Opinion: A lesson about race and the church

(ABP) -- My father, the Rev. Ronald F. Sanders, began pastoring Southern Baptist churches well before I was born. Like many who proclaim the gospel Sunday after Sunday, he was called to ministry at an early age. He graduated from college and attended seminary knowing full well that he -- and, by extension, his family -- would spend a life in service to the Lord.
His particular profession, of course, meant that I would have to bear the awful burden of wearing the dreaded label of “preacher’s kid,” which is only marginally better than that other dreaded label -- “preacher’s wife.” That said, I benefited from low expectations. Comparatively speaking, at nearly every church where my father served, I apparently behaved much better than the previous minister’s children.
For a young child, as self-aware as I was, there was also the practical aspect of growing up in and around the church -- I saw the best and worst in people. I benefited from loving, godly people who loved my family unconditionally and reflected what Scripture taught about living out one’s faith.
But I also watched my father navigate the church’s shark-infested waters, which were occasionally filled with a spiritually high-minded deacon or another sanctified busybody who was always ready to extract pounds of flesh from the preacher.
It was 1983 and my fourth-grade year was drawing to a close. For two years by then, we had been stationed at a church in the Deep South -- urban Jackson, Miss. The neighborhood around the church was in the midst of a demographic transition: Many of the middle-class white families either had grown old and died or fled to the suburbs. In their place, middle-class black families began taking up residence around the church.
During that time, my father developed a burden for the families in the neighborhood. He believed that Christ taught us to share the gospel with everyone, and certainly made no distinctions based on skin color. So this young white pastor spent countless hours inviting people who looked nothing like him to his church. Over time he began to realize that the church would have to reflect its surroundings before it could attract those from the neighborhood.
He had a revolutionary idea: Hire a black assistant pastor so that those living near the church would realize that he was serious about reaching the community.
So he talked to a few individuals at the state convention. Marginally progressive, they thought it was a great idea. They all realized that such a move probably meant that, in time, a black Southern Baptist congregation could sit on the corner of Robinson Street and Ellis Avenue.
He was encouraged by the convention officials’ enthusiastic reaction. But the reaction was rather different when he presented his plan to the church’s deacons, and he wasn’t prepared for their stiff resistance to hiring an African-American associate pastor.
As he shared his heart, burden and plan, several of the men got up and walked out of the meeting while yelling at their young pastor -- in words not fit to print -- that they would rather die than go to church with a black person. My father knew he couldn't continue to pastor a church whose so-called servants harbored that kind of hate. He made it clear where he stood, and as a result, my family was no longer welcome.
Not long after that, we left -- God had opened up another opportunity.
Just a few years later, our former church in Jackson had dwindled to the point where it was no longer able to afford to keep its doors open. Its members scattered. The irony is rich: The white Baptists left and the building was purchased by a predominantly black congregation that, to this day, still worships on the corner of Robinson Street and Ellis Avenue in Jackson, Miss.
Even as a nine-year-old boy, the lesson was obvious to me then: Love triumphs over hate; good prevails over evil -- and God has a way of getting what he wants.
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David Sanders is a columnist for Stephens Media in Little Rock, Ark., and the producer and host of the Arkansas Educational Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom."

NCAA makes moves to clean up basketball recruiting

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INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA moved Thursday to clean up a college basketball recruiting environment that Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany said had reached the point of "chaos."
The association's Division I board of directors endorsed a series of measures designed to clamp down on the funneling of money to prospects' handlers and other associates, prohibiting schools and college coaches from paying them consulting fees, employing them at camps and clinics and giving them specialized, noncoaching jobs, among other things.
Head and assistant coaches violating the provisions could face both regular-season and postseason suspensions. Prospects could be barred from signing with their schools.
The first phase of the crackdown simply toughens the NCAA's interpretation of existing rules and goes into effect immediately. New proposals — including one that would ban the hiring of "an individual associated with a prospect" for two years before or after the player's arrival on campus — would come to an initial vote by a legislative council in January.
Basketball coaches and conference commissioners had urged the action. "It really provides a very bright line for all of our coaches with respect to the acts and conduct which are now prohibited," Delany said. "I'm not sure that we've had the clarity that we now have."
The sport also is the target of efforts to shore up its players' academic performance, and the Division I board voted support for several measures — one trimming the number of men's basketball regular-season games from 29 to 28 (or 26 plus one exempt tournament), another providing for a gradual ramp-up of practice in October.
Final approval could come in January. Additional recommendations calling for more emphasis on summer school will get more study.
Meanwhile, the NCAA formally launched its search for a successor to President Myles Brand, who died of pancreatic cancer Sept. 16. Oregon State President Ed Ray, the new chairman of the association's top-level Executive Committee, will lead a six-person search committee — all university CEOs.
The panel, which met for the first time Thursday, will engage a national search firm and hopes to have a new president in place by the beginning of the 2010-11 academic year, Ray said. His predecessor as executive committee chairman, Georgia President Michael Adams, has pointed to what he calls "a strong consensus" to hire another university CEO, as Brand was at Oregon and Indiana.
Ray was more noncommittal, saying "my responsibility is to make this search as open and inclusive as possible."
Adams, an oft-speculated candidate, stepped down from the executive committee position several months before the scheduled end of his term but reiterated "my intentions to continue as president of the University of Georgia." One other potential candidate is indicating interest, however: Hartford President Walt Harrison, a former executive committee chairman who has played a lead role in the NCAA's academic reform efforts.
"I think it's very intriguing to think about," Harrison said Thursday. "I also think I've had an unabashed, very public, 11-year love affair with the University of Hartford and I still love being there."

Drop the Mask! It’s Halloween, Kids, You Might Scare Somebody

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Guns, daggers and other toy weapons have long been excisedfrom costumes at many school celebrations on Halloween. But in some classrooms across the country, the interpretation of what is too scary — or offensive, gross or saddening — is now also leading to an abundance of caution and some prohibitions.
In a school district in Illinois, students are being encouraged to dress up as historical characters or delicious food items rather than vampires or zombies. In Texas, a school has issued suggestions for “positive costumes” for the annual Halloween dance. At Riverside Drive, a Los Angeles public school in the San Fernando Valley, the Halloween parade is being defanged right down to its jagged fingertips.
“We’re balancing a tradition here with the times we live in,” said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for District 202 in Plainfield, Ill., where costumes depicting animals and food (preferably carrots or pumpkins) are in favor.
Even at a public school named after the man who practically invented cloak and daggers for children, there are restrictions.
“Children are not allowed to bring any weapons or masks to the costume parade, no swords, and they can wear moderate face makeup — nothing extreme,” explained Addys Gonzalez, the office assistant at the Walt Disney Elementary School in Burbank, Calif.
A memo about costume appropriateness sent home recently by Riverside Drive’s principal made the following points:
¶They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary.
¶Masks are allowed only during the parade.
¶Costumes may not demean any race, religion, nationality, handicapped condition or gender.
¶No fake fingernails.
¶No weapons, even fake ones.
¶Shoes must be worn.
Joel Bishoff’s children will make the cut at Riverside Drive. His second grader will be Dorothy (not the witch!) from “The Wizard of Oz,” while his fifth-grade son will wear a costume depicting a box of Wheaties.
“I’m not sure what is driving this memo,” Mr. Bishoff said. “But perhaps it is reaction to years past. Sometimes kids will have those ‘Scream’ masks, but usually not too blood and gutsy. I mean, can’t parents have discretion? The fact is, if parents are too stupid to not send kids to school with hockey masks as Jason, they are probably too stupid to read this memo.”
Jennifer Kessler, the principal at the Riverside Drive school, did not return calls seeking an explanation of the policy. Riverside Drive goes beyond the Los Angeles Unified Public Schools guidelines, written a few years ago, said Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the system. Those guidelines discourage fake weapons, costumes that mock race or gender and anything too sexy; French maids are explicitly discouraged.
Parents and some educators said that restrictions like those at Riverside Drive often stemmed from a desire to protect smaller children from freakishly scary costumes, to maintain classroom order (spray-on hair color is often banned, for instance, because children tend to spray it all day long) and to keep from demeaning groups through costumes that play on stereotypes.
Some other institutions have taken a similar approach. The Chicago Children’s Museum has imposed costume restrictions on employees for several years. Jennifer Farrington, the museum’s president, said the restrictions had “emerged out of talks about diversity and stereotypes.”
“This is about staying true to our vision and values, and developmentally appropriate practice, not about being politically correct,” Ms. Farrington said, citing her own memo on the topic some years ago. “We’re about honoring and promoting diversity, not feeding children images of stereotypes.”
In some school districts, there are other motivating factors.
“Several years ago, there was some push back in our community,” said Mr. Hernandez, the school district spokesman in Plainfield, Ill. “Some people thought Halloween was a Satanic ritual. Well, let’s not say Satanic — let’s say they were not comfortable with what it represents.”
Still, no one in Plainfield wanted the Halloween celebrations, a long tradition in the school community there, to end. So guidelines were formed in favor of costumes that “portray positive images,” Mr. Hernandez said.
“If someone shows up in a witch costume, we’re not going to tell them to take it off,” he said, but the district will not countenance claws of any sort.
The change in costume mores has not been lost on those who make a living selling dress up.
“I would say people are becoming more classical and creative and staying away from things like Chucky,” said Shelly Shai, the owner of Shelly’s Dance & Costume Wear in Los Angeles, referring to a character in a series of horror films. “I think they have enough of that in daily life now with the movies that come out, which seem to only get worse and worse. And when it comes to dressing up, people don’t want to be one of a million vampires anyway.”
At James F. Bay Elementary in Seabrook, Tex., costumes are forbidden outright, according to the school’s principal, Erin Tite, but an exception was made for the Halloween dance.
“The purpose for the dance was to allow them a safe place to wear their costumes in place of trick or treating for some of our students,” Ms. Tite said in an e-mail message. “We established the guidelines of ‘positive costumes’ from the beginning, knowing what we might see if we chose not to establish boundaries.”

World Series: Phillies Take Game 1 Over Yankees

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The Philadelphia Phillies won the first game of the World Series Wednesday night, behind the pitching of their ace reliever Cliff Lee. The Phillies beat the Yankees 6-1. Game 2 is in New York Thursday night.

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Last night the Philadelphia Phillies looked like the World Series champions that they are. The Phillies traveled to the Bronx for the first game of the World Series this year and they beat the New York Yankees 6-1 behind the pitching of their ace, Cliff Lee, who went all the way. NPR's Mike Pesca has more.
MIKE PESCA: The Yankees have a stated game plan. They're not shy about telling you it rests on power pitching and hitting homeruns. But their implied game plan, the one they hope will present itself in every series, is this: Intimidate. Overwhelm the other team with their urbanity: a $1.2 million stadium set against skyscrapers, accessed by subway, filled with celebrities. Take it all in, opposing team. No one will blame you if it all seems a little overwhelming. But in game one of this, the Yankees 40th World Series, a dude from Benton, Arkansas, thought about being intimidated, but then Cliff Lee decided against it.
Mr. CLIFF LEE (Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies): It's been a long time since I've been nervous playing this game. It's what I've been doing my whole life. Like I said, what's the point in being nervous?
PESCA: Oh sure, hundreds of opposing pitchers have come into the stadium swearing the Yankees championship banners and business-like pinstripes would not affect them, and many still insist it wasn't a case of nerves that led to their removal.
But Cliff Lee never came out last night. He pitched a 10 strike-out, no walk complete game. That's occurred one other time, and it happened to be in the very first World Series game ever played, in 1903. Yankee manager Joe Girardi didn't know that. He just knew that while Yankee starter CC Sabathia was good, Cliff Lee was better.
Mr. JOE GIRARDI (Manager, New York Yankees): He was great tonight. He kept us off balance. He used his curve ball very well. I mean, he was really good. And CC - I thought CC grinded it out very well tonight. And he made the two mistakes to Utley, but that was it.
PESCA: In manager-speak mistake usually means homerun. In the third inning, Chase Utley became the first lefty to homer off of CC Sabathia in Yankee Stadium this year. In the sixth inning, he did it again. Here's Philadelphia radio station WPHT with the call of the first of those solo shots.
(Soundbite of broadcast)
Unidentified Man: And a 3-2 pitch. Swing and a high fly ball right field. Going back on it, Swisher. He's at the track. He's at the wall. Leaps. Can't get it. It's gone. A homerun for Chase Utley. What an at-bat.
PESCA: With a 2-0 lead, Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee dominated. He baffled and blew away Yankees, while never betraying an emotion anymore pronounced than the faintest smirk.
For all his dazzling pitches, it was the catch of a pop fly that convinced all in the stadium that they were seeing something unusual. Lee barely moved as the ball completed its trajectory. His arm by his side, he simply opened his glove and the ball fell in.
(Soundbite of broadcast)
Mr. TIM MCCARVER (Sportscaster): That was a rather nonchalant grab. That guy's in the World Series. That's out number two here in the sixth. Get excited, will you?
PESCA: What amused Fox broadcaster Tim McCarver was the only thing that Lee did that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel found a little bit irksome.
Mr. CHARLIE MANUEL (Manager, Philadelphia Phillies): He's trying to pull a Willie Mays on us or something.
PESCA: Lee, on the other hand…
Mr. LEE: Yeah, it was pretty cool. No. I caught it and he was out, so that's really all that matters.
PESCA: Lee made the catch, continued to make his pitches, and with some tack-on runs in the eight and ninth innings the Phillies made what had been a close game more comfortable. Final score: Phillies 6, Yankees 1. Game two is tonight, and we'll see if the team feeling the strain of all the Yankee pressure is the Yankees themselves.
Mike Pesca, NPR News, New York.

Tiffin says it’s all about the leg—not the tape

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Talk about pressure. Leigh Tiffin had to come through in a big rivalry game when the offense wasn’t producing touchdowns.
No. 2 Alabama’s kicker had to show it was about the leg, not the tape.
Tiffin came through in the aftermath of “Tapegate,” kicking four field goals in a 12-10 win over Tennessee when one miss would likely have cost the Crimson Tide its shot at a perfect season.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time, could it?” Tiffin said, grinning.
Tiffin and Alabama holder P.J. Fitzgerald were unwittingly thrust into the limelight when Steve Spurrier reported to the Southeastern Conference and made public comments about their use of white tape to spot kicks against South Carolina.
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That’s a 5-yard penalty when officials catch it. Spurrier’s report prompted the league to remind teams of the rule against spotting kicks.
“I told P.J., ‘Man, I hope we do well this week. If we miss one, they’re going to blame it on the tape,”’ Tiffin said.
“I wasn’t worried about it. I didn’t think it would affect anything, and it didn’t.”
Tiffin’s four field goals included a 50- and a 49-yarder and were enough to beat the Volunteers. The senior hadn’t received much attention pre-Tapegate, lost on a star-packed team that is 8-0 and squarely in the national championship hunt.
But Tiffin is having the best season of his career, leading the SEC in scoring and ranking fifth nationally with 84 points. Only UCLA’s Kai Forbath is making more field goals per game than Tiffin, who has made 20 of 23 attempts.
Tiffin has also climbed Alabama’s career scoring chart among kickers, passing his father, Van, and moving into second all-time. Chances are, he’ll break Philip Doyle’s 19-year-old record against No. 9 LSU on Nov. 7 after Alabama’s open date. He needs only three points to break the record of 339.
“Whenever we’ve needed him to go out there, he’s knocked one through,” Tide tailback Mark Ingram said. “He’s doing a great job. I think the whole team’s confident when he goes out there it’s going to be three points. If he ever does miss it, I think everybody’s going to be probably more shocked than anything.”
Shocked pretty much sums up Fitzgerald’s reaction when their use of tape got so much attention. He said he and Tiffin started using something to spot the ball at some point last season after seeing a kicker do it in a game either on film or TV.
“My jaw just dropped, like ‘Really? Wow,”’ Fitzgerald said. “At least we know he’s paying attention to detail on the film.”
Most of the time, he said, “We just picked up a blade of grass and dropped it. But no more of that. There’s no tape necessary.”
The kickers were given a pre-game reminder that spotting kicks was a no-no. Lining up for their first attempt, an official made a point of looking down at the ground in front of Fitzgerald while walking to his position.
“We weren’t going to try to pull one on him,” Tiffin said.
Coach Nick Saban said Tide players would stop spotting the ball since it violates the NCAA rule that “no material or device” can be used that affects the field and gives an advantage to a player or team. But he also said Alabama coaches found that more than half of SEC teams had used something on the ground for kicks.
“I think it’s pretty common,” Tiffin said. “Probably not in the SEC anymore.”

Nintendo Announces DSi LL News

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Latest iteration features bigger screens, a longer lasting battery and a new touchpen...By Chris LeytonPosted: 29/10/2009
Despite only a few days ago denying that a new Nintendo DS was in the pipeline, the Japanese hardware giant today unveiled the Nintendo DSi LL, due to be released in Japan on November 21st for 20,000 yen (£134).As previously reported the new version features larger 4.2" screens compared to the DSi's 3.25". As a result the dimensions of the device have increased by approximately 15% to 161mm x 91.4mm x 21.2 mm, and weighs 100g more than the DSi. The format will initially be available in three colours: Wine Red, Dark Brown and Natural White.It seems that the battery length has been enhanced significantly, with the DSi LL able to provide between 13-17 hours on minimum brightness and 4-5 hours on the highest, which compares to 9-14 hours and 3-4 hours respectively on the Nintendo DSi.The device will support Nintendo DS, DSi exclusive and DSi Ware titles, but like the DSi before it, won't feature support GameBoy Advance titles. The DSi LL also introduces the Touch Pen along the standard Stylus, although we're waiting for further details on what this offers.Pre-installed software includes the Nintendo DSi Browser, Moving Notepad, DSi Brain Age Training Hen Arts, Brain Age Hen DSi and Kiyou Akira Rakuhiku Language Easier.