It has been several weeks since we tookour daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting  well after a short period of homesickness.For us, though, it's another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on mychildren at night. But now she's gone, and I find nighttimes the hardest. Imiss her most at night.

    In my neighborhood, most of the parentswhose kids are off to college are dealing with similar melancholy. Myhusband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sickfeeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop-off. We complainedthat many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while wehad them.

    For us moms, seeing Toy Story 3 onlymade the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age asour kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. Andit's not just “first-time” parents like me. Two moms who have kids already wellinto college said the separation didn't get any easier. “You feel likesomething has been taken away from inside you,” said one of them.

    I imagine things will get easier withtime, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as Ikeep my cell phone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweetdreams every night, I like to think at messages serve as a night light thatkeeps her safe.

Learn to cure cancer

    A vaccine for cancer is in the works.

    Lauren Landry and Chloe Tomblin are the scientists. They look in freezers(冰柜) for bacteria to use in the research. This research has its limitations—mostly because their lab is in a high school.

    But Lauren, 16, and Chloe,17 both students are Western Reserve Academy in the US, aren't put off by the difficulties they face in their cancer immunology(免疫学) class.

    “I hope we get to the point where we can get to a vaccine and write a paper,” Lauren said.

    Both conduct research into how to engage the immune system in stopping cancer from forming.

    Though the lab is in a high school, they don't use textbooks. The aim is to conduct real cancer research, either by testing the effects of substances on cancer cells or developing vaccines to target the growth of those harmful cells.

    The idea for the class came from Robert Aguilar, who has taught at the private school for many years. Students spend the first year learning research techniques. In the second year, students swap(调换) their blue lab coats for white ones. By this stage they are well into their research projects.

    “If first-years need any help, they can feel free to ask second-year students,” Aguilar said.

    Students form groups to conduct their research. One pair of students has researched the effect of capsaicin(辣椒素) on killing cancer cells. Another has tested the effect of caffeine(咖啡因) on the growth rate of breast cancer(乳腺癌) cells.

But few students get to the point in their research of experimentation with mice, Aguilar said. Lauren and Chloe hope that they can make decent progress in their work.

    “We know they're going to be used for good,” Lauren said. “If it does or doesn't work, it still has a huge impact.”

    Aguilar teaches the students that even research that doesn't work still contributes to science in some way. He tells students that “the best part of research is failing a lot”.

Chanukah Festival

    Activities for kids of all ages

    Sunday, December 17   9: 00 a. m.-4: 00 p. m.

    Join us on December 17th, 2017 (2nd day of Hanukkah) for our annual Hanukkah Family Fun Fest for an exciting day of fun activities for the whole family. The Hazimir Choir will provide holiday musical entertainment. Drum Tales will present "The Hearty Story of Hanukkah" show. There will be ceramic (陶瓷) painting of dreidels. Menorahs (烛台), and other Hanukkah items for the kids. And fun foods, crafts and activities will be happening throughout the day. Bring the whole family and enjoy a fun—filled day!

    11: 30-Jolly Follies puppet show Ages 2-12

    A fun Muppet (提线木偶) style musical holiday story followed by a Hanukkah sing a song featuring the "Chipmunks" and other favorite characters. Adult: $7 Child $5

    1: 30-Hazamir Teen Choir

    Sponsored by the Berman and Lerner families in memory of Cantor Moses L. Snyder

    3: 15-Drum Tales presents The Hearty Story of Hanukkah

    Drum Tales is fun, interactive percussive (打击乐) and musical. It is much like the traditional drum circle concept. It combines story telling, musical instrumentation and song. Each participant is given a percussive instrument which becomes their media of transportation to far away lands and exotic (异国情调的) places, to ride the waves of mystery of an unfolding plot, and into the deep realm of imagination and the colorful beyond. Drumming, rhyming, rapping, clinking, shaking and clapping, this performance will leave you feeling refreshed after having returned from a journey through these stories! Adult $7 Child $5

    Plus food and fun for the entire family

    Crafts with BBYO and Young Judea

    Ceramic painting with Jack and Jill

    T-Shirt fun with Computer Adventures

    Fun with Cyber—Connection

    Vendors

    Special visit by "Chanukah Bubby"

    I had a lot of teachers that I loved. However, the teacher that I remember most was Mrs Green from Marianna, Florida. She was my 5th grade teacher. Since I was a new student, not only in her class, but at the school, she made my time there much more pleasant. I immediately began to like her. She was really funny and I knew that she liked me. She made learning fun. I remember one day for Christmas holidays, she taught us how to make ornaments (装饰物) from eggs. My parents still have some of the ornaments I made.

    She made me leader for many group projects and that made me feel special. I think that would make any child feel special, especially when a child is in a new place with no friends. She made me want to be like that. Not to pick a "favourite" student, but to make every student feel that they are special. That year, I received the Presidential Academic Award (美国总统学术奖). I was really proud and so were my parents.

    Looking back at it, I think the reason why I did so well was that I felt important. Students do better when they feel like they are important or loved. Mrs Green always gets to know her students and forms personal relationships with them, which I will try to do some day. I just hope that there will be a student who finds me to their favourite teacher as I found her to be mine.

    Bike sharing have become popular words in cities from Cape Town to Shanghai to Melbourne. Planners, politicians and media keep showing off their benefits: reducing pollution, congestion, travel costs and oil dependence, while improving public health. Bike sharing also helps make cities appear modern, dynamic and worldwide--qualities much sought after by the creative class.

    But what makes for a successful public bike-sharing program? This is an important question because installing one requires significant public and private investment and adjustment to the built environment.

    While many programs have been launched among much praise, often their popularity has soon declined. Many end up operating at a financial loss and depend on other profitable enterprises to cross-subsidize (交叉补贴) them. Some have resulted in thrown-away bikes becoming an eyesore.

    Understanding which factors enhance or stop public bike sharing is critical in helping cities decide whether such a program is workable, before considering what design and sitting will work best.

    Drawing on current knowledge, we discuss the importance of the local landscape, climate, cycling infrastructure (基础设施) and land use. We also touch on other factors, such as the legal environment and the characteristics of the bike-sharing program itself.

    Take natural environment for example. Two natural environment factors are known to affect participation: hilliness and weather. Hilliness discourages balanced bike-sharing use, as users avoid returning bicycles to stations on hilltops. Those stations end up being empty, while stations on flat areas are often full, so users cannot find a station to return their bikes.

    As for weather, ideal temperature ranges vary by the climate zone. Case studies show warm and dry weather encourages public bike-sharing use. Rain and strong wind reduce the frequency of trips. However, some approaches, such as providing sheltered, shaded, or even heated or cooled cycling infrastructure, could prove useful.