Posted By: Jane Kollmer

So, I'm betting you're all as excited as I am that it's Friday! Who doesn't love Friday? Unless you're one of the unlucky ones who has to work over the weekend, Fridays are a great start to a couple of days of freedom from the stress and anxiety that work can cause.

And Fridays during the summer I especially look forward to - maybe because there's more to do with the extra hours of daylight or maybe because I have an easier time relaxing in the warmer weather.

Anyway, enough idle chat.

I've been getting in gear to plan out the magazine's editorial calendar for 2009, and while that can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task, it also gives me the opportunity to sit back and look at the big picture for once. Although there are certain topics and issues that we must cover on a yearly basis (as our readers have come to expect), there are endless possibilities for other topics that readers would want to know about.

With the radiology field always changing, we members of the editorial staff must take those shifting trends into consideration as we plan out a year's worth of coverage. Not an easy undertaking, but so important to the quality of the magazine. I've been keeping my eyes and ears open all along, but I know there are ideas out there that I'm missing out on.

Are there any topics that you would be interested in reading about? If so, drop me a line at jkollmer@rt-image.com.

Oh, and Happy Friday!

Posted by: Keri Forsythe

I'm a proud Southerner. Although I've now lived in the Philadelphia area for more of my life than the South, I'll always claim my Southerner status. (No, I don't have a picture of Robert E. Lee hanging in my room, but I do make a mean apple pie....My fried chicken still leaves much to be desired, but, hey, I try!)

But, here's something I'm not proud of: the South's rep as the fattest geographic area in the U.S. According to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mississippi ranked as the fattest state for the fourth consecutive year – followed closely by Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Louisiana.

So why do Southerners have the highest collective body-mass index? Dr. William Dietz, who heads CDC's nutrition, physical activity and obesity division, says the answer might lie in the high fat content of traditional Southern foods.

He's not joking. Believe me, I'm glad that there weren't nutritional labels on the foods my Grandma – a true Southern lady from Halls, Tenn. – made every Sunday afternoon. After all, no meal was complete without fried chicken, collard greens, mashed potatoes, cornbread, okra, sweet tea, sweet potato pie, and lemon iced box pie. Just thinking about it is making me hungry.

Thankfully, I've developed better eating habits now. But, I don't want to know what my heart would look like now if I continued eating like that.

As radiology professionals, you likely come into contact with obese patients on a daily basis. Do you ever address the issue with them and encourage healthier eating habits and behaviors. If so, what have you said?

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

In preparation for rt image's 20th anniversary issues, we're looking for the reader who has been with us the longest. If you are a long-time reader of the magazine, we want to hear from you! E-mail us by June 30 and tell us how long you've been a faithful reader.

The person deemed the "longest reader" will also grace the pages of rt image in a special feature. We look forward to your responses!