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The massive bronze sculpture, Thomas Schomberg's "Athletes of Race", depicts a jockey on a saddled horse astride a Native American riding bareback.  (Thomas Schomberg, incidentally, is the same artist who created the famous larger-than-life Rocky statue that once adorned the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, which was then relocated to the entrance of the Spectrum, and which most recently had mysteriously migrated back again to the steps of the art museum).  "Athletes of Race" welcomed millions of visitors to Cherry Hill's Garden State Park from 1985 until the historic New Jersey racetrack's demolition a couple of years ago.  The park's grounds were recently transformed into a much needed sprawling strip mall and housing development.

Though I would not call the sculpture an artistic masterpiece, "Athletes of Race" was nonetheless impressive, and it indeed had some historical significance for the community.  Since the demolition of the racetrack, the sculpture sat - barely visible from the road - in the depths of a field adjacent to the new strip mall while its new owners, Edgewood Properties, decided what to do with it.  In its purgatory, the sculpture was caged, eerily, behind a chain linked security fence, appearing as if it were a couple of giant caged stallions frozen mid-stride.  My interest in the sculpture, its history, and its present plight drove me to visit it several weeks ago to shoot some images while I was in the neighborhood anyway (shopping at the much needed sprawling strip mall).

About a year ago, the subject of the sculpture came up during a meeting of the Cherry Hill Historical Commission, on which I serve.  Apparently, the new owners of the development, Edgewood Properties, didn't really consider the plight of the sculpture a priority.  At that meeting I warned that, with the sculpture essentially hidden from view, and giving the rising price of bronze, it was an obvious target for theft by scrap metal scavengers.  My suggestion was that the sculpture be swiftly relocated to public display in a high visibility location.  This never happened.

Well I regret to report that, some time during the past week, my prophecy was realized, and, remarkably, the one ton sculpture was severed from its base and carted off.  In all likelihood the sculpture, by now, has been cut into pieces that are amidst a scrap heap in the hull of a cargo ship headed for the Far East.  In a matter of days it will reach a foreign processor where, together with slews of other heaps, its entrails shall be molten and pressed into brand new shiny bronze.  Several months from now, perhaps after making a return voyage to The States or a journey to some other industrialized nation, the new shiny bronze will be sold to foundry, where it will become part of another sculpture, or sold to some manufacturer of bronze this or that.  This is the metallurgic cycle of life.  Scrap metal is America's biggest export, and much of the scrap sent overseas eventually finds its way back here in some form or another.

These days, a considerable amount of the "high-end" scrap (i.e., bronze, brass, and copper) makes it to the heap by way of illicit means.  Our neighborhood horse sculpture - that would cost a good part of a million bucks to create today -  has been eviscerated in order to fetch a group of resourceful bandits (obviously with no appreciation for art) plus or minus four grand as scrap metal on the open market.  Welcome to the new economy.  This sort of crime has been running rampant.  With the weak dollar, the price of metal soars.  With a weak working class economy, desperate street thugs scan the landscape for anything shiny that isn't (or is) nailed down.

Our own sculpture studio was recently a victim of "scrapalization" when a heavy-as-all-heck 15-foot-long steel I-beam was taken from our yard one night without our permission (incidentally, we've since installed security cameras).  It took us a forklift to place the beam there the day before; but somehow, someone (or ones) got it on their truck - presumably without the aid of heavy equipment.  Steel is not-so-prized an alloy as bronze, so the beam probably fetched plus or minus twenty bucks on the open market.  When you think about it, that's a lot of work for $20.  When you add in the overhead - namely the cost of gas to fuel the guzzling getaway truck - and then split the proceeds among your co-conspirators, there ain't much in it for scrap iron thieves.   Could this be a sign of how dire the economic situation is at the most fundamental level?  Can rates of scrap theft in fact be a new sort of economic indicator?  When the criminals do not merely stick to the semi-precious metals and start resorting to stealing plain old low grade steel, could this mean we are actually in a recession?

From what I hear, It is fairly common today for construction sites to be robbed of installed copper wiring, metal pipes (of all varieties), and galvanized conduit.  In a most grotesque version of the crime, I recently learned that scores of cast bronze name plates had been chiseled away from headstones at local cemeteries, and then brought, en masse, to be cashed in at an area metal recycling facility.  The upright owner of the facility (the same facility our studio sends its legit scrap to) rejected the load and reported the attempt to the authorities.

There is a photo circulating around the Internet showing a metal scavenger in an apparent attempt to cut into a somewhat girthy live wire with a pair of bolt cutters.  The voltage of the line was a tad bit stronger than the thief had anticipated, and thus he was charred to a crisp, his body was now one with the bolt cutters, which bolt cutters were not one with the wire.  It's not a pretty picture.  But this is what it has come to.

When will this metal madness end?  Short of a major turnaround in the economy, or a massive drop in the price of metal (neither of which seem to be just around the corner), I predict that this is a criminal activity that will continue to proliferate.  As the quantity of these metal scavengers increases, and the supply of readily accessible high grade stuff diminishes, they will surely get more brazen.  Who knows what's next?  Here is some bad news for suburban home owners: aluminum prices are at an all-time high.  You better pound a few extra nails in that aluminum siding.  In the meantime, if you see any giant metal horses (or parts thereof) making their way through town, be sure to alert the authorities.

Eric Ascalon
Ascalon Studios, Inc.

Our daughter's 5th grade teacher (who we'll call Ms. Z) is an energetic and enthusiastic twenty-something just out of college.  She typically comes up with novel approaches to conveying knowledge and understanding of a given subject matter, and she is therefore able to keep her public school students attentive and interested.  Much like my own wife, who teaches in another local school district, Ms. Z epitomizes the ideal teacher of our children - the kind we so very desperately need in order to keep our nation's youth from sinking further still into the "Y-Generation" pit of self-absorption and unenlightened apathy.

It was therefore quite unfortunate that earlier this week Ms. Z was reprimanded and forced to issue a letter of apology to the parents of her pupils.  Why?  Because in the class unit on the Revolutionary War, in order to convey a sense of the brutality of war, she had the audacity to incorporate a video presentation of selected clips from the Mel Gibson blockbuster, "The Patriot".  While the movie as a whole sported an "R" rating, the clips shown to the class were not atypical of what could be viewed on network television on any given evening.  Nevertheless, when word of this viewing made it home, the result was the feather ruffling of several parents.  These parents proceeded to issue complaints to the school claiming their children were wrongfully subjected to inappropriate material by their teacher.  Ms. Z was thusly compelled to make an act of contrition and bow down, in the form of a written apology, to these overbearing and misguided parents.  To aptly quote a somewhat distinguished author of the historical period at issue:

"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."

-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

In response to Ms. Z's letter of regret, my wife and I promptly contacted her to state our adamant view that absolutely no apology was necessary.  While the images presented to our daughter's class may not have been pleasant, neither can the history of war be properly taught without an understanding of its true human price.  In the context of the study of war, it cannot be said that violent imagery is gratuitous.  To the contraty, the "Walt Disney" adaptation of warfare to which many elementary and secondary institutions subscribe is both naïve and ineffectual.  We should hope that our sons and daughters, as they approach middle school, have a truer grasp of history and reality.  If our children are old enough to learn of war, then certainly their schools should be wise enough to instill that warfare is not a sanitary endeavor.

Our blood boiled over when we received Ms. Z's letter.  This is because we knew that she was compelled to write it in response to the complaining parents.  These same parents, it seems, would rather their children be sheltered in a Neverland of ignorance than to get an occasional dose of reality.  How do these same parents react when their children hear about a bomb blast in Bagdad; or an earthquake in China; or a cyclone in Burma; or when that ubiquitous clip of the 767s crashing into the Twin Towers makes a primetime appearance during family TV time?  Or do their children live in some sensory deprivation chamber where they are not let out but for an occasional dose of Nick, Jr., or for a Miley Cyrus concert?

Ten and eleven-year-olds around the world (and in neighboring communities) survive (and thrive) after being daily subjected to real-world violence and misery – whether through war, poverty, or natural disaster.  We are therefore not worried that our child's system will crash as the result of viewing an unpleasant clip from a Hollywood blockbuster.  To the contrary, we feel that an occasional reality check will better equip her for the real world, and might in fact make her an improved, more informed, and more compassionate citizen of that real world.  We regret that there are those parents here who do not trust that their children are resilient enough to "get over it".  In their apparent desire to protect their children, they miss the point entirely.

We are reminded of the Administration's recent attempt (the one in Washington, not on School House Lane) to enjoin the press from photographing the flag-draped coffins of our brave solders who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.  When authority conceals the true human cost of war (whether that authority is our federal government or the local school board), the public becomes less susceptible to questioning the reasonableness of that war's pursuit.  We, rather, would have our daughter learn to question, for it is only through questioning that truth (and justice) can be realized.

We thank Ms. Z for being brave in her attempt to enlighten our child.  As a new teacher subjected to all difficulties the most honorable profession involves, she did not deserve the barrage of complaints from these zealot parents, and she most certainly ought not to have had to apologize.  Next time you have a concern with your child's teacher, consider picking up the phone and having a friendly chat with him or her on the matter, (or better yet, discuss the issue with your child to see if they were really harmed – or perhaps enlightened – by the experience).  And to all parents: when was the last time you sent a note of praise to your child's teacher for all the good he or she has contributed towards transforming your kid into a wonderful little person?  It's time to pick up a pen.

- Eric Ascalon

James Frey's nonfiction memoir, "A Million Little Pieces", turned out to be bull. His new book, "Bright Shiny Morning", is being marketed as a "novel". Assuming this work of "fiction" winds up being completely true, wouldn't Frey be all even-steven?