dannno
10-24-2019, 10:01 AM
http://www.thecramm.com/news.html
Cramm for 10/23/19
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE BACKGROUND.
Lately, all anyone’s been able to talk about is the impeachment inquiry into Prez Trump. The inquiry kicked off a couple weeks ago after it came out that Trump chatted with Ukraine’s prez (https://thecramm.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a56187e338a3786a1f9d2ffc&id=5c22a37117&e=03bee3f8f1) (Volodymr Zelensky) in a July phone call...and asked him to pretty please investigate the Bidens for potential dirt. And right before the call, froze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine. Scene, set.
THE HAPPENINGS.
Say hello to William Taylor (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/u-s-diplomat-bill-taylor-who-called-trump-s-ukraine-n1069941). He’s the top US diplomat in Ukraine who testified before lawmakers yesterday in the impeachment inquiry. It was just the teensiest bit explosive. As in Taylor said ‘who doesn’t love a good quid pro quo?’ and told lawmakers that there was an explicit quid pro quo directed by Prez Trump. Quid pro quo: the idea that if we do something for you, you’ll do something for us. In this case, Trump apparently told aides to withhold aid from Ukraine until the country officially pledged to investigate the Bidens. Yes, really.
THE REACTION.
Huge. House Dems called the testimony the most “damaging” yet - while some want Gordon Sondland (who already testified and said there was no quid pro quo) to come back for round two. Meanwhile, the Prez is under fire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for comparing the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/22/congress-reaction-trump-lynching-tweet-054387).”
SO,,,?
This testimony is expected to shake up the impeachment inquiry. TBD, TBD, TBD.
https://www.independent.com/2019/10/23/santa-barbara-high-sophomore-writes-international-news-for-gen-z/
High Sophomore Writes International News for Gen Z
Olivia Seltzer, 15, Writes ‘The Cramm’ Daily Newsletter for Youngest Generation
by Delaney Smith | Published October 24, 2019
hese days, teens are under such tremendous amounts of stress from school and other responsibilities that reports are calling it a psychological epidemic. For Santa Barbara High sophomore Olivia Seltzer, that stress can be compounded with even larger responsibility — she informs hundreds of thousands of her young peers about international news every day.
Seltzer is the 15-year-old founder and sole writer of The Cramm (thecramm.com), a curated news site that breaks down daily national and international happenings in a vernacular that speaks directly to its Gen Z readers. Despite the big job, Seltzer keeps a calm-yet-powerful demeanor. At first she seems to be a quiet introvert, but it quickly becomes clear how carefully and deliberately she is about her word choice.
“I write The Cramm exactly how I’d talk to my friends out loud,” Seltzer said. “It’s not necessarily about using slang words; it’s about presenting it through the lens and perspective of a young person.” Much of her approach, she said, is about defining unfamiliar terms and adding more context for young readers, but she never “dumbs it down.”
In 2016, she found that her conversations with then-Santa Barbara Junior High classmates became increasingly more focused around President Donald Trump’s election campaign. It was personal to them, as many of her Santa Barbara peers were Latino, some undocumented, and they feared the effect the presidency could have on their families after Trump pledged mass deportations throughout his campaign.
https://www.independent.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191018-Olivia-Seltzer-008-1.jpg?w=600
Seltzer’s paternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City, which, along with the Ashkenazi Jewish heritage from the same side of the family, pushed her to get informed about the government leaders whose policies shape the lives of immigrants and other marginalized people. She felt the world needed more activists to protect the most vulnerable, but young people of her generation were not reading the news. How, she asked, can young people change the world if they don’t know what’s going on in it?
Thus, The Cramm was born.
“We have dinner as a family most nights and have always talked politics openly with the kids,” said Olivia’s mother, Dana Seltzer. “We don’t censor our conversations with the kids when it comes to that, and we treat them and speak to them like we would our adult friends.” The family includes Dana’s husband, Aaron, and Olivia’s younger brother, 12-year-old Oscar.
Dana, an interior designer, said her daughter has had a passion and thirst for knowledge long before The Cramm.
“Watching her become an older and more confident young woman has been amazing because when she was younger she was so curious, but she was quiet and shy,” Dana said. “But despite her shyness, she has always been loud on paper.” She said her daughter played around with creating other websites in the past, but The Cramm is what stuck.
Seltzer wakes up at 5 a.m. every morning to pore over national and international news sources and write a curated, daily newsletter summing up the top international happenings before she goes off to school for the day. BBC Newsis her favorite source, she said, because “it is the least biased.”
“I have to do extra research every morning,” Seltzer said. “I almost always come across terms or references I haven’t heard of, so I look them up and define them for readers because if I don’t understand them, they probably won’t either. … My parents are asleep that early, so I don’t go and ask them. I just find a way to do more research.”
Although Seltzer is the sole writer, she formed a volunteer editorial team called the “Crammers” who live around the globe, here in Santa Barbara, in New York, and as far away as Fiji and France. The Crammers, who range in age from 13 to 18, help Seltzer by sending her research and interviews for the daily newsletter. She said they “keep an eye on the news” from their respective locations, and they communicate news ideas through a group chat on Instagram.
“The most special part is really how much readers want to get involved,” Seltzer said. “I get reader emails all the time asking to be a part of the Crammer team, and readers share how The Cramm has inspired them to be activists.” She said one reader started a student protest at her school to end gun violence after reading Seltzer’s newsletter about multiple mass shootings in American schools. “Those kinds of stories are what motivate me to keep getting up and writing The Cramm every day.”
In addition to her Crammer team, Seltzer also has an advisory board of “trusted adults” whom she checks in with for advice or help. The adults don’t have any control over what content Seltzer chooses to publish, but they function as a sounding board. It’s made up of educators and journalists, among others. Elise Simmons, principal of Santa Barbara High School, is on the advisory board.
Cramm for 10/23/19
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE BACKGROUND.
Lately, all anyone’s been able to talk about is the impeachment inquiry into Prez Trump. The inquiry kicked off a couple weeks ago after it came out that Trump chatted with Ukraine’s prez (https://thecramm.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a56187e338a3786a1f9d2ffc&id=5c22a37117&e=03bee3f8f1) (Volodymr Zelensky) in a July phone call...and asked him to pretty please investigate the Bidens for potential dirt. And right before the call, froze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine. Scene, set.
THE HAPPENINGS.
Say hello to William Taylor (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/u-s-diplomat-bill-taylor-who-called-trump-s-ukraine-n1069941). He’s the top US diplomat in Ukraine who testified before lawmakers yesterday in the impeachment inquiry. It was just the teensiest bit explosive. As in Taylor said ‘who doesn’t love a good quid pro quo?’ and told lawmakers that there was an explicit quid pro quo directed by Prez Trump. Quid pro quo: the idea that if we do something for you, you’ll do something for us. In this case, Trump apparently told aides to withhold aid from Ukraine until the country officially pledged to investigate the Bidens. Yes, really.
THE REACTION.
Huge. House Dems called the testimony the most “damaging” yet - while some want Gordon Sondland (who already testified and said there was no quid pro quo) to come back for round two. Meanwhile, the Prez is under fire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for comparing the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/22/congress-reaction-trump-lynching-tweet-054387).”
SO,,,?
This testimony is expected to shake up the impeachment inquiry. TBD, TBD, TBD.
https://www.independent.com/2019/10/23/santa-barbara-high-sophomore-writes-international-news-for-gen-z/
High Sophomore Writes International News for Gen Z
Olivia Seltzer, 15, Writes ‘The Cramm’ Daily Newsletter for Youngest Generation
by Delaney Smith | Published October 24, 2019
hese days, teens are under such tremendous amounts of stress from school and other responsibilities that reports are calling it a psychological epidemic. For Santa Barbara High sophomore Olivia Seltzer, that stress can be compounded with even larger responsibility — she informs hundreds of thousands of her young peers about international news every day.
Seltzer is the 15-year-old founder and sole writer of The Cramm (thecramm.com), a curated news site that breaks down daily national and international happenings in a vernacular that speaks directly to its Gen Z readers. Despite the big job, Seltzer keeps a calm-yet-powerful demeanor. At first she seems to be a quiet introvert, but it quickly becomes clear how carefully and deliberately she is about her word choice.
“I write The Cramm exactly how I’d talk to my friends out loud,” Seltzer said. “It’s not necessarily about using slang words; it’s about presenting it through the lens and perspective of a young person.” Much of her approach, she said, is about defining unfamiliar terms and adding more context for young readers, but she never “dumbs it down.”
In 2016, she found that her conversations with then-Santa Barbara Junior High classmates became increasingly more focused around President Donald Trump’s election campaign. It was personal to them, as many of her Santa Barbara peers were Latino, some undocumented, and they feared the effect the presidency could have on their families after Trump pledged mass deportations throughout his campaign.
https://www.independent.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191018-Olivia-Seltzer-008-1.jpg?w=600
Seltzer’s paternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City, which, along with the Ashkenazi Jewish heritage from the same side of the family, pushed her to get informed about the government leaders whose policies shape the lives of immigrants and other marginalized people. She felt the world needed more activists to protect the most vulnerable, but young people of her generation were not reading the news. How, she asked, can young people change the world if they don’t know what’s going on in it?
Thus, The Cramm was born.
“We have dinner as a family most nights and have always talked politics openly with the kids,” said Olivia’s mother, Dana Seltzer. “We don’t censor our conversations with the kids when it comes to that, and we treat them and speak to them like we would our adult friends.” The family includes Dana’s husband, Aaron, and Olivia’s younger brother, 12-year-old Oscar.
Dana, an interior designer, said her daughter has had a passion and thirst for knowledge long before The Cramm.
“Watching her become an older and more confident young woman has been amazing because when she was younger she was so curious, but she was quiet and shy,” Dana said. “But despite her shyness, she has always been loud on paper.” She said her daughter played around with creating other websites in the past, but The Cramm is what stuck.
Seltzer wakes up at 5 a.m. every morning to pore over national and international news sources and write a curated, daily newsletter summing up the top international happenings before she goes off to school for the day. BBC Newsis her favorite source, she said, because “it is the least biased.”
“I have to do extra research every morning,” Seltzer said. “I almost always come across terms or references I haven’t heard of, so I look them up and define them for readers because if I don’t understand them, they probably won’t either. … My parents are asleep that early, so I don’t go and ask them. I just find a way to do more research.”
Although Seltzer is the sole writer, she formed a volunteer editorial team called the “Crammers” who live around the globe, here in Santa Barbara, in New York, and as far away as Fiji and France. The Crammers, who range in age from 13 to 18, help Seltzer by sending her research and interviews for the daily newsletter. She said they “keep an eye on the news” from their respective locations, and they communicate news ideas through a group chat on Instagram.
“The most special part is really how much readers want to get involved,” Seltzer said. “I get reader emails all the time asking to be a part of the Crammer team, and readers share how The Cramm has inspired them to be activists.” She said one reader started a student protest at her school to end gun violence after reading Seltzer’s newsletter about multiple mass shootings in American schools. “Those kinds of stories are what motivate me to keep getting up and writing The Cramm every day.”
In addition to her Crammer team, Seltzer also has an advisory board of “trusted adults” whom she checks in with for advice or help. The adults don’t have any control over what content Seltzer chooses to publish, but they function as a sounding board. It’s made up of educators and journalists, among others. Elise Simmons, principal of Santa Barbara High School, is on the advisory board.