Etc...

Playing with their food

Vienna is to music as Hollywood is to motion pictures. Not only did Mozart, Beethoven, and other classical composers build legacies there, but it's also the home of the famous Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Boys Choir. So it seems only appropriate that nine Austrians have chosen it as the base for the ... Viennese Vegetable Orchestra. Their instruments: a flute carved from a carrot, a double bass from a pumpkin, a saxophone that began as a cucumber, and others fashioned from leeks, potatoes, and radishes. Each item of produce is chosen for size, texture, and water content and is used only once. The ensemble already has been on tour, performing most recently in Hamburg, Germany.

When little Johnny fires a rubber band across the school classroom, he's not only being annoying, but he also robs everyone of valuable learning time. Now the problems caused by poorly disciplined students are the focus of a new study, "Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools Foster the Common Good?" The survey of 725 middle and high school teachers, as well as parents of students, was prepared by Public Agenda for Common Good, a nonpartisan policy group. Forms of misbehavior in school, with the percentage of teachers who identified each as a "serious" or "somewhat serious" problem:
1. Talking out loud and horseplay 69%
2. Lack of respect for teachers 60%
3. Cheating 58%
4. Tardiness 57%
5. Bullying/harassment 55%
6. Rowdiness in halls and cafeteria 51%
7. Truancy/cutting class 45%
8. Illegal drugs 41%
9. Fighting 36%