Ballot Boxed

Last Bell
Detention center: Nothing in Kendrick Blackwood's article ("The Girl in the Bathroom," June 4) about the high school high jinks in the restroom at Ruskin surprised me. I have no doubt that something -- either consensual or nonconsensual -- occurred, because adults haven't been in charge at Ruskin for a long time.

I taught at Ruskin for one year. I walked out the door after one year because of the lack of any discipline or administrative competence. Students roamed the halls freely, and every morning at least 125 students would be tardy to their first block class. When the teachers tried to address these two problems, our efforts were undermined by the administrators. I quickly figured out that Ruskin merely was a "warehouse" where the parents of 1,100 students could drop off their children for 7 hours, 5 days a week for baby-sitting.

I don't doubt that the administrators mentioned in Blackwood's article botched their investigation. They've been botching the education of hundreds of students for years. The taxpayers of the Hickman Mills District (if any actually give a damn -- and I could probably count those who do on both hands and one foot) should demand some accountability from the school board and possibly the resignation of the so-called administrators involved.

Name Withheld Upon Request

Music Notes
Funk you: This quote sufficiently sums up John Kreicbergs' "Wakarusa Walkabout" (July 1): "... finally ... overwhelming for this festival novice, and I decided to abandon my appointed duties." Festival novice is right. Had your "reporter" been a little more educated on this scene, he'd understand that Wakarusa 2004 was indeed a "smashing success'"(as he sarcastically peppered throughout his article).

Instead of a well-informed/thought-out article, Kreicbergs' short, choppy rants read more like, well, a festival novice who has little to no idea of any music scene outside of the Hurricane. Compare Wakarusa to another festival that happened just a week before in Tennessee -- Bonnaroo, with 90,000 kids walking 3 miles to stand 600 yards from the stage of their favorite performer. In contrast, Wakarusa allowed every fan easy walks or buses to the venue and FANTASTIC access to every stage.

And by the way, Kreicbergs' "funk" seems to be more of a preference, since there were ample locations to shower and get yourself clean. I, as many others did, left Wakarusa musically satisfied, clean and appreciative of a low-key festival 45 minutes from my front door.

Pete Kinser
Kansas City, Missouri

Dogg house: The Pitch's steady decline in coverage of the local music scene has been a sore spot for many. The hiring of Mr. Nathan Dinsdale put the first nail in the coffin. Not firing him by now has finished the job.

I was astounded by the Pitch Music Awards ballot. "Completely out of touch" would be an understatement of titanic proportions. Nobody who's actually involved in the local scene appears to have any idea who the majority of these nominees are. Where are the pillars of our musical community? No room to nominate the Shotgun Idols for the punk category? Or Federation of Horsepower in rock? Or Mike Ireland and Holler in roots/country/bluegrass? No Daybirds or Lust-r-tones in pop? No Kristie Stremel, Amy Farrand or Sue Stubbs in Best Female Vocalist? You've got punk bands in the country-roots categories, rock bands in the punk categories, people who haven't lived in the area for a couple of years in the Best Female Vocalist category, and bands who've never lived in the KC-Lawrence area at all on the ballot.

So get ready, Pitch folk. Venues have already begun pulling their ads. More will follow. You can ignore letters to the editor. (And I suspect you'll ignore this one.) Now the scene will hit you in the wallet.

Chris Meck
Kansas City, Missouri