I grew up on the prairie just northeast of Post Falls, graduated from PFHS, taught science and math in both Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, raised Kentucky bluegrass seed for 13 years on the prairie while I was teaching (8 years in double shifts between my stints at PF and CDA), served as Exec. Director of the Intermountain Grass Growwers Assn. from 1976 - 1990 through some of the contentious, early field burning years (and have some great stories about Duane H's influence in structuring field burning decisions). I left CDA in 1990 to pursue school administration and am now the superintendent of the Lynden School District in far northwestern Washington. I spent three years as principal/superintendent in Skykomish, WA where the Great Northern RR (now BNSF) had a refueling depot (until the mid-1970s) to refuel their locomotives and to switch to electric locomotives for hauling over Steven's Pass and through the 7 mile tunnel.

Study Spotlights 'Exercise-Friendly' Day-Care Centers

"Childhood obesity is an epidemic that threatens the future health of our nation. We know that about 57 percent of all 3- to 5-year-olds in the United States attend child-care centers, so it's important to understand what factors will encourage them to be more active, and, hopefully, less likely to become obese," study co-author Dianne Ward said in a statement. Ward is director of the intervention and policy division in the nutrition department at University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.

They found that children did more moderate and vigorous physical activity if the child-care center: had more portable play equipment, such as balls, jump ropes, hula hoops and riding toys; offered more opportunities for indoor and outdoor active play; and provided physical activity training and education for staff and students.

Thanks to poll workers for a job well done

I would like to acknowledge everyone who worked during the general election.An Election Day for a poll worker begins the day before an election, when they set up and test the voting machines to be sure Election Day begins without incident. Then Election Day morning, the average poll worker wakes up about 4:30 a.m. to get started. The workers plan to work at least 12 hours, doing their best to create, with integrity, the space to hold a fair election Traditionally, most poll workers have been retired senior citizens, but this year a fresh new group that came forward to work at the polls.Students from all of Hammond's high schools filled poll worker positions, giving them firsthand experience of the election process, school community credits and, like the other poll workers, a check for their hard work.I thank and acknowledge everyone for a job well done.Phil Venecz, Hammond Democratic Chairman

The Weekend That Was: Parting Thoughts From Memphis

He said that all he kept telling his Vols was, "I don't know if we're the best team in the country, but can you believe we're 40 minutes away from being No. 1?"Now that Tennessee has dethroned Memphis 66-62 and is less than 24 hours away from officially being named No. 1 in The Associated Press and Coaches' Polls, it's worth revisiting the subject: Should the Vols now be considered the favorites to win the national title? There's only a small pack of legitimate title hopefuls: Tennessee, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Memphis and Texas. Our national champion won't come from outside that group, because the drop-off to the crowd that includes the rulers of the Big East (Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, and UConn) and Big Ten (Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana) is too big. Of the seven contenders, none has the mix of athleticism and quality depth that the Volunteers do.

Grunt Work

Administrators know patching is crucial to proper security, but many are so busy with other tasks that they can't keep up, and most companies don't have the resources to hire someone to deal with patches full-time. Patch management automation is the only effective solution.

Choosing the best patch management tool depends on your company's situation and your IT infrastructure. All of the solutions examined here share similar basic functionality. They're all designed to detect network clients and determine patch status, assess them against an ideal list and deploy patches. All seven pull from an extensive patch database. They also have mechanisms for obtaining the latest patches and a means of generating reports. Two emerged as leaders in the agent-based category (see "Agent-based vs.

Dietitians Warn Against Self-Diagnosed Food Allergies, Australia

The growing trend of self-diagnosing food allergies and intolerances is placing Australians at greater risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, dietitians have warned.

The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) said many people were wrongly attributing symptoms like a stuffy nose, stomach pain, bloating and headaches to food allergies and intolerances. But according to the leading nutrition organisation, these symptoms were often due to something else.

Studies indicate that up to 25 per cent of the population report to have a food allergy1,2.

But Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and spokesperson for the DAA Alison Graham said true food allergies affected less than two per cent of adults3.

'The number of adults being diagnosed with food allergies has remained constant, but the number of people incorrectly self-diagnosing food allergies and intolerances has skyrocketed,' Ms Graham said.

GOP walks out after House rejects 21-day wiretap extension (updated)

The Bush administration and the House of Representatives are locked into a game of chicken over surveillance reform, and the White House has just torn off its steering wheel.

Earlier this week, the Senate passed White House-approved legislation that would expand intelligence agencies' power to acquire communications between Americans and persons overseas without warrants. It would also grant telecom firms immunity from civil suits stemming from their cooperation with the program of warrantless wiretaps approved by President George W. Bush shortly after September 11, 2001. The new law is meant to replace the Protect America Act, a temporary stopgap passed hastily in August and due to expire at the end of this week. House Democrats sought a 21-day extension of the current law in order to provide time to reconcile their own bill with the language approved by the Senate, but under a presidential veto threat, that extension was defeated on Wednesday.

William Saletan

Obesity, genetics, and responsibility.William Saletanposted Feb. 15, 2008Where the Boys Aren'tAudio torture only teens can hear.William Saletanposted Feb. 14, 2008The Machine of a New SoulThe messy biology of human embryos.William Saletanposted Feb. 13, 2008Search for more human nature articlesSubscribe to the human nature RSS feedView our complete human nature archive .