4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Guiding Young Girls Is Paramount to the Success of All Communities


Without strong female


women, and even some older ones, watch these so-called “reality” shows, they believe that they should behave as the women on the television shows.


role


models setting examples for young women and explaining to them how they should conduct themselves in public and in private, they will follow the examples of the reality show stars and video vixens.


According to the University of


Washington: The average American teen spends about 20 hours a week watching television, with the heaviest viewers coming from low-income households. American watch


more BY ANGELA JONES Every year in March, the month


we celebrate the history of women, I find myself wanting to write about the same topic; the fact that I want to write about the legacy we are leaving our daughters never gets old because it is such an important topic. I also believe it is a topic that is paramount to the success of African American families.


We cannot be afraid to have certain


conversations with our daughters. We have to let them know that, although they are a double minority in the US, women, and especially women of African descent, have a history of being both strong and powerful.


From Cleopatra the


Obama, and all of the amazing women who have walked


since


to Michelle earth


the first human came into existence, women have played a vital role in the success of civilizations. Whether it is because of their own insecurities or because of the misplaced disrespect of others, women should never feel insignificant or worthless.


I am concerned that the current trend in the media to downplay the contributions of women to society will make young girls question their self-worth. Just the names of television shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Two Broke Girls” signify a culture today that is all too eager to show women in a negative light.


Other television shows that could


be a danger to a young woman’s psyche include “Basketball Wives” and “The Bachelorette.”


Often when young


Furthermore, African- households, in general, television


than other


groups in the U.S. On average, African Americans watch two more hours of primetime television


per


week and watch close to five more hours of daytime television per week.


In a Kaiser Family Foundation


study, 76 percent of teens said that one reason young people have sex is because television shows and movies make


it seem normal for teens.


Viewing of daytime serials and MTV is a predictor of sexually permissive attitudes and behavior among college students. Older adolescents in one study tended to mimic the sexual themes from the shows they watched. College students exposed to large amounts of sexual behaviors on television were more likely to believe that their peers engaged in those same activities.


We cannot allow television to


be an influence on the lives of our children, especially our innocent and impressionable young women. Their future is too important to the success of our families and our communities.


When we guide our young women with open dialogue that not only allows us to get our point across but also allows them to express their questions


and concerns, they can


step into the role that was intended for them by their ancestors. People of African descent like Ida B. Wells and Rosa Parks struggled and fought to provide a bright future for today’s young women and with our support, they will be as strong and driven as the women who laid the groundwork for their success. Our communities will reap the benefits.


BY JONAH MOST


Mediation has just begun over a disputed nearly four-acre plot of land in Alameda, California that has divided the community and ignited debate about how federal property is sold. This saga, which is in its third year, has involved the highest levels of government and led to a lawsuit, a voter petition and the threat of eminent domain.


The controversy has created a


bizarre legal situation where the federal government is threatening to condemn state property in order to prevent land from going to the East Bay Regional Park District and instead to sell it to a private developer, in order to maximize profit from the sale.


The disputed property, a parking


lot and government office complex with bay views known as Neptune Pointe, is adjacent


to


Crown Beach. The East Bay Regional Park District


intended


Alameda’s popular to


purchase


this property and raised bond money to do so after the General Services Administration indicated its intention to sell. The Park District was outbid; their bid was nearly doubled in a 2011 auction by a developer who plans to build a 48-unit housing complex on the land instead.


Housing advocates would like to see the plot be used for affordable housing.


Open Sale


At the heart of the controversy is the question of how federal property should be sold, whether for profit maximization or the more murky aim of ‘public good.’


Known as the government’s ‘business side’, the General Services Administration (GSA) leans towards business principles rather than public policy.


The GSA is the wing of the federal


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Rae Willis, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


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government in charge of maximizing efficiency. The GSA was established in 1949 with the mission of reducing the inefficiency that often bogs down large, growing bureaucracies, such as that of the post-war United States. The GSA negotiates contracts with private venders, manages federal real estate and vehicle fleets and sells excess government holdings.


the GSA has for sale helicopters, a


former


In several online auction websites, naval


base and even a


lighthouse. One GSA auction website has a category heading for NASA shuttles. It was through this system that the Neptune Pointe property was listed in June of 2011 for a starting bid of one


million dollars. A


accompanied


YouTube the


video online that auction


has a camera slowly panning around Neptune Pointe, with guitar strummings and a slow drumbeat.


In a public notice to neighbors,


the GSA wrote that the sale of Neptune Pointe was part of its “ongoing efforts to remove excess federal facilities off taxpayers books while creating the greatest possible value.”


Like the GSA, Tim Lewis


Communities, the developer who won the auction, also sees the sale through the lens of a market transaction: “We did not expect any problems with the park system,” said James Meek, the company’s Director of Land, “We bought this in a bid where we were the high bidder.”


But it is just this question of what constitutes the ‘greatest possible value’ that the Park District contests.


To the GSA this ‘greatest possible


value’ is measured in dollars and cents; it has completed nearly 400 ‘disposal transactions’ between 2010 and August of 2013, bringing $145 million back to taxpayers.


But the Park District sees a greater good than profit maximization.


Lucas,


“I think it’s greed,” said Karin a


former member of the


Alameda City Council, explaining why the GSA declined the Park District’s lower offer. Lucas is a co-founder of an organization called Friends of Crown Beach that is advocating for the sale of Neptune Pointe to the Park District.


The group argues that the public gave the Park District a mandate to purchase


the overwhelming property when they approved a bond


measure to finance it in 2008. “We want to make it clear that


this land is clearly intended for park purposes, the voters


voted organization for it,”


Lucas said in a phone interview. The


also points


to Crown Beach’s over one million annual visitors as further reason why the district should have priority in purchasing the land.


California Attorney General


Kamala Harris pointed out in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice that this profit maximization strategy of the GSA ignores a statute that compels the agency to consider public uses for the land. She quotes the statute, which requires


that “the disposal agency


must expeditiously make the surplus property available for acquisition by


LAND AUCTION PAGE 6


Volume 8 Number 7


March 2014


Federal Land Auction Raises Debate Over ‘Public Benefit’


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