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SRQ DAILY Sep 10, 2016

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"There isn't a day in Sarasota where we cannot find someone who is crying out against corruption, standing in solidarity against those that oppose us, and speaking for the ones who have no voice when it falls upon the deaf ears of our leaders."

- Susan Nilon, The Nilon Report
 

[Under The Hood]  Embrace The Change
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

The notion that parking meters could return to Main Street in Sarasota incited a predictable outcry. Merchants fear customers will exit the city core for the malls. Shoppers say they will not tolerate having to put quarters in a machine while shopping in high-end boutiques or eating at the best restaurants in town. And why, why, why would Sarasota City commissioners move on this plan that proved such an utter failure just four years ago?

Well, the last point has some merit, but not for the reason critics espouse. Yes, parking meters in 2012 proved a fiasco, partially because of shoddy technology but mostly thanks to a serious lack of resolve on the part of city officials. I can’t help but wonder, had paid parking been in effect for the past Olympiad, would there be any controversy around the devices today? I doubt it.

Now to be sure, parking meters would not be—and never will be—popular among most citizens of Sarasota. Neither will income taxes, baggage fees or colonoscopies. Having to pay an extra dollar an hour to park on Palm Avenue will never poll well, at least not as long as surveys query whether people enjoy paying money for something they could once do for free. But if you asked whether out-of-towners should contribute to parking management downtown or whether parking attendants should stop tracking cars that move around downtown to see if they stay in the area longer collectively than three hours, you might get a different answer.

People for years have hated for years the inability to find a decent parking space downtown. Those merchants who breathlessly describe the decline in visitors during the months that a $1-million-plus meter system operated neglect to mention that customers who did come downtown during that time could park near the businesses where they wanted to shop, or they could park for free in public garages and wander the streets for as long as they chose.

Today, you can get a ticket for spending four hours downtown even if you spread the time over three visits in a day and park in a different space every time. Almost anybody who works or regularly drives into downtown has found a piece of paper slid under their windshield charging more than a few quarters for spending too long in the city core. And while those of us who frequent downtown will grudgingly pay that price just to avoid one day finding a boot on our car, tourists who linger too long on Main seem more likely to mail back impulse buys than to send parking ticket payments back to Sarasota.

Most importantly from a taxpayer viewpoint, the city in 2017 will subsidize its parking fund with a whopping $625,000. That makes a $1-million one-time investment in working meters seem like pocket change.

Meanwhile, benefits for commerce could be reaped from effective parking management. Employees who use prime spaces today because they snatch good spots before stores open will suddenly direct themselves onto side streets to park for free. Terminals meter time as well, so turnover in those hot spots should help many stores that primarilly serve drop-in buyers.

Will there be shoppers who boycott downtown over meters? Of course, but somehow major metropolitan markets through Florida and the nation continue to thrive even with meters in place. Visit Sarasota County officials note many tourists show pleasant shock at free parking by most beaches. That Sarasota honors outcry ahead of solvency makes it an exception, not the norm. And a few years from now, all of this controversy will likely be forgotten, so long as city commissioners don’t buckle under pressure again.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor to SRQ Media Group. 

[The Report]  Silent Protest
Susan Nilon, susan.nilon@gmail.com

Next month marks the 48th anniversary of the 1968 Olympics when two US Olympians received their medals wearing just socks and a single black glove. Their uniforms were adorned with beads and badges to bring awareness to the human rights movement. They hung their heads low and held their one-gloved fist high while the National Anthem was played. The athletes were booed as they left the field and calls to strip them of their medals went on for weeks.

Last week another athlete named Colin Kaepernick chose not to stand during the National Anthem in protest of the same human rights issues almost five decades later. As if in step, the same outrage occurred over what people saw as a disrespect to the American flag and evidence of a lack of patriotism for our country.  

And for almost a month now, the largest gathering of Native Americans in more than 100 years have come together to protest the construction of a new oil pipeline across the land that they live to protect. They have been attacked with cans of mace, biting dogs and a use of force in order to intimidate them into compliance.  

The list of protests goes on. And it’s not just here in America, but around the world people are standing in solidarity to fight against what they believe is unjust. From Moscow to Iran to Ethiopia, people are fighting for human rights: human rights over government rights. Because even though we expect the government to be the voice of the people, when left to its own accord, it often becomes the voice of a very few.  

Although this country was born out of civil disobedience, we scorn those who do not conform, those that do not live within the lines defined by our own comfort. We label them unpatriotic, and regard them with contempt because we cannot see the importance of what they do.  

It was Henry David Thoreau who believed that "the individual is the final judge of right and wrong.” In his 1848 speech, Thoreau urged people “not to just wait passively for an opportunity to vote for justice, because voting for justice is as ineffective as wishing for justice; what you need to do is to actually be just.”  

We have learned throughout history that conformity breads mediocrity and compliancy breeds failure. If we stand by and watch, without any concern of our own to how we have contributed to these injustices, then we must ask ourselves: “Are we living a principled life?” Have we given away our power to someone who one day could take away our personal freedoms in hope that we will just be left alone?

There isn’t a day in Sarasota where we cannot find someone who is crying out against corruption, standing in solidarity against those who oppose us, and speaking for the ones who have no voice when it falls upon the deaf ears of our leaders. How are we any different than those of a faraway place?

In my opinion, these protestors are as patriotic as they come. They believe in this country so much that they are willing to hold this government accountable and forgo their own personal freedoms and safety. In an active form of civil disobedience, these silent protestors remind us that in the simplest of activities we should not forget what it means to be an American.

Susan Nilon of The Nilon Report. Contact Nilon at susan.nilon@gmail.com. 

[Higher Education]  The Liberal in Liberal Arts
Donal O'Shea, doshea@ncf.edu

I am often asked what it is like to be a mathematician who is president of a liberal arts college. But I never get asked what a liberal arts college is. That is because everyone thinks they know. And because everyone thinks they know, misperceptions abound. Let me address some of them.  

First, the phrase “liberal arts” has nothing to do with the word “liberal” in the political sense, or with the word “arts” in the aesthetic sense. Instead, the term “liberal arts” comes from the Latin artes liberales, which refers to the subjects and skills that were considered to be essential for a free person in ancient Greece and Rome. In those times, there were seven such disciplines: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Since both Greece and Rome were slave states, and most people were not free, the liberal arts have sometimes been characterized as education for elites.

Over time, as knowledge grew, as more complex societies needed more educated citizens, and as the internal dynamics within universities played out, these seven core disciplines multiplied and morphed. Nowadays, the 30 to 40 liberal arts disciplines that are central to all Western universities and typically housed in a university’s school of arts and sciences are usually classified into three divisions: the arts and humanities, the social sciences and the natural and mathematical sciences. The phrases “liberal arts” and “arts and sciences” are synonymous.

In particular, the liberal arts disciplines include the sciences, so that the term “liberal arts and sciences” sounds as goofy as, say, “humans and teen-aged boys.” Likewise, the liberal arts have always included mathematics, at least in the form of arithmetic and geometry, so mathematicians are as at home in liberal arts institutions as musicians.

A "liberal arts college" is a university in which most degrees awarded are baccalaureate degrees in a liberal arts discipline. Put differently, a liberal arts college is like the school of arts and sciences at large research university without the professional schools and without too many graduate programs. A national liberal arts college, like New College of Florida or Eckerd College, is a liberal arts college that draws students from outside the region in which it is located and from across the country. Such colleges are usually residential, with most students living on or near campus (and away from their parents’ homes). There are a little over 200 national liberal arts colleges in the United States, with most enrolling between 800 and 3,000 students.

Liberal arts colleges (and schools of arts and sciences in research-intensive institutions) are intensely disciplinary. To get an undergraduate degree, you need to major in a liberal arts discipline, which means that you need to acquire the skills needed to master that discipline and to be able to view the world through that discipline. Good universities require breadth as well as depth, and to graduate you must take courses in a number of disciplines outside your major.

Confusingly, however, most US college students attend one of the more than 4,000 universities that are neither liberal arts colleges nor research-intensive universities. At these universities, many of the professional schools, such as the business, divinity, education, engineering, fine arts, journalism (or communications), hospitality school, law, management, medical, pharmacy, public health, nursing, social work or veterinary schools, offer undergraduate degrees. The distribution courses that students are required to take outside their majors are usually in liberal arts disciplines, and called “liberal arts” requirements, which gives the (false) impression that liberal arts disciplines are things that you don’t major in—at least if you want a job. Worse, state and federal pressure to graduate more students has led some universities to introduce degrees in “liberal arts” or “liberal studies” that do not even require a major: just 32 courses that need not be related. This cynical practice contributes to the misapprehension that the liberal arts are for those who do not know what they want to do.   

To add to the confusion, some educators and educational associations use the phrases “liberal education” and “liberal learning” to refer to educational practices that seek to cultivate “critical thinking,” the practice of examining evidence, forming opinions based on data, weighing uncertainty and making decisions with necessarily incomplete information. In this framing, any subject or set of skills, in any walk of life, can be taught “liberally” by encouraging the student to keep a critical distance from whatever is being taught, no matter how narrowly technical or formulaic, and to reflect on it. Together with the skills of clear, precise and persuasive written and oral expression, critical thinking is one of the outcomes any liberal arts college most desires for its graduates.

So, what do I do? I try to use language that I think my listener will understand, and I tend to use “arts and sciences” instead of “liberal arts” and “residential arts and sciences college” instead of “liberal arts college.” I avoid the phrase “liberal learning.” Some say that I have given up the good fight, but I do have principles: I cannot bring myself to utter the phrase “liberal arts and sciences.”

Donal O'Shea is president of New College of Florida. 



[SCOOP]  Bowls USA 2016 US Open

The Sarasota Lawn Bowling Club will proudly host the Bowls USA 2016 US Open this November. Professionals from all over the world will descend upon the Suncoast to compete in what can be described as a hip athletic game that combines the strategy of golf, bowling, pool and chess. The 2016 US Open runs from November 12 to 19 with pre-tournament events from November 5 to 11. 

Sarasota Lawn Bowling

[SCOOP ]  Goodwill Hunting for Ghosts

Goodwill Manasota is kicking off Halloween with a "ghost–hunting" contest starting Saturday, September 10 at the Goodwill Corporate Campus in Bradenton. Each Saturday through October 29, local celebrity “ghostbusters” will be at Goodwill Manasota stores to pose for photos with shoppers. Those visiting Goodwill’s primary retail locations on the scheduled “Ghostbusters” Saturday are encouraged to hunt for and take a photo of the “slimer” ghost for Facebook tagging Goodwill Manasota. In addition, customers who identify themselves as a “ghost hunter” to cashiers will receive 10 percent off any purchase. 

Goodwill Manasota

[SCOOP]  Orioles Expand Event Schedule

The year­–round schedule of events at Ed Smith Stadium expands as the Orioles reprise popular public events and add new community–centered gatherings. Additionally, the Orioles are continuing to grow the sports tourism impact of baseball tournaments at both Ed Smith and the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. “The Orioles’ facilities are becoming the year–round centers of community activity that the ball club envisioned when we located Major League Spring Training operations in Sarasota County,” says David Rovine, Vice president of Orioles–Sarasota.  

Orioles

[KUDOS]  JFCS Inaugural Legacy Awards

On Monday, October 31, Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the Suncoast is set to honor three couples (Esther and Bob Heller, Ora and Joe Mendels and Margie and Chuck Baranxik) who exemplify the true spirit of giving at their Inaugural Awards Luncheon. The luncheon will serve as thanks for those who have tirelessly worked to empower others as well as leave a meaningful legacy for upcoming generations. Reservations must be in by October 10.  

JFCS

[SCOOP]  Ringling's Art and a Movie

Join Ringling for their inaugural film series celebrating the expanded galleries devoted to Asian art. Explore the complex historical relationship of America and Asia through a critical examination of films that have played an integral role in American popular culture. The series begins on September 10 at 1:30pm with a viewing of Rambo followed by discussion.  

The Ringling

[KUDOS ]  GAP School Gets New Wall Art

The GAP School recently received a fresh coat of paint from local graffiti artist and painter Matt McAllister. Matt kindly donated his time and talents to spruce up the walls at the school’s new location in Lakewood Ranch. The GAP School is Sarasota’s premier K–12 social skills, sensory integration and bully free school.  

GAP School

[KUDOS ]  Gecko's Raises $6,000 for 4-H

Gecko’s Grill & Pub recently awarded the Sarasota County 4-H Foundation & Clubs a check for $6,000 as a result of their 24th anniversary BBQ party this past June. The funds raised will provide scholarships for Sarasota County 4–H students and marks the second year that Gecko’s scholarships were awarded to local 4–H student leaders. 

Gecko's Grill & Pub

SRQ Media Group

SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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