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The guys who should be upset were the ones who were not on them but were competing against those who were." The 5-foot-10 inch, 180-pound Ury sometimes found himself competing for spots against guys who were much bigger and stronger. "I got beat out by guys who were 6-3, 220," he said. "They beat me out, and that is all I can say. Baseball looks at guys differently right now, partly because of how big and strong these guys have become. They're into the power and the speed. Maybe 20 years ago, I'd have a chance. I would get my hit per game, go 1-for-3 or 1-for-4, maybe hit a double. But a scout told me that scouts no longer go looking for Josh Urys. They look for the A-Rod's who are going to sell tickets. It has become all about power and speed now." West Morris standout Josh Boyd had the day off from school Thursday and pondered baseball's steroid problem in the hours leading up to the 2:30 p.m.
HSU celebrates Lunar New Year
While other Humboldt State University students were getting ready to start their day, or attend class Wednesday morning, Shuai Chen was wishing a happy new year to her family in China. An international student from Xi´an, China, Chen was recognizing the beginning of the Lunar calendar, one of the most significant holidays in several Asian cultures. Lunar New Year starts today for the United States, but since Chen's family lives on the other side of the world, they've already been celebrating for a day and a half. Similar to the U.S. New Year, Lunar New Year signals a fresh start and a time to bring good fortune to households. Traditionally focused around spending time with family and eating special dishes, students who are far away from home are finding it hard to celebrate without their loved ones.
Year in review 2007
In early February, 22 states will hold primaries on what is being called Super-Duper Tuesday. The main party contenders for the White House should be obvious by then, but some years these things go down to the wire. The Democratic convention will be held in August in Colorado, while the Republican convention will be held in September in Minneapolis. Both will be followed by television debates between the two main parties' presidential and, usually, vice-presidential champions. 2008 may also be a year in which change comes to the Middle East. Peace talks formally began in December after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed at a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Md. to begin negotiations on the idea of a Palestinian state.
National parks too outdoorsy?
A new study suggests Americans increasingly prefer to cozy up to video games, the Internet or movies than to romp with nature. The trend isn't quite so clear in Canada, but tastes here are changing enough that many of our national parks are being made more comfy, to suit aging baby boomers, and high-tech, to try to attract their children and grandkids. The U.S. study – by researchers Oliver Pergams, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Patricia Zaradic, at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania – found that per capita park visits, applications for hunting and fishing licences and camping permits have dropped by 18 to 25 per cent in the past two decades. The number of hikers grew but, since the average American goes for a walk on the wild side just once every 10 years, that increase wasn't significant, Pergams said in an interview yesterday.
Focus Diagnostics Launches Laboratory Test For Chikungunya Virus
Focus Diagnostics, Inc., the infectious disease diagnostics company of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), today announced the first laboratory developed test in the U.S. for detecting the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. Commercial availability of the molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test will enable physicians in the U.S. to test patients who may have contracted the virus, such as individuals returning from regions in Africa and Asia where chikungunya is endemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested that the chikungunya virus, which caused an outbreak in Italy in 2007, has the potential to enter and spread in the U.S.
"The availability of our chikungunya virus PCR test will give healthcare providers in the U.S. an important option for identifying patients, particularly travelers, who may be infected with this potentially disabling virus," said Dr.
Hubble captures dance of the galaxies
The larger galaxy on the right is seen nearly face-on, with a giant arm of stars, dust and gas reaching out and around its smaller neighbour, which is viewed edge-on. The shapes of both galaxies have been distorted by their gravitational interaction with one another. The pair are known collectively as Arp 87, and are just one celestial coupling among hundreds of interacting and merging galaxies known in the nearby universe. Arp 87 was first discovered and catalogued by the astronomer Halton Arp in the 1970s, and was described in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. The Hubble image, a composite of red, blue, green and infra-red exposures, was taken using the telescope's wide field planetary camera 2. It shows a corkscrewing bridge of material spanning from one galaxy to the other, suggesting stars and gas are being drawn from the larger galaxy into the gravitational pull of the smaller one.
New GNC president hopes to get company into shape
Almost a decade ago, then-Rite Aid executive Beth J. Kaplan came to the Sixth Avenue offices of General Nutrition Centers to make a deal to juice up hundreds of drugstores with vitamin-packed GNC departments. In the years since, that partnership has survived, even as the two retailers underwent management changes, ownership shifts and, in Rite Aid's case, a messy accounting scandal. Ms. Kaplan, 49, is a survivor, too. She left the Camp Hill drugstore chain in the midst of an upheaval that eventually would see the chairman sentenced to jail time. She moved on to be a venture capitalist and then spent a few years at the Bath & Body Works chain. Now, she's back for another dose of health supplements. Last month, she was named GNC's president and chief merchandising and marketing officer.
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