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--> --> Enjoying wide open Washington, D.C. By Roger Simon WASHINGTON - Life in your nation's capital is different these days and not just because Congress is trying to find a large cave to hide in for the next few years. No, life is different in a far more significant way: The traffic is better. Washington has one of the worst traffic problems in the nation. It is not just a city of confusing traffic patterns and poorly marked streets, but these streets are always full of tourists, who are understandably confused, if not outright lost. It is also a city packed with tour buses, which inch through the streets so everybody can get a good view of the other tour buses inching through the streets. Except this year. This year the traffic is great, and that's because tourism is lousy. And it is lousy in part because one of the staples of tourism - the high school tour of Washington - has been cut back severely. When I was in high school in Chicago, the "Washington Trip" for seniors was something we looked forward to for years. We would get to go on a train (planes are favored now), stay in a hotel and, most of all, be away from home. From our freshman year onward, teachers would say, "If you don't sit down and shut up, you are not going to be allowed on the Washington Trip! And it worked. I remember the trip vividly, and I think I actually learned something. Now, kids are learning it is safer to stay home. That is what they are being told, anyway. School districts across the country have decided that going to Washington is just too risky these days. They are worried that more buildings or monuments may be bombed as the Pentagon was and that the kids may be exposed to anthrax or who knows what. Some school districts are even reconsidering travel to Washington in 2002 and 2003. "Cancellations are all over the place: Wisconsin, California, New Jersey, everywhere," Hall Seamon, deputy executive director of the National School Board Association, told a report. "The greatest concern is in the (school) districts that were closest to the attacks. Now with the anthrax scares, it just has everyone on edge." Even before the anthrax outbreaks, Washington tourism was reeling with restaurants and hotels being especially hard hit. Yet those of us who work in Washington every day notice no sense of panic in the air. Nobody is walking around depressed or even very nervous. It has been a beautiful fall with balmy weather, and every day you can see much-reduced crowds strolling around the monuments in shirtsleeves and shorts. "We encourage school districts not to make hasty decisions," said Michael Palmer, executive director of the Student and Youth Travel Association of North America, which is based in Michigan. "They are restricting the (educational) opportunities these kids might have." And I have to agree. I know no parent would risk the life of his or her child just because President Bush has asked everybody to live normal lives, but the risk of coming to Washington is, I believe, very small. Besides, who knows where terrorists will strike next? So far, the targets have all been on the East Coast, but who can say that will continue? As a matter of fact, two of the most heavily guarded and watched cities in the nation are currently New York and Washington. But it's also hard to fault parents and school districts. Virginia's Fairfax County, which is just across the Potomac River from Washington, is not sending kids on any trips to New York - too dangerous. Eventually, I know, we will all relax, life will return to normal, and the tourists and kids will return to Washington. Until that happens, I'm going to enjoy the lack of traffic. Roger Simon is a syndicated columnist with the Baltimore Sun. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing