Anne Bouey

"Call it throwing the book at the bookworms. A Texas man who was arrested for failing to return an overdue library book ignited an online flurry of snarky comments and headlines about the Lone Star State extending its tough-on-crime bravado to books. But such cases aren't unheard of, and many communities faced with shrinking budgets and rising costs have ordinances calling for fines or even arrest warrants when library property isn't returned. In Texas alone, the issue has cost libraries an estimated $18 million. Jory Enck learned that the hard way. He was arrested for not returning a GED study guide that he checked out three years ago in the Central Texas community of Copperas Cove. Enck declined comment to The Associated Press, but he told the Killeen Daily Herald that he wouldn't set foot in a library again: "I think I will probably just purchase a book from Amazon." A Texas state law took effect in September that defines the failure to return library books as theft. The law, which doesn't trump stricter community ordinances, mandates up to a $100 fine per offense. Other states also call for fines or even arrest warrants in such cases, including Iowa — where an overdue-book offender was jailed for a week — Vermont and Maine." - Anne Bouey

Well, they say that reading can be life altering... - maʀtha

Thank you, Anne! I hope you had a lovely day, as well. <3 - Jenny H.

Merry Christmas :) - Eivind

:) - sofarsoShawn

"Just three months after Kenbriel Hearn emerged from a coma, the 18-year-old football star scored the most memorable touchdown of his life. The senior at Memphis High School suffered two strokes caused by a bleeding mass on his brain and spent three weeks on life support. By the time he awoke this past summer, his 5-foot-7 frame had withered from 160 pounds to 112. He was paralyzed on his right side, unable to walk or talk. His football season was the last thing on his mind. Once regaining the ability to jog, Hearn found himself back in pads when his coach asked him to suit up for the Cyclones' final home game. He figured he was on the sideline for moral support, but unbeknownst to him, both coaches had arranged for a special moment to highlight his road to recovery. With Memphis trailing 35-0 in the final minute, Hearn was sent into the huddle and given directions to take the handoff and go. He jogged 48 yards to the end zone, where players from both teams cheered him. He briefly knelt to pray as his mother, Tammy Henderson, looked on, tears streaming down her face. It wasn't the first touchdown Hearn scored in his three seasons as a Memphis receiver and safety, but it was his sweetest. "I will remember this one more because I battled through so much," said Hearn, who continues speech and physical therapy. "It was pretty great."" - Anne Bouey

"Cyclones coach Andy Correll hatched his plan the week before the Nov. 1 game in Memphis, about 85 miles southeast of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. He emailed his counterpart at Stratford about his plan to let Hearn have one play. Stratford coach Eddie Metcalf went for it. But with the Stratford Elks working on a shutout, Correll thought Metcalf might not want to spoil the accomplishment for his defense. During a meeting at midfield, Correll suggested just allowing Hearn to pick up a first down. But Metcalf insisted he take it all the way to the end zone. "Just let the boy go," he told Correll. Metcalf later explained it was an "easy response," just as good as being part of three state titles. "The shutout didn't mean anything in comparison to what that kid would do to me and to our kids," Metcalf said." - Anne Bouey

<3 - Soup in a TARDIS

I hope you and your family have a good one, Anne! - Anika

Thanks, all! It's been lovely! - Anne Bouey

"This looks like a peaceful farmhouse. It looks like a nearby field is softly draped in fog or snow. But the truth is actually terrifying: these lands have been completely taken over by millions and millions of spiders. Fight the urge to burn your own house down as you read this." - Anne Bouey

*SHRIEKS* - Soup in a TARDIS

I have crossed out AU as a possible vacation destination so many times there is a hole in the paper. And now I am crossing it out again. - April Russo (FForever!)

Other than the fact it can kill, Oz is a beautiful place to vacation. I survived it just fine, even did scuba. Had to wear a body suit so the tiny deadly jellyfish didn't kill me, but still... :) - Ken Gidley

Wow that was quick! - Steve C, Team Marina

(btw, i wasnt trying to indicate anything, i was just looking for (us) national avg's, and thought i'd share) - chaz2b

Have fun and be safe! - Moniqua

Why are you moving here there? What did she do? - Eivind

She has to be broken down before she can be built back up and it's closer than Guantanamo. - Steve C, Team Marina

Oh that bridge is pretty. - Anika

The chick with the many arms and tiny wiener in the sculpture in progress must be Durga, but who is the fellow down on the left with the big trunk? Is that Akiva? - Eivind

Ganesh? - Technodad

My trunk brings all the Hindus to the Ashram. - Akiva

"A Peruvian congressman has joined animal rights activists to try and halt the consumption of barbecued cat at an annual religious festival. The activists say at least 100 cats will be eaten at this weekend's festival of Santa Efigenia in La Quebrada, a town south of Lima. Congressman Juan Urquiza joined activists this year to write the district mayor and Peru's health minister and demand a ban on cat-eating under a domestic animal protection law. Activists also claim that dining on felines is a public health danger. Health Minister Midori de Habich says the practice should be halted. But she has taken no action. La Quebrada residents defend their tradition and say the cats sacrificed are specially bred with only a handful killed and eaten." - Anne Bouey

The photo is a cat race! - Anne Bouey

Have a safe and fun trip! You have to tell me how many older men you see in Bhutan wearing those tall furry hats. As a kid, all the Bhutanese guys at the mosque wore them & my friend insisted it was like that throughout the country. - Anika

You'll have a great time! :) - Eivind

"When adolescents are hospitalized with anorexia nervosa, feeding their malnourished young bodies is of urgent importance. On the complicated path to recovery, gaining weight is a critical step. But how hospitals approach that first step, called refeeding, has in recent years been subject to rethinking. Now a quartet of studies to be published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health offers evidence in favor of a new approach - and suggests an emerging shift in the way hospitals approach treating the disorder. Anorexia, an eating disorder typified by relentless pursuit of thinness, affects about 1 percent of adolescent girls in the United States, by some estimates. Weight gain is crucial in reversing medical complications of anorexia, such as confusion, sensitivity to cold and even failing organs, and in enabling the difficult psychological recovery that must accompany a physical one. In refeeding, calories traditionally are doled out with caution, new patients starting with a low number that is then gradually increased. Pushing too much, too quickly could be dangerous, so the old wisdom goes, the sudden surge of nutrients putting a malnourished body at risk for a potentially fatal metabolic imbalance." - Anne Bouey

"The standard is rooted in post-World War II studies of Americans held by the Japanese as prisoners of war and reinforced in clinical guidelines from organizations like the American Psychiatric Association. It is typical for initial calorie intake to begin somewhere around 1,200 calories a day, about half of the recommended daily intake for an average healthy teenager. Then in 2011, researchers at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital issued a challenge to that long-standing standard, suggesting instead that the "start low, go slow" method was inefficient, unnecessary and out of date. They proposed instead that most patients can start at much higher calorie levels. "Those old guidelines are based on consensus, but they are not based on clinical evidence," said Andrea Garber, lead author of the 2011 study and an associate professor of pediatrics in UCSF's adolescent medicine division. And, now, a new study from UCSF, published online Wednesday, took the initial findings one step further, enrolling a group of adolescents in a higher-calorie diet to compare with the first study's low-calorie diet. The new group gained weight faster and its members were released from the hospital sooner, with no cases of refeeding syndrome." - Anne Bouey

"The Las Vegas Strip is getting the world's largest Ferris wheel. The outer wheel of the 55-story High Roller ride is scheduled to be hoisted into place this week. The gargantuan project is now visible from all over the city, including the airport. Early next year, it will be outfitted with 1 500 LED lights and start its slow spin. “It's going to be an icon,” Project Director David Codiga said. “It's going to be a part of your visit to Las Vegas if you ride it or not.” Caesars Entertainment is building the ride as part of a $550-million development across the street from Caesars Palace. The High Roller will be 100 feet (30 meters) taller than the London Eye, which opened in 2000, 30 feet (9 meters) taller than China's Star of Nanchang, which opened in 2006, and 9 feet (2.7 meters) taller than the Singapore Flyer, which opened in 2008. These giant urban Ferris wheels typically transport riders in large, fixed capsules instead of the smaller, teetering baskets some people remember from childhood. he Las Vegas ride will take 30 minutes to make one revolution. Tickets will be comparable to the London ride, which costs about $30 (about R270), according to Caesars spokesperson Christina Karas. The High Roller will also likely have to surrender its tallest in the world title before long. Another monster wheel is looming in New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans last year for a 625-foot (190-meter) ride on the waterfront. - Sapa-AP" - Anne Bouey

"About one in four men in some parts of Asia admitted raping a woman, according to the first large studies of rape and sexual violence. About one in 10 admitted raping a woman who was not their partner. International researchers said their startling finding should change perceptions about how common violence against women is and prompt major campaigns to prevent it. Still, the results were based on a survey of only six Asian countries and the authors said it was uncertain what rates were like elsewhere in the region and beyond. They said engrained sexist attitudes contributed, but that other factors like poverty or being emotionally and physically abused as children were major risk factors for men's violent behavior. A previous report from the World Health Organization found one-third of women worldwide say they have been victims of domestic or sexual violence. "It's clear violence against women is far more widespread in the general population than we thought," said Rachel Jewkes of South Africa's Medical Research Council, who led the two studies. The research was paid for by several United Nations agencies and Australia, Britain, Norway and Sweden. The papers were published online Tuesday in the journal, Lancet Global Health. In the new research, male interviewers surveyed more than 10,000 men in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. The word "rape" was not used in the questions, but the men were asked if they had ever forced a woman to have sex when she wasn't willing or if they had ever forced sex on someone who was too drunk or drugged to consent." - Anne Bouey

If they did interviewed in India... the rates could be much higher. Sorry but having lived in India, I Can attest that men there are rabid and mistreat women to a high degree. All we see and hear is what is reported by MSM.. .what happens under the radar is what truly matters. - Peter Dawson

"Motorists may want to think twice about parking in front of the half-built London skyscraper known as the Walkie-Talkie. That's because the glare off the skin of the new building is so intense that at least one Jaguar owner says it caused part of his vehicle to melt. And that's not all: Locals say the building's heat also burned a hole in the welcome mat of a barber shop across the street. "We were working and just saw the smoke coming out of the carpet," said shop owner Ali Akay. "This is a health and safety issue. They should have looked into this before they built it." Similar problems have plagued other modern buildings, including in Los Angeles, when neighbors of the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall reported heat buildups that required corrective measures. In a joint statement, developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf said they are taking the complaints seriously and looking into how the building reflects sunlight. The 37-story tower — one of the most distinctively shaped skyscrapers in London's financial district — is expected to be completed in 2014. The apparent problem came to public attention when businessman Martin Lindsay told reporters that his Jaguar's mirror, panels and hood ornament had all melted from the concentrated sunlight reflected from the building. "It was parked for a couple hours in the city ... and it's completely warped," he said. "It's absolutely ruined." The problem lasts about two hours a day and is expected to continue for another two to three weeks, developers said in a statement. "The phenomenon is caused by the current elevation of the sun in the sky," they explained. In the meantime, the companies said they will erect a temporary scaffold screen at street level to minimize the problem. They said they have also asked city authorities to suspend parking in three spaces." - Anne Bouey

The Aria resort in Las Vegas has the same reputation. - Jenny H.

"Over the past couple of months, Day has cut more than 50 corn mazes. Someone else does the designs, but there's definitely some artistry in the way he spins that steering knob. "My paintbrush is a rototiller," Day says. "And a tractor hooked to it." Most people associate corn mazes with Halloween, but the work starts long before October. Day's season began the last week in June. Since then, he and his partner have been as far north as Ontario, Canada, as far south as Florida, and to "almost every state between here and there." "It's not out of the ordinary for us to drive 3,000 or 4,000 miles in five days and cut out 10 or 12 corn mazes in that amount of time," says Day, who lives in Edinburg, Va., and who's been doing this since 2005. "Our truck is our hotel. We actually sleep in the truck most of the time. We keep either the tractor driving or the truck driving, one or the other. One of us is driving something almost 24 hours a day." Day cuts for Maize Quest out of New Park, Pa. Company owner Hugh McPherson says this season has been a logistical nightmare. "The rain has been sending us to scheduling haywire for the cutting crew," says McPherson, aka "The Maze Master." He and Day have to stagger the cutting schedule to catch the corn at just the right growth stage. If it's too mature, the plants will grow back in the paths he's cut. Day likes to cut the corn when it's about waist- or chest-high, but that's not just for practical reasons. He's allergic once the corn tassels. "Basically, anywhere that the pollen touches me, I just get a really itchy rash," says Day, who ran into that problem this year outside Memphis, Tenn. "It gets to where the pollen is so thick in your eyes ... you can feel the grit on your eyeballs and, literally, for three days my eyes will run yellow." Once he gets to a farm, it's all fairly routine." - Anne Bouey

"First, he drives around the field's perimeter to establish the boundaries for the GPS system. Then he fits the design into that shape, and the computer does the rest. "There's very little room for error in our corn mazes," he says. "They're tight-packed. The trails are close to together. So a little mistake breaks through a whole wall and changes the whole maze." With some designs, Day _ who runs landscaping business the rest of the year _ has to go in with a lawnmower. And occasionally he'll arrive to find that the field's not quite big enough to accommodate the artist's vision. "And then I get to play a little bit of designer on the fly," he says. "It's kind of fun when that happens, too." Most of the work takes place between sunup and sundown. But Day has been known to cut in the dark. "You've got to trust this more," he says, hoisting the little black box in his right hand. Sometimes, getting to the job is the hardest part. On a recent Saturday, Day's truck limped into this little bedroom community south of Raleigh just before dawn. He was supposed to cut the field at Naylor Family Farms on Aug. 16, but a band of thunderstorms turned him away. He was scheduled to do another maze in Chesnee, S.C., the following Friday morning, and decided to hit Naylor before dusk that evening. But just outside Charlotte, Day's pickup truck started giving him trouble. He'd just swapped out the transmission a few days earlier, and now the new one was going out on him. Not wanting to let Robert Naylor down again, Day picked his way across the state _ driving 15 miles, stopping to let the truck cool down, then doing another 15 miles. "It took me 15 hours to get here when it should have taken four," the bleary-eyed redhead with the day's growth of beard said with a wan smile. The majority of mazes Day cuts are about 5 or 6 acres, though he's done fields as large as 13 acres. The stand of corn at Naylor Family Farms is just shy of 10. Naylor went with a pirate theme last year. This season, he chose a maze called "Escape from Egypt," with pyramids, palm trees and a giant camel at the center. This is Naylor's third year doing a maze. He says it takes him a couple of weeks to memorize the path. "It's easy to get disoriented, even if you have your map," he says as turkey buzzards circle overhead. "And that's the point of it, I guess. It's kind of fun when you get lost _ if you're not in a hurry." - Anne Bouey

Wow, he's allergic to corn? - Stephen Mack

That's dedication then! - Anne Bouey

Happy birthday, Jessie! - Anika

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes, everyone! It's so great to be back! - Jessie

"A specialized video game called NeuroRacer may help boost mental skills in elderly people. It probably won't become as popular as "Grand Theft Auto," but a specialized video game may help older people boost mental skills like handling multiple tasks at once. In a preliminary study, healthy volunteers ages 60 to 85 showed gains in their ability to multitask, to stay focused on a boring activity and to keep information in mind - the kind of memory you use to remember a phone number long enough to write it down. All those powers normally decline with age, Dr. Adam Gazzaley of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues noted in a study released Wednesday by the journal Nature. The study was small, with only 16 volunteers training on the specially designed game. Gazzaley and other brain experts said bigger studies were needed to assess whether the game could actually help people function in their everyday lives. He's co-founder of a company that aims to develop a product from the research. Specialized video games might one day be able to boost mental abilities not only for healthy adults of middle age or older, but also children with attention deficit disorder, people with post-traumatic stress disorder or brain injury and older adults with depression or dementia, he said in an interview. The work is the latest indication that people can help preserve their brainpower as they age through mental activity. There are "brain training" games on the market and books devoted to the topic. Gazzaley stressed that claims should be backed up by evidence, and also that his results don't mean any commercial video game can help mental performance. His game was designed to exercise specific abilities, he said." - Anne Bouey

"The game, called NeuroRacer, involves doing two things simultaneously. A player uses a joystick to guide a car along a hilly, twisting road, steering it and controlling its speed. At the same time, a series of signs - actually colored shapes - appears on the screen. The player is supposed to push a button only when a particular kind of sign appears. Players were scored on how quickly and accurately they reacted to the right signs. The game progresses to harder levels as a player improves, to keep it challenging. "You really had to focus," said one study participant, Ann Linsley, 65, of Berkeley, Calif. "I went through 22 levels. By the end, we were really cooking along." In a separate experiment with 174 volunteers between the ages of 20 and 79, the researchers found that as people age, driving the car interferes more and more with performance on reacting to the signs. But for 14 of the 16 participants who played the game at home for a total of 12 hours over a month, the training decreased the amount of interference. In fact, on this measure they did better than a group of 20-year-olds who played the game for the first time. The improvements were still apparent six months after the training stopped. Researchers also found changes in brain wave activity that correlated with how well the improvement persisted at six months, as well as performance on a test of sustained attention for a boring task." - Anne Bouey

Good to know. I'll start playing video games in three-four decades :) - Eivind

Lumosity is actually pretty good at this. - Spidra Webster

Welcome home! - Anne Bouey

Stephen, the new Bay Bridge span is stunning! - Anne Bouey

"Call them '60s relics or hippy home accessories, lava lamps have been casting their dim but groovy light on interiors for half a century, having hit British shelves 50 years ago on Tuesday. A British company began marketing their original creation as an "exotic conversation piece" in 1963. Since then, millions of models of the much-copied invention have been sold worldwide. The design was created by British inventor Edward Craven-Walker, who was inspired by an odd-looking liquid-filled egg timer he saw in a pub in southwest Britain. The former World War II pilot then spent years transforming the concept into a home lighting accessory, having recognized the potential for such an invention during anything-goes '60s Britain. "Everything was getting a little bit psychedelic," said Christine Baehr, the second of Craven-Walker's four wives. "There was Carnaby Street and The Beatles and things launching into space and he thought it was quite funky and might be something to launch into." Britain's "Love Generation" saw an affinity between the fluorescent lava flow's unpredictable nature and the easy-going, drug-induced spirit of the decade. Craven-Walker's first model, the Astro Lamp, also reflected the technological innovation and imagination of the time, shaped like a sci-fi rocket. Soon other models, such as the Astro Mini and the Astro Nordic, emerged from Craven-Walker's Crestworth company, building on his original concept." - Anne Bouey

one in my music room. throws off so much heat i only run it in winter. pink/purple light, tho! i want a second identical one. space heaters that look groovy. - Big Joe Silenced

"A group of Auckland law students have released a feminist response to Robin Thicke's hit Blurred Lines. In a parody filmed for last week's University of Auckland Law Revue, three female singers - Adelaide Dunn, Olivia Lubbock and Zoe Ellwood - perform their own lyrics to the catchy tune while cavorting with men in underpants. Thicke's version, featuring topless models, has drawn a strong response from critics who believe the song is about "blurring" the lines between consensual and non-consensual sex. Written by the 22-year-olds and produced by Milon Tesiram, the parody song features lyrics including: "Boy you'd better quit all your sexist ways, so hear our manifesto of the modern age. It's time to undermine the masculine confines coz we don't wanna grind." The video was part of the Law Revue, a show of 40 skits performed to 1500 people over three shows at SkyCity Theatre last week. The parody took five hours to film and one day to edit." - Anne Bouey

"We just want some people to think about the original video and some of the reactions people have had to it," she said. "It is meant to be taken tongue in cheek. "We understand that it is a common theme in the media for particular men to have videos with women frolicking around and stuff like that. "But the attitude of the whole thing came across to us as being quite arrogant, especially with the issue of consent, some of his lyrics were quite questionable and a bit presumptive." - Anne Bouey

From what I saw a little bit ago, YouTube took it down for sexual content. Hilarious, since they're hosting the video that's the base of the parody. I don't know if it is back up yet. - Jennifer Dittrich

Wow, I finally saw the original. The whole thing of the guy having clothes on and the women being naked does not suggest they are equals (I suppose the women have flesh colored thongs on the bottom but still. I did not care for that video. - Laura Norvig

"If you’re shelling out $2 million to modernize your Pacific Heights Georgian Tudor Revival mansion, you don’t wanna spend the next year staring out your front window at a fluorescent green box where the construction workers go to the bathroom. And your neighbors really, really don’t want their view impeded by a Porta-Potty. “They look like crap,” one neighbor succinctly put it. (It’s difficult to write about this topic without scatological commentary.) Linda Gebroe, who blogs about the renovation of her Noe Valley house, put it more delicately. “It’s such an eyesore on the sidewalk,” she said. Some high-end contractors in San Francisco have responded by crafting decorative enclosures for the chemical toilets their workers use. “When we first started doing it, some woman pulled up in her Beemer, jumped out and said, ‘Oh, it’s so Pac Heights,’ ” said Peter Downey of Peter Downey Construction, a pioneer of the trend. “If you take a drive around Pacific Heights, you can see some that contractors really put some thought into,” said Aaron Gordon of Aaron Gordon Construction, who has three diverse ones outside projects he’s working on." - Anne Bouey

"Fifteen centimeters — a tick under six inches — is barely an inch more than the height of a 12-ounce soda can, or a couple of cupcakes one atop the other. It is also roughly the height of the smallest living house cat on record — but not for long, if Guinness World Records smiles upon a Napa woman and her rug-hugging feline. The possible new queen of the tiny cats is the aptly named Lilieput, a sock of black and mocha fur who spends her days around the ankles of her owner, Christel Young. Napping on her owner’s living room carpet or nuzzling one of her three feline housemates, the kitten-size, 9-year-old Munchkin is in most ways the typical four-footed companion, except for unusually short forelegs that lend her a waddling gait. Thursday afternoon, Young, a 34-year Napa resident, brought her to be measured by a veterinarian before three witnesses and a video camera, in an event intended to win the animal fame as the world’s smallest domestic cat. Two years ago, Guinness World Records, the record-keeping authority for various achievements, serious and silly, recognized Fizz Girl, another Munchkin breed owned by Tiffani Kjeldergaard of San Diego, as the tiniest feline alive at 15.24 centimeters from front paw pad to front shoulder. According to her owner, Lilieput may be 2 centimeters closer to the ground — and small enough to appear in Guinness’s next annual book of superlatives if its judges accept the measurement. On Thursday, a Napa veterinarian, Dr. Randy R. Lung, unofficially recorded the cat’s height at 13.4 centimeters — the average of three measurements on the same day, as Guinness World Records requires for the category; the agency still must verify the short stature." - Anne Bouey

:D - Eivind

"The return of Hit Girl (Chlöe Grace Moretz) in "Kick-Ass 2" puts us in mind of some of film's fiercest females. We're not talking about your Norma Raes or Eleanor of Aquitaines, although we do understand Katharine Hepburn has been known to cut a ... rival. Miranda Priestly's disapproval may terrify us more than the swords of ninja hordes, but here we're talking about the women we turn to when words fail." - Anne Bouey

I introduced Colleen to Kick-Ass over the weekend and she loved Hit Girl. - Jed

"A small group of Napa residents gathered in front of Bel Aire Plaza on Thursday evening to add a little happiness to their fellow residents’ lives. Waving signs bearing simple slogans such as “You are enough,” “You are loved,” and “You are delightful,” the participants’ goal was to sprinkle happiness at the motorists and pedestrians passing by on Trancas and California streets. About a dozen residents attended the event, which was held at 5 p.m. beside rush-hour traffic. The signs — some advertising the offers of free hugs — got strong support from passersby and drivers, who honked their horns or pulled over to see what the event was about. The group is part of a burgeoning movement called the Happiness Sprinkling Project that started in Washington state last year and is taking place in a number of cities and towns throughout the U.S. Resident Michele Long said she was inspired to host such an event in Napa after seeing one while on a vacation in Laguna Beach with her children this summer. The project got its impromptu start in Anacortes, Wash., a small town north of Seattle, in May 2012. A small group of people holding signs donated by a local print shop marched to a busy intersection in the town and began sprinkling happiness, according to the organization’s website. A subsequent event was held in Seattle in the fall and received even greater patronage and emotional response, according to the website. The movement, bolstered by donations and funding from an online Kickstarter campaign, began to spread nationally." - Anne Bouey

That's a very creative fundraising idea! - Spidra Webster

Thanks for the insider update, Anne. ;-) - Spidra Webster

among common appreciation, you can also give her a small gift from her wishlist on Amazon http://amzn.to/18St9SQ ;) - A. T.

"Hair loss is one of chemotherapy’s most despised side effects, not because of vanity but because it fuels stigma_revealing to the world an illness that many would rather keep private. Now U.S. researchers are about to put an experimental hair-preserving treatment to a rigorous test: To see if strapping on a cap so cold it numbs the scalp during chemotherapy really works well enough to be used widely in this country, as it is in Europe and Canada. The first time Miriam Lipton had breast cancer, her thick locks fell out two weeks after starting chemotherapy. But when the disease struck again, she used a cold cap during treatment and kept much of her hair, making her fight for survival seem a bit easier. ‘‘I didn’t necessarily want to walk around the grocery store answering questions about my cancer,’’ recalled Lipton, 45, of San Francisco. ‘‘If you look OK on the outside, it can help you feel, ‘OK, this is manageable, I can get through this.'’’ Near-freezing temperatures are supposed to reduce blood flow in the scalp, making it harder for cancer-fighting drugs to reach and harm hair follicles. But while several types of cold caps are sold around the world, the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved their use in the U.S. Scalp cooling is an idea that’s been around for decades, but it never caught on here in part because of a concern: Could the cold prevent chemotherapy from reaching any stray cancer cells lurking in the scalp? ‘‘Do they work and are they safe? Those are the two big holes. We just don’t know,’’ said American Cancer Society spokeswoman Kimberly Stump-Sutliff, an oncology nurse who said studies abroad haven’t settled those questions. ‘‘We need to know.’’ To Dr. Hope Rugo of the University of California, San Francisco, the impact of hair loss has been overlooked, even belittled, by health providers. She’s had patients delay crucial treatment to avoid it, and others whose businesses suffered when clients saw they were sick and shied away. With more people surviving cancer, ‘‘we need to make this experience as tolerable as possible, so there’s the least baggage at the end,’’ Rugo said. ‘‘Quite frankly, it’s the first or second question out of most patients’ mouths when I tell them I recommend chemotherapy. It’s not, ‘Is this going to cure me? It's, ‘Am I going to lose my hair?'’’ adds Dr. Susan Melin of North Carolina’s Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center." - Anne Bouey

"Can kidz rite 2day? Despite popular perceptions that the onslaught of texting, tweeting and other digital technologies is ruining students writing skills, a national survey of teachers released Tuesday found such advantages as greater creativity, personal expression and increased collaboration. Teachers gave more than half their students grades of good to excellent for effectively organizing writing assignments, considering multiple viewpoints, synthesizing content from multiple sources, using appropriate style and tone, and constructing strong arguments in the survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. But some teachers also worried about "creeping informality" in student writing. And they said more than two-thirds of their students had fair or poor abilities to digest long and complicated texts and understand plagiarism issues. "The survey results challenge in some ways the idea that student writing is being undermined by increasing engagement with digital tools," said Kristen Purcell, the Pew project's associate director for research. Those findings reflect the experiences of some Los Angeles teachers. Lisa Alva Wood, a Roosevelt High School English teacher who used iPads in her classroom this past year as part of an L.A. Unified test program, said the devices were a hit with students. She said they promoted a deeper interest in writing because students could see their works published in such online forums as http://www.figment.com. "The kids were fascinated and excited about all the ways they could publish online and see their work and the work of others," Alva said." - Anne Bouey

"She added that digital tools, such as Google Docs, have increased collaboration among both students and teachers. Last year, she and a social studies teacher worked together on a sophomore writing project that they jointly monitored online and published through 826LA, a Los Angeles nonprofit writing and tutoring center. Scott Mandel, who teaches English and history at Pacoima Middle School, said digital technology is "awesome" for finding teaching material, collaborating with such tools as Dropbox and enriching learning through online field trips to such places as the British Museum in London. But he said the difficulty most middle school students have typing significantly detracts from the quality of their compositions, producing shorter sentences and less critical thinking. As a result, he said, he requires students to write first drafts by hand. "Sometimes, good old-fashioned pen and paper are the best way," said Mandel, who also oversees the school's musical theater department." - Anne Bouey

"Indeed, some teachers told Pew researchers that texting and other digital writing serve as useful "building blocks" for students to start expressing ideas. English teachers were far more positive toward digital tools for writing — nearly two-thirds said it made teaching easier — than colleagues teaching math, science and social studies. In the end, however, technology is not the most important element in promoting good student writing, Alva said. "Technology is neither here nor there; it's still in the hands of the teacher," she said." - Anne Bouey

"Known as the iKnife, the tool analyses the vapour given off as surgeons use electrical current to cut away tissue - and it reports in real time whether the tissue is cancerous or not. Tests in 91 human patients have shown the "tool's diagnoses were extremely accurate," and may be "reliable enough to begin widespread use in operating rooms," said the study in the US journal Science Translational Medicine. The iKnife uses mass spectrometry to examine the surgical smoke given off by evaporating tissue, alerting the surgeon in three seconds as to what it contains. Other current techniques - which include sending removed tissue to a pathology lab for analysis - are "costly...frequently inadequate," and take about 20-30 minutes, said the researchers from Hungary and Britain. "Remarkably, there are almost no technologies in routine clinical practice to assist the surgeon in improving the accuracy of cancer tissue clearance," said the study.For patients, this uncertainty can lead to repeat surgeries or worse, since returning to the operating table is not always an option for soft tissue tumors, the researchers said. The iKnife "can augment current tumor diagnostics, and it has the potential to influence 'on-table' decision-making and ultimately to improve oncological outcomes," said the study." - Anne Bouey

I hope it has an audible Arnold Swarzeneger voiced "It's not a tumah" every time it probes a non-tumor. - Steve C, Team Marina

X______________________________________________________X - Hookuh Tinypants

What hookuh said. - Micah

"A rarity has occurred - the English major is being debated in the press. We're all so surprised we don't really know what to do. It's a little like meeting your favorite author: You feel both anticipation and dread. It all began back in October 2012 when the Wall Street Journal ran a story in which Santosh Jayaram, a wildly successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, praised English majors for their ability to construct stories about products or companies. He even uttered the words: "English majors are exactly the people I'm looking for." Wow. But that just got things started. In late June, columnist David Brooks addressed the decline in the number of undergraduates majoring in English and the humanities in an opinion piece in the New York Times, calling for employers and students to rethink English as an important and valuable area of study. Two days later, Steve Strauss wrote a piece for the Huffington Post on why he loves to hire English majors. Shared 8,300 times and "liked" by 34, 776, Strauss' essay was an English department chair's dream come true. Then, just last month, Jordan Weissman wrote an interesting piece for the Atlantic Monthly on the favorable employment numbers for English and humanities graduates. These pieces make the future look bright for students of English, but the question is, as college tuition gets more expensive and as jobs get scarcer and more complex, is English a smart major in the long run? I think so. English majors possess two competencies that are difficult to quantify but highly sought by employers. The first I often describe as the "content/connotation/culture facility." By this I mean the ability to acquire and make sense of structure and story while also paying attention to how that story is told as well as the cultural and historical values communicated in a literary text." - Anne Bouey

"When someone spends four years reading, writing about and talking about complicated, nuanced texts, a kind of interpretive stacking occurs that enables a student (or an employee) to navigate the noise surrounding a document and pay attention both to what it's saying and (perhaps more important) to what it's doing. Virtually no text is culture-free or value-free. Everything communicates more than what it says. Students of English and literary studies are trained to pick up on things like tone, metaphor, implication, intentionality, hesitation, argumentation and valuation - which can be, quite literally, a deal-maker or a deal-breaker. I see this fluency in my wife, who was an English major at the University of Chicago and is now a vice president of a Fortune 500 company. English majors also tend to be good at what I call "deep decoding," which has less to do with plunging into an author's work and more to do with versatility. One of the great aspects of studying literature is learning the traits of various genres. Literary study is unique in this regard." - Anne Bouey

"Reading a novel is a lot different from reading a sonnet, which is a lot different from reading a play, which is a lot different from reading an autobiographical essay, which is a lot different from reading 12 essays about Wallace Stevens' poetry. Each genre has its own rules, its own histories, its own techniques, its own codes. In short, each genre is a system, and an English major must be proficient in all of these systems. In essence, English majors are the original cross-platformers." - Anne Bouey

"Of course, English isn't for everyone, and it won't guarantee you a job upon graduation, like a major in accounting might. But, with people switching jobs every few years now, I can think of no degree more versatile or more interesting. I also believe that studying English makes you a smarter reader of the world. And as the world becomes more saturated with information, literacy (in all its forms) is the most employable skill around." - Anne Bouey

"Through summer reading programs and other kid-friendly activities, libraries have been an important resource for educators fighting the "summer learning loss" that sets in the moment school lets out at the end of May. But for the first time ever, some San Francisco library branches are addressing something just as important - summer lunch loss. More than 61 percent of students in the San Francisco Unified School District qualify for free or reduced lunch, but a free nutritious meal can be hard to find in the summer. The new Lunch Is On Us program at the Excelsior, Chinatown, Visitacion Valley, Ocean View and Bayview branches gave out 972 meals in June and runs an hour a day for two days a week. "There's a lot of research that shows kids gain weight or are undernourished in the summer," said Jessie Mandle, the senior program planner for nutrition in the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, who is coordinating the program. "Libraries have a lot of great summer learning programs. It just seemed like a natural fit." Kids don't eat all day At the Excelsior branch on Thursday, the program's most popular site, 29 children received bean burritos, carrot sticks, oranges and 1 percent milk. The program is paid for through a federal grant, and food is provided by San Francisco's Kid Chow. Anyone under the age of 18 who visits the participating branches on certain days can get a free meal. "We didn't want anyone to feel targeted or feel embarrassed that they were coming in for a free lunch," said branch Manager Rebecca Alcala. "No one is going to question their reasons for being here." Alcala said she has seen children spend all day in the library without getting anything to eat. Since the program started, the branch hasn't run out of meals on any occasions, but sometimes a line forms outside the meeting room before volunteers start giving out food. "Whenever we had adult programs with light refreshments, kids would hang around and ask 'Can I have a piece of this?' or 'Can I have a slice of that?' " she said. "We knew there was a need because we do have poverty in this area."" - Anne Bouey

"An added benefit of the program, librarians said, was that it attracts new patrons. Juana Mejia, brought her sons William, 8 and Erik, 3, to the library branch for only the second time ever after she heard from staff on a previous visit about the lunch giveaway. "We came here so the children could eat. We really like the program," said the Spanish-speaking Mejia, with Alcala translating. "I think I'll come back again." - Anne Bouey

"Oakland has been providing free summer lunches at libraries since 2011 through a partnership with the city and Alameda County Food Bank. Other California cities besides San Francisco have been following their example, with Fresno, San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento starting their own free meal programs this summer with the California Library Association and the California Summer Meal Coalition. "The number of kids getting meals is increasing every week. We've been pleasantly surprised," said Patrice Chamberlain, the director of the California Summer Meal Coalition, who noted that the state's summer reading theme this year is appropriately titled Reading is So Delicious. "It's drawing more families into the library; it's getting more kids signed up for the summer reading program." - Anne Bouey

Napa is doing something similar through Boys and Girls Club sites at two schools. - Anne Bouey