I’m not Goldie Blumenstyk. I’m Scott Carlson, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around academe. Goldie is away, so in this issue you'll see what I’ve been thinking about this week. A Rite of Passage Becomes Another Example of the Growing Divide The Upper Midwest makes up for its brutal winters with hot continental summers, when families flock to the local waterpark, the lake, or the ice-cream shop. Businesses are hoping that the vaccine summer of 2021 will produce a boom in customers, and they're ramping up their hiring after widespread layoffs last year.