Squirrels are omnivorous

Just got back from a trip to Mesa Verde National Park where, in addition to some amazing ancient stone villages, I saw what appeared to be a chipmunk carrying a dead squirrel in its mouth off the side of the road! It turns out what I saw was probably a squirrel, possibly the Golden-manteled ground squirrel (pictured to the left from the Yosemite National Park site: http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/mammals/groundsquirrels/page.htm). These squirrels are omnivorous, which means they eat "leaves, flowers, seeds, fungi, insects, eggs, small vertebrates, and carrion," according to the Ground-Dwelling Squirrels of the Pacific Northwest, page 11. So the next time that cute little squirrel comes up looking for a handout at the picnic table remember he may actually like a bite of your ham sandwich to go with the peanuts.

Top Baby Names

The Social Security administration has released the most popular baby names for 2005 in the United States, Jacob for boys and Emily for girls. This web site also allows you to see what the most popular names were for every year starting in 1879! For contrast, why not take a look at the United Kingdom's most popular baby names, Jessica for girls and Jack for boys. Amazingly, Jack has won its spot for the 11th year in a row, in the US in the past ten years Jack has never been higher then 34.

Report on Ward Churchill

The Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado at Boulder has released its report concerning allegations of academic misconduct against Professor Ward Churchill. You can read the full report or summary online. You can also read the various news releases leading up to this report online. For more information on the next steps in the process, check out the news release from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

President Bush's speech on immigration

Last night, President Bush gave a speech on immigration reform, you can read or watch the speech online. For a quick overview of his plan, take a look at this fact sheet and for all that Bush has said about immigration recently, take a look at the White House's immigration page. For other sources of information on immigration, take a look at our subject guide.

Foreign-born labor force

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 15% of the U.S. labor force aged 16 and over was foreign-born. This data can be found in the "Labor Force Characteristics of Foreign-Born Workers." This information contains both legal and illegal workers, although the data are based on surveys so there is also the possibility of sampling errors.