www.talkcyprus.org

[Mills Chapman]

Hi folks. Since I recognize a lot of the names on the Member List from elsewhere, I will only give the link to the discussion of my proposal http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=748 . If you have comments that you want to add, post them here, and I will respond.

I tried to create a poll, but it told me that I had too many poll options (21). My question was, "What is the weakest part of my proposal for an evenly integrated school in Nicosia?"

Therefore, pasted above is the first half of the poll options. See the next thread for the second half. Please only vote once, but feel free to attach posts to describe other concerns. Thanks.

[brother]

Hi Mills Chapman and welcome to the forum,

Unfortunately many members are banned from the CF and we cannot view the link you have provided, any chance you can copy and paste here so we can get debating this topic.

All the best

Brother

[magikthrill]

what does plainsclothes mean. im asking cause i read a book a while ago called "plainsclothes naked" and after finishing it still could not understand what it meant.

[cannedmoose]

magikthrill wrote: what does plainsclothes mean. im asking cause i read a book a while ago called "plainsclothes naked" and after finishing it still could not understand what it meant.

Not sure this is 'on topic', plain clothed usually refers to a policeman who is on duty but not wearing a visible uniform, i.e. they are working undercover on a case and do not want to be spotted by those they are surveiling so wear 'civvies' to blend in with the rest of us. As an example, in London today, there are many plain-clothed police officers on the underground mixing with passengers and looking for anyone suspicious.

[Mills Chapman]

Brother,

Thanks for the tip. I am hoping that people here would be able to just read the posts on the other site and then write their response here. Due to copyright issues, I can not copy and paste unfortunately. However, I did update my site, www.cyprussolution.org .

[Mills Chapman]

Magikthrill,

Yes, as cannedmoose said, "plainclothes" refers to policemen who are on duty but who are not wearing police uniforms. My concern is that it would bother children to go to a school where there is a conspicuous police presence around it. I think it is possible to somewhat reduce their visibility by having them wear civilian clothes (even if they do have guns that can still be seen if one looks hard enough).

[Mills Chapman]

(deleted by Mills Chapman)

[Mills Chapman]

Hello Everyone,

I made some modest revisions today to my www.cyprussolution.org site, and I would like to share them with you. There is nothing new if you downloaded my proposal.

I think I will expand my site over the summer so that my whole proposal will be viewable online without any downloading.

[repulsewarrior]

Mills I am still not ready to comment, but I am glad that you have not forgotten us, we have not forgotten you either. There has been discussion about education in other threads...

Keep posting maybe get involved, it is depressing sometimes, I warn you, but those of us who are learning are always interested in promoting thought which takes in mind our responsibility to make life better in a manner which makes life better for people everywhere.

[Mills Chapman]

repulsewarrior,

Thank you for your supportive message. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten you.

However, while there may be other threads on education, the key is to get the children of the Republic of Cyprus and "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" governments into the same classroom together beginning at the pre-primary level. It would be better to build one school that focuses on the population that I describe on my site than to haphazardly try to integrate all Cypriot schools without ensuring that the young family members of Talat, Papadoupolos, etc. are working together. In other words, we have to build a school that is so desirable to elite families that we can systematically draw in the most politically influential two-year-olds each year, while still admitting some students from the general public by lottery.

If some of this sounds like babble, I refer you to my thread at http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=748 . I know some people here can't post there, but I believe that they can at least read the posts.

[Gardash]

The 'elite' are not the problem. The problem is that the 'elite' are essentially vote-whores. The REAL task is to teach the next generation of VOTERS. The so called 'elite' will adjust their policies accordingly.

[Mills Chapman]

Okay, so maybe "elite" was the wrong word in my last post, which had brevity in mind.

To optimize the attitudes of future voters so that they will see themselves more as Cypriot than as Turkish or Greek, we need to get them not only into integrated schools but schools where there are some cooperative learning activities, which are the best way to build a superordinate Cypriot identity. With the current political situation, neither side will likely send their children to a school on the other side's territory, so therefore the one place to build a school is a location that straddles the line and that's guarded by the U.N.

Those who are familiar with my proposal know that I have said that in between 33%-50% of the students at this school would come from the general public and not the "politically influential" families (a better phrase than "elite"). However, there is a sizeable chance that the Cypriot leaders 50 years from now, who will be the ones designing and negotiating on proposals for solving the Cyprus problem (if it's still going, which it very well might be), will hail from those families who are politically influential now. We need to optimize the probability that the leaders several decades from now will have attended school together and jointly solved problems in the classroom. If these future leaders have had these integrated schooling and cooperative learning experiences, then there is a greater chance that they will be able to find a good solution to the Cyprus problem than the current leaders can. Hopefully this makes sense.

[Mills Chapman]

Thought I would share an article from Report From Cyprus: http://www.reportfromcyprus.com/Peace%20thru%20education.htm

[SP]

Hello Mills

How soon will it be ready? I would like to enroll my daughter( she is now 9).and I would like her to attend after Primary School at age 11.

Medium of Education English?

( Unfortunately I represent neither power nor influence on the island, nor wealth and so I suppose she will have to go through the "Lottery Selection" for entrance).

Uniform? Fees? Lunch? Transport?

Sorry, these may seem trifling items, but as a parent they are a little more important to me.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Don't forget, you have your first pupil.

[Dhavlos]

well done mills, so does this mean it is actually going to happen? or still being discussed?

i do think, like i have posted before, that any solution needs a common education for all....i hope this school becomes the benchpost for cypriot educaton!