Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe JANIE AND DAVID ON ICE -- AGAIN Skating for the first time since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Olympic gold medallists Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are scheduled to appear on "Jamie and David's Homecoming" -- a one-hour special airing next Monday on NBC. Advertisement The exhibition is being staged in Edmonton, Alberta, where the Canadian skating sweethearts trained for the Salt Lake games. The appearance will be their first as Olympic champions in front of a hometown crowd. The TV special will also feature a performance by the Russian pairs co-gold medalists Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya, as well as interviews with all four skaters about the controversial decision to award the gold to both teams, following allegations of voting irregularities among the judges. (Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason) THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND Odd pairing of the month -- rockers Smashmouth are hitting the road with the boy band 'N Sync. Advertisement "At first we were like 'No way, uh-uh, forget it.' Then we were like, 'OK, let's wait a minute and think about this,"' Smash Mouth's guitarist and chief songwriter Greg Camp told Jam Showbiz News. "We're sort of known as the band that'll kinda do anything," the Rocky Mountain News quoted Camp saying. "We're up for anything that comes along." The two groups met a couple of months ago at the People's Choice Awards. "I think they just liked the fact that we walked up and said 'Hi' to them," said Camp. NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS A 17-year-old boy was hospitalized in serious condition in Hawaii after his left foot was bitten off by a shark. The teenager was attacked about 150 yards offshore at Brennecke's Beach, a popular beach on the island of Kauai, shortly after noon (local time) Monday. The boy -- identified by news reports as Hoku Aki -- was body-boarding when he was grabbed by the shark and pulled under. He reportedly escaped by jabbing the shark in the eye and then swimming to shore, where lifeguards and a vacationing nurse administered first aid. Heavy rains had been falling in Kauai and the water was extremely murky. Shark experts say attacks often occur in cloudy water where the shark cannot clearly see its target. Advertisement Shark attacks in Hawaii are relatively rare. There have been fewer than 100 recorded, and the last fatal attack was in 1992. It's not known if Aki is a resident of Hawaii or a tourist, and the hospital declined to give more information about the teen by request of his family. TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING College students continue to binge drink at a high rate despite efforts to curb the practice. That's according to a Harvard School of Public Health survey of 10,000 students at 119 colleges around the nation. It found that since 1993, the percentage of students who binge drink has remained at 44 percent. Binge drinking was defined, for men, as having five drinks in a row at least once in the two weeks before the survey and four drinks for women. Henry Wechsler, the principal investigator of the study and director of the school's College Alcohol Studies, said one surprise from the study was a rise in binge drinking in all-women's colleges, from five to 12 percent. "Although women at all women's colleges still drink considerably less than women at coed schools, this finding could be an important shift among female students at these colleges," he said. "Our previous surveys found that attending college at an all women's school was very protective. That seems to be less so now." Advertisement "The drinking style on campus is still one of excess," Wechsler said. "If you are a traditional college student and you drink, the odds are 7-in-10 that you are a binge drinker." A traditional college student is defined as one between the ages of 18 and 23 who does not live with his or her parents. The study said one encouraging finding was that underage students at colleges in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking were less likely to binge drink. (Web site: hdph.Harvard.edu) (Thanks to UPI's Dave Haskell in Boston) AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY Lebanese officials hope the upcoming Arab summit will show the world that Lebanon is again a safe place to come and visit. Most leaders of the 22-member Arab League will be attending the summit Wednesday and Thursday in Beirut. And maybe they'll stick around afterwards, said Ghassan Salame, who was in charge of organizing the event. "Many delegates will stay in Lebanon after the summit for a little tourism, shopping and even looking for business opportunities," he said, adding that he expects the summit to generate revenues of tens of millions of dollars. Adnan al-Hajj, head of the economic section at As Safir newspaper, shared the same optimism. Advertisement "The importance of the summit is that it would boost the idea that Lebanon is safe and stable, meaning good for tourism and investment," al-Hajj said. "When the Arab leaders come here, this means that security is guaranteed. Our mission is to market Lebanon well." Special preparations also have been made to please the Arab guests. Erik Weinmann -- director of sales at Phoenecia Hotel, where a majority of the leaders will be staying during the summit -- told UPI a special décor featuring a 1,001 nights tent was set up at the hotel's main restaurant to "give a special oriental touch." "This event will put Lebanon back on the international scene," he predicted. "It will remove the ideas of war and bombing in Lebanon."
