News notes: Carol Fabian, director of breast cancer prevention at KU Medical Center, discussed Vioxx and Celebrex concerns in the Dec. 26 issue of the Washington Post: “I think we have created a situation of mass hysteria that’s completely unwarranted. I don’t think we have all the data yet, and we may be prematurely drawing conclusions.”

Chris Crandall, professor of psychology, highlighted the “intensifying tug of war between tolerance and prejudice” toward overweight people in the Dec. 17 issue of the Christian Science Monitor: “The fight between the two sides may be evidence that something’s brewing,” says Crandall, who tracks attitudes toward the overweight. “It could get worse for fat people,” he adds, “but there’s a lot more room for it to get better.”

Kathryn Ellerbeck, pediatrician at the Developmental Disabilities Center at the KU School of Medicine, pointed out in the December 2004/January 2005 issue of Baby Talk magazine that children’s abilities often don’t match rate charts. Although children typically walk by 12 months to 13 months, for instance, the “normal” boundaries can be considerably wider—as early as 9 months and as late as 17 months. Ellerbeck said up to 30 percent of children fall outside established norms.