If one wanted to blog observations — the more daily and more local the better — the time to start imprinting the habit couldn’t be better than one’s state Legislature’s general session. Forking pickles from a bucket.<\/p>\n
I hate easy pickin’s. So I’m hoping to just focus on matters that just might become law, not the bass-ackward bills that’ll never get past a committee chair, or the goof-ball quotes from purported debate.<\/p>\n
The previous governor, though a limited-government Republican, pushed through a measure in 2003 for all Arkansas public schools to gauge if any children were obese, using the body-mass index, and inform their parents. The new governor, a Democrat, says without specifics that the law should be softened. A repeal of a part of that law was passed in the House Education Committee 15-5 this week and thus both houses may approve it. Fodder.<\/p>\n
The new bill is sponsored by a local state rep and has been reported in this local newspaper<\/a> and that local newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n Is worrying about the health of children a concern of the schools? I can see how the schools should stick to teaching the basics and leaving nutrition to the parents, but if the parents don’t cut off the snacks, who will? More importantly, who will subsidize the health care needs as chunky children mature into enormous adults with bad blood, hearts and insulin levels?<\/p>\n I have snippy questions, but all the reporters thought of them, and listened closely at the hearing for answers.<\/p>\n Sponsor Rep. Keven Anderson, R-Rogers, cites the principle of schools should just education, the complaints of parents and the stigma of the BMI reports.<\/p>\n In hearings, “Dr. Gary Wheeler [said] the screenings aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the cause of overweight children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teasing. ‘They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not being stigmatized because of the BMI report. These kids live with stigma 365 days a year.'”<\/p>\n “Anderson … said a legislative estimate placed [the statewide cost of testing] at $ 175, 000, which he said was mostly for postage for sending the reports home. He said officials at two schools estimated the total cost at $4 a student.” Four dollars per student per year must be one of the cheapest education expenditures around.<\/p>\n Retired school nurse “Wanda Wells … testified the [BMI] test took a lot of time. She said school nurses already do vision, hearing and scoliosis tests on students, and are required to make sure every student’s immunization records are accurate.” She also noted nurses also need time to care for wounds, asthma attacks and lice.<\/p>\n The statistical improvement in child obesity is slight so far, but even if it remains negligible, isn’t it better, and cheaper for all of us, than letting children snack themselves into premature death?<\/p>\n The Razorbacks need hefty linebackers, but they also need lithe receivers. And the rest of the UA campus needs lean torsos to manage all that walking. -30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If one wanted to blog observations — the more daily and more local the better — the time to start imprinting the habit couldn’t be better than one’s state Legislature’s general session. Forking pickles from a bucket. I hate easy pickin’s. So I’m hoping to just focus on matters that just might become law, not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-spin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7515,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2023\/04\/university-of-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":0},"title":"Root for the Phightin’ Phoenices to Roost in Arkansas","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"April 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY \u2014 We, the Campus Welcoming Committee of the University of Arkansas System, would like to extend a hand or rather wing to our newest school, the University of Phoenix. As the UA System Board of Trustees has not yet voted on the adoption of this virtual campus, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education, Coarsely"","block_context":{"text":"Education, Coarsely","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/education-coarsely\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illustration of a comical phoenix and pig","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/cartoonish-phoenix-and-hog.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":294,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/03\/unprepossessiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":1},"title":"Unprepossessiveness","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY, Monday July 2, 2007, hypothetically -- The Arkansas State Police arrested the executive editors, managing editors and editorial page editors of two prominent newspapers at 11 this morning, no one being in their offices before that. At 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the measure forbidding the spelling of the possessive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Course of Words"","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":317,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/05\/dash-it-ashcroft\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":2},"title":"Dash it, Ashcroft","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"May 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know about you, but when I was growing up during the first administration of the second Bush, I was taught that John Ashcroft was the anti-attorney general. Both his foes and his supporters seemed to agree that he was a proud religious-right zealot in terms of God-first, Constitution-maybe,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1984,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/06\/run-down-for-runoff\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":3},"title":"Run Down for Runoff","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"That's why we have the committee system.\" Let's nominate this as the quote of the spring 2010 primary campaign season. Dave Bisbee is executive of Benton County, Ark. He's seeking re-election. The field of candidates was narrowed in May, and the runoff for county judge is Tuesday the 8th. It's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4750,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2014\/03\/ethos-ethics-ethicker-ethicist\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":4},"title":"Ethos Ethics Ethicker Ethicist","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring for journalists marks the end of contest entry season and the beginning of conferences and workshops. Heavy thinking threatens the daffodils. Ethics committees of two groups, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association, are marking this climate change with proposals. SPJ's is revising its Code of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Collecting arrows at Dunster Archery competition, Somerset, 2009. Source: Wikimedia Commons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Time_to_score_Somerset-300x119.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8334,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2026\/03\/rebels-causes\/","url_meta":{"origin":261,"position":5},"title":"Rebel with a Load of Causes","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"March 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"An Editor\u2019s Note For all my love of words, I'm lousy at protest signs. Six maybe eight words is perfect. Pickets are a lot like billboards. You're driving by, so highway ads need to be sparse for comprehension. That's the same with demonstrations, where picketers stand on a sidewalk as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marlon Brando's character Johnny rode a 1950 Triumph 6T 650cc Thunderbird motorcycle, like this, in 1953's \"The Wild One.\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Triumph-6T-650cc-Thunderbird-1950-16x9-640x360-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Triumph-6T-650cc-Thunderbird-1950-16x9-640x360-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Triumph-6T-650cc-Thunderbird-1950-16x9-640x360-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}