Suppose Alaric The Obtuse, son of Horigetorix the Ill-numerate, manages to smuggle anthrax or a
suitcase nuke into Lowell. We can bloodlessly simulate such a terrible tactic by removing the 382
Lowell students who scored advanced and the 191 Lowell students who scored proficient and
re-calculating San Francisco Unified's scores. They drop from 18% advanced and 21% proficient to
under 10% advanced and 19% proficient. One hardly need be Governor Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown
(whose birthday was April 21), the only Lowell alumnus to become Governor, or Kenneth McLennan
(University of San Francisco 1948), the only Lowell alumnus to achieve the rank of 4 star General, or
Albert J. Baccioco Jr. (US Naval Academy 1953), the only Lowell alumnus to achieve the rank of
Vice-Admiral, or John A. Blume, (Stanford for 73 years), the only Lowell alumnus described as the
Father of Earthquake Engineering, to discern that one need not fear the mythical Alaric - an SFUSD
teacher's strike or funding cuts that reach Lowell will achieve the same results. Congressman Tom
McClintock (California 4th - roughly the northeast corner of the state) may or may not worry about
Lowell, SFUSD or San Francisco. They are more properly the direct concern of Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi (California 8th district) and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (the 12th District includes
part of San Francisco). Congressman McClintock's primary cares are the counties of Butte, El
Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento (a small slice) and Sierra. He also
serves on the House Committee on Education. To us, that means the Congressman has to convince
his fellow Representatives that it cannot matter if the next Fischer or McLennan is in Modoc County
California or Mobile County Alabama. We are not convinced America ever had the luxury of letting a
Baccioco or a Blume not develop his talents, but we are certain America cannot afford it now.
suitcase nuke into Lowell. We can bloodlessly simulate such a terrible tactic by removing the 382
Lowell students who scored advanced and the 191 Lowell students who scored proficient and
re-calculating San Francisco Unified's scores. They drop from 18% advanced and 21% proficient to
under 10% advanced and 19% proficient. One hardly need be Governor Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown
(whose birthday was April 21), the only Lowell alumnus to become Governor, or Kenneth McLennan
(University of San Francisco 1948), the only Lowell alumnus to achieve the rank of 4 star General, or
Albert J. Baccioco Jr. (US Naval Academy 1953), the only Lowell alumnus to achieve the rank of
Vice-Admiral, or John A. Blume, (Stanford for 73 years), the only Lowell alumnus described as the
Father of Earthquake Engineering, to discern that one need not fear the mythical Alaric - an SFUSD
teacher's strike or funding cuts that reach Lowell will achieve the same results. Congressman Tom
McClintock (California 4th - roughly the northeast corner of the state) may or may not worry about
Lowell, SFUSD or San Francisco. They are more properly the direct concern of Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi (California 8th district) and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (the 12th District includes
part of San Francisco). Congressman McClintock's primary cares are the counties of Butte, El
Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento (a small slice) and Sierra. He also
serves on the House Committee on Education. To us, that means the Congressman has to convince
his fellow Representatives that it cannot matter if the next Fischer or McLennan is in Modoc County
California or Mobile County Alabama. We are not convinced America ever had the luxury of letting a
Baccioco or a Blume not develop his talents, but we are certain America cannot afford it now.
For Bobby Fischer fans among our
readers, his grave in the cemetery at
Laugardalur church, outside the town of
Selfoss, 60 kilometers south of Reykjavik.
We note in passing that Bobby, as he was
then known, dropped out of Brooklyn's
Erasmus Hall High School in 1959. This
decision haunted him all his life. He had
already at age 13 (1956) become the
youngest player ever to win the US Junior
Championship, youngest US master (at 14
years and five months), the youngest
international grandmaster, and the
youngest candidate for the world
championship (at 15 years and six
months). He also won eight US chess
championship titles. Everyone wishes
Fischer had led a very different life, but
he played some great chess.
readers, his grave in the cemetery at
Laugardalur church, outside the town of
Selfoss, 60 kilometers south of Reykjavik.
We note in passing that Bobby, as he was
then known, dropped out of Brooklyn's
Erasmus Hall High School in 1959. This
decision haunted him all his life. He had
already at age 13 (1956) become the
youngest player ever to win the US Junior
Championship, youngest US master (at 14
years and five months), the youngest
international grandmaster, and the
youngest candidate for the world
championship (at 15 years and six
months). He also won eight US chess
championship titles. Everyone wishes
Fischer had led a very different life, but
he played some great chess.