Yesterday, ABCNews reported on a school district in Georgia going entirely to single-sex public schools. The move is being done supposedly to improve test scores and to prevent teen pregnancy. The decision has some parents upset, because they feel they had no choice in the matter. Putting stereo types aside, separating kids by gender does not help girls, it only helps them to fail. You can argue all you want about how boys are disruptive, or how girls are supposedly bad at math (something which is a stereo type in this country only!), but the truth is that this school district is running away from its problems instead of facing them head on. You do not combat teen pregnancy by putting girls in another school, you combat it by educating young people on the consequences of sex and how they can practice safe sex. This decision by adults, teaches boys that they do not have to compete with girls. Over time, the impact of this decision will be felt in the workplace, not in the school.

Every day I witness the problems of gender in the work place. Men find it difficult to communicate with women. There is an uneasiness in their interactions. Imagine if I had to work with an entire group of men who never competed with girls in school? The end result would be that women would be excluded from the major decisions and their salaries would end up reflecting that as well, or the exact opposite, which is that in order for women to be successful they would have to work three times as hard as the average male. Then there is the problem of men working for a female boss who is successful, most of these men would complain for one reason or another.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel. The economic history of this country shows that we are financially better off since women entered the workplace. As a country we compete better with women in the workforce, so why would this not be true in the classroom? I believe separating kids is sending the wrong message and letting adults off the hook for not facing up to their own responsibilities.

Just when you think it is over, February comes and it hits us with seven inches of snow. I managed to shovel most of it yesterday afternoon and felt a little adventurous and went for a ride in the pickup truck… only to find myself not going up a hill! I ended up backing down the hill and sticking to main roads in Iowa City, but needless to say, all roads were pretty bad yesterday during the peak of the storm. On Gilbert Street, right pass the railroad bridge, the police were trying to help out, as a Trailways passenger bus found itself sliding backwards. Schools in Iowa City were definitely closed today. The storm was not as bad as the one that hit during the Christmas break, but this time around, everyone is in town and people have to get to work. It was a pretty good snow storm and not too cold to enjoy it, that is if you don’t have to drive anywhere.

To think the holidays are suppose to be about rushing to the mall, waiting in line forever, and having joyful arguments with family members you haven’t seen in months, well this year nature decided to make it even more uncomfortable by showering the midwest with plenty of cold weather. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, early frost on my windshield, or the torrent of ice and rain that left me without power for eleven hours! About the only two things that worked for me last Tuesday was my F-150 pickup and my iPhone. I used the truck to get some food and the iPhone to call MidAmerica and let them know our power was still out. The lesson learned is that you should always speak with a live operator when calling the power company, otherwise they will assume that the truck they sent out an hour ago fixed the problem, and you will still be sitting in the dark without power. It could have been much worse though. There was no wind at all during the storm and when you have at least a half an inch of ice on trees, any slight breeze is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

One of the better places in Coralville, Iowa to eat lunch is Huhot Mongolian Grill. I often go there during the work week to do an early lunch. For less than $15 (that’s including a drink and tip) you can have multiple servings of make your own mongolian style dishes and have them cook them for you on their huge grill. Personally I prefer early weekday lunches because there is less of a crowd. On the weekends and during dinner hours the place is often packed and so you find yourself waiting in line for about ten minutes at the grill.

I personally recommend the following ingredients: Chicken, your favorite noodles, a good helping of bamboo, pineapple, onions, and celery. For the sauce use five spoonfuls of the yellow curry, on spoonful of garlic chili, and half a spoonful or ginger. This makes for a good combination of flavor and heat. If you have a sweet tooth after all those servings, they have some tasty desserts. For minuses, do not order the soup; it is a tad watered down and not very memorable.

Overall, HuHot is a good place for lunch, and is one of the few places where the food is pretty healthy for you.