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© 2006 by Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN No. 1099-7237
Table of contents
JUNE 2006
Calendar................................................................2
Statistics................................................................3
Health....................................................................4
Work Tips ..............................................................6
Management ......................................................8
Work/Life Matters ................................................9
Education ..........................................................10
Tech Tips ............................................................11
Safety ..................................................................12
Money Matters ..................................................13
Quotes ................................................................14
Anecdotes ..........................................................16
Humor ..............................................................17
Odds & Ends ......................................................18
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Calendar for
JUNE
Monthly
Child Vision Awareness. June 1–30. To better educate and counsel the public on children’s vision
problems and detection of eye disease in infants and children. For more information, browse
www.ppinc.org.
Children’s Awareness Month. June 1–30. A celebration of children in our everyday lives and
communities that lovingly remembers all of America’s children that we have lost through violence. For
more information e-mail childaware@aol.com.
Effective Communications Month. June 1–30. The most important cog in the wheel of interpersonal
relationships is communication. Dedicated to learning how to communicate more effectively in our lives.
For more information, browse www.springboardtraining.com.
Fireworks Safety Months. June 1–July 31. Activities during these months are designed to warn and
educate parents and children about the dangers of playing with fireworks. For more information, browse
www.preventblindness.org.
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. June 1–30. Observed in June because on June 28, 1969, the clientele of
a gay bar in New York City rioted after police raided the club.
June Dairy Month. June 1–30. To pay tribute to the vital role milk and dairy products play in the
American diet and the contribution of America’s dairy farmers. For more information, browse
www.nfraweb.org.
Perennial Gardening Month. June 1–30. To celebrate the versatility and beauty of perennial garden
plants. For more information, browse www.perennialplant.org.
National Rose Month. June 1–30. To recognize American-grown roses. America’s favorite flower is
grown in all 50 states and more than 1.2 billion fresh-cut roses are sold at retail stores each year. For more
information, www.rosesinc.org.
Rebuild Your Life Month. June 1–30. An opportunity for adults neglected and/or abused as children to
celebrate their self-worth and discover inner power. For more information, call 310.281.0123.
Weekly
International Volunteers Week. June 1–7. To honor men and women throughout the world who serve as
volunteers, rendering valuable service without compensation to the communities in which they live and to
honor nonprofit organizations dedicated to making the world a better place. For more information, browse
www.friendshipandgoodwill.org.
International Clothesline Week. June 3–10. To encourage the public to save energy by hanging clothes
to dry instead of using their electric dryer. For more information, e-mail gdrisdelle@rogers.com.
National Headache Awareness Week. June 4–10. To educate the public about the reality and severity of
headaches as a legitimate disease. For more information, call 312.274.2651.
Daily
National Hunger Awareness Day. June 6. To increase awareness of the serious problem of hunger in the
United States. One in five children in this country live in poverty and are at risk for hunger. One in 10
households aren’t sure where the next meal is coming from. For more information, browse
www.secondharvest.org.
Abused Women and Children’s Day. June 11. To reflect on how we can help stop the violence in
America that is destroying the lives and well-being of women and children. For more information, e-mail
childaware@aol.com.
Flag Day. June 14. To celebrate the anniversary of The Stars and Stripes. June 14, 1777.
Father’s Day. June 18. To reflect on the important role of fathers in the American family.
The face of America’s seniors is changing
A report by the U.S. Census Bureau commissioned by the National Institute on Aging says that the face of
aging in America is changing dramatically. All in all, the aging population is living longer, suffering less
disability, achieving higher levels of education and is less likely to end up living in poverty.
The report, “65+ in the United States,” provides a snapshot of health and socioeconomic status on the
aging population. NIA Director Richard J. Hodes says, “This report tells us that we have made a lot of
progress in improving the health and well-being of older Americans, but there is much left to do.”
Here are a few trends:
 The population of 65 and older is expected to double in size within the next 25 years. That means
that by the year 2030 almost one out of every five Americans (around 72 million people) will be
65 or older. The 85 and older group is now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.
 The health of older Americans is getting better. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that there are
still many who are suffering from chronic conditions or who are disabled. The number of older
Americans who are disabled fell from 26.2 percent in 1982 to
 19.7 percent in 1999. There are still 14 million people over the age of 65 reporting disabilities,
however.
 The financial circumstances of older people have improved dramatically. The percentage of
people 65 and older living in poverty decreased from 35 percent in 1959 to 10 percent in 2003.
 Higher levels of education are being attained. This is linked to better health, higher income, more
wealth and a higher standard of living in retirement. This trend will continue and by 2030 it is
expected that 25 percent of the over-65 population will have undergraduate degrees. The
percentage of those completing high school was 17 in 1950; in 2003 that number had risen to 71.5
percent.
 The older population, like the population in general is growing more diverse. In 2003, older
Americans were 83 percent non-Hispanic white, 8 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic and 3 percent
Asian.
 The changing face of the American family will impact the future of aging. The rate of divorced
older people is growing. In 1960, only 1.6 percent of older men were divorced and 1.5 percent of
women. By 2003, 7 percent of older men were divorced and had not remarried, that number for
women was 8.6 percent.
Home-based workers’ use of broadband goes up 60
percent
Millions of Americans are fleeing the office to work at home or a variety of other locations. The data was
gleaned for ITAC, which is the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork, by The Dieringer Research
Group as part of the 2005 American Interactive Consumer Survey.
In the national survey, conducted between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1, 2005, respondents were asked to
check up to 13 different locations where they have conducted their work in the past month. The findings
for 135.4 million American workers:
 45.1 million worked from home.
 24.3 million worked at a client’s or customer’s place of business.
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20.6 million in their car.
16.3 million while on vacation.
15.1 million at a park or outdoor location.
7.8 million while on a train or airplane.
Robert Smith, director of ITAC says, “The ability for people to work from anywhere is attributed in
part to increasing availability of portable computer and high-speed communication technologies. For
example, the use of broadband in the home by teleworkers increased by over 60 percent during the past
year resulting in 25.6 million home-based teleworkers with high-speed access.”
The average number of work locations per worker was 3.4. Overall, there was a 30 percent increase in
employee telecommuters, however, self-employed teleworkers decreased by 2 percent. The findings
probably are a result of employers accepting and permitting telework. There are 26.1 million people who
work from home at least one day a month. There are 22.2 million who work from home at least once a
week.
Small, but significant benefits from taking calcium and
Vitamin D
According to research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, calcium and Vitamin D
supplements in healthy postmenopausal women provide a modest benefit in preserving bone mass and preventing hip fractures in certain groups including older women, but do not prevent other types of fractures or
colorectal cancer. The study was conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative.
“The overall results suggest that women, particularly those over 60, should consider taking calcium
and Vitamin D for bone health but they should not expect those supplements to help prevent colorectal
cancer, said Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute director of the Women’s
Health Initiative.
The calcium and Vitamin D trial included 36,282 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79, and found a
small but significant 1 percent higher hip bone density for those taking calcium combined with Vitamin D,
when compared to those who took placebo. Women who took the full supplement dose experienced a 29
percent decrease in hip fracture. Women over the age of 60 had a 21 percent reduction in hip fracture.
However, the supplements had no significant effect on spine or total fractures.
Women, as well as men, can develop gout
Gout has often been associated with portly men, but that doesn’t mean that women can’t get it, too. One
reason the disease was associated with overweight men was that they were wealthy enough to eat rich
foods and drink alcohol.
According to Arthritis Today, Gout consists of painful joint attacks. Women are more likely to suffer
gout after menopause (which occurs at age 51 on average). During menopause a woman’s body cuts its
production of estrogen—and estrogen may help kidneys excrete uric acid. And so a woman’s uric acid
level can decrease after menopause. Eventually crystals can form—this can take several years—and
women can develop gout.
A doctor can determine the amount of uric acid your body is producing or whether it does not excrete
the acid fast enough. There are drugs to help both of these conditions. Other than medications there are
some foods that should be avoided to control how much uric acid your body produces. These foods are
high in purines, which increase the uric acid levels when digested. Here are food and drink to avoid:
 alcohol
 bacon
 haddock
 liver
 scallops
 turkey
 veal
 venison Here are foods you should go light on:
 asparagus
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beef
chicken
ham
mushrooms
shellfish
Pass the rice, please
Did you know that there are more than 7,000 varieties of rice worldwide? This grain is the staple food for
the diet of more than half the world’s population. There are written records of the cultivation of rice in
China that date back to 2800 B.C. But rice is known to have been cultivated from at least 5000 B.C., and it
is believed to have originated in India. According to The Whole Food Catalog, by Nava Atlas, rice didn’t
arrive in Europe until sometime in the 15th century, and it did-n’t come on the scene in North America
until the 17th century.
Brown rice is generally accepted as being more nutritious than most white rice. Brown rice is higher in
fiber and lower in fat, and is better for digestion. Brown rice provides a range of B vitamins, including
thiamin, niacin and folacin, as well as providing the minerals phosphorous, calcium and potassium.
White rice is polished or refined. What this means is that two important parts of the grain are
removed: the germ and the bran. This leaves the endosperm, which is white and starchy. White rice often
contains only about one-third of the vitamins and fiber that brown rice does, about half of the minerals,
none of the Vitamin E and only about 80 percent of the protein. Often white rice is enriched with iron and
B vita-mins—but the original quality of nutrition is never recovered.
Asian countries produce about 90 percent of the world’s rice, according to the Whole Foods Market
Web site. As a matter of fact, in Japan, the word for rice is the same as the word for meal. In the United
States, about one-third of the rice used is in beer.
Here is Whole Foods Market’s break down of types of rice:
 Long grain. The milled grain is at least three times as long as it is wide. Some varieties of longgrain rice are: basmati, Patna, Dehra Dun, Calmati, Carolina, Della, Himalayan Red, jasmine,
jasmati, Louisiana pecan, American, javanica, bulu, wild pecan, Louisiana popcorn, Persian,
ambar-boo, darbari, dom-sia, sadri, rosematta, Texmati, Thai red and Wehani.
 Medium grain. The grain is less than three times the length as the width. It is sometimes labeled
“short grain,” merely to distinguish it from long grain. Some varieties are: japonica, baldo,
Turkish, bash ful, Bhutanese Red, mahogany red, bomba, Arborio and Japanese sweet.
 Short grain. Grains that are less than twice as long as it is wide. Sometimes short and medium
grain rices are considered one category. Some varieties are: sushi, Balinese black, Balinese purple,
pearl and pudding.
Some other terms can be helpful when considering rice. For instance, the word polished simply means
that the rice has been polished to remove the bran and germ, and so polished rice is just another name for
white rice. Parboiled means that the rice has been soaked, boiled or pressure steamed and then dried before
it is milled. It usually has a yellowish or beige color. Converted rice is the same as parboiled, but it has
been cooked more to reduce cooking time for consumers. Instant or quick rice is precooked rice that has
been dehydrated and then packaged. It usually suffers in terms of taste and texture. Brown rice is also
referred to as whole grain rice and is much more nutritious than any white rice. This is because the bran is
retained. The bran is the brown/tan covering on the rice that retains most of the nutritional value of rice.
White rice is brown rice with the bran removed and then polished. And finally wild rice is not really rice at
all, but is the seed of a long-grain marsh grass that is native to the northern Great Lakes region. It is nutty
tasting and usually combined with other rices, such as brown.
How to stay healthy
Dr. Andrew Weil is famous for his health and nutritional advice. Weil recently told CNN producer Kelley
Colihan that he received only about 30 minutes of nutritional training when he was in medical school. He
recommended the following general tips for healthy living:
 Eat a diet that’s rich in fresh, organic foods. Weil says the consumption of fruits and vegetables
helps protect from many chronic diseases.
 Eat a colorful diet. Weil says that it’s important to ask yourself if you’ve covered your colors.
Have you eaten your greens, reds, yellows, purples, etc? This will help keep the focus on a healthy
variety of fruits and vegetables.
 Take a good multivitamin. Even if you are a healthy eater, it’s difficult to have an optimal diet
every day. That’s why Weil recommends taking a multivitamin, not to replace healthy eating, but
to make sure if you miss something in your diet inadvertently, you will still get it through your
supplement.
 Women should pay attention to bone health early. Waiting until you’re older is not a good idea,
Weil says. Bone health is the result of what you eat and exercise habits in your teens, 20s and 30s.
 Men should watch their diets in regard to prostate cancer. That means getting away from
animal-based foods and high-fat diets and eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, omega-3s.
Cooked tomatoes could be especially important, he says, because they are a source of lycopene,
which is protective. More soy foods are also recommended.
 If you suffer from hypertension, then you will want to reduce the amount of processed and
refined foods you consume, and increase intake of fruits and vegetables, which will deliver more
potassium and have a relaxant effect on blood vessels.
 Make sure you get enough Vitamin D. New research shows that Vitamin D has important
protecting effects, but that people are getting less of it from sun exposure because of sunscreens.
Go ahead, ask for more—58 percent of hiring managers
are willing to increase offers
If you’re in the business of finding a new job, you might want to stop and consider your offer before you
sign on. According to CareerBuilder.com, if the figure you’re being offered seems low—it probably is. In
a recent survey, conducted on 875 hiring managers, 58 percent said they leave some room for negotiation
when they make their initial offers.
Most hiring managers accommodate those who ask for a better salary, according to the survey. Almost
six in 10 reported that they will make a new offer once, and one in 10 will make a new offer twice or more
if they really want the candidate. Only 30 percent of the hiring managers say their first offer is their final
offer.
“Attempting to negotiate a better salary is almost always in a candidate’s best interest,” says Richard
Castellini, vice president of Consumer Marketing and senior career adviser for CareerBuilder.com. “In fact
nearly one in 10 hiring managers say they think less of a candidate who accepts the first offer. Salary
negotiations demonstrate a candidate’s determination, persistence and recognition of the value he or she
brings to an employer.”
Castellini says that the following tips can help candidates get a better offer:
 Prove your worth. Thirty-four percent of hiring managers say highlighting specific
accomplishments can help you negotiate a better salary in a convincing way.
 Make sure your references are strong. Why? Because almost one in three hiring managers say
they consider references first when it comes to salary negotiations.
 Know the market. One in 10 employers say knowing average salaries for your position and
market is the best way to get an edge.
 Be careful. Thirteen percent of hiring managers say that showing an offer from another
competitor is an effective tactic. But use caution, as this tactic can backfire and you could lose the
job completely.
Some days, you just need to know you’ve got a friend
Let’s be adults and face it: Some days in the workplace come close to being unbearable. And on those
days, if you have the option, it might be best to just get out. Cut your losses and call a friend to meet you
for shopping or dinner. Shift your focus to something more positive, or use your friend’s shoulder to cry
on. Your friend will probably know what you need and be more than happy to help you out. After all, part
of the joy of a good friendship is being there for the other person when life gets rough—and it does get
rough at times for everyone.
If you can’t leave the office and you’re feeling overwhelmed, maybe you can call your friend or e-mail
her or him. The point is you probably need to feel that someone “gets” you and is in your corner. With all
the push, pull and tug that can go on in the workplace (and it happens everywhere, folks, even the good
places), you have to develop your own outside support systems—and friends can be invaluable. Good ones
are like rocks; they keep us anchored during our personal storms.
If you’re the shy and retiring type, no one can blame you. But it might be good to get out there, take a
risk and develop a friendship or two you can rely on. And being there for another person can offer you huge
rewards psychologically as well.
It’s probably good to keep in mind the words of Abraham Lincoln—someone who probably needed
friends along the difficult path of his presidency: “The better part of one’s life consists of one’s
friendships.”
How to get the ball rolling on a new job in your
company
If you’re unhappy in your job, you might need to ask yourself what it is that you feel you want to do at
work. Is there some other job that might be a possibility that would fit who you are and your goals better?
If your answer to this question is yes, you might want to talk to your supervisor or HR representative about
the possibility of the change.
In the beginning, you’re probably best advised to keep the inquiry light. Going in and saying you’re
going crazy and you want a different job will probably lack the finesse you need to exhibit to pull off such
a coup. So how should you approach it? Appealing to the person you go to for help is a good first move.
Don’t proclaim dire unhappiness. Even if that’s the truth of the matter, it’s just not a good idea in the
workplace. Instead, ask the person you’ve gone to for help in exploring the possibility of future job
opportunities. This is probably the most nonthreatening way to approach a possible future change. And
appealing to the person as a source of help and information can inspire that person to help you purely for
the joy of helping someone. Most people like to feel that what they do is of benefit to others.
Once you’ve established your interest and you have a helper, then it’s advisable to take your time and
not be too demanding too fast. If, after a while, you have not made what you feel is acceptable progress,
then you might appeal to another helper (but be careful not to step on the toes of the first person you
approached) or explore other ways of achieving your goal.
While you’re doing this, you might want to reflect on the wise words of John Dewey, the American educator, philosopher and reformer: “To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity to do it is
the key to happiness.”
Go ahead, make a suggestion
At work initiative counts, and one way to show you’ve got it is to make good, well-thought-out
suggestions. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions because the truth is that employers want employee input.
Think about it. Work is generally a set of goals and the action it takes to get those goals accomplished.
There will be problems along the way—guaranteed. Suggestions can help employers solve those problems
more easily, more efficiently and more economically. You have to offer your suggestion with sincerity, and
that means that you’re making the suggestion because you truly believe in it— that you are not using it
merely as a vehicle to get ahead. Not that there’s anything wrong with getting ahead, but others can smell
self-interest in a suggestion. Try to keep your motivation as pure as possible. Here are a few tips from 1001
Ways to Take Initiative at Work, by Bob Nelson:
 Making a suggestion concerning the area where you work is a good idea. Why? Because it’s
likely you know the area well, and therefore you’ll probably make a good decision. You’ll want to
look for ways to save money, improve a service or streamline processes. Think about your ideas,
and if possible, test them out.
 If you’re going to make a suggestion, make sure you also have a way to implement it. Nelson
says that you need to be careful that your suggestion doesn’t inadvertently come off sounding like
a complaint. Think your plan through. Who would be involved? How much would it cost? What
are the benefits? Then volunteer to work on bringing the idea to fruition.


Develop yourself as a “suggestor.” Think about the possibilities and try to come up with at least
two suggestions per week—even if you end up not pitching them. Carry a pad and pencil with you
so you can jot down your thoughts. You’d be surprised at the great ideas that people think of that
are lost in the minutiae of the day because the person didn’t take the time to write them down.
Be supportive of others’ suggestions when you think they are good ideas. This will help you
develop important alliances at work—and the goodwill of your co-workers when you launch your
own suggestions.
Maybe you need to learn how to let go
Are you a micromanager? A second-guesser? If you are, you need to stop. This is not a healthy way to
manage people—for yourself or your employees.
As a manager, you need to look at your need to control. Are you trying to get your employees to do
things the way you do them because you think your way is superior? This is a dangerous mindset for a
manager because you are not looking ahead to the outcome but are getting caught up in controlling the
process, according to Johanna Rothman on the Rothman Consulting Web site. Is that what your really want
to do? Is it productive?
Many managers micromanage as a form of quality control. These managers often find themselves
working unbelievably long hours in order to redo the work of others. As a manager, you have to remember
that your job is not to make sure that everything your department or company puts out is perfect. If you’re
always swamped with work and you just can’t seem to let others take a piece of the responsibility pie—
then you’ve got a problem.
Learning to trust your staff and allowing them to make mistakes is part of being a mature manager.
Many managers believe that it is a virtue to make every decision along the way—to control every detail of,
well, everything. But the truth is a good manager helps make sure that his or her direct reports keep the
flow of work going. A good manager is more interested in the growth of his direct reports and the eventual
positive and freeing workplace that can be developed when they are operating as autonomously as possible.
To improve your ability to manage you will need to let go of your need to control quality at every
stop. You are not the quality control traffic cop. You are a manager, and that means you assist people in
being able to do their jobs—you don’t block their ability to do it by second guessing, redoing work and
spending long hours in the office.
Performance levels low? Ask this question
Are your workers consistently blowing it? Do you sense they are the most unmotivated workers on the
planet?
It’s true that there can be many reasons for lack of motivation in the office, and it’s up to you to root
out the problem. Here is a list of questions to ask yourself about how your office is run:
 Are promises made and not kept?
 Are raises and rewards always just around the corner?
 Is the management hypercritical, without really understanding what the workers are doing?
 Has an “us” versus “them” culture formed.
 Is the office equipment valued more than the employees?
 Is there a company line that employees are probably rolling their eyes at?
Once you figure out what’s going on then you can go to work on eliminating the offending practices or
you can try to improve on OK but imperfect behaviors.
Are your employees satisfied? They should be
Do your employees come to work for more than a paycheck? If not, then you’ve got a problem. You need
to make your workplace a positive environment—a place where people want to come to. How do you
accomplish getting people to want to come to work? According to Wolf J. Rinke, author of Don’t Oil the
Squeaky Wheel, you get people excited about coming to work by truly caring about employee satisfaction.
And what types of things breed satisfaction? According to Rinke, a variety of tactics are used by the
best companies. For instance, informal programs such as a “breakfast club” where the president shows up
and rubs elbows with everyone, suggestion boxes and recognition boxes.
It’s important to wrap your culture around employee satisfaction. And when you do, you’ll likely
find that you have satisfied customers—and a heftier bottom line as well.
How to know whether self-help advice is legit or bunk
Are you leery of some of the self-help advice out there? If so, then you might want to consider the seven
following tips by Stephen Kraus, author of Psychological Foundations of Success: A Harvard-Trained
Scientist Separates the Science of Success from Self-Help Snake Oil.
Kraus has a doctorate in social psychology from Harvard University (www.NextLevelSciences.com). Here
are his “Top Seven Signs a Marketer is Trying to Sell You Self-Help Snake Oil”:
 There are references to studies or statistics without documenting the sources used. Kraus
says that footnotes play a big role in reliable information and science. And if they’re absent, you
should be leery.
 Instant change is promised. Kraus says lasting change is a process that involves ups and downs.
He says you make the decision to change instantly, but you should probably expect to grapple with
some setbacks along the way.
 Effortless change is promised. Kraus says change that will be stable and lasting will probably
take some thought and effort on your part. He says the old axiom that if it sounds too good to be
true, it probably is, is a good thought to keep in mind when faced with evaluating self-help
materials.
 Information about the Yale Study of Goals is offered. Kraus says this is a great story: The 1953
graduating class at Yale was interviewed. During the interviews it was determined that 3 percent
of the class had specific written goals for their futures. After 20 years, that 3 percent was found to
be worth more than the other 97 percent—combined. Kraus says there’s only one problem: The
study never took place. It’s an urban legend.
 Promises of tapping the powers of the subconscious mind are made. Kraus says this is a sure
sign that you’re dealing with marketers and not psychologists.
 Promises of eliminating fear forever are made. Kraus says forget it. You’re never going to be
fear-free, because fear is important to our survival and is built into our lives for good reason—for
instance, if you’re about to be run over by a bus, it’s a good thing to be afraid because it is a
necessary call to action.
 The “fact” that people only use 10 percent of their brainpower is brought up. Kraus says this
is one of the oldest urban legends in psychology—and it’s not true. He says that if someone
removed 90 percent of your brain that you’d definitely notice—actually he says, you wouldn’t
notice, because you’d be dead.
In all things, be reasonable
What, in fact, does it mean to be reasonable? What does it mean to be unreasonable? And what does it
mean to reason?
According to James Allen in As a Man Thinketh, when we declare someone as being unreasonable, we
usually mean that he or she is violating the ideal of thinking about something and arriving at the “truth” of
a situation by using intellect.
So it follows that people who are dubbed reasonable in situations are looked upon as using their higher
powers of intellect to make a decision and in ways that are likely considered gentle and compassionate.
Now, we’ve all been unreasonable in life at one time or another—that is we’ve lost touch with our
higher selves and resorted to our lower faculties during which we behaved in ways that were likely
considered unthinking and selfish. Most people feel unhappy or undone when they abandon reason for
something more akin to animal behavior. But how does a person remain reasonable throughout some of the
stressful situations that seem to be just around each corner in life? Here are some tips for trying to maintain
your equilibrium in life’s trials:
 Stop before you speak or act. Think about what you are about to say or do? Is it unkind? Is it
vengeful? Is it self-centered? If so, you may have just thrown off the cloak of reason and donned
unreasonableness.
 Is what you are considering saying or doing sweet and forgiving? Is it gently persuasive?
 Is what you are about to do or say based on any type of prejudice?
 Are you trying to prove or disprove something?
 Have you carefully weighed and considered everything important about the situation?
 Is what you are about to do or say kind, moderate and just?
A few facts about substitute teachers
Remember how you used to torture those substitute teachers? Maybe that’s the reason there’s not exactly a
glut of them available now. Whatever the reason, there don’t seem to be enough substitute teachers to go
around. Here are some facts about substitute teachers in America according to the Substitute Teaching
Institute at Utah State University:
 One full year of a student’s K–12 education is taught by a substitute teacher.
 Eighty-six percent of school districts can’t find quality substitute teachers.
 Ninety percent of districts nationwide spend less than four hours training substitute teachers.
 Over $2 billion is spent annually on substitute teacher pay.
 Seventy-seven percent of teachers miss school to attend professional development classes.
Do you know from what family of languages English
originated from?
According to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, there are about 7,000 languages that
are still spoken on the planet. Of that number, scientists know only several hundred of them well,
possessing only partial or fragmentary knowledge of the rest. And did you know that Hindi, the national
language of India is genealogically (meaning it belongs to the same family of languages, but this does not
refer to a genetic heritage or a biological heritage) is related to the Germanic, Romance and Slavic
languages of Europe— and all of these languages go back to an Indo-European protolanguage which was
spoken around 6,000 years ago?
According to Bartleby.com, Indo-European is the name given to a linguistic system that originally
spread across Europe, Iran, Afghanistan and northern India. The descendants of this family of languages
spread across the Western Hemisphere during modern times.
English is the most prevalent of the Indo-European languages and is the native language of 350
million speakers. English is also the most important second language in the world today.
Emotional safety—does your child have enough of
it to learn?
Are you providing emotional safety for your children? It’s an important factor in the development of many
of the skills we most want to see in children, according to Beryl Lourens in a recent article in the journal
ChildrenFirst. In order for a child to develop emotional health he or she has to know that they will be
provided for and have the experience of warm and nurturing caregivers, who instill in the deepest fiber of
the child’s being that he or she is worthy. If a child lacks a warm and nurturing environment, he or she can
possibly grow up to believe that he or she in fact is no good or defective. This is what the renowned
psychologist Abraham Maslow referred to as the loss of self.
It is believed that stress in children, or anything that threatens their survival or their self-image, can
cause this loss of self. More specifically here is a list of childhood experiences that can negatively
determine a child’s sense of him- or herself.
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Poverty, or inadequate housing and poor nutrition.
Excessive rules and punishment or excessive leniency.
Verbal, physical or emotional violence.
A relationship with an emotionally dependent parent.
Abuse or trauma.
Extreme sibling rivalry.
Parent’s intense marital problems.
Parent’s prolonged illness, unemployment or death.
A parent who is rejecting, uncaring or emotionally unavailable.
Change in or loss of support.
Parent’s substance abuse, addiction or compulsive behavior.
Feelings are consistently dismissed or ignored by people they value.
Infrequent or inconsistent expressions of love and acceptance.
Conditional love based on appearance, achievement and social competence or how well a child
takes care of the adult’s needs.
Disregard for personal boundaries.
Lack of positive recognition or acknowledgement.
Efforts to control through shame, guilt or praise.
Perfectionistic demands or expectations that are developmentally unrealistic or inappropriate.
Messages about the child’s inadequacy.
E-textbooks haven’t caught on yet, but have great
potential in the future
Brown University is offering e-textbooks for some of its classes, but students aren’t exactly snapping them
up, despite the significant savings e-books can represent. Maybe that’s because, as reported in a CNN
Student Technology article, students can’t curl up with their e-books—or highlight them madly, as is a
college tradition, either.
As a matter of fact, of the 100 or so students enrolled in one course at Brown, only one student bought
the e-textbook. But even he admitted that most people wouldn’t think this was a better way to read and
study for a class. Brown is also offering e-textbooks in two of its other courses, and out of the 150 students
in those classes, none, not even one, has purchased an e-book. The e-book, by the way is offered at 35
percent off the price of the traditional hard copy book.
But even though e-books have not caught on yet, it’s not hard to imagine how someday they could be
highly desirable parts of curriculums. Imagine video demonstrations in science books of the double helix of
DNA or math books that have calculators and spreadsheets to complement lessons.
Are your e-mails egocentric? Researchers say the
answer is probably yes
New research shows that when most people communicate via e-mail, they’re not thinking about how the
other person will process the information, but are communicating egocentrically. According to the article
“Think your e-mails are clear? Maybe not,” by Johnathan Silverstein on the ABCNews Web site, that
means that people are approaching the information from how they think they would sound to themselves.
Justin Kruger, an associate professor at NYU, and Nicholas Eply, an associate professor at the
University of Chicago, are the authors of a paper on the subject recently published in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology that says people are not as good at expressing themselves and their
emotions via e-mail as they think they are.
The world of e-mail communication is chockfull of horror stories of misunderstandings, and the
sometimes tarnished reputations that result from miscommunications and misinterpretations. One problem,
Kruger says, is that it’s very hard to get beyond our own perspectives and realize how impoverished our
communications can be for other parties.
Kruger recommends that e-mail users use caution, both in the way they construct their communications
and in how they interpret what they receive.
Survey says huge numbers of Americans go to the
Internet purely for fun
Apparently, on just about any given day, 40 million Internet users are going online for no specific reason—
they’re just hanging out in cyberspace and having fun. According to the Pew Internet & American Life
Project this makes hanging out on the Net one of the most popular activities it has tracked. The only other
activities that Pew found more popular were sending and receiving e-mail, coming in at 52 percent of
Internet users per day, using a search engine, coming in at 38 percent of Internet users per day, and getting
news online, which came in at 31 percent of Internet users per day.
The survey showed a marked increase in people going onto the Net just for fun, as in 2004 only about
25 million Internet users on any given day were going on line strictly for fun. In the most recent survey, 66
percent of Internet users answered yes to the following question: “Do you ever go online for no particular
reason, just for fun or to pass time.” Then respondents were asked if they went online “yesterday.” Those
who answered yes were then asked, “Did you go online for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the
time yesterday?” Thirty percent then answered yes. Pew interprets that as meaning that 30 percent of
Internet users on a daily basis are going online purely for fun.
Study finds use of electronics on planes dangerous
A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University has found that cell phones and other portable electronic
devices—laptops and game-playing devices, for instance—can pose dangers to the normal operation of
critically important electronics on airplanes.
Bill Straus, an expert in aircraft electromagnetic compatibility at the Naval Air Warfare Center in
Patuxent River, Md., said, “We found that the risk posed by these portable devices is higher than previously believed. These devices can disrupt normal operation of key cockpit instruments, especially Global
Positioning Systems receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings.”
In conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, three major airlines and the Transportation
Security Agency, researchers flew the skies in the Northeast United States on commercial flights and
monitored radio emissions from passengers who were using cell phones and other electronic devices.
These emissions were tracked using a broadband antenna that was attached to a compact portable
spectrum analyzer that fit into a carry-on bag.
The researchers found that on average one to four cell phone calls are typically made during a flight in
the northeast United States. Some of these phone calls were made during critical phases of the flight—
climb-outs and final approaches. Researchers said the calls could cause accidents.
The researchers recommended that the FAA and the Federal Communications Commission begin to
coordinate electronic emissions standards. The researchers also recommended routine monitoring of onboard radio emissions and deploying special tools for flight crews to monitor passenger use of electronic
devices during final approach.
Are your fruits and vegetables poisoning you?
You probably remember one of the biggest cases of food-borne illness in this country when, in 2003, 555
people were sickened and three people died from eating—green onions. Who knew that something so
seemingly, well, healthy could actually make you sick and kill you?
According to a Prevention.com article by Louisa Kamps, most Americans know that they can get poisoned from meats, but a lot of people have no idea that fruits and vegetables can also harbor harmful
microbes. There are a whopping 76 million cases of food poisoning per year in America. But the truth is the
majority of food poisoning cases go unrecognized and unreported as well. About 25,000 cases per year are
investigated, and about a third of them are usually attributed to tainted produce. Kamps says that
Americans experience 200,000 to 800,000 cases of food poisoning a day, and that experts think up to onethird of these cases can be caused by produce.
No one thinks that people should cut back on eating fruits and vegetables to avoid contracting a foodborne illness. After all, it’s well documented that there are seemingly endless benefits from them. But there
are some things that you can do to reduce the chances that you or someone in your family might get sick
from tainted produce:
 Always wash your hands before you handle produce.
 Always wash cutting boards, knives and other equipment before using them on produce.
 Wash your fruits and vegetables.
 Dry your produce with a paper towel, rather than letting it air dry.
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Wash even the rinds of produce you’re going to cut— such as cantaloupe. This is to reduce the
chance that your knife will transfer bacteria to the fruit. Also, make sure you cut away any bruised
or soft areas of your fruits and vegetables.
Refrigerate cut fruit and vegetables. And don’t eat foods that have been left out for more than two
hours.
If you go into a restaurant and the workers or place looks dirty and unkempt, leave.
If you see a restaurant worker fail to wash his or her hands in the restroom—let the person know
and insist he or she wash up.
Be careful at farmers’ markets. Why? Because some vendors hawk their goods by using a knife
and cutting off slices of produce. Then they wipe the knife on their shirt or pants and cut the next
piece. Not a good idea.
Don’t eat condiments such as salsa or chutney if you suspect it has been recycled from another
customers’ leftovers.
Grim financial realties for some women
Women often make murky financial decisions and can suffer severely from it, so says Liz Perle in Money:
A Memoir, her often gut-wrenching book on her own relationship with money. Perle says, “More women
will file for bankruptcy this year than will graduate from college, suffer a heart attack, or be diagnosed with
cancer.” She also reports that if you have children in your household, you’re 75 percent more likely to be
late making your credit card payments. Perle says that research points to this very serious financial reality:
The birth of a child is the single biggest predictor that a woman will face financial collapse (based on
research by Harvard University’s Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi).
Leave the big decisions on the back burner—but think
small purchases over carefully
If you agonize over those big purchases, and skip over the small decisions easily, you’ve got it all wrong,
according to Dutch researchers.
According to Ap Dijksterhuis, of the University of Amsterdam, and his team, the big complex buying
decisions are best left to the unconscious mind, because the conscious mind can only focus on a few things
at once, and the unconscious can process a lot of facts and figures.
As reported by Deborah Smith in The Age, Dijksterhuis says it is important to gather all the information you need to make a purchase, but the conscious mind can only consider a few factors when it comes
to decision making. Not only that, but the conscious mind tends to inflate certain attributes and deflate
others, and this process usually leads to making worse purchasing choices.
In the study, subjects were asked to pick the best of four cars, considering leg room, the sound system
and handling. They were given four minutes to do this. In this scenario the subjects easily chose the best
car.
When the subjects were asked to make the decision based on 12 attributes, though, they faltered. When
they were given a puzzle to work on after having been exposed to the decision making attributes, however,
they were more than twice as likely to pick the best car than the people who merely weighed the pros and
cons of the attributes.
Dijksterhuis says that during unconscious thought, larger amounts of information can be integrated.
Don’t get ripped off when you buy a house
If you’re buying a house, buyer beware. Beware of what? Well of exorbitant closing costs that might pad
the bill you end up paying. Most people don’t buy houses on a regular basis and so they are not prepared
for how confusing the process can be.
Stephen Gandel, a writer for Money magazine, says it’s always a good idea to ask “What are these fees
for” and “What did you do for these fees?” The truth is, Gandel says, that a lot of the time they won’t be
able to tell you what’s been done and why you’re being charged that fee. Watch out for answers such as
“It’s standard.” Shoot back, “Standard for what?” If you question your mortgage broker, chances are you
can do quite a bit to reduce your closing fees—because they are really just junk fees. The process is
confusing because it’s set up to be confusing—to take advantage of you.
Gandel says buyers have to be careful because many mortgage companies hide behind the practice by
saying that everything they are doing is perfectly legal and that they are operating within the industry standard. He says that’s true—and the industry standard is to charge you more than you should be charged.
Elizabeth Leamy did a story about how to save thousands on your closing costs for ABCNews and
says that the best thing homebuyers can do is learn the lingo of mortgage companies, and prepare to battle.
Here are her tips for being a savvy consumer:
 Shop around for mortgages—and be aggressive when you ask about whether the terms for closing
costs could change.
 Get a written quote from your title agent or closing attorney. If the bill is higher in the end, ask
why.
 Let the people you’re dealing with know from the start that you will not pay padded closing
costs—and you plan on asking for receipts.
 Check to see if there’s a limit on mortgage fees in your state.
 Check with local government about how it calculates real estate taxes—then check and see if your
title agent has padded the fees.
On living with purpose
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of
destructive selfishness.
—Martin Luther King Jr.
What one has, one ought to use; and whatever he does, he should do with all his might.
—Cicero
Nothing of worthy or weight can be achieved with half a mind, with a faint heart, and with a lame endeavor.
—Isaac Barrow
Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of
success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies.
—Lord Chesterfield
On fear
Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet
discovered to conquer fear.
—Dale Carnegie
On being a father
It is much easier to become a father than to be one.
—Kent Nerburn
The secret of life
The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners,
but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there
are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.
—George Bernard Shaw
On kindness
Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on; ’Twas not given for thee alone, Pass
it on; Let it travel down the years, Let it wipe another’s tears. Pass it on.
—The Rev. Henry Burton
Kindness is good will. Kindness says, “I want you to be happy.”
—Randolph Ray
On right living
Be the change you want to see in the world.
—Mohandas Gandhi
On being human
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for
what he is.
—Francis Bacon Sr.
On having a sense of humor
A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.
—Dwight David Eisenhower
On opportunity
Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.
—Thomas Edison
On work
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.
—Unknown
On vision
Vision is where tomorrow begins, for it expresses what you and others who share the vision will be working hard to create. Since most people don’t take the time to think systematically about the future, those who
do, and who base their strategies and actions on their visions, have inordinate power to shape the future.
—Burt Nanus
On what can happen
Anything can happen, but it usually doesn’t.
—Robert Benchley
On resentment
If there is one thing that I resent (and there is), it is to be told that I resent being told anything.
—Robert Benchley
On nostalgia
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
—Peter de Vries
On fathers
A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
—anonymous
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s
wrong.
—Charles Wadsworth
On how to diaper a baby
Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then, fold second base down to home and
set the baby on the pitcher’s mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three
together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again.
—Jimmy Piersal
On working mothers
The phrase “working mother” is redundant.
—Jane Sellman
On worry
The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
—Robert Frost
On work
My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who
take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.
—Indira Gandhi
On success
The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
—Anonymous
There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?
—Kin Hubbard
On the easy life
There are moments when everything goes well; don’t be frightened, it won’t last.
—Jules Renard
On wisdom
A word to the wise ain’t necessary. It’s the stupid ones who need the advice.
—Bill Cosby
On advice
I always advise people never to give advice.
—P.G. Wodehouse
Think on this thing
I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.
—Steven Wright
On computers
That’s what’s cool about working with computers. They don’t argue, they remember everything and they
don’t drink all your beer.
—Paul Leary
The story of the mustard seed
In a far away land, lived a young woman and her name was Kisagotami. Now this young woman had only
one son—and she loved him with all her heart. But one day her beloved boy fell sick and, despite all the
young mother’s efforts to save him, he tragically died. The young mother was so distraught at her loss that
she was not able to accept the death and loss of her son, and so desperately, the young mother approached
each one of her friends and begged them, “Please, save my child.” But each one of her friends said the
same thing: “Kisagotami, dear one, the child is dead. There is nothing now that can save him.”
But the grieving mother refused to accept her friends’ well-meaning words. Instead she carried her
child to the Buddha. Weeping uncontrollably, Kisagotami said, “Please save my child. Please give me
some medicine that will cure him.”
Buddha looked at the woman with compassion and wisdom, he told the young mother that he would
make a medicine for the child, but to do so the Buddha would need some special ingredients—among the
things the Buddha said he would need was a handful of mustard seed.
However, the Buddha gave the young mother some special instructions for procuring the mustard
seeds: “You must get the mustard seeds from a household where not one of its inhabitants has died—
parent, child or servant.”
And so the aggrieved mother set out to accomplish the task. She went from house to house in the hope
that she would find just such mustard seed as the Buddha desired for the medicine. And every person she
spoke to very gladly offered her the seed in the hope that it would save the child’s life. But each time the
seed was offered and Kisagotami asked whether anyone had died in the house, she found that every single
household had suffered just such a loss. At the first house she stopped at, it was the husband who had died.
At the second house she stopped at, it was a daughter who had died. And at the third, it was an old grandmother. Kisagotami could not find one household that had escaped suffering.
Very sadly, Kisagotami returned to the Buddha and very, very gently she laid her child’s body on the
ground, and said, “I understand now what you and the others were trying to tell me.
The compassionate Buddha said, “You thought you were alone in your suffering. But it is the nature of
life that no one can escape the suffering of impermanence.”
This is a well-known Buddhist tale adapted from Tales for Change: Using Storytelling to Develop
People and Organizations, by Margaret Parkin
Everyone is a beginner in the beginning
Eugene O’Neill is widely acknowledged as America’s greatest playwright. Once the writer had become
famous, some of his co-workers who knew him when he was working as a cub reporter enjoyed recalling
that they thought O’Neill was an unlikely candidate for literary fame, according to the Eugene O’Neill
Newsletter. From their tales of woe about working with O’Neill at the local Telegraph, it seemed that
O’Neill might have set a record for new journalistic lows. It was rumored that O’Neill’s work habits
included smoking and staring off into the distance and rarely turning in copy.
The city editor at the Telegraph, Malcolm Mollan, once complimented the young reporter on how he
had set the scene for the story. Then Mollan dryly said, “But would you mind finding out the name of the
gentleman who carved the lady and whether the dame is his wife or daughter or who? And phone the
hospital for a hint as to whether she is dead or discharged or what? Then put the facts into a hundred and
fifty words and send this literary batik to the picture framers.” (Philadelphia Public Ledger, Jan. 22, 1922)
Hitting the fan
Swearing seems to be a bit more acceptable these days than it used to be. And so, you don’t get the colorful
euphemistic exclamations that were constantly being created to replace swear words in days gone by, when
it was considered very bad taste to use the name of God or Jesus or other religious figures in your everyday
rantings.
Of course, the English being who they are have a long history of employing euphemistic phrases. This
probably comes of the very English desire to communicate but not be explicit at the same time. This likely
gave rise to the delight the English took in their comedies, according to the Web site Phrases.org.uk.Look
back into time and you’ll find a rich history of comedies based on double entendres.
And we can probably thank the folks across the pond for “minced oaths” as well. Minced oaths are
subgroups of euphemisms, according to Answers.com. They’re something that people say instead of
swearing when they’re surprised or annoyed. So for instance, if there were delicate-eared folks around, you
might say “Fudge bars” instead of …well, you get it, right?
Here is a list of some minced oaths gleaned from Answers.com and Wikipedia:
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Bejabbers • Figs
Blimey • For crying out loud
By George • Freaking
By golly • Frickin’
By gosh • Fudge
By gum • Fup duck
Christmas • Gadzooks
Crikey • Gee whiz
Cripes • Gee willikers
Crud • God bless America
Dablastit • Golly
Dad gum • Good grief
Dagnabbit • Heck
Dang • Holy cow
Darn • Jeepers creepers
Doggone • Jiminy Christmas
Drat • Jiminy Cricket
Egads • Judas Priest
Feck • Jumping Jehosaphat
Fiddlesticks • Sam Hill
Sheesh • Sufferin’ succotash
Shoot • Sugar
Son of a gun • Tarnation
To tell the truth
Once a young man from Ohio was running for the Senate. One day his political adviser called him into his
office and seemed quite upset.
“What’s wrong?” the young politician asked.
“You’re going to have to go to Cleveland right away or you’re going to lose a lot of votes,” the adviser
said. “They’re telling a bunch of lies about you there.”
The young politician thoughtfully rubbed his chin and said, “Well, I’ve got to go to Cincinnati first.”
“Why do you have to go to Cincinnati?” the adviser asked.
“They’re telling the truth about me there,” the candidate replied. As retold from Good Clean Jokes, by
Anne Kostick, Charles Foxgrover and Michael J. Pellowski
Keeping a stopwatch on your desk might be a good idea
Georges Doriot invented the practice that has become known in recent times as venture capitalism. In other
words, he had the ability to assess thousands of business proposals and then fund the best ones. According
to the PBS Web site, Doriot pioneered the development of venture capitalism in the 1950s. He was born in
France in 1899, and then traveled to the United States to study. He ended up staying on and working for an
investment bank and taught at Harvard Business School.
The savvy businessman was known for keeping a stopwatch on his desk and telling those who asked
him about it, “Sometimes I use it to see how long it takes someone in a meeting to tell me the same thing
three times.”
Now that’s Depp
It seems that the wildly famous Johnny Depp has a rather odd sense of humor. According to Wikipedia, in
the film Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,Depp (who was the star of A Nightmare on Elm Street) can
be viewed appearing in the background on a television screen. In the credits, Depp is recognized by the
moniker “Oprah Noodlemantra.” It’s widely reported that Depp uses this name when he stays at hotels
because he likes his wakeup call to make him laugh.
Is your ice cream feeling a little warm?
The two substances in ice cream that are usually varied are the amount of fat and air that are incorporated.
According to On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee, “ice cream is
a foam that is stabilized by freezing much of the liquid.” So if you’ve ever bought an ice cream that seems
a bit warmer and fluffier than other versions you’ve had, the reason is probably because the brand you’ve
bought is cheaper and incorporates more air. What this means is that the sensation of coldness is lessened
because there is less ice and less icy solution because more air has been added to the frozen foam mixture.
Another thing that can happen is that fat content can be reduced in a brand. This can in reverse fashion
result in a product that feels colder. This is because the fat globules are not present to break up the ice
crystals. Often this also produces a grainy, ice-flecked texture to the brand—think ice milk and sherbet
products.
Maybe joining a professional organization is a good idea
Wanna join a fun organization? How about the Bentonville, Ohio, Anti-Horse Thief Society? According
Neil Zurcher, lifetime member of the society and author of Strange Tales from Ohio, lots of folks have
been sending in the $1 donation to become lifetime members. In an article in Country Living,Zurcher says
there are now thousands of members worldwide. The organization was started in 1853 when stealing horses
was a serious crime. Local residents in Bentonville formed the society to help curb the crime. The group’s
original mission was to find stolen horses and then hang the thieves.
Verna Naylor, 89, is now in charge of the operation. She’s also the postmaster of Bentonville. She
thinks the society is basically a fun thing for people to join now. To become a member send your $1
donation to the Bentonville Anti-Horse Thief Society, c/o Verna Naylor, Bentonville, OH, 45105.
Can computers help illiterate people have a better life?
When most people think of technology, they’re usually not also thinking of female domestic workers in
India. But Microsoft, in collaboration with local advocacy groups is.
Researchers are trying to come up with ways that computer technology can help illiterate people of
the world. One project, focused on female domestic workers in India, has tried to come up with more
efficient ways for the workers to find jobs. The attempt to use technology with illiterate people has not
been without its difficulties, however.
According to a recent Associated Press story, the first step in the process was that researchers had to
get over their own ideas of how technology should work and serve the people. Assumptions about what
would be helpful had to be thrown out, and researchers had to listen to what the women wanted from
technology.
The women in the study apparently thought their traditional word-of-mouth system worked just fine—
and they did not understand how the technology might be helpful to them—even though they understood
the technology. Researchers had to figure out how to get the message that the technology could help them
find jobs more efficiently—which eventually might translate into more cash for them. So a video that used
a “Bollywood” style scenario that included a woman complaining to her husband that she needed another
job and then using a computer to find it was created— and that got the message across.
What treasures might be found in an attic?
You never know what might be lying around in your attic. Journalist Ken Wilkie was covering a story
about Vincent Van Gogh by following in the footsteps of the now famous artist, and his inquiries took him
to England where Van Gogh as a young man had gone to work as an apprentice art dealer. While in
England Vincent lived a lonely life and eventually, it is known from his letters he fell in love with his
landlady’s daughter. The girl, however, did not return Vincent’s feelings and rejected him. Vincent was so
hurt—that he set out on a path that would lead eventually to his total devotion to art.
After much research, the address of where Van Gogh had lived as a boarder was finally determined.
Wilkie visited the residence and snapped off a few photographs of the building. After much investigation,
Wilkie successfully located the granddaughter of the woman who had spurned Vincent. The journalist told
the woman that it was her grandmother that Vincent, one of the Western world’s most famous artists, had
fallen in love with—and that it was her rejection that eventually led Van Gogh to become an artist. The
woman was shocked, and she offered to look through her old photographs to see if she could find any of
her grandmother. This would be the first look the world had ever gotten of the woman Vincent had fallen in
love with. She invited Wilkie to come by the following day.
Wilkie arrived at Kathleen Maynard’s home and was treated to tea and sandwiches. As Wilkie talked
to Maynard he spotted an old cardboard box. Mrs. Maynard had already gone through the box and pulled
out pictures of her grandmother, Vincent’s love interest, and her great grandmother, Vincent’s landlady.
Wilkie was delighted. Even so, he asked Maynard if he might take a peek through the old box. Maynard
agreed and Wilkie eagerly sorted through the contents.
At the very bottom of the box Wilkie saw an old drawing, stained and soiled with time, of the very
address he had photographed a few days before. He says he felt his skin tingle as he realized what he was
looking at. A new Van Gogh work had been found.
The story of the “Coolidge effect”
President Calvin Coolidge and his wife visited a government farm and were taken on separate tours.
When Mrs. Coolidge was taken by the chicken pen she asked one of the supervisors if the roosters
copulated more than once a day.
“Why, yes, they do, ma’am,” the supervisor answered. “Dozens of times.”
“Tell that,” Mrs. Coolidge said, “to the president.”
A while later, when the president was passing by the chicken pens, the supervisor told him about
the roosters and about his wife’s comment.
The president thought for a moment and asked, “The same hen every time?”
“Oh, no,” the supervisor said, “a different chicken every time.”
“Tell that,” the president said with a sly nod, “to Mrs. Coolidge.”
And that is how researchers later came to refer to the practice of introducing new females to spike
the interest of males in biological studies as the “Coolidge effect.”
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