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Donna Korando

Features and Commentary Editor

When Donna Korando was a freshman at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, she started work at the Daily Egyptian setting type on a Justowriter and learned to read just enough code to find paragraph breaks and simple words, so she knew where to make fixes. Thirty-nine years later, she has learned enough html to locate problems. What goes around...

In between Carbondale and the Beacon, she taught high school in Manitowoc, WI., and worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the copy editor and letters for the editorial page from 1973-77. As an editorial writer from 1977-87, she covered Illinois, the city of St. Louis, education, agriculture, family issues and sub-Saharan Africa. She had the most enjoyment as editor of the Commentary Page from 1987-2003. The page won awards from the Association of Opinion Page Editors in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. From 2003-2007, she headed the features copy desk.

In addition to a journalism degree from SIUC, Donna earned a masters of studies in law from Yale Law School. Her son stayed in South Beach after graduating from the University of Miami. Her daughter is at Bard College in New York. The house is ruled by two cats.

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Editors' Picks

Openings
- Get Out the Vote - an installation of 22 posters - is on view now through 2008 in the Arthur and Helen Baer Visual Arts Galleries in the Centene Center for Arts and Education, 3547 Olive Street in Grand Center. The galleries are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Come to the Bruno David Gallery from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 31 for the opening reception for Laura Beard. In addition to her paintings, the works of Cherie Sampson, Martin Brief and Robert Pettus will be shown through Nov. 29.
- "Artistically Incorrect: The Photographs and Sculpture of John Waters" opens Oct. 11 at Laumeier Sculpture Park . The show runs through Jan. 11
- "Interactive: New Technologies in Contemporary Architecture" opens Oct. 3 at the Sheldon Art Galleries. The exhibit runs through Jan. 24.
People
- See the work of Brandon Anschultz "Transmission/Destination" at Coca until Nov. 23. Go to www.cocastl.org for information
- Mark Douglas, Bob Reuter and Antje Umstaetter have their photography on view at the Gallery at the Regional Arts Commission until Dec. 21. For info, visit www.art-stl.com
- Too often elitism is linked with being snobbish and condescending when in fact for many people it is a commitment to quality in various, if not all parts, of our lives. The Atlantic reports on the affecting elitism of Phillippe de Montebello , soon to retire as director of one of the world's greatest museums, the Metropolitan in New York City.
- Although the Taliban blew up two giant standing Buddhas carved into the mountainside at Bamiyan in 2001, a reclining buddha from the third century has recently ben discovered. | BBC

Jazz with Jerome Harris

Video by Christian Cudnik

Jazz musician and educator Jerome Harris talks about the importance of teaching. See a larger version of this video and read a profile of Harris.

Voices

Jimmy Carter was right
In the News

In his much-maligned "malaise" speech, President Jimmy Carter spoke of a "crisis of the American spirit" and a Congress paralyzed by special interests. He warned that shared sacrifice had been "abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends." Those warnings hold true. The United States needs to come to terms with its lowered economic position and restore its moral leadership.
When is a bailout counterproductive?
In the News
The Big Three automakers may well be facing drastic, forced reorganization, but they do not have the same compelling case for a government bailout as the financial sector had. Business professor Anjan Thakor explains the difference.
If the government's in the bailout business, what about 'we the people'?
Beacon Columnists

M.W. Guzy notes that a case can be made that the financial problem started when Congress required credit-card companies to charge a minimum payment that actually included principal as well as interest. So, shouldn't Washington get to the root of the problem?
Protest at the School of the Americas teaches lessons in human rights
In the News
Posted 5 p.m. Mon. Nov. 17 - This weekend, nearly a hundred St. Louisans, many of them high school students, will travel to Fort Benning, GA to protest the School of the Americas. Among its graduates are some of Latin America's most notorious dictators, guilty of some of the continent's most savage human rights violations. Rachel Heidenry, who participated in the protest while a student at Nerinx Hall and Bard College, describes the experience and took the photographs that accompany the story and are in a slideshow at the end of the article.

The Lens

B-i-r-t-h-d-a-y M-o-u-s-e

Time for a celebration!

Today is the 80th birthday of one of Hollywood's most beloved creations: Mickey Mouse !

..while yesterday was the 30th anniversary of something they'd rather not talk about: Star Wars, The Holiday Special .

Giving Back

The Beacon wants to help you share the news about good deeds St. Louisans are doing. See our spotlight on those who are giving back.

The Beacon features links to the latest work by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.This Washington-based non-profit organization promotes in-depth international coverage of topics that have been under-reported, mis-reported - or not reported at all.

To see a list on our World news page, click here . The Pulitzer Center's founder is Jon Sawyer, former Washington Bureau chief of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Mortgage foreclosures are at the heart of the current economic crisis. The Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 have been covering how mortgage problems affect St. Louis area residents.

Visit our special section to read coverage of these issues, watch Channel 9's stories and access resources to find help.

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