If these 18 students are representative of their peers, we will be in good hands with this upcoming generation of leaders. They are smart, curious and respectful. I was impressed with each one -- as well as their supportive parents and other family members.

I was introduced by McKay Duran, a 12-year-old ambassador, and then said a few words of encouragement before the pinning and lanyard ceremony. The ambassadors range in age from 12 to 14. The first legs of their trip will be San Francisco to Chicago and then on to Rome. It will be an experience that will forever change them. Teacher Rachelle Cornwell expertly oversees the local delegation.

People to People was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who thought having citizens from the U.S. and other countries in face-to-face contact would help break down mistrust and bring about a more peaceful world. Clearly, this world needs more student ambassadors.

The local ambassadors are committed to doing their part.

"There is one general rule about the history of the modern state of Germany since its inception in 1871: Anytime Germany has been both unified and isolated, armed conflict has inevitably followed."

Our lead Sunday editorial looks at some education codes that are barriers to quality teaching.

Saturday's page features a Valley Voice written by a young woman who finds it challenging to be a cyclist in Fresno. Katie Kellum urges drivers to get out of their cars to join other riders during Bike Month.

Also on Saturday's op-ed page, writers from two opposing viewpoints discuss whether or not Congress should enact taxes on obesity-producing foods.

In Monday's page, Harry G. Harris discusses how Taiwan serves as a catalyst for China's political reform:

"China cannot be content with cosmetic changes while maintaining an authoritarian grip on its people. The government remains active in blocking Internet access and other forms of information. Citizens are resilient in overcoming these obstacles."

(Links to the section indexes are live, but the mentioned stories will be live on the publication dates noted above.)

But we had some cool things in our day that aren't around any more or are nearly gone.

This article in The Business Journal made me think, I don't think my three youngest children have ever experienced a movie at a drive-in theater. And not that many remain in the Valley:

About 4,000 drive-ins were open in the U.S. in 1958, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. As of September 2010, there were about 370 left. Throughout California, there are only 18 or so drive-in theatres still running.

I remember as a child in Bowling Green, Ohio, our parents would pile us into the car for a night at the movies. As a teen, I went to Woodward Park Drive-In with friends from my church youth group and later, with boyfriends. Films I remember first seeing on the big outdoor screen include "Beetlejuice," "Rambo II," one of the Jurassic Park sequels and "Karate Kid."

There's something special about watching a movie on a cool (or hot!) summer night, hearing the echo of the speakers coming from the other cars around you.

When Woodward Park Drive-In closed in 2002, to make way for the shopping center where Costco and Home Depot now stand at Blackstone and Herndon, Sharon Kille Jenkins wrote this Valley Voice about how much she would miss her old friend:

It was never quite dark when the previews began. We strained to see. A strip of film appeared on each screen reminding patrons not to sit on the ground, replace speakers, drive 5 mph and enjoy the show. That was amusing, as most people were sitting on the ground. Surrounded by Freeway 41, Malibu Grand Prix and eventually Camelot Park, you could be distracted if you allowed yourself. But regular, die-hard drive-in fanatics weren't taken in. It was the atmosphere we were there for. Nostalgia, fresh air, fun! It was all part of "The Drive-In Experience!"

"The Drive-In Experience" is something I want my children to experience at least once in their lifetime, while they still can. This may require a road trip.

Anyway, it's felt like an accomplishment to get through more books than I usually do. Until I got to "Lamb."

This is what the novel's description on Amazon.com says:

Lamb traces the self-discovery of David Lamb, a narcissistic middle aged man with a tendency toward dishonesty, in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and even comes to believe that his devotion to Tommie is in her best interest. But when Lamb decides to abduct a willing Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness, they are both shaken in ways neither of them expects.

Lamb is a masterful exploration of the dynamics of love and dependency that challenges the boundaries between adolescence and adulthood, confronts preconceived notions about conventional morality, and exposes mankind's eroded relationship with nature.

There are many elements of that description that caught my attention. But in reading the book, I just found it to be creepy and disturbing. And in reading reviews by people who made it all the way through, they seem evenly split between those who found it to be an amazing (if harrowing) impressive first work for the novelist Bonnie Nadzam, and those who found it as uncomfortable to read as I did.

I gave it a good shot -- I made it through the first third. But then I decided that reading (as I've decided before) shouldn't be an unpleasant experience. I've moved on to another title for now. Now I'm reading "The Breakdown Lane," which deals with a woman suffering the upheaval of her life in her forties. While that can still be heavy subject matter (and a topic I can relate to), the way it's written makes me laugh in places instead of cringe often.

Have you ever quit in the middle of a book, or walked out in the middle of a movie? How bad does a book or movie have to be to do that, throwing away whatever you have already invested in it?

By the way, the book that I would most strongly recommend so far this year is "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins. THAT was worth my time!

Unfortunately, the only time city and union leaders seem to act is at the 11th hour. A balanced spending plan must be in place by July 1. There must be wage and benefit cuts because those categories make up 80% of the city budget. Public safety gets the biggest share of that spending.

Today's editorial in The Bee urges quick action: "There's a lot at stake for the San Joaquin Valley's largest city, and we would like to see City Manager Mark Scott and FPOA President Jacky Parks approach the issue with much more urgency."

The budget numbers won't get better by delaying a solution.

Consider it this way: Taxpayers pay for everything, and don't even get the benefit of the money going to a local law firm to be spent in the local economy. We lose in every way -- and this is from a county and a sheriff that say there isn't enough money to staff the county jail to prevent early releases of criminals.

In an editorial, The Bee urges the sheriff and the supervisors to settle this suit and get back to more productive work.

Here is a snippet of the editorial:

This let-the-taxpayers-suffer attitude of Sheriff Margaret Mims and the board is stunning, even for career politicians.

Here's how the sheriff justifies the $350,000 in legal bills that she has run up in the lawsuit: "We've got to get this settled," Mims said. "Otherwise, it's just going to come up again and again, and another sheriff is going to be fighting the same fight."

Not exactly. Another sheriff and other board members just might say this is not the time to be wasting tax dollars on a lawsuit.

But while the sheriff brought the lawsuit, the supervisors are just as responsible for this stalemate as the sheriff. Settle it, and send the lawyers home.

Here's some more from the article:

Even in the age of e-books and tablets, banning a book from a public library still carries weight because libraries still play such a vital role in providing people access to books.

"When a book is removed from the shelf, folks who can't afford a Nook or a Kindle, the book is no longer available to them," said Deborah Caldwell Stone, the deputy director of the American Library Association's office for intellectual freedom.

"Fifty Shades of Grey," a novel about bondage, wild sex and yes, love, has been called "mommy porn" because of its popularity among middle-aged women. It has become so well-known that "Saturday Night Live" performed a skit about it, joking that a Kindle with "Fifty Shades" uploaded on it was the perfect Mother's Day gift.

In case you were wondering, the Fresno County library system does carry these books, in a variety of formats. But if you're interested in reading them from the library, you may have a long wait. When I checked a few minutes ago, there were 72 in the waiting list for the unabridged book on CD, 100 people waiting for the Kindle version and 505 for the actual book.

For the record, I haven't read the books. That's not to say I wouldn't, but in reading the reviews, I was concerned with the quality of the writing (not the content). But I am opposed to banning access to books, on general principle. Even the library at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy had a restricted section, not a banned book section.

Have you read them? What do you think?

Military officers and some psychiatrists say dropping the word "disorder" in favor of "injury" will reduce the stigma that stops troops from seeking treatment. "No 19-year-old kid wants to be told he's got a disorder," said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who until his retirement in February led the Army's effort to reduce its record suicide rate.

... The issue is coming to a head because the American Psychiatric Association is updating its bible of mental illnesses, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, for the first time since 2000.

Does it really matter that much whether it's called PTSD, shell shock, battle fatigue or post-traumatic stress injury (the proposed new name)? The more important thing is to address its effect on our soldiers, and other affected by it.

PTSD refers to the intense and potentially crippling symptoms that some people experience after a traumatic event such as combat, a car accident or rape. To Chiarelli and the psychiatrists pressing for a change, the word "injury" suggests that people can heal with treatment. A disorder, meanwhile, implies that something is permanently wrong.

Chiarelli was the first to drop the word "disorder," referring to the condition as PTS. The new name was adopted by officials at the highest levels of the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. But PTS never caught on with the medical community because of concerns that insurers and government bureaucrats would not be willing to pay for a condition that wasn't explicitly labeled a disease, disorder or injury.

For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 veterans are dying by their own hands.

An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans kill themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes. More than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year -- more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars began.

... One reason for veteran suicides (and crimes, which get far more attention) may be post-traumatic stress disorder, along with a related condition, traumatic brain injury.

There will be a public hearing on the plan today at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Fresno City Hall. The California Public Utilities Commission is meeting in Fresno this week and will hold its formal meeting on Thursday at City Hall.

The idea is simple. Businesses would get a 35% reduction in their energy rates for five years if they expand or relocate in communities with high unemployment. It will take at least a year for the proposal to be vetted by the PUC staff and work its way through the regulatory process.

Click here to read The Bee's editorial supporting the economic incentive plan.

I'm glad to see a swing back toward some kind of frugality in

Some are trying to spend less. They're finding ways to have a fun experience but scale back the cost by making their own corsages or holding potluck dinners. Having fun is the goal, they say.

"I don't really see a point in spending a ton of money on it because it's one night, and it's not like I'm getting married," says Gianna McCurry, 16, a junior at Clovis West High School. "It's a dress I'm probably going to wear once."

I went to two formal dances in high school. To one I wore a hand-me-down dress, and I made the dress I wore to my prom. My date drove me to our winter formal in his pick-up truck, and my prom date borrowed a sedan from his brother for our chariot that night.

As my oldest daughter reached her formal-going years, she and her friends would gather and use my big master bedroom/bath to do their hair and makeup together before the big event. For one formal, I made a special dinner at my house for her and her boyfriend.

What did you do, or what have your children done to keep the costs down? I think most will find (as I did) that it doesn't have to be an over-the-top spending spree to be a night to remember.

Edward Kennedy had defied military censors to get the story out. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Harry Truman had agreed to suppress news of the capitulation for a day, in order to allow Russian dictator Josef Stalin to stage a second surrender ceremony in Berlin. Kennedy was also accused of breaking a pledge that he and 16 other journalists had made to keep the surrender a secret for a time, as a condition of being allowed to witness it firsthand.

Kennedy, who died in a traffic accident in 1963, had long sought such public vindication from his old employer. His daughter, Julia Kennedy Cochran, of Bend, Ore., said she was "overjoyed" by the apology.

"I think it would have meant a lot to him," she said.

I'm glad that at least AP righted its wrong during Kennedy's daughter's lifetime.

"It was a terrible day for the AP. It was handled in the worst possible way," said Associated Press president and CEO Tom Curley. Kennedy, he said, "did everything just right. Once the war is over, you can't hold back information like that. The world needed to know."

Reading the rest of this article provided a fascinating glimpse into the handling of such a momentous story, how competing newspapers reacted to the AP's decision to print the news, and how the breach affected AP when the military cut off access to the news organization.

Associated Press photo: The book "Ed Kennedy's War: V-E Day, Censorship, & The Associated Press" is shown.

Buried beneath Fresno's population of 505,009 is chronic unemployment and a high school dropout problem that leaves too many of our young people without viable futures. We've become a big city and we have big-city problems -- maybe we have even more than our share of those problems.

In today's editorial, we point out those problems and urge local leaders to attack our deficiencies more aggressively. Government won't be ale to handle all of the social problems that are created when people don't have employment opportunities or the job skills to take good-paying jobs when they come open.

Here's the final paragraph in today's editorial:

"Our growing population may give us bragging rights, as we point out that Fresno is the fifth-largest city in the state. But if we really want to brag, let's create a community that brags about our graduation rate and our job opportunities."

This is how we put it in our main editorial on Sunday:

"While we support the concept, we remain concerned about the long-term impact of this policy shift. So far counties have not been overwhelmed, but it is way too early to determine the success of realignment.

"The question that has yet to be answered is whether counties are going to get enough money each year to handle the increased prisoner population. They may get funded today, but what happens next year or five years from now?"

The celebration including the Mexico consul, airport officials, airlines and travel agents. They discussed the importance of the direct, nonstop flights and how to increase the passenger levels.

The Guadalajara flights have generated business in the Valley and have helped the Mexico economy by increasing tourism and providing other business opportunities.

Reyna Torres Mendivil, Mexico's consul in Fresno, made that point: "The service provided by these two Mexican airlines has been extremely positive for the entire community in the Central Valley. Thousands of passengers traveling to and from Mexico, including tourists, business travelers, family and friends, have all enjoyed the continued connectivity through Fresno. This service has opened international doors and created new opportunities for the region."

The daily flights have been a big boost for the Fresno airport, according to spokeswoman Rhonda Jorn. They have helped increase passengers at FYI to traffic that was last seen in 2007. "Guadalajara is our strongest destination, with the daily flights to Mexico," she said.

The Bee's Tim Sheehan reported the background on the Guadalajara flights:

"From 2006 to 2010, Mexicana Airlines put the "international" into Fresno Yosemite International Airport because its flights to Guadalajara were the only direct, nonstop trips to a destination outside the U.S.

"But that service came to an abrupt halt when Mexicana went bankrupt in August 2010, leaving Fresno with no international flights.

"Just as quickly, the city went from having no international flights to two airlines serving Mexico. Aeromexico and Volaris commenced service to Fresno within days of one another to fill the void left by Mexicana's departure."