Sun Lite, Las Vegas Sun, April 12, 2004

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for April 12, 2004 Lisa Ferguson Monday, April 12, 2004 | 8:14 a.m. Chocolate-coated science Bunnies missing ears, piles of picked-over jelly beans, headless marshmallow chicks: The post-holiday Easter basket is truly a pathetic sight. Of course, once you get past the aesthetics, its contents are still pretty tasty (except for those once-soft chicks, whose innards seemingly petrify when air hits them). A word of advice from Gabriel Cantor, a recent graduate of Massachusetts' Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Resist the urge to chuck into the freezer whatever disembodied parts of the ubiquitous hollow-chocolate rabbit remain. He's fairly certain the carcass will prove yummier when eaten at room temperature. For his senior project, titled "Scale-sensitive Fractal Analysis of Chocolate," Cantor conducted very scientific experiments by breaking hundreds of chocolate pieces of varying temperatures and viewing them under a scanning-laser microscope. To make a long hypothesis short, he noted that warmer chocolate broke into rougher-textured pieces (versus cold chocolate, which is smoother). Texture also determines the amount of flavor people sense while eating chocolate the more, the better. Cantor, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, concluded that warmer, rough-textured chocolate must taste better, though his research did not pinpoint the precise degree at which chocolate reaches its optimum goodness. What will the frozen-chocolate-craving masses do with this information? Probably ignore it. As for Cantor, he says he intends to include it in a paper that he hopes will be published in a research journal. Taxing situation Frigid or toasty, it's never wise to scarf down copious amounts of chocolate in an attempt to relieve stress. Remember that when said bunny's bite-marked remnants are staring you in the face as your anxiety-ridden self is frantically trying to meet the Thursday tax-filing deadline. Go ahead and fret it out this year, but nail-biting won't be tolerated come next April nor will it likely be necessary if you follow some of the organization tips offered by Grace W. Weinstein, author of "The Procrastinator's Guide to Taxes Made Easy" (New American Library, $14). She recommends setting aside a couple of hours each month of the year for tending to tax-related tasks. Where to start? Invest in some manila folders and use them to avoid turning the house upside down during last-minute hunts for required paperwork. Label the folders according to such categories as state and local taxes, medical expenses and charitable contributions. Don't forget to deposit receipts, financial statements, canceled checks and the like in the proper folders as your receive them throughout the year. Soothe the savage beast So, the chocolate rabbit is long gone and you're completely taxed by your tax troubles. There's only one thing left to do: get a dog. While we aren't sure whether a four-legged friend (or finch, or ferret, as the case may be) will qualify as a write-off, one thing is certain: Pets can help reduce stress, a reminder brought to you this tax season by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, a not-for-profit trade group of more than 750 companies nationwide. The association sites studies that claim owning a pet can lower a person's risk for having a second heart attack (no word on decreasing the odds for an initial episode); and that petting a dog or cat, or watching fish swim can decrease blood-pressure rates. Of course, once you tally up the annual costs of vet bills, grooming appointments and chew toys, you can give your puny tax-refund check a slobbery kiss goodbye.