Soapbox:A good thought for all schools
No matter what field an elementary student chooses to study as he or she gets older and no matter what profession he or she eventually chooses, few skills will better serve that young person better than critical-thinking ability -- absolutely essential for a world changing as quickly as ours. Woodland Elementary District 50 officials are demonstrating their own foresight by making critical-thinking skills a centerpiece of their strategic planning. District 50 board member Mark Vondracek got it exactly right when he said, "Jobs that haven't even been created, they'll be competing for."
Phasing out phosphorus
Phosphorus has been a standard ingredient in plant fertilizers for as long as anyone can remember, simply because it effectively boosts plant growth. But when it reaches lakes, phosphorus also fosters the rapid growth of algae, which, unchecked, can deprive fish and other aquatic life of the oxygen they need. Environmental credit, then, goes to the village of Antioch, which has opted to ban lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus. Village officials' research indicated that area lawns are already rich in phosphorous and that big retailers can offer phosphorus-free fertilizers for about the same price.
Preaching hygiene
Another week, another weird health threat to worry parents. Fortunately, the Naperville North High School students who contracted potentially fatal staph infections have recovered just fine. And now suburban parents know that good hygiene is just one more sermon they need to give their teens.
Long odds on sports
When the Sears Centre arena first opened, it started with a few small teams and dreams of more sports franchises to come. Today, the Chicago Hounds hockey team is gone, and the National Lacrosse League season has been canceled with the Chicago Shamrox thanks to a labor contract dispute.
Speaking of labor contract disputes
The National Lacrosse League season has been canceled because of disputes over raises and whether to institute a salary cap. We're talking about an average league salary here of $14,500, not megamillions. Whoever's right, whoever's wrong, is there some losing the forest in the trees going on here? All parties should feel lucky there's a professional lacrosse league at all, and do everything they can to keep it going. The world does not yet want you to exist more than you want to.
Differing economic tales
Anybody else see the irony in the fact that the University of Chicago keeps churning out Nobel prize winners in economics even as the state slides deeper into economic disaster? Professor Roger B. Myerson became the 24th person with ties to the school to win the coveted economics prize since it began being awarded in 1969. That's almost a third of Nobel economics winners with University of Chicago connections. Any chance he or another one of them could take a sabbatical, run for governor and straighten out this mess?
Money everywhere, little else
This week contained a litany of reports about money raised by political candidates. Hillary raised $28 million in the third quarter, while Barack raised about $20 million in the same period. U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean has nearly a million to toss about and U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk has a million and a half. Three candidates in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert have raised nearly a half-million each. Too bad none of the positions they seek is "fundraiser." Even more too bad is that such big bucks applied to various problems instead of TV ads might be a whole lot more constructive use of them.