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An otherwise very wise Hopi elder I know tells me that aliens have visited Hopiland in their spacecraft, and we're not talking illegal immigrants.
Next time I speak with my friend I'm going to ask him about a curious time warp that has apparently occurred in Katy ISD just west of Houston, Texas, get his take on what's going on there.
ent in Katyland
How this phenomenon was uncovered
Mid-afternoon yesterday four paper records--Katy ISD trustee Robert Ray Shaw's applications for his seat on the Katy ISD school board--crossed my desk. The more I have examined these applications the more perplexed I grow. It boils down to this: Other than the phenomenon of months and years morphing I simply have no other explanation for the fact that on February 21, 1997, when Mr. Shaw first applied for his position on the Katy ISD school board, he stated that he had lived in Texas for 21 years and 5 months, yet on that same exact date three years later, on his application for his second term, he stated that he had lived in Texas 23 years and 8 months. Using my very rudimentary math skills, using the dates he originally provided, on Feb. 21, 2000 he would have lived in Texas for 24 years and 5 months. Where are the missing nine months? If you've seen them, could you please tell them to return to their rightful place in the scheme of things?
Katy ISD trustee Robert Ray Shaw's!
Unlikely as it might seem, the interruption in the time/space continuum continues on Mr.Shaw's next application on February 13, 2003, when he stated that he had on that date lived in Texas for 27 years and 3 months, yet according to his original statement his time in Texas would have been 27 years and 5 months. The same thing also appears to have applied to his statements regarding his length of time in
Katy ISD, all separate entries (see grey box above left).
When is an engineer not an
engineer?
Some of my friends are in the arts and with them I expect dodgy dates. But Mr. Shaw states on his Katy ISD board member bio that he is employed as "a mechanical engineer." We all know engineers are the
most precise souls around, right up there with CPA's and attorneys. These are the folks who make their living by being exact.
On Feb. 21, 1997, he says he had
Lived in Texas . . . . . 21 years, 5 months
Lived in Katy ISD . . .20 years, 11 months
On February 21, 2000, he says he had
Lived in Texas . . . . .23 years, 8 months
Lived in Katy ISD . . 24 years, 2 months
On Feb. 18, 2003, he says he had . . .
Lived in Texas . . . . .27 years, 3 months
Lived in Katy ISD . . 26 years, 8 months
On March 3, 2006, he says he had . . .
Lived in Texas . . . . 30 years, 4 months
Lived in Katy ISD . . 29 years, 9 months
Your totals here:
____ years, ___ months
____ years, ___ months
____ years, ___ months
____ years, ___ months
____ years, ___ months
____ years, ___ months
50% or fewer correct
On his 1997, 2000 and 2003 board member application Mr. Shaw states that he is a "mechanical engineer," although by his 2006 application he is just "engineer." Curious about the distinction, I contacted the Texas Board of Professional Engineers to find out which title applies to our good Mr. Shaw--he was not in when I tried him at his office--but the TBPE says he is neither. According to a TBPE spokesman, "Robert Ray Shaw is currently not a licensed professional engineer in the state of Texas."
It should be noted that in 2003 the state legislature made some changes to the Texas Engineering Practices Act to loosen up who could call themselves "engineer" in order to accommodate the new breed of engineers working in the software field, but the same TBPE spokesman said none of the changes appear to apply to our Mr. Shaw.
Two-year associate degree in drafting & design
Thinking there might be a clue in Mr. Shaw's education background as his Katy ISD board bio states that he is a graduate of "Oklahoma State University," when I contacted the OSU registrar's office yesterday afternoon the only degree they have on record for for Robert Ray Shaw is a two-year degree, a "Technical Institute Associate Degree in Drafting and Design" granted in 1968. The registrar's office looked but they couldn't find a four-year degree awarded to a Robert Ray Shaw. According to an OSU spokesman, the university "offered different types of courses, like a vo-tech system at the college level, back in the sixties."
What's good for the gander is not good for the goose
Perhaps not so unrelated as you might think, earlier this month Katy ISD's school board voted unanimously to non-renew second-grade teacher Jennifer Silva's contract for allegedly putting scotch tape on some of her students' mouths. According to Silva, “KISD informed me of the proposed termination before the actual investigation of the incident was even completed, and without ever meeting with me personally to resolve the matter in any way other than termination.” (SOURCE--Helen Eriksen/Houston Chronicle) Katy ISD's attorney, Bill Helfand of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin, "accused Silva of improvising discipline techniques. He said she should have stuck to approved disciplinary guidelines." According to a citizen who attended the meeting who prefers to remain
anonymous, Helfand stated that Silva "lied by omission" in her reporting of what occurred. (Ibid.) And that was a unanimous board vote, you say? I'm going to take a little breather from looking at more board members' applications. Uncovering any more time warping might cause little men in white coats to cart me away to their spacecraft, drop me off somewhere over Hopiland--or Katyland, a place where months morph and different standards seem to apply for goose and gander, peons and the high and mighty.
