Lucky the Ladybug, a Beanie Baby, could be the big star at the Metrodome July 31, when the Minnesota Twins give away the coveted toys to the first 10,000 fans aged 14 and under. Mark Ritson, consumer researcher in the U's Carlson School of Management, says the current clamor for the toys is a manifestation of children learning to be consumers. And at that age it's an incredibly intense social environment. Everyone has to fit in.
Children move in a very self-conscious social world, and their parents get involved.
All-Star game stands as an indicator. Consider spending nine hours with two other people in a sealed sphere six feet across. Ding was trying out a probe to measure hydrogen gas released from vents on the seafloor where Earth's crustal plates diverge. The probe, designed by Ding and geology professor William Seyfried, was damaged when the Alvin pilot accidentally jammed it into a rocky opening that was too narrow. Before that, the hydrogen probe performed well.