Last week I would not have believed our city is facing what it is. In ‘97 I was a freshman at NDSU and thought that was the worse flooding I would ever see. Our family is lucky to live in a place where flooding is not a concern, but I know many people who aren’t so lucky. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who are battling this flood. This has been a crazy week to say the least. I didn’t go to work on Tuesday because of the blizzard and only worked half a day today. I work south of Mandan and had to leave before they set off the explosions on the river and before 1806 closed. We live in south Bismarck, but our school is not one of the schools that is closed tomorrow. However, many families at our school are being affected by the flood. There were only six kids in Fred’s class today. When I went to pick him up from school, the whole school was eerily quiet. Everyone had also gotten things off the floor and bottom shelves, just in case the worse happens. Fred’s teacher said all the kids were great helpers with that. It is good to see the community rallying around those who need help. This is one of the reasons I knew this was were I wanted to raise my family. Hopefully things start to turn around tomorrow and we can get back to normal.

By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — Eric Szatkowski is a Wisconsin Justice Department special agent, but on that Sunday afternoon he entered an online chat room as a 14-year-old boy.

He claimed he was into weightlifting, AC/DC and muscle magazines. Then he waited.

Within hours, screen name Paul2u sent a message: “Hi. u realy 14?”

Over the past decade, agents and computer experts have gone after hundreds of people like Paul2u who solicit sex from kids or trade child pornography online. Police efforts around the country were all the rage with the media in the early 2000s, reaching a crescendo with Dateline NBC’s “To Catch A Predator” series.

Despite the publicity then and now, the bad guys haven’t gone away. They’ve quietly multiplied. Trading child porn online and grooming underage targets in chat rooms has exploded nationwide. With arrests more than quadrupling in 10 years, Wisconsin’s agents and analysts feel overwhelmed.

“I don’t think we’ve made significant progress at all,” Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said. “Our community leaders don’t even know how bad the problem is. The general population has no idea.”

In the past year, Van Hollen has raised the profile of Wisconsin’s Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, unit, recruited local police departments to help and asked for more state dollars to help agents like Szatkowski, who adopted the 14-year-old’s persona.

“If I’m too young that’s ok,” the agent wrote back to Paul2u that Sunday back in 2002, adding: “Lots of dudes call me jail bait.”

“Well, yeah, if you get caught,” Paul2u replied, “but if you’re willing its doable.”

The hook was set.

___

The Internet was just gaining traction when an online child porn arrest was made by Wisconsin’s Justice Department in 1995. The next year saw six arrests. The year after that, 13. By then agency officials realized what the future held, said Mike Myszewski, administrator of department’s Criminal Investigation unit.

Using $300,000 in federal seed money, he set up one of the first units to combat Internet crimes against children. Today about 60 such task forces exist nationwide.

Szatkowski, a homicide investigator with years of undercover experience, was an early volunteer for the group, which focused at first on “travelers,” people like Paul2u who solicit sex from children online and arrange meetings with them. The unit made 18 arrests the first year, 36 in 2000 and 24 in 2001.

The numbers from units across the country were so encouraging federal officials thought they could eradicate chat room solicitation within three years, Myszewski said.

Then computers and Internet connections got cheap. More people could afford to go online. The bad guys got smarter, too. They wanted to talk to the person on the other end of the modem and see photographs. “To Catch a Predator” only made them more cautious, Szatkowski said. Wisconsin arrests dropped, from 24 in 2001 to 17 in 2002 to 11 in 2003.

Meanwhile, online child porn became more sophisticated. New peer-to-peer file sharing software enabled porn purveyors to send photographs and videos directly to each other’s computers in seconds, anywhere in the world.

___

Szatkowski and Paul2u exchanged messages for an hour.

Paul2u asked Szatkowski about his sexual experience with men and said he’d love to see him more than once. At one point Paul2u asked Szatkowski if he was a cop. They agreed to exchange photos.

Szatkowski sent a photo of Racine County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Prochaska when Prochaska was 13. Szatkowski typed that he could sneak out but didn’t want to spend all night with him. He had school in the morning.

Fine, Paul2u replied. They could “do it” in his van.

Paul2u asked Szatkowski to call him. Prochaska made the call and agreed to meet Paul2u in half an hour.

Szatkowski glanced at Paul2u’s photograph, hit print and rushed out of the office without taking a second look. Later, he wished he had.

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The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s cyber tip line took 85,301 reports of child porn and 8,787 reports of online enticement last year. Investigations of Internet crimes against children resulted in 3,000 arrests nationwide in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The statistics show how an entire generation has moved online, seeking reinforcement from others with the same abhorrent sexual tastes, said Michelle Collins, executive director of the missing children center’s exploited child division.

Most disturbing is the correlation between child porn and enticement, said Wisconsin forensic computer analyst Dave Matthews. Viewing leads to doing, he said.

“They’re grooming themselves,” Matthews said.

Wisconsin’s unit moved from busting travelers to taking down porn users. The state justice department began training every criminal agent in its Division of Criminal Investigation to help, Msyzewski said. Arrests have hovered around 100 annually since 2004.

___

Szatkowski, his partner, Mike Hoell, and Prochaska sat at a Country Kitchen in Racine, watching the clock as they waited for Paul2u. Prochaska, playing the role of the boy, wore a yellow jacket and backward baseball cap.

They talked about everything Paul2u had said to Szatkowski online and how they hoped he would park in front, where they’d see him. They kept looking around, making sure Paul2u hadn’t come in through a back door.

Around 10:45 p.m., a brown Ford van pulled into the parking lot and flashed its lights at Prochaska.

___

Ramping up the fight against child cyber crime comes with a price.

The Wisconsin task force’s five full-time agents and six full-time computer analysts are swamped, mentally and physically. They analyze hard drives, catalog tips, write search warrant affidavits and criminal complaints, break down doors, and interview children as young as 3.

On a recent winter morning, agent Jenniffer Price was working 43 cases, all stacked neatly on her Madison office desk.

“We simply don’t have enough cops on the street to do the work that needs to be done,” Price said. “We’ve got so many offenders out there. I just see the balloon getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The work takes its toll.

Szatkowski barred his children from sleepovers, instant messaging, social networking and online games when they were young.

Matthews, a unit analyst since 2005, specializes in tracking down porn users. In the last six months he’s identified about 50 leads for agents that have resulted in cases.

He said the Internet has become an adult bookstore that pushes sexual deviants to act on their desires for children. He copes by not socializing with other ICAC agents and keeping his imagination in check.

“Mainly you just shut down a part of your brain that makes you feel like crap,” Matthews said.

Analyst Chris Byars spends days scanning seized porn for clues. Last summer she sat outside her home in central Wisconsin, trying to watch people stroll by, and had to go inside.

“All of a sudden I’m wondering how many people in Lodi right now are assaulting or abusing their children,” she said. “I don’t think you can turn it off.”

Meanwhile, Van Hollen, the attorney general, has worked to draw attention to cyber crimes and get ICAC help. News releases trumpet each bust, and the state has sponsored 300 public workshops on cyber crime.

Van Hollen also has pushed local law enforcement leaders to join the unit as affiliates, creating a statewide net of cyber sleuths and easing the burden on his agents. Seventy-four agencies have joined. Hundreds haven’t.

When they plead that they lack resources, he has a ready answer: “I say what’s more important — these 10 speeders getting tickets or this kid not getting sexually molested?”

Van Hollen asked Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle for $732,000 in the 2009-2011 state budget to hire two more agents and three more analysts, despite the state’s $5.7 billion deficit. Doyle allocated funds for one agent and one analyst. The federal stimulus package could add money.

Analyst Matthews just wants help, saying: “If pedophiles in this state feel that the odds are in their favor when they’re browsing for and downloading child pornography, that they probably won’t get caught, right now, I’ll tell you that’s true.”

___

The van sat in the Country Kitchen parking lot.

The agents’ adrenaline surged. Paul2u’s action in simply pulling into the parking lot was enough for them to make an arrest. The sheriff’s deputies closed in and ordered the driver out.

Hoell and Szatkowski stepped into the wet, 35-degree night and started walking toward them.

Then Szatkowski stopped short.

He recognized Paul2u.

The cyber predator was 46-year-old Robert E. Thibault — Szatkowski’s children’s religion teacher. Szatkowski had seen him in church that morning.

Hoell found a bag of sex toys in the van. Thibault told Hoell later that he would have had sex with the boy if they liked each other, adding he’d had about 20 conversations with minor males online over the last couple years.

Later that night Szatkowski looked at the photograph on his printer. He thought about how Thibault had been at his daughter’s First Communion.

“It just reinforced … you don’t put faith in a person,” he said. “In my heart, I can forgive anyone for anything, including him. Forgiveness is huge if you’re going to be a good Catholic. (But) that feeling of betrayal will be there forever.”

A judge sentenced Thibault to 10 years in prison on conspiracy to sexually assault a child, but stayed the time and ordered him to spend a year in jail with work release. That was modified to electronic monitoring. The jail was too crowded.

Since the arrest in the Country Kitchen parking lot, Szatkowski has lured priests, teachers, police officers — even a mayor. In January, the agent posed online as a 14-year-old girl and allegedly engaged in a conversation with Racine Mayor Gary Becker. According to a criminal complaint, Becker showed up at a suburban Milwaukee mall hoping to meet the girl for sex. Becker, who has since resigned, faces eight felony counts. He pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

“When you’re a child, you shouldn’t have to be exposed to this stuff,” Szatkowski said.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press

By Rachael Bogert, McClatchy Newspapers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Staying in is the new going out.

The state of the economy seems to worsen daily, so more families are staying at home, trying to find ways to bond without blowing cash.

Enter the board game.

Since the economy began its dive, board game sales have been rising, according to marketing research from NPD Group Inc.

During bad economic times, board games and the family game night start to make a whole lot of sense as a way to entertain everybody on the cheap. In other words, when times are lean, we’re stuck with each other, so we might as well have some fun while we’re at it.

In the Wordelman household there are parents Mira and Gary and kids Danielle, 17; Michael, 15; David, 10; and Madelyn, 9. The family lives in Foresthill, Calif., where it’s chilly after the sun goes down. But on game night, there is a fire going and a broad, empty table in the dining nook. The room smells like the pecan pie and coffee that Mira is making, and if there’s any homework left, it can wait until later.

This is board-game country.

The entertainment tonight is Cranium, a game in which teams race to the center of the board by solving puzzles, answering trivia and performing variations on charades.

Game nights are typical in this house. With six people in the family, Mira says, they’ve always been “frugal even when things were good.”

Gary adds that it’s the best way for everyone in the family to do something together.

“Even if we do go to the movies, we have the teenagers and the little guys, and we usually end up splitting up,” he says. “This way, everyone is playing and everyone is having fun and laughing.”

Also, consider this: A brand-new Cranium set costs $24.99 on Amazon.com. If the Wordelmans played it only once, that’s a few dollars per person for at least an hour of entertainment.

The Wordelmans haven’t been too affected by the economy so far. Mira is the principal at St. Joseph School of Auburn, Calif., where Madelyn and David are students, and Gary is a network operations manager for SureWest Communications. With both jobs, it’s so far, so good.

Danielle, a Loretto High School senior, is sitting at the head of the table reading the rules. She’s thinking of studying in England and she’s also been accepted to New York University.

Michael, a freshman at Jesuit High School, will head off to college in a few years.

Even in a good economy, paying two tuitions can be a challenge.

Those thoughts seem far away though, at least for now. This is game night, and it’s boys against girls.

CATALYST FOR CONVERSATION

As is almost always the case with family game nights, more than just the game is being discussed.

For example, there is a tiny drama with Michael potentially going to Danielle’s senior prom as another girl’s date. Danielle isn’t too keen.

But she’s immediately distracted when the game requires that she perform something known as “Sculptorades.” This means she has to mold clay to represent the word from the card she drew.

Danielle fumbles the clay and the time runs out.

“It’s an atomic bomb, I was trying to make a mushroom cloud,” she says.

Her team doesn’t seem too disappointed; they’re all laughing too much.

Note that at this table the two teenagers are having just as much fun as their younger siblings.

“I could care less about the board game. It’s about sitting here with my family,” says Michael.

Danielle is all about games herself. She usually carries a deck of cards in her purse.

Out in Shingle Springs, Calif., the Spencer family is also big into board games.

Parents Michelle and Andrew and their two daughters, Mediae, 11; and Elizabeth, 9, live amid ranch land about an hour’s drive from downtown Sacramento, Calif. They don’t get cable or cell phone reception, so naturally, the Spencers have mastered the art of entertaining themselves.

When they play board games, they like to play with other families and friends.

For the Spencers, board games, cards and charades are ways to get everybody going and connecting. The fun, they say, is what comes from the players, not the game.

“It’s just a great time. We have friends in San Jose that we play board games with for entire weekends,” says Michelle. “I love seeing which games set people off and really get them competing.”

So far, Michelle is faring well in this economy. She’s the academy administrator for Visions in Education Charter School, which has seen an uptake in enrollment rather than a decline.

When the couple had kids, they decided that one parent would stay home.

Andrew is “Mr. Mom” and takes his role seriously. Elizabeth is still in her dance clothes. She and her sister take dance and piano lessons and are pretty busy kids.

It’s a welcome break for everyone to sit down and play a game together.

Michelle wants to play Blocks, a strategy game. But Elizabeth overrules that one. The family will be playing Whinny, another game by the makers of Cranium.

“See, on game night, picking games and playing, it creates arguments,” says Andrew. “But you know, fun arguments. We’re just mixing it up.”

SOME FAMILY SURPRISES

In Whinny, players anticipate the likes and dislikes of the other players and score points when their guesses turn out to be accurate.

Elizabeth goes first.

It turns out she likes “pumpkin carving” the most and as a surprise second, she likes “remote controls.” If she has the remote, she can pick the Disney Channel.

“So ‘remote controls’ represent power?” says Michelle. “This is why games are so much fun, it leads to interesting conversation threads where you just get onto other things.”

When it’s Andrew’s turn, you’d think Michelle would have an edge; they’ve been together for about 20 years.

“Hut, I’d have thought you liked checkers more than you liked soccer,” says Michelle.

But no, Andrew likes to run more than he likes to sit.

“Whoonu,” says Michelle.

TOP OF THE BOARDS

Scanning the Web for the most popular and best-selling board games, these are the names that pop up on multiple lists:

Monopoly

Risk

Scrabble

Checkers

Battleship

Stratego

Backgammon

Outburst

Password

Chess

That’s Life

Apples to Apples

Cranium

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(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

I think singing in the shower is a universal thing. I think before Americans got so darn involved in hygiene we did it in the rain. Heck, there was even a famous song about it – “Singing in the Rain.”

Danni, my six-year-old daughter has been belting out the Star Spangled Banner lately. Her first-grade class studied and learned the lyrics earlier this year. The song is full of difficult words and probably seems a little strange to young kids.

One thing unites all generations about the song is that it is painful to sing well. Almost nobody does a good job with our national anthem.

Consider a rock genius like Jimmy Hendrix – his brains really came to light when he made the decision not to sing the lyrics, just rip out the music to our beloved anthem.

Danni carries on the tradition by not providing the most inspirational performance of the anthem, but it’s worth a laugh. The tune is off through much of the song, just like her clothes, but the words are spot on. And I think she even got her ramparts clean. Enjoy.

By BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — If you have a son over age 10, you may be familiar with a fragrance I refer to as “Eau de Boy.”

Eau de Boy comes in two unforgettable scents: Locker Room and Axe.

If you live with the Locker Room variety, then you have one of those boys who won’t shower and whose socks and T-shirts must be decontaminated by a HazMat team before going in the laundry.

But if it’s the smell of Axe deodorant you’re used to, then you’ve got a kid who creates giant vapor clouds every time he sprays himself with the stuff, causing you to run around opening windows, hoping it dissipates before the entire family passes out.

Susan Wilson, a mother of two boys from Scottsdale, Ariz., had to ban Axe body wash in her house. “The 13-year-old was pretty responsible, but the 10-year-old was out of control!” she said. “They couldn’t rinse the wash cloths out well enough, and when I washed them, we all wore Axe!”

A Minnesota state representative, Karen Clark, even proposed phasing out fragrances from schools to protect kids with asthma from their overly perfumed classmates. Clark later scaled the idea down to an awareness campaign that was approved by the City of Minneapolis School Board.

Even the makers of Axe are embarking on an education campaign. “We believe most everything is best in moderation, application of grooming products included,” said Jay Matthew, U.S. marketing director for Axe deodorants. “One of our newest ad campaigns for Axe focuses on the best application of our deodorant body sprays. The ads focus on the tagline ‘Double Pits to Chesty’ and refer to the places where guys should apply the deodorant spray.”

That is definitely preferable to what some guys do, the tagline for which seems to be “Double Pits to the World.”

Matthew also says the target audience is young men 18-24 — even though the mothers of every 15-year-old in America have memorized the smell of Axe (and its 10 types of body spray, eight deodorant sticks and 14 shower gels).

“As with most brands that cater to college-aged guys, we do see that Axe is aspirational for a younger audience,” he said.

Don’t you feel better knowing that a 13-year-old doused with Axe is aspiring to be more mature?

But maybe you envy parents whose kids use too much deodorant, because yours won’t use any. You’ll be relieved to know this is not just oppositional behavior. Experts cite biological factors too.

“Some adolescents, often more commonly boys, can have excessive secretions in the form of sweat,” said Dr. Charles J. Wibbelsman, a San Francisco pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on adolescence. “And some male teens really do not see a daily shower as an activity that they wish to take the time to do.”

Reminding a teenager that “he is no longer a child and should use deodorant daily, as well as bathe daily, to be better accepted by his peers, usually makes the case,” Wibbelsman said.

Charles J. Wysocki, a behavioral neuroscientist with the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said puberty also changes the perception of body odors: “The female nose gets more sensitive, but the male nose gets worse.”

In addition, we may not notice our own odors, because “constant exposure results in a decrease in sensitivity,” Wysocki said.

“So what we have going on here is that the adolescent boy, who is in fact probably producing stronger odors than the adolescent girl, is in fact unaware of the odor he’s producing,” he said.

A study of fragrances used to mask body odor also showed gender differences. Men said that most of the fragrances tested effectively masked female body odor, and “a significant number” masked male body odor, Wysocki said.

But women said that just two of the 45 products tested masked female body odor, and none of the products masked male body odor.

No wonder moms complain about smelly sons!

Susan Bartell, a psychologist on Long Island in New York, said peer pressure can improve teen hygiene.

“They’ll get teased for bad breath, for having greasy hair, and that will motivate them,” she said.

She added that while “I hear it more from parents of boys, I also see parents battling with girls” over hygiene, especially girls hanging out with “the grunge kids” who “don’t care how they look and smell.”

But she said girls are more likely to “give each other feedback. They’ll say, ‘You smell disgusting!’ And a girl may go home crying if someone says, ‘What’s that smell?’ But boys may be oblivious. Their friends couldn’t care less, they wouldn’t even register it, and even if they did, they have thicker skin.”

Young teenagers uninterested in the opposite sex may be the hardest to motivate. But “often all it takes is a little bit of having a girl flirting with him to get a boy to care,” she said. “And it can happen overnight.”

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Beth Harpaz is the author of several books including “13 Is the New 18.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

An AP Member Exchange Feature, By LINDA SAILER The Dickinson Press

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Dickinson State University student Silvia Vigier flipped crepes while Anupa Bhurtel and Tenzin Yankeyi talked to elementary students about their customs.

Vigier, of France, along with Bhurtel, of Nepal, and Yankeyi, of India, are among 19 students participating in the 2009 “World Voices: Ambassadors for Understanding Project.’” It seeks to bring international students into the classrooms of sixth graders who are already studying world geography and world history.

“They read about it, but by bringing international students in, we bring primary sources for students to see, feel and touch,” said World Voices committee chairwoman Marty Odermann-Gardner.

World Voices involves Dickinson schools, the Roughrider Educational Services Partnership and Dickinson State University. It started in 2005 with six classrooms, and it continues to grow each year, Odermann-Gardner said.

Eight countries are represented at Berg Elementary School. Others are at Trinity East and West in Dickinson, South Heart and Taylor-Richardton. New this year, World Voices is sending international students to two rural clusters: Medora, Golva and Amidon, and Halliday and Twin Buttes.

“The international students just love it,” Odermann-Gardner said. “They really become ambassadors for understanding. It’s about being a friend.”

The international students prepare PowerPoint presentations to present during three classroom visits. For their time spent on the project, Dickinson State credits them with one hour of service learning.

Odermann-Gardner said the international students are like rock stars when they visit the classrooms.

“Some students have never seen an international student before this experience,” she said.

During Berg’s Passport Day, students can get passports stamped to visit four “countries” with their parents.

“It not only changes the lives of children, but we are giving the information to parents,” Odermann-Gardner said.

The program concludes with a Global Awareness Showcase scheduled on April 2 at Dickinson State, where international students will entertain on stage.

Berg Principal Tammy Praus said the Dickinson State students visited the classrooms throughout February and March.

“This is new for us this year. World Voices is such a grand event, we decided to take it to another level and have it as the third-quarter celebration,” she said.

Praus said the students are excited to learn about different cultures.

“They are like a sponge — able to absorb what a person has to share,” she said. “Hopefully, we have planted a seed of interest, especially with the opportunity to learn about five countries.”

Praus said students and parents also can log on to a Web site that allows them to see the classroom presentations.

Tenzin Yankeyi of India, who visited Sue Jacobsen’s classroom, talked about India’s class system, music and pets. Another time, she introduced her family and talked about her school.

She enjoyed sharing her country’s culture and answering the students’ questions.

Yankeyi grew up in a city of 300,000 people. Her sister, who is already living in the United States, encouraged her to come. She is graduating from Dickinson State in the spring with a degree in accounting and plans to enroll in graduate school at North Dakota State University before returning to India.

Anupa Bhurtel talked about her country of Nepal in Deb Greenup’s classroom. She explained the customs surrounding marriage and told Nepal folk tales.

“I think this is a real good experience for the kids,” she said.

Bhurtel’s father is a professor and her mother is a housewife. She came to New Jersey with a friend to study, but ended up in Dickinson because it was less expensive. She also is an accounting major and plans to enroll in graduate school.

Vigier, a junior at Dickinson State, has participated in World Voices for the past three years.

“I love it so much. My kids are so enthusiastic, so curious,” she said. “They ask hundreds of questions.”

She has given PowerPoint presentations about her country, but always looks forward to the lesson on making crepes.

“It’s so much fun to show them how they can cook at home,” she said.

Vigier grew up in Clermont-Ferrand, a city in the middle of France. When she graduates, she hopes to stay in the United States.

She has enjoyed the years spent at Dickinson State and looks at World Voices as a way to give back to the community.

“People are very welcoming and I like the opportunities at DSU,” she said.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a great magazine called Brain, Child. Find them on the web at http://www.brainchildmag.com or they’re also on Facebook. This magazine is mostly made up of very well written essays. And while I might not always agree with the writer on a certain topic, it is certainly refreshing to read articles that aren’t always politically correct. My only complaint about this magazine is that it’s only published four times a year. In every issue they ask the readers a question and it’s not something lame like “how do you celebrate spring” like you’d find in a mainstream magazine. Some of those responses are published in the next issue. Sometimes they challenge the readers like they did last issue when they asked readers to submit haikus. There are some really great ones and I’m happy to say two of mine are included in the current issue. Here they are:

This is my new game

Throw toy on floor, mommy get

I throw toy again

In the tub tonight

Like to hear the sound I make

Hands hitting water

By Alison Johnson, Daily Press

Parents can improve their children’s health and fitness greatly by remembering just five basic steps, according to Babs Benson, manager of the Healthy You weight management program at The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Va. Even making one or two of the changes from Healthy You’s “Countdown to Family Fitness: 5-4-3-2-1″ program will help, Benson said:

Five: Serve at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It’s easier than it sounds: half a cup of veggies or half a medium-sized banana, for example, counts as a serving. Keep sliced fruits and vegetables within easy reach of children, especially at times they’re looking for a snack.

Four: Give kids four servings of water a day. Avoid soda and sugary juices — they’re very high in calories and sugar — give them their own water bottles to fill up and keep a pitcher of water on the kitchen table.

Three: Aim for three daily servings of low-fat dairy products, which are rich in the calcium a child’s growing body needs. Examples of one serving are an 8 oz. glass of milk or yogurt and 1 1/2 ounces of cheese.

Two: Limit a child’s total daily “screen time” to two hours or less (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time at all for kids younger than 2). That includes watching television, being on a computer and playing video games.

One: Encourage children to get at least an hour of physical activity every day. Plan active family outings, sign up for team or individual sports and, if your neighborhood is safe, get kids to go outside and exercise by playing or riding a bike.

___

(c) 2009, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Twenty-six elementary schoolchildren wielded shovels, rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows to help first lady Michelle Obama break ground on a produce and herb garden on the White House grounds. (March 20)

By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday he wants to launch a “new era” of science education in the United States, one that encourages students to ask tough, challenging questions and brings more specially trained science and math teachers into the classroom.

Duncan told the National Science Teachers Association during a visit to New Orleans that President Barack Obama sees a need for inventors and engineers along with poets and scholars and “will not allow scientific research to be held hostage to a political agenda.”

“Whether it’s global warming, evolution or stem cell research, science will be honored. It will be respected and supported by this administration,” he said.

The federal stimulus bill includes more than $100 billion in new education funding, with $650 million set aside for technology grants, he said. Duncan couldn’t say how much money would go specifically into science but pledged funds would be available to modernize labs.

He also said many of the teaching jobs saved with stimulus dollars would be in science labs. But the money must be used wisely, he said, not just on saving jobs but also on driving strong reforms.

Duncan also cited a $5-billion “race to the top fund” to provide incentives to states already doing innovative, reform-minded work. He said there’s been a “dumbing down of standards for political reasons” under the current system of states with their own benchmarks and standards. That system doesn’t make much sense, he said, drawing applause, and it isn’t doing students any favors in the global economy.

He said there’s a need for common, high standards that prepare students for college and the work force and for international benchmarks to compare U.S. students with their counterparts around the world. He said he’s working with state leaders who’ve taken a lead in school reforms and hopes to come up with a better system.

“I think in far too many states, meeting standards means you are at best barely qualified to graduate from high school, and you are woefully unprepared to go to college,” he said. “We have been lying to children, and we are setting them up for long-term failure. That has to stop.”

He said the country has a long way to go to improve science education. Sectors including engineering, health care, technology and green energy need more workers, and “a generalist,” too often, is teaching middle school kids, he said.

That’s been a problem for years, and the market needs to pay science and math teachers more, he said.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.