Moorpark High School wins National Academic Decathlon for fourth time

"Amid cheers and leaps of excitement, Moorpark High School had won the National Academic Decathlon, the fourth time the team has won the highest prize.

'There is joy, there is happiness and there is the academic decathalon,' said 17-year-old Zyed Ismailjee, who started sobbing when the results were announced during an awards luncheon in Memphis, Tenn., this afternoon."


Click here for more on these impressive young people.

Electronic medical records have people abuzz. What's the reality?

"Primary care physician Matt Handley believes that information technology enables him to provide better patient care. So much so that he recently spent an afternoon hooking up a computer and DSL line at the home of a patient so she can contact him more frequently.

Handley is the associate medical director for quality and informatics at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, a nonprofit health system armed with technology systems that have replaced paper records and enable patients to take part in their healthcare online."

Click here for more on the information revolution.

Good News April 24, 2009

Woman gives birth to twins on Fifth Ave.

After nearly 40 years as a nurse, Lucille Nassery had no problem identifying the sounds coming in the window from Fifth Avenue. Those were definitely the sounds of childbirth.

“There’s a certain kind of sound that comes from women who are about to deliver. It’s not just a typical scream. It’s a whole-body scream,” she said Friday, hours after she ran to peer down at an SUV parked hastily in front of Mount Sinai Medical Center. A distraught man circled the vehicle, looking for help, and a very pregnant woman lay across the front seat, howling.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Houston scientists milk cow genome for its secrets

"Houston scientists have sequenced the genome of a single Hereford cow, opening the barnyard door to a future where insight rather than chance guides domestic breeding.

Understanding the genetics of bovines should allow breeders to build a better cow by selecting genes for everything from disease resistance to improved milk production and meat marbling, scientists say."

To moo-ove into the rest of this story, click here.

Thursday, April 23, 2009 Home and Garden Story

New York’s Roses, Home to Root

"IN the cold mist one morning in early April, Stephen Scanniello planted Harison’s Yellow — a rose bred in the 1830s by a reclusive New York lawyer, George Folliott Harison — at the Trinity Cemetery on the corner of Broadway and 153rd Street in Harlem, a stone’s throw from Mr. Harison’s grave.

Mr. Scanniello, a dedicated rosarian, explained that he 'wanted to celebrate the horticultural history of New York City' by planting a collection of the old roses that grew up with the city itself, including some bred by New Yorkers buried in the cemetery. 'What better place than with Mr. Harison watching over his rose?' he asked."

Click here to read more.

April 22 Good News

Chewing gum may raise math grades in teens

In a study likely to make school janitors cringe, U.S. researchers said Wednesday that chewing gum may boost academic performance in teenagers.

Many U.S. schools ban chewing gum because children often dispose of the sticky chaw under chairs or tables.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Community colleges add dorms to boost appeal

"In Mammoth Lakes and elsewhere, some campuses are offering housing with cool amenities -- like maid service -- to help draw students to the traditionally commuter-oriented schools."

Click here for more on this shift in perspective.