March 15, 2002
Salient Points
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“A joint study carried out by the University of Northumbria and the Cognitive Research Unit, Reading, has found that chewing gum has a positive effect on cognitive tasks such as thinking and memory. “‘The results were extremely clear and specifically we found that chewing gum targeted memory,’ Andrew Scholey of the university's Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit said. ‘People recalled more words and performed better in tests on working memory.’ “Peppermint gum, menthol or spearmint — it makes no difference. The key is the repetitive chewing motion.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “Fergus Henderson, of the fashionable St. John restaurant, offers gray squirrel ‘gently braised with wine, boletus mushrooms and wild garlic leaves,’ British newspapers reported on Wednesday. “He said the dish was popular at his restaurant, where he also serves up lamb testicles, bacon and mash and smoked eel. “‘The (squirrels’) flesh is rather like wild rabbit but slightly oilier and it cooks very well,’ Henderson told the Daily Mail. “The chef pointed out he would not cook Britain’s native, endangered, red squirrel, whose population has been largely supplanted by the bigger, more aggressive American species.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “Ravindra Nath Halder, 52 and a grandfather, was just a teen-ager when he put his name down for work at a state labor exchange office in Marxist-ruled West Bengal. “Halder, a snackshop owner, said he was amazed to get the letter dated March 6 from the labor exchange asking him to come for an interview after so long. “‘I’d given up hope. I’d applied in 1968. I’m now 52 and too old for a government job,’ Halder, a father of two daughters and a son, told Reuters. “Labor minister Mohammad Amim told Reuters it often took a ‘long time’ for a person to be called for an interview.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “The study by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research showed Japanese men spend only a quarter of the time on household chores that their American counterparts do, and only one-sixth of that devoted to housework by Swedish males. “Japanese men do only four hours of cooking, cleaning and other housework a week, the study found, compared to the 16 hours American men spend a week on such tasks. “While the workload for American men had risen from 12 hours a week in 1965, it was still less than the 24 hours a week put in by ‘gender egalitarian’ Swedish males.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “Berlin police were Wednesday pondering a request by activist Peter Nieherke, 53, for the nudist demonstration in the central Tiergarten park in the summer. “Nieherke, who has already scandalized residents of the southern city of Freiburg by jogging through the city every day wearing nothing but a pair of running shoes, wants to storm Berlin’s largest park with around 300 followers in the nude. “‘We have not decided yet whether we will ban it or allow it,’ a police spokesman said. “Nieherke sees wandering around in the nude as an essential right: ‘If someone tells me I have to go to a nudist site, I think they're being cynical,’ he said. ‘That's almost racism!’ “The rally is meant as a massive ‘naked stroll’ through the park, but as a public demonstration it requires authorization from city authorities.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “More than 60 four-leaf clovers had already been seized during stepped-up inspections of post from Ireland at mail sorting centers, a spokeswoman for the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service Wednesday. “Since earliest times, the Irish have considered the shamrock — originally a white clover — a symbol of good luck or a charm against evil. |
“But Australia’s quarantine service says some types of shamrock are just noxious weeds that could threaten the vast island continent’s unique ecosystem or bring in plant diseases. Some of the shamrocks seized in recent days included bits of soil that could introduce foot and mouth disease into Australia, potentially ruining its billion-dollar cattle industry. “‘I’ve been with the service for 20 years and you see them (shamrocks) every year,’ the quarantine manager told Reuters. ‘You understand why ... but they should try and find something that expresses it in a different way.’ “Seized shamrocks are destroyed, and brochures sent to their intended recipients telling them why their good luck charm never made it.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “Franco Magni, 29, and a handful of other men dressed in feathered helmets, studded breastplates and Roman sandals charge tourists to take their picture in front of the ruins of the amphitheater where Christians were put to death 2,000 years ago. “But unlike his colleagues, Magni had armed himself with a real sword. In coming days he will have to appear in front of a judge on charges of ‘illegally bearing arms without a license,’ a police spokesman told Reuters. “‘The other centurions use plastic or wooden swords, but this man was carrying around a real sword. No one in Italy can just walk around with arms like that,’ he said. “Police swooped on Magni after a tourist filed a complaint against him for carrying a sword. They confiscated the weapon, but released Magni to await trial in freedom. “Magni could be sentenced to up to three years in jail if found guilty.” —Reuters, March 12, 2002 “According to Europe 1 radio, the pilot said ‘fire on board’ in English, the international language of air communications, but a controller in Bordeaux understood ‘five men on board,’ concluded a hijack was underway and called for high alert. “Two French air force jets scrambled and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin raced back to his office from his election campaign headquarters in case a terrorist attack was underway. “But officials said the Bordeaux controller apparently misheard the message from the pilot of an Air France flight from Toulouse to Paris. “All 150 passengers were safe and put on to alternative flights.” —Reuters, March 13, 2002 “Leipzig zoo introduced the three-year-old lion and his brother to the two-year-old female at the weekend in the hope they would breed. “‘It went fine with the first lion, but with the second, his brother, it was quite different,’ said a spokesman for the zoo in eastern Germany. “‘He suddenly bit the lioness. A number of keepers used sticks and hoses to separate the pair, but it was all over in a matter of seconds. “Visitors to the zoo on Saturday were spared the attack, which happened in an area closed to the public. “‘There’s always a risk with these meetings,” the spokesman added. ‘We're now looking for another lioness.’” —Reuters, March 12, 2002 “No such flights are planned until 2004, but it could take a while to earn the 10 million Dividend Miles required. “Without the use of frequent-flier miles, the space flight would cost $98,000, according to the Space Adventures Web site, www.spaceadventures.com. “For 30,000 miles plus $650, passengers can get a tour of Kennedy Space Center in Florida including a presentation by former astronauts, while 250,000 miles plus $2,000 gets a flight in zero-gravity. “A flight on a MiG-25 jet fighter can be had for 275,000 miles plus $8,000, according to the US Airways Web site, www.usairways.com. “By contrast, frequent fliers can get a round-trip coach ticket between the continental United States and the Caribbean for 20,000 miles plus $225.” —Reuters, March 12, 2002 Claire McCusker ’04. Cover attribution: Francis X. Altiere ’04. |