Columns

The holidays are over. And you can definitely tell.

People in Campbellsville are generally nice. They typically wave as you drive by and many of us know each other by our first names. We are, for the most part, a close community.

And it seems the holidays make people in general a bit nicer. We seem to say "thank you" a bit more often, and we may actually mean it when we say it.

People also open their wallets around the holidays to donate to those who are less fortunate.

The stories of the heroes who stepped up to help and, in some cases, save the victims of the Tucson tragedy keep rolling in.

The first and most prominent was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' college intern, Daniel Hernandez, the young man who helped her after she was shot. While many people call him a hero, Hernandez insists he is not one: "I think ... anyone would have done the same thing for anyone, because it's a human being and you need to make sure that you help those in need."

Every several years, the Council on Postsecondary Education publishes what we call the High School Feedback Report, which summarizes the college readiness of our high school graduates. Studies show that improved college readiness leads to improved student success, job opportunities and overall quality of life.

With the dawn of a new year come an array of emotions, hopes, fears and much anticipation. We commonly hear a flurry of comments about New Year's resolutions. We read the various resolutions set by certain individuals for the New Year, we hear radio and newscasts telling us about New Year's resolutions and for about 10 days to two weeks around Jan. 1 we are constantly coming in contact with resolutions of all types for the New Year.