'To Kill A Mockingbird' may actually be killed from high school curriculums

Written by Starla M. Brown on . Posted in Staff Op-Eds

According to a recent article in The Telegraph, high school curriculums are dropping classic, fictional books and replacing them with non-fiction to better prepare students for the workplace. (Read More…)

 

Two such classics reported to be on the cultural chopping block are The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill A Mockingbird.  Perhaps I am being a little biased in my objection to this proposed policy, but these happen to be at the top of my reading list.

 

While I am certain I have never received employment from having read such classic books, and my love of Shakespeare never closed a deal, I do know that fiction sparked my creative mind.  An imagination, and an ability to become the "well-rounded person" is an important factor in preparing you for the workplace.

 

Having recently taken a barrage of assessment tests, I can assure you I was asked very little that would have been garnered by reading a technical manual.  Oh, I guess you could argue that some jobs need only technical skills.  If you are locked in a basement working alone from home with no human interaction, this just might be the case.  I have never held that particular job, so some skills I learned from reading classic literature have been important to my education.

 

When you read fiction it requires you to imagine the people and the places described by the author.  Most of us read books, take the black and white print and create from it a mental picture via our imagination.  An entire industry of movies and film is an outpouring of such a visualization when a book comes to life as a movie.  Without imagination I think most great ideas whether in life or business never happen.

 

And then there are the lessons we learn from books.  I grew up in the South in the 60's and 70's.  It was during my high school years that I read To Kill A Mockingbird.  I learned a great deal about acceptance, tolerance and the moral issues of racial inequality from reading just that one book.  

 

Many do not know that Harper Lee wrote the book based on an event that happened in 1936 near where she lived as a child.  While the Pulitzer Prize winning book is narrated through the eyes of a child, it is perhaps the father character, Atticus Finch whose well penned morals have been an inspiration to many for years.  I am certain perhaps a person or two may have been rightfully influenced in their beliefs or perhaps chosen the legal profession from this required reading.

 

While the article reports that a very interesting book on the Recommended Levels of Insulation by the EPA is a possible replacement, I am certain that would have never impacted or changed my life.  And, having read EPA recommendations as part of my career, I can say without hesitation my imagination was never once sparked.

 

I hope a balance will be found and the great novels are still read for generations, because the lessons learned remain important to us as a people.  Education is not simply about getting a job.

A Teen's Perspective of July 4th!

Written by Bethany Bowra on . Posted in Staff Op-Eds


As a teenager, July 4th has somewhat of a different meaning for me than it does for most adults.  The main focus of the day seems to be having barbeques, going for a swim, and watching fireworks light up the night sky to celebrate with family and friends the independence won by our founding fathers.  While I love these things as much as anyone (okay, maybe a little more than just anyone), for me there is another, important meaning hidden beneath the fireworks and celebrations:  There is a sense of the responsibility I and the rest of my generation carries to not only preserve the significance of Independence Day, but to renew that message each year with the promise that we will not allow this nation to ever return to the bondage we experienced under the British Crown— today through events and programs that lean toward socialism and government dependence.

Ads and Presidents

Written by Bethany Bowra on . Posted in Staff Op-Eds

If the amount of television ads being run are any indication, Florida is going to be a very red state come November.

It's impossible to watch ten minutes of television without every other commercial being a campaign ad, whether it be from one of the official campaigns or from supporting Super PACs. I've seen ads from the official Obama and Romney campaigns, Restore Our Future PAC (supports Romney), Priorities USA Action PAC (supports Obama), and many more. The theme appears the same in the ads supporting each respective candidate: Those supporting Governor Romney state that we "can't afford four more years" and need a leader who will truly lead and keep his promises, while those supporting President Obama state that Governor Romney cares more about the wealthy than he does the middle class.

As a political junkie, I enjoy seeing so many campaign ads. The large amount of them, however, has made me wonder how much impact these ads actually have on voters. Columbia and Stanford Universities conducted research on the topic regarding the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections; they found that if advertising was eliminated during the 2000 election and all other factors remained the same, the electoral votes from three states would have changed parties. Considering how close the 2000 election was, this could have resulted in a different President.

Alternate Investments in Light and in Spite of the Fiscal Cliff

Written by Dominique Feldman on . Posted in Staff Op-Eds

As the New Year looms before us, the entire nation, including those who spend a great deal of their time and money investing in one form of commodity or other, is doing a fair bit of nail biting over the menace of the Fiscal Cliff.  The prospect of those imminent tax increases and spending cuts has many an investor fearful of the possible recession that could result from them, and in response, markets have declined steadily for the last week.  The Dow closed Friday at 12938.11, down 1.21% for the day, even as the President and key members of Congress were working to find a solution to the impending problem.  Of course, the politicians more or less know where their paychecks are coming from for the next two years.  The rest of the country waits on tenterhooks to see if a deal can be struck and what it will be.

No matter what compromise, if any, is reached, some negative economic impact is likely to be felt.  In light of this, many interested persons, from large investors to small ones, are seeking safe alternate investments that are reliable and have durable value, even in uncertain economic times.

These alternate investments may seem only to be accessible and useful to those with a fairly large amount of capital on hand, but this is not the case.  Though some of the higher-end investments of ANY kind can be intimidating, with a little imagination, anyone can take advantage of remarkably durable opportunities.  These types of investments, and the people who take part in them, are good examples of thinking outside the ordinary markets and seeking reliable, strong sources of value in other places.

America, The True Story

Written by Bethany Bowra on . Posted in Staff Op-Eds

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - John Adams

The true story of the beginning of our American system of government is a phenomenon that it seems people are failing to remember today.  The watered-down version that tells of American farmers and merchants fighting off the British and establishing an independent country does no justice to the real facts of what went on for years while the colonists fought the most powerful military of that time while at the same time toiling over the system of government they would establish in a free America.

The real version needs to be told; preserving the remarkable story and reality that is the United States depends on it.  This election is about the economy-- but the underlying theme beneath this and every other election is which candidate is taking us back to the principles of our incredible beginning.  This isn't to tell you which candidate I feel you should vote for; rather, this is simply a reminder of how amazing our beginning and how extraordinary America truly is.