Tuesday, September 8, 1998
			Food safety advice After Time magazine ran a story on E. coli outbreaks, readers asked for specific recommendations on how to clean fresh fruits and vegetables. Time turned to Michael Doyle, director of UGA’s Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement, for an answer. His advice, which appeared in the letters section: “If a fruit or vegetable can be peeled, like an apple or a potato, it’s best to peel it. For foods like a head of lettuce, remove the outer layers. Also, when preparing leafy vegetables, wash the leaves separately. Using soap or detergent is not recommended, but do make sure that you wash fruits and vegetables under running water for a minute or two.” Doyle adds that while these methods can’t eliminate all bacteria, they are “the best we can use.” Exercise takes edge off A little exercise can take the edge off a stressful day--and the reason may be not so much the activity itself, but the fact that it gives you something to think about besides your problems, according to UGA research. “The reason people feel less anxious after exercise is because they get a timeout, or a break, from their usual cares and worries,” Patrick J. O’Connor of the School of Health and Human Performance told the Associated Press. O’Connor headed up a project that tested the effect of low-intensity exercise on a group of undergraduate female students selected because tests showed they had high anxiety levels. The students rode stationary bikes at an exercise level equivalent to a pleasant walk, but their anxiety levels only dropped when they got their minds off studying. Planet bacteria The British Broadcasting Corporation quoted microbiologist William Whitman on the estimated number of bacteria in the world: five million trillion trillion. That’s more bacteria on Earth than there are stars in the universe. More air waves • Another UGA faculty member, Daniel Promislow in genetics, was interviewed by the BBC regarding his research on fruit fly mating, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. • Richard Fayrer-Hosken, of UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, appeared on CNN’s Science and Technology Week discussing his research on spaying pets without surgery. • Political science professor Charles Bullock was interviewed by the Voice of America on how President Clinton’s troubles might affect the November elections in the South. • History and law professor Edward Larson, winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize in history for his book Summer for the Gods, was featured prominently on the premiere of a new series on CourtTV called The Greatest Trials of All Time. The episode dealt with the Scopes trial. Larson summed up the trial’s impact: “What we have at the trial are some of the greatest speakers in America. They came to speak to Americans and the Scopes trial was their soapbox.” For more information about these items, contact news service director Sharron Hannon at 542-8083.
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