Elsie Holland loved to learn, and translated that virtue into a passion for teaching. At home in simple classrooms or corridors of power, Holland taught by example. Her life defined citizenship. Holland was born in Dinwiddie and graduated from an all-black high school there. At 19 she earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia State, where she also earned her master’s. She earned her doctorate in education from the University of Virginia.

Russian warships recently steamed into waters off Venezuela, where they participated in exercises with Hugh Chavez’s mighty armada. The first Russian naval operation in the region since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the so-called provocation was as threatening as toy ships in a bathtub. As noted by Anne Applebaum on today’s Op/Ed page, neither President Bush nor President-elect Obama seems perturbed. Russia possesses considerable military assets, yet it is not nearly so strong as the former Soviet Union. Although Moscow cannot be ignored, this is not 1962 revisited.