Suggestions

Since the school year is about to begin, I thought I’d share tips on classroom success that I learned as a university professor.

Let’s begin with Gilbert’s Law of Classroom Inequality: whoever holds the gradebook is always right. It doesn’t matter whether or not that statement is true. It matters that your teachers control your grades, and you don’t.

To argue a point of grammar or punctuation, your only successful defense is The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Fowler is the absolute force of authority. He’s like The Shadow; he knows. No one with any sense argues with Fowler...

Bobsons Hardware used to be the place. As far back as I can remember, if you wanted something out of the ordinary, you went to Bobsons to get it. Whether it be a rubber washer for an ancient faucet or a tiny screw used on a drawer hinge, you could count on Bobsons to have it.

Retirement is considered by many Americans as a time to realize their dreams or experience some well-deserved leisure. For others it is the opportunity to embark on a new career. How you live out your retirement will largely be determined by your ability to sustain the lifestyle you desire. And your success will depend in part on how well you have planned for your future. Sound daunting? It doesn’t have to be, if you develop a sound financial strategy...

Bret Callentine insists in his article in the Observer of April 19 that American voters should think.  In the words of the G.O.P.'s star performer, "You Betcha!" We the people of the American electorate should think about the way our democracy, the government of the people, for the people, and by the people, is being eroded and is on the verge of becoming an oligarchy.

The gap between the rich and the rest of is larger than it has been since the start of the Great Depression.  We no longer have a broad-based prosperity. From 1974 to 2007 the richest 1% of households increased their share of the total national income from 9% to 23.5%.

After being released from Lakewood Hospital this past March, I was still extremely weak. I could barely walk and couldn't get myself in and out of bed.

Understandably, the introduction of the HD technology might drive some to the stores to cash in on the newest digital trend, Blu-Ray. If for whatever reason, you can't, don't feel bad, because it isn't that big of a deal.

Any overrated ad in your neighborhood Target or Wall-Mart will tell you how amazing Blu-Ray players are. How much they enhance the quality of your movie experience. How distinct an improvement they are from those outdated regular DVDs scattered all over your house. How much you can do with all of the new features.

A few issues ago, when the front page of the Observer announced the possibility of McDonald’s taking over the old Detroit Theater, the news came as a surprise to many Lakewood residents. I probably spoke to at least ten people that day about this piece of information, ALL of whom expressed disgust (and that’s a mild descriptor) at having McDonald’s move into a much more exposed area of our neighborhood...into a historical landmark, at that.

How can we be saying in the same breath that we hate McDonald’s, but still want it around for those occasional indulgences? Is McDonald’s like the mistress of our diets--hidden back on Sloane, where we can access it when we get a craving, but don’t have to be constantly reminded that it’s there? Add to that the irony that the McDonald’s is almost in the same parking lot as Nature’s Bin. Appalling!

A suggestion from Gordon Brumm
The Lakewood Observer invites our readers to send in suggestions for city government and civic organizations. All suggestions should be submitted through the Lakewood Observer Member Center – a one time registration is required. We intend to include your ideas as a regular feature in each edition. Selections will be made by the Editor and Publisher and we reserve the right to use submissions in part as space permits. Please let us hear from you.