Nutritionists give chocolate milk thumbs down, Black Youth Project launches a forum, more.
Got Controversy? -- What could be better
than a glass of chocolate milk? Lots of things, according to some
nutritionists. Sure, youth may love the stuff, but calorie-counting
experts note that one eight-ounce glass of low-fat chocolate milk has
almost as many calories and sugar as a 12-ounce glass of Coke. Long a
staple of the school lunch menu, chocolate milk has already been
cocoa-beaned by school districts in two cities: Berkeley, Calif., and
Boulder, Colorado. But hold the phone, there, says the dairy industry.
Chocolate milk is loaded with good nutrients like vitamin D, potassium
and, of course, calcium. Chocolate-milk makers have launched a $1
million, YouTube-intensive ad campaign to help support their product.
"Flavored milk really fits two needs," says Ann Marie Krautheim, senior
vice president of nutrition affairs for the National Dairy Council. "It
meets kids' taste preferences, and it provides the nutrition that they
don't get elsewhere." (
Time)
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-- A few years ago, the Black Youth Project
conducted a comprehensive survey of young African Americans and found
that many felt disenfranchised. About half, in fact, felt that the
government treats immigrants better than American blacks.
In an
effort to help ease that sense of disenfranchisement -- or, at
the very least, provide a forum in which black youth can discuss the
issues that are important to them - the Black Youth Project
launched a site dedicated to young African Americans. The site, titled
www.blackyouthproject.com, includes blogs, video forums and a database
of rap lyrics, among other things -- all designed to help black
youth communicate and support one another. "We felt
there needed to be a space on the Web where young black people could
speak for themselves," says Cathy Cohen, a political science professor
at the University of Chicago and the lead investigator at the Black
Youth Project. "This is a space for young black people to be
politically engaged, and it's a place for teachers to think of creative
curriculum based in the lives of young black people." (
ABC
News)
Coming
Soon … 3D TV? -- Another excuse for kids to
spend more time in front of the tube: Experts say that it's
only a matter of time before 3D technology infiltrates our living
rooms. According to a survey of patent activity by Thomson Reuters, 69-percent more patents were issued in 3D television technology, including
one for special lenses that allow people to see 3D images without
special glasses. But the report notes that 3D technology is
extraordinarily popular across the board - a point emphasized
by its title, "Coming Soon in 3-D --
Everything." Thomson Reuters tells us that we could well soon
see 3D photographs and far cooler 3D glasses, too. (
New
York Daily News)
Quote: "I try
to tell people that I am like them. I am not some sort of freak. I
might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person."
-Magnus Carlsen, who, at age 19, recently became the
world's youngest No. 1-ranked chess player in history.
Carlsen became a chess grandmaster at age 13. (Source:
Time)
