http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ This is the blog of the Dayton Daily News editorial page. Regular contributors include the journalists who work on the two-page section labeled "Opinions" in the paper. But the blog is also a forum for readers. We comment on subjects that are being written about in the newspaper, but other subjects are fair game, too. Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton. Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues. Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues. Quick news updates by e-mail Start your workday informed by signing up for our e-mail local news headlines and breaking news alerts. Sign up en-us edletter@coxohio.com 2009-11-22T00:00:00-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/22/editorial_grass_isnt_greener_a.html Headline shocker of the year: “Other states in much worse budget shape than Ohio.” And it’s not a joke. The nothing-if-not-sober Pew Center on the States set out to compare the states systematically on several different measures relevant to the... 15789003@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-22T00:00:00-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/20/guest_column_overhaul_colleges.html This commentary is written by Gregory Bernhardt and Thomas J. Lasley II. Bernhardt is dean of the College of Education and Human Service at Wright State University. Lasley is dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions at the... 15791303@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Guest Columns 2009-11-20T14:36:35-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/20/guest_column_overhaul_colleges_1.html This commentary is written by Gregory Bernhardt and Thomas J. Lasley II. Bernhardt is dean of the College of Education and Human Service at Wright State University. Lasley is dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions at the... 15791403@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Guest Columns 2009-11-20T14:36:35-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/20/editorial_uds_winning_plan_is.html For University of Dayton sports fans, last weekend had the feel of a dream being fulfilled. Since the early 1990s, Dayton has aimed for a day when it would field intercollegiate teams that earned respect for the way they competed,... 15778203@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-20T06:03:22-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/20/editorial_companies_should_foo.html Warren County has a serious public safety concern when it comes to a fuel terminal in Clearcreek Twp. — one that the 10 companies doing business there have a responsibility to address. Everyone would benefit if a water tower big... 15778603@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-20T00:00:00-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/20/kevin_rileystreetsmart_officer.html Do you feel safe when you’re walking alone on a dark, unlit and abandoned street that lacks signs? Of course not. We go out of our way to avoid those situations. Therein lies one of the challenges for people trying... 15789203@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ City of Dayton 2009-11-20T00:00:00-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/18/editorial_dayton_region_rally.html Good intentions, awful form. That’s how it felt at the Dayton Region Rally on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Seventeen speakers on a program that ran two-plus hours. Maybe if the event had been less passive, maybe if even the spontaneity hadn’t... 15758503@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-18T14:59:02-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/18/editorial_hospitals_rules_slam.html The idea that a woman seeking in vitro fertilization would be asked to first show that she had a husband — and then get turned away only for being unmarried — feels like a throwback to another age. That’s what... 15753103@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Health Care 2009-11-18T06:19:21-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/17/editorial_school_dress_code_sa.html One young Bengals fan let the team’s unexpected success this season go to his head, literally. The next thing you know, it’s a national talk story. In fact, there isn’t much to discuss. As recently as 2007, the U.S. Supreme... 15753303@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-17T06:23:26-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/16/editorial_theres_a_better_way.html If you ever think about judges, it’s probably at election time when you’re asked to vote for some. Or maybe if you go to court for a ticket or are called for jury duty. There are, however, some people who... 15696203@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-16T00:00:00-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/15/editorial_human_trafficking_is.html How’s this for a coincidence: Just as the Dayton Literary Peace Prize was going to a young writer named Ben Skinner for his book about modern human slavery (“A Crime So Monstrous”), the University of Dayton independently had a conference... 15698203@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Law Enforcement and Public Safety 2009-11-15T05:48:15-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/14/editorial_voinovich_on_right_p.html The most radical proposal being taken seriously in Congress these days is being put forth by a group of legislators typically referred to as the moderates: Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich, for example, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat from... 15708103@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Ohio politics 2009-11-14T14:53:27-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/13/ellen_belcher_county_wont_do_w.html What a difference 10 years make. This week Montgomery County Administrator Deborah Feldman and Commissioner Dan Foley met with this newspaper’s editorial board to talk about the county’s budget. Let’s just say there was not much cheer in the room.... 15697903@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Columns 2009-11-13T17:24:22-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/12/editorial_mentally_ill_not_get.html Vulnerable, sometimes dangerous, people are not being treated well — morally or medically — partly because of a fight between Montgomery County’s mental health agency and local hospitals. The failure to come together could get someone — a mentally ill... 15683603@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Editorials 2009-11-12T16:57:04-04:00 edletter@coxohio.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2009/11/12/martin_gottlieb_can_leitzell_a.html Let’s compare Gary Leitzell with Jimmy Carter. No offense intended. To either. It’s just that certain similarities present themselves. When Carter was elected, a fellow Georgian who had worked for him all along said that if Cyrus Vance became secretary... 15682103@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ City of Dayton 2009-11-12T15:39:42-04:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com