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Diamonds to Geisinger for offering to donate 55 acres of land to Wilkes-Barre Area School District for potential use as the site for a new high school. It’s not a done deal as the district reviews all options and costs. A preliminary review suggested the site may not be the best financially under current consideration even with the donation. But the offer is a generous example of how businesses and entities in the community can work to help improve the area overall, not just within their bailiwick. In announcing the offer, Geisinger Northeast Regional President Dr. Anthony Aquilina said “Education is one of Geisinger’s main priorities.” Here’s hoping the example reminds all that it should be everyone’s priority.
Coal to the sad state of affairs that prompted people around the country, including in Wilkes-Barre, to rally last Saturday in support of science. To those who remember the days of dial telephones and party lines, the space race with the now-defunct Soviet Union, and an era before vaccines wiped out many deadly and common childhood diseases, science should remain a beacon of the best human intellect can attain. The siege on science seems to be driven by political, religious and economic forces impacted by the truths scientific rigor can unveil. Yes, there is sloppy work passed of as proven science. But the most vital thing about the scientific method is, done right, it is self-correcting, and done wrong, bad science is ultimately exposed. You can argue the political application of science, but you should not argue the finding for the sake of politics.
Diamonds to the second wave of King’s College students heading to Notre Dame University to complete their education with an engineering degree, and in particular to the three ultra-intelligent women in that group of 10. The King’s “3-2” program — three years here and two in Indiana granting two bachelor degrees — is impressive in its rigor for any student. The fact that these three exceeded minimum requirements while participating in sports and other extra-curricular activities impresses even more. But the real victory is that, in an age when women still only make up about 20 percent of undergraduate engineering majors, all three said they felt no different because of their gender, and the men going with them agreed there should be — and for them was — no gender, just accomplishment.
Coal to Pittston Area School District teachers and staff and to the Pittston Area School Board for developing even the whiff of a strike. Details were limited, and there’s still reason to hope an agreement can be reached, but the area has likely had its fill of labor unrest thanks to the still-unresolved situation in the Dallas School District that included a messy dispute about how long a strike last year should have lasted. It behooves both sides to resolve issues without the threat of class interruptions.
— Times Leader