Blogs
Does anyone know what became of the many "diverse" candidates who were vying for the empty school board seat back in December? It's not that I'm unsupportive of Pam, Lisa, or Jeff, but I can't think of anything that differentiates these three on any issues.
Is the public just worn out by school controversy? Does no one want to think about our ailing schools for awhile? It's a shame. "No Child Left Behind" is leaving our children behind. We are spending too much time and money measuring, and not enough time teaching. We're losing sight of the social, cultural, and spiritual needs of our children.
I'm interested in having one or two interns help out on OrangePolitics during the elections this year. This would be a great opportunity for a young person to learn about grassroots politics, local government, and the trendy new world of political blogging! We can't offer money, but may be able to arrange academic credit.
Here's the job description:
Local Government Watcher, Civic Engagement Specialist, and/or Local Politics Blogger
OrangePolitics is an online community which exists to encourage residents of Orange County, NC to get involved in local government and civic activities by offering progressive perspectives on local and regional issues.
Qualifications
Must be registered to vote, preferably in Orange County!
Must be interested in politics or advocacy.
Must be articulate and able to write clearly.
Must be comfortable with online research and eager to learn about about new issues.
Blogging experience is a plus, but not required.
Position description
There are three days left to file for office, and so far the School Board, Hillsborough Town Board, and Chapel Hill Mayor are all running unopposed! Where are the challengers?
By the way, a geek who is watching the Orange County candidate filings page closely noted that OP reader Katrina Ryan filed for Carrboro Board of Aldermen today!
All of this and more can be gleaned from the new OrangePolitics Elections 2005 page!
This page will be the place to get information about all the races in Orange County. Please share it with your friends. Lots more info will be added as the race progresses. What would you like to see there? What info would you need if you knew nothing about local politics?
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday July 30, 2005
The prospect of a Wal-Mart in northern Chatham County provides an opportunity to reflect on questions of economics, workers rights and the future of our society. Most importantly, it allows us to contemplate our own ethical responsibilities.
Consider the following: Sexist discrimination is business as usual at Fortune's "most admired corporation." In her book "Selling Women Short," Liza Featherstone documents rampant sexism at Wal-Mart, denial of promotion opportunities to women, underpayment of female employees and the prevalence of exclusive, men-only meetings.
Rather than pay a living wage, Wal-Mart encourages its employees to make ends meet via public assistance programs. Along with their paltry paychecks, Wal-Mart employees receive instruction on how to apply for food stamps, state health insurance for the poor and other welfare programs.
A congressional report found that a 200-employee Wal-Mart costs federal taxpayers $420,000 a year, an average of $2,103 per employee.
This weekend, Eric Muller's blog pointed me to a story in the Chapel Hill News about El Centro Latino. I'm not sure whether I should write that El Centro is having trouble again, or that their struggle continues.
There's no doubt their path has been rocky. From my vantage point, it's difficult to tell how much of these problems are from working with a low-resource population on problems that the majority of people may not know exist, and how much of it stems from poor management. It's likely to be at least a little of both. But having worked professionally in the nonprofit sector for over a decade, I have a lot of sympathy for the challenges of a brand-new organization just trying to get on it's feet while the problems it hopes to address are exploding. It's certainly annoying to see people take the time to complain about them instead of volunteering or donating to make the programs better.
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