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Editorial: An Opportunity

With the coming of Spring this year, the Earth began its timeless renewal, heedless of the preceding winter that will cast its shadow over the world economy for the foreseeable future..We here at Biotrends turned our thoughts to another rebirth--our own—re-examining our priorities and focusing once again on what we care so deeply about: the health of science and math education in this country.

On the 2nd of February every year in the United States , Americans observe a tradition called the Groundhog Day, a practice stemming from similar beliefs associated with the days of early Christians in Europe when nature exerted a stronger influence in our lives. It is the day when the groundhog comes out of his hole in the heart of winter to look for his shadow. If he sees it, it portends six more weeks of bad weather and the groundhog returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and shadowless, he regards it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

A few years ago, Hollywood made a movie called Groundhog Day . The premise is that a team of reporters travels to Punxsutawney , a small town in Pennsylvania , to cover its claim-to-fame Phil the groundhog's emergence and subsequent prediction. The twist is that the lead reporter, Phil Connors, wakes up the morning after to discover that Groundhog Day is repeating itself, but only he is aware of it. He interacts with his team and the town's people, who behave just as they had the day before… unless , he comes to realize, he behaves differently. Day after day, Connors wakes up to Groundhog Day, any differences being those that he creates through the opportunity to repeat the experience. By altering his own actions and, as a result, others' reactions , he learns a lot about himself and the rewards of becoming a better and more thoughtful person. Naturally (this is Hollywood ), he finally wins the heart of the movie's heroine. Like many feel-good movies, this one ends with a lesson about life and love..........

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