Monthly Archives: November 2010

Zee-to!

Posted on November 6, 2010 | 6 comments

It’s not often a high school organization advisor gets a national award.

Then again, it’s not often the advisor is Mike Zito.

Mike Zito, in action.

The popular, soft-spoken veteran media teacher was honored recently by Ithaca College.  Zito — whose last name is also his nickname — received a S’Park Media Mentor Award from the Roy H. Park School of Communications.  He and 3 other high school instructors from across the country were lauded for their “commitment to inspiring passion for media in students.”

Zito advises both WWPT-FM, and the Staples Television Network.  He brings decades of experience — nearly 40 years in radio, and 21 as a teacher — to his work.

Zito teaches a full schedule of radio production, TV production and narrative film.

He’s not the only Staples media person to win national honors.  His students have won MSG Awards, and the prestigious John Drury High School Radio Awards.  Zito’s classes have been launching pads for many successful careers.

Zito’s own career is not too shabby.  He’s too modest to mention it, but this is not his 1st national prize.  Like his students, last year he was cited by the John Drury folks.  Zito was named Best Radio Station Advisor in the Nation.

Stay tuned for more.

6 Comments

Posted in Staples HS, technology, Teenagers

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It Takes A TEAM, Westport

Posted on November 5, 2010 | 5 comments

Fall Sundays in Westport used to be reserved for leaf-raking, until we outsourced that odious task.

We also used to watch the Giants, but now meh.

So if you’re looking for something truly inspiring and interesting — and want to hang out with some really intriguing people, in one of Westport’s most spectacular homes — head over to Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler’s, on Stony Point, this Sunday at 2 p.m.

TEAM Westport — the town’s committee on multiculturalism — will honor 3 great folks.  The 2nd annual Trailblazer Diversity awards and reception highlights these residents’ lifelong pursuit of human rights for everyone.

Albert Beasley, MD was a practicing pediatrician for more than 50 years.  Among the 1st black families to own a home and raise children here, the founder of Willows Pediatrics has influenced thousands of Westporters, in many generations.  An associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Yale, and senior attending emeritus in pediatrics at Norwalk Hospital, Dr. Beasley has stayed involved in town life on many levels, including Earthplace — where he organized the Green Earth series on health and the environment.

Claire Gold is a long-time advocate of diversity in education.  As Westport’s superintendent of schools from 1981-88, she championed Project Concern — which brought hundreds of Bridgeport youngsters here.  After leaving her post she worked on behalf of minority students and school integration.  Her passion is easing racial isolation between Connecticut’s urban and suburban school districts.  For the last 6 years Claire has been the driving force behind the Discovery Interdistrict Magnet School in Bridgeport.

Andrew M. Boas‘ day job is investment advisor.  But he also founded the Charter Oak Challenge Foundation.  Since 2001, it’s sent more than 100 deserving Bridgeport students to college with a scholarship, laptop and mentor.  He also was a leader in establishing the Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Middle School, a charter school now serving 500 5th-8th graders.  Andy is now overseeing the start of its extension for grades K-4.

Al Beasley, Claire Gold and Andy Boas represent Westport at its best.  Forget the leaves.  Definitely forget the Giants.

For a really memorable and important Sunday, celebrate the TEAM that is Westport.

(While Sunday’s Diversity Awards celebration is free and open to the public, attendees are encouraged to contribute to Friends of TEAM Westport.  Please RSVP by the end of today to info@teamwestport.org.  For more information, call 203-227-9671.)

5 Comments

Posted in Looking back, Organizations, People

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Women’s Sports Are Sexist

Posted on November 4, 2010 | 21 comments

Julia Friedman played competitive basketball all her life.

In sophomore year an autoimmune condition sidelined her.  But she stayed involved, helping the Staples girls team.

She’d run cross country as a freshman and sophomore.  She kept on with that squad too, as manager.

She referees youth basketball, and volunteers with PAL.

So when Julia — a staff writer for Inklings, the school newspaper — searched for a “Jock Talk” opinion piece subject for the October issue, women’s sports seemed a natural.

Her piece was powerful.  As she expected, it generated plenty of controversy.

Yet despite its headline — “The Athletically Oppressed” — Julia’s column did not argue that female athletes are downtrodden and subjugated.

Her thesis was that there should be no separate “women’s sports.”

No other career is separated by gender, she wrote.

Making females compete on their own teams, in their own leagues, makes them seem less important — and leads to lower attendance and revenue, she said.

She gave examples of women athletes who have competed successfully with men — from Billie Jean King to basketball players Ann Meyers and Lusia Harris to race car driver Danika Patrick.

Julia Friedman wonders: Should there be such a thing as "women's basketball"?

If women’s rights activitis really want equality, Julia argued, why don’t they compete with men on the same playing field?

Some friends like what she wrote.  Others did not.

Most adults thought it was well-written, she said, but did not agree.

“I think a lot of people thought I was right,” she added.  “But they didn’t want to say it.  It’s not politically correct.”

Thanks to Inklings’ robust web presence, Julia’s column attracted attention far beyond Staples.

People of all ages — far and wide — chimed in on the site’s comments section.  Someone told her that while everyone is entitled to her opinion, it was unfortunate Julia voiced hers.

Plenty of people called her “sexist.”  She expected that.

A woman posted several comments, including one that was longer than the column.  That proved, Julia said, that “people are really passionate about women’s sports.  I respect their opinion, and I hope they respect mine.”

Ann Gaffigan, who runs WomenTalkSports.com, asked Julia to come on her radio show.  She’ll do that, after she does some research.  “I don’t want to get ripped apart,” she said with the wisdom of a media veteran.

At the same time she’s dealing with the reaction to “The Athletically Oppressed,” Julia is planning her next column.

The topic?

“I’m thinking something about women in society,” she said.

“It may not be sports.  But I find the social relationships between genders very interesting.”

21 Comments

Posted in People, Sports, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Smooth Sailing

Posted on November 3, 2010 | 9 comments

An alert (and grateful) “06880” reader sent this along:

Thanks, Dan, for your blog about the huge dip in the road at Roseville & Post Road.  We went out to vote (yesterday) morning and saw that asphalt has been put down over the spot so that now the transition in moving from one road to the other is smooth.  I am not certain what levers you may have pulled to effect this change, but our car will be eternally grateful.  Now on to the timing of the signal lights.

“06880” would like to take credit for this near-instant response by The Powers That Be.  But we can’t.

At least, we don’t think we can.

The Town (and its subcontractors) work in mysterious ways.  At any rate, enjoy the ride.

And about those signal lights…

9 Comments

Posted in Westport life

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(Talmage) Boston And The Texas Rangers

Posted on November 3, 2010 | 5 comments

If you’ve spent any time at all in Westport, you know there’s a connection between this town and every major event, all over the world.

And if you’ve been following “06880” for any time at all, you know we’ll find that connection.

Today’s example is the Texas Rangers, recent World Series losers.  And the link is a lot closer than that a bunch of Westporters watched them beat the Yankees in the ALCS.

Talmage Boston

Deep in the heart of Texas — far from his Connecticut roots — lives Talmage Boston.  The 1972 Staples grad (and former Wrecker player) is an uber-Rangers fan.  But unlike most baseball fans, whose devotion consists of drinking beer and wearing replica jerseys, Talmage walks the talk.

And he writes it.

His baseball essays have appeared in the Dallas Morning News, Fort  Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Business Journal — and on the walls of the Nolan Ryan Center in Alvin, Texas.

He’s written 2 books:  Baseball and the Baby Boomer and 1939:  Baseball’s Tipping Point.

Talmage has lectured on baseball history at Princeton, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, SMU’s Cox School of Business, and Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts.  The Texas Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted him as a media member.

As you can imagine, Talmage’s writing is far more than praise of Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee.

In one book Talmage “captures the heart and soul of the game that we, as baby boomers, inherited,” says no less an expert than John Grisham.  In the other, he insightfully describes baseball’s centennial year — 1939 — as a tipping point that transformed the game.

His blog posts tackle such subjects as the “justice (that) occurred over the course of more than two months in the  Texas Rangers bankruptcy proceedings.”

It should be noted that Talmage’s day job is trial lawyer. A shareholder and commercial litigator, he has been named a “Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly every year since 2003.  Talmage currently serves on the State Bar of Texas board of directors.

Still, like many American boys who grew up in the 1950s and ’60s, Talmage’s work takes a back seat to baseball.

He likes the courtroom — but he loves the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington more.

Earlier this year he interviewed Ken Burns onstage as part of the SMU Athletic Forum speaker series.  Talmage then accompanied the PBS documentary filmmaker — working on his “Tenth Inning” film about the history of baseball from 1993 to 2010 — to the stadium, where he threw out the 1st pitch.

And when presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke at the State Bar of Texas annual meeting, Talmage chatted with her — about their common love of baseball.

Next May, Talmage returns to New England.  He’ll talk about baseball history and memorabilia at Fenway Park.

And, no doubt, the Texas Rangers’ amazing (if ultimately unsuccessful) 2010 season, that Talmage waited so long to see.

5 Comments

Posted in People, Sports, Staples HS

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So Many Tough Choices

Posted on November 2, 2010 | 37 comments

The other day, among my many many many many mailings from political candidates, I found one that asked a reasonable question:  Who would best represent my interests in Washington?

The choices for Congress are between incumbent Jim Himes and challenger Dan Debicella.  Yet I didn’t need to read a word of the flyer to know who to vote for. 

The color photo of Debicella portrayed a handsome, smiling, obviously very competent guy.

The grainy, black-and-white shot of Himes showed a frothing-at-the-mouth lunatic.  I like the guy, but this scared the crap out of me.

A few hours later, a friend showed me a “Dear Independent Westport Voter” mailing he’d just received. 

Labed “Voter’s Guide,” it looked like one of those rational, objective League of  Women Voter’s, um, “Voter’s Guides.”  I’m always eager to learn more about the men and women seeking my vote, so I read on.

I learned that Debicella “Actually listens to people.  Sharp and personable.  He gets it.” 

Himes, on the other hand, is “Unbelievable, Elitist and Condescending.  The worst of non-representation.”

One typical politician...

I found more:  Senatorial candidate Linda McMahon is “Obviously not a politician or indebted to special interests or unions.”

Her opponent, Richard Blumenthal, though, is a “Career Politician of the type that got us into this mess….Got his name on the ballot twice!”

I’ve met State Senate candidate John Hartwell several times, and have always found him to be pleasant, reasonable and well-informed.  However, I now understand he is “Out of touch making outlandish attacks.”

Fortunately, we have 2 State Representative candidates who are on the ball.  By amazing coincidence both are Republicans, running in different districts.

...and another.

Nitzy Cohen (Dist. 136) “Gets it.”  DeeDee Brandt (Dist. 133) is even better than Nitzy.  DeeDee is “Sharp.  Gets it.  Knows her details and knows the numbers.  Knows them exceptionally well.”

So who should I thank for providing such a detailed Voter’s Guide?

The fine print said:  “This educational effort has been prepared and funded by a collection of voters (Independents, Democrats and Republicans) who share concerns for our country and state….We wanted you, the independents, to have these details available.  We ask you to review the attached, make informed decisions and vote to restore some balance.”

Thanks, anonymous mailing guys!  I saw this just in time.

There’s no telling how many reckless, uninformed, and flat-out wrong decisions I might have made today without this very informative “Voter’s Guide”!

37 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Politics

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The Presidential Parade

Posted on November 1, 2010 | 7 comments

Two presidents — one sitting, the other who never stops moving — came to Fairfield County this weekend.

Westport entrepreneur and senior software developer Nick Pisarro was there for both.

Click here for the speech (or here for the video) for President Obama at Bridgeport’s Harbor Yard, and here for the speech (here for the video) for Bill Clinton at Norwalk’s SoNo Fieldhouse.

7 Comments

Posted in People, Politics

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“Dr. K” Gives Back

Posted on November 1, 2010 | 21 comments

When Gerry Kuroghlian retired in 2008 after 43 years as a Staples English teacher, he knew he would not spend leisurely hours playing golf.

If you know “Dr. K” — and everyone in Westport does — you’d know he’s not a leisurely guy.  And he is definitely not a golfer.

Dr. Gerald Kuroghlian

As soon as he left Staples, Kuroghlian headed in the opposite direction:  to Bridgeport, the city where he was born and spent his early years.  Following the lead of Westporters he knew and admired — Dick Leonard, Doris Shiller and dozens of others — he volunteered at Mercy Learning Center.

Last year he taught GED classes at the much-heraled women’s literacy and life-skills center.  This year he’s teaching English as a Second Language — influencing (and learning from) women from Mexico, Bangladesh and all points in between.

“These are heroic people,” Kuroghlian says admiringly.

“They’re moms, housekeepers, breadwinners — they do it all.  They’ve got multi-tasking down to a science.

Kuroghlian calls these women “the best students I’ve ever had.”  They get up, get their kids ready for school, catch a city bus, and arrive promptly by 9 a.m.

“No one is ever late.  No one ever has not done the homework,” he says admiringly.  “They’re motivated to learn, and they’re completely unafraid to ask questions if they don’t understand something.  They’re amazing.”

After class, the women work on computers.  They also go on field trips.

Kuroghlian recently took them to the library.  They paid particular attention to the children’s section, where they learned how to get library cards for their kids.

“These woman are totally motivated to improve the lives of their children,” he says.

But Mercy Learning Center is only part of Kuroghlian’s rich life.  He also volunteers at Kolbe Cathedral, the small parochial school in Bridgeport.

Westporter Bill Mitchell got Kuroghlian involved.  Mitchell is a “Shepherd” — someone who provides financial assistance and mentorship to a student during his 4 years at Kolbe — and when he introduced Kuroghlian to the school and its students, “Dr. K” was hooked.

The English instructor works with all 60 seniors on their college essays.  He offers an objective eye, and a lifetime of experience in helping the Bridgeport teenagers bring personal, individual voices to their writing.

“They’re great kids,” Kuroghlian says.  “They’re unbelievably polite, with firm handshakes — boys and girls.  They all have jobs, and do an incredible job balancing school, sports and work.”

Having watched Bridgeport decline so far from its heyday, Kuroghlian feels good about his current work — and the women and teens he works with.

“In Bridgeport, education is seen as a privilege — not something to take for granted.

“As a teacher, I’ve never felt more valued.  I’m rewarded not with money, but with thanks.

“The women at Mercy want a better life for their kids, and the kids at Kolbe want a better life for themselves.

“They all realize that education is their only way out, and they’re all killing themselves to get an education.  It’s a wonderful environment to be in.”

21 Comments

Posted in Education, Organizations, People, Places, Staples HS, Teenagers

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