Foresters, KaBOOM! & Volunteers Build New Playground for Cleveland Children

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

CLEVELAND, July 10 /PRNewswire/ – Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. (BBC) received a brand new playground today thanks to the effort of more than 200 volunteers from Foresters(TM), BBC and non-profit KaBOOM! The new playground will serve more than 700 children and their families in the Cleveland community for years to come.

“Foresters is more than a life insurance provider,” said Bruce Burak, National Sales Manager with Foresters. “Foresters also invests in its members and in communities where they live, such as Cleveland. Foresters believes in creating opportunities for families to spend healthy time together, like the BBC playground we all built here together.”

Foresters, a life insurance provider committed to the well-being of families, is funding 20 playground builds across North America in 2010.By investing $1.5 million in these projects, Foresters is partnering with KaBOOM! to build playgrounds that will eventually serve more than 150,000 children and their families.

The playground at BBC will provide more than 700 children and their families in the Cleveland community with a great place to play. In less than eight hours, the child-designed playground was built from scratch by hundreds of volunteers from Foresters, BBC and the surrounding community. In addition, children and families spent the day playing games and participating in arts and crafts activities. Playgrounds are an ideal place for families to get to know other families and build strong communities.

“We are excited that this play ground will complement all of the wonderful redevelopment that has taken place in this neighborhood”, said BBC’s Joy Johnson.

Thanks to the work of Foresters, BBC and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 3,040 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as a climbing wall, a triple slide, and a suspension bridge.

About Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.

The mission of Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. is to enhance the quality of life for residents of the Central, Garden Valley, and Kinsman neighborhoods of Cleveland by initiating and cultivating housing, retail, employment, and recreation opportunities through effective partnerships with residents, community groups, government, corporations and institutions.

About KaBOOM!

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play. Through community building, the company is focused on giving every child in America a great place to play within walking distance. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,700 new playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers – a national network of individual advocates for play. KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

About Foresters

Founded in 1874 as a fraternal benefit society, Foresters(TM) champions the well-being of families through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with more than 675,000 members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Unity Life of Canada‡ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters. For more information, please visit www.foresters.com.

Foresters(TM) is a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9.

‡ Unity Life of Canada, a Foresters company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Independent Order of Foresters

SOURCE Foresters

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Digicel Distributes 19,000 Tents in Port-au-Prince to Shelter More Than 100,000 Haitians

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI, Jun 09 (MARKET WIRE) —
Digicel today announced details of its plans to distribute the 19,000
six-person tents which will provide shelter to more than 100,000 Haitians
who are living in makeshift shelters following the January 12th
earthquake which devastated Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas.
Distribution starts today and will be complete within a week.

Specifically designed to resist heavy rains and for extended living, the
tents will be distributed through organizations which have been assisting
people in securing shelter since the earthquake. They will be disbursed
to individuals throughout the affected area, so that individuals can
locate them where best suits their needs, for example, close to their
collapsed home or to their place of work.

Digicel Haiti CEO Maarten Boute said: “We have a group of 120 volunteers
made up of Digicel employees who will manage the distribution. These
volunteers will be divided into groups of 40 and sub-groups of four and,
over the next week, they will distribute the 19,000 tents to more than
150 organizations.

“This initiative means that 100,000 Haitians currently living on the
streets with inadequate shelter or in makeshift dwellings will be housed
in one of these tents which provide improved shelter until a more
permanent solution is found,” he continued.

Some of the organizations that will receive tents include: Red Cross
Haiti, World Vision, Food for the Poor, Catholic Relief Services and the
national police. According to shelter cluster figures, approximately
63,000 tents have been distributed to date. Digicel’s programme will
increase this number by 30%.

The tents have a 10×10-foot coated polyethylene ‘bathtub’ floor, separate
from the tent walls — and give protection from groundwater. The tents –
purchased from a manufacturer in the US — were shipped on 14 40-foot
containers and arrived in Port-au-Prince earlier this month.

Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves, commented: “With the rainy season upon us,
we are doing everything we can to improve conditions and give some of the
one million homeless people in Port-au-Prince some dignity and protection.

“However, the situation in Haiti is still grave. While the tents we are
distributing will go some way towards temporarily improving sheltered
accommodations, we need more organizations from across the world to
continue to step in and provide support in any way they can.”

Director of Red Cross Haiti, Mme Michelle Amedee Gedeon, said: “The
donation of these tents is a blessing for the people under our care who
are currently living in dire conditions with the spread of disease rife.

“With the provision of tents, families can live together in their own
unit which is clean and protected from the elements as they continue to
try to rebuild their lives,” continued Mme Michelle Amedee Gedeon.

As the single largest investor in Haiti with a total investment of over
US$370 million since its launch in 2006, Digicel has over two million
customers in Haiti. The Digicel Haiti Relief Fund has donated US$5
million to NGOs in Haiti to support the relief efforts and to date over
US$800,000 has been raised by Digicel customers across the Caribbean and
Central America through a text and voice donation line. Digicel also gave
each of its two million customers US$5 in free credit — totalling US$10
million.

ABOUT DIGICEL GROUP

After nine years of operation, Digicel has 9.1 million customers across
its Caribbean and Central American markets and is renowned for
competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, superior customer care, a wide
variety of products and services and state-of-the-art handsets. By
offering innovative wireless services and community support, Digicel has
become a leading brand in the Caribbean and has placed the region at the
cutting-edge of wireless communications. The company is also a recent
entrant to the Central American market in Panama and Honduras, where is
has 1.6 million subscribers.

Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and now has operations in 32 markets
worldwide. Its Caribbean and Central American markets comprise: Anguilla,
Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin
Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, French
Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica,
Martinique, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the
Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos. The Caribbean
company also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts. Pacific markets
comprise: Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

In total, across its 32 markets, Digicel has over 10.7 million
subscribers.

Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean and Central American sports
teams, including the West Indies Cricket Team and Special Olympics teams
throughout the region. Digicel is also the title sponsor of the Digicel
Caribbean Championships and the Copa de Naciones Digicel, which are the
Caribbean and Central American qualifiers to the CONCACAF Gold Cup. And
in the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby
teams including the Digicel Fiji 7s, Digicel Tonga Ikale Tahi 7s and 15s
and the Digicel Vanuatu 7s and 15s. Digicel also sponsors the Vanuatu
Cricket team.

Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information on Digicel.

Contact:
Antonia Graham
Digicel
+1 876 564 1708
antonia.graham@digicelgroup.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Practising on onions makes tattoo art perfect

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Before the advent of artificial skin pads, tattoo artists had to rely on white onions, volunteers and their own skin to hone their skill – an art that can only be perfected with practice.

Practising how to make a tattoo is very important because it gives an idea of the depth of the needle – how much it should penetrate the skin – for comfortable hand movement and to cause the least pain to the client.

Mumbai-based tattoo artist Vishwas Dorwekar, who has been in the business for 30 years, told IANS that he used to practise on white onion to get his hand movement right.

‘We are traditional tattoo artists and my father taught me this art on white onions. I practised a lot on them because the layering is just like skin. So working on them helps achieve the correct hand balance,’ Dorwekar said.

‘The best way to judge yourself on a white onion is to see imprints of work on its layers. How deep did u touch it? Initially it is 6-7 layer deep, but the day you master the art, the imprint will come down to 1-2 layers,’ he added.

Delhi-based tattoo artist Mike Cowasji, who has been tattooing since 1995, said he was fortunate enough to have volunteers to practise.

‘At that time, tattooing just started in India and a lot of people wanted to get one. So, I used to get a lot volunteers who wanted a tattoo done. That is how I mastered the art,’ Cowasji explained.

‘But at the same time, working directly on someone’s body added huge responsibilities. I had to be perfect. I had to make sure that the design comes out the way the volunteer wanted. After all, they are doing something that will stick with them for ever,’ he added.

One artist said he even practised on his own skin to get it right.

‘Today you get artificial rubber skin, but those hit the market just two to three years back. They were popular in the West and available there. One could have got it from there, but it was expensive,’ said Lokesh Verma of Devilz tattoo parlour in Vasant Kunj, who has been in the business for six years.

‘So I started practising on my own skin. That is how I learnt,’ he added.

Artificial skin pads are available in the Indian market starting at Rs.2,000. Cowasji, who runs a school for teaching the art of tattooing in C.R. Park, explained how rubber skin works.

‘I have mannequins in my school. We use the rubber skin pads and strap them to any body part. The point is to get used to the feel of drawing around the natural curves of the human body,’ he said.

Verma suggests one should never practise on a flat surface to make sure that the process is realistic to get the maximum benefit.

Dorwekar summed up, saying: ‘Tattoo-making is an endless process. The more one practises, the better one gets.’

‘Tattoo-making is a combination of art and science, practising which will give you knowledge,’ he said.

(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at shilpa.r@ians.in)

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How beetroot juice boosts stamina

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 20 (ANI): Scientists from the University of Exeter”s School of Sport and Health Sciences have discovered that beetroot juice boosts stamina by making muscles more fuel-efficient.

In 2009, the same researchers found that the juice can increase physical endurance. The study focused on men aged 19 to 38 cycling on exercise bikes. Drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day for a week enabled them to cycle 16 per cent longer before getting tired out.

Now, the scientists say they’ve understood how the beetroot boost works.

The new study showed that beetroot juice doubled the amount of nitrate in the blood of volunteers, and reduced the rate at which muscles used their main source of energy. Beetroot juice helped muscles work more efficiently and lowered their oxygen uptake.

The researchers believe nitrate from beetroot juice leads to increased levels of nitric oxide in the body, which affects a range of functions including blood flow, hormone levels and cell signalling.

“We have seen growing interest in the benefits of drinking beetroot juice in the world of professional sport and I expect this study to attract even more attention from athletes,” the Independent quoted the study”s leader, Professor Andy Jones, as saying.

The findings are published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. (ANI)

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Infected girl’s ‘dine with a stranger with Hepatitis B’ awareness campaign

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): A Chinese girl with Hepatitis B found a unique way to raise awareness about the virus—she took to the streets holding a sign saying “Will you have dinner with a HBV carrier”.

The girl, an overseas returnee who calls herself Chucao, told reporters in downtown Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, that she was diagnosed as a carrier of HBV – Hepatitis B Virus – during a physical examination to enter high school.

However, her family got scared of the stigma attached to the illness and forced her to keep it a secret and move away.

Chucao then entered a college in Japan, where she found HBV is not regarded as a terrible disease like it is in China, reports the China Daily.

Back in China, Chucao encountered some other HBV carriers though the Internet and they formed an organization named Green Chucao.

The organization committed itself to publishing scientific knowledge of HBV by carrying out activities such as inviting people to have dinner with sufferers.

Before coming to Wuhan, Chucao carried out similar activities in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou and Kunshan.

Not only did she encounter difficulties, but also kind-hearted people—one girl even donated 300 yuan.

In the afternoon, 14 volunteers agreed to go to a restaurant to have dinner with Chucao.

They used disposable dishware and the atmosphere was reported as relaxing.

Medical expert said healthy people who have dinner with HBV carriers would not become infected as transmission does not occur through daily contact.

Chucao hoped the news would help get rid of people’s discrimination of HBV carriers. (ANI)

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Witness brain scan doesn’t help

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): Monitoring brain activity of witnesses reveals no more than what they say they remember, a study has shown.

The study by Jesse Rissman and his team at Stanford University in California comes amid controversy over whether to admit functional MRI scans as evidence in US courts.

As part of their research, the team asked 16 volunteers to view 200 mugshots, reports New Scientist.

An hour later, they were again shown pictures of faces, some of which they had seen before and others that were new.

The researchers recorded fMRI scans of the volunteers” brains as they reported which faces they recognised.

While the brain scans matched the volunteers” decisions on whether the faces were familiar, they could not predict if the recollection was accurate.

The team also don”t know how easily a witness could cheat the system: remembering a recent event or fabricating a lie may look the same to the scanner.

The study has been published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

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Real-life ‘Juliets’ answering ‘Romeos’ letters get a reel makeover

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 11 (ANI): New film ”Letters to Juliet” is based on folks who reply to letters written to Shakespeare’s fictional heroine by lovelorn ‘Romeos’ across the world.

The volunteers, in Italy, who respond to sack load of letters written by people seeking advice on relationship, are popularly known as “Juliet”s Secretaries”.

The tradition has continued for the past half a century. The scribes work in an upstairs office overlooking the Verona balcony on which Juliet supposedly stood, when Romeo wooed her.

“Almost all of the letters contain the phrase, ”Juliet, I can only tell you. Only you can help me. Even if she is a literary figure, she has become real,” the Telegraph quoted Giovanna Tamassia, who has been working as ‘Juliet’s secretary’ for past 16 years, as saying.

The new film, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Seyfried, has been inspired by these volunteers.

The plot revolves around a young American tourist, Seyfried, who meets the volunteers who respond to the letters.

The film will hit screens in the UK on June 9. (ANI)

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Metallica”s Master of Puppets tops list of heavy metal albums

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 30 (ANI): Metallica”s 1986 release Master of Puppets has pipped Iron Maiden”s Number of the Beast and Appetite For Destruction by Guns N” Roses to top a new list of heavy metal albums.

The results of the joint MusicRadar.com and Metal Hammer magazine poll have been released on International Noise Awareness Day, reports The Daily Express.

To come up with the list, more than 6,000 heavy rock fans were asked to give their votes.

Twenty percent of the volunteers picked Master of Puppets as the top album.

Also making the top 10 were Metallica”s Ride The Lightning, AC/DC”s Back in Black, Rust in Peace by Megadeth and Black Sabbath”s Paranoid. (ANI)

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A little motivation can improve eyesight

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): Eyesight markedly improved when people were experimentally induced to believe that they could see especially well, a new study found.

Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer and her colleagues reported the finding in the April Psychological Science.

The boffins emphasize that such expectations actually enhanced visual clarity, rather than simply making volunteers more alert or motivated to focus on objects.

In the study, “20 men and women who saw a reversed eye chart — arranged so that letters became progressively larger further down the chart, with a giant “E” at the bottom — accurately reported more letters from the smallest two lines than they did when shown a traditional eye chart with the big letters on top. All volunteers had normal eyesight.

These results reflect people”s expectation, based on experience with standard eye charts, that letters are easy to see at the top and become increasingly difficult to distinguish on lower lines, the researchers suggest.

Participants who said they thought that they could improve their eyesight with practice displayed a bigger vision boost on the reversed chart than those who didn”t think improvement was possible, but only for the next-to-smallest line. Both groups did equally well at reading the smallest, topmost line”, reports Discovery News. (ANI)

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Energy drinks start their kick as soon as they touch your tongue

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 30 (ANI): Energy drinks starting their “kick work” as soon as they touch your tongue, concludes a new study.

In the study, Nicholas Gant at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and team had 16 participants tire out their biceps by flexing them for 11 minutes before rinsing their mouths with either a carbohydrate drink or a non-calorific, taste-matched one.

“One second after rinsing, the team applied transcranial magnetic stimulation to the participants” scalps, which aided the detection of activity in the motor cortex, a brain area known to send signals to biceps.

“The team found that the volunteers who swilled with carbohydrates were able to flex with more force immediately afterwards, and had a 30 per cent stronger neural response compared with those given placebo,” reports New Scientist.

The study has been published in Brain Research. (ANI)

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Blinking eyes indicate a wandering mind

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): You tend to blink more often when you”re daydreaming or when your mind is wandering off, concludes a new study.

Cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Smilek, of the University of Waterloo, studies how people pay attention — and don”t.

For the new study, he was inspired by brain research that shows, when the mind wanders, the parts of the brain that process external goings-on are less active.

“And we thought, ok, if that”s the case, maybe we”d see that the body would start to do things to prevent the brain from receiving external information,” Smilek says. “The simplest thing that might happen is you might close your eyes more.” So, Smilek and his colleagues, Jonathan S.A. Carriere and J. Allan Cheyne, also of the University of Waterloo, set out to look at how often people blink when their mind wanders.

Fifteen volunteers read a passage from a book on a computer. While they read, a sensor tracked their eye movements, including blinks and what word they were looking at. At random intervals, the computer beeped and the subjects reported whether they”d been paying attention to what they were reading or whether their minds were wandering — which included thinking about earlier parts of the text.

The participants blinked more when their minds were wandering than when they were on task, the team reports in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“What we suggest is that when you start to mind-wander, you start to gate the information even at the sensory endings — you basically close your eyelid so there”s less information coming into the brain,” says Smilek. (ANI)

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Computer games ‘as addictive as booze, drugs’

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Apr 28 (ANI): Computer games can be as costly and debilitating as drug and alcohol dependence.

In a study by the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, conducted online among 1945 participants, 8 per cent were identified as problem gamers.

The volunteers who were part of the study admitted to gaming for extended periods, had fewer friends in real life and had even lost a significant relationship due to excessive play, reports The Herald Sun.

Other problems extended to craving more play time, and restlessness or irritability if they couldn”t get back to the controller.

Psychiatrist Guy Porter, who co-wrote a paper based on the survey”s findings for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, said: “Any pleasurable activity has the potential to become addictive or to form a repetitive pattern of use.

“Games are very enjoyable and provide a very positive experience for most people who use them.

“But there are a small number of people out there – those who are playing for eight hours plus a day – who have got a problem with it.” (ANI)

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Volunteer hours drop off

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There is concern that the amount of volunteer work in Tasmania is decreasing.

The environment organisation, Natural Resource Management North, has reported a drop in volunteers for rubbish collection and weeding programs.

Chief Executive James McKee says people are too busy to volunteer regularly.

“Commitments to go to meetings and to go to formal groups seems to be becoming less a part of our society,” he said.

Adrienne Picone from Volunteering Tasmania says the number of volunteers in the state has grown but they are working fewer hours.

“Even though we have a higher percentage we still feel that the decline in the number of hours that people are volunteering is a real cause for concern.”

Volunteering Tasmania has launched a state wide study of volunteers and is calling for participants.

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Tuross tennis players caught in council ‘racket’

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Tuross Head on the New South Wales Far South Coast could lose two of its four tennis courts if the Eurobodalla Shire Council adopts its draft recreation strategy.

The strategy was presented to the Eurobodalla Sports Council and tennis sub-committee on Monday night.

Roads and Recreation Manager Warren Sharpe says it involves rationalising facilities where utilisation is low.

He says the cornerstone of the strategy is focussing facilities around demand.

However the proposal to remove two courts at Tuross has angered some residents, who say tennis is a big part of community life.

Tuross social tennis coordinator Trevor Brown says the local courts were built by volunteers and are well used, and the community does not want to lose them.

For more, go to the South East News blog at http://bit.ly/dgL1SN

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One in 10 rental properties unfit to live in

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) says it is disgusted with the findings of its investigation into the quality of affordable rental accommodation in Melbourne.

The organisation is urging the Government to legislate basic living standards for rental properties.

VCOSS volunteers visited 116 rental properties advertised in newspapers throughout Melbourne and Geelong on two weekends in March.

VCOSS chief executive Cath Smith says one in 10 of the properties surveyed was unfit to live in.

“The basic findings were that quite a lot of houses lacked two or more of some basic features such as locks on all doors, the absence of extensive mould, the absence of cooking, heating, electrical safety switches, those sorts of features,” she said.

Ms Smith is disgusted with the findings.

“We’re not a third-world country,” she said.

“We’ve got a residential tenancies act that does not actually define what kind of habitability standards are expected,” she said.

The state’s telephone and web financial counselling service, MoneyHelp says minimum standards are urgently needed to ensure all rental properties are healthy, safe and affordable.

Carolyn Bond says a third of their callers last month were renters and two thirds of them were in housing stress.

“While these renters are often struggling to pay for their housing, they are not necessarily getting a good deal for that money,” she said.

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Record turtle hatchlings head to sea

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A record number of baby loggerhead turtles have hatched on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast beaches this season.

Turtlecare coordinator Julie O’Connor says hundreds of volunteers have been monitoring 68 nests across the coast since November.

She estimates as many as 6,000 hatchlings have made their way to the ocean during the season.

“Apart from the more intense than usual battle that we had with the foxes, we had a lot more nests,” she said.

“We had 68 nests between Shelley Beach and Point Cartwright this season, compared to 50 last year, 29 the year before and apparently it’s a 28-year high in nesting throughout Queensland for loggerheads.”

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Emails carry more lies than hand-written letters

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 1 (ANI): People are more likely to tell lies in an email than when they use a hand-written letter as a means of communication, a new study has found.

The team from Rutgers Business School in New Jersey believes it is so because email puts a greater “psychological distance” bet­ween liar and victim, reports The Daily Express.

The researchers said: “Email is generally viewed as less permanent and less personal than other forms of communication.

“This may explain why individuals typing on a computer may be more likely to feel released from strict moral guidelines than those using pen and paper.”

To reach the conclusion, scientists selected 48 students and told them they had been allocated money to share with a partner who was someone they did not know and would not meet. Each was told the sum was 89 US dollars.

However, the volunteers were also told that their partners only knew the sum was between five and 100 dollars and would never find out the real amount.

Then each had to decide how much to share, and inform their partner, either through email or letter.

Around 92 per cent of those who used email lied, compared with 63 per cent of letter writers.

The study has been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. (ANI)

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Motorists urged to take a break on Easter weekend

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Motorists in Victoria are being urged to pull over and have a rest to avoid fatigue on the roads this weekend.

The State Emergency Services Minister, Bob Cameron, says volunteers will hand out more than 200,000 cups of tea and coffee across Victoria to encourage motorists to stay safe on the roads.

He says tired drivers should pull over at one of more than 65 driver reviver locations set up across the state.

“That’s what this driver reviver is about. It’s about people recognising that fatigue is an issue, call in, have that cuppa, break the trip, and survive.”

He says up to 60 deaths and more than 300 serious injuries on the road every year can be blamed on tired drivers.

“We want people to recognise that fatigue is a problem on our roads.”

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New memorial to be ready for Anzac Day

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Moranbah Returned Services League (RSL), south of Mackay, says it is very happy with the town’s new cenotaph, which should be completed before this year’s Anzac Day services.

RSL spokesman Dennis Page says the old memorial is worn down and does not recognise all the personnel who served in conflicts and peacekeeping missions.

Mr Page says the new cenotaph, being built in the town square, is something the RSL wanted to give to the community

“Our membership is falling off now, a lot of people are retiring and moving away from Moranbah,” he said.

“We wanted to leave a monument that we could be proud of, for remembrance and all the veterans.

“Something that the council and hopefully the community and schools could take over and carry on the Anzac tradition with – a venue that the whole community could be proud of.”

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DIY ability is in the genes

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 30 (ANI): DIY (Do-It-Yourself) skills are in the genes, conclude scientists.

Psychologist Dr Glenn Wilson, Visiting Professor of Psychology, Gresham College, London, who led the experiment, said: ””Although there is not one specific DIY gene, spatial awareness is vital in understanding how shapes fit together and is therefore fundamental to DIY skills.

””Some people simply do not have the mental equipment necessary to manipulate shapes and will always struggle to complete DIY tasks successfully.””

To reach the conclusion and measure inherent DIY ability, researchers asked volunteers to complete specially designed multi-dimensional puzzles, reports The Telegraph.

The analyses revealed innate understanding of shapes and mechanics, an ability not subject to ””trial and error”” learning, the researchers said.

The study was conducted for Halifax Home Insurance. (ANI)

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