Not all they're revved up to be

Americans are increasingly turning to hybrids to fight high prices at the pump, but they might want to weigh all the costs before buying an eco-friendly vehicle. Bob Lutz, vice chairman of global product development for General Motors, has predicted that hybrid cars will make up one-third of GM’s vehicle sales by 2015.

High checkout costs

Everything in your local grocery store might look the same as before. However, scanning the items reveals an important difference ­— rising prices. Many Americans are experiencing an added economic pressure due to the increased price of certain foods.

Hitting empty at the pump

(Web Exclusive) In December 2007, Andrew Lynch drove his gunmetal gray Chevy Silverado truck southbound on the lonesome highway. He was just a few miles south of Oklahoma City when the light flashed empty.

Sound advice: Robyn

(Web Exclusive) After a decade of major-label woes, Swedish pop star Robyn shows on her self-titled release how right she was to leave Jive Records and set off on her own. On Robyn, which was released in Sweden in 2005 but is just now making its American debut, she affirms that she was never interested in making anything other than pop; she just wanted to make better pop, fused with electronica and rap.

The Prefabulous Rocio Romero

For many, leaving the office at 5 p.m. doesn’t necessarily mean leaving work altogether. For the go-getters of America’s working class, separation between dwelling and working space is an evaporating concept. But designer Rocio Romero is taking major, and stylish, strides toward reversing this drift and giving today’s customized homes a much-needed detox.

Behaving Badly

Q&A with prefab homeowner Ethan Whitehill

(Web Exclusive) Ethan Whitehill’s vacation home is not only modern and artistic but also simple and sustainable. Missouri designer Rocio Romero inspired Whitehill’s eco-chic vacation home. The best part about it? Romero’s kits and designs are suitable for any location, Whitehill promises.

Save the music

It’s a lesson for all to learn that boozing and computing should never be combined: “I spilled a glass of wine on my keyboard, and then it was completely dead,” MU student Caitlin Flynn laments. Along with her beverage, Flynn lost her entire iTunes library.

Event of the Week: Boppin' Benefit

One in four women reports experiencing sexual assault in her lifetime.

Growing a green business

Two MU students have created the ultimate résumé-building project — their own business. Jack Short and Daniel Lyons are the CEO and president, respectively, of Factory Green. Their online business, launching in late April, offers stylish eco-friendly products. They aren’t shy about their goal. They’re hoping to bring in the green by helping others go green.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good: ‘Til Death Do Them Part

Take Two: Leatherheads

(Web Exclusive) With leather on his head and football in his heart, Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly’s (George Clooney) livelihood revolves around his beloved sport. But in the mid-1920s, the dying popularity of professional football threatens to sack the sport permanently.

Burning bright

Don’t go in the water

In Florida, where the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico breezes keep the air clean, commutes are of no concern to residents. When you can’t see a haze of smog permeating city air, it’s hard to understand the daily impact cars have on the environment. Likewise, recycling has been slow to catch on: My Orlando-dwelling parents recycle aluminum cans, but bottles and newspapers still go in the garbage.

Take Two: Nim's Island

(Web Exclusive) Ever dreamed of having your own private island in the South Pacific complete with tame, helpful animal friends and that most essential modern tool — an Apple computer?



Recycling can’t save you now

Blood-sucking insects. Flesh-eating monsters. Old milk cartons. For generations of horror flicks, the subcategory of eco-horror has used scare tactics to spread awareness about the environment. And when it comes to motivating change, these films might be on to something. “Fear is an effective motivator,” says Columbia psychologist Jacqueline Ellis.

The plight of the pallid sturgeon

For millenia, dating back to the dinosaurs it still resembles, the sturgeon has swum the watery parts of the world. It shrugged off the dinosaurs’ disappearance and yawned through the ice age.

It's not easy selling green

What’s green, a limited resource but infinitely reusable? Cash, of course. Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $250 billion on products and services that claim to be good for the planet — from hybrid SUVs to eco-friendly toilet paper — according to the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey. So it’s no wonder companies are handing over big chunks of their own change to marketers who promise them a greener glow.

The kids are not all right

Kids these days. Give them a lead role in a TV series or film that makes viewers say “aww,” and they throw it away for killing sprees, premarital sex and weed. Hollywood good kids who go bad are as trendy as High School Musical notebooks.

Controlling coal in Columbia

(Web Exclusive) Columbia’s power plant on Business Loop 70 East is still burning strong. With the possibility of a carbon tax burning holes into the consumers’ wallets, the city is now searching for new forms of energy to replace the amount of coal use.

Something's in the water

(Web Exclusive)