Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2015)
COFFEE BREAK Saturday, September 12, 2015 PARENTS TALK BACK Finding my daughter’s doppelganger in Karachi T he newspaper editor seated next to me at a trendy Lahore restaurant spoke soberly about the pressures faced by the Pakistani media. Despite the fact that Pakistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, it has a vibrant press, explained Kamal Siddiqi. He is the editor-in-chief of the Express Tribune, one of the country’s largest English-language dailies. But his demeanor changed when we discovered we both have daughters roughly the same age. In that perplexed way that middle-aged parents talk about their children’s musical tastes, he Aisha mentioned that his Sultan 13-year-old is a fan Parents talk back of Fall Out Boy, an $PHULFDQSRSSXQN band. My daughter loves Fall Out Boy, I informed him. His girl also follows British YouTube stars Dan and Phil, he said, unsure of who exactly they were. Mine is similarly obsessed. (Neither Siddiqi nor I have watched an episode yet, although we agreed that we fully intend to monitor what has our children so enraptured.) It wasn’t just the girls’ shared pop cultural interests that amused us. It was their boundary-testing attitudes; their verbal sparring with siblings and parents; their common language of Tumblr and Instagram posts. “I thought this was somewhat unique to $PHULFDQNLGV´,VDLGWRKLP “No, this is what she and all her friends WDONDERXW´KHVDLG The West has long exported its culture to the rest of the world. But the proliferation of social media has given ULVHWRDPRUHÀXLGH[FKDQJHWKDWJRHV beyond singing the same song lyrics and watching the same movies. The hyper- connected, post-millennial generation is part of a pan-digital culture. Of course, a VHFXODU$PHULFDQWHHQPLJKWKDYHOLWWOH in common with one being educated in a Pakistani madrassa. But one of Lahore’s most conservative madrassas broadcasts LWVOHVVRQVYLD<RX7XEHDQG¿HOGV³$VNDQ LPDP´TXHVWLRQVRQOLQH7KHLUDXGLHQFHLV global. Meanwhile, a teen punk in Pakistan is QROHVVHPRWKDQKHU$PHULFDQFRXQWHUSDUW I rattled off the names of a few other bands that Siddiqi’s daughter might appreciate, having been educated on several occasions by my own 12-year-old. He texted his daughter in Karachi about his QHZPXVLFDO¿QGVDQGVKHEHJDQTXL]]LQJ him about songs, suspicious in the way teenagers are when their parents profess to liking anything cool. She stopped texting after a short exchange. I empathized. I had been away from home on a journalism seminar for more than two weeks at this point, and I had sent my daughter lengthy texts to which I received short replies, if they were acknowledged at all. One of my traveling companions, a young +XI¿QJWRQ3RVW reporter, nodded sympathetically when I showed her the one-sided text conversations. “It’s like you’re in a relationship with a EDGER\IULHQG´VKHVDLG It did feel like trying a bit too hard to get someone’s attention. I shared the analogy with Siddiqi, who agreed that it was apt. I wondered why I felt so giddy at the thought of parents across the globe suffering the same teenager-related DQJVW7KH$PHULFDQFXOWXUHRIPRGHUQ parenting lays so much blame at the feet of parents: We are too permissive; we are too hovering; we are overly involved; we are too self-involved. Mostly, we are guilt-ridden and time-starved. Every aspect of parenting is picked apart and diagnosed as a symptom of any number of societal ills, from consumerism WRQDUFLVVLVPWRDWWHQWLRQGH¿FLWV No wonder it was such a relief to hear a Pakistani parent describe an adolescent who sounded so familiar. Siddiqi’s daughter called me to ask if I had really taken my daughter to a Fall Out Boy concert this summer. Yes, I told her, it’s true. ³6KH¶VVROXFN\´VKHVKULHNHG I could not resist texting my daughter afterwards and sharing that tidbit. ³,NQRZ,KDYHFRROSDUHQWV´VKHWH[WHG back, adding a sly smiley face emoji. She must be missing me after all, I thought. Siddiqi and I pledged to keep in touch after our meeting, which was ostensibly about the ways in which our professional worlds overlapped and diverged. He and I became Facebook friends. We virtually introduced our daughters, who connected through Instagram. The distance between Karachi and St. Louis: now a bit shorter. Ŷ Aisha Sultan is a St. Louis-based journalist who studies parenting in the digital age while trying to keep up with her tech-savvy children. Find her on Twitter: @AishaS. East Oregonian Page 9C Many children return to school without Common Core results No Child Left Behind By JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press :$6+,1*721 ² :LWK new backpacks, pens and pencils and clothes, millions of children are back in school. Many are excited, some are anxious — and still waiting for the results of the new tests they took last spring aligned to the Common Core academic standards. Congress returns from its summer vacation after Labor Day and on its agenda is a rewrite to the No Child Left Behind educa- tion law that requires the annual academic testing. The House AP Photo/Mark Lennihan and Senate passed competing Students arrive for the first day of school at Stuyvesant High versions, and congressional nego- School, Wednesday in New York. tiators need to reconcile them. Some things to know as Common Core tests Standardized tests students, parents and teachers This past spring saw the rollout Many in the country question embark on a new school year. of new tests based on the Common the idea of rating a teacher based Enrollment Core standards. The reading and partly on how students perform $ERXW PLOOLRQ VWXGHQWV math tests replace traditional on standardized tests — some- will attend public elementary VSULQJ VWDQGDUGL]HG WHVWV $ERXW thing supported and encouraged and secondary schools this 12 million students in 29 states and by the Education Department as fall. Enrollment is expected to the District of Columbia took the part of the No Child Left Behind be slightly higher than a year tests developed by two groups — education law. $ UHFHQW *DOOXS 3ROO IRXQG ago, when 50 million students WKH6PDUWHU%DODQFHG$VVHVVPHQW were enrolled in public schools, Consortium and the Partnership 55 percent of those questioned linking teacher according to the Department of IRU$VVHVVPHQW RI 5HDGLQHVV IRU opposed &ROOHJHDQG&DUHHUV3$5&& evaluations to their students’ Education. $FFRUGLQJ WR 6PDUWHU WHVW VFRUHV $PRQJ WKRVH ZLWK $Q DGGLWLRQDO PLOOLRQ Balanced, only a few states have children in public schools, students are expected to attend released scores from the spring opposition was stronger, at 63 private schools this fall. The National Center for — Connecticut, Idaho, Wash- percent. More than 40 states are Education Statistics estimates that ington, Oregon, Missouri, West 3.3 million students will graduate Virginia, and Vermont. Most moving forward with plans to from high schools, public and states have not been able to put evaluate teachers and princi- private, at the end of the school out test scores before the start of pals in part on how well their classes. The delay was expected students perform on standard- year. ized tests, according to the Enrollment is also growing at LQWKHH[DP¶V¿UVW\HDU Scores for the almost 5 department. It says other factors, the nation’s colleges and univer- sities, with 7 million students million students who took the such as student work and parent at two-year colleges and 13.2 3$5&&WHVWVVWLOOKDYH\HWWREH feedback, should be considered, million at four-year schools, UHOHDVHG 3$$5& LV VWLOO VHWWLQJ too. Teachers, unions and benchmarks for each perfor- others worry there’s too much according to the center. It says colleges and universities mance level. The partnership emphasis on test scores. The survey was funded by are expected to award 952,000 says they’re due for release this fall, and that the goal in future Phi Delta Kappa International, associate’s degrees, 1.8 million bachelor’s degrees, 802,000 years of the tests is to release the an association for educators that master’s degrees and 179,000 results as close to the end of the supports teachers and educa- school year as possible. tional research. doctor’s degrees in 2015-16. Congressional negotiators will have to iron out differences between House and Senate bills rewriting the much-criticized and outdated No Child Left Behind education law from 2002. Both bills would maintain the annual testing requirements in reading and math in third grade through eighth grade, and once in high school. But they would allow the states to determine whether and how to use those tests to assess the performance of schools, teachers and students. The bills would bar the Education Department from mandating or giving states incentives to adopt RU PDLQWDLQ VSHFL¿F DFDGHPLF standards, such as Common Core. The House measure would allow federal money to follow low-income children to public schools of their choice. The Obama administration has made clear it won’t back the House bill. Sleepy teens Most teenagers aren’t getting the kind of sleep they need as they begin a new school year. Fewer than 1 in 5 middle and high schools began the day at the recommended 8:30 a.m. start time or later during the 2011- 2012 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC and Education Depart- ment researchers looked at nearly 40,000 public middle and high schools, and found that the average start time for school was 8:03 a.m. Forty-two states reported that 75 percent to 100 percent of the public schools in their states started before 8:30 a.m. 7KH $PHULFDQ $FDGHP\ RI Pediatrics recommends that middle and high schools start the day no earlier than 8:30 a.m., so teenagers get the sleep they need to be successful in school. OUT OF THE VAULT Legendary cowboy, actor earned name accidentally Y akima Canutt is a legend. But he got his famous moniker by mistake, according to a 1977 interview with the East Oregonian. The four-time all-around winner at the Pendleton Round-Up (1917, 1919, 1920 and 1923) was born Enos Edward Canutt on Nov 29, 1896, in the Snake River Hills near Colfax, Wash. He rode his ¿UVWEURQFLQDWWKHDJH of 16, but only after he got his father’s permission. “If he bucks you off, your riding is through ²\RX¶UH¿QLVKHG´KLVIDWKHU told him. Canutt rode the bronc to a standstill, and his rodeo career was off like a rocket. &DQXWW¿UVWDWWHQGHGWKH Pendleton Round-Up in 1914 with a group of cowboys from Yakima, Wash. The group was trying out bucking horses and Pendleton photographer Walter Bowman captured Canutt on one of his attempts. Not knowing the cowboy’s name, he asked around and was told, “Oh, WKDW¶V&DQXWWRI<DNLPD´:KHQ Bowman labeled the picture for a newspaper article, Yakima Canutt was re-christened — a name that stuck with him for the Renee Struthers Out of the vault Yakima Canutt competes in the 1918 Pendleton Round-Up in his sailor whites. EO file photo rest of his life. Yak, as his friends called him, continued to compete in rodeos even while serving in the U.S. Navy. In 1918, while on a three-week furlough, he showed up at the Round-Up in his sailor’s uniform “that just didn’t seem to match his cowboy ERRWV´$VWKH¿UVWVXFFHVVIXO competitor in bulldogging that year, Canutt wrestled a longhorn steer halfway around the arena before subduing it, though he ran over the two-minute time the two began working together in 1932. Canutt later became a director for action scenes, most notably the 20-minute chariot racing scene in the 1959 SURGXFWLRQRI³%HQ+XU´ Yak earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry, and an honorary $FDGHP\$ZDUGLQIRU his achievements as a stunt man and for developing safety devices to protect stunt men. He was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in 1959, and into the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame in $QGKHSOD\HGKLPVHOILQ limit. He still received a standing WKHPRYLH³<DN¶V%HVW5LGH´LQ 1985. ovation. Yakima Canutt, “... the most $IWHUZLQQLQJKLVIRXUWK famous person NOT from all-around title in 1923, Canutt took his skills to Hollywood. He <DNLPD:DVKLQJWRQ´DFFRUGLQJ appeared in 48 silent movies, all to author Elizabeth Gibson, died westerns, but moved to stock and May 24, 1986, at the age of 90 at his home in North Hollywood. VWXQWZRUNDIWHU³WDONLHV´ZHUH Ŷ introduced in 1928 (his voice Renee Struthers is the KDGEHHQGDPDJHGE\WKHÀX ZKLOHLQWKH1DY\$QGPXFKRI Community Records Editor for John Wayne’s on-screen persona, the East Oregonian. See the complete collection of Out of including the drawling, hesitant the Vault columns at eovault. speech and the hip-rolling walk, blogspot.com was copied from Canutt after ODDS & ENDS NYC millionaire bequeaths $100,000 to 32 cockatiels $WWRUQH\*HQHUDO+HUEHUW6ODWHU\LVVXHG DQ$XJRSLQLRQWKDWVD\VDFLW\FRXQFLO cannot request the results of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report because of a 1(:<25.$3²$1HZ<RUN law that says such records should be released City millionaire who died this summer has “only in compliance with a subpoena or an bequeathed a $100,000 trust fund to care for RUGHURIDFRXUWRIUHFRUG´The Tennessean her 32 pet cockatiels. 7KH1HZ<RUN3RVW reported Saturday that reports. Slatery said the lack of a comma after /HVOLH$QQ0DQGHO¶VZLOODVNVWKDWWKHVPDOO parrots continue living in an aviary at her $4 WKHZRUG³VXESRHQD´PHDQVWKDWHLWKHUD subpoena or an order must come from a million East Hampton home. court. If there were a comma present, the The will names each bird, from Margie RSLQLRQVDLGWKHQ³RIDFRXUWRIUHFRUG´ and Nicki to Zara and Zack 12. ZRXOGRQO\DSSO\WR³RUGHU´ With Mandel’s stepson as trustee, the 6WDWH5HS$QWRQLR3DUNLQVRQ fund also will care for a cat named Kiki and D-Memphis, said he asked the attorney a rescue dog named Frosty. general to weigh in because of ongoing 0DQGHOUDQDIXQGUDLVLQJ¿UPDQG discussions about how to balance amassed a $5.3 million fortune. She died in transparency and investigative needs, June at age 69. HVSHFLDOO\LQKLJKSUR¿OHFDVHVLQYROYLQJ Other wills also have provided for pets. SROLFHRI¿FHUVWKDWKDYHRFFXUUHGLQ Hotel magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 PLOOLRQWRKHUGRJ7URXEOH$MXGJHWULPPHG Memphis and other cities around the nation. ³(VSHFLDOO\LQFDVHVRIRI¿FHUVKRRWLQJV the bequest to $2 million. people have the right to know what KDSSHQHG´3DUNLQVRQVDLG³,GRDOVR Missing comma means the need to make sure the certain records are off-limits understand investigations are not tainted, and that the 1$6+9,//(7HQQ$3²,QWKHHQG LQIRUPDWLRQLVQRWSXWRXWWKHUHWRRHDUO\´ Josh DeVine, spokesman for TBI, said WKH7HQQHVVHH$WWRUQH\*HQHUDOVD\VWKH according to the staff in the bureau’s legal argument all comes down to the lack of a department, the agency has never received comma. a subpoena from a city council. Nashville Metro Council Jon Cooper said that action has been threatened by council members but never used. %DUEHUVKRS¿QHGIRU refusing to cut woman’s hair :$6+,1*7213D$3²$ 3HQQV\OYDQLDEDUEHUVKRSKDVEHHQ¿QHG $750 for refusing to cut a woman’s hair. Barbiere advertises itself as a high-end gentlemen’s barbershop and offers complimentary beers and spirits. The Washington barbershop was recently ¿QHGE\WKHVWDWH¶V%XUHDXRI3URIHVVLRQDO DQG2FFXSDWLRQDO$IIDLUVIRUJHQGHU discrimination. Owner John Interval tells the (Washington) Observer-Reporter WKH¿QH ³LQIULQJHV´RQKLVVKRS¶VHQYLURQPHQW Interval says, “Guys come here as a kind of a OLWWOHJHWDZD\WREHDURXQGRWKHUJX\V´ The female customer had booked hair appointments online for herself and her boyfriend. She asked for a short haircut known as a wave but was turned away. Interval says his staff recommended other shops and even offered to pay for a haircut at someplace else to compensate for the inconvenience.