COLUMBUS _ "I know how to resolve this fracking controversy," Uncle Chet said, then sipped his second glass of red wine.
"Just don't do it," his wife, Alice, said from the couch where she was playing Scrabble against Hon and Buddy.
"And give up all that money?" I asked from the rocker, buoyed by the breeze from the window fan.
"It'll cost you in the long run," Alice said.
"Maybe not," Uncle Chet interjected. "It will cost us, collectively, but individuals will get rich. It's like it was with the 49ers: there's gold in them-thar hills, and people are determined to get it. They know how to mine it, where to sell it, and there really is no stopping them, short of a plebiscite."
"A what?" Buddy asked, looking up from his letter rack.
"A vote," Hon said. "Uncle Chet's just showing off."
"So that's how you'd resolve it?" I asked.
"Put it to a vote," he said. "Isn't that what democracies do before taking a big step? And don't both sides agree that this is a big step?"
"It would never work," Alice said. "The industry would have billboards, TV ads, puppet politicians, a sign on every bus in the city."
"Let 'em," Uncle Chet said "Let the industry and its opponents spend as much as they want trying to persuade us."
"That's not a fair fight," she said. "The little guy's going to get squashed."
"The little guy can do it Tea Party-style, meet in living rooms, put homemade signs on street corners, have marches down Main Street," he said. "And there is money in opposition. Around here, the more money, the more opposition."
"So they say," I said.
"So why not vote on it?" he said. "Equal voice for everyone."
"Because in New York, we don't have initiative, referendum or recall," Hon said. "In New York state, we rely on the professional politicians to put something on the ballot."
"I'll bet the professional politicians would be happy to pass this hot potato," Uncle Chet said. "They're being pressured from all sides: deferring to the public would be an easy out and wouldn't hurt their pay grade."
"It's not fair to those who want to drill," I said. "People don't live forever."
"Then tell those politicians to speed it up, put it on the ballot ASAP. Do it now!" he said. "And have every state college encourage students to vote, and ask the AARP to educate us oldsters. Make Election Day a holiday for everyone who votes, then accept the results until the next election. Isn't that the American way?"
"You've got it all figured out," I said and had a sip of summer beer in a green bottle.
"That's not all that's dawned on me," he said. "Yesterday, I saw a YouTube video by Salman Khan: `Let's use video to reinvent education,' and I realized how backward our system is in the age of the Internet."
"Never heard of him," I said.
"I have," Buddy said. "On technology."
"See," Uncle Chet nodded at the boy. "Khan has videos on hundreds of subjects, and he says we should be teaching people by having them watch informative, interesting videos at home, where they can pause, repeat, absorb the lessons. Then they go to school the next day to ask questions of the teacher, or engage in meaningful discussion."
"Now that does makes sense," Alice said.
'`It does," he said. "And most of the time, we do the opposite. We have students watch videos together, then struggle on their own at night, trying to master the subject. The way we do it now, everyone's supposed to learn at the same pace, boring some, stressing others. If we had a video-based curriculum, students could move at their own pace. When they'd learned a lesson, they could take the next one, delving into areas that interest them."
"Sounds nice, but it would take a revolution," I said.
"Maybe, but it would cost almost nothing, and that might spark a revolution in the age of $30,000 tuition," Uncle Chet said. "Think about it: With a single excellent video, you could teach millions of students for pennies each, lowering the cost of education and raising the quality."
"Would you need fewer teachers?" Alice asked.
"No," he said. "The teachers would still be directing their students' education, and not everyone would be on the same page anymore, so the job would be challenging."
"Of course, every home would need Internet access," I said.
"Of course," he said. "And with us ranked about 14th in the world academically, depending on who you read, we'd better make that a national priority."
Cooperstown Bureau Reporter Tom Grace is traveling with his Uncle Chet, whom he says is imaginary. Grace's column appears every other week. For more of his columns, visit www.thedailystar.com/tomgrace.
Columns
Easy fixes for education, drilling debate
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
-
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
-
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
-
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
-
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
-
-
I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
-
- William Masters
-
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
-
War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
-
Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
-
William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
-
A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
