for 13 FEB 07: TRACK 0.1

Ground was broken Monday for a different sort of improvement at Allen Elementary School. It's adding a walking track - and is this ever going to tempt students! Teachers will be scolding them over and over NOT to run on it.

The Allen Elementary School track will be small, at one-tenth of a mile around. But the purpose is big: to get children outside and exercising. The faculty could take this an extra step, of course -- but apparently grownups actually will build the track.

Faculty members at Allen Elementary say the walking track is needed, because studies show about one-third of U.S. grade-school children are obese. And then some people wonder why "low-rider' slacks are so popular?! They're hand-me-downs, which simply don't fit right anymore.

But another notable word was brought up at the groundbreaking ceremony - a "safe place" to exercise. Many Muscogee County Schools have sidewalks outside them. Is it unsafe for children to walk or run back and forth on.... oh yeah, I forgot. A mother who dresses like a teenage boy might take someone.

Several Columbus parks have walking tracks or trails, from Lakebottom to Britt David. But perhaps those aren't considered "safe places" for children -- maybe because of adults walking unleashed dogs.

After watching the TV newscasts Monday night, one thing seemed missing to me. While Allen Elementary School has open green space for a walking track, I didn't see a playground. I mean an old-fashioned playground, with swings and what we used to call a "jungle gym." It's probably more proper to call them "rain forest gyms" now....

Grade-school playgrounds used to be great places for children to exercise. Well, SOME of them exercised. A few of us sometimes preferred to sit and chat at the wall - only to have a teacher blow his whistle and order everyone to play "a game provided by the school." I'm still waiting for the International Tetherball Tour.

My old grade school playground had basketball, tetherball, hopstotch and "foursquare." That's a game with four players, which was sort of like playing tennis with your hands. When three people who didn't like you occupied the other squares, you could almost see the roots of gang formation.

Even if Allen Elementary School had a playground, there wouldn't be much time to exercise there. Some teachers say there's only 30 minutes a day for outside activity, with NO physical education. There are federal testing standards to meet, you know - and I don't mean the old President's Council on Physical
Fitness.

Maybe the answer here is to find ways to combine teaching with outside exercise. For younger grades, how about "tag-team reading aloud" - with a new student picking up the story every lap?

E-MAIL UPDATE: Our morning with immigrant workers has brought several responses since Sunday. This one comes from the business sector:

Hmm..I see you picked a Day Of Chill and Rain to View the Illegals At the Spectrum on Victory Dr.- Should have picked a Clear day to view the the More then 20 That hang out in back .(Construction comes to a stand still because of Rain)

Those that you Interviewed , did you see a Social Security Card , Visa, Green Card?

Did you check them out on the Social Security/Govt. Site that Employers are to use to see if they are fraudulent or not?

Maybe 2 out of every 6 might legally be here.. I know this because I have been in Construction for over 25 years in Columbus Ga. I know MANY that break the law & work Illegal Labor...more do then don't!

What we need here is Local Construction Folks out of work and out of Business because of this Mess to gather at the steps of the Columbus Govt. Center .. then all would see that it is NOT really about "They do the work we don't want to do"!

I Commend you for at least trying to see the Problem.

And.. No I will not sign My name..

Still trying to make a Living

I went out last Friday morning because it was the first convenient day to go, after the "e-mail challenge" came. Some people can be impatient, you know - like they're driving on Whittlesey Boulevard, and actually have to wait on a stop light.

Admittedly, I did NOT ask any of the people I met for proof of their citizenship or identity. That's because I normally don't ask for it from anybody else. Many people would think I'm trying to jot down their drivers license numbers, to steal their identities.

(Besides, my Pastor at church often recalls the Nazi years when German police would demand "your papers, please." He makes it sound like that was evil, sinister and wrong. Nowadays, it sounds a bit like the Minuteman Project.)

If there's a federal web site for checking on fraudulent workers, I don't know what it is -- and this e-mail did not provide it. Critics might say a database like that risks creating a government monster -- as opposed to the other Monster, which actually wants people to find work.

Because of an early deadline, we'll have to get to other immigration e-mails another day. Let's quickly consider other Monday headlines:

+ As your blog first reported last week, 12 suspects in the "To Catch a Predator" sting pleaded guilty in Harris County Court. The lawyer for one suspect dared to claim his client was "sightseeing" around Georgia, and happened to stop at the sting house in Fortson. Next time, only stop at the places with historic markers.

(The lawyer for another suspect told the court his client tries to meet women online because he has a "stuttering problem." Four years in prison could go a long way toward curing that - if the wrong prisoners get to work on his mouth.)

+ The Georgia Legislature marked "Georgia Day," the anniversary of the state's founding. A lawmaker recalled back in 1733, Georgia's first settlers did NOT allow "liquor dealers and lawyers." [True/GPB] In contrast, today we have Seth Harp....

+ Rep. Phil Gingrey stunned Georgia lawmakers, by appearing at the state Capitol without a moustache. This seems like a strange way to lobby for federal PeachCare money.

+ Former President Jimmy Carter won a Grammy Award for the "Best Spoken Word Album." I'm a bit surprised he didn't have to share this with another Georgia recording artist -- Ludacris.

+ Instant Message to Elijah Johnson of Johnson's Camera Repair: Good for you - making the front page of Monday's Ledger-Enquirer! I remember well the years we attended church together. And I'll never forget the loud arguments about doctrine, during Bible studies with one of your sons. Journalists like me love fires like that....

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