The winners and the loser

• Winner: The 15 visually impaired teenagers who retraced the steps of history's ill-fated Donner party recently learned a lot about their own limitless abilities and skills. Part of a project coordinated by the Kansas State School for the Blind, they walked the rugged trail, pitched their own tents, took care of their own needs and experienced much of the same sort of rugged weather that plagued the party 160 years ago.

As a story in this paper indicated, what they learned applies to everyone. Whether sighted or blind, too many people underestimate themselves.

• Loser: A few weeks ago, Salt Lake County got good news from its auditors. Its art collection was in a good shape. This week, it got bad news. Nearly half of the county's 162 antique pieces in three buildings cannot be found.

Unlike paintings, which are generally understood to be valuable, the county's antiques include desks and chairs, which may have been discarded when buildings were destroyed or offices moved. Or the items may still exist elsewhere in the county or in storage. The audit wasn't all-encompassing. But, just in case, we recommend county officials pay careful attention to the PBS show "Antiques Roadshow," just to see if any familiar items show up.

• Winner: We understand how some people could view a few of the new droids on display at the World Expo in Japan as creepy. The most attention-getting ones look like humans and, other than when they encounter a computer glitch and begin to convulse in spasms, act like humans. They even appear to be breathing.

Some day, these droids could perform household chores, care for the sick or even rescue people. We just hope it never gets too difficult to tell an electronic human from the real thing.