Winners

Suppose there were suddenly a way to prevent one of modern society’s cruelest and most-lethal illnesses. Say someone invented a vaccine that made you immune to a certain type of cancer. Chances are, you’d be scrambling to get your hands on that shot. Kudos to Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa for being among the first organizations in Iowa to offer information about the new HPV vaccination. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that often serves as a precursor to cervical cancer. More than 40 million Americans are living with HPV, and 1 million more are infected every year. The new vaccine is designed for women ages 9 to 26, and studies have shown that it is nearly 100 percent effective in warding off HPV, thus preventing 70 percent of cervical cancers caused by HPV. Planned Parenthood is one of the first healthcare groups in the state to actively raise awareness about the shot and its potential to protect hundreds of young women in Iowa.

Congratulations to the 22 Central Iowa students who earned Advanced Placement National Scholar Awards for their AP tests scores, thanks partly to their studies at Des Moines’ Central Academy. The certified brainiacs include: East: Rachel Diver, Thinh Luong, Ryan Slinger; Lincoln: Morgan Steffen; North: Stephanie Schulze; North Polk: Tyler Albaugh; Norwalk: Isaac Shivvers; Johnston: Abby Bowman; Roosevelt: Amelia Browning, Glenn Clark, John Jessen, Matt Kearney, Tim Larson, Alex May, Dung Phan, Hannah Roeder, Alyssa Songsiridej, John Thelen, Evan Waddell, Martin Whitman, Ema Zubovic; and Valley: Ella Doerge. Plus, Roosevelt senior Hannah Roeder was named the female Iowa AP Scholar of 2006. The kids can revel in their victories for a while but soon they’d better hit the books again, since there are a couple of teensy societal problems they’ll be inheriting from the Boomer generation — things like global warming and maxed-out national credit cards, to say nothing of the fact that 40 percent of Des Moines students never make it to high school graduation.

Losers

Iowa State University is abuzz with excitement over its new provost, Betsy Hoffman. The University of Colorado, on the other hand, is likely saying, “good riddance.” Hoffman became best known in the Centennial State for running the university during an era rife with scandal, and she was particularly criticized for her handling (or mishandling, some would say) of multiple reports of rapes by members of the University of Colorado-Boulder’s football team. She famously defended use of the c-word (the one that rhymes with “punt”) as a “term of endearment,” after members of the football team reportedly used the choice phrase to describe one of the alleged rape victims. She finally resigned from UC-Boulder, amid major controversy and criticism, last June. This is the best ISU can do?

In last weekend’s gubernatorial debate aired on Iowa Public Television, both candidates came across as looking rather stiff. We wish Culver would stop, already, with the “Bill Clinton Thumb”; John Edwards wore that one out in Iowa in ’04. Just keep ’em down, Chet. And Nussle’s tacky self-righteousness (he’d push for an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit gay marriage, and try to implement an outright South Dakota-esque ban on all abortions) sticks with you like a steaming pile of dog poo you’ve stepped in. Two weeks and counting until E-Day, and not a moment too soon.

The silly Des Moines School Board appears incapable of becoming embarrassed. Just moments after Connie Boesen got herself elected to another term, the board is looking at selling the Rice Elementary property in Beaverdale to Boesen’s kinfolk, one of six groups bidding for the prime real estate. A final vote will be taken Oct. 31. Some camps feel like Boesen’s clan is rubbing salt in the wound with its plans to subsidize the deal with tax-increment financing, provided the Des Moines City Council gives its go-ahead. For those of you who don’t quite understand TIF, here’s the basic concept: A developer typically gets a long-term tax break worth millions for fronting costs to “improve” the land, which is supposed to be blighted, though the standards are often applied creatively. Or, in other words: TIF is one way that rich folks get the public to pay for what they want. CV

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