Young People

WE, THE PEOPLE . . . aren't sleeping very well. An election is upon us, and the country is at a crossroads, with lots of challenging problems that we worry won't get solved. The Daily News People's Editorial Board had a hard time deciding on just one or two issues we think the president should make priorities, so we decided each of us would make our case. Here's what's keeping us up at night:   This is a great country of inventors and creators. We invented a way of governing ourselves that has been an inspiration for freedom-loving people all over the world.

Leonard Warren Simpkins, 84, a real estate broker in West Philadelphia, who enjoyed listening to jazz and helping young people interested in careers in real estate, died of heart failure Monday, Oct. 7 at Lankenau Hospital. Mr. Simpkins was the head of One Stop Realty, a firm in the 5100 block of Baltimore Avenue, which he founded in 1989 and operated until his death. As a young man, Mr. Simpkins worked at Valley Forge Hospital and later for about 30 years at the U.S. Frankford Arsenal as an equal-employment officer, retiring in 1988.

Chester's Brothers of Concern was born out of the death of a 2-year-old. Terrance Webster, known as "Pop" because of his love of Pop-Tarts, was killed by a bullet that pierced his family's front door and struck him in the head. In a community pummeled - and perhaps numbed - by shooting after shooting, Terrance's death in June 2010 was a turning point for Kenny Covert. "I had to do something," said the 43-year-old pharmaceutical quality control specialist. Covert gathered a group of Chester men for a call to arms of a different kind.

One poll found that Pennsylvania voters were more likely to vote for President Obama than for Mitt Romney by an eight-point margin. Another survey - taken about the same time, just after the candidates' first debate - showed Romney just one point behind. The reason for the disparity? It all comes down to predicting who will show up at the polls on Nov. 6 - a task made increasingly difficult by the cellphone. "We kind of hold our breaths every election cycle to see if our methods are still holding up," said Chris Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.

IN A PLACE like Joe Frazier's Gym, decent people tried to teach decent values to young people, despite their own pressures. And they hung on. "And the old heads have hope, and the young people represent that hope for them. So they try to bring a young person along . . . try to encourage him to do the right thing, knowing full well that the streets can get him any day. " That's how Elijah Anderson, the noted Yale sociologist, described the importance of Frazier's Gym in the film "Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears.

By Cathy Young With the election less than a month away, 'tis the season to despair over the state of our political discourse. People who disagree on politics are talking at, not to, each other. Arguments seem designed to bolster existing biases and reinforce partisan solidarity, not to appeal to those who hold different views. Sniping, not persuading, is the order of the day. Meanwhile, some psychologists say that is our nature: Human beings are not rational animals after all, and when we use facts and logic, it is only to justify our intuitively held beliefs.

Four years ago, as MetEast High School teacher Josephine Parr steered her Chevrolet Venture minivan down Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden past a long line of abandoned buildings, she turned to her passenger, Khalil Gibson, a student whom she was advising. "What would you do with a whole block?" she asked Gibson, a young teen who had big ideas for himself and his beleaguered city. Gibson proceeded to describe where he would place a community center for teens, a dance studio, and a music studio.

When 18-year-old twins Jordan and Brandon Tabb walk into Latino Barbershop II in East Camden, they are greeted with a smile - and responsibilities. The brothers help barber Jorge Maldonado mop the floors and wipe the windows between clients, or sometimes before or after business hours. Cleaning is part of working at a small business, Maldonado, 24, tells them, stressing to his young friends that running a business is hard work. Since January, Maldonado has been mentoring the twins as part of a citywide program through the Center for Family Services, a nonprofit that runs more than 40 social-services programs in South Jersey.

DEAR ABBY: America's tradesmen - plumbers, masons and others - get very little respect. The only time these professionals get attention is during an emergency. This lack of regard is leading our nation down an unfortunate path, as fewer young people pursue those jobs. On Sept. 21, we have a chance to thank those people on National Tradesmen Day. Drop a box of doughnuts at the job site near your home. Call your plumber and say, "Thank you. " Invite a tradesman to speak at school. Abby, would you help to get the word out?