4 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba

Washington High School Proficiency Exam (son-of-WASL) Publishes Rank Distribution

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Many students got back a report card on the replacement for the hated WASL test.

They have finally added a distribution so that you can tell how your student did in relationship to other students because SOME PARENTS ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW HOW THEIR STUDENTS RANK. Imagine that. They even now have WASL distributions (guess better late than never)

from http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/TestStatistics.aspx


Testing Statistics (Frequency Distribution) The intent of state testing is to determine a student’s skills and knowledge based our state learning standards in reading, writing, math and science. The score on each test (see sample score reports) is a snapshot of a student’s performance. Overall academic performance, not just a student’s state testing scores, should always be taken into account. OSPI is providing the following “frequency distribution” report because families have expressed an interest in knowing where their child’s scores fall in comparison with other students from around the state. How to read the report:
  • The first column is the scale score, which are the numbers you see on a student score report (e.g., a student scored a 400 on his reading exam)
  • The second column is the frequency, or number of students, who obtained a specific score (e.g., 720 students finished with a reading score of 366)
  • The third column represents the percent of students who obtained a specific score (e.g., 2.2 percent of students scored at 401 on the reading exam)
  • The fourth column represents the percentile ranking of where a student’s score fell overall (e.g., a student’s score of 463 on the reading exam placed him at the 96.9 percentile when compared to all students who took that test)
  • The yellow highlighted lines represent the cut scores between Levels 1 and 2, 2 and 3 and 3 and 4 (e.g., a student’s score of 386 is a Level 2 score)
Frequency Distribution Report (guess 2012 isn't out yet)
  • MSP/HSPE/EOC 2011 (Excel)
  • MSP/HSPE Spring 2010 (Excel)
  • WASL Spring 2009 (Excel)
  • WASL Spring 2008 (Excel)

Take for example, student X: 
Reading: 525    Level 1=225-374 Level 2= 375-399 Level 3 = 400-426 Level 4 = 427-525 Writing: 20  Level 1 = 0-12 Level 2 = 13-16 Level 3 = 17-20 Level 4 = 21 to 24
Assuming that 2012 distribution is something like the 2011, then 525 is the same as the top possible score, only 1,234 or 1.7% of students scored that high, putting him/her in the top 1.7 or the 98 or 99th percentile which is better than just about everybody (which used to be good enough to get you into Harvard or Stanford in the 1970s, but evidently not anymore). Bear in mind, this was a student who couldn't make it past page 100 in Moby Dick, but then I couldn't find evidence of ANY student alive who did either and didn't lie about it. 
Writing on the other hand was 20, which is is only at the 50th percentile, or smack in the middle of everybody. Now the fact that one score is at 50, and the other is at the top of the scale might call into question the validity of the whole thing since they are supposedly assessing different sides of the same verbal skills/ talent, and this student scored 40th percentile on the college level SAT (yes the real one) as an 8th grader, which is way, way above average for an 8th grader if he was average for a college student.
The other thing you need to know about the testing scam is that they generally scale the scores very very low in the beginning in order to show how badly your curriculum needs to be reformed by throwing lots of money at it. In fact, I was scoring tests for one state where scorers were told to give NOBODY  a perfect 4, at least not without special permission, and final results showed less than 0.1% were allowed to have the equivalent of an A. Top 1% end up a Harvard and Stanford, but not good enough for a "4".

It inevitably ends with everybody passing after 10 years or so and deciding the whole test was stupid and needs to be junked and replaced with yet ANOTHER  test which is going to be valid this time around.  That is what happened to WASL which I pointed out bragged about how hard their 4th grade test math was - of course it was hard, any MIT grad who bothered to compare the test items with their actual grade level skills would find that most 4th grade items were at jr or high school, while most high school items were at jr high or 4th grade arithmetic.

Here is Grade 10 Reading
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
HSPE Spring 2010 Grade 10 Reading, Writing,  and Science
SCALE SCORES

Reading Scale Score Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent (Percentile Rank)
225 1 .0 .0
252 2 .0 .0
273 17 .0 .0
287 6 .0 .0
296 14 .0 .1
304 24 .0 .1
311 39 .1 .1
316 65 .1 .2
322 65 .1 .3
326 102 .1 .4
331 116 .2 .6
335 148 .2 .8
339 162 .2 1.0
343 196 .3 1.3
346 224 .3 1.6
350 256 .3 1.9
353 288 .4 2.3
356 309 .4 2.7
360 334 .4 3.2
363 395 .5 3.7
366 406 .5 4.3
369 435 .6 4.8
372 525 .7 5.5
375 596 .8 6.3
378 644 .9 7.2
381 759 1.0 8.2
384 889 1.2 9.4
387 1043 1.4 10.8
390 1188 1.6 12.4
393 1364 1.8 14.2
397 1586 2.1 16.4
400 1818 2.4 18.8
404 2127 2.9 21.7
407 2547 3.4 25.1
411 2960 4.0 29.0
415 3537 4.7 33.8
420 4065 5.5 39.2
427 4542 6.1 45.3
430 5329 7.1 52.5
436 5774 7.7 60.2
443 6417 8.6 68.8
451 6616 8.9 77.7
461 6460 8.7 86.4
475 5415 7.3 93.6
497 3514 4.7 98.3
525 1234 1.7 100.0
Total 74553 100.0


Writing Scale Score Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent (Percentile Rank)
  4 135 .2 .2
  5 33 .0 .2
  6 141 .2 .4
  7 59 .1 .5
  8 243 .3 .8
  9 139 .2 1.0
 10 365 .5 1.5
 11 337 .5 2.0
 12 824 1.1 3.1
 13 768 1.1 4.2
 14 1504 2.1 6.2
 15 1404 1.9 8.2
 16 2760 3.8 11.9
 17 2786 3.8 15.7
 18 4954 6.8 22.5
 19 5450 7.5 30.0
 20 14166 19.4 49.4
 21 8696 11.9 61.3
 22 11156 15.3 76.6
 23 7263 9.9 86.5
 24 9841 13.5 100.0
Total 73024 100.0
This is how to ask for a copy of your student's test

Student Education Record Parent Request Parents and guardians of students who were enrolled full time or part time in Washington public schools during state testing may view their child’s Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP) test booklets; which includes the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE), End-of-Course exams (EOC), Washington Alternate Assessment System Portfolio and the Collection of Evidence (high school only). Test booklet reviews are not available to parents and guardians of full-time private school students and full-time home-schooled students. Download the handout that explains how to request your child’s test booklet, what to expect after submitting a request, and under what circumstances the state will re-score a test.
  • Guidelines for review of WCAP Test Booklets (PDF)
Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) and End-of-Course exams (EOC), and Developmentally Appropriate Proficiency Exam (DAPE) 2011-2012 School Year
  • Request form to view 2012 Winter EOC (PDF)
2010-2011 School Year
  • Request form to view 2011 Spring HSPE/EOC/DAPE (PDF)
  • Request form to view 2011 August HSPE (PDF)
2009-2010 School Year
  • Request form to view 2010 Spring HSPE (PDF)
  • Request form to view 2010 August HSPE (PDF)



Student Education Record Parent Request Parents and guardians of students who were enrolled full time or part time in Washington public schools during state testing may view their child’s Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP) test booklets; which includes the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE), End-of-Course exams (EOC), Washington Alternate Assessment System Portfolio and the Collection of Evidence (high school only). Test booklet reviews are not available to parents and guardians of full-time private school students and full-time home-schooled students. Download the handout that explains how to request your child’s test booklet, what to expect after submitting a request, and under what circumstances the state will re-score a test.
  • Guidelines for review of WCAP Test Booklets (PDF)
Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) and End-of-Course exams (EOC), and Developmentally Appropriate Proficiency Exam (DAPE) 2011-2012 School Year
  • Request form to view 2012 Winter EOC (PDF)
2010-2011 School Year
  • Request form to view 2011 Spring HSPE/EOC/DAPE (PDF)
  • Request form to view 2011 August HSPE (PDF)
2009-2010 School Year
  • Request form to view 2010 Spring HSPE (PDF)
  • Request form to view 2010 August HSPE (PDF)


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Pixar Brave IT'S FREAKING LOVE STORY DANG IT!

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What ANOTHER Pixar movie with no Asian parts????? ........

AUGH I just saw this movie, and NONE of the critics got what it was about. It is not about feminism. This is maybe Pixar's first grown up movie that hits on the level of Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast.

protagonist = Merida the archer girl, easy

villain = the bad brother bear, not too hard

love interest = .... ready??....THE QUEEN.

NOT the 3 suitor guys although the middle guy might be a passable surfer dude type.

You know how the Beast has to make Belle love her to break his curse? Well, while the little girl Merida loved her mom, she hated her mother so much as a rebellious teen, she was selfish enough to get a with to put her curse on her mother, with the fine print "mend what was broken".


OK, I saw it coming that what was broken was the relationship with her mother, and that was what would have to be mended. Before long, Merida protects her mother by showing momma bear how to fish, and against her father who just thinks she is a bear. Merida also finally uses her training from her mom to make a speech to bring the clans back together. Finally in the big fight scene, momma bear fights to protect her cub/daughter. Only when Merida breaks down sobbing "I love you mother" is the spell broken, just as Belle shows she finally fell for Beast, bringing him back to life. Tangled pulled the same trick at the end.




Overall, the movie looked a lot like Avatar in scenery and willo wisps, Miyazaki with female protagonist, Tangled (I liked that mother better) B and Beast, and Mermaid (deal with witch again, spell conditional on achieving love) and much less than the usual playful Pixar story, though somebody else noted that Nemo was a father-son story.


Mother's day clip: 


Watch for the automated message menu operated by putting in different labeled potions as a modern cultural reference.

Nobody remembers that other nearly-forgettable Disney movie that was probably the nail in the coffin of declining animated musicals, Brother Bear in which the native hunter is turned into a bear for the needless killing of a mother bear. I don't remember if the guy changed back into a human though. 



Archery Contest Trailer


Michael Medved says it's too scary for small kids (or queasy women?)
Some say it's good, but not Pixar great.
Another guy says the 3D glasses ruin the great artwork.


  • New Brave Featurette From Disney
  • Mark Andrews Talks About Brave’s Anti-Princess
  • Watch Two And A Half Minutes Of Brave
    • Merida Has Started Showing Up At Disney Theme Parks
    • Brave Images Show Merida’s Swordplay Skills
    • Brave Producer Discussed Director Controversy, Trailers, & Merida



Young Kids Shouldn't "Brave" Disney's Latest 
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Disney-Pixar partnership has produced some of the greatest animated movies of all time, and their new release “Brave” looks especially appealing, with its medieval Scottish setting and spunky, flame-haired heroine. But consumers should understand that this ambitious film, despite superb artistry in its animation, is so dark and disturbing that young children may become deeply uncomfortable while watching it. Read the full article



  1. News for pixar brave reviews


    1. "Brave" reviews are in: What do critics think?


      CBS News‎ - 3 hours agoDisney-Pixar's latest film, "Brave," opens Friday to mostly positivereviews Read more by Amethyst Tate on CBS News' Celebrity Circuit.
      "Youngsters with a taste for adventure will no doubt overlook the movie's workmanlike outlines and applaud its spirited, self-reliant heroine, who proves to be as appealingly unruly as her tumble of Titian curls," explains Ann Hornaday, Washington Post.
      "The Pixar name used to mean something. And it never quite meant pleasantly safe, safely forgettable movies like this," writes Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger."It's a lively, psychologically astute tale filled with humanity, wit and charming performances," writes Claudia Puig of USA Today."This Celtic-themed story hews so closely to classic fairy-tale tropes, it's the studio's most Disney-fied production yet," notes Sara Stewart, New York Post."'Brave' isn't a bull's-eye, but it's close enough," writes Tom Long of the Detroit News."Leave the kindergarteners at home, and take your tween daughter to this one, if she is willing to be seen in public with you," explains Willie Waffle of wafflemovies.com."Brave" is easy to like but hard to love, a feel-good fable with the latest bells and whistles," Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.
    1. Review: Pixar's 'Brave' is familiar feminist fable with vibrant visualsMLive.com‎ - 11 hours ago
      A brief, but important aside: I saw “Brave” in 3-D, which was detriment to its beauty. Imagine wearing sunglasses to the Art Institute of Chicago. All that wondrous color, dimmed considerably. The movie’s shadowy, woodsy setting and torchlit castle interiors must be stunning without those stupid glasses compromising the brightness of the images. ..
      She stuffs Merida in a corset and hides all that hair, trotting her in front of the trio of kilted dude-bros, who exhibit various degrees of dipstickedness. Like her mountainous father Fergus (Billy Connolly), the would-be suitors prefer to brawl and bagpipe and bellow in their burly brogues, lifting their kilts to moon their rivals.
      The men and their uncouthness are the big butts of the screenplay’s comedy. And Merida’s triplet kid brothers are future buffoons, being general agents of mild mayhem. Makes sense, considering “Brave” aspires to be a you-go-girl modernist fairy tale. Her sex is intellectually superior here, and seriously so. But the screenplay only goes partway towards developing Merida as a strong, confident female character. She’s more of a standard rebellious youth than a feminist figure.

    2. Brave Review: Pixar Goes Red and BoldTheHDRoom‎ - 6 hours ago
  2. Brave (2012 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(2012_film)Brave has received mostly positive reviews from film critics. On April 3, 2012, Pixarscreened the first 30 minutes of the movie, and it received a positive reaction ...
    Kelly Macdonald - La Luna - Julie Walters - Julie Fowlis
  3. 'Brave' Movie Review: It's Great, But Not Pixar Great [Video]

    www.inquisitr.com/.../brave-movie-review-its-great-but-not-pixar-gr...5 hours ago – There's one thing that critics agree on about Pixar's latest animated filmBrave: It's beautiful. Other than that, critics can't seem to decide.
  4. Movie Review - 'Brave' - A Fast And 'Brave' Female Comedy : NPR

    www.npr.org › Arts & Life › Movies › Movie Reviews
    David Edelsteinby David Edelstein - More by David Edelstein5 hours ago – The movie Brave is Pixar's first feature with a female protagonist — a medieval Scottish princess named Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) ...
  5. Brave (2012) - IMDb

    www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/ Rating: 7.5/10 - 1002 votes... her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse. ... Reviews: 35 user | 42 critic | 29 from Metacritic.com. Determined ... 'Brave' is a Disney Princess that Lacks Pixar Depth 3 hours ...
    Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman. Starring Kelly Macdonald.
  6. Brave - Rotten Tomatoes

    www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brave_2012/ Rating: 73% - 137 reviewsJun 15, 2012 – Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path...
    Directed by Mark Andrews. Starring Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly.
  7. Review: 'Brave' is not Pixar's best, but better than 'Cars' - CSMonitor ...

    www.csmonitor.com/.../Review-Brave-is-not-Pixar-s-best-but-better-t...4 hours ago – 'Brave' is more Disney-like than Pixar's best work, but the best thing about the film is heroine Merida.
  8. Brave: Film Review - The Hollywood Reporter

    www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/brave-review-disney-pixar-335...Jun 10, 2012 – Pixar's 13th film, which follows an adventurous Scottish princess, is visually stunning and strongly voiced, but doesn't take any real risks.
  9. Review: Pixar's 'Brave' Is A Powerful But Wobbly Feminist Fairy Tale ...

    blogs.indiewire.com/.../review-pixars-brave-is-a-powerful-but-wobbl...Jun 11, 2012 – Review: Pixar's 'Brave' Is A Powerful But ... The D Is Silent: Inside The Trailer For ' Django ... Happy 30th Birthday 'E.T:' 5 Things You Might .
  10. Images for pixar brave reviews

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  11. Review: Pixar's 'Brave' is familiar feminist fable with vibrant visuals ...

    www.mlive.com › Michigan Movies › Reviews11 hours ago – I'm sure there's an animator for roughly every three hairs on Merida's fiery red head. The heroine of “Brave” surely has the most impressive ...



Horace Mann (High) School Orchestra Amazing Star Wars Concert

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I was looking for Star Wars performances and found this amazing series by the Horace Mann School, which performs just *that* close to flawless as good as about any youth symphony as I've heard. It's a school  that charges $40,000 a year, so these are some pretty high powered kids with high powered parents. Be amazed, very amazed.


Horace Mann School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann_School Horace Mann has two major instrumental ensembles: The Horace Mann Orchestra and the Horace Mann Jazz Band. The Jazz Band program is also split into ...


Horace Mann Orchestra-- Star Wars: Main Title

Horace Mann Orchestra-- Star Wars: Princess Leia's Theme

HM Orchestra Star Wars The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)

Horace Mann Orchestra-- Star Wars: Throne Room & End Title

Horace Mann Orchestra-- Star Wars: Yoda's Theme



Iran announces capture of Mossad / CIA nuclear scientist agents on Veterans Today

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Interesting PressTV evidently isn't Iran's only press outlet. Veteran's Today is the only Western press that is covering Iran's claim to have captured US/Israeli "terrorist" agents are the "true patriots" at Veteran's Today. Many including ADL have noticed VT's usual point of view that tellingly is anti-US and anti-Israel military policy, but consistently favors Iranian and its allies in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine and pro-Iranian US figures such as Ron Paul and Michael Scheuer. 


Makes you wonder who is paying the bills for this outfit that seems to be right on top of every press release that either comes directly from the Iranian government, or is some outlandish conspiracy theory that is too crazy for PressTV but nevertheless supports the Iranian cause, such as Sgt Bales episode Afghanistan atrocities really being helped by the US Army rather than by the Taliban which seems more likely. 
Ziabari is VT's Iranian correspondent. Editor Gordon Duff has also bragged that he is PressTV's goto guy for commentary that opposes US and Israel military policy but supports Iranian and Arab military policy. 
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/06/20/iran-terrorists-arrested-hopes-renewed/

20 Mossad/CIA Face Execution in Iran for Terror Killings 10

Iran: Terrorists Arrested, Hopes Renewed

Kourosh Ziabari Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist

The announcement by Iran’s intelligence ministry that it has arrested 20 people associated with the terrorist operations in which two of the country’s nuclear scientists were assassinated received the Western mainstream media’s meaningful silence, but clearly demonstrated the influence and might of Iran’s intelligence apparatus, giving a serious warning to the hell-bent enemies of the nation that their further plots and conspiracies can be immediately nipped in the bud.
According to Iran’s intelligence ministry, about 20 suspects linked to the assassination of nuclear scientists Majid Shahriari and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan have been arrested and further details regarding their detainment will be released as soon as the security precautions are lapsed.
In an interview with Young Journalists Club, Iran’s intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi said that these suspects, through the soil of a neighboring country, have frequently traveled back and forth to Israel to receive training, weaponry and ammunition needed to carry out their clandestine operations.
Different analyses have been put forward with regards to the assassination of Iran’s nuclear scientists. The common point in all of the political commentators’ assessments of the killings is that whether ordered and perpetrated by Israel or the United States, these killings are indicative of a large-scale, multifaceted covert conspiracy aimed at paralyzing Iran’s nuclear program.
So far, five scientists in connection with Iran’s nuclear program have been assassinated. The United States has denied any role in the murders, while Israel has remained silent. On June 14, BBC Persian website published a report in which it alleged that Israel has refused to deny involvement in the killings because it wants to intimidate Iranians and exaggerate the extent of its intelligence authority: “it’s not clear whether or not the ambiguous stance of Israel’s intelligence entities bespeaks of their actual involvement in the assassination of Iran’s nuclear experts or is aimed at intimidating [Iranians] and strengthening this standpoint that these organizations are strikingly capable of carrying out their plans.”

25 Haziran 2012 Pazartesi

Why Does the Postal Service Cling to a Money-Losing Monopoly?

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The U.S. Postal Service and American publishers are locked in a lose-lose relationship. Maybe they should consider a divorce.

For every dollar it spends on delivering newspapers and magazines, USPS claims it only receives 75 cents in postage. Meanwhile, notes the Columbia Journalism Review (in Postage due: The USPS is running out of money. Where does that leave magazines?), magazine publishers are growing worried about the increase in customer complaints regarding lost, damaged, and late issue. They fear coming changes will only make matters worse.

New interest in bypassing the Postal Service by using private delivery services was much in evidence at a recent magazine-industry summit, CJR reports.

But publishers also pointed out a major barrier to private delivery: Their subscribers want “to get their magazines in their mailboxes, rather than tossed at the end of the driveway like a newspaper. By law, only the USPS can put mail in mailboxes.”

Maybe the Postal Service would be better off loosening its grip on the mailbox monopoly by granting an exception for periodicals. (After all, whoever heard of a money-losing monopoly?) Not only would the agency lose unprofitable customers, it could actually charge the publishers a fee for each mailbox they use.

Allowing delivery only to paying subscribers and restricting the use of loose inserts could prevent the mailbox privilege from siphoning off profitable postal business.

A tougher problem to control would be cherry picking – publishers using private delivery only for densely populated neighborhoods that are easy to serve, leaving the high-cost areas to the Postal Service.

Then there’s the question of what “cost” means in Postalspeak. If the Postal Service says it costs 35 cents to deliver a particular magazine, how much will it save if it doesn’t have to handle that magazine?

Probably much less than 35 cents. A lot of that 35 cents is an allocated portion of expenses that exist regardless of whether the magazine is delivered.

But permanently losing a sizeable chunk of the labor-intensive Periodicals Class business might be enough to move the cost needle. That's especially true as USPS downsizes and shifts toward a flexible workforce, which should make its costs more sensitive to mail volumes.

What's clear is that the current arrangement is not working for the Postal Service or for many publishers.

Related articles:
  • Thrown Overboard: Publishers Feel Abandoned by the U.S. Postal Service 
  • Postal Study Is Bad News For Publishers 
  • Special Mail Processing of 'Hot' Publications To End Friday

10 Questions About Toshiba's No-Print Day

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Update: Toshiba pulled the plug on its campaign. See 9 Lessons from Toshiba's No-Print Day Debacle for the full story.
 In a stunning display of greenwashing and ignorance, a U.S. branch of Toshiba has proclaimed October 23 National No-Print Day.

To raise awareness “of the impact printing has on our planet” and of "the role of paper in the workplace,” Toshiba America Business Solutions is asking people and companies not to print or copy anything that day.

"We know that approximately 336,000,000 sheets of paper are wasted daily -- that's more than 40,000 trees discarded every day in America,” Bill Melo, a Toshiba America vice president, said this week in announcing the effort.

The company is promoting the campaign with a series of web videos featuring Tree, an “affable spokescharacter” and alleged Toshiba employee. Viewers are asked to sign a pledge to give Tree “and his leafy colleagues” the day off.

The first video has a goof: Tree is shown marking Oct. 23 on a paper calendar. (Dude, that could be your cousin you’re writing on.) But even more serious are the questions Toshiba needs to answer, such as:
  1. What is the source of that statistic about 336 million sheets of paper wasted every day, and what exactly do you mean by “wasted”?
  2. According to that statistic, one tree is “discarded” for every 8300 sheets -- less than 90 pounds of office paper -- that is "wasted". But only one-third of that 90 pounds comes from whole trees; the rest is from sawmill residue and recycled fiber. What idiot is getting a yield of only 30 pounds of paper from an entire tree?
  3. Paper is made mostly from renewable resources and has a high recycling rate. Ink and toner cartridges, including those with the Toshiba brand, are made mostly from non-renewable resources and are not often recycled. Have you considered that much of printing’s impact on our planet has nothing to do with paper usage?
  4. Why is it necessarily better for the planet to read a report on an electricity-burning computer than on sheets of paper?
  5. You promise to plant some trees if we take the pledge. Will Toshiba actually plant the trees, or are you paying someone else to plant them? Where will the trees be planted? What will happen to the land if no one takes the pledge?
  6. You imply that the harvesting of trees is inherently evil. If private landowners can no longer make money from trees, they’ll seek other uses of their land. Would it be better if they planted wheat? Or maybe shopping centers?
  7. American farmers “discard” far more than 40,000 corn plants every day in the process of harvesting them. Are you going to organize a No Corn, Ethanol, or Grain-Fed Meat Day?
  8. Toshiba makes a variety of electronic products. Are you planning to celebrate a No-Toxic-Materials-in-Laptops Day?
  9. If we take the pledge to give Tree a day off, how are we supposed to blow our noses on Oct. 23? And will Toshiba America offices remove the toilet paper from their restrooms that day?
  10. Why the hell did Toshiba just exhibit at Drupa, the world’s largest trade fair for printers, if one of its divisions was going to turn around and publicly trash the entire printing industry?
Other articles about greenwashing and paper include:
  • OK, Johnny, Now Greenwash Your Hands 
  • Google Using Blatant Greenwash To Promote New Catalog App
  • Smackdown: Printed Editions vs. Digital Editions