Hot Buttons: Talk show topics

BUSH/IRAQ POLL

Americans generally support military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and while most think war is inevitable, there is no rush to begin it, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

The public overwhelmingly wants to get the United Nations' weapons inspectors back into Iraq and allied support before taking any military action.

Americans also want a congressional vote before acting -- and think Congress should be asking more questions about the implications of war with Iraq.

Sixty percent say a war with Iraq could lead to a broader conflict involving other countries in the Middle East, including other Arab nations and Israel.

Americans are concerned about the wider implications of war with Iraq. They believe such a war will result in a long and costly military involvement and that it could further undermine the U.S. economy, CBS news reports.

-- Has Congress asked enough questions?

-- Fifty-three percent surveyed say Bush has worked with Democrats, while 50 percent say the Democrats have worked with Bush. Do you agree?

PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDRAISING

New York City's new schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, has appointed Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg as chief fundraiser for the city schools.

New York schools already pick up their share from private foundations but in the realm of corporate giving there is almost certainly room to grow, officials tell The New York Times.

Businesses and individuals gave about $9 million directly to the city's Department of Education last year, a sliver of its $12 billion budget.

With the city facing a deficit of $4 billion to 5 billion and the state facing a deficit of up to $8 billion next year, the city is looking for more private support. Stepped up fundraising, however, begs the question of where public responsibility for education ends and the burden of the private sector begins, according to The Times.

"We're walking down a path that could be very dangerous for us," says Paul D. Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. "When do you get to the point where we can no longer call them public schools?"

Last year, $32 billion was donated to public schools nationally.

-- Will private donations come with strings attached and require reforms?

-- Will the line between public and private be blurred?

CHILD HEALTH DAY

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson participated in an hour-long power walk with school children and parents along the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, to mark Child Health Day Monday.

"Good health and wellness are a global public health message," says Thompson. "Children are at greater risk than in previous years of developing chronic illnesses, in large part because they aren't as physically active as they were a generation ago."

An HHS report finds 300,000 people die each year from diseases and health conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits -- nearly as many as who die from smoking.

One-fourth American children spend four hours or more watching TV each day and only 27 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 engage in moderate physical activity at least 30 minutes a day on five or more days of the week.

Among children and teens ages 6 to 19, almost 9 million or 15 percent are overweight, triple the proportion in 1980.

-- Children have been watching hours of television for decades. Why such a change in the past 20 years?

-- Children used to spend a lot of time playing outdoors. Are they getting fatter because parents are more reluctant to let them play outdoors because of safety concerns?