When does the public win?

May 16, 2014

One night during a conversation among friends, it again became apparent how disparate opinions about political issues can be. In fact, it is the one place - beside religious conversations - where people's voices rise when met with differing opinions and challenges.It is difficult to find a platform, no matter how small and secure the audience, where individuals are willing to be challenged with an opposing viewpoint without an increase in decibels pushing the meter into the red. That bothers me, because to me, it suggests that the only freedom of speech we really believe in is our own ...

Columnist lists some favorite Warren things

May 9, 2014

The end of my time as a community columnist is nearly at hand; for the last year it's been my joy to write about our community and the challenges before it. The benefit of writing a biweekly column has been this: I have a love and passion for our community in ways I didn't have when I started.In other words, Warren is growing on me. There are some things I'm thankful for, and some things I'd like to see change. In this column, I'd like to share five such things.First, I'm excited to be visiting a local Relay for Life for the first time. Admitting this so publicly makes me feel a mix of ...

Let our words be like thunder

May 6, 2014

During the recent Youngstown State University English Festival, many volunteer speakers interacted with the student attendees, grades 7 through 12. I had the opportunity to introduce a special guest during sessions of students at the festival.Lt. Col. John Boccieri of the 910th Tactical Air Wing discussed the wonders of flight, the J-3 airplane (the military version of the Piper Cub), and life choices with groups of students who had read the book, ''Dead End in Norvelt,'' which is a humorous, partly autobiographical work by Jack Gantos. A subplot of the novel includes references to the ...

Mother’s Day: The gift of time well spent

May 2, 2014

Ladies, gentlemen and children, it's almost Mother's Day! I've got some ideas for spending time with mom that could pre-empt the giving of various polyester shirts, unnecessary statuary, and otherwise unwieldy treasures made for next year's garage sale.When I was a mom - I bet you didn't know you could use that as a past tense, did you? - my husband would sometimes ask me what I'd like for Mother's Day. On those occasions, especially if the previous several months had been extremely hectic, I'd ask for something that almost seemed blasphemous - an afternoon off on Mother's Day.Did I feel ...

Help criminals pay society back

April 29, 2014

After teaching for two years in an African village with no running water or telephones or TV/radio channels as a Peace Corps volunteer, I returned home and soon enough found work as a GED teacher in the Trumbull County Jail , also for a few years.At the jail I noticed a very real connection between "The Princess and the Pea" and county inmates.The contrast between African village life and our hyper-spoiled American culture was startling enough because African villagers rarely complain, but the difference was even further heightened by the incessant whining of inmates at the jail:"They ...

Teamwork needed among generations

April 25, 2014

In my previous post, I sought to unpack a few key habits of the Millennials in your life - those fun-loving, technology-addicted folks born between 1980 and 2000. I made some bold claims in that piece, saying that organizations across our community, regardless of mission or type, would rise and fall on their ability to communicate meaningfully to Millennials.Millennials think differently than previous generations in a number of ways; I highlighted a handful of these ways a few weeks ago. But this week, I want to journey to the dark side of the Millennial mind, and offer you three honest ...