wug7a On the morning of June 2, 2003, Stephenie Meyer awoke from a vivid dream involving a sparkly vampire and an average teenage girl. The couple’s intense conversation, involving lust and blood but not bloodlust, lingered in Meyer’s mind as she fed and dressed her kids for their first day of swimming lessons. With her chores … Read more
Women may outnumber men in the workforce and on US campuses, but gender discrimination hangs on stubbornly in the workplace. The oft-quoted statistic that women earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man can be debated, as various complicating factors do enter the picture (such as education, experience, and choice of profession). But taking all … Read more
The odds a collision on the roads of Michigan will involve a deer are 1 in 5.39. The odds such a collision will result in human fatality are 1 in 5,512. It is 5 times more likely that an accidental death was caused by a fall from a tree (1 in 1,101) than it is that a … Read more
2010 has turned out to be a pretty good year for women and Pulitzer Prizes. Of the named winners in the Journalism categories, half are women. In addition, Rae Armantrout received the Pulitzer in Poetry, and Jennifer Higdon was a rare female winner in the Music category. However, the other five “Letters, Drama and Music” … Read more
In the 1990s, the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life was a major cultural preoccupation. From X-Files to Independence Day, aliens were in the air. They may have been replaced by vampires on the screen, but belief in alien encounters hasn’t gone away. Recently the famous Google logo mysteriously morphed into a crop circle, a circular spacecraft … Read more
The election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat captivated the nation not only because much in the Obama Administration’s agenda was at stake, but because the polls seemed inconclusive and inconsistent. A week before the election, some polls were still showing Democrat Martha Coakley well ahead, but a surge in support for Republican … Read more
In Vernon, California the odds a person will be the victim of a reported violent crime in a year are 1 in 1.67 (60%). Those are exactly the same odds that a person 40 – 59 years old will drink any type of coffee in a day. Given the popularity of Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts these days, … Read more
When you think of the dangers of riding a motorcycle you might visualize a mound of crushed steel, bleeding gas and oil over the white lines of a highway. But believe it or not, per capita, horseback riding is 20 times more dangerous. In a landmark 1985 study, Dr. J.L. Firth estimated that while “a … Read more
Recreational fishing is one this country’s most cherished and profitable pastimes. According to the American Sportfishing Association, the country’s 40 million anglers generate almost $50 billion in retail sales. A 2009 Outdoor Recreation Participation by the Outdoor Foundation lists recreational fishing as the most popular outdoor activity in the United States in terms of participation rate. Nearly … Read more
Since MTV began broadcasting its seasonal “Spring Break” program in 1986, it’s gotten hard not to see spring break as 150 unbroken hours of alcohol- and pot-fueled streaking and random sex. Hitting the sand, the suds, and maybe the sack is high on the list for many. For one week a year, Palm Beach, South … Read more