In a better world, convenient places would abound where runners could traipse blissfully along, unworried by trouble and harm. No need to fret over menacing scoundrels. No reason to play dodge-the-Lexus on busy roads. The ornery canines all would be safely penned.

Homer Simpson would have felt right at home at the Comix Revolution store in Evanston, Ill., recently. He could have spent the afternoon devouring the Krispy Kremes and Dunkin’ Donuts piled atop the table in front of the cash register.

But he wouldn’t have known what to make of the highbrow discussion going on between a Northwestern University professor and 40 or so people about censorship, satire and the arts.

On the morning of April 24, approximately 250 athletes will arrive at the track and field facilities at Rogers High School in Newport. During the next few weeks, Special Olympics teams from around Rhode Island will be preparing for the East Bay Area Games to be hosted this year by the Salve Regina East Bay Area Games Special Olympics Committee, chaired by Carla Lyder.

If you’re searching for a job right now, you are certainly not alone. According to the United States Department of Labor, the number of unemployed persons was 8.3 million in January and the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.

That number will create a competitive job market for graduates in the next few years. To help students prepare for the job market, the Career Development Center offers workshops and the Gateway to Success Job Fair (Mar. 31).

The play “Little Shop of Horrors” will be presented by the Salve Regina University theater department Wednesday through Sunday, March 31-April 4 at Megley Theater in Mercy Hall, on the corner of LeRoy and Lawrence avenues.