Charlotte Viewpoint - Archive No. 17 - June 29 2024 - The Times

Letter from the Founder Charlotte Viewpoint is a documentary of the city of Charlotte during the first decade-plus of the 21st century. The city transformed as we experienced the construction of towers, arenas, museums, venues, rapid transit, tens of thousands of new residences, revolutions in technology, and consequential disruptions in politics and social priorities. The magazine served as a platform of record for officials and diverse voices in the region.  In 2012, we published "Technology Enabled Learning and Our Future" by Ann Caulkins, then president and publisher of the Charlotte Observer. In a time when social media was ascendent and before any word of AI-enabled language models, Caulkins argued for a massive infusion of laptops into classrooms to help students learn ("Paying for advanced technology is the responsibility of everyone in our community...Don’t wait to contribute to what is morally right for our children and strategically right for our community."). Does that argument hold in 2024? That same year, in 2012, we published an essay by Tom Morgan entitled "Homelessness is Not What You Think" addressing misconceptions and underlying causes of homelessness. How municipalities respond to people experiencing homelessness has since become a pressing civic and moral issue. This week the Supreme Court ruled that banning homeless people from sleeping outdoors does not violate the Constitution.   In the spirit of capturing the times, in 2016 we published a review by Joshua Peters of an exhibit at the SOCO Gallery showcasing images photographers have taken of their own family, a poem by Jonathan Rice about rearranging what we see, and an artist gallery by Timothy McMahon.  You'll also see links to two of our PDF magazines, one with a lead column co-written in 2008 by Carlos Evans and Mac Everett promising changes to the United Way during a period of organizational crisis, and one by Mayor Pat McCrory in 2005 looking forward and back during a go-go period of change.  To the first drafts of history,  Mark Peres Charlotte Viewpoint Founder The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director From the Archive Technology Enabled Learning and Our Future April 5, 2012 by Ann Caulkins In this technologically fast-moving era, the Charlotte Observer has navigated through dramatic change generated by online access, and it is our journey that fuels my certainty that our school system can and must do the same. Baby boomers are among the most enthusiastic digital immigrants, jumping into Facebook  and buying tablets in unexpected numbers. They are adapting. But it’s our children who are the digital natives. Their view of the world is shaped and understood through interactive devices and instant conversations delivered by the Web. They are shrewd and creative and 100 percent comfortable with technology. Keep Reading City Life From 2012: Homelessness: It Isn't What You Think by Tom Morgan Nobody wants to be homeless. You may think this is a statement of the obvious. But in 250 hours of interviews I conducted this year on this topic, one of the most common things that people believe about the homeless is that they want to be homeless.  Read the Story Arts & Culture From 2016: Kindred Spirit: It's All in Family Photos by Joshua Peters Everyone has that one person in the family who dons the mantle of "the photographer." There's the overzealous dad who creeps down the center aisle at his kid’s piano recital just so he can grab that shot of them plunking their way through a Chopin nocturne, and the mom insistent on snapping family portraits at every stage of the annual Disneyland vacation. Read the Story Fiction & Poetry From 2013: Rearranging by Jonathan K. Rice You bashfully disrobe by the settee and coffee table laden with flowers. There is comfort Read the Poem Artist Gallery From 2014: Timothy McMahon by Timothy McMahon Timothy was born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1954 and studied at the University of Iowa and The University of Northern Iowa. He has earned more than 30 graduate hours mostly in ceramics, but has always considered himself a painter. View the Gallery Read Past Issues October 2008 Issue May 2005 Issue About Charlotte Viewpoint Charlotte Viewpoint is a magazine about the city and culture of the Charlotte region that ran from 2003-2016. Charlotte Viewpoint published civic and cultural commentary and programmed events about Charlotte for engaged citizens to nurture creative capital, elevate civic discourse and promote intellectual and artistic excellence in the Charlotte region. charlotteviewpoint.org Read More brought to you by: View Past Archive Newsletters You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the The Charlotte Center newsletter. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. We invite you to share this newsletter with a friend. Sign up for this newsletter here. Design by Maddy Stevens Charlotte Viewpoint has been archived by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room for its historical significance.