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Voices January 17, 2020

As resolutions crumble, dishing on doomed diets

By AMBROSE CLANCY // How’s that New Year’s diet going? What? You’re back to Danish and bacon for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and beers and pizza-with-extra-cheese (you know, with the gang) for dinner? And who’s the evil person who left black-and-white cookies in the break room? Don’t they know you’ve become a healthy, weight-conscious person? What happened? Simple, according to Mag Selig, writing in Psychology Today: “Diets don’t work!” But you’re not alone in…

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Voices October 25, 2019

As teacher shortage grows, a virtually ideal substitute

By HARRY AURORA // It’s no secret the teacher shortage facing school districts across the county is a legitimate crisis. A widely distributed 2019 study by the Economic Policy Institute called the teacher shortage “large and growing,” and analysts point to two key issues: Public schools are hiring fewer teachers and fewer people are pursuing teaching careers, a perfect storm for a public-education epidemic. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 60,000…

Voices October 18, 2019

How to refresh a brand, without blowing things up

By DAVID A. CHAUVIN // Just like your wardrobe, your company needs a makeover every now and then. Industry changes, trends come and go, technology evolves. There’s a good chance that what appeared cutting-edge 10 years ago seems hopelessly outdated now. And if your branding, marketing materials or even company name gives an out-of-touch impression, that’s how your customers will think of you – no matter how state-of-the-art your work or products. The trick is…

Voices October 11, 2019

Pods? Grande pumpkin things? Not cool, beans

By AMBROSE CLANCY // I have become what I feared I would become. A coffee snob. Not that person at Starbucks ordering a grande macchiato pumpkin spice with dark chocolate shavings – please – but the one who can’t drink bad coffee. My friend, bon vivant Jim Murray of Dublin and Brussels, lives by the code of refusing things on the basis of LITS (Life Is Too Short). For him, it applies mostly to mediocre…

Voices October 4, 2019

A preemptive approach to postsecondary success

By HARRY AURORA // For some, preparation for postsecondary education starts at a young age. Many children who aspire to be doctors, lawyers and scientists understand the required commitment to academic achievement, and that it continues well beyond high school. These particular students typically have not only the support of their family members, but also a role model – a teacher or guidance counselor, perhaps, instilling in them a drive to achieve at their highest…

Voices September 27, 2019

College or work? Maybe the path isn’t so cut-and-dry

By ROSALIE DRAGO // As costs rise and debt mounts, debate rages about the “necessity” of college. Throw in a worker shortage in technical occupations that don’t require degrees, and the lines are clearly drawn for most high school graduates: work vs. college. Usually absent from the conversation is another pathway to a degree: work, then college. It’s easy to understand why. Most people, parents in particular, believe anything short of college limits future opportunities….

Voices September 20, 2019

The long and short of it: Yes, Millennials pay attention

By DAVID CHAUVIN // Of all the misconceptions about Millennials – a group that will comprise 50 percent of the workforce by 2020 – the one that annoys me most is that the generation possesses a gnat-like attention span. This stereotype is nonsense, to put it bluntly. As much as I loathe the misconception, however, I see why people believe it. Millennials are, after all, the generation of Twitter, Vine (RIP) and bite-sized viral Facebook…