This is probably a good gift idea for my oldest son who's a pen afficianado. Pens that write anywhere, anyhow (upside down even) and are easily stowable.

Creative idea to communicate a position on climate change: "To bring more attention to the climate change in the arctic regions and the melting ice, the German World Wide Fund for Nature placed 1,000 ice sculptures in the shape of sitting humans on the steps of the German capital at noon."

"The Chapel Hill campus was hit with a 17 percent increase in financial aid applications this year, resulting in a 23 percent jump in the number of students who qualified for aid. By comparison, UNC saw an 8 percent increase in aid applications in the fall of 2008 and a 2 percent increase in those who qualify. The university provided $225 million in scholarships and student aid during the 2007-08 school year, the most recent year for which totals were immediately available.

'We've never seen this kind of increase,” said Shirley Ort, UNC’s associate provost and director of the Office for Scholarships and Student Aid. “In my lifetime, I've not seen this kind of economy either.'"

This story about the House's proposed overhaul of the student financial aid system interests me for two reasons: first, I have kids just a couple of years away from going to college and second, because one of my summer internships in college (back in the 80s) was with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. I seem to remember that the student loan biz had issues back then too.