April is the Cruelest Month

When I look outside my office window on this 5th of April, I am reminded of the Animal Planet program I watched last month about the polar bear. Apparently, according to the “global warming” crowd, the habitat of the polar bear is being devastated by warming in the arctic. Soon there will be no year-round ice in the arctic; then what will the poor polar bear do? I think they will migrate here.
Last weekend my wife and I went with a group of teachers and alumni from my school to the sister’s mother-house. The trip had been planned for months as a 50th anniversary activity and was attended by about 25 people. My main reason for going was to see my high school physics teacher who is retired and living at the mother-house. I haven’t seen her since she was transferred to another school almost 25 years ago. I can’t express how happy I am to find that she is well at 92 years old. She was the one who inspired me to take up science in college and eventually become a teacher. She is still the best teacher I ever had and sharp as ever; looking like she could go into the classroom again. She could teach the hell out of physics.
The weather that weekend was frigid for this time of the year. The first day was characterized by a steady, cold rain that interfered with every activity we had planned. On the morning of the second day we woke to a snow storm. A week later the snow storm outside my office window is raging on. The Sox have already canceled their home opener tomorrow because of the weather. The Animal Planet program told us that polar bears were migrating further south every year to find food. When they finally get here they will feel right at home.
On a sad note, the nun who is in charge of the tuition office at our school had a stroke last week. She is a kind soul who treated parents and students with respect. It is commonly believed by the faculty that the stressful circus that revolved around our “tuition problems” of last month contributed to the onset of her health issues.
Enrollment for next year seems to be leveling out about where most of us thought it would be. About 100 present students have not yet registered for next year (according to guidance) and a little over 400 of the 500 incoming freshmen have paid their registration fee and chosen classes for next year. Baring any new economic disaster, we should be within 200 students of our head-count this year; an acceptable enrollment level considering the troubled economy. The really good news is that, if we lose any students, it will be because of the economy and not because of dissatisfaction with our product.
We were notified this week that there will be no reductions in staff next year, except through attrition, and there will be a 3% pay raise. The pay raise is smaller than we usually receive, but in this economy everyone is grateful to have a stable job to look forward to.