Fouth by 2020?
I said:
“If it is going to be any state, it’s going to be California. Where California goes, other states follow.”
On Tuesday night, I saw Jersey Boys (musical) at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. It was packed for a Tuesday night — who in the world would go see a show about some old boy band from the 60s? Well, as it turns out, that boy band is Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Anyone aged 40+ will have heard of them.
As it turns out the show was fun but yet another example of a producer’s dream: all money, no creativity. It’s really just pure cash, hire a smallish cast to sing 25 Frankie Valli songs tied together with minimal plot line on a big bare stage. Still, Jersey Boys is a good cash cow because it is entertaining. Even for a 20 year old, I knew at least a few songs and the rest are melodic enough to keep your foot tapping and spirits up.
So once again, I woke up early on December 26th to go day-after-Christmas shopping with the family at Union Square in downtown San Francisco. I’m never very enthusiastic about shopping but somehow I kinda liked it this year. Perhaps we were just more hardcore about it and got up at 7AM and played the stores smart. The stores we visited: Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Starbucks, Gump’s, Neman Marcus, Apple Store, Ferragamo, Bloomingdales, Eddie Bauer, Bloomingdales food court.
Maybe I just liked it more because I did not buy a single item. It was the spirit of shopping without actually purchasing anything. It’s not that I don’t like buying things, it’s more the energy and spirit of the people, the crowd.
