Common Sense Awards #3 and #4

Hi Everyone:

After a very long absence, since 8/2/09 to be exact, I have some good news to blog about while handing out my third and fourth Common Sense Awards. There are far too few people, businesses and politicians etc., that can or do think outside the box using good old common sense. In today's blog, the heroes so to speak, are not businesses, but a politician and an institution of higher learning who thought outside the box using common sense. Who would have thunk it? Not me. Go figure.

Drum roll please.....

Common Sense Award #3 (albeit a bit late) goes to New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie. This award is late, since it was only this past week that I read an article in my local Gannett paper about what New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie did. He signed legislation this past January, that allows school bus advertising. That makes New Jersey the sixth state that allows advertising on school buses. The others that permit the ads are: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Tennessee and Texas. FYI, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington are presently considering the idea.

But wait, are you thinking (like I did), about what kind of ads are on those school buses? In a nut shell, there are no ads about: beer, alcohol, bars, drug companies, tobacco, politics, religious organizations or anything sexual in nature. The school districts actually stay away from any ad that might be controversial. Advertising on 100 buses, on average, generate $500,000 over a four year period. Larger school districts will earn more, as will where the district is located may mean more money.

This is free extra money for the schools and is probably one of the best common sense, thinking outside the box, way to generate extra money, that is sorely needed in probably every school district in this country. A great idea in my book, to generate extra money.

Common Sense Award #4 goes to an institution of higher learning. But this story is about an airport and a college. What? Yes! In lower New York state, there is the Westchester County Airport, located in Harrison, New York, which is of course located in Westchester County. It is a highly used airport with a terrible parking problem. If you really, really want to park in the airport's covered parking lot, you should arrive about 60-90 minutes earlier then you normally would arrive. This is so you can go round and round and up and down, looking for that elusive vacant space.

Located about 5-10 minutes from the airport is Purchase College. The college is now allowing parking for airport customers for $5 per day and that includes help with your luggage and a shuttle ride to the airport. Of course, since this is a new venture for Purchase College, the price increases to $15 per day as of 6/1/11. Still, this is a fantastic way for the college to make extra money and simultaneously help alleviate the parking crunch at the airport. Another great use of common sense while thinking outside the box.

Congratulations and kudos to the recipients of the third and fourth Common Sense Awards.

If you know someone who is deserving of a Common Sense Award, post in the comment section so you can share with everyone.

Til next week.

Peter