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Show fdee Q THE DAILY HERALD, Provo. luh. Thursday, January 21, 1999 Dad taught his kids the can - do approach had been his reason for going to college. But he wanted his children to be Houston's children were all required to run for school offices and to debate. turned out to be. By JERRY LARGE The Seattle Times Good dad Houston says he just wants to be as involved with his kids as his father was with him. He also wants to be a cartoonist, and he has stopped working as an oil and gas industry consultant to pursue that dream and to operate a nonprofit organization for kids. As a kid he wanted to draw, and he took a course one summer. Hack at school he tried some of the techniques he'd learned, but his art teacher told him it was a dumb idea and gave him an F. He put away art until he from his children how to keep dreaming. He and his wife, Patricia, have three boys and a girl, and Houston is not shy about listing their accomplishments. All of them have served as class presidents and all have maintained grades of 3.5 or higher, while starring in sports. His rules for them derive from his own experiences. Houston graduated from the UW without much of an idea what he wanted to do. Football Like the rest of us, Herman Houston's childhood experiences helped him shape the way he fits into the world. Two big things stick out: There were people who showed him what persistence and effort could accomplish, and there were people who told him what he couldn't be and could- n't do. He thinks we'd all be better off telling kids how to succeed rather than how not to fail. "We've made our kids and situations so complex, people feel like they have to have a Ph.D. to deal with kids." What children need, he says, is the freedom to dream and the push to excel. Houston grew up in Seattle and played football for the Huskies. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1971 and moved to Denver the next year. I heard about him from one of his former teachers, who was raving about what a wonderful father one of his students had Children need to be fluent in the language of respect well-rounde- your legs and bowl you over like NFL players with only three yards between them and a Super Bowl championship. By LORI BORGMAN Star and Mewi Indianapolis Aim high often, black children aren't encouraged to reach high, he says. He tells his children: Don't wait for an invitation, make yourself a part of whatever is going on. He gives some of the credit for his approach to Jim Manning, his science teacher at Asa Mercer Middle School. It was Manning, now who told me about I hope my children will one day be completely bilingual fluent in the language of Too English and fluent in the lan' guage of respect. master the English They'll language as I stretch them across beds of nails, force them to diagram sentences, analyze composition papers slathered with red ink and toil away the best years of their lives sweating bullets over adverbs, conjunctions and dangling prepositions. Learning the language of respect won't be quite as easy. The language of respect begins with toddlers grasping building blocks like "please," "thank you" and "excuse me." And I don't mean that version semi-retire- Houston. Manning was one of two black teachers at the school, and there were only seven black students then. "Mr. Manning insisted that our shoes be polished when we came to school and he made us enter the science fair. He expected us to do well." Houston tells his children to use their success unselfishly. "Part of that success is to be an advocate for people who cannot express themselves." of "excuse me" that preschool children are so fond of employing. You know the rap. They issue a breathy, innocent little "excuse me," then charge at THE LANGUAGE of respect involves more than words; it is also ab6ut attitude. It requires more honesty than schmooze, liberal doses of , painful of an ample measure courtesy and the use of titles like Mr., Mrs., Ms, Dr. and Reverend at least until given permission to drop them. The language of respect also entails timing, learning the give and take of conversation, knowing when it's your turn to talk, when you should be seen and not heard, and when to get the heck out of tongue-biting- t, Dodge. A little friend once announced that there are two ways to interrupt adults. You can put your hand on THE EVENT THAT EVERYONE WAITS FOR! sb ( WW O :M f j6 (ill- I W it tWk S'M'i C7 - h kMWmM their hand while they're talk- ing and wait for them to notice you, or you can raise your hand in the air and wait " for to notice you. He's reaping the benefit of an excellent lan-"-gua- coach. In my language curriculum, there's also a word limit. Any phrase Bart Simpson, Beavis and his sidekick, or the animated cretins on South Park consider cool, I automatically under crass and unacceptable. smart-mouthe- d cross-inde- x YEARS AGO in journalism school, a fellow student once asked our news writing instructor if vulgarities and profanities were acceptable copy. (The student was searching for ways to spice up a dreadfully dry story on a city council meeting and hopefully establish himself as the Allen " Ginsberg of newspapers at the ' same time.) The instructor said there were only two legitimate reasons to inject vulgarities: if you had a poor vocabulary or if you suffered from a shallow imagination. Time has proved the instructor correct. I offer ; as proof, Exhibit A: Howard Stern. Volume is another dimen- sion critical to the language of respect. Listen closely, because I'm going to say this I softly: Louder isn't always better. That goes for children, ' J background music, commer cials and adults. n Every so often, I find myself in a checkout line behind a screamer who, to the embarrassment of all females, is invariably a woman. "Put that candy back," she bellows at her small child. "Put that candy back! I said, put that CANDY BACK. PUT IT J pr I 8QGD3 fJ r BACK NOW! DID YOU HEAR ME?" I've often wanted to tap such a woman on the shoul- der and say, "Yes, we all heard you. Mountain goats grazing high in the Andes heard you. Did anyone ever tell you that you have won- derful projection? A terrible lack of sensitivity, but wonderful projection." At first glance, the language of respect may seem a bit daunting. It's not really all that difficult to learn, though. It's like any other foreign language. The key to success is to practice, practice, practice. Lori Borgman is Indianapolis-base- d , , .'" an free-lanc- e writer whose column appears in the Indianapolis Star and News. IdXDDpfiaig IPiriiii BIKERS (Dllff(fl ;fis Continued from Cl "It's not for everybody, but I really enjoy winter riding," Madden says. "It's sometimes the best time to ride, as long as you dress for it. There's less traffic, and it's real quiet there's nothing like riding in a B 1 1 M 3 KlJOIVlS 3 ROOMS COMPLETELY COMPLETELY 6 6 CARPET LABOR PAD PAD Based on 360 Sq.ft. hrr V' n ,n snowstorm." fl USTALLEDI USTALLEDI HV3TALLEDI Based on 360 rooms ThafOnly2prsq.ft. Thaf$0nly2aPq-ft-COMPLETEL- Trlal'$0nry,1"Pf, CARPET 3 6 CARPET LABOR -- PAD 2 LABOR Based on 360 Sq.ft. Sq.ft. Don't stop started winter riding the way most people do: He just didn't stop. Gordy Sepannen A cycle commuter, he started riding back and forth between his home and his engineering job. It's a round trip he's made for about six years. Last winter, though, uii he didn't put his bike away when the weather turned cold. tcvv Sepannen is a skier and runner, and some of the accessories for those activities, such as long underwear, socks and the like, translate well to winter cycling. Add a helmet, some lights and an extra measure of caution, and you're on the road. ' "I like to ski, but it's dark when I get home, and I occasionally have to contend with snowmobiles," Sepannen says. "Winter running, rollers, and I roller blading and others tried them all, and none excit- IUI ed me as well as cycling." Ili'J 32-mi- X I ROOMS That's Only nx rmmi' tjj" per iq. 6 1 ADDITOU. receive! rave reviews from ourr customers! 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