With one degree already under his belt, the 12-year-old has just clinched a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Chicago, where he will combine his medical studies with a PhD.

 The son of a Korean mother and a Japanese father, Sho enrolled in college at the age of nine and will graduate summa cum laude (with top honours) from Loyola this month with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.

Still, in spite of his nearly flawless grades, test scores and recommendations from his college teachers, the University of Chicago admissions panel thought long and hard before deciding to admit him.

He had to go through twice the customary number of personal interviews. He was also evaluated by a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Sho is slated to start at the university next month.

His ambition is to become a cancer researcher.

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http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1366340,00.html

Little hands sift soil for big legacy

By SELICIA KENNEDY-ROSS, Staff Writer, San Bernardino County Sun, USA

REDLANDS, CA, U.S.A.May 02 - Little fingers, brown with earth, gently placed dark soil around the young eucalyptus sapling and patted its roots.

First-graders Alexis Ruiz and Matthew Malgra said they had never planted a tree before.

"It's going to look like a forest,' said Alexis, 8. "The tree is going to grow big, and when people come here, they'll have shade.'

His classmate, 7-year-old Matthew, said "Trees are beautiful, and they're good for us.'

The trees will serve as a border to protect the little ones' playground from the street, said Eric Kasarjian of the technical support projects team at ESRI.

"Anybody who plants a tree leaves a legacy,' said Principal Jim O'Neill.

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-5-2003_pg7_10 -click for photo

21 child jockeys return from UAE

Daily Times, Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan May 3- Twenty-one more Pakistani children arrived here on Friday from UAE and Saudi Arabia to rejoin their families.

Those who arrived from Saudi Arabia were identified as Mst Khadija Khatoon, Mohammed Saeed, Mohammed Usman, Mehmooda Perveen, Saeeda Perveen, Tasleema, Siraj and Saeed Alam. The OPF officials said that they have started a search for the parents of these children. Some of the parents had come to get their children while others were shifted to Edhi Home.

[Ed note: Child jockeys are used for camel racing. It is not something that children like to do; but sometimes this is a job they do for their families to get money. It is good news when they come back home!]

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http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/county_news/article/0,1375,VCS_226_1934969,00.html

Teacher, child rescued in canyon

By staff reports, Ventura County Star, USA

Ventura County, Ca,  USA, May 3 -A day of hiking in Ventura County turned into a dramatic rescue for a group of disabled children and their teacher Friday.

A group of developmentally disabled students from Oxnard School District were hiking along the LaJolla Trail near Point Mugu around noon, officials from the California Youth Authority said.

One of the five children pushed another about 15 feet down a cliff to the bottom of a canyon, officials said.

A student teacher climbed down the cliff to help the 10-year-old child but she was struck in the head by a falling rock. The unidentified teacher began falling in and out of consciousness.

A crew of five female firefighters from the California Youth Authority, led by Department of Forestry Fire Capt. Joe Barraza, stumbled upon the emergency during training.

Crew members walked the child, who was not injured, back up the cliff.

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http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2677264- click for photo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_2998000/2998299.stm -click for photos

Baghdad Children in School, Saddam Images Removed

By Elizabeth Piper, Reuters and BBC, UK

BAGHDAD Iraq May 3-Samar clung to her father's side, unsure whether it would be safe to join her friends on the first day back at school in Baghdad after the war filled her head with fears of gunmen and killers.

"I am very scared that they might try to shoot me again," eight-year-old Samar said, reliving a time during the war when a gunman shot at the car she was riding in with her father.

Samar was one of many Iraqi children who returned to school in Baghdad on Saturday, a move hailed as another step toward restoring some normalcy to life in the volatile country after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Parents stuck closely to their children on the walk to school fearful for their safety. Once there, children kissed their teachers and sat down in classrooms, some still covered in shards of glass from broken windows.

Teachers say they fear that many children will have nightmares and fears that will be hard to ease.

"It is the start of trying to make life normal again," said teacher Maha Mohammed. "It could take a long time," she said.

And things are very different for the kids since Saddam Hussein's regime was removed from power.

Then at the beginning of each day the pupils had to chant "long live Saddam", now they are saying "long live Iraq".

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http://www.mid-day.com/metro/vashi/2003/may/51693.htm - click for cartoon

A fat child is not a healthy child
 
   By: Radhika Oltikar, Mid-Day India