From stayfree at metalab.unc.edu Mon Sep 11 21:22:27 2000 From: stayfree at metalab.unc.edu (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 21:22:27 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | 10 September 2000 Message-ID: Hello, If you are in the New York area, please consider joining me and a select group of commies this Thursday, when we gather to stop the force of darkness known as "breakthru marketing to kids." An advertising industry conference for targeting toddlers and "tweens" (the 3rd Annual Golden Marble Awards) begins on that day, and this is more-or-less a protest + press conference: Some of my favorite eggheads will be there (Mark Crispin Miller, Dylan from the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education, Alex Molnar) so call in sick or something. Thursday, September 14 Grand Hyatt Hotel, 42nd St. between Lexington and Park News conference: noon, room #1401 Demonstration: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., outside 42nd Street entrance the press release, if you need it: http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/commercial-alert/2000/000029.html (Official) Golden Marble Awards: http://www.goldenmarble.com/ Long-time Stay Free! readers may remember Goldie the Friendly Weasel, the unofficial mascot we created for the 1st Golden Marble Awards. Unfortunately,Goldie has still not confirmed whether he can make it to this event but here's some background on the first Golden Marbles action: Stay Free!'s "Golden Marbles" action, September 1998 http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/15/goldie.html "The Golden Marble Story" (excerpt from our Goldie comic book) http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/15/golden_story.html - - - - - - Also for those in the NYC vicinity, we're having a little Stay Free picnic + book swap this Saturday! Attendees should bring (a) A dish [or something to grill] to share (b) A used book that you read, liked, and could with confidence recommend to a stranger: You cannot leave until you find someone to swap books with. Yes, I am serious. We are meeting near the Picnic House in Prospect Park (Brooklyn), 1 p.m. Look for a white STAY FREE! flag. Email me if you want directions. carrie From stayfree at metalab.unc.edu Mon Sep 25 00:42:28 2000 From: stayfree at metalab.unc.edu (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 00:42:28 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | 25 September 2000 Message-ID: As we make our way through the new millenium, it's time to stop and seriously consider who we would rather have overtake the planet: robots or monkeys. Obviously robots have the edge, particularly after the recent loss of Miss Waldron's Red Colobus (a large West African monkey) to extinction. But there are signs that a monkey victory is not out of the question. Last week saw not one but two attacks by our fellow primates on the international roadways: (AP) Three monkeys hurl bananas and crab apples at cars (and a cop) on Interstate 95, then flee into the woods. http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/09/21/monkey.attack.ap/index.html An army of angry monkeys surrounded a baby monkey hit by a car on a busy road in northeastern India, bringing traffic to a dead halt, witnesses say. (from Agence France Presse) http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/angry_monkeys.html Skeptics will say that a monkey victory is unrealistic, so I guess I should say that the real source of my optimism lies elsewhere, in the as-of-yet-unapproved NYC Board of Education's "Learning in Cyberspace" business plan. I'm not really sure how to explain it but trust me -- if you all could read this plan, you'd be hoping for a monkey rebellion, too. For the past year, the NYC Board of Ed has been working with Anderson Consulting, IBM, Compac, and others on a for-profit deal to will fully integrate technology into the public school curriculum. Fourth graders get laptops, the companies, a captive audience for e-commerce, co-branding, and targeted marketing opportunities. The plan promises to shift NYC schools away from "Conventional Instruction" which it describes as "Teacher directed" to "Reform Instruction" characterized by "Student exploration" with "Teachers as facilitator." The Board of Ed claims that the student Education Zone will be "commercialfree" and yet the plan is loaded with charts calculating NYC students' "lifetime customer value." And the curriculum? In the new Reform model, it's known as "content," the quality of which is guaged by "stickiness."