function fsNewsSlider (fsNewsTarget,fsNewsContents,fsNewsDelay,random){
	// fsNewsTarget is the container that will receive the news items
	// fsNewsContents is the class of the containers with the news items
	// fsNewsDelay is the length of time (milliseconds) that each item is displayed
	// random (true/false) determines if it should pick a random item to stop on
	// these variables must be in jQuery format (#idname, .classname, tagname)	
	
	var r =  random ? Math.floor( $j(fsNewsContents).length * Math.random()) : 0;
		
	$j(fsNewsTarget).html( $j(fsNewsContents).eq(r).html() );
		
	function startSlider(){
		$j(fsNewsContents).each(function(i){
			if( $j(this).text().search(/alert:/i) != -1 ){
				$j(this).wrapInner('<span class="newsAlert"></span>');
			}	
		});
		

		if($j(fsNewsContents).length>1){
			fsNewsTimer = setInterval(function(){
				r = r < $j(fsNewsContents).length-1 ? r+1 : 0;
				$j(fsNewsTarget).animate({opacity:'.1'},150,'',function(){
						$j(fsNewsTarget).html( $j(fsNewsContents).eq(r).html() );
						$j(fsNewsTarget).animate({opacity:'1'},150);
					}
				);
			},fsNewsDelay);
		}

		$j(fsNewsTarget).mouseenter(function(){clearInterval(fsNewsTimer)});
		$j(fsNewsTarget).mouseleave(function(){startSlider()});

	}//end startSlider
	
	startSlider();

	
}