The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.  – Aristotle
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the Boston Marathon bombing suspects are said to have murdered a police officer three days after the bombings, will ask guests to walk through metal detectors for some events June 7. Officials at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, where surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been a student, issued tickets to better manage the crowd.
What a crazy planet. At a time of such promise and excitement over what is to come, our youth face this horror, hatred and uncertainty.
It is estimated that over 3 million American high school seniors will graduate this spring. Many of them will join the 20 million students in the nation’s colleges, paying an every-growing amount to attend a college or university. Some will attend a trade school, go into the military or head straight into the workforce.
 Among these wide-eyed young people are the 2013 classes of Barton Community College (which walked across the stage Friday) and Great Bend High School (which graduates today). What are they getting themselves in to as they take this giant step?
With the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, this nation has been at war since this these kids were in grade school. This view of us versus them has surely colored their view of the world around them, the world in which they are about to play key roles.
It sounds cliche, but they are our hope. For all of our sakes, let’s pray these kids can see past the bitter shrouds of intolerance and clouds of anger to chart a sweet course that leads to a better future.
Dale Hogg