By typing in her paternal grandfather’s name into search, we were able to find much more information. The consultant told us that we needed to download his pedigree chart, take it home to our computer and merge his file with my wife’s file. That would associate all his information with my wife’s.

The best computer program for compiling Family History information is Personal Ancestral File (PAF) which is currently in 5.2 release. The software is free, so you should be able to find it in any search engine.

Check back again for next installment which will deal with doing your own research.

Tom LeBaron is a marketing representative of DNA Bioscience, a DNA laboratory that specializes in verifying lost relatives through an affordable DNA test.

When students who should be failing automatically advance to next grade from elementary school through high school, problem keeps getting worse. By graduation day, some students who graduate can barely read their own diplomas. In effect, these students get a counterfeit diploma that is nothing more than a twelve-year attendance record.

What does automatic promotion teach children? Many students tend to set their standards no higher than what their teachers or school expects of them. Automatic promotion lets students coast along with little or no effort, knowing they will advance to next grade even if they never study or do their homework, or receive low grades on their tests. Automatic promotion also tells kids they can succeed in life without effort or perseverance.

Besides creating millions of graduating illiterates, automatic promotion tells kids that mediocrity and laziness are ac-ceptable. It tragically sets children up to fail later in life when reality smacks them in face -- when they apply for college or a job. These are not lessons that schools should be teaching our children.

Article Copyrighted © 2005 by Joel Turtel.