OUR VIEW: Week in review: the best and worst

• OUR VIEW

OUR VIEW

Talk about it

HISSES to the unnecessary shooting of a whooping crane earlier this month near Miller. The Daily Republic last week reported that a reward of up to $10,000 has been offered for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible, and we hope this search nets results. There aren’t many whooping cranes left in America, and most of us around these parts have seen them glide by overhead as they pass from south to north in the spring. It’s too bad someone opted to take a shot at one and — we can only assume — with no other intent than to simply kill it.

CHEERS to the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team, which last week tied its school record for victories in a season. With a split against Dordt College, the Tigers earned their 17th win of 2012, matching a standard for success with the program. Wesleyan isn’t known as a softball powerhouse, but this season has been a pleasant surprise and, we now know, one for the record books.

HISSES to the steady decline of poetry in the curriculum in South Dakota schools. A story in The Daily Republic last week outlined how poetry is falling by the wayside as schools put more focus on math and science. We understand why this is happening — today’s world is more about technology than dusty old poetry books — but it’s an unfortunate event. This disappointing news reminds us of Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” penned in 1923:

Nature’s first green is gold,

her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

but only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief.

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

CHEERS to South Dakota’s newest state park. Blood Run, set to become South Dakota’s first new state park in more than 50 years, is situated along the Big Sioux River in southeast South Dakota. We always have felt the state could use more state parks and recreation areas, and especially in eastern South Dakota. It would be nice if there could be a state park closer to Mitchell, but we’re still excited by Blood Run’s opening.

CHEERS to Rocky Brinkman, the South Dakota High School Principal of the Year. Brinkman, of Lake Andes, also serves as athletic director and coach. He was selected for the honor by the South Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals and now competes for the national honor.

Tags: opinion, updates