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| This Week's Titles: |
| When
It Comes To Playtime, Children Prefer Indoor Activities |
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Remember Food Safety When
Tailgating |
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| University
Receives Grant For Biofuel Research |
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| Fall
Maintenance In The Garden |
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| Rains
From Faye Did Not Break Georgia's Drought |
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| When
It Comes To Playtime, Children Prefer Indoor Activities |
1:28 |
When it's time for recreation
and play, a study found most children prefer indoor activities.
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For decades children preferred
to spend their playtime outside, playing ball and other games.
But as video games and computers moved into homes, children
prefer to play in front of a big screen television, or a computer
screen. Gwynn Powell, a professor of recreation at the University
of Georgia says since this shift, many children are behind when
it comes to knowledge about nature. Another reason for this
indoor shift is the desire of parents to keep their children
safe. "And now parents don't feel safe letting their children
be outside as often, and view the walls of the house as a way
to keep them safer with that and then that also gives them less
opportunity to go outdoors and so then that fear cycle just
keeps growing stronger and stronger." That was Gwynn Powell
with the University of Georgia's College of Education, who expects
this shift away from nature-based recreation to activities involving
electronic media to continue, and could even increase in the
coming years. Since more children will spend their playtime
flopped down in front of a television or computer screen, childhood
obesity and other health problems will also increase in children.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Remember
Food Safety When Tailgating |
1:39 |
When another football season
kicks off tailgating, remember to include food safety in your
game plan. |
As we move into the 2008
football season, thousands of fans will travel to stadiums to
support their favorite high school, college, and pro teams.
This also includes tailgating, and serving up a pre-game meal.
But a foods specialist with the University of Georgia's College
of Family and Consumer Sciences says as fans get fired up about
the game, they should not forget tailgate food safety. "The
important thing is just to remember to keep hands and utensils
clean. Keep raw foods and ready to eat foods separate. Make
sure that you keep cold foods cold and you keep hot foods hot
and if you're going to grill meats at the site it is a good
idea to take along a food thermometer to make sure your foods
are thoroughly cooked." That was Judy Harrison with the College
of Family and Consumer Sciences. Since the weather is still
hot for tailgating early in a football season, cold foods should
not sta out of refrigeration for more than one hour. Even when
the weather finally cools down, food should not be left in the
temperature danger zone, between forty degrees fahrenheit, and
one-hundred forty degrees fahrenheit, for more than two hours.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| University
Receives Grant For Biofuel Research |
1:38 |
The sun will shine on biofuel
research, thanks to a grant the University of Georgia Received.
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The purpose of the 1.2 million
dollar grant was to allow scientists to conduct studies on producing
biofuel from sunflowers. Steven Knapp, a scientist with the
University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences says a lot of studies will be conducted on the genes
of several species of large, wild sunflowers. "The concept that
we're looking at is understanding the genetics of these plants
and how they accomplish this, and both the species we're working
with that do this grow in desert areas. And so we're trying
to move genes from these sort of desert type species into the
commercial sunflower, so that we can make these biomass hybrids
for fuel production." Steven Knapp with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, who adds another grant for 1.295
million dollars was received for research on producing biofuel
from switchgrass. Much work must be done, but Georgians should
see benefits in the next five to ten years. These include less
expensive liquid fuels, less dependence on foreign oil, lower
food prices, and less release of carbon dioxide into the environment.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Fall
Maintenance In The Garden |
1:35 |
Work on a garden site does
not end when fall arrives. |
During late summer, activities
in a vegetable garden becomes more work than pleasure. During
September you start putting away shovels, hoes, and other equipment
for the winter. But a horticulturist with the University of
Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
says there's still work to be done on that garden site. He adds
fall maintenance will prevent several problems next year. It's
also important to make some notes about this year's garden.
"It's a good idea to always jot down some things that went well
and some things that maybe didn't go well during the garden
season, you want to make a map of areas in the garden that may
have problem weeds and stay away from those if you can. Any
wet areas that didn't produce well you may want to make a note
of. If you grew any varieties that are particularly good or
maybe those that aren't particularly good you want to make a
note of those so that you'll remember next year which varieties
you want to get, and which ones you don't want to get." That
was Terry Kelley with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, who adds it's also important to collect soil samples
in January and February. Once the site has been cleared of watering
and other equipment, run a rotary mower across the garden to
chop up any plant debris that remains. John Harrell, University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Rains
From Faye Did Not Break Georgia's Drought |
1:52 |
A wet visit from Tropical Storm
Faye did not break Georgia's drought. |
Since March, 2006, Georgia
has felt the withering effects of a prolonged drought. In recent
months, North and Central Georgia have seen the worst drought
conditions. In late August, Tropical Storm Faye sloshed across
the Southeast, bringing up to twenty inches of rain in a few
locations in South Georgia, and ten inches in several areas
of the North Georgia mountains. David Stooksbury, the state
climatologist and professor of engineering at the University
of Georgia says rains from Faye did put a dent in the drought,
but did not completely break it. "In the heart of the drought,
in Northeast Georgia and North Central Georgia, Faye was able
to put a dent into the drought. But this was the area where
stream flows were at record lows for this time of the year,
soil moisture was extremely low for this time of year. So Faye
was able to at least bring moisture conditions in the short
term back to more normal conditions." David Stooksbury with
the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who
adds South Georgia's drought has been broken, thanks to the
rains from Faye. If dry conditions return to North and Central
Georgia in September and October, the benefits of Faye will
be long gone, and the area will dry out again. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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