Released April 9, 2007
CLEMSON, S. C. - Visiting scholar Fran Mainella, former director of the National Park Service, is featured in the Newsweek issue on stands today (April 9), where she talks about one of her priorities: getting children out of the house and into the outdoors.
Borrowing from the well-known name of a federal education law, Mainella urges families to Leave No Child Inside.
"We know that it's good for a child to be exposed to nature," Mainella said. "Children who spend time outdoors are healthier, they're less likely to be obese and they have fewer problems with attention deficit disorder."
Newsweek photographers caught Mainella at Falls Park in Greenville with children playing in and near the water.
"We're seeing a generation grow up without an understanding of the outdoors, without an appreciation for nature," she said.
Mainella, who headed the National Park Service from 2001 until last October, is working through Clemson and the people she knows from park services to enhance park experiences for everyone.
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http://clemsonews.clemson.edu/WWW_releases/2007/April/mainella.html
Contacts: Fran Mainella, (864) 656-2566, fmainel@clemson.edu
Ross Norton, (864) 656-4810, rnorton@clemson.edu
