JULY REARVIEW

BUSH’S ENVIRONMENTAL RATING AFTER 100 DAYS
According to the Gallup Poll, on President George W. Bush’s 100th day in office in April, the American public was split almost directly down the middle in terms of their perception that he would or would not be able to improve the quality of the environment. According to the survey, 46 percent approved of the way Bush was handling the environment, while 44 percent of Americans disapproved of the way Bush was handling the environment.

NEW SURVEY REVEALS MOSQUITOES ARE TOP SUMMER ANNOYANCE
According to a new survey, most people will be bitten by mosquitoes this summer — 120 times! Respondents to the survey of more than 2,500 Americans, conducted by SC Johnson, the makers of OFF!® insect repellants, reported getting bitten an average of 10 times each week, which is why mosquitoes are rated as one of the biggest summertime nuisances (40 percent), along with humidity (40 percent), yard work (11 percent) and sunburn (9 percent).

More than three out of five surveyed (63 percent) turn to citronella candles for bug protection, as well as to create a relaxing ambience. Yet, more than half of these people (56 percent) feel they are not effective against mosquitoes. (Keep in mind that this survey was done to promote the company’s new OFF! Mosquito Lamp.)

GLOWING WAR WOUNDS? BACTERIA MAY BE KEY
Bacteria that can make insects sick may have been responsible for the exceptional healing of Civil War soldiers’ wounds that glowed in the dark. This finding comes from a research project by two high school students who worked with an Agricultural Research Service scientist. The two students, Bill Martin and Jonathan Curtis, seniors at Bowie High School in Bowie, Md., were mentored by researchers at the ARS Plant Science Institute in Beltsville, Md. The students placed first in team competition at the 2001 Intel International Science and Engineering Science Fair held in San Jose, Calif., earlier this year.

ARS microbiologist Phyllis Martin and her son Bill, a Civil War buff, had heard the folklore of Civil War soldiers with glow-in-the-dark wounds who appeared to have better survival rates than soldiers with non-glowing wounds. She had previously studied the bacterium, Photorhabdus luminescens, as a potential biocontrol agent and knew that this insect pathogen created a glowing effect.

In their project called "Civil War Wounds That Glowed," the students described how the presence of this luminescent bacterium might have aided healing. They found that three Photorhabdus strains actually produced antibiotics that inhibited the growth of other bacteria that would have caused infections in open wounds.

IN AUGUST

• Rodent Traps and Monitors

• Controlling Wasps and Hornets

• SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Fly Control