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Rethinking family policies a necessity

It is difficult not to be pessimistic about the possibilities for success of efforts in countries around the world to encourage larger families — that is, if you yourself believe many more couples should be opting for more than a child or two in this increasingly busy, expensive, complicated, unsettled, helter-skelter world. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in an Oct. 15 report, countries’ years-long efforts at reversing the decline in birthrates have been largely unsuccessful, and in some places have recorded zero success. The Journal’s report noted that many couples ...

Questions about vaping need answers

The Oct. 11 Mirror article headlined “Coalition targets youth vaping” focused on the possibility of a health nightmare emerging at some point in the distant or not-so-distant future. Specifically, the article covered an Oct. 10 informational session in Hollidaysburg organized by the Healthy Blair County Coalition. “A proliferation of e-cigarette flavors and forms, coupled with marketing efforts from manufacturers and parental enabling — and even encouragement — has led to a surge of vaping among younger and younger kids,” the article said. A related quote from the ...

Take the time to learn about government

A recent survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center revealed that about a third of America’s adults cannot name the three branches of the federal government, which, by the way, are the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It is not unreasonable to believe that the names of those three branches should have been mastered by the fifth or sixth grade, if not before. Meanwhile, it is not unreasonable to think America’s high school students, by the time they complete their senior year, should have mastered much more civics-related information, not only about the federal ...

Let’s wade into future of Prospect

This isn’t a time of the year when Altoona residents are thinking about swimming in outdoor venues, unless they’re reminiscing about the warm-weather months just past and the fun they had at the pool, pools, beach or beaches of their choice. However, October, November and December are months when this city’s officials, like officials in many other municipalities large and small, are devoting much brainstorming to water-recreation costs — including for swimming — and to possible non-aquatic recreation projects that also might be budgeted for the coming fiscal year, in this ...

All states should adopt anti-hazing laws

The memory of what happened to Penn State University main campus sophomore Timothy Piazza during a February 2017 fraternity-related hazing incident will continue to prey on the conscience of that and all other Penn State campuses for many years to come, perhaps as long as Penn State exists. To bring up to date anyone unfamiliar with the incident, Piazza, along with 14 other student pledges to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, were summoned to the fraternity house, where the pledges were made to participate in a bid acceptance event referred to as an “obstacle course.” Piazza was ...

Modern cities require rules all must follow

“SALDO” isn’t a reference that most Altoona residents are likely to recognize at this point in time. That is likely to change rather quickly, though, especially for people who plan property changes or new development of some kind. The reference is likely to become more recognizable in general to people, especially over the next few months. SALDO means subdivision and land development ordinances — recognizable to local-level planners, less recognizable to people until they are personally required to adhere to one or more of those community-oriented rules. SALDO is a ...