An organization, Eye Care 4 Kids, is bringing much-needed eye care to poor kids. It provides free eye examinations for kids from poor families. Founded by Joseph Carbone in 2001, the organization has helped around 100,000 children in Utah and Nevada.

    Now, Cecil Swyers, a biomedical(生物医学的) engineer who was once a poor child himself, is bringing the charity's(慈善) services to poor students in Arizona, so that vision impairment(视力受损) doesn't stand in the way of their education.

    “Eye Care 4 Kids is bringing eye care and glasses to families that wouldn't have the means to pay for them,” said Mario Ventura from Isaac Elementary School District, the first school district in Arizona to receive its services.

    Good vision is important to a child's learning experience. According to a study, up to 80 percent of learning happens through sight for children between 6 and 18 years old. Without proper eye care, it's difficult for students to learn better and succeed.

    Swyers is hoping that by bringing the organization to Arizona he'll help a lot more students. He teamed up with two other organizations to get doctors to volunteer their time with the group. Using an Eye Care 4 Kids mobile clinic, Swyers visited Alta E. Butler Elementary School and has already helped 40 students.

    The school was grateful to receive the eye care, especially since the services came to them. “It's great for us,” said Assistant Principal Cindy Alonso.

    Swyers is hoping to bring Eye Care 4 Kids' services to other schools in the state. He said that hopefully his work will have a positive effect on students' futures. “If we can help students while they're young, we can make a difference in their futures,” he said.

    Researchers continue to show the power behind our sense of smell. Recent studies have found, among other things, that the smell of foods like pizza can cause uncontrollable anger in drivers on roads.

    The review explains that smell is unique in its effects on the brain. According to Conrad King, the researcher who carried out the review, "more than any other senses, the sense of smell goes through the logical part of the brain and acts on the systems concerned with feelings. This is why the smell of baking bread can destroy the best intentions of a dieter."

    Smell, which dictates(决定) the unbelievable complexity of food tastes, has always been the least understood of our senses. Our noses are able to detect up to 10,000 distinct smells. Our ability to smell and taste this extremely large range of smells is controlled by something like 1,000 genes (基因), which make up an amazing 3% of the human genome. Researchers Richard Axel and Linda Buck were together awarded a Nobel Prize in 2004 for their ground-breaking research on the nature of this extraordinary sense. These two scientists were the first to describe the family of 1,000 olfactory (嗅觉) genes and to explain how our olfactory system works.

    According to one study in the research review, smelling fresh pizza or even the packaging of fast foods can be enough to make drivers feel impatient with other road users. They are then more likely to speed and experience uncontrollable anger on roads. The most reasonable explanation is that these can all make drivers feel hungry, and therefore desperate to satisfy their appetites.

    In contrast, the smells of peppermint and cinnamon were shown to improve concentration levels as well as reduce drivers' impatience. Similarly, the smells of lemon and coffee appeared to promote clear thinking and mental focus.

    However, the way genes regulate smell differs from person to person. A study by researchers in Israel has identified at least 50 olfactory genes which are switched on in some people and not in others. They believe this may explain why some of us love some smells and tastes while others hate them. The Israel researchers say their study shows that nearly every human being shows a different pattern of active and inactive smell-detecting receptors.

    1990 was a significant year in world events. In February, Nelson Mandela was set free after 27 years in prison. In October, East and West Germany became one country again. Then at the end of 1990, the World Wide Web was born. For this final event we have one man to thank, Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web.

    Berners-Lee was born on June 8, 1955 in London, England. His parents, both computer designers, encouraged him to think and work creatively as he grew up. He was an excellent student and naturally took an interest in computers and science.

    After graduating from Oxford University, Tim went to work at a science research center in Switzerland. There he developed some of the different systems that would later become the Web. The first was HTML, the computer language used to make web pages. The second was an address system that let computers anywhere find each other and send and receive information. In 1990, while still at the science center in Switzerland, he put them together to make the first Internet browser. It could run on any computer and allowed people to share their information with the rest of the world.

    Tim knew that the more people used the Web, the more useful it would be. He wasn't interested in money but knowledge, so he gave out his invention for free to anyone who was interested. Many were interested and the growth of the Internet began.

    Today Tim works as a professor at the MIT in America, researching new and interesting ways to use the Web. He has received many awards from governments and organizations for his efforts. He is still not very interested in money. That is why he is so admired by his students and workmates. It may also be one of the reasons why few people outside the world of technology know his name.

    Student travel promises to be an enjoyable trip. Not only can students visit several places, they also can learn so much on every trip. For first-time travelers, here are some historical destinations for students to travel.

    Athens

    It was the center of knowledge, government and system in the ancient world, and every student would be amazed at how this ancient city grew and evolved. Students can visit Acropolis, Agora, Library of Hadrian, Kerameikos, Olympieion & Southeast Athens. Pnyx, Roman Agora & Tower of the Winds, Arch of Hadrian, City Eleusinian and other ancient sites in this, ancient city of Athens.

    Egypt

    Egypt features 3,000 years old city on the banks of River Nile. Moving your way south from Cairo, the nation's capital, you can stop at Giza where the famous Great Pyramid stands. It was built by Pharaoh Khufu in 2550 BC. Further south, Saqqara is home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser built in 2630 BC. In Dahshur, the Bent and the Red Pyramids are located. And down south at Maidum, the Maidum Pyramid can be found.

    Rome

    See ancient Rome still shine with evidences of Raman structure and architectures built more than 2,000 years ago Rome presents the living timeline from the Roman Empire to the shift of the Middle Ages, to the dawn of the Romantic period and Enlightenment (启蒙运动). Rome preserves its temples, churches, arts, and priceless paintings and murals.

    Peru

    As the center of the Inca civilization, Peru is a great destination for students travel for discovery of South American history. The 500-year old Inca traces could be relived in the Inca Trail that is both exciting and educational. Walk to the Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman, Machu Picchu, and Pisac to have a visit.

    One time a young man, who hoped to study law, wrote to Lincoln for advice, and Lincoln replied, "If you are determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already. Always bear in mind that your own determination to succeed is more important than any other one thing."

    Lincoln knew. He had gone through it all. He had never, in his entire life, had more than a total of one year's schooling. And books？Lincoln once said he had walked to borrow every book with in fifty miles of his home. A fire was usually kept going all night in the small house and he read by the light of it.

    He walked twenty or thirty miles to hear a speaker and, returning home, he practiced his talks everywhere﹣in the fields, in the woods, before the crowds. He joined several societies and practiced speaking on the topics of the day.

    A lack of confidence always troubled him. In the presence of women he was shy and dumb. Even when he was in love with Mary Todd, he used to sit there, nervous and silent, unable to find words, listening while she did the talking. Yet that was the man who, by practice and home study, made himself into the speaker who debated with the famous speaker Douglas! That was the man who, in Gettysburg address, rose to the heights of eloquence （雄辩） that have seldom been achieved in all the human history.

    Small wonder that, speaking of his own great barriers and painful struggle, he wrote, "If you are determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already."