If you could take any author out to dinner, whom would you choose? What would you talk about? Gavin Douglas, 11, would take Louis Sachar (author of "Holes," and the Wayside School series) out to eat and ask him where he gets the ideas for his stories. "They could probably happen in real life," Gavin explained. Mohammed Rasouli, 12, would take J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) with h

Most people know smoking is harmful to their health. Nevertheless, about 440,000 people die of tobacco-related diseases every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research by the U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, and the CDC has found that more than 65 percent of all smokers begin smoking before the age of 18. Fo

Forty percent of all of the world's materials and energy resources are used by buildings, according to Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on global environmental issues. That figure could be drastically reduced, according to local advocates, by the use of energy-efficient technologies, such as premium efficiency motors and lights that respond to daylight, environm

Most people in the United States saw what happened Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers steered two airplanes into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Many Americans were scared, many were mad, and many were worried -- and not just about the terrorists. Many adults worried about the short- and long-term impact on children, considering the massive media coverage of the disaster. Indeed, man

Parents always wonder if they are doing the right things for their children, especially when they're trying to talk about traumatic events such as Sept. 11, 2001. Judith Myers-Walls, a child development specialist at Purdue University, said one of the most important things adults can offer children is a sense of security. "It's important for parents to do something about those important issues so