April 2011 Archives

Minneapolis and St. Paul have shown a sharp decline in the number of smokers over the last three decades.

Research released by the University of Minnesota in November of this year suggests that Minnesotan's are not only quitting, but fewer people are choosing to smoke in the first place.

"The magnitude of the decrease was a little larger than expected," study lead author Kristian Filion, a postdoctoral associate in the division of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, told Health Day News, "but the bigger surprise was that, among those people who continued to smoke, they decreased their cigarette consumption."

The study surveyed residents of the Twin Cities six times from 1980 to 2009. Each time 3,000 to 6,000 people participated.

Quit smoking trends can also be seen on a national level having dropped from 33 percent in 1980 to 15.5 percent in 2009. According to the government Progress Report, in 2008, 8.6 percent of current smokers in the United States, aged 25 years and older successfully quit smoking during the past 12 months (8.6 percent for men, 8.7 percent for women).

Those who chose to quit smoking benifit from lower rates of heart failure. Over a 12 year study, 20 percent of people who have never smoke deveopled heart failure while 29 percent of former heavy smokers do.

"I don't see that many people who smoke these days," Jeffrey S. Borer, M.D., chair, department of medicine and of cardiovascular medicine, at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center said, "over the last couple of decades the tremendous emphasis on the dangers of smoking has gradually permeated our society and while there are certainly people who continue to smoke and have been smoking for years and begin now, for a variety of reasons I think that smoking is decreasing."

The United States has the highest occurrence of Bipolar disorder according to a worldwide study released in March, that surveyed people from 11 nations as part of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

Current information suggests that 2.4 percent of people worldwide have suffered from the disorder at some point in their lives. The United States came in with almost double the average number with 4.4 percent of people claiming to have experienced bipolar symptoms within their lifetime.

Most concerning, according to information collected between 2002 and 2007 the Archives of General Psychiatry found that, one in every five persons with bipolar disorder have made suicide attempts.

Despite the growing number of cases of bipolar disorder within the United States, those who said they had the disorder within the past 12 months declined to 2.8 percent.

"Treatment needs for bipolar spectrum disorder are often unmet," said the LA Times, "Particularly in low-income countries."

There is no evidence linking enhanced cognitive development in babies and educational videos according to a new study released in March by the Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The study published in the journal Pediatrics, monitored over 800 children from birth until the age of three. Children from the age of six months to a year watched approximately 0.9 hours of TV per day. The number of viewing hours increased steadily as the child aged: 1.2 hours at one year, and 1.4 hours at two years.

The 872 children were administered two I.Q. tests by staff at Harvard Medical school in order to test their cognitive development including vocabulary and reasoning ability.

In contrast to claims made by distributors of baby educational videos the study suggested that the children who spent more time viewing TV had lower language and visual motor skills at age three.

"There's still more evidence of harm then benefit," Marie Evens Schmidt, a developmental psychologist instructor at Harvard Medical School told CNN.com, "as far as TV viewing in infancy is concerned."

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett has a lot on her plate. Positioning herself as a global ambassador, Blanchett lends her time, financial support and celebrity to promoting her latest philanthropic project, Clean For LIfe.

Clean for Life works to ensure the availability of clean water to people around the world.

"It's an initiative to help people whose futures are being dominated by simple, basic problems," Blanchett told Marie Claire Magazine, "It helps the people in Asia who experience water shortages or are forced to consume contaminated water."

"With the current state of affairs, correcting measures still can be taken to avoid the crisis to be worsening," the World Water Council announced, "There is a increasing awareness that our freshwater resources are limited and need to be protected both in terms of quantity and quality."

Cate has personally donated three million liters of clean water to those in need, which was matched by P&G's Children's Safe Drinking Water Program.

The actress has paired with PUR, a product which turns dirty and potentially contaminated water into clean, drinkable water in efforts to find a solution to the global water shortage which impacts less-fortunate nations.

"At the moment there are 1 in 8 people who have no access to clear drinking water (about a billion people worldwide!)," Blanchett told Marie Claire Magazine, "which can make you feel quite overwhelmed. But the positive thing is that this genius technology already exists and it's easy for each of us to make a difference."

Not many musical acts can stay afloat for ten years, not to mention Disc Jockeys.

Minnesota born Jake Rudh is the exception. The Club Jager regular who is known for packing out the 150 person venue now is looking towards bigger things.

For one night only Rudh is going to play the legendary music venue First Avenue, which packs in up to 1,500 people with the hopes that his fans will follow.

"I'm old school," Rudh told the Star Tribune, "and not the sexy old school."

Rudh plays mostly dance music based out of the 70's and 80's that include Britpop, post-punk, and new wave.

"I was never invited to prom," Marieka Heinlen, 38, told the Star Tribune, "So every time I come it's like going to prom."

Rudh has no plans of stopping and will continue to be a monthly Wednesday night regular at Club Jager in the North Loop.

"There's no doubt that music is cyclical," Rudh told the Twin Cities Daily Planet, "Many people say "It's all been done already." Part of me believes that and part of me doesn't. I don't want to believe it. I still want to hear new, exciting things that I haven't before, and I do."

Arun Gandhi has a lot to live up to as he continues to try to spread the non-violent ideals of his grandfather Mahandas K. Gandhi.

The South African native moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1987 where he founded the Mohandas K. Gandhi Institute for Peace and Nonviolence which eventually relocated to Rochester, New York.

Gandhi initially worked as a journalist and came to the United States for a research project in 1987. He focused mainly on the topics of color prejudice, caste prejudice, and racism.

After discovering that the institution founded by his grandfather, the Phoenix Ashram of South Africa had been destroyed, Gandhi worked to carry out his legacy.

"My father also spent his entire life there teaching nonviolence," Gandhi told the Rochester City Newspaper, "but it was in total ruins.

Gandhi tried to rebuild the institute in South Africa where it was initially constructed, but the South American government would not allow of it.

Despite adversities, Gandhi developed his Memphis based institution in hopes to continue to spread the philosophies of nonviolence.

Gandhi told the City Newspaper that his mission is, "to inform the younger generation in particular what this philosophy is about and why it should be a part of our lives."

According to the Ithica Journal, Gandhi is also president of Gandhi World wide Education Institute, an organization that combats forced child labor and trafficking.

Gandhi continues to spread the message of nonviolence offering free public lectures around the world.

"I have been all over the world and I am convinced that people are not born as bad people," Gandhi told the City Newspaper, They are unfortunately born into bad situations, and without our help, it is difficult to see a way out.

Astronomer Adam Frank has spent most of his life looking upwards towards the sky in search of far away galaxies and supernovas. But recently he's begun to look inwards, in search of common ground that could help link together both science and religion.

According to Frank, the endless debates that pit scripture against scientific evidence has only been a hindrance to civilization. Moreover, Frank emphasizes religion's place within the scientific community.

"I consider myself an evangelist of science," Frank told the Rochester City Newspaper, "I love science and the perspective it brings. Once you're trained in science you see everything through that filter. The sense that there is more, that there is a sacred quality to experience, came to me through science."

Frank explains how both supporters of science and supporters of religion have to learn to respect each other without discrediting each other. While Frank supports aspects of the new atheists perspective, he still acknowledges the 50,000 years we've spent encountering questions that still have no explanation through science.

"If you look at the world's mythological heritage you'll find every scientific possibility for cosmology, "Frank told the City Newspaper," [including] the universe is infinite or it got started from nothing."

While Frank doesn't affiliate with any particular organized religion, he recognizes the gaps that are present when one is eliminated.

"Religion is irrational," agrees Johnathan Lanman in an article published by the San Fransisco Chronicle, "But so is atheism."

According to Frank both science and religion must find a way to co-exist if we are to have a future on this planet. In places where one is not supposed to exist, you can find the other.

"You look at pictures from the Hubble telescope and get a feeling of awe," Frank told the City Newspaper, "Scientists say don't try and connect it to anything spiritual. But Rudolf Otto, one of the great scholars of religion at the turn of the last century, identified awe as defining what he would call the experience of the holy or sacred. He said that's what you could point to if you want to understand religious feeling. That's exactly what happens when you encounter the scientific narratives."

The Minnesota based comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), ran for 11 years, attained critical acclaim, won awards, and even made faithful Minnesotans out of some of its crew.
According to the Internet Movie Database, MST3K the series won a Peabody award and was nominated for two emmys during it's run.
Behind the show's success was Kevin Murphy, a San Diego native who moved to Minnesota to work on the series.
"There's always a crucible of creativity here that occasionally fires up white and hot," Murphy told the Star Tribune, "and it's always from the people who want to stay here, not make a name and move to whereever they think things are better."
During the 25 years Murphy has lived in Minnesota he has learned to appreciate our winters, or waters, and our wildlife.
Though Murphy would rid our state of metered ramps, his praises of Minnesota are plentiful.
"The people are surprisingly honest," Murphy told the Start Tribune, "When we make a big mistake, like electing Jesse Ventura, we have the good grace to own up to it and try not to do it again."