Other days

100 YEARS AGO Feb. 9, 1923

■ Faced with a deficit in the finances of the city schools, members of the Little Rock School Board met Wednesday afternoon with a committee from the Little Rock Board of Commerce and one from the Clearing House Association to consider the advisability of closing the schools a month earlier than usual. It was decided, however, to accept the deficit and to continue to operate the schools for the full term… Moreover, the schools are in better condition financially this year than they were last year at the same time, it is said, and the members of the board are looking forward confidently to the present legislature to provide permanent relief for school finances.

50 YEARS AGO Feb. 9, 1973

■ Governor Bumpers signed the public school kindergarten bill Thursday and disclosed that he might seek more money to fund the program than he originally had proposed. Later in the day, Mr. Bumpers also talked tentatively about making several other major changes in his public school budgets, including larger teacher retirement benefits than he previously had recommended and a $2 million program to funnel additional aid to 81 of the state’s most impoverished school districts. The measure signed by the governor (HB 155, now Act 83) authorizes starting a kindergarten program but provides no funding.

25 YEARS AGO Feb. 9, 1998

■ Most college students rely on loans but know little about the thousands of dollars they borrow, and many add to their debt with unrestrained use of credit cards, a study by two Arkansas researchers revealed. University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor Pat Somers and University of Arkansas System finance and administration vice president Jim Cofer conducted the study. … “In the history of student loan programs, one-third of all loans were made in the last four years,” Somers said. “Much of that is because of the shift in federal policy from awarding grants to [insuring] loans.” 10 years ago

FEB. 9, 2013

■ The silence when entering the Arkansas House of Prayer on the grounds of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock is all encompassing. Only the muffled chirp of birds outside or an occasional plane soaring high overhead can be heard. The quiet is absolute because the House of Prayer has a rule of silence. That means no talking, no cell phones, no music — just silence. Visitors enter in silence and either remove their shoes or put on shoe covers before opening the door to the circular prayer room. Natural light filters in from windows in the conical ceiling, as well as through a skylight in the center. The center of the room features a circle of stone filled with earth. Cushions surround the circle and chairs line the walls. For some, the transition from the noise of the outside world to the utter silence of the meditation room is jarring. “We don’t live in a quiet world,” said the Rev. Mary Vano, rector of St. Margaret’s. “It’s against the grain of what we’ve been taught.”