Opinion

On November 10, the Kansas School Board voted 7-1 with two abstentions to pass a resolution. They recommend that schools drop their Native American (“Indian”) themed mascots. This came upon the recommendation of a commission, including representatives from four federally- recognized tribes with significant numbers here in Kansas. The resolution is not tied to funding or accreditation. Even so, several school districts including Atchison, Wichita, and Shawnee Mission had already stopped using such mascots, and more name changes are under consideration.

Since his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk has styled himself the very avatar of “free speech,” descending from on high to defend us against the forces of “censorship.” On the whole, I think he’s sincere in his approach to the issue. I also think he’s in error as to what, precisely, “free speech” means.

On behalf of our more than 278,000 members here in Kansas, AARP continues to express concern about Evergy’s excessive 2022 five-year capital investment plan filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission.

Dear Doctors: I’m having hand surgery next year to help with carpal tunnel, and I’m not thrilled about having anesthesia. I’ve been reading about surgeons whose patients use virtual reality headsets to need less anesthesia. Does that really work?

You never know what’s going to get somebody’s attention and lead to something else. In the 1990s I gave a talk, in Pratt as I recall. Afterwards, a retired Highway Patrolman originally from Madison in Greenwood County was talking to me about his experiences as a teenager shipping cattle in the Flint Hills. I used an anecdote, one paragraph, of what we talked about that night in a book entitled Flint Hills Cowboys, which was published in 2006.

The 2022 General Election turned out to have some very interesting results locally. First, the majority of those who cast their ballot in Harvey County clearly wanted to see a Republican ticket from top to bottom, which was a change from four years ago when then candidate Kelly garnered more support than Kobach during the 2018 General Election.

Dear Doctors: When our grandson first learned his colors, he sang them along with music. We thought he was copying that song for learning the ABCs. But when he got older, he started saying that he “hears” the colors. We have been told this is called synesthesia. How and why does it happen?

“If you wish to educate the student by science, love your science and know it, and the students will love both you, and the science, and you will educate them; but if you yourself do not love it, the science will have no educational influence, no matter how much you may compel them to learn it.” This is a quote by no less than Tolstoy in “On Education” written in the mid 1800s in Tsarist Russia.