The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is no longer (not anymore) the ugly duckling of San Francisco bridges.

Do you know the story of The Ugly Duckling? It’s a children’s story by Hans Christian Anderson that tells about an ugly little bird who is picked on (treated badly) by the other animals in the barnyard (area for animals on a farm). When he grows up, he is delighted, and the other animals are surprised, to discover that he is a beautiful swan.

When the Bay Bridge was finished in 1936, the city celebrated with fireworks and an air show. A few months later, when the red-painted Golden Gate Bridge was finished at the scenic (surrounded by beautiful countryside) end of San Francisco Bay, it quickly became a popular tourist attraction, and people seemed to forget about the longer and busier Bay Bridge. When people do think about it, according to one writer, they think about it “as a headache for commuters and a place not to be in an earthquake.” In short, the Bay Bridge became the ugly duckling of San Francisco bridges.

On March 7, at dusk (after the sun goes down and the sky is becoming less bright), the ugly duckling was transformed (changed in a way to make it more beautiful) into a beautiful swan. That’s when artist Leo Villareal switched on The Bay Lights, and turned the bridge into one of the world’s largest public art works.

The Bay Lights consists of (is made up of) more than 25,000 white lights attached to the vertical (up and down) cables (wires) that support the two-mile span (length) of the bridge. Each of the lights is controlled by a computer program written by Villareal. They change constantly (all the time) to reflect (look like; be similar to) the different kinds of movement – boats, water, traffic, and clouds – around the bridge.

You’ll be able to see The Bay Lights for the next two years. After that, the lights will have to be taken down so the bridge can be painted again. The project cost about eight million dollars and was paid for by private donations (money given by people and businesses). City officials expect it to attract (make people come to see it) more than 50 million viewers and bring about 100 million dollars to the local economy. Restaurants facing (having a view of) the bridge have suddenly become very popular. And tour boat operators have created tours so that people can see The Bay Lights from the water.

The Bay Lights is an example of what we call public or environmental art. One of the purposes of this kind of art is to help people see everyday objects, like buildings, bridges, or parks, in a different or unusual way. Examples of public art in other American cities include the New York City Waterfalls and Cloud Gate in Chicago.

You might not be able to go to San Francisco to see The Bay Lights, but you can experience it through this short video from The New York Times or this one from the University of San Francisco.

~ Warren Ediger – English tutor/coach and creator of the Successful English web site.

Photo courtesy of Telstar Logistics via Creative Commons.

While other nations around the world have, in recent years, welcomed their first female (woman) national leader, the United States still has not had its first female president. It’s not for the lack of trying (not because they haven’t tried) — just ask Hilary Clinton. However, Clinton was certainly not the first woman to run for president. That woman was Victoria Woodhull and she ran for president in 1872.

Victoria Woodhull was a colorful character (having had many experience, some good, but many bad or controversial). Woodhull was a suffragette, someone who championed (tried to get support for) women’s rights. She also believed in what she called “free love,” the ability to marry and have children without the government’s interference or involvement.

(I should point out here that “free love” in the 1960’s was an entirely different thing.  Young people in the 60’s who talked about free love believed that people should be able to have sexual relationships with whomever they wanted, regardless of (without caring about or being restricted by) marriage or other long-term relationships.  That’s not what Woodhull meant by “free love.”)

She was nominated to run for president by a newly-formed (just started) political party called the Equal Rights Party.  This Party also nominated (suggested; volunteered) Frederick Douglas for the vice-presidency. Frederick Douglas was a well known and well respected African American abolitionist (person fighting against slavery). Douglas actually never acknowledged (recognized) the nomination, but his nomination itself gave rise to (resulted in) a lot of controversy because it meant mixing races in one organization.

Woodhull did not get any electoral votes and it’s unclear how many popular votes (votes of individuals) she received. There was also some controversy because she was not yet 35 years old at the time of the election, which is the minimum age to become president. But according to the news coverage (news stories) at the time, this was not a major issue.

During Woodhull’s lifetime, she did many “firsts,” in addition to being the first female presidential candidate recognized by historians (people who study history). She and her sister were the first women stockbrokers (professionals who buy and sell stocks) and opened their brokerage firm (company that invests people’s money in the stock market) on Wall Street (the main area in New York City where stocks are traded) in 1870. She and her sister also published a newspaper called Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, which included stories about many taboo (not accepted by society) topics, such as sex education and spiritualism (the belief that people can communicate with the dead).

Perhaps Woodhull’s views about marriage and her work toward women’s rights had to do with her first husband, whom she married when she was just 15 years old. He was a much older man who was working as a doctor, though his credentials (qualifications) were dubious (doubtful; not to be trusted). He was an alcoholic (addicted to alcohol) and a womanizer (had romantic/sexual relationships with many women), and Woodhull divorced him. At that time, divorce was not common and the woman in a divorce was stigmatized (disapproved of by society) and ostracized (not allowed to join society).  Woodhull would marry three times in total and died living in England at the age of 88.

As I said, Woodhull was a very colorful person, but her life was anything but (definitely not) dull (boring).

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Victoria Woodhull from Wikipedia

We are in the middle of another school year in the United States, and I thought it might be fun to look at a little quiz (small test) on American education. Try to answer the following seven questions as best you can, then look at the bottom of the page for the answers (but read the questions first – no cheating (being dishonest)!).

1. How many children are enrolled in (attend; are part of) primary (elementary; K-6) and secondary (high school; 7-12) education in the U.S.?
A. 27 million
B. 35 million
C. 55 million
D. 62 million

2. What percentage of public schools in the U.S. have Internet access?
A. 50%
B. 75%
C. 90%
D. 100%

3. Which Supreme Court decision declared (decided) that the segregation (separating students based on some characteristic) of public schools by race to be unconstitutional (against the fundamental law of the United States, the Constitution)?
A. Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke
B. Brown v. Board of Education
C. Hopwood v. State of Texas
D. Bob Jones Univ. v. United States

4. Which test is the most common standardized test (usually given to large numbers of students nationally) required for admission to most undergraduate institutions (colleges or universities for students with a high school degree) in the U.S.?
A. TOEFL
B. SAT I
C. ACT
D. GRE

5. What kind of visa (official government permission) does a non-U.S. citizen need if he or she has been accepted into a program to study, or to conduct research (do scientific investigations) at a U.S. college or university?
A. M Visa
B. F Visa
C. J Visa
D. K Visa

6. Which of the following statements (sentences) about community colleges is true?
A. Community Colleges provide two-year associates degree programs but do not award (give to students) Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral degrees.
B. Community Colleges provide training to members of the community in which they are located.
C. Community colleges provide more hands-on (practical) and vocational (for a specific kind of job that normally does not require a Bachelors degree) training than four year colleges and universities.
D. All of the above.

7. Accreditation (approval from a special kind of education organization given to a school) of U.S. schools, postsecondary institutions (colleges and universities), and other education providers is:
A. Mandatory (required) for all institutions
B. Mandatory only for institutions with more than 5,000 students
C. Mandatory only for institutions offering services to students with special needs
D. A voluntary (not required) process.

Answers:

1 – Total number of students: (C) 55 million. California has the single largest number of students, with more than six million, followed by Texas with around 5 million and New York with a little more than three million.

2 – Percentage of schools with Internet: (D) 100%. Also interesting to note: Percentage of students who spend time on the Internet in school and are actually studying: 0%.

3 – Desegregation ruling: (B) Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954 (see English Café 166). The other court cases were all related to education and race, but not desegregation. The Bakke case was about affirmative action (giving certain students advantages in admission due to their race or sex), as was Hopwood. Bob Jones related to racial discrimination at a university.

4 – Undergraduate admissions test: (B) SAT I, which used to stand for the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The test is given by a private company but used by most universities. The ACT is similar to the SAT, but from another testing company. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is used to test the English of international students wanting to attend U.S. colleges. The GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is a test for those who want to get a Masters or Ph.D. at an American university.

5 – Student visa: (B) F Visa, although M Visa is also a possible answer here. M Visas apply just to students of vocational schools, however. Come to think of it (now that I am thinking more carefully about this), the J Visa can be used for people coming to the U.S. to do specialized medical or business training, too, although it is typically for “cultural exchange” programs. The K Visa is for the fiancé (man you plan to marry) or fiancée (woman you plan to marry) of an American citizen. The difficult part of this visa is not getting permission from the U.S. government, but from the person you want to marry.

6 – Community colleges: (D) All of the above. We talked about community colleges in English Café 135.

7 – Accreditation: (D) A voluntary process. Most people are surprised to learn that there is no law that requires educational institutions like colleges and universities to get “accredited.” However, most schools do go through the process of accreditation in part in order to show their students that they are, in fact, legitimate schools.

Note: Material for these questions comes in part from the U.S. State Department’s website.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Plato’s Academy mosaic from Pompeii, Wikipedia, PD

I remember hearing this statement from an early American writer and religious leader when I was in high school:

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do … I will do.”

I had almost forgotten it, but they came to life for me recently when I heard the story of Angela Patton.

Angela studied to become a nurse and doula, someone who helps women and their families during and after the time a baby is born. A few years ago, Angela created a program called Camp Diva that, according to Angela, “helps girls of African descent (nationality; where your family originally came from)” prepare to become healthy young women.

One day one of Angela’s girls began to complain because her father kept checking up on (to find out if she’s doing what she should be doing) her. “You’re lucky,” said Jasmine, one of the other girls. “I haven’t heard from my dad in years.”

For Angela that was an “Aha!” moment – a moment when you suddenly understand something or come up with an important idea. At that moment Angela understood in a new way how important it was for girls to connect with (have a good relationship with) their fathers.

She thought about what the girls had said, then asked, “How can we help other girls develop healthy relationships with their fathers?”

“Let’s have a dance,” one girl shouted. The others agreed, and the planning began – decorations, invitations, what to wear, what their fathers should, or shouldn’t, wear. Angela says she’s learned that these girls “know what they need.” And she’s learned that if you give them some structure (organization), mentoring (guidance), and resources, they can build what they need and thrive (do very well).

The night of the dance came and so did most of the girls and their fathers, all dressed up for the occasion (event). Angela says, “They acted sweet. They acted silly. They really enjoyed each other’s company (being with each other). It was a huge success. And the girls decided to do it every year.”

A year went by, and soon it was time to plan the next dance. But as they began, Brianna told the other girls that “My dad can’t come to the dance, and this whole thing is making me sad.”

“Why not?” the others asked.

“Because he’s in jail.”

Angela says that she thought for a moment, then asked the girls, “What do you think we should do about this?”

The girls were quiet, then one of them suggested, “Why don’t we just take the dance in the jail?”

And that’s what they did. The girls sent a letter to the sheriff (an elected law officer) in charge of the jail, asking him if they could have a dance there. And he said “Yes!” because he knew that fathers who are connected to their children probably won’t return to prison.

Almost 20 fathers and their daughters attended the dance in the jail. The girls wore their nicest dresses, and the fathers wore shirts and ties rather than (instead of) their jail uniforms. The girls and their fathers hugged each other and laughed. They enjoyed a catered (prepared somewhere else and brought in) meal. And they danced. It was so beautiful, Angela says, that even the guards cried.

Before they went home after the dance, the girls and their dads used small digital video cameras to record their feelings and thoughts so they could better remember the evening.

Angela Patton is only one person, but she has certainly done something very special for her girls and their fathers.

If you want to listen to Angela tell her story, you can find it here. If you do, click on “Show Transcript” below the video window and choose “English” so you can listen and read her story at the same time.

~ Warren Ediger – English tutor/coach and creator of the Successful English web site.

Photo credit: Angela Patton, TED Talk, CC