Cessna Aircraft Co. is now Wichita’s largest employer, so it was good news last week that the aviation company enjoyed strong sales and orders during the second quarter of 2005, with plans to deliver more than 1,000 aircraft this year. Cessna is stepping up to No. 1 as a community leader as well, with chairman emeritus Russ Meyer leading an $8 million effort to build a new Boys & Girls Club in northeast Wichita and the Cessna Foundation recently giving $250,000 to the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. Cessna’s leadership is looking good — for it and for Wichita.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Many a word has been used to describe George W. Bush. The most apt? “Honest,” said 31 of 751 respondents in a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. But then came “incompetent” (26 votes) and “arrogant” (24), followed by array of lower-scoring labels spanning “integrity” and “weasel.” Overall, Pew judged the word choices to be 40 derogatory and 36 percent favorable. Say this for our 43rd president: He’s unlikely to be remembered as unremarkable.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Morale, though low, appears to be improving among soldiers in Iraq. Fifty-four percent of soldiers questioned as part of an Army survey last year said that morale in their individual units was either low or very low — an improvement from 72 percent who said the same thing a year earlier. But with the Army struggling to meet its recruitment goals, it will have to look at ways to address the soldiers’ main concerns — one being the length of deployments. Otherwise, it could be looking at even larger recruitment shortfalls.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
One image can’t fully represent a state with the rich history of Kansas, so expect more spirited debate about the Kansas quarter once it hits palms and pockets. In any case, it was exciting to see the minting of the commemorative quarter begin in Denver last week, on the way to its official release Sept. 9 at the Kansas State Fair. Our fears that Kansas’ would join the ugly coins in the U.S. Mint’s state program were relieved, too; the design looks artful but uncluttered. It will be great to see Kansas get noticed beyond its borders this year for more than BTK and evolution.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
For all the high-minded talk about the Internet as a tool for world trade and a force for democracy, the Web’s main role in daily lives is as the modern equivalent of the girlie magazine, according to this Forbes column. The keyword research tool WordTracker says the names of Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the Simpson sisters are the most-searched words on the Web these days, along with queries for video game cheats, music lyrics, movie information and sex acts. Nearly as sad as the porn hunters are the lost souls: “Google” is an oft-searched term, meaning people don’t know the difference between the search box and the navigational bar.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
