Drinking Problems: The Associated Press recently released an analysis of more than 150 college age deaths related to alcohol poisoning from 1999-2005. Among their findings were that such drinking deaths hit a peak of 35 in the final year of that period. Students who drank themselves to death had an average blood alcohol content of .40 - five times the legal limit for driving. Deaths spiked on weekends and after winter finals when students spend more time partying. Of the 18 freshmen who died, 11 did so in the first semester. Overall drinking rates in college are not significantly higher than those of the general population, however drinking until passing out is far more common and has researchers and college officials concerned by the number of alcohol poisoning deaths. (Chicago Tribune July 8, 2008)
Diversity Not as Common as the Catalogue: A recent study of college view books by a sociologist at Amherst has found that promotional photos often over represent diversity on campus. None were as embarrassing as the University of Wisconsin and the University of Idaho incidents where the schools admitted photoshopping the catalogue to add non-white faces to photos of all white student groups. However, they did show that more than 75% of colleges over represent black students in their view books. While black students made up just under 8% of the student populations in the hundreds of schools in the study, they made up over 12% in the photos. Asian students were also over-represented, showing up as 5.1% of students pictured, but only 3.3% in reality on campus. Latinos appeared underrepresented in the photos but the methodology only counted those students clearly racially identifiable in the pictures. Timothy Pippert, who led the study, believes that schools want to show a more diverse community in order to draw more minority students to their schools. However the fear is that students may find the school very different in reality from the image promoted. The researchers also noted that promotional materials generally feature attractive students. One student who helped with the research summarized their findings saying that the photos primarily consist of "hot chicks and minorities." (Inside Higher Ed July 2, 2008)
Inconsistent Religion: Although the US is one of the most religious nations in the world, a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows many believe things which contradict their stated faith. 70% of those who claim religious affiliation believe multiple religions can lead to salvation and 68% believe in multiple interpretations of their own religion. 57% of self-identified evangelicals believe multiple religions can lead to salvation. 21% of self-identified atheists believe that some kind of God exists. 80% of respondents believe in moral standards of right and wrong, but only 29% claim their religious teachings help them determine those standards. A copy of the report can be read at www.pewforum.com (SFGate.com June 23, 2008)
Emerging Adulthood: Sociologists have remarked that being 35 today is much like being 35 in previous generations: career, family, marriage are part of most lives. However, being 25 today has changed significantly. In 1970 only 21% of 25 year olds had never been married. In 2005, that was true of 60% of 25 year olds. When asked what marked entering "adulthood," 96% of young adults identified having a full-time job. Less than half said being married. Jeffery Arnett, author of Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from Late Teens through Twenties has remarked on the very amorphous definition of entering adulthood. For most it meant "accepting responsibility for the consequences of one's actions." Often, parents are discouraging their young adult children from getting married to soon. Rather they encourage establishing a career and finishing graduate school before taking such a "destabilizing" step. Young adulthoods often enter a path of serial monogamy, living with partner after partner before marriage. 65% of young adults cohabitated at least once prior to marriage. However, research shows that those living with a boyfriend or girlfriend live lives much more similar to singles than to married couples. (UnMarried, Still Children in Touchstone June 2008 p. 15-18)
Millennial Views on Family Values: Millennials (now in their 20's) have fairly strong traditional values. In a survey by one advertising group they found that 94% respect monogamy and parenthood. 84% revere marriage. 88% say they respect the US Constitution and 84% respect the military. (Touchstone June 2008)
Christianity in China: 2.8% of the Chinese population claimed to be Christian in a survey of Religious Experience in Contemporary China. However 5% had attended a Christian service in the last year. After Buddhists, the study found that "Christians, overwhelmingly Protestant, are the largest group to lay claim to a religious faith." Nearly 75% of those who said they are Christians were women. (Touchstone June 2008)
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