You want to think that sexual misconduct by teachers in public schools is very much an exception. You want to think that it’s just one bad apple. But the Associated Press article that ran in newspapers around the country yesterday, including the Journal Star, shows that it’s more widespread than anyone would like to believe. Consider this:

The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

And this:

One report mandated by Congress estimated that as many as 4.5 million students, out of roughly 50 million in American schools, are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade. That figure includes verbal harassment that’s sexual in nature.

The Journal Star ran a companion article that listed 18 educators in and around Peoria that had been charged with sexual misconduct over the last six years. Eighteen!

The worst thing, of course, are the lives it’s scarred and ruined. But perhaps the second-worst thing is the damage it is doing to a respected profession. A recurrent theme throughout the AP series is the problem of students being believed. People want to believe the teacher, the authority figure — and for good reason. Teachers should be authority figures, above reproach, and worthy of respect. After all, they’re the parents’ surrogate during school hours. What happens when that trust and respect are gone?

It’s already difficult for teachers to maintain discipline in an era when parents think their children can do nothing wrong. Not long ago, children in another state had plagiarized their term papers and received F’s by their teacher; then the parents complained to the school board and the teacher was forced to change their grades to D’s — a low, but passing, grade. That teacher had to resign because the students no longer respected her authority; they knew they could beat the system. If that happens even to a teacher who did the proper thing (by giving the initial F’s), what happens when the teaching profession is stained with the stigma of widespread sexual misconduct?

When the baseball match-ups were finally settled, I quickly decided who I was going to root for in each league (Anaheim Angels in the AL, Philadelphia Phillies in the NL). There were several other potential World-Series match-ups that would have been fun to watch, too. But at the absolute bottom of my list — the worst possible scenario for the Fall Classic — was the pairing of the Colorado Rockies (because I hate the Wild Card system) and the Boston Red Sox (because I hate the Red Sox).

Naturally, that’s the match-up. Not even worth watching for me. Certainly not worth staying up until 11 p.m. or midnight to watch, thanks to the stupid schedule the powers-that-be put together these days.

One of the questions I’ve had about the tragedy that took Danny Dahlquist’s life revolves around underage drinking. According to today’s paper, “Toxicology testing revealed Dahlquist’s blood-alcohol content was 0.155 percent, almost twice the state’s legal threshold for drunkenness.” Dahlquist was 19 years old.

Who gave him the alcohol?

David Crady, 19, Nicholas Mentgen, 21, Ryan Johnson, 22, and Daniel Cox, 20, are currently charged with residential arson, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of possession of an explosive or incendiary device. But two of those men are old enough to purchase alcohol and two of them are underage. Published reports indicate that all of them were drinking. So, did the older two provide the alcohol for the three (including Dahlquist) underage drinkers? If not, who did?

It’s important to know for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s a Class 4 felony. According to 235 ILCS 5/6?16:

(iii) No person, after purchasing or otherwise obtaining alcoholic liquor, shall sell, give, or deliver such alcoholic liquor to another person under the age of 21 years, except in the performance of a religious ceremony or service. […] Any person who knowingly violates the provisions of item (iii) of this paragraph of this subsection (a) is guilty of a Class 4 felony if a death occurs as the result of the violation.

Another reason is that by not charging the person who provided the alcohol, it sends a message that underage drinking is not very serious or worthy of prosecution. Yet if Dahlquist had not been drunk, he may have been able to escape. If his friends hadn’t been drinking, they might have had the sense to think twice about setting Dahlquist’s room on fire with roman candles.

To me, the underage drinking problem (and delivery of alcohol to someone underage) is a huge contributing factor to this tragedy and should be prosecuted.

I was amused by this headline in today’s paper: “School struggle with meaning of law: Administrators say moment of silence rule is still unclear.”

I know there’s a lot of controversy over this law, and frankly I don’t think it’s the state government’s responsibility to mandate a moment of silence (shouldn’t they be working on other things, like overriding Blagojevich’s veto on education funding?), but hearing school administrators profess their confusion over what “a moment of silence” means makes me fear for public education.

Really? They’re “struggling” with the meaning of the law? They’re not quite sure what constitutes a “moment”? Here’s what the law (called “The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act”) says:

In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall may observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day. This period shall not be conducted as a religious exercise but shall be an opportunity for silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.

The act itself isn’t new; what’s new is that they changed the word “may” to “shall” as noted above, making it mandatory. Incidentally, the legislature had to override the governor’s veto to pass it. There didn’t seem to be any confusion about the act when it was optional, but now that it’s mandatory administrators are suddenly befuddled. Maybe they should look up the words in a dictionary, or even online with one of those computers they put in classrooms nowadays.

But here’s my favorite line from the paper:

“At least as it stands now, it’s not costing us any money,” [Don Beard, superintendent of Tremont Community Unit School District 702] said.

Yeah, that’s a good point. This legislation isn’t costing any school any money. Unlike another recent piece of legislation that will cost District 150 taxpayers millions of dollars. Sorry if I’m not more sympathetic with the plight of schools having to muddle through the “trouble” of being quiet for ten seconds a day.

My sincere condolences to the Chicago Cubs and their fans on losing the National League Division Series. I know there’s a lot of depression right now, but there is some good news, thanks to Lou Piniella’s forward-thinking strategy:

Carlos Zambrano is fully rested and ready for his start on Sunday.

On my way to work the other day, I noticed a car with a bumper sticker on the back that read, “No more Vietnams, End the war.” Isn’t that self-contradictory? Wouldn’t the only way to have “no more Vietnams” be to win the war, rather than simply end it?

Incidentally, in that same vein, I watched the final episode of PBS’s new documentary “The War” last night. I have to say that I firmly believe that if World War II were to happen today, we would lose. Not because we don’t have military might, but because we wouldn’t be willing to do what it takes to win. People would be driving around with bumper stickers saying “No more Bataans, End the war.” General MacArthur would never have returned to the Philippines, as he would have been forced to resign after lengthy congressional hearings. And, of course, the U.S. would have been bogged down in a Japanese quagmire with thousands of American troops dying every day trying to take the island nation because they wouldn’t be willing to use the bomb.

Maybe I’m just sheltered, but last night was the first time I had heard white people seriously described as “European-Americans” (although I’ve heard it before in jest). The term was used several times by District 150 Superintendent Ken Hinton at the joint city council and school board meeting.

“European-American” is not listed on the U.S. Census, but I did find an interesting article about the term on (where else?) Wikipedia. Perhaps it’s a common designation in educational research and literature.

I’m sure there are wonderful arguments for this particular appellation, but I’d prefer not to be hyphenated. There were a few days right after 9/11/01 when all the hyphens were gone, and we were all simply Americans, united as one people. That’s the way it should be.

A couple things I read over the weekend that are worth passing on to anyone else who would be interested:

• The Jane Fonda Effect — This is an article on nuclear energy written by “Freakonomics” authors Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, and published in the New York Times. It’s pro-nuclear-energy, in case you’re wondering. Although they mention it in passing at the end, the article left me wondering whether, for all its pluses, if the bugaboo in nuclear energy is what to do with all the waste. It still seems to me that the cleaner-burning coal would be a better solution.
• Working to Reduce Sewer Overflows to the Illinois River — If you want a clear, easy-to-read explanation of what the whole Combined Sewer Overflow, or “CSO,” problem is about, look no further than Gene Hewitt’s article in this month’s Interbusiness Issues. Well-written and informative, it left me with only one question: why can’t they just enlarge the interceptor sewer or create some sort of temporary retention area for those 28 days it overflows? I’m guessing such a thing would be too large and/or expensive to build, but it seems like the obvious answer at first blush. I’d love to see a follow-up article on what the possible solutions are, and the pros and cons of each.

I read in today’s paper that the Dream Center downtown is “replacing each old crank window with a version that doesn’t open.” The Journal Star reported yesterday that “The fifth, sixth and seventh floors [of the Dream Center, which is the old YMCA building downtown] are apartments for single-parent families operated by the YWCA.”

I wouldn’t want to live in an apartment where I couldn’t open the windows. It was bad enough when I used to work in an office building where the place was sealed and we had to breathe recirculated air all day. I can’t imagine coming home each evening to the same scenario. Therefore, I’m glad that we have an HVAC unit installed with a furnace installation by services like AirMax Heating & Air at home so we don’t have to worry about ventilation and humidity.

Why are operable windows important? Just look at the reasons given in today’s article:

Some people open windows to add fresh air or a breeze to the already air-conditioned building. Others like to air out their apartments to get rid of a smell associated with having a large group of people living on one floor.

Ventilation and fresh air are important to one’s environment, especially one’s home. Sustainable building design professionals are trying to start a renaissance of operable windows in office buildings, hotels, schools, etc., by touting the benefits of fresh air, ventilation, and control of personal space to individuals, the environment, and the bottom line. Individuals are more comfortable and productive, and open windows/individual climate control can lower the use of A/C, especially on mild days (and we have a lot of those in the Midwest), which leads to lower energy bills. Less energy consumption is also better for the environment. If you are wondering how much will be the cost of having a new window, then you might want to check this residential window replacement cost calculator.

Now, of course I recognize that the Dream Center is doing a lot of good work, and I don’t mean for my comments to detract from the important service they offer the less fortunate in our community. In fact, I only use them as an example because they were in the news today. My concern isn’t aimed at them in particular, but rather the idea of sealed, heavily climate-controlled buildings in general.