UiIe. "That's fabulous news.

r'-" But what do our critics talk aeout?"

",- ,Critics like Lorion, a con­ sultant to the Miccosukee indian tribe, talk about dead-

______ lines the district has already -missed.

"Among-them is Oct. 1, the date when, under state law, the district was supposed to have finished building its Dna! 'marsh. Instead, the district ­ delayed by a contractor's bankruptcy "'7 issued a news

complained that the marshes would be too small '

, Sugar growers claimed that the loss of farmland would, wipe out 1,500 jobs and that such an ambitious engineering project would be akin to "put­ ting water on the mQon."

"We didn~t expect the [marsheslto do as well as they have," said industry lawyer Phil Parsons, an early skeptic. "Nobody had done it on that

, The scale is certainly huge:

The district expects to begin releasing clean water from that tmal marsh some­ time between January ap.d March. Afew months later, the U.S. Army Corps is scheduled to finish the sixth marsh just

But that's not all.

Water managers are already redesigning the marshes to try to meet the state's strict pollution goals for the Everglades.

Th~y're also figurmg out

, • The Army corps is nearly two years behind schedule ~' building its S,lOO-acre f'Ilter marsh near Wellington. And the estimated cost is $199 mil­ lion, nearly double the $108 million a consultant had pro­ jected nine years ago - a rise­ the corps blames partly on ris­ ing land prices.

• Of the four' marshes the water district has already built, onlY-two produce water anywhere dose to the cleatlli-

LOCAL TRENDS

:More boys hitting gyms to lift egos

,,~:~,YMS; FROM1B

:long-related injuries, including musc1e strains and weights falling on toes., '

. "Anyone who is trying to , 'bulk up can cause damage to, muscles, ligaments and bone-structure," said Ronnie Martin, a doc:tor 'Of osteopathic medicine and chairman for the department of family medicine at Nova Southeastern University; He added that adolescents, who are liftmg more weight than they' can handle may "damage the bone's growth plate.

Try telling that to five­foot.,.one Michael McKenzie; a ,freshman at Cooper City High School, who at 14 weighs 80 :pounds. It didn't take much to, persuade Michael's father to register his son at a local gym "Gym memberships can

,Cost from about $20 a month, 'With a two-year contract and a small down payment" to' $400 for 15 months. Most gy:ms require those 16 and 'younger to be superVised by a p~rsonal trainer or a parent, Fees for personal trainers run an additional $30 to $100 per hour. Michael's dad was will~ ing to pay.

"With schooling and life ahead, he needs to build his self-esteem." Brian'McKenzie ­ scUd. "And because he's so small for his age:"

Added Michael:' ''1 just wanted to gain weight to impress people:'

Many girls notice when the scrawny kid from last year returns to school strutting

IlSMARTI : ,

WORKOUT SAFETY

Here are ways for teens to avoidstraining muscles and damaging growth plates

~ Be examined by a pediatrician before be'ginning a ' formal work-out routine.

° Avoid competition weight-lifting Indivdual maxim lifts.

,0 Stick to, lower weights with more repetitions.' ,

° Exercise all major muscle groups.

I • Include warm-ups and cool~down periods.

I

I SOURCE: AQ1erican Academy of Pediatrics

beefy biceps and rock-hard abs.

"How the popular boys are built," said -Sarah Mueller;.13;

, a seventh-grader at Sunrise Middle School in Fort Lauder­ dale, "because it really matters who you go out with or else you become a loser."

Justin, now 17 and a senior at University School at Nova Southeastern, meets with Michelle Valladares at Get Cyced! Fitness in Sunrise three time's a week. He brags about consuming 8,000 calo­ ries a day with the help of power shakes and weight gainers.

"His mom came to me one day and said, 'You have to help my SOIL He's got no self­ confidence and he's very goofy,''' Valladares said.

Valladares now has another term to describe Jus­ tin: "gym :rat:'

"He's an absolute gym. freak. If he could work out wit'h me seven days a week,

he would," she said.

Added Justin, "It's hard to believe. I don't even feel I have changed, but I know I have."

South Florida gyms are cashing in on the growing demand among male teens looking to buff up;

"It 'does get expensive," said Justin's mother, who runs a property appraisal fim. "But if there's a way to make' that money, it's so worth it:'

Bobby Dunn, assistant manager at Club Florida Fit­ ness in Cooper City, said_ members younger than 20 make up a sizable chunk of the club's clients - 30 to 40 percent~ Enrollment fees there begin at $69, plus $19 a month.

Adolescent psychologist Andrea Corn in Plantation said both sexes are now feel­ ing equally the pressure to pump up

"Appearance has taken on even fore importance~ Men

ar_e getting facials ,and going to spas. Guys want to be sculpted' and buffed.' In ,the past decade, men decided, ,'Yeah, it's important for us to look good too;''' Com said."Part Of the- problem is that,the teenager is using his bodj to, feel secure. Their wholE identity becomes, the bod) builder" and God forbid ar injurY comes along," she said "How do they handle a set, back if eveiythingdepends OJ the body?" ,

"You never lrnow what's going to happen" Justin said "I make Sure I'm working just as hard on school and friends, as well as working out. If anY thing happens, I'm not stuck:

THE, CHILDREN'S TRUST Meeting Notice,

•

'Reg!Jlar Board Meeting , Monday. Nov. 17: 4-6 pm

'.

Miami Children's Museum 980 MacArthur Causeway Auditorium

•

Regular Boaro Meeting Wednesday. Dec. 10: 4-6 pm

•

Peace EduCation Foundation 1900 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 200

For further infonnation call: 305-573-3600

www,thechildrenstrust.org