{"id":13380,"date":"2013-01-19T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-19T14:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=13380"},"modified":"2013-01-25T17:37:11","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T22:37:11","slug":"lance-armstong-and-the-pa-gop-soul-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=13380","title":{"rendered":"Lance Armstong and the Pa. GOP: soul brothers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If winning is all that matters, who cares about a little<\/del> a lot of cheating?<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a>Lots to discuss this frosty weekend in January, so instead of the more typical main subject matter, indulge me and try to follow a thread of complicated technology, overt party politics, acoustics and just about a little bit of everything people are talking about in the Unionville area this week.<\/p>\n

And yes, this week, it\u2019s little long as I was channeling a bit of Victor Hugo \u2014 but I promise, Russell Crowe will not be singing any parts in the movie version.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the Pennsylvania Republican Party, which seems to be working harder day by day to become the Lance Armstrong of political parties.<\/p>\n

With all of the pressing issues facing our state from crumbling infrastructure to a massive, legislature-created pension disaster, what key piece of legislation did one of our local state representatives decide to sponsor? Yup. Sen. Dominic Pileggi\u2019s plan to reapportion presidential electoral votes by congressional district is being sponsored by State Representative Steve Barrar \u2014 only mildly ironic as Barrar is an avid bicyclist.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s keep in mind this is the same party that impressively gerrymandered our congressional districts so that the 7th, which covers a big swatch of the greater Unionville area, is one of the most embarrassing districts in the nation. And Republican congressional candidates got less than half the vote in 2012, but won 13 of 18 seats.<\/p>\n

Last year, this same group wasted millions in taxpayer money to solve a non-existent problem, voter fraud, (but the goal, according to State House Majority Leader Mike Turzai was really to help Mitt Romney win Pennsylvania by suppressing minority voting).<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t work, so now they want to hand out electoral votes by congressional district, claiming it\u2019s \u201cfairer.\u201d Bullhockey. It would only be fairer if all 50 states did it this way \u2014 and yet there only seems to be a movement to do this in states that voted Democrat for president, yet are controlled by Republicans. I\u2019m missing the crusade for \u201cfairness\u201d in Texas.<\/p>\n

In short: the Republicans have cheated, but it hasn\u2019t worked well enough, so they want to cheat some more and hope you don\u2019t notice.<\/p>\n

The Republicans haven\u2019t won a presidential race in Pennsylvania since 1988, although they manage to win many other state-wide elections (thanks to the woeful political skills of the state Democratic Party), so hey, anything goes to win, right? That\u2019s how Armstrong explained how he doped to win seven Tour De France races \u2014 because never could even make the top rank of cycling without cheating \u2014 and now will have to live in shame and ignominy.<\/p>\n

Taken together, these moves by the state Republican Party are telling: they are acknowledging that they can\u2019t win without cheating.<\/p>\n

Were I a Republican, I\u2019d be angry that my party had fallen to the point where it can\u2019t win without cheating, and ask a lot of questions.<\/p>\n

A week ago, I was ready to write a column praising bipartisan behavior of some elected officials \u2014 and intend to get to that shortly \u2014 but something about it made me want to wait, and now I know why.<\/p>\n

Events always seem to overtake anything like good feeling when it comes to politics.<\/p>\n

I was all ready to praise U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-16) for his statesman-like vote on the fiscal cliff issue when he went all lunkheaded and voted against the Hurricane Sandy relief bill. His more politically savvy colleagues in the area, Pat Meehan (R-7) and Jim Gerlach (R-6) voted for the package as well as the fiscal cliff deal, so we can take some comfort that they are not partisan shills, and seem able to rise above the level of \u201cstupid\u201d that seems to pass for normal these days in D.C. and Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

But not Joe Pitts.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s set aside that Pitts was the least likely of three to have to worry about a primary from the right of the three Chester County members of Congress. Let\u2019s set aside the fact that this aid is likely to be going to some of his own constituents who own summer shore homes and the fact that we have all repeatedly paid for emergency storm funds for states on the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Pitts\u2019 vote wasn\u2019t needed to block the bill, so it was a statement vote. A pandering to those who hate government vote.<\/p>\n

Just to be clear, I\u2019m not picking on Pitts and Barrar because of the letter that follows their name \u2014 I\u2019m doing so strictly on the basis of their actions.<\/p>\n

And there are Republicans I can praise \u2014 including Gerlach and Meehan \u2014 but I want to focus on our own Chester County Commissioners.<\/p>\n

With little political need to do so, they reelected minority commissioner Kathi Cozzone, Democrat, as Vice Chair, with Republican Ryan Costello the new chair. By right, the Republicans could have elected both of their commissioners, including Terence Farrell \u2014 as had pretty much been done since the Civil War and there would have been little or no political price to pay.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the three commissioners do not always agree \u2014 nor is it reasonable to expect them to. But all three should be commended at working to find common ground and moving forward on areas where they do have broad agreement, a lesson clearly lost on all too many in office these days.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

A lesson lost on me seems to be thinking that people will act anything like sensibly at Zoning Hearing Board Hearings, as I learned again this past Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

To be sure, there are weighty and complicated issues at hand in the current proceedings going on between East Marlborough and the owners of the Inn at Whitewing Farm.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it, Whitewing\u2019s owner Lance Shortt and the township have been battling over whether he can hold weddings at his Valley Road bed and breakfast.<\/p>\n

Continued on next page<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Continued from previous page<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And yes, the ongoing and costly hearing, which continues Feb. 5, is little more than a kabuki exercise, as it seems very likely that the loser will appeal and the matter likely won\u2019t get settled until at minimum it reaches Commonwealth Court (and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars of spending).<\/p>\n

While township officials have some interest in winning the case to preserve the right of the township to regulate commercial activity in residential zones, the residents seem only concerned about noise and parking, both of which could be fixed pretty easily and for a lot less money.<\/p>\n

Better yet, it also wouldn\u2019t open Pandora\u2019s Box \u2014 an ultimate loss by the township. In addition to being very expensive for taxpayers, such a loss could change the essential character of the township by, at least in the interim, opening the door for commercial operations in some residential areas until the township\u2019s zoning ordinance is cleaned up.<\/p>\n

While the parking and traffic issue is fairly simple to fix \u2014 the township and owner could reach agreement on maximum parking and require shuttle service for the bulk of guests \u2014 the sound issues are just silly.<\/p>\n

More than once during the meeting people were asking whether the witness at this week’s slice of the hearing \u2014 C.J. Frederick, a land planner \u2014 was an audio expert. He\u2019s not. I\u2019m a lot closer, to be honest, as a THX Level II certified theater designer (yes, I studied at Skywalker Ranch in Marin, Ca.) and someone who tested and reviewed audio gear for the better part of a decade for various magazines. There were more than a couple of times that night I wanted to slap someone with my sound pressure meter.<\/p>\n

As such, I can tell you that the township\u2019s noise ordinance requiring a maximum sound limit of 63 dB at the property line is completely unenforceable \u2014 much as similar ordinances throughout Chester County are. Any good audio expert could punch holes in the lack of specificity and selective enforcement rendering them moot in court.<\/p>\n

Sound is complicated \u2014 at different frequencies it behaves differently, bass sounds carry further, but require more energy to create.<\/p>\n

The base outdoor sound level in a typical residential neighborhood is about 50 dB. If the crickets, birds or frogs are noisy, it can climb to about 55 dB with higher peaks.<\/p>\n

Plan on mowing the lawn? You\u2019re in violation of the township\u2019s noise ordinance. At 100 feet, the mower puts out about 70 dB, mow to within three feet of the property line and you\u2019re at 100 dB. Having something delivered?\u00a0 That truck might be as loud as 90 dB.<\/p>\n

Have a state of the art home theater system? It might peak at 105 dB, with a typical operating range above 80 dB. Watch Top Gun and you might be in violation of the law, too, depending on your home and how well it contains sound.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019ve all been cited by the township for violation of the noise ordinance for the above, local officials have a selective enforcement problem if they try to just pick on one source of noise. Not to mention the lack of specific measurement criteria, i.e. frequency, A weighting, etc.<\/p>\n

The sound issues at Whitewing are easily fixed \u2014 if they\u2019re as advertised, which I\u2019m a little skeptical of (window rattling bass is very hard to generate at distance \u2014 typically caused by a source so loud it would be painful for those in close proximity), but with a combination of terrain modifications, sonically reflective material installed in the tents used and a good acoustic management plan could certainly eliminate sound from impacting neighbors and ironically, make for a better sonic experience for guests, too.<\/p>\n

Impossible? Hardly.<\/p>\n

When my now-6th grade twins were toddlers, I had to review home theater products and their nap time was my testing time. So how did I test gear at 105 dB with two little kids sleeping in the same house? I designed \u2014 largely through measuring and tweaking \u2013 the basement theater to control and channel sound so that it is efficient, and doesn\u2019t leak. It\u2019s barely audible at reference level (105 dB peak) just one floor above, and completely silent two floors above where my kids would nap.<\/p>\n

Now, they play their electric guitars down there and it can be hard to tell, so yeah, it works.<\/p>\n

Like the cell tower debacle at Po-Mar-Lin a couple of years back, here’s another expensive example of people insisting on saying “no” rather than solving the problem. And we wonder why Congress is a disaster.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

This was sort of my quote of the week from the president of the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cI\u2019m a little disappointed we\u2019re not buying them for all our students,\u201d board president Eileen Bushelow said. \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing a real change in the education paradigm and we do need to stay up with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bushelow was talking about a proposal to buy iPads for the district\u2019s eighth grade students and it\u2019s a sentiment I agree with completely.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be long before the days of students carrying a backpack full of textbooks will seem like ancient history.<\/p>\n

Digital tablet computers could revolutionize education, not just by digitizing textbooks, but by changing the nature of how students are taught. There will be bumps and bruises along the way, as there are always unintended consequences, but on the whole it is a process that needs to happen.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not far from a day where from middle school on up, we could see paperless schools. Already most colleges and universities have gone entirely digital, with textbooks on laptops and papers submitted by email \u2014 and this has been the case for a number of years. We need to get our kids prepared not just for the future, but the reality of the present.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, there will be no unpleasant surprises from Gov. Tom Corbett \u2014 who seems chock full of them lately \u2014 that force this tech initiative to be removed from the 2013-14 budget.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

As I’ve noted in this space previously, I think the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education is making the wrong choice on switching the Marching Band from co-curricular to extra-curricular. The decision is expected to be formally made Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Attending the Patton Middle School band concert this week, which seemed to feature about 100 young and talented musicians (and that doesn’t account for the dozens of string-instrument players in the school’s orchestra), I did wonder how we reached a point with just 52 musicians in the marching band.<\/p>\n

I’m also wondering why no other school district is making this change and why the only school district in the area that doesn’t require marching band participation for music students, Great Valley, is moving toward requiring it.<\/p>\n

Regardless, we shall see how it works out, but I don’t think it bodes well for the marching band or the music program. I hope I’m wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If winning is all that matters, who cares about a little a lot of cheating? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Lots to discuss this frosty weekend in January, so instead of the more typical main subject matter, indulge me and try to follow a thread of complicated technology, overt party politics, acoustics and just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,7],"tags":[1111,38,959,2533,2077,1285,2527,386,2529,2531,2027,2526,188,2528,1284,2530,2532,2525],"class_list":["post-13380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-featured","tag-dominic-pileggi","tag-east-marlborough","tag-inn-at-whitewing-farm","tag-ipads","tag-jim-gerlach","tag-kathi-cozzone","tag-lance-armstrong","tag-marching-band","tag-mike-turzai","tag-pat-meehan","tag-pennsylvania-republican-party","tag-russell-crowe","tag-ryan-costello","tag-steve-barrar","tag-terence-farrell","tag-u-s-rep-joe-pitts","tag-unionville-chadds-ford-board-of-education","tag-victor-hugo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}