Search

Most of us carry around a hip-pocket daydream or fantasy, something we'd love to be or do in life, but don't have any idea how. What's yours? Is it cranking […]

Real estate agents face job stress caused by the insecurity of having no regular paycheck, the pressure of working with the public and the need to work long hours. Techniques for coping are discussed.

This article focuses on how high school students are best served by researching colleges to find their perfect match, rather than getting caught up in the prestige of an Ivy League name. Research shows that success in the job market is based on a student's success at the college of their choice, not on the brand of their education. The article suggests that parents should adopt a more open approach to the college search, understanding how much has changed since they were students. INSET: Free Tuition for Smart Kids.

This article focuses on the nature of ambition in people. Of all the human impulses, ambition ought to be the most widely distributed because nature is a zero-sum game, and yet it is not. Many people disagree on what ambition is, too, including anthropologist Edward Lowe, who claims ambition is an evolutionary product, and Dean Simonton, who says ambition is energy and determination. Anthropologists, psychologists and others have begun looking more closely at ambition, seeking its roots in family, culture, gender and genes. The article presents several people who exemplify ambition, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Martha Stewart and others.

Reports on computed tomography (CT) scanning, which uses X-ray machines to take multiple, layered pictures of the heart and surrounding blood vessels. Discussion of the advantages of CT scanning which, in some cases, can help patients avoid the surgery needed to perform an angiogram; How CT scanning can help emergency room doctors give definitive answers about coronary disease to patients complaining of chest pains; Concerns from Medicare and insurance companies over the surge in the use of expensive imaging scans for all parts of the body; Examination of some of the problems with CT scanning, including the amount of radiation a patient gets exposed to.

Focuses on the booming housing market. Soaring house prices, which is fueling a national obsession with real estate; Jump in house prices by 15% in April, 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors; Percentage increase in the price of single-family houses in various cities including San Diego, Las Vegas and Miami; Warnings from economists that the housing bubble could burst; Television programs that focus on making over and selling homes, reflecting the current housing obsession.

Focuses on the female mid-life crisis and the experiences of women during this time in their lives. Assertion that women deal with middle age differently than men; Description of the book "The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis Is Transforming Today's Women," by Sue Shellenbarger; Hopefulness that women have about the future; Description of the different phases in life and how they take a person in different directions; Efforts of some women to help others as they enter mid-life.

Looks at the influence of teenagers on the U.S. cellular telephone industry. Influence of popular culture on graphics and ring tones developed for cell phones; Efforts of wireless technology makers to market their products and services to youth; Development of devices which provide cellular phone service and other types of media, including music, movies, and games; Impact of camera phones on the cellular phone market; Investments of large cellular phone companies in new products and technology; Profitability of small technology companies on the cellular phone industry. INSET: Mobile Magic.

Considers the importance of resilience in feeling happy. One child's story from the deaths of a city street to law school; Questions over why some children are able to overcome extreme circumstances and find happiness while others are defeated; Researcher Emmy Werner who found some common bonds in those who made it through bad times; Ability to teach children skills to overcome adversity; Complicated nature of resilience as presented by professor Arthur Reynolds; What factors can weaken resilience; Tips for helping a child to grow up into a happy and productive adult which include honing a talent, finding a mentor, getting help, helping others and making better parents.

Presents advice on how adults with high blood pressure can lower their health risks and improve their quality of life. Consideration of how most patients do not do enough to address symptoms of prehypertension; Growth of the number of heart attacks and blood-pressure problems among younger adults; Use of beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzymes to control hypertension-related conditions; Ways in which the calibration of the heart can change the condition of the body's vessel walls and therefore fail to accommodate blood pressure; Impact of the urinary and renal systems on the amount of water and sodium which is contained in the bloodstream and in the tissues; Reference to how 75 percent of strokes are caused by a blood clot or loose plaque that lodges in the vessels of the brain. INSET: The DASH Diet.

The article examines how the 2004 presidential election could deepen the partisan split in the U.S., leaving the winner with the challenge of reuniting the country. The last time an incumbent President ran for re-election, in 1996, the mood was so droopy that Jay Leno described one debate as must-sleep TV. Even people who bothered to vote weren't sure it mattered much who won. But this campaign has turned out to be a passion play, with millions more people prepared to paper their yards with signs or make calls at night or write a check to a candidate for the first time ever or offer to drive an elderly neighbor to the polls. Given the questions on the table--war and peace, freedom and safety--it ought to be a relief to see so many Americans come out of their little gated tribal compounds and engage in the fateful debate, hand to hand, door to door. But voters now are having to confront the prospect that this campaign, rare in its combination of passion and poison, may end neither quickly nor well. Four years ago, a constitutional crisis, bruising as it was, at least felt like a freak accident. If it happens again, it may feel like an assault. Each side has declared that the other will do anything to win, which means that if this race stays tight, whichever candidate loses is less likely to think that he was beaten than that he was robbed. Already the planes are fueled, the legal SWAT teams ready, the recount office spaces reserved and provisions made for staplers and coffeemakers in the event that Election Day does indeed become Election Month. All of which suggests that if the election comes up a tie, the two campaigns will take no prisoners. The Democrats especially--convinced they were outmaneuvered, outlawyered and outhustled last time--say they are not going to let it happen again. INSET: WARY OF ANOTHER ELECTION MESS.

Discusses how trial lawyer Richard Scruggs and other have filed 48 class action suits against more than 400 nonprofit hospitals regarding complaints that the hospitals are charging the uninsured grossly inflated prices, dispensing a tiny fraction of their revenues of charity care, and engaging in abusive collection tactics. Efforts of Scruggs to take on widespread industry practices in prestigious health-care providers in California, Illinois, and New York; Investigation by the Internal Revenue Service of excessive CEO pay, insider transactions, and conflicts of interests on hospital boards; Claims from the lawsuits that hospitals aggressively pursue patients for the full charge by placing liens on homes and occasionally garnishing wages.

Examines the rising popularity of websites known as blogs. Definition of the term; News presented with definite bias and humor; Content of the amateur web sites; How the word blog came to be made and its role in grammar; Software company that makes the software needed to create a blog estimates 970,000 users; How the blogs focused attention on a speech given by Trent Lott on the celebration of Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday; How the blogs forced the traditional news media to cover the story; List of 5 bloggers to watch; How blogs act as a lens focusing attention on an issue; Military bloggers who address issues around Iraq; When good bloggers go bad; Question of how much power bloggers will get preelection and if they will have an impact on the outcome. INSET: BLOGS ON A ROLL.

Investment clubs for women executives are a good way for women to be gain investment returns and partnership outside of the male-dominated brokerage world. Statistics for such clubs indicate that all-women clubs outperform their male counterparts as well as the overall market., LAST OCTOBER, 12 women met for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in Annapolis, Maryland. They had the fried mushrooms for starters, followed by hearty steak dinners. Good meal, good service, [...]

Reports on the increase in medicating American youngsters for mood and behavior problems. What the most popular drugs do to the chemicals in the brain; Side effects; Estimates of how many children suffer from mental illness and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Factors at work in the increase of diagnoses; New psychotropic drugs with greater efficacy; Questions about the effects of these drugs on developing brains; Lack of studies; Contention that some rush to medication without other treatment first; Studies on the brain's development; When it is appropriate to medicate; Results of early studies; Lack of family doctor training. INSET: PILLS FOR CHILDREN: HOW THEY WORK.

Discusses precautions and preparations to take in the event of a terrorist attack on the United States. Dirty bombs, Chemical, and biological attacks which are expected to occur; Locations which may be unsafe; Precautions which should be taken; Water and food supplies that should be stored; Subway systems which are vulnerable. INSETS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR--AND WHAT TO DO;…AND ARE WE REALLY ANY SAFER THAN BEFORE?;Tale of the Tape;How to Talk to Your Kids

Examines the implications of eroding pension benefits, longer life-spans and sliding stock prices on the older U.S. population. Examples of how retirement plans are falling apart; Concerns of American retirees and baby boomers over their financial future; The prospect that faces many older workers; Outlook for the bear market; How the situation has changed, in light of lower expected rates of return and smaller nest eggs; Advice for retirement planning; Erosion of guaranteed benefits; College costs. INSETS: How to Retire Cheaply--and Well, by Nick Pachetti;The New 'Staged' Retirement;Seven Top Executives with No Retirement Woes.

Discusses anxiety, a normal response to physical danger that can become a problem when it persists too long beyond the immediate threat. Topics of panic disorder, specific phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety; Description of how the body responds to a threat; Research, including genetics and the neural circuitry of the brain; Link between anxiety and depression; Treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors. INSETS: ARE YOU TOO ANXIOUS?, by Jeffrey Kluger;THE ANATOMY OF ANXIETY, by Alice Park.

Discusses the outlook for employment in the U.S. as the baby boom generation ages and retires. Expectation that there will be a shortage of workers by 2010 despite help from labor-saving technology and immigration; Idea that there is opportunity for workers to go back to school and prepare for a change in careers to fill the expected skills gap in teaching and other fields; Occupations with the largest and smallest growth projections for 2000-2010.