Hometown Hero: A Tribute to Millie Rosenstein 1914-2011

Millie Rosenstein
Photo courtesy of Paul Rosenstein

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

 “A life-long progressive, she marshaled the arguments and stood solid.  If you needed an ally, she was the one you wanted.  She had values and she had ideals and she never wavered.  I’m grateful to have known her on the picket line, working the phone banks, at city hall, at somebody’s backyard fundraiser.  She was your sweet grandmother with a warm hug, a conscience and the strength to back it up.  I will miss you, Millie.”  These words, from her friend, former Santa Monica Mayor Jim Conn, will make anyone who knew Millie smile in recognition.

Millie was born in 1914.  Her mother died in the influenza pandemic of 1919 and Millie was sent to live with her aunt.  The depression came and existence was meager.  After high school, she went to work as an office worker and soon met Herman (Gaby) Rosenstein, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the volunteer brigade that fought against the fascists in Spain.

He was then drafted into the U.S. Army.  They decided it was time to marry, but it was December 1941 and all leaves had been cancelled because of Pearl Harbor.  They quickly found a Justice of the Peace to marry them on Christmas Eve.  When Herman was discharged from the army they lived in the projects in New York and raised their two children, Paul and Fran.  Herman worked in the electrical trades.  When the children were young Millie wanted to stay home with them. 

Her son Paul said, “My mother felt she had an unhappy childhood and she wanted to be with us and make sure we knew we were loved and supported.  When I was about 10 she decided to go back to office work.  The result was that our family made too much money to stay in the projects.  We couldn’t find affordable housing in New York; we’d been to California and liked it, so our whole family moved to California.  It was 1958, the same year the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.”

The Rosensteins lived in the Fairfax area.  They volunteered for Tom Bradley in his first campaign for the Los Angeles City Council.  They worked against the Vietnam War and supported Eugene McCarthy for president.  Paul remembers, “It was about this time Millie took an assertiveness training class offered by a women’s movement group.  It really made a difference in her life.”

That difference became apparent in the 1980’s when Millie and Herman retired and had the time to do what they wanted, to work in the community and to travel.  Millie and Herman really thrived in Santa Monica.  They became part of a close group of politically progressive seniors who influenced Santa Monicans for Renter’s Rights, its politics and philosophy.  They became members of the Santa Monica Democratic Club, where Millie served as president for eight years.  She also served on the Senior Commission, the Social Services Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women.  She volunteered for Senior Peer Counseling and for KCRW.  Millie also worked on Tom Hayden’s campaign for assembly and when Jane Fonda came to Millie’s house party for Tom’s campaign, Millie pronounced it a “highlight of my life.”

In addition to all her community work she was an avid reader and a classical music fan, often going to Sunday matinees at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.   “Millie was also an eager traveler,” said her daughter-in-law, Ada Hollie. “Travelling was a big part of her life.  I enjoyed listening to her talk about all her travels and to looking at her many photographs.  She and Herman went to China, Spain, Cuba, Egypt, Greece and Nicaragua.   She and her dear friend, Betty Mueller, went to Portugal together.

Starting in 2007, Ada and Millie played scrabble every Tuesday. “We were serious,” said Ada, “but not competitive.  And we allowed using the dictionary so we could learn new words.”

Paul said about his mother, “I saw her almost every day for the last 8 years of her life and I got to know her in a new way.  We would go to lunch or dinner every weekend.  Our roles reversed as she needed more help and it was a new relationship for both of us.  We became very close all over again.”

Millie’s life was shaped by the events of her century and she understood what that meant and felt it was her responsibility to make the world a safer and more just place for everyone.  She was an optimistic person.  She knew how she wanted to live her life and she lived that life, expressing her humanitarian philosophy, her politics, her enthusiasm and her deep and loyal love of her friends, her family, her son, Paul Rosenstein, and her daughter, Fran Alexander.

The Santa Monica community will come together at the Broad Stage on September 24^th at 3:00pm to celebrate and pay tribute to Millie Rosenstein and to rejoice that we had in our community, in the words of Patricia Hoffman, “a great ally and sometimes a great challenge. Millie was strong, feisty and opinionated and sharp to the very end of her life. She lived her beliefs.”

What Say You? The draft Bike Action Plan

The voices of Santa Monicans asking for alternatives to city traffic congestion, environmental advocates wanting to reduce Santa Monica’s carbon footprint, residents wishing to incorporate more exercise into daily life, are joining their voices to those of long time cyclists working to create a bicycle friendly city. 

City Hall has heard them, loud and clear, and the 2011 draft Bike Action Plan lays out strong goals and an ambitious implementation plan to make Santa Monica a bike friendly city.

The Bike Action Plan is self-described as both bold and practical.  And it is.  Bold in that it states strong goals of making bike riding efficient, attractive, and fun for people of all ages and abilities “to use a bike to get everywhere in the city and to meet all the needs of daily life.”  Practical, in that it lists a detailed five-year implementation plan creating infrastructure and programs to achieve immediate goals and a twenty year vision for making Santa Monica a true bicycle city.

Santa Monica Police Chief Tim Jackman said, “What I am most impressed with is that as we develop future plans for a more bike and pedestrian friendly City, a key component of planning for the changes will be continuing education for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike on how to safety and cooperatively navigate the City's streets.  Public safety is always the first priority.”

The Plan outlines designs and timelines for achieving a “10% mode shift” to bikes and walking, among other transportation modes, to achieve the City goal of no net new trips in peak hours.  Ideas in the Plan include using the existing city street grid to create “complete streets.”  Streets, which through design and landscape provide safe and attractive places for people to walk, bike and even to gather.  As 25% of the City land use is devoted to streets, this could make a big impact. 

Transportation choices are seen as central to quality of life ratings.  Riding a bike promotes good health and reduces transportation costs.  Being able to bike to stores is good for local employment and for residents shopping in their neighborhoods. Improving neighborhoods by providing higher quality residential streets, lower vehicle speeds and improved connections within the city are other looked for benefits.

There is great praise for the draft Plan.  Santa Monica Council Member Kevin McKeown, himself a long-time cyclist said,  “This is a plan that bike activists embrace, and that we have the funding to implement.  We set aside $2.5 million already in this year's City budget.  When this comes back to Council for final approval just before Thanksgiving, we need to focus on the 'action' part of this 'action plan."

Phil Brock, Recreation and Parks Commission Chair, has more recently become an avid cyclist.  He said,  “This catapults our city into the forefront of American bike friendly cities. Combined with bike sharing and safer streets this plan, when executed, makes Santa Monica a more livable community.”

Richard McKinnon, a long time cyclist and a member of the Recreation and Parks Commission said,  “Riding a bike is now a huge idea. You see it everywhere you travel.  This bike plan threads bikes and bike facilities onto Santa Monica streets, and into our way of doing things.  It's the blueprint to making bikes safe and easy to use for everyone who lives in Santa Monica.”

What’s next?   According to City Manager Rod Gould, “After more commission input, we will return to the Council for final adoption, along with a work schedule for the projects, programs and activities contained in the plan. Cyclist safety is a major challenge in city as densely populated as Santa Monica in the most car centric region in the country.  To improve in this area will require bike safety engineering, education and enforcement. The Council is very focused on improving in this area, and we feel that as we implement the plan, more bicyclists will feel comfortable in town given changes to the streets and driver attitudes towards them.”  

In addition to what is in the Plan, shouldn’t we, as part of our Sustainable City goals, add the goal of having all infrastructure improvements, such as landscape design and paving materials used, meet the goals of sustainability.  All trees planted will provide better air quality as well as shade for pedestrians and cyclists.  They should also be designed to improve water quality by reducing urban run off and infiltrating storm water.  Paving materials should be chosen for sustainability and safety.  Each decision has to be specific to the design and the use of a particular infrastructure improvement, but each infrastructure improvement should be designed to meet sustainability criteria.  The idea is probably already in everyone’s mind, but it would be good to state it as a principle of the Plan.

Finally, what can’t be in the plan is the most important change necessary for success, but outside the control of City Hall.  We won’t become a bicycle friendly city until cyclists and car drivers agree to share the road with patience and courtesy.  Patience and courtesy behind the wheel of a car or on a bike have to become part of the ethos of Santa Monica for the City to be a safe place to bike, and without that, the best designed infrastructure and programs will not be enough.  So, let’s make it work.

I’ll see you around town.  I’ll be riding my new, white bike!

What Say You?

Hometown Heroes: Bainbridge Islanders

August 6, 2011 Memorial Dedication Celebration
Photo credit Clarence Moriwaki

 

August 6, 2011 Memorial Dedication Celebration  Photo credit Clarence Moriwaki

Hometown Heroes:  Bainbridge Islanders

SUSAN CLOKE

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror

August 26, 2011

An hour in a day, dedicated to celebrating a story that started in WWII, healing old wounds and honoring an honorable community.  In 1942 Bainbridge Island, Washington, had a population of about 1500 full time residents. 276 were Americans of Japanese descent.

These 276 people were farmers, business people, neighbors and friends.  They were grandparents, fathers and mothers, children and babies.  Their lives changed forever on March 23, 1942 when Civilian Exclusion Order #1, issued by the Western Defense Command, required all Bainbridge Islanders of Japanese descent to be sent to Manzanar Relocation Camp.  They were given six days to be ready to leave.

On March 30, 1942 the Bainbridge Island Japanese-Americans were required by law to get on the ferry at Eagledale Harbor for their connection to the train and then the bus that would take them to Manzanar in California.

Today, at Pritchard Park on Eagledale Harbor, the site where the Japanese-American Bainbridge Islanders were forced to leave the Island, there is a Memorial Wall and Garden and it is now a National Historic Site.  The park and the memorial are the work of many local citizens, supported by grants from the state, by public grants, and by several thousand private donations. 

More than 500 members of the local community came together on August 6, 2011 to celebrate the dedication of the memorial and to honor the Japanese-American Bainbridge Islanders.  Clarence Moriwaki, a Board Member of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association, welcomed people and explained the Memorial Association’s motto, “Nidoto Nai Yoni."  "Let it not happen again.”

The day was sunny, skies were clear and there was a slight breeze.  On the front of the podium were the words of the Pledge of Allegiance.  Behind the speakers’ platform were the tall firs of the North West Cloud Forest.   The speakers could see out, over the assembled crowd to the path to the ferry walked by the internees so many years ago, under the guard of armed soldiers.

Dr. Frank Kitamoto, a Board Member of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association, also a member of the 1941 graduating class of Bainbridge High School, shared his memories of that time.  “We sold our family farm for $1.00 to friends and when, after the war, we were allowed to return, they sold it back to us for $1.00.  With the help of our friends and neighbors we were able to return to the farm and the life that my family had worked so hard to create.  We appreciate you.  We appreciate a government that works to right a grave wrong.  How special is a government that makes restitution for its mistakes.”

On the makeshift dais with Frank Kitamoto was Earl Hanson, also in the class of ’41.  He had come to Eagledale Harbor that long ago day to say good-bye to his best friend.  But the soldiers wouldn’t allow it.  He remembered the soldiers, with bayonets fixed to their rifles, making him and all the Islanders who had come to say goodbye, stand far away from their departing friends.  Mr. Hanson served in the military and told of returning home after the war’s end and of his joy at knowing that his best friend had also returned and of being together again.

The Review, the local Bainbridge paper, an award winning local paper, was renowned and sometimes reviled, for the editorials they published opposing President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, the Order that was the basis for the expulsion of the120,000 Japanese-Americans who were sent to relocation camps.  The Bainbridge Island Japanese-Americans were both the first to be sent to the camps and the last to return home.

Milly and Walt Woodward, owners and editors of The Review, wrote, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, “There is the danger of a blind, wild hysterical hatred of all persons who can trace ancestry to Japan. That some of those persons happen to be American citizens, happen to be loyal to this country and happen to have no longer a binding tie with their fatherland are factors which easily could be swept aside by mob hysteria." The Review.  December 8. 1941

Mary Woodward, daughter of Milly and Walt Woodward, spoke eloquently of her parents, saying, “The beauty of what my parents did was to create an opportunity for dialogue and an atmosphere was created where reasonable people were given an opportunity to be reasonable.”

Islanders were more than reasonable as in known through the stories told that day, of farmers taking care of the farms of others until they could return, of business owners doing the same for their neighbors, of the High School coach who, with one game scheduled during those frightening six days, benched team mates so that all the Japanese-American boys could play the entire last game, and of the empty chairs at the 1942 Bainbridge High School graduation, each one a tribute to a missing student.

Marion Konishi graduated from High School in a Relocation Camp.  She was the class valedictorian.  In her speech she said:  “Sometimes America failed and suffered…Sometimes she made mistakes, great mistakes…Her history is full of errors, but with each mistake she has learned....     Can we, the graduating class of Amache Senior High School, believe that America still means freedom, equality, security, and justice?  Do I believe this?  Do my classmates believe this?   Yes, with all our hearts, because in that faith…in that hope…is my future, and the world’s future.”

What Say You? Bainbridge Island Parks, Trails, and Farms

SUSAN CLOKE

Blakely Harbor, photo courtesy of Bainbridge Island Parks District

Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror
 

Working landscapes. Across Puget Sound from Seattle, the City of Bainbridge Island owns five public farms providing sixty acres of land. Farming is part of the heritage of Bainbridge Island and the initiative for the farm properties came from the old time farmers who wanted to pass on a legacy to the next generation. Luckily, this initiative coincided with the growth of the buy local and the organic food movements and so the timing was just right for success.

“We believe having farms close by adds immeasurably to our quality of life: delicious healthy food, beautiful farmscapes, a more vibrant local economy, and a greater degree of sustainability.” --Bainbridge Island Friends of the Farms. friendsofthefarms.org

The public farms are working landscapes which dovetail with the mission of the Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District (BIMPRD) “to build a healthy community through effective, sustainable stewardship of the district’s parks and open space, and through the development and delivery of innovative cultural and recreation opportunities.”-- biparks.org

The earliest park on the island is Fort Ward, given to the State of Washington by the military at the close of World War I.  Huge, grass lawns (no watering needed in the northwest) used as picnic and play areas, are bordered by a waterfront trail that parallels the shoreline. A forest of cedars and firs, ferns and blackberries, comprises most of the 137 acres of Fort Ward.

Under development now is Blakely Harbor, a 40-acre park, on the historically important site of Port Blakely Mill, one of the world's largest sawmills in the late 1800s. Healing Hooves Natural Vegetation Management was brought in to use goats to clear invasive weeds at the park site.-- healinghooves.com

An advisory committee made up of citizens, staff, and Bainbridge Island Land Trust members is working on the design proposal for the park. They plan to have three zones within the park. “Zone one is proposed for picnic and beach facilities, boardwalks, a parking area, and a launch for human-powered boats. Zone two for decks, footbridges, wildlife habitat restoration structures, interpretive displays and picnic areas. Zone three is planned to be a protected area with primitive facilities, and may include trails, pathways and interpretive signs.”

Yeomalt Cabin was built in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration and was recently restored. Located in the woods, the cabin is home to arts and cultural programs and performances, the most recent being a fort building camp for young children. Sue Hylen, the Arts and Cultural Manager, said she is inspired by the anonymous quote, “Art isn’t about the art, it’s about finding the creative spirit inside yourself.”

Bainbridge Island, accessed via Washington State Ferry, had a population of 23,025 people at the 2010 census. On the island there are more than 1600 acres of public park land, including forest land, beaches, playgrounds, large grassy expanses for playing soccer and other organized sports and areas for picnicking. The parks are often named for their locations on the island, such as Eagledale, Hidden Cove, and Grand Forest; there are 23 miles of forest trails; an aquatic center with separate areas for tots, water exercises, lessons, water sports, lane swimming and diving; and facilities buildings with cultural, sports, and community activities; all run by the parks district.

Privately run facilities, open to the public, include IslandWood (islandwood.org), a 225+ acre environmental education center with programs and activities for children, teens, and adults. And the Bloedel Reserve (bloedelreserve.org), the legacy of an early island logging family with 150 acres, 84 of which are second growth forest, and then there are sheep meadows, barns, and formal gardens. Concerts in the sheep meadow are not to be missed.

Every six years the park district, through meetings and surveys, asks the residents of Bainbridge Island, “What do you expect from parks and trails and all open space? What is the experience you want to take away from your experience of living/working in the community and how does it relate to your experience of parks and open space?”

According to Perry Barrett, senior planner for the parks district, there is deep support for the parks among Islanders and so, while issues can be contentious, there are certain principles that are consistent.

“The community answer is always: protect our shoreline, our natural forests and our trails, maintain our connection to nature, our connection to the sea, our connection to farming and the land,” said Barrett.

The beauty of the park in Bainbridge is in the quality of the natural environment, the stewardship of the people, the history and the values of the community.

Frederick Law Olmsted, the great American landscape architect wrote in Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns, Feb. 25, 1870, "The park should, as far as possible, compliment the town. Openness is the one thing you cannot get in buildings. Picturesqueness you can get. Let your buildings be as picturesque as your artists can make them. This is the beauty of a town. Consequently, the beauty of the park should be the other. It should be the beauty of the fields, the meadow, the prairie, of the green pastures, and the still waters. What we want to gain is tranquility and rest to the mind."

What do we want from the parks of Santa Monica?

What Say You?

Hometown Hero: The Gift of the Hero

SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist
Santa Monica Mirror

A sunny, summer day, a good day for a grandmother to push her one year old grandchild in a stroller along Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica.  Then the unthinkable occurred. It was shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon of July 11.  A man tried to take the baby from the stroller.  The baby was strapped into the stroller and the man could not get the baby out.  He then began to try to choke the baby and to tear the baby’s clothing. The grandmother defended her grandchild.  The man attacked the grandmother and punched her in the face, all the while continuing to try to get the baby.

Then the obvious, the thinkable happened.  A man who was also walking along Wilshire Boulevard came to the rescue of the grandmother and the grandbaby.  A Good Samaritan who heeded the biblical command “to show mercy.” He was able to keep the attacking man away from the baby but not without being attacked and injured himself.

I say the obvious, the thinkable, because he did what was right, he came to their aid. So how could it be that there was only one person who came to the aid of the grandmother and the baby?  They were, after all, on Wilshire Boulevard near Centinela Avenue in Santa Monica.  It was the middle of the afternoon on a nice day.  Where were the people in the nearby stores or the other people passing by on the sidewalk?  What about the many people driving by in their cars?  Thank goodness for the man who came to their rescue.  But how could it be that only one person stepped forward?  The grandmother and the baby needed help.  Their protector needed help.

There were four 911 calls, and maybe more, to the Santa Monica Police Department  (SMPD).  The police arrived at 3:41 p.m., within three minutes of the first 911 call, a longer than usual SMPD response time due to the beginning of rush hour traffic.  

The attacking man, now officially the suspect, physically attacked the first officer on the scene.  They struggled, other officers arrived, and the suspect was arrested.  He was taken to the Santa Monica Jail where he was booked for attempted murder, kidnapping, child cruelty, and assault, as well as other charges.  Bail was set at $500,000.

The police did their job and did it well.  The anonymous protector, our very own anonymous hero, did the right thing and did it without wanting recognition or reward. I am grateful for the presence of the rescuer, for his mercy, for his willingness to act and to protect the grandmother and the baby.

Not every one of us is strong enough, or well enough, or able to take on an attacker such as this suspect.  And safety is always the first concern.  But there are actions we can all take.  First, we can and should call 911 and let the attacker know we have called. If needed in order to be safe, stand on the other side of the street and yell out that you have called 911. Second, be a witness.  Watch and remember so that you can give information when asked.  If possible, be part of a group of people all calling 911 and all letting the attacker know you are all calling and all watching.

The SMPD reports, “Many suspects who engage in assaultive behavior, will stop if they know they are being watched by many who are also in the process of reporting such activity.” Again, the SMPD emphasizes, “Safety for everyone is the main concern.”

Societies have myths and heroes going back as far as history can record.  New myths and new heroes are continuously created.  Many of the adults who witnessed this assault grew up with stories of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Yoda. Many are now reading Harry Potter and know Dumbledore and Sirius Black.  Many know Superman, Batman, and Spiderman.  We need and love these myths.  We admire, even idolize heroes.

We can’t all physically fight the forces of evil.  But we don’t need to be able to physically fight to do the right thing. Heroes come in all forms.  They share qualities of empathy and mercy that move them to take action.  It is their actions that define them.

Martin Luther King Jr., a real American hero, said “Morality is like a muscle, if you don’t exercise it, if you don’t do the right thing every time you get a chance, it will atrophy and, when you need it, it won’t be there for you to use.”

I am thankful the grandmother, the baby, and the man who came to their aid are recovering well. I hope that we, as a community will always be able to rely on each other when help is needed.  I believe it is a wonderful gift to be in the right place at the right time to be able to help another person.   It is a gift to all the people involved and to the entire community.

What Say You? Thinking About Hate

May 4, 2011.  Santa Monica High School.   A brown practice dummy suspended by a rope in the wrestling team’s locker room, an African-American student chained to a locker, racial slurs being used, all are allegations currently under investigation by the Santa Monica Police Department.  Depending on the outcome of the investigation the involved students could be charged with battery and with violation of the Hate Crimes law, a serious charge with potentially severe consequences.

I was interested in what students at the school were saying and thinking.  When I asked some of the Samohi students what they thought, I got some surprising answers.  Although my sample was not large enough to be statistically significant, it was unusual in the consistency of the responses.  For example, I learned that racial ‘jokes’ happen all the time in high school.   That friends will call each other by names that, in the past, would have been considered racist, and that this will happen among students without regard to their ethnic heritage or racial identity. 

Okay.  That might be true with regard to language.  Culture changes.  Language changes to reflect the changes in the culture.  But what does this say about the actions in the locker room?

Student responses to the May 4 locker room incident seemed to divide the act into two parts - the chaining and the rope around the dummy.   Chaining students to lockers is something that has commonly been done to other wrestling team members, has been considered a prank where no one got physically hurt and has been part of wrestling team locker room culture at Samohi for a long time. 

By contrast, the rope around the dummy was understood as “horribly wrong.”  It was also characterized as “teenage immaturity” and “really bad judgment.”  It was not something that had happened before, not part of the wrestling team locker room culture.

In fact, it was a student at the school, a member of the wrestling team, who walked into the locker room, saw the dummy, saw the way the other team members were reacting, and immediately took the dummy down because he didn’t want any of his teammates’ feelings to be hurt.

The wrestling team culture, and apparently every team has its own traditions and history of pranks, has also been described as one where the team members are bonded to one another, as ‘having each other’s backs.’  It’s a demanding sport and the student wrestlers are together a lot, at practice, at tournaments and they become very close.

The wrestling team students who were involved received a suspension from school.  The wrestling team as a whole lost their locker room privileges.  They will also participate, as student teachers, in a section of the Freshman Seminar – a class designed specifically to study the hateful and violent effects of discrimination and racism and to teach tolerance and understanding to students.

So many questions must be asked and answered.  Because of the history of racial abuse in our country, allegations of racism must be taken seriously.  It will be up to the SMPD to investigate and determine the answer as to whether or not this is a hate crime. It will be up to the Sheriff’s Department to determine whether the Administration responded appropriately.

Where does all this belong in the larger culture?  What does all this say about youth/boy culture?  Is this the same thing that has been going on for years, a holdover from past concepts of masculinity? Is it bullying? Is it hazing? 

The wrestling team at Samohi is racially diverse and although, still mainly boys, girls have shown more interest and are now part of the team.  In other youth sports, when girls joined teams, their presence often changed locker room culture.  Will that pattern be repeated?

The righteous rejection of racism, the concerns of the damage and destruction caused by racism, and the fear that it is emerging at the school are all central tenets in this discussion.  The idea that the students involved will be judged, not by their actions and intent, but by the perceptions of the past, needs to be examined.  The generational change in culture needs to be understood.  There is the concern that the wrestling team, as a whole, will suffer for the actions of a few.   The school community may have to look at the possibility that they will be legally required to make decisions and take actions which are not in the best interests of the students involved, the other wrestling team members, nor of the entire student body.

It is important that these questions get asked and that, as a community, we set standards.  These are hard questions.  Questions that require careful and thoughtful examination and open discussion.

In every crisis there is also opportunity.  My hope is the school, the Board Members, the Administration, the students, the parents, and all of Santa Monica will use this as a learning opportunity to re-examine the question of racism.  Equally important to our future is that we discuss and deliberate on the events of May 4 in a principled way and that the process itself exemplifies the tolerance and empathy we hope to teach our students.

What Say You?

Hometown Heroes: Charlotte Biren and Jenna Perelman

Charlotte Biren and Jenna Perelman
BIKE IT!  STUDENTS THINKING GLOBALLY, ACTING LOCALLY

Charlotte Biren and Jenna Perelman, Santa Monica High School seniors and co- presidents of the Samohi Solar Alliance (SSA), have been thinking about the natural environment and preparing to be environmental stewards since their elementary school days.  They shine with confidence in their understanding of what needs to be done to create environmental sustainability and a commitment to get the job done right. 

 “We get huge support from the other students at Samohi,” said Biren.  Listening to Biren and Perelman, it seems the students now at Samohi have learned they need to be stewards of the environment and are preparing themselves to do just that.

As co-presidents of SSA, Biren and Perelman were lead organizers in this year’s Bike It Day.  SSA started Bike It Day four years ago to give students a way to help reduce Santa Monica’s carbon footprint.  On Bike It Day students of the Santa Monica School District bike, walk, skateboard or take the bus to school.

The first Bike It Day had fewer than 100 participants, all at the high school.  On June 1, 2011, Bike It Day this year, 3,300 students, from Santa Monica High School, Lincoln Middle School, John Adams Middle School, Santa Monica Alternative School, Edison, Franklin, Grant, McKinley, Muir, Pt. Dume, Rogers, Roosevelt and Juan Cabrillo, participated, and 700 of those students biked to school.

“When kids participate in Bike it Day they realize it’s easy and many kids start biking regularly,” said Perelman.  “Now more than 120 students bike to Samohi and we need more bike racks for daily use.”

“The event has proved to be extremely beneficial to our community, bringing together all the schools, parents, students, administration, and local businesses in an effort to combat global warming, one bike at a time,” said Richard McKinnon, a parent of a Samohi student, an avid cyclist, and Chair of Bike It Day.

“Bike It! Day has really become a citywide event, with the city helping out by putting up road arrangements and signs, and providing staff to control traffic. The Santa Monica Police Department will be out — both on cars on bikes — to keep students safe,” said McKinnon.

The Samohi Solar Alliance started in 2004 with the idea that putting solar panels on Drake pool would be good for the environment and save almost $30,000 per year for the School District.  The student members of SSA got to work, got help from parents and PTAs and community members, raised money and brought solar heat to Drake pool.  SSA’s next big project was Bike It Day.

Both Biren and Perelman went all the way through the Santa Monica School system.  Both give credit to their elementary school and junior high school teachers who took them to the beach.  By the time they got to Junior High they were taking school trips to Catalina and Yosemite to learn about ecosystems.  They measured trash on the beach, counted bird populations, and learned to gather the facts and make decisions based on science.

Thinking about her future Biren said, “I’ve studied ballet since I was 5 and I love dance.  I play the viola in the Samohi orchestra and I teach viola and I’ve tutored at the SM Library since I was in 6^th grade.  I want to continue with these activities all my life.  But I am also in love with the natural sciences.  I am a science-oriented person.  This summer I will be a volunteer intern at UCLA in a molecular biology and chemistry lab.

“I follow the work of scientists such as Shai Agassi who is using science and business power to achieve greatness in future alternative energy.  I went to hear Robert Kennedy Jr. speak about mining in the southern part of the U.S. and what that has done to the environment, the economy and people’s lives.  It makes me even more determined to use science to do good things.”

Perelman, who wears vintage clothes because “it’s better for the environment and I love them,” said, “I started biking to school in the 8^th grade on the days I didn’t have to lug my alto sax with me.  Now I bike almost every day.  Perelman volunteers with the Jewish Big Sisters and has a ‘little sister’ she mentors.  This summer she will be a counselor in training at the Jameson Ranch Camp for part of the summer and an intern in a photography studio for the other part.  She plans on a gap year between high school and college and hopes to travel to Machu Picchu before going to college where she will study environmental law.  

“I think a lot about going into politics,” said Perelman.  “I love talking to people and I love public speaking, but then again, I’m 16 and I don’t know what’s going to happen, so things could change.”

Now in a place of honor in their respective homes are  Environmental Youth Awards, which they received for their leadership in SSA.  The awards are for “outstanding achievement in environmental stewardship” and are signed, “Barak Obama, The White House, Washington D.C.”

I worry about water quality, air quality, our carbon footprint, global warming, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture.  I worry that world governments are chasing the arguments of the last century instead of protecting our collective future.  I worry that many countries are depriving themselves of the possible contributions to society of half their populations by denying women the right to participate fully in public life. 

But after meeting Charlotte and Jenna, I worry less.

What Say You?