2018
February
13
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

February 13, 2018
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Two Americans stood on the Olympics podium Tuesday: gold medal halfpipe snowboard winner Chloe Kim and Arielle Gold, the bronze medalist.

They were great. But you can make a case that it's the American in fourth place, Kelly Clark, who offers the most indelible example of Olympic ideals. Clark is a five-time Olympian and a mentor to Ms. Kim and Ms. Gold as well as other women snowboarders.

For Clark, the journey began 20 years ago, when she watched the Nagano Olympics on television. She made her Olympic debut, and won gold, in 2002 – when Kim was just 22 months old. But the path to Olympic gold can be a self-centered journey. The focus and sacrifice required to reach the global pinnacle of success almost demands it.

Yet Clark’s legacy isn’t just about inspiring the next generation of halfpipe aerialists. Perhaps her more enduring gift is nurturing a sense of purpose that goes beyond the podium or even nailing back-to-back 1080s. Since 2002, as the Monitor’s Christa Case Bryant observes, Clark herself has dramatically redefined how she thinks about success and others have followed in embracing causes beyond the slopes. 

Now as the spotlight rightly shifts to the sensational 17-year-old American of Korean heritage, Clark’s wisdom shines as bright as any medal: “If your dream only involves you,” she says, “it's too small of a dream.”

Now to our five stories selected to illustrate paths to progress, including Oklahoma City urban renewal, Costa Rican justice, and security for women in India.


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Today's stories

And why we wrote them

Stories about the US legislative process can be snoozers. But Monitor editors were intrigued by a Senate effort to break the partisan gridlock on immigration reform with an open approach that’s surprisingly retro.

Christa Case Bryant/The Christian Science Monitor
Oklahoma City's initial round of capital projects included transforming a district of abandoned warehouses into a shopping and restaurant district known as Bricktown.

You don’t often find “fiscally conservative” and “urban renewal” in the same sentence, let alone in the same city. That’s why we visited Oklahoma City for a closer look at how this successful model of progress works.

Guillermo Granja/Reuters/Files
Ecuadorean inmate Leandra Alcivar and her daughter, age 2, look through the window of her room in a prison in Quito. From Mexico to Argentina, Latin America is struggling with prison overcrowding, and tough drug laws play a big part. Just over 75 percent of women in prison in Costa Rica are there for drug-related crimes. A narrow but revolutionary reform for women's sentencing has helped decrease the population of women in prison over the past several years.

There’s a tendency to look at crime as binary, morally right or wrong. But in Costa Rica, as in the US, some are wondering: Is the path to true justice – and a better society – really so black and white?

Briefing

The Boy Scout motto is “Be prepared.” After a record year of hurricanes and wildfires, our reporter found that some US cities are finally taking steps to be better Scouts.

Photo/AP; Karen Norris/Staff

Many holidays celebrate family relationships or simply revolve around family. But in recent years, another holiday – spawned by a TV comedy – has emerged that spotlights the spirit of female friendship and collaboration.


The Monitor's View

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed mandatory “national service” for young people between the ages of 18 and 21. They could either join the military for a short stint or be engaged in various civic causes. The main purpose: Help France overcome its social divisions and nurture patriotism. The French military, which last saw forced conscription in 1997, might also see a boost in recruits.

In Canada, meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month that he is setting up a Canada Service Corps that will encourage – not force – young people between ages 15 and 30 to volunteer. One incentive: Small grants will be given to individuals who propose worthy projects in community service.

A good measure of a nation’s civic health is how many people work for the public good. Another is how many opportunities are created for people to serve. In many Western democracies, the decline in trust of institutions – and in each other – has resulted in a drop in public service and volunteering.

The proposals in France and Canada are examples of ways to counter this trend. In the United States, meanwhile, the rate of volunteering among Americans has been falling since 2005. It went up after the terrorist attacks of 2001. And last year, a temporary wave of volunteers went into places hit by hurricanes, such as Houston and Puerto Rico. But the US still struggles to maintain the kind of public service that helps young people to bond to the nation and to others of different backgrounds. National service can provide some of the heat beneath the country’s “melting pot.”

The US still has a wide range of private and public institutions that welcome volunteers. Almost every president since John Kennedy has created an agency for public service, from the Peace Corps to Vista to AmeriCorps to Senior Corps. Yet many of the agencies do not have enough budget to welcome all volunteers. Congress keeps funding them while President Trump proposes to cut them – even though he once said there was “something beautiful” about national service. Some lawmakers have introduced bills to expand opportunities for such service.

The US still has a strong core of people who volunteer for causes. To build on that tradition, Congress set up an 11-member panel in 2017 called the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. It has just begun the work of finding ways to inspire young people to serve the country in some way. Its recommendations are due in 2020.

Civic health in a democracy comes in many forms, from voting to paying taxes to volunteering. Encouraging young people to spend time in some sort of service can help build a solid basis for unity and progress. Service to others is a reflection of a higher good. Each country may do it differently. But at least many are still trying.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Today's column includes an exploration of how prayer can – and did – bring quick and complete physical healing to a woman suffering from the flu.


A message of love

Armin Weigel/dpa/AP
With vintage gear and in vintage garb, participants compete in a ‘nostalgic’ ski run in Sankt Englmar, Germany, Feb. 13. Participants and spectators gather in the Bavarian town’s Kirchplatz square and make their way to the slopes accompanied by a brass band.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Come back tomorrow for the next installment of our “Reaching for Equity” series: We'll look at whether India’s new all-female police squads are the best way to improve security for women.  

More issues

2018
February
13
Tuesday
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