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KLMNO POSTLOCAL Talk to us. Talk to newsmakers. Talk to each other. Join the conversation at postlocal.com Focusing on your community


Each week, our photographers bring you scenes from your community. Today, take a look through the lens of Mark Gail at a scene from Walls Bakery in Waldorf.


MIKE DEBONIS and a failed school O


ur politics sometimes isn’t expressed in personalities and policies and laws and elections. Sometimes it’s in a building. This week, we learned that Dunbar Senior


High School will be razed as soon as 2013. That fall, if all goes as planned, students will attend a new, glassy, airy Dunbar next door. The Dunbar that now stands is anything but


MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST B


obbyWalls ofWalls Bakery touches to see whether the three-pound fruitcakes that he just removed from the oven are done. The bakery is known for its holiday treats that are “made with lots of love,”


according toWalls, who has been making them for the past 38 years. The bakery has been making fruitcakes weekly since the second week of November.


glassy and airy, and fewwill lament its demolition just 33 years after its opening. Certainly the raves delivered by aWashington Post architecture critic, reviewing an early version of the design in December 1971, never came to pass. Fewstudents who have had to navigate its dark, concrete-clad ramps or learn math in its chaotic open classrooms would care to describe it as a “building of a natural, almost blushingly modest beauty” that would “give most promising shape not only to the stagnant fluid of education in our ghettos, but also the life of its neighborhood.” But in that building are lessons for politicians and planners and policymakers— not only the ones who build schools, but also the ones who govern what goes on inside them. Then and now, the seemingly intractable problem of urban education cried out for a dramatic, simple solution. Forty years ago, they looked to a building to control what had become an uncontrollable learning environment, inhibiting student achievement. More recently, former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee looked to a private manager to take over the school and solve much the same problem. Neither sawgreat success onNewJersey


Getting in


Gregory Roberts from the University of Virginia and Jill Medina from Oberlin College took reader questions on college admissions during a live chat Wednesday. If you’re looking for tips— or know someone who is—read on.


Standing out: College admissions


Q: Do top studentsHAVE to do early admissions to get in competitive schools these days? And don’t students grow and change over senior year? Is it really a good idea to judge them by just up to their junior year of work?


Roberts: I do think that at some schools it is less competitive if you apply through an early program. That varies with school, though. You might check and compare offer rates and the percentage of the class accepted early to get an idea of how beneficial it might be to apply early.


Q: What’s the most surprising essay you’ve ever read?


Roberts: I think of those where students took a risk—so I’mnot sure I’d say they were surprising, but I respected the risk taken. The problem with many essays is that they are


too bland. They tell but don’t show. Students rely on vague generalizations and the essays don’t have much tight focus. I would avoid writing about your boyfriend or girlfriend. If you took a trip to Costa Rica, try to think of a way to make it original.


Q:High school students and their parents freak out about college admissions even though there are plenty of spots in hundreds of schools where they will be perfectly happy and successful. And yet, they still freak out.Why?Why can’t we change this?


Roberts: Students sometimes focus on a small sliver of schools at the top of theU.S.News rankings or in the top 25 in the latest football poll when there are hundreds and hundreds of great schools out there. It’s a shame, really. The admission process is now highly publicized,


and we definitely see the intensity level being raised each year. Students need to think about fit first, although I know that’s a cliche. Fact is, it’s getting increasingly tough to get in


those top-ranked schools, and that leads to anxiety. If I had the answer for that one, though, I’d be a millionaire.


6


MORE FROMCAMPUS Read Jenna Johnson’s blog at washingtonpost.com/campusoverload.


Today on


Car chatter Get tips on car shopping and buying fromWarren Brown at 11 a.m. Visit washingtonpost.com/discussions.


THE DAILY QUIZ


According to the Weekend section, where can you find a Chicago 7 hot dog?


EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.


Winter fun


Post reporters took questions on indie record shops, fun with the in-laws and holiday flora during a live chat with readers Wednesday on PostLocal.com.


From music to mistletoe


Q:Having justmovedhere fromSeattle, I’m looking for a record store inD.C. that caters tomy snobbyhipsternorthwesternindie rock tastes.Any independently owned local record stores inthe District similar to anEasy Street or SonicBoom?


AlexBaldinger:CrookedBeat inAdamsMorgan (2116 18thSt.NW),RedOnionRecords (1901 18th St.NW) and SomRecords (1843 14thSt.NW) are three of the biggies inD.C. proper. You’llwant tokeepanearout for theD.C.Record


Fair,whichhappens every fewmonthsat theBlack Cator,more recently,UStreetMusicHall. You’llalsowant tocheckoutRock‘NShopthis Sundayat theBlackCat.Therewillbe vinyl.


Q:The in-laws are coming to visit forChristmas, and I’d like to plana day out for themonDec. 23rd. They’ve seenmost of themuseums, but I’d like


to arrange some otherunique-to- D.C. activities. Ihave reservations for theCapitol tour andwas thinking lunchnearby—Old Ebbitt or theWillard,maybe? Do youhave any suggestions


for lunchor anothernearby activity?


Getting around


Readers responded to a story about how more residents are abandoning their cars and taking public transportation to work, according to new census data that reveal a noticeable shift in commuting patterns over the past five years.


Reader viewpoints from the commute


Freethotlib: I rode theMetro duringmy last eight months of work from Springfield to Roslyn and then to Crystal City. The trains were on time— within a minute or so—and much cheaper than driving and paying for parking. The only downside was that theMetro added


about 30 minutes tomy commute. That said, I saved money and arrived at work much calmer.


AnonyMiss: I drive solo to work becausemyD.C.- to-Alexandria commute would cost $3.65 each way onMetro. Can’t afford that.


judithclaire1939: Americans are falling out of love with their cars.D.C. has more and more bike lanes and bikes to rent for a fewhours all over town! Many more people are trying to fall in love with


families and out of love with cars and traffic. Good for you!


mizage: I used to do the reverse commute to Herndon, which was painful. But I always had to laugh when watching the traffic go the other way. Bumper-to-bumper, toll road; bumper-to-


POINTS EVENTS


Ski Season in DC Did you know that DCSki (www.dcski.com) is a great resource for one-stop information about skiing in the mid-Atlantic? The Post’s Travel Section recently e-mailed this tip to PostPoints members who signed up for tips. You can receive weekly tips from Washington Post writers, on topics that interest YOU–just log on to washingtonpost.com/postpoints, click on My Account Profile, and scroll down to select your areas of interest.


bumper, Beltway; bumper-to-bumper, George Washington Parkway. Every day it was like that. How do people do that? I would go insane the


first week.


frichards72: Too fewpeople rememberHarry Truman and his brisk walks around the Capitol. He tried to lead by example.


glenglish: Gimme a bicycle. I ride solo to work. Fuel cost is nexta nuthin’, carbon emissions as well. I use about two ounces of oil a year at most on moving parts.


JONJJ: I have so many customers that work from home that scheduling meetings and actual work is no longer the nightmare it once was.


davehale: I’ve been commuting to the Reston Town Center via bus for the past three years and prefer the bus over driving. The service has been extremely dependable and cost-effective.


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MORE COMMUTING Get tools and news at washingtonpost.com/transportation.


POINTS & REWARDS Platinum and Gold members can rack up points when doing business at:


Long Home Improve your home–improve your life! See longfenceandhome. com for great deals on windows, fencing, kitchens and more.


The Washington Ballet Enjoy The Nutcracker with your family this season. Tickets at washingtonballet.org.


washingtonpost.com/postpoints


Not a PostPoints member yet? Log onto washingtonpost.com/postpoints for more information about this exciting free program.


LavanyaRamanathan: I loveOldEbbitt for the parents! (The food ishearty, andnot too envelope- pushing ...)But theWillard could absolutely be a stop onyour tour; it’s decorated for the season, and it looks like they’llhave a choral performance that day at 5:30. I’ddefinitely addaquickstopat theWhiteHouse


tree, too, as longas you’re intheneighborhood— there is a ranger-ledtalkthatday. Or swingup toChinatowntohave some fun


shopping at theholidaymarket—youcould even make a stop atPoste for somemulledwine and gingerbread.


Q:Having aChristmas party and IMUSThave mistletoe.BUTICAN’TFINDITANYWHERE!!! Any leads or suggestions? I’ve called a fewflorists, butno dice.


StephanieMerry: I’mkind of crafty, somy first inclinationwould beDIY. If youcan’t find a florist and you’renot into felt and glue guns, thenI bet Michaelswillhave plastic replicas ifnot the real deal.


6


MOREENTERTAINMENT IDEASGive and receive at GoingOutGuide.com.


AvenueNW. Last week, Rhee’s interim successor, KayaHenderson, ousted the operator,NewYork’s Friends of Bedford, after it was unable to get the school under control, and plans for the newDunbar were unveiled. The city’s architects and administrators have abandoned the notion of engineering a better school with bricks and mortar. But the idea of a one-fell-swoop solution to better schools still tempts. Robert C. deJongh can speak to how his best-


laid plans went awry.He was a young architect when he started design work on the Dunbar building in the early ’70s.He was finishing up at HowardUniversity’s architectural school at the time and working for the well-regarded Bryant & Bryant firm, which designed the building. “To some degree, it was an experiment,”


deJongh recalls from his office on St. Thomas in his nativeU.S. Virgin Islands, where he has practiced since 1973. The design process began only a couple years


after the 1968 riots decimated inner-city neighborhoods, including the Seventh Street commercial district just a fewblocks west of Dunbar. And the buildings subsequently designed for those neighborhoods, in essence, had to be riot-proof—made of sturdy concrete or metal or other materials that would be difficult to vandalize. Glass, and hence sunlight, was essentially prohibited. “I remember having to fight for the windows


we did have,” deJongh said, adding that those that did make it into the final design were covered with heavy wire mesh. Because the old Dunbar had to remain next


door, leaving only a small parcel to fit an expected 1,600 students, deJongh and his colleagues had no choice but to design the school as a high-rise. Then there was the open- classroom concept, which was in vogue among school administrators at the time. A buildings administrator with the public


school system told The Post in 1971 that open designs would “force the teacher to be a consultant to the child” and “shift the emphasis from teaching to learning.” It was also a recipe for unfocused and wandering students. The combination of riot-proof design and


open classrooms in a high-rise made Dunbar an exemplar of what deJongh calls a generation of “grim and brutal” structures “designed to keep occupants in and everyone else out.” Here’s how one sophomore described the


$20.6 million building on its opening day, in the spring of 1977: “It’s the baddest structure in the District, and inMaryland and Virginia, too. It’s a mean building, man.”He meant that in a good way, but the building’s weaknesses were just as soon evident. On opening day, pranksters sabotaged the building’s escalators, shutting them down. A Post reporter covering that first day called


Dunbar an “expensive monument of hope.” But instead of hope, deJongh said, “the rebuilding was filled with fear and the threats that [the riots] could happen again.” He hasn’t designed another school, and he’s


never once set foot inside the one he did design. But since hearing from a reporter about Dunbar’s scheduled demise, it’s gotten him thinking. The design, deJongh said, must “reflect the place we want the project to take us to, not just where we want to avoid.” That would be a lesson reformers in search of


easy fixes—whether architects, chancellors or politicians—would do well to heed. debonism@washpost.com


A complete list of PostPoints Spots can be found at washingtonpost.com/postpoints.


Fear, hope


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010


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