Monday, February 15, 2010

The Times Still Doesn’t Quite Understand the Internet � The Quick and the Ed

The Times Still Doesn’t Quite Understand the Internet The Quick and the Ed
The Times Still Doesn’t Quite Understand the Internet

I have no problem with the New York Times charging for Web content. They produce a great number of well-written, well-reported articles that are worth paying for (and since I already get the Sunday edition home-delivered it’s not going to cost me anything extra. ) But as the Times continues the inevitable long-term transition to the Web, it should work harder to embrace the way the Web works. For example, this story on the Texas schoolbook adoption process includes the following:

…the Texas board’s moves to bring Jesus into American history — has drawn anger in places far removed from the board members’ constituencies. (Samples of recent blog headlines on the topic: “Don McLeroy Wants Your Children to Be Stupid” and “Can We Please Mess With Texas?”)

Having written the second blog headline, I’m obviously pleased to see it referenced in the cover story of the New York Times Magazine. But why not include a hypertext link to the actual blog post? We’re talking about something that would consume less than 30 seconds of someone’s time. Instead, all the links in

With Maldonado Vote, the Assembly Grows a Spine | California Progress Report

For all the hoopla about the rejection of Sen. Abel Maldonado today, Assembly Democrats showed they are a force to be reckoned with. Finally.

Frustrated by their role in budget negotiations over the past year, rank-and-file Assembly Democrats decided not to roll over and reward Maldo with a promotion. Only nine Democrats sided with the Republicans in the vote; just two of them were first-term members: Alyson Huber, who is in a hotly-contested race for re-election, and Bill Monning, who has close ties to former Assemblyman John Laird (who was gunning for the Maldo seat). Even Speaker Bass, who pushed back mightily last year in budget talks, didn't back Maldo.

The overwhelming number of freshman Assembly Democrats, who spent most of their first months in office facing an angry Democratic base back home because of budget cuts they didn't want to make, decided they had enough with Schwarzenegger's "post-partisanship." They remembered, all too well, the deal between Schwarzenegger and Maldo over the budget and open primary that was shoved down their throats. Majority Leader Alberto Torrico referenced the "back room deal" in a tough speech against Maldo on the floor.

Speaker-elect Perez, a freshman himself, let it rip in his statement after the vote.

"The people of California have made it abundantly clear that they loathe the kind of

SCOTUSblog The Court's impact on the civil rights movement

SCOTUSblog

Podcast with Vernon Jordan
The Court's impact on the civil rights movement

Erin Miller | Friday, February 12th, 2010 4:11 pm

Today our publisher Tom Goldstein spoke with Vernon Jordan – a senior counsel at Akin Gump who has also served as president of the United Negro College Fund, field director of the NAACP, and an adviser to former President Bill Clinton – about his experience with de juresegregation and the effect of the Supreme Court’s rulings on that subject on the civil rights movement. This is the latest edition in our Race and the Court program.

Here is the link to the fourteen-minute podcast and a road map of highlights:

0:50—The meaning of Brown v. Board of Education: “1954 was a clarion call”
1:37—Indications that Brown was “coming down the pipe”
2:37—Jordan’s impression of Brown while at DePauw University, and his experience with segregated universities and law schools
4:48—The launch of the civil rights movement after Brown: “The Supreme Court decision was an answer to our prayers and a signal to the country that things were going to change”
5:43—The long and gradual road to full desegregation
7:30—Learning constitutional law from James Nabrit, who used to say “Raise it [the constitutional issue]!”
8:17— Is the Court still the friend of the black community?
12:08—The writing of the Voting Rights Act

Subscribe to the SCOTUSblog feed on iTunes to receive our latest podcasts automatically–this one should be available by this evening.

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Philadelphia Public School Notebook Notes from the news, Feb. 15

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 15

Submitted by Erika Owens on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 09:59 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Closing the learning gap The Inquirer (opinion)
A reflection on how to close the economic learning gap.

See also: In hard times, Americans blame the poor The Inquirer

Changes in store for high school choice? The Notebook blog
The release of an RFA report shed light on the lack of real choice in the current system, but how to change that?

See also: Confessions of a Conflicted Public School Advocate Philly School Search blog

What Does Communication Mean in 2010? Philly Teacher blog
EduTweeters, EduCon, Classroom 2.0 communication is changing. Are we at the "tipping point"?

Nonprofit helps dropouts get back on track AP via Philly.com

Ask Dr. H: Young athletes and sudden cardiac death Inquirer magazine

Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.

Click here to get Notes from the news in your inbox every day.

Notes from the news

With a Chancellor like this, DCPS doesn’t need enemies � GFBrandenburg's Blog

With a Chancellor like this, DCPS doesn’t need enemies GFBrandenburg's Blog

With a Chancellor like this, DCPS doesn’t need enemies

Isn’t it great to have a superintendent who denigrates DC public schools every chance she gets? Here is an example that she just published:

“….under a new principal at one school, student reading proficiency went from 24 percent to 85 percent in just four years, and from 10 percent to 64 percent in math. In another, only 9 percent of the students were on grade level, when just down the street in a successful charter school, over 90 percent of students were. Same kids, same neighborhoods and exposure to violence, same poverty, hunger, and parent education levels. At the successful schools, the primary difference was the team of adults who decided it was possible for lives and outcomes to move in other directions.”

As usual, Rhee operates on innuendo, never actually giving facts that people can check easily.

After doing a bit of research, I figured out that in the first sentence, she was probably referring to Noyes ES in Northeast Washington, where the percentage of students performing at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” level went as follows. Notice that in 2006, in reading, about 24% of the students scored “proficient”, and in 2009, about 85% scored “proficient”.

If you are wondering what happened to make the scores go down so much in 2006, the answer is simple: DCPS contracted with a different testing company that year to make the NCLB AYP tests for the city. Instead of the SAT-9, students took the DC-CAS. Since the change, our “curriculum” has been more and more just “test prep for the DC-CAS”, so it’s not entirely surprising that teachers have been getting better at coaching students to improve their scores.

Here’s the same data in the form of a graph:

Unlike what Rhee wrote, Noyes has had the same principal, Wayne Ryan, since 2002, well before Rhee came onto the scene, so she can’t take credit for hiring him. And with at least 8 years on the job, Ryan is now one of the most veteran principals in DCPS. I

Schools Matter: Can Ben Austin Speak for Parent Revolution without Speaking for Green Dot?

There are legitimate concerns these days that education outfits have sometimes hidden or unclear relationships with other groups, many of them in the nonprofit sector. This brings up questions of governance, transparency, and other issues of public policy. For instance, should people employed by a charter school have to openly and publicly disclose their financial ties when advising/advocating/consulting on behalf of a different non-profit?

From the Daily News (Los Angeles):

After five years of getting nowhere with Los Angeles Unified officials, fed-up parents in Sunland-Tujunga are using a new state law to force change at a long-troubled middle school.
Parents and community members say problems at Mount Gleason Middle School, which has been on a federal list of under-performing campuses for a dozen years, go beyond failing test scores.
"There is an unsafe atmosphere at this school that is spilling over into the community...," said Lydia Grant, a resident and parent of a former Mount Gleason student. "People are tired of it and we want to see change."

Retired Army officer's new mission: D.C. public schools - washingtonpost.com

Anthony J. Tata was an Army brigadier general in northeast Afghanistan's Kunar Province in April 2006 when a Taliban rocketslammed into a primary school in Asadabad, killing seven children and wounding 34.

The vicious attack and others like it by the Taliban left him with a thought: "It struck me at the time that if the enemy of my enemy is education, then perhaps that's a second act for me."

Three years later, Tata began his second act by accepting Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's offer to become chief operating officer for D.C. public schools, a newly created post that places him in charge of purchasing, food service, technology and other support areas.

After a 28-year career that took him to Kosovo, Macedonia, Panama, the Philippines and the international agency charged with thwarting improvised explosive devices, Tata's mission is to help bring the District's notorious school bureaucracy to heal.

Tata has made inroads in an organization with a history

THIS STORY

Charter schools moving to more traditional venues - The Boston Globe

Charter schools moving to more traditional venues - The Boston Globe:

"Each afternoon, school buses in a long line idle on a busy downtown street, awaiting dismissal at Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. Parents double-park on both sides of a nearby street, annoying rush-hour commuters."

Inside the 13-story school, students board elevators by the dozens over the course of nearly an hour, as 1,200 descend to the lobby.

This snail-paced dismissal should be history in the fall. Renaissance is moving, the latest in a wave of charter schools across the state investing millions of dollars in new facilities to better accommodate their educational needs. In many cases, charter schools are moving out of less-than-ideal classroom settings: storefronts, church basements, or community centers.

Their ascendancy to sparkling new locations represents an evolution from high-flying entrepreneurial start-ups to established institutions of success, the sort of Wall Street darlings of the education sector.

Renaissance, at the corner of Arlington and Stuart streets, is moving several neighborhoods away to Hyde Park, where a $39 million complex is under construction.

“Getting out of here will be a true blessing,’’ said Roger Harris, the Renaissance superintendent and chief executive officer who has nightmares about trying to evacuate students if there ever were a fire at the current location. “It’s a great building for a business, but for kids it has a number of drawbacks.’’

Children adopted from abroad offer insight on language development - The Boston Globe

Children adopted from abroad offer insight on language development - The Boston Globe:

"As Andy Ross learned to speak English, he progressed from simple word combinations like “Andy shoe’’ to the more complex “my red shoe,’’ just like any toddler."

But Andy was older when he began to learn English, after being adopted from Russia, and his chatter - taped in weekly sessions - has provided scientists important clues about how language develops.

Harvard psychologists are finding that preschool-age children adopted from foreign countries learn English in the same sequence as babies: starting with single words and progressing to word combinations and complex grammar.

That means it is not the maturity of the brain but the nature of language itself that dictates how it is learned, the Harvard scientists say.

“Because babies are immature in so many ways, it’s easy to assume their language is simple because their minds are simple,’’ said Jesse Snedeker, the Harvard psychologist leading the research. But this appears not to be the case, she said.

The research is helping scientists and families understand what to expect when a child who may already know one language is plunged into a new one. And it could eventually lead to better ways to teach language.

Demand in charter schools forces lotteries, long waiting lists - The Denver Post

Demand in charter schools forces lotteries, long waiting lists - The Denver Post:

"Alma Meraz's eyes welled when her daughter's name was pulled from a cookie jar during an enrollment lottery for the high-performing West Denver Prep charter school.

'I'm so happy,' said Meraz, who cleans houses for a living. 'I need her to go to this school for better opportunities. For a better life.'

West Denver Prep — which some parents have come to view as a first step toward college and possibly a lifeline out of poverty — is rated the second-best school in Denver.

The school's college-preparatory curriculum and swift interventions for struggling students have been touted for helping at- risk kids beat the academic odds. West Denver Prep now posts some of the best academic growth in the state."

Daily Herald | Innovation is key to policy reform, ISBE chairman says

The chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education plans to use his new position on a federal policy committee to advocate for practical changes to education legislation, including allowing states more resources and flexibility under No Child Left Behind.

Jesse Ruiz, a Chicago attorney and former law student of President Obama's at the University of Chicago, sat down with the Daily Herald recently to talk about his work on the National Association of School Boards Government Affairs Committee - the group responsible for education policy recommendations and getting lawmakers up to snuff on the priorities of various states.

Q. President Obama recently announced that he is asking for a 6 percent increase for education in his 2011 budget - a $4.5 billion increase in discretionary spending. Much of this is contingent on renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known as No Child Left Behind). Coming from a state that saw more schools than ever fail to meet rising benchmarks this year, what kinds of changes will you be suggesting?

A. Frankly, (states) need latitude and more resources. Some of this stuff is not rocket science. States need more authority to step in, when districts are not performing as they should be. NCLB was good in theory ... but it was always heavy on stick and light on carrot. Hopefully with that increase, we need to provide a little more carrot and resources. We can.

Our View: Well-schooled in payback | initiatives, make, california - Editorials - Appeal-Democrat

Our View: Well-schooled in payback | initiatives, make, california - Editorials - Appeal-Democrat:

"The California Teachers Association announced Feb. 5 it would be supporting a ballot initiative that aims to remove certain tax breaks for business in California and another initiative that would make it more difficult for public corporations to make political contributions.

Both of these proposed initiatives are CTA retaliation for three proposed ballot initiatives they view as corporate attacks on unions — two are referred to as 'paycheck protection,' which would stop automatic deductions from government employees that are used for political causes. The third initiative involves reforming public-employee pensions.

The first CTA-backed initiative would repeal a package of tax cuts offered to business in California as part of budget negotiations during last year's state budget melee. The second proposed proposition is a blatantly tit-for-tat initiative that would require publicly traded companies to get shareholder approval before making political contributions."

Cost of teaching English to immigrant adults $630M - DailyBulletin.com

Cost of teaching English to immigrant adults $630M - DailyBulletin.com:

"California taxpayers have shelled out about $630 million over the past 13 years to provide English classes to immigrant adults.

The money was required as part of Proposition 227, an anti-bilingual education initiative passed by voters in 1998.

The measure, approved by 61percent of the voters, said public school kids should learn English as quickly and effectively as possible. It was intended to move students with limited English skills into mainstream classes within one year.

To help accomplish that goal, the state spent $50million annually over 10 years to provide free English classes to immigrant parents and others who pledged to tutor kids with limited English proficiency.

The state Legislature reauthorized the program in 2006. About $130million was allocated in the following three fiscal years. The program is slated to receive about $40million in the 2010-2011 budget."

Epoch Times - UCLA to Research Education Uses of Social Networking Sites

Epoch Times - UCLA to Research Education Uses of Social Networking Sites:

"Social media sites aren't just for networking anymore. UCLA is now using them to support health care education.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health has given UCLA a $1.1 million grant for the school to test the effectiveness of social media on teen awareness of health care.

According to UCLA's School of Public Health, an average teen spends over nine hours a week on social networking sites. The school is partnering up with Health Net of California to tap into social networking sites in order to inform teenage users how to effectively use health care.

'Over 90 percent of teens today use social networking sites, not just to interact with their peers but also to get information about issues that are important to them,' stated Michael Prelip, a professor of community health at UCLA's School of Public Health in a press release. 'This intervention will provide important clues about the effectiveness of social media in influencing adolescents' understanding of their health care rights, responsibilities, and benefits so that they can become good health care consumers.'"

For first time in decades, Caltech updates core curriculum - Pasadena Star-News

For first time in decades, Caltech updates core curriculum - Pasadena Star-News:

"PASADENA - Caltech's faculty is poised to give the vaunted core curriculum its first overhaul in decades.

The core curriculum is a two-year science education boot camp that begins in large lecture hall classes. Whatever their major, freshman students can expect a heavy dose of physics and math.

A proposal now suggests the school offer more breadth in the sciences, emphasizing more flexibility in the core, better writing skills and a renewed emphasis on teaching.

'We don't want to dumb things down, but we are not entirely convinced that the best way to learn is to have a bunch of work dumped on you,' said Professor Mike Brown, a co-chair on the task force.

The plan has already been floated by the school's"

After protest, UCI pressured by both sides | students, uci, campus - News - The Orange County Register

After protest, UCI pressured by both sides | students, uci, campus - News - The Orange County Register:

"IRVINE – A Facebook page simply calls them 'the Eleven.' A newly created graphic, based on a Register photograph, depicts a student among the protesters raising his right index finger defiantly as he's escorted out by a campus police officer.

The rhetoric surrounding the protesters who disrupted a speech by an Israel's ambassador to the United States Feb. 8 has escalated. University officials face a difficult decision on whether to discipline the students, and if so, how severely. UCI prides itself on its diversity of cultures, religions and political views"

Jewish groups have for years accused the school of being overly tolerant of what they call anti-Semitic hate speech, and they say the Feb. 8 protest is only the latest outrage. Ambassador Michael Oren had been invited to campus to speak about Israeli-U.S. relations, but his lecture before about 500 people at the Student Center was interrupted 10 times by students denouncing Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Earlier that day, UCI's Muslim Student Union had issued a statement condemning the decision to invite a "public figure who represents a state that continues to break international and humanitarian law ... ."

After the 10th interruption, the event deteriorated further as a large group of students walked out of the conference room to jeers – and, the protesters allege, threats – by Oren's supporters. Eight UCI students and three UC Riverside students were briefly detained in another room before being released, after Oren had finished his speech. A planned 30-minute question-and-answer session with Oren was scrapped.

Budget cuts to schools concern parents

Budget cuts to schools concern parents:

"Today the Press Telegram reported that Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) may lay off 750 employees at the end of the school year. LBUSD, and other district's around the state are dealing with the shortfall of school funding from the state. The district plans to look at the possibility of laying off teachers (470 at the elementary level), counselors, social workers, and administrators. This is in part due to the school board's decision to cut $38 million from next year's budget, which would also affect class size. Under the proposed cuts - class sizes in kindergarten through third grades will increase from 20 students per teacher to 30 students per teacher next school year. And with larger class sizes, fewer teachers will be needed.

Parent's concerns

Parents are concerned that with larger class sizes teachers will have fewer opportunities to spend one-on-one time with pupils. And with larger class sizes students may not receive adequate and"

School vacation? Hardly - The Reporter

School vacation? Hardly - The Reporter:

"Travis schools will be closed from Feb. 15 through 19. Teachers will not be in their classrooms, nor will students be in their seats engaged in learning - which is the real business of education.
These school closures do not represent a midwinter vacation for Travis students and teachers.

Rather, they were negotiated as a result of deep and severe cuts to education in the state budget: The California Education Code was changed in 2009, allowing districts to reduce teaching calendars by up to five school days and continue to receive funding.

Districts can thus save money by collecting revenue but not paying employees or opening facilities during furlough days"

Governor Schwarzenegger and I Compare Calves

Governor Schwarzenegger and I Compare Calves:

"Governor Schwarzenegger and I Compare Calves"

LOS ANGELES. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger officially opened the 43d California International Antiquarian Book Fair on Friday night, February 12, 2010, along with First Lady, Maria Shriver, during a small ceremony intensely covered by the media. Excusing himself immediately afterward, he promised "We'll be back" to check out the rare books.

Oh, how I wanted to write that lead. A loose-cannon member the Southern California chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the book fair's sponsoring organization, had, unilaterally and without consulting his colleagues, formally invited the governor to open the Fair to draw press and public attention. The Governor's scheduling office sent their regrets but with the his wish for a successful event.

The Governor and First Lady returned to the Fair after a quick dinner at Schatzi, the Governor's restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica that closed in 2007. They met with an old and dear friend, a member of the local ABAA chapter, who walked them around the Fair and helped the Governor's security people shoo flies away. It was, reportedly, a delightful reunion; the Governor and his rare book-selling friend had not seen each other for thirty-five years.

I met Arnold in 1975, before he became SCHWARZENEGGER! and was known merely as The Austrian Oak, the most successful bodybuilder in the sport's history, and on the cusp of fame with the general public; Pumping Iron, the acclaimed documentary based upon Charles Gaines' and George Butler's book of the same name, would soon be released (1977) and introduce the world at large to the large world's superstar in all his glory.

Cal State campus leaders take to pulpits in diversity initiative - latimes.com

Cal State campus leaders take to pulpits in diversity initiative - latimes.com:

"Under the Super Sunday program, officials collaborate with churches to increase the college readiness and enrollment of African Americans."

Standing before a congregation of thousands at Inglewood's Faithful Central Bible Church on Sunday, a familiar speaker elicited a chorus of "amens" and "hallelujahs" with his message onthe importance of education to the success of black Americans.

"Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, there is no gift that you can give to all of our children that is more important than preparing them to be able to go to college. It is imperative that the African American community of this state and of this nation do that."

The words were delivered not by Faithful Central's senior pastor, Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, although he too is a big education booster -- but by Chancellor Charles B. Reed, head of the 23-campus California State University system.

Reed had traveled from ivory tower to house of worship as part of the university's Super Sunday initiative, a collaboration with black churches begun five years ago to increase the college readiness and enrollment of African American students.

On several Sundays in February, Cal State leaders, including the chancellor, campus presidents, trustees and others, speak at churches and provide information about planning and applying or college. Their appearances are part of the university system's African American Initiative, which also includes summer algebra workshops and education fairs. Other initiatives target Latino, Native

Superintendent's Corner: Government needs to make tough choices - Whittier Daily News

Superintendent's Corner: Government needs to make tough choices - Whittier Daily News:

"Rollo May, the famous psychologist, once observed, 'When people get lost they begin to run, and when really lost, run faster.'

This observation provides an insightful contrast between our schools, which are running at a face pace, but with a clear purpose in mind, and our legislators who are running frantically without a vision or goals for the future.

The past few years have seen impressive academic gains in our schools around the Whittier Area and the San Gabriel Valley.

Our schools are working diligently and with the clear intention of improving the achievement of all students. By contrast, our politicians are running in a panic, but have lost their direction, as evidenced by their decisions regarding the current needs and future goals for California.

As Superintendent of the Whittier City School District, I am amazed at the wonderful academic progress our schools have demonstrated in recent years."

California's environmental policy starts in kindergarten � Ventura County Star

California's environmental policy starts in kindergarten Ventura County Star:

"In what officials are calling a landmark move, California public schools now have state-approved environmental curriculum for students all the way from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The state Board of Education this year signed off on 76 sections of curriculum — part of California’s Education and the Environment Initiative — and they are expected to be available for teachers online shortly at no charge.

“This is another example of California leading the nation in environmental policy,” said Lindsay VanLaningham, deputy director of communications for the California Environmental Protection"

Black churches spread gospel of higher education

Black churches spread gospel of higher education:

"The pulpit at many black churches has become a place to pray to a higher power - and praise higher learning."

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of the dream of reaching the promised land- with education!" cried the man addressing the congregation Sunday at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church in West Oakland.
The words came not from the pastor, but from the president of California State University East Bay, Mo Qayoumi, whose remarks were also carried live on KDYA the Light, a gospel radio station.
On Sundays throughout February, Qayoumi and other university leaders are fanning out to more than 100 black churches across the state to spread the gospel of higher education in a program they call Super Sunday.
They're aiming their message mainly at the families of middle-school children, preaching the idea that it's never too early to prepare for college.
"Today, only 1 in 5 African American students is eligible for CSU," Qayoumi told the hundreds of congregants who packed the pews of the large and ornate church at 1909 Market St. "Partner with us so we can get the other four eligible, too!"
He was talking about getting more kids into CSU's five-week "algebra institutes," free summer programs for middle and high school students that focus intensely on math but

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/14/BAMI1BVHGV.DTL#ixzz0fbpGGF02

S.D. College Professor To March For California's Education | KPBS.org

S.D. College Professor To March For California's Education| KPBS.org:

"SAN DIEGO — California education advocates are gearing up for a seven-week march on Sacramento next month in the name of public education. One San Diego college professor plans to make the statewide trek.

Jim Miller is a 45-year-old English and labor studies professor at San Diego City College. He's organized a number of local rallies against budget cuts to higher education. He says the seven-week march will be an even more powerful weapon.

“It takes on its own dynamic,” Miller said. “You start to build and you get a chance to talk about things for a longer period of time, and bring together groups of people who perhaps don't always talk to each other.”

'Marching For California's Future' is being organized by the California Federation of Teachers. The 400-mile trek begins on March 5th in Los Angeles. Activists will walk through the Central Valley to the state's capital."

Potential oil tax to benefit California higher education draws mixed reactions - ContraCostaTimes.com

Potential oil tax to benefit California higher education draws mixed reactions - ContraCostaTimes.com:

"California higher education officials have watched with mixed feelings as a potential oil severance tax -- which may in the end provide funding for state colleges -- has made its way through the Legislature.

Assembly Bill 656 was originally designed to impose a 9.9 percent natural gas and oil severance tax, with the proceeds going to the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation to allocate the revenue to state schools, according to documents from the office of Assemblyman Alberto Torrico. The bill was later amended to instead monitor how much revenue a 12.5 percent tax would generate for education, and it is now in the Senate.

”It will serve as a reminder of how much money higher education is missing as a result of not having a severance tax,” according to a statement from Torrico's office."