_____LEADS
**1. BEHAVIOR: BE OPTIMISTIC -- SAFEGUARD YOUR HEART THIS VALENTINE'S DAY. DANA LIGHTMAN, Ph.D., behavioral psychologist and author of "POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have... Create the Success You Want": "The research is piling up. Heart health is not only related to diet and exercise -- creating and maintaining an optimistic attitude is also key to cardiovascular health. Since February is National Heart Month, it's the perfect time to look at how we can learn to be more optimistic using simple techniques, such as acting from our control zone, being a neutral observer and practicing appreciation. These components of optimism can be learned to help reduce stress and maintain both emotional and physical health."
**2. FOOD: THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S BOX OF CHOCOLATES. MARTHA CRAWFORD, senior advisor to the International Baking & Pastry Institute at JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY: "Make a Valentine's Day date with yourself to explore some of the new tastes being offered by chocolatiers. There are so many choices; some of the companies are putting out entire catalogs with in-depth descriptions of the fillings, from salted caramel to Mexican hot chocolate. It's no longer 'take a bite and see what you've got.' Instead, each individual piece in a box of chocolate is now almost considered a work of art." Crawford is available to comment on some of the new trends in flavors.
**3. LEISURE: HOW TO TAILGATE LIKE A PRO. JOE CAHN, the "Commissioner of Tailgating" and the world's only professional tailgater, has traveled more than 280,000 miles visiting 32 NFL, 73 college stadiums and nine NASCAR tracks, tailgating with hundreds of thousands of people annually: "Tailgating is the last great American neighborhood and the new community social where everyone is welcome and no one goes hungry. The parking lot is a neighborhood where no one locks their doors, everyone is happy to see you and everyone is there to share in the fun, food and football." This past season, Cahn tacked on another 32,000-plus miles onto the log as he traveled from coast to coast meeting thousands of NFL fans. He can provide tips on must-have foods and how to tailgate like a pro.
**4. PARENTING: KEEP CHILDREN ACTIVE WHILE INDOORS. DR. JACI VANHEEST, associate professor of Kinesiology at the UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT's Neag School of Education, can discuss ways to keep children active indoors when weather prevents them from outdoor activities, and can offer tips for keeping children on the move in the winter: "It's important for parents to include fun indoor activity during the winter months, when children have fewer outside play options. A healthy child has a better chance of growing up to be a healthy adult, so it's important that physical activity starts at a young age." Long considered an energy expert, VanHeest has worked with USA Swimming, the International Center for Aquatics Research and has been instrumental in developing the University of Connecticut's Husky PAW Pals Program, which provides before-school physical activity opportunities for elementary- school children at risk for obesity.
**5. RECREATION: RECREATIONAL TREE CLIMBING IS TAKING OFF. TOBE SHERRILL, president of SHERRILL TREE AND CLIMBING SUPPLY, which produced a first-of- its-kind catalog devoted to recreational tree climbing: "Recreational tree climbing is taking off across the U.S. and around the world. According to industry stats, 50,000 Americans have used ropes and harnesses to climb trees in the last few years. We're seeing huge growth in this sport. It uses much of the same gear that rock and ice climbers use. Climbers climb trees up to 250-feet tall. The sport now has major organizations in more than 30 countries around the world."
**6. SAFETY: CHANGE YOUR DRIVING BEHAVIOR THIS WINTER. JOHN ULCZYCKI, director of transportation safety at the NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL, leads the council's transportation safety programs with a focus on reducing injuries and deaths related to impaired driving, large trucks, seat belts and child restraints: "Here's a mid-winter reminder for motorists to their change wiper blades as well as their driving behaviors. Reducing speed, turning on headlights and keeping the windshield clean and clear can help ensure winter motorists reach their destinations safely. At this time of year, especially, rapidly changing road surface and traffic conditions make properly functioning windshield wipers critical to driver visibility." Ulczycki can discuss the council's new "Seemore Safety Campaign" kicking off this Groundhog Day season, which is designed to bring attention to the often- overlooked problem of poor driving visibility by introducing the campaign mascot, Seemore the Safety Groundhog.
**7. SPORTS: WHEN WILL FANS LEAVE LOSING TEAMS? DR. KIRK WAKEFIELD, chair of the marketing department at BAYLOR UNIVERSITY: "How long can fans suffer? Will fans at some point desert these perennial losers? Our research finds that fans of losing teams basically ignore the team's record. It doesn't influence their feelings about the team. Instead, these fans will make excuses for the team's performance and will instead focus on the good performance of individual players. Highly identified fans of losing teams will take special pleasure in the few occasions the team does do well. The team may lose three out of four against the division leaders, but it's that one game that allows them to temporarily BIRG (Bask in Reflected Glory)."
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