Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

      It’s time for my annual rant about the condition of science non-students at my alma mater. This happens whenever the winners of the North Museum and Science Fair are announced. At least it starts that way, although it expands a bit by the time I get to the end. Stay with me.       If this were about football, it would be a glowing review. Since 1992, Manheim Central’s record is been 215 and 29 – not too bad. A football scholarship to Penn State is considered a very successful high school career.       But it’s not about football.       I counted winners from 16 Lancaster County Schools at this year’s science fair. How many were there from Manheim Central? None, nada, nil, zilch, goose egg! Same as last year! I don’t think they even had anyone entered!       I have spoken to several of my classmates and other alumni about this lack, and what do I get? “We...

Last night my old high school football team won the championship of their division for the 16 th time. Of course, I feel very good about this, but team statistics raised a question for me: Why are these guys so big? When I went to high school many years ago, we had one or two people in our class who were six feet tall. Only a few students, who were considered to be “fat,” weighed 200 pounds. Compare this with the current football team’s statistics. There are several boys on the team who are 6’4” or 6’5” tall. Almost all the players are close to 6’. As to weight, the five linemen from tackle to tackle average 270 pounds. 270 pounds! Two of them, 6’4” tall, tip the scales at 310 pounds. And they do not look fat. Many college teams would love to field a line that size. Why the difference? According to my online investigation, there are three factors: 1.)                      ...

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day during which we show our appreciation for the many benefits we enjoy. And many there are, both personally and as Americans. Personal thanks, at least for me are, first and foremost, for Barbara, who has enabled me to live a happy and generally prosperous life. We are living quite happily at Luther Acres Retirement Community, where we have made some good friends, and are close to her family, which treats me as one of them. We should all be thankful for the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, who presented us with a Constitution guaranteeing us freedom in spite of what the political far right says. Their foresight has made possible all those things for which we are personally thankful. While contemplating this day, I started thinking about other holidays we celebrate. I have sorted them into de facto categories. Let me clarify: I have assigned these holidays to categories which, in my opinion, illustrate the way we actually celebrate them. In some ca...

Football season has started, and the media have hyped the fans to their annual fall frenzy. It would be wonderful if they could support performance in the classroom to the same extent as they do for performance on the athletic field. It seems odd that so much emphasis is placed on things that many animals can do much better than humans ― they can run faster, jump higher, copulate more often, perform greater feats of strength, etc. ― and so little on the process at which humans excel: think. We celebrate what we do from the neck down, and merely tolerate what we do from the neck up. I do not believe that education necessarily can be improved by throwing more money at it, but it would help if some of the same spirit could be thrown at it. However, on the subject of money, I realize that athletics is a money-making activity; it is probably the only education-related activity that is self-supporting, and it is my understanding that income from athletic endeavors goes strictly for the...

Although folks living on the Equator will not see the sun pass directly overhead for four more days, here in the Northern Hemisphere both Mother Nature and humans (who mistakenly think they are separate from nature) are already well into their autumn routine. Two weeks ago I noticed that some of the trees along Main Street had developed a reddish tint, and last week they were definitely showing their lovely fall blush. Also last week, I heard the first call of the wild geese, heading south I presume, although I didn’t actually see them. Last year I noticed that throughout the winter, some flocks of geese were headed in unpredictable directions, including north, even in January. I wonder if climate change, nee global warming, has confused them. Will the time come when they will stay at home for the entire year? Humans have also made the transition. No respectable person has worn white since Labor Day. But I also notice that there are more and more disrespectable people who are...