The third snapshot in a longitudinal study of University of Arizona students has produced some surprising insights on their personal and financial well-being.

Although the study shows some mixed results, after four years of economic turmoil, for many of these young people the future is starting to become a little clearer and, perhaps, brighter.

And the data that's been collected ultimately should prove useful in planning ahead, both for future students and their families, and for college administrators.

For many young children, a stable family life is one key factor to avoiding a number of serious health problems.

Bruce Ellis, a professor of family studies and human development at the University of Arizona, and his colleagues found that children who grow up in supportive families are more likely to delay puberty, but only if they "are biologically sensitive to context."

Their findings are published in the latest edition of the journal Development and Psychopathology.

A prolonged freeze three weeks ago almost certainly was a death sentence for some members of a prized desert species: the saguaro cactus.

Biologists say similar freezes in the past killed saguaros, but it could take months or years before affected plants succumb.

They emphasize that damage or death would be most likely in very old, very young or diseased saguaros. By no means is a large-scale die-off expected.

Gay teens receive harsher punishments at school and in the court system than straight teens who engage in similar behavior, a new Yale University study suggests."Our analysis found that, consistently, gay and bisexual youth were at a greater risk of being punished by school and criminal-justice authorities than their straight peers who exhibited the same behaviors," said study leader Kathryn Himmelstein.