A Texas girl with Yanktonties will to be featured in a tele-vision program on the AnimalPlanet channel.

Kenna McNeill, 10, ofSeminole, Texas, was contactedand chosen as one of the “up andcoming little rodeo people” for“Texas Rodeo Tykes,” which willair at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7. Afilm crew came in from Californiaand filmed various rodeo events,various duties on the ranch, as

well as their personal family life.The crew stayed off and on atthe McNeill Ranch with the fami-ly while filming.

Kenna’s mother, Lisa Loecker,McNeill, was born and raised inYankton and graduated from theUniversity of South Dakota inVermillion. Kenna is the grand-daughter of Reynold and MaryLoecker, Yankton, and the great-granddaughter of Mary AnnLoecker, Yankton.

BY TOM AND RAY MAGLIOZZI

Dear Tom and Ray:I live in Michigan, where Mother Nature

constantly tries to do me in with her lake-effect snow and black ice. I recently pur-chased a 2010 Jeep, which is the first vehicleI’ve ever owned with a traction-control but-ton. Why in the world would I EVER want toturn the traction control off? I quite enjoyhaving traction. Is there any downside toalways having the traction control system on?

-- DanRAY: Normally, no. For the vast majority of

your driving lifetime, Dan, the traction con-trol should be on.

TOM: Traction control uses the anti-lockbraking system to prevent your wheels fromspinning when you accelerate. Because oncethe wheels start to spin, you lose all tractionand lose directional control of the vehicle.You’ve probably experienced this phenome-non, often referred to as fishtailing.

RAY: So, why would you ever want to turnit off? The only reason would be if you’realready stuck in a pile of snow, for instance.Sometimes the only way out of a parkingspace or a snowdrift is to “blast out.” Thatmeans hitting the gas and letting the wheel

spin until it digs down and grabs onto some-thing.

TOM: Or rocking the car back and forthbetween drive and reverse until you can buildup enough momentum to get over the humpof snow that’s blocking you. Neither of thosetechniques always works, but sometimes it’syour only hope. And traction control preventsyou from using those techniques.

RAY: Right. With traction control on, as

soon as a wheel starts to spin, the brake getsapplied to that wheel, preventing you fromblasting anywhere!

TOM: In fact, some cars’ traction controlsystems are so sensitive that they can make acar stop dead in its tracks in the snow. It’shappened with some Mercedes models we’vetested, and with the latest Toyota Prius.

RAY: Right. If the car doesn’t have perfecttraction, some traction control systems justwon’t let the car move. In cases like that,you’d want to be able to turn off the tractioncontrol and then, as soon as you get going,turn it back on. And then (to answer yourquestion) leave it on, Dan.

Bumps and potholes do more than merelyannoy drivers. Find out what, and how youcan ease the pain, by ordering Tom and Ray’spamphlet “Ten Ways You May Be Ruining YourCar Without Even Knowing It!” Send $4.75(check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

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© 2010, King Features Syndicate, Inc.

CCLLIICCKK && CCLLAACCKK

Traction Control Almost Always Is A Good Thing

BY TOBIN BARNES

The kooks are coming out ofthe woodwork. Again.

One of the subjects that I’vetaught over the decades is U.S.history. My major in collegewas English, but history hasbeen my avocation. I find it fas-cinating to trace how muchthings change while simultane-ously remaining the same.

It’s kind of crazy, really.But that’s why history is so

useful. Similar dilemmas keeppopping up again and again.

As George Santayana said,“Those who do not know theirhistory are doomed to repeatit.” And the great HarryTruman, a self-taught studentof history, said, “The only thingthat is new in this world is thehistory you don’t know.”

Mankind’s accumulatedknowledge has increased expo-nentially over the millennia ofrecorded history — particular-ly in the last century. We usedto store knowledge in millionsof books in huge libraries. Nowwe can store it all in a broomcloset full of computer chips.

But at the same time thatknowledge has taken leaps andbounds, human nature andbrain power have remained atvirtually the same levels asthose of the pyramid builders.

Evolution marches on in allplants and animals, but it takesmillions of years, not hundreds.So we can’t look down ournoses at the ancients, probablynot even at the cavemen. Theirpetty biases, jealousies, faults,and neuroses are, sadly, stillours.

Are we less animalistic thanour ancient brothers?Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no.Many events of the 20thCentury and this centurywould go in the “no” column.There’s no need to documentthe obvious. And the samecould be said for the ancientpeople in relation to theirancestors.

We are not technologicallywhere we are today because ofsome sudden flowering of thehuman intellect in recent years.Instead our comforts havecome, to paraphrase Sir IsaacNewton, from standing on theshoulders of giants who in turnstood on the shoulders of othergiants who somehow managedto incrementally think and liftthemselves above their owntimes.

Usually an advance camefrom the inspiration of onegreat mind that was in turn

supported byother aboveaverage intel-lects who hadthe courage toperceive andappreciate theimprovement inthought.

Yeah, wellanyway, back to

history and the lessons itteaches to those who payattention.

I tell my students that allthrough history, includingAmerican history, when theeconomic system of the timegoes into a dive, the kookscome out of the woodwork.

Yeah, you heard me, kooks.Kooks that ordinarily would-

n’t garner any attention what-soever — would in normaltimes, in fact, be laughed out ofthe place — in times of dis-tress, these kooks finally find adesperate audience looking fora messiah or at least a messian-ic message.

You can look it up. It’salmost like clockwork.

When people are hurting,the kooks come out of thewoodwork promising simplisticbut ill-considered solutions.And all-too-many people paythem heed, thereby becomingkooks as well.

Still, the original kooks andtheir follower kooks make uponly a minority, but this minori-ty can also be a motivated anddedicated gaggle that cancause worlds of trouble.

Currently, an all-too-largepart of our population is suffer-ing from the effects of the GreatRecession, the greatest eco-nomic catastrophe since theGreat Depression, a time whenpeople looked for easy answersand admired the dogma ofkooks from both the far leftwing and the far right wing.

Yep, the economy is downnow, and we’re right in thethick of it again. And pre-dictably, the kooks have comeout of the woodwork.

Fortunately, for the betterpart of U.S. history, saner headshave eventually prevailed. MostAmericans have been too smartfor the kooks. Let’s hope thisparticular aspect of history con-tinues to repeat itself in similar-ly positive ways.

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Kooks Coming Out OfThe Woodwork, Again

Barnes

www.yankton.net PAGE 5AYankton Daily Press & Dakotan ■ LIFE ■ Saturday, October 2, 2010

Paid for by Garry Moore

An Independent Voice of Responsible Government

I will treat your tax dollars as if it were my own,

RESPONSIBLY and CONSERVATIVELY .

Elect

GARRYMOORE Yankton County

Commissionon November 2nd

EXPERIENCE COUNTS

Fall Style ShowFall Style Show

Saturday, October 9, 2010Location: The Center, 900 Whiting Dr., Yankton

Show starts at 2:00pm

All proceeds go toward OES and The Center’s senior programs

Schedule1:30-2:00 Accessory Booths Open

2:00 Show begins 3:30 Lunch

3:30-4:00 Accessory Booths Open

$5.00 per ticketTickets available at The Center

665-4685

Drawings for Door Prizes

Paid for by Committee to Elect Dan for Sheriff

Vote for Dan ThompsonYour candidate for Yankton County SHERIFF

Come visit and ask questions!

Dan will be at The Center, 900 Whiting Drive

Tuesday, October 12 From 11:00AM to 1:00PM

Animal Planet Guest Star Has Yankton Ties

SUBMITTED PHOTOKenna McNeill was chosen as one of the “Up and Coming littlerodeo people” for “Texas Rodeo Tykes.” She will be featuredon an upcoming Animal Planet show.

VERMILLION — Senior MollyMack was crowned Miss Dakotawhile Dzenan Berberovic, a seniorcontemporary media and journal-ism major, was named Mr. Dakotaduring Dakota Days Coronationactivities on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Mack of Redfield is a businessmanagement major and was spon-sored at coronation by NewmanCenter. Her activities are KappaAlpha Theta, Pre-dental Club,Symphonic Band, Alpha LambdaDelta, National Society ofCollegiate Scholars, SDSHAA CheerJudge, Honors Program and phar-macy technician at SanfordVermillion.

Berberovic of Sioux Falls isinvolved in Pi Kappa Alpha,Student Ambassadors andDakotans at USD. His sponsoringorganization was Dance Marathon.

Additional royalty for DakotaDays 2010 includes king candi-dates Alex Neukirch of Yankton, apsychology major; Kevin Cwachfrom Yankton, a biology major;economics and political sciencemajor Tim Carr of Lamoni, Iowa;Patrick Davis of Yankton, a physicsmajor; Matthew Blake of Pierre, aahistory and political sciencemajor; and business marketingmajor Kyle Schoenfelder ofIroquois; and queen candidatesElizabeth Falk of Aberdeen, acommunication sciences and dis-orders major; Alexis Konstant ofSpearfish, a marketing major; polit-ical science and health services

administration major ChelsiGunderson of Sioux Falls; SarahOlson of Brandon, majoring inhealth services administration;Megan Peitzmeier of Omaha, Neb.,an elementary education major;and Aleisia Gomez of Spearfish, apsychology major.

The theme for Dakota Days2010, “REDVOLUTION,” is a play-on-words describing the evolutionof USD’s curriculum and campusto Division I in academics and ath-letics.

RODEO PRINCESS2010 Dakota Days Royalty Announced

SUBMITTED PHOTOMolly Mack and DzenanBerberovic were crowned 2010Dakota Days King and QueenTuesday night.

The Lewis & Clark TheatreCompany is announcing an addi-tional audition date for its pro-duction of the upcomingChristmas classic, “A ChristmasStory.” The audition date is 2p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, at theDakota Theatre.

A cast of 11-15 men, womenand children is needed. No needto bring anything. Just show upand be ready to read.

For more information, call theDakota Theatre from noon-5 p.m.weekdays at 605-665-4711.

‘Christmas Story’ Audition Added

Y O U R N E W S ! T H E

P R E S S & D A K O T A N

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