Prince William discovers Africa
Prince William is traveling in Africa as the latest stage in his "gap year" between school and university, his office said Saturday.
St. James's Palace said the 18-year-old prince had left for a 3 1/2 month trip to Africa. A palace spokeswoman would not specify which countries William will visit, but said he would learn about Africa's wildlife and environment, be involved in game conservation and possibly help out with safari trips.
William, the eldest son of Prince Charles, begins an art history degree at Scotland's St. Andrews University in the fall.
Mel wants to be an Army Ranger
Mel Gibson has a lot of respect for U.S. Army Rangers, especially after taking part in some of their training.
"I'm dragging. I couldn't even make it through today's round," Gibson said as he went through an abbreviated Ranger training program this week at Fort Benning, Ga.
Gibson will star in "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," based on the 1992 best-selling book by retired Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and U.S. News & World Report senior writer Joe Galloway. The book is based on the Ia Drang Valley campaign of 1965 in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The 1st Cavalry (Airmobile) trained at Fort Benning for 14 months before being shipped to Vietnam in August 1965.
Fonda endows Harvard post
Jane Fonda, who has been an activist for women's issues in real life and on the screen, is giving $12.5 million to Harvard University for the creation of a gender studies center. Researchers at the planned Center on Gender and Education will study how children's development and learning are affected by gender in such areas as math, science and athletics, and develop ways to strengthen their resilience and academic growth.
Fonda, 63, said she was inspired to donate the money after reading the book "In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development" by Harvard psychology professor Carol Gilligan. The donation includes $2.5 million for the creation of an endowed faculty chair in Gilligan's name.
Actors are safe, for now
Directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas said the media have exaggerated the possibility of actors being replaced by digital creations in the future. "It is a non-issue," Spielberg said Thursday during a celebration for the opening of the new Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts at the University of Southern California.
The "Star Wars" creator agreed. "It is only the typical melodrama the press loves to deal with," Lucas said.
Both directors said actors have no reason to worry, mainly because animation, whether it's hand-drawn or computer-rendered, still needs to be voiced by a real person.
"Audiences will go away before actors go away," Spielberg said.
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