NOTEWORTHY.

• Position: Items deal with the psychology of fan devotion to a sports team; the observation that women, unlike men, use both sides of their brains when dealing with linguistic matters; the poor protection for children using the Internet; and various other topics - Brief Article

Sports fans are expected to be devoted to their favorite teams, but that attachment often can become unhealthy, warns researcher Daniel Mahony, University of Louisville (Ky.). Some grow so emotionally involved that the team's performance becomes part of their social identity, and they can slip into depression when losses mount. Mahony notes, however, that recent squabbles between players and owners over what fans regard as obscene amounts of money have helped lessen such devotion. Moreover, ticket prices have become too expensive for some fans to support their teams in person.

Women utilize more of their brain for processing language than men do, according to scientists at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Using positron-emission tomography (PET) scans to observe the brain at work, they discovered that males process linguistic tasks primarily on the left side of their brains, while females utilize both sides.

Children who go on line are not well-protected, even when visiting Web sites specifically designed for them, say researchers in the Department of Telecommunications, Indiana University, Bloomington. Concern is growing about being able to prevent youngsters from giving personal information to database marketers without parental permission, including name, age, and postal and e-mail addresses.

Teens can refuse gang membership without putting themselves in danger, suggests researcher C. Ronald Huff, Ohio State University, Columbus. "Most people have thought teens face serious reprisals if they spurn a gang invitation, but that isn't so," he notes after interviewing 187 gang members in Denver and Aurora, Colo,; Broward County, Fla.; and Cleveland, Ohio.

Twentysomethings have poor financial habits, points out John Fitzgerald, professor of finance, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. Many young adults can't...