Nashville, Tennessee ( CNN) - - When Ryan Wallace got a diagnosis of at age 2, his parents never thought they' d hear him speak. & quot; He used to make noises.

When he wanted something he would just point, & quot; says Ryan' s father, Gerald David Wallace. & quot; Or he would scream. & quot; Therapists say that' s not unusual for someone with Ryan' s condition.

According to doctors, many children with autism have difficulty understanding information from the outside world. & quot; The brain' s ability to process information comes in from the eyes, ears and other senses during infancy, & quot; says Dr.

Mark Wallace, an expert on sensory processing who directs the Vanderbilt Brain Institute who is not related to Ryan. & quot; If that [ ability] is compromised during the early developmental period, you will never be able to really gain full function in these systems. & quot; Because these children lack the ability to understand this auditory information, it can prevent them from developing any form of language and therefore their ability to communicate.

Some stages of autism make it hard for children to comprehend sounds, words, expressions and even inflections. & quot; That' s the thing that parents often notice first in their children [ who have autism] . They can' t talk, & quot; says Dr. Stephen Camarata, a professor of hearing and speech science at Vanderbilt' s Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences. & quot; But the hidden side of this is that they also have a lot of difficulty understanding, comprehending, auditory comprehension, listening. And so when a child' s autism is experiencing somebody talking to them, it' s a lot like somebody' s talking to them in a foreign language, & quot; he says.

That can be frustrating for their parents, because at a time when most little ones should be learning to speak, their children can' t form words. Many of these parents seek out programs that claim they can help children with autism speak. Doctors warn that can be risky. & quot; Families who have a child with autism face daunting challenges, says Camarata. & quot; Because of this, they are often going to leave no stone unturned in their searches for solution. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fringe treatments out there, they aren' t effective and haven' t been scientifically validated. & quot; In the case of Ryan Wallace, now 7, his parents knew at an early age that something was wrong and they needed to intervene. & quot; He was a healthy baby boy, but then things started to change, & quot; says Amy Wallace, Ryan' s mom. & quot; It was around 18 or 20 months we noticed, he was really happy and then he wasn' t& quot; according to his dad. & quot; You could see it in his pictures, as he goes from infant into toddlerhood the smile kind of fades away.

And then he wouldn' t look at you. He would just stare into space.

And we had no clue what was going on. & quot; Ryan wouldn' t talk. He' d grunt or if he became emotionally upset, he' d have what his parents called & quot; meltdowns& quot; and would start screeching. His parents didn' t know what to do or how to handle him. Fortunately, when doctors told them Ryan had autism, they immediately got him into speech and occupational therapy. & quot; We looked everywhere to find him help, & quot; says Amy Wallace. & quot; We finally got him into the Susan Gray School, which is for special- needs kids at Vanderbilt. & quot; While at Susan Gray, Ryan' s therapists and parents decided to enroll him in a new research project that was scientifically evaluating programs designed to help kids with autism learn to speak, including sensory integration therapy. Sensory integration is an occupational therapy designed to improve communication skills by placing a child in a room specifically designed to challenge all his or her senses.

In the study, Ryan is shown pictures on a computer screen and asked to name and identify the items. The procedure is repeated over and over. He also is given a story that includes all the words he has seen on the computer and at the same time works with a therapist. & quot; So, children learn how to comprehend through interacting with toys, interacting with pictures, and then an adult or another person is talking to them and giving them information about what they' re seeing and experiencing, & quot; explains Camarata. & quot; It' s very repetitive so that the child has lots of opportunities to learn the meaning of each of these things they' re interacting with. & quot; The study is twofold. Once Ryan has gone through his therapy, he' s fitted with special headgear that records his brain language sensors while he watches a video that incorporates the words he' s just learned. By getting a picture of the brain, it gives doctors an insight into how the autistic brain works. & quot; The idea is that when you learn a new word you see it and then somebody tells you the name of it and then you link these things in your long- term memory, & quot; says Camarata. & quot; People with autism have a very hard time doing that. & quot; Sensory integration therapy advocates say the widely used program' s constant stimulation helps children with autism learn to speak.

But sensory integration therapy is controversial because there' s very little scientific data on its effectiveness. That' s why, Camarata says, it' s important researchers investigate sensory integration therapy and other therapies to see whether they are effective. & quot; When these parents are seeking answers, & quot; Camarata says, & quot; we as researchers can come to them with answers that have been tested and validated scientifically. & quot; Since Ryan has been working with sensory integration therapy, his parents say, his progress has been remarkable. & quot; He' s initiating more. He talks and engages in conversations. He isn' t afraid and comes up to people and says, ' Hi! ' & quot; Amy Wallace says with a smile.

Ryan' s father, Gerald, agrees. & quot; That' s huge for us. And he says, ' Love you, ' and now he says, ' I love you. ' You can' t ask for more. & quot; The project, which was funded through a two- year, $ 670, 000 federal stimulus grant, is still enrolling children. Sensory integration therapy is just one of many therapies that Camarata, Wallace and their staff hope to investigate in order to prove their worth.

Camarata wants to provide scientifically proven help to families touched by autism. & quot; I see so many therapies and programs out there that don' t work, and they prey on the desperate needs of families. That' s wrong, & quot; he says. & quot; We are finally starting to get to the point where we can test different interventions and see what works and what doesn' t work. If it helps these children, than we need to let parents know. If the therapy doesn' t help, than it needs to be exposed for what it is. & quot;

( CNN) - - A top adviser to Tim Pawlenty' s presidential campaign apologized late Wednesday for making a reference to Michele Bachmann' s & quot; sex appeal& quot; during an interview. Vin Weber apologized for the remarks originally made in an interview with The Hill newspaper regarding Bachmann. & quot; She' s got hometown appeal, she' s got ideological appeal, & quot; he said. & quot; And, I hate to say it, but she' s got a little sex appeal too. & quot; Weber, a former co- chairman of Pawlenty' s political action committee, issued the apology in a statement distributed by the Pawlenty campaign. & quot; I made a mistake that was disrespectful to my friend Congresswoman Bachmann, & quot; he said. & quot; I' ve been a Bachmann supporter in her Congressional bids and I apologize. I was not speaking on behalf of Governor Pawlenty' s campaign but nevertheless, it was inappropriate and I' m sorry. & quot; Bachmann, 55, formally announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination last week.

( CNN) - - Interstellar radio has lost one of its most avid listeners. A collection of sophisticated radio telescopes in California that scan the heavens for extraterrestrial signals has suspended operations because of lack of funding, a spokeswoman said Monday. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute operates the Allen Telescope Array, the field of dish- like scopes some 300 miles north of San Francisco. The telescopes are a joint effort of SETI and University of California- Berkeley' s Radio Astronomy Lab and have been funded largely by Microsoft co- founder Paul Allen, who donated more than $ 25 million to the project. A state budget crisis and reduced federal dollars have choked the project of funding, said Karen Randall, SETI' s director of special projects.

SETI put the Allen Telescope Array on hold a week ago - - a situation publicly revealed by Franck Marchis, a principal investigator for SETI who doesn' t work on the affected project, on his .

SETI CEO Tom Pierson sent an April 22 letter to donors saying the telescope array had been put into & quot; hibernation, & quot; Randall said. Pierson' s letter stated in part, & quot; Starting this week, the equipment is unavailable for normal observations and is being maintained in a safe state by a significantly reduced staff. & quot; The Allen Telescope Array will resume operations by 2013, when SETI' s new round of funding goes into effect, Randall said. The funding will cover the project until 2018, she said.

In the meantime, SETI is searching for quick cash. & quot; Obviously, we want to be prepared for these kinds of things, & quot; Randall said of financial obstacles. & quot; We are working on some other angles that have bubbled up that will basically not be so vulnerable to budget cycles. & quot; SETI since last month has been soliciting to fund the Allen project. The organization says it needs to raise $ 5 million. Randall said she hasn' t talked with Allen about contributing additional funds. The Allen radio telescopes aren' t the only ones that SETI can use to listen to the universe. SETI also analyzes data gathered by radio telescopes in West Virginia, Puerto Rico and Australia, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope, although SETI researchers must compete for time on those instruments.

The SETI Institute is based in Mountain View, in California' s Silicon Valley. According to its website it employs over 150 scientists, educators and support staff, and gets most of its funding from private donations and non- governmental grants. Research at the institute is anchored by two centers: The Center for SETI Research, which seeks evidence of extraterrestrial life by looking for some signature of its technology; and the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, which examines the origin, evolution and distribution of life forms on Earth and beyond.

It was not immediately clear how the budget crunch at SETI would affect its other astrobiology programs. The idea for constructing the Allen Telescope Array was conceived in 1997. Four years later, Allen agreed to fund the venture and construction of the initial 42 antennas, located in Northern California' s rural Cascade Mountains. SETI has said it plans to eventually grow the number of dishes to 350.

The array' s 20- foot- wide telescopes, spread across several acres, don' t send messages into space but scan the cosmos for signals of extraterrestrial origin. Unlike previously existing radio telescopes, which scan the sky for limited periods, the Allen Telescope Array probed the universe round the clock. Each of the 42 dishes is aimed at a different area of the sky, collecting reams of data that are being studied by computers for unusual patterns. SETI also is known for its most visible staffer, , current director of the Center for SETI Research and the real- life inspiration for Jodie Foster' s character in the 1997 movie & quot; Contact. & quot; & quot; At SETI, our current mission isn' t to broadcast, but rather to listen to the universe and see what else might be out there, & quot; . & quot; If signals are detected, everyone on the planet should have a voice in deciding how to respond. & quot; The cutbacks at SETI and UC- Berkeley come at a challenging time for space exploration. NASA is ending its space shuttle program, and the agency faces & quot; tough fiscal times, tough choices& quot; for its 2012 budget, Administrator Charles Bolden said recently.

California' s fiscal woes have also reduced the amount of money available to the Berkeley lab, Randall said. The lab will lay off four people due to a lack of operating revenue, leaving two support staff, said Robert Sanders, a spokesman for the school. The group begun shrinking in 2009 when Berkeley laid off several staff, he said. CNN. com' s Brandon Griggs contributed to this story.

WASHINGTON ( CNN) - - Growing up, Heather Davis wasn' t the kind of kid people would have called fat or even chubby.

Like many children, Heather studied hard, did her homework and played sports after school. During elementary school, she remembers being thin - - but things started to change as she approached adolescence. & quot; My bad eating habits began during my ' latchkey kid' years, & quot; says Davis. & quot; In high school and middle school, I played sports, but with a diet of Doritos and soda for lunch . . . large family dinners . . . I became overweight. & quot; During her senior year in high school, Davis, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 200 pounds. & quot; We had a meat- and- potatoes family. We had dessert every night and I was a member of the ' clean your plate club, ' remembers Davis. & quot; It caught up with me. & quot; By the time she was 22 and attending graduate school, Davis' weight had ballooned to 250 pounds. Davis says her weight gain was caused by major life transitions - - triggered by emotional eating, a junk- food diet and lack of exercise.

Davis dreaded shopping for clothes and said she found it hard to find stylish, age- appropriate clothing for her bigger body. She says it was a struggle to look neat and put together as most of her shirts & quot; hugged every roll. & quot; Looser- fitting clothing, she says, made her feel as if she were wearing a tent. The additional weight also began to take a physical toll. Everyday tasks such as walking up stairs or in the shopping mall started to become difficult. Davis says she was constantly hot and any physical exertion would cause her to sweat, even in below- freezing temperatures.

Life became a constant struggle. & quot; I would get hot a lot because of the extra weight I was carrying. Picture yourself with a 100- pound backpack on, & quot; says Davis. & quot; That was what it was like climbing the escalator. My knees hurt.

My back [ and] shoulders hurt a lot. & quot; Davis, who lives in Washington, says she had tried everything to lose weight, such as low- carb and low- fat diets and even starvation. But one day, something clicked. & quot; I was on the campus shuttle and saw the Gold' s Gym, & quot; Davis says, & quot; And, I said ' I can go down into the Metro and go home and eat my Ben & amp; Jerry' s [ ice cream] . Or, I can go over there and really do this. Just do this! ' & quot; Davis remembered her grandmother - - with whom she' d been extremely close - - who had died from heart failure brought on by years of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. & quot; She will never get to see my wedding, children or experience other joys in her life, & quot; Davis says. Davis says there wasn' t any defining experience or & quot; lightbulb& quot; moment that forced her to make a change.

It was the realization that after years of failed diets and the physical toll of obesity, she' d had enough. During her first visit to the gym, Davis says she could barely handle 15 minutes on the treadmill. But she stayed on track by reminding herself that weight loss was going to be hard work and there was no easy way out.

She did cardio exercise for two weeks and began modifying her diet by cutting out starches, ice cream and pizza. Within the first two weeks, she had lost 8 pounds. She was motivated by the positive results and gradually increased her cardio, incorporated weight training and continued to change her diet. Davis remained determined, and over the next 12 months, with the support of her family and regular check- ins with a gym trainer, she lost 110 pounds.

She went from wearing a plus- size 22 to wearing a size 4 or 6. The weight loss and healthier lifestyle boosted the 31- year- old' s self- confidence and gave her access to a richer, fuller life. & quot; My days of treating my body badly are over, & quot; says Davis. & quot; I focus on things I enjoy such as European travel, language classes and beach vacations. & quot; Staying healthy for Davis means eating in moderation and incorporating fun forms of exercise into her daily life.

She no longer owns a vehicle and enjoys long walks in downtown Washington.

She' s also set another goal for herself - - a second graduate degree - - which she hopes will allow her to help others. & quot; I' m working on my master' s in public health because all of this health awareness has made me want to help other people, & quot; Davis says. & quot; Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions and I will take pleasure using both experience and scientific knowledge toward planning and evaluating programs designed to help people incorporate healthy behaviors into their lives. & quot; Davis is training to run a half- marathon and is running up to 6 miles. She says even though she' s lost 110 pounds, she' s still the same person - - outgoing, and more importantly - - happy. She' s also become an inspiration for people who desperately want to lose weight. & quot; If I can do it, anybody can do it, & quot; says Davis. i.

Report. com: Have you lost weight? Send your story, photos and video Matt Sloane contributed to this report.

( CNN Student News) - - The following profiles feature prominent women in the fields of politics, law, sports, science and business. Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( 1921- 2006) is best known as a philosopher of modern- day feminism.

In 1957, she began to send questionnaires to other women and noted that they were dissatisfied with their lives.

Friedan organized this information into a bestselling book, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963. The book detailed the frustration of women who were expected to rely on their husbands and children for their happiness. In 1966, Friedan became one of the founders of the National Organization for Women ( NOW) , which was dedicated to achieving equal opportunities for women.

She also co- founded the National Women' s Political Caucus, saying it was organized & quot; to make policy, not coffee. & quot; Sally Ride Sally Ride ( 1951 - ) was the first American woman to orbit the Earth, though at first she considered a career in professional tennis. She was selected for a NASA astronaut training program while working on her doctorate in astrophysics at Stanford University. Ride became the first American woman in space on June 18, 1983, as a member of the shuttle Challenger crew.

Later, she said of that six- day mission, & quot; The thing that I' ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I' m sure it was the most fun I' ll ever have in my life. & quot; In the years that followed, Ride became the only person to serve on commissions investigating both the Challenger and the Columbia shuttle tragedies. Today, Sally Ride works on programs that promote science and math, especially for girls, and she has authored children' s books about space.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias At a time when women were not expected to be athletes, Mildred & quot; Babe& quot; Didrikson Zaharias ( 1911- 1956) dominated several sports. Nicknamed Babe for her & quot; Ruth- like& quot; home runs, Didrikson first achieved national attention during the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, where she won gold medals and broke her own world records in both the javelin and the 80- meter hurdles.

By 1933, she turned to golf, where she would eventually win more than 50 tournaments, including three U. Women' s Opens. In 1950, after Zaharias outbragged and outcompeted her rivals for two decades, the Associated Press named her the & quot; Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century. & quot; Billie Jean King For two decades, world- renowned tennis player Billie Jean King ( 1943 - ) dominated the sport with 695 match victories, including six Wimbledon and four U. Open titles.

One of her best- known titles came in 1973 at the height of the women' s liberation movement.

In the so- called & quot; Battle of the Sexes, & quot; King defeated the self- proclaimed & quot; male chauvinist& quot; Bobby Riggs in a match that the London Sunday Times called & quot; the drop shot and volley heard ' round the world. & quot; A pioneer and activist for women' s rights, King used her accomplishments on the court to help pave the way for the next generation of female athletes. In 1990, Life magazine named her one of the & quot; 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century. & quot; Danica Patrick American racecar driver Danica Patrick ( 1982 - ) first started racing at age 10, following her sister' s interest in go- karts. Patrick quickly showed her penchant for speed, zooming to top- 10 finishes and titles throughout her young career. In 2005, she made history by leading an open- wheel championship series, and Patrick was named the Indy. Car Series' Rookie of the Year.

She also started and finished in fourth place at the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Marie Curie Polish- born Marie Curie ( 1867- 1934) was always an exceptional student. When she and her husband were recognized in 1903 for their groundbreaking physics research, she became the first female winner of a Nobel Prize.

Another such award followed in 1911, when Curie received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry after she discovered the elements radium and polonium.

This honor made her the first individual to receive multiple Nobel Prizes. Margaret Thatcher Known as the & quot; Iron Lady& quot; for her strong leadership, Margaret Thatcher ( 1925 - ) made history in 1979 by becoming Europe' s first elected female head of state. She served as British prime minister for 11 years, emerging as the only 20th century British leader to win three consecutive elections. Thatcher also led her country to victory over Argentina in the 1982 Falklands War.

After she stepped down in 1990, Thatcher started a foundation to promote democracy and international cooperation. She later received Britain' s highest civil and military honor, the Order of the Garter. Geraldine Ferraro Author of a book entitled & quot; Changing History, & quot; Geraldine Ferraro ( 1935 - ) made history herself when she became the first American woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket. Ferraro was the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale in 1984.

Though the pair did not win, Ferraro remained politically active and served as a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 to 1996.

Her resume also includes work as a teacher, attorney and U. S. representative. Madeleine Albright Madeleine Albright ( 1937 - ) was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. As the Nazis invaded that country before World War II, Albright and her family fled and eventually settled in the U. She graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and she later received master' s and doctorate degrees from Columbia University in New York.

By the late 1970s, she was working in the White House for President Jimmy Carter' s national security team.

In 1993, she became the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations. In 1997, the Senate approved Albright as the 64th U. S. secretary of state; she was the first woman ever to hold the position.

Donna Shirley As a teenager in a small Oklahoma town, Donna Shirley dreamed of exploring Mars and took an intense interest in flying airplanes. Before she was out of her teens, she was flying solo and earning her pilot' s licenses. Shirley entered college in the 1950s to study aerospace engineering at a time when engineering schools were still a male stronghold. She was successful, earning a bachelor' s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a master' s degree from the University of Southern California.

Shirley spent 32 years at NASA' s jet propulsion lab, the lead U. S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system, where Shirley managed the Mars exploration program. In 1997, the world watched as two of her projects - the Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner Microrover - landed on Mars. Two months later, the Mars Global Surveyor went into orbit around the red planet.

The projects that Shirley worked on became some of NASA' s greatest successes. Anne Mulcahy As chairman and CEO of Xerox, Anne Mulcahy ( 1952 - ) knows about far more than making copies. Born in Rockville Centre, New York, Mulcahy earned a bachelor' s degree in English and journalism from Marymount College.

She has spent most of her 30- year career at Xerox, starting off as a field sales representative and gradually moving up the ranks to hold senior management and executive positions. In 2002, Mulcahy helped pull Xerox out of a near- fatal slump, assisting the company to stand out in the printing and copying business despite a slew of competitors. In addition to heading up Xerox, Mulcahy also serves on the boards of directors at Catalyst, Citigroup and Target.

Meg Whitman You may not know the name Meg Whitman ( 1957 - ) , but you no doubt know the name of the company she runs: e. Bay.

Whitman grew up in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. In the late 1970' s, she earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a master' s degree in business administration from Harvard University. Before joining e. Bay, Whitman held top- level jobs at a number of major companies, including Walt Disney, Stride Rite and FTD. In the late 1990s, she was tapped to become president and CEO of the online auction firm e.

Bay.

Under her leadership, the company' s revenues for 2000 exceeded $ 430 million, an increase of 92 percent over 1999.

EBay continues to thrive.

In 2007, it generated revenues of more than $ 7.

5 billion. A possible key to Whitman' s success: She has been described as & quot; relentlessly optimistic. & quot; Whitman plans to step down from e. Bay on March 31, 2008, but she will remain on the board. Sandra Day O' Connor Sandra Day O' Connor ( 1930 - ) was the first woman to serve on the U.

Supreme Court. Born in El Paso, Texas, O' Connor grew up on a large family ranch in Arizona. She earned undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University.

After holding various jobs in the legal field and starting to raise a family, O' Connor became an assistant attorney general for the state of Arizona. Afterward, she worked as a Republican lawmaker in the state senate, where she served as majority leader; O' Connor was the first woman in the United States to hold such a position.

She also served as a judge at a county superior court and a state court of appeals in 1981. Also in 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated O' Connor to fill a vacancy on the U. Supreme Court. She was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and was sworn in as the first female Supreme Court justice in history.

During her 24 years on the high court, O' Connor was considered a decisive swing vote in many key decisions. She retired from the bench in 2006. Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( 1954 - ) is the first African- American woman to hold the position of U.

S. secretary of state.

From 2000 to 2005, Rice was the first woman to serve as national security adviser to the president.

Rice spent her youth in Birmingham, Alabama and later in Denver, Colorado. She enrolled at the University of Denver at the age of 15, and she studied under Madeleine Albright' s father.

Rice went on to obtain master' s and doctorate degrees and then taught political science at Stanford University. During George H. Bush' s presidency, Rice held posts in the National Security Council.

Bush once said to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Rice & quot; tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union. & quot; Rice later held the post of provost of Stanford University; she was the first woman, the first African- American, and the youngest person to hold that office. In addition to English, she speaks Russian, French and Spanish, and she is an accomplished pianist. Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi ( 1945 - ) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 & quot; for her non- violent struggle for democracy and human rights& quot; in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Suu Kyi' s father was commander of the Burma Independence Army; her mother was Burma' s ambassador to India.

Educated at Oxford, Suu Kyi held various diplomatic posts throughout the world from 1969 to 1988. She assumed the role of opposition leader after Burmese military forces killed more than 1, 000 demonstrators in 1988. After Suu Kyi' s party won parliamentary elections in 1990, the ruling military junta refused to hand over power. From 1989 to 1995, and again from 2000 to 2002, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. In 2003, federal officials imprisoned her, and, as of February 2008, she remains under house arrest in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi continues to press for democracy in her home country through non- violent means; she has received numerous awards and recognition throughout the globe for her efforts. Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( 1953- 2007) was the first female leader of any Islamic Republic.

Her father had also served as Pakistan' s prime minister before he was ousted in a military coup and executed in 1979. After spending several years under house arrest, Benazir Bhutto led the Pakistan People' s Party ( PPP) to victory in 1988, becoming the first female prime minister of Pakistan. The country' s president dismissed Bhutto' s government in 1990, but she won the prime minister post again in 1993. After President Farooq Leghari dismissed Bhutto' s second administration in 1996, she exiled herself to London and Dubai. In October 2007, she returned to Pakistan in the hopes of sharing power with President Pervez Musharraf' s government.

Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007.

After her death, the PPP won parliamentary elections, continuing Bhutto' s legacy of promoting democracy in Pakistan.

Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf ( 1938- ) is president of Liberia and the first elected female president of any African nation. After Johnson- Sirleaf obtained her master' s degree in public administration from Harvard University, she worked in financial management for the Liberian government, eventually ascending to the post of finance minister in the Liberian Cabinet in the 1970s.

She also held prominent positions at the U. N. , World Bank, Citicorp, and the Liberian government throughout her 30- year career. In 1985, Liberian officials placed Johnson- Sirleaf under house arrest for speaking out against the government. She fled to the U.

S. and became vice president for Equator Bank.

From 1992 to 1997, she was assistant secretary- general of the United Nations.

Johnson- Sirleaf came in second place in the 1997 Liberian presidential elections, and that same year, she helped investigate the Rwandan genocide. When Liberia erupted into civil war, Johnson- Sirleaf was exiled again. She served in the transitional government after President Charles Taylor' s resignation in 2003, and Johnson- Sirleaf became president herself after elections in 2005.

With aid from the international community, she has been able to maintain peace and has begun to rebuild her nation' s economy.

Editor' s Note: This is part of CNN' s & quot; & quot; series.

Join the conversation on Twitter by following and . ( CNN) - - At the dawn of the internet era, the priority was to figure out how to let more people access the world' s information. Today, the question seems to be how to distill oceans of content into manageable streams and discard the rest: the meandering blog posts, the useless status updates, the trivial tweets. The explosion of blogs, Facebook and Twitter have inspired millions to share personal details with the world, a cultural trend that was first officially recognized in 2008 when Webster' s New World Dictionary declared & quot; overshare& quot; the word of the year.

Complaints about friends' tweeting what they had for lunch have practically become a national pastime. And yet, we keep on sharing. Even so, there' s evidence that have led people to be more careful about what they post online and who they choose to share it with. Take reality TV star Miss Tila - - also known as Tila Tequila - - not known for being bashful in her embrace of social media.

Earlier this year she disabled her Twitter account over some nasty user comments and, after a break, that has fewer followers. In several of her recent tweets, she pleaded with fans to respect her privacy. & quot; I' ve learned my lesson, & quot; she told CNN in an interview last week. & quot; Before I put anything up there [ on the internet] , I definitely make sure that it' s, you know, that it' s safe. & quot; Twitter changed the question it poses at the top of every user' s home page last year from & quot; What are you doing? & quot; to & quot; What' s happening? & quot; The old question encouraged mundane answers like what type of coffee someone is sipping on, co- founder Biz Stone said then in a statement. & quot; A lot of the tools that are out there weren' t really designed for a world of endless information, & quot; recently. & quot; How do we become an antidote to information overload, as opposed to yet another service that just bombards people with information? & quot; Google' s official mission statement reads: & quot; to organize the world' s information and make it universally accessible and useful. & quot; But the search giant found itself sprinting to keep up after the explosion of Twitter and is still unable to index most information stored on Facebook because large amounts of data are set to private. In fact, few companies are sufficiently equipped to handle the deluge of data that Web surfers are eager to feed them. Facebook Facebook, in partnership with Microsoft' s Bing, is making strides in letting people search through the mountains of information stored on its servers. The Palo Alto, California, company runs the world' s largest social network, with more than 500 million people.

It launched various features this year to make more information public - - such as the Places section for location sharing and mechanisms for organizing personal activity on other sites. Managing all of this data is surely a challenge for Facebook as a company. But for users, keeping up with all of the status changes, comments and photo albums begging to be & quot; Liked& quot; is impossible. & quot; I get too much Facebook mail and questions, & quot; said Apple co- founder , who helped spark the personal computing revolution. & quot; Social media? I don' t have time. & quot; Every person has a unique thought about where to draw the line on what constitutes oversharing. That' s clear by the groups of Facebook users that inevitably protest whenever the company makes changes to coax people to reveal more of their memories and interests to the Web.

But even Facebook has limits on what you can share. The company doesn' t allow certain types of hate speech, especially relating to religion, nor will it house racy photos. Facebook employs more than a hundred moderators worldwide to crack down on certain types of posts. ' Passive data' Similarly, Chatroulette, which gained notoriety for letting strangers connect for live video chats, is developing technology and policies for on the site.

Many social networks have declared that certain types of information is off limits.

But some are coming to the realization that too much information is simply bad for everyone. started out a year ago as a site for sharing credit card purchases. People were encouraged to sign up for a profile and connect it to their credit card accounts so that receipts would automatically be published as status updates. The idea was that people might be curious about what their friends were buying and how much they paid. But the Palo Alto, California, company has learned that too much info, and making it too easy to post that data, can harm the utility of the service.

So a few months ago Blippy began asking users to approve each item before posting and then write a brief review. & quot; The biggest risk when people publish everything turns out not to be that people publish personal stuff, but that they publish too many uninteresting things, & quot; said Blippy President Philip Kaplan. & quot; The most interesting content on the site was not just that they bought it, but what they thought of it. & quot; The founding philosophy assumed that & quot; if everybody was sharing everything that they buy, & quot; Kaplan said, & quot; the site would move a lot faster. & quot; As it turned out, things moved quickly into the mud. After Blippy' s change, Kaplan says the site is more useful, tracking $ 500, 000 worth of purchases a day. It has mostly cut out what Kaplan calls & quot; passive data& quot; - - that is, the info that' s published automatically, providing no incentive for the user to return to the site. Oversharing on Foursquare The internet is host to countless social networks targeting some very specific topics, and many of them rely on so- called passive data. For music, automatically posts a profile update for each song its users play in a digital jukebox like i.

Tunes. And Apple launched its own social network for music, called Ping, which is a mix of active and passive data; for the latter, it posts a new status each time a user purchases something from the i.

Tunes Store. A million people signed up for Ping in the first two days after it launched. For health junkies, a data- tracking and social service from Fitbit tallies exercise habits using a small gizmo. is a location- based social network - - similar to Facebook Places and Foursquare - - that relies on the active participation of & quot; checking in. & quot; Like Blippy, Gowalla encourages people not to use its service for trivial events.

This distinction is important for Gowalla because CEO Josh Williams says he' s weary of using computer- driven inference to try to determine what it should show users, in the way Google' s search engine and Facebook' s News Feed do. & quot; I think we want to be careful about algorithmically controlling what we display, & quot; Williams said. & quot; I would encourage people to check in to places that are important to them. For us, we' re not going to be the ones to decide what somebody thinks is important. & quot; Foursquare takes a similar approach and displays everything, rather than trying to pick out what' s most important. The service will shame users who check in too often by branding their page with an & quot; Overshare& quot; badge, which is earned after checking in at least 10 times in 12 hours.

More than 391, 000 people have unlocked that badge, a company spokeswoman said. Speaking of oversharing, you can also earn a Foursquare badge called GYT - - short for & quot; Get Yourself Tested& quot; - - when you check in to a clinic and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases; the program is courtesy of MTV. Foursquare says 4, 807 people have earned this badge.

Signal- to- noise ratio As the internet generation has shown, leaving it up to users to determine what should be shared is not always a solution. Then again, silencing oversharers is one & quot; de- friend& quot; button click away on most sites. & quot; You have to worry about the signal- to- noise ratio, & quot; Williams said. , which Apple declared the app of the year for i. Pad, attempts to solve the problem with software that organizes your Twitter and Facebook friends' updates into a magazine- like format. & quot; There' s too much stuff to check& quot; on unfiltered social networks, Flipboard CEO Mike Mc. Cue said at a conference recently. & quot; By the time you get done going through the last social network, you kind of have to go back to the first one. & quot; For narrowing which updates you share to closer circles of friends, there' s Diaspora or Path.

The latter was founded by a former Facebook engineer, but unlike the world' s largest social network, Path limits a user to 50 friends. The social- media juggernaut, Facebook, faces perhaps the biggest challenge in solving the noise problem. More specialized social networks, which encourage in- depth conversation around certain topics, are tying into Facebook. So the library of book reviews you thought were only meant for your page might show up on your Facebook profile. , founded by Kim Muhota several months ago, is among the most peculiar of the themed social- networks.

The service facilitates the sharing and discussion of dreams. & quot; Thousands& quot; of people have signed up, he said, sharing intimate and sometimes sexual nighttime visions. & quot; Why do people care about my status update on Facebook or my tweet? & quot; Muhota asked rhetorically. & quot; I think there' s this innate, human, primal desire to share your experiences with others.

There just is. & quot; As we are learning, however, it may not be in our DNA to want to hear about every one of those experiences.

( CNN) - - As museum curator for the world' s oldest and arguably most prestigious major tennis tournament, Honor Godfrey lives Wimbledon' s rich history every day. Indeed, the 61- year- old helps bring the past back to life in the museum' s interactive tour and collection, which this year highlights the 125th time the grass- court event has been staged. & quot; I love the collecting aspects of the museum and I find the championships really invigorating, & quot; she says. & quot; We try to capture anything which is new or very, very different. Every championships is different and every championships is a challenge. & quot; The items on display include some of the first lawn tennis sets, an unwanted tournament poster from 1893 found in someone' s house, kitsch tennis- related ornaments and parts of the original men' s dressing room.

Fashion from down the ages lights up the collection, from unbelievably impractical early women' s outfits to Ted Tinling' s classic designs and the garments worn by recent champions such as Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. & quot; We collect examples of the fashions that are worn every year along with other things, & quot; Godfrey says. & quot; We collect from the queue, we collect from the players, from spectators. & quot; The renowned and lengthy Wimbledon ticket queue, which has been a feature of the tournament for the past century, is the focus of this year' s special display. It gathers anecdotes from spectators who have often stayed up all night in their bid to gain coveted entrance to Centre Court, and also provides evidence - - from the women' s suffrage era, when activists targeted high- profile events - - that sports fans have had their bags searched for many decades. Another highlight is the display commemorating the longest match in tennis history, the 11- hour epic between American John Isner and France' s Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year, spread out across three days. & quot; Mahut came to visit the museum and he took photographs of this showcase, & quot; Godfrey says. & quot; He was carrying his racket and John Isner' s racket, and he was sending the photographs through to John Isner in the States going, ' Where am I? ' & quot; The All- England Club, which hosts Wimbledon, is the home of tennis as we know it. Prior to the club' s introduction of the lawn game in 1875, it had largely been an indoor sport. The advent of the outdoor game was largely due to one man, Victorian entrepreneur Major Walter Wingfield. & quot; He popularized this game enormously.

He produced a boxed set which included a net, poles, rackets, balls for playing the game - - and most importantly you had his rules, & quot; Godfrey says. & quot; He was absolutely terrific at marketing and he sent his game all over the world. He had very good connections with the clergy, the law profession, and the aristocracy and he sent thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in 1874. & quot; The All- England Club started out as a croquet organization, and the first tennis championships there in 1877 helped raise funds to repair the broken pony roller that kept the grass flat at the original Worple Road site in south- west London. & quot; It was open to allcomers but it was a gentleman' s championship, & quot; Godfrey says. & quot; Everybody who entered the championship paid a guinea ( worth about $ 80 now) entrance fee, and the spectators who came to watch the final paid a shilling each ( about $ 4) and they saw Spencer Gore beat William Marshall in the final. & quot; Gore was a cricket fan who believed that outdoor tennis would never catch on.

He lost in the final the following year, but by the time of his death in 1906 tennis had well and truly captured the public' s imagination.

The museum' s 1893 poster shows that women' s and doubles competitions had been added to the Wimbledon schedule, which that year began at 4. 30 every afternoon and went from July 10- 17, closing curiously on a Monday. & quot; There weren' t covers on the courts in those days and they didn' t know what the weather was going to be like, & quot; Godfrey explains. & quot; The great thing about this poster is that it was found scrunched up behind a mirror and somebody sent it into the museum and said, ' Would you like to have it? If you don' t need it, just burn it. ' & quot; In 1922, unable to cope with demand for tickets, the club moved from Worple Road to its existing site in Church Road, a winding walk up and down tree- lined hilly streets from the local train station which may test first- time visitors.

There is a shuttle bus during the championships, which is an easier option. The show court at Worple Road was in the middle of a rectangle of surrounding ones, and its title stuck following the move despite the different layout at the new venue, which took just 10 months to complete. & quot; When we came here Centre Court was still called Centre Court for historical reasons, even though it was right at the north of the site, & quot; Godfrey says. That era of the tournament introduced flamboyant players such as Suzanne Lenglen, a six- time Wimbledon champion who revolutionized what women could wear, and compatriot Jean Borotra - - a two- time winner who was one of France' s & quot; Four Musketeers& quot; of men' s tennis. The museum evokes their grace and style with Art Deco pieces by designers such as Karl Hagenauer and Ferdinand Priess along with film footage of the period - - it' s Godfrey' s favorite exhibit. But that' s closely followed by the fashion showcases that dominate the second half of the museum tour. & quot; When women first started playing lawn tennis they would dress in their best garden party clothes.

You would have corsets and layers of petty coats on underneath - - it would be very hard to play, & quot; Godfrey says. & quot; In fact, somebody said what women were wearing was tight where it should be loose, and loose where it should be tight. & quot; Major Wingfield decided to weigh the clothes worn by his lady opponent in a game and he found that they were 4.

9 kg in weight - - that' s about five large bags of sugar - - as opposed to his clothes, which were about 2. 4 kg. & quot; Tinling was a former tennis player who became Lenglen' s personal umpire before earning renown as a clothes designer. He dressed Wimbledon women' s champions in the 1950s, ' 60s and ' 70s, while the legendary Billie Jean King ensured his legacy endured into a fourth decade when she sported one of his creations in the 1984 mixed doubles final. & quot; What was fantastic about the way he worked was he looked at the whole personality of the player, and he dressed the player to be happy in his creations, & quot; Godfrey says. The tour also features a holographic John Mc.

Enroe, who recalls his first visit to the hallowed men' s locker room as & quot; an 18- year- old punk kid from Queen' s New York who had somehow made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. & quot; & quot; If you made it in here, you knew you were someone. This is where the contest really began. This is where the adrenalin really started to pump, & quot; the American, who won three Wimbledon titles, intones in his nasal drawl. The tour ends with a sight that any tennis player dreams of - - the Wimbledon winners' trophies. But one of Godfrey' s most cherished items is a little more obscure, harking back to the tennis boom days when memorabilia was found in all shapes and unlikely forms. & quot; When you' re collecting I think it' s absolutely amazing because you don' t know what the boundaries could ever be, & quot; she says. & quot; One of my favorites is a tiny little zip fastener, and running up and down the sides of the zip are tiny gold rackets.

I just think, ' Who on earth made this? ' I would never have thought anyone would have made anything like that. & quot;

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Tokyo ( CNN) - - Beneath the cherry blossoms of Shiba Park, more than 2, 000 people lined up for a Sunday afternoon march calling for Japan' s nuclear power stations to be shut down. A week before, a similar protest - - though in a chilly drizzle, not on a warm, sunny day - - drew about 250. And a month of frustration, desperation and anger boiled over at Tokyo Electric Power Company' s headquarters Friday as officials from towns around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demanded to know when the crisis that has besieged their farming communities would end. & quot; The nuclear plant situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible. If not, we farmers will die, & quot; one of the officials, Iwao Suzuki, told the utility' s executives. But the response from Naomi Hirose, the managing director of Japan' s largest utility, offered little encouragement to the delegation or the rest of the world. & quot; There is a need to draw an end to the current situation as soon as possible, & quot; Hirose said, adding, & quot; We totally agree to this and are taking the utmost endeavors to contain the radiation. & quot; Since the March 11 earthquake that ravaged northern Japan, workers at Fukushima Daiichi have been struggling to cool down three overheated reactors and keep pools of spent but still potent nuclear fuel from spreading further radioactive contamination across northern Japan.

A month into the crisis, the utility acknowledges, there is no end in sight. The problems are so far & quot; beyond the design capacity& quot; of the plant that the Japanese are working in uncharted territory, said Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at U. S. nuclear power plants. & quot; No nuclear power plant has ever considered the inability to get on long- term core cooling for more than a week, much less three weeks, & quot; Friedlander said. Some Japanese experts now say the effort is in danger of failing unless Japan seeks more help from international experts to bring it to an end. Tetsunari Iida, an engineer- turned- industry critic, said the situation is & quot; beyond the reach& quot; of Japan' s closely knit nuclear establishment. & quot; A real exit strategy has to start with an inspection by the world' s top experts on nuclear accidents, & quot; Iida told reporters at Japan' s national press club last week.

Engineers and workers so far have managed to stave off a complete meltdown in Fukushima Daiichi' s reactors 1- 3 and in the spent fuel pool of unit 4. But experts say the overheated fuel rods are likely to have suffered extensive damage, and there is a complication for seemingly every advance.

Much of the past week was dominated by the attempt to stop water laced with massive amounts of radioactive particles from pouring into the Pacific Ocean - - water that comes out of the reactors & quot; screaming with radioactivity, & quot; Friedlander said.

Tokyo Electric is now grappling with where to put the stuff, even dumping thousands of tons of less- radioactive water into the Pacific to make room for it in a reservoir for low- level waste. In a normally functioning plant, coolant water is circulated out of the reactors and chilled.

Then it' s pumped back in to carry more heat away from the plant' s fuel rods, which continue producing energy long after the chain reaction at the heart of the units has been stopped. & quot; You have to get the recirculation system up and functioning so they can cool that water in the normal way, & quot; said Gary Was, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan and a CNN consultant.

Normal cooling systems don' t require the massive amounts of water - - around 7 metric tons ( 1, 850 gallons) per hour - - now being poured into the reactors. & quot; That' s a big problem, & quot; Was said. Tokyo Electric officials told CNN they can' t say when they' ll be able to restore those normal cooling.

The first step is to get highly radioactive water out of the flooded basements of the units' turbine plants, then figure out how badly the equipment inside has been damaged. For the first two weeks of the crisis, engineers pumped seawater into the reactors. But the resulting buildup of salt inside has made it harder for coolant to circulate, U. S. nuclear safety officials advised in March. In addition, Was said, the fuel rods are likely in a state of & quot; partial melt, & quot; the extent of which will be difficult to determine.

After 1979' s Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania, it took more than two years before operators were able to get a camera into the reactor to examine its condition, he said.

Satoshi Sato, a Japanese nuclear industry consultant, called the current line of attack a & quot; waste of effort. & quot; Plant instruments are likely damaged and unreliable because of the intense heat that was generated, and pumping more water into the reactors is only making the contamination problem worse, he said. & quot; There is no happy end with their approach, & quot; Sato told CNN. & quot; They must change the approach. That' s something I' m sure of 100 percent. & quot; After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world' s worst to date, the Soviet Union encased the plant' s damaged reactor in a massive concrete sarcophagus. Iida said Fukushima Daiichi' s reactors remain too hot to pour concrete, but he suggested pouring a slurry of minerals and sand over them to carry away heat before encasing them.

And Was said the reactors have to be cooled in order to let the molten fuel harden again: & quot; Only when it solidifies are you sure you can contain it. & quot; He said Tokyo Electric should be in the lead - - & quot; It' s their plant& quot; - - but he added, & quot; There' s a lot of different areas in which they could benefit from international help. & quot; Japan' s government is consulting with experts from the U. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the French nuclear fuel company Areva, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director- general of Japan' s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the agency' s chief spokesman. Navy barges have been carrying fresh water to Fukushima Daiichi, and Tokyo' s foreign ministry has asked Russia about using a Japanese- built ship outfitted as a floating decontamination plant. & quot; We already have quite a bit of support from outside countries and organizations, & quot; Nishiyama said. But he added, & quot; I think the most urgent issue now is support in whatever form possible with regard to how we can dispose of the cooling water and be able to build a sustainable cooling system. & quot; General Electric which designed the reactors, and Hitachi, which built most of the plant, are also advising the government and Tokyo Electric. GE chief Jeffrey Immelt flew to Japan to consult with Japanese officials and executives last week, and Tokyo has asked Russian officials about using a Japanese- built ship outfitted as a floating decontamination plant.

But for now, Japan has & quot; no choice& quot; but to continue pouring water into the reactors, Friedlander said. & quot; I have no doubt that the men and women working at the power plant are indeed going to exert every human effort to make sure that they resolve this, & quot; he said. & quot; What I don' t know and what I can' t tell and the big question mark for me is, will it be done sooner than later? & quot; And again, my hope is, is that it' ll be done sooner.

But in order for it to be done sooner, TEPCO' s going to have to step up and ask for more help from the international community. & quot; Ailing Chang and CNN' s Brian Walker contributed to this report.

Piers Morgan blasts British MP' s ' lie' Geyser of water lifts car into air House vote ' one way of herding the cats' Cops: Son parties with parents' bodies in house Migraines a deal breaker for Bachmann? Gay man turns himself ' straight' Could you hug your kids every day? Murray to blame for Jackson' s death? Tot mom allegedly spotted at airport Chihuahua chases off robbers Fallout after Murdoch testimony Geyser of water lifts car into air Bolden: NASA is very busy Are fast food calorie counts accurate?

Hacking groups' possible agendas Astronauts aboard Atlantis reflect UK vs. US tabloid culture Talking to teens about health, obesity Welcome home to U. Womens soccer team Could eye exams detect Alzheimer' s?

Legal analysis of phone hacking scandal Man faked his identity for decades Murdoch in the hot seat Ex- nuclear plant operator speaks out CNN' s new video experience on i. Pad The Shot: Caption casts spell on Cooper Report: Murdoch to step down as CEO?

Prioritizing federal spending Tea Party leader on default threat Could Rick Perry shake up GOP W. H. race? GOP pushes ' cut, cap, and balance' Anderson Cooper answers your questions Marcus Bachmann defends clinic 9/ 11 families to meet with Justice Dept.

PM Cameron addresses hacking allegations Debt talks - what' s the solution? Bachmann questions farmers' claims Mrs.

Murdoch to the rescue Granderson: Debt talks need more women Murdoch' s wife stands by her man James Murdoch discusses 9/ 11 victims Counting calories while eating out Hacking: ' Who signed the checks? ' Murdoch: ' Transparent, open society' Murdochs won' t disclose payout Dr.

Drew Murray to blame for Jackson' s death? Casey interview: Bonanza or backlash? Preview: Dr. Drew with Bristol Palin Is Casey Anthony mentally ill? Summers on America' s growth prospects Fareed' s Take: Afghanistan' s future What in the World: Brazil overheating?

Most expensive city in the world Lawmakers fighting like cats and dogs Fareed Zakaria answers your questions Bernard- Henri Levy speaks out on DSK Peter Godwin on Sudan Getting a Picasso into a war zone House vote ' one way of herding the cats' Campbell: Cameron should admit ' error' Experts skeptical of Murdoch' s ignorance ' Revolving door' guarded Murdoch paper? Who is winning debt ceiling debate? Hacking whistle- blower was ' a good guy' Abrams: How far will hacking scandal go? Former editor cites Murdoch son, Brooks Gay man turns himself ' straight' Can Casey Anthony ever be forgiven? Roseanne: I' m not good at marriage Chubby teen becomes beauty queen Shannon Tweed walks out on Gene Simmons Would Casey' s attorney let her babysit?

Larry David: I want to do standup again My father was ' The Grim Reaper' Fergie: I' m addicted to being liked Will migraines impact Bachmann campaign?

Murdoch acting like himself? Gadhafi: Brega will be ' hell' Republican social issues in 2012 Tot mom allegedly spotted at airport Cops: Son kills parents, throws party Where is Casey Anthony? Piers Morgan blasts Mensch' s ' lie' Murdoch takes pie in the face Piers Morgan: CNN host, ' AGT' judge Tom Arnold discusses his dark past Nancy Grace opens up on fiance' s murder Tom Arnold talks Arnold Schwarzenegger Piers Morgan believes Murdoch Murdoch done with newspapers? Nancy Grace: Jury wasn' t listening to me Nancy Grace speaks about fiance' s murder Claustrophobic fighter pilot Brain injury patient back on the road Bounty hunter wants to sue Casey Anthony Khloe Kardashian' s Twitter outrage Hollywood hacking outrage J.

Lo and Marc Anthony split shocker Justin and Selena: Wedding crashers? Casey Anthony in disguise? Kim Kardashian' s mom gets facelift Hackers turn tables on Murdoch empire Migraines a deal breaker for Bachmann? ' Nobody proved Murdoch was involved' Computer hackers attack ' Sun' Congressman battles home intruder Murdoch scandal: Who' s next?

Herman Cain against proposed mosque? Warren: " I Really Don' t Get it" Bachmann backs ' cut, cap and balance' Politicos agree: GOP field leaderless Sound of Sunday with Candy Crowley How Giuliani would negotiate debt talks How Giuliani would negotiate debt talks Giuliani: ' Not sure' I could win in NH Candy' s post- show analysis Graham has no confidence in compromise WH Budget chief: Time to act is now Rudy Giuliani on Murdoch, 9/ 11 and more Candy' s pre- show rundown

Should political debate be about jobs not debt? Lobbyists battle amid deficit cuts Gergen: Prospects for debt default above 50% Trump: Bachmann is ' highly underrated' Impact of concussions to brain Geyser of water lifts car into air Paramedics help dad watch son' s game Cops: Mom admits having teen sex parties Is it child abuse to overfeed children? Chihuahua chases off robbers Fallout after Murdoch testimony Geyser of water lifts car into air Bolden: NASA is very busy Are fast food calorie counts accurate? Hacking groups' possible agendas Astronauts aboard Atlantis reflect UK vs. US tabloid culture Talking to teens about health, obesity Welcome home to U.

Womens soccer team Could eye exams detect Alzheimer' s? Legal analysis of phone hacking scandal Man faked his identity for decades Murdoch in the hot seat Ex- nuclear plant operator speaks out CNN' s new video experience on i. Pad The Shot: Caption casts spell on Cooper Report: Murdoch to step down as CEO? Prioritizing federal spending Tea Party leader on default threat Could Rick Perry shake up GOP W.

H. race?

GOP pushes ' cut, cap, and balance' Anderson Cooper answers your questions Marcus Bachmann defends clinic Famine strikes Somalia 11 million starving in Somalia 9/ 11 families to meet with Justice Dept. PM Cameron addresses hacking allegations Bachmann questions farmers' claims Mrs.

Murdoch to the rescue Granderson: Debt talks need more women Debt talks - what' s the solution? Murdoch' s wife stands by her man James Murdoch discusses 9/ 11 victims Counting calories while eating out Hacking: ' Who signed the checks? ' Dr. Drew Behind- the- scenes with Bristol Palin Murray to blame for Jackson' s death? Casey interview: Bonanza or backlash?

Preview: Dr.

Drew with Bristol Palin Is Casey Anthony mentally ill?

Summers on America' s growth prospects Fareed' s Take: Afghanistan' s future What in the World: Brazil overheating?

Most expensive city in the world Lawmakers fighting like cats and dogs Fareed Zakaria answers your questions Bernard- Henri Levy speaks out on DSK Peter Godwin on Sudan Getting a Picasso into a war zone Gergen: Prospects for default above 50% Debt crisis: Whatever happened to jobs?

House vote ' one way of herding the cats' Campbell: Cameron should admit ' error' Experts skeptical of Murdoch' s ignorance ' Revolving door' guarded Murdoch paper? Who is winning debt ceiling debate? Hacking whistle- blower was ' a good guy' Abrams: How far will hacking scandal go? Former editor cites Murdoch son, Brooks Gay man turns himself ' straight' Can Casey Anthony ever be forgiven?

Roseanne: I' m not good at marriage Chubby teen becomes beauty queen Shannon Tweed walks out on Gene Simmons Would Casey' s attorney let her babysit? Larry David: I want to do standup again My father was ' The Grim Reaper' Fergie: I' m addicted to being liked Docs: Mammograms each year starting at 40 Will migraines impact Bachmann campaign? Murdoch acting like himself? Gadhafi: Brega will be ' hell' Republican social issues in 2012 Murray' s defense wants jury sequestered Tot mom allegedly spotted at airport Cops: Son kills parents, throws party Where is Casey Anthony?

Piers Morgan blasts Mensch' s ' lie' Trump: Bachmann is ' highly underrated' Murdoch takes pie in the face Piers Morgan: CNN host, ' AGT' judge Tom Arnold discusses his dark past Nancy Grace opens up on fiance' s murder Tom Arnold talks Arnold Schwarzenegger Piers Morgan believes Murdoch Murdoch done with newspapers?

Nancy Grace: Jury wasn' t listening to me Nancy Grace speaks about fiance' s murder Claustrophobic fighter pilot Impact of concussions to brain Ex- players sue NFL over concussion risks Brain injury patient back on the road Bounty hunter wants to sue Casey Anthony Khloe Kardashian' s Twitter outrage Hollywood hacking outrage J.

Lo and Marc Anthony split shocker Justin and Selena: Wedding crashers?

Casey Anthony in disguise? Kim Kardashian' s mom gets facelift Lobbyists battle amid deficit cuts Debt debate gets ugly New TSA body scan less invasive Hackers turn tables on Murdoch empire Migraines a deal breaker for Bachmann? ' Nobody proved Murdoch was involved' Computer hackers attack ' Sun' Congressman battles home intruder Murdoch scandal: Who' s next?

Herman Cain against proposed mosque? Bachmann backs ' cut, cap and balance' Warren: " I Really Don' t Get it" Politicos agree: GOP field leaderless Sound of Sunday with Candy Crowley How Giuliani would negotiate debt talks How Giuliani would negotiate debt talks Giuliani: ' Not sure' I could win in NH Candy' s post- show analysis Graham has no confidence in compromise WH Budget chief: Time to act is now Rudy Giuliani on Murdoch, 9/ 11 and more Candy' s pre- show rundown

Read each of the statements below and select which option best describes the veracity of each statement. Then click submit to view your score to see whether or not you' re a workaholic. Credit: Bryan E.

Robinson - - from his book, " Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them. " I prefer to do most things rather than ask for help.

I get impatient when I have to wait for someone else or when something takes too long.

I always seem to be in a hurry and racing against the clock. I get irritated when I am interrupted while I am in the middle of something. I stay busy and keep many irons in the fire.

I find myself doing two or three things at one time, such as eating lunch and writing a memo while talking on the phone. I over commit myself by biting off more than I can chew. I feel guilty when I am not working on something. It' s important that I see the concrete results of what I do.

I am more interested in the final result of my work than in the process. Things just never seem to move fast enough or get done fast enough for me. I lose my temper when things don' t go my way or work out to suit me.

I ask the same question over again after I' ve already been given the answer once. I spend a lot of time mentally planning and thinking about future events while tuning out the here and now. I find myself continuing to work after my coworkers have called it quits. I get angry when people don' t meet my standards of perfection. I get upset when I am in situations where I cannot be in control.

I tend to put myself under pressure from self- imposed deadlines when I work. It is hard for me to relax when I' m not working.

I spend more time working than socializing with friends or on hobbies or leisure activities. I dive into projects to get a head start before all the phases have been finalized. I get upset with myself for making even the smallest mistake.

I put more thought, time and energy into my work than I do my relationships with loved ones and friends. I forget, ignore or minimize celebrations such as birthdays, reunions, anniversaries or holidays.

I make important decisions before I have all the facts and have a chance to think them through.

( CNN) - - The wind whistles by like a gentle caress, propelling you forward, as you build up momentum. Legs begin pumping. Scenery is whooshing by, yet you glide down the road as if one with the ground. You and your bicycle are operating in perfect harmony, literally balancing on two wheels.

It' s something most people take for granted: riding a bike. Yet, it' s an activity many learn early in life.

In fact, some would say it' s even a childhood rite of passage in many cultures. & quot; You get a sense of ease of motion, & quot; says Walt Kenzie of Roswell, Georgia, an mateur cyclist who has raced his bike on occasion. & quot; It' s relaxing. It' s very mentally relaxing from the standpoint of you are always experiencing something new, because everything' s changing very quickly, yet you' re still getting a lot of exercise, & quot; he says. And that' s something about cycling that people have loved from the very beginning, when the first European bicycle made its appearance in the United States more than 100 years ago.

In the late 1800s there were nicknames for the bicycle, like & quot; steel horse, & quot; & quot; silent stead, & quot; and & quot; hobby horse. & quot; It also sparked a growing craze. But, for women, the bike symbolized much more than a trendy craze or a favorite pastime. & quot; The bicycle created this opportunity for them to leave, to see the outside world quite literally, & quot; says author Sue Macy, who recently released a new book called & quot; Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom. & quot; Macy explained most adult women in the late 1800s were pretty much confined to their homes, as young women or wives, unless they were factory workers. They even socialized in their homes, usually in the parlors with their beau. And their parents would sit there and watch them.

Then the bike rolled onto the scene. & quot; It was extraordinary. It affected the way women dressed, women' s sense of themselves, women' s ability to travel beyond the confines of their homes, & quot; Macy told CNN Radio. For one thing, the layers of heavy petticoats and wide crinolines had to go. & quot; When they started riding bicycles it became clear that this wouldn' t work, & quot; Macy says. & quot; The petticoats were getting caught in the spokes. Women were really getting injured just because of the clothing they wore. So quite quickly alternatives to the way they dressed were introduced.

They were no longer wearing such heavy clothing. & quot; Macy said the petticoats gave way to the bloomers, the puffy underpants worn under skirts. Even with the bloomers, though, women weren' t riding for speed or to get somewhere at that time.

Beth Emery is a biking teacher in Connecticut. She' s also a historian on women' s athletics. Emery said women weren' t really riding in the way that biking is thought to today because biking at the time was mostly about being out and being seen. & quot; It was like parading around and part of getting the fresh air and exercise, & quot; says Emery.

She has an extensive collection of turn- of the- century photographs and drawings of cyclists and says, at that time, it wasn' t an activity or a hobby for the masses, at least not yet. & quot; Bicycling was a very middle- class or upper- middle- class activity because to buy a bike was hugely expensive. & quot; But the biking craze caught on.

Macy argues in her book that as biking grew in popularity, it helped advance the the women' s movement.

She points to famous women' s rights advocates of the day, including Susan B. Anthony, who thought the bicycle not only helped change women' s fashion, but how they behaved socially. Macy offered a quote from Anthony, who said, & quot; Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. & quot; These days thousands of women routinely hop on their bikes and think nothing of the shorts they' re wearing or the comfortable shoes they' re wearing to pedal.

They' re thinking about other things, like maybe how environmentally friendly biking really is.

Biking fan Lori Kenzie, Walt Kenzie' s wife, explains it this way: & quot; It' s a green thing to do. Our daughter has made us even more aware of how green ( it is) because she is totally into protecting the planet, recycling, ( reducing) the carbon footprint, that kind of thing. She thinks we should all be either riding a bike or using horses instead of cars. & quot; And that would that be a true example of riding full circle. CNN Radio' s Pat St. Claire, Chip Grabow and Susanna Capelouto contributed to this report.

Your dentist or oral surgeon will take a number of steps to ensure proper healing of the socket and to prevent dry socket. You' ll be instructed on steps you can take to prevent the complication. What your dentist or oral surgeon may do Oral antibiotics, particularly for people with compromised immune systems What you can do before surgery Seek a dentist or oral surgeon with experience in tooth extractions. If you take oral contraceptives, schedule your extraction, if possible, during days 23 to 28 of your menstrual cycle, when estrogen levels are lower. Stop smoking and the use of other tobacco products at least 24 hours before tooth extraction surgery.

Consider talking to your doctor or dentist about a program to help you quit permanently. Talk to your dentist or oral surgeon about any prescription or over- the- counter medications or supplements you' re taking, as they may interfere with blood clotting. What you can do after surgery You' ll receive instructions about what to expect during the healing process after a tooth extraction and how to care for the wound. These instructions will likely address the following issues that can help prevent dry socket: Activity. After your surgery, plan to rest for the remainder of the day.

Resume normal activities the next day, but for at least a week, avoid rigorous exercise and sports that might result in dislodging the blood clot in the socket. Beverages. Drink lots of water after the surgery. Don' t drink alcoholic, caffeinated, carbonated or hot beverages in the first 24 hours.

Don' t drink with a straw for at least a week because the sucking action may dislodge the blood clot in the socket. Food.

Eat only soft foods, such as yogurt or applesauce, for the first 24 hours. Start eating semisoft foods when you can tolerate them.

Avoid hard, chewy, hot or spicy foods that might get stuck in the socket or irritate the wound. Cleaning your mouth. Don' t brush your teeth, rinse your mouth, spit or use a mouthwash during the first 24 hours after the surgery. After that time, gently rinse your mouth with warm salt water every two hours while awake and after meals for a week after your surgery. Mix 1/ 2 teaspoon ( 2.

5 milliliters) of table salt in 8 ounces ( 237 milliliters) of water.

After the first 24 hours, resume brushing your teeth, being particularly gentle near the surgical wound. Tobacco use.

If you smoke, don' t do so for at least 24 hours after surgery. If you chew tobacco, don' t use it for at least a week. Any use of tobacco products after oral surgery can delay healing and increase the risk of complications. & copy; 1998- 2011 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research ( MFMER) .

There are several ways to treat periodontitis, depending on its severity. The goal of periodontitis treatment is to thoroughly clean the pockets of bacteria and to prevent more damage. Treatment may be performed by a periodontist, a dentist or a dental hygienist. Treatment is most successful when you adopt a daily routine of good oral care. Nonsurgical treatments If your periodontitis isn' t advanced, treatment can include less invasive procedures, including: Scaling.

Scaling removes tartar and bacteria from your tooth surfaces and beneath your gums. It may be performed using instruments or an ultrasonic device. Root planing.

Root planing smoothes the root surfaces, discouraging further buildup of tartar. Antibiotics.

The use of antibiotics to treat periodontitis remains open to debate. Your periodontist or dentist may recommend using topical or oral antibiotics to help control bacterial infection. Topical antibiotics are generally the treatment of choice. They can include antibiotic mouth rinses or insertion of threads and gels containing antibiotics in the space between your teeth and gums or into pockets after deep cleaning. However, oral antibiotics may be necessary to completely eliminate infection- causing bacteria.

Surgical treatments If you have advanced periodontitis, your gum tissue may not respond to nonsurgical treatments and good oral hygiene. In that case, your periodontitis treatment may require dental surgery, such as: Flap surgery ( pocket reduction surgery) . In this procedure, your periodontist makes tiny incisions in your gum so that a section of gum tissue can be lifted back, exposing the roots for more effective scaling and planing. Because periodontitis often causes bone loss, the underlying bone may be recontoured before the gum tissue is sutured back in place.

The procedure generally takes from one to three hours and is performed under local anesthesia.

Soft tissue grafts. When you lose gum tissue to periodontal disease, your gumline recedes, making your teeth appear longer than normal. You may need to have damaged tissue replaced.

This is usually done by removing a small amount of tissue from the roof of your mouth ( palate) or another donor source and attaching it to the affected site. This procedure can help reduce further gum recession, cover exposed roots and give your teeth a more cosmetically pleasing appearance. Bone grafting. This procedure is performed when periodontitis has destroyed the bone surrounding your tooth root. The graft may be composed of small fragments of your own bone or the bone may be synthetic or donated.

The bone graft helps prevent tooth loss by holding your tooth in place. It also serves as a platform for the regrowth of natural bone.

Bone grafting may be performed during a technique called guided tissue regeneration. Guided tissue regeneration. This allows the regrowth of bone that was destroyed by bacteria.

In one approach, your dentist places a special piece of biocompatible fabric between existing bone and your tooth.

The material prevents unwanted tissue from entering the healing area, allowing bone to grow back instead. Enamel matrix derivative application. Another technique involves applying a specialized gel to a diseased tooth root. This gel contains the same proteins found in developing tooth enamel and stimulates the growth of healthy bone and tissue. & copy; 1998- 2011 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research ( MFMER) .

Reprise is a barbershop quartet assembled in 2001 at Brigham Young University.

The singers, Tim Workman ( tenor) , Joel Gillsepie ( lead) , Rex Kocherhans ( baritone) , and Tad Harris ( bass) are alumni of the internationally- renowned BYU Singers. Strangely enough for a barbershop, all are classically trained. The year of the group' s conception ( 2001) , Reprise won the MBNA America Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest held in Nashville, Tennessee with their renditions of the barbershop classics & quot; What' ll I Do? & quot; and & quot; Dinah& quot; .

They have since performed with the Saltaires Show Chorus for the 2002 Winter Olympics, as guest performers with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and others. User- contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By- SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.

Pitted to be the UK’ s next big female soloist, Kyla La- Grange has already been compared to a young Marianne Faithful and shot in Glamour magazine.

Bel Trew grabs her between recording sessions. ‘ The first instrument I ever played was probably a kazoo’ , says singer- songwriter Kyla La- Grange.

Recently featured in Glamour magazine as hot new talent, Kyla has just recorded her latest track ‘ Courage’ and thankfully the kazoo is not present. Part South- African and part Zimbabwean, Kyla grew up in London ( mind you there’ s not much Watford in her music) . Her Indie- Folk- Rock- Pop ( it’ s hard to put a label on it) is putting some glorious oomph into the world of female vocalists. Kyla’ s voice is what sets her apart.

It’ s odd. It doesn’ t seep out of your stereo into a syrupy puddle at your eardrum. Her voice has all the gritty, awkward vulnerabilities of a major Folk- singer with a smoky punch of Blues. Her music has drama with intimate starts, large choruses and smashing beats.

Vampire Smile, her first recorded song, surges towards a kind of delicious bacchanalian rally- cry at the end.

Courage, her latest offering, takes a more decisive step towards a vast folk symphony. ‘ We’ re building up these big walls of sound’ explains Kyla, ‘ with thick layered guitar bars and vocal harmonies’ and a mixture of female and male voices. Kyla is also demonstrating the real versatility of her voice. There is definitely something of Elliott Smith in her delivery and Leonard Cohen in her lyrics – both icons of hers. Courage is based on a friend: ‘ It' s about wanting to be brave enough to walk away from someone because you know they don' t love you as much as you love them, ’ before adding, ‘ I' ve never been brave enough to do that and I' m amazed by people who can. ’ Kyla has played at Glastonbury but some her favourite gigs are little acoustic ones ‘ where everyone is so quiet you could hear a pin drop’ . The Flowerpot and the Troubadour in London, she says, are the best places to hear and play music.

Despite doing well, Kyla admits its hard making music: ‘ You can get caught up in that dilemma between writing for yourself and writing for an audience’ .

It’ s also not an industry that promotes self- esteem, something she bizarrely lacks. ‘ But, ’ she jokes ‘ I think it gives me a lot too. Patience.

Callouses on my fingertips. ’ Kyla is irritatingly talented. A Cambridge University Philosophy graduate, she’ s good at sports, astonishingly beautiful and, of course, a bloody good singer.

When I asked her for any more hidden talents, it turns out she can even speak to her dog. So she’ s busy recording her album at the moment in London. ‘ No one has really heard the new stuff yet so it’ s exciting to be at the point where I know these songs are the blueprint for how I want the album to sound. ’ If her previous efforts are anything to go by, the album is set to be gutsy and beautiful. When will it be ready? Soon. Watch this ( my) space.

User- contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By- SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.

Shook Ones are a band from Bellingham, Washington that formed in 2004. They have done several tours of the United States and a three- week tour of Europe. In April 2007, the band toured Japan playing several shows with Easel. In November of the same year, Shook Ones left Revelation Records, along with many of the other bands that Revelation had worked with between 2005 and 2007. The Summer of 2008 saw the release of a split EP with End of a Year, a band who had also left Revelation Records the previous fall.

Philadelphia based Runner Up Records handled the release of the split, which features four songs from Shook Ones and one from End of a Year. Future releases include a split EP with Hour of the Wolf on No Idea Records and a new LP to be released on Paper + Plastick.

User- contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By- SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.

Should political debate be about jobs not debt? Zakaria: Cutting too fast slows growth Terror warning for utility companies An initiative that could save lives Are tabloid papers good for America? Do we coddle female athletes?

Social media background checks? If you can' t beat them, eat them! TV producer Al Taylor: I met with Casey Chihuahua chases off robbers British phone hacking inquiry widened Shuttle Atlantis makes final landing If you can' t beat them, eat them! NASA: What' s next? New breast cancer screening guidelines First Lady' s new food initiative Fallout after Murdoch testimony Geyser of water lifts car into air Bolden: NASA is very busy Are fast food calorie counts accurate?

Hacking groups' possible agendas Man served time for elaborate fraud Ridicu. List Classic: The best of Snooki Neutrality policy impacting bullying?

School district' s policy under scrutiny Teenager known as the ' Barefoot Bandit' Corzine, Fiorina on debt ceiling debate Dems, GOP spew rhetoric on tax issue Man faked his identity for decades Murdoch in the hot seat Ex- nuclear plant operator speaks out CNN' s new video experience on i. Pad The Shot: Caption casts spell on Cooper Should politicians do religious events? Young People Want Debt Deal Edwards ordered to repay $ 2. 3M Social media background checks? Finding ' voice' with cerebral palsy 11 million starving in Somalia Famine strikes Somalia 9/ 11 families to meet with Justice Dept.

PM Cameron addresses hacking allegations Bachmann questions farmers' claims Mrs.

Murdoch to the rescue Granderson: Debt talks need more women Dr. Drew Bristol Palin talks teen pregnancy TV producer Al Taylor: I met with Casey Bizarre deaths at millionaire' s mansion Behind- the- scenes with Bristol Palin Preview: Dr. Drew with Bristol Palin Murray to blame for Jackson' s death? Casey interview: Bonanza or backlash?

Summers on America' s growth prospects Fareed' s Take: Afghanistan' s future What in the World: Brazil overheating?

Most expensive city in the world Lawmakers fighting like cats and dogs Fareed Zakaria answers your questions Bernard- Henri Levy speaks out on DSK Peter Godwin on Sudan Getting a Picasso into a war zone Abrams: Murdochs ' got to be thrilled' Zakaria: Cutting too fast slows growth Ex- player: NFL abandoned me after injury Ex- insider: ' Murdoch is on the run now' Gergen: Prospects for default above 50% Debt crisis: Whatever happened to jobs?

House vote ' one way of herding the cats' Experts skeptical of Murdoch' s ignorance Campbell: Cameron should admit ' error' ' Revolving door' guarded Murdoch paper?

Who is winning debt ceiling debate? Hacking whistle- blower was ' a good guy' Paris Hilton walks off set of GMA Gay man turns himself ' straight' Can Casey Anthony ever be forgiven? Roseanne: I' m not good at marriage Chubby teen becomes beauty queen Shannon Tweed walks out on Gene Simmons Would Casey' s attorney let her babysit?

My father was ' The Grim Reaper' Fergie: I' m addicted to being liked Clinton nudges India, upsets China Docs: Mammograms each year starting at 40 Will migraines impact Bachmann campaign? Murdoch acting like himself? Gadhafi: Brega will be ' hell' Republican social issues in 2012 An initiative that could save lives Missouri mother of three is missing TV producer claims he met with Casey Murray' s defense wants jury sequestered Tot mom allegedly spotted at airport Cops: Son kills parents, throws party Where is Casey Anthony?

Is Congress less partisan than we think? Prince Alwaleed on Apple, News Corp. Panel judges Murdoch' s performance Cornel West and Tavis Smiley speak out Piers Morgan: Behind the scenes Piers Morgan blasts Mensch' s ' lie' Trump: Bachmann is ' highly underrated' Murdoch takes pie in the face Piers Morgan: CNN host, ' AGT' judge Tom Arnold discusses his dark past Nancy Grace opens up on fiance' s murder Tom Arnold talks Arnold Schwarzenegger Claustrophobic fighter pilot ' Mini Darth Vader' talks health care Impact of concussions to brain Ex- players sue NFL over concussion risks Brain injury patient back on the road Katy Perry' s 9 VMA noms; Gaga snubbed? Ryan Reynolds on the fame game Chris Brown to star in a romantic movie Will Nancy Grace interview ' tot mom' ? Bounty hunter wants to sue Casey Anthony Khloe Kardashian' s Twitter outrage Hollywood hacking outrage J.

Lo and Marc Anthony split shocker Justin and Selena: Wedding crashers? Casey Anthony in disguise?

Kim Kardashian' s mom gets facelift Al- Qaeda uses cartoons to get recruits al- Awlaki: Wanted Dead or Alive? Musharraf to U. S: Keep your guard up Drone of the future tested Terror warning for utility companies Musharraf: I think Perry will run Lobbyists battle amid deficit cuts Debt debate gets ugly New TSA body scan less invasive Hackers turn tables on Murdoch empire Migraines a deal breaker for Bachmann? ' Nobody proved Murdoch was involved' How Giuliani would negotiate debt talks Rudy Giuliani weighs in on debt talks Sound of Sunday with Candy Crowley Politicos agree: GOP field leaderless Candy' s post- show analysis Giuliani: ' Not sure' I could win in NH Graham has no confidence in compromise WH Budget chief: Time to act is now

( CNN) - - As a toddler, Ian Barrier got expelled from day care. & quot; They just said that he was all over the place, he couldn' t handle the structure, they didn' t have the staff or the skills to deal with it, & quot; said his mother, Amy Barr. & quot; They said, ' We think he has or ADHD' and I' m like, ' What is that? & quot; Ian, now 11, and his 9- year- old brother Aidan are just two examples of some 5 million children in the United States who have received the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) , a condition marked by impulsive behavior and a lack of focus. But although this is a medical condition with medical treatments available, often doctors aren' t the ones suggesting a diagnosis. Many parents begin their struggles with treating their children' s ADHD the way that Barr did: with a suggested diagnosis from a school or day care setting. That' s a problem, doctors say, when there could be many other factors contributing to a child' s behavior. For a teacher to suggest that a child has ADHD is & quot; inappropriate and dangerous, & quot; says Dr.

Elizabeth Roberts, child psychiatrist in Murrieta, California. Depression, anxiety and abuse are all possibilities in a child' s life that could lead to attention problems, Roberts said. That means that many children are receiving medication for the wrong problem. Roberts wants to say to all educators: & quot; There are many, many diagnoses that cause these problems, including abuse and depression and anxiety. So please, withhold your judgment. & quot; But Barr is happy that her son' s day care center mentioned the condition to her.

It explained Ian' s behaviors that she had been excusing with the adage & quot; boys will be boys. & quot; The center also directed her to a facility where he could get tested. & quot; I' m just glad that they brought it up, because I was living in it and didn' t know any better, & quot; she said.

In Barr' s case, having gotten her kids tested for ADHD even before school, the educational system has been supportive. But the question of medication has plagued her, with years of trying different combinations of drugs - - sometimes four or five at a time. Despite medication, Ian pulled the fire alarm at his fourth day care center, dispatching the same fire department that would get him out of a tree at age 9, Barr said. And both brothers have spent time in a psychiatric ward at a children' s hospital;or the younger one, it may have been because of overmedication, Barr said. & quot; You go through all of that, and it' s just various different medications, and then you start to feel guilty: I' m drugging my kid, & quot; said Barr, of Fleming Island, Florida.

Her boys are now both on just one medication - - Vyvanse ( lisdexamfetamine) - - for focusing in school. All too often, parents come to pediatrician Dr. Claudia Gold' s office asking for a prescription for ADHD, based on a recommendation from school. When she consults with parents alone, however, she' s likely to hear stories of trauma: a death in the family, an abusive relationship, and other life experiences that the teacher knew nothing about. & quot; I think that sometimes folks want an immediate answer and they want to help a child as quickly as possible, & quot; said Cheryl Rode, Director of Clinical Operations at the San Diego Center for Children in California. & quot; Medication is quick and easy but it' s not the answer alone for working with kids who have ADHD. & quot; Experts agree that ADHD does exist as a real disorder, and that some children really do benefit from medication. Studies have shown a biological basis to the disorder and a genetic component, suggesting it can be passed down in families.

But it' s not the teacher' s place to make diagnoses, or to recommend medication, Gold said. Teachers and related school personnel have an important role in identifying learning and social challenges faced by students, including those with ADHD, says Clarke Ross, CEO of CHADD ( Children and Adults with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) . But teachers should never give a diagnosis for the purpose of medication use, or advise the use of medications, he said. Alana Morales, of Thornton, Colorado, is one of those teachers who has brought up the subject of ADHD testing with many parents.

She doesn' t tell parents to medicate their kids, but brings up the subject of getting children tested because she thinks it' s important for parents to know. & quot; You have to be so careful because, again, we are not doctors, & quot; she said. & quot; But does that mean we don' t recognize it? No. & quot; Not every child with ADHD needs medication, doctors say, and Morales said some students benefit more from counseling, special adjustments in school, a tutor, or a different environment for doing homework. It' s helpful for parents to get informed about the condition and become advocates for their children - - but some may make the situation worse by having a closed mind to interventions and denying that there' s anything wrong, she said. & quot; You' re really setting them up for failure, because it' s not a crime, it doesn' t mean you' re less of a parent if your child learns differently, & quot; she said.

Rode agrees with Roberts that teachers should not recommend medication, but thinks that teachers have an excellent frame of reference for what is typical or normal development. Also the parent of two children with ADHD, Morales has specific strategies she uses when there are kids with ADHD in her class: don' t seat them together, put them on the edges of the classroom so she can see them better, and sometimes modify assignments.

Providing an environment conducive to helping kids with conditions such as this is getting harder as budget- tightening schools cut back on teachers, Morales said. Last year, teaching at a public school in Arizona, Morales had one classroom with 37 students, which included at least four kids with ADHD and one with Asperger' s syndrome. And teachers whose job it is to provide extra help to those kids get responsibility for more students, leaving them with less time for each one. Roberts estimates that only about 10 to 20 percent of children who receive the diagnosis of ADHD actually need medication. While parents like Barr have tried to inform themselves as much as possible about ADHD and treatment options, some doctors say the condition gets misapplied because it is a quick and easy catch- all diagnosis for a variety of behavior problems, with drugs available to treat it.

Parents are also culprits, and bear some responsibility for their children' s behavior, Roberts said. She thinks a lot of kids just need better structure and discipline in the home. & quot; Parents want to leap- frog over the parenting job and get right to the grandparenting, & quot; she said. & quot; Everyone wants to have fun with their kids and everyone wants to be popular with their kids like Grandma is.

But the reality is: Someone has to be the bad guy or the kid never learns. & quot; Morales recommends that parents stay involved in their child' s school lives by helping them with homework, assisting with organizing their papers, and writing notes to teachers so that everyone is on the same page. On behalf of her own two children with ADHD, Morales is writing letters now to their teachers explaining how her kids learn differently and what accommodations have been made in the past ( they are both on medication) . She is also asking the teachers to let her know about any problems this school year.

Looking back, Barr wishes that when her children first got the ADHD diagnosis and then started school, she could have had a teleconference with the school and the psychiatrist at the me time.

Instead, she had to relay what the teachers said about her children' s behavior to the psychiatrist, and then the psychiatrist' s treatment decisions back to the school.