Kansas Bob

WWW: Coed Dorms Equal Sex and Drinking

In this edition of Weird World Wednesday, I submit to you a few excerpts from a Reuters article titled Co-ed dorms linked to more drinking, sex:

In a survey of more than 500 students at five U.S. universities, researchers found that students living in co-ed housing were 2.5 times more likely than those in all-male or all-female dorms to admit to binge-drinking on a weekly basis. They were also more than twice as likely to say they'd had at least three sex partners in the past year.
...
In their study, Willoughby and colleague Dr. Jason S. Carroll found that more than 41 percent of students in co-ed housing said they binged on a weekly basis, versus just fewer than 18 percent of those in single-sex dorms.

And whereas 63 percent of students in single-sex housing said they'd had no sexual partners in the past year, this was true of only 44 percent of students in co-ed dorms. Of students in co-ed housing, almost 13 percent said they had had three or more sexual partners in the past year, compared with 5 percent of students in single-sex dorms.

Moreover, Willoughby said, the findings did not appear to be a matter of "selection" -- that is, kids who are more prone to drinking and sex being more likely to request co-ed housing.

Few college students specifically ask for single-sex housing, the researcher noted, and most that end up in those dorms were simply placed there by their universities.
...
Willoughby speculated that co-ed dorms may implicitly set different "social norms" than single-sex housing does. Students, he explained, may expect co-ed dorms to have higher rates of drinking and sex, which may make them more likely to live up to those expectations.

It is interesting how we need "studies" like this to tell us things that we already know. Was anyone surprised by the outcome of the survey? Anyone think it weird that we need a study to state the obvious? What do you think about the study?

Thank You for Smoking

Sometimes a Netflix recommendation really surprises you. Such is the case of this pretty funny 2005 movie satire about the Lobbying and Tobacco Industries. To give you a flavor of what you can expect let me share this dialog that big tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor has with Hollywood celebrity agent Jeff Megall:

Jeff: Sony has a futuristic sci-fi movie they're looking to make.
Nick: Cigarettes in space?
Jeff: It's the final frontier, Nick.
Nick: But wouldn't they blow up in an all oxygen environment?
Jeff: Probably. But it's an easy fix. One line of dialogue. 'Thank God we invented the... you know, whatever device.'

I think this interchange with Nick's son Joey says it all:

Joey: ...so what happens when you're wrong?
Nick: Whoa, Joey I'm never wrong.
Joey: But you can't always be right...
Nick: Well, if it's your job to be right, then you're never wrong.
Joey: But what if you are wrong?
Nick: OK, let's say that you're defending chocolate, and I'm defending vanilla. Now if I were to say to you: 'Vanilla is the best flavour ice-cream', you'd say...
Joey: No, chocolate is.
Nick: Exactly, but you can't win that argument... so, I'll ask you: so you think chocolate is the end all and the all of ice-cream, do you?
Joey: It's the best ice-cream, I wouldn't order any other.
Nick: Oh! So it's all chocolate for you is it?
Joey: Yes, chocolate is all I need.
Nick: Well, I need more than chocolate, and for that matter I need more than vanilla. I believe that we need freedom. And choice when it comes to our ice-cream, and that Joey Naylor, that is the defintion of liberty.
Joey: But that's not what we're talking about
Nick: Ah! But that's what I'm talking about.
Joey: ...but you didn't prove that vanilla was the best...
Nick: I didn't have to. I proved that you're wrong, and if you're wrong I'm right.
Joey: But you still didn't convince me
Nick: It's that I'm not after you. I'm after them.

If you like smart and funny you might like this movie. Aaron Eckhart was simply brilliant as the amoral lobbyist.. his character's interchanges with his son were confounding and revealing.. in a very smart and satirical way. The movie is R-rated, has a few risque scenes and a few F-bombs - so watcher beware.

On a scale of 10 I give this movie ★★★★★★★

A Day of Remembrance and Hope

To commemorate the day I thought I'd give you an excerpt from an article having the same title as this post:

In 1988 the World Health Organization designated December 1 as World AIDS Day. In the ensuing 19 years, significant progress has been made in fighting the feared disease; but at the same time, this progress has been insufficient to stop the HIV virus that causes AIDS from continuing as a global threat.

The good news is that HIV and AIDS are no longer a death sentence, at least not in the most developed nations like our own. The virus is considered treatable and preventable, while combinations of drugs have controlled its deadly spread.

International organizations estimate that global infection has stabilized in recent years at 33 million. Africa is the region where the spread is still out of control, representing 72% of all new cases around the world.

I long for the day when a cure is found for diseases such as AIDS, ALS, Cancer, MS, Diabetes and other devastating diseases.. and pray for hope and comfort to come to those afflicted with these terrible diseases along with their families and friends.

Blog Visit from the Pope?

I got an email over the weekend from NeoWorx (a blog widget maker)..
here is the message and image that they sent me:

Congratulations!
You just had your first visitor from Vatican City.

I am always amazed at the places that show up on my NeoWorx visitor widget.. visitors from 149 countries have visited since I added it to my sidebar last year. Of course many of those visitors probably just land here from a Google search.. still it is fun to see how much of the world lands here.

And you never know.. maybe the pope was interested in Compassion Fatigue?

Compassion Fatigue

The caption on this photo reads:
Ronald and Helen Shewchuk sit down to a meal Wednesday at the Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen in Ithaca, N.Y. The Shewchuks have been eating many of their meals at the soup kitchen since losing most of their retirement savings during the economic downturn.

Stories like this are heartbreaking examples of how the economy is affecting so many people in unprecedented ways. Like the Shewchuks many people are experiencing the economic downturn in ways that they have never imagined possible. Unemployment has hit double digits and families are now really hurting.

On Thanksgiving night Ann and I watched a 30 minute TV show on the different ways that Kansas Citians are helping the poor and homeless people in our city. I have to admit that I was moved to tears as I heard a story about a family of four that lost their home and are living out of their car.. and the parents have jobs. My heart broke as I watched the different ways that homeless people are being cared for.

Sunday morning Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Church in California) used a phrase that I had never heard before - Compassion Fatigue. The term, used to describe the reaction that many have to enormity of problems such as these, seemed an appropriate to me. We can glaze over mentally when we think about things such as world poverty and hunger issues.. donations to charitable organizations seem to be just a drop in the proverbial ocean.. it is sometimes so hard to give when it is so difficult to imagine that our small donations would make a difference.

Back to that TV show.. I saw people who were making a difference one person and one family at a time. Whether they were delivering food to homeless people living under highway overpasses or volunteering at food panties, soup kitchens and shelters many people were responding to people's needs in such a compassionate way.

I think that the only way to combat compassion fatigue is to fully engage our compassion in the ways that many people have.. regularly and generously. As much as possible we should support local agencies with our time and finances as well as those that care for the poorest peoples in the world. Perhaps in this season where we celebrate God's gift of His Son we can engage our compassion and find ways to give to those who need it the most.

Is Your Senator a Millionaire?

According to this New York Times article Your Senator Is (Probably) a Millionaire. According to them about two-thirds of United States senators were millionaires in 2008, according to a recent analysis of politicians’ fortunes conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics. The center estimated each politician’s net worth by adding together the lawmaker’s range of assets and then subtracted the range of liabilities. The midpoint of that resulting range was used to rank the politicians. Here is a list of the 25 wealthiest senators (in 2008) according to their average net worth:

An interesting list for sure.. the list seems pretty equal with regard to party.. always knew that it takes a lot of money to run for office.. this list gives a bit of specificity to that idea.

Check out the article.. it also lists the 25 wealthiest congressional representatives.. none of our Kansas senators or representatives made the lists. How did your senators and representatives fare.. top 25 millionaire of not?