LEFTIES GET LOST IN A RIGHT-HANDED WORLD

Dr. Louis Veneziano is in the minority at his home, which is odd for a right-hander.

Veneziano, a psychology professor at Southeast Missouri State University is the only right-handed member of his family. Both his children and his wife are left-handed.

And those odds are unusual since only 10 to 15 percent of the population is left-handed.

Left-handedness generally refers to the preference of using the left hand for writing, reaching, throwing and catching; it usually means having a dominant right-side of the brain.

But scientists don't have any really conclusive answer for why a person favors their left hand over their right.

What they do know is that biological factors are more influential in left-handedness than environmental factors, said Veneziano who has done some research on the topic.

The number of lefties has remained constant over the years. Research indicates about 10 percent of the population has always been left-handed. "Even back to the Stone Ages, paintings and outlines of hands show that same skew," Veneziano said.

There is strong evidence to support handedness being genetic, he said. "But people don't have a left-hand or right-hand gene."

Most scientists believe that the characteristic is connected to multiple genes, but they aren't sure which ones. It might even be a recessive trait.

"If you have two left-handed parents, less than half their children will be left-handed," Veneziano. But that wasn't the case at his house.

The Veneziano's daughter first started using her left-hand to hold spoons and crayons. "And we were surprised that our second child was left-handed because that's very rare," Carol said.

Actually being left-handed isn't much of a problem since there are three lefties in the house. "It's probably more weird for my dad," daughter Christina, 15, said.

For most things that right-handers use regularly, Christina must make adjustments. The mouse on her computer is set up on the left side. Left-handed desks at school are hard to come by.

But "it's not that much trouble," she said.

Kevin Connell of Cape Girardeau is another lefty used to making changes for handedness

"Everybody that I know of is right-handed," he said. That list includes all the members of his family.

To him, being the only lefty means switching seats in restaurant booths so you don't bump elbows with the person next to you.

"I was always making adjustments so I wouldn't be in the way or they wouldn't be in my way," Connell said.

There are some everyday annoyances but as a child, finding left-handed scissors was always difficult, he said.

There are other daily chores or activities that affect lefties that right-handed people don't even think about.

Writing, keyboard and mouse designs, sewing and some sports activities are often more awkward for lefties because they were originally designed for right-handed people.

When lefties write, their left hand crosses the paper as they write. So traces of ink often rub off as they continue writing. "Of course if you are right-handed, then you are moving in the right direction," Connell said.

Teaching his children to tie their shoes was difficult for Veneziano because they wanted to do everything backwards from what he was demonstrating.

"What I showed them they couldn't master," he said."I just gave up and let my wife do it."

Lefty lore:

About 10 percent of the world's population is left-handed.

Most left-handers have problems with screws, light bulbs, faucets, knobs and bottle caps because they are each designed to tighten to the right.

One of every six U.S. presidents has been a lefty. That includes all of the presidents in the last two decades of the 20th century: Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Statistically, females are less prone to left-handedness than males.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell, a southpaw and founder of the Boy Scouts, made a left-handed handshake part of the scouting ritual. According to the manual, the left hand is extended in friendship because it is nearer to the heart.

Scientists have researched the subject for years but still have not determined conclusively what makes a person left- or right-handed. One theory says the cause of left-handedness is that the person is born with a brain that is different from a right-hander's.

Many left-handers in ancient times were considered evil. Actually, the word sinistral is the opposite of dextral and means left-handed or on the left-hand side. The term comes from the Latin word "sinister," which means "to the left."

Lefties are often called southpaws, a term coined in the 1890s by a Chicago sportswriter. He used it to describe left-handed pitchers. In the stadium, the pitcher's mound faced west so any left-handed pitcher threw with their arm facing south.

There is an entire ZIP code dedicated to Left Handers. Of course, not everyone who lives in Left Hand, W. Va., is actually left-handed.

Source: The Left-Hander's Calendar

Some Famous Left-Handed People:

Sports figures

Martina Navratilova

Shoeless Joe Jackson

Babe Ruth

John McEnroe

Stan Musial

Reggie Jackson

Ty Cobb

Phil Mickelson

Politicians/Heads of State

Norman Schwarzkopf

Napoleon Bonaparte

Julius Caesar

Benjamin Franklin

Alexander the Great

Queen Victoria

Prince Charles

James A. Garfield

Harry S. Truman

Gerald Ford

Ross Perot

Artists

Jimi Hendrix

Leonardo da Vinci

Raphael

Pablo Picasso

Bob Dylan

Paul McCartney

Phil Collins

Film stars

Charlie Chaplin

Oprah Winfrey

Goldie Hawn

Jerry Seinfeld

Whoopi Goldberg

Tom Cruise

Marilyn Monroe

Peter Fonda

Cary Grant

Betty Grable

The infamous

Jack the Ripper

Billy the Kid

The Boston Strangler