I identify.
Archive for the 'Ideas' Category
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Back at Dover High School, my greatest accomplishment was leading a committee to rewrite my Student Council’s constitution. Earlier this week, a friend sent me a Facebook message asking me for my advice in accomplishing the same task for an organization at his college. This is my public response to his question.
To start, I’m flattered to be asked for my help like this; I really appreciate it. However, there are far more qualified people to ask than I. Perhaps the Student Government of the college has an official “historian” or someone well-versed in writing constitutions. I’m very confident there’s plenty of help to be found on the campus itself.
Regardless, I’m more than happy to offer my help. In this instance, however, there isn’t a formula for producing a perfectly polished document. Writing a bullet-proof constitution for an organization is inherently a very customized task, one that needs to be fine-tuned to the organization’s needs and goals. I can’t possibly pretend to offer any truly targeted advice for an organization I’m not a member of. It’s a personal journey, and with time, any group that cares enough can pen the guidelines for a system they care about.
There are some basic guidelines to follow, for sure. For example, you must define all of your terms, layout your articles logically, and keep the document internally consistent. This doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface. I recommend learning by example.
My two favorite constitutions are United States Constitution and (selfishly) the Dover High School Student Council Constitution. The former document has guided our nation to where it is today, arguably, very successfully. The latter document was written over the span of a year by seven different people and has since been easily amended twice. Every sentence, article, and punctuation mark was placed where it was for a reason. If you reverse-engineer both of these examples, you’ll learn more than enough to do a great job.
Look those two documents over, read up for advice on Google, and never be afraid to take your time. Rushing something as fundamental as a constitution will only lead to problems down the road.
And finally, good luck!
I’m sitting in a hotel room in Boston with my family, ready to move in to Tufts tomorrow morning. I’m very excited, but predictably scared. It’s a huge change for me – from the countryside of Dover Plains to the urban sprawl of Boston.
In the beginning of this year, I vowed to set a new goal or focus for each month and work at it. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again – I messed up. August was noticeably missing a resolution, but the most important part of accomplishing a goal is getting back on track when knocked off course.
Let’s get back on track. I’m dedicating September to trying new things, meeting new people, and immersing myself in new experiences. Although this is what college is all about, I plan to put special effort into this endeavor. I won’t lay back and let these experience find me; I’m going to go out and seek them myself.
Besides the changes in my life, you may have noticed a change on this blog. Because this is a very symbolic time in my life, a time of transition, I changed the color scheme of the blog to something much more refreshing. It’s only one of many changes that I have lined up for this website when I get some free time.
I don’t know how my blogging will change now that I’m starting college, but I assure you that I will continue to write. I’m not sure how often or about what, but I will always write about the important things in my life and how they may relate to you, especially when it comes to bettering our world.
I hope you’ll stay with me on this journey.
One of my favorite people on earth died today. Although I’ve never met him, I’m going to miss Randy a lot. From the moment I came across his story some time ago, I’ve been inspired by his message and struggle. If you weren’t touched by his outlook on life earlier this year, I urge you to watch his last lecture or to read his book.
You won’t regret it.
If you’re a Dover resident or a frequent visitor, you’ll find this post a particular treat. If not, it may be less relevant.
I’ve been so busy working at the Computer Academy and planning future endeavors that I haven’t had time to address the many awesome comments that you all, my readers, have posted. I always appreciate feedback, so I’ve made some time to highlight the recent comments on my blog. Individuals all across the spectrum have been leaving me their insightful thoughts, people who have been moving through my life this last year, and people who I have yet to meet in person.
Feel free to skip to the comments about the Dover Carnival Incident. If not, let’s get started.
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Day One, Year Two, Computer Academy
Rick is the gentleman who taught the Computer Hardware class at the Computer Academy during the first two-week session. For those two weeks, I was his Teaching Assistant. We had a great time and got a lot of work done. I look forward to working with him again in the future.
It doesn’t make me feel better that it’s seemingly common knowledge about what “Dover students (are) able to get away with”. It’s just sad, really. I’m sure everyone agrees.
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AP Scores
Mike wrote:
Getting a 5 on either Calculus Exam is literally easier than passing it. For some odd reason, about 65 of the 110-or-so are necessary to get a 5 each yeah, though the results are always heavily skewed toward the high-grade end. The tests with more common results have about 10% 5’s, 30% 4’s, 30% 3’s, 20% 2’s, and 10% 1’s. Calc AB has about 30% 5’s, with more than 60% getting a 4 or 5. Calc BC is “worse”, with about 50% 5’s.
To me, this seems to be a grading contradiction on part of College Board. If I get a normal percentage score (earned/possible) of 80% on both my Calc BC and Language Exams, why do I get a 5 of the former, but a 3 on the letter.
That’s interesting, Mike. But, all tests have their own rules and curves – that’s just a part of life for an American mainstream test-taking student. I don’t mind.
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I’ve never seen a college accept 5s but not 4s. Granted I only actually looked into a few schools’ policies.
And the AP, like other College Board exams, is curved, which is why there’s a difference between the scores earned by different percentages on different exams. Whether or not that’s a good policy is another issue.
I saw a school or two who had an AP policy of only accepting “fives”, and I’ve heard of others, but they don’t really matter now. I wasn’t upset because I thought I wouldn’t get credit, entirely. I just felt that I had studied too long and too hard for the score I got; I was wrong, obviously.
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Reflections on the Dover Carnival Incident
J wrote:
Ricky,
I’m glad that someone is reporting about how the so-called “gangs” are popping up in this neighborhood. Quite frankly, I feel that this issue is being overlooked in our community, and I believe this is because nobody can take teenagers seriously these days. When people hear the word gang, they think of Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, and so on. I believe that these “gangs” aren’t taken seriously because there have not been any issues. Until now. I believe the incident was a wake-up call, and it’s proof that something needs to be done now to prevent this from happening again, although it should have been prevented from happening at all.
Hello J! Welcome to my site; I encourage you to come back. Although I assume posting as “J” is to keep you anonymous, feel free to email me to claim your identity. I’d love to have a chat with you, really. This goes for any commenter in the community, always.
I agree with J’s contention that this issue is being overlooked in the community. I too have noticed that people have a hard time taking teenagers seriously. I’ve made it my last year’s work to change that perception, but there’s only so much one person can do in isolated incidents.
And really, if this vocal minority of teenagers keep causing public trouble, this misconception will never be changed.
If a Dover student finds the need to affiliate himself or herself with a “gang” of any type, it’s a sad statement on his or her life. That isn’t to say it’s his or her fault; the nurture side of the nature v. nurture debate comes to mind. All I know about the psychology of gangs comes the book Freakonomics and episodes of This American Life, which isn’t much.
These students should and must be taken seriously. They must never be dismissed as people not worth our time. That’s all I know – I’m not sure where to go from here.
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What a tragedy! The violent acts both immediate and brewing. To see a beautiful thing deteriorate like that…To feel helpless. Awful.
Thinking of you Ricky and wishing you and your community well.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; ”THE SECOND COMING
W.B. Yeats
Despite the somber mood running throughout the threads of my website’s discussions recently, I was so glad to see John’s comment. For anyone who doesn’t know, John spoke at the Dover High School “Leadership Rally” earlier this year. I fought for several months to secure the funding for this normally-routine assembly to be held. The fact that John and I have been keeping touch after the ordeal is rather impressive.
Finally responding to John’s comment, I couldn’t put it any better. Watching something I’ve loved so much crumble in front of my eyes was painful. I appreciate your thoughts and wishes, John.
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Christopher S. Penn wrote:
Dover is not alone.
As the economy goes in a capitalist nation, so goes the society.
My condolences still to the community breaking apart.
I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I’m starting to think that Chris is right. My generation has grown up in a time of relative prosperity and safety. It’s only now that I’m starting to internalize that this can change, will change, and is changing. Knowing something and internalizing it are two different concepts.
Within hours of reading Chris’ comment, I had a phone conversation with one of my former history teachers. We talked about AP scores and the Carnival Incident. Not surprisingly, he said exactly the same thing. If the United States’ economy reflects the peace in Dover Plains, we’re in for a rough decade.
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wrote:
I agree with what you wrote. The carnival use to be a fun place to go and hang with friends, meet up with family and have a good time but this year it did feel different. Walking around with my 2 younger sisters, 9 and 13, I felt like I needed them by my side at all times. It never use to be like that, I could take them and let them go off with friends and enjoy themselves but this year it just felt very unsafe. From the mexican’s who stood around and starred and checked out a 9 year old as well as myself who is clearly very pregnant to the drunken teenagers fighting with each other, I just felt like I could have spent my money elsewhere. Its really sad but this town is slowly becoming a place I do not want to be associated with But how do we, and the town as a hole turn things around?!?! There really is no way and that is horrible. The event on Saturday was the last straw. I returned to see the fireworks like I always do and then to witness a stabbing only 50 feet from where I stood was incredible. I can not stop thinking of what would have happened had I walked that way a few moments earlier. We shouldn’t have to fear our town or watch our backs at a place that is suppose to bring joy and excitement. This year marks the last year of the carnival for me and sadly I think for quite a few others.
Hey Meg! It’s nice to see another new face around here.
I obviously agree with Meg’s belief that this carnival was tangibly different than those of the past, but again, I don’t have the answers for turning it around.
Regardless, I’m willing to throw out some ideas. We need to keep doing what we do. We must move through our daily lives propping ourselves up in society while never forgetting to help others. Over time, things may improve. If they don’t, I’m not sure if it’s feasible to think our actions can change the lifestyles and values of others. It may be, but I have my doubts.
I hope I will attend the carnival again. I look forward to writing about my joy on the fairgrounds sometime in the future.
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Why doesn’t the Dover community promote AA rather than open another liquor store? It has been to my observation that Dover and the surrounding communities are socially reclusive, impoverished, and in denial. Been here six years, can’t wait to move because there is no productivity or prosperity. I’ve been noticing that the general consensus of the neighborhood is “alcoholism, and compulsive television/video game involvement!” Not a very intelligent community, VERY LAZY.
Welcome, Anne! Yet another new face? You commenters have me overjoyed.
These thoughts are very insightful and I think there’s some merit here. I’m not quite sure how a community “promotes” Alcoholics Anonymous over opening another liquor store. Doing some research, I’ve learned that there are AA meetings in our community and in nearby communities. The open market dictates the opening and closing of stores, so any liquor stores that open will be regulated by capitalism.
You’re hinting at something that’s always disturbed me about the Dover Carnival, which is its dependance on alcohol. I don’t mind when adults get together for a few drinks in public, but I clearly saw my former classmates, those who I just graduated with, drinking during the four nights. I doubt they brought their own beer.
I had a chat with a coworker of mine today about Dover’s social problems, and Meg’s comment came to mind. We talked about shifting populations and the eventual influx of new residents as a result of future residential projects. Will these new populations, likely coming from wealthier districts of the nation, clash with the “VERY LAZY” community? Again, I don’t have the answers, but I bet that social dynamic will be interesting.
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I love my blog’s community. I can always count on you guys to have an intelligent conversation that I can’t find elsewhere.