Norwood bans internationally acclaimed book

[denverbill]

http://9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=d87acf56-0abe-421a-0077-6789ab9104e5&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

NORWOOD - The superintendent of Norwood schools says he banned the book because it has too much profanity for high school English classes.
<snip>
President George Bush awarded Anaya the National Medal of Arts in 2002, and First Lady Laura Bush has listed "Bless Me, Ultima" as ninth on a list of 12 books that she highly recommends.
<snip>

Hahaha. At first, I thought this was just your typical small-town book-burning story. I bet that dumbass wingnut superintendent feels pretty stupid burning a book Shrub gave an award to.

[Sandpiper]

1. Too much profanity for High School?

I heard more profanity in high school than just about anywhere else I've ever been.

[devilgrrl]

8. I learn all of my mother@#$%!ing profanity in school!

As did most other people I know. :eyes:

[One_Life_To_Give]

10. But we didn't read Gilgamesh till collegen/t

[Book Lover]

2. "So they can be destroyed."

Conder agreed to turn over two dozen copies of the books to the parents who requested them so they can be destroyed.

Nothing sickens me more than this. Destroy a book? The cardinal rule of book repair and conservation is that every book is worthy of being saved, every book. I really feel sick.

[Occulus]

4. somebody needs to get an electronic copy

of the book and anonymously leave CDs or disks with it on them lying around the school.

Label them conspicuously: "the book the school won't let you read"

[MrPrax]

6. Destroyed?

Your're right this is sickening...

Especially given the fact that these books are still the property of the school board and, by way, the citizens who paid for them.

What the hell is this guy doing handing public property over to 'interests groups'...one would think his financial responsibility is to get something for the initial outlay by taxpayers and, um, swapping them with another district that isn't so 'Reich-like'.

Mind-snapping really...

[jdj]

11. I bet they request a lot of Playboys, these parents.

[Igel]

14. You wouldn't like Distributed Processing, the largest current

contributor of books to Project Gutenberg.

They only do books before (I think) 1921, to avoid copyright infringement.

The movers-and-shakers in DP put these old books through a scanner's sheet feeder. Which means first they remove the cover and shear off the spine (and any excess margins they can).

[Book Lover]

16. I am completely in favor of digitization

And I am actually one of the proofers for PG. Books can be repaired but only if they aren't burned into bits!

[Igel]

17. Cool.

I've been doing some proofing with DP, but mostly at DP-Europe. Things are slow over there.

[Supersedeas]

3. Profanity and Evolution is bathroom discussion only.

[asjr]

5. Was the book burned? We get more Nazi-like every

passing day.

[Book Lover]

7. Here's the local paper's story

http://www.norwoodpost.com/#News3

Parents censor high school literature and are allowed to burn books they find offensive

<snip>

Here in Norwood, a small group of parents sent letters to Superintendent Bob Conder, expressing their concern over, Bless Me, Ultima, a book being used in the classroom as a literature book. Conder said the books, about 2 dozen in total costing $6.99 each, were pulled from the classroom, and designated to be destroyed. The parents approached the superintendent and asked that they be able to burn the books instead of the school janitor destroying them.
Conder granted them their request, as he has the right to dispose of them. Conder informed the School Board in a letter after the fact. He further stated, “I can’t dictate morality, but my job is to protect the kids. The books should have never been purchased, and were not properly disclosed for approval.”

<snip>

Conder said the books were not sold to recoup some of the cost or donated to a library elsewhere because, “I would not feel comfortable with those books possibly falling into another child’s hands, and the return would not be more than 50 cents to a dollar a piece”. When asked if the teacher who introduced the book to the students was in danger of being terminated, Conder said, “No, she was truly sorry for her lack of judgment”

An individual, who did not wish to be identified, felt this was reminiscent of the Nazi regime, and feared their job as a teacher was in jeopardy if parents could dictate the curriculum in such a manner. “Our kids already receive a limited exposure to knowledge because of our location, why limit them further.” The individual stated they were familiar with the book, and that the profanity was limited. They added “There are many classic novels with a varying levels of profanity that can be found in the school’s library; it all depends on the connotation and frequency of the words used.”

[mediaman007]

9. Lack of judgment? How can you be wrong when ordering an award winner?

Come June these kids will be adults and responsible for themselves. They treat these kids like they are 7.

When asked if the teacher who introduced the book to the students was in danger of being terminated, Conder said, “No, she was truly sorry for her lack of judgment”

To me it sounds like the superintendent is a big bully himself. Probably a former football coach and high school principal. The superintendent pulled the teacher aside and offered to help her out of this tough situation. I bet the super thinks she owe him one for this.

[Supersedeas]

18. 'Merika is changing...'Merica is burning books in the hinterland.

[Roland99]

12. But all the stories of animal sacrifice, near-human sacrifice, war, etc.

in the Bible is all ok.

[maxsolomon]

13. thought for sure it was Norwood, Ohio

cuz its full of cincinnati conservative know-nothing mouth breathers.

but color me surprised...

[donheld]

15. Norwood is a tiny town in Colorado

Only 472 by the 2000 census. Some of you thought this stuff only happened in Alabama, or the south. Guess again.

[struggle4progress]

19. kick for book burners

[daleo]

20. Fahrenheit 451. n/t

[noamnety]

21. Letter to Mr. Conder

Now I just need to track down his email address.

Letter to Mr. Conder
Superintendent, Norwood Schools, CO
Feb 5, 2005

Dear Mr. Conder,

Thank you for having the courage to give two dozen copies of the book “Bless Me, Ultima” to a parent to burn. It’s disgraceful to expose our children to profanity like that, especially in a public school setting. I am shocked, completely shocked, that Laura Bush was peddling that smut. If you ask me, she’s been spending too much time with Mr. Cheney. The two of them need to schedule a meeting between their mouths and a bar of soap. Individually, I mean. Not a meeting where Laura’s mouth meets Dick’s (pardon my French).

You may be interested to know that I am a teacher in a public school. Small world, no?! In our school district, we have a most inconvenient rule about not giving equipment and supplies to private citizens if they were purchased with public funds.

This brings me to my main point. I have a digital camera that is slightly damaged, and I am in the market for a new one. Being a teacher, my personal funds are limited. I was wondering if you could use some of your school’s budget to buy me a digital camera. You could say you decided afterwards that it was unacceptable for the students to have, because they could take inappropriate photos. Even if they didn’t take bad photos, just having the camera might put the idea in their head. As a teacher, I am diligent about not letting my students get any ideas.

Or, if that’s not okay, you could buy some more books and ban them, and give them to me to “destroy”. I could sell the books on ebay and maybe make enough money to buy my camera. If you want to do that idea instead, I can send you a list of books with bad words.

As educators, we need to “ban” together!