Dear walking on Jello,

It is a myth that earthworms come out of their burrows during a rain to avoid drowning. Worms have no lungs, they take their oxygen directly thorough the skin, either from air or from water. In fact, rather than fear water, they love it. It's drying out they fear, and dry soil kills them. When it rains, they come to the surface because it's easier to find a mate in the flat open ground than in the three dimensional burrows. The wet ground allows them to move without fear of drying out. To an earthworm, the wet ground is a wild singles bar.  Take a look at http://www.nysite.com/nature/fauna/earthworm.htm for more information.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear nephew who should have,

It sounds to me like it was a surprise to you to hear these attitudes from someone you though you shared some understandings with.  It's unfortunate that you have held onto your anger for a year.  As you now realize, the ideal response is the immediate one, an instant retort that questions the comment and the underlying attitude.  Sometimes people are quite unaware of what they have said and how it can be taken. Sometimes they don't mean what they've said.  Sometimes they are willing to acknowledge some personal feelings that contribute to the attitudes. And sometimes they will change their attitudes.

If you have a relationship with this person, you are in an excellent position to help him or her to become more aware of how she or he thinks and talks.  You are 'easy going' on the outside but not so on the inside.  Now you have allowed yourself to be backed into a similar position as that of your colleague -- trying to hide how you feel and becoming incongruent in your behavior. But the real you leaks out. This can only hurt you in the long run.  Your challenge, should you accept it, to help us all develop healthier attitudes, and to learn to say what you think in a friendly and non-confrontational way. You have your opinions.  You are free to state them as your colleague is to state his or hers.  If this person really does have racist feelings, then you can openly and clearly create boundaries in the relationship that will keep you from having to hear or see the unpleasantries. Then, you don't have to stop talking to this person completely, as an indirect behavioral confrontation, because you have dealt with the problem directly.  As you agree to disagree, I expect that your colleagues will increase their respect for you and maybe this particular person may someday reconsider their position on the subject.

Racism is a product of fear and ignorance.  The only way to combat it is with courage and education. Send an e-card from http://www.artistsagainstracism.org/AARMain.cfm?page=Ecards&Subpage=Entercode&imagenumber=two.

Zora Neale Hurston mused :"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It is beyond me."

Uncle Ezra   

Hello.  I've just recently graduated.  I hate my job,
I'm completely stressed out, and I think I'm developing psychological problems. What's a good way to find help? (preferably cheaply). oh, also, i don't live in ithaca anymore

                                                                  Unsigned

Uncle Ezra   

Dear heard both,

Turn the car off when it is stopped. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. In winter, don't idle a cold engine for more than 30 seconds before driving away.  Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas at idle than do cars with smaller engines. Check out this website to learn more about fuel-efficiency: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml

Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money, although saving up to 50 cents a gallon is nothing to sneeze at.

Observe the Speed Limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 10-34 cents per gallon for gas, a fuel economy benefit of 7-23%. Observing the speed limit is also safer.

Use Overdrive Gears. When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.

Thanks for your concerns for our quality of life on this fragile planet.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Jon,

And you love the wind in your face and the feel of the open road with so little between you and the real world!  Motorcycles are exciting, but the bad news lies in the amount of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide they emit. According to the California Air Resource Board, motorcycles now produce up to  *15 times the emissions per kilometer* that are produced by the average, late-90s-manufactured car or light-duty truck. And Arizona records show that 26 percent of the motorcycles taking the emissions test in 2000 failed while cars flunked at the rate of 16 percent. Do the math to answer your question, but quality cannot always be quantified.  Breathe the air for an intutitive test.

We can look to Europe and Taiwan to see what will need to be done to control emissions from two-strokes. Taiwan's Stage 3 emission standard has made practically all two-stroke motorcycles disappear from its roads. The electric motorcycle has zero emission and is very economic. In Taiwan ten thousands of electric motorcycles were produced by six manufacturers in 1999. The EPA stipulated regulation that two out of every hundred motorcycles sold had to be electric powered starting in 2000. The EPA also provided monetary subsidies.

In the EU, the first limits on emissions from motorcycles and mopeds started in 1999, but these did not force the use of catalysts. A second stage for motorcycles after 2003 may require catalysts to be fitted. An increasing number of larger capacity motorcycles sold in Europe are already fitted with oxidation or three-way catalysts.

Although manufacturers would prefer to clean up emissions rather than stop manufacturing motorcycles, making motorcycle emissions as clean as cars' even is a difficult task. According to one of the world's major motorcycle producers, Japan's Yamaha Motor Co Ltd, the combination of fuel injection (which uses fuel more efficiently) and catalytic converters (which clean up exhaust emissions) has made it relatively easy for automobiles to meet the standards set by regulatory authorities. However, applying these technologies to motorcycles, especially those characterized by small displacements (cc), is a difficult undertaking. While Yamaha and others have successfully produced big displacement (large cc) motorcycles with the above technologies, cost still stands in the way of a widespread application to all motorcycles. It would also be technically difficult. Designing a catalytic converter system for motorcycles would mean fitting an intricate network of pipes, tubing, and so on, into a very tight space; and you'd have to consider things like efficiency and noise levels while doing so.

Here are some air quality concerns from these vehicles:

Lead is added to petrol to boost the octane number. Health concerns focus on the effect that low levels of ambient lead can have on the educational and behavioral development of children. Lead poisons catalytic converters. From 2000, sales of leaded petrol are banned in the European Union. For non-catalyst engines that rely on lead to prevent valve recession, other additives have been introduced.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that displaces oxygen from the blood. At high concentrations it is fatal; at lower concentrations, it can exacerbate heart problems.

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) react with hydrocarbons (HC) in sunlight to form ozone and photochemical smog. NOx can increase respiratory illnesses and is a contributor to acid rain. Ozone causes breathing difficulties and damages plants.

Particulates are found in the air in a range of sizes. Diesel engines are responsible for the majority of ultra-fine particulates (less than one micron in diameter or PM1). Fine particulates are suspected to be linked to increased rates of premature death.

Carbon Dioxide(CO2) is the final product of all combustion processes and the major contributor to the 'greenhouse' effect. Catalysts do not increase overall CO2 emissions from cars because all the carbon burnt in the engine eventually ends up as CO2, so CO2 emissions can only be limited by reducing the amount of fuel used.

And there are noise pollution concerns, which you can read about at http://www.nonoise.org/news/trans.htm. To save on your emissions, you can use some lifestyle changes.  Consolidate trips, walk whenever you can, carpool, ride a bus, ride a bicycle, live near your workplace or vice versa, and invest your time and skills in your community in finding solutions to public transportation and clean air problems.

Uncle Ezra