USA TODAY articles from July 2006

USA TODAY archives from July 2006

Movies' unfair portrayal of males.(YOUR LIFE)
July 1, 2006... Our youngest children learn alarming lessons about men and boys from the many movies they watch, according to a report released by Academy Award-winner Geena Davis' See Jane program, part of the national nonprofit Dads & Daughters initiative....

Should your child attend "fat camp"?(summer camps offering weight reducing exercises)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... This summer, thousands of oversized kids are attending what some derisively call "fat camps" in hopes of losing weight. While you read this, they are exercising, perhaps for the first time since toddlerhood, while learning about nutrition and...

Teach kids to laugh at celebrities.(Katharine DeBrecht's book 'Help! Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper!')(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... With Academy Awards being handed out to movies about racist cops, gay cowboys, and communist sympathizers, Hollywood has declared an outright war on traditional values. However, instead of getting angry at the movie business, parents should...

Ten reasons to "slow down" this summer.(travel safety, slow driving )
July 1, 2006... For every reason there is to speed, there is a better one not to. Here are 10 compelling reasons to stop driving too fast, presented by Autobytel Inc's "Take the Pledge to Slow Down," a grassroots movement encouraging individuals to take...

Senate is right: FEMA must go.(YOUR LIFE)
July 1, 2006... A Senate committee's recommendation to abolish FEMA is proper, but the new disaster response agency created in its stead "cannot be just a reshuffling of the deck chairs," cautions David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism...

Beach closures linked to toxic groundwater.(beach groundwater contamination and bacterial blooms research)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Every summer, coastal communities from Maine to California are forced to close some of their most popular beaches because of unsafe levels of bacteria in the water. Typically, these sudden bacterial blooms disappear, only to return without...

Hurricane season: here we go again!(Your Life)
July 1, 2006... An active hurricane season appears imminent, which could have major repercussions for the U.S. economy and the one in six Americans who live on the Eastern Seaboard or along the western Gulf of Mexico, predicts AccuWeather.com, State College,...

No vacation for job seekers.(job hunting in summer season)
July 1, 2006... The summer months can be an opportune time to turn up the heat on your employment search, maintains Max Messmer, author of Job Hunting For Dummies and chairman of Accountemps, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based specialized staffing service for...

Looking to Canada for health care reform.(Your Life)
July 1, 2006... The landmark Canadian Supreme Court ruling in Chaoulli v. Quebec may stifle recent efforts to expand government control over health care in the U.S., contends a study from the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., which dismisses the assumption...

Companies step up new grad recruiting.(employee recruitment survey)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Those donning caps and gowns this year may have more to celebrate than their new college diplomas. Forty-one percent of executives surveyed say their firms are more active in recruiting university graduates now than they were five years ago....

Keeping teens safe on the job.(Your Life)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... When teenagers go off to work--sometimes for the first time in their lives--parents want to know they will be safe. The American Industrial Hygiene Association, Fairfax, Va., recommends that teens and their families be aware of common hazards,...

Internships now key to hiring decisions.(hiring and training business interns, trends and forecast)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Companies are using new approaches to make hiring decisions on recent college graduates, advises Timothy Luzader, director of the Center for Career Opportunities at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. The typical employment interview has...

Don't be a summer slacker at work.(human resource management)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... During the more laid back summer months, a number of organizations undergo a warm-weather metamorphosis, as dress codes start to transform and longer days lead to shorter office hours. Frequent vacations result in half-staffed departments,...

The slippery slope to national health care: a mandate forcing individuals to purchase health insurance not only would be impractical, unenforceable, and prohibitively expensive, it would represent yet another unconstitutional breach of the people's right to live free from onerous government regulation.(National Affairs)
July 1, 2006... ROUGHLY 46,000,000 Americans do not have health insurance. That has sparked a national debate over how to expand coverage, with many people setting a goal of "universal coverage"--that is, every American would have some form of health...

A democratic resurgence?(STATE OF THE NATION)
July 1, 2006... REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS LOOKING AT the opinion polls in the spring of 2006 had to shudder--Pres. Bush's approval ratings in the low 30s and the Democrats leading by double digits in the congressional matchups. If these numbers continue into...

Saving the ownership society.(American Thought)
July 1, 2006... BEFORE HURRICANE KATRINA flooded the tear ducts of our politicians and the vaults of our Treasury, Pres. George W. Bush had us talking about America's "ownership society." This is one of the best things he has done. He did it prominently in his...

Ironies of illegal immigration.(WORLD WATCHER)
July 1, 2006... PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH'S proposal on immigration delivered during his State of the Union address was a political response to a complex and dire social problem. It is social because it has to do with the integration of American society and its...

America breaks free: "this nation," declared Benjamin Franklin, "was established in spite of [any number of] obstacles, with an expedition, energy, wisdom, and success which the whole history of human affairs has not, hitherto, given an example.".(USA Yesterday)(The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin)(Excerpt)
July 1, 2006... Congress and the Declaration of Independence, 1775-76. I found at my arrival all America, from one end of the 13 united provinces to the other, busily learning the use of arms, all trade and business being at a stand. The attack upon the...

Lying as America's pastime.(WORDS & IMAGES)
July 1, 2006... EVERYBODY LIES. From the president of the U.S. to Congress to the smallest citizen in the country, we are a nation of liars. Parents still try to teach their children not to do so. They retell the story of George Washington and the cherry tree...

He came, he saw, he wrote: almost 200 years have passed since a lawyer and part-time poet named Francis Scott Key had a ringside seat to one of the greatest battles in American history. When the smoke had cleared, the U.S. had defeated Great Britain in the War of 1812 and our young nation had a new anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner.".(USA Yesterday)
July 1, 2006... AS THE AUTHOR of our National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, a simple man who loved to read and write poetry while being strongly devoted to his small circle of friends, has become as closely linked to our country's...

The Georgia Peach hits his stride: determined to "hurl red hell on his way to a score, " Ty Cobb increasingly became more aggressive and imaginative during his first few seasons with the Detroit Tigers, exhibiting a lethal combination of speed, size, muscle, and guile.(Athletic Arena)(Biography)
July 1, 2006... IN MARCH OF 1907, when the Detroit Tigers' Ty Cobb arrived in camp, it was not as a high-strong rookie eager to make an impression, but as an established, slightly swell-headed lineup regular. His .320 mark in 1906 not only had placed him fifth...

A pocketful of poison.(SPORTS SCENE)(boys and sports)
July 1, 2006... IN THE COLD-WEATHER MONTHS, during the local Youth League-sponsored street hockey season, they're the Rocket and Pocket Rocket--and why not? Their grandmother has been a monster Montreal Canadiens fan since the heyday of Maurice "The Rocket"...

100 sports 100 women 100 inspiring athletes.(Athletic Arena)
July 1, 2006... SUPERWOMEN: 100 Women-100 Sports is an eye-opening coffee table book that inspired a subsequent photo exhibition that shows female athletes at their best: passionate, determined, and strong. Each of these fearless females offers a unique tale...

The master of 3-D pop art: George Bush, Bill Clinton, Julia Roberts, and Bill Gates are among the scores of prominent patrons of the arts who have original Fazzino works--renowned for their vibrant colors, exceptional detail, and frenetic energy--in their private collections.(Focus on Pop Art)(Charles Fazzino)
July 1, 2006... AS THE CREATOR of fine art silkscreen serigraphs, Charles Fazzino is best known for his obsession for bright colors, exceptional detail, brilliant storytelling, the frenetic energy infusing his work, and a unique hand-assembled 3-D layering...

The Big Top remains the Greatest show on earth: the 136th edition from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey features the most profound changes in more than half a century as the circus has taken on a whole new look.(Entertainment)(Circus review)
July 1, 2006... AT OUR LOCAL elementary school, the first-graders receive a weekly visit from a "mystery reader," an unnamed parent--vague clues are given throughout the day as the kids try to guess whose mother or father is about to make an appearance--who...

Feeling better by the dozen.(REEL WORLD)(film comedians)
July 1, 2006... I RECENTLY FINISHED WRITING A TEXT on film comedians from the Depression decade of the 1930s. The study filters its analysis through 12 pivotal pictures. Each represents a mini-microcosm of the comic world of its focus funny person or persons....

Whatever happened to the family film? Hollywood today mistakenly believes that, to be successful, movies must be hip, edgy, shocking, and rife with sex, foul language, violence, and bad taste.(Mass Media)
July 1, 2006... IN TODAY'S WORLD of mass media and instant communication, movies still have an enormous influence on our culture and an even larger effect on young people. Research shows that the average American child between the ages of 2-18 spends five...

Desert diplomacy: no end in sight to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.(Worldview)
July 1, 2006... AFTER SEPT. 11 and the subsequent bombings in Madrid and London, many have asked, "Why do they hate us?" There is, of course, a ready answer: It is the way the West interacts with the Islamic world and, most importantly, it is our policy of...

Boom times for protein.(EYE ON ECOLOGY)(animal protein production using crop residues, aquaculture)
July 1, 2006... MOUNTING PRESSURE on the Earth's land and water resources to produce livestock, poultry, and fish feed has led to the evolution of some promising new animal protein production models, one of which is used by India to produce milk. Since 1970,...

Ancient Greece's death penalty dilemma and its influence on modern society.(The World Yesterday)
July 1, 2006... ABOLITIONISTS attack capital punishment as cruel. Its administration, they insist, is inconsistent, and the jurisprudence which supports it is incoherent. Furthermore, they claim, death as punishment is disproportionate to any crime and out of...

Imbibing and the Bible: while the Good Book certainly does not advocate alcoholism, an awful lot of drinking was taking place during biblical times. Of course, the same can be said today.(Religion)
July 1, 2006... CATHOLICS DRINK, but Baptists do not. Episcopalians certainly drink, but Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons do not. Since all Christian groups turn to the Bible to justify their attitude towards alcohol, why are there such sharp divisions? As a...

How could I be so stupid? Intelligent individuals, by virtue of being smart, often think that they cannot behave stupidly, but that is precisely what leads them down the garden path to behaving in just such a manner.(Psychology)
July 1, 2006... HOW MANY TIMES have you said to yourself, "How could I be so stupid?" Chances are, you really meant it, at least at the time. Why do smart people act stupidly? What, if anything, can they do about it? If it is any consolation, some of the...

Perfecting the art of international management & investment.(Business & Finance)
July 1, 2006... THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED DEFINITION of a well-managed company is one with high consumer satisfaction, good employee ratings, strong earnings, a solid balance sheet, an increasing worldwide market share, and a record of continually successful...

Don't just float--go for a drive!(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... When we really want to take it easy, we can't think of a more relaxing way to spend an afternoon than floating in a comfortable lounger in our backyard pool. There is something so indescribably peaceful about drifting aimlessly, layered...

Black is back--and beautiful.(Ball Horticultural Co.'s Black Pearl Pepper)
July 1, 2006... The Black Pearl Ornamental Pepper is making its debut. That's right, black, and this year it's not optional. Black-leafed plants are the "little black dress" of the garden world. Everybody needs at least one; they never go out of style and they...

Disney does it again with "Expedition Everest".(Walt Disney World Co. offers a visitors a journey to mountains)
July 1, 2006... A new adventure lies in the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. The recently opened Expedition Everest takes visitors on a journey through the Himalayan region to Mt. Everest. At just under 200 feet, the structure is the...

The Oozinator: coming to a swamp near you.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... Summer is about to get a whole lot slimier thanks to the Oozinator blaster from Hasbro Inc., Pawtucket, R.I.--perfect for kids who aren't satisfied with simply soaking their friends, but who also want to totally gross them out! That's...

DeFeet definitely are DeBest.(DeFeet Golf launches new footwear)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A high-tech, high-performance product with unprecedented success in the Tour de France has come to the golf industry. DeFeet Golf, Vista, Calif., a division of Global Tour Golf, has unveiled the DeFeet High Performance Sock line, a lightweight,...

Let's just Play Nine.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... Although we usually prefer to go the full 18, we'll make an exception for Play Nine: The Card Game of Golf, which combines elements from traditional card contests--like Gin Rummy and Go Fish--with the actual game on the links. The objective,...

Reaching for an energy boost.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... Summertime and the living is easy--says who? We can't speak for other households, but around here, the warm-weather months are flat-out crazy, as there now are more hours and better weather for both work and play. There's no time to be slow, as...

"You're a grand ole flag, you're a high flying flag".(American Flag quiz)
July 1, 2006... For more than 200 years, the American flag has been the symbol of our nation's strength and unity. Since Betsy Ross--a Philadelphia seamstress--stitched the first flag in 1777, the "red, white, and blue" is recognized around the world and has...

The Da Vinci Code now a video game.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... You have read Dan Brown's best-selling novel; you of course have seen the movie; now, though, it's time to take things interactive with The Da Vinci Code video game from 2K Games, New York, N.Y. Illustrating the highest level of convergence and...

Maine's own Mona Lisa mystery.(Portland Museum of Art's painting exhibition)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Although the buzz over "The Da Vinci Code" movie has waned, nothing perks up interest in the great Leonardo like one of his original works, and Maine's Portland Museum of Art has one--or does it? All summer long, the museum will display...

Museum memo.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... What's new in museums around the country? Among the more interesting exhibitions on view are: No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock, Paintings on Paper, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, through Sept. 29. Jackson Pollock,...

Staying ahead of the storm.(WHAT'S NEW?)(My-Cast provides critical weather warnings via email or phone)
July 1, 2006... A hurricane is approaching, but the power is out. No television. No internet. No local radio. You're in your vehicle frantically trying to get away from the coast. How close is the hurricane? Where is the worst of the storm surge going to hit?...

Big feet for the big summer chill.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... Why feature feety pajamas made of cotton flannel, jersey knit, micro-polar fleece, or cashmere just as summer really starts to heat up? That's easy. The warmer the weather, the colder our house becomes. In fact, blame any blackouts incurred in...

A hearty toast to our excellent host.(Excalibur Electronics develops new device for making mixed drinks)
July 1, 2006... Excalibur Electronics, Miami, Fla., has made knowing everything about your favorite beverages as easy as pressing a button. The company has developed three user-friendly devices that can assist anyone in making a mixed drink and that tell you...

Zip It on that next road trip.(WHAT'S NEW?)
July 1, 2006... Here is the perfect bag for travel. It starts out as a single zipper that easily can be tucked into a suitcase or overnight carrier. Then, with a simple zip, it becomes an ideal bag for the beach, a day trip, or to bring home souvenirs. ...

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.(The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... THE WORST HARD TIME: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl BY TIMOTHY EGAN HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 2006, 330 PAGES, $28.00 On Sunday, April 14, 1935, from large sections of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New...

Changing conventions.(PARTING THOUGHTS)
July 1, 2006... CHANGE LONG HAS BEEN A TOPIC for discussion and is part of the warp and woof of our world concerning not only culture, but nature as well. The science of physics points out that, in its subatomic insights, the world is in constant molecular...