Richard Fisher, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, is fond of quoting the Biblical admonition: "Come, be serious and discipline yourselves." He could be speaking directly to Occupy Dallas and similar groups across the country whose members are fast throwing away a chance to do something significant for themselves and the nation.

Ethics is the order of the hour at SMU where soon all students will be required to choose among various courses that illustrate right and wrong, some based on religion and philosophy, others on how to live. Rita Kirk, director of the Cary Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility will run the effort. She says that it flows from the conviction that ethics should be a major pillar of a university.

When it comes to the cost of culture -- still an urgent enterprise -- there's nobody more resourceful than Veletta Forsythe Lill, head of Dallas Arts District. She needs to be. The Wyly Theater and Winspear Opera House, once promised $2.5 million annually for maintenance in a contract with City Hall, saw that figure reduced to $800,000 this year as well as last. Thus far only $360,000 of that $1.6 million have been paid. But Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs, said that bills for about $300,000 are waiting for proper documentation, with another $600,000 or so also in the works.