Deadly Drinking?

Jenna Foellmi, 20, joined 83 individuals who have died from alcohol poisoning from 1999 until now, when she passed away on Dec. 14 after a night of heavy drinking; she had just finished taking her last final that day:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-drinking-deaths,0,5494021.story?page=2

This is unfortunate on several levels; first, I think that these is evidence that despite the fact that the legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21, individuals who are underage are still finding ways to drink. For this reason, I believe that the legal drinking age should be reduced to 18, the way it is in Europe. I believe that if this was done, alcohol would not be as tantalizing to teenagers, thus reducing the level of binge-drinking and various accidents that occur while under the influence -- drunk driving being the most prominent amongst them. There is a reason why Great Britain and Germany do not have the high level of drunk-driving accidents that occur with underage drinkers the way the U.S. does, and I think that our legal drinking age is the main problem.

Secondly, note how in the article, Jenna embarked upon a night of heavy drinking after finishing her last final of the semester. I believe that she sought alcohol as a means to (1) celebrate and (2) blow off some steam and relieve stress. I believe that there is a big problem with American youth in regards to looking to alcohol and narcotics as a source of stress relief whild in college -- I witnessed it first-hand during the past four years. There is a problem when people are taking aderol in order to get through finals week or write a 20-page paper. We either have to ask our educators to re-evaluate the amount of work they give us (again, overworking students seems to be another American trend) or we need to further educate our youth so that they use other methods to reduce stress. The latter would suggest things like "get at least eight hours of sleep" and "eat three square meals a day", but that would mean that college students would actually be afforded the time to do so, and speaking as a recent Denison graduate, that is a little easier said than done. Nothing says little to no sleep like two midterms in one day.

Anyway, that's my take on the situation. Of course, there are other variables that one should consider in a situation such as this -- peer pressure, greek life culture, the psycological mindset of being immortal that comes with being an adolescent/young adult -- but for the most part, this is my take on the issue as it stands today. What is yours?

Where is the Muslim Community supposed to turn to in this upcoming election?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/politics/24muslim.html?ex=1372046400&en=f404cdb933e61aaa&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Summer in Chicago, and apparently, living is not so easy...

Today marks the funeral of the 27th child within the Chicago Public School system who was ruthlessly murdered since the beginning of the 07-08 school year. A few weeks ago, a CPS school teacher was shot in the head while she was waiting for her neice in her car -- it was a case of mistaken identity, but that clearly does not matter now. It is beyond me how this city could lose 27 children within nine months; however, while our mayor and governer are intertwined in business that deals with their own greed for money and power and out police force struggles with corrupt cops, it comes as no surprise. In the midst of our leaders' personal issues, they are losing sight of the big picture, and as a result our children and educators are dying.

Just a little over two months ago, a friend of mine who was only 19 and on the eve of finishing up her freshman year, died in a car crash. It was most unexpected, and all I could think was that her life was cut short, so short that it had barely even begun. I think about her often. I wonder what kind of woman she would have grown up to be, what she would have accomplished, how proud she would have made everyone who loved her and cared for her. And now I think that the loved ones of 27 people have to wonder the same thing of the person that they lost -- in many cases much sooner than we lost Maria. They will never ceases wondering.

This is the first summer that I have been home in over two years, and I was looking forward to it. Summer in Chicago is amazing in so many ways -- from the beach, to downtown, to the festivals and the Taste, there is so much to do. And yet, May marked marked what seems to be the most bloody, dangerous summer that we have ever experienced. All of a sudden, I feel as though there is much to fear instead of look forward to.

Interesting Link Concerning Religious Pluralism...

Go Harvard: http://www.pluralism.org/index.php

Sexism in the City

Though I am merely a mediocre fan of the now syndicated show, "Sex in the City", and thought at times that the outfits were a bit out there and the content a bit unnecessarily raunchy, I still developed an appreciate for Samantha, Carrie, and company. And I'm glad that she picked Big. So, like every woman under 35 who has an affinity for shoes, I was more then a bit excited about the SATC movie -- even proud of it once it hit the box-offices and became the most successful R-rated comedy, and movie with completely female-leading roles (let's not even start on how women are too often made to play the role of the doe-eyed, eye-lash-batting, adoring-and-sexy love interest in EVERY movie). However, I was more than a bit surprised when certain critics (by "certain" I mean those of the male persuasion, of course, who identify themselves as heteros) began to bash the movie -- I became offended. Below is a link to an article that best explains why these absurdly sexist, biased critics evaluated the movie the way that they did:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/139889

My, how sexism envelopes us.

Obama is in...now he must be all that he promised to be -- and MORE.

The following is from an e-zine called Colorlines, which I frequent a lot. It makes a valid point: once in office, Obama better make good on his promises and be as dynamic as he has led us to believe he can be -- not a puppet in the hands of a corrupt, selfish, "experienced" cabinet (full of old white men? Or people of color there to fill a criteria?). Check it out and let me know what you think:
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2008/06/obama_makes_history_needs_to_m.html#comments

Obama is in! It's a new and different day in America!

For the record, I've BEEN knowing this for about a year now; behold, all ye doubters, Obama is the Democratic Presidential Candidate! Now, let's get him to the White House! Below is an article that explains what went right (for Obama) and wrong (for Clinton...who might be our next VP?!) and...basically how McCain doesn't matter. Well, maybe that last part is my own personal bias, but behold:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-clinch_charticlejun04,0,2494342.story