Specialization

 An intriguing story from SFGate.com about injuries rising as young athletes focus on one sport should create lots of debate. There has been discussion about whether specialization was good or bad for young athletes. Now there's growing interest about injuries surfacing from overuse. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com  

On the biggest political stage of the election season in California, the 17 candidates competing to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman struggled to stand out Sunday at a forum that was long on issues and short on time. Some common priorities emerged among those hoping to occupy the seat that Waxman, a Beverly Hills Democrat, is giving up after four decades: traffic woes and public transportation needs, ways to improve public education and a desire to get special-interest money out of politics - espoused even by some with the biggest war chests.

In reference to "One Casualty of Clinton's Health Plan: Freedom to Choose" (Sept. 22), I want to discuss reasons for specialization in medical practice and Park Nicollet cost saving and innovation. I agree with the main premise of the article, that medical care rationing is most likely in our future. Columnist James Flanigan is, however, perpetuating a myth that has gained wide acceptance through repetition by policy wonks and the media: that "the vast majority of medical students have gone into specialized practice because that's where the higher incomes have been."

The nation's largest motorcycle company has reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results for 2014. Harley-Davidson Inc., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange as HOG, on Tuesday reported net income of $265.9 million against revenue of $1.73 billion, up from a 2013 first-quarter report of net income of $224.1 million against revenue of $1.57 billion. Among its strongest sellers?  The Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special and its new Breakout were the No. 1 and No. 2 top selling motorcycles in America for 2013, the company said.

As a doctor, Marvin, you surely must know the dangers inherent in practicing outside one's area of specialization. WES CLARK El Toro

The Soviet Union and nine Communist allies launched a 15-year program to upgrade their economies in areas ranging from microelectronics to atomic energy. Prime ministers of the 10-nation trade bloc Comecon signed the accord, prepared during the last 12 months by Soviet officials, after a two-day meeting in Moscow. The program calls for more cooperation, specialization by individual member-countries in certain branches of industry, increased labor productivity and higher-quality goods.

In a lifetime of work as a professional librarian and avid bibliophile, I have seldom read a book review as concerned and caring as the one by Lee Dembart of "The Civilized Engineer" by Samuel C. Florman ("An Engineer Extols Virtues of a Humanistic Outlook," April 28). It strikes me as an important book for educators and intellectuals alike to read and ponder over, especially in this age of specialization and computerization. For even if the cultural gap between science and humanism cannot be bridged, as Dembart states, at least with profound pleas such as Florman's, there can be communication.

Greenberg correctly points out that indeed some are given undeserved continuing medical education (CME) credits. In all fairness, it must be pointed out that given the cost for attending any medical meeting, it would be foolish for any professional not to try to get his money's worth of education. It is certainly utopian for anyone to believe that there exists a foolproof system to guarantee competence. With the increasing sophistication and specialization in medicine, it is nearly impossible to devise a reliable test to relicense each physician periodically.

"Neither reading nor writing flourishes in our blessed United States," Cleanth Brooks, the eminent literary critic, said recently. "In important respects, we are an illiterate nation." Anyone even mildly interested in literature, language and words knows the truth of Prof. Brooks' lament. Part of the problem, at least, is the increased specialization demanded by a highly specialized world.

Prosecutors in the Randy Steven Kraft murder trial say a paper with 61 entries, found in his car trunk when he was arrested May 14, 1983, is a death list--Kraft's own score card of how many young men he had killed dating back to late 1971. Kraft's attorneys deny it is a death list, and call it meaningless information that will only inflame his jury. Kraft himself, in a 1983 interview, called the list nothing more than references to friends of his and his roommate at the time.

WASHINGTON  - It was a majestic blast, exploding off the bat as if shot from a cannon, and as the ball arced its way toward the outer reaches of Nationals Park, it looked as if it might put a dent in the Capitol dome beyond the left-field wall. Albert Pujols doesn't hit many cheap home runs, and there was no doubt the shot the Angels slugger launched in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals would make history. Some 18,000 men have played major league baseball since 1876, and only 26 of them have hit 500 home runs.

Maybe the numbers seem slightly arbitrary, but that doesn't mean they aren't impressive. Zach Greinke is on some kind of roll and has been now for 16 regular season starts. He went six strong innings Friday night, holding the Diamondbacks to a Miguel Montero solo home run and two other hits. In each of those 16 consecutive starts he has pitched at least five innings without giving up more than two runs. That's the longest such streak since 1914, or as far back as the Dodgers can check.

Award-winning producer-writer-director George Schlatter is a kind of P.T. Barnum of the small screen. An innovative showman, the 81-year-old Schlatter turned the comedy genre on its head with the hip, groundbreaking series "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1968-73) and helped usher in the reality show format with "Real People" (1979-84) But that's not all, folks. He also created the "American Comedy Awards," produced countless TV specials, including "A Party for Richard Pryor" and "Sinatra: 80 Years My Way," and earned more than a few honors for his work, including Emmys and Golden Globes.

SACRAMENTO - Raising the stakes in his campaign to strengthen California's finances, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday called a special session of the state Legislature for next week to consider a new plan to save money and pay off state debt, an election-year pitch that he must make to lawmakers without the benefit of a Democratic supermajority. Brown's proposal is aimed at cushioning the state against recessions and calming its turbulent fiscal waters. It would require Sacramento to capture spikes in revenue and either save the money to prevent budget cuts during a downturn or pay off debt and cover long-term liabilities such as public pensions.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday called a legislative special session to prod lawmakers to approve his proposal for creating a new reserve fund, which the governor says will insulate the state from the economic turbulence it's suffered in the past. The special session is scheduled to begin on April 24. California has had a rainy day fund since 2004, but it's mostly been left empty amid the state's budget crises and there are weak rules for funding the account. Brown wants a new plan that would require the state to save some tax revenue from capital gains.

Fruit flies seem to have a preternatural ability to evade annoyed swatters. Now, laser-wielding scientists have discovered the secret of these winged escape artists: They execute speedy hairpin turns by banking in the same way that fighter jets do. The aerial skills of Drosophila hydei , described this month in the journal Science, could provide insight into the complex neural circuitry that makes such impressive maneuvers possible - and perhaps...

Actor Robert Young, who for 10 years served as the ideal TV patriarch in "Father Knows Best" and went on to star in "Marcus Welby, M.D.," attempted suicide at his Westlake Village home last week, authorities said Saturday. Lt. Bob Barrier, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said Young, 83, ran a hose from the exhaust pipe to his car's interior last Saturday about 7:45 a.m. Authorities were alerted after Young called a tow truck to try to start his car.

Dale Brown says Chris Jackson is "a very unique man." "Somewhere along his life," Brown said this week, "the good Lord reached down and touched him on the shoulder. He gave him special skills and He gave him a special attitude." He also gave Chris Jackson to Dale Brown and Louisiana State University. And ever since, it has been Jackson who has been doing most of the giving. With this 6-foot-1, 170-pound freshman point guard from Gulfport, Miss., averaging 28.1 points, 4.2 assists, 3.

Monday night's NCAA tournament final between Kentucky and Connecticut marks 50 seasons since UCLA's first basketball championship -- a title the Bruins might not have won if not for the cheerleaders. In his book, "Wooden: A Coach's Life," Seth Davis recalls that UCLA was tied with Kansas State late in the 1963-64 semifinal when the cheerleaders finally showed up. Their connecting flight had been delayed by a Chicago snowstorm. How important were they? Two of the young women were dating starters.

Just two weeks after the Beatles' landmark appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, the British group the Dave Clark Five - the Beatles' biggest rivals in the U.S. - had its own remarkable debut on the hugely popular Sunday night CBS show. It was the start of something big. The DC5 performed "Glad All Over," which had knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the U.K. charts earlier in the year. The members of the group from Tottenham in North London were handsome and well dressed, and their music was a pulsating mix of percussion, vocals, sax and sex appeal.