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Once upon a time Hawaii (prior 1960) had a great idea about teacher qualifications. There was only one licensing credential. This basic license was valid for a lifetime. There were no bureaucratic renewal fees, as Hawaii felt that competence was lifelong and didn't suddenly expire. Principals developed and required ongoing teacher improvement.

You know, it's occurred to me that there are some interesting differences between men and women. Yes, I know about the obvious ones, but there are other, more subtle dissimilarities that we don't necessarily think about every day.

Fifty years ago, the film "12 Angry Men" had its premiere. Based on a play originally performed on television, "12 Angry Men" had an all-star cast. Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Ed Begley, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam, among others. The film is about the 12 men, jury members deciding the fate of a young man from the tenements of New York accused of murdering his father.

The aim of "environmental strategies" in substance abuse prevention is to create an environment that prevents substance abuse. One strategy is to reduce access and availability to young people, who, studies show, increasingly drink to get drunk. Most of those underage drinkers access alcohol mainly at their own homes or the homes of their friends. Morgan Hill student responses to the California Healthy Kids Survey, taken every two years, show Morgan Hill students report lifetime use (asked "have you ever…?"), binge drinking (five or more drinks), and being drunk or high on campus at higher rates than the state averages. Adding to these discouraging statistics are the responses routinely heard from parents: "yes, they're drinking. It's better that they drink here at home where they have supervision."  

Here's a quick question. Why should you act to reduce the amount of junk mail sent to your home? It's the trees. If you care about trees then you should care about reducing junk mail. The average American home receives 1.5 trees in their mailbox in the form of unsolicited mail every year. That adds up to over 100 million trees cut down and over 28 billion gallons of water consumed to produce one year's worth of this country's junk mail.

Are you ready, people? Time to strap on your aprons!

Recently, headlines in this newspaper recounted stories of high schoolers partying with liquor at parents homes. Now, the Morgan Hill City Council wants a stronger "social host" law to fine an adult who hosts a party with three or more underage revelers drinking alcohol.

It's time for a periodic roundup of news items that make me roll my eyes, shake my head and utter a dramatic, two-syllable "Puh-lease."

Who Will Run Iraq When America Pulls Out?

Starting in the late 1940s, most public school systems in the U.S. included the kindergarten program as a part of their regular 12-year sequence. Kindergarten (translation: a child's garden) was intended to build certain skills that would better prepare children to function as group members. In the early 1960s, the Ford Foundation developed programs to serve pre-kindergarten children who resided in low-income urban areas. They were designed to enhance nurturing activities that would put them on even footing with their pre-kindergarten peers. Initially, this effort only included the summer session that preceded the kindergarten year. One of the programs became know as Head Start.