Mike, "I don't give a kumquat whether we are warming or cooling..." I am offended by your implication that there is anything negative about kumquats. They are great. I grew up with a tree that bore way more fruit than I could ever eat, and the extras served as excellent ammunition for throwing at my friends--especially the green ones b/c they are much harder. :) It is pretty funny with this current cold weather how much people on both sides of the debate cite it as evidence in their direction. As if one piece of datum out of context can lead to any kind of significant conclusion. Whenever winter rolls around gardenweb seems to slow down, which I find annoying considering I live NorCal where we don't have much of a winter. So I appreciate discussion topics that I find interesting regardless of how "on topic" they are for the various forums. I do find it interesting all the people that chime in about how this isn't a worthwhile discussion. In a free society, isn't any any all discussion worthwhile? You are free to discuss and free not to. Cousin floyd, do you not think that colony collapse disorder exists, or are you just saying you don't think it is a new thing? I didn't realize that was even a controversial topic. ryan

Interesting way this discussion has turned. There is a boy at our local public high school who is doing what Jeanne's acquaintance is doing. Full scale, nearly full time, mow & blow. He's an A student, is involved in sports, academic extracuricular projects, at least one of which earned he and his team a trip to California for the national competition. He also has a girl friend! I was able to get him out here twice, but my yard & field are difficult, and he is VERY busy, so he hasn't come back. I'm sad, because he did a good, quick job, and now I have to! Back when President Bush was Governor, he instigated, or strongly encouraged, a system to help do away with quotas and discrimination. The new system automatically allows the top 10% of ANY public (or private???, not sure) high school graduating class to be accepted into any State College, maybe also the private colleges. It sounds like, and probably still is, a good plan. But there are some difficulties in the system. A TV station did a story this late winter about 2 girls vying for a place at The University of Texas (which is, I think, THE most crowded school in the nation, and has become overrun w/ top 10 per centers). Anyway, both girls were straight A students, but one came from a lower economic school somewhere, and the other from an elite preppy high school somewhere else in the state. The girl from the lower economic school got into UT, but didn't have NEAR the GPA or SAT scores as the other girl. Preppy girl was in advanced classes, in possibly a larger school, and tho she had high scores, must have "just" missed out on being the top 10% in her school, therefore, no admittance to UT. No one in the story wanted to deny the good education to the girl from the lower economic school, she was, after all, the top 10% of HER school, but all were worried (even the girl herself), if she could compete w/ the higher achieving scholars who'll be her classmates, and the rigors of first year at UT. It's been months since I saw that story, so I'm sure I've left out or forgotton some details. I know it's a big concern at UT and at Texas A & M, the two biggest schools here. I heard once that "they" (whoever) are considering raising the top 10% to the top 8%. If a kid ISN'T in that top 10%, he/she has virtually NO chance of getting into UT as a freshman, the crush of kids there is so huge. Wow, long derail of the subject! LOL! None of my kids applied themselves enough to be in the top 10%, so whichever colleges they've gone to have involved more complicated admissions processes. One of my friends has brilliant kids, and as they went off to Georgetown or UT, were reminded that MOST of the other kids they'd meet at their colleges were ALSO brilliant, and probably valedictorians/salutatorians/private school alums/ and National Merit Scholars, too, so the competition would continue to be difficult. I sure hope my kids' eventual careers earn them more money than the mow & blow young men we've been discussing here, but they may not. I know a mow & blow guy in another town who made THAT his career, and he told me that one year recently he SAVED $5,000 per month, and used that as a downpayment on a new fancy home. He has a crew of 30 ish, maybe 10 trucks, advertises and self promotes heavily, and is making a FINE living mowing people's yards. He was in the Air Force for many years, may have acquired some college along the way, but I don't think he has a degree. And, back to the child's homelife thoughts: the young man that helped w/ my sewer & moved the compost apparantly DID have a good close family: multiple siblings, all home schooled, and apparantly a strong religious training and action in their home. The highschool boy who has His own business is now in a combined family, with each separate family having massive tragedies in the past--dad of one family died, wife of the other died, the two remaining parents marry. Church is a big part of their family too. I never thought I had the patience to home school any of my kids, but in retrospect, I wish I had. But, they've all turned out pretty good, in spite of me, the plusses and/or minuses of public school, and "average" grades. Gone WAY too long, I'll hush now! Susi.

best, yes, our kiddoes are the same age. Smart to look at schools early -- wish I had done this with DS #1. My DS who is interested in Chicago is an excellent student and all-around good citizen, so I think U of Chicago may be within reach but who knows -- he liked what he saw, so I think seeing a good "reach" school is good inspiration for the year ahead! He is one of those kids who could get straight A's with just a tiny bit more effort, but I can't complain as his lowest grade this year was a B+. He also plays sports, two instruments, and has a part time job. But enough bragging. I just appreciate him because our first -- though a great guy with many talents -- was a whole different ball game! Anyway, we had a great time in San Fran other than that one really lousy afternoon. The park ranger that we flagged down said it is, unfortunately, a frequent occurrence there, usually homeless people who then sell whatever they get. Fortunately, it's all replaceable stuff. My favorite part of the trip, though, was out of the city -- we went to Muir Woods one morning and it was just so stunning and peaceful. Have fun in Chicago! I think we'll be going back sometime during this coming school year for an actual tour of at least a couple of schools.

I teach mostly freshmen at a public university. I have come to the conclusion that most of my students are mediocre intellectually (also, I don't teach the more gifted freshmen who test into the advanced composition class in the fall). Now, some of them seem to be better at science and math than English; they can solve a math problem with a definite answer, memorize for a test, but abstractions (ideas, ideologies, connections, parallels, analogues) and the ongoing intellectual curiosity that relies on analysis and synthesis and contextualization to explore them eludes them. And of course few actually read. The few (very few) that do read popular fiction. Most of my students are Hispanic in origin, varying in generations away from Mexico or other countries. Many are bilingual, which I actually think should be an asset to learning grammar (we only spoke English in my house; my Dad heard my grandmother speak Polish, but it was not encouraged in a family that wanted to assimilate in the 1940s); if one learns a different language, one has to learn the grammar, but they grew up speaking English and Spanish fluently. It's not like they went to school to be taught another language. Also, many of my students are Polish (Chicago holds the largest population of Poles next to Warsaw), and in contrast to my Dad's upbringing, many speak Polish at home, and even though they may have been born here, English is the second language. It is a challenge, and more so each year as the school takes in more underserved students who are more unprepared and need remediation. Some do show potential, but their background (as well their own internal struggles) often keeps them from achieving what they could do. And it's not just the minority students who are underserved; most of the students are struggling financially, and I've seen more who need to work full time to support themselves and their families. The traditional student who goes away for four years at age 18 and lives in the dorm and graduates in four years is more the minority. I could say more, but I've spent the last two days grading their first major project; I have so many papers to grade I cancelled class tomorrow (I gave them plenty to do in the interim) in order to get caught up. I do agree with some posters that basic writing techniques like cursive, civics, and grammar are no longer emphasized. Now, one can still learn them without the beat it into you/rote method I encountered, especially in Catholic school, but sometimes the new mediums to do so overwhelm the message,