Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thought for the Day
"Community is a lot like life on Noah's Ark...it can get pretty messy at times but the alternative is to jump overboard and drown."
Monday, September 28, 2009
Football in SE Kansas
We have enjoyed learning and living the Southeast Kansas football way of life. It's very different than Northeast Kansas. We have enjoyed the football way of life here. They people genuinely love the game.
Here are some things we have enjoyed..............
Here are some things we have enjoyed..............
- Friday night football in the Southeast Kansas League. It's an experience that is very special.
- Offensive football. Points are scored so often you better not even think about heading to the snack bar or bathroom.
- The Street People. They are the football fans in Columbus that set up the make shift city outside the north endzone. They are part of the crazy football environment in Columbus.
- Pitt State Football
- Living with more Oklahoma Sooner fans.
- Columbus has the best play by play announcer in Kansas. Hands down.
- The CUHS band, cheerleaders and dance teams are tops in the SEK League.
- A great booster club
- The atmosphere for Columbus football is very special.
- The fireworks display at Pittsburg High School games. You don't see that very often.
- The football stadiums, facilities and fields are excellent.
- Great football weather......so far. The temperature is about 10 degrees warmer down here in SE Kansas.
- Players and coaches giving all they have on the field. Exciting to see.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Worst Song Ever!
This could be the worst song ever. You be the judge!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg&feature=player_embedded
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
School Funding
I know the economy is very difficult in Kansas but I hate to see the classrooms of Kansas take the cuts that they are experiencing. Schools are doing more than ever before. Kids are the big loser when funds are cut. The following is the pending school finance law suit number 2 article.....
By The Associated Press
Cuts in aid to Kansas public schools are generating talk of another lawsuit over education funding, after the state backed off previous commitments because of its budget problems.
Attorneys who sued the state successfully in the past are consulting with school districts about the cuts, both said Tuesday.
In 2005 and 2006, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered legislators to increase education spending dramatically.
This year, the state has cut funding for schools by about $130 million, reducing their base aid by $215 per student, or 4.8 percent. Under a 2006 law, that aid was supposed to continue increasing to at least keep up with inflation.
The Supreme Court had said the law fulfilled the Legislature's duty under the state constitution to provide a suitable education for every child. Some educators now question whether the state is meeting the mandate and are willing to consider more litigation.
"It's an option that's on the table that our board will consider if this continues," said Richard Atha, superintendent of Garden City's schools.
Wichita lawyer Alan Rupe, the lead attorney in the previous school funding lawsuit, said he and the other attorneys are sharing information with school officials who are evaluating their options following the budget cuts.
"Nobody likes lawsuits, so it's not without some hand-wringing that those kinds of decisions are made," Rupe said. "No decision has been made at this point."
Aid to schools consumes 52 percent of the state's general revenues, and many legislators - particularly Republicans - argued that it had to be trimmed to keep the budget balanced this year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kevin Yoder, an Overland Park Republican, noted that other programs saw deeper cuts.
Rupe said legislators could reverse tax cuts granted in previous years to provide new dollars for schools. But Yoder and other Republicans contend that raising taxes will slow or halt any economic recovery.
"This comes back to school districts attempting to use the court system to impose tax increases," Yoder said. "We all know the money isn't there, and we can't deficit spend."
Dodge City Superintendent Alan Cunningham said the district cut $4.5 million in spending, both to make up for cuts in state aid and to be able to renovate its aging middle school. He said it has postponed buying new textbooks and cut training and travel spending, and has managed to avoid laying off teachers.
He said if cuts start hurting instruction, "That is probably what will push any group over the edge."
"I don't know if we're there yet," he said.
Liberal Superintendent Vernon Welch said his district is trying to be realistic about the state's finances.
"I know those guys are trying hard up there to find money for education and make their state run, also," he said.
Atha said filing a new lawsuit is a last resort, but he also said he's disappointed that legislators don't appear to be complying with the obligations imposed by the state Supreme Court.
And Rupe said: "It does surprise me that their constitutional memory is fairly short."
By The Associated Press
Cuts in aid to Kansas public schools are generating talk of another lawsuit over education funding, after the state backed off previous commitments because of its budget problems.
Attorneys who sued the state successfully in the past are consulting with school districts about the cuts, both said Tuesday.
In 2005 and 2006, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered legislators to increase education spending dramatically.
This year, the state has cut funding for schools by about $130 million, reducing their base aid by $215 per student, or 4.8 percent. Under a 2006 law, that aid was supposed to continue increasing to at least keep up with inflation.
The Supreme Court had said the law fulfilled the Legislature's duty under the state constitution to provide a suitable education for every child. Some educators now question whether the state is meeting the mandate and are willing to consider more litigation.
"It's an option that's on the table that our board will consider if this continues," said Richard Atha, superintendent of Garden City's schools.
Wichita lawyer Alan Rupe, the lead attorney in the previous school funding lawsuit, said he and the other attorneys are sharing information with school officials who are evaluating their options following the budget cuts.
"Nobody likes lawsuits, so it's not without some hand-wringing that those kinds of decisions are made," Rupe said. "No decision has been made at this point."
Aid to schools consumes 52 percent of the state's general revenues, and many legislators - particularly Republicans - argued that it had to be trimmed to keep the budget balanced this year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kevin Yoder, an Overland Park Republican, noted that other programs saw deeper cuts.
Rupe said legislators could reverse tax cuts granted in previous years to provide new dollars for schools. But Yoder and other Republicans contend that raising taxes will slow or halt any economic recovery.
"This comes back to school districts attempting to use the court system to impose tax increases," Yoder said. "We all know the money isn't there, and we can't deficit spend."
Dodge City Superintendent Alan Cunningham said the district cut $4.5 million in spending, both to make up for cuts in state aid and to be able to renovate its aging middle school. He said it has postponed buying new textbooks and cut training and travel spending, and has managed to avoid laying off teachers.
He said if cuts start hurting instruction, "That is probably what will push any group over the edge."
"I don't know if we're there yet," he said.
Liberal Superintendent Vernon Welch said his district is trying to be realistic about the state's finances.
"I know those guys are trying hard up there to find money for education and make their state run, also," he said.
Atha said filing a new lawsuit is a last resort, but he also said he's disappointed that legislators don't appear to be complying with the obligations imposed by the state Supreme Court.
And Rupe said: "It does surprise me that their constitutional memory is fairly short."
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Cursive Writing
The article below is one that is being debated all across our country by educators. It's one that I have discussed with colleagues the past few years in Kansas. Many opinions on the cursive writing debate................
Cursive writing may be fading skill, but so what?
By TOM BREEN (AP) – 1 hour ago
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature.
"I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece of paper with her signature on it and it looks like a little kid's signature," Davis said.
Her daughter was apologetic, but explained that she hadn't been required to make the graceful loops and joined letters of cursive writing in years. That prompted a call to the school and another surprise.
West Virginia's largest school system teaches cursive, but only in the 3rd grade.
"It doesn't get quite the emphasis it did years ago, primarily because of all the technology skills we now teach," said Jane Roberts, assistant superintendent for elementary education in Kanawha County schools.
Davis' experience gets repeated every time parents, who recall their own hours of laborious cursive practice, learn that what used to be called "penmanship" is being shunted aside at schools across the country in favor of 21st century skills.
The decline of cursive is happening as students are doing more and more work on computers, including writing. In 2011, the writing test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will require 8th and 11th graders to compose on computers, with 4th graders following in 2019.
"We need to make sure they'll be ready for what's going to happen in 2020 or 2030," said Katie Van Sluys, a professor at DePaul University and the president of the Whole Language Umbrella, a conference of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Handwriting is increasingly something people do only when they need to make a note to themselves rather than communicate with others, she said. Students accustomed to using computers to write at home have a hard time seeing the relevance of hours of practicing cursive handwriting.
"They're writing, they're composing with these tools at home, and to have school look so different from that set of experiences is not the best idea," she said.
Text messaging, e-mail, and word processing have replaced handwriting outside the classroom, said Cheryl Jeffers, a professor at Marshall University's College of Education and Human Services, and she worries they'll replace it entirely before long.
"I am not sure students have a sense of any reason why they should vest their time and effort in writing a message out manually when it can be sent electronically in seconds."
For Jeffers, cursive writing is a lifelong skill, one she fears could become lost to the culture, making many historic records hard to decipher and robbing people of "a gift."
That fear is not new, said Kathleen Wright, national product manager for handwriting at Zaner-Bloser, a Columbus, Ohio-based company that produces a variety of instructional material for schools.
"If you go back, you can see the same conversations came up with the advent of the typewriter," she said.
Every year, Zaner-Bloser sponsors a national handwriting competition for schools, and this year saw more than 200,000 entries, a record.
"Everybody talks about how sometime in the future every kid's going to have a keyboard, but that isn't really true."
Few schools make keyboards available for day-to-day writing. The majority of school work, from taking notes to essay tests, is still done by hand.
At Mountaineer Montessori in Charleston, teacher Sharon Spencer stresses cursive to her first- through third-graders. By the time her students are in the third grade, they are writing book reports and their spelling words in cursive.
To Spencer, cursive writing is an art that helps teach them muscle control and hand-eye coordination.
"In the age of computers, I just tell the children, what if we are on an island and don't have electricity? One of the ways we communicate is through writing," she said.
But cursive is favored by fewer college-bound students. In 2005, the SAT began including a written essay portion, and a 2007 report by the College Board found that about 15 percent of test-takers chose to write in cursive, while the others wrote in print.
That was probably smart, according to Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who cites multiple studies showing that sloppy writing routinely leads to lower grades, even in papers with the same wording as those written in a neater hand.
Graham argues that fears over the decline of handwriting in general and cursive in particular are distractions from the goal of improving students' overall writing skills. The important thing is to have students proficient enough to focus on their ideas and the composition of their writing rather than how they form the letters.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that 26 percent of 12th graders lack basic proficiency in writing, while two percent were sufficiently skilled writers to be classified as "advanced."
"Handwriting is really the tail wagging the dog," Graham said.
Besides, it isn't as if all those adults who learned cursive years ago are doing their writing with the fluent grace of John Hancock.
Most people peak in terms of legibility in 4th grade, Graham said, and Wright said it's common for adults to write in a cursive-print hybrid.
"People still have to write, even if it's just scribbling," said Paula Sassi, a certified master graphologist and a member of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.
"Just like when we went from quill pen to fountain pen to ball point, now we're going from the art of handwriting to handwriting purely as communication," she said.
Cursive writing may be fading skill, but so what?
By TOM BREEN (AP) – 1 hour ago
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature.
"I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece of paper with her signature on it and it looks like a little kid's signature," Davis said.
Her daughter was apologetic, but explained that she hadn't been required to make the graceful loops and joined letters of cursive writing in years. That prompted a call to the school and another surprise.
West Virginia's largest school system teaches cursive, but only in the 3rd grade.
"It doesn't get quite the emphasis it did years ago, primarily because of all the technology skills we now teach," said Jane Roberts, assistant superintendent for elementary education in Kanawha County schools.
Davis' experience gets repeated every time parents, who recall their own hours of laborious cursive practice, learn that what used to be called "penmanship" is being shunted aside at schools across the country in favor of 21st century skills.
The decline of cursive is happening as students are doing more and more work on computers, including writing. In 2011, the writing test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will require 8th and 11th graders to compose on computers, with 4th graders following in 2019.
"We need to make sure they'll be ready for what's going to happen in 2020 or 2030," said Katie Van Sluys, a professor at DePaul University and the president of the Whole Language Umbrella, a conference of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Handwriting is increasingly something people do only when they need to make a note to themselves rather than communicate with others, she said. Students accustomed to using computers to write at home have a hard time seeing the relevance of hours of practicing cursive handwriting.
"They're writing, they're composing with these tools at home, and to have school look so different from that set of experiences is not the best idea," she said.
Text messaging, e-mail, and word processing have replaced handwriting outside the classroom, said Cheryl Jeffers, a professor at Marshall University's College of Education and Human Services, and she worries they'll replace it entirely before long.
"I am not sure students have a sense of any reason why they should vest their time and effort in writing a message out manually when it can be sent electronically in seconds."
For Jeffers, cursive writing is a lifelong skill, one she fears could become lost to the culture, making many historic records hard to decipher and robbing people of "a gift."
That fear is not new, said Kathleen Wright, national product manager for handwriting at Zaner-Bloser, a Columbus, Ohio-based company that produces a variety of instructional material for schools.
"If you go back, you can see the same conversations came up with the advent of the typewriter," she said.
Every year, Zaner-Bloser sponsors a national handwriting competition for schools, and this year saw more than 200,000 entries, a record.
"Everybody talks about how sometime in the future every kid's going to have a keyboard, but that isn't really true."
Few schools make keyboards available for day-to-day writing. The majority of school work, from taking notes to essay tests, is still done by hand.
At Mountaineer Montessori in Charleston, teacher Sharon Spencer stresses cursive to her first- through third-graders. By the time her students are in the third grade, they are writing book reports and their spelling words in cursive.
To Spencer, cursive writing is an art that helps teach them muscle control and hand-eye coordination.
"In the age of computers, I just tell the children, what if we are on an island and don't have electricity? One of the ways we communicate is through writing," she said.
But cursive is favored by fewer college-bound students. In 2005, the SAT began including a written essay portion, and a 2007 report by the College Board found that about 15 percent of test-takers chose to write in cursive, while the others wrote in print.
That was probably smart, according to Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who cites multiple studies showing that sloppy writing routinely leads to lower grades, even in papers with the same wording as those written in a neater hand.
Graham argues that fears over the decline of handwriting in general and cursive in particular are distractions from the goal of improving students' overall writing skills. The important thing is to have students proficient enough to focus on their ideas and the composition of their writing rather than how they form the letters.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that 26 percent of 12th graders lack basic proficiency in writing, while two percent were sufficiently skilled writers to be classified as "advanced."
"Handwriting is really the tail wagging the dog," Graham said.
Besides, it isn't as if all those adults who learned cursive years ago are doing their writing with the fluent grace of John Hancock.
Most people peak in terms of legibility in 4th grade, Graham said, and Wright said it's common for adults to write in a cursive-print hybrid.
"People still have to write, even if it's just scribbling," said Paula Sassi, a certified master graphologist and a member of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.
"Just like when we went from quill pen to fountain pen to ball point, now we're going from the art of handwriting to handwriting purely as communication," she said.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thought for the Day
"You cannot change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."
Monday, September 14, 2009
What a Game!
Welcome to the exiting world of SEK Football! The Columbus Titans defeated the Pittsburg Purple Dragons 12-10 on Friday night to break a long losing streak in the "Coal Bucket" series of the top 2 teams in this years league race.
This was the first win for Columbus in the series since 1977.
The crowd was enormous and loud the entire evening as they cheered on the Titans. The victory celebration was very special. I'm pretty sure the Titans will move up in the rankings this week. We travel to Chanute this Friday.
Friday, September 11, 2009
911
As I sat in my office in Osage City on that horrific day, I will never forget the emotion and the faces of the American people. New York City and the United States has changed forever as a result of 911.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Tragedy on Saturday
This was a difficult weekend for many after learning of the tragic death of Ken Veteto who grew up in the Broken Arrow Church of Christ Youth Group.
Tulsa Crash Victims Remembered For Their Faith
Family, Friends Of Plane Crash Victims Remember
Park Plaza Minister Speaks Of Plane Crash Victims
Enlarge this pictureThe Lester family had recently returned from a mission trip to Africa.
Enlarge this pictureKen Veteto was an internist known as "Dr. Ken" to his patients.
Enlarge this pictureTom Lester says he is comforted by knowing his son changed many peoples' lives for the better.
TULSA, OK -- Tulsan Dr. Stephen Lester was piloting the plane that crashed in Chandler Park Saturday. On Sunday, Lester's father spoke out about the loss of his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Both Dr. Steven Lester and Dr. Ken Veteto were fathers, missionaries and deacons. And the loss has left a big hole in hundreds of Tulsa hearts.
Five pillars of the Tulsa community lost in an instant.
"All I can say is, Tulsa lost a tremendous man and family," said Tom Lester. Stephen Lester's plane crashed just five minutes after taking off from Jones Riverside Airport.
Lester and his wife Dana, 16-year-old daughter Laura, 13-year-old Christina, and close family friend Ken Veteto were all killed.
Related Story 9/6/2009: Minister: Church Family Changed By Tragic Plane Crash
Related Story 9/5/2009: Five Tulsans Killed In Chandler Park Plane Crash
"I'll miss 'em. But they're with God now," said Tom Lester. "And that really, I know I'm bawling, but that really gives me a great deal of peace."
Stephen and Dana were high school sweethearts and and OU graduates. Stephen was an experienced anesthesiologist and pain management doctor. He used his plane to fly around the country delivering seminars about pain management.
"I've flown with him a great deal. He was a very good pilot. Very careful," his father said.
Doctor Ken Veteto was a prominent internist. He had been seeing patients at the Warren Clinic for nearly 20 years.
"He treated them so well. And they loved their Doctor Ken so well," said Dr. Joe Reese, Veteto's medical partner and close friend.
"He's a man of integrity, a man of character. He loved his patients, he loved his family, and his patients loved him in return," Reese said.
The airplane was on its way to OU's season opener in Dallas when Lester's plane clipped a cable on a communication tower. Investigators say there was zero visibility because of dense fog.
All five victims were men and women of faith. The Lesters recently returned from a mission trip to Africa.
"We'll miss 'em sorely," said Tom Lester, Stephen's father. "While they were on Earth, they changed other people's lives, just by the good deeds that they did.
His heart is heavy. But he says his loss is heaven's gain.
Ken Veteto is survived by his wife, a teenage daughter and a son in college.
A funeral service for Veteto is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Park Plaza Church of Christ at 5925 East 51st Street.
The Lesters have two surviving children: a daughter who is in college, and a son in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Their funeral will be Thursday at the Park Plaza Church of Christ, located at 5925 East 51st Street.
Tulsa Crash Victims Remembered For Their Faith
Family, Friends Of Plane Crash Victims Remember
Park Plaza Minister Speaks Of Plane Crash Victims
Enlarge this pictureThe Lester family had recently returned from a mission trip to Africa.
Enlarge this pictureKen Veteto was an internist known as "Dr. Ken" to his patients.
Enlarge this pictureTom Lester says he is comforted by knowing his son changed many peoples' lives for the better.
TULSA, OK -- Tulsan Dr. Stephen Lester was piloting the plane that crashed in Chandler Park Saturday. On Sunday, Lester's father spoke out about the loss of his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Both Dr. Steven Lester and Dr. Ken Veteto were fathers, missionaries and deacons. And the loss has left a big hole in hundreds of Tulsa hearts.
Five pillars of the Tulsa community lost in an instant.
"All I can say is, Tulsa lost a tremendous man and family," said Tom Lester. Stephen Lester's plane crashed just five minutes after taking off from Jones Riverside Airport.
Lester and his wife Dana, 16-year-old daughter Laura, 13-year-old Christina, and close family friend Ken Veteto were all killed.
Related Story 9/6/2009: Minister: Church Family Changed By Tragic Plane Crash
Related Story 9/5/2009: Five Tulsans Killed In Chandler Park Plane Crash
"I'll miss 'em. But they're with God now," said Tom Lester. "And that really, I know I'm bawling, but that really gives me a great deal of peace."
Stephen and Dana were high school sweethearts and and OU graduates. Stephen was an experienced anesthesiologist and pain management doctor. He used his plane to fly around the country delivering seminars about pain management.
"I've flown with him a great deal. He was a very good pilot. Very careful," his father said.
Doctor Ken Veteto was a prominent internist. He had been seeing patients at the Warren Clinic for nearly 20 years.
"He treated them so well. And they loved their Doctor Ken so well," said Dr. Joe Reese, Veteto's medical partner and close friend.
"He's a man of integrity, a man of character. He loved his patients, he loved his family, and his patients loved him in return," Reese said.
The airplane was on its way to OU's season opener in Dallas when Lester's plane clipped a cable on a communication tower. Investigators say there was zero visibility because of dense fog.
All five victims were men and women of faith. The Lesters recently returned from a mission trip to Africa.
"We'll miss 'em sorely," said Tom Lester, Stephen's father. "While they were on Earth, they changed other people's lives, just by the good deeds that they did.
His heart is heavy. But he says his loss is heaven's gain.
Ken Veteto is survived by his wife, a teenage daughter and a son in college.
A funeral service for Veteto is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Park Plaza Church of Christ at 5925 East 51st Street.
The Lesters have two surviving children: a daughter who is in college, and a son in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Their funeral will be Thursday at the Park Plaza Church of Christ, located at 5925 East 51st Street.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
Friday Night Lights
Tonight begins Friday Night Football. Columbus returns a strong team from last year. I'm looking forward to a great year of SE Kansas football. Go Titans!
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Lonely
I saw her for the first time about three weeks ago. I was on my morning run and saw the light coming from the dark morning. I really didn't think much of it and just kept on running.
The next morning I saw her again. I noticed the old feeble woman gazing out the window as I ran by. The light shined bright as I kept running.
On the third morning, I saw her once again. This time, I was walking instead of running. I was tired and didn't have the energy to run. This morning, I noticed the look on her face. I noticed the loneliness that she displayed. I noticed the wrinkles and battle scars that completely covered her face. I noticed the chair she was sitting in and the empty room she was sitting in. Her face showed the ages. It showed a life that probably was very difficult. But the pain on her face made me realize that so many like her are totally alone in this world.
Loneliness can be devastating. It can be the worst feeling that anyone can imagine.
If you feel like you're alone, think again, God has something to say about this, as well. One scripture that should encourage us, in particular, is in Hebrews 13:5, which says, "For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."
If you trust wholeheartedly in this, you'll have a sense of self worth knowing that the Creator of all things, and the Most High, is on your side imparting a love that nobody else knows how to demonstrate.
Lonely? think again. We have a God that cares for you more than anything else.
The next morning I saw her again. I noticed the old feeble woman gazing out the window as I ran by. The light shined bright as I kept running.
On the third morning, I saw her once again. This time, I was walking instead of running. I was tired and didn't have the energy to run. This morning, I noticed the look on her face. I noticed the loneliness that she displayed. I noticed the wrinkles and battle scars that completely covered her face. I noticed the chair she was sitting in and the empty room she was sitting in. Her face showed the ages. It showed a life that probably was very difficult. But the pain on her face made me realize that so many like her are totally alone in this world.
Loneliness can be devastating. It can be the worst feeling that anyone can imagine.
If you feel like you're alone, think again, God has something to say about this, as well. One scripture that should encourage us, in particular, is in Hebrews 13:5, which says, "For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."
If you trust wholeheartedly in this, you'll have a sense of self worth knowing that the Creator of all things, and the Most High, is on your side imparting a love that nobody else knows how to demonstrate.
Lonely? think again. We have a God that cares for you more than anything else.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Interesting Research
Finding Smells That Repel
By SHIRLEY S. WANG
If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.
Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.
Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.
"Mosquitoes fly through an aerial soup of chemicals, but can home in on those that draw them to humans," says James Logan, a researcher at Rothamsted, one of the world's oldest agricultural-research institutions. But when the combination of human odors is wrong, he says, "the mosquito fails to recognize this signal as a potential blood meal."
The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others.
Rothamsted's Dr. Logan says the answer isn't to be found in attractant chemicals. He and colleagues observed that everyone produces chemicals that mosquitoes like, but those who are unattractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that repel them.
Misguided Mosquitoes
"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.
Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.
Currently the most effective repellents on the market often contain a chemical known as DEET, which has been associated in some studies with potential safety concerns, such as cancer and Gulf War syndrome. It also damages materials made of plastic. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined that DEET, when used as directed, is safe.
The Rothamsted team set out to get the mosquitoes' viewpoint. The researchers separated human volunteers into two groups—those who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put each of the volunteers into body-size foil bags for two hours to collect their body odors. Using a machine known as a chromatograph, the scientists were able to separate the chemicals. They then tested each of them to see how the mosquitoes responded. By attaching microelectrodes to the insects' antennae, the researchers could measure the electrical impulses that are generated when mosquitoes recognize a chemical.
Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual's hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren't motivated by the person's smell to fly at all.
The chemicals were then tested to determine their impact on actual biting behavior. Volunteers put their arms in a box containing mosquitoes, one arm coated with repellent chemicals and the other without, to see if the arm without the coating got bitten more.
Significant Repellency
The group's latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with "significant repellency." One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.
Dr. Logan declined to comment about the specific chemicals because of proprietary concerns. He says the findings have been patented and the group is working with a commercial company to develop the compounds into a usable insect repellent. One issue that still needs to be resolved: how to develop a formulation of the repellent chemicals that will stay on the skin, rather than quickly evaporating as they do naturally. The hope is to get a product to market within a year or two, he says.
Some of the chemicals researchers identified are believed to be related to stress, Dr. Logan says. Previous research has shown that these particular chemicals could be converted from certain other molecules and this could be as a result of oxidation in the body at times of stress, he says. However, it's not clear if the chemicals observed by the Rothamsted researchers were created in this way, and research is continuing to answer this and other questions.
Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and "not a good quality blood meal." Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.
Other Research
Other research includes an effort by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, who published a paper in the journal Nature last week identifying a recently discovered class of molecules that inhibit fruit flies' and mosquitoes' ability to detect carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide emissions from long ranges, so turning off the ability to detect the gas, perhaps by releasing the inhibiting molecules into the environment, may be a way of keeping the bugs at bay, the researchers suggest. Another team, at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is launching a study into whether the taste of human skin and blood are related to the insects' interest in biting certain individuals.
By SHIRLEY S. WANG
If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.
Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.
Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.
"Mosquitoes fly through an aerial soup of chemicals, but can home in on those that draw them to humans," says James Logan, a researcher at Rothamsted, one of the world's oldest agricultural-research institutions. But when the combination of human odors is wrong, he says, "the mosquito fails to recognize this signal as a potential blood meal."
The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others.
Rothamsted's Dr. Logan says the answer isn't to be found in attractant chemicals. He and colleagues observed that everyone produces chemicals that mosquitoes like, but those who are unattractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that repel them.
Misguided Mosquitoes
"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.
Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.
Currently the most effective repellents on the market often contain a chemical known as DEET, which has been associated in some studies with potential safety concerns, such as cancer and Gulf War syndrome. It also damages materials made of plastic. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined that DEET, when used as directed, is safe.
The Rothamsted team set out to get the mosquitoes' viewpoint. The researchers separated human volunteers into two groups—those who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put each of the volunteers into body-size foil bags for two hours to collect their body odors. Using a machine known as a chromatograph, the scientists were able to separate the chemicals. They then tested each of them to see how the mosquitoes responded. By attaching microelectrodes to the insects' antennae, the researchers could measure the electrical impulses that are generated when mosquitoes recognize a chemical.
Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual's hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren't motivated by the person's smell to fly at all.
The chemicals were then tested to determine their impact on actual biting behavior. Volunteers put their arms in a box containing mosquitoes, one arm coated with repellent chemicals and the other without, to see if the arm without the coating got bitten more.
Significant Repellency
The group's latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with "significant repellency." One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.
Dr. Logan declined to comment about the specific chemicals because of proprietary concerns. He says the findings have been patented and the group is working with a commercial company to develop the compounds into a usable insect repellent. One issue that still needs to be resolved: how to develop a formulation of the repellent chemicals that will stay on the skin, rather than quickly evaporating as they do naturally. The hope is to get a product to market within a year or two, he says.
Some of the chemicals researchers identified are believed to be related to stress, Dr. Logan says. Previous research has shown that these particular chemicals could be converted from certain other molecules and this could be as a result of oxidation in the body at times of stress, he says. However, it's not clear if the chemicals observed by the Rothamsted researchers were created in this way, and research is continuing to answer this and other questions.
Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and "not a good quality blood meal." Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.
Other Research
Other research includes an effort by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, who published a paper in the journal Nature last week identifying a recently discovered class of molecules that inhibit fruit flies' and mosquitoes' ability to detect carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide emissions from long ranges, so turning off the ability to detect the gas, perhaps by releasing the inhibiting molecules into the environment, may be a way of keeping the bugs at bay, the researchers suggest. Another team, at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is launching a study into whether the taste of human skin and blood are related to the insects' interest in biting certain individuals.
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