Living Today: Issues of modern living

SPORTS HELPS ACADEMICS

Public schools with outstanding athletic programs tend to perform as well, and in some cases better, than schools that do not have comparable athletic programs, according to a report from the Brookings Institute.

The stereotype that athletes are all brawn and no brain is refuted by a study from the Brookings Brown Center on Education Policy.

The 2002 Report on American Education uses test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress to compare the academic success of public school students.

"I had expected that we would find the athletic powerhouses to be slightly below average," says Tom Loveless, the study's author.

(Thanks to UPI's Jennifer Lord)

PARTIES EVENLY MATCHED

Polls show about 30 percent of Americans are philosophically aligned with and supportive of each of the two political parties, leaving about 40 percent in a middle ground who don't particularly like stances taken by either, according to Campaign & Elections magazine.

"The 40 percent in the middle are saying, 'Forget about this, we don't think politics and government are that important anymore,'" says Ron Faucheux, editor-in-chief.

This generally even split between Republicans and Democrats is reflected by the balance of control in both the House and Senate -- where power is closely divided and the leadership rests on a small majority.

"We have two evenly matched political parties now, both of which are living off the mistakes of one another, and those mistakes result in the subtle power grabs by each side," says Faucheux.

(Thanks to UPI's Christian Bourge)

MUSLIM-AMERICANS FAVORED MORE

A poll conducted Aug. 5-18 by Princeton Survey Research Associates for Knight-Ridder finds two-thirds of respondents favor using military force to topple Saddam Hussein.

Among the contradictory findings of the poll, many Americans are struggling to distinguish their positive inclinations toward Muslims living in the United States from their suspicions of those living abroad.

Nearly 60 percent of those polled have favorable feelings toward Muslim-Americans, up from 45 percent in a poll taken in early 2001. However, nearly three-quarters support tightening immigration restrictions against Arabs and Muslims.

Still, most Americans think targeting these groups within the United States goes too far, with 81 percent opposed to singling out Arabs or Muslims for law enforcement questioning without probable cause.

TELEVISION

The U.S. Census says only 2 percent of U.S. homes do not have a television set. In fact, the average household has two or more sets, and two-thirds are hooked up to cable.

One of the most memorable programs to debut this week in history was M*A*S*H, about a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. The closing program in 1983 was a national event, seen by nearly 8 out of 10 viewers across the country.

An average American watches more than four hours of television a day, while an American family has the television on for an average of seven hours a day.

Average daily time spent by a 1-year-old child in front of the television is six hours.