American Airlines' Fare Hike Is Contagious

A fare increase was launched by American Airlines this past week, and as of Friday is expected to stick. Northwest Airlines Corporation, Delta Airlines Incorporated, and Continental Airlines Incorporated announced they, too, would raise fares. American Airlines blamed the fuel prices when it announced fare increases of $5 one-way and $10 round-trip on most domestic and U.S.-Canada flights on Thursday. How will this fare hike affect airline demand? Probably very slightly if at all, considering all three of the major airlines competing with American Airlines are anticipated to follow suit.

Hair dye increases cancer risk?

Hair dye is one of today's most popular trends. With hair dye, people are able to choose the color that they desire rather than their natural borned color. Not only does hair dye give the person a new look, but for some people, it helps them look younger in the sense of not having a lot of visible gray hairs lying around on their scalp. Yet, these people don't know that the uses of hair dye tend to increase the risk of cancer called Lymphoma. It have shown that long-term or
frequent hair dye users, particularly users of dark hair dyes, have a higher chance of getting cancer. In a study of 1300 women, 600 of them had this type of cancer, while the other 700 did not. That is about 46% of the study, almost half of the study. For more information, please visit the following web sites:

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/health%5Fteam%5F9/?ArID=58286&SecID=17
http://www.mindspring.com/~lisas/haircoloring.html

Very slow GDP growth

The Commerce Department's initial reading on the first quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, showed an annual pace of growth of 3.1 percent, down from the 3.8 percent rise in the fourth quarter of 2004.
It was the slowest quarter since the 1.9 percent annual rate reported in the first quarter of 2003.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast growth at a 3.5 percent annual pace.
Prices paid by individuals for items excluding food and energy, an inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve, was up 2.2 percent in the report, compared with a 1.7 percent rise in the fourth quarter, marking the steepest climb in that measure since the fourth quarter of 2001. Other closely-watched price measures in the report also showed increasing inflation.
The report therefore raises the prospect of slower economic growth coupled with higher prices, a situation known as "stagflation" which is the worst possible scenario for the economy in the view of many investors.

beer vs chips

OK, it's not "just the chips," but the calories in three beers (450 for "average" beers) don't add up to the calories in a Whopper (650), or an 8-ounce bag of potato chips (1,200), or a large order of fries (500) at a fast food restaurant.
As noted elsewhere, if you drink one 12-ounce bottle of beer every day and don't otherwise alter your diet or your exercise regime then you can expect to gain about 15 pounds over the course of a year. Something has to give. We sure don't advocate giving up eating, but it seldom hurts to get more excercise or to think about what you are eating.
Meanwhile, here are the calorie counts for food and drink you might consider discretionary:
- A five-ounce glass of wine 125 calories (that's average, and like beer may vary quite a bit).- One ounce of distilled spirits, 90 proof, 75 calories.- Bloody Mary (1.5 ounces vodka), 130 calories.- Pina colada (8 ounces), 465 calories.- Long Island iced tea (8 ounces), 225 calories.- Martini (3 ounces), 190 calories.- Margarita (8 ounces), 300 calories.- Mint Julep (10 ounces), 210 calories.

Whats up with gas

Oil prices dropped more than $2.50 a barrel Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a large build in domestic crude inventories and President Bush urged construction of new oil refineries.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $2.59 to $51.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gas futures plunged 8.32 cents to $1.5419 a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 3.39 cents to $1.474 a gallon.
The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that the inventories of crude oil in the largest consuming nation grew by 5.5 million barrels last week to 324.4 million barrels, or 9 percent above year ago levels.
Unleaded gasoline supplies shrank by 300,000 barrels to 211.3 million barrels, or 4.6 percent above year ago levels. The inventory of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and jet fuel, fell by 1.4 million barrels to 102.6 million barrels, or 0.4 percent above year ago levels.
Saudi Arabia has outlined a plan to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 from the current 11 million limit. Saudi Arabia now pumps about 9.5 million barrels daily. If necessary, Saudi Arabia says it will eventually develop a capacity of 15 million barrels a day.
Iran is one of 11 member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Officials from two other OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have said a global lack of refining capacity, not a shortage of crude oil, is to blame for an almost 50 percent surge in world prices over the last year.

Fast food culture is growing: Asians the World’s Greatest Fast Food Fans

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are or how well off you are, the fast food culture has become a way of life for everyone all over the world. According to the latest findings from ACNielsen, the world’s leading market research firm, nearly all Filipino (99%), Taiwanese and Malaysian (98%), people in Hong Kong and China (97%) are fast food patrons. Among the 28 markets studied across three regions, consumers in the first three places had a higher percentage of people than Americans (97%) who eat at fast food restaurants.
According to the ACNielsen survey, 30 percent of Asia Pacific consumers eat at take-away restaurants at least once a week, closely trailed behind fast food fans in the US (33%). At the other end of the scale, however, only one in ten European adults eat take-away once a week. On a market-by-market basis, nine of the top 10 markets in terms of frequency of fast food restaurant visits hailed from Asia Pacific. No European markets had made the list. Despite a 12 percent of people in Asia Pacific claiming never to eat fast food, the region has the most take-away addicts with Hong Kong ranks the world’s No. 1 in terms of frequency of fast food restaurant visits with 61 percent visiting fast food places at least once a week to as frequent as more than once a day.

Top 10 Global Markets In Terms of Frequency of Fast Food Restaurants Visits and
Market Percentage of Population That Eats at Take-Away Restaurants at Least Once a Week:
Hong Kong 61%
Malaysia 59%
Philippines 54%
Singapore 50%
Thailand 46%
China 41%
India 37%
U.S 35%
Australia 30%
New Zealand 29%
The state of one’s health has consistently been among the top concerns for consumers according to previous ACNielsen surveys, but it doesn’t seem to affect the way consumers choose to eat.

http://www.acnielsen.co.th/news.asp?newsID=88

Divorce is Becoming More Popular

There are too many couples getting married for the wrong reasons. Whatever this reason may be, the most popular conclusion is a divorce. I want to make aware the numerous people who go through a divorce at least once in their lifetime. In the year 2002, there were over 1 million people who went through a divorce. This is an incredible and unbelievable number. This is about 10% of the United States population, which is a 2% increase from 1990. The reasons for divorce vary for each couple. For example, some people rush into marriage to early. Other couples just grow apart and don't attempt to work through their relationship. Whatever the reason, the result is most likely divorce. This number surprisingly increases each year. We should be attempting to lower the divorce rate. Now a days, it is normal to have been through a divorce. This is very different from the way divorce used to be seen; it was rare and looked down upon. Divorce is a messy situation for the whole family. It is difficult enough to split the belongings up, but it is awful for the children. Hopefully, there will soon be some way to prevent such an enormous number from continuing to rise.

What Jazz Fest Brings to New Orleans?

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is a 7 day event that brings thousand of tourists to New Orleans. It is held at the New Orleans Fairgrounds where the horses normally race. Even though there has been about a 20% increase on the entrance price, people continue to flow in those gates. Jazz Fest is popular for the numerous musicians that perform throughout the day. The music varies and includes worldwide famous singers, such as Nelly, bands, such as Dave Matthews Band, and even the music that is popular only to New Orleans, like jazz. Jazz Fest is also well known for its amazing food. Most of the seafood medleys that are sold can only be purchased once a year and that's at Jazz Fest. Although there is a lot of money put out for this big event, the city profits immensely. The hotels and parking lots are rarely empty, the fairgrounds are always full, and the booth lines never catch a break. Even though the prices are jacked up, there is constantly money being spent. For example, a 20 ounce Coca-Cola costs $3.00. There are many companies who help sponsor Jazz Fest as well as the people who volunteer. For instance, I worked at St. Catherine's drink booth last Sunday. The workers are volunteers and the profit goes to the needs of the school. Fortunately, multiple people benefit from this huge event. After reviewing the pro's and con's, I think it is truly worth everything. I mean who wouldn't want to go out in the sun on a gorgeous day and relax while listening to music and getting fat. The concluding factor is that Jazz Fest is a thoroughly enjoyable event that cannot be missed!

No "D'oh's" here

As the legendary Fox series wraps up its 16th season, creators of Springfield are wading in some uncharted prime-time waters. When executive producer Al Jean boasts that "The Simpsons just enjoyed the best 16th season of any comedy ever," that's because no other comedy has ever made it this far. With this Sunday's episode coming up, the Simpsons will have a remarkable 350 under their belt. How many episodes is 350? More than the combined total of "Seinfeld" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." "The Simpsons" will pass "Dallas" (357 episodes) on the all-time series list before 2005 is out. The only two that it has not taken down yet have been "My Three Sons" at 380 episodes and "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" at a somewhat astounding 435. To be on track and to surpass 435, "The Simpsons" will have to have a 20th season. This is not that unfathomable because the entire cast just signed atleast until a 19th season. And with the way ratings are going, and an ever growing cleverness in writting, this goal can be reached and they should renew future contracts. This makes me very happy. This is, as Mr. Burns would put it "Exxxxcelent."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/27/television.simpsons.reut/index.html

Intelligence as related to wealth/poverty

In an article published in the Chicago Tribune (Dec. 7, 2003- no specific writer cited) entitled "Poverty Can Cut Potential for Learning, Studies Say", researchers attempted to answer the age-old question of nature vs. nurture in answering whether individuals are born intelligent or is this simply the product of their environment.

Although this is surely to be considered controversial, the research showed that children in poverty often tend to have lower IQ scores than do children in wealthy enviroments. Factors of this include issues such as childhood nutrition, intensity/quality of early education, genetics, sufficient reading/proper speaking instruction, social factors, and a number of other issues. As we are all born with a range of potential intelligence, the wealthy children are largely experiencing more 'maximizing' of their potential.

There was even a study done on multiple sets of twins that were separated, each going to families of different ends of the socioeconomic class spectrum. The results proved that the enviroment played a large part in the child's intellectual development. In fact, it was found that 80% of the lower IQ scores can be attributed to environment issues. Scores differed in some cases by a shocking 40 points in IQ tests given to these sets of twins. Considering that these twins share the same genes, it serves to isolate the cause for differences between them. As stated by Yale University psychologist/researcher Robert Sternberg, "The results ... will prove to be a landmark in the study of intelligence, ... it suggests that intelligence and its heritability cannot be understood outside their enviromental context."

US College Tuition

According to an article written by Shweta Govindarajan in the Los Angeles Times (Oct. 22, 2003), public college tuition has increased nationally 47% over the last decade as found in a study released by the College Board. Closely following are private institutions with increases of 42%. In one year alone, public schools reported tuition increases of 14.1%, private schools increased 6%, and 2-year community college students were faced with an increase of 13.8%.

Lawmakers are attempting to get involved as the common consensus is that the cost of higher education in general is quickly getting out of hand. Some are even going as far as to say that such increases are making college education a thing mostly for the wealthy of society as the cost is soon going to be out of the reach of the common student. One of the major arguments regarding tuition increases is that such raises in tuition are not corresponding with inflation, but rather often for the benefit of these so-called "non-profit" schools. A Congressman in California even stated that he believed this practice should be considered Illegal and should result in strict penalties. I believe that there needs to be something done to balancing the cost of higher education. Perhaps allowing parents to deduct tuition from their income tax would help. How about aligning the tuition increases to correspond with inflation? As such, simply just not increasing tuition beyond what is actually needed isn't a bad idea either.

Apple's iPod

The newest and easiest way to listen to music whenever, wherever is Apple's iPod and similar products by Apple, such as iPod mini. Both the iPod and iPod mini offer its consumers music and convenience, so I wanted to compare the two products to see which is a better buy. First of all, the iPod mini comes in different colors whereas the original iPod is available only in silver. Second, the iPod mini has a longer battery life, approximately 44% longer. The iPod mini is approximately 46% smaller than the iPod, but this also means that the screen on the iPod mini is smaller than iPod's screen, approximately 20% smaller. Also, the iPod holds 80% more songs than the iPod mini making it more desired by those people who enjoy a wide variety of music. Lastly, the price of the iPod mini is 46% less than the price of the original iPod.
So, with all of the stats on the iPod and the iPod mini, which is the better buy? I personally would buy the iPod mini because of the color change as well as the compactness of the product itself.

thefacebook.com

Thefacebook.com allows its users to stay connected with friends from high school and college and it also allows users to reconnect with those old grammar school friends. The popularity of the web site actually surprised me. After only about a year on the internet, thefacebook.com has spread to over 2.3 members at 573 colleges and universities across the nation. According to nineronline.com, "nearly 200 students per day" join thefacebook. Much of the increase in members can be attributed to USC (University of Southern California); over 30% of the student body of USC are members of thefacebook. The support and popularity of thefacebook demonstrates students' needs to keep in-touch. Even though there are devoted anti-facebook students out there, there are way more in support of thefacebook making it the newest method of communication among college students.

Statistics on the Cincinnati Reds website

I decided to do a post about the Cincinnati Reds (my favorite baseball team). I went to the team website: www.cincinnatireds.com to see what statistics I could find about the team. I was surprised by the number of statistics on the website and the way one could use them. For example, when I clicked on the link stats, a list of all the current Cincinnati Reds players popped up. I then was able to choose up to five players and compare them. I decided to compare batting averages and on base percentages of three Cincinnati Reds outfielders; Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, and Austin Kearns. Dunn currently has an avg of .304 and an obp of .435. Griffey currently has an avg of .234 and an obp of .328. Kearns currently has an avg of .320 and an obp of .298. As these statistics point out, batting average and on base percentage are positively correlated. This would make sense because the more hits one gets the more they will be on base. I really like how the website graphically shows the daily batting averages of my compared players; Dunn, Griffey, and Kearns. One can simply drag the mouse over the graph and see the daily comparison of batting averages for the compared players one has picked. There are a lot more statistics on the website, so everyone should go check them out.

Alaskan Crab Fishing for a Living?

Want to go crab fishing in Alaska? Maybe not this year…or next….or next.
In an article by askmen.com the top 10 most dangerous jobs were listed and the most dangerous job in the world is Alaskan crab fishing, followed by logging and truck driving respectively. An average of 24 fishermen die every year crab fishing. This fatality rate is 20 times the national average and basically means that for every 100 000 fishers 140 die. Most fisherman die either by drowning in ice-cold water or because of hypothermia due to the environmental conditions. Some others fall off the boats due to either fatigue or the unstable circumstances they work in (slippery and wet surfaces). The good thing about crab fishing is that if crabbing is good then a crew member may earn up to $1'000 a day (a well deserved thousand dollars if you ask me). Now, If you were wondering why crab meat is so expensive, it is probaly not just because the meat is rare.
If you want to apply for a well-paying, exciting job then you might want to visit alaskajobfinder.com.

Working poor 1997

In 1997, 35.6 million persons, 13.3 percent of the population, lived at or below the official poverty level. Although the Nation’s poor were primarily children and adults who were not in the labor force, 21.0 percent, or 7.5 million persons were classified as “working poor.” This level was about the same as in 1996. The working poor, as defined for this analysis, are individuals who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force (working or looking for work), but whose income fell below the official poverty threshold. The poverty rate--the ratio of the working poor to all persons in the labor force for at least 27 weeks--was 5.7 percent, little changed from 1996. (See table A.) A majority of the working poor (58.1 percent) usually worked full time (35 hours or more a week), although full-time work substantially lowers a person’s probability of being poor. Among persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, the poverty rate for those usually employed full time was 4.0 percent compared with 11.9 percent for usual part-time workers. Only 6.8 percent of the working poor actively searched for a job for more than 6 months in 1997 but did not find work.
Although employment status is a characteristic of an individual, poverty status is defined in terms of a family unit. Thus, earnings from someone's employment are only one factor in that person's poverty status; the earnings of others in the family and the presence of dependents are also important. For example, working wives were less likely than working husbands to be poor (in aggregate) because working wives were more likely to be in families with a second earner. On average in 1997, about 77 percent of married men worked for 27 weeks or more compared with approximately 60 percent of married women. At the same earnings levels, women who headed families are more likely to be poor than other women, because of either limited earnings from others in the family, or because the presence of children raises the amount of income needed to live outside poverty.

Americans studying abroad

More than ever, on 2004, American students now recognize the importance of study abroad in a globally interdependent world. In the first full academic year after the 9/11 attacks (academic year 2002/03), the number of U.S. higher education students receiving credit for study abroad increased sharply by 8.5% from the previous year, reaching a record total of 174,629, according to Open Doors 2004, the annual report on international education published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with funding from the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The 8.5% increase in U.S. students receiving credit for study abroad in academic year 2002/03 represents significantly stronger growth than the previous year's 4.4 % increase. This increase remains a strong indicator of the tremendous interest in study abroad, both in spite of and in response to the changing geopolitical climate following 9/11. As study abroad opportunities have become more plentiful, varied and more affordable, the number of students taking advantage of an academic experience abroad has increased dramatically. Since 1991/92, the number of students studying abroad for credit has more than doubled (from 71,154 to 174,629, an increase of 145%).
Study abroad in European countries increased by 9% this year to 109,907. The United Kingdom continues to be the leading destination for U.S. students (31,706, up 5%) followed by Italy (18,936, up 10%), up from third place last year, and Spain (18,865, up 10%). France remained the 4th largest host country, followed by two countries outside of Western Europe (Australia and Mexico). Open Doors reports notable increases in students going to Eastern Europe (5,017, up 21%), including the Czech Republic (1,997, up 20%), Russia (1,521, up 20%) and Hungary (562, up 24%). Numbers of U.S. students studying in Latin America also continued to rise (up 14% to 26,643), with Mexico continuing to be the largest host country in the region (up 9% to 8,775). Americans studying in the Middle East were down by 51% (to 648 students) reflecting a sharp decline in the number of students studying in the largest host country in the region, Israel (340, down 67%). However, U.S. enrollments in Turkey grew sharply (228, up 77%) and in Northern Africa (495, up 15%), where there was a 26% increase in the number of students studying in Egypt (to 303), and a 12% increase in students studying Morocco (to 191). Numbers of American students studying in Australia continued to expand (10,691, up 13%). Numbers were also up sharply in New Zealand (1,917, up 45%), with Oceania (12,749, up 16%) being the world region with the strongest growth in U.S. students abroad.

Luxury spending still on the rise?

Parija Bhatnagar's Will luxury cool off? asks whether high-end sellers like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks have reached their end. That is what Deloitte & Touche is predicting. "According to its research arm, the strong housing prices and dividend returns that kept wealthy consumers in the high-end aisle are going to disappear." Higher taxes and slowing growth of home prices are some factors that may cause this pinch. The index gauges future consumer spending with tax burdens, real wages, real home prices and unemployment. "Continutes job and real wage growth is needed to increase a household's pool of cash and to strengthen discount retailers' sales." Consumers' love affair with luxury items has made high-end retailers a favorite on Wall Street. Shares rose over 30 percent last year. Contrary to this is James B. Twitchell's "Living it Up: America's Love Affair with Luxury." In this book he talks about how consumer spending of luxury items has risen despite the economy's status. He goes on to tell of how high-end companies such as Mercedes-Benz are coming out with more economical models to cater to this demand. Rebecca Gardyn's article "Oh, THE GOOD LIFE" outlines this phenomenon.

College payoffs

Many job seekers are hoping that 2005 will be a better year than 2004 for job employment. "The job unemployment rate is down to 5.2 percent, the lowest in more than three years. But a big reason is that the number of people who've simply given up looking for work is almost 20 percent higher than a year ago." Corporate cutbacks continute as the number of new jobs created steadily declines. "The broader economic outlook includes big government deficites, high fuel prices and brutal competition from low-wage locales like China and India, none of which is good for jobs in the U.S." Even with this, some sectors in the job market are doing well, such as accounting (up 2.4 percent from the previous year). The unemployment rate for middle managers are under 3 percent at its last count. Two-thirds of executives surveyed actually plan to increase hiring professional and managerial jobs. Some areas that are in high demand are auditing, corporate law, construction, and healthcare.
The article most lucrative college degrees stated that "Engineering and computer science graduates saw the biggest gains overall." Civil engineering graduates reported a 5.1 percent increase in the average starting salary; while starting pay for computer science graduates increased by 4.9 percent. Included in this list are business administration graduates with 2.6 percent increase, economics/finance graduates with 0.3, and marketing graduates with a 4 percent gain on entry-level pay. ("The NACE survey looks at starting pay in 70 disciplines at the bachelor's degree level only.")

College Gambling Problem?

I have noticed the trend of postings on this blog with topics about drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. But it may be true that we have forgotten about the rate of college students with gambling problems, along with their other addictions. In a recent article on msn.com (http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Retirementandwills/Retireinstyle/P111043.asp), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that one in ten college seniors could be classified as "at-risk" gamblers. These were students who have made bets of more than one hundred dollars, which begins the cycle of compulsive gambling, which can easily ruin a person's life. The amount of compulsive gamblers in the U.S. was found at about one to two percent of the population, mostly composed of older adults and retirees. But gambling in college is not something to pass over. With the recent rise in the popularity of poker, fueled by the constant television programs and internet poker rooms, college students have fed into the fad with dormroom pickup games or trips to the local casino. Actually, the researchers found seventy percent of the sample of seniors had gambled in some way in the past year. These results may not be shocking, but it is interesting in how closely we pay attention to the number of students with problems of substance abuse rather then how compulsive gamblers are born. I recently watched a show on the Discovery Channel about a man whose life had been ruined by gambling, starting with a love of blackjack he discovered as a college senior. These stories and statistics should make us aware of how serious gambling problems are, as well as pointing out how hard it is to win. As college students we should make sure not to make the fun of pickup games a part of our lifestyles.

Children and Violence on Television

Our world today is becoming an increasingly more violent place. Many people claim that some of this violence is due to the way children are raised in their homes. One factor that these people claim causes children to become more aggressive is the amount of violence these children are exposed to from television programs, even cartoons.

The site that I found talks of children's exposure to violence on tv. The site states the fact, "The average American child will have watched 100,000 acts of televised violence, including 8000 depictions of murder, by the time he or she finishes sixth grade (approximately 13 years old)." This site also includes a number of different studies done on this topic by 5 different people.

One study conducted by George Gerbner at the University of Pennsylvania reported that children watching television observe approximately 20 acts of violence per hour and that children who see this much violence assume that the world is a very dangerous place. Also in a study done at Pennsylvania State University, 100 pre-school children were observed. Half of these children watched violent programs while the other half watched non-violent shows. After watching the programs, all of the children were observed. The study reported that the children who watched the violent episodes were acting in drastically different manners than the children who watched non-violent episodes, characteristically more aggressive, angry, and impatient.

One of the other studies included in the website was carried out by Huesmann. Huesmann's research states that 59% of children who watch shows with an above-average amount of violence were, later in life, involved in more than the average number of aggressive and violenct incidents.

Violence is a major problem in today's society, and we must do all that is in our power to make sure that the world becomes a safer place, even if this means monitoring the shows and cartoons that today's children are exposed to. Here is the site I used:
http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.htm

Drunk Driving Predictions

As I was thinking about what to write my next blog post on, I came across this website concerning drunk driving and the accidents that it causes. This website talks of the prediction of the National Safety Council stating that approximately 184 people will die due to drunk driving accidents during the New Years holiday. It also predicted that an additional 10,000 people would end up seriously injured due to these alcohol related accidents.

The website also talks of an annual survey, the Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which states that about 25 million Americans said that they drove under the influence of alcohol in the year 2001. Also reported by this survey was the fact that 23 percent of people falling between the years of 18 and 25 drove after drinking alcohol.

The site stated that alcohol when compared to all other types of illicit drugs, kills 6 times more young people. A person's dependency on alcohol and drugs and the probability that they will drink and drive is greatly affected by the age at which they begin consuming alcohol and other drugs.

The last thing covered in this site was a national database of information called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. It stated that in the year 2002, over 17,000 people were killed in alcohol related crashes, which represents about 40% of all traffic deaths. It was also stated that $114 billion dollars was spent annually to compensate for the economic burden of these accidents.

These statistics are very scary to me. I have, unfortunately, had a best friend who lost her mother, grandmother and younger sister to a drunk driver on the road. This is a very sore subject and should be taken very seriously. Especially being college students who enjoy going out to bars and drinking to have a good time, we must always be aware to not drink and drive. It honestly not only endangers your own life, but everyone else on the road with you. To find out more about this:
http://www.stopaddiction.com/PressReleasePages/184deathspredicted.html

Getting High With Prescribed Drug?

In a study done by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have found that about 1 in every 5 teenagers had tried prescribed drugs to get high. Two of the main drugs (painkillers) that are being abused are Vicodin and OxyContin. There are also study that stated that about 1 in every 11 teens had abused drugs such as cough medicine. It is just amazing that prescribed drugs are the new trend nowadays to get high, instead of cocaine, ecstasy, etc. In the study for the abuses of Vicodin, it had found over 4.3 million teens had used it to get high; about 2.2 million teens, had experimented with cough syrup and other such products. This is due to the lack in knowledge about this type of drugs. It seem that we are more worried about more hazard drugs such as crack and cocaine that we forget about the other things that teens could use to get high such as prescribed drugs and inhalants. It just to show that teenagers today are willing to try anything to get high…. what is going to be the next product that are going to be abused? Rat poison? (being sarcastic there) For more statistics, please visit the address below.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1417&e=2&u=/ap/20050421/ap_on_he_me/drug_survey&sid=95832451

Depression increases morality risk in Diabetics?

A new study had confirmed that depression increases diabetic chance of dying. In the study done by Zhang, from the US Centers fro Disease Control and Prevention, found that in a study of 558 diabetic and 7063 non-diabetic participants, a total 276 diabetics and 1499 non-diabetics died during the study. It just to show that depression was higher in the diabetic group – 26% to 16%. It has been found that there is a 54% greater mortality rate for those diabetics with depression to those without depression. In my opinion to this study, there could be an error due to the uneven numbers of participants for each group, even though the researchers have taken health-status factors and other details into account.

http://www.heartcenteronline.com/myheartdr/home/research-detail.cfm?reutersid=5254

Top 10: Nielsens

Since I came to collage I’ve never watched so much TV in my life. I really wanted to become a series fan like my older friends were with friends but it’s hard to get into just any show. So if you’re like me I’m here to help. This is last weeks Nielson Ratings as posted on www.cnn.com :
1. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” CBS, 27.5 million viewers
2. “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 25.6 million viewers
3. “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 25.3 million viewers
4. “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox 25 million viewers
5. “CSI: Miami”, CBS, 20.7 million viewers
6. “Survivor” CBS, 20.4 million viewers
7. “Without a Trace”, CBS 20 million viewers
8. “Grey’s Anatomy” ABC, 19.2 million viewers
9. “House”, Fox, 17.8 million viewers
10. “Law & Order” NBC, 16.9 million viewers
Over all the ratings reflect good programming from CBS who takes four of the
top ten spots. Another thing to note is that viewer loyalty is crucial. Spin of shows such as the CSI series is doing very well where as the Law & Order series spin offs aren’t. The ratings show that the original is still the most watched. Also to be noted that three new series take over rankings 3, 9, and 10. I personally have become quite addicted to ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy” and CBS’s “Without a Trace”

Population Shift

www.cnn.com reported that the Census Bureau announced a continuous shift in population to the South and West. Concluding that half the nations population growth from 2000 to 2030 will be in Florida, California, and Texas.
These results are a mathematical projection model that assumes the continuation in trends such as fertility, mortality, and domestic and international migration. The projection was done by the Bureau’s Population Division, based on data from 50 states and District of Columbia.
This projection shows that California and Texas will continue to rank 1st and 2nd while Florida will edge past New York for 3rd most populated state by 2030. It also indicated that the top five fastest growing states between 2000 and 2030 will be: Nevada at 114 percent, Arizona at 109 percent, Florida at 80 percent, Texas at 60 percent, and Utah at 56 percent. The Bureau also claims that a shift in population age will incur. Stating, “As the oldest baby boomers become senior citizens in 2011, the population 65 and older is projected to grow faster then the total population in every state”.

FOOD (AND DRINK) FOR THOUGHT

I recently came across an article titled, "Processed Meats Linked to Pancreatic Cancer," on MSN. The article states that the cancer risk is related to how it its prepared (namely processed.) People who consume a large amount of processed meat had a 67 percent increase in risk of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic Cancer is said to be the fourth leading cancerous cause of death. The article also cited a study that showed that people who ate lots of pork and red meat increased their risk about 50 percent. The researchers suggested that "chemical reactions that occur during the preparation of processed meats might be responsible for the cancer link." Bad news for chickens and fishies: There is no association with poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs, and researchers are recommending eating more of them.

Here's to all you drinkers out there: Another study shows that alcohol (though not a specific type) leads to higher in blood pressure. Also, the study noted that beer increased sleeping heart rate by 5 beats per minute, and wine boosted it 4.4 beats; that does not mean wine is better for you than beer, because if one really thinks about it, that really is not that much. However, wine contains compounds that have antioxidant effects in order to help one relax (which beer does not have.)

Earthday and "E-Waste"

When Earth Day was established optimists hoped that new technology would help to reduce the use of coal, oil, insecticides and other pollutants but now it seems that one of the biggest threats to the environment is technology itself. Scientists have found that lots of computers, cell phones, televisions, etc. contain hazardous chemicals (e-waste) that may be polluting people’s water supply. According to www.cnn.com activists are launching and Earth Day campaign to inform the public about recycling these items.
The biggest offenders according to the report are cell phones, because they hit the environment twice with pollution. First they are made with gold and other metals that have to be mined which the EPA coincides the nations leading toxic polluter. Then they are usually discarded into landfills and begin to leak lead and other heavy meatless into the land, which eventually leads to pollution in nearby water supplies.
The EPA states that Americans have about 500 million obsolete cell phones and about 130 million more are added each year, which equals to 65000 tons of waste. Earthworks (an activist group) says that less then 2 percent are recycled. Which entails the being sent to consumers in Latin America or Asia or taken apart for gold and other parts. A representative from Earthworks who is launching a campaign to coincide with Earth Day in cities such as Washington, Philadelphia and New Orleans says that it is unclear what happens to the other 98 percent of the cell phones. His goal is to recycle at least 1 million cell phones this year.

" Hey kids, you want to get high?"

A group under the name of The 2004 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, surveyed more than 7,300 teens, in the largest ongoing analysis of teen drug-related attitudes toward drugs in the country. Its margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percent. Their studies have found very disturbing results within America's youth. They have found that about one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller -- more than have experimented with either Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. According to the survey, the most popular prescription drug abused by teens was Vicodin, with 18 percent -- or about 4.3 million youths -- reporting they had used it to get high. OxyContin and drugs for attention-deficit disorder such as Ritalin/Adderall followed with one in 10 teens reporting they had tried them. They also found that nine percent, or about 2.2 million teens had experimented with cough syrup and other such products. When asked why, the most popular reason was the ease at which these items could be obtained and about half of them said that they did not see a great risk. What can be done to stop this ever growing epidemic? What kind of parenting issues does this spark?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/parenting/04/21/drug.survey.ap/index.html

60% of Americans Have or Are at Risk for High Blood Pressure

According to three studies published in the Oct. 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the two-thirds of Americans that have or are at risk for developing high blood pressure have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke and an immediate risk of hospitalization and death. Apparently, only about a third of people with high blood pressure are aware of their condition or have it under control.

Prehypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) of 120-139 points or a diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 80 to 89. A person's blood pressure is considered high if the systolic pressure is over 140 or the diastolic is over 90. High blood pressure is also referred to as hypertension and is divided into stages 1 and 2.

In two separate studies, researchers looked at how common this new blood pressure category is among U.S. adults. They also estimated how common other risk factors for heart disease are among those with prehypertension. The studies showed that about 30% of Americans had prehypertension and another 30% had high blood pressure, men were more likely than women to have prehypertension, and the prevalence of prehypertension increased dramatically with age, increasing from 40% among people aged 18 to 39 to 88% among those over 60.

The third study found that African Americans had the highest rates of prehypertension, and Mexican Americans had the lowest. Strangely enough higher education was associated with lower rates of prehypertension and high blood pressure (54% among those with more than a high school education vs. 65% among those with less than a high school education).

Those diagnosed with prehypertension are said to be 1.65 times more likely to have at least one other risk factor for heart disease and stroke than those with normal blood pressure. Researcher Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago expressed, "People need to adopt lifestyle modifications, change their diets, try to be more active, get more exercise and quit smoking."

This article sparked my interest because I have been suffering from awful pains in my chest and my left arm and my blood pressure, for quite some time, has been about 131/84. This puts me in the middle of the prehypertensive range. I recently went to the doctor and had a chest x-ray and a breathing test I can't remember the name of. I won't know my results for another two weeks. I, like most of my close family and friends, didn't think I would have to worry about my health much because I am physically active, young, healthy, and pretty good at managing stress. I would be interested to know if anyone else has had a similar experience or thinks they may be prehypertensive.

High Blood Pressure Rising, yet Often Ignored

Women Around the World

Upon reading through the recent (May ‘05) issue of Esquire Magazine, I was quickly intrigued by the article entitled “The Global Survey of the Female Species.” They completed a survey in which they interviewed 11,000 women from 15 countries around the globe in an attempt to find differences, commonalities, and interesting details among the data in which their readers would be interested. Some of the details I find to be somewhat shocking, while other data is somewhat indicative of their specific culture.

An example of this would be how the majority of American women prefer to be taken to dinner on a first date, but this is vastly different in other countries. In Sweden, 32% prefer a coffeehouse, 29% in Slovenia prefer “a walk”, 28% prefer a bar in the United Kingdom, 12% prefer a house party in Spain, and 7% chose a religious function in Indonesia.

Regarding the issue of a “one-night stand”, most respondents chose the “sometimes a good idea” choice, except for two nations: 61% of Russian women chose that it is “often a good idea”, whereas Indonesian women answered to the contrary with 71% opting for the “never a good idea” choice.

These statistics can mostly be related to the specific culture being evaluated as some are more religiously-based and others are more sexually carefree. As a female, I found this article to be interesting as it evaluates the preferences/views of women throughout the world.

Another University’s Statistics

During a recent conversation with a student from The University of Tampa (located in Tampa, FL), I was shocked to hear some of the stories he mentioned regarding graduation rates and student retention which prompted me to look up UT’s statistics on the Princeton Review website (www.princetonreview.com) to provide me with a more detailed snapshot of this school.

I found it to be very interesting that 27% of freshman do not return for their sophomore year. Even more shocking was that only 37% of students finish their bachelors degree in 4 years (63% do not). Even after 6 years, only 51% of students have completed such degrees- which still leaves a shocking 49% of students that still have not finished after a lengthy six years!

Much of this data is because UT’s administration has been working to increase the size of the student body, which has been successful with a record number of students enrolled for the past few years, but what they have forgotten is that if the quantity of students increases, then class sizes and course offerings need to be increased to facilitate such numbers- which shockingly, they have ignored.

Students are being forced to delay graduation and often even having to apply for postponements to their grad school acceptances due to many courses being offered “once every two years” (as stated in their catalog) and thus they are not being offered the courses that are required to graduate.

New Pope a Good Pick???

Today, April 19, 2005, history was made. After only four votes during a two day period, which is one of the shortest sessions in 100 years, the cardinals elected the new pope. He is the oldest pope elected since Clement XII in 1730 and the first Germanic pope in nearly 1,000 years. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a 78 year old transitional leader became Pope Benedict XVI. Many are elated to hear of his election, while others are less than thrilled. Throughout the history of Joseph Ratzinger’s career in the church, he has been known to strictly enforce conservative policies for the world's Roman Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI is very fiery and outspoken against tendencies that he considers to be dangerous to the Roman Catholic faith. These include: sects, ideologies like Marxism, liberalism, atheism, agnosticism and relativism — the ideology that there are no absolute truths. The cardinals clearly agreed with Ratzinger’s ideology that "John Paul confronted two totalitarianisms — Nazism and communism — and that what remains is the `dictatorship of relativism”. Benedict comes from the Latin for "blessing" and is one of a number of papal names of holy origin such as Clement ("mercy"), Innocent ("hopeful" as well as "innocent") and Pius ("pious"). John Paul was elected to deal with many challenging issues in 1978, including the communist system and abortion. Now, Benedict faces many new issues: dialogue with Islam, stem cell research, the ongoing issue of abortion and gay marriage, and problems within the church including priests molesting children and a lack of priests. Hopefully this pope can follow in the footsteps of John Paul and help end violence and hate in this world, and maybe even help with the gas prices! www.yahoo.com, www.nbcnews.com

The Bush Administration Lies Again

In a USA Today article Dan Bartlett, George Bush's counselor says that, "there's no magic wand that can reduce the price of gas overnight" and "this is an issue that requires national debate as well as substantive change of policy and habits over time."

Well, Dan I hate to tell you this, but you could get the GOP controlled House and Senate to immediately repeal the federal exise tax on gasoline, which is currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon
(see this link also for a primer on gasoline prices.)

In fact, in the June of 2000 Republicans like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and other Republicans introduced the Federal Fuels Tax Holiday Act of 2000 which "in the event the national average price of unleaded regular gasoline rises to $2 per gallon or more, S. 2285 would further suspend all federal excise taxes on fuels .

Now that the Republicans could actually make this happen, there isn't a single peep out of their camp. Probably because if this were to pass all of their donors who get fat from building roads and bridges would be shut off the Washington pork train for a while.

Creationism vs. Evolution

I found this article based on a survey conducted November 18-21, 2004 among a nationwide random sample of 885 adults interviewed by telephone. 795 of the people interviewed were registered voters. The main idea of this survey was to surmise whether the majority of Americans believe in creationism or evolution. From this, the survey split up the results according to presidential candidate preferences. Furthermore, the survey asked the sample, based on their beliefs, if public schools should be teaching creationism, evolution, or both. In general, people who believe in evolution tend to be more educated and less religious, while those who favor creationism are more conservative and obviously more religious. However, when you break it down between those who voted for Bush and those who voted for Kerry, it gets a little more complicated. The education factor seems tough to pinpoint when the sample of people is split into those two categories. As for being more conservative, especially concerning religion, Bush supporters easily fit this attribute. Based only on a few factors, one could make the assumption that those who voted for Bush in the recent election would favor creationism over evolution. One result of the survey indicates that 47% of Kerry’s voters believe God created human beings in our present form, compared with 67% of Bush voters. Another result of this survey showed that only .56% of Kerry voters favored schools teaching creationism and evolution, compared to 71% of Bush voters. All of the results in this survey are a percentage of either Bush or Kerry voters, but it doesn’t say how many of the people interviewed were either Bush or Kerry voters. Therefore, they could have interviewed more Bush voters than Kerry voters, which could effect the results. You can check out all of the results of this survey at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml

Huffing

The common nickname for sniffing inhalants to reach and maintain a chemical high.
Inhalant use refers to the intentional breathing of gas or vapors with the purpose of reaching a high. Inhalants are legal, everyday products which have a useful purpose, but can be misused. You're probably familiar with many of these substances -- paint, glue and others. But you probably don't know that there are more than 1,000 products that are very dangerous when inhaled -- things like typewriter correction fluid, air-conditioning refrigerant, felt tip markers, spray paint, air freshener, butane and even cooking spray. Nearly all abused products produce effects similar to anesthetics, which slow down the body's function. Varying upon level of dosage, the user can experience slight stimulation, feeling of less inhibition or loss of consciousness. The user can also suffer from Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome. This means the user can die the 1st, 10th or 100th time he or she uses an inhalant. Other effects include damage to the heart, kidney, brain, liver, bone marrow and other organs. Results similar to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome may also occur when inhalants are used during pregnancy. Inhalants are physically and psychologically addicting and users suffer withdrawal symptoms. So if you know anybody who abuses inhalants, please get them help before they die. www.inhalants.org

One Large Glass of O.J.

Do you love orange juice as much as I do? Well the great people at The Florida Department of Citrus and Orange Man introduced the "world’s largest orange juice glass" -- standing 8 feet-tall and holding more than 730 gallons of orange juice -- in support of National Minority Cancer Awareness Week (April 19-26). The American Cancer Society stands firm that a diet low in fat, and high in fiber rich in vegetables and fruits including orange juice, may help reduce the risk of certain cancers. Orange juice has been linked with a reduced risk for cancer, beautiful hair, and better vision. Now, some companys are even enhancing there orange juice with calcium. So, have you had your glass today? www.ultimatecitrus.com

Owner of a Laptop?

Some scary stats for laptop owners: 591,000 laptops were stolen in the U.S. in 2001, according to Safeware, Inc., an insurance company. An estimated 95% of stolen laptops are never recovered. Almost everybody today with a laptop takes precautions to protect it from viruses, spy ware, and thieves, but what would you do if your laptop is physically stolen? Well, new software on the market allows users and owners of laptops to download the software, and in the event someone steals your software, greatly increases the odds your laptop will be recovered. When the person tries to access the internet, the software “calls” a server and records the information of where the user is logged on from, there isp number, time and date, and this information is passed on to the authorities. ComputracePlus http://www.computrace.com/ and zTrace - http://www.ztrace.com/ are two of the leading corporations selling this technology. According to Computrace, the program can "survive a re-format, F disk command and hard drive re-partitioning". ZTrace contacts it's monitoring point, zServer, when a new internet connection is made. It operates in stealth mode with no trace of it's existenmce on the hard drive. It can track dial-up calls and can utilize caller ID. www.stolenlaptop.com

Out of control fans!

I am increasingly bothered by the way some sports fans are acting at athletic events. Just this week, a Boston Red Sox fan allegedly punched New York Yankees player, Gary Sheffield in the mouth. Sheffield, was just trying to make a play in the Red Sox/Yankees game when he was allegedly attacked. I find this to be outrageous.

This is not the first time an athlete has been attacked by unruly fans or had something thrown at them by unruly fans. Last November, Indian Pacers player, Ron Artest had a beer thrown at him by a fan. Unlike Sheffield, Artest retaliated by jumping into the stans and getting into it with a couple fans. The media and most people created an uproar about Artests' response. However, what was he supposed to do? If fans realize they can get away with such behavior it will just continue, and it will get worse. There needs to be something done about unruly fans attacking athletes. Athletes are their to play their game and provide entertainment for fans. They are not their to be attacked.

Starting Salaries

Many of us go to college to one day get a good job and be able to support a family. If someone told you that you could make twice as much depending on your major, would you consider changing majors? Well, a recent study showed that students graduating with math or science degrees have the potential to make twice as much as liberal arts majors.

The reason that attributes to this starting salary difference is linked to supply and demand. The ratio of liberal arts graduates to math and science graduates is almost 20:1, causing too much supply considering the demand. If it makes it easier tot think about, "they're a dime a dozen."

This does not mean that you have to graduate with a Computer Science degree; Accounting and Finance degrees count too.

Pause on the cigarette bashing

If you watch TV regularly you have probably seen a "TRUTH" ad displaying some dramaticized fact about cigarette smoking. I just want to say beforehand that I am not trying to disprove anything these say or encourage smoking. However, there has been a positive effect on one's health connected to nicotine, the addictive drug in cigarettes.

According to the BBC nicotine might be able to help reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Don't be fooled though, one should not start smoking to prevent the disease. Dr. Levin at Duke University gave rats with brain lesions a compound similar to nicotine. Afterward, these rats could perform better in memory and learning tests. These compounds connect to and activate receptors for a chemical needed for learning and memory. Similar test are now in effect on humans using nicotine patches. Though preventing Alzheimer's disease is a great thing, it's not worth the risk of the negative health effects smoking can cause.

If proven this could boil down to a decision made based on risk. Someone who has no family history of Alzheimer's disease may not think nicotine patches are a good idea (unless they are risk takers.) However, someone more likely to develop the disease may think that this is a better idea.

Yes, more alcohol

Don't you just love the Jesuit ideal of an education in regards to educating the whole student. The way I take it is that we are taught a wide variety of things in and out of class. While these things include unusual religions from the far ends of the earth and random philosophies, they also include things like drinking and partying. Some students probably only have a basic knowledge of the intoxicating beverages they consume so often, apart from the "1 shot=1 12oz. Beer=1 glass of wine, and more than x amount of said beverages is considered binge drinking" printed on signs everywhere around campus. Well, there's more to it...

Alcohol is actually, according to Wikipedia.com, "any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom, which is in turn is bound to other hydrogen and/or carbon atoms." However, when alcohol is referred to on Loyola's campus it is usually referring to ethanol alcohol (C2H5OH.) It is produced usually by fermentation "metabolizing carbohydrates" thanks again Wiki.com. Different types of beverages are produced by fermenting or distilling (separating liquids by their different boiling temperatures) different things.

Rum is the product of the fermentation process on molasses or sugar cane juice, whisky distilled from grain, vodka distilled from fermented grain, brandy fermented fruit juice, tequila distilled from the cactus-like agave plant, and cognac (Hennessey, Courvoisier etc.) is a very refined version of brandy. Those are just a few.

But wait, now the stats part, well kinda. You ever notice (80 Proof) written on your bottle of Absolut. This is a measurement of the amount of ethanol in the spirit. There is a very easy formula to figure the percentage of alcohol (ethanol) from the proof. Just divide the proof by 2. Yep, that's it. So an 80 proof liquor is 40% alcohol and a 190 Proof liquor is 95% alcohol. And yes...190 Proof Everclear or Diesel is as strong as it comes (except in laboratories) due to irrelevant scientific reasons.

So the next time you are at Tucks and you are enjoying a Red Bull and Vodka you can tell everyone that you know how vod

Marriage

Over the last several decades, marriage in th United States has declined, while cohabitation, divorce and unmarried childbearing have increased. From 1970 to 1996, the marriage rate in the United States fell by a third, from 77 to 50 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women.
From 1960 to 1998, the number of unmarried, cohabiting couples increased nearly tenfold, from 439,000 to 4.2 million. Divorce rates also increased from 9 to 23 per married couples from 1960 to 1980, before declining slightly and remaining steady at 20 per 1,000 through 1998.
Births to unmarried women increased from 11 to 33 percent of all births from 1970 to 1994, then leveled off through 1999. Nationally, 1.3 million children are born out-of-wedlock each year. http://www.chicagolandmarriage.org/marriagestatistics.htm

Now: 80% More Bold!

A few days ago I was walking through Walgreen’s Drug Store before work because I wanted to get a pack of gum. I went through the extreme candy aisle they have and came across the gum section. However, their gum was no ordinary gum, it was ‘flavor blasted’ with ‘80% more boldness’! Wow.

I wondered, how could anyone add 80% more boldness to something? How exactly does one determine the increase of boldness in gum? It is interesting how marketers use quantitative statements to evaluate qualitative items, such as ‘more boldness’ being correlated to an exact number. I, as a marketing/management student, think this is a good marketing technique because if one package says ‘GUM’ and one package says ‘BOLDEST GUM ON THE MARKET’, probably someone would go for the more tasty and bad breath reducing gum. But I wanted to see if the gum was ACTUALLY bolder according to ingredients.

I went onto the Wrigley’s website (www.wrigley.com) to see what gum was made of and how it could be altered to be more bold. They basically had a lot of fluff in between their description of gum’s different elements, but from what I gathered they use the “finest grades of pure, powdered cane and beet sugar” to sweeten the gum, “fresh garden spearmint plants grown on farms in the United States” to flavor mint gums and as for their other gums, such as Big Red, they use “a variety of fruit and spice essences”. So I suppose they could be using more of their fine mint of spice essences, but there was nothing on the website that helped lead me in the direction of a conclusion, which makes me think if there is any veracity behind their ‘80% more bold’ statement. In the beginning of this class Mr. Topoleski wanted us to observe the media using altered statistics to influence us, and I think this ‘bolder’ gum is a perfect example.

Contraception

Pope's Ban on Contraception Caused Rift

Before the invention and popularization of birth control/contraception, couples could have kids well into the double digits. In countries like Latin America, Asia, and Africa, many Catholics are abandoning their faith because they feel uncomfortable using contraception or any type of "safe sex" method. Brazil is said to be the world's largest Catholic country and during the 26 years of John Paul's papacy saw a decline of 15 percent in the number of people following the faith. Interestingly enough, the Brazilian bishops feel that though abstinence is the way to go, using a condom is better than contracting/spreading AIDS. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the use of any method by which to prevent childbirth and thusly prevent life is intrinsically evil. The only time any form of contraception is permissable is when the man or woman can receive physical harm or illness without some form of surgery or other protocol. For instance, if a woman has cervical cancer she needs medical attention to preserve her life. Any resulting sterilization or prevention from having children is deemed indirect and is not immoral. Nigeria's Cardinal Francis Arinze says the promotion of condoms has done nothing to halt the spread of AIDS and has instead encouraged promiscuity. More and more Catholics continue to disobey the Vatican. In 2004, a woman in Brazil had 2.3 children on average compared with 6 children in 1960. According to a 2003 poll commissioned by Catholics for a Free Choice, 91 percent of Catholics in Mexico and Colombia, and 79 percent in Bolivia, thought adults should have access to condoms and contraception pills. While statistics here show a decrease in childbirth which helps the problem of overpopulated countries, some say that since birth control is accessible to the youth there has been a rise in teen pregnancy.

Typers beware

Recent studies in hospitals across America have shown that there hads been an increase of infections in people due to germs collected from computer keyboards. In fact, samples from the hospitals own computers have shown and increase in harmful bacteria. Scientists say that this is due to the fact that antibiotics are given out too much these days and that bacteria normally killed by the medicin has evolved. Computer keyboards are a prime place to come into contact with germs such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To give a general idea and to watch out for, Enterococcus faecium can cause complicated abdominal infections, skin infections, urinary tract infections and infections of the blood stream while pseudomonas aeruginosa is a frequent cause of pneumonia, urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections. The study, presented at a meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, found that just touching a keyboard was enough to transmit the bacteria. Well, I should probabbly go wash my hands now. Where's the soap!?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/04/11/keyboards.bacteria.reut/index.html

www.thefacebook.com

Early in my college career I learned the fine art of procrastination as did most of my fellow classmates. Earlier this year, I discovered the Snood of my generation: thefacebook.com. This wonderful waste of time was started by a few Harvard students, apparently and has spread from the elite group of Ivy League schools to hundreds of universities across the country and even across the world. You can make a personal profile, “clubs”, announce parties, and reunite with friends from long ago.

I was interested in how many students were actually a part of thefacebook.com community so I did I search for males and females on the site (www.thefacebook.com). On the website there are 2563 males and 1093 females which means there are a total of 3656 people connected. This mean that about 29.83% of people on the site are female and about 70.10% are male.

According to the Commerce Department Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/000309.html) there are over 7.1 million students in universities in America, which means that .05% are a part of thefacebook.com, however I feel as that it will grow exponentially with the more schools the site adds and the more people who become aware of the site.

The Vatican and its political influence on the world

According to http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_christian.html, the following are top 10 Largest National Christian Populations: USA-224,457,000; Brazil, 139,000,000; Mexico, 86,120,000; Russia, 80,000,000; China, 70,000,000; Germany, 67,000,000; Philippines, 63,470,000; UK, 51,060,000; Italy, 47,690,000; France, 44,150,000 and Nigeria, 38,180,000. Those 70,000,000 Christians in China represent only 5.7% of their population, in comparison to 67,000,000 of Germans which is 60% of their population. The list of dignitaries who attended the funeral is very long http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/08/pope.dignitaries.list.ap/index.html. The most populated country in the world - China - has decided to boycott the Pope’s funeral ceremony http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1686448,00.html, because of the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with rival Taiwan. What is more amazing; Vatican is the only European government that has official relations with Taiwan instead of Beijing. To conclude, China is kind of ‘upset’ with the Vatican because it is openly supporting Taiwan’s fight for independence, but at the same time, statistics show that the number of 70,000,000 Christians living in China is representing only 5.7% of the population-which is not enough to influence main political office in Beijing.

Whose your pick?

The NBA season is approaching its end and with it come the Play-offs and the individual awards. Awards like the Rookie of the Year which is given to the best first-year player. Many of these Rookies of the Year, like Shaquille O’Neil and Micheal Jordan go on to win the MVP award, which is the most prestigious award, and ultimately win an NBA Championship.

These years race for the Rookie of the Year happens to be a pretty special one. The two contenders; Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon were teammates in last years National Championship Team –University of Connecticut. This year they play in different teams, the Charlotte Bobcats and the Chicago Bulls respectively. One is a team out of playoff contention (Bobcats) and the other is playoff bound (Bulls).

Emeka Okafor was a member of the last Olympic team, averages 15 points and 11 rebounds which are numbers comparable to Tim Duncan’s and Shaquille O’Neil’s rookie season averages. Both of these went on to win the MVP award as well. The only problem is that Okafor plays for an expansion team that is just trying to develop and his teammates are basically players that no one else wanted. Even with these handicaps the Bobcats, led by Okafor, were able to win 15 games.

On the other hand, Ben Gordon has an average of 15 points and has a 42% field goal percentage, which is pretty impressive due to the difficulty of his shoots because of his size and position. It is also necessary to say that the Chicago Bulls are the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. With the help of Gordon, the Bulls have clinched the 4^th seed in the East and they currently hold the 3^rd best record in their respective Conference.

Both of these players are great, and they are good friends as well. Scottie Pippen, a former Chicago Bulls player and a 6 time NBA Champion, says Gordon should be the recipient of this award and Jason Kidd, a former rookie of the Year says Okafor should be the "ROY" (Rookie of the Year). I believe that due to the difficulties surrounding the Bobcats and the development of his game Emeka Okafor is the best Rookie. What do ya’ll think?

Statistical Reasoning in the New Testament

Let x be a random variable representing a camel passing through the eye of a needle and let y be a random variable representing the event of a rich person entering the Kingdom of God.

Then according to Matthew 19: 23 – 25:

P(x) > P(y)



Now I’m trying to think of statistical applications of the parable of the vineyard. Any ideas?

Pope John Paul is God

Since the tragedy of Pope John Paul’s death, people from all over the world have mourned. It was a tragedy to hear the news, for the pope was a person who almost everyone liked. Even though all Catholics believe in God, the pope was like earthly God image. He was the father of all and the one who took care of his people. He was the head of the church and everyone followed him like he was their father. For his funeral over four million are expected to be there (http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg ?articleid=76860&format=). This shows us how people around the world have such a high respect for him and follow him. He is loved and respected by so many and is missed greatly. “Because of everything John Paul did for us, any amount of waiting is fine," said Julie Krommer, 23, a mechanical engineer who arrived in Rome at 3 a.m. local time today, as the waiting times to see the pope's body stretched to 10 or 12 hours or more” (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/international/worldspecial2/06cndpope.html?hp&ex=1112846400&en=5b444ad528dec860&ei=5094&partner=homepage). Despite the fact that John Paul has moved onto heaven, people will always remember him as their father, and image of God.

How Dangerous are Prescription Drugs?

Recent studies have shown the risk involved in buying and consuming certain prescription drugs. This is most common amongst teenagers, but is also prevalent amongst adults. Now a days, it is very simple for someone to become in contact with these specific types of addicting drugs. The ones with the most concern are some of those prescription pain killers, such as Xanbar. The pain clinics, that can be found almost anywhere, are major contributors to this problem. All that is required to obtain pills from most of these pain doctors is a signature stating that person is truly in pain. Unfortunately, this is far too easy to prevent people from lying. In some of these clinics, they proceed with an "exam," which basically means bend over and touch ones toes. In fact, one teenager explains the dangers and threats involved with these drugs in a recent top story. I'm writing about this topic because I recently lost an aunt to a horrible addiction to pain killers. Hopefully it will not take an event of such extreme to make others realize how deadly these drugs really are.

Red Sox or Yankees

As the MLB season begins people know one thing, either the Red Sox or Yankees will be in the World Series for the American League East. It is not like football where teams are even, and injury plays a huge role on where a team will be in the playoffs. Over the last nine years, the Yankees or Red Sox where in the World Series seven times (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws.jsp?feature=recaps_index#2000). This shows us that it is a good chance that one of these teams will be in the World Series this year also. Looking at the teams on paper this year, they are pretty even. The exception is that the Yankees starting pitchers are better, but the Red Sox have the stronger bullpen. With regards to hitting the Red Sox grew stronger by acquiring Edgar Renteria, while the Yankees stayed the same in hitting strength (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?page=redsoxyankees). So what does this mean? Another MLB season with the same outcome. Either the Yankees or the Red Sox will win the American League, and whoever wins that will win the World Series. Even though the curse of the bambino is over, the rivalry still exists between the two.

100 dollar laptops!?

The digital divide remains vast within the world. The technology research firm IDC examined 53 countries and determined that a household in Canada was 131 times more likely to own a personal computer than one in Indonesia - hardly the world's least tech-oriented country.
The United States trailed Canada at No. 2 by that measure in rankings that examined computer use in countries that fall in the top third for advanced technology use. But interestingly enough, a company by the name of Negroponte, and some MIT colleagues are hard at work on a project they hope will brighten the lives and prospects of hundreds of millions of developing world kids.Their mission is to make laptops as ubiquitous as cell phones in technology-deprived regions. Negroponte's pitch is that the cost of a laptop comes in far lower than a child's textbook expenses for the computer's lifespan. They have the ability and plans to create $100 laptops for these children to bring home every day from school. Although they will have a relatively slow processor and modest storage capacity, this is a new and radical idea that will hopefully closer unite and educate the world. Interesting features on this technology are that they would put the laptop on a software diet; use the freely distributed Linux operating system; design a battery capable of being recharged with a hand crank; and use newly developed "electronic ink" or a novel rear-projected image display with a 12-inch screen. Seemingly a very complex project, it is more obtainable of a goal than one would imagine. I'm not in a third world country, but can I still have a 100 dollar laptop please?Sign me up!ha
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/04/04/hundred.dollar.laptops.ap/index.html