Here are some excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers around the world that may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers:

The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J., on school's "zero tolerance" policy:

... The Pinelands Regional School District, like so many other districts, has a zero-tolerance policy barring any "illegal or dangerous item, product or commodity" from its schools. So what do school officials do when they find an eighth-grader with a perfectly legal Alavert allergy tablet in his backpack?

Well, this district smacked the student with a five-day suspension. Never mind that it is virtually impossible to figure out how an over-the-counter allergy pill could be called illegal or even dangerous. ...

The ACLU is also involved this time — it's suing the district on behalf of the student, who is now a freshmen at Pinelands Regional High School. ...

The suit contends the district's zero-tolerance policy violates the student's right to due process under state statutes, administrative regulations and the New Jersey Constitution. Zero-tolerance policies violate requirements that school officials must make case-by-case decisions in disciplinary matters that don't involve weapons or assaults, the ACLU said.

School administrators are paid to exercise common sense and discretion. In fact, the exercise of discretion — that is, learning to understand distinctions and differences — is exactly what schools should be teaching students. ...

(Melbourne) Florida Today, on the need to pick a new NASA boss:

... (S)huttle Discovery is to dock at the International Space Station ... setting the stage for its astronauts to get going on a busy mission. ...

But back on the ground, NASA still doesn't have a new administrator, and it's hurting the agency's ability to gain a fair share of federal money as long-range budget negotiations between Congress and the White House take shape, NASA supporters say.

That makes it critical President Barack Obama follow through on his statement last week that he's poised to name NASA's new boss.

We urge him to make the announcement this week because there's no more time to waste.

Each day brings the shuttle programme's end next year that much closer and with it the loss of an estimated 3,500 jobs at Kennedy Space Center and perhaps thousands more along the Space Coast, which will worsen the already battered regional and Florida economies.

Selecting the new chief now would provide the coming transition with the steady leadership it badly needs.

It also would cement Obama's strong start in supporting NASA as evidenced by his commitment to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 and boosting NASA spending $2 billion to $18.7 billion for fiscal year 2010. ...