“Armament is no protection against war. Striving for peace and preparing for war are incompatible with each other.” — Einstein

The book “Einstein” by Walter Isaacson is a book I think ought to be required reading.  It’s a book about Einstein’s life and universe. They have it at the library. Unfortunately it’s 531 pages long, probably long enough to get you through spring and well into summer.

I’ve had the book for a couple of years now and am only on page 175. I had to set it down for a while. Perhaps a homegrown play could be put together with Rich Drong portraying Albert. One of my first summers back in Austin, I worked with Rich’s lawn crew. Rich was the “boss man.” It was probably the best job I had. It certainly provided us with quality laughs.

It wasn’t so long ago that I ran into Rich. I think he looks even more like Albert now than he did 25 years ago when I tried his weed eater in his front yard and almost chopped down the young tree that sat behind the tall grass I was aiming for.  And just like that I was relieved of weed eater duty.

I think Einstein is neglected in our education process. I have an elementary book on Einstein that tells how as a child a compass captured his curiosity.

Now I wonder what captures the minds of our students today. I’m afraid it’s iPods, video games, war games and the seduction of video games. On the other hand, making short videos or movies could be a creative destination.

Unfortunately, newspapers seem to be losing their place, forced aside by computer traffic that I look to on a daily basis. I still try to read at least two newspapers each day, sometimes three.

I rarely miss the Opinion Exchange in the Sunday Star Tribune; however, I worry about it closing down some day. Last Sunday there was an article discussing how higher education should aspire to higher purpose and that graduates need to calculate and compute, but also make sure they can ponder and dream.

Another article talked about the key gap in the antiharassment policies followed by Minnesota schools and the reference it makes to bullies.

Aside from mowing lawns, I also worked with troubled youth and sometimes their families. Gerard was my learning center, even more so than graduate studies, where I began as a child-care counselor until eventually becoming a therapist and an active Frisbee golf player over the noon hour.

“Ethical behavior, Einstein said, “should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”

I think conforming to accepted standards is as much the roll of parenting as it is of schools. It’s just not the teacher’s job.

I’m not so sure of the proposed ‘bullying legislation’ and how this would play out. It sounds good, but what will it mean to those who have relied on bullying as a way of life or of growing up in an environment where bullying is a main ingredient.

A former teacher I talk to on this is convinced that early intervention is crucial in helping all students, especially the student with some form of problem. He feels this is not addressed because the ‘early grades’ don’t want to label students.

To change the subject a bit—I remember, as a young boy, riding down to Mona, Iowa with my Dad to buy margarine and then smuggle it back across the border to Austin.

Iowa was also the first state to nominate Obama for the DFL Presidency and now the first mid-west state to grant gay marriage. Perhaps it was one of the first states to traffic margarine. Off course now we can purchase margarine right here in Minnesota.

There’s still limited space available to be part of the Spam Day road trip to the Capitol on April 21.

The motor coach is scheduled to leave at 8:15 a.m. and returns at 4:15 p.m.

The cost is $10. This does not include lunch. For more information, call 438 3946.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” —Elie Wiesel