Published: May 30, 2009 10:21 pm      

Vasicek: Almost-June opinionettes

I have plenty of opinions – a prerequisite for anyone writing regularly for the “Opinion Page.” Yet some of my opinions do not provide enough material (or interest) for a column, so I occasionally splice a series of mini-columns together and call the hybrid, “My Opinionettes.”

Swine flu vs. bird flu

Recent headlines informed us about another casualty to the swine flu, this one in Chicago. As cautious as we need to be about swine flu, our greater enemy is the bird flu. According to CBS News, “Bird flu kills more than 60 percent of its human victims, but doesn’t easily pass from person to person. Swine flu can be spread with a sneeze or handshake, but kills only a small fraction of the people it infects ...

“This is the scenario that has some scientists worried: The two viruses meet – possibly in Asia, where bird flu is endemic – and combine into a new bug that is both highly contagious and lethal, and can spread around the world.”

If you are looking for something to worry about, look no further. If the above scenario happens, it could look like something from the Book of Revelation!

As a footnote, farmers have suffered with the economic downturn like everyone else. You may have noted a drop in dairy prices, for example. Farmers who raise hogs have also noted a decrease in demand for pork because of rumors associating the consumption of pork with the swine flu. One cannot catch the swine flu from eating pork.

Mustache fever

In a previous column, I discussed one of my pet projects, my handlebar mustache. I mentioned how I had tried a variety of products to shape the bristly, incorrigible mustache hairs, finally settling upon a combination of Elmer’s School Glue and mustache wax (on the tips).

Although my article addressed my mustache, it must have raised some eyebrows (get it? – eyebrows—mustache ...). Anyhow, a number of guys have offered this suggestion to force my whiskers to comply: butch wax (used for flat tops). I tried butch wax early on; it is worthless for mustache bristle. I dare skeptics to grow their own handlebar and try it!

School uniforms and such

I am a board member for a Bible Camp. When I began serving on the Camp Council over 25 years ago, I thought some of the rules were outdated. Over the years, we have eliminated most such rules, yet one is distinct: in our particular camp, we do not allow mixed swimming. That rule I like.

Why? I know that the same kids who swim in the camp pool will be in other environments when they swim as mixed genders (and I have no trouble with that). But the reasons I like this for camp are: (1) safety: the boys will not do all sorts of foolish and risky things to impress the girls, and (2) the freedom that comes for both genders about not having to worry about how attractive one is – or envying those more attractive. As a result, the focus (in this instance) is simply fun.

One of our local school districts has temporarily put off a move toward uniforms and gender-separated classes. I hope that all of our districts will consider both of these ideas. Of the two, gender-separated classes are the more important. In his book, “Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences,” Dr. Leonard Sax documents evidence that students perform better when separated by gender. When the pressure to look “cool” to the girls is removed, boys engage in a larger variety of activities (and embrace better attitudes). When boys are in class with the girls, the peer pressure can be against learning and against cooperating with the teacher (these are considered feminine attitudes). But when the girls are gone, some of this peer pressure is relieved.

In addition, most classroom teaching methods are geared to train girls, not boys. Boys, for example, learn better standing up. Teachers can then be free to teach boys using masculine methodology, while girls can continue to learn with the current (feminine) methods already in place.



• Ed Vasicek is pastor of Highland Park Church and a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune.