A worthy donation-

Speaking of worthy things to donate to, Angel Batista, the young man who's going to MIT next year, and his debate team at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem need to raise $2,000 in the next three weeks so they can compete at a tournament at Harvard.  I already sent $100.  If you'd like to help, email him directly at angel.batista1992@gmail.com.  Here's the email he sent me:

 

My debate team has about three weeks to raise $2,000, which would cover things like registration fees, housing, travel costs and food.  Debate is one of those things in this country, like quality education, that is built in a way that excludes kids from low-income areas (or just poor schools in general), so we're on a massive effort to raise money.

Firstly, you have already made a huge contribution to the team and I don't want to ask you for more financial contributions! However, I was wondering if you possibly knew of anyone who would be interested in helping a debate team from Harlem compete at Harvard. Any kind of contribution, even if just a dollar, would help tremendously. I understand that due to economic situations, it would be hard for people to easily donate, but again, if anyone could help with the slightest amount, it would be a great help.

Anything that you could do, even if it's just to spread the word, we appreciate it greatly!

Thanks,
Angel

PS--There's actually a film that portrays the whole idea of debate being an "elitist activity," which gave me my passion for debate, named Resolved (if you ever find the time to watch it, I recommend it).

PPS--If you're wondering what we would be debating at Harvard, the resolution is: "In the United States, organized political lobbying does more harm than good."