Blogging

I hope you found blogging to be an interesting activity that exposed you to some ideas you might not otherwise see in the classroom.

I enjoyed reading many of your posts, especially those of you that took the time to create something that was interesting (it was also apparent that some of you didn't care what your wrote or you just copied stuff off the web). I'll probably use blogging in future teaching endeavors and if you have any comments or opinions about it I'd appreciate it.

I've set up my own blog that I'll start posting stuff later in the summer. At some point you can check out my blog NotPolishJoke.
Thanks,

john

Marijuana

Growing up and while in high school, I was never confronted with marijuana. I know that may sound strange but I had only heard about it mainly in classrooms and such. None of my friends did it, I’m pretty sure no one or at least no one that anyone knew about did it. (I went to an incredibly small high school.) Now, at college I am confronted with it all of the time.
Go to (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/du.htm) and look at the chart entitled “Percent of all college students, 1993-2003” This chat illustrates that marijuana use has been increasing at a decent rate. Now, younger and younger children are starting to use also. Between 1992 and 2004 past-month use of marijuana increased from:
12% to 20% among high school seniors.
8% to 16% among 10th graders.
4% to 6% among 8th graders.
These numbers are surprising, and yet growing at a significant rate. Now look at the chart entitled “Age of respondent, 2003” (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/du.htm). This chart illustrates Marijuana use between different age groups within the past month and year. This chart shows that people between the ages of 18-25 are the most common users of marijuana.
College students are the most common users of marijuana, which seems strange because it has been proven that regular smoking of marijuana decreases memory and inability to concentrate. This may be bad considering we’re going to college to improve these things, crazy huh?

Goin' to the Chapel

My friend, who I grew up with was married over the weekend. She just turned 20, almost a year younger than me. I was completely floored at first when she announced her engagement. Like most people I thought, still think, it might have been a mistake. I think they’re too young. So I decided to see what the median age for getting married anymore is.
In 2002 it was reported that the age for males is 26.9 and the age for females is 25.3.
(http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0005061.html).
Then I started to wonder, and I know it’s horrible, how long they will last. The number of marriages in 2001 was 2,327,000, the marriage rate was 8.4 people per 1000. while the divorce rate was 4 people per 1000. that’s nearly half, not good odds.(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage.htm).
Divorce has become so cliché with Americans it seems that this number will only keep growing. Hopefully my friend will be one of the soon-to-be minority who stay together, but only time will tell.

Lock Up

In October of last year, my car was stolen from the front of my house. About a month ago, my friend also got hers stolen, then got the rental car stolen. It brought up the question ‘How likely is it that your car will be stolen?’ If you would have asked me in September of last year if I thought my car would ever be stolen I would have told you "no, not likely." Every 25 seconds, a motor vehicle is stolen in the United States. The odds of a vehicle being stolen were 1 in 190 in 2003 (latest data available). The odds are highest in urban areas. (http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/test4/). Those aren’t very good odds.
The top 25 cars most likely to be stolen in the state of Louisiana are:
1. Chevrolet Full Size C/K Pickup
2. Ford Full Size Pickup (150/250/350)
3. Oldsmobile Cutlass/Supreme/Ciera
4. Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee
5. Honda Accord
6. Dodge Intrepid
7. Toyota Camry
8. Oldsmobile Delta 88/Royale
9. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
10. Dodge Ram Pickup
11. Dodge Stratus
12. Ford Taurus
13. Chevrolet Caprice
14. Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth Neon
15. Ford Explorer
16. Buick LeSabre
17. Chevrolet/GMC Suburban
18. Pontiac Grand Am
19. GMC Full Size C/K Pickup
20. Nissan Altima
21. Ford Mustang
22. Chevrolet Cavalier
23. Honda Civic
24. Cadillac Deville
Nissan Sentra (http://4wheeldrive.about.com/od/buysellcartrucksuvonline/a/moststolencars.htm)
So, if you have one of these cars, be sure to lock it up good and tight. Be careful and mindful of your surroundings and where you chose to park your car.

Pregnancy Tests: How much would you pay?

Sometimes it baffles me how much people spend on little oddities, (ie. Britany Spear's pregnancy test). Online Casino Golden Palace recently bought Britany Spear's home pregnancy test to add to their collection for the price of $5,001. I mean, seriously, who is going to spend that much money on a stick of pee. I don't know how the supply and demand balance out to such a high price for this object, and moreover, I did not realize there was a market for used pregnancy tests. This is goes to show how wired our society is, and the price we will pay for a little piece of stardom...Literally.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050504/ap_en_mu/people_britney_spears;_ylt=AnD8b_ua5Z0F1LDKjqBw9_us0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2OXY1b2VrBHNlYwNlbg--

Rockets change in attitude

It's NBA playoffs time, and everyone's is rallying behind their favorite teams. No matter whose team is favored, I will always stand behind my Houston Rockets.
This post isn't meant to debate whether the refereeing in our last series game against Dallas was unfair...Because it was, of if Houston should win the National Championship...Because they should, but it is to look beyond the statistics of the game of basketball to what I consider the most important driving factor of our team....The fans!
Historically, the Rockets have not been the greatest team in the league...Minus a brief stint of GREATNESS in 1994 and 1995 as repeat national champions. However, I think that numbers are used too often to measure the greatness of a team.

In recent news, our coach, Jeff Van Gundy, was charged a 100,000 dollar fine for his reaction to last games referees. The deluge of support from the team, the fans and the city for not only Van Gundy, but also the Houston Rockets has been immeasurable. I feel that passion has always been the factor that drives our city, whether it be in basketball, baseball, or any other Houston organization. When supporting our team, I don't look at the high statistics of Yao Ming, or Tracy McGrady...Because the statistics of one person doesn't matter. We have a cohesive team despite the odds, and I think we should win the titles of National Champions once again.

First Step: get rid of the Dallas Referees.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7739930/

Aaron or A-rod?

Will the current home run leader surpass hank Aaron’s record for total home runs? Will he be able to keep hitting home runs at this rate? The real question is exactly how long will he be able to play baseball at the competitive level? Right now Alex Rodriguez is tied for 50th place on the all-time home run list. But , he is only 30 years old and still getting better. Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs through his 23 years in the majors(A-Rod has 381 while in his 12 season). Aaron retired at the age of 42. Right the oldest players in the league are just about at 40. So by the time A-Rod is 42 will he be watching baseball from his recliner (just shy of Aaron) or sealing his place in the Hall of Fame?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/alltime/leaders?breakdown=2&type=0&sort=8&year=0

Was the war worth it?

Through the progression of time, the general American's attitude to the war has changed. . Reading an article on msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7730556/), I was able to see through polling, the overall change in attitude toward war with Iraq. In April of 2003, 73% of our population thought that the war was worth fighting. Years later, in February of 2005, that percentage dropped considerably to 48% followed by another recent drop to 41% of our current population thinking the war was worth fighting. This poll is said to have a 5% margin of error. While I do not argue that there has been a change in American attitude over the past two years, I do however question whether the numbers are factual despite the low margin of error. In this example, I feel statisticians run into the same problems they would when taking an exit poll with presidential candidacy. An excerpt at the bottom of this article indicates that a telephone poll of 1,006 adults was conducted. I ask myself what sector of the American public would be susceptible to responding to telephone polls, and whether that correlates with the entire population and their views?

Wage Gap

Some argue that the wage gap is merely the result of women's choices -- mainly women taking time out of the workforce to have children. A lot of us wonder what the real story is. I strongly believe that there is more to the wage gap than “women’s choices”. The fact that women are not paid a fair salary for the same job as men, especially if the same job, education, qualifications and time in the workforce are compared. Some of the facts can be found in the following examples:
• a survey of public relations professionals, showing that women with less than 5 years of experience make $29,726 while men with the same amount of experience make $48,162. For P.R. professionals in the 5-10 year category, women earn $41,141 while men earn $47,888. In the 10-15 year category, women earn $44,941 and men earn $54,457. In the 15-20 year range, women earn $49,270 and men earn $69,120.
•a salary survey of purchasers demonstrating that for professionals in the field of purchasing with 3 or fewer years experience, women earn $35,900 and men earn $47,700. For purchasers with 4-6 years experience, men earn $52,100 while women earn $38,300. Female purchasers who have 7 to ten years of experience earn $42,300 while their male counterparts earn $56,400. For those with 11-15 years experience, women earn $43,500 and men earn $63,400.

Former Huskies honored

Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon won the NCAA National Champion in 2004 for the UConn Huskies. What was the next step for the former teammates? Well, they both got drafted in the first round of the playoffs, they both had outstanding seasons as rookies, and they both won awards at the end of the season. Okafor received the Rookie of the Year award and Ben Gordon recieved the Sixth Man award. Okafor led all rookies in scoring, rebounding and minutes played with 15.2 points per game, 10.9 rebounds per game, and 35.6 minutes per game. http://www.nba.com/milk_rookie/okafor_050504.html. Okafor ranked fourth in the entire league for rebounding. Ben Gordon, who recieved the 6th man award, was the first rookie ever to do so. He was second in scoring among rookies, with 15.1 points per game. More impresively, he shot 41% from the field. http://www.nba.com/news/gordon_050503.html. He did all this coming off the bench. Gordon also helped the recently struggling Bulls make the playoffs for the first time since 1998. The coach of UConn must be extremely proud of his former players. Apparently he is teaching his kids how to play basketball the right way.

I'm never tired of drinking!!!

When you were younger did you ever ask these questions: "Am I burnt out from going out and drinking every night? ",or "Am I ever going to drink again? In a study done by the APA, children who start drinking young are more likely to become alcohol dependent as they proceed through their adolescent years.
* 47 percent of 8th graders, 67 percent of 10th graders, and 78 percent of 12th graders have used alcohol.

* 11 percent of 6th graders have reported binge drinking (5 or more drinks per occasion for males; 4 for females) in the past 2 weeks.

* 30 percent of high-school seniors have reported binge drink at least once a month.

* 44 percent of college students have reported binge drinking in the past 2 weeks.

* Youth who drink alcohol before age 14 are 4 times more likely to become alcohol dependent in their lifetime than those who wait until age 21 or older.( http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/browntest604.html )

Thus spproximately 23 percent of people under the age of 25 are alcohol dependent. So if you were one of the people who have asked yourself these questions, then your answers were "no" then "yes."

Europe vs. USA

There are evident differences between Europe and the USA when comparing GDP per capita and GDP growth rates. Very interesting comparison is that if the European Union were one of the States, it would belong to the poorest group of states. Furthermore, France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany have lower GDP per capita than all but four of the states in the United States of America. This puts Europe in the level to compare it with Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia. www.bimrpo.com/euvsusa/. There is another site that also compares Europe and the USA - http://www.eurunion.org/profile/facts.htm and

Yankees Struggling

In recent years, the New York Yankees have been a powerhouse of a baseball team. Even though they have not been to the World Series since 2001, they still have an excellent team. They have won the NL East for the past five years as well. Last year, with the addition of Alex Rodriguez, they were supposed to win it all. However, as we all know, they let the Boston Red Sox put out their World Series flame. After that debacle, they picked up Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks. This 6' 10'' monster of a pitcher is supposed to be the icing on the cake for the Yankees. Johnson has 4200 career strikeouts and an ERA of 3.08 lifetime. His average strikeouts per nine innings is 11! (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4288). So, exactly how are the Yankees doing so far this season. Not as good as they expected. They are in fourth place in the NL East with an 11-18 record. They are doing well because they are not pitching well. The team ERA is at 5.08(http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/pitching?team=nyy). Sometimes they get below that average and sometimes they get above that average. Either way, 5.08 for a pitching staff is not the formula for success in baseball. We'll see if the Yankees can straighten out their bent pin-stripes.

Whoa there.

Talk about a change in culture. What is the quickest way for elementary school children to make a buck? Paper route? Lemonade stand? Nope, it is informing on other classmates. That’s right. Schools in Georgia have set up a reward system for informing which children carry drugs, weapons, or violent thoughts to school. They can receive 100-500 dollars cash, camping trips, pizza parties, and the list goes on. Not only is this destroying a child sense of community, but their sense of economy as well. What type of work ethic is taught by offering $500 and pizza parties for information? Are American schools mafia training or schools! For the sake of the American economy, I hope kids start returning to working at the food court for their middle school jobs.

Read the whole article at : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7636124/

Zip codes

Most expensive zip codes

When you think of the most expensive zip codes in America, you would think of areas such as Manhattan, Chicago, San Francisco or the most famous zip code, 90210. However in an article by msnbc.com and Forbes, these cities do not even make it into the top 10. Why is that? The article explains: “It is because those ZIP codes are more diverse than those that encompass exclusive and relatively homogenous suburbs where home prices don't dip below $1 million.” The more diverse the city, the lower it ranked, despite it’s nicer homes. Of the top 10 zip codes, half could be found in California and 7 out of 10 in the west. The article suggests this is due to the 100% price increase in home owning in California between 1999 and 2000.

To find where your hometown ranked (shocker: New Orleans didn’t even make the top 150…) check out http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7646178/

Labor force

Every day 50,000 Mexicans cross throught the worlds busiest international crossing point. These are permanent workers have Green Cards and commute daily between Tijuana and San Diego County. The border attracts thousands of illegal workers every day. In the U.S. labor force there are some five million undocumented Latinos . According to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center. These Latino workers account for 40% of the 2.5 million jobs created last year. The term "Mexicanized" is a term that is being given to jobs such as garment pressers drywall installers and ceiling tile installers, where Mexicans hold 40% of these jobs. Small businesses are sweeping up these workers because they can get away with paying them less than American born workers. Wages for the Latino workers have been falling over the last two years. In 2002 their average weekly earnings were 420 dollars, while in 2004 they fell to 400 dollars.

children and cell phones

Children and cell phones

In this article, Bob Sullivan of MSNBC reports that 56% of children ages 13-17 has a cell phone. This is up 51% since 2000. The article argues the simple fact: do children at age 13 really need a cell phone? There is an increased concern that children will take cell phone “texting” (sending/receiving text messages) out of control, much like the demographic did with AOL’s instant messenger.

There is also a concern that parents that have worked hard to keep violent games away from their children, will now be for nothing since they are now available on the child’s cell phones. The graphics and capabilities of cell phones have taken a drastic leap, making it hard for parents to maintain control.

For the whole article visit: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5671445/

The Media and Eating Disorders

Recently, I have been watching a lot of reality television (big surprise). One of my guilty pleasures is Tyra Banks' "America's Next Top Model." Here's a link to the show's website so you can get a better idea. The show is about aspiring models who are competing for a contract with Ford Models, a spread in Elle Magazine, and a deal with CoverGirl. Early on in the competition, one of the models was kicked off the show because the judges condsidered her to be too overweight for the industry. She was about 5'10, weighing a mere 120 pounds! Now that the competition has been narrowed down to five girls, the judges have been particularly hard on one model who has been gaining some weight. In one of the shoots, they made her do a "gluttony" theme, and the very next shoot was her posing as an elephant. I was appalled to see how the media depicts young, beautiful women. It makes people believe that beauty is measures by the size of your waist.
Here's a link to an article about the media's effect on eating disorders.

Young people have enough trouble accepting themselves as it is. They do not need to watch shows that are dedicated to cutting people down. Eating disorders are a huge problem, and there needs to be programs to rectify the problem before it gets progressively worse. This is a website with statistics on eating disorders.

Some of the more startling staticts are as follows:

• 10% report onset at 10 years or younger
• 33% report onset between ages of 11-15
• 43% report onset between ages of 16-20
• 86% report onset of illness by the age of 20
• 19% or more of college aged women in America are bulimic
• As many as 10% of college women suffer from a clinical or nearly clinical eating disorder, including 5.1% who suffer from bulimia nervosa

Immigrants live longer than U.S. natives

Immigrants who come to the United States live on average three years longer than people born here. The life span difference reflects immigrants' reluctance to embrace Americans' drive-thru, drive-everywhere mentality and they don't smoke as much. Immigrant black men live nine years longer than black men born in the United States. The average American-born black man could expect to reach 64, while a black man born overseas would likely live beyond 73 if he immigrated. Black immigrants are three times less likely to smoke than American-born blacks and far less likely to be obese. Black immigrants also drink less and exercise more than those born in the United States. the Canadian Journal of Public Health, reported that immigrant life expectancy surpassed 78, while U.S.-born life expectancy hovered at 75.

Teen Driving.... Watch Out!

I found some horrible statistics of accidents involving teens: reed this and you might be a little bit careful while driving.

-14% of all deaths due to motor vehicle accidents are teen drivers.
-Most teen driver deaths due to motor vehicle accidents occur on weekends 53% of the time.
-Teen drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents had a youth passenger in automobile 45% of the time.
-Of teen drivers fatally injured in automobiles, more than 1/3 were speed related accidents.
-Teen lifestyle of staying up late make teen drivers a high risk to have an automobile accident due to drowsiness.
-More than any age group, teens are likely to be involved in a single vehicle crash.
-On the basis of current population trends, there will be 23% more 16-20- year-old drivers on the road in 2010 than there are today -- 26.1 million.
-This age group makes up 7% of licensed drivers, but suffers 14% of fatalities and 20% of all reported accidents.
-The 16-year-old population alone will increase from 3.5 million to over 4 million by 2010.

Source: www.drivesafe.com

Is Morality Taught Well Enough?

At Loyola University New Orleans, one of the most prominent Jesuit ideals we are taught is morality. I am currently enrolled in Making Moral Decisions--a philosophy course that focuses on issues of morality and social justice from the viewpoints of different philosophers and scholars. I would say that being taught what is moral and how to act morally is important in today's society, but it seems like there is a lack of morality in the general public. Polling Report.com has data from several different polling sources that have conducted morality-based surveys. Here's a link to PollingReport.com

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted a survey to evaluate morality now versus morality a few decades ago. From March 17-21, 2005, 1505 adults nationwide were asked "Do you think people in general today lead as good lives -- honest and moral -- as they used to?" 21% responded "Yes," 74% responded "No," and 5% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. They were also asked "Do you think that young people today have as strong a sense of right and wrong as they did, say, fifty years ago?" 18% responded "Yes," 79% responded "No," and 3% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. This data does not seem very surprising. It seems that people are not being educated from a young enough age what proper moral behavior is. Another problem may be that they are not taught to critically think about their actions before they make them.

AT&T Wireless and Cingular Merger

Who in this class owns a cell phone?
Who has either AT&T Wireless or Cingular as their service provider?
There should be over 40% of the class with AT&T or Cingular because of the merger.
Where did AT&T wireless go wrong?

II. Actions that caused the merger--- Where AT&T wireless went wrong
A. Innovation with phones
1. Other service providers simply had cooler phones
2. AT&T because of the many different networks it was trying to operate limited the phones a customer could select because of their network.
B. Government announcing that cellular numbers could migrate in late 2003
1. Intended to increase competition between cell phone providers
2. Caused AT&T to put itself up for sale
C. Poor customer care
D. Software developed for AT&T at the end of 2003
1. Lost 100 million for the company
2. Didn’t allow people to migrate to AT&T wireless
E. Couldn’t handle the competition
1. 1999 and 2000 Cingular and Verizon became industry leaders because of strategic accusations
2. AT&T becomes number three in the industry
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/191742_attw21.html ---check out the graph
III. Effects of the merger
A. Cingular and AT&T largest buyout ever
1. 41 billion dollars
2. October 26, 2004
B. Bad for competition
1. Only Verizon and Cingular are left as industry leaders
2. 6 million more Cingular customers
C. FCC is sending message to Verizon that it can bulk up like Cingular did
1. 70 out of 189 megahertz of available spectrum in market is owned by Cingular
2. It seems only two companies will be able to compete

IV. Future effects of the merger
A. Increase in prices and decrease in service
1. Less motivation for the two power companies to work harder
2. two companies can work together to raise prices
B. Decrease in competion between wireline phones and cell phones
1. SBC Communications and BellSouth own Cingular
a. These two companies own a majority of California, the South, and the
Midwest’s wireline services
C. Huge cuts in workers


~ This merger has the potential to have lasting effects on the rest of our lives
~ The cell phone market in the near future could become a two company battle
~ The high prices we pay for cell phones could trouble us the rest of our lives

Morals of Americans

Morals of Americans

In a survey conducted by Princeton Research associates, it appears that Americans are loosing their morals. 1,505 American adults were asked if they believed Americans lead as honest and moral lives as we used to. 74% (margin of error +/- 3) of the sampled population say that no, Americans are not as moral as we once were. 79% of the same sampled population says that we do not have a strong sense of right and wrong as we did 50 years ago.

Interestingly enough, Shell Oil Company also conduced a survey on morality. The survey was conducted in 1999. I wonder if the answers would be higher now due to the current distaste for oil companies. Of the 1277 American adults, 74% say they are dissatisfied with the morality of the country. These stats prove to be congruent with the Princeton research.

These two surveys also give a lot of interesting information about what activities Americans think are acceptable and which are not. Take a look at http://www.pollingreport.com/values.htm

Sex and Condom stats

I am suprised to read these stats, because they do not coinsed with the stats of other web pages, infact they are almost opposite. "College students between 18-22 who live on campus are more likely to use condoms then people who have more partners" ... They say that the more partners you have, the Less likely you will use protection. The stats dont line up with all the information given by CNN and Newsweek... who do we trust? This artical gives some supporting evidence to make it credible, but when one asys against major sources, who do we believe?
In short, BE SAFE!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/573944/posts

Cheaters never win?

Well, I think they do. In order to get away with it, though, you have to be smart. I'm sure most students have cheated at least once in their academic career. But what exactly classifies cheating? U.S. News polled 1,000 people on what they consider to be cheating. They first number is the general public, the second number is for college students.

Have extramarital sex: 96%/96%
Have sex with someone when they are seriously dating someone else: 94%/90%
Take credit for other people's work: 94%/91%
Record extra hours on a time sheet at work: 92%/88%
Earn money they do not declare on their taxes: 85%/76%
Pay less than they should on their taxes: 85%/81%
Take supplies from work for their personal use at home: 84%/83%
Lie about their income to get a special discount, award, or benefit: 80%/80%
Put extra educational experience on a resume: 75%/68%
Run a red light, even when it is possible to stop at the light:71%/ 58%
Spend time at work on personal business: 66%/53%
Keep incorrect change when cashier makes a mistake: 64%/50%
Lie about their age to get a discount or special benefit: 60%/61%
Say they're older than they are: 44%/37%
Say they're younger than they are: 30%/15%
Say they weigh more or less than they really do: 25%/11%

And who cheats the most? The following percentages of the general public (800 randomly selected adults) said that these people cheat often:

Politicians: 89%
Lawyers: 78%
Journalists and the media: 76%
CEOs or executives of Fortune 500 companies: 73%
High school students: 72%
Government employees: 72%
Employees of large companies: 69%
Rich people: 69%
Student athletes: 68%
College students: 64%
Business owners: 60%
Husbands: 58%
Accountants: 55%
IRS agents: 55%
Poor people: 45%
Wives: 45%
Doctors: 40%
Parents of school children: 31%
Computer programmers: 28%
Teachers: 25%
Senior citizens: 15%

Well, the people who are the highest up on the previous list seem to be the most successful people in society. So this seems to say that cheaters do win. But I know that these polls are probably not very accurate because it is based on what other people think those people do.
Either way, it's probably not very far from the truth. The people who get away with it are the ones that become successful. That's not to say that all successful people cheated, but I'm sure everyone cuts corners. And I'm just saying that some people get by and make a very good living from it.

But that doesn't change the fact that it's wrong, right?

That statistics mentioned in this post have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/misc/press/cheating.htm

Travel Dates and Names

Airlines today want the full name of all people on every flight, plus the date of birth on the ticket. They say that it will decrease time in the security lines, and will not make it as confusing to mistake a terrorist for a innocent person. "It will be drastic" and the numbers will fall and the time waiting in long lines.
Ok, thats great, but dont you already have to show an ID or drivers license to get on board? Its already in effect, so why would the time in lines change, and there is also a picture on the license so why confuse people? How will this cut back on risk and time?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/05/04/passenger.screening.ap/index.html

Obesity and the wealthy

For a long ime the majority of obese people in the United States were from the low income bracket, earning under 25,000 dollars. Recently however the wealthy are closing the obeseity gap, statistics show that 28% of people earning over 60,000 dollars a year are obese, while in the 1970's only 9% of that group were obese. The poor on the other hand in 1970 were almost 23% obese and today that figure is up to 33%. (These dollar amounts have been inflation adjusted). Obesity is a growing problem in America, child obesity has more thab doubled in the past 25 years, and it is shown that it can shorten one's life span 2-5 years.

Hazing among black greeks.

Hazing in Black fraternities and sororities is trying to be eradicated by the same people who first implemented the hazing traditions. An article by a Howard University student states that when the organizations were founded the members were not hazed or beat up. They were essentially support groups for members or for the community given by members of the organization. These support groups helped Black students gain confidence gave them business ties and other benefits that would help them better succeed in the still much segregated “white man’s world.” Eventually hazing practices came about in the organizations by “outlaw” members who wished to eradicate potentially weak members and try to give the organization a “falsely distinguished identity.” The National Pan-Hellenic Council which partly governs the so-called “Divine 9” passed legislation which all participating members accepted and banned hazing in the organization and adopted a “membership intake process” which is now used today. It is funny that when hazing became big was in the mid 1960’s to the early 1990’s. This is when the actual physical abuse became popular. Now these same people who once were participants of hazing rituals are now the ones realizing their faults and are now making drastic attempts to correct them. As a member of a black Greek organization I feel that they should be applauded and after all we are all men and women of great mind, heart, and good conscience, looking to make the world a better place. I completely disagree that to join a brotherhood you must put yourself in bodily harm just to gain a few more lifelong bonds to your frat or sorors or both. I am proud to say that among the 3 black fraternities and 4 black sororities that are present on the campus of Loyola University are free of this physical hazing practice which unfortunately cannot be said for the other chapters within the city. Part of the reason is the strict rules the Loyola places upon the Greeks and the avid students who help to enforce them within their own organization. I mention only the physical part of hazing because according to the Holds/Harmless agreement hazing includes forcing inductees to recite given history or information about the organization which is also known as testing. But the only affect that this has on a student is no more drastic than a professor giving exams on information given during the course of a semester.

Abortion in the US

According to a USA Today, CNN Gallup Poll in May,1999- 16% of Americans believe abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy and 55% of Americans believe abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. In other words, most Americans are against abortion unless the mother has a severe reason to do it.
The majority of women who get an abortion are very young. 52% are younger than 25 years old and 19% are teenagers. The abortion rate is highest for those women aged 18 to 19. Specially, in 1992, were 56 out of 1,000 decided to proceed with abortion. (www.womenissues.about.com) Abortion is a serious issue not only because of the health risks but the phsychological trauma caused in women at an older stage in their life, as proven by some researchers.

BInge drinking is only associated peer pressure!

In an article released by the American Psychological Association studies show that college binge drinking significantly moderates after college due to lack of peer pressure. College binge drinking is normally associated with students participating in Greek letter organizations. Binge drinking most often occurs in these such organizations because members that are already prone to heavy drinking create a standard or mold that future members feel that they must follow. A good analogy is “when in Rome, do as the Romans.” Since heavy college drinking is mostly associated with large groups of friends all drinking together, after college when the groups of people are no longer present after college the excessive drinking falls off drastically. The article surveyed 319 students throughout college and for a number of years thereafter. The findings show that college students who joined Greek organizations were no more likely to binge than those who did not join an organization. This helps to further prove the study’s saying that binge drinking only occurs because students think that it is the norm within the Greek houses and because of this perceived norm Greek members are found to drink more heavily during college years than afterwards.

Is Morality Taught Well Enough?

At Loyola University New Orleans, one of the most prominent Jesuit ideals we are taught is morality. I am currently enrolled in Making Moral Decisions--a philosophy course that focuses on issues of morality and social justice from the viewpoints of different philosophers and scholars. I would say that being taught what is moral and how to act morally is important in today's society, but it seems like there is a lack of morality in the general public. Polling Report.com has data from several different polling sources that have conducted morality-based surveys. Here's a link to PollingReport.com

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted a survey to evaluate morality now versus morality a few decades ago. From March 17-21, 2005, 1505 adults nationwide were asked "Do you think people in general today lead as good lives -- honest and moral -- as they used to?" 21% responded "Yes," 74% responded "No," and 5% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. They were also asked "Do you think that young people today have as strong a sense of right and wrong as they did, say, fifty years ago?" 18% responded "Yes," 79% responded "No," and 3% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. This data does not seem very surprising. It seems that people are not being educated from a young enough age what proper moral behavior is. Another problem may be that they are not taught to critically think about their actions before they make them.

Is Morality Taught Well Enough?

At Loyola University New Orleans, one of the most prominent Jesuit ideals we are taught is morality. I am currently enrolled in Making Moral Decisions--a philosophy course that focuses on issues of morality and social justice from the viewpoints of different philosophers and scholars. I would say that being taught what is moral and how to act morally is important in today's society, but it seems like there is a lack of morality in the general public. Polling Report.com has data from several different polling sources that have conducted morality-based surveys. Here's a link to PollingReport.com

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted a survey to evaluate morality now versus morality a few decades ago. From March 17-21, 2005, 1505 adults nationwide were asked "Do you think people in general today lead as good lives -- honest and moral -- as they used to?" 21% responded "Yes," 74% responded "No," and 5% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. They were also asked "Do you think that young people today have as strong a sense of right and wrong as they did, say, fifty years ago?" 18% responded "Yes," 79% responded "No," and 3% were "Unsure" with a Margin of Error of +-3. This data does not seem very surprising. It seems that people are not being educated from a young enough age what proper moral behavior is. Another problem may be that they are not taught to critically think about their actions before they make them.

The Risk of Death for Smokers

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, most death resulting from tobacco smoking occurred in people aged 65 years or more. However, around one in five deaths occurred in the 35 to 64 years age groups. Even though people know it's bad for their health, there is some incentive somehow, somewhere to smoke (ads, stress, etc.) Data releasedin 2001 from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicates that 19.5 percent of people aged 14 and over smoke. www.betterhealthchannel.com This means that parents and teachers need to emphasize even more about the damages caused by smoking. Men smoke on average 19.7 cigaretes per day, compared with 18.1 smoked by women.This is ridiculous. People need to be more educated regarding their health and the critical harm caused by smoking. Smokers not only harm themselves but the people sorrounding them that do not smoke. Reaserch has proven that second-hand smokers are hurt twice as much as smokers overall.

Too Much plastic surgery!

The plastic surgery industry is currently experiencing unprecedented growth. In the United States alone, approximately 8.7 million plastic surgery procedures were performed. This was a 33% increase from 2002, and a 293% increase from 1997. Of the plastic surgery procedures performed in 2003, 80% were minimally invasive non-surgical procedures (an increase of 43% from 2002), and 20% were surgical procedures (an increase of 5% from 2002). The top five cosmetic surgery procedures in 2003 were nose reshaping, liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, and facelift. In the past ten years, the number of reconstructive plastic surgery patients has increased 34 percent. Liposuction procedures quadrupled between 1992 and 2002.
Breast augmentation surgery increased sevenfold since 1992.
The following outlines some interesting plastic surgery statistics:
For surgical procedures, the most popular in 2003 were:
Nose reshaping (356,664 performed)
Liposuction (320,022 performed)
Breast augmentation (254,140 performed)
Eyelid surgery (246,633 performed)
Facelift (128,667 performed)
For non-surgical procedures, the most popular in 2003 were:
Botox injections (2,891,390 performed)
Chemical peel (995,238 performed)
Microdermabrasion (935,984 performed)
Laser Hair Removal (623,297 performed)
Collagen injections (576,255 performed)
86% of cosmetic surgery patients are women, while the remaining 13% are men

http://www.mybodypart.com/plastic-surgery-statistics.html

Car Accidents

There are about 3 million car-related injuries a year, 2 million permanent injuries and 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. The Department of Transportation's statistics indicate that accidents are generally related to irresponsible driving behavior. About 40% of fatalities are related to drinking and driving, 30% to speeding and about 33% from a car going off the road (these groups are not mutually exclusive). Seat belt use is only at about 68% nationally, despite it being a highly cost-effective means to prevent fatalities and serious injuries. The very young and the very old are much more likely to be involved in accidents. Car accidents are currently the number one killer of people ages 1 to 37. About 1 in 30 young drivers will be injured in an accident each year. Young drivers are four times more likely to die in car accidents and are much more prone to speed, drive recklessly, not wear their seat belts and drink and drive than middle-aged drivers. If we could reduce these dangerous behaviors, we could prevent these needless deaths and injuries
Nearly 43,000 people died in car accidents in 2002, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This figure has increased by 1.5% from the previous year. Although the number of traffic-related injures has declined from 3.03 million to 2.92 million, the number of fatalities due to drunk driving has steadily increased. More than one-quarter of Americans have been involved in a car accident in the last five years.

http://www.car-accidents.net/car-accident-stats.html

Airline Delays

With summer at our doorstep, most of us cannot wait to finish our exams and go home for the summer. It is a much needed break. Before you get your friends to bring you to the airport, you better make sure your flight is on time so you don't have to wait that long. Only 76.94% of flights are on time. That may seem like a large number to some people, but think if you owned your own business and one out of every four customers were dissatisfied. That is how bad of a job airlines are doing in keeping their customers happy. Granted some things are out of their control, i.e. the weather, which accounts for only .88% of all delays. Only .07% of delays are caused by security issues. The airlines have a bit of explaining to do as to why they are so inconsiderately running their business.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/OT_Delay/OT_DelayCause1.asp

Crime victims

Were you aware of the fact that more often than not, victims of violent crimes are between the ages of 12 and 24 years old? Were you aware that victims of these crimes were predominately African American? Victims are also more commonly single and male. It suprised me that victims were often male. This is due to the fact that women are often depicted as vulnerable, or an easy target. It also suprised me that the percentage of victims that were 65 years old and over was not higher for the same reason. While males are more often the victim of violent crimes on a whole, that does not mean that women can breathe a sigh of relief and think that they are safe. The gender numbers are fairly close.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_v.htm#age

Child Criminals

The Bureau of Justice webiste contains some interesting statistics on crime. While the occurence on serious violent crimes (including rape, homicide, aggrivated assault, and robbery) has decreased since 1993, there was a shocking amount of children (ages 12-17) commiting these serious offenses. Somewhere between 20% and 25% of all serious violent crimes are committed by children ages 12-17. The number of crimes committed by adults has decreased by almost 60% since 1993. The number of these same crimes committed by children declined by 66%. As disturbing as it is to think of children being involved in such heinous offenses, it is good to know that the number is not increasing.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/offage.htm

Working ourselves to death?

Have you every heard anyone who said on his or her deathbed, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office?”

Did you know that 72% of American workers are struggling with job stress? Did you know that 34% are so burned out, they fear they'll have to quit their jobs in the next year or two? 50% of Americans don't get enough sleep. Full-time workers were working 160 hours more in 1990 than they were in 1969. Dual income couples spend an average of 12 minutes per day talking with each other. Parents spend 40% less time than a generation ago with their children.

And the high-tech revolution, far from merely saving us time and energy, is adding to our stress. People can never really get away from it all: pcs, faxes, cell phones.

These days folks never leave the office.

For more info: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/30/ilo.study/

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“Prep” is a Business

Do you shop at J. Crew or wear polo shirts? If you answered yes to either of these questions you are part of the hottest new trend “Prep Chic”. Everything associated with the trend is growing into big business. For the past 20 years Americans have loved and loved to hate boarding schools. But the statics do not lie, the recent trend has been in favor of them. They have come a long way since Holden Caulfield bashed them in the 1950's. Today boarding schools are hot, and applications at elite schools like Andover and Deerfield have grown as much as 10% in the past two years. However, boarding schools are not the stuffy elite social seen they once were. Headmaster at Thacher says that since the 80's the best schools have become more diverse and more democratic. Furthermore, the student population has also changed greatly. No longer do you see children of just the rich and famous, schools are pulling in more kids from public schools. Taft admissions chief makes more visits to public schools then private. When visiting public schools boarding school officials use a powerful tool- money. Three decades ago 16% of Taft students received financial aid, today one-third of the student body get assistance. However, boarding school have also seen a demise. In the past they were feeders into ivy league colleges such as Harvard. In 1939, 23 of the 82 member class were admitted to Yale. By 1984 only 6 out of 148 were admitted. In the past five years 23% of Taft students were admitted to Ivy League schools or “Little Ivies” such as Wesleyan or Williams and Amherst.
Furthermore, the popularity of boarding schools has affected other business ventures. J. Crew for example returned to its “prep” roots, selling rainbow flip flops and bright polos. Their move has been beneficial since over the last year they saw an increase of 16% in sales. Also, because of this trend the book “Prep”, which is about a middle class girl attending boarding school was launched onto bestseller lists across the country. Whether you agree with it or not “Prep Chic” is a strong social trend and business is growing off of it. This article was found online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7725497/site/newsweek/page/

We should be handing over needles to drug users

Don't believe me? Here are the facts.

More than a million people in the United States injects drugs. This costs society about $50 billion a year. One-third of all AIDS cases are linked to injection drug use. For women, 64% of all AIDS cases are due to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. More than half of all children born with HIV got the virus through drug injection.

Now why does that happen? Because drug users share needles. There are not enough needles or syringes to go around. Even though people may know the deadly risks of sharing needles, it's just not that easy to get sterile needles. There's no doubt about it that getting drug injectors into treatment is the best answer, but frankly, not all drug injectors are ready to quit.

Does needle exchange encourage drug use? Here are the statistics:
A study of a San Francisco needle exchange program that opened in 1988 found that from 1987 to 1992, frequency of injecting drugs among street-recruited users declined from 1.9 to 0.7 injections per day. The mean age of users increased from 36 to 42 years, and the percentage of new initiates into injection drug use dropped from 3% to 1%.

Needle exchange also reduces the spread of HIV.
In New Haven, CT, a study tested needles returned to the needle exchange, and developed a mathematical model that estimated a possible 33% reduction in the rate of new HIV infections among needle exchange program clients. In New York City, NY, a large comprehensive study of needle exchange programs found that the rate of new HIV infections for participants in the exchange was 2%. This rate is much lower than the estimated 4-7% HIV infection rate among users not enrolled in the exchange.

For more info: http://www.caps.ucsf.edu/NEPrev.html

So you, uh... wanna do it?

As college moves on and sexual temptation seems to grow, I have recently found some evidence of why safe sex is probably one of the smartest things any of us can practice. Turns out that 63% of all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur among people less than 25. As much as I love gettin' down, I think that wrapping it up should always be done, even though condoms do not protect against human papilloma virus (HPV). And other types of contraception seem to be less reliable too. Percentage of failures of certain types of contraception include 6.2% of the time for the pill, 14.2% of the time for condoms, 15.6% of the time for diaphragms, and 26.3% for spermicide. It seems as though STDs are way too common, and with the bar scene in New Orleans, very few people can be trusted. Apparently, 34% of men and 10% of women have told lies to convince someone to have sex. When in the moment of truth and hormones are flying, it can be hard to be as safe as possible. But we should all keep in mind these high statistics and the risks of random sex. And also, everyone should know that tests are easy and free, so please make sure that you will not pass your own mistake to others. More information can be found at http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/sex/misc/stats.html.

Don't be scared of those sharks

Does the music from the movie Jaws send chills down your spine? Do you really know your chances of getting attacked by a shark?

Here are the facts. About 80% of sharks species have never even attacked a human. Of the ones that did, it only adds up to about 70-100 attacks each year.

You are 1,100 times more likely to die in a bicycle accident than in a shark attack. Sharks do not look for human flesh. Most shark attacks are provoked attacks, meaning you initiated contact with the sharks or they have mistaken you for a primary prey.

Here is an average per year death chart. Notice where sharks come in:
Deer - 130 Deaths
Dogs - 18 Deaths
Snakes - 15 Deaths
Mountain Lions - 0.6 Deaths
Sharks - 0.4 Deaths

Your odds of a Drowning Death - 1 in 3 million
Your odds of a Shark Attack Death - 1 in 265 million

For more info: www.sharks.com

Wear Sunscreen!

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer today. 90 percent of skin cancer cases are caused by the sun (UVA and UVB rays). One in every five will get Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer; which is the most common type of skin cancer caused by the sun. The two most common types of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. “Men are two times more likely than women to develop basal cell carcinoma and three times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma.” With no surprise, studies show that people with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes are at higher risk “Caucasians are 20 times more likely to develop skin cancer than African Americans.”

The American Cancer Society says that wearing sunscreen can reduce the risk of skin cancer by 78%. Wearing the highest SPF will protect the skin better than a lower SPF. Theoretically if you buy a SPF 15 it will enable the person wearing it to stay outside 15 times longer than if they were not wearing it without getting burned.

Please don’t forget your sunscreen this summer!!

http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/5339.html?OVRAW=skin%2Bcancer&OVKEY=skin%20cancer&OVMTC=standard

Not Sleeping?

As finals approach, I find myself getting less sleep every night. In fact, the other night after a long day/night of cramming at the library I questioned whether I was too exhausted to drive home…. which lead me to research the effects of sleep deprivation and driving. According to a cnn.com health report, researchers in Australia and New Zealand say that the effects of sleep deprivation and alcohol use are very similar. Researchers “found that people who drive after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent.” 16 to 60 percent of driving accidents are associated with sleep deprivation. The reason for the wide percentage range is that unlike drug and alcohol use its hard to prove that a person is suffering from sleep deprivation. I hope everyone takes this into consideration during finals week.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/

Margin of Error

This web site talk's about how uninformed readers can easily misinterprets stats given by a news report. The page is filled with mistakes that News reporters gives the public incorrect information. One example on the web page was about Bill Clinton rates against Bob Dole. They did not give any proof as to why Clinton slip of 15 points, there is no reasonable statistical basis for claiming that Clinton has slipped over Dole. It is important for Americans who are watching/reading about stats to understand and question why the points have changed and the margin of error.
http://www.robertniles.com/stats/margin.shtml

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Looking for Trouble? Why are Investors so Jittery?


The “animal spirits” seem to be alive and well in American shareholders today. “Like a mob of meerkats alert to any approaching danger, investors in American shares take fright easily these days.” So the question is why are they nervous and is it justified?
Four set of statistics for March suggest that the economy is losing momentum and the economy is heading in an unhappy direction of high inflation and lower growth. Worrisome is the extremely bad inflation data: consumer prices rose by 0.6% in March and the core index rose by 0.4% (which excludes gas prices). This follows the 3.3% core inflation rate in the first three months of the year, which is above the Federal Reserves comfort zone. However, the most important thing to remember is that these statistics add to the fear in investors and consumer. With prices rising by 65% in the U.S. since 1997 household debt has also risen along with consumption. However, in the University of Michigan’s April consumer index there was a drop of 4 points to 88.7. Also the S&P 500 share index dropped closing at 1,137.5, 4.2% lower than on April 12th, which is 6.1% lower than at the start of the year.
However, amid these disappointing numbers and bad earnings by such companies as Coca-Cola and GM, forecasts of growth in corporate profits in 2005 have increased since the begging of the year. Thus, not reflecting the investors’ sentiments. Yet, investors are still scared. In March 11% more believed that economic growth would increase rather than decrease. In April, however, 20% more thought that growth would fall rather than rise.
So why are they scared? Why the change of heart? One answer, according to Rochdale Research, is that good balance sheets by companies have been at the expense of investment. That is, they have under invested in their operations and have done little to generate future growth. However, as the stock market rises and falls both in the U.S. and abroad, there are ultimately no substantial explanation and it is left “in the eye if the beholder”. This article was found on The Economist online at http://www.economist.com/finance/cfm?Story_ID=3893763

Rocket's change in attitude

We are in the middle of the first round of the NBA playoffs, and fans around the country have already put their money on their favorites. Since I am from Houston, I will always support my Houston Rockets to the end...Even if the odds are against them. In sports, I feel like too much emphasis is placed on the numbers (ie. Player statistics, series wins/losses). Historically, the Rockets have not been the top dogs in the league...Minus a brief stint of GREATNESS in 1994 and 1995 as repeat NBA Champions. However, I believe that in our team's case, there is something greater that drives our success (and it doesn't have to do with numbers). Sure we have Yao Ming, and Tracy McGrady, two of our leagues top scorers. But the true heart of the team comes from the support of the Houston fans.

In our last series game against Dallas, people argue there was unfair refereeing. (because there was!!). In the end, our coach Jeff Van Gundy ended up with a $100,000 fine after accusing referees of bad calls. The flood of support toward Van Gundy that came from the players, the fans, and the city of Houston shows the strong passion that drives our NBA team. With a team and fan base like that, how can we not win the championship....Seriously!?

Not just waste afterall

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY is looking to become the first zoo in the nation to be powered by its own animal waste. This would be used as an alternative energy source to reduce its $400,000 annual heating and electricity bill. The zoo spends about $10,000 a year on animal-waste disposal, but Baker, the Zoo's director, noted it also requires the use of additional fossil fuels for transportation. Baker said the idea of using animal waste for energy first arose several years ago when she was talking to local officials about the potential for creating a more environmentally friendly and self-sustaining zoo. Because the elephants eat mostly hay, they are the ideal waste producers for the project, Baker said. Additionally, they are inefficient digesters, which makes their feces higher in energy content, she said. The zoo's six elephants produce more than 1,000 pounds of dung per day.The zoo will also look at using the manure from its domestic farm animals, its other hoof stock, such as its bison and caribou, and even its lions and tigers. Depending on the process, the zoo animal waste could be used to produce methane or hydrogen for powering a fuel cell or generator. In the United States, a number of farms have used animal waste to produce power, so the technology is available to apply at the zoo, said John Fox of Homeland Energy Resources Development, a New York City-based renewable energy developer assisting with the study. As gross as it may sound, why don't we do this for human waste if this actually works? It appears to be a solid plan.ha( pun intended)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/05/03/waste.power.ap/index.html

The Risk of Death for Smokers

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, most deaths resulting from tobacco smoking occurs in people aged 65 years or more. However, around one in five deaths occurs between the ages of 35 and 64 years age group. Even though people know is bad for their health, there is some incentive somehow, somewhere to smoke (ads, stress, etc.)
Data released in 2001 from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicates that 19.5 percent of people aged 14 years and over smoke. www.betterhealthchannel.com This means that parents and teachers need to emphasize even more of the damages caused by smoking. Men smoke on average 19.7 cigarettes per day compared with 18.1 smoked by women. This is ridiculous. People need to be more educated regarding their health and the critical harm caused by smoking. Smokers not only harm themselves but the people around them that don't smoke. Reaserch has proven that second-hand smokers are hurt twice as much as smokers overall.

Sexual Abuse Today

When sexually abused victims, specially boys, are not treated, society must later deal with the resulting problems. This include crime, suicide, drug use and more sexual abuse. An average of 5.5 children from 10,ooo enrolled in day care are sexually abused, an average of 8.9 children out of every 10,000 are abused at their homes. 27 percent of the women and 16 percent of men are sexually abused and refrain to talk about it.
Victimization occurrs before the age of eight for 22 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls. Most of the absue for both boys and girls is by offenders 10 or more years older than their victims. Girls are more likely than boys to disclose the abuse. www.prevent-abuse-now.com It is proven that often offenders were sexually abused when they were young and thats' why the age difference from offenders to victims is so large. This problem is harming society as well. Offenders are violent and a threat to society. These people often suicide, use drugs and commit crimes. Surprisingly in many cases, offenders become this way because they don't have someone that they feel comfortable to talk to. Victims often don't look for help and thus aleniate from family and friends making their own little dark world. Sexual abuse is a huge problem in society and one way to start solving it is simply by listening.

Sexual Abuse Today

When sexually abused victims, specially boys, are not treated, society must later deal with the resulting problem. This includes crime, suicide, drug use and more sexual abuse. An average of 5.5 children in 10,000 enrolled in day care are sexually abused, an average of 8.9 children out of every 10,000 are abused in their homes. 27 percent of the women and 16 percent of men are sexually abused and refrain to talk about it.
Victimization occurrs before the age of eight for 22 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls. Most of the abuse for both boys and girls is by offenders 10 or more years older than their victims. Girls were more likely than boys to disclose their abuse. www.prevent-abuse-now.com It is proven that often offenders were sexually abused when they were young and thats' why the age difference from offenders to victims is so large. This problem is harming society as well. Offenders are violent and a threat to society. Thses people often suicide, use drugs and commit crimes. Surprisingly in many cases, offenders become this way because they don't have someone that they feel comfortable to talk to. Victims often don't look for help and thus aleniate from family and friends transforming into "wild creatures"as a Times magazine once said. Sexual abuse is a huge problem in society and one way to start solving it, is simply by listening.

Drinking & Driving

Alcohol has a big effect on the way people drive. Many studies show that the risk of being involved in a crash increases as a driver's blood alcohol level increases. As the blood alcohol level rises, the risk rapidly increases. In fact, if you drink and drive (with a blood alcohol level over 80mg per 100ml) you are three times more likely to be involved in a crash than a sober driver. Contrary to popular opinion, people with a high blood alcohol level are more likely to be injured or killed in a crash than those who are sober.

Key facts for 2003

Drinking and driving contributed to 124 fatal crashes, 370 serious injury crashes and 859 minor injury crashes.
Drinking and driving contributed to 141 deaths, 555 serious injuries and 1398 minor injuries. 31% of all road deaths were in drinking-related crashes.
The social cost of drinking related crashes was about $760 million (about 23% of the social cost associated with all injury crashes).
Over 80% of drivers with excess blood alcohol levels involved in fatal crashes were male.
In 2003, drunk drivers were responsible for killing 38% of their own passengers, 26% other drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians, and 77% of these drunk drivers were themselves killed.
The combination of alcohol and speed during the period 2001-2003 contributed to 19% of fatal crashes. Alcohol alone contributes to 12%, and speed alone contributes to 16% of fatal crashes. So alcohol and speed are factors in 47% of all fatal crashes.
Over 2 million people were breath tested by Police.

Drinking and driving has undoubtedly become a huge concern. After viewing these overwhelming statistics, I have become shocked at the amounts of car crashes associated with drinking. One should think twice before driving while or after consuming alcohol. Always have a designated driver!

The Aids Virus

As of the end of 2003, an estimated 37.8 million people worldwide - 35.7 million adults and 2.1 million children younger than 15 years - were living with AIDS. Approximately two-thirds of these people (25.0 million) live in Sub-Saharan Africa; another 20 percent (7.4 million) live in Asia and the Pacific.
Worldwide, approximately 11 of every 1000 adults aged 15 to 49 are HIV-infected. In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 7.5 percent of all adults in this age group are HIV-infected. Women account for nearly half of all people worldwide living with AIDS. An estimated 4.8 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide during 2003; that is, about 14,000 infections each day. More than 95 percent of these new infections occurred in developing countries. In 2003, approximately 1,700 children under the age of 15 years, and 6,000 young people aged 15 to 24 years became infected with HIV every day.
More than 20 million people with HIV/AIDS have died since the first AIDS cases were identified in 1981. In 2003 alone, HIV/AIDS-associated illnesses caused the deaths of approximately 2.9 million people worldwide, including an estimated 490,000 children younger than 15 years.
Statistics shown above inform us that everyday humanity is becoming more and more infected with the HIV virus. Educational and awareness campaigns are apparently not helping, and indeed something should be done. For more information, visit www.aidsquilt.org.

Statistics on Child Abuse

Overview For calendar year 2003, an estimated 1,800,000 referrals alleging child abuse or neglect were accepted by State and local child protective services (CPS) agencies for investigation or assessment. The referrals included more than 3 million children, and of those, approximately 896,000 children were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect by the CPS agencies. How are the data used? Data from the States are used for the annual report, Child Maltreatment, which is published each spring. In addition, data from the States are used systematically to measure the impact and effectiveness of CPS through performance outcome measures. What data are collected? Case-level data on all children who received an investigation or assessment by a CPS agency are collected. Case-level data include information on the characteristics of the referral of abuse or neglect that are made to CPS agencies, the characteristics of the alleged child abuse or neglect victims, the disposition (or finding) and the alleged maltreatments, the risk factors of the child and the caregivers, the services that are provided, and the characteristics of the perpetrators. Victims An estimated 896,000 children were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect for 2002. The rate of victimization per 1,000 children in the national population has dropped from 13.4 children in 1990 to 12.3 children in 2002. What types of maltreatment were found? More than 60 percent of child victims were neglected by their parents or other caregivers. Almost 20 percent were physically abused, 10 percent were sexually abused, and 7 percent were emotionally maltreated. In addition, almost 20 percent were associated with "other" types of maltreatment based on specific State laws and policies. A child could be a victim of more than one type of maltreatment. What were the characteristics of victims? Children ages birth to three years had the highest rates of victimization at 16.0 per 1,000 children. Girls were slightly more likely to be victims than boys. American Indian or Alaska Native and African-American children had the highest rates of victimization when compared to their national population. While the rate of White victims of child abuse or neglect was 10.7 per 1,000 children of the same race, the rate for American Indian or Alaska Natives was 21.7 per 1,000 children and for African-Americans 20.2 per 1,000 children. The above mentioned statistics are incredibly high. Something should be done in order to reduce the occurence of child maltreatment. For more information please visit www.childabuse.org.

Identity Theft

Up to 700,000 people in the United States may be victimized by identity bandits each year, according to the Justice Department (during press release- 2002 Federal Trade Commission Study). Recent reports now talk about 10,000,000 victims. A recent report on identity theft warned that there is likely to be "mass victimize" of consumers within the next two years. The report said consumers should be extra careful to monitor all their financial transactions for unexplained account activity, withdrawals, or fund transfers. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. The average victim spends 175 hours and $1000 repairing the damage. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says that identity theft is its number one source of consumer complaints - 42 percent of all complaints, in 2001. " Every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone's identity, opens accounts in the victim's name and goes on a buying spree." -CBSnews.com, 1/25/2001.
A study by Gartner Group reveals that 1 in 50 consumers has suffered identity theft. The survey also indicates consumers are so concerned about the problem that they are calling for changes in the way electronic transactions are performed. Identity theft is the most popular form of consumer fraud, in part because it is the most profitable. Thieves stole nearly $100 million from financial institutions last year, or an average of $6,767 per victim. Please take note of the above mentioned statistics!

Statistics on Obesity

Sixty-eight percent of all Americans are overweight, and the percentage of adults who are obese has been rising for a decade. Approximately 2-3% of Americans suffer from extreme or "morbid" obesity, for which surgical treatment is recommended. In 1998, the American Heart Association added obesity to its list of major risk factors for heart attack. Americans are obsessed with dieting, yet few are successful in attaining permanent weight loss. It is estimated that the ranks of diet-conscious adults will increase by 50% this year according to the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington. More important is the fact that weight loss, or at least weight management, plays a significant role in our overall health. Scientific study shows that being over the ideal body weight places us at a higher risk of disease. Those with existing disease, such as diabetics, already have a 2 to 3 times normal risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Add a little body fat and those risks increase dramatically. If you are suffering with a chronic disease, weight control is of utmost importance to your health and longevity. To attain optimal health and longevity, a person must be at or below their ideal body weight. Today's lifestyle and access to fast food makes that a hard goal to reach. According to the World Heart Federation, 11% of children, 50% of women aged 20 to 74, and 33.4% of men aged 65-74 are overweight or obese in the United States. For more information on obesity statistics visit www.americansportsdata.com/obesityresearch.asp

South African Statistics

In history class recently I learned some very staggering statistics about South Africa. They were taken with in the last few years and are very sad and powerful in regards to how poor the treatment of Black South Africans is in comparison to White South Africans.

Stats (given in the order of Black South Africans toWhite South Africans)

Number of People : 19 million / 4.5 million
Percentage of Land Controlled: 13% / 87%
Ammount of $ ratio: $1 / $14
Number of Doctors Ratio: 1 Doctor to 44,000/ 1 Doctor to 400
Baby Fatality Rate: 30%/ 2.7%
Teacher Ratio: 1 to 60/ 1 to 22

These statistics are very powerful in the indication of how poor the treatment of the Black South Africans is. One that reads these statistics must wonder how such amazing injustice still happens today. Not only is it unjust but one must realize how immoral it is to allow a 2.7% fatality rate among White South Africans when the Black South Africans suffer a fatality rate that is over 10 times more. When stats like these are discovered and are acurate people should take notice.
http://www.state.gov/

Mississippi Pride!

Let me say this first: I love my home state of Mississippi. I think it is terribly misunderstood and dogged upon by many people who have never been there. Trust me, stay out of the Delta, eat some catfish, and visit some local Jackson bars and you will have an amazing, true Southern fun.

That being said, I would now like to discuss some of this great state's problems. It has consistently ranked top in the nation in such categories as illiteracy, poverty, and especially teen birth rate. I recently researched just how bad Mississippi's teen birth rate was on the teenpregnancy.org website (http://www.teenpregnancy.org/America/dynamic/stateSummary.asp?stateId=26) and saw some astonishing figures. Turns out that Mississippi's teen births are about as common as the nation's rate. Although Mississippi experienced a decline in teen births from 1992 to 2000 of -16%, the national average was -24%. But it gets much worse. The percentages of teen births in 2002 for girls under fifteen were 2%; for girls fifteen to seventeen, 34%; and for girls eighteen to nineteen, 62%. This is compared to that of the national average in 2002 with percentages of 2%, 32%, and 66%. If this is not crazy enough, the teen birth rate for Mississippi in 2002 was 65, and the national rate was 43! This was computed as the percentages of teens in Mississippi and the U.S., with 82% and 80% of teen births being from unmarried teens in Mississippi and the U.S., respectively.

I heard some disgusting news recently that Mississippi is cutting a large portion of its education budget. It seems as that the people in power in my home state simply are oblivious to their real problems. Social and educational reform is so needed in Mississippi that I feel as though the state will certainly spiral until it is nothing but a corrupt, worthless piece of land. I am sad for these conditions for my home, especially in the alarming rates I viewed for teen pregnancy. Hopefully, smart folks like me will grow up and turn its conditions around.

Pet Statistics

Last week I was looking for a dog for my boyfriend and I was undecided on wether buy an AKC dog or just adopt one. I bought none but this statistics would've helped in making my decision.
-There are approximately 65 million owned dogs in the United States.
-Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households (or 40.6 million) own at least one dog.
-Most owners (65%) own one dog.
-Twenty-three percent of owners own two dogs.
-Twelve percent of owners own three or more dogs.
-On average, owners have almost two dogs (1.6).
-Slightly more male dogs are owned than female dogs.
-Eighteen percent of owned dogs were adopted from an animal shelter.
-On average, dog owners spent $263 on veterinary related expenses in the past 12 months.
-Seventy-two percent of owned dogs are spayed or neutered

I got this statistics from: www. hsus.org

TV Habits

While I was watching TV last night while I was eating dinner it came to my mind how many people have this same habit. Well it appears that 40% of the people in the United States whatch TV while eating dinner. I was surprised do to the fact I had a perception that the percent of people with this habit was higher. Personally I was expecting about half of the United States population would have this habit. While reading about this I found more habits that the people U.S. have.
I found the the number of videos rented daily is six million while the number of public libraries items checked daily is three million. Also 98% of households have at least one television set while 34% have two sets. Statistics like this were the ones thast grabbed my attention bcause I had no idea. Here's the link to other TV habits of the people in the United States that might captivate your attention: <http://www.soundvision.com/Info/misc/tvturnoff.asp>

save toby

I would like to draw each of your attention to the mystifying website about a rabbit named Toby that will meet it's doom on June 30th, 2005. This fate can be avoided, however, if the owner of Toby receives $50,000 by this date. I find this prospect hilarious (of course) but also very intriguing as it shows an element of the market that ought to be regulated. It very well may be profitable in the future for entrepreneurs to engage in ventures such as these to create (!!) negative externalities and, subsequently, profit from them as consumers pay to get rid of them. In this case, the purveyor of Toby has created the negative externality of the thought of Toby being cooked and eaten and is hoping to collect from this. This type of market will likely emerge unless government takes the role to protect consumers and rabbits from such endeavors. Unfortunately, this may happen too late as Save Toby has collected approximately $30,000 to date, maybe providing a profit incentive for others to join in this market.
VIsit www.savetoby.com

Divided

According to a poll conducted by CNN/USA Today/Gallup, 57% percent of Americans believe the war in Iraq was not worth it. 41% of the 1,006 people polled still believe that it was worth going to war with Iraq, a 7% decrease since last February. The latest poll is the largest negative respondents to the war since it has started. Another poll question asked how Americans felt the current status of the country is. 56% of Americans feel that the country is in "bad" to "very bad" shape, up from 45% in March. 42% of respondents said the country is in "well" to "very well" shape. It seems as though the country is as divided as ever these days. Whether it is do to the war, the economy, or the President, a large schism has formed in our society and these new polls further show the division that is so prevalent today.

Statistics on Plastic Surgery

The plastic surgery industry is currently experiencing unprecedented growth. In the United States alone, approximately 8.7 million plastic surgery procedures were performed in 2000. This was a 33% increase from 2002, and a 293% increase from 1997! Of the plastic surgery procedures performed in 2003, 80% were minimally invasive non-surgical procedures (an increase of 43% from 2002), and 20% were surgical procedures (an increase of 5% from 2002).
The following outlines some interesting plastic surgery statistics:
8.7 million plastic surgery procedures in 2003 (33% increase from 2002)
1.7 million were surgical procedures (5% increase from 2002)
7.0 million were non-surgical procedures (43% increase from 2002)
For surgical procedures, the most popular in 2003 were: nose reshaping (356,664 performed), liposuction (320,022 performed), breast augmentation (254,140 performed), eyelid surgery (246,633 performed), and facelift (128,667 performed).
For non-surgical procedures, the most popular in 2003 were: botox injections (2,891,390 performed), chemical peel (995,238 performed), microdermabrasion (935,984 performed) laser hair removal (623,297 performed), and collagen injections (576,255 performed). Eighty six percent of cosmetic surgery patients are women, while the remaining 13% are men. For women, the most popular surgical procedures performed were liposuction, with a 25% increase from 2002, and breast augmentation with a 7% increase in the same year. Forty-five percent of patients were within the 35-50 year old age. Surprisingly enough, 50% of cosmetic surgery procedures were performed on repeat patients, and about 33% of patients had multiple procedures done in one session. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) calculated that cosmetic procedures on women in 2003 increased 16% in one year, and comparable data on men showed an increase of 32%.

Nowadays, it seems as if the world would not be able to function without plastic surgery. The statistics shown above are ridiculously high. So many people invest their money into plastic surgery that not only does plastic surgery rank as one of the top surgical procedures in the medical field, but has also grown to become a seven billion dollar industry! For more information on the statistics of plastic surgery, visit www.cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics.com

Mac users

A recent study by WebSide Story showed that only 3% of web users are on Macs. This is suspiciously low for a platform with at least 10% of the installed base!
The problem isn't the numbers, but how they were derived. WebSide Story used HitBOX Tracker. As Ben Wilson of MacCentral notes, "It should be emphasized that the HitBOX service only provides a viewer for Windows, meaning not many Mac-specific sites are likely to use the service."
Simply stated: if you use a platform related measuring tool, results will be skewed toward that platform.

A survey of visitors to Low End Mac shows very different results from those created by
58.5% use the Mac OS (not 2.7%), and only 36.6% use Windows (not 94.5%)
63.8% browse with Netscape, 34.3% with Internet Explorer (not 68.7%), and 0.7% use iCab
Admittedly, these numbers show a bias toward the Mac side, just as the WebSide statistics show a pro-Microsoft bias in both OS and browser.
The truth is, we'll never have precise figures comparing Mac OS, Linux, Windows, and other market share or installed base. And any survey of the internet will be biased by the sites and software used -- sometimes just a little, but sometimes a great deal.
In reality, Mac users comprise somewhere over 10% of the installed base, but probably less than 15%. Based on that and the ease of connecting all but the oldest Macs to the internet, we can estimate that Mac users are at least as likely to be on the internet as Windows users, so at least 10% (and perhaps as high as 20%) of internet users are Mac users.
Anyone purporting to offer statistics on something as vague as the installed base or use of the internet with three or four digits of precision is being unrealistic. While the numbers may mathematically provide a figure of great precision, the nature of the study leaves a margin of error of several percentage points -- just like those public opinion polls in the press and on TV.
We can safely say that Windows users outnumber Mac users in the home, in the office, and on the internet. We can estimate there are about seven times as many Windows users as Mac users.
Beyond that, we have to remember that there is a great margin of error in these surveys. I would be a fool to extrapolate from visitors to my site and claim that almost 60% of all computers on the internet are Macs, despite the numbers which could be construed to "prove" it.

Rugby

As this years rugby season comes to an end, I find myself counting my blessings that I am still able to walk. This was my first semester playing this game and already I have witnessed injury after devastating injury. It is not hard to see that this sport is extremely physical and dangerous but the amount of injuries that take place throughout a game is ridiculous. In my short career, I have already witnessed two season ending injuries and numerous others. The amount of injuries that took place this season has caused me to question the sanity of it's players. According to a survey done by Eastern Suburbs Sports Medicine Centre in Sydney, about 1.4 players receive a game ending injury per contest. This statistic is almost double that of the next most physical sport that comes to mind, football. 66% of rugby injuries are classified as severe, meaning the player is left unable to play for at least one game. The other 44% of injuries consist of broken noses, fingers, and black eyes, none of which are very fun. Every time you step into a rugby game the thought of being injured has to cross your mind. The good players are able to block this feeling out but after gathering these statistics, I do not see myself running out on that field anytime soon.

Hybrids don't suck?!?

When was it decided that Hybrids were no longer going to be ugly bubble cars with limited horsepower and even greater limited style. I didn't know but this trend is falling apart. I was one of those people who thought that cutting gasoline usage was a good idea, but I wasn't willing to make what I thought was a sacrifice to get a hybrid. This was until I saw an article on hybrids in Business Week. This was on page 118 in the April 25th edition. There are hybrids out that don't make you sacrifice style or horsepower for amazing gas mileage. My favorite is the 255 HP Honda Accord that gets almost 35 miles per gallon. About a 40% increase on fuel efficiency. (My Ford Taurus only has 155 HP and barely gets gets the 20 MPG it's rated with the way I drive.)
This is not breathtaking but shows that there is progress toward the big switch. Increased performance and greater fuel efficiency what could be better? The one catch, and there is always a catch, is that the Hybrid Accord runs about $3,000 more than the standard one.
This is going to be big, there are even plans for a hybrid GMC Sierra. If they can make a truck that is capable of towing 9,000 lbs. into a hybrid then car manufacturers can do anything. I'm pretty excited about what's to come in the next few years from American companies. My next car will definitely be a hybrid.

Survivors of war still face fatal risks.

After returning home from the war in Iraq, many military personnel describe the feeling as being "free as a bird." This feeling has been influencing many of them to drive wildly and to do things they wouldn't normally do. After being home for three days, Army Spc. Robert Tipp Jr. decided to drive his four wheeler as hard as he could, causing this 20 year old to die from massive head injury. Many think that the thought of having no apparent danger such as what the military experiences in Iraq, causes them to feel invincible. Another veteran and a friend were recently killed in his Trans Am right outside of a military base from losing control while traveling about 90 mph. From 2003 to 2004, when troops first returned in large numbers from Iraq, 132 soldiers died in vehicle accidents. This was a 28% jump from the previous 12 months. Two-thirds of them were veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan. In the past seven months, 80 soldiers died in vehicle accidents. This is a 23% increase from the same period a year earlier. Four out of five were veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Hopefully veterans realize that they are not invincible and start living more responsibly, or more casualties may result from the war in Iraq without a single shot being fired.






http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-02-soldiers-accidents-cover_x.htm

Relief at the pumps?

As everyone knows, there has been a pretty steep climb in gas prices this last April. Recently, these prices have dropped 10 to 12 cents. This may not be a big deal considering how much they have recently increased, but experts expect them to stay at this level throughout the summer. The average price of regular unleaded is now $2.18 a gallon, compared to the high of around $2.30 a gallon last month. These prices show a 5% drop since January. Even with this drop, prices are still up 37 cents a gallon, or about 20% compared to what they were. The drop was caused by the oil supply buildup. In March, OPEC increased daily production by 2 million barrels and is now pumping at a 25-year peak. Starting this month, OPEC will add another 500,000 barrels per day. Hopefully consumers will continue to see a fall in prices at the pump for our sake and the economies'.





www.gaspricewatch.com
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-03-gas-prices_x.htm

Music Downloads

The latest findings from Ipsos shows that a fourth of all Americans over the age of 12 have downloaded a music or MP3 file from the Net. That comes to about 60 million people. The report doesn't differentiate between active file traders and those who smoked but did not inhale, it just gives a broad view of those who at least tried it. The 28% who admit to tune tasting in the September poll show a slight, but upward rise in those who turn to the Net for music (26% in June, and 24% in April). Taking account the 2.94% error-factor in their poll, this shows that file trading among Americans has at least been stable over the last 6 months.
Maybe the more telling statistic comes from Ipsos-Reid's finding that half of the US population over age 12 have listened to store bought CDs from the CD-ROM drive in their PC. This has two implications. First that the record industry's continual desire to release PC-crippled CDs is going to piss off a very large percentage of the US buying audience. Second that a good number of people may be using their PC to replace their home stereo and so electronic manufacturers need to tailor their products to appeal to the demands of these customers.
The electronic manufacturers are taking the bull by the horns and doing just that. The record industry is not.
"These numbers reinforce the notion that digital music activities, including both those more passive in nature such as listening to a CD in your PC's CD-Rom drive, as well as more interactive behaviors such as downloading and file-sharing, are not dwindling, and in fact, are gradually becoming more prevalent among the general U.S. population," said Matt Kleinschmit, Director for Ipsos-Reid and the TEMPO research program.
"This is noteworthy" continued Kleinschmit "because while 2002 has been a very volatile year for digital music in general, from ongoing file-sharing litigation and talk of prosecuting individuals for copyright violations to controversy surrounding copy-protected CD's, American music enthusiasts clearly intend to continue integrating the inherent flexibility and convenience of digital music into their traditional music listening behaviors."
This smacks of opportunity to me. The electronic manufacturers see it because the market for traditional CD players has been stagnant over the last several years as most households already have several players in the home and car. Prices have dropped considerably too over the years as the technology matured, taking the standard portable CD player to about $50. Meanwhile Apple is coming up on their four millionth Apple iPod sale with players running between $300 and $500 dollars. Digital music is a huge growth area for electronic firms and, as Apple is proving, computer companies.
The record industry still doesn't see it that way. They are gradually warming up to the idea of selling digital downloads, but they still want to charge us egregiously for the privilege. This brings us to another finding by Ipsos, that there is an increased willingness among consumers to pay for the music they download.
In June of this year Ipsos-Reid found that just over one-quarter (27%) of American Downloaders reported having paid for at least some of the music they downloaded. By the end of September that number increased to 31%. That confirms that users are willing to pay for digital music if the terms and pricing is right, even with the availability of free P2P services.
KaZaa right now claims an audience of 140 million worldwide users. If PressPlay could claim just 1% of that audience they would be a very successful entity. The Ipsos poll says that right now, even with the existence of KaZaa, 31% are willing to fork over dollars for tunes. Unfortunately, the record industry's product is so restrictive and expensive that they turn away more of this potential audience than they draw.
The movie industry charges $8.00 per person to see a flick in the theater, and then $3.00 in video stores to rent the same movie for the whole family. This tier pricing has worked tremendously well for the movie industry as most movies make more revenue through rentals than through theater receipts. The ultimate irony is that the movie industry was dragged into videotape kicking and screaming.
Likewise, the record industry has entered the Net music world kicking and screaming. They too should embrace tier pricing where the regular CD drops a few dollars from the ridiculously high price of twenty bucks, while unencumbered music downloads sell for a dime a song. Selling individual songs for $0.99 or $10-15 a CD isn't all that much better priced than the store bought CD, plus the tunes from the record company endorsed services have significant restrictions on them making the overall prospect of buying downloads considerably less appealing.