Want to learn more about diabetes, acne or other medical conditions? The information you're looking for may be just a remote control away. Hawaii Medical Service Association has launched the nation's first statewide interactive TV health channel, HMSA Now, on Oceanic Time Warner's Digital Cable Channel 344. Digital subscribers, even those who aren't HMSA members, can view the medical library video collection for health-related topics ranging from gastric ulcers to radiation sickness, LASIK eye surgery and asthma. Its digital format is easy to use, putting viewers in control by allowing them to select video programs from onscreen menus and to pause, replay, rewind and fast-forward.

CHILD-REARING SURVEY

TO SPANK OR NOT TO SPANK?

Nothing sends parents into an all-out debate like the subject of spanking. And it seems that most parents develop their parenting styles based on how they were raised. According to a recent Parents.com poll, 79 percent of parents say they were spanked as kids. Despite advice from many experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics urging parents not to spank, 61 percent of parents say they spank their kids. Of that, only 5 percent say they are regular spankers.

FINAL WORD

"My mom's advice is: 'Stay single. There will be fewer problems. Just concentrate on getting more work.' "

Wilmer Valderrama | star of "That '70s Show," in the New York Post