Pecking Order

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. Right? Not quite, say the experts. Mean, spitting spleen, and torment in between might more accurately describe the ways of many girls during adolescence. Four new books have appeared on the topic of "relational aggression" - the henhouse behaviors psychologists claim girls exhibit as they establish the pecking order of popularity. The mean, mean girl machine is such a hot topic right now it could set an anthill on fire.

If you're one of the millions of Americans who travel by air, a question you no doubt frequently ask yourself, upon boarding an airplane, is: "What, exactly, are the odds that this airplane will be pecked apart by birds?" Unfortunately, they are a lot higher than you thought. Alert reader Colleen C. Brown has sent in an Associated Press article stating that ravens have been pecking holes in small airplanes at the airport in Sodoltna, Alaska. This is not the first example of nature getting out of control in Alaska (official state motto: "Bear?

Temple will become a major player when it comes to recruiting elite basketball talent. Of course, that's assuming the Owls find a way to leave the Atlantic Ten and join the Big East as an all-sports member. Discussions between the Big East and Temple regarding the Owls are hitting the final stages. Temple could join the conference for all sports as early as next season. "If Temple goes to the Big East, I think the landscape for it will change, instantly," said Kamal Yard, the director for the Under Armour-sponsored Philly Pride AAU team and the Under Armour grassroots representative for the Philadelphia area.

Girls' soccer rivalries don't get much better than Shawnee and Cherokee. They played three thrillers last year, with little separating the two teams. Shawnee won, 1-0, during the regular season and beat the Chiefs, 6-5, on penalty kicks in the South Jersey Group 4 final after playing to a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime. Cherokee returned the favor by beating the Renegades, 3-2, in the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Tournament final. Shawnee finished No. 1 in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings, and Cherokee was second.

A county committee will be appointed to examine the future of the Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster, the Bucks County commissioners have announced. Commissioners Chairman Andrew L. Warren said at a Wednesday meeting that the committee was likely to be appointed in the next few weeks. It will review alternative uses for the land on which the base is now housed. Warren said that committee members would include municipal and business officials from Bucks and neighboring Montgomery County.

In the momentary void left by the firing of Matt Guokas, Sixers owner Harold Katz, for all his intents and purposes, had two people he could anoint the successor: Guokas's two assistants. Two choices. He could have chosen Fred Carter, and Katz would have made Philadelphia history by hiring the area's first black head coach of a major professional sports team. Katz instead chose Jim Lynam, Guokas's other - and senior - assistant coach. And no history was made. History, it seems, was not even considered in the discussions that led to Guokas's departure and Lynam's naming.

"We've seen some real damage to the consumer's psyche. " - Tom Kloza, an analyst at Oil Price Information Services, on the continuing effects of high gasoline prices. "More than anything, this is about being fed up. We are absolutely fed up. " - Spanish protester Maria Martinez, 32, on bleak job prospects in the country's poor economy. "We're in some ways a victim of our own success. " - Maureen Mulligan, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association, on the glut of projects spurred by federal and state incentives.

Jim Slattery is usually the third or fourth substitute on Germantown Academy's basketball team. Then came yesterday, when the occasion for the Patriots was an Inter-Ac League game at Chestnut Hill Academy, and, voila, he was starting. Slattery, a 6-2, 190-pound junior forward, made a significant leap up the pecking order after coach Jim Fenerty issued one-game suspensions to four players, including three starters, for what he termed a violation of team rules. The missing sub was Brendan Kelly.

The week before, over the same William Tennent High School course, Pennsbury beat Council Rock at the Tennent Invitational, 40-48. Two weeks before, at Coatesville's Steel City Invitational, the score had been Council Rock 90, Pennsbury 93. On Friday, Council Rock won its fifth consecutive Suburban One National Conference-Patriot Division title, outscoring Pennsbury, 31-36, despite Falcons Scott Whiteman and Marc Magnani running first and...

Temple will become a major player when it comes to recruiting elite basketball talent. Of course, that's assuming the Owls find a way to leave the Atlantic Ten and join the Big East as an all-sports member. Discussions between the Big East and Temple regarding the Owls are hitting the final stages. Temple could join the conference for all sports as early as next season. "If Temple goes to the Big East, I think the landscape for it will change, instantly," said Kamal Yard, the director for the Under Armour-sponsored Philly Pride AAU team and the Under Armour grassroots representative for the Philadelphia area.

"We've seen some real damage to the consumer's psyche. " - Tom Kloza, an analyst at Oil Price Information Services, on the continuing effects of high gasoline prices. "More than anything, this is about being fed up. We are absolutely fed up. " - Spanish protester Maria Martinez, 32, on bleak job prospects in the country's poor economy. "We're in some ways a victim of our own success. " - Maureen Mulligan, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association, on the glut of projects spurred by federal and state incentives.

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. Right? Not quite, say the experts. Mean, spitting spleen, and torment in between might more accurately describe the ways of many girls during adolescence. Four new books have appeared on the topic of "relational aggression" - the henhouse behaviors psychologists claim girls exhibit as they establish the pecking order of popularity. The mean, mean girl machine is such a hot topic right now it could set an anthill on fire.

Shawnee's surge was almost undetectable. The Renegades didn't even have to take a stride to do it. They went from fourth to third with almost no one noticing. Heck, they weren't even sure they had done it. The Renegades' girls' cross-country team left Holmdel Park after Saturday's Meet of Champions with fourth-place medals but with the knowledge that a scorekeeping mistake could change the results. Saturday night, Shawnee coach Mike Yurcho got the call from meet director Don Danser.

The Eagles' future is still wearing No. 5. Donovan McNabb will start the season's final game if his left knee heals enough and will come into training camp in July as the team's No. 1 quarterback. None of that has changed. However, head coach Andy Reid made it clear yesterday that the battle for the No. 2 job will be an open competition between Sunday's hero, Koy Detmer, and Doug Pederson, who started the first nine games of this season. "As long as Donovan's healthy and as long as he continues to progress, I can tell you that he'll be the No. 1 guy," Reid said.

Jim Slattery is usually the third or fourth substitute on Germantown Academy's basketball team. Then came yesterday, when the occasion for the Patriots was an Inter-Ac League game at Chestnut Hill Academy, and, voila, he was starting. Slattery, a 6-2, 190-pound junior forward, made a significant leap up the pecking order after coach Jim Fenerty issued one-game suspensions to four players, including three starters, for what he termed a violation of team rules. The missing sub was Brendan Kelly.

Not even Donnie Walsh thought it would be like this. Walsh, the president and general manager of the Indiana Pacers, had targeted Larry Bird as the right coach at the right time to succeed close friend Larry Brown after last season's 39 victories left them out of the playoffs. But not even Walsh could have envisioned the Pacers having the best record in the East (29-12) and Bird becoming the East All-Star coach Feb. 8 in New York. "The way I look at it, Larry Brown gets a lot of responsibility for where we are today, getting us into the Eastern finals twice, getting us over the hump," Walsh said, looking ahead to tonight's game against the 76ers.

Girls' soccer rivalries don't get much better than Shawnee and Cherokee. They played three thrillers last year, with little separating the two teams. Shawnee won, 1-0, during the regular season and beat the Chiefs, 6-5, on penalty kicks in the South Jersey Group 4 final after playing to a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime. Cherokee returned the favor by beating the Renegades, 3-2, in the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Tournament final. Shawnee finished No. 1 in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings, and Cherokee was second.

Nikki Thiemann was the perfect No. 2 runner last season. A junior, she would follow behind Shawnee teammate Lisa Setter, pushing the senior but never seemingly passing her. In workouts or races, the results were always the same. Until the Olympic Conference cross-country championships on Nov. 1. As usual, Thiemann was running alongside Setter and Highland's Stacey Simon for most of the last mile or so. In fact, with about 150 yards remaining, they were still dead even. Then something unusual happened.