What's in a name? Biden Station open, Obama School to close

By Phil Boehmke

Selling naming rights can sometimes lead to embarrassment. Remember Enron Field? How about Citi Field? Great care should be taken when naming a ballpark, building, highway, train station or public school, lest the name in question should bring shame to the site. Sometimes naming rights become naming wrongs.

All aboard! The Washington Times reports:

As a thank you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del., after stimulus "sheriff" Vice President Joseph R. Biden - after the project received $20 million in stimulus money and came in $5.7 million over the initial budget.

Amtrak claims to have made the naming decision without any input from the V.P. While personally directing stimulus funds to Amtrak, Biden bragged that as a U.S. Senator he had made more than 7,000 round trips to D.C., from the historic Wilmington station. Mr. Biden's office did not respond to questions about the honor bestowed upon the V.P. by his friends at Amtrak. We can be pretty sure that Joe thinks this really is a big effing deal.

Meanwhile in Asbury Park, N.J. an elementary school which was re-named in honor of Barack H. Obama will be closed this summer. According to the district's financial officer, it has become necessary to close one of their elementary schools due to the flagging economy. Because enrollment at the B.H.O. school has been in steady decline, it was selected for closure.

In a supreme bow to the power of "Hope and Change," the school district had been persuaded by local activist Myra Campbell to re-name the Bangs Avenue School in honor of Mr. Obama. Ms. Campbell said "Every time they walk through the school doors, there's going to be a certain amount of pride in where they go to school." The hoped for "subliminal message" that was sent to the students didn't seem to change their academic progress.

Have any of the students who have attended public schools named after Jimmy Carter, Warren G. Harding, James Buchanan or Millard Filmore been inspired by the school's namesake? Still when it comes to public education no one can doubt the effect of a carefully organized curriculum in sending a "subliminal message" to the students, the proof is all around us.