Tagged: Commentary

I swim laps at noon several times a week. I enjoy the water, and the gentle exercise is good for my aging joints.

Like other old ladies in the pool, I’m no speed demon. Even a bucketful of performance enhancing drugs would not make me slice through the water quickly. But like all the lap swimmers I know, slow or fast, I take an interest in Michael Phelps and the other American swimmers soon to compete in London in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

This past summer, 20 Arab journalism students studied mass media at WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. The students - who were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs - spent six weeks in the U.S.  Their intinerary included trips around the Pacific Northwest, California’s Silicon Valley, and news outlets in Washington, D.C.

These radio essays provide personal insights into America’s image and influence on the Arab world. Students were asked to write essays with a simple headline: “This is America.”

When you were a kid, did you sneak candies and hide the wrappers so your parents wouldn't find the evidence? Commentator Corinna Nicolaou did too. As we head into the 4th of July weekend here's a story of rebellion, and the sweet land of liberty, as a child sees it.

You can read more of Corinna's commentary at her blog

Today is the first day of summer, and the weather is warm. NWPR commentator Corinna Nicolaou, she’s been waiting all winter long to taste summer, but she’s not craving BBQ!

In a 1789 letter, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Well, it should interest you to know that death is no longer a certainty, at least for one species. The Rock Doc, Dr. Kirsten Peters, has the details.

"The gene for death has been isolated –and reversed- by scientists. Not a bad day’s work, you might say.

Sorry, it’s not the death of human beings that’s at issue. But it is a gene for death that’s embedded in a plant on which we all directly depend each day. And that’s good enough to be plenty encouraging.