Administrators and teachers are concerned with the dwindling money available for education, forcing layoffs and curtailment of long established and cherished subjects to be taught to often indifferent students. With little background in curriculum selection I shall offer readers the benefit of my long life of observation…and suggest a bare bones approach to the education of youths. I was one once, and know now what I should have been studying then.

Reading skills must be taught. That is the first step to knowledge. Those who cannot read will be consigned to a lifetime of leaf blowing.

Students should learn to communicate coherently and legibly. In my day those who took typing from Mrs. Adams learned a skill producing lifetime benefits. There is little misunderstanding when type is set to page. Today, of course, students must be computer literate and be keyboard facile.

Shop and Auto Mechanics. Boys and girls should have this background, for, in later life, their autos will break down. For the simple servicing they will be able to replace air filters and change their oil if they choose. For major auto repair, their classes in Auto Mechanics will have prepared them for dealing with dealers when invoices appear to have been adjusted upwards from earlier repair service estimates.  Shop, of course will allow the houseman or housewife to use a lathe to fashion a new leg for the table or merely replace a doorknob or re-attach a screen door and so forth.

Foreign language skills. Forget French and Italian. Take Spanish I, and II and conversational Spanish. It is the language of the future. “English Only Spoken Here” is wishful thinking, Si?

Economics for understanding for home and office expenditures. Better throw in a course on how to prepare your own tax forms, as well.

Athletics? Certainly a good pastime, but if the funding is not available, then schools must to go to the private sector. When we had the meat plant years ago, we sponsored a softball league. I would think a medical clinic or hospital, for example, might be proud to sponsor high school teams. Or a casino? They always seem to have money to burn.

I think that’s about it. Mathematics can be conquered with a hand held calculator, and a personal computer can answer any question one might ponder regarding any subject. All other subjects. Vocational and otherwise, can be accessed via correspondence schools.

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In the DN police logs, a resident of Olive Street reported that his automobile had been moved from the street curb to his own driveway by persons unknown. He should not complain regarding this generous gesture. After quitting college I worked in the rug department at the Emporium in Es Eff, for minimal wages. One Thanksgiving Day I inadvertently parked my car a few inches into someone’s driveway. The car was soon towed and I had to spend my money, set aside for a turkey dinner, to get my car released from the towing yard. There is no compassion in a big city when it comes to illegal parking.

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The Kelsey cousins of Burlingame tell of an American Indian wife named “5 Horses”. When asked why she was so named, the translator replied, “Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag”!

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Last week’s quiz either stumped the experts…or apathy rules the land. The complete quote of Mark Twain reads, “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man”. And, if a church planned to bus its parishioners to its service, what could they call it? “Mass transit”, perhaps?

We shall suspend the quiz for the summer until urge to respond returns.

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I noted Tomasina, the dog lady, headed out across the bridge towards Antelope Vet, with a dog in her shopping cart. When I saw her later, the cart was empty. I hope this does not mean she is in the market for a 3^rd pet, because she is always accompanied in her rounds by 3, no more, no less.

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A golfer met an attractive woman on the first tee and agreed to join her for a round. To his surprise, she turned out to be a good golfer and beat him. He was angry, but they agreed to play the next day. However, she continued to beat him the rest of the week.  He finally bought her a drink anyway, they got to talking and she invited him to her house. When he made advances, she stopped him by admitting she was a transvestite.  Dismayed, he blurted out, “You cheated me! You’ve been playing off the women’s tee all week!”

(To respond to this website: rminchandmurray@hotmai.com)

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