“The Manhattan Project of Marijuana,” Feature, 3/4
What About Pesticides?
Oh puh-leeze!!! You go on and on for five pages about dog dandruff
and mold, and never mention PESTICIDES.
Could it be that DeAngelo (founder of Americans for Safe Access)
never heard of PESTICIDES? That he never heard of Sister Jane? Or
Counterpunch? Or Fred Gardner?
I have long been critical of ASA, and have even been banned from
their forum for not cheering them on whatever they do. Well, I feel
much better about all that now. I consider it an HONOR to be banned
from their forum.
This really takes the cake. Talk about putting the SAFE back in
access … how could the so-called founder of Americans for Safe Access
… oh, never mind, I don’t want to know.
Let me just put it this way, as a patient I am far more interested
in knowing my medicine hasn’t been sprayed with poison than I am the
exact percent and ratio of THC and CBD.
I think profiling the herb is very important work and I’m glad
someone is doing it. It is something Dr. Cavanaugh wanted to do before
he died … but PESTICIDES!
J. Craig Canada, Santa Cruz
“Allegations Against Yelp Stack Up,” News, 3/18
A Better Yelp Experience
I own and operate two cheese and wine shops, Farmstead Cheeses and
Wines in Alameda and the Montclair Village section of Oakland, and have
been a Yelp “sponsor” (their word for “advertiser”) since 2005.
I have never been told that I can reorder the ways that reviews
appear on my Yelp page, or that I could have negative reviews disappear
by anyone on the Yelp sales force, even though I have asked for the
ability to do both in the past.
I’ve found Yelp to be an effective marketing tool for my stores, and
have never felt the slightest bit of intimidation from Yelp.
Yelp executives have asked me to donate product for several
promotional events in the past (as has the East Bay Express, by
the way). I declined their offer, and did not notice an increase in
negative reviews or a decrease in positive reviews on my Yelp pages.
Nor was there ever a hint of a threat of repercussion when I declined
their offer.
I’ve found that I get lots of response from my Yelp sponsorship, and
customers refer to my positive Yelp reviews when they visit my
shop.
(Parenthetically, I also advertised in the East Bay Express
for over a year, and never received the level of customer feedback
about my advertising presence there. In fact, no one ever mentioned
seeing my ads in the Express).
I can’t explain the impressions of the folks you’ve interviewed for
your articles, but they seem to be describing a different Yelp sales
force than the one that I encounter.
Jeff Diamond, Oakland
Yelp’s Afraid of a Paper Trail
I came across your article searching Google because I had a feeling
I was not alone regarding the hard tactics Yelp uses against small
businesses. I have a small dog training business in Seattle, WA. My
business, luckily, has all good reviews. I also have a waiting
list for my puppy classes of over 140 people so paying $300 a month to
Yelp didn’t seem necessary. I have never paid much to advertise and
built my business by word-of-mouth, and the words on Yelp were all good
as far as my business went. Finding your article just took my breath
away, it was a huge moment, as I thought I was the only one that had
been harmed by Yelp.
A few months ago my one negative review appeared on Yelp. The review
contained false and defamatory information. The blatant factual
inaccuracies in the review were solely to defame me and my business. I
could totally live with a two-star review, believe me. But what was
causing me restless nights was the fact that the review simply was not
true. Facts the reviewer stated simply did not happen. I actually think
she had me confused with someone else.
I subsequently contacted Yelp to inform them that the review
contained blatant factual inaccuracies. This review could hurt my
business. After contacting Yelp’s customer service about this blatant
factual inaccurate review, I did not get the response I expected. I was
naive enough to think that I was a customer, not realizing I was a
customer only if I’m a paid advertiser or a “Yelper” supreme.
After contacting Yelp I was told that the review would stand as this is
“how the reviewer must have felt” and the review would not be altered
or removed. So, I let time go by, thinking the more positive and recent
reviews would drop this review down. Well that just didn’t
happen. I e-mailed Yelp’s customer support. Edgar in support
writes, “Yelp’s review results, when sorted by Recent +
Votes, are based on an algorithm that is designed to provide the most
relevant results based on a number of different factors, including
date, perceived value of the review by the Yelp community, and
trustworthiness of the user. We don’t divulge more details than that,
but the order of listing does and will change over time, as more people
come to read and write reviews about your business.” (More people did
write reviews but the rotten review still, like a billboard, stays
up on top.) And then, to add insult to injury, Edgar at Yelp states,
“We are constantly striving to improve our listing results and are
always working hard to improve the user experience. Thanks for helping
make Yelp better for everyone!” Are you kidding? Who IS the Yelp
community? The staff? The reviewers? The advertisers? This one negative
review was not marked “useful” as others, it was outdated, had been
flagged. I have a great elite Yelper that gave me five stars, has over
41 “useful, funny, and cool,” but he’s not at the top either.
More current five-star reviews start to come and mysteriously go.
This one outdated negative review remains at the top of my review page.
Not only that, the first sentences or two of the bad review was like a
byline of my business. If you Googled my business about
fourth down, page one in the Google search you would see my
company name with the words “Absolutely terrible ….” There was
no reason for Yelp to post this review, knowing it was defamatory and
untrue. The Washington Consumer Protection Act states that it is unfair
and a deceptive act or practice that is being done in the conduct of
commerce and that affects the public interest. Hard to believe that
Yelp is not aware of this but perhaps they need a reminder. The way
they operate and plant the reviews deceives the public.
We built and continue to build a community-oriented
business that has a good reputation. This review being highlighted
on Yelp I could see could have hurt my business, hurt my
employees, and my reputation. The reviewer even stated she came to me
because of my reviews on Yelp. Why would someone go past the first
review when the first review was so inflammatory? I know up until
now, I wouldn’t have gone any further. And the reviewer actually
referred the viewers to a competing company and Yelp also thought
that to be fair. I suspected a plant but had no proof. Around
the time this review was posted once again I get a sales call from
“Mike” at Yelp, and then I believe Valerie. They suggested that
because of all my good reviews I should take advantage of what a
sponsorship package could do for me. If I pay $300 a month, the
bad review would move below, maybe even disappear, they could not
guarantee that but it does happen. The favorite review of my
choosing would be at the top. I told them it was like Internet
blackmail, holding me hostage to a false review, keeping that review at
the top and making me an “offer” I can’t refuse. But I did
refuse. Paying Yelp to get a bad review to drop down felt
worse than the false review. Instead of paying Yelp I got an
attorney. He helped me draft a letter full of legalese and, like
magic, the review is gone. Not only dropped from my page, it
disappeared. Of course Yelp will never admit why it’s gone, they never
responded to my letter. But I think it’s fair to say between your
article and timing of my attorney’s letter, they decided to “review” my
review and it was removed.
My company and IÂ felt victimized. While many of you “Yelpers”
will say, “It’s just a review site” and you will continue to be
critical of the reporter who brought this to the public’s attention,
you need to be concerned because you are being deceived. I will tell
you this: Let’s see those who support Yelp sacrifice, work their tail
off to build a business from the ground up. A business that supports a
family of five, college tuition, medical care for its employees and
salaries for these hardworking people, and then get back to me when
your business is defamed by a popular review site and then ignored
until your attorney gets their attention. Easy to criticize, but
obviously not easy for Yelp to just say they are “Sorry and they will
do better.”
Yelp has NO idea the harm they cause and the stress of having to
“deal” with a false review. I asked the salesperson to please
e-mail or send me a written letter with exactly what the $300 a month
will get me, what the status of bad reviews is when you are a paid
sponsor. She told me “We don’t do that, we do business over the phone.”
I said, “You are asking my company to pay Yelp $3,600 a year and you do
not want to put INTO written words your contract, your agreement?” And
she said “It’s just not what we do, we deal over the
phone.” Amazing, so obvious they don’t want a paper
trail. While part of me is scared to offer this letter to the
editor, what is most important to me is that when I wake up in the
morning and I look in the mirror and I like what I see, who I am,
and what we should all stand for. We have to stand up for truth and
fairness; it’s the right thing to do. Can Yelp say the same? Â I
love what we have built in our community and my company will continue
to grow because we are good, honest working people. And as of today I
have eight five-star reviews on Yelp, down from twelve reviews
of five stars a week ago. Hum … they just seem to keep
disappearing? I’m sure if this letter is published I run the risk of my
reviews dwindling down to maybe four or less. I’ll take that
chance.
So my star may not shine for long on Yelp, if history repeats
itself. I’m sure I’m putting myself and my company at risk writing this
letter. I’m hoping others will join me in telling their story and not
be afraid to take a stand, and stand up to Yelp. It’s obvious by
Yelp’s response to this article they really don’t like to see things in
writing.
Becky Bishop, owner, Puppy Manners, Seattle
I Dig Your Digging
I just read your fantastic story in the Express and I
couldn’t help myself from writing you. This story followed up, dug
deep, and it literally made me laugh out loud when I read the last
paragraph. I hope great investigative journalism prevails, especially
against a giant like Yelp. In unsure journalistic times, it’s a glimpse
of what could keep papers going.
Whitney Pahl, San Francisco
The Hazards of Yelp
I’ve been saying it since it started, something about Yelp rubbed me
the wrong way. I’m sure at its inception, it was going to be a great
tool. As a marketing consultant, I applaud them for essentially
creating a free lead generator for them. Why pay some intern or
assistant to do the research when “Yelpers” with 150 reviews can do the
work for them?
But when you rely on user-generated content, you will always run
into MANY factors that will question the integrity of the content. I
could, essentially, create a negative review against a competitor, or a
client who opted NOT to pay me. (I assure you, you won’t find me doing
this.) This act, dubbed “trolling” with the case of Internet messaging
boards, is worse; these actions affect the livelihood of hardworking
business people trying to survive.
The best way to approach this is to allow listings to be CLOSED at
the request of the business owner. Of course, the CEO would not allow
this to happen, his business would be shot.
I only write because their incessant calls have now affected MY
business. When dealing with businesses not savvy with the Internet,
they have now associated anything to do with Internet as “the company
that hassles me four times a week.”
Of course, none of the Yelp sales representatives would have the
GUTS to walk into a restaurant to sell, they might be chased out with a
cleaver!
Jason Kwong, Oakland
“Small Schools, Big Debate,” Feature, 3/11
Learn From the Jacket
Seriously, you guys should be ashamed — very ashamed. Your hit
piece on Berkeley High does nothing to further any authentic
journalistic aims. Real journalism involves more asking questions and
less giving one-sided opinion as fact. The kids at the BHS
Jacket did a much better job; they ran a fair piece presenting
both sides in a long and very intense controversy.
Matt McHugh, Phil Halpern, Evy Kaveler, Annie Johnston — these
are dedicated, hardworking people. They have different views on how to
best serve the students’ needs, and there really is a place for a media
piece in that dialectic. Such a piece might ask some hard questions,
the kind that don’t have easy (or possibly any) answers: Which kids are
succeeding? Which ones are not? How is success defined? What is being
done in the different schools to address the needs of those who are not
succeeding? Which strategies seem to be working? What does GPA really
show? What about college entrance exams? Are there other measures of
success? Of college readiness? What are the kids here for?
The answers that students, teachers, and administrators would give
to these kinds of questions would vary widely. But that does not mean
we should give up, game over, one side wins the other loses. BHS small
schools were founded because the traditional school was failing to meet
the needs of so many. That doesn’t mean they have all the answers, or
do everything right. Small schools teachers will be the first to admit
that they are always learning and looking for better ways. In fact,
such inquiry is a founding principal of small school reform.
Halpern is right, people need to get together and talk respectfully.
Such a dialogue is the only way forward, really, when one houses such
divergent viewpoints under one roof. But they are all under one roof,
and “the other side” is not simply going to go away. So let’s learn
from each other as best we can.
Rachel Swan’s article on Berkeley High small schools does nothing to
further such communication. It reminds one, rather, of the kids in the
courtyard during a fight yelling “Hit him! Hit him!” But in fairness,
it’s the kids on the Jacket staff that have got this one right.
Perhaps the Express can learn something from them. If not, they
should pack up their presses and call it quits, before anyone else gets
hurt.
Joel Hildebrandt, cofounder, Berkeley High’s School of Social
Justice and Ecology, West Auckland, New Zealand
Do a Better Job
Your story on Berkeley High’s small schools was more of a smear than
an objective article. Some examples:
Berkeley High has six distinct programs; you lumped them together in
two categories, “large” and “small,” obliterating their important
differences and making your generalizations very suspect;
You insisted that lower test scores were a sign of small school
deficiencies, even though small schools are explicitly not
designed around test scores;
You stated that the small schools were failing students of color,
again, by using the inappropriate comparator of test scores. Yet you
fail to comment on white students’ declining performance on the high
school exit exam.
The article’s tone, in particular the headline, “separate and
unequal at Berkeley’s small schools,” was sensationalistic and
finger-pointing. You implied that the advocates of small schools were
actually holding back students of color even though you admit that
graduation rates in the small schools are terrific, over 90 percent.
Academic achievement among ethnic groups is a hugely important subject;
it should be discussed with objectivity, not rhetoric.
We are parents of an eleventh grader at Berkeley High’s School of
Communication Arts and Sciences, (CAS) one of Berkeley High’s small
schools. In the CAS environment our daughter has grown into a critical
thinker and a compassionate, intelligent world-citizen. CAS’s terrific
teachers work together as a team, similar to the approach used in many
small, private schools.
If you are going to pick a complex subject such as this one, please
do a better job journalistically. We generally like the Express,
but this story deserves an F.
Lucy Clarke and Larry Hendel, Berkeley
Distribute Advanced Students
Equally
My son was in CAS, one of Berkeley High’s small schools, for two
years and loved the sense of community, the dedication of the teachers,
and the diversity backgrounds of the students. He did not always feel
sufficiently challenged, academically, and decided to transfer to the
Berkeley International High School, this year. He likes the academic
challenge, sometimes has too much work, and misses many of his former
classmates.
I have known and worked with Victor Carey, Phil Halpern, and other
teachers at the small schools for many years. They have dedicated much
of their careers, hearts, and minds to creating a more equitable school
for all children.
The test scores that students have when they graduate from the small
schools and the larger ones are largely reflective of the scores when
they entered. A more equitable distribution of the students who are
advanced and the students who are behind among all the schools would be
a much better system for all our students, our teachers, and our
society.
David Stark, Berkeley
High Standards Exist
I am a volunteer writing coach at Berkeley High School and have
worked regularly in the CPA class of the teacher mentioned in Ms.
Swan’s article, Susannah Bell. The writer failed to capture Ms. Bell’s
consistent high expectations of her students. Her writing assignments
are demanding and rigorous. She treats her students with respect and
kindness, but she does not lower the standards of what should be
expected of high school English students in any way. I have found a
similar set of expectations in the other class in which I have worked,
taught by Ariel Morris.
The impression the writer would leave us with is contrary to what I
have experienced in these two CPA classrooms. Students that I have
worked with are respectful and have taken their assignments seriously.
The papers are individually written, not “group” projects. The reading
list is not a collection of “politically correct” titles. The writing
assignments have included personal reflections of a very engaging
nature, compositions on books by international contemporary writers,
and essays on traditional works as varied as Oedipus the King
and The Catcher in the Rye. The students are often asked
to examine and analyze these books with a creative approach. The young
writer with whom I recently worked chose to analyze Lord of the
Flies from a psychoanalytic perspective, discussing how three
characters were archetypes of the id, ego, and superego. These students
are being challenged and encouraged to do their best work.
I am thankful to be working with these BHS students and their
teachers. They deserve better than the characterizations of this
article.
Larry Mandella, Berkeley
Masking the Gap?
Dr. Noguera misses the point. The question is “have small schools
made any significant impact in closing the achievement gap or haven’t
they?” The fact that Advanced Placement courses are offered by small
schools does not a priori prove that students are a) receiving a
rigorous curriculum or b) being successful in mastering that
curriculum. Are most students in these classes passing the Advanced
Placement exams? The answer is no. Are most students taking these same
courses in the larger school passing these same exams? The answer is
yes. Has the achievement gap been closed? The answer is no.
You refer to these small schools as “pockets of hope.” Our efforts
should not be based on “hope” but concrete analysis of progress or lack
of it. You seem to base your conclusions that small schools have “found
creative ways to raise the level of academic learning and achievement”
on the existence of course titles alone. And for CPA and CAS and AHA, a
science course with one title (Integrated Science) is easily
substituted for another (Honors Human Anatomy) when a student is
unsuccessful. Is this closing the achievement gap or only masking
it?
I have never challenged the sincerity, commitment, and the hard work
of teachers in the small schools. What I have challenged are the
practices that lead to dishonest reporting of student achievement. Many
of us believe that it is possible to close the achievement gap; that
students of color can be successful in challenging academic classes,
and that we do not have to just “wish” it so. Let’s focus on increasing
collaboration on instructional practices and the use of school-wide and
outside assessment tools to measure our successes. This is where the
real conversation needs to go.
Amy Hansen, Berkeley
I’m Prepared for College
When I read your article about small schools at Berkeley High, I was
so upset and surprised. I have been in CPA for four years and it has
been such a great experience. I feel that CPA has done a great job to
prepare me for college: I’ve been accepted to two out of the three
colleges I applied to. CPA put me in the right classes so that I am
ready for college courses. Even though I am not the first in my family
to go to college, my sister was, and she was also in CPA as a Berkeley
High student. I feel that CPA teachers are great — they keep us
interested in the material they are teaching. Our classes are very
active learning environments. I feel that your article was very wrong
and is giving CPA a bad name. How can you possibly talk about something
you have never experienced? I am very sorry that you can’t see what
good CPA is doing for this school and this community.
So: Has CPA prepared me for college? My answer is yes, they most
certainly have.
Courtney Moore, Community Partnership Academy, Berkeley
Inflating Grades in K-8
This article is absolutely right, but it does not cover the whole
story. The fact is, there are many private K-8 schools in Berkeley
which are designed as small schools at BHS.
They inflate grades, they convince parents and students that they
are doing better than other kids, but they in fact don’t teach. Few
years ago we withdraw our daughter from one of such schools, where 4th
graders learned geography using a map with Boston on West from New
York, Rome on Balkans, Capetown deep in the African continent, etc.
Being a professional mathematician, I don’t even which to talk about
math at that school.
The main problem in my understanding is the attempt to do imitate
work in fair direction keeping in mind right opposite idea for yourself
and own kids.
Bair Budaev, Berkeley
“Taking on Amazon.com,” Full
Disclosure, 3/4
Hello Comrade
Robert Gammon is a stupid statist ass. Amazon is internationally
based and should not be doing the dirty work of stealing monies from
its customers to give to the undeserving tax thieves in Sacramento. I
know this is hard for a “mind” like Comrade Gammon’s collectivist pea
brain to grasp but many of us want less, not more monies going to the
bureaucrats in Sacramento. Many of us like Amazon because we can buy
every kind of book cheaper and we don’t have to worry if Mrs. Moe
doesn’t approve of holocaust revisionist works. There are a very few
unsung heroes in the secondhand book field like Dan Webb and Darryl Van
Fleet. We are glad to patronize them. But for the secondhanders in the
field who come rushing to the state to protect you from your betters at
Amazon, we are going to organize a boycott of your dying
establishments.
Michael P. Hardesty, Oakland
Level the Playing Field
I love Amazon, but I can’t think of a good reason they shouldn’t
collect sales tax from me. I’m happy not to pay it, but it’s hard to
argue that just because they aren’t sited in California I should get a
free pass on sales tax. It may have made sense to encourage the growth
of Internet businesses early on, but that time is past and a level
playing field is right now. I factor in the absence of sales tax on
Amazon when I make purchase decisions, but I will not argue that it is
fair.
Kurt Schoeneman, Boonville
“The Fuzziness of Human Rights,” Raising the Bar, 3/4
What Human Rights?
The validity of Jay Youngdahl’s article should be judged by the
organizations he deems worth mentioning as representatives of the
defense of human rights. Human Rights Watch is a fifth column for US
imperialism and the Jewish State funded mostly by the big scam mounted
by Bernie Madoff. José Miguel Vivanco, a Human Rights Watch
director for Latin America, was expelled from Venezuela for his
subversive activities on behalf of US imperialism.
Human Rights Watch was the most visible fifth column for US
imperialism in Yugoslavia with its activists proudly bragging how they
were debriefed by the State Department when coming back to the United
States, and they gladly collaborated with it; they have been playing
the same role with respect to Sudan, as well as other regions of the
planet: Georgia, Afghanistan, Congo, etc.
The other example worth mentioning for Youngdahl is that of a
“Catholic feminist theologian” who “is working hard to construct a
basis in ‘natural law’….” Since when theologians base their reasoning
on “natural law”? What an oxymoron! And don’t get me started with the
“feminist” part of that sentence!
It is not surprising that with this reasoning Jay Youngdahl has come
out in the past in support of the illegal scabs who break border laws,
labor laws, traffic laws, and many of them drug laws, since those
thousands of dead and decapitated in Mexico are a result of fights to
provide the US drug market, where it is transported and distributed by
the illegals. They also claim that they’re “humans” and that they have
“rights,” that is, to break all of these laws.
Jay Youngdahl, your reasoning only makes sense in
Berkeleyland!!!
Antonio Trossero, San Leandro
