A few semesters ago, I was lecturing to a class of about 100 students here at the University of Kansas. While presenting, my habit is to wander up and down the walkways and stairways of the lecture hall like a fitness enthusiast trying to get his steps in for the day.
Dear Doctors: How long does COVID-19 last? I got sick with it, and it was like a bad flu, but I didn’t need to see a doctor. It’s been more than a month since I tested negative, but I still don’t feel well. I tire easily, and I just don’t feel right. Do you think this is long COVID? Should I go see my doctor now?
Over the past decade or two, farmhouse décor has been an in vogue style of interior design. It makes me chuckle when I think about people who don’t live on a farm trying to create clean and pretty spaces through white wash, distressed paint and vintage hardware. Real farmhouses are rarely as desirable as this style is made out to be.
I read the news – invasion of Iraq! Twentieth anniversary! – and struggle to transcend the abstraction of my remorse. A million killed? Half a million? The mortality stats vary depending on the source’s politics.
Dear Doctors: What causes nasal stuffiness when you don’t have a cold or allergy? My nose sometimes gets stuffy when I lie down, then clears up when I stand. Blowing my nose yields nothing. Even when I have a cold, it will open up if I exercise. What can help when you have a stuffy nose?
Kansas is officially a Home Rule state. It has been since 1961, when an amendment to the Kansas state constitution officially declared that Kansas cities are “empowered to determine their local affairs…except when” such actions are “limited or prohibited” by an act of the state legislature. That’s an important acknowledgement of local democracy—or at least potentially so.
Professor Donald B. Scheick was a Professor of History at Indiana State University. I was in his Ancient History class in 1965 when he first took attendance and assigned our textbook and readings. And then he began asking questions. “Mr. Schrock. Who was Abraham?” Answers on this first day of class did not have to be correct, because we had just received our assignment. But correct answers to questions would be critical in all his future class sessions, because he taught completely by asking questions. These were not questions that could easily be answered by memorizing facts. He forced us to consider the motivations for historical actions and the consequences that would have likely occurred if events had gone other directions. Boy did we learn to think!
Our family has been a part of the special education programs through Wichita Public Schools for years. From OK Elementary to Wilbur Middle School, our daughter’s experiences have been amazing.
In March of 2003, the United States launched an illegal war of aggression against Iraq. The US regime promoted that illegal war of aggression, starting well in advance, through the manufacture and repetition of falsehoods for the purpose of cultivating fear over non-existent threats, and loathing over non-existent connections between the Iraqi regime an the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.