PRESS CLIPPINGS

Some traditional childhood games are disappearing from school playgrounds because educators say they're dangerous. The bans were passed in the name of safety, but some children's health advocates say limiting exercise and free play can inhibit a child's development. Joe Frost, emeritus professor of early childhood education at The University of Texas at Austin, sees playground restrictions as harmful. "You're taking away the physical development of the children," he says. "Having time for play is essential for children to keep their weight under control."

USA Today
Not it! More schools ban games at recess (June27)

All families, even big ones, start off with an only child. Some, however, stop there. Do kids denied the gift of sibs turn out to be spoiled, withdrawn, socially ham-handed? The thinking used to be yes, yes, yes. But as increasing numbers of sibling researchers look at the question of singletons — the new, sensitivity-trained term for only children — they say such assumptions are becoming less and less accurate. No one has studied the only child more closely than social psychologist Toni Falbo of The University of Texas at Austin. In the 1970s, Falbo became interested in whether the popular singleton stereotype was true, and embarked on 30 years of research in the U.S., China, South Korea and elsewhere. She conducted personality surveys, administered questionnaires and conducted meta-analyses of other relevant research papers — essentially recrunching the singleton data in other scientists' work. Her conclusion: single kids do just fine — most of the time. "Some kids are very outgoing and will figure out quickly how to be successful," Falbo says. Others take longer. In general, though, Falbo insists that the myth of the troubled singleton is just that, and she confesses her astonishment that so many people still regard that as news. "They're amazed that, gee, singletons are just like anyone else," she says.

Time magazine
Singletons: Only doesn’t mean lonely
(July 2)

President Bush got bit again Monday by the open-microphone bug. Apparently unaware that his words were being broadcast, Bush offered an unvarnished assessment of Syria's alleged support for Hezbollah's attacks on Israel. He also criticized United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, teased British Prime Minister Tony Blair about a sweater he recently gave the president, and joked about the long-windedness of some unnamed world leaders. His comments of nearly four minutes were heard live at the end of the annual Group of Eight (G8) summit of industrialized nations. Bush "used an expletive to express his view. That's the way plain folks talk and probably will play pretty well in the heartland and beyond," said Roderick Hart, a University of Texas communications and government professor. "That image of being a plain talker is part of the problem he has internationally, where the issues are far more nuanced," Hart said. "Internationally, he is not seen a man of great nuance and complexity."

USA Today
Bush’s open mike captures tough talk 
(July 17)

To gain access to student grades and registration services, users at the University of Texas at Austin may soon have to type in a string of numbers that is sent to their cellphones, along with a standard network password. Because the code would change regularly, officials say it will be more secure than passwords selected by users. That's one of several measures Texas officials are considering to add another level of security when people log in to campus Web services. Sheila B. Ochner, director of enterprise-information services in the office of information and technology services, says the additional security probably would not have prevented recent hacking incidents on campus in which thousands of Social Security numbers were compromised. But it could prevent someone from gaining access to private information, such as student records, she says. "Each incident is a tipping point," says Ms. Ochner. "We are going to phase our way into this."

The Chronicle of Higher Education
U. of Texas may add second layer of security to foil hackers (Aug. 4)