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Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Teens Singled Out for Punishment

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010Culture, Generaladd health, adult convictions, arrests, bisexual, courts, gay, hannah brueckner, juvenile convictions, kathryn himmelstein, lesbian, lgb adolescents, lgb youth, misbehaviors, new york city, police, same sex, school authorities, school expulsions, sexual orientation, types of punishment, yale university

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are about 40 percent more likely than other teens to be punished by school authorities, police and the courts, according to a study by Yale University researchers. Published in the January 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study is the first to document excessive punishment of LGB youth nationwide.

“We found that virtually all types of punishment—including school expulsions, arrests, juvenile convictions, adult convictions and especially police stops—were more frequently meted out to LGB youth,” said lead author Kathryn Himmelstein, who initiated the study while she was a Yale undergraduate. The research was supervised by Hannah Brueckner, professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course at Yale. (more…)

Oprah’s New Book Club Selections “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Great Expectations” Are Free on Kindle

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010Culture, Technology65th oprah book club, a tale of two cities, Amazon, android-based devices, charles dickens, classic dickens books, classic novels, e-ink, free kindle books, great expectations, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, kindle, penguin edition, russ grandinetti, victorian world

*The works of Charles Dickens and millions of other out-of-copyright works are available on Kindle for free*

SEATTLE, Dec 06, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The 65^th Oprah Book Club pick is a Charles Dickens double-header. The selections are “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Great Expectations,” and Amazon.com today announced that both are available on Kindle for free, along with millions of other out-of-copyright works. These free Kindle books can be read on the bestselling $139 Kindle (www.amazon.com/kindle) with new, high-contrast Pearl e-ink or on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry, Android-based devices, PC, and Mac using free Kindle reading apps (www.amazon.com/kindleapps). (more…)

New Report Summarizes Key Themes in American Doctoral Education

By Guest PostDecember 5, 2010Culture, Educationamerican system of doctoral education, doctoral education system, doctorate recipients, engineering, mathematics, microsoft excel, pdf, portable document format, Science, sed, stem, stem pipeline, subra suresh, survey of earned doctorates, Technology, united states, universities, us universities

*Summary report, “Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities: 2009” is available online*

A new report recently released by the National Science Foundation, titled “Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2009,” presents a statistical overview of the U.S. doctoral education system in snapshots and long-term trends.

It notes the American system of doctoral education is widely considered the world’s best, as evidenced by the large number of international students who choose to pursue a doctorate at U.S. universities. But this status is subject to the many factors that shape U.S. doctoral education. (more…)

Pray Tell: Americans Stretching the Truth About Church Attendance

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Cultureamerican religion, american religiosity, church attendance, religious practice, sunday activities

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A new University of Michigan study finds that Americans are much more likely to exaggerate their attendance at religious services than are people in many other countries. (more…)

Billion Dollar Bonanza: Cyber Monday Surpasses $1 Billion in U.S. Spending as Heaviest Online Shopping Day in History

By Guest PostDecember 1, 2010Culture, Technologybillion-dollar threshold, Comscore, cyber monday, gian fulgoni, holiday season retail e-commerce spending, online spending, us web sites

*Cyber Monday Shows 16 Percent Increase vs. Year Ago with Half of Online Spending Coming from Work Computers*

RESTON, VA, December 1, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 29 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $13.55 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the first to surpass the billion-dollar threshold. (more…)

Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) Announce Fourth Annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition

By Guest PostDecember 1, 2010Culture, TechnologyAmazon, amazon breakthrough novel award competition, competition, createspace, farishta, jeff belle, lev grossman, manuscripts, patricia mcardle, penguin, penguin group, popular novel, self-published authors, talented writers, the magicians, tim mccall

*Two grand prize winners, one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel, to be published by Penguin Group (USA)*

SEATTLE & NEW YORK, Dec 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. and Penguin Group (USA) today announced the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. Due to the popularity of the additional young adult category in 2010, the competition will again award two grand prizes: one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel. Each grand prize winner will be published by Penguin Group (USA). The 2011 competition will again be open to unpublished and self-published novels. Writers around the world are encouraged to begin preparing their manuscripts for entry into the competition, which will launch on Jan. 24, 2011. (more…)

Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2010Culture, TechnologyAmazon, black friday, Comscore, digital world, e-commerce spending, gian fulgoni, groupon, november 26, online shopping season, shoplocal, thanksgiving day

*Thanksgiving Day Surges 28 Percent to $407 Million as Consumers Increasingly Use Day for Online Shopping*

RESTON, VA, November 28, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 26 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $11.64 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 26) saw $648 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2010 and representing a 9-percent increase versus Black Friday 2009. Thanksgiving Day (November 26), traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 28-percent increase to $407 million. (more…)

Why Do People Behave Badly? Maybe It’s Just Too Easy

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2010Culture, Generalbadly, behave, job application, michael inzlicht, people, psychology, rimma teper, scarborough

Many people say they wouldn’t cheat on a test, lie on a job application or refuse to help a person in need.

But what if the test answers fell into your lap and cheating didn’t require any work on your part? If you didn’t have to face the person who needed your help and refuse them? Would that change your behaviour? (more…)

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