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SERVING MONMOUTH OCEAN COUNTIES LONG BRANCH WINS WRESTLING TITLE. Dl ALL THINGS GUITAR AT COLLEGE. Bl 1 i AJHURK rvo mjt -J 75 CENTS MONDAY, FEB. 16, 2009 A GANNETT NEWSPAPER WORKING WITH RED BANK 732 920-7373 The bayfront property known as Trader's Covo In Brick will bo preserved, rather than developed. (press photo: tim McCarthy) 1 A prepi pressrcrsd By MATTHEW McGRATH TOMS RIVER BUREAU Richard Canas, New Jersey's director of homeland security, speaks to a group of seventh- and eighth-graders at Red Bank Middle School.

Canas, a native of El Salvador, Is working to reduce the dropout rate among Hispanic students, (staff photo: bob bielk) rale model seeks to keep I Map area sJM Ocean jj (timing tin I Island III brick students in school BRICK No condominiums, McMansions or apartments will be built on the grounds of the former Mantoloking Cove Marina, known as Trader's Cove. A deed recently signed by the mayor will preserve forever the 10.5 acres on the mainland side of the narrows between Mantoloking and the township as a recreation site. "We need to give people an opportunity to do things that will not cost them money," Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. "This is a way for them to go out and sit out by the water.

There isn't anything like this on the northern part of the bay." See Brick, Page A3 By JENNIFER BRADSHAW STAFF WRITER I I Mantoloking Rd. (35) 1 Burmitat but Jw "Learning you will do until you die. Learn like you will live forever." Richard L. Canas, N.J. director of homeland security MANTOIOWNO Staff graphic ceed in life if they make their education a priority.

HISPA has visited districts statewide on a monthly or bimonthly basis. The districts include Perth Amboy, Summit, West New York and Red Bank. In Red Bank, where Canas made his first stop Jan. 30, HISPA works in partnership with the district's new Advancement Via Individual Determination program, which tries to help students enhance their self-esteem, realize their college potential, accelerate their learning and begin planning for college, while still in middle school. Nearly two-thirds of the students in Red Bank's schools in 2007-08 were Hispanic.

See HISPA, Page A3 RED BANK Richard L. Canas grew up a Salva-doran immigrant in California with a dream of working in law enforcement. He went to college and became a police officer. Today, he heads New Jersey's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Canas is a role model to any teen wondering whether college is the right path to pursue, but for Hispanic students, he serves a larger purpose.

Hispanic students, who are dropping out of school at a greater rate than their non-Hispanic peers, are able to relate better to someone like Canas. That's why HISPA, a national nonprofit organization, has been working to provide professional Hispanic role models for students. HISPA Hispanics Inspiring Students' Per-formance and Achievement encourages educational growth by sending role models into the classrooms of school districts with a 50 percent or higher Hispanic student population. The latest numbers re- port a 4.3 percent dropout rate for Hispanic students statewide, rising from 3.8 percent in 2005-06. The purpose of bringing speakers like Canas into schools, HISPA President Ivonne Diaz-Claisse of Freehold explained, is to slow dropout rates by showing students living proof that they can suc The pine siskin Is becoming less common In New Jersey as a result of climate change.

(PHOTO: AUDUBON SOCIETY) Change in climate alters range of birds Mice can assess risk as quickly as humans And female lab rats learn faster than males do XV 1 1 1 By KIRK MOORE STAFF WRITER The effects of climate change are seen at backyard bird feeders, as winter migrants in New Jersey shift their range by 200 miles or more in response to decades-long temperature trends, Audubon scientists said in a report issued this week. Researchers tackled 40 years of records from the Audubon's annual Christmas bird count, which enlists volunteers to note birds they observe across the country in the last days of the year. Of 305 species, 177 or 58 percent of the species showed significant northward movement in their range, they ported. "Every bird species has a range between heat and cold," said Greg Butcher, Audubon's director of bird conservation and a lead author of the report. It's not just each species's simple temperature preferences that set that range, but also the influence of climate on the ecosystems in which they operate, he said.

See Birds, Page A3 their internal sense of time," said Balci, who is now conducting post-doctoral research at Princeton University. The human subjects got good at the game very early in the experiment, Balci said, but the mice, too, had it figured out before they were halfway through the exercise: "It turns out the humans and mice are both very close to the optimal point." See Mice, Page A3 By KIRK MOORE STAFF WRITER Those mice coming in from the cold this winter have more in common with us than just an appreciation for cozy warmth, cognitive scientists at Rutgers University found in two reports on brain research. An experiment that compared human and mouse abilities to assess risk left researchers surprised to see that "they're just as good as the humans," said psychology Professor Charles R. Gal-listel, co-director of the university's Center for Cognitive Science. Gallistel, lead author Fuat Balci and David Freestone compared how human subjects anticipated left-to-right moves in a simple computer game that rewarded them with points and cash prizes, and how mice made similar decisions to win food pellets.

"Our subjects were not looking at their watches. They were relying on Rutgers Professor Tra-cey J. Shors led experiments on the learning ability of lab rats. (PHOTO: RUTGERS UNIVERSITY) ADVICE BS CLASSIFIED CI Breezy, cold Decreasing clouds. WEATHERA2 TEMPERATURES COMICSPUZZLES B6 DATEBOOK B3 EDITORIALS A13 LOTTERIES A3 MOVIE TIMETABLE B4 OBITUARIES A10 ODDLY WEIRD Read the strange and unusual news from across the country and around the world under Nation and World.

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