I Speak of Dreams

Underage Alcohol Deaths, 2008

In 2007, at least thirty-one young people  died of alcohol toxicity (alcohol poisoning, alcohol overdose).

"There's no place  that's actually keeping data on alcohol deaths"--Thomas Kunstman MD.

In an article called Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24: changes from 1998 to 2001, by Hingson R, Heeren T, Winter M, Wechsler H. in Annual Review of Public Health. 2005, 26:259-279, the authors used statistical methods:

Estimated number of nontraffic injury deaths of all youth that are alcohol related:
1998         2001 
  991         1151

Estimated number of nontraffic injury deaths of college students that are alcohol related:
1998         2001 
  327           368

Alcohol Overdose Deaths on Campus or Those Under Age
[decedent's name with link], [age], [DoD], [university] [BAC]

The following list is generated by news reports listing cause of death as alcohol related.  I am sure there are more.

1. Brian W. Threet, 20, St. Cloud State, January 5, 2008,  BAC unknown
2. Chaz Lightner, 17,John Marshall High School (W. VA), February 10, 2008, BAC 0.374
3. Jesse Drews , 21, March 24, (WI), March 24, 2008, BAC 0.38
4. John Gunter, 17, White County, Georgia, April 25, 2008, BAC unknown
5. William Kiel Bobbitt, 19, California University of Pennsylvania, May 1, 2008, BAC unknown
6. Andrew I. Anderson, 16, Manako MN,  May 30 2008, BAC unknown

In all cases, my deepest condolences to family and friends.

A young man in Minnesota:

After he watched an ambulance crew carry away a girl he knew earlier this year, he said, he wished he'd had another message dunned into him. If someone you know is breathing irregularly or passes out -- whether the reason appears to be too much drinking, or anything else -- call 911. Don't delay. Don't worry about getting him or her -- or yourself -- into trouble. Don't assume that "sleeping it off" is all that the situation requires.

Long Division: Why Teach It?

Out in Left Field has a series of posts on the topic which I recommend to you:

• Why Teach Long Division?
• Why Teach Long Division?  Reasons Part I
• Why Teach Long Division? Reasons Part II
• Why Teach the Traditional Long Division Algorithm?

Kevin Skelly & Peter Fortenbaugh: Opportunity gap or achievement gap?

Keven Skelly is the Superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD). In a February 2nd interview, Skelly said:

"It's just not possible for the average kid who comes to this country in seventh or eighth grade, or even third grade, without a word of English and parents with little formal education, to match the achievement levels of kids whose mom has a Ph.D. in English from Stanford and can afford to stay home and spend time supplementing the education of her kids."

Skelly got in a lot of hot water for those comments, and issued an apology eight days later. Peter Fortenbaugh, the Executive Director of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, wrote:

Dr. Skelly is right when he says that schools alone cannot close the achievement gap. We must look beyond the schools, teachers and curriculum. We first need to understand the different worlds in which students grow up in and the different opportunities available to them.

Fortenbaugh went on to say:

If we truly want to close the achievement gap, we need to address social-policy issues beyond education. We need to invest in programs that partner with schools to provide opportunities for all of our students after school and during summers.

It is impossible, we are finding out, to reduce the achievement gap while the opportunity gap is increasing.

Aimée, writing at Silicon Valley Moms' Blog, observed:

While we all like to cling to the idea that education is the great equalizer, the truth is education can do a lot, but it can't do everything.... I think Kevin Skelly and Peter Fortenbaugh are right on the mark with all of their comments. It is ridiculous to think that 6 or so hours in school 188 days of the year could make up for all of the differences between low income and higher income students. When low income students come to school having had a full night's rest in a safe neighborhood, a breakfast that includes high-quality protein with fresh fruit available at a local store, a quiet place to do their homework and parents who can answer or access data to answer the student's questions about schoolwork and life, then we can look to the schools and the teachers to make up the rest.

I'm tutoring in two schools -- one a private school, with high-income students, often with both parents with advanced degrees; the other a public school where the students are largely low-income and English language learners. The fifth-grade private school kids have greater incidental knowledge and greater vocabularies than the public-school seventh and eighth graders.

Great Customer Service: PIP Printing, Palo Alto

I've been deep in getting the program for Jacques Littlefield's memorial service produced and printed.  It's been a somewhat exasperating task.

The folks at PIP Palo Alto, particularly Mike Maystead and Kat Sison, could not have been more helpful.  I particularly want to thank Kat, who soaked up my frustration and ill-temper with a smile.

Tele-fundraising -- Mostly Benefits the Fundraisers Not the Charity

Chris Hoofnagle has a new post up at Denialism on telefundraising (or telephundraising) For-Profit Fundraising Fleeces the Charitable

There are some eye-popping numbers in the report released by the California Attorney General. The Bee points to the American Diabetes Association, where in California alone, commercial fundraisers generated $13,000,000 in donations at a cost of $17,000,000. That organization is an outlier, but other prominent charities had significant negative revenue using telemarketing and other commercially-operated fundraising.

I have a script I use: "Thanks for the call, but I do not respond to telephone solicitations. Good luck with your next call. [click]"

I Promise to Get Back to Posting

Lots of no-posting going on here, but lots of reading and commenting elsewhere. 

It was a bad time for blog silence.

Zombies!!!

This made me laugh out loud:

The story is here and I heard about it from Ishbadiddle.

Even funnier: the sidebar at the station KZAN reads: Your Guide to the Undead, including the Zombie Survival Guide.

11 Years On: Wakefield Manufactured Data Showing MMR-Autism Link?

Monday February 9, 2009:I am updating this silently as new blog posts appear

This was published on February 8, 2009, in the Times of London:

MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism by Brian Deer

THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.

Australia Ablaze

It is summer in Australia, and they are facing disaster.

The deadliest bushfires in Australia's history have wrought death and destruction across southern Australia, killing scores of people, destroying hundreds of homes and razing entire towns to the ground.

At the last count the toll had reached 108, but the thousands of firefighters still battling the blazes warned that they expected to find many more bodies when they reach the worst affected areas tomorrow.

The fires began on the hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne and were fanned by gale-force winds. Many of the dead were said to have waited too long in their homes before fleeing and were burnt alive in their cars as multiple fires tore through the countryside of Victoria state. Some of the blazes were set by arsonists.

2008 was a bad year for fires in California. The low rainfall levels to date promise even more burning. My heart goes out to the good people of Victoria.

Black History Month at Jack & Jill Politics

Don't scold me -- I know I'm eight days behind.  Nevertheless:

Black History Month -- Daily Posts at Jack & Jill Politics

Go, read, learn.