Elephants in Uganda are starting to come close to villages near national parks. The big animals are a real danger to people.

    So, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has been giving people new tools to keep the elephants away: vuvuzelas. They are plastic instruments some fans use at sports events.

    The instruments make a loud sound elephants do not like. The animals leave, and no one is harmed. A spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority says vuvuzelas work because they do not threaten the elephants. That is important because an elephant that feels threatened is more likely to attack. So far, no one has reported an elephant attacking in answer to a vuvuzela.

    Officials and villagers have tried other ways to stop elephants from coming near farms and houses. They have built beehives – houses for flying insects that sting. They have hung ropes covered in spicy oil. They have dug long, deep holes. And they have used guns, called A-K47s.

    An official from the Uganda Wildlife Authority explains that people shoot the gun in the air to scare the elephant. But over time, the elephants have stopped being afraid of the sound of the gun. They only look at the shooter and wave their ears.

    Another official for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Gessa Simblicious, says one elephant-prevention solution will not work everywhere in Uganda. And one day, elephants may accept the vuvuzela noise, just as they do the sound of the A-K47.

    But right now, vuvuzelas are an effective, non-violent and fun way to deal with a serious problem.

    Every year, 1.5 million kids around the world die as a result of not getting vaccines (疫苗). This is partly because transporting and storing medicines can be a huge challenge in some countries.

    Anurudh Ganesan, 17, knows this firsthand. When he was a baby in India, his grandparents carried him 10 miles to a health clinic in a remote village to receive a vaccine. But by the time they arrived, the vaccines were no longer usable because they had been overheated.

    Vaccines, Anurudh later learned, must be kept cool to stay effective. But refrigerating them requires electricity or ice – precious resources that many developing countries lack.

    Although Anurudh eventually received the vaccine he needed, his experience as a baby and the sad reality that so many other children aren't as lucky motivated him to take action. The high school student invented Vaxxwagon, a portable vaccine-carrying device that generates its own power to keep lifesaving medicines cool as they're delivered to remote areas around the world.

    Anurudh first got his idea for Vaxxwagon in 2014. He read several textbooks to learn everything he could about refrigeration, and then he did research online to learn more about vaccines. Rather than relying on electricity or ice, Anurudh figured out a way to use wheels to power a refrigeration system for about eight hours. The entire rechargeable cooling system can be pulled to areas in need of vaccines by a bicycle, a car, or an animal. Eventually, Anurudh took his design to professors at Johns Hopkins University for advice. Not only did they confirm Vaxxwagon could work, but they offered him funding to help build it.

    Anurudh was rewarded with the 2015 Google Science Fair LEGO Education Builder Award for his invention. Anurudh says his final goal is to start selling Vaxxwagon to relief organizations, so it can be used to help people around the world.

Anurudh, who plans to pursue engineering degree in college, says, “Don't give up on your ideas. But always try to help others with your projects. That's the point of engineering – to help people.”

    It takes a special person to travel with kids—a parent. Children have their own needs. Their idea of a vacation is more “adventurous” than a parent's. They need constant inspiration and they can get as tired as they are tiring.

    Make sure you have plenty of room while traveling

    If you are driving, get a mini-van. Sure, you might be more of a “car” type, and you might have resisted buying a mini—van so far. But pick up a rental van for the vacation just to give the kids a little more room for fighting.

    Accommodations along the way can be tricky. Usually it involves a crowded motel for just long enough to sleep, then back in the crowded car. This is not anybody's idea of a home away from home. An accommodation alternative is to camp, but not everyone enjoys a good early morning wake-up wrestle with a bear as much as I do, so a motel might be required.

    Make sure you have plenty of room when you “get there”

    Assuming you are actually heading for a destination, make sure to have lots of room when you get there. This part is easy. But it requires thinking outside the box. Forget hotels, motels, and inns. Look for private rental homes.

    Probably the biggest destination for families is Walt Disney World in Florida. Good news—Orlando, Kissimmee and the surrounding area is full of private vacation homes for rent. In Florida they call them vacation villas, and they offer all the space of home.

    Be prepared for “children being children” events

    Sometimes, stress hits you from behind when the unexpected happens. Like a cut or a scrape…or a child getting sick. Sharon Baillie told me that is why she tells all her villa rental guests where the first-aid case can be found, and exactly where to go for medical attention. This is particularly helpful for her many guests from abroad, who are unfamiliar with the US healthcare system.

    Booking tickets to theme parks and making reservations for just about everything in advance makes the trip less stressful. Try having your children baby-sat. Hire a local baby-sitter once or twice. Vacation Home owners can set this up for you, and some hotels might be willing to, too.

    In recent decades there has been a strong push in American education to prepare all high school students for college. As a result, fewer and fewer young people are pursuing careers as skilled tradesmen. But teens should be encouraged to consider learning a trade.
    The average cost of a bachelor's degree is $127,000 and 70 percent of students apply for some form of student loans to help cover this cost. On average, loan borrowers graduate with $37,172 in debt. The average trade school degree, on the other hand, costs only $33,000 – less than what many four-year degree holders will still owe after graduation.
    I have a friend who is a highly educated college professor. He makes a comfortable living, and of course he loves his work, but recently as we discussed his own children's future career plans, it was my friend who raised the idea of pursuing a trade school degree. He told me that every time he calls his plumber (水暖工), the plumber answers his phone from his yacht(游艇).
    Of course not every tradesman can earn a yacht-buying salary, but there are a number of skilled professionals that can earn six figures.
    It's widely believed that academics are more valuable than physical or skilled work. Fortunately, there has been an effort to change that message in recent years and to restore dignity to trade education and tradesmen. Still, that message is going to be reinforced in classrooms and at home so that all students will recognize the beauty and value of possessing a skill, of being able to make something with one's own hands, and of offering a service that makes other people's lives not only better, but in many cases, possible.

    Jane Austen is loved mainly as a charming guide to fashionable life in the Regency period (英国摄政时期). She is admired for describing a world of elegant houses, dances, servants and fashionable young men driving barouches (四轮四座大马车). But her own vision of her task was completely different. She was an ambitious and strict moralist. She was highly conscious of human failings and she had a deep desire to make people nicer: less selfish, more reasonable and more sensitive to the needs of others.

    In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bonnet start off heartily disliking each other and then, gradually realize they are in love. They make one of the great romantic couples. He is handsome, rich and well connected; she is pretty, smart and lively. But why actually are they right for one another?

    Jane Austen is very clear. It's for a reason we tend not to think of very much today: It is because each can educate and improve the other. When Mr. Darcy arrives in the neighborhood, he feels "superior" to everyone else, because he has more money and higher status. At a key moment, Elizabeth condemns his arrogance (自大) and pride to his face. It sounds offensive in the extreme, but later he admits that this was just what he needed.

    Mostly, we tend to think of love as liking someone for who they already are, and of total acceptance. But the person who is right for us, Austen is saying, is not simply someone who makes us feel relaxed or comfortable; they got to be able to help us overcome our failings and become more mature, more honest and kinder—and we need to do something similar for them.