How will Obama's student loan plan help me?

The first thing you should know about my student loan debt is that there is quite a lot of it. Recent reports show that America now has more than 1 trillion dollars out in student loans, and that has a lot to do with people like me. I am over $80,000 in debt, and it’s all student loans.

Needless to say, when the headlines came out Wednesday morning about Obama’s new plan to help graduates with their student loans, I sat up straight and paid attention. At the end of each article, though, I didn’t know how to feel. What exactly was the Obama policy? What would it do for me (and, presumably, you)?

I decided to find out.

Here are the takeaways from the articles (sources: NYTimes, NPR, Seattle times, TNT, so forth):

After reading these over I was wary. My first question was, How do I know if I am even eligible for the “Pay as You Earn Program?” The official federal student aid website says:

“Who is eligible for IBR?

You may enter IBR if your federal student loan debt is high relative to your income and family size. While your loan servicer will perform the calculation to determine your eligibility, you can use the U.S. Department of Education’s IBR calculator to estimate whether you would likely qualify for the IBR plan. The calculator looks at your income, family size, and state of residence to calculate your IBR monthly payment amount. If that amount is lower than the monthly payment you would be required to pay on your eligible loans under a 10-year standard repayment plan, based on the greater of the amount you owed on your loans when they initially entered repayment or the amount you owe at the time you request IBR, then you are eligible to repay your loans under IBR.”

I used the IBR Calculator, and by roughly estimating my yearly income at $30,000 (Although it may well be higher depending on how my employment situation works out) and my eligible loans at $30,000 (I really didn’t want to look up the exact amount, but this sounds right). Naturally, this would go up considerably if/when my income jumps to 35k a year, but would also go down considerably if I was un or under employed and simply incapable of paying the loans at the initial amount. For the amounts above, the calculator told me:

“According to the information you provided, it appears that you are eligible for the Income-Based Repayment plan with a monthly payment amount of approximately $170.”

Sweet! For my federal loans, I am currently paying $40/month to my university, $90/month to the federal government (or is that Nelnet? I can’t tell who owns this one now), and $190/month to Sallie Mae. Here they’ll tell me that under the current system I could cut it down!

Let’s back up a moment and point out why I don’t want to use this program. My current payment levels are based on me paying everything off in 10 years (other than, you know, having it all drag on for 20+). I would like to say right now for the record that I am not greatly interested paying less each month. Unless it was to convert the extra $150/month to my evil private Sallie Mae loan payments. But besides that, can I even be eligible for this system if my loans go through three different companies/legal entities? This Q&A website didn’t really tell me. I suppose I would have to talk to Sallie Mae/federal gov/my university individually. Anyone who has had to call through all their loan companies knows what a hassle THAT is. (Evil, evil Sallie Mae…)

What they did have to say:

“How do borrowers apply for IBR?

For more information about and to apply for IBR, contact the servicer(s) of your student loans. If you are not sure who your loan servicer is or would like more information about your loans, you can look it up on www.nslds.ed.gov. To see a list of and contact information for Federal Student Aid servicers for the Direct Loan Program and for FFEL Program Loans purchased by the U.S. Department of Education, go to the Loan Servicer page.

This fact sheet provides only a summary of the basic requirements of the Income-Based Repayment Plan. For more detailed information, review the Department’s IBR Questions and Answers document.”

So that gives you some info on the first part of Obama’s plan. Now onto the second: how do I know if I have the type of loans I can consolidate together in order to get a lower interest rate/make my life easier?

On the Federal Family Education Loan Program website you can see that these sorts of loans are: Stafford (subsidized and not), parent plus, and consolidation. I assume this consolidation loan is what the government is talking about.

I know there are a few sort of federal loans handed out based on financial need. My understanding of my college trials with financial aid was that Stafford subsidized loans are like gold. Shinny, shinny, interest-paid-by-someone-else gold. I cherish mine. It came at the high cost of my parents leaving their job in my home state (not for this purpose, just coincedentally) and moving across the country to take a position that paid half as much as their former position, essentially knocking them from over 100k a year to about 60k, while two of my other sisters were in college (therefore telling the government that my parents’ resources were exhausted). The governemtn didn’t believe I was telling the truth about my parents’ new income (it was before the recession) and made us fax over tax documents before they pushed everything through. Afterewards, the government decided that this meant they could not afford to pay for me, and cover my interest for awhile.

I’m assuming that FFEL loans are for people who really need them, not just complementary loans for people whose lives would be much easier with them. So by limiting eligibility to folks with FFEL loans, instead of just federal loans, the government is targeting folks who (at least during school) showed greater financial need. The other great thing? This may really help out parents of students! Anyone ever take out a parent plus loan? Maybe this will assist them.

I am a little uncertain about what the actually policy will do for me. It says it will lower interest rates by as much as .5%, but is it assuming that the loans you’re combining are of equal interest rates? One of my federal loans has like a 1.8% interest rate (no clue why), while others have 6.8%. It is unclear about how this will all be brought together. In any case, consolidating as much as 30k (wait, I only have to deal with one person instead of three?), and lowering the interest rate by any amount, would be much appreciated in my life.

What does this all mean?

The president is trying to help those who have student loans and are in the worst possible situation right now, as best he can, within the confines of the federal government. There’s no way he can touch private student loans (the scourge of my existence).

The first policy he is presenting is for those making very little money, or in very high amounts of federal loan debt, who are un or under employed. Sure, there is the horrible fact that they’re just pushing off their loans for ever and ever (or the first half of their adult life), but it will allow some people to breathe a little easier in the coming years where they have plenty of struggles. The second part targets students he knew were struggling while in college, and give them some long term relief, and in the end, cost them less money.

While I really, really wish the government could/would address the long term problem of increasing tuition for fewer services in colleges across the country, I know that in this political climate that’s a measly pipe dream. But the fact that Obama is listening to millions of students (and parents) calling out for help, and at least getting the ball rolling, is much appreciated.

Also read the interview with the other School Board candidate for this position, Scott Heinze.

“My father was a fisher man, my mother was a vender. How did I get to be at the University of Puget Sound as a distinguished professor?” Dexter Gordon asked me in our interview.

I sat down with Dexter (to talk about just this) at the Forza coffee near 21st and Pearl. It was a [Monday] evening, and the place was almost empty when I walked in. Gordon was waiting for me in one of the comfy chairs, wearing a suit jacket over his campaign T-shirt. Unfortunately, I had to move him to a less comfortable location in order to be sure my recording device would pick up everything, but he was good humored about it, and when properly arranged at the back of the café the recording worked perfectly.

Meeting with Dexter one-on-one was interesting because of all the candidates I interviewed he came across most differently in a private setting. This is not to say that he seemed like a different person, in both public and private he has always been kind, confident, and funny, but when I’ve seen Gordon in front of a crowd his voice boomed and he spoke with a drive and a purpose. He has a Jamaican accent, and it is incorporated perfectly into the cadence of his speech, holding your attention as his voice booms across the room. Gordon has taught public speaking classes, and knows how to send a clear message to his audience.

At Forza Gordon was not giving me a campaign speech. He relaxed, he was soft-spoken, he let his mind wander a bit more and found the point of what he was saying while telling me his stories, rather than speaking with the intent mission of the campaign.

The only moment when he slipped up, and fell into campaign mode, was when he asked that question. “My father was a fisher man, my mother was a vender. How did I get to be at the University of Puget Sound as a distinguished professor?”

I’ve heard him ask it rhetorically to crowds, and he always gives the same answer “Public education.” Sure, this is nice when you’re running for school board, and he does have great experiences from public education that changed his life, but while I sat across from Gordon he told me a much broader story, with many more details, that gave me a much better idea of how he ended up where he is today. Our time was limited, so I never got the full story of how he came here to Washington, started up his family, or was hired by the University of Puget Sound (UPS), but I did learn a lot about his character, and how he views the world.

Gordon was born and raised in Jamaica, as part of a very large family (he was number 7 of 14! With two more half siblings born after his mother passed).

“It was a household where politics, religion, culture, sports, always right at the competitive edge. Because you’ve got to find a competitive edge, whether who could eat the fastest, who could sing the best, who could do the most tricks. That’s when I found my sister could put her tongue at the top of her nose, found out one sister could wiggle her ear. Oh, we did it all.”

This natural competitiveness was fostered by his family, and it was one of two experiences in his early childhood that shaped his future.

“I was in public school, in grade 5, when Phyllis Jennings grabbed me by the hand – and she was not gentle – and she said ‘You have something, and you are going to shape up’” Phyllis Jennings was his 5th grade teacher – and Dexter used her as the example of how a teacher should make a difference in a child’s life. She was not willing to watch him fail. “That was part of my first memory of an awakening and I started shaping up from there.”

But his natural competitiveness also played a role.

“I remember that before that, I think there were 66 children in our class, and Ina Fulga* and I tied for 33rd, and she said I copied from her work! That was one motivation, because as I came to be aware of myself, I am a very competitive person. And so once Ina Fulga said that, I knew that was the last time I was going to share company at that level. From that point on the lowest I ever performed in any class was 4th. I was always struggling for 1st or 2nd.”

Gordon really loved his public education in Jamaica, and he wasn’t shy of saying that Jamaica on the whole took public education more seriously than many school districts here in America. Because Jamaica is part of the British school system, they label levels differently, and I won’t lie when I say I didn’t really understand them all. But the “O” level was the end of high school, and according to Gordon, the content learned in “O” level was like going through community college, rather than just high school.

“Especially towards the end of high school, your life is about school… In the British system, when you get from O level, the way teachers talk about O level you know that your life is going to end if you don’t pass it… In Jamaica high schools, the principle comes through every class that’s preparing for O levels you get that stern lecture, and you are scared,” he chuckled while he said this, “I’m telling you, you are scared. The pressure is so immense.”

Gordon appreciates that his pubic education demanded so much of him. He appreciates that his elementary teacher called him out on not doing well enough, and that the culture of his high school didn’t allow for drop outs or incompletes. He liked that his principal took the time to visit each class and prepare them for their future. This could be because Gordon was competitive by nature, and the teachers were challenging him to do better. Even though he did end up incredibly busy, that didn’t mean he didn’t have any fun. Any average day looked like:

“When I was in high school I was doing A work on subjects, and school ended at 3:15, and then I had soccer or cricket practice, and that would take me to 6:30, and then it took at least 2 hours to get home, because I had to walk about 3 miles to the train station, take the train 15 miles, and then we may or may not get a ride – what we call a robo, a taxi that picks up to it’s full – to go the last three miles home. Most times it was running or walking… Towards the end of high school it was midnight before I was done with my math and my Spanish homework.” I asked him if everyone’s commute to and from school was similar, and while he said yes he chuckled as he qualified it a bit, “you’re not rushing home, there were things to talk about after practice, with your friends”

This was pretty much the end to the “public education” story. This was the foundation of his education and experience that set him up for his future. I would like to contend, though, that he learned just as much in the next few years of life when he shared a universal experience: entering the real world.

“I went to work straight after high school. I had expected to get a job in a government office, and instead I ended up on the wharf, and it was a very interesting job because I walked into this job and the people in the office – these are people who are not… Not… Well, it’s kind of a rough set up… There’s a lot of rough and tumbling, tough guys. Here was I, a young kid out of high school, walking into this office declaring that I was a Christian, and the guys in the office said we’ll give you two weeks to give up. That’s tough. So that was my introduction to the world of work.”

He stayed at the wharf for a couple of months before being able to move onto somewhere else. “As it turns up, I was wrongly placed. Did I ever feel wrongly placed!”

Next he worked in the “clock of courts” (which in America would be called the DA’s office). “That was one of my passions, law. I actually began to learn law, and eventually started prosecuting what we call simple, petty cases, what petty sessions court. I moved up to where I was presenting cases in court.”

“I learned it in the system, and in fact it was an interesting thing because at the time I planned and hoped to go to law school. The head judge at the time identified about five of us. She said, her name was resident magistrate Madge Morgan*… She said, that she wanted to talk to the law school… She proposed to the law school that they accept us, five of us, in the law program based on our experience working in the courts. And they said no. We had to matriculate through the traditional pattern of getting A levels, which is part of the British system.

“[Madge Morgan] was mad, and I was disappointed, and I think that’s when I turned away from law… The reason she was hopping mad and we were disappointed and turned away… is that we were the ones who trained the graduates from the law school how to do the actual work in the courts. And so, it was infuriating.”

Vialle never sent me a picture, so I borrowed this campaign one from the internet.

Karen Vialle was introduced to me as a “bulldog,” her supporters have called her efficient and tough, and the TNT endorsed here whole-heartedly as a “a force of nature. Her qualifications are almost over the top.” There’s no denying she is experienced in policy and budget issues (if you doubt me I’ll send you her 20 minute answer to “Tell me about yourself”), and she’s familiar with Tacoma schools because she has taught as a substitute teacher in them for 9 years. Heck, she’s taught every grade level. And on top of it all, she’s the only candidate raising money in her race, allowing her to print doorbell cards and send out mailers to voters.

Now, don’t get confused, this is not an endorsement or intended as support. This is just my way of explaining Vialle having conquered 53% of the vote in a four way primary.

However, when I interviewed Vialle the primary election hadn’t happened yet. At the time I knew very little about her other than the fact that she had once been mayor and had recently been compared to a bulldog.

I don’t really have a mental image of a bulldog floating in my head (having no real experience with them), so I let Wikipedia do the talking. There I learned that according to the American Kennel Club (AKC) a Bulldog’s, “disposition should be equable and kind, resolute and courageous (not vicious or aggressive), and demeanor should be pacific and dignified.”

Vialle met me at Cutter’s Point on 6^th and Orchard. I’m not sure if she exemplifies all of the adjectives above, but she was definitely friendly, and after ordering coffee we sat down to chat. Another adjective that strikes me when I think of Vialle is practical. I never remember exactly what she wears (I’ve seen her in everything from a suit to doorbelling clothes) but it has always seems to be pants, a jacket, her shirt tucked in, and comfortable shoes. These first impressions did not answer the bulldog question, but throughout the interview I kept it in mind.

The first part of the answer to this mystery came when I asked her when the first time she knew she was different. There was hardly a pause at all before Vialle said, “Probably when I was a social justice enforcer in my fourth grade class.” I think I laughed, because the image that came to my head was a lot more like what you’d see on TV than in real life, and it all seemed much too serious for a fourth grader. Vialle explained the situation:

“I guess that’s the best way I can put it… I never grew up with any kind of racial prejudice, thank god, on the part of both sides of my family… And we had an African American family move into our neighborhood, and there was a lot of, I’d call them rednecks now, even though ‘they shoudda known better,’ as my dad said. So when school started (they moved in in the summer) my dad told me, ‘If there’s any trouble, you take care of it.’ Well, sure enough there was. One of these kids—and she was a bully! She was a big girl, a lot bigger than me. And she probably still remembers what happened–she called, you know, used the inappropriate word, and made Jolene cry. And I said, ‘Take it back,’ and she said, ‘I don’t have to,’ and I said ‘Take it back or I’m going to hit you.’ And she didn’t believe me, so she wound up with a bloody nose and a split lip.

“And I, of course, got sent to the office, because it was an inappropriate response, but I still remember my mom coming up to school, and laying into our principal, who she had gone to school with. His first name was Clarence, and all I could hear was ‘Yes, Clarence, Karen needs to be punished, but more than that, our society is changing, and people need to be treated equal and children don’t need to come to school and listen to that. Now I expect you to take care of it.’ And that was my mother. I mean, she did that. And so that’s when I first really realized that I did the right thing. I mean, I got in trouble for hitting, you know, but I mean my mom and dad both said that you did the right thing.”

And then, offhand, she added:

“Also, I was good in math, and girls weren’t supposed to be.”

In retrospect, the first story is an amusing anecdote not just because it represents Vialle’s first experience as an activist, but also because it shows her perspective now as a teacher looking back on her time as a student. There were several instances later in the interview when she grew passionate and used a “bad word” like “sucks,” and it was always followed “I hate that term, I tell the kids at school ‘don’t say that!’” and I found it to be an enduring view of vocabulary reserved for elementary school teachers (which Vialle primarily is). In a similar vein, hearing her using words like “inappropriate response” and “diversity” and “prejudice” sound very adult in a story about an elementary school squabble. Vialle’s conversation consistently juxtaposed complex policy terms and a child’s world where saying “sucks” gets you yelled at.

To be honest, though, Vialle’s offhand comment about being the only girl good at math was a much more honest moment. The first story could have been part of her campaign, that one moment revealed a struggle she had lived through, and a lot of the activism she would take on later.

But to continue with the story: the fact that Vialle was good at math and had conviction for standing up for what she thought was right, created a powerhouse combination that set her on her career path. Her 20 minute answer to “Tell me about yourself” was pretty much a long-form resume, and while I don’t want to repeat it step for step there are interesting points along the way.

After graduate school she returned to her undergrad Alma matter and taught political science at the University of Puget Sound. This was one of her first experiences as an adult, dealing with being a non-traditional women. “When I went to UPS I was one of the first women to teach there in the non—what they called non-female, you know, it wasn’t a foreign language and they had home-economics then and English—to teach outside of that box.”

Soon after that Vialle was the first women hired by the state budget office to work as a program analyst at OFM. She started in ‘72, and was promoted to assistant director in February of 73. Her explanation of what that experience was:

“The legislature was considering a bill upstairs and it was really important and our legislative person had not been doing what he was supposed to… [Someone she knew] called ‘get over here, I want this bill out of here and it’s about to not!’ So I went up and I testified and thought ‘oh, man I’m going to be in trouble,’ and when I came down and Wally said, ‘Oh, man from now on as of right now you’re handling all of our legislative stuff.’ And then about a month later we got all these bills out, it was amazing.”

Vialle took on a tough role at OFM, dealing with a tight budget and budget cuts, and took the job and responsibility of helping to balance the budget very seriously. “We were a real budget and management agency under Dan Evans. You saw us show us you knew your job might be in jeopardy, including department heads. I’d tell ‘em, I’d say ‘You know If I were you I’d get my stuff cleaned up or you’re going to be over there—and the Governor said to tell you—peddling your resume at 5 o’clock in the afternoon down on 11th and capitol. Now, you can either talk to me and get it together or you can talk to [the Governor}.’”

From there she did a lot of budget work and made connections to powerful folk in state government who helped her get other positions where she was able to further expand her knowledge of budgets and policy. To sum up the rest:

"And then we adopted our first child, so I went home. Then I went back to teaching part time at UPS and got involved in community activities, I was on Urban Policy Committee and when my kids got old enough we adopted another child a year and a half later, so you know I got into the PTA, preschool and all of that, and then in 1987 there was a city council seat on the west side of Tacoma and a lot of people in the community convinced me that I needed to run, and so I did and got into that, and then got elected mayor.”

This is a different moment in her life where two seemingly different worlds are brought together. Vialle had returned home to be a mother, but instead of falling back into the traditional role of managing the household she once again resorted to her passion for politics and policy.

I asked Vialle about what it was like to be a woman mayor who was willing to be different, do a lot of things first, and be good at math. The traits that Vialle had that helped her get that far—being tough, efficient, and determined—made her time as mayor interesting:

“When I was mayor it was harder because I got picked on much more by people who were looking for you to stub your toe… and if you were strong you were regarded as being kind of a witch [this was clearly a euphemism, Vialle says euphemisms fantastically], you know, and if you’d been a male you would have received accolades.”

“It was an acceptance that you had to do better, and prove yourself, and I was willing to do that and show them, ‘Hey, I’m just as good as you are.’ If I have to work harder, and if I did that and show that I’m just as good as them, then it was going to make it easier for somebody else who came behind me… I kinda look back and think, ‘Hey, it was worth all that, to be a part of opening doors.’”

While she served as mayor from 1990-1994, Vialle lost her re- lection campaign. I don’t know what the political issues of the time were, but she was the only person I interviewed this year who had run for election before, and it was interesting to get her perspective on what it’s like to experience having lost (which is an experience most candidates share).

“I think what it is, when you run for office—If you’re a bit of a control freak, and I tend to be a tad bit—is that it’s something you can’t control. But I came to grips with this when I lost… I look back on that… I’ve done that my whole life, and if I have done my absolute best, and this was my dad, if you have done your best… then don’t look back.”

“When I lost that election—really truly, I’m my toughest critic, my husband will tell you that—I looked back and I thought I did everything that I could do and the results were out of my hands.”

“It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, it hurt for a long time. Losing, as somebody said, sucks. It does. I hate that term, I tell the kids at school ’don’t say that!’… But on the other hand, I walked away knowing that I made a tremendous difference…And people have aid later ‘you should run for mayor again,’ and my philosophy on that is that if you’ve already done something, you can’t go back. Things have changed, the dynamics, and it’s time for someone else to do it. I was proud of being mayor of this city, I love this city.”

Now she’s up for election again. It doesn’t seem like a step down, or a step backwards, but rather a continuation of her story in life.

“You know it wasn’t a real easy decision to do that. I’d thought about it, intellectually it was, but then you go back and think… you know, campaigning is hard. It’s a strain on everybody, your family and it’s a big commitment. But every time I thought, you know, I make the decision all through the fall, and I see these kids struggling at school, at you know, lack of support from the board, and them being in total denial about what’s going on within the schools. I thought, you know, I’ve got one more shot at making a big difference, and that’s always driven me in my whole life.”

I have a lot of quotations from Vialle about making a difference driving her. She grew up in the civil rights area and was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and J.F.K. She protested against the Vietnamese war, and is incredibly passionate about supporting soldiers and veterans rights. She taught her children to be accepting of others, and they have in turn become “social justice enforcers” at their own schools, making sure that kids aren’t being bullied or put down because they’re different. She works hard subbing in elementary schools and doing her darndest to prepare young children for the future.

I’ll let you decide for yourself what sort of dog is the best comparison for Karen Vialle (you know, if you insist on not mixing metaphors). I certainly haven’t made up my mind yet on what sort of person (or canine) she is. Looking back, it’s amusing that at the time I interviewed her she said things like “Right now I’m about ready to jump out of my skin. Tuesday can’t get here soon enough!” but having looked over everything she said, I don’t want to end this on a political note (even though there’s a pretty good political monologue I have hanging about). I don’t think politics is the end all be all for this former mayor. I think she’s really doing it for the kids.

“You feel empowered every time you go into a class room and teach kids. Last time I felt empowered, oh my gosh… I guess I’ve always in my life felt empowered in the sense that you can make a difference. You don’t have to hold public office, you don’t have to be walking around with everyone walking around saying ‘Mayor’ and ‘your honor.’ …. For me I feel empowered when I am able to help someone, or I can speak out for something, or I can help a family find help at one of my schools, or when the kids will come up to you and say thank. I think to me empowerment is a state of mind.”




Fun facts about Karen Vialle:

Siri has a sense of humor. See all pictures at the bottom.

The iPhone 4S had record setting pre-orders, but you could still find it around town the Saturday after its release date (especially if you were looking for a Verizon phone. My need for AT&T slowed down the pace). People appear to be forgiving Apple for not giving us the iPhone 5 we craved. I think it’s more likely that over the last 18 months with no new phone, people’s iPhone 3Gs were on their last set of legs, and we really would have bought anything that Apple threw at us.

Don’t get me wrong, Apple threw in some cool features to make you interested in this device, and prove that it’s better than the ho-hum iPhone 4. It has a better camera, faster internet and processing speeds, some other things, but we all know the biggest buzz was around the iPhone 4S’s Siri feature – its personal assistant that you can talk to and that will listen as accurately and attentively as any ESL student. Huzzah, Apple says, you can just tell your phone to schedule you a meeting and it will do it!

I can say with 98% sincerity that I don’t give a hoot about Siri. I paid the extra money to switch to the iPhone 4S (rather than the iPhone 4′s $99 version) because I wanted a better camera. And while I sifted through the problems that make up my cellular life for three and a half failed hours Friday night, and then another two hours Saturday morning (different stores, different reasons. It’s a very long, complicated story that was eventually solved with AT&T agreeing to waive some charges and take $89.99 off my first phone bill). But despite all that, I knew it was worth it! I would have my iPhone 4S opening weekend, and then be able to write a blog post on the hilarity that most be able to be drawn from the Siri feature!

So, after successfully transferring 62 contacts and 758 pictures from my iPhone 3Gs to my iPhone 4S (and trading in the former for $115 off the latter – Go RadioShack!) I trotted off with new-phone glee. It was shiny, and it wasn’t futzing out like my two-and-a-half-year-old sold-back POS. Life was good. I called up my boyfriend and was like “Let’s get lunch.”

At lunch I pulled out the instructions (because how to use the Siri feature isn’t actually intuitive) and followed the directions to hold down the home button (the only button) and waited until the Siri screen popped up.

I won’t lie. I started with a boring question.

“Schedule a lunch meeting tomorrow at noon with Josh.”

It replied (in the voice of the iPhone cat): “Which Josh?” and listed out the Josh’s in my contact list. I choose appropriately, and it provided the appropriate calendar entry. “Okay, I set up your meeting for tomorrow. Are you ready for me to schedule it?”

I canceled and tried something else. “Find me an Italian restaurant in Tacoma.”

“I found 22 Italian restaurants; tap the one you want to call.” It showed a comprehensive list of restaurants nearby, how far they are away from me, and their rating (out of 5 stars).

Indeed, it was good at everything the Apple guys did up on screen during the demo.

I canceled and tried something else “Which vet can I get to to declaw my cat” (I don’t want to declaw my cat, I wanted to see if it could differentiate between vets).

Response: I don’t see ‘Cat’ in your address book. Should I look for businesses by that name?”

I tried again, it said the same thing, so I tried a different question: “Find a vet I can go to to declaw my cat.”

Response: “Sorry, I can’t check your call history.”

Well, I suppose it’s good to know Siri can’t check my call history. Moving on.

“Where can I buy a dinosaur?”

Response: “Searching the web for ‘Where can I buy a dinosaur.’” Sure enough, a Google search popped up. According to Google, you can buy a dinosaur on Amazon.

Question: “How do I stop the bleeding?”

It saw this question coming

Response: “I found six hospitals fairly close to you.” Siri also provided a list of the hospitals, their rating, and how far they are from me. One is only .2 miles!

Question: “Where is the nearest magic store?”

Response: “I found two magicians that live a ways from you.” They live 22 and 25 miles away, to be precise.

Question: “What’s the meaning of life?” (I took a screen shot of the other question to share with you).

Response: “I find it odd that you would ask this of an inanimate object.”

And since we were driving down the freeway while I was doing this, and right as I was starting to talk to Siri a small car cut across a wide barrier to cut us off… my angry boyfriend said “@#$)@#%*@$$@, thanks Buddy!”

Siri said “I live to serve.”

Other potential responses for “Thanks Buddy,” you wonder?

“I aim to please.”

“My pleasure, as always.”

“Just doing my job.”

To Siri: “Are you capable of sarcasm?”

Response: “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”

Anywho, my point didn’t really need to be said. Apple made the best voice recognition system (it kicks ass at understanding the words “Italian Restaurants”), and after about an hour of fooling around with it I’m pretty convinced it doesn’t suck. But, as many internet memes will show you, unless you’re limiting your interacting with Siri to setting up pasta dinners and using simple sentence constructions, it’s not really practical for the average person. Sure, the various tests we did of its system (Find the nearest Pokémon Gym) were not designed for it to succeed (there are six gyms nearby you), but rather to prove the point that it did not distinguish what the word “Pokémon” meant, or the fact that we were mocking it.

Also, it takes like three seconds for me to go in and schedule my own damn appointment at noon, without fear of error in voice recognition software (I spoke in a text message to my boyfriend that went “I heart you!” but what was sent was “I hurt you!”). As I said to every AT&T person who asked, no I don’t really care about this system. It does not appear to be life changing. It doesn’t even appear like it will moderately impact my life.

However, it did provide me an afternoon of fun. Here is what Siri and I had to discuss:

Kim Golding planting a tree at a land conservancy in Australia.

The weekend before the primary elections I met Golding at 8:00 am at Forza on 12th and Union to interview her for this article. I really enjoyed our discussion. Golding shared her personal stories with me, her rather difficult struggles and how she eventually triumphed over them. I found it really compelling. The more I heard her talk, the more certain I became that she was exactly the sort of candidate (and current incumbent) who should have no problem making it through the primary. Before our interview even started I made the mistake of saying that I was in no rush to write this article, seeing how I was confident that it could wait for the general.

Silly, silly me.

Golding came in third in the primary, which is pretty much the closest thing you can get to a political upset when there are only two races on the ballot. The news was especially harsh when you consider that Golding was one of the two candidates (out of four) who bothered to actually campaign in her race. She lost by 65 votes to Kim Washington, who had pulled out of the election earlier, citing family reasons.

Needless to say, I was surprised. I thought about the race, and its results, a lot, but will spare you the majority of extreme political wonkiness that occurred between me and my fellow local politicos as we discussed the causation of Golding’s defeat.

What is more relevant to this article, however, is that the next weekend I sat down and transcribed Golding and my conversation (and yes, then I waited a very long time to write about it). As I was listening to what Golding had to say, I was again inspired by her story.

It started at a young age, when she was faced with challenges that many kids today still struggle with:

“When I was in first and second grade, I was starting to get bullied a lot and beat up at school. And you go home and you cry, and you tell your mom you had a bad day at school, and your mom gives you these really interesting suggestions on how to deal with it, and it never seems like something I would want to do, and if I went back and tried what she said, it would only make things worse.”

“That was in one situation, and then I get into a different school in a different place and an entirely different state, and again I struggled, I had trouble fitting in… It was the beginning of experiences that were similar but in different places. By the time I got into high school I was kind of used to being different.”

Then later, she faced a difficult home life and economic situation:

“I struggled as a young teenager when my parents’ marriage was falling apart. I was taking a lot of blame for it. There was beatings, and there was emotional abuse, and put-downs, and telling you that you’re never going to amount to anything, and all you’re going to be is ‘blankedy blank’. My parents were in a frustrated place because they couldn’t do what other parents in the area may be able to do, and they’d tell you so. So it set up this hopeless environment of you’re never going to make it and you’re not going to graduate from college.”

And she tried to do what many kids try to do in similar situations:

“When I was 15 my grandmother tried to adopt me, and my parents said absolutely not… This happened kind of as a result of me just walking out one day. I just started planning my move, I started moving my personal belongings out, that meant something to me, one by one, and taking them to friend’s house and leaving them there. Then one day it was like this is the day I’m not going to stay, and I left.”

“Then my high school found out that I wasn’t living anywhere legally and I had no one legally responsible for me, because I was in limbo, and they were saying, ‘we can’t let you be here’. I had a wonderful teacher who went to the principal’s office with me and said, ‘this is an A, B student who wants to be here. There are C, D, F students out in the park that you try to drag back into class who don’t want to be in school, and you’re trying to kick out the A, B student, where’s the sense in that?’ And the school decided to look the other way and let me continue.”

“So I’ve gone through stuff that make me seriously appreciate a lot of the challenges that young people still have in today’s world. When people talk about struggling students and the dropout rate and the problems with kids who fall behind in school and decide that they have no chance of getting caught up, and why bother, and just need to be working and making money because no one’s taking care of them, it’s really real to me… I’ve gone through stuff that really connects to those kids, and they stay in mind when people talk about how bad the dropout rate is, or whatever. I’m always thinking I know what that’s like and it’s not just numbers to me and it’s not just like I’m watching TV and seeing things happen for the first time. I’ve lived some of what these kids go through.”

Sure, this is a highly edited and rearranged transcription of the story, but the words and the story are completely Golding’s, and after hearing it there is no doubt that she’s not only passionate about education, but also about the real world struggles facing Tacoma’s students.

Golding had a second story that I also found compelling, about how she got involved with the PTA, and took on leadership roles within her community. As Golding says:

“I have this fun story about how we would get the PTA to … the PTA had newsletters…”

“I’d sit and read the summaries of meetings that [the PTA] had, meetings that they’re going to have, activities across the school. And I’m like, ‘It’s the same people all the time. I always see the same people.’ I was just kind of showing up the school to pick up the kid, leaving, feeling like I’m coming and going without really knowing what was going on, other than the newsletter.”

“But that whole idea that it was always the same names. I kinda kidded myself and thought, ‘I need to infiltrate, I need to get in there, and change that.’ So it wasn’t just to get me into that PTA group and get to know people and have a roll for myself, but also to change that culture to more reaching out and finding new people to bring in.”

“I thought I knew what it was like to be an outsider looking in, and I needed to get in and pull some of those outsiders in, and that was my role I took on is to kinda change it… What I really liked doing was finding the parents who were just standing in the hallway waiting for the class to get out, and striking up a conversation telling them about the PTA and what we did, and wouldn’t they like to be involved with this project, like a book swap or a carnival, the book sale, or you know. So I helped grow that PTA, and infiltrated in the process.”

“When I was involved with city PTA for the first time, I could kind of see where it was dwindling in participation and enthusiasm. It kind of had a cloud over it, in that, this is how it is and this is just how it’s going to be. Having had some very positive experiences in the elementary school PTA settings, I kind of knew what it might take to turn it around. So, on my own as a secretary of the city-wide PTA, I was kind of regularly calling up the individual school PTA leaders and check in with them and say ‘There’s a meeting coming up, I’d really like to see you there. While you have me on the phone, is there anything you think you need to know, or want to know about how to deal with a problem or whatever.’ And it’s funny, because you’d get the really quick response of ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve got it handled, and thanks for letting us know about the meeting, I’m not sure if anyone’s going to be there.’ And then you’d find about two or three minutes later, ‘Oh, I guess I do have something I could ask about.’ and it would turn into like a half an hour conversation.”

“It was a huge investment of my time, but by the time I was elected president of that council we suddenly had regular members, and people who were willing to take on leadership roles at the city level, and people who understood what it was about, and how they were supporting each other, and supporting the city wide PTA and the individual ones by having this umbrella over all of them as a resource. People who’ve done it before, and can tell you what they’ve done to raise money or something you may not have tried before. That was kind of a project I took on on my own… there was no label to it, nobody saying you need to help us make it happen, but I just saw the value in restoring… But I felt really good after serving as president … and turning it over to the next group of leader so that they had something really good to work with.”

I think this was also in Australia. Either way, she's feeding a swan!

Again, this story is edited and re-arranged by me (and really needs even more editing), but with a little work, Golding could use it to show everyone how being bullied and having a troubled life as a youth inspired her to create the most inclusive PTA in the city. She could talk about finding her voice (which she did talk to me about some) by working hard to bring people together to support the community and children in need, so that other kids don’t have to go through what she went through. From a campaign messaging point of view, she could tie all of this into the anti-bullying work she did as a PTA leader and a Tacoma School Board member. That could have been her thing. (Anti-bullying is very popular right now, and can really be stretched out to include a lot of other key issues. From a campaign point of view, that’s huge).

I suppose my point of all of this, is that while I knew nothing about her when I walked into the interview, I really liked her when I left. I really enjoyed hearing her story, and kept thinking that she should be a real contender.

But you know that thing about hindsight. That clarity thing. That thing about how when you have it, it’s easy to see how things didn’t go the way you expected. Yeah, hindsight changes everything; and through its lens I re-listened to my conversation with Golding, and while transcribing it I bolded two parts that immediately stood out to me. The first, when I asked her to tell me about herself:

“And really a lot of what I do comes from that entire experience, but in the process of going through that and becoming the person I am, you also find out it’s not about you.”

The second, when I asked what it is like to be judged as a candidate:

“And they [everyone] don’t know me. And I feel bad because sometimes you go to a candidate forum or you answer questions for a reporter, and sometimes they’re just not getting to know you because the questions aren’t right. They’re asking about things that don’t show how you can shine in the community or how you’ve made a difference or how you still can. People are asking about what matters to them but it just doesn’t give you the opportunity to show, you know, something positive about you. I’ve felt really disappointed walking away from something like that. Where you’re just going, wow, if they’d only asked me about this, or if they only knew this, if I had a chance to spend 20 minutes on this topic instead of only the two minutes they gave me to answer the question. They’d get to understand a lot better where my passions are at, where my drive comes from, or what it is I know I can do based on what I have done.”

I remember quite clearly hearing Golding say these two things when I interviewed her. I remember that they contradicted each other, and that it bugged me. I remember thinking that as a candidate it is your responsibility to create your message and get it out to the people, and that if you’re failing to do that it is your fault.

Golding had spent the entire interview telling me a really powerful personal story, and then at the end she complained that no one else had come to hear to listen to it. I don’t know if she could have possibly beaten Karen Vialle in the general (Karen got 53% of the primary vote, she’s a campaign machine), but the reason that she didn’t get the chance was because she was not telling people about herself.

Near the end of the interview Golding had told me:

“I recognize that people don’t really get much of a chance to get to know me. I don’t put up walls, but I simply don’t have the time to spend with people to give them that chance. You’re getting quite a window open here! Because most people don’t get to see that or have those conversations.”

I’m glad I sought out the chance to have those conversations with Golding, and I’m glad that I made it easy for her to talk for twenty minutes about whatever she wanted. However, future candidates, let this be a lesson to you. You can’t wait for others to seek you out. You can’t rely on reporters or folks in charge of candidate forum to set you up to talk about whatever you want. You have to create the message you want to tell people, and then you have to go and get it out there. You have to take responsibility for your own messaging, and not let anyone hear anything else. If you don’t, no matter how great a potential candidate you are or how compelling of a personal story you have, you’re not going to stand a chance.

Fun facts about Kim Golding:

I was in King’s Books, while searching for the elusive Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (it’s a book club thing), when I overheard the shop girl chatting with a friend about her recent, impressively successful roller derby bout. My eyes stopped scanning the shelves as my ears perked up, and I happily engaged in the timeless habit of ease-dropping.

I don’t remember the particulars of her successes, but I do remember the discussion shifting to the ever increasing popularity of the sport, and at one point the shop girl declared that it was the fasted growing sport in the world! She quickly retracted her certainty, when her friend pressed for citations, but at that point the conversation switched again to the statement that inspired this blog post.

Fine, she said. Maybe it’s not the fasted growing sport in the world (although she was also lacking a citation that says it isn’t, so it very well could be), but if it’s not, the only reason is because it’s a rich white sport.

Her friend barked out a laugh, and said something along the lines of “what?”

The shop girl continued, “Well, you need money. It’s a very expensive sport.”

This was a bit of a heartbreaking moment for me, not so much because of the exact words I’ve conveyed to you, but because while the words “white sport” and “you need money” were jostling around in my head, I realized a bigger conclusion: you need more than money to join roller derby. You need money, you need time, and you need health insurance. And to be 21, but that’s not really part of what I’m talking about.

And on the subject of what I’m not talking about, let’s all assume that when she said “white sport” she was talking about the understood idea that white people tend to have more money. I’m too lazy to find a citation, and of course there are exceptions, but for the sake of this article, let’s all let that one go. (Editor’s note: the U.S. census site was broken when I tried to visit. Laziness triumphs over an understanding of the roots and nature of inequality).

Back to my point: roller derby is growing in popularity, looks incredibly fun, and has proven to raise my cool factor every time I mention that I’m going to join. (Seriously, every time I say I’m going to join I am 2 times more cool and 3 times more sexy.) So what’s stopping me? What’s stopping other enthusiastic potential players? Why aren’t I yet on a team?

Money:

Let’s walk you through the cost of required gear:
Skates: I bought mine from Wheelz (They don’t actually list much on their website) for $168. The range is from about $115 (which I was advised against) to $300. I’m sure it goes higher.
Helmet: $35 - $50
Knee pads: $28 – $70
Elbow pads: $20 – $50
Wrist guards: $15+
Mouth guard: $3.50 – $25
Padded shorts (optional, but based on some bruises of mine…): $50

Okay, so now you’ve dropped $300. You’re not done. The place I’m interested in charges $50 a month to join their team. Dock Yard Derby Dames charges $35 a month (but there are fewer opportunities for beginners, and I heard they’re about to move to Auburn). Sure, this is less than car insurance or my cell phone bill, but if you’re in poverty, or in school, or just lacking an abundance of cash, it’s a big wall between you and joining.

There really isn’t a way to get around the cost. In soccer or basket ball or football, all you need is a ball and a group of people and a yard. Go, play, win!

Not in the case in roller derby. You need the skates and you need a rink. One way or another you have to pay for it.

Time:

This is actually true for any sport you want to be good at, but again, unlike soccer or basketball, you have to go to a designated rink to really get practice in. Derby’s a lot more like swimming. When I did water polo, my practices worked around the pool’s schedule, and I couldn’t go in any time I wanted to do laps.

At Wheelz, the Toxic 253 derby practices are between 8pm and 10pm. I actually like that time slot, because I work in Seattle and at best I get home at 6:30. However, I work in Seattle; I leave my house at 7am. Getting home at 10:30 all sweaty and gross? Not exactly compatible.

Time is also important because to join the bigger leagues (Dock Yard Derby Dames) you need skill. I just equate skill with practice, which takes time. I take skate lessons once a week, and over four months I’ve gotten considerably better. But if I practiced derby the three times a week they hold practices? I’d have lost a ton of weight, gained a ton of muscles, and probably be able to actually play the game.

Shout out: I can’t play roller derby yet, but I can spin in circles, skate backwards, and do something called “shoot the duck!” (here is a nice link that illustrates the how to of the duck move, but on ice.) 10 am Saturday figure skating classes at Wheelz rock.

Health insurance:

You’d think this goes with “money” but in my brain I see it differently, in part because I have had jobs that paid me plenty of money, but did not offer benefits. Additionally, there’s a reason roller derby requires you to have insurance (unlike certain other sports).

Let’s start with the fact that you’ve strapped wheels to your feet. Yes, that is awesome, but it also makes it considerably easier to lose balance and fall. You know, at the same time it makes it incredibly harder for other players to avoid running you over.

And then there’s the equally awesome shoving, hip bumps, tripping, and other maneuvers designed to land you on your face.

I was volunteering at a bout when a fellow volunteer told me that two girls had their ankles broken this year in the Dock Yard Derby Dames boot camp (which is only 4 weeks long).

This is a dangerous game. And while many of us are willing to risk it, leagues wisely require us to take precautions (like being able to pay for that emergency room visit). And that takes health insurance (or, I suppose, copious amounts of money).

In conclusion:

With enough hard work, determination, and just a bit of luck, you, too, can be this awesome!

I want the sexy cool points that come with being a derby girl, I love the feeling of speed skating around the rink, and my biggest regret in high school was that I never got a black eye from my water polo adventures. I’m totally ready for this sport.

Except I can’t join.

I have never managed to have money, time, and health insurance simultaneously, and roller derby is a surprisingly exclusive sport.

I’m not sure what the greater theme to this story is. “You can’t always get what you want” just reminds me of an obnoxious song used too much in TV shows. I should just “Keep on trucking” comes to mind, as another one of those over used clichés that come up when times are tough. I suppose my overall frustration is that it’s sad/weird that it costs so much to beat up some people in front of other people (hmm, maybe that gives derby girls a bad name. Let’s change it to “Enthusiastically engage in a physical sport”).

I still feel the need to offer a real conclusion, however, so I will leave you with inadequate advice.

If you are one of the poor souls wishing to join the great sport of roller derby, while living in Tacoma, while lacking time, money, or health insurance, start simple. Find a skate rink that’s near you. I use Wheelz because Fircrest isn’t far away, and it’s a block from TCC, making it close to a million bus lines. If possible, join what ever skate class you have time/money for. If you don’t have money for one ($10 a week can add up) find the cheap skate nights. A lot of rinks have $1 or free skate sessions, plus cost of skates (which you don’t have to pay once you save up your nickels and dimes in order to afford your own pair). Start volunteering for a derby league, it looks good when you are actually able to join, and by watching the sport you’ll learn things that will be helpful in the future.

Other than that? Figure out which barrier is holding you back, and then make a plan to fix it. The plan might take a few months (if you need to rearrange your schedule so that you have fewer things conflicting) or maybe even a couple of years (if the recession is holding you back and you can’t afford time and no one’s giving you insurance). These are the steps I’m taking. In my case, by the time I’m actually able to join I’ll have done a great deal to be ready, and I’ll be a much better player for it.

So, the Wal-mart story lost a bit of steam on Twitter as Tacoma politicos switched over to the potential teacher’s strike (I suggest Tacomamama’s twitter feed if you would like to relieve every detail surrounding that potential disaster), but that doesn’t mean nothing came of it. I had demanded better tweets, and I believe we received them.

We have two Tacoma-pians that are willing to represent the true spirit of Twitter while informing you of the devastating impact of the Wal-Mart invasion, in the 10 tweets I have dubbed “Best.”


Compliments of RR_Anderson:

RR_Anderson RR Anderson
@NekoCase WALMART IS COMING TO THE CITY OF DESTINY! SEND HELP!


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
THE HOOF-PRINTS OF SATAN (walmart) PRANCE AT THE GATES OF DESTINY i.feedtacoma.com/Nick/is-walmar… #Tacoma


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
ENLIST TODAY IN THE WAR AGAINST WALMART!facebook.com/groups/1436741… #Tacomalmart


And the one I posted originally:


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
WE HAVE CONFIRMATION OF WAL*MART INVASION!!! blog.thenewstribune.com/business/2011/…DEFCON-4 ULTRA-RED ALERT HYPER-TEAM GO!


But the real winner of the day comes from an unknown twitter genius, who in response to my demands (you can’t prove it wasn’t me) posted seven tweets that are sure to put you in the Wal-Martmood. Sadly, the hash tag #protacomawalmart has been picked up by no one. (Warning, some of these [just one] may be offensive. Feel free to post mean rants in the comments section. I like comments).


chaosjoule
Hey guys…teens got loiter somewhere. #protacomawalmart


chaosjoule
I’ve heard that wal-mart will continue the elk sacrifices.#protacomawalmart #nbd


chaosjoule
When wal-mart comes, maybe they’ll hire the disembodied smiley face that follow me around.#protacomawalmart


chaosjoule
99 cent walkers. You will be able to build a mobile, shuffling palace for less than $10. #protacomawalmart


chaosjoule
Really looking forward to the cheap bundles of liberal bumperstickers I’ll be able to afford.#protacomawalmart


chaosjoule
They just filed intent papers. It doesn’t mean anything, just like a pregnancy.#protacomawalmart

Whenever a monumentous (or heck, a small yet entertaining) event goes down, I have taken to Twitter for short, pithy op-eds and education tid bits. I must say, however, that this time twitter has failed.


Searching “Tacoma” and “Wal-mart” to get the most up-to-date, rage-filled posts has led to a mediocre crop of “oh, noes” and “not in Tacoma!” I frown upon you, Tacoma tweeters. Surely, you can do better than this?


As my facebook wall has informed me (Current count: 26 related Wal-mart posts) Wal-mart is an evil, giant, anti-union, small business slaughtering hell demon (these are not my words. I am not editorializing. I am citing a bonafide source of information). Certainly such a creature should lead to hilarious outcries that can be summed up in 160 words? I challenge you Tacoma: do better! I would like a better list of tweets for tomorrow.




One exception: good job RR_Anderson!


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
WE HAVE CONFIRMATION OF WAL*MART INVASION!!! blog.thenewstribune.com/business/2011/… DEFCON-4 ULTRA-RED ALERT HYPER-TEAM GO!




The best crop of others I could find:


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
RUMOR: Wal*Mart coming to current Elks Lodge location in Central Tacoma? facebook.com/groups/1436741…


LeahLizabeth Leah
@@RR_Anderson Tacoma will destroy the very idea of Wal-Mart.


TacomaFoodie Adrienne
Noooooooooo…..RT @KCooperTNT: Wal-Mart confirms that it plans to build a Super Center in #Tacoma: bit.ly/qOyFbs


monstergirlee charlotte
@Puking. RT @thenewstribune Wal-Mart confirms its plans to build store on Central Tacoma Elks site: bit.ly/ohI8l4 #tacoma #walmart


jameyrivera jamey rivera
No. Bad. RT @tacomaupdates Tacoma News Tribune: Wal-Mart confirms plans to build on Central Tacoma Elks site bit.ly/qlHhIB #tacoma


waymondhampton Waymond Hampton
RT @kcooperTNT A little more on the potential development of the Central #Tacoma Elks site: blog.thenewstribune.com/business/2011/… // PLEASE no Wal-Mart…


jenhal Jenn Halverson Kuehn
“God bless California, make way for the Walmart; I hope they never find you Tacoma.” – Thrice All American. Me too, Neko.

A follow up to my twitter post earlier today… because yes, this is how dorky I am. Please enjoy the follow list of amusing, and potentially insensitive, twitter comments inspired by three or four that showed up in my twitter feed.




il_david david
Rush Limbaugh says there wasn’t an #earthquake, blames government conspiracy #p2 #tcot


LifesPoser Robert B.
#Romney says he’s sorry for #earthquake false alarm. Was actually him, remodeling White House in anticipation for 2012. #p2 #p21 #tcot


FullMtlPatriot FullMetalPatriot
RAAAAACISM! Barack Obama missed golf putt after earthquake struck – tgr.ph/ppCWty #tcot #earthquake #DCQuakeCRISIS


DrKaz Kaz
Now confirmed that DC #earthquake is human-caused. Tectonic plate finally self-correcting for huge shift to the right. #p2 #tcot


owillis Oliver Willis
Conservatives Can’t Decide If Obama Was Too Busy Golfing Or Biking To Stop The #Earthquake bit.ly/o4ZE8A #p2 #tcot #typical


RagingTeabagger RagingTeabagger
Would DC #Earthquake have happened if Obama hadn’t gone on vacation? Fox News gets to the bottom of it #p2 #tcot


Mattison Mattison
RT @daveweigel DEVELOPING: Darrell Issa launches inquiry into why Obama didn’t prevent the #earthquake #p2 #p21 #tcot


Obamapocalypse Captain Audacity
#Obama: “The nation is obviously still sitting on the “Bush Fault Line” that I inherited 3 years ago.” #earthquake #teaparty #tcot


redostoneage Truth Tweeter
Breaking: Obama Playing Golf at the time of #earthquake- Goodnews he made the Putt! bit.ly/qwjsdL #tcot #cnn #twisters


scrappleface Scott Ott
Apparently there’s a way to make something move in Washington D.C. #earthquake #tcot

I started using twitter about a week before I was hired for a job where I’d be in charge of social media. Coincidentally, I made my profile about an hour after the interview was scheduled. I wasn’t too worried, after all I’d had a facebook since the days where .edu mattered, and a MySpace before that. What was it that twitter had to offer that these other sites did not provide?

Well, let me name a few:

This was all easy to pick up on after I managed to follow about five friends and twenty of my favorite nonprofits, comedians, brands, and then another twenty news-outlets.

The only thing that left me confuddled was their method of searching. You can search for anything. Say you search for “Lynda Foster,” you will get results from anyone who wrote that in any post, and on the side bar people with the name, or tag name, Lynda Foster (me!). But if you searched for #lyndafoster, you would only see comments that specifically used the exact phrase #lyndafoster. Indeed, useing the hash tag (hash tag = #) makes those words pop out in searches, and allows you to create something that is “trending.”

When you make a hash tag on twitter, it turns blue and people can click on it to be taken to a page that shows all the latest posts with that hash tag. If your post is on that thread then people with similar interests browsing the thread will have a chance to see it (possibly giving you publicity or increasing your followers).

Hashtags are used to describe a theme in a very short way (remember, 160 characters to work with). Some of them start up and last a few weeks, some of them are used by one person once and are never picked up by others, and some of them become universally understood and, by declaration of mass use, official.

I feel compelled to point out the risks using hashtags. When something is “trending” it is used by so many people it is amongst the most popular topics in the world, and gets listed on the twitter main page. Often this is for a reason. When #notguilty was trending, the business that tweeted: “Who’s #notguilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?!” took a lot of PR heat. The hashtag #notguilty was trending because of that whole Casey Anthony “not guilty” verdict controversy, and it was considered offensive that a company would try to profit off of it.

So, in order to help your understanding of political hash tags, and to help any of your political tweets make it onto threads, below are some a list of hash tags, mostly “official,” used within Washington state and national politics. If I’m missing some (especially funny topics that I did not research in detail) post them in the comment section! I may add it to the list.

General WA state political terms:
#WAleg: Washington Legislature (heavily used when session is in)
#WAGov: Washington Government (often interchangeable with WAleg)
#WABudget: Washington Budget (I don’t see this that often, but during budget negotiations it’s a topic to follow)
#WAdem: Washington democrats
#wcot: Washington conservatives
#WAgop: Washington Republicans, or “Grand Old Party”

National Political Hash tags:
#tcot: Generally, top conservatives on twitter. But there are a few “fun” definitions if you follow the link.
#GOP: Republican, or “Grand Old” party
#HCR: Health Care Reform
#P2: (As defined on tagdef.com) A resource for progressives using social media who prioritize diversity and empowerment, the “progressive batchannel”, and an umbrella tag for information for progressives on Twitter. There is now simple directory of progressives associated with the #p2 tag.

This last election:
#waelex – Washington election (used during this last primary)
#99tunnel – Things related to the referendum in Seattle on whether or not to dig the tunnel in Seattle.
#SaveMetro – The Seattle metro campaign (it’ll do better then Prop 1 in Pierce County did)
#Tacoma school board – The only word to get linked is “Tacoma” but it’s what Dextor Gordon’s campaign was using.
#Tacoma city council – Sure, it was only used once according to my search results, but you get the picture.

Serious topical hash tags:
#FAA: (national) Related to the FFA budget issue that was going on a few weeks back.
#StopGregoire: References that the Freedom Foundation is suing Washington Governor Christine Gregoire for her (allegedly) illegal use of “executive privilege” to hide public information from Washington citizens.
#Compromise: (national) Encouraged by President Obama during the debt ceiling debate to urge republican law makers to compromise.
#supercommittee: (national, and hey, Patty Murray!) The committee of 12 congressmen and senators who will have to negotiate a plan to reduce the deficit, as decided in the debt limit compromise.
#Amesdebate – (national) Referencing the recent Ames debate in Iowa.
#debtceiling – (national) You have probably heard of this.

Less serious topical hash tags (I didn’t look too hard for these, there are definitely many more):
#AccordingtoPalin: Created by the Daily Show after Sarah Palin’s Paul Revere gaff.
#ChangeUCanStepN: As in: “Makes sense that Obama’s black BS bus looks like a hearse. It carries the death of America’s hopes, dreams, & future. #tcot #ChangeUCanStepN”

Painfully obvious things I won’t explain (but are still used so often they deserve a mention):
#teaparty
#jobs
#economy
#education
#debt