No one today needs to be told that exercise is good for us. But, beyond the physical benefits, the latest research is indicating that it can also build the brain by boosting memory, alleviating stress, enhancing intelligence and allaying aggression. For example, scientists from Yale University reported last year in the journal Nature Medicine that regular exertion affects the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for mood. And physical activity boosts the flow of blood to the part of the brain that is responsible for memory and learning, promoting the production of new brain cells.

If you want to read more about this phenomenal topic, you can turn to a new book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, M.D. and Eric Hagerman. The authors state that exercise stimulates our grey matter to produce what he calls "Miracle-Gro" for the brain. You can get a preview at
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/books/56/0316113506/index.html

But even before you delve into the area, you can put the ideas to use right away. One of the best places to start is when your child comes home from school. Parents regularly report that their children are "wiped out" at the end of the school day. That, in turn, leads them to allow the kids to "veg out" with TV or video games before starting homework.

Those activities, unfortunately, often do the opposite of what was hoped. It is far more effective to have your children do something physical for about 20 to 30 minutes. It can be riding a bike, jumping on a trampoline, shooting balls into a basket, or whatever activity suits your children's interests and level. One great idea is to take a walk together. Then both of you will benefit and you can even get some good communication going

Posted by Marion Blank at 03:27 PM
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You don't have to be told that the current economic situation is causing enormous difficulties. But, as often happens, there are some silver linings. For example, many state colleges and universities are reducing their out-of-state tuition for students.

One place where this is happening is California State University located near San Francisco Bay. It is trying to raise its profile to lure applicants from a variety of Western states including Washington, Oregon, and Montana. Many other state universities across the nation are following a similar path.

In part, they are motivated by the desire to raise more money as state support for higher education has languished. Even at universities that are cutting their prices for out-of-state students, which can be triple tuition for state residents, nonresidents still generally pay 50 percent more.

As with so many issues in education, the move has aroused controversy. Some educators are concerned that the increased numbers of "out-of staters" will lead to state students being crowded out.

In any event, this change in policy is likely to grow. It is one that should be watched closely, particularly by parents who are helping their youngsters search for the best--and most reasonable-- university placements.

Posted by Marion Blank at 04:06 PM
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The high cost of education steadily draws headlines, as parents struggle to finance their children's college education and towns grapple with ever-increasing school budgets. In all the turmoil, the cost of not educating America's children goes largely ignored.

Now the Brookings Institute has come out with a new book: The Price We Pay: Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education. It highlights the enormous costs--private, fiscal, and public--of not providing an adequate education for all our children.

The book contains articles by scholars from a wide range of fields-including economics, education, demography, and public health. They show the data on the relationship between educational attainment and income, health, crime, and dependence on public assistance.

They also explore policy interventions that could boost the education system's performance. They explain why the challenge of educating our youth is particularly urgent today. As they stress, improving educational outcomes for at-risk youth is more than a noble goal. It is an investment, one with the potential to yield benefits that far outstrip its costs. The Price We Pay analyzes both sides of the balance sheet and suggests which policies are most likely to pay off.

If you would like to get the book --at a 20% discount, you can go to http://www.cbcse.org/media/download_gallery/price%20we%20pay.pdf

Posted by Marion Blank at 06:28 PM
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Most of the families whom I meet in the course of my work are knowledgeable about health issues and concerned about what their children are encountering in the course of daily life.

A new report from the Associated Press is an example of why their concerns are justified. It found that a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — are in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

Fortunately, the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals are tiny, and far below the levels of a medical dose.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the investigation detected drugs in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas - from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

Here are some of the key test results:

In Philadelphia, there were 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water
.
The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.
For further information, you can turn to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/100038.php

If you want to take action now, there are fortunately a range of water purifying systems that you can buy to assure fresh, clean water for your family. If you had been asked about this issue a couple of decades back, you probably would never have been thinking along these lines. This is but one more example of the dramatic changes that are occurring in our environment and our lives. But still and all, it is nice that we have positive avenues to pursue.

Posted by Marion Blank at 07:51 PM
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If you have a child, or know of a child, who is awaiting the "verdicts" on college applications, you know the pressure and anxiety that accompanies the process. Each year, for the past several years, the tension has been increasing. But all that is likely to ease--though not in time to help out this year's contingent. Specifically, the demographics are changing.

After a 15 year period of steady growth, the annual number of high school graduates in the United States will peak at about 2.9 million. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and with that, less selectivity. As a result, most students are like to find it easier to get into college.

Daniel Fogel, president of the University of Vermont put it this way, “For the high school graduate, this becomes a buyers’ market.” Nevertheless, the struggle to win entry to the most prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Stanford is likely to continue.

The demographic changes include sharp geographic, social and economic variations. Experts anticipate, for example, a decline in affluent high school graduates, and an increase in poor and working-class ones. In response, colleges and universities are already increasing their recruitment of students in high-growth states and expanding their financial-aid offerings to low-income students with academic potential. Nationally, the population decline is projected to be relatively gentle, with the number of high school graduates expected to fall in the Northeast and Midwest, while continuing to increase in the South and Southwest.

The changes will also reflect the demographic changes that are taking place in our nation. It is expected that the number of white high school graduates will go down nationally, and the number of African-American graduates will remain relatively steady. But the number of Hispanic and Asian-American graduates is expected to increase sharply.

Colleges are already making adjustments to be ready for the future. For example, Colby College and a number of others in the North have also begun to offer airplane tickets for low-income high school students and their parents from Sun Belt states to visit their campuses. Last summer, Middlebury and Williams flew in 27 college counselors from states where the colleges are not well known.

The new recruiting strategies take many forms. Bucknell, Cornell, Amherst and the University of Michigan are among eight colleges and universities to receive grants from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to create partnerships with community colleges; the goal is for some of the most promising graduates of two-year schools to transfer to the elite universities for their last two years of college.

Unfortunately, none of this is of much use for students in this year's group. As one student said, when he heard that the competitive frenzy is expected to calm down. “It’s good for my sister,” he said. “Definitely I’m a little jealous.”

Posted by Marion Blank at 08:05 PM
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