Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9504080005
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: ``Turner Time'' was the idea of Ted Turner himself. A WTBS spokeswoman explained that it began in 1981 as a way to make the station stand out from the broadcast networks and show up conspicuously in newspaper TV listings. ``Also, we thought it would hook viewers, because if a network program started and viewers wanted to change, they could still switch to us and get in on the first of our programs without missing anything,'' Lisa Atkinson said.
\ Q: California seems to have every weather condition possible except hurricanes. Don't hurricanes ever hit the West Coast?
A: It would be rare, according to Kenneth Comba, executive director of the National Meteorological Center. Hurricanes occasionally form off Mexico's Pacific coast, but when they move northward, they diminish rapidly because of cold water off the coast of California, Comba said. Another factor: Trade winds push the hurricanes to the west. When they curve back to the north and northeast, they're well out into the Pacific and not a threat to California.
Q: When does daylight-saving time start?
A: It lasts from the first Sunday in April (April 2 this year) to the last Sunday in October (Oct. 29).
Q: What states do not have the death penalty?
A: These states, and the District of Columbia, have no death penalty, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
Q: In the food pyramid, why are dry beans listed in the meat, poultry, fish, eggs and nuts group? What about dry peas and frozen peas?
A: Beans are listed under the meat category because they are protein substitutes. Connie Crawley, nutrition specialist at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, says bean growers think they shouldn't be under the meat designation ``because they are low-fat and low- sodium, whereas meat tends to be high-fat.'' In the food pyramid, the items at the top, where the pyramid is smallest, are the things you should have the fewest servings of; meat is at the top because it is ``high-fat,'' Crawley said. Soybeans are the only beans that are complete protein.
Green peas aren't as high in protein as split peas, so you need to consider the amount of protein that is in the peas (or beans) to decide whether they are a viable protein substitute.
Q: How can I become a Gallup Poll voter for next year's People's Choice awards?
A: Sit by your phone and take your chances. They call you; you don't call them. ``This is a national poll, conducted like all scientific national polls, with a projectable sample,'' said Gale Muller at the Gallup Organization headquarters in Lincoln, Neb. ``Every person has an equal chance of being selected, so it's a true random sample.''
Here's how it works. The Gallup Organization has a database of as many as 30 million randomly selected telephone numbers. ``We also generate additional numbers, so the pool changes all the time,'' Muller said. Gallup representatives call a random sample of homes from the database and ask a series of questions. If people respond affirmatively, they're put into a pool from which another batch is selected, also at random. CBS producers then make calls to narrow the pool even further to those who will be asked to appear on the ``People's Choice'' TV program.
Q: Where does the term 'flea markets' come from?
A: Two books, two theories: Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins says: ``A flea market is an open-air or street market that sells a wide variety of merchandise, most of it secondhand and some of it masquerading as antique. The reason for the name is simply that there are so many secondhand articles of all kinds for sale that they are believed to gather fleas.''
Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins says: ``These bargain markets have nothing to do with fleas. Flea market has been an American expression as far back as Dutch colonial days when there was a very real Vallie (Valley) Market at the valley, or foot, of Maiden Lane in downtown Manhattan. The Vallie Market came to be abbreviated as Vlie Market and this was soon being pronounced flea market.'' .
Q: What does the F. in F. Lee Bailey stand for?
A: Francis.
Q: How can I get information about the test for the Foreign Service, which I understand is offered only in December?
A: Sorry, the news isn't good, at least for this year. The Foreign Service's recruitment office says it is not offering the exam in 1995 ``because of government downsizing and an adequate supply of highly qualified applicants already in the pipeline to fill the expected number of vacancies.'' It offers a ray of hope for 1996, however, and invites potential applicants to call 703-875-7490 after May 1996. To hear a recording about the exam, call 703-875-5829.
Q: I heard that earthquakes weren't going to be measured by the Richter scale because a new, more accurate way to measure them had been devised. What ever became of that?
A: The word ``Richter'' is sometimes used, sometimes not. A seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., explained that the center calculates the magnitude of earthquakes using several formulas, but that they're all based on the original Richter scale. ``It originally was meant solely for measuring quakes in Southern California on a certain type of instrument, but over the years the formula has been modified to interpret earthquakes all over,'' said John Minsch.
Because the original formula has been modified, he said, some scientists prefer not to use the word ``Richter.'' And some news organizations have dropped the word from their reporting. But, as Minsch pointed out, that poses a problem: ``You can say `7.5 magnitude,' but then people will ask, `What scale is it, if it's not the Richter scale?' ''
The Richter scale was devised in 1935 by American geologist Charles Richter and has been in general use in the United States ever since. Another measurement you might sometimes hear about is the modified Mercalli scale, developed in Italy in 1902 by Giuseppe Mercalli and adapted for the United States in the 1930s by Harry Wood and Frank Neumann. . .
Q: New Orleans is referred to as ``the Big Easy.'' I grew up there and never heard that until the movie ``The Big Easy.'' Where did the term come from?
A: ``The term Big Easy was in use before the 1985 movie,'' said Beverly Gianna, spokeswoman for the Greater New Orleans Tourist & Convention Commission. ``One of our social columnists at the newspaper here coined it a long time ago to contrast our laissez-faire attitude with the hustle and bustle of New York, which had the nickname `Big Apple.''' The name stuck for sure after the Dennis Quaid film, she said. Another nickname is ``the Crescent City,'' because the French Quarter, the original section of New Orleans, lies along a giant curve in the Mississippi River.
by CNB