Rest and drink water, if you want to stay healthy

Common sense is wonderful, isn’t it? Who knew getting lots of rest and drinking lots of water can help build your resistance to pandemics?

But, of course, it’s true, according to state epidemiologist Sarah Park, who oversaw state efforts to deal with the 2009 H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic that killed 13 people in Hawaii, most of them on Oahu.

Park commented on the heels of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study that found Honolulu Airport ranks third in the country for the risk of spreading disease, even though it is only 25th in the nation in terms of boardings. She recommended getting lots of sleep before the flight and staying hydrated while enroute.

Then again, staying home and avoiding the airport would be even safer still, but where’s the fun in that?

And so we begin yet another year of learning

Public schools are back in session, and nearly everyone is preparing for lots of changes. Students are buying supplies. Furlough Fridays are no more, with 180 days of instruction for most schools. Administrators are pushing ahead with a new evaluation program for teachers, and developing another one for schools. Unfortunately, talks between the teachers union and the state administration remain stalled. We hope that both parties can come to terms on a new contract, and — to borrow a favorite metaphor of the governor — paddle the canoe in the same direction.