Living Today: Issues of modern living

AMERICAN RED CROSS

The American Red Cross said the Liberty Fund raised in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 will go solely to the victims.

"Until now, the families of victims have been our first priority," said Harold Decker, the organization's CEO. "Starting today, they will be our only priority."

When the Liberty Fund was originally conceived shortly after the attacks, the Red Cross planned to give a portion of the donations to the families of terror victims, and spend the rest on long-term preparations for possible additional terrorist acts.

The organization drew criticism for the action and New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer threatened legislation. The Red Cross decided to refocus the fund solely on the victims of the attacks.

In addition, the Family Gift Program -- which covers living expenses for families of relatives who were lost or seriously injured in the attacks -- will be extended to as much as a year for those in need, Decker said. So far, the Red Cross has given $47 million to families, and it plans to spend another $111 million by the end of the year. Decker said the Red Cross will do its best to fund administrative costs with only the interest earned on the half-billion Liberty Fund.

THE LEISURE INDUSTRY POST 9/11

Washington launched its first Restaurant Week this week, with 100 area restaurants offering 3-course menus at reduced prices. It's an effort to reverse the damaging effect the events of Sept. 11 had on the local economy.

Media reports of FBI warnings of possible terrorist threats following the tragedy have had a continuing and devastating impact on Washington's leisure industry.

Says Jan Chovanec, general manager of the Swissotel Watergate Hotel, "The day after any official warning we see an immediate reaction in the loss in thousands of dollars' worth of bookings." Of 290 hotel staff, 100 have been laid off.

Smaller hotels are faring better.

"I am not aware of the reduction of one person at any one hotel," says Marshall Calder, managing director of Leading Small Hotels of the World. He agrees, however, that hotel bookings have suffered.

Nonetheless, hotels are only running at 60 percent occupancy.

The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation are behind Restaurant Week, which runs until Sunday. Participating restaurants are offering 3-course lunches for $20.01, to tie in with the year's date, and 3-course dinners for ten dollars more.

For a complete list of restaurants, visit washington.org.

CAR BUYING

More used-vehicle buyers are turning to the Internet in their shopping process than ever before. That's according to the 2001 J.D. Power and Associates Used Autoshopper.com Study, based on the online shopping habits of more than 5,300 late-model used-vehicle buyers (five model-years old or newer).

Currently, 43 percent of all used-vehicle buyers surf the 'Net as part of the vehicle shopping process -- a 27-percent increase over 2000. Just as do new-vehicle shoppers, most used-vehicle buyers go online primarily for research purposes. However, the study found that used-vehicle shoppers seek out different information, rating the importance of finding vehicle reliability information online higher than they do price information. Vehicle history reports rank a close third in importance.

The study also found 22 percent of used-vehicle shoppers use the Internet to locate the right vehicle for their needs. AutoTrader.com is the leading site among those locating used vehicles for sale online. However, Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com dominates used-vehicle sites overall, with 52 percent of used-vehicle automotive Internet users visiting the site. Among those visiting each site, 49 percent rank Edmunds.com as the most useful automotive web site. Yahoo! is the most used search engine among used-vehicle buyers using the Internet.

(Web site: jdpa.com)

TALING WITH OUR HANDS

Some people look like they're conducting an orchestra when they talk.

University of Chicago researchers say there's good reason for that: gesturing actually makes it easier to think.

In a study published in the November issue of Psychological Science, psychologist Susan Goldin-Meadow and three colleagues presented evidence suggesting that gesturing "reduces the cognitive load of explanation, freeing (brain) capacity that can be used on a memory task performed at the same time."

The researchers asked 40 children to solve addition problems at a blackboard and 36 adults to solve factoring problems. After solving the problems, participants were given a list of items -- words for children and letters for adults -- to memorize. Then the participants were asked how they solved the math problems -- with and without gesturing.

After completing the math explanations, participants were asked to recall the list of items as a way of measuring the cognitive load imposed by the explanation.

The researchers found participants remembered more than 20 percent more words and letters when they gestured while explaining the math problems compared to when they were not permitted to gesture. Whether the children understood the math problem made no difference in the memory task.

"Talking with our hands may actually make thinking easier," Goldin-Meadow said.

Howard Nusbaum, a member of the research team, theorized gesturing may allow the brain to use visual, spatial or motor representations, rather than just verbal representations.

"This might allow gestures to facilitate information processing and reduce effort," he said.