Backpack

The product: Backpack The expert: Pediatric orthopedic specialist Dr. Stuart Weinstein, first vice president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons What I want: Kids to have more time to get to their lockers in between classes. The volume and weight of material they carry to and from school has multiplied, and students seem to carry everything they own in these backpacks. I must have: Padded straps and a waist strap to help support and distribute the weight. The bag should be well-padded to keep sharp book corners from poking through.

My backpack's big,my backpack's blue,my backpack's very nearly new.Grandma sent it in the mail.She bought it at a garage sale.She says by now I'm big enoughto fill it with important stuff.I'll put my teddy bear inside.He'll like a little backpack ride.Here's my train.I'll take my blocks.I'll take my brother's baseball socks.I think I'll take his catcher's mitt -he keeps it soft with lots of spit.My mother hangs her keys up high,but I can reach them if I try.I'll take a cookie and a spare -one for me and one for bear.

IT IS THE first day of school, and my daughter will need a new backpack. As it is for most high school girls, a backpack is a fashion purchase - as opposed to something that comes under the heading of school supplies. It is hard to imagine, I know, but there is such as thing as the "wrong" backpack. This year, however, everyone at Annapolis High School will be carrying the same backpack, or they will carry none at all. New principal Deborah Williams has ruled that only clear backpacks may be carried in the halls of the school.

Students can avoid back strain by following a few simple tips.When a 74-pound kid hoists on a backpack filled with books and notebooks and the necessities of kid-life these days, it's like an adult gaining 20 pounds overnight.In fact, back specialists are hearing sporadic reports of children developing muscle strains and backaches because of how much they are carrying, and the way they are carrying it.There are things parents and children can do to prevent backpack-related back strain, which usually surfaces in the lower back or between the shoulder blades:* Make copies of textbook ma-terials children need for a particular day so they can leave the book at home.

A committee charged with studying backpack safety suggests that the Howard County school system find alternatives to traditional textbooks, which add to backpack weight. The committee suggests that the school system investigate the use of e-textbooks and other electronic resources, such as notebook computers, as alternatives to traditional textbooks; discuss book weight with textbook companies; and provide an additional set of textbooks for students to keep at home. Extra textbooks in four core high school subjects alone could cost the school system as much as $2.25 million, according to the committee's research.

Baltimore County police are seeking the public's help in locating a backpack belonging to Tiona Katrice Smith, who was discovered dead Sunday in the back yard of a home in the 6800 block of Fox Meadow Road in the Woodmoor area. The medical examiner has determined the death to be a homicide, caused by multiple sharp force injuries. The backpack is described as gray with dark patches and may contain clothing belonging to the victim. Detectives know that Smith, 23, worked at the McDonald's in the Cockeysville area and that she typically traveled by public transit to her home in the 3900 block of Mountwood Road in Southwest Baltimore.

Kate Bancroft, 9, claims sweaty and achy shoulders are the only side effect of lugging around her large, fluorescent orange L.L. Bean backpack. But as another school year begins, her family is more worried."

Standing bleary-eyed in front of the bathroom mirror one morning not too long ago, I was shocked to see the woman next to me using an electric toothbrush. Perhaps if we were somewhere in North America where civilization abounds, I would not have been so taken aback. But we were standing in the communal bathroom of a rugged campground in the Namibian wilderness. Just to get from my tent to the bathroom, I had to trudge through a raging sandstorm. And here was this woman, casually brushing her teeth with an electric toothbrush as if nothing could be more normal.

In an article yesterday about Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids, the Associated Press incorrectly explained how removing the doll's backpack stops its chewing action.Removing the backpack prevents it from pressing against a lever on the doll's back. When that lever is deactivated, the chewing motion stops. The toy's batteries are not stored in the backpack.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 1/01/97

POLICE LOG* Highland: 13000 block of Saint Patrick Court: A backpack containing personal property was stolen from the front porch of a home Thursday, police said.