City Cell Phone Bill Less Than Longer Distances

The city was charging cell phone providers $300 to $3,600 per permit, for tower construction… far less than the typical permit cost in the suburbs. Wonder if the city is charging more now and the costs are being passed on to city residents who are call consumers?

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[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]

Metal Detectors For Denying Messages

Stuyvesant High School principal Stanley Teitel had a plan. He wanted to use high-tech equipment to find and prevent students from using cell phones and other electronics from transmitting info to other students. Students at the home of some of the city’s most academically gifted kids feel the principal’s going a bit too far. Perhaps all principals should place more emphasis on teachers successfully transmitting knowledge to their students, instead of answers being passed among classmates.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog is a quick comment on an older New York City news headline. Unforeseen NYCo site development delays prevented it’s publication before now. For readership continuity, 100’s of older headlines are to be posted in chronological order until this blog is current. Though some of the stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of this site’s mention and viewer comments.

[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]

School Locker Limbo

Here's another Board of Education plan that didn’t go ... according to plan. Not surprised, are you? It’s over a year now that they decided to install guarded mobile phone storage systems in 16 New York City schools, for both intermediate and high school grades. To date, "0" of the planned "5,600" lockers have been setup. First, there was a delay regarding who would monitor these coin-operated lockers. Then Celstor, the company chosen to handle the project demanded a longer contract. Kids don't like the plan. Parents aren't crazy about the idea. There's no end in sight to the delays. Demanding that kids give up their cell phones in school and requiring them to pay “locker fees” for storage are bad ideas. Let’s end it all now before we waste more money for a bad plan that has as much of a future as those who work for the Board of Education … were they not Board of Ed employees.

Cell Phone Locker Plan Schools Still Absent From Schools

On the one hand, you have parents, who for safety concerns want their kids to carry cell phones to and from schools. On the other hand, Mayor Bloomberg wants to prohibit students bringing cell phones into all school buildings. A pilot program to install “cell phone lockers” on school premises was to serve as a compromise for the two sides. Not surprisingly, testing is now on hold until sometime next year. It seems that both government and Board of Education officials can’t figure out how to safeguard a row of lockers on their premises! A year, perhaps years of planning and then installation loom ahead now. Realistically, it should probably take just a few weeks or months to decide and act upon.

This latest example of the lack of leadership and decision making that’s needed here makes me wonder about two things. Do we really trust that this kind of management team is responsibly protecting the city’s students now? Will we, the citizens of New York City, ever learn our lesson and demand better service and accountability from those who work(?) for us?