Kent State UPDATE (AUGUST):  FIGHTING FAT KIDS/GAS Prices & SCARY RHETORIC/PARENTS TALK TO YOUR KIDS

HOT TOPICS:

1. Fighting Fat Kids – With nearly 1 in 5 children overweight, parents must be fierce fighters against childhood obesity by being extra vigilant when packing their children’s lunches. Dr. Natalie Caine-Bish, assistant professor of nutrition, stresses that, from the first day of kindergarten through graduation, children need nutritious lunches with proper portions of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat protein and dairy products to maintain good, life-long eating habits that will improve their lives and academic performance. Dr. Caine-Bish, who conducts the K.I.D.S. program, a free, interactive program for children that focuses on teaching weight maintenance, healthy eating and exercise, can be reached at 330-672-2148 or ncaine@kent.edu.

2. Gas Price Control: Great Political Sound Bite, Horrible for ConsumerS – While U.S. lawmakers take to the airways touting plans to control gasoline prices by regulating commodity markets and so-called speculators, more federal legislation might actually increase prices at the pump, according to Dr. Jay Muthuswamy, associate professor of finance.  Dr. Muthuswamy says that markets become inefficient when overregulated and, while the public and politicians are quick to look for scapegoats, the main reasons for fluctuating gas prices complex geopolitical and technical market factors. Dr. Muthuswamy can be reached at 330-672-2426 or jmuthusw@kent.edu.

3. Busy Parents Stay Connected with Your Kids – As schools open this month, students are dealing with educational demands, old and new friends, a desire for their independence and the ever-present peer pressures, but how can busy parents stay connected and talk with their growing child. Dr. Rhonda Richardson, professor of human development and family studies and co-author of the book “What Kids REALLY Want to Ask: Using Movies to Start Meaningful Conversations,” can offer advice for helping parents find out what their adolescents want to talk about and how to facilitate discussions using resources anyone can access. Dr. Richardson can be reached at 330-672-2026 or rrichard@kent.edu.

NEWS BREAK:

1. New Bachelor’s Program for Working AdultS – Kent State will soon offer a new bachelor of applied career studies major to address the evolving needs of adult learners in the state. The first-of-its-kind program would allow students to draw on their competencies based on both life and career experiences and the individual’s learning needs. To read more, visit http://tinyurl.com/kent1.

2. Kent State Student Finds Rapid Growth Aided Dinosaur Survival – A study recently published in a prestigious scientific journal and lead authored by Kent State doctoral student Lisa Noelle Cooper offers proof that rapid growth proved to be an advantage to dinosaurs that lived at the same time as the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex. With long limbs and a soft body, the duck-billed hadrosaur had few defenses against predators such as tyrannosaurs, most commonly known as the T-Rex. But the new research on the bones of this plant-eating dinosaur suggests that it had at least one advantage: It grew to adulthood much faster than its predators, giving it superiority in size. To read more, visit http://tinyurl.com/kent2.

EVENTS:

1. Kent State Aviation Heritage Fair, Sept. 6 – Kent State University’s Aeronautics Program once again will host families from throughout the region during the 2008 Aviation Heritage Fair. The fair is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Kent State University Airport in Stow, Ohio. An average of nearly 25,000 people typically attend the event, which is now in its 14th year. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/kent3.

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