Word: problem
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...then there's the gang problem. An estimated 300 gangs and 7,000 gang members work the streets of Phoenix, selling drugs, stealing cars and occasionally aerating one another. One day officer Robert Vasquez brings an East Side gang member into the station for a chat--a kid he is trying to rescue after meeting him at an alternative school. The 17-year-old has a tattoo of an X under his right eye and an 8 under his left. It's his gang ID. He runs with Wetback Power's 18th Street crew. "It's crazy out there...
...until I learned about the remarkable institution called Odyssey of the Mind. OM, as it's known, gives kids from kindergarten through college a chance to practice teamwork while exercising the mental muscles responsible for creativity. Founded in 1978 by two New Jersey educators who felt that imaginative problem solving was getting short shrift in schools, OM has grown to include teams from all 50 states and 41 other countries; about half a million kids now participate worldwide, competing in regional, state and national contests that culminate in the World Finals each spring...
...starts in the fall, as each team picks a specific "problem" from a list provided by OM headquarters and sets out to solve it in an imaginative way. The problems are quirky, to say the least. One of them requires a team to put on a skit about a sales transaction that includes several elements: a "memorable customer, a demonstration of an original product that reflects some aspect of the culture in which the performance takes place, and the resolution of a problem involving the business." The kids must also present a "technical element"--a mechanical device of some sort...
...Another problem calls for making a weight-bearing, balsa-wood structure that's as light as possible. The problem that John's team chose called for not only a Shakespearean flavor but also a historical event, a technical element and a humorous character. Oh, and did I mention the song, with original music and lyrics...
...golf and blowing stuff up. At the driving range you get to hit time-delayed exploding golf balls at moving targets--everything from armadillos to hot-air balloons. I felt the game required intensive night testing at my home laboratory, as well as further experimentation under office conditions. My problem was remembering to carry the disc back and forth. The obvious solution? Make a copy...