Winners

A round of applause for three Iowa athletes — Jenna Schrack of Ankeny, Jody Sheriff of Greenfield and Corey Leonhard of Muscatine — who are competing with the USA Bowling Team this week at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China. Win or lose, we know they will represent Iowa and the 13,000 Special Olympic Athletes in Iowa well.

Des Moines native Mike Hughes has been recognized as a national hero for his contributions to local youth. Hughes received the Heroes In Our Midst award last week at Wells Fargo Arena on opening night of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Washington, DC-based Greeting Card Association sponsors the award. Hughes, 58, was honored for his work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, including Little Brother, Alex. He received a bronze medallion, and $1,000 was donated to the local Big Brothers chapter in his name.

The Downtown Events Group walked away with 28 Pinnacle Awards from the International Festivals and Events Association during the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards Ceremony in Atlanta, Ga. The promotions group won awards for its Web site, T-shirt designs and press kits in promoting the Des Moines Arts Festival, Wells Fargo Food Festival and Iowa Outdoor Wellness Adventure.

Can you believe it? The Chicago Cubs overcame a poor first half of the season and narrowly beat out the Milwaukee Brewers and a host of other mediocre teams with poor records to win the National League Central Division last weekend. Meanwhile, Cubs fans find themselves in the unusual position of caring about baseball in October, and the mainstream media is falling over itself digging up those all-too-predictable stories about suffering Cubs fans and how this might be the year for those “lovable losers.”

Losers

Much was made last week about Columbia University hosting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in the United States to attend a U.N. General Assembly meeting. Like most people, we don’t agree with his views on the Holocaust and his questions about who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. But just as the Iranian president was allowed to speak freely, thousands of picketers were allowed to protest his speech. That’s what makes our country great. How can we preach democracy and free speech to the rest of the world if we don’t practice it?

Once our children are enrolled in kindergarten, we Iowans have a lot of faith in our state’s educational system — though some say it isn’t what it used to be. The problem is what to do with those children before they get to kindergarten. Early childhood education, experts say, is critical to preparing children to learn. But as a whole, Iowans — parents, employers, schools, politicians — don’t value early childhood education. For starters, Iowa ranks third in the nation in the percentage of children under 6 years old with all parents in the labor force (70 percent). Also, childcare professionals are leaving the field in large numbers. Between 2006 and 2007, registered childcare providers experienced a 27 percent turnover rate because of low wages (average salary is $14,709) and a lack of health insurance (28 percent don’t have any compared to a 9 percent average for the state). A recent decision by Des Moines Public Schools to enroll 1,000 four-year-olds into preschool is a good start, but it’s going to take the entire community to wake up and realize we are jeopardizing our future by not creating a way of life that protects and helps our greatest asset and our future — our youth.

Tom Milewski resigned as Windsor Heights’ fire chief after he was charged in June with providing alcohol to his underage sons at the Clive After Five festival. He is being replaced by three-time Clive Firefighter of the Year, Christopher Cross, not to be confused with the “Sailing” musician.

Some of the most expensive universities with the highest paid presidents and the largest government subsidies, including Iowa State University, are among the worst performing in the country regarding the teaching of America’s history, according to a study conducted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Washington, DC. More than 14,000 students attending 50 U.S. colleges, including ISU, were involved in the study. Overall, freshmen and seniors scored just over 50 percent, or an F, on a basic 60-question, multiple choice, U.S. history exam. On average, ISU seniors earned a failing grade of 52.7 percent correct while freshmen scored 45 percent. This means that ISU increased students’ civic knowledge by 7.7 points. Think you can pass the test? Visit www.americancivicliteracy.org.

The Michael Vick saga got juicier when the embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback tested positive for marijuana from a urine sample submitted Sept. 13. Vick, who admitted to bankrolling a dog fighting operation on his property, is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 10. In the meantime, thanks to his positive drug test, a judge is restricting Vick to his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. with electronic monitoring and ordering him to submit to random drug testing. Now, that bites. CV

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