Friday, March 31, 2006

The best laid plans and all that.

I had planned on posting about various activities I've been doing of late. But this grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go.

http://www.local6.com/news/8345157/detail.html

Several parents in Apopka, Fla., are upset over a surprise school "Holocaust" project that some say tormented children, according to a Local 6 News report.

Local 6 News reported that eighth-graders with last names beginning with L through Z at Apopka Memorial Middle School were given yellow five-pointed stars for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Other students were privileged, the report said.

Father John Tinnelly said his son was forced to stand in the back of the classroom and not allowed to sit because he was wearing the yellow star.

"He was forced to go to the back of the lunch line four times by an administrator," Tinnelly said.

Tinnelly said the experiment upset his child.

"He was crying," Tinnelly said. "I said, 'What are you crying about?' He said, 'Daddy, I was a Jew today.'"

Other parents and children shared similar stories, Tinnelly said.

"They were told that they could not use the water fountains," Tinnely said. "There was even a sign supposedly at one water fountain (saying) if you're wearing a yellow star , you can't use this water fountain."


"This was supposed to be a creative way to teach the horrors of the Holocaust but unfortunately it has sparked controversy and more importantly it has sparked conversation," Reznick said. "We have now heard from nearly a dozen parents (who are) very upset."

Tinnelly said he believes it is important to teach the Holocaust, but apparently little was learned during the experiment.

"I tried to talk to my son and I asked all of these questions and the only thing he said is, 'Daddy, the only thing I found out today is I don't want to be Jewish,'" Tinnelly said.

"Children were selected to be persecuted or privileged, some not told the rule," Local 6 reporter Gerald Reznick said. "Parents tell Local 6 they were not told prior to the school-wide experiment."

"Teachers felt that it would have defeated the purpose to tell the students ahead of time because that would have prepared them," Principal Douglas Guthrie said. "Students came in and all they got was a star."

"This was supposed to be a creative way to teach the horrors of the Holocaust but unfortunately, it has sparked controversy and more importantly, it has sparked conversation," Reznick said. "We have now heard from nearly a dozen parents (who are) very upset."

Local 6 News aired a statement from The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida; "Of course, we applaud Apopka (Memorial) Middle School's effort to engage in Holocaust education with the hope of a tolerance education component in the classroom. That is the mission of The Center to teach tolerance through Holocaust remembrance and education. However, we do not encourage nor train teachers to engage in simulation exercises."

Guthrie admitted that he would do some things differently in the exercise because of complaints but said some kids got the message, Reznick said.

"They need to know, we don't want history to repeat itself," Guthrie said.



Beautiful. Simply beautiful. "Daddy, I was a Jew today"

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Well...

I now have a 16 year old asian admirer. Of course, he thinks I'm a 22 year old girl. I've missed StarCraft.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Now that it's been announced...

I guess I can talk about it a little. FFG has announced that they will be developing and releasing a Starcraft Boardgame.

I've got mixed feelings about this. As most of you know, I love the computer game. A lot. The idea of a boardgame based on it fills me with glee and horror. I like the designer and have enjoyed many of his games, hence some hope regarding the project. But the description of the game from FFG's rant page fills me with dread.

"It features a large central game board depicting the Starcraft galaxy, as well as nine separate smaller boards that each represent a specific planet in the Starcraft universe. Players will control the familiar Terran, Protoss, or Zerg space and ground units in a bid for domination of these nine worlds."

We'll see.

Whoops, my bad

I really should know better by now. Anytime I complain about something, the Universe sees fit to correct the problem. The difficulty lies in the Universe's slow response time. Generally the circumstances reverse themselves at a most inopportune moment. I want to roll higher in Risk and complain about not doing so. The Universe decides to see to this error during a game of Axis & Allies. I complain about not having any winter this year and no snowfalls worthy of the name. I wake up the next morning and there's a foot of snow on the ground and it's still coming down. So, sorry for the traffic Twin Cities residents. My bad.