Trends for February 5, 2001

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Feb. 5, 2001 | 8:57 a.m.

Lisa Ferguson is the Sun assistant features editor. Her Trends column appears Mondays. Reach her at lisa@lasvegassun.com or 259-4060.

The winner is ...

It's official. Michael Jordan has made his mark on sports history.

The basketball legend has been named favorite male athlete of 2000 in the Sports Illustrated For Kids readers' poll, the results of which are featured in the magazine's February issue.

This year's nod is the former Chicago Bulls' star's sixth consecutive win in the poll, and his seventh win in nine years (impressive since he hasnt played in three seasons).

More than 3,000 youngsters responded via mail or online to the poll, and also voted for their favorite female athlete (soccer star Mia Hamm), the sports stars that would be the best actor or actress (again, Jordan and Hamm) and their favorite sports movie ("Space Jam," which stars Jordan).

Welcome home

You know how hard it can be getting used to living in a new house or a city. The transition, it seems, is equally as tough for cats and dogs.

So imagine the stress of moving into the White House. All of that responsibility. All of those rooms. All of that antique furniture on which to scratch.

Pet-food maker the Iams Company hasn't forgotten about President Bush's furry friends cat India, Scottish terrier Barney and English springer spaniel Spot who took up residence last month with the first family in the nation's capital.

Iams suggests a couple of tips for making the first pets feel at home.

The animals should not have free reign at the White House. Rather, they should be introduced to the rooms one at a time, starting with the room in which they'll sleep. Also, should they need to travel on Air Force One, all of the pets should be secured in pet carriers.

Write away

Have you ever watched HBO's "Sex and the City," and thought, "I can do that"?

We mean write tales about thirty-something women living in the big city, sharing apartments, meeting men and stressing over their careers.

If so, then you're in luck. Red Dress Ink books, which calls itself a women's fiction program, is searching for females to write its "strong, sassy, urban" books.

The program wants the first chapter of an original book (as well as an outline for a complete novel) that: has not been previously reproduced, published or won any type of award; is 90,000-110,000 words in length; is told from the first- or third-person point of view; and is set in a major North American or other international city.

Submissions, by authors ages 18 and older, must be received by May 1 at Red Dress Writing Contest, 300 E. 42nd St., 6th floor, New York, NY 10017. The first-prize winner will receive $1,000.