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\ " How’s ife'
7 LEFTY?
We've gotta hand it to you
getting a grip isn't always easy!
/ By Lisa Skolnik Ji&&
Chicago Tribune sl||M?. |
HOW GAUCHE!
The term “left” is full of negative
connotations. The American Heritage
Dictionary defines left-handed as
“awkward, maladroit” and “of doubt
ful sincerity and dubious.” And the
word comes from the Anglo-Saxon
“lyft,” which means weak or broken.
The French word for left is “gauche,”
which also means crooked, ugly,
clumsy, uncouth and bashful; the Ital
ian word is “mancino,” which also
means deceitful; and the Latin word is
“sinister,” which also means evil!
WHAT’S BEHIND IT?
“If you ask five researchers what
causes left-handedness, you may get
five different answers,” says M.K.
Holder, a biological anthropologist at
Indiana University. Some researchers
point to hereditary or physical and
cultural factors. Others argue for a
single factor. Lefties expert Stanley
Coren says that “we’re all genetically
designed to be righties, but in some
people the gene doesn’t become acti
vated. That accounts for half of all
lefties. The other half develop their
left-handedness from a
birth stress or com- //
plication.” Bottom \s
line? Scientists are
still trying to under- j)
stand what’s up.
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MIGHTY RIGHTS
Things righties do or use by habit
take thought and effort for a lefty.
Think about it: We shake, swear on
the Bible, salute the flag and cross our
hearts with our right hands. Tools,
musical instruments and sports equip
ment are designed to be used with
right hands. Some school desks ac
commodate only right handers.
Stormin’ in: Hurricane Hunters study wild force of nature from the inside
By Rose Boccio
Chicago Tribune
Imagine this: You’re flying in a
noisy prop-plane, earplugs in
place. Instrument panels and
equipment take up more room than
seats. There are only six or so peo
ple aboard, including the pilot.
Before long, the plane is an air
borne roller-coaster ride pitch
ing, bouncing and suddenly drop
ping. Rain (maybe even hail) pelts
the plane. It’s dark, but every once
in a while you are surprised by a
brilliant flash of lightning.
You are in a hurricane, heading
to the center (or eye). And your pi
lot flew into the storm on purpose!
That’s right. Because you’re
jSTjy Saving the North Georgia
Poultry Industry and helping the jgK
environment by recycling poultry
by-products into useful feed ingredients.
What do former President Bill Clinton, Lisa Kudrow,
Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Willis, Prince
William and Fidel Castro have in common with one
another and about 10 percent of the population? They’re
all left-handers, which makes life a little tricky. How so? Read on
for a look at life as a lefty. Then take our quiz below.
A handy questionnaire
Read each of the questions below. Decide which hand you use for each ac
tivity and then check the answer that describes you best. If you are unsure of
any answer, try to act it out to see which hand you use.
With which hand do you: Left Right Either
I.Write? _____
2. Draw?
3.Throw a ball to hit a target?
4. Hold a racket for tennis?
5. Use your toothbrush?
6. Hold a knife when cutting things?
7. Hold the hammer when you are driving a nail?
8. Hold a match to strike it?
9. Use an eraser on paper?
10. Remove the top card when dealing from a deck?
11. Hold the thread when you are threading a needle?
12. Hold a fly swatter?
TOTALS
When you’re done answering the questions, count the number of “left,”,
“right” and “either” responses. Calculate your score like this:
■ Number of “right” responses multiplied by 3 =
■ Number of “either” responses multiplied by 2 =
■ Number of “left” responses =
Add those numbers together. Then use the following guidelines to interpret
your own “handedness.”
■ 33 to 36 = Strongly right-handed ■ 20 to 23 = Weakly left-handed
■29 to 32 = Moderately right-handed ■l6 to 19=Moderately left-handed
■ 25 to 28=Weakly right-handed ■ 12 to 15 = Strongly left-handed
■ 24 = Ambidextrous
About 72 percent of all people will be strongly right-handed, and about 5 per
cent of the population will be strongly left-handed.
Source: "The Left-Hander Syndrome " by Stanley Coren, professor at University of British Columbia
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U S^IRI FORCE fIESERV^^IURRICANEHU™ERS»
A Hurricane Hunter plane. This smooth ride could get rough!
riding with the U.S. Air Force Re
serve’s Hurricane Hunters.
When a storm in the Gulf of
Mexico, Caribbean Sea, or Pacific
or Atlantic oceans is threatening
land, the hunters go into action.
Hurricane season runs from June
through November.
Each flight carries a crew of
six: aircraft commander, co-pilot,
flight engineer, navigator, weather
officer and dropsonde system oper
ator. Some are full-time employees
of the Air Force. Others are re
servists who serve in the Air Force
one weekend a month. They come
from all walks of life, including
doctors, teachers and stay-at-home
moms.
So why would anyone fly into a
YOUR
HAND AT IT
If you’re a righty who can’t identi
fy with these problems, try cutting a
piece of paper, catching a fly ball,
writing your name or using a can
opener with your left hand. Regular
scissors and ball mitts are made for
righties; lefties often smudge ink
since they’re forced to go over what
they’ve written; and the jagged edges
of a can come close to skin when a
lefty uses a manual can opener.
FAMOUS LEFTIES
The list of left-handed artists, ac
tors, writers, musicians and geniuses
includes some of history’s most cre
ative and talented individuals. Those
said to have been lefties include
artists Leonardo da Vinci, Michelan
gelo, Raphael and Pablo Picasso; sci
entists and inventors Benjamin
Franklin, Isaac Newton and Albert
Einstein; actors Charlie Chaplin, Gre
ta Garbo and W.C. Fields; and com
posers Ludwig van Beethoven and
Sergei Rachmaninoff.
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LEFTIES RULE
There has long been a belief that
left-handers are more creative.
“There is good evidence that this is
true when it comes to divergent think
ing and the ability to generate new or
alternative ideas,” says lefties expert
Coren. Lefties also have “better visu
alization abilities to perceive things in
three dimensions and manipulate
them mentally,” which may be why
“there are more left-handed archi
tects, chess masters and graphic
artists,” he speculates.
hurricane?
“That’s the only way to get cer
tain bits of important info like
wind speed and pressure inside the
storm. Satellites can’t help us
there,” says spokeswoman Michele
Rivera. (Rivera, a Hurricane
Hunter herself, was our main
source for this story.)
The National Hurricane Center
in Miami uses the info from recon
naissance missions to check a
storm’s strength, speed and direc
tion. If the storm is coming your
way, this is how you’ll know it’s
time to batten down the hatches.
Some of the flights are pretty
rough. Rivera rode through Hurri
cane Mitch in 1998 at its strongest.
“It really was a roller-coaster
Johns Creek is proud to sponsor the
Newspapers in Education program as part
of its ongoing commitment to the youth MH
of Forsyth County. JOHNS CREEK'S
A Development of Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc.
Rips & Raves
Take a shot at
‘The Bouncer’
“The Bouncer” (SSO, Play Station
2) is an action film and fighting game in
one. In it, three bouncers take on an evil,
corrupt organization
called The Mikado
Group and must save I 1
a kidnapped woman "W>
and, ultimately, the
world. j
The story un- ' > ;
folds through long I I
movie sequences I J
that also give c. |
gamers a glimpse |
into the characters’his
tories. Between these sequences, the un
likely heroes must fight to get to the next
leV Visually, few other games compare
to “The Bouncer.” The backgrounds
look great, and the characters are amaz
ingly realistic. Detailed features make it
easy to read shock or anger on charac
ters’ faces. But the fighting is mediocre
at best. Terrible camera angles and no
multiplayer option in the story mode are
“The Bouncer” is an interesting
game that’s worth renting. Although
most players will beat the story mode m
five or six hours, the versus and survival
modes are good enough that some wil
want to own this game.
Michael McGehee
Diary is a dud
Books) is about a fun and likable 10-
year-old on a family trip to
E ments - but Melanie de-
i s fi cnbes everything, from her
<' fights with her brother to
*>• v the tourist sites * e y v 'sit
and that s wherc jt § ets bor *
- Ever had a
friend c °me home from a
IfffC great trip Who’s itching to
. , tell you ALL about it?
And after a while you wish she’d just
give you the Cliff Notes version? That’s
how we felt with Melanie. We admit it
we tuned her out every now and then -
Devin Rose
Rsk Rniithing
Try to see clearly
if guy is worthy
You can write to Wendi at Kid News, sth floor, 435 N. Michigan
Ave., Chicago. IL 60611.1 Please keep letters short.) Or send
questions by e-mail to ctc-kidnews@tribtme.com.
DEAR WENDI: I like this guy a lot. But he only
likes me with my glasses off. He flirts with oth
er girls a lot! What can I do for him to notice me
with my glasses on?
LOVE BEHIND GLASSES
DEAR LBG: Tuck your glasses in your pocket the
next time this guy’s around. Then, when he’s all
busy flirting with you, keep flirting back, or smil
ing or whatever you’re doing, and slip the glasses
on. If he cools off at the sight of your glasses, you
should be seeing one thing clearly: He’s not worth
your time. I mean, how shallow! Don’t go chang
ing to try to please a guy; you gotta be true to you
and be on the lookout for a guy who gets how cool
the true you is!
storm,” she says. Three years ago,
she also went through the weaker
Hurricane Georges: “It was kind of
like riding over a speed bump.”
However, very little frightens
her. “We’ve hit a pocket before
and lost a couple of thousand
feet. That was a little bit
hairy. But I have so
much faith in our pi
lots. I know they know
what to do.”
Check out more
about Hurricane
Hunters at their Web
site: www. hurri
canehunters.com.
While you’re
there, go on a virtu
al mission!
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