The week leading up to Valentines Day has been declared National Marriage Week in the U.S. The goal of National Marriage Week is to elevate national attention on the need to strengthen marriage, reduce the divorce rate and build a stronger marriage culture which in turn helps curtail poverty and benefits children.

Marriage breakdown is costly to kids and to society at large. According to Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences, divorce and unwed childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers a whopping $112 billion annually. In these challenging economic times, building stronger marriages helps build a stronger nation. See the study and more about the importance of marriage at www.nationalmariageweekusa.org.

It takes work to have a healthy marriage, but it is possible. Just like good nutrition and regular exercise can help you to have a healthy body, there are things you can do to have a healthy marriage. For National Marriage Week, here are seven tips using the acronym ELEVATE which can help you strengthen your marriage:

Empower Yourself- Individual health impacts the health of couple relationships. Taking care of yourself first can improve the wellness of your relationship. To care for yourself, eat healthfully and exercise regularly, get regular sleep, manage stress in positive ways and appreciate the good things in your life to cultivate greater happiness and satisfaction.

Lay the Foundation- Are you making deliberate and conscious decisions about your relationships? It is important to be intentional in nurturing your couple relationship. Stronger relationships begin by making a deliberate decision to enter into a relationship rather than sliding into one. Commit to the relationship and work to fulfill that commitment. Focus on each other’s strengths, set goals for a positive future together and work at effective ways to strengthen your relationship with one another.

Enlighten- How well do you know your partner? Sharing yourself and deepening an understanding of your partner creates stability in your relationship. Ask about your partner’s life, thoughts and feelings. Be sensitive to your partners’s worries and needs. Try to see situations through your partner’s eyes to gain a better understanding of how they look at things.

Value- Keeping a relationship healthy is the responsibility of both people in that relationship. What do you to do to show support, affection, and respect for your partner? Here are some ways to show you care: express appreciation and caring actions towards your partner, accept and value the differences you and your partner share. Give love in the way your partner likes to be loved, and make time for togetherness and moments of connection.

Attach- Developing and maintaining your friendship with your partner helps build couple identity. Envision yourselves as a team. Learning and growing together as a couple further strengthens this teamwork: find common interest and activities you can share as a couple, create traditions and rituals that promote togetherness, set and work towards common goals.

Tame- Dealing with differences in healthy ways can minimize friction among couples. Problems in healthy couple relationships may never be resolved, but they can be managed in effective ways. Understand and accept that there may be disagreements in any couple relationship, but try to stop conflict before it escalates out of control: share concerns with one another in a calm, respectful tone, avoid criticism and defensiveness that could be insulting to your partner, soothe and support one another and be open to forgiveness.

Engage- Engaging in a supportive, positive social network can be beneficial to any couple. These connections can act as a safety net to provide security to couples during both good and challenging time. Grow and maintain relationships with extended family. Develop a supportive network of friends who also have healthy couple relationships. Get involved in community organizations and services that can bring you and your partner together.

This Valentine’s Day, make an intentional decision to focus on relationship as well as romance. For more ways to strengthen your marriage, see the resources from the National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Network at www.nermen.org.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

We are all aware, that is, informed voters are aware, President Barack Obama has announced he will go it alone following his big loss to Republicans in the November elections.  In other words, he will not depend on Congress to get things done his way for the remaining two years of his presidency.

Democrats in Congress have our Founders turning over in their graves since our Constitution clearly (for the sake of checks and balances) depends on Congress making laws and not the president.  Dems literally stomped on and spit out the thinking of our Founders. They are more than willing to give up congressional legislative authority to their president.

What about the GOP’s presidential candidates for 2016?

We do not want another Bush, and Romney had his chance in 2012 but blew it.  If polls clearly show Americans are fed up with Washington in general why in the world would voters want another Washington establishment type like the two just mentioned?  The approval of our government in D.C. is at an all time low.  We need new blood, not more of the same.

Any Democrat, especially the likes of a Hillary Clinton, would be ten times worse, but a Jeb Bush is not the answer either, nor anybody like him.

Maybe what we need is a “go it alone” Republican president, in a way just like Obama.  No, not in terms of shredding the Constitution as Obama does.  No, not in terms of having government agencies completely out of control with thousands upon thousands of new regulations every week many of which should be going through Congress first.

If we can have a “go it alone” far left Obama president with agendas all over the place not in the best interest of America why not one who will make sure we do what is best for Americans.

What we need is a president not beholden to anybody except the American people.  Too many in Congress, on both sides, are beholden to big donors, lobbyists, and cronies.   We need a president who will do what’s right for America even if it takes bringing around a “kicking and screaming” stubborn Congress.

I do not trust Congress.  I do not trust the Republican leadership in Congress.   There are too many in our legislative body who are “Washington Republican Establishment” types no different than Democrats when it comes to the many issues facing this country.

There are some really good conservative Republicans on the hill, but unfortunately they do not have the clout to take on the Washington Republican Establishment.  We need a president that will “go it alone” in his or her thinking. Not in everything, of course, but on issues where Reps cave to Dems.  The WRE has too much control and caves too often.

The WRE caused McCain’s loss to Obama in 2008 and then Romney’s loss in 2012.  Liberal mainstream media will prop up Jeb Bush now then knock him out in 2016 as it did with the other two.

Last November’s elections clearly showed there’s a huge divide (and I mean huge) between Obama policies and what Americans want for this country going forward.  In other words, there’s this huge divide between liberalism and conservatism. Voters spoke in November that the majority wants to move to the right.  Doesn’t look to me the new Congress is carrying out the mandates of voters. Unfortunately, there’s a big divide within the Republican Party itself.

We need to elect a conservative president in 2016 who will listen and act on the desires of the people, not the DC cocktail party circuit consisting of Democrats and Republicans alike.

Les Knoll lives in Victoria and Gilbert, Ariz.

Words come and go. “Consumption” was a disease feared in the late 1800’s as much as cancer is feared today. As many as one-in-seven Europeans died of consumption.

The disease was called consumption because of the sunk-in appearance of the chest—the disease “consumed” the body. Victims often spat up blood, had a chronic cough and eventually wasted away.

In 1882, the great German bacteriologist Robert Koch detected the bacterium of tuberculosis that was one major cause. Other ailments with similar symptoms soon became understood as well. Pneumonia, the collection of fluids in the lung, could be caused by bacteria or viruses. And there was emphysema, cystic fibrosis, and various forms of lung cancers.

Today, the term “consumption” is no longer used. It has been replaced by dozens of more specific terms. Those words provide more understanding, more control over outcomes, and more compassionate and productive discussions.  Today’s dictionaries are bigger than the dictionaries of the 1800’s.

In the 1990’s, some science education folks from Schools of Education woke up to the fact that there were more new words to learn in a high school biology book than there were in the books we use to study Spanish or French!  They convinced textbook publishers to remove all of the technical terms. They told science teachers to just “teach the concepts” and not the terms. These ivory tower education experts were clueless about semantics (the science of word meanings). But classroom teachers were not. For about six years, teachers used worksheets and word lists on the blackboards to supplement the gutted textbooks.  Publishers finally saw their mistake and gave science teachers what they needed. And again today, science textbooks have more new terms than are found in foreign language books.

It is not just useless “jargon.” To be educated is to communicate in more detail.

We can see this in the vocabulary and training of medical doctors. In the late 1700’s, the early doctor William Beaumont dangled various foods into the stomach of a French fur-trapper who had accidently shot himself and caused a large opening into his stomach. Beaumont had only apprenticed under another doctor. He had never attended college.

By the mid 1800’s, Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, only had two years of college.  I enjoy telling my sophomore biology students that at the end of this year, they could begin practicing medicine—150 years ago!

Of course, today a medical doctor must study well beyond the bachelor’s and masters degree level to understand the specialized terminology that is required to practice medicine today. And you can be sure that in the future, the number of years that doctors must study to be at the forefront of their field will require even more additional years of study.  Their advanced knowledge will involve more words that are yet to be invented.

And that poses a very interesting dilemma. In spite of claims that humans are living longer, that is simply not true. Yes, long ago there were very few folks who lived to our maximum old age. Today, a  greater portion of us live to that old age. But there is no evidence at all that this upper limit of 115 or 116 years can be moved further upward. Therefore, using the time we train doctors as an example, if it takes more and more time for us to learn the greater knowledge of the future, will we come to a point where civilization can no longer advance?  As we approach that limit, will we be able to take children at very young ages and narrow their education and specialize them so they can make a few more new discoveries before they die of old age?  We are far from reaching that barrier.

But for many generations now, parents have marveled when their students come home with a knowledge and vocabulary that has exceeded what the parents knew and learned.

The precise use of terms is a hallmark of an educated person.

“Thingamajig” and “whatchmacallit” just don’t work for us anymore.

Dictionaries are going to get bigger.

Dear Dave,
I’m retired, and currently I have about 5 percent of my retirement savings in gold and silver I’ve been acquiring over the last few years. I’ve seen gold prices decline significantly, and I’m wondering if I should hang on to it as a safety factor in the event the economy goes bad in a hurry. I want to make sure I’ll still have a safety factor, and something of value, if that happens.
Steve

Dear Steve,
What’s the safety factor here? And if everything goes downhill, why does it have value? Gold has this weird allure and mythology around it that says, “I’ve still got something that people will take when the economy crashes.” But the truth is there hasn’t been an instance when people used gold as a medium of exchange in a crashed or failed economy since the Roman Empire.

People still use gold because they believe in it. We also believe in green paper with presidents’ faces on it. So, gold really has no more intrinsic value than that green paper. The only reason we place value on it is because we, the society, place value on it. A failed society might not place value on it anymore.

In a completely failed economy, the first step is usually a takeover by a Fascist government. After that, you get a new color of money – of paper – with a new leader’s face on it. Then, the old stuff isn’t worth anything. It’s very seldom you ever see gold come to the rescue.
I don’t believe in investing in gold for that reason. Plus, the track record on gold, as far as a rate of return, is horrible over the long haul. There was a time a few years ago when everyone went crazy on it, but other than that? Ugh!
—Dave

Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8.5 million listeners each week on more than 550 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

Ellis USD 388

On Monday, February 9, at the monthly meeting of the USD 388 Board of Education, a decision was made regarding the moving of junior high students from the Washington Grade School attendance center to Ellis High School for the fall semester of the 2015- 2016 school year. Following a lengthy discussion concerning the pros and cons of the move. The Board approved the decision on a 7-0 vote. Many questions and concerns were shared by Board, administrators and patrons in attendance. Below is a list of several of the discussion points and possible resolutions to the concerns that were raised.

• Moving the junior high is an immediate concern due to space at WGS, but this configuration of the EHS attendance center is hoped to be temporary. It continues to be the hope of the Board and administration that a community decision can be made concerning a bond election that has an opportunity to pass which would include a separate wing for junior high students. In the short term, segregating the junior high into the north hallway locker space and keeping high school students in the west wing can work. This is not the preferred solution, hence the desire to continue researching the possibility of a junior high wing.

• A point of concern has always been whether the junior high would maintain their own identity. The administration has expressed to the Board a number of times the intent to maintain all junior high activities as they currently are. The move is in no way intended to dissolve who the Ellis Junior High Railroaders are. Currently, administration plans are to have junior high pep rallies, dances, and all other activities as they are now. There is also discussion going on concerning how we may paint the north hallway a little differently and solicit Mr. White and his classes to perhaps paint a mural or two in that hallway signifying the junior high identity.

• A question was raised concerning grades 4-6 students being able to attend junior high pep rallies if a move was made. There is no reason that these students couldn’t attend if that is what teachers and administrators decided. We currently only have 2-3 junior high pep rallies during the school year, so arrangements can be made to either bus students up for those few events or they can walk up as they do on a number of events if the weather is permitting.

• During discussions over the past month, several questions about cost have been raised. The initial cost for any renovations to EHS are minimal. Cost estimates for building one wall and some other minor construction renovations have been estimated to be in the range of $5,000. Additional costs that will occur annually will revolve around the Activity Director’s position and additional requirements for scheduling junior high events. The resulting annual cost will ultimately be less with the move than the annual cost of transporting students back and forth over the past 7 years.

• At this time, Washington Grade School has the third largest number of students in attendance in the past 30 years. The largest enrollment has occurred over the past two years making the past three years the largest enrollment at WGS since the early 1980s.

• By moving junior high students to EHS, student numbers in each of the two attendance centers is actually equalized compared to the current configuration. Currently the student count at WGS includes 275 students not counting students that come over from St. Mary’s throughout the day for Special Education services. At EHS this year, the current enrollment is 138. By looking at current numbers and projecting the move into next year, EHS enrollment would be 208 students and WGS enrollment would be approximately 205 students.

• With the current configuration of the junior high, there is a large amount of travel time on the part of students and staff members that is wasted and could be better used with the students at EHS. Currently, some junior high students spend over 30 minutes each week riding a bust to and from the high school. Some 7th and 8th grade students are on the bus for 25 minutes each day. When you look at those who travel the most, those students lose nearly a week’s worth of instructional time on the low end and as much as 2 1⁄2 weeks on the high end during a school year. In addition to students traveling, teachers are also travelling to teach classes for the junior high at the grade school attendance center. If we want to improve education and ultimately test scores on state assessments and national tests such as the ACT, students need to be in a classroom, not riding a bus.

• Over the past 7 years, junior high classes have been meeting at EHS for 3 or 4 periods per day. These students may ride a bus as many as 5 times per day. This reorganization of where junior high classes are held is not new as it began in the 2008-2009 school year.

• Without the two junior high classes at WGS, several options for growth in enrollment are opened up. Over the past 20 years, the requirements of classroom space have changed dramatically at the grade school. Kindergarten moved to full- day attendance rather than half-day, pre-school has been added, Special Education classes have increased in size, and Title I Reading programs have been added just to name a few.

• Some concern was voiced over the lunch periods and whether they would be very early or very late to accommodate both junior and senior high students. The schedule that had been worked out for lunch began at 11:40 am for junior high and at 12:17 pm for senior high. Both groups would have the same length of lunch period that they do now and there would be 15 minutes in between serving times to allow lunch room staff to reorganize for the second group coming through.

• Another benefit of the move is the chance to increase options for junior students with their course choices. A strong belief of staff and administration is that not every student is 4-year College bound. Some student should and will pursue professions after high school that are in vocational fields. Having the junior high students in EHS presents options that can be looked at for such courses as woodworking and computer applications that can’t be offered currently due to time constraints.

• There has also been some comments and questions raised about why now and why not wait until Board elections are held in April. The problem with waiting is that once the Board elections are over, the newly elected Board members do not take their seats until the July 13th Board meeting. With pre-enrollment, construction and moving furniture, a decision needed to be made either at the February or March Board meeting to have everything in place by August.

Overall, there is a lot of support for moving the junior high. Teachers have been involved in the discussion and have been given the opportunity to voice their concerns. The primary concerns of teachers revolved more around the logistics of classroom arrangement and making sure that space for various things had been considered. No one has commented about this being bad for students. Everyone is of the opinion that the transportation piece is consuming a lot of educational time for the students.
Not only have staff members been consulted in consideration of moving the junior high, but the students themselves have been questioned. The students themselves, in most cases, commented that they don’t like having to ride the bus back and forth so much.

Moving the junior high without a separate wing is not a perfect solution. Doing nothing at all and allowing more classes of students to lose so much educational time is a worse solution. Without any construction for a junior high wing, we will be missing a full science lab. Our three teachers will have to switch rooms if lab space is needed. Special Education will be in one large classroom where two room would be the ideal solution. Health classes will be held in the old weight room at the south end of the building, which is smaller and will be a little cramped for space. The configuration shared the past couple of months for classroom space can work, but it isn’t the perfect solution. The staff and administration are going to do everything that they can to make this a positive experience for students. Finding what is best for students is the goal of USD 388 and this move has the capability of providing opportunities for future graduates of Ellis High School that have been limited.

The egg is in hot water again thanks to recent reports of high cholesterol levels in the U.S. population. With this linkage between high serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD), these studies and others have led people to believe CHD is the fault of “those dirty rotten eggs.”

Not so fast.

The three major risk factors for coronary heart disease are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and elevated serum cholesterol levels, according to the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

Other risk factors for this disease – gender and family history for example – cannot  be changed – or not easily, ACSH says. Males appear to be at greater risk than females.

If there is a history of heart disease in your family, giving up that omelet will do nothing to change genetics.

Some risk factors can be controlled, though not necessarily through diet. The risk of coronary heart disease can be reduced through exercise and stress reduction, ACSH says.

How do eggs fit into all of this?

Eggs contain high levels of cholesterol – 218 mg of cholesterol per egg yolk, studies say. But with all the bad ink lately, it is easy to forget the benefits of eggs.

Eggs continue to be an excellent protein source and low in calories. Eggs also contain riboflavin, vitamin B12, folic acid, phosphorus, iodine, iron, vitamin A, calcium, zinc and thiamin. Eggs are convenient, versatile and low in price.

Every year, there’s talk about “lowered-cholesterol” eggs – you know eggs without the yolk, egg whites, etc. This sounds good until you also hear about eggs that smelled like fish. Seems the hen’s diet consisted of fish oil supplements. Some eggs in this category actually contained more cholesterol than the USDA standards.

All cost significantly more than average large eggs.

So what is good for breakfast?

Eggs in moderation is the simple answer. Major health organizations recommend three eggs a week.

So go ahead and eat that occasional omelet, just remember to vary your breakfast with fruits, cereals, muffins, bagels and other foods.

Here’s to health and egg in your diet.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water” is the second film to follow the antics of SpongeBob SquarePants. I was really into “SpongeBob” for a long time. The show started airing when I was middle school and my friends and I thought it was a riot. The early seasons found a chaotic clash of humor that had an obvious widespread appeal. To this day, my little sister, Whitney, and I frequently quote early “SpongeBob” lines when we’re together.

Unfortunately for everyone, the show started to evolve and became a weird parody of itself. “SpongeBob,” in this reviewer’s opinion, is built around the type of humor that is hilarious if the audience is in the right frame of mind to receive it – meaning audience members are the right age or are the right age at heart (either in perpetuity or in the moment). Watching a movie like this outside of that young frame of mind is not advisable.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water” has received surprisingly high praise from critics. As of this writing it stands at 75% on RottenTomatoes.com, meaning 75% of critics gave it a positive review. For comparison, last year’s “Dumb and Dumber To” clocked in at 29%. Both films feature “stupid humor” but “The SpongeBob Movie” somehow found it’s way into the hearts of critics.

I’m dancing around my own opinions because for this particular instance, I don’t feel I can give a fair review. I have bad days just like everyone else. Unfortunately, on the day I saw “Sponge out of Water,” I had a pretty lousy day and I know for a fact that it clouded my opinion. However, it does illustrate my earlier point. Through the eyes of someone in the right frame of mind, this film could be a delightful romp of nonsensical humor. I would encourage people to go into this film to expect nothing – there’s a childlike innocence to stupidity that can sometimes fail to make it through thick skin.