FRISCO, Texas Frisco School trustees aren't renewing the contract of a veteran art teacher who was reprimanded because a student saw a nude sculpture during a museum visit. Sydney McGee has been on paid administrative leave from Fisher Elementary School since Friday. McGee's attorney says the teacher's troubles started after taking 89 students on a school field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art in April. The principal later admonished McGee about the trip, telling her a parent complained about a student seeing nude art. Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House approved a bill Thursday that would grant legal status to President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program with new restrictions. Republicans called it a test before the election of whether Democrats want to fight or coddle terrorists. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-New Mexico, that give legal status under certain conditions to Bush's warrantless wiretapping of calls and e-mails between people on U.S. soil making calls or sending e-mails and those in other countries.
Under the measure, the president would be authorized to conduct such wiretaps if he:
-- Notifies the House and Senate intelligence committees and congressional leaders.
-- Believes an attack is imminent and later explains the reason and names the individuals and groups involved.
-- Renews his certification every 90 days.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
The first news story is more of the same in unnecessary censorship. Prudish behavior simply for the sake of prudish behavior only breeds ignorance. The kid saw a marble booby or hoo-haa... therefore, the world is now a worse place. Its Texas, so I'm pretty sure, the child has seen a few firearms lying around the house - I have them in my home as well, but I also have paintings with exposed breasts... I'm very western cosmopolitan! Are we to believe that the complaining parent now sleeps with a nightlight and loaded shotgun out of fear of being attacked by their recently-corrupted child?
The second article represents the ever popular “shoot first and ask questions later approach”. I’m familiar with the mentality that says “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear” – but who decides right and wrong? Everyone watch your own ass, these two articles say quite a bit regarding the mentality currently controlling our nation’s government. - DN
2 comments:
So...was the bus driver reprimanded for driving past those porno bill board signs of sexy women showing off their wares for TV's newest season and maybe what is new at Nieman Marcus? Or for what it is worth: driving past a hooker on the way to the Museum? What do the parents do when they are home watching god forbid, the news!!!!! Silly people make the world go wrong.
Try being an art teacher at a Christian school!! One day I forgot where I was and I opened an art text book (one I had from previous art classes) to show an example of the way artists have been influenced by African masks. On every other page there was a nude and I found myself trying to cover them with my hands and then I finally said "ok class, let's be grown ups about this... there are nudes on these pages and that's not the focus of what I'm trying to show you today" they seemed fine after that. On the other hand, I hated myself a little bit after it because I never wanted to be a teacher who acted like the nude figure is something to be shielded from or is something to be ashamed of. I recently painted a four ft. nude of myself as Eve in the Garden of Eden. It's been hanging in my gallery for awhile now without me thinking twice about it. I am hosting a gallery reception in a couple of weeks to show some new work and because I am inviting all of my co-workers and any students who want to come...I decided to move the nude back to my bedroom (with the other two nudes, both done in the 50's). Where's the balance? I can't believe that there are parents out there who might threaten my job by it. However, I can only imagine that if I hadn't covered the nudes during my lecture in the first example, the only thing that would be going through those 6 and 7th grade boys minds would be BOOBIES, BOOBIES, BOOBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I'd have to go over the whole lesson again. I recently did a project based on the work of a living artist who uses sand in her work and creates vibrant paintings of organisms that blur the lines between realism and abstraction. Needless to say, every time I said the word "organisms" the girls in the back of the class would giggle. Obviously they just learned a very similar new word in health class.
Post a Comment