Corrections or additions?
This was published in U.S. 1
Newspaper on April 21, 1999. All rights reserved.
Between the Lines
Who would have guessed that U.S. 1 Newspaper, the chroniclers
of the new age of technology, would spend not one or two but nearly
seven pages of its editorial "hole" previewing the forthcoming
25th anniversary edition of the New Jersey Folk Festival!
But there it is, beginning on page 30 of this issue, continuing to
page 35, and then ending up with another Folk Festival artist’s story
on page 48. How come? Partly it’s due to the persuasion of the festival
organizers — students at Rutgers’ Douglass College — who hoped
that the editorial muscle of U.S. 1’s Preview section could help create
the annual program book to be distributed at the festival itself on
Saturday, April 24 (it did).
Also, we suspect, it’s because U.S. 1 over the years has been populated
by a cast of baby boomers who still have fond memories of indigenous
music that reflected some truths about the times in which it was created.
The computer consultant who created U.S. 1’s original database system,
Frank Ruck, is also an accomplished folk guitar player. Pete Soloway
of Lan Solutions, which helped U.S. 1 set up its local area network
of computers, turns out to be an accomplished musician who plays the
fiddle and other instruments for traditional dance groups.
Richard D. Smith, a former U.S. 1 staffer and freelance contributor,
is also a bluegrass performer on mandolin and is completing the definitive
biography of the legendary bluegrass musician Bill Monroe. Preview
editor Nicole Plett, born and raised in England, grew up steeped in
the traditional music of the British Isles as well as the American
folk and blues tradition that paved the way for the protest songs
of the 1960s.
And our boss, Richard K. Rein, whiles away his Sunday evenings listening
to John Weingart’s "Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio" on
WPRB. Even U.S. 1’s designated Generation-Xer, Pete Mladineo, until
recently our expert on heavy metal, new age, and hard rock music,
in his spare time plays and sings the blues on acoustic guitar. His
hero: Leadbelly.
Make no mistake: U.S. 1 was not started by a band of folksters; nor
did anyone from U.S. 1 attend any folk event to recruit workers. All
these folk inclinations were discovered over time. And we suspect
that lots of other Information Age companies harbor similar bands
of folk music enthusiasts. After all, with the right spring weather
you may find more than 10,000 of them on the green pastures of Rutgers
University, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the New Jersey Folk
Festival. Maybe we will see you there.
Top Of Page
Cherish the Kids
U.S. 1 contributor Phyllis Maguire makes a strong case
in this week’s issue for taking one day out of the year to give our
children a realistic, behind-the-scenes view of our workplaces. See
page 15.
At the same time, a letter writer who asked to rename nameless, makes
an equally strong case for giving our kids a break — letting them
be kids before anything else. The letter was in response to last week’s
Survival Guide item on kids and money — our item reported that
"contemporary society places an almost sacred value on childhood,
protecting it from the intrusions of adult pressures."
But, as the letter writer argues, society makes up for that with a
host of other pressures: "Contemporary children don’t have time
to just be kids! Their typically overachieving Princetonian parents
have them juggling heavy schedules. Karate, soccer, music lessons,
photography class, theater group, gymnastics, scouting (the pressures
of cookie sales!), and a slew of other `enrichment programs’ are just
some of the events children I know have scheduled every week!
"These kids need a Daytimer just to keep track of it all. Hearing
an eight-year-old breathe a heavy sigh and say, `My life is such a
mess’ is quite an eye opener."
Children, especially those with disabilities, were on the mind of
another writer. Robert Stack, CEO of Community Options at 16 Farber
Road, writes regarding Princeton University’s appointment of Peter
Singer to a professorship in bioethics at the university’s Center
for Human Values. ". . . As an advocate for people with disabilities,
I challenge Dr. Singer to either an individual or team debate in a
public venue to confront his belief system. . .
"Community Options is a nonprofit organization that supports persons
with disabilities and their families through living, working and recreational
options. Community Options also helps to facilitate friendships among
people with and without disabilities to raise the public’s awareness
about the contributions persons with disabilities can offer. . . "
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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