Were you into skateboarding, surfing or snowboarding when you were a kid? We can remember our first (less than successful) go at skateboarding, as well as the first time we managed to stand up on surfboards.

    It was so much fun that we were hooked on extreme sports. However, not everyone thinks that introducing children to extreme sports is a good idea.

    Writer Jon Lackman considers whether sports like snowboarding, climbing and skateboarding could be dangerous to the growing bodies of young children. Lackman also looks for advice from medical professions.”

    “Kids aren't mentally ready for these activities,” says a doctor, Vani Sabesan. “They cannot realize the risks, and their parents can't always be trusted to stop them.”

    Sabesan is particularly worried about the influence of extreme sports on TV and the Internet on children. “What we're seeing is that a lot of kids think they can do what the professional athletes can do.”

    If someone, who was encouraged to go surfing at the age of five, was presented with a surfboard when he/she was seven, I think these worries are a little overstated(夸大的), if not misplaced.

    Extreme sports can be dangerous, but there's as much chance of falling off your bike or your roller skates(四轮滑冰鞋鞋) as off a skateboard or surfboard.

My own experience of extreme sports leads me to think that I'll allow my own kids to try them in the same way my parents allowed me.

    In sports such as surfing and snowboarding, there's a sense of adventure and courage. It is important to tell young children about it.

Did I fall off my surfboard? All the time. Did I get back on? Every time.

    In my generation, most people assume. We assume that after getting a driver's license, we should see a brand new car sitting in our driveway. We assume that the latest iPhone product should be in our hands as soon as something goes wrong with our old one. We also assume that college, being as expensive as it is, is given. However, what we don't realize is that all of these things are very special privileges.

    New cars, the latest technology and college fees are something that most people have in the place where I live. I'm not necessarily complaining about this. I live in a very fortunate area, and I try to remind myself of that every day.

    Getting nice things is great, but sometimes, the competition that rules our lives gets too fierce. When someone else gets something great, you begin to think, "Why can't I have that?" When everyone around you goes to college, you think that one day you will obviously do the same, because who doesn't?

    Even now, being almost done with my first year of college, I constantly see people who forget why we're here, and how lucky we are to be on this campus. All of the distractions can surely keep you from doing your best, and they can easily make you forget your real purpose at college. The parties, friends, events, and overall social life can move you into a never-ending whirlpool (旋涡）of not doing schoolwork. Having fun is a part of life, but balance is the key when it comes to college.

    Appreciation nowadays is slowly fading into a distant thought. We constantly forget how lucky we are to have the things and the life that we do. Surely, who doesn't dream of a new car waiting for them, or that brand new iPhone that you see in all of the commercials? But wanting something is different from expecting it. Setting yourself up with an "I should get this" attitude will only push appreciation further away.

    Appreciate what you have, but don't expect what you don't have. Say thank you to those who help and support you, and realize that whoever you are, you're lucky in a great way.

    In the near future, daily newspapers and monthly magazines will probably disappear. Electronic media（媒体） can provide the same information faster and cheaper. The Internet, together with laptops and mobile phones, makes it possible that almost everyone can at any time and in almost any place get some news for free or for few fees.

    You'll browse the computer newspapers or magazines just like turning on TV. An electronic voice will tell you stories about the latest events. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on the brief story？ A simple touch makes the whole text appear.

    There are the predictions from the experts working on the newspapers of the future. Imagined as part of home media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers and magazines would unite printed and broadcast news, offering information and analyzing video images of news events.

    The continuing loss of readers will lead to a small number of advertisements in newspapers. It makes no sense to spend millions of dollars to print ads.

    With the development of technology, more and more electronic media have been created until now, but replacing the traditional newspapers and magazines has a long way to go, because the resistance to computer newspapers and magazines from journalism（新闻业） may be much stronger. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be not until the present journalists（新闻工作者）, who aren't used to it, die off that the newspaper industry is not considered as an industry any longer. Anyway, technology is making the traditional newspapers and magazines disappear gradually.

Volunteering

    Just like the animals we shelter, people are very special to us. The Animal Shelter of Sacramento County has 300 active volunteers and is always eager to add more. If you have a few hours each week and a love for dogs and cats, we at the shelter welcome your participation.

    Youth Volunteers

    Children 10 years of age or older are allowed to take part in some of our programs as youth volunteers when accompanied by an adult. The adult can be a parent, or guardian 18 years of age or older. Volunteering is rewarding for a number of reasons. Youth volunteers learn responsibility as they serve the community. Volunteers are rewarded with the love for our sheltered animals. Volunteers learn about the needs of dogs and cats and how to care for those needs.

    Youth Volunteer Qualifications

    A youth volunteer must:

    *care deeply about animals and their happiness

    *complete an application form

    *be at least 10 years of age and accompanied by an adult

    *attend a training program

    Youth Volunteer Opportunities

    Youth volunteers may fill the position of dog nuzzler, cat snuggler, or kennel aide, if there are openings. Please call our volunteer information hotline at 1-800-290-5992 to hear a recording of the positions available.

    Dog Nuzzlers

    Dogs need to exchange information with human and exercise to stay healthy and feel comfortable around people. Dog nuzzlers must be knowledgeable about dogs and able to deal with medium-sized to large-sized dogs. Youth volunteer dog nuzzlers must be able to work at least two hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on either Saturdays or Sundays.

    Cat Snugglers

    Look after our cats, giving them lots of attention. Cat snugglers must be knowledgeable about cats and their needs. Youth volunteer cat snugglers must be able to work at least two hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on either Saturdays or Sundays.

    Kennel Aides

    Providing food and water for the animals at the shelter is a demanding job. Kennel aides assist the Animal Shelter staff in feeding the animals in our care. Kennel aides must be able to work at least two hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on either Saturdays or Sundays.

    On March 25, 2010, Kate and David heard the words every parent dreads: Their newborn wasn't going to make it. Their twins­a girl and a boy­were born two minutes apart and 14 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no improvement. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he'd stopped breathing. The baby had just moments to live.

    "I saw him gasp (喘息), but the doctor said it was no use," Kate told the Daily Mail five years later. "I know it sounds stupid, but if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn't going to give up easily."

    Still, the couple knew this was likely a goodbye. In an effort to cherish her last minutes with the tiny boy, Kate asked to hold him.

    "I wanted to meet him, and for him to know us," Kate told Today. "We'd resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments."

    Kate unwrapped the boy, whom the couple had already named Jamie, from his hospital blanket and asked David to take his shirt off and join them in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his condition. They also talked to him.

    "We were trying to persuade him to stay," Kate told the Daily Mail. "We explained his name and that he had a twin that he had to look out for and how hard we had tried to have him."

    Then something miraculous happened. Jamie gasped again­and then he started breathing. Finally, he reached for his father's finger.

    The couple's lost boy had made it.

    "We're the luckiest people in the world," David told Today.

    Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and healthy. The couple only recently told the kids the story of their birth. "Emily burst into tears," Kate said. "She was really upset, and she kept hugging Jamie. This whole experience makes you cherish them more."

    Some of the world's most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music, its significance, and its potential as a unifying(联合) voice across cultures.

    Despite the celebrations, though, in the U. S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

    It's Jason Moran's job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center's artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.

    "Jazz seems like it's not really a part of the American appetite, "Moran tells National Public Radio's reporter Neal Conan. "What I'm hoping to accomplish is that my generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and white anymore. It's actually color, and it's actually digital. "

    Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the entertainment aspect of the music has been lost. "The music can't be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same, "says Moran.

    Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller's music for a dance party, "just to kind of put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music," says Moran. "For me, it's the recontextualization. In music, where does the emotion(情感) lie? Are we, as humans, gaining any insight(感悟) on how to talk about ourselves and how something as abstract as a Charlie Parker record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts? Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context," says Moran, "so I want to continue those dialogues. Those are the things I want to foster. "