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To lure more customers into their stores this holiday shopping season, several big-box retailers are opening on Thanksgiving Day in addition to extending their Black Friday hours. U.S. News spoke with some shopping experts to find out how consumers can score the best deals this year and make the most of the longer store hours.

I'm heading to the gynecologist next month for my annual checkup and am expecting not to get my usual Pap smear. That's because the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued new recommendations today advising women not to be screened so frequently. Women like myself who are over 30 and have had three consecutive negative test results should be tested just once every three years. Those ages 21 to 30 should be tested every two years instead of every year. ...

My 7-year-old neighbor looked less than thrilled as her mom drove her off for her second H1N1 flu shot yesterday. But she and her little sister both have asthma, and their mom didn't want to take needless risks with a novel flu strain that's hitting children harder than adults.

By getting gamers up on their two feet, Nintendo's Wii workouts are a healthier take on video games than anything that came before (and the cost of the console is dropping). My generation was the first to grow up glued to game graphics, and some of us have the spines to prove it. In medical journals these days, early case reports of "Wii knee" and other orthopedic traumas have been fast followed by serious efforts to understand just how much our bodies stand to gain from Wii workouts. ...

If you have teenagers, you know that two of their most beloved pieces of hardware are the cellphone and the car. Put them together, and it's teen nirvana. One quarter of teenagers say they text while driving, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, despite the many public safety campaigns pointing out the dangers. Half of the teenagers polled say they have ridden in a car while the teenage driver was texting.

Some executives have received huge compensation packages even as their firms eliminated worker pensions. Ten large U.S. companies paid senior executives a total of $350 million in the 5 years leading up to terminating traditional pension plans for employees, a new Government Accountability Office analysis found.

Despite tough times, electronics makers appear to be determined to deliver a touch of luxury this holiday season. They're bucking a history of dreary beige-and-black boxes with devices that look stylish--even beautiful. Smooth lines from nature, colors with a bit of whimsy, and bold designs that enhance functionality are breathing life into a moribund industry.

The Rhodes Trust announced yesterday the 32 American Rhodes scholars who will begin studying at England's Oxford University in the fall of 2010. The Rhodes Scholarship, which was created in 1902, covers the costs of two, three, or--in some cases--four years of study at Oxford.

It has been a year since Florida State football star Myron Rolle famously arrived on the field halfway into Florida State's 37-3 victory against the University of Maryland. The standout safety was capping off a whirlwind November day that marked an exciting chapter in Rolle's story, one that picked up steam this summer and will be a hot topic when the NFL draft process starts in the next few months.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest international fellowship. Established after the death of British colonialist, magnate, and statesman Cecil J. Rhodes in 1902, it brings outstanding students from many countries around the world--with 32 each year coming from the United States--to pursue studies in all of the fields available at the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

It's an agonizing time to be a laissez-faire capitalist.

Nov. 30 is the deadline for most people to reinvest any unwanted minimum payouts from retirement plans. When people with IRAs, 401(k)s, and other qualifying plans reach the age of 70 and a half, they must begin taking at least minimum required distributions (RMDs) from these plans, according to IRS rules. But there was widespread sentiment to waive this requirement for 2009 RMDs because big 2008 investment losses would have forced many retirees to sell holdings at depressed prices.

Management writer Lin Bothwell once said that it takes a darned good meeting to beat no meeting at all. Those of us who've sat through mind-numbing meetings would agree. When people stagger to the door and announce that "it's time to get back to work," they are revealing how they regard the time just spent.

Even as the U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter, the nation's eroding labor market sent the mortgage delinquency rate to new heights and created fresh headaches for the Obama administration. About 1 in every 7 home loans in the country was either past due or in foreclosure at the end of the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's most recent National Delinquency Survey. That's the highest delinquency rate in the survey's history (the data begin in 1972). ...

Save or spend? That will be the question that bedevils consumers over the next several years as they replenish their rainy-day funds, rebalance their debt, and limp toward retirement.

With a slowly recovering economy, retailers are looking for ways to lure wary customers into their stores on Black Friday. Some retailers are attracting shoppers by staying open on Thanksgiving Day, in addition to extending their hours on Black Friday. Wal-Mart leads the pack, with most of its stores remaining open for 24 hours on Thanksgiving Day as well as Black Friday. On Thanksgiving, the Gap will open at 9 a.m., Banana Republic at 11 a.m., and Old Navy at noon. Toys "R" Us stores will open their doors at midnight before Black Friday. ...

U.S. News has compiled a new ranking to determine which top-ranked public universities in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges have the largest percentage of out-state-students. This new ranking is useful if you are a prospective student looking to apply to a public university outside your own state, since it will enable you to determine which top publics have the largest and smallest enrollments from out of state. It will also give you some indication of the likelihood of getting accepted.

As is the case with all our presidents, we are watching Barack Obama grow older before our eyes. It's almost as if someone pushed the fast-forward button on his natural aging process. Take a look at the then-and-now photos to see how gray he's gotten since his January inauguration.

Are any of the obstacles standing between you and your dreams self-inflicted? If so, you're in good company. We all manage to get in our own way at times. Fortunately, sometimes all it takes to stop getting in our own way is to realize we're doing it. With that in mind, here are five mistakes I see frequently blocking people's path to passion:

Last week, I told you why bosses should be nice when employees resign. Now, I'm going to tell you why-- even if your boss is the devil incarnate, Prada-clad or not--you should resign professionally.

In a comment on my "How to Survive a Bad Boss" post, one reader asked, "But what if you are so nervous around your boss, and your fear of failure is amplified by her actions? What recommendations might be offered as far as coping skills?"

Making a home suitable for older occupants is becoming a mainstream part of the home remodeling business. Growing numbers of seniors want to remain in their homes as they age, and attractive design solutions for aging in place projects have evolved. Making such modifications not only helps current occupants but may broaden the market for future buyers when the home is placed on the market.

After months of favoring speculative gambits, the momentum of the Asian markets is returning once again to the hands of the long-term investor, says Robert Horrocks of Matthews International Capital Management. Citing a reduction in the valuation gaps between Asia and the rest of the world, Horrocks says investors should start focusing on fundamental earnings potential rather than on market timing.

After the dust clears from the furious rally in stock prices, what will happen next? It's the question in the back of every investor's mind, and the answer could be far from encouraging. The way many economists see it, the market is headed for a sustained period of slow growth as the tepid borrowing environment and sluggish employment prospects balance out the recent rash of enthusiasm.

The fitful nature of the housing sector's healing process was apparent Wednesday when a government report on new-home construction came in much weaker than economists had expected. The Commerce Department reported that October housing starts dropped nearly 11 percent from September and almost 31 percent from a year earlier. "The headline number is a shocker," Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, said in a report. Here are four things you need to know about the development:

Everyone knows that kids are in the midst of, as pediatric exercise scientist Avery Faigenbaum calls it, an "unfitness epidemic." According to a July report on the nation's obesity problem, fewer than a third of kids between the ages of 6 and 17 take part in regular vigorous activity, defined as 20 minutes at a stretch of exercise intense enough to break a sweat and prompt heavy breathing. ...

As the deadline approached, the National Association of Realtors urged lawmakers to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, insisting that the perk had played such a vital role in the housing market's recent stability that its expiration was too risky. "Without congressional action now, the market and our national economy may freeze again--possibly as soon as this month," Ron Phipps, NAR's first vice president, told a Senate panel on October 20.

As the Supreme Court mulls over mutual funds' fees, analysts have lined up to read between the lines. And while a decision in Jones v. Harris Associates is probably months away, there is no shortage of opinions about its implications.