Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Fixing the High School.

Knox High School, it’s broken. How could it be fixed? Fixes must come from the top; that’s the School Board. However, it is dubious that our School Board is even aware of the extent to which Knox High School is malfunctioning. For years the board has been given fictitious management reports. The fundamental challenge for every board that oversees a large and complex enterprise is to get accurate reports from your management. The information flowing to the School Board is carefully managed. Of course management panders to the biases and ignorance of the board members. When one Board Member has a big interest is cheerleading, you can be sure that there will be a steady diet of positive cheerleading reports. When Board Members are interested in doing insurance business with the school corporation, they will be kept happy. If a School Board Member’s wife needs a job, the administration will find a place. No Board Member wants to rock the boat because they are having such a nice smooth ride. This insures a happy and stupid Board of Trustees. And this is exactly what we have.

So the most important element in fixing the school is to shake up the School Board. This is the voter’s responsibility. Given that there are years remaining on the elected terms of the School Board, the changes needed seem both distant and problematic. Quite frankly, it is a distressing situation. The only hope is that the Board really cares about what is going on at the school and wants make things better. And, happily, that happens to be a legitimate hope because I believe that the School Board truly wants to do a good job. Feel-good reports and pandering to their narrow interests have sidetracked them, but that can change.

What the Board needs to do: The Board needs to educate themselves as to what constitutes excellence in education. Then they need to establish clear goals for the administration. So as not to be too vague, let me put this more concretely. There are 2 big problems, the dropout rate and the graduate’s pursuit and success at attaining a college education.

The Board needs to address the dropout rate by demanding clear and honest reporting on the actual extent of the problem. Then the Board needs to demand the development of programs that will reduce the dropout rate. Then the Board needs to see genuine improvement. If the present administration is not capable of improving the dropout situation, they will need to seek out different administrators. We will need to see different sorts of academic and consoling programs in the high school. The reasons for dropping out will need to be addressed and not, like today, by a shrug and a “good bye, good riddance”.

The Board also needs to address the SAT score/pursuit of a college education problem. The same logical approach needs to be taken as with the dropout problem. Administration needs to be focused on the problem. In some ways the problems are identical. Improving the quality of education will eliminate some of the dropouts. However, there will need to be two very different approaches to truly get some real improvement. Improving SAT scores will mean that the classrooms need to change in ways that are different from what is needed for reducing the dropout rate. A traditional high quality academic environment is appropriate for improving college attendance and SATs. There will need to be some non-traditional programs for retaining the dropouts.
As I re-read my effort above I kind of feel like puking. The stuff of this blog is truly a clutch of clichéd claptrap. It is however a necessary foundation for what is to follow. So please bear with me. In any case, I don’t think that we can really go wrong trying to underestimate the intelligence of the School Board. I promise that my next blog on this subject will be more worthy of my readers. Please stay tuned for “Caste and Class in the Classroom” and “Treating Teachers like Crap”.

Monday, January 29, 2007

How’s the High School Doing? Bright Kids. Middle Class Kids.

How’s the High School Doing? Bright Kids. Middle Class Kids.

So we have seen that the not-so-bright and not-so-middle-class kids tend to drop out of school. If 43% of the 9th grade class will be gone by graduation that means that the brightest and best kids are left. (At least one would suppose.) Knox High School is really a sort of magnet school for the middle class or at least it is an anti-magnet school for the lower class. With this self-sorted graduating class those that are left should be primarily college bound. According to the Indiana Department of education 45% of our graduates are pursuing a college education. Well I think that is pretty poor considering the dropout rate. 45% of the 57% that graduate go on to college. In other words about 1 out of 4 of our 9th graders have ended up starting college.

Only 44% of our 12th Graders take the SAT. Our average SAT score is 967. That is about the 40% percentile nationwide. 1,000 is considered the average score. When you consider the fact that less than half of the 12th graders take the test, these are terrible results. These scores pretty well explain why so few Knox High School students are college bound. They simply are not sufficiently educated to either get into college or succeed if they get there.

I am going to take it as a given that our high school’s job is to educate the students. I think that the SAT figures speak very clearly to the core problem. Knox High School is not providing a decent education for the students that decide to graduate. I have shown in an earlier blog that we are not providing an education for the less fortunate when we have so many drop out. It also seems that we are not providing an education for the more fortunate either.


The focus of the School Board should be on these core problems. These are fundamental educational issues. The School Board is at fault for not paying attention. They have not paid sufficient attention to the quality of our High School. The have not paid sufficient attention to the prevention of dropouts. Our community is being cheated. We pay our taxes. The Board has not made good use of these tax dollars.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

My apology for Oath of Office Part 2


There have been a couple of comments posted regarding my blog of January 8th “The Oath of Office Part 2”. I thank those that commented for correcting my errors in fact and judgment. They are correct, “the Knox School Board is in violation of nothing for ignoring a ruling of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.” I apologize for my ignorance.

They are not correct, however, when they say, “what happens in any other [federal court] circuit means absolutely nothing here.” A prudent person in a position of public trust does pay attention to the direction of court rulings (if for no other reason to maintain a watchful stance). The arguments in this case seem reasonable and the ruling seems quite likely to be upheld and become the law of the land. Why wouldn’t a prudent person pay attention?

I cannot agree with the implied statement that the ACLU does not protect our freedoms. Perhaps what the one commenter doesn’t like about the ACLU is that they fight for the rights of Nazis, Communists, anarchists, terrorists, Pentecostal snake-handlers, child rapists, pornographers, strip clubs, and all sorts of other very unpleasant citizens. They also fight for children’s rights to pray in school and for the right of churches to conduct their religious meetings as they see fit and for the right of you and I to petition our government. The ACLU has done more for you and I than they might imagine. Without the ACLU we would be in a country with much different freedoms than we enjoy today. Someday they may find that a governmental agency wants to take their house or business or freedom and they may need to find out the hard way that the only friend they have left in the world is the ACLU.
Perhaps you like the fact that our school board ignores the constitutional principal prohibiting the establishment of religion. If you do it is most likely because you agree with their particular religious views. If that is the case then you are simply a proponent of a particular religion and not in favor of other people’s religious freedom. Sadly, if other people don’t have religious freedom, neither do you. You only have the illusion of freedom because you happen to agree with the current powers that be.

Monday, January 22, 2007

How is the High School Doing? Are the students just stupid?

Why do so many high school students fail to graduate?
If a student drops out of high school, he or she must be stupid, right? Well, no. Nationwide 88% of dropouts had passing grades. Most people, including teenagers, do what they must do to survive. Even if those choices seem destructive there is usually a reason behind the choice. (That’s not to say it’s a perfectly logical choice.) I am going to assume that every high school student knows that their prospects in life are greatly reduced when they don’t graduate. High school dropouts are 72% more likely to be unemployed compared to graduates. (U.S. Dept of Labor) I think that every kid contemplating dropping out of school knows that. I don’t think there are many kids that want to be failures and plan to be failures.

If our school board wants to admit that there is a problem and do something about it then the first thing they must do is talk to the dropouts. Find out why are they not getting a diploma. I think the answers will be things like, economic necessity; serious problems with getting along with teachers and students; and some students have fallen behind and feel like hopeless failures. These students don’t need a 1950’s style “high school experience”. They don’t care about school spirit, the marching band, the cheerleading squad and the basketball team. They need a path that they can follow to survive and hopefully there will be a high school diploma on that path. However, only when the school listens to those students can the school then provide a program that can fit their needs.

Idea:
Design a special high school program that focuses only of getting a diploma. The school day might be 5 hours. 2 or 3 different shifts would be available. No extracurricular activities, no homeroom, no electives, no homework, no grading periods, no semesters, no grades, no science labs, no breakfast, no lunch. There would be heavy emphasis on remedial work. This is not college prep. This is aimed at those students that want to get the diploma with none of the usual high school social stuff. I think that many kids that drop out of high school cannot make good use of the so called “high school experience”. So just offer a program that is bare-bones education. Work would be a self-paced series of exercises and reading in a study hall setting with teachers available as needed for individual attention. The goal would be only to satisfy the requirements for graduation.

Admittedly, this idea is sort of far fetched. But if a student needed to go to work to save his family, he or she could do that and still have a way to get a diploma. Taking a month off would not have any penalty. The student would simply continue where they left off. Some students can’t tolerate the social aspects of an 800-student population high school. This program would have 50 or 75 students per shift.

In any case, the low graduation rate is destructive to our community and country. Our school board needs to address and solve this problem. Business as usual will not suffice.

Monday, January 15, 2007

How’s the High School Doing? The 800 pound gorilla.

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
What does raison D'être mean ?
Raison D'être is a French phrase which roughly translates as "reason to be". When used within the English language, it means "the basic reason to exist".....
First a wee bit of history. The raison D'être for free universal public education (public school) was delineated in the 1840s by the common-school reform movement. It was argued that common schooling (free universal public education) could create good citizens, unite society and prevent crime and reduce poverty. I think that the Knox High School Graduation Rate demonstrates a failure of our High School to live up to this essential raison D'être.

The reason for my pessimistic view is the Graduation Rate. I think that the official rate of 72% is overstated. We graduated 102 in 2005-2006. The enrollment in 9th Grade in 2002-2003 was 179. 102 divided by 179 equals 57%. That is the simplest way to examine graduation rate. The expected response from the education bean counters would be: Well that doesn’t account for kids moving out, or home schooling, or going to Culver Academy, etc., etc. But kids move back in, kids go from home school back to public school, and kids drop out of Culver Academy. Enrollment system-wide hasn’t fluctuated more than about 1% the past 5 years. In 2002-2003 we had 2,032 enrolled. In 2006-2007 we have 2,039 enrolled. There isn’t much net movement in and out. I think that our Real Graduation Rate is 57%.

The most oft cited reason (excuse) for our poor performance is poverty. The measure that is most often used is Free Lunch statistics. Here are some comparative statistics. The set of figures on the right of the lines below are the 9th Grade 2002-2003 enrollment divided by the 2005/2006 graduates. I call that the Real Graduation Rate (RGR)

Knox........ 72% grad 37% Free Lunch
.................102/179 = 57% RGR
N Judson. 73% grad 25% Free Lunch
..................94/126 = 74% RGR
O.D.......... 68% grad 23% Free Lunch
..................30/55 = 55% RGR
Plymouth.. 81% grad 23% Free Lunch
..................218/252 = 86% RGR
Winamac.. 86% grad 18% Free Lunch
..................105/115 = 87% RGR

North Judson, Winamac, and Plymouth get the honesty award. Their Real Graduation rate is very close to their official rate. Knox and Oregon Davis get the fibber award for having a much worse Real Graduation rate than their official rate. The poverty reason for poor graduation rates is statistically supported. Knox has a very high Free Lunch rate. (There are interesting little tidbits in the little chart. Compare Plymouth and O.D. with the identical Free Lunch programs.)

But let’s get back on the issue. How is Knox High School doing? With a Real Graduation Rate of 57% (or for that matter, even a 72% official rate) our school is a disaster. Those non-graduates will be highly likely to be on public assistance. They will be highly likely to be criminals. They will be highly likely to contribute to local societal disintegration. Poverty may be a cause of the problem but not an excuse. The school has not made a concerted effort to address this problem. By concerted I mean from the top to the bottom. That means that the School Board is where the solution must start.

I think that this is an overwhelmingly serious problem at Knox High School. The mission and reason for the school’s existence is to create decent and educated citizens. In this mission we are failing. This is a problem that should be addressed at every School Board meeting. Administrators should consider it to be their number one problem. But our School Board does not seem to even recognize that there is a problem. That is THE problem! There is an 800 pound gorilla in the room, but no one notices.

...an example of the word raison D'être...

Thursday, January 11, 2007

How’s the High School Doing?

Diogenes 1860 by Jean Leon Gerome 1824-1904 Walters Art Museum (United States)

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
Who was Diogenes of Sinope?
Diogenes "the Cynic", Greek philosopher, was born about 412 BC. Legend says that he would search the streets of Athens in full daylight with a lantern, “searching for an honest man”. Diagenes was the first “performance” artist. See fascinating entry at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_of_Sinope ........

How’s the High School Doing?
For those readers that want a quick summary and don’t want to wade through my sometimes turbid, often turgid, prose, the answer is Crappy!

The word lie (falsehood, fiction, falsity, fib) is so ugly, it is always regretful to use it. To call someone a liar really questions the core of an individual’s integrity. However there is a tendency among administrative educational professionals (especially Superintendents of Schools) to spin the truth to a degree that a plain thinking sort of person might suspect a lie. When nationwide thousands of educational professionals all agree to spin together I guess each individual is no longer considered a liar. So, thank God, I don’t have to call anybody a liar.

For years Knox, Indiana, and US high schools have been systematically fibbing about the graduation rates. The mathematical formula used in prior years was so absurd that it must have been devised for the sole purpose to hide the actual numbers. For example, Knox usually had a 9th grade enrollment of near 200 and a graduating class of 120 or so. It didn’t take a genius to figure that 60% of the students were going somewhere besides the graduation ceremony. Yet Knox routinely has claimed an 85% or even 90% graduation rate. The old way of figuring the dropout rate was so astoundingly bogus that it had become a national scandal. So now the Departments of Education have a new way of figuring the rate and now claim a 72.3% graduation rate at Knox.

So how’s Knox High School doing? Comparatively speaking that is? (That’s the kindest way to look at things.) Compared to the rest of the State of Indiana, we are deep, down and bad. 56% of Indiana high schools had 80% or greater graduation rates compared to our 72% rate. And when it comes to those that do graduate, 45% of Knox graduates pursued a college education (2005-2006) whereas the Indiana state average was 75%. (Caveat: these college education figures are suspect and have not been reformed and revised in the same way the graduation rates have been brought up to date.) But, even given the parenthetic caveat, we seem to be doing quite poorly in the category of sending our kids off to college. Less than 1/3 of our high school 9th graders will pursue a college education. And here’s an ugly little surprise. It isn’t teenage pregnancy that is driving up the dropout rate. The male student graduation rate was 66%, female 79%.

I think this is a disaster. I don’t want to take the space and time here demonstrate how much it costs our society to have so many failures and ignorant citizens coming our of our schools. Our school board blithely continues to worry about cheerleading, band and sports. When an enterprise is failing you can ignore it or you can try to do something about it.

Here is a list of the School Board Members:
Mike Yankauskas Term Ends: 2010-12-31
Jerry Fletcher Term Ends: 2008-12-31
Mary Lynn Ritchie Term Ends: 2010-12-31
Linda Belork Term Ends: 2010-12-31
Gary Dulin Term Ends: 2008-12-31
Richard Masson Term Ends: 2008-12-31
Harold Welter Term Ends: 2008-12-31
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Some charming examples of Diogenes in contempory culture:
Mudd Memorial Hall of Philosophy, UCLA, 1928 Ralph Carlin Flewelling


Diogenes Lantern (Calochortus amabalis) northern California mountain wildflower

Monday, January 08, 2007

The Oath of Office Part 2

Bill of Rights: Engrossed Bill of Rights, September 25, 1789; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
What is the Establishment Clause?
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, contains this clause, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion", known as the Establishment Clause............
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On December 16, 2006 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, School Board acted improperly by promoting their own sectarian religious beliefs during meetings.

From the ACLU Press release:
“The appeals court upheld the district court finding that the school board had improperly recited sectarian prayers during meetings. Prior to the appeal, both the school board and the ACLU recognized that the school board’s prayer practice fell outside of the 1971 Supreme Court decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman, which held that government action must have a secular purpose, neither advance nor inhibit religion, and not become excessively entangled with religion. However, in filing its appeal, the school board argued that its actions fell under the protection of a 1983 Supreme Court case, Marsh v. Chambers. The Marsh case allows a legislative exception for non-sectarian, non-proselytizing prayers.
Today’s ruling rejected the argument that the prayers were non-sectarian, and instead found that they “aggressively advocate[d] Christianity.” But the court avoided dealing with the central issue of whether school boards in general fall under the Marsh exception.”

Well. There is absolutely no difference between the activities of the Knox Community School Board and the activities of the Tangipahoa Parish, School Board. The Knox School Board policy is to invite a Christian preacher to deliver a prayer to start every public board-meeting meeting. This recent court decision makes it quite clear that sectarian (Christian) prayer is not allowed. The Knox School Board is clearly in violation of the law. If they choose not to suspend the prayer policy, they will be in violation of their oath of office.

The Indiana School Board Oath:
"I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, the Constitution of the State of Indiana, and the laws of the United States and the State of Indiana. I will faithfully execute the duties of my office as a member of this governing body, so help me God."

Members of the School Board have religious freedom. Members of the Board are free to kneel and pray any time they so desire, even during a School-Board meeting. The ACLU has fought for their religious freedom to do just that. The ACLU has fought for the right of Christian students to distribute Christian literature at the school. The ACLU has fought for the right of students to conduct prayer meeting at their schools.

Why is it that our school board insists upon this prayer policy that was of dubious legality from its inception? I am not inclined to give the board the benefit of the doubt. I do not believe that the board’s motivation was spiritual, or even Christian. I believe that they wanted to prove their radical right-wing credentials. They wanted to proclaim that they didn’t care what the courts of the land rule; they were going to defy the law. This is self-indulgent, sanctimonious, crap that has nothing whatsoever to do with the education of our students. Well it is now abundantly clear that they are in violation of the law. They are now criminals. I doubt that they care. They are most likely quite proud of themselves.

Friday, January 05, 2007

The Oath of Office Part 1

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) Administers the House oath to Keith Ellison as his wife holds The Holy Quran. The Library of Congress’ division of rare books and special collections made the Quran available to Ellison for January 4 ceremony at the Capitol Hill. The oath was administered by the new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

This is the time of year our newly elected officials swear the oath of office. It can vary but it usually runs about like the Indiana School Board Oath:
"I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, the Constitution of the State of Indiana, and the laws of the United States and the State of Indiana. I will faithfully execute the duties of my office as a member of this governing body, so help me God."

We need to be careful as to what we admire. We admire men and women of conscience. We admire men and women of duty, serving their fellow man. It does sometimes happen that conscience and duty are in conflict. Former Starke County Commissioner Kevin Kroft loudly bragged that he voted his conscience when his conscience was in conflict with the law. If he felt the law was wrong, he voted his beliefs in disregard of the law. He bragged that the voters put him in office for exactly that reason. (The issue was solid waste, his particular Bogyman.) Although Kevin Kroft happens to be a right- wing, self-proclaimed conservative, this sort of elevation of conscience over law is hardly limited to the right wing. Governmental officials across the political spectrum act the same way, generally with great pride, a puffing of the chest, at their courage and strength of conviction. Often the voters regard this behavior as admirable and agree.

Yes, civil disobedience is often admirable. At times it has proven essential for the preservation of American greatness. There is a great tradition of civil disobedience in America. Throughout US history there have been great waves of illegal political protest that changed the course of our history and often-helped preserve important American freedoms. The Underground Railroad is a wonderful example of courageous civil disobedience that helped preserve our nation’s great tradition of freedom.

However, when a public official takes office, he takes an Oath of Office. Elected officials and appointed officials must be sworn in to take office. That Oath is not a meaningless ritual. The Oath is a cornerstone of our system of government. The point of being in office is to change those laws with which you disagree not to disregard them. When you disobey the law against your sworn oath, you are not a hero, nor are you brave. You are a fool and a criminal and are dangerous. Our Republic means nothing when public officials feel they are above the law.



Tuesday, January 02, 2007

A suggested New Year Resolution

Frontispiece from The Songs of Experience by William Blake
Happy New Year!
Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
Who was William Blake?
William Blake (November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, his work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. He has often been credited as being the most spiritual writer of his time. From Wikipedia........
A suggested New Year Resolution: Take a college course. Post secondary education has never been more accessible to Knox residents. Education is a unique asset. Come what may, divorce or bankruptcy, your education is always yours. Below are some programs that are relatively inexpensive, are easy to take, and are offer credits good towards graduation at Indiana Universities.

The College program closest to Knox is Ancilla College in Donaldson less than 20 miles away. Ancilla is a liberal arts junior college with a Catholic religious tradition in an ecumenical climate. Ancilla emphasizes personal attention to its students within small, supportive classes. The college is fully nationally accredited. 2 year Associate degrees are offered in Arts, Science, Liberal Studies, and Science in Nursing. There is also a 3 year Registered Nursing program. Ancilla has articulation agreements with 13 regional colleges and universities including Ball State, Indiana State, Indiana University South Bend, Purdue University North Central, and Valparaiso University. Costs are about $10,000 per year. A full range of financial aid packages is available. Those graduating from High school this year should start the application process now. March 10 is one early deadline for financial aid from Ancilla College Grants.
http://www.ancilla.edu/

Learn at home at your own pace. Enroll at any time. Earn top quality college credits. Indiana University offers 190 plus Undergraduate courses that you can take at home. An example would be: Economics > E201Introduction to Microeconomics (3 credits, total cost $620.00). Take only one course just for the fun of it. Some courses are online, some are correspondence. It is even possible to get a Bachelors of Arts in General Studies (120 credit hours). These are very high-quality courses that are fully transferable to all Indiana University Campuses. The cost for a 30 credit hour year is about $7,000. This is a genuine bargain for those students with the self-discipline to work at home. Regular financial aid is not available, however veterans’ and National Guard programs do apply.
http://scs.indiana.edu/pdf/ispcatalog.pdf

Ball State offers a similar program with 100 courses available to undergraduates:
http://www.bsu.edu/distance/independent/

Monday, January 01, 2007

On the History of the Negro in Knox Part 5



Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
What is the “ethic of reciprocity”?
The ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden Rule" is a fundamental moral principle found in virtually all major religions and cultures, which simply means "treat others as you would like to be treated." It is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...............
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I have heard it said many times that Knox is a Christian town. Well it is true that there are a lot of people go to church. Well it is true that they say their prayers before each school board meeting. Well it is true that there is a crèche on the courthouse lawn in December. If that adds up, then OK, we are a Christian town. But there is that pesky little “Golden Rule”. Without the “Golden Rule” we are not a Christian town.

Matthew 22.36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Knox is white; that is the situation today.
Knox is white because of our racist history and because of continuing racism.

African Americans do not live or work in Knox. The few exceptions prove the rule. We have an African American Postmaster. There are African American foster children and adopted children in the schools. There are no African American teachers, fire fighters, policemen, or librarians. There are no African Americans working in Walgreens, CVS, or 5 Star. Basically, when locals do the hiring, the hiring is white. If the Federal government does the hiring, then an African American has a fair chance.

I don’t believe that an African American family would be shown any cooperation by the realtors in Knox. I don’t believe that the school board would consider hiring an African American administrator or approve the hiring of an African American teacher. The local Realtors don’t display the Equal Housing Emblem do they? The school doesn’t celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. day, do they? These are messages that say, “stay out” to African Americans.

Recently a local governmental board decided not to interview a very well qualified applicant for an administrative position because the applicant “seemed” to be African American from their employment history. Their so-called reasoning was that it was a waste of the applicant’s time to interview. An African American professional would not want to work or live in Knox. This seemed like an odd statement in light of the fact that that person had bothered to apply for the job!

Note on the usage of the words Negro. The word Negro is often considered offensive. I use it here to reference historic and scholarly documents and in order to capture the archaic flavor of life in Knox.