ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160089
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G-5 EDITION: METRO
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Q: I understand that the aviation systems of nine countries are considered so unsafe by the FAA that their planes are not permitted into the United States. What are the countries?
A: Belize, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uraguay and Zaire. The systems of 30 countries - not necessarily the airlines - have been assessed by the Federal Aviation Administration to see if they meet international safety standards. Travelers can call the Transportation Department's toll-free hot line - 800-322-7873 - to obtain a summary statement about whether a country has been assessed and the results, if available.
Q: What is in catnip that makes cats behave so strangely around it? Is it the same thing as locoweed, the plant that affects cows?
A: They aren't the same. Catnip is an aromatic herb of the mint family. It is the mintlike aroma and flavor that excites, but doesn't harm, cats. Locoweed is poisonous and poses a danger to livestock, horses and other grazing animals. Locoweed plants contain a sometimes-fatal toxin that affects muscle control.
Q: What is the ideal humidity level to maintain in one's home during the winter months?
A: Most average-dressed people will feel comfortable with a relative humidity of at least 50 percent when the indoor temperature is between 71 and 77 degrees. It can be accomplished by using humidifiers, vaporizers or simply large pans of water.
Q: I'm getting numb from all the budget talk about millions and billions and trillions. How many zeroes do all those big numbers have, and what's beyond trillions in case the national debt ever gets there?
A: Calculators don't have screens wide enough to accommodate all the digits. Here goes, from the ``bottom'' up: million, 6 zeroes; billion, 9; trillion, 12; quadrillion, 15; quintillion, 18; sextillion, 21; septillion, 24; octillion, 27, nonillion, 30; decillion, 33.
Q: I saw a program on Lifetime channel about Maya Angelou, but it didn't mention her educational background. Was she self-taught?
A: Her learning background is rooted more in real life experiences, both good and bad, than in academics. The poet, actress, dancer and educator attended George Washington High School in San Francisco and, later, the California Labor School, where she studied dance and drama. Her experiences - including child abuse, teen marriage and motherhood, and being shuttled between relatives in Long Beach, Calif., and Stamps, Ark. - are thoroughly documented in her writings. Among her positions in scholastic circles were stints as writer-in-residence at the University of Kansas and as a visiting professor at California State University-Sacramento and Wichita State University in Kansas. She holds a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and has honorary degrees from Smith College (Northampton, Mass.), Mills College (Oakland, Calif.) and 30 other institutions.
Q: What happened to the Green Bay Packers coach injured at the NFC championship game?
A: Packers assistant coach Gil Haskell is doing fine, a team spokesman said. Haskell, 52, suffered a fractured skull Jan. 14 during the Packers' loss to the Dallas Cowboys. His head struck the artificial turf during a play that ended on the sideline. He is working part time and is expected to recover fully, the spokesman said.
Q: I've seen references to a D.B. Cooper in everything from magazine articles to comic books. Who was he?
A: The name was assigned by the FBI to an unidentified middle-aged man who parachuted from a Northwest Airlines flight Nov. 25, 1971, into the wilderness of Washington state with $200,000 in ransom money. He hijacked the plane the night before on a flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle. When the plane landed in Seattle, the airline delivered the ransom money along with four parachutes he had demanded. Shortly after the plane took off again and turned south, ``Cooper'' bailed out. He was never found, dead or alive, but in 1980 some children discovered wadded $20 bills near Vancouver, Wash. In 1986, Globe Indemnity Co., which had insured the airline, and Brian Ingram, 14, who discovered part of the money, divided nearly $6,000. What happened to the remainder remains a mystery.
Q: The Georgetown University basketball team is called the Hoyas. What does that mean and what is the origin?
A: It's a bit obscure. A spokeswoman for Georgetown's sports information department said it comes from a combination of two words, the Greek hoios and the Latin saxa. There's no exact translation, she said, but it's something like ``what rocks.'' Still confused? She said it may help to understand if you know that the team used to be called the ``Stonewalls.''
Q: I heard about a daredevil who flew over the United States in a motorized parachute. I'd like more information about such ultra-light aircraft. How can I contact him?
A: Write Ron Adams, 2200 Ray Thorington Road, Pike Road, Ala. 36064, or call him at his residence, 334-272-3699. Adams, a real estate developer and rancher who lives near Montgomery, flew his motorized parachute almost 2,000 miles from San Diego to Hilton Head Island, S.C., in eight days last summer.
Q: Why was former President Ronald Reagan sometimes referred to as ``Dutch''?
A: Ronald Wilson Reagan was given the nickname as a baby by his father, Jack, and in 1932, when he landed a job as a sports announcer at WOC, a small radio station in Davenport, Iowa, he used Dutch on the air. When WOC consolidated with WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, Dutch's voice became familiar throughout the Midwest announcing Chicago Cubs games.
Q: How will this miserable winter weather we've been having affect the insect population in summer, especially fleas and mosquitoes?
A: You'd better continue buying flea collars for pets and mosquito spray for yourself. Fleas and mosquitoes have a life stage called pupa that helps them survive through cold periods. During that stage, the pupae are virtually dormant and brief periods of cold weather don't affect them. In addition, fleas survive on the warmth of their host animal. If an animal gets into a protected or warm area, so do the fleas. Then they can continue to reproduce.
Q: How can a person be a citizen of more than one country? I often see references to dual nationality with no explanation.
A: You can be a U.S. citizen from birth or a naturalized U.S. citizen and still be claimed as a citizen by a foreign country if (a) you were born there; (b) at least one parent has citizenship of that country; or (c) you are married to a citizen of that country. The United States ``recognizes that people can have two citizenships,'' said State Department spokeswoman Suzanne Lawrence.
Q: What do ROM and RAM stand for? I see the abbreviations all the time in computer magazines.
A: Both are acronyms for forms of computer memory. ROM stands for read-only memory, containing instructions for starting the computer that are permanent and cannot be modified. RAM means random-access memory, containing instructions for the particular task the operator wants the computer to perform. RAM instructions are temporary, entered from the keyboard or disc and erased when the power is turned off.
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