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Tim Louis Macaluso

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EDUCATION: [UPDATED] Alternative city school proposed

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 1st, 2012

This is a corrected version of this story. UPDATE: A presentation on alternative schools will be given in a school board committee meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 6, in the third-floor conference room of the Central Office Building, 131 West Broad Street. ORIGINAL STORY: The Rochester school district

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EDUCATION: Keeping libraries relevant

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012

The conditions are right for a perfect storm that could cause libraries to disappear, says Nancy Foster, director of anthropologic research for the University of Rochester. Most information can be accessed digitally from home, the office, or almost anywhere the Internet is available. So, who needs a library? Librarians at

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URBAN ACTION (2/1-2/8)

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Film looks at urban design The Little Theatre will show the documentary film "Urbanized" by Gary Hustwit at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 2. The film looks at the

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POLITICS: Presidential politics get radical

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012

Call it crazy. Call it a circus. But Americans are following the Republican presidential primary like a mini series, says John Harris. The veteran Washington D.C. journalist is Politico.com's editor in chief. The five-year-old web site is devoted almost entirely to Washington and state-level politics: a hub for political

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COMMENTARY: The school board's correct decision on condom policy

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012

For a school district, giving students access to condoms in school is a dramatic step. I get the controversy. Passions run high when the discussion turns to teens having sex. But let's be honest: many teens do have sex. As difficult a decision as it was, the Rochester school board

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HEALTH: Controversial condom program approved

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 27th, 2012

City students will for the first time be able to get condoms in city schools. By a vote of 4 to 3, school board members approved a policy last night that includes a condom availability program. Board members Van White, Cynthia Elliott, and Melisza Campos voted no. The vote

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LGBT: UR will offer DP benefits

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 25th, 2012

The University of Rochester is extending benefits coverage to the domestic partners of its employees. The coverage will apply to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples (see statement below). The UR announced last year that it planned to stop offering benefits to domestic partners following New York's passage of the

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INTERVIEW: Building a vision for Rochester’s schools

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 24th, 2012

Construction will begin this summer on School 58, School 50, Charlotte, School 17, and Franklin. They are five of the 12 buildings selected for the $325 million first phase of the long anticipated effort to modernize Rochester's aging schools. The massive $1.2 billion project was conceived about seven years ago.

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HEALTH: Condom countdown

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 24th, 2012

The city school board is likely to vote in favor of allowing students to receive condoms at school at its Thursday, January 26 meeting, says board member Jose Cruz. Under changes being proposed to the district's HIV/AIDS prevention policy, students could go to a high school nurse or

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EDUCATION: Grad rate drops

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 24th, 2012

Rochester school district officials predicted last year that the August graduation rate would increase from 51 percent in 2010 to an estimated 53 percent in 2011. And that was supposed to be a conservative estimate. But the 2011 rate instead fell to 49.4 percent, an estimate that includes the late

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Peace and soul, Don Cornelius

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 2nd, 2012

Before music videos became the industry's 24-hour marketing machine, there were a handful of television shows that mixed music, dance, and live performance. And few held the attention of generations of teens like "Soul Train." Creator and host Don Cornelius packaged fashion, fros, and funk with the top soul and

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The week ahead: Rochester school budget hearings

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 30th, 2012

Rochester Interim Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will hold three public meetings this week to let parents and community groups discuss their priorities for the 2012-2013 budget prior to its development. More public meetings will be held after the budget has been created. Vargas is facing a $40 million budget gap. He hopes

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The angry right

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 25th, 2012

Some Democrats are giddy about Newt Gingrich as the possible Republican nominee for president. I'm wary of him. It's beginning to look like Gingrich's trouncing of Mitt Romney in South Carolina will lead to a victory for him in Florida - so I hope President Obama's advisors learn something from

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Obama's critics, right and left, are getting it wrong

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 18th, 2012

I've been waiting anxiously for someone to write this article, and Newsweek columnist Andrew Sullivan has finally done it. Obama, Sullivan argues, could be a transformational president on par with former President Ronald Reagan if he is re-elected to serve a second term. But an unenthusiastic left and a bitter

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Sign of decline

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 17th, 2012

Is America in decline? That was the question posed to callers of C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" on Saturday morning. Most of the people who called into the show were convinced that America's glory days were over. I would have disagreed if it weren't for some discouraging business news: Hostess filed for

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The cost of a free Tibet

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 11th, 2012

There are protests, and then there are protests. From a war fluid with horrid images, I can't remember anything about the Vietnam conflict that matched seeing Buddhist monks set themselves on fire. For a moment, the world seemed to stop and shudder. Buddhist monk Thich Quang

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State scolded over education reform failures

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 10th, 2012

Another education funding showdown is unfolding between New York and the federal government, the New York Times is reporting. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said yesterday that despite significant progress, New York has hit a "roadblock" that could jeopardize the $700 million the state won in Race to the Top grants.

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Harvard study: Students benefit from high-quality teachers

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 9th, 2012

Are students' test scores a reliable way to measure a teacher's performance? That question has divided teachers, administrators, parents, and politicians over the last decade. But a new study out of Harvard University, reported by PBS, may have a dramatic impact on how we view teachers in our public schools,

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Rick Santorum, the extremist next door

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 6th, 2012

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan was among the gaggle of conservative media types fawning over Rick Santorum's speech about his grandfather earlier this week. Santorum, thanking supporters in Iowa, described his grandfather's funeral. He talked about how the 72-year-old coal miner worked until he died, and how his grandfather's

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Cuomo concerned about teacher evaluations

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 3rd, 2012

Governor Andrew Cuomo, unhappy with progress that school districts have made on developing new teacher evaluations, will create an education reform commission. The commission will be charged with coming up with recommendations to hold administrators and teachers more accountable. Cuomo has not yet appointed the commission. He’s expected to announce the

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