Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 45

Varifitv INDEX DearAbby, Ann Landers PageE9 Movie listings Page ES Comics Pages E6-E7 Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz Page E7 Fbdt Page E9 Television Page E8 Bridge column Page E2 Saturday JULY 17, 1999 SECTION www-rtarWbune TODAY'S QUOTE "Suffering makes you deep. Travel makes you broad. In case I get my pick, I'd rather travel.1 Judith Viorst, author StarTribuns nn a Inside Kim Ode: Knowing a stranger We don't know anything about her, the woman stranded at an Antarctic research station with a lump in her breast, but yet we feel we know her. Turn to page E10. Voice of St Paul Columnist Noel Holston takes a look at St.

Paul Mayor Norm Coleman's new Saturday radio gig on KSTP-AM. Turn to page E8. FYI Are we working more than ever? Or has modern convenience showered us with leisure time? Both are conventional wisdom, it seems. But can both be right? "A Da Americans work kngcr icf Picnic time Donna Erickson, creative parenting consultant for Target Stores, has some suggestions for family picnics. Pack a water bottle or mix up some fruit juice (instead of soft drinks) to keep the kids hy-drated and running strong all day.

iienwowpji wit fo fours With theurzll tikes jh Tttotems fM4MWFIMIf Fill your dog's water dish to keep it hydrated and cool, too. Add some treats. Have sunscreen in fade-away colors so kids can apply it themselves, and you can spot areas that still need coverage. i 4. il Star Trtxme lustration by Jm Freftag 1 Bring some books.

Bring along supplies for quick and easy cleanup: wipes, no-water soap and two large trash bags: one for trash and another for dirty dishes, pails or anything else that could use a good rinse. If the picnic is only as far as your back yard, why not make the day a tropical event? Set up a garden hose with a spray nozzle and create a waterfall in a kiddie pooL Have a family ice-melting contest to cool things down. See who can melt an ice cube first The ice must be touching the player's body at all times until it's completely melted. (But you can't put it in your mouth.) PRXewswire Do Africans votk hss (So Da meltons work, Anl So.E mwvtAe eonFawrfr Today couple howrj filrJorbcfceWt.TY'- Splat What are, or were, those splats on your car? A "certified splatologist" wiH identify the bug splats and bird droppings on your car and explain how these creatures lived before thev jr By Janny Scott New York Times In a society in which the long lunch has gone the way of the screened-in porch, and free time often seems as rare as a phone without call waiting, it is surprisingly difficult to get a definitive answer to the deceptively simple question of whether Americans have more or less time on their hands than they used to. The research on time use yields evidence for three seemingly contradictory answers: Americans work longer and have less leisure time than they did 30 years ago; Americans work less and have more leisure time; Americans work roughly as much as they used to, at least on average.

"I could talk statistics to you from here to midnight," said Randy Ilg, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has generated its own share of befuddling results. "But one set of statistics will give you one point of view, and another set of statistics will tell you something else." A big part of the problem is that time-use researchers use different methods and different data. They depend on the indulgence and memories of ordinary folks (who, like everyone else, may be feeling they could use a day off). They study different time periods. They even have different definitions of such basic concepts as leisure and work.

But another part of the problem, some researchers say, may be that they have been asking the wrong question. The question may not be whether Americans are working or playing more but which ones are. As it turns out, there may be more people underemployed and, at the same time, more people overworked. 'Two realities' "What sense does it make to talk about averages if we have two very divergent realities?" asked Jiri Zuzanek, a sociologist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Zuzanek recently edited a special issue of the scholarly journal Society 7 met their end.

Program is for ages 6 and older. When: 1 to 4 p.m. today. Where: Eastman Nature Center, Elm Creek Park Reserve, 13351 Elm Creek off County Rd. 4 C-rP nrfHtehx Aft FhAAr nnfl TtMa.

m.rCm Wamr v'Xiit-i Star Trbune lustration by Dave Matheny roy weekend ftp rWiifit1 A 121 (Fernbrook Lane). The center is north of County Rd. 81, where Champlin, Dayton and Maple Grove join. Admission: $5 daily parking fee. CaB: 612-420-4300.

I Heads up Good, bad, indifferent Too much of the fun of watchingthe opening episode of USA Network's new series vs (V4 out of five stars; 7 p.m. Sunday) comes hours a week rose from 13 percent in 1976 to 18.5 percent in 1993. Among those likeliest to work very long hours were professionals and managers, who also were among the highest paid. People in transportation and sales also are working more, although the reasons are unclear. LEISURE continues on E2: The rise of working couples has created intense time pressures on families.

time. That is, some Americans are clearly working longer hours while others may have more leisure than past generations did. While hard-driving baby boomers may infatuate the media, many men have retired early and many people in their 20s and 30s have postponed marriage and child-rearing or are having fewer childrea A 1997 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on which Ilg was a co-author found that the-segment of employees working at least 49 and Leisure devoted to what some scholars call the "time famine." "If there is a group of people who are overworked, and others are benefiting from a greater amount of leisure, and the trends are diverging, the average is not particularly meaningful," he said. "That's where I am a little concerned that reporting averages does not always reflect the dynamics of social change." In fact, Americans may be working longer and have more leisure from the one-time pleasure of tallying up the sources from which the creators borrowed ideas: a little "Men in Black-here, some "Buffy the Vampire Slayer there, etc. The supernatural comedy is about a couple of dead guys (Richard Brooks, Clayton Rohner) who have been given a chance to stay on Earth if they Photo provided by USA Network Richard Brooks, left, and Clayton Rohner.

Rides on the wild side: Kids rate Valleyair join the forces of Good in the fight against EviL Their job is to rehabilitate or, if necessary, rub out demonic Morlocks people who've made "a deal with the dark" for success or power. Unfortunately, once you get past some amusing background bits the suggestion, for instance, that the most dangerous and hard-to-catch morlocks include LeAnn Rimes, Gavin McLeod and Sen. Orrin Hatch there's not all that much to keep things interesting. vs creators Josh and Jonas Pate strive to give the byplay between Brooks and Rohner a Tarantino-esque edge and off-the-wallness, but it sounds forced, not fresh. The Pates might consider making a deal.

Noel Holston Ride Family Fun Scare factor Wet factor Throw-Up Factor Overall SUPERCAT 1,1,1,1 1,1,1,1 NA 0,0,0,0 1,1,1,1 WILD THING 5,4,5,4 5,5,5,5 NA 2,2,2,2 5,5,5,5 LOG FLUME 3,3,3,3 2,1,1,1 4,2,3,2 0,0,1,0 3,2,2,3 MAD MOUSE 4,3,2,2 1,1,2,2 NA 1,1,1,1 2,2,2,2 HIGH ROLLER 5,5,4,5 4,3,3,3 NA 1,2, 2,1 4,4,4,4 MONSTER 2,4,3,2 1,3,2,2 NA 3,1,2,1 3,3,3,2 THEWAVE 5,5,5,5 3,2,1,1 5,5,5,5 1,2,1,1 5,5,5,5 SCRAMBLER 1,3,3,4 1,1,2,2 NA 1,1,2,2 1,2,3,4 Valleyfar's newest ride Rides rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best r' Tl FJ On a recent sunny and breezy Saturday, a MYN visited Valleyfair to I Oy 1 rate the rides. The MYN critics were Mandy Larson, 16, a junior at Edison High School in Minneapolis; Isaac Pratt, 14, a freshman at Anoka High School; Amaris Phillips, 13, a freshman at De La Salle High School in Minneapolis; Iyana Galloway, 12, a seventh-grader at Ascension School in Minneapolis, and Samuel Phillips, 12, a seventh-grader at Maple Grove Junior High School. Not every member of the group rode every ride, but each ride was rated by four critics. The group rated eight rides on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being lowest and 5 highest The criteria for rating them were Family Fun, Scare Factor, Wet Factor, Throw-Up Factor and Overall Good Time. The average wait in line was 17 minutes.

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