The event’s entry policy has long been a source of controversy, but things seem to be coming to a head in the lead-up to this year’s festival, with a Change.org petition pressuring festival organizers to reconsider the restrictive entry policy, and urging the Indigo Girls to boycott.

And the band is listening. They responded by taking a firm stance on the issue, declaring that 2013 will be the last time they play MichFest, and that they will donate any profits from this year’s festival towards trans activism. “We have made it clear that this will be our last time at the Festival until MWMF shows visible and concrete signs of changing their intention,” band members Amy Ray and Emily Saliers wrote in a statement on their Web site. Another performer, Andrea Gibson, has decided to cancel her appearance altogether. In a statement on her website, the spoken-word artist attributes her decision to the “great deal of heartfelt feedback” she received upon accepting her invitation to participate in this year’s event.

The issue first came to light in 1991 when attendee Nancy Burkholder was asked to leave MichFest after revealing that she was transsexual. The festival’s official policy declares it open to “womyn-born-womyn” only, meaning men and transgender women are not allowed to attend or staff MichFest. This incident helped spark the Camp Trans movement, which holds its own protest festival across the road from MichFest every year, drawing 100-200 attendees. The Indigo Girls have been caught in the middle of the issue for some time. In 2005, Ray made an unsuccessful attempt to clear the air between Camp Trans and MichFest when she interviewed both sides. In the course of the interviews, festival founder Lisa Vogel defended the policy, stating “I feel very strongly that having a space for women, who are born women, to come together for a week, is a healthy, whole, loving space to provide for women who have that experience. To label that as transphobic is, to me, as misplaced as saying the women-of-color tent is racist, or to say that a transsexual-only space, a gathering of folks of women who are born men is misogynist.”

Will increased public scrutiny following the protests of performers, attendees, and a growing online community force MichFest to change its policy, or will organizers stand firm? Whatever the outcome, the controversy raises interesting questions about tolerance and gender identity.

• Meet Grace Potter, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi in person at Gathering of the Vibes 2013! Then see their sets from the pit (in front of the stage!) and have dinner in artist catering. Tickets are limited to 25 people on this one-of-a-kind VIP package, so make sure to get yours now!
• The ultimate behind-the-scenes experience at High Sierra Music Festival! Dave Margulies (HeadCount board member, co-Producer of the festival and all around awesome dude) will be taking you and a guest on a private golf cart ride – showing you the ropes of what makes the festival so fantastic. Bid now for 2 “Friends and Family Tickets” and this unique experience!
• Dave Matthews Band has graciously given us 2 tickets and lounge passes to a handful of shows on this summer’s tour! These tickets are prime seats and the exclusive lounge passes come with complimentary food + drink! Look now for this ultimate DMB experience.
• Calling all Wilco fans! Bid now to get 2 General Admission tickets to Bonnaroo, see Wilco perform from the side of the main stage AND take home an autographed 7’ vinyl of Wilco’s single “I Might”!
• We’ve still got the best way for you to see a show at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY and it’s all for a good cause! Check out upcoming auctions for the Capitol Community (Including Billy Idol, The B-52’s & Weird Al) and get the absolute best seats in the house.

See music like never before and support a good cause at the same time!

Takoma Park’s changes were supported and led by young residents. According to the Washington Post, “Tommy Raskin, a senior at Montgomery Blair and son of state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-District 20), said during the April 19 interview that he thought the city’s teenagers would rise to the occasion and become informed voters. ‘We cultivate interest in democracy by giving people opportunities to participate,’ he said.” In addition to expanding voting to younger residents, the legislation enfranchised felons who had served their time and instated election-day voter registration.

Takoma Park is the only city in the US to grant those 16 and over the right to vote — so far. The city’s changes represent the first victory in a national movement aimed at expanding youth voting rights. As the Washington Times reported, “‘This is, in legislation terms, the first real big step,’ said Jeffrey Nadel, president of the D.C.-based National Youth Rights Association, which lobbied for the legislation in Takoma Park. ‘We’re excited that this will be the spark that lights the fuse for change across the country.’” In Massachusetts this week, members of the movement also spoke at the State House in favor of granting 17-year-olds the right to vote.

The teens that drove this legislation forward in Takoma Park may be symbolic of a larger national trend towards greater political engagement among millennials. As more youths become involved in movements driven by online social tools, will Takoma Park be called a trailblazer for expanding access to the political process? Or, will it be remembered as a failed experiment? Either way, young residents of this small town have already reshaped their political landscape.

Global Citizen is powered by the Global Poverty Project, which launched in 2008 with the aim of increasing the number and effectiveness of people taking action to end extreme poverty. Last year, the Global Citizen Festival, which rewarded Global Citizen’s activists with a live show, was staged in Central Park. It was during the organization of this event that Kelly Curtis, Pearl Jam’s manager, and Hugh Evans, Chief Executive of the Global Poverty Project, cooked up the idea for the current project: The Global Citizen Tickets Initiative. The Initiative, which was officially launched on May 1^st, sees artists including Beyoncé, Grizzly Bear, Kanye West, Fleet Foxes, and ‘The Boss’ himself, Bruce Springsteen, donate two tickets to each of their shows over the next three years. Participants in the campaign set up an account on the Global Citizen webpage and start taking actions for change. Actions are then rewarded with varying numbers of points, bringing a gaming element to taking action. The points can then be used to enter a ticket lottery for a chosen show or festival, or redeemed through Global Citizen’s rewards program for other perks. Evans says that the festival in Central Park showed him that Citizens respond to the incentive of music tickets to take action, explaining, “We saw close to 700,000 actions taken in just one month before the Global Citizen Festival.” He is a firm believer in the power of music and activism combined; “The (Global Citizen) site […] in partnership with the music industry, can be an enormous incentive for activists to really do the things they care about.”

The project will target many issues that contribute to extreme poverty, from polio and malaria to women’s empowerment, education, and more. When the Global Citizen site asked, “What is a Global Citizen?” participants in the project explained the significance of the movement. One describes a world with equality of access to justice, freedom, and health: “That is the world we’re gonna make, and it’s gonna be beautiful.” One of the campaign’s biggest advantages is that it’s extremely user-friendly, making it easy for those who want to make a difference — but aren’t sure how to go about it — to learn more. The website asks at what level activists want to participate, and explains the missions at Rookie, Savvy, and Pro levels.  The campaign also taps into the targeted generation’s social media know-how. For example, by sharing a Facebook video dealing with extreme poverty, fans can earn one point.

According to GlobalCitizen.org, “The world has halved extreme poverty in the last thirty years, and we have what it takes to end it within a generation.” And by we, they mean us: “We need the will power and energy of a movement, an active audience: you.”

In his native city, Garcia’s name has graced the ‘Jerry Garcia Amphitheater’ since 2005 when it was renamed in his honor. Now however, it seems San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department wants to change the name under a partnership with Los Angeles-based nonprofit Levitt Pavilions. The theater may instead become the “Levitt Pavilion San Francisco at Jerry Garcia Meadows.”

The proposed change has ignited the ire of DeadHeads, almost 1,500 of whom have signed an online petition on change.org. The venue is just a few blocks from Garcia’s childhood home, and in the words of one petitioner “Jerry was a beautiful soul and deserves to have something named after him that is built to last”.

Meanwhile New York is all about showing its appreciation for Garcia this week, as the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester has just announced it will name its lobby bar ‘Garcia’ after the late great. Along with the Grateful Dead, Garcia played several shows at the venue in the 70’s and considered it among his favorites to perform in. It was Jerry’s daughter Trixie who made the announcement during a Furthur concert at the venue, expressing how happy she was about it;”Jerry’s parents ran a bar, so this is really continuing a family tradition for us. I love all of you and it’s so nice to have a hub on the east coast”. Pete Shapiro, owner of the Capitol Theatre (and a HeadCount board member), explained “This is why we brought this place back”.

Of course DeadHeads aren’t the only ones who need to worry about the legacy of their favorite band. Here’s a look at some other musicians who will live on forever, and not just in our hearts and minds.

The Ramones

Sometimes naming places after musical icons is more trouble than it’s worth. In New York City, the Bowery and East 2^nd  street corner was designated ‘Joey Ramone place’ in honor of the band’s late lead singer.

The only hitch? The sign became the third most stolen in the city, ultimately leading to its repositioning 20 feet high. As Marky Ramone, former Ramones drummer pointed out; “Maybe they should find a better way to attach it; Now you have to be an NBA player to see it.”

Frank Sinatra

“Hoboken’s gift to the world” Ol’ Blue Eyes was honored in his home city of Hoboken, NJ in 1998 when one of the city’s parks was renamed ‘Frank Sinatra Park’.

The Beatles

Who wouldn’t want to hear they are flying into ‘Liverpool John Lennon Airport’ on a trip across the pond. The fab four have all been recognized in a more down to earth tribute too with the naming of these four streets in Liverpool- John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.

Even oft-forgotten original Beatles drummer Pete Best had two Liverpool streets named in his honor in 2011 after a petition garnered 10,000 names in favor of the move.

Word got out on Monday that Jason Collins, most recently a center for the NBA’s Washington Wizards, spilled the big news in a Sports Illustrated interview to be released on May 6th. “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” he said.

In a way, I was not surprised. According to Gallup Politics over 76% of 18-34 year olds believe that gay and lesbian relations should be legal (as recently as 2004, half the U.S. population disagreed). The tide has clearly turned on same-sex marriage. Anti-gay epithets are now off-limits in the public sphere. An entire generation has grown up generally knowing and accepting LGBT peers. So my first reaction was kind of like, “What’s the big deal?”

Well maybe the real news here is how positive everyone’s reaction has been. Collins’ team, the NBA and others have stood by him as he entered uncharted territory. Even President Obama called to commend Collins’ bravery.

Kobe Bryant, fined $100,000 by the NBA two years ago for using an anti-gay slur on the court, tweeted:

Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support #mambaarmystandup #BYOU

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 29, 2013

Note all the re-tweets and favorites. America is proving to be more tolerant than I really expected.

In recent years we’ve seen young people bullied to the point of suicide because of their sexuality. The notable “It Gets Better” campaign targeted young gays to let them know they aren’t alone. In the culture of sports, especially, homosexuality is a stigmatized thing. So much so that even fully grown men, other professional athletes who are gay have often waited until they had retired from sports to “come out”. It’s nice to see a diversity of celebrities and role models leading the charge to prevent the degradation of others.

The commercials of the early days often featured the “silhouette” style and catchy songs by bands you’ve never heard of. When looking back at the commercials, we found several featuring songs we didn’t think we knew. We were wrong. We knew all of these songs, thanks to Apple’s legendary 30 second commercials.

Not all of them feature the unknown, but there is still a common theme. The ads are all in the category of “feel good.” Even the ones by artists that are considerably more well known are still upbeat and happy.

Most of the ads were effective in the department of song recognition, but only one prompted me to actually make a purchase. After seeing this one for the first time, I ran to the computer to Google what song it was. I then immediately bought The Fratellis’ “Flathead – EP.”

It’s always fun to embarrass people on their birthday, so to conclude let’s all look back on this gem.

The HeadCount blog is a forum for our community where we welcome all opinions and perspectives. The following does not necessarily represent the views of the HeadCount organization. We welcome anyone with an opposing viewpoint to become a contributor to our blog. Please email editor@headcount.org for more information.

I became a teacher out of a passion for providing quality learning experiences for students.

Over the years, I’ve become loaded with certifications required by the state of New York. Some have been useful, but I have begun to feel that the profession of teaching is being degraded by bureaucracy. Rather than letting teachers teach and students learn in the way that best meets their individual needs, there’s hurdle after hurdle.

The main area where education has failed students, is increased testing, which leads to a major problem – “Teaching to the Test.” Quite literally, this means that teachers are left with no option but to teach only the material that is going to be on an assessment, so that the students will score well and the school will be viewed as ‘successful’ and not ‘in need of improvement’. Teaching to the Test has narrowed the scope of education and created a growing generation of drone students, who are expecting to only learn what they will be tested on, not encouraged to use their imaginations (cutting the arts doesn’t help either, but that’s another topic!) In my professional experience, a looser environment, one free from standardized testing of any sort would foster natural curiosity and real learning.

Unfortunately, state and federal lawmakers have tied funding primarily to results on specific tests. It is intended to make teachers more accountable, but instead makes the stakes of the testing disproportionately high. On paper, this system is a great idea and plan, but in practice, it fails students constantly; Students learn only what will be on a test and not broader scope information that can provide greater context to a topic.

An example of this would be learning about the causes of the American Revolution and teaching them the reasons, including (but not limited to) the various ‘Intolerable Acts’ imposed by England, the lack of ability to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains, and being unable to own guns and having to quarter soldiers. The why of these is no longer explored in most classroom settings because it takes away from what might be featured on a state test. Not only is the “why” important information, the understanding of it supports a deeper understanding of the tested content.

One district in Upstate New York recently pushed back, in a non-binding vote that was likely the first of its kind: Saratoga City School District voted on April 9 to tell the state ‘enough is enough’ and to stop putting undue pressure on kids and teachers. It doesn’t really have any teeth – they still have to follow the state guidelines. But their hope is that this measure will cause the state to wake up and see what this testing is doing to students and teachers.

Could this spread to other districts? Well, a few counties north in Saranac Lake, NY, some parents are opting to keep their kids home on test day.

Let’s home this ripple starts a wave. The system is broken and as a teacher, I see it first hand. Without a major change, a generation or more of American students will be programmed to look narrowly at information so they might pass a test, rather than let their imagination and individual learning styles roam free. There’s got to be a better way than “teaching to the test.”

Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives included potentially unconstitutional language in a substitute budget bill designed to make it more difficult for students attending Ohio colleges to vote in their college communities. The language would require any public college or university that issues a letter or utility bill to a student for voter ID purposes to charge that student in-state tuition. Current law allows public colleges to provide to any student a letter with the student’s name and current address that the student can then use as voter ID. Private colleges may issue zero-balance utility bills to students living in residence halls.

The proposed budget language would discourage colleges from issuing voter ID documents to students who moved to Ohio to attend college by threatening schools with the loss of revenue that would result from charging out-of-state students lower in-state tuition rates. Out-of-state students are often the most in need of such documents.

In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Symm v. United States that discrimination against college students seeking to vote in their college communities is a violation of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Ohio, the definition of residency for voting purposes is intentionally distinct from the definition of residency for determining tuition. If the legislature passes this bill and the governor signs it into law, it is very likely to face a court challenge.

The House could vote on the bill as early as tomorrow. This is the proposed language from the substitute budget bill:

“(E) The rules of the chancellor for determining student residency shall grant residency status to a student to whom a state institution of higher education issues a letter or utility bill for use as proof that the student is a qualified elector in this state.

Nothing in division (E) of this section shall be used to grant residency to a student for any purpose other than for state subsidy and tuition surcharge purposes.”

The Scholarship is open to fulltime educators at accredited learning institutions in Westchester (NY) and Fairfield (CT) counties. Winners will be awarded the full cost of tuition, and in some cases also have their travel and lodging costs covered. The application is here.

The scholarships are funded through auctions of the Cap’s “Presidential Box” – the best four seats in the house overlooking the stage. If you’d like to support these scholarships and see a show from the Presidential Box, check out the auctions here. Recent auctions have included performances by B.B. King, The Black Crowes, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Drive-By Truckers, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, and Furthur’s 9-show sold-out run.

Why is HeadCount sending teachers to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Because our mission is to unleash the power of musicians and fans to make a difference. Registering voters is one way we achieve that, but we don’t stop there.

 ”Each Presidential Box auction is a chance for an individual to directly support education in the area,” says HeadCount executive director Andy Bernstein. “And by bringing rock history into classrooms, we’ll be opening kids’ minds in a whole new way.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Summer Teacher Institute, held in Cleveland July 8-12, helps K-12 and post-secondary educators learn how to effectively use rock and roll to teach across multiple disciplines. Educators learn how to connect popular music to their own classroom curricula – from the history of hip-hop to the science of sound – by creating new and exciting learning environments that can help meet the needs of all students, no matter their level or learning style.

“[It's] one of our longest-running programs,” said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris. “It provides teachers with essential resources in a dynamic learning environment. This fantastic community initiative by the Capitol Theatre, which has such a storied place in rock history, allows us to extend our mission of educating students and teachers.” More information can be found at www.rockhall.com/teacher/summer-teacher-institute.

“Since my career in live music began at Wetlands, a venue that placed the combination of social awareness and the live music experience at the heart of its mission, it’s been really important to me to continue that tradition,” said Capitol Theatre owner Peter Shapiro, a HeadCount board member. “This partnership with HeadCount and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a great continuation of what Wetlands was all about: combining the fun of live music with doing something that will have a positive and lasting impact long after the show is over.”