Town of Kinderhook, your web page stinks!!!

I heard at one time in my life that town web sites were geared towards "open" government and keeping people informed.

Someone should convey that message to the town of Kinderhook, NY.
As of this morning, August 27, 2014, the page entitled "Town Board Meeting Minutes" looks like this:

Special Meeting 3-4-2014	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:56 PM	15K
March 19, 2014	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:56 PM	23K
February 10, 2014	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:55 PM	27K
January 13, 2014	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:55 PM	34K
December 30, 2013	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM	15K
December 9, 2013	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM	24K
December 18, 2013	Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM	15K
November 16, 2013	Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:02 PM	15K
November 2013	Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:01 PM	23K
October 21, 2013	Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:00 PM	24K
September 9, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:53 AM	24K
August 12, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:53 AM	24K
July 8, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:52 AM	28K
June 10, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:51 AM	26K
June 5, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:50 AM	16K
May 20, 2013	Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:50 AM	24K
April 30, 2013	Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM	15K
April 25, 2013	Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM	15K
April 8, 2013	Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM	22K
March 28, 2013	Tue, May 21, 2013 1:03 PM	16K

The date on the left is the date the minutes were posted on the web,

That is the good stuff!!! The page titled "Agendas and Minutes" looks like this:

Agendas and Minutes

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Minutes	Agendas

That's it!! Blank!!

That is how we are kept informed!!!  This is a town with no radio or TV or paper. (Oh, they do say our legal paper is the Hudson Register Star)

The town has a planning board. As of today, its page looks like this;

Planning Board Agendas

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PB Agenda 2-16-2012	Thu, Feb 9, 2012 10:02 PM	27K
PB Workshop Agenda 2-9-2012	Tue, Feb 7, 2012 7:12 PM	27K
PB Agenda 1-19-2012	Thu, Jan 12, 2012 7:52 PM	25K

There is more!

The Zoning Board of Appeals has a page. It looks like this:

ZBA Meeting Minutes

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ZBA Minutes 9-27-2012.pdf	Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:59 PM	107K
ZBA Minutes 8-2-2012.pdf	Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:59 PM	88K
ZBA Minutes 6-7-2012.pdf	Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:58 PM	98K
ZBA Minutes 11.1.12.pdf	Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:56 PM	1701K
ZBA Minutes 9.5.13.pdf	Sat, Dec 28, 2013 4:31 PM	166K
ZBA Minutes 6.27.13.pdf	Sat, Dec 28, 2013 4:30 PM	165K
ZBA Minutes 8.1.13.pdf	Wed, Sep 11, 2013 7:37 PM	201K
ZBA Minutes 5.2.13.pdf	Tue, Jul 2, 2013 9:57 PM	157K
ZBA Minutes 6.6.13.pdf	Tue, Jul 2, 2013 9:56 PM	169K
ZBA Minutes 4-5-2012	Thu, Jul 5, 2012 6:19 PM	44K
ZBA Minutes 3-1-2012	Thu, Jul 5, 2012 6:10 PM	37K
ZBA Minutes 2-2-2012	Sun, Mar 25, 2012 12:12 PM	42K
ZBA Minutes 2-3-2011	Thu, May 5, 2011 5:56 PM	27K
ZBA Minutes 12-2-10	Mon, Mar 7, 2011 5:20 PM	28K
ZBA Minutes 12-2-2010	Mon, Mar 7, 2011 4:20 PM	28K
ZBA Meeting Mnutes 01-7-10	Thu, Mar 18, 2010 8:07 PM	26K
ZBA Minutes - 10-1-09	Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:05 PM	35K
ZBA Minutes - 9-3-09	Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:05 PM	31K
ZBA Minutes - 8-6-09	Wed, Sep 9, 2009 4:05 PM	27K
ZBA Meetings Cancelled - 1-8, 2-5, 3-5, 4-2, 5-7;7-2-2009

I could go on, but I think the message is clear. 

Kinderhook, get your act together!

Can you drive while adding 2 digits numbers?

Today's Albany Times Union contains an Associated Press article written by Lauran Neergaard. Actually, the paper does not name the writer, just credits the story to the AP. A little searching discovered the article's author, and also some interesting headlines for the article. Here are three of them:

Peek into brain shows how kids learn math skills  from KOB4 in Albuquerque, NM

In math, memorizing counts out of Albany Times Union

Kids’ brains reorganize when learning math skills from Fallreporter.com out of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

I find it interesting that each title creates a slightly different spin. The Fallreporter.com version promotes the stance that learning mathematics (which in this article is described as basic arithmetic) changes the way the brain operates. The KOB4 version might be taken to describe a more static brain which can reveal what is happening when kids learn math. The Times Union headline seems to stress the most basic form of remembering, known as memorization, as the big key.

I note that the Fond du Lac title matches the title used at ABC News (see it here)

Somehow, somewhere, somebody has to realize that memorization is only a short-term solution, and can only lead to a long-term skill if that which is memorized is then used repeatedly. In the case of arithmetic, this would require a delay in the use of calculators until arithmetic skills have been strongly embedded in the brain.

Take a moment to read Susan R. Barry's column from Psychology Today titled "Math and Memory", and  the Josef Parvizi (Stanford Medicine News Center) article "Mathematics or Memory?"

Start with the AP column and the two articles just named, and consider them in light of our big push to stop texting while driving. In what way is driving a car similar to doing arithmetic? Or is it the texting that is more like doing arithmetic? Can you text and do arithmetic simultaneously? Or is it easier to drive and do arithmetic easier? I would suspect that using a calculator while driving is very dangerous. Can you say that about doing basic arithmetic mentally and driving at the same time?

Unless and until you have carefully considered situations such as these, I would shy away from making claims that giving kids calculators is helping them.

Let's give the kids arithmetic, and keep the calculators away, until they are truly needed, not just wanted.