"The design of haystacks: conventions, climates and aesthetics"; "Theories on animal extinction during the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary period"; "How noises affect the body." If none of these term-paper suggestions appeal, never fear, you"ve got 9997 more choices in the revised and updated fifth edition of 10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Projects, Reports, and Speeches. Appropriate for both high school and college-level assignments, the suggested topics cover 130 subject areas (from advertising to weather), and include a section entitled "Contemporary Issues" with topics such as "Homosexual clergy"; "Should sex education be taught in public schools?" and "Is suicide ever justified?" Entries that require a large public or college library for sufficient research are noted, as are those mandating special expertise or supporting evidence (i.e., don"t pick one of these if your paper is due tomorrow morning). The book also offers a page of compare-and-contrast ideas (personality vs. character, atheism vs. agnosticism, and sex vs. love, to name a few) that will at the least make for enlivened party conversation. One thing is for certain--with this fecund reference you"ll never again be able to say, "I can"t think of anything to write about." --Brangien Davis