OPINION

GUEST COMMENTARY LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Making the long journey home, again

Southwest is the Its time for our endless amount of summer pilgrimage junk food they back to California. throw at you. With sweat dripping Oreos, Cheese down my forehead, I Nips, crackers, help the driver haul pretzels and the family luggage peanuts. Take one, to the cab. Youd take two the think for a long more the merrier! weekend that the The flight attenladies in my life can dant is now coming make do with one Mike Neiman by for drink orders. bag each. But no! I I proudly pull out my drink imagine Prince William says coupon. Julie, the flight attenthe same thing about Kate. dant, quickly shuts me down So off we go. Along with saying that it has expired. Koda the dog, we head to I question her how someMidway, where the next chalthing can expire if it doesnt lenge awaits getting ourselves, our worldly goods and have an expiration date. Her comeback is that the new a dog through security. coupons have expiration As I walk through with dates, even though the old Koda, the alarm sounds. Ive been selected at random for a ones dont. And I should have special screening. After being received a letter notifying me escorted to the glass enclosed of the new policy. The multitude of culinary booth, Im asked to wait. And delights did not agree with continue to wait for several someone, as the rear of the minutes. At this point, the plane is now scented with a dog is whimpering and the smell that keeps on coming in TSA cant find somebody to 10 minute intervals. Besides make sure I havent encased the aroma, the AC isnt workexplosives in my spaniel. ing. We ask Julie to turn it After a cursory review, Koda down a notch. Our pleas go and I are set free. Our next ordeal is boarding unanswered. The pilot announces that Southwest, the Greyhound of we only have 948 nautical the skies. The day before, I miles left in our journey to counted the seconds to the San Francisco. Weve reached moment I could obtain the halfway point. I find boarding passes online, hopmyself not only counting the ing Id hit the jackpot with an minutes, but the miles. A ticket. And we still ended Eight hours after leaving up in Group B. Back of the Hinsdale, we finally land in plane, here we come! the City by the Bay. Feels like Admittedly, Southwest is heaven after what we just not my first choice, but the went through. Now, please let price is right. I always get the the fun begin! feeling that they acquired their business acumen by Mike Neiman of Hinsdale herding cattle. There is a reais a contributing columnist. son why Southwest sends Readers can e-mail him at drink coupons to numb its news@thehinsdalean.com. frequent travelers. And trust me, I have one in hand. Moo. Snack time has arrived. One of the benefits of

Stop insults, come together around District 181 negotiations

There are few taxpayers in the District 181 community who dont count on the excellence of our school system. Whether you are retired, as I am, or have children in our wonderful school system, much of the appeal of our community is based on the outstanding professionals that we have working with our children. How many of the Realtors who are putting our houses on the market mention this wonderful system? I am hoping that both sides of this negotiation can objectively look at what is at stake for the District 181 community. We have incredible professionals working with our children. Our district has always had a close and mutual trust relationship between children, teachers and parents. It is really the backbone of our educational system: children who are known as individuals and nurtured through an aggressive and proactive educational experience and teachers who are immediately responsive to individual situations and parent needs. Negotiations are always difficult. By definition, negotiations are adversarial, but does that mean insulting and negative comments are OK? Because we know what is so important for our childrens future, why are some being so vocally insulting? I would hope that our community would hold ourselves above the trend in politics to bash the other side. Its a difficult world right now, but as a District 181 community, we need to come together and support what is best for our community. Elaine Sledz, Hinsdale

Public rancor does not serve negotiating process in D181

Nothing beats the energy of the fresh start of the school year. Having just met our youngest ones teachers, we thought back over the education of all our children, beginning in 1994, in elementary District 181 and high school District 86. It has been first-rate. To whom do we credit this and, indeed, the top rankings our local schools enjoy within the state of Illinois? The teachers, chiefly. It follows, then, that we endorse as sound and sensible the current arms-length, good faith collective bargaining between the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Teachers Association and the District 181 Board. It is the only process we know that provides the best calibration of economic fairness to both sides. Public rancor poorly serves the process. Our local teachers are well paid. They should be. Excellent pay rewards past achievement, incentivizes creative energies and tends to attract the best applicants. The corollary, as for instance recognized in current efforts by the New York State Board of Regents, is that teachers hired and retained in our schools must be and remain equal to the high expectations of this community. These principles, not the tired premise that our teachers should not bargain because they already are treated well, seem to us better first principles for negotiating a new contract in District 181. J. Richard Spatafora and Catherine A. Kinney, Hinsdale

Two Hinsdaleans among thousands lost

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entirety of his life as a grateful response to Gods goodness. Jeff believed that God cared as much for how he conducted himself in the business world as He did for the way Jeff served him in the church building. At the time he died, Jeff was the acting CEO of a prosperous technology company and also the pastor of workplace ministries at Christ Church of Oak Brook. He saw no difference between the spiritu-

al and practical significance of these jobs, but sought to glorify and please God in every environment. While at our church, Jeff taught scores of people to view life this way. Next to the profoundly good impact he had on his own family, Jeffs greatest legacy are the dozens and dozens of men and women who now regard their Monday through Friday lives as every bit as sacred as what they do on Sundays. However you choose to

commemorate the 10th anniversary on Sunday, please remember Robert Rasmussen and Jeff Mladenik and the more than 2,900 others who died that day. Let us keep the promise we made 10 years ago. Remember and never forget. Pamela Lannom is editor of The Hinsdalean. Readers can e-mail her at plannom@thehinsdalean.co m.

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The Hinsdalean September 8, 2011 Page 13