New research suggests that kids today have a harder time outgrowing
milk and egg allergies than kids in past generations. Rebecca Williams
reports:
Transcript
New research suggests that kids today have a harder time outgrowing
milk and egg allergies than kids in past generations. Rebecca Williams
reports:
Milk and egg allergies are the two most common food allergies in the
US.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center followed children
with milk or egg allergies for more than 13 years. They found that
both types of allergies were harder for today’s kids to outgrow.
Dr. Robert Wood directs Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Johns
Hopkins. He says these allergies tend to last into middle school, and
sometimes into high school or college years:
“In my 20 years of practicing pediatric allergy my impression would be
that there really is a tendency toward more severe allergy and that the
disease of food allergy is behaving differently than it used to
behave.”
Dr. Wood says it’s not yet known why this could be happening. But he
says researchers are focusing on finding ways to better treat these
aggressive allergies in kids.
Lofts are no longer just structures with large windows and exposed brick. Lofts are quickly becoming a symbol of the lifestyle of the young, urban professional. (Photo by Lester Graham)
Many urban planners hope lofts will bring both people and money back to previously abandoned city centers. (Photo by Lester Graham)
In cities across the nation, old warehouses, factories and other buildings are being turned into brand new luxury loft apartments, and for many urban areas, those apartments are a big part of trying to get people to move back to cities from the suburbs. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nora Flaherty has this report:
Transcript
In cities across the nation, old warehouses, factories and other buildings are being turned into brand new luxury loft apartments. And for many urban areas, those apartments are a big part of trying get people to move back to cities from the suburbs. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nora Flaherty has that story:
Abby Cook is taking a tour of the Union Square Condos.
“…finished the dining area, old basketball hoops and signs throughout the building, so…”
The condos are being built in what used to be a high school, and when they’re finished, the apartments will have a lot of the things that lofts are known for. They’ll have high ceilings, hardwood floors, big windows and exposed brick.
“It’s a great use of the building, it’s a neat idea and just the uniqueness, I think of it.”
Cook is excited about the idea of moving to downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. She lives in the suburbs now.
“Location is key, I think. Being that I am a young person, and I go out a lot, being close to downtown, just being close and the convenience is huge, just huge.”
Developers all over are building these kinds of lofts in empty city centers. That’s because lofts are thought to attract a group that’s become kind of a holy grail to urban planners: young, educated, professionals like Abby Cook. They’re often willing to live in neighborhoods that other affluent people shun, and it seems, they love lofts. Julie Hale Smith is with Michigan’s housing development authority.
“Our main target goal was to increase population in our urban centers. When we looked around at other cities in the country that we were emulating, we noted that one of their linchpins of revitalization was the redevelopment of historic buildings or the kind of faux-lofting of new, or newer buildings to provide that kind of lifestyle, that kind of urbanist lifestyle for folks that chose to live in those kinds of dwellings.”
You hear the word “lifestyle” a lot when you talk about lofts. In fact, they’ve become almost synonymous with a certain lifestyle, and not just in the minds of developers and urban planners.
FLAHERTY: “When you think of loft apartments, what words do you think of?”
PERSON 1: “Urban living.”
PERSON 2: “Maybe urban contemporary types, younger…”
PERSON 3: “Young, urban, hip.”
PERSON 4: “Maybe en vogue for city living, kind of stylish…”
But what is it about lofts? Doug Kelbaugh’s the dean of architecture and urban planning at the University of Michigan.
“Lofts have a certain cache… they started in London and New York, where older manufacturing buildings or warehouses, in the case of London, were converted by urban pioneers, often artists, into large, open spaces, typically without separate rooms, and now it’s become sort of a lifestyle issue.”
But luxury lofts like Union Square are a far cry from the gritty artists’ lofts of 1970’s New York. They often have amenities like pools, gyms and game rooms.
“What will happen, is you’ll come up this stairway – there’ll be a landing here – and then there’ll be a second stairway that goes up through the roof to your private rooftop deck…”
Developers often like to call any apartment with big windows and exposed brick a “loft.” University of Illinois Geographer, David Wilson, says it’s all a matter of marketing, that developers aren’t just selling an apartment, they’re selling an identity.
“Developers and builders look at them and they see certain physical attributes: high ceilings, large, expansive windows, and so forth, and they seize upon the idea of marketing these physical attributes. And the marketing process hooks up to the notion of, ‘Let’s play to the identity of these people. Let’s make them appealing, let’s make them attractive.'”
So when people see apartments that look like lofts, they don’t think about washing those big windows, they think of having the hip, urban lifestyle that the windows imply. Take Hannah Thurston. She’s a 23-year-old student. She and her husband are putting down a deposit on one of the Union Square apartments.
“I’m hoping that the other people moving in will be great neighbors. Obviously, we’ll have a lot in common being young professionals, obviously there are a lot of nice perks.”
But whatever developers’ motivations, and whatever people might think of them, lofts are succeeding at one thing: they’re bringing at least some new people many of the nation’s abandoned city centers.
Some teachers are struggling with teaching evolution because some disagree on religious grounds. (Photo by Elliot Jordan)
Science teachers in high schools and middle schools are on the front lines of the culture wars. Conservative Christians and others are confronting them about teaching evolution in the classroom. At the same time, teachers are learning about the growing body of evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports:
Transcript
Science teachers in high schools and middle schools are on the front lines of the culture wars. Conservative Christians and others are confronting them about teaching evolution in the classroom. At the same time, teachers are learning about the growing body of evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports:
Some science teachers got a chance to attend a major science conference recently. Researchers from around the world were in Akron, Ohio to present findings and learn about advances in evolutionary biology. The conference was organized by people studying the dramatic transition whales made when they moved from the land to the water.
It’s only been a few years since Ohio even allowed the concept of evolution into the state’s high school academic standards. Those standards are the basis for the state graduation test that students must pass to get a diploma.
Even though it’s part of the state curriculum, many science teachers get the brunt of complaints from students and parents who oppose teaching evolutionary theory.
THOMAS: “I did have a student come to me and literally say, ‘I cannot sit in this classroom and listen to what you’re talking about.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’ And she said, ‘Well, I’m a Christian, I can’t listen to this.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m a Christian too, so where’s the problem?’”
GRABERT: “Well, I’ve had a number whose fathers are ministers come in and tell me how I need to teach the class, and I have to talk about creationism and I just share with them what we have to teach and how the curriculum is.”
STONE: “There’s a point when you just sort of have to tell the kids, This is what you need to know to pass the test to get out of high school. So, sit down, listen, learn the facts you need to know. I’m not saying you have to believe what I say, but this is what the state says you need to know to get out of high school.”
These are teachers from rural, suburban, and city school districts but they are all dealing with this issue. They try to stay up to date on new scientific evidence to defend their classroom lessons. That’s part of the reason they’re at this science conference.
(Sound of lecture)
This day’s activities are geared toward schoolteachers. The world’s top researchers on whale evolution are explaining their latest findings. Ann Sowd teaches honors biology at Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio.
“It’s important to be at workshops like this so that you can, as a high school teacher, be really accurate with your teachings and understand what the evidence for evolution is and why it’s really- what we do know about how organisms change over time. Because the worst thing that can happen is you’re inaccurate and then someone comes with the opposing argument and you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The teachers are hearing from scientists from all kinds of disciplines from anatomy, to functional morphology, to geo-chemistry. The scientists are showing how their discoveries and analyses fit together and provide a picture of the evolution of the whale as it moved from land back to the ocean.
But one leading researcher says the schoolteachers need more than just new scientific research to defend their lessons in the classroom. Howard University anatomist Daryl Domning says students who question evolutionary evidence are often looking for answers that lie beyond the realm of science. But Domning says teachers often respond with the latest research and recent fossil discoveries.
“And then they’re amazed that it doesn’t convince them. Because even though they’re raising questions about scientific evidence, they’re really not passionate about the scientific evidence. They’re passionate about ‘what is the meaning of my existence?’ and until you get down to that level and surface those concerns and show that hey, evolution doesn’t mean there’s no meaning to your existence, on the contrary, it can mean all these things, it means there’s more meaning then you thought there was maybe, only then is there a way of breaking through this pattern of talking past each other, which is what we’ve been doing for thirty years here.”
Domning says teachers can help students and parents understand that accepting the evidence of evolutionary theory doesn’t have to undermine religious faith.
He encourages teachers to tell students they can believe both at the same time, to point them to places where they can get more information, and to quickly get back to the science lesson.
In springtime, many homeowners’ thoughts turn to home improvement projects. That typically means a hit in the wallet, and for some, guilty feelings about consuming too much. Most do-it- yourselfers saw up a lot of trees in the lumber they use. And they use other materials that affect the environment. But there are ways to keep more green in your pocket, and boost your green conscience. As part of an ongoing series called “Your Choice; Your Planet,” the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cari Noga reports:
Transcript
In springtime, many homeowners’ thoughts turn to home improvement projects. That
typically means a hit in the wallet, and for some, guilty feelings over consuming too
much. Most do-it-yourselfers saw up a lot of trees in the lumber they use. And they use
other materials that affect the environment. But there are ways to keep more green in
your pocket, as well as a green conscience. As part of an ongoing series called “Your Choice; Your Planet,” the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cari
Noga reports:
If you’ve ever sat in a high school gym, you’ll likely get a sense of déjà vu when you
walk into John Patterson’s home. That’s because in its former life, the house’s flooring
was high school bleachers. Cleaning them up was a chore. Patterson says he and his
wife filled up a five-gallon bucket removing the gum wads from the 20-foot yellow pine
planks. But Patterson says the work was worth it…
“What I like about them the best is the wood is so old, because they were in the school
for like 40 years. I hope they stay here for 40 years. You can’t replace them, or regrow
trees this long and tall. It’s something I’m really proud of doing.”
The floor is just one part of the couple’s overhaul of their home. Two summers ago they
stripped the tiny ranch-style home down to the studs. They nearly doubled the square
footage, and added a second floor. The windows, siding and even the 2 by 4s, are reused
or recycled.
A growing number of homeowners are combining a do-it-yourself attitude with an
environmental ethic. Instead of shopping at big box chain stores, they go to auctions and
used building material stores. They buy everything from bathtubs to doors to, yes, even
the kitchen sink. Patterson’s wife Sarah Goss is the scavenger, scouting out the stuff for
him to install. For her, reuse has been a lifelong value.
“I think it’s upbringing. You just grow up feeling a little guilt if you overuse your
resources…any way you can conserve or be a part of that, I feel like it’s an added plus.”
They’re not the only ones who think this way. Kurt Buss is president of the Used
Building Materials Association. He says the reuse movement is spreading as
communities nationwide try to reduce landfill volume. Up to 40 percent of landfill space
is construction debris.
“You don’t throw away newspapers and tin cans. You shouldn’t throw away your house.”
Buss says reused materials can be better quality, too.
“More often than not the wood is old growth lumber, which is certainly preferable to
much of the lumber that you see in lumber stores today which is speed grown on tree
farms… So there’s premium materials that are available with environmental benefits
attached.”
So, reused materials are often higher quality, and go easy on the environment.
They also cost a lot less – typically half of what the same item would cost new.
Still, not everyone’s sold immediately. There’s a lot of sweat equity that offsets the cost
advantage. John Patterson and Sarah Goss worked a long time scraping off all that
bubble gum.
Then there’s getting over the fact that most of the stuff is someone else’s discarded
material… their trash.
Bruce Odom owns the Michigan store where Patterson and Goss found many of their
materials. He says many shoppers walk in skeptics, but become believers.
“You see a lot of one party tugging the other one along, and the other one saying, ‘No,
no, I don’t know about this,’ whether it be the husband or the wife. You see a lot of that.
And yeah, you do need to realize that it’s all done and installed, you probably aren’t
going to recognize the difference except in your checkbook.”
If you’re making a list of things to do around the house, you can find reused materials
stores in at least 30 states. A visit to one might deconstruct the perception that newer is
better.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cari Noga.
Lynn Beard prepares free fruit dishes for hungry high school students. It's part of a government program to bring nutrition to schools. Photo by Rebecca Williams.
American kids are overweight. Nutritionists say one major reason is that kids are eating too much junk food, and not enough fresh produce. A government pilot program is trying to get kids to eat more locally-grown fruits and vegetables in school by giving them out for free. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams visited a school where the experiment is underway:
Transcript
American kids are overweight. Nutritionists say one major reason
is that kids are eating too much junk food, and not enough fresh
produce. A government pilot program is trying to get kids
to eat more locally-grown fruits and vegetables in school by giving them out
for free. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams
visited a school where the experiment is underway:
It’s 9 am and the halls are quiet at Everett High School, in Lansing,
Michigan. Parent volunteers are setting out bowls of bright
pink grapefruit segments on stands in the hallway.
They’re working quickly, getting ready for 1500 hungry teenagers.
Kids slow down when they pass the fruit stand. A few kids take a bowl…
but not that many.
“Ain’t nobody want no grapefruit?”
(kids chatting)
“They’re hesitant to try it because it’s new, they’ve never tasted grapefruit
before.”
(final bell ringing under)
Lynn Beard is energetic. When she’s not handing out
fruit, she’s teaching nutrition here at the school.
As much as she talks to kids about their choices, even she can’t predict
what they’ll eat.
The hall empties. Lynn Beard sees a few stragglers.
“Sir, have you ever had grapefruit, honey, before at home? Yes,
okay.”
She pulls Brandon Washington over to the fruit stand…
“He was going to try it, and he put it back down because someone said it
was sour.” B.W. :”I was going to try it.”
“Honest reaction?”
“Honest reaction? Tastes like it needs some sugar in it.”
Even though he’s not a grapefruit fan, Washington says he likes having
the fruit and veggies here.
“Now that they got them at school, I eat it more. And that’s good,
too, because nutrition values, good for your soul, you live longer, right?”
Washington says, before he could get free fruit and vegetables during the day,
he felt hungry between meals. Many of his classmates skipped breakfast.
Lynn Beard worries about her students’ eating habits.
“English, math, social studies, aren’t changing the obesity rate. Early
onset osteoporosis, we’re seeing a huge jump in. Type two diabetes in children.
What are we doing to educate our kids on how to change? Isn’t that an effective
place to use taxpayers’ dollars?”
That’s one of the questions behind the Fruit and Vegetable Pilot.
It’s a year-long experiment, funded by 6 million dollars from the 2002 Farm
Bill.
107 schools in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and New Mexico were
chosen. It’s a mix of schools: large and small, rural and urban.
The hope is that kids will learn to like fruits and veggies… and be
cultivated into new consumers.
Agriculture promoters hope one of the spin-offs will be a new market for
local farmers. With few exceptions, the pilot program requires that
schools buy only American produce, and local produce if
they can. Fourteen of the pilot schools buy directly from farmers.
Everett High School gave kids some locally grown produce. But Lynn Beard
says the kids still don’t know much about the food that grows where they live.
“Kids don’t understand seasonal fruits, they were so upset we weren’t
getting watermelon in January. ”
And Beard says just getting local produce at all was difficult.
Schools such as Everett High School buy from national food service
companies. The companies often sell these Michigan schools
Washington apples.
Marion Kalb directs the National Farm to School Program. It’s
part of a non-profit group that works to connect farms
and schools. Kalb says food service companies don’t make a
special effort to buy from local farms.
But she thinks schools can influence their suppliers.
“If there’s instruction on the school side to say, you know we’d like
to know seasonally what’s available locally, then that gives incentive
to the distributor to try and make buying from regional or local farmers a
priority.”
And it makes sense to most people to sell apples nearby rather than shipping
them miles away.
(birds twittering in open air market, people talking about flowers)
In a farmer’s market full of flowers, Dwight Carpenter is one
of the few farmers selling produce this early in the year. That’s because
he grows vegetables in a greenhouse.
He sells at two farmer’s markets and a store on his land. He says it’s enough to survive,
but he’d like to expand to places such as local schools.
“It’s kind of a difficult way to make a living, and if better markets were
established, such as schools and hospitals, and that kind of thing,
grocery stores, and if that were turned around, that would help the farmer too,
to be able to hang onto whatever he’s got, rather than to have to sell it off to subdivisions
or whatever.”
(birds out)
(sound up: cafeteria, “Let me know how you like the spicy chicken sandwich.
It’s new.” cash register beeping)
Although the kids at Everett High School are getting used to eating more
produce from the free program, you won’t find many fruits and vegetables
for sale at the cafeteria. That’s because the cafeteria competes with nearby fast food
restaurants.
You also won’t find many nutritious snacks in the vending machines. The school needs
the revenue it gets from the candy bars and chips.
Kids are still lining up at the soda machine today. But some students
think the fruit and veggie program is slowly changing their eating
habits. Wynton Harris is a sophomore.
“Last year everyone was eating junk and this year they cut down a lot. I
can tell, because I’m seeing less people at the machines, and more
people taking fruit. And I said, wow.”
And Everett High School’s nutrition teacher, Lynn Beard, has a vision: vending
machines that offer fresh produce instead of potato chips.
“If there’s nothing free, I think we’d have a number of kids who, instead of buying
a dollar pop, would buy a dollar pear.”
The free fruit and vegetable program ends with the school year. But some 70 schools
in the U-S buy from their local farmers even without special federal funding.
Even so, Lynn Beard doubts her school could afford to keep this program going
without federal money.
“I think next year I’m not going to want to be around here without this
grant, cause there’s going to be so many complaints. Where’s our fruit? Why
can’t we get some fruit? I’m dreading next year. I’m just going to have to keep a smile on
my face and say, “Talk to your government.”
But government support for the program is uncertain.
Congress will debate the future of the fruit and vegetable program. And whether
government should be marketing fruits and vegetables in the schools… and further
subsiding the farmers who grow them.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Rebecca Williams.
No matter where you travel around the region, you’ll find kids
playing all kinds of organized sports – from baseball to bowling. But a
growing number of young people around the Great Lakes are embracing a
sport that’s traditionally been practiced in the Western U-S. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
Transcript
About a dozen boys and girls are gathered outside on a chilly, windy afternoon in Kent City,
Michigan dressed in jeans, cowboy boots and hats. They’ve gome to practice the sport of rodeo. The
athletes specialize in different events, including barrel racing, goat tying and steer wrestling.
Tonight, they’re at Sue and Andy Sharp’s house to practice. Most of the kids bring their own
horses, and the Sharps have a few steers for roping and wrestling.
SUE: “You would like to be able to practice once or twice a week at least, if possible. Not all
the kids can do that, though, because some don’t have a place near them, and they have to travel
quite a ways.”
The Sharps met when they were both competing on the Pro Rodeo Circuit. But now, they’re passing on
their skills to a new generation of riders.
“In 1974, when I first started, and before that, there were rodeos. But nowhere near as many are
there now. When they went through the phase of the urban cowboy, it really started to grow east of
the Mississippi and got more notoriety and people started to get involved, and that’s continued
on.”
Still, rodeo riders aren’t exactly commonplace in these parts, but their ranks are steadily
growing – fed by the increasing number of high school rodeo teams and 4-H programs. In fact,
several of the current youth rodeo champs come from the Great Lakes States. Wisconsin is home to
the world champion high school bareback rider. Indiana hosts the world champion in pole bending.
And Michigan is the home of the national champion bull rider.
With programs like the Little Britches Rodeo Association, kids as young as toddlers can get
involved in the sport. Tonight, Cody Schmitz has the distinction of being the youngest one at the
practice session.
CODY: “I’m a bull rider.”
NELSON: “You’re a bull rider. How old are you?”
CODY: “Ten.”
NELSON: “Ten. And you ride a bull.”
CODY: “But I don’t ride, like, big bulls. I ride, like, these steers and stuff.”
Cody says just like other athletes, he gets nervous before a ride.
CODY: “You get butterflies and stuff, but once you get on, then they just go away and you’re just
having fun and sitting there. But it’s not very good to hang up.
NELSON: “What does that mean, to hang up?”
CODY: “Hang up as in, your hand’s still stuck in the rope and then it’s pulling and stuff. Well,
it’s not very good.”
Cody weighs about ninety pounds and stands just under five feet. But the steers can weigh hundreds
of pounds, so it’s a kind of understatement to say that rodeo can be dangerous. Just ask Matt
Kostel. He used to compete, but now he just watches from the sidelines.
“Had a little accident with a bull. He caught me in the forehead right here with a horn and put me
in the hospital. And they put plates in my forehead and screws and had to do reconstructive
surgery on me.”
Even so, Kostel hopes to someday return to the sport. For many – like Cody Schmitz – the rewards
outweigh the risks. Riders can win cash and even college scholarships. Cody’s only been competing
for a couple of years, but he’s already set his sights on becoming a pro. At tonight’s practice,
he’s decked out in a protective vest and mouth guard – ready to ride a steer.
(sound of rosin rubbing on rope)
“All right! Come on, Cody!”
Cody’s fourteen-year-old brother, Eric, helps him get ready: rubbing rosin on the rope for a
better grip. Then Eric and some of the other boys gather ’round to give Cody some final bits of
advice.
ERIC: “No matter what he does, keep shuffling your feet. Feel comfortable – start kicking.”
GUY 2: “Get right up on your hands, don’t get off it.”
Then Cody gives the signal, and they’re off.
GUYS: “Look at ’em buck, Cody! Look at ’em buck!”
The steer almost immediately throws cody to the ground, and the whole thing’s over in a matter of
seconds. Cody’s hurting from a hard fall on his elbow. But after a pep talk from his brother Eric,
he’s soon up and ready to ride again.
ERIC: “How bad do you want it?”
CODY: “Bad.”
ERIC: “Then you better try. Because without trying, you ain’t got nothing, right?”
CODY: “Right.”
This ride goes better for Cody. He’s able to hold on a little longer before getting bucked off.
It’s a close-knit group here tonight – not just the brothers, but all of the riders. And most say
they’ll continue riding, either as pros or just for fun, because, as Eric Schmitz says, rodeo is
as much a lifestyle as it is a sport.
“I mean, everybody’s together, everybody’s friends, you help each other out. I don’t know how to
explain it – it’s just kind of a cowboy deal, I guess. And I couldn’t imagine myself doing a thing
different.”
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Wendy Nelson in Kent City, Michigan.
