Premier Buick & GMC High School Challenge Adds to Annual Race Events

BETTENDORF, IA - At 39, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 has a new way to stay young with the addition of the Premier Buick & GMC High School Challenge. It was announced in a media event at Isle of Capri Casino Hotel.

Participants toe the line for Bix 39 on Saturday, July 27^th, 2013. Registrations are being mailed now in addition to availability at locations throughout the Quad City Area. Online entry is open at www.bix7.com with a valid Visa or MasterCard. Advance entries are only handled through the website, via mailed printed applications or those brought to the Quad-City Times building, 500 E. Third Street, Davenport. You can stay connected with news and training tips at www.facebook.com - Search Quad-City Times Bix 7 or www.twitter.com/@BixSeven.

The Premier Buick & GMC Dealers, in their second year as Official Automotive Sponsor of the Bix 7, now offer a $1,000 prize to athletic funds to each high school of the first boy and girl athletes to cross the finish line in the full race. The Premier Buick & GMC High School Challenge continues a Bix tradition of offering the same prize money for men and women. A space for these athletes to indicate their high school affiliation has now been added to the application.

"Our involvement with the Bix 7 has everything to do with inspiring, celebrating and enabling human achievement," said Greg Piehl, president of the Premier Buick & GMC Dealers Association. "This race reflects our dedication to students, leaders and achievers in our community. As Official Automotive Sponsor of the Bix 7, we wanted to show students that their ambition, whether in the classroom or on the race course, is worth striving for. The Premier Buick & GMC High School Challenge is our way to reward the future leaders of our community one stride at a time."

The Premier Buick & GMC Dealers offer a large selection of new and pre-owned vehicles. The group features Eriksen Buick (Milan, IL), Green Buick & GMC (Davenport, IA), Key Auto Mall Buick & GMC (Moline, IL), Piehl Buick & GMC (Geneseo, IL), Piehl Motors Buick (Princeton, IL), Shottenkirk Buick & GMC (Mount Pleasant, IA), and Yemm Buick & GMC (Galesburg, IL). Look for Buick on the lead lap as Official Pace Car of the Bix 7, at www.PremierBuickDealers.com and www.PremierGMCDealers.com.

The event joins the Quad City Bank & Trust Battle Up Brady, Alcoa Jr. Bix 7, Swiss Valley Farms Quick Bix, VictoryStore.com Gregg Newell and Eloise Caldwell awards for top local male and female area finishers, Rhythm City Casino Race for the Jackpot and Scott County Regional Authority All City Challenge.

Featuring an elite international field, race director Ed Froehlich knows the Bix 7 again has something for everyone while showcasing the Quad Cities' legendary hometown participation and support.

"The Bix 7 brings excitement and pride to our community," said Froehlich, entering his 34^th year guiding the race. "What better way to build on that than to recognize young area athletes this way. I know our sponsors, volunteers and participants will show the international running community again why Davenport, Iowa and the Quad Cities is the only place to be the last full weekend of July."

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Are you looking for a beautiful way to spend a Wednesday morning?  Join Davenport Parks and Recreation at the Conservatory in Vander Veer Botanical Park for our Senior Coffee. This informal program is designed to encourage senior citizens to visit the warmth of the conservator

Are you looking for a beautiful way to spend a Wednesday morning?  Join Davenport Parks and Recreation at the Conservatory in Vander Veer Botanical Park for our Senior Coffee. This informal program is designed to encourage senior citizens to visit the warmth of the conservatory during the colder months and enjoy the color and fragrance of beautiful flowers.

On Wednesday, March 13, participants will be able to enjoy the Spring Flower Show from 10 am - Noon.  The cost for the program is $1 and each participant will have the opportunity to experience the sights, sounds and fragrances of the colorful and vibrant spring flowers as well as enjoy refreshments. An educational presentation on how to care for bulbs will be presented at 10:300 am. Tulip bulbs will be given away.

Pre-registration is not required.

y during the colder months and enjoy the color and fragrance of beautiful flowers.

On Wednesday, March 13, participants will be able to enjoy the Spring Flower Show from 10 am - Noon.  The cost for the program is $1 and each participant will have the opportunity to experience the sights, sounds and fragrances of the colorful and vibrant spring flowers as well as enjoy refreshments. An educational presentation on how to care for bulbs will be presented at 10:300 am. Tulip bulbs will be given away.

Pre-registration is not required.

They're called student-athletes, but many youth advocates - including psychiatrist Gary Malone, are concerned that the emphasis is on "athlete."

"Anyone who follows sports knows that college-level and professional recruiters are looking at recruits - children - at increasingly younger ages, and it's not because they want to ensure these athletic students get a well-rounded education," says Malone,  a distinguished fellow in the American Psychiatric Association, and coauthor with his sister Susan Mary Malone of "What's Wrong with My Family?" (www.whatswrongwithmyfamily.com).

"In my home state, Texas, a new high school football stadium is opening that cost $60 million dollars and seats 18,000. That's all funded at public expense. We constantly read of districts across the country cutting academic and arts programs and teachers' salaries due to budget shortfalls. How can this make sense?"

As a high-performing student-athlete throughout his own high school and college years, Malone says he appreciates the benefits of extracurricular programs.

"But the NCAA.'s own 2011 survey found that, by a wide margin, men's basketball and football players are much more concerned about their performance on the field than in the classroom," he says.

Malone reviews how the imbalance favoring athletic pursuits can damage student-athletes and the family unit:

• Life beyond sports: Only 3 percent of high school athletes will go on to compete in college; less than 1 percent of college athletes turn pro, where the average career is three years with risk of permanent injury, including brain damage, for football players. Even if they're among the successful elite, wealth management is likely to be a major problem; some studies show that up to 78 percent of NFL players go broke after three years of retirement. Is this the best future for a child?

• Misplaced parental priorities: A parent's obsession with a child's success in sports can be extremely damaging to a child, to the extent of bordering on abuse. Parents who look to their children to provide them with the validation, status or other unfulfilled needs don't have their child's best interests at heart. Parents who tend to be domineering can be especially dangerous in the face of an athletic success obsession.

• Siblings left behind: When the family values one child's athletic prowess over the talents and gifts displayed by his or her siblings, the latter children risk growing up without a sense of personal identity, which leads to co-dependency problems in adulthood.

• Pressured to play: Especially in the South, but throughout the entire United States, football is huge. Basketball dominates inner cities and regions like Indiana; wrestling is big in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast, and hockey might be the focus for children throughout Northeast and upper Midwest. Children, especially boys, may feel obliged or pressured to play a particular sport even if they have no talent or interest in it to the detriment of other talents that might have been developed.

"Athletics can be extremely beneficial to a young person's life, but I think we have our priorities backwards," Malone says. "Imagine how much better off our country might be if, instead of football, we were obsessed with our children's performance in science and math."

About Dr. Gary Malone, M.D. & Susan Mary Malone

Dr. Gary Malone is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern and a teaching analyst at the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute. He is a distinguished fellow in the American Psychiatric Association with board certifications in general and addiction psychiatry. He has worked in hospitals and private practices for more than 30 years. Dr. Malone is director of Adult Chemical Dependency Services at Millwood Hospital in Arlington, Texas.

Award-winning writer and editor Susan Mary Malone is the author of the novel, "By the Book," and three nonfiction books, including "Five Keys for Understanding Men: A Women's Guide." More than 40 of the book projects she has edited were purchased by traditional publishing houses. She is Dr. Malone's sister.