BLUE STAR: OUTRAGEOUS SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE SPELLING BEE

The San Francisco Chronicle has gone too far!
Take a close look at the anti-Israel message used in paragraph #10 to help young students enrich their Chemistry vocabulary. This Spelling Bee was developed for "students participating in The Chronicle Spelling Bee and anyone wanting to improve spelling skills and vocabulary development. Make spelling study fun by using these practice sessions; be creative and incorporate games and other group activities."

In this example, the highlighted chemistry word in "disproportionate": "10. Israel came under heavy international criticism for the Gaza offensive. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other questioned whether it had been a DISPROPORTIONATE response to the use of crude Qassam rockets by Palestinian militants."

This fun quiz (printed on page 2 of the Business section in today's San Francisco Chronicle, 12/07/04) is also being distributed to classrooms free of charge! Sponsoring organizations are Merriam-Webster (www.m-w.com), Lawrence Hall of Science (www.lawrencehallofscience.org), and Dulci Jubilo (www.indulcijubilo.org). The Speeling Bee feature was developed by www.kidscoop.com

For their next Spelling Bee, we'd suggest that the Chronicle develop a new paragraph highlighting their own selection process. We'd suggest highlighting the word: INAPPROPRIATE!