South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 49

ULkCi)U Sun-Sentinel, Tuesday, September 28, 1993 Section FAMILIES TOM JICHA TVRadio Writer Lessons in solving back-to-school problems Finding a solution. 6E Nebraska at Lincoln. "But it may have nothing to do with the teacher." With some children, the complaints appear to be rooted largely in their temperament. These are the children who say they hate their teachers at the beginning of every school year. They almost always have difficulties with other transitions as well, including heading off to summer camp or even going away on vacation.

Their dislike for their teacher or the school is a reflection of their need for additional time and support to adjust to the new things in their lives. In fact, if a parent rushes in to try to change things, for example by asking for a new teacher, it usually makes matters worse. In elementary school, children may complain about a teacher because all their friends from last year are now in a different classroom. While adults PLEASE SEE FAMILIES 6E By LAWRENCE M. KUTNER New York Times News Service Linda Braun recalled how she hated school for the first few weeks of the eighth grade.

On the first day of school, a teacher assured everyone that they would do just fine that year if they had kept their notebooks from the previous year. Since Braun was the only one in her class who had attended a different school the year before, she didn't have the notebooks. "I panicked," said Braun, who is the director of Families First, a parent education program in Boston. "I felt like I'd never be able to catch up with the other kids." The first month of school is often a time of intense emotions for students as well as for their parents and teachers. Some children take weeks or even months to settle into the new routines and demands of a different grade.

Their adjustment may be punc- WTVJ does worry and isn't happy tuated by complaints that they hate school, that they hate their teacher or that their teacher hates them. "As parents, many of us assume that the child is right and there must be something awful going on," said Susan M. Swap, the director of the Center on College-School-Community Partnerships, a research program at Wheelock College in Boston that studies how schools and families interact. "Most of the time that reaction isn't helpful." Swap and other researchers in this area emphasize that the children who complain fall into several categories. How parents should respond depends on the issues underlying the child's difficulties.

"Your child is always telling you something that you should pay attention to," said Jane C. Conoley, a professor of educational psychology and director of the child psychotherapy clinic at the University of he "don't worry, be happy" era is officially over at WTVJ-Ch. 4. Practically speaking, it was over as soon as it started. The jingle the NBC-owned station adopted at the iheBMDMANof HOLLYWOOD time of the network affiliation scramble never reflected reality.

From the day WTVJ began carrying NBC programming, Jan. 1, 1989, there has been little to smile about and plenty to fret over. With the flick of a switch, WTVJ achieved the incomprehensible. It fared worse in the ratings as an affiliate of then top-rated NBC than it had with third-place CBS. WTVJ also fell behind WSVN-Ch.

7, the long-time NBC affiliate that was forced against its will to become an independent station. Last week, Dick Lobo, who presided over the "don't worry, be happy" campaign, was fired as WTVJ's general manager. Officially, he resigned. This is how NBC handles these situations. Deborah Norville resigned.

Michael Gartner, the news president during the Norville fiasco and the Dateline NBC exploding truck disgrace, resigned. Lobo is a decent man who was liked by his staff. And some of the station's woes were not his doing. Most notably, he was under orders to aggressively court the Cuban-American audience, a strategy which hasn't had appreciable success and might have backfired by alienating some non-Cubans. New GM a familiar face However, Lobo was given more than five years to turn the station around and he failed to do it, so the only surprise about his departure is that it took so long.

Steve Hart knows why the caged bird sings, and dances. He can get your pet bird into the spotlight, too. By T.M. SHINE Stall Writer "1 r4f His successor, Don Browne, is known and respected throughout the TV industry and the South Florida community. From 1979 to 1990, Browne was the Miami Bureau Chief.

His distinguished tenure there earned a promotion Vh years ago to Executive Vice President of NBC News, the No. 2 job in the iLumniiV MSb Li teve Hart is wearing a tiger-eye jacket that gives him a Siegfried or, possibly, Roy look. He's crouched in the Browne middle of his 3- by 8-foot miniature amusement park and circus for small birds set up at the Buy Buy Birdie Boutique, a bird shop in Hollywood. "The only one in the country." Teach your bird a new trick. 6E .7 'h 1 A I He's got big-top music playing on a boombox and birds on a stick that are dropping off and scurrying away.

Hart is in pursuit; he gets one back on the stick, another drops off. He huffs, he puffs, he gives chase. Over his shoulder he yells to a young girl in the audience, "Can your bird ride a bike yet? We'll get him on the bike in a second." But the over-the-shoulder glance costs him another bird off the stick and he's in pursuit again. He's sweating. "This is great for weight loss, too," Hart says.

Chasing small birds is great for dieting and Steve Hart got the idea for his little bird theme park after seeing a Chihuahua do a striptease. "I know, it sounds crazy," Hart says. "Maybe it is." But the kids who come to see the Saturday shows seem to find it more fun than crazy and Hart, along with his partner, Ron Bod-nar, are out to convince people to PLEASE SEE BIRDMAN 6E organization. Even while he was working for the network in New York, he maintained a home in Miami. His wife and children lived there while he commuted on weekends.

He was in the WTVJ studio the night Hurricane Andrew hit. "My wife and I bought our first house here and our kids were born here. This is home," Browne said. Such a commitment to a community is an admirable trait in a business that makes tent shows seem rooted. Browne's first message to his staff was that there will not be a mass upheaval.

He says he likes his people, especially the frontline players. He feels Tony Segreto's long presence in the community is an incalcuable asset. He was instrumental in the network hiring Michelle Gillen. He had Bryan Nor-cross fill in on Today. Changes will be subtle At the same time, Browne knows that if the status quo were acceptable, the name on his office door would still read Dick Lobo.

He will make changes but they will be primarily in the areas of style and nuance. A priority is re-establishing an identity for WTVJ News. WSVN has such an identity, he said. It isn't the one that Browne wants for WTVJ, but it helps WSVN that people know what to expect, he acknowledged. Toward that end, WTVJ will adopt a uniform way of presenting the news.

It might be the casual Live at 5 approach; it might be the traditional anchor desk look. It won't be both, Browne said. "Our 5, 6 and 11 shows all have different looks. We have to have consistency." Also look for a toning down of WTVJ's feverish pitches toward the Cuban-American audience. "When Castro falls, Channel 4 will be there!" When Castro falls, student newspapers will be there.

This is ticklish. It would be foolish not to go after such a substantial segment of the population, yet it has to be done without turning away the rest of the audience. NBC isn't renowned for shrewd personnel decisions Jay Leno over David Letterman; Deborah Norville for Jane Pauley. But it looks as if the network has made an excellent choice for WTVJ's new head man. 1 Stall phOtoJOE RAEDLE TOP: Steve Hart shows Jamie Westenhiser, 1 1 how to play a toy violin with birds on the bow.

ABOVE: John Ponce, 6, helps put birds on a toy airplane. LEFT: Hart puts on his bird show. I Platinum is the hot precious metal of the '90s i periencing a renaissance because of bridal consum- Not only does a platinum setting enhance a By LISA LYTLE era 1 ft tn 3ft vpars nlri who are interested in its klins diamond, its nronrs also hold the pem sppi By LISA LYTLE ers 18 to 36 years old who are interested in its Not only does a platinum setting enhance a kling diamond, its prongs also hold the gem spar securely in place better than gold prongs do, Quails said. In testimony to platinum's strength, the world's most famous diamonds the Hope, the Jonker Diamond Number One and the Koh-i-Noor are secured in platinum settings. Since the 19th century, famous jewelry houses, Including Faberge, Cartier, Van Cleef Arpels and Harry Winston have used platinum for many of their enduring designs.

But modern jewelry designers such as Michael Bondanza have begun to take platinum into the 21st century by using it in ways other than to show off a Orange County Register It is the princess of precious metals. When the Spanish Conquistadores found a white metal in the rivers of Ecuador in 1590, they gave it a Cinderella name platina, which means little silver. Little did they realize that platinum would be as hot as a heavy metal band's chartbuster in the United States four centuries later. "Sales of platinum jewelry were up 75 percent in America last year," said Laurie Hudson, president of the Newport Beach, Platinum Guild International USA Jewelry, the marketing organization of the U.S. platinum industry.

"Platinum is ex properties, value and long-lasting quality. Platinum is a highly requested metal for diamond solitaire engagement rings and wedding bands, either as a single metal or combined with 18-karat gold, said Jo Quails, a Tiffany Co. vice president. "Platinum is white and therefore casts no color onto the stone. It is the most durable of precious metals." The more people have learned about platinum in the past few years, the more they have come to favor it, she said.

Among other things, they like the fact that platinum jewelry can be Investment pieces. They also appreciate that platinum can take a lot of wear and tear and, with buffing and polishing, "can be rebirthed." INSIDE ARTSENTERTAINMENT Phenotris Judith Light is more than happy fitting in between Full House and Rosenrwe. 3E PLEASE SEE PLATINUM 6E ,4.