Six Bucks Worth of Violence

We often hear about home invasions and muggings done by drug fiends needing to get cash to score their next fix. Alcoholics don't seem to have quite the violence in them to get their fix, but the amount of violence associated with alcohol consumption is still unimaginable.

This story from Florida has just a shadow of an association with alcohol...and that's even too much. The young man in this scenario doesn't sound like someone who can be rehabilitated, but rather, someone who's violence streak will follow him for life. For six bucks, the kid can probably get a cheap bottle of wine or an extremely cheap 12 pack of beer. The unthinkable...for nothing more than a night's buzz. How horribly sad.

*****
PALM BAY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) --

Palm Bay Police have arrested 16-year-old Alan Michael Tanguay for stabbing a woman to death inside her bedroom late Thursday night.The teen was arrested Monday morning after detectives and SWAT team members searched his home off Vin Rose Circle.

The incident began on Friday when officers found 58-year-old Patricia Kaliszeski murdered inside her home. Officers said the woman sustained multiple stab wounds, including an extremely deep cut across her throat.

Two witnesses came forward who told detectives that Tanguay told them he killed the woman, providing them with details of the murder. Tanguay told the witnesses that he entered the home sometime between late Thursday night and early Friday morning with the intention to rob the place. When he entered the home, Tanguay found the victim sitting on her bed. He told the witnesses he found a knife and approached the woman who attempted to defend herself against the attack.

The witnesses told police Tanguay made statements of having killed others and he had a rule that when he found someone inside the house during a burglary, he had to kill them.

"There's no doubt in my mind he would kill again," Chief Bill Berger said after Tanguay confessed to the crime. "This individual is a self proclaimed psychotic killer and what he did to this victim is beyond words. He needs to be locked up for the rest of his life," the chief added.

Police said the teen stole approximately $6 from the victim which he used to purchase beer.

When Guys Don't Think...

Vomiting Milk Prank Causes CrashYou
Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__uEKSzhCsA

This news story is disturbing. If you don't watch the youtube vid, here's a quick synopsis...

Several fraternity brothers stood on an overpass and vomited milk down on the cars below. This caused several crashes and could have ended up a lot, lot worse...

If you were to ask these young men, "What were you thinking?" The answer would most likely come back, "I guess we weren't..." And, they're probably right.

Studies show some of the reasoning skills aren't fully developed until humans reach their mid-20s. Mix this with inexperience and (probably) alcohol consumption and we get this sort of event; something that was thought to be funny, but could have had dire results.

This is why students need to be encouraged to stop, think of the potential repercussions of their actions then, if there are no unhealthy outcomes possible, proceed with caution. Stop, think, reason, decide.

This is so often taken for granted in mature adults, but its importance on college students can't be emphasized enough.

Sadly, this thoughtless prank was conducted by several members of the same fraternity. Whether it's media bias or fraternities deserve the bad rep they get, we (as mature, reasonable adults) need to understand this is an isolated incident and due to the actions of a handful of young men. It wasn't the fraternity's weekly activity to go puke on cars. Yet, the entire fraternity will suffer due to the actions of a few.

Again, we need to highlight decision-making skills to college students. After all, this is the time when they can learn lessons for life...or they can continue to have the immature mindset that made this a story in the first place.

Teleconference Network Of Texas

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Yesterday was a first for yours truly. I was the guest presenter for a teleconference arranged by the Teleconference Network of Texas out of UT Health Science Center in San Antonio. We had a group of nutritionists from across the country hooked into the bridge and, based on some of the feedback via E mail, it went well! For the guy who’s real interactive with the audience, giving a program without human feedback was a challenge, but it went really well!

Special thanks to B.J. Brown in San Antonio for being such a great host and moderator! I’d include some pictures, but since this was over the phone, you don’t really want to see me sitting on my couch in a grubby old tee shirt and khaki shorts, do ya?!

DeSales University, September 3

Third year in a row and they just keep getting better! Thank you to the freshmen (and more!) class of DeSales University in Center Valley, PA for a fantastic Character U experience! We had a blast! The standing room only crowd was an absolute delight and, despite Carson having a little pukey spell halfway through my program, the POD’s were rockin the house!

Character U is one of the most exciting and outstanding freshman programs in the Nation. DeSales does and amazing job of offering students the tools and motivation needed to get the most from the college experience – start to finish!

Extra, EXTRA special thanks go to Dr. Greg Amore, Wendy Krisak and Chad Surface for hiring and re-hiring me and giving me the opportunity to work with new groups of wonderful DeSales students!

You guys are awesome to work with (and to hang out with too!!) Thanks Greg for giving us the tour of the Amore Vineyards – we enjoyed our time with you so much – and we cherish the souvenirs! Friends, if you're ever in the Lehigh Valley in PA, be sure to stop by The Amore Vineyards and Farm and meet the crew – it's an experience you won't forget!

Florida Civitan Convention

Thanks to the Florida Civitan Convention for inviting me to keynote on Saturday, Sept. 13!

Civitan (if you're not familiar), is a civic organization with a strong emphasis in providing assistance to individuals with developmental disabilities. And a more quality group you cannot find! Business, civic and faith-based leaders all compose this organization with a really special mission!

Thanks to Jean Smith, the Florida Civitan Governor, and also to Dr. David Persky for promoting my services to yet another group!

Pics include me with Abigail Persky (Dr. Persky's daughter and one of my coolest friends from Academy at the Lakes).

Interesting article...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5986983.html

Keep the drinking age at 21

By ROBERT NASH PARKER

A well-intentioned but misguided group of college and university presidents has been in the news recently for suggesting that we revisit the drinking age and asserting that 21 "is not working." Called the Amethyst Initiative, their proposal would have received a failing grade in my sociology classroom for its faulty logic and how unmindful it is of the history of alcohol policy in the United States. During the 1960s and 1970s, most states lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 or 19. Arguments about the draft were cited -- "old enough to fight but not to drink" -- and in the general liberal climate of those times, good policy gave way to popular sentiment. The 128 college presidents who have signed on to the Amethyst Initiative apparently are unaware of the extensive research that documented the decade of carnage that followed -- not just on our highways but in our bars, streets and neighborhoods. Rates of alcohol-related traffic deaths soared. Rates of alcohol-related violence among those 18 to 20 increased. And as alcohol got more accessible to teens, more 12- and 13-year-olds started drinking. Beginning in the late 1970s, the states, led by Minnesota, restored the drinking age to 21, and they saw corresponding drops in alcohol-related car accidents and crash-related deaths. There also eventually were reductions in youth homicide, which resulted in part from the decreased access to alcohol, within the 18- to 20-year-old group and those under 18. The college presidents claim that research does not, however, support the conclusion that the drinking age spurred these changes. And although there are many different studies with inconclusive results, in 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did an analysis of 49 studies. Looking at them together, the CDC found that increasing the drinking age was an effective intervention that significantly reduced harm and death among young people. On the Web site of Choose Responsibility, the umbrella organization that spearheaded the Amethyst Initiative, the arguments against the drinking age of 21 are particularly flawed. They contend that accidents and deaths dropped simply because the size of the teenage population went down. But they make an error that my undergraduate research-methods students are taught to avoid: They present raw numbers instead of the risk ratio, or the number of negative outcomes divided by the population at risk. Between 1982 and 1991, when most states had raised the drinking age, the number of deaths from alcohol-related traffic crashes among youth went down, as did the population of young people. However, the rate of deaths dropped from 16.9 per 100,000 young people to 11.1 per 100,000, a drop of 34 percent; the population declined only 6.5 percent. Between 1993 and 2004, the population of young people increased, but the number of deaths didn't go up. In fact, the rate dropped from 7.77 deaths per 100,000 to 7.0 per 100,000. The assertion that deaths from alcohol-related crashes are shaped by the number of young people is simply wrong. So what really has happened since the drinking age was raised? About 26,000 people who would have died when they were 18 to 20 years old are alive because fewer alcohol-related crashes occurred. Data from the University of Michigan's annual Monitoring the Future study of behavior trends among children show that under the higher drinking age, the proportion of 18-year-olds who drink has declined 14 percent since 1991; for those age 16, the decline is 23 percent; and for those age 12, the decline is a significant 38 percent. Research on underage purchases of alcohol shows that places where alcohol is readily sold to minors also have higher rates of youth violence. To be sure, the college presidents appear most concerned about the growth in binge drinking, a problem that may disproportionately affect their campuses. But it's not rocket science to figure out what would happen if the college presidents have their way with the drinking age -- hundreds more dead young people each year. Sexual assaults, alcohol-related fights and other injuries would also increase. Also, it's worth noting that alcohol-related deaths among young people not enrolled in college currently exceed those among students, so even more deaths and injuries would occur away from campuses. It is ironic that these campus leaders call for 18- to 20-year-olds to "choose responsibility," when it is the presidents who have shirked their responsibility to counter the dangerous binge-drinking culture that has developed on campuses. Research sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has shown that there are effective strategies to reduce student binge drinking. Instead, the presidents seem to have settled on approaches that will increase profits for alcohol companies at the expense of young people's lives and health. Until they do their homework, they get an F in public policy. Parker is a professor of sociology and co-director of the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com

Cruises - Gotta Be 21 To Drink

My wife and I are scheduled to take a Caribbean cruise this autumn. With all the hurricane activity this season, I was just looking at Royal Caribbean's policies if a 'caine comes through and prevents the vacation. While surfing their site, I came across the answer to a frequently asked question:

What is the legal drinking age in international waters?

While I don't have an exact answer to this question, any Royal Caribbean cruise originating in the USA requires all passengers who are consuming alcohol to be 21 or older. RC is partners with at least one other cruise line and I'll wager their policy is the same.

So, it's a no go for minors who want to drink on cruises. Props to Royal Caribbean for their policy which coincides with American laws.