Wading In

Parental involvement keys success By Kelvin Wade | | June 24, 2009 22:50 When I saw the recent Daily Republic article, 'Committee to take on black student disparities' I was intrigued for two reasons. The first, the black-white student achievement gap is an important issue for the nation. The second was the involvement of Dr. Deborah Keys, vice president of Voices for African American Students Inc., and an appointee to the African American Advisory Committee that advises the Legislature. Dr. Keys was my rather tenacious creative writing teacher at Armijo High School. Unfortunately for the advisory group, I believe this problem must be solved from the bottom up, not the top down. Parents more than teachers. And the gap isn't genetic, it's cultural. There have been studies that show the focus on black underachievement actually encourages blacks to do poorly on tests. The late Berkeley Professor John Ogbu found that black parents often didn...

The woman who used to write a column in my slot before I started quit because she was tired of everyone knowing her thoughts and opinions. She wasn't happy being a pin cushion for critics. I understand her sentiments. To be in the opinion business, you've got to develop a thick skin or you just won't last. Every so often you may get a barrage of nasty emails. You may get someone calling your editor and chewing them out for something you wrote. And then, every so often, you receive a pat on the back. You have to savor those pats to sustain you through the rough spots. I received one this week in a letter to the editor. Immediately, Tony called me and said I was bold for signing Pete Sanchez's name to the letter. LOL Without further adieu, the letter: Praise for cogent, compelling columnist | | June 23, 2009 17:40 Kelvin Wade's article (Daily Republic, June 17, 2009) on President Obama's proposed health coverage more than justifies my 2009 sub...

The fallacy of arguments against health plan By Kelvin Wade | | June 18, 2009 15:47 Don't be fooled by GOP snake oil salesmen. President Obama's health care plan complete with a public health option should pass. No longer can we afford to let the 47 million uninsured satisfy their health care needs at the ER. No more can we fall prey to bogus claims of socialized medicine. Ezra Klein ran a primer on this in the Washington Post last week explaining that 'socialized medicine' is when the government employs the health care professionals, and owns the hospitals and equipment. That describes the Veterans Health Administration yet I don't see any Republicans telling the excellent doctors and the brave wounded veterans who use those services that they're a bunch of socialist commies. The Obama plan doesn't qualify as socialized medicine because the health care providers and facilities will remain private. Well, then could it be a single-payer syst...

What if they don't burn for eternity? By Kelvin Wade | | June 04, 2009 22:52 Thank you, God, that the California Supreme Court had the fortitude to uphold Proposition 8, banning gay marriage in California. Heterosexual married couples were on the brink of annihilation with that ruling. Still, there is something troubling in last week's ruling. The job is only half done. Inexplicably, the courts left 18,000 gay couples still united in wedded bliss. Even as you read this, thousands of homosexual couples are making a mockery of Leviticus by satisfying their carnal lusts within the confines of matrimony. Yes, behind closed doors, wedded boys are kissing. What are we to do about the married gays prancing about in our midst? The court has left us with no instructions on how we deal with this special case of married gays. At least when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom granted marriage licenses (whether we liked it or not) to homosexuals in 2004, the California Supreme ...