Why you should read the obits

Pringles can designer dies; remains buried in Pringles can

June 2, 2008 10:53 AM

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Dr. Fredric J. Baur was so proud of having designed the container for
Pringles potato crisps that he asked his family to bury him in one.

His children honored his request. Part of his remains was buried in a
Pringles can - along with a regular urn containing the rest - in his grave at
Arlington Memorial Gardens in Springfield Township.

Dr. Baur, a retired organic chemist and food storage technician who
specialized in research and development and quality control for Procter &
Gamble, died May 4 at Vitas Hospice. The College Hill resident was 89.

Developing Story Ideas: Mel Blanc 100th Anniversary

Feature story ideas can come from anywhere.

Just one idea:
How about the changes in cartoons from when we (the profs) were young to today. And the hook: The 100th anniversary of the birth of Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and dozens of other characters in the Warner Brothers universe.

Here is the Histry Channel bio on Blanc: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=3318&HPF_rid=1836594&HPF_mid=941_T1_Url16

Tha-tha-tha-that's all folks.

Researchers: written English language will weather LOL storm

From ars technica

By Jacqui Cheng
Published: May 14, 2008 - 08:40PM CT

Concerned parents and disgusted Internet elitists often criticize teenagers for their use of abbreviated speech and shorthand online, frequently arguing that it is ruining their language skills. It turns out that's not the case, however, according to new research from the University of Toronto to be published in the spring 2008 issue of American Speech. In fact, not only is "IM speak" not destroying anyone's language skills, it is actually being characterized as "an expansive new linguistic renaissance."

Researchers Sali Tagliamonte and Derek Denis studied over a million words from IM communications and compared it to more than 250,000 spoken words of those between the ages of 15 and 20. The two found that, while written and spoken speech share some similarities, IM communications actually leaned toward the formal side. Teens were more likely to say "She was like, 'oh no you didn't!'" when speaking to one another, but write "She said, 'oh yes I did!'" when IMing. (And then I was like "nuh uh!")

Rest of story: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-researchers-written-english-language-will-weather-lol-storm.html


Related Story: txt msg hrting englsh skllz? u b the jdge

An angle on food shortages students can understand

From Boing Boing

Over at Wired.com, a piece by David Kravets on one odd effect of the (i can't believe I'm typing this) global food shortages -- artisanal beer brewers are reformulating recipes to reduce the amount of increasingly costly hops:

At Pacific Coast Brewing here, brewer Donald Gortemiller is reworking his recipes and altering his brewing styles like never before.

Gortemiller isn't acting on a spurt of creativity. He's coping with a worldwide shortage of hops -- the spice of beer. The dry cones of a particular flowering vine, hops are what give your favorite brew its flavor and aroma. Prices of the commodity are skyrocketing as hop supplies have plummeted, forcing smaller brewmasters around the United States to begin quietly tweaking their recipes, in ways that are easily discerned by serious imbibers.

The shortage -- caused by a dwindling number of hop growers worldwide, and exacerbated by a Yakima, Washington, warehouse fire -- has forced Gortemiller to use fewer and different hops than before, changing the flavor of his beer. He's also resorted to beer hacks, like "dry hopping," in which the hops are added late to the mix, consuming fewer hops and yielding a more consistent flavor.

"When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn't matter. We'd throw them into the boil at various times," Gortemiller says. "That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We're modifying recipes and using about 20 percent less hops." href="http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2008/05/beer?currentPage=2">Link. (photo by Jim Merithew, Wired.com; thanks, Wayneco)

Update: BB commenter Pipenta has a solution:

Those big breweries that are making crap beer anyway can substitute other, um, natural substances for the hops.

For Bud and Bud Lite, bull terrier piddle should do the trick. For Heineken, a pole cat tincture is just the ticket.

In neither case, will any animals be harmed. For the first, all that is required is a convenient drain installed alongside a fireplug. And the Heineken folks just need to open a spa for skunks and change out the hot tub water on a daily basis.

Gown, Town and Globe to Converge May 22 at JC

During my News Editing class (COMM 352) I tried to get my students to think about the links between the campus, the local community, the nation and the world.

The obvious connection is the diverse nature of the GMU community and the diversity in Fairfax County that comes from immigration.

Too often the issue of immigration is only touched on as a link in a few individual situations. Well not the link is much stronger.

The Virginia State Immigration Commission will meet to discuss the impact of immigration on the commonwealth at a meeting to be held in the Johnson Center May 22.

If only this was being held during the term. I would have required all my students to attend and report on it.

-----------------------------------------------------

Immigration commission to meet in Fairfax

By KEITH WALKER,
Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger
Published: May 8, 2008

The Virginia Commission on Immigration needs to figure out the effects immigration has on the commonwealth.

To do that, the commission will hold five community meetings across the state in coming months to get the public's input on the issue, said Matt Gross of the Virginia Department of Social Services.

The first of the meetings will be May 22 at the Johnson Center Cinema at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Gross said.

People who wish to offer three-minute comments can sign up at 1 p.m. for the 2 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. sessions.

Gross said the commission expects good attendance at the meetings. "We are trying to stress that we ask people to keep their comments to three minutes," Gross said.

The commission is tasked with studying, reporting and making recommendations on the costs and benefits immigration issues have on local education, health care, law enforcement, services and economies across the state.

"They really just want to hear what the public has to say and get a flavor for how the regions might vary," Gross said of the commissioners.

Gross said the commission will be examining all facets of immigration, unlike the Illegal Immigration Task Force which recently looked at illegal immigration and crime.

"This commission will be looking at everything else," Gross said.

"Really a large part of the immigrant population is here legally," he said. "They still create new challenges that the commonwealth has to face regardless of their legal status. We would like to focus on immigration as a whole."

Written comments can be sent to immigration.commission@governor.virginia.gov or mailed to Virginia Commission on Immigration, c/o Matt Gross, 7 North Eighth St., 6th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219 by Sept. 30.

The other meetings will be in Roanoke in June, Norfolk in July, Harrisonburg in August and Richmond in September.

Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, is co-chair the commission which was created by legislation introduced by Del. Robert G. "Bob" Marshall, R-Prince William.

State Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, is the chairman of the commission.

For more information visit http://www.hhr.virginia.gov/Initiatives/ImmigrationCommission/

Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.

A death, history and a learning opportunity.

Mildred Loving died yesterday.

She and her husband were the focal point of a Supreme Court case that tossed the last of the segregation laws -- a ban on inter-racial marriages.

The Washington Post front page story on the death of Mildred Loving summarizes the fight she and her husband had to be allowed to live together in the Virginia of the 1960s.

The problem -- for the state -- was that she was black and he was white.

A couple of points for our students:

1. The Post used -- but not to its fullest extent -- simple information from the Census Bureau about the number of interracial marriages. (4.3 million nationwide.) I would have been interested to know how many were in Virginia. (BTW, the number is of 2.7 million households in Virginia, 37,000 are self-identified as two or more races as head of households. Again, from the US Census Bureau.
2. The ease nature of interracial dating we see with today's young people is something that is new -- the general acceptance in society -- to our society. The changes in the law took place just a generation ago. And that change came from the Supreme Court. (As did the right to privacy and a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy.) I use these points regularly to show the importance of following what the Supreme Court does, even though it is the least accessible of the three branches of government.

For those who want to delve more deeply into the Loving case, I recommend you start with the actual Supreme Court hearing. You can listen to the MP3 proceedings. I revisit this case often just to listen to the arguments made on both sides and the questions from the justices.

The URL to hear the case is http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1966/1966_395/argument/

Numbers about mothers...

Story ideas for the future.

Mother's Day: May 11, 2008

The driving force behind Mother's Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mothers Day.

How Many Mothers

82.8 million

Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2004.
Source: Survey of Income and Program Participation unpublished tabulations

55%
Percentage of 15- to 44-year-olds who are mothers.
Source: Fertility of American Women http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html

81%
Percentage of women 40 to 44 who are mothers. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group were mothers.
Source: Fertility of American Women
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html

How Many Children

2.1
The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2006 the first time since 1971 that the nation's TFR was at replacement level, which is the birth rate required to replace the population.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

94.1

Number of births in 2006 per 1,000 women of childbearing age in Utah, which led the nation. At the other end of the spectrum was Vermont, with a rate of 52.2 births.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

94%
Among the 37.8 million mothers living with children younger than 18, the percentage who lived with their biological children only. In addition, 3 percent lived with stepchildren, 2 percent with adopted children and less than 1 percent with foster children.
Source: Living Arrangements of Children: 2004 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/011507.html

Moms Who've Recently Given Birth

4.3 million
Number of births in the United States in 2006. Of this number, 435,427 were to teens 15 to 19, and 112,432 to mothers 40 or older.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

25.2

Average age of women in 2005 when they gave birth for the first time. This is up 3.8 years since 1970.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

40%
Percentage of births that were the mother's first in 2006. Another 32 percent were the second-born; 17 percent, third; and 11 percent, fourth or more.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

37,402
Number of births in 2005 that did not occur in hospitals.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

1 in 31
The likelihood of a woman delivering twins in 2005. Her chances of delivering triplets and higher order multiple births was approximately 1 in 618.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

August
The month with the highest number of births, with 369,316 taking place that month in 2005.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

Tuesday

The day of the week with the highest number of births, with an average of
13,169 taking place on Tuesdays during 2005.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

Jacob and Emily
The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2006.
Source: Social Security Administration http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

Mothers Remembered

21,135
Number of florist establishments nationwide in 2005. The 101,861 employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mothers Day.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html

The flowers bought for mom have a good chance of having been grown in California. Among the 15 surveyed states, California was the leading provider of cut flowers in 2006, accounting for 77 percent of domestic flower production ($316 million out of $411 million) in those states.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1072

12,473
Number of employees of the 120 greeting-card publishing establishments in 2005.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html

12,854

The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2005. Perfume is one of the most popular gifts given on Mother's Day.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html

29,624

Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2005 -- the place to purchase necklaces, earrings and other timeless pieces for mom.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html

Working Moms (and Moms-to-Be)

5.6 million
Number of stay-at-home moms in 2006.
Source: Americas Families and Living Arrangements: 2006 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html

55%
Among mothers with infants in 2004, the percentage in the labor force, down from a record high of 59 percent in 1998.
Source: Fertility of American Women http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html

751,322

Number of child care centers across the country in 2005. These include more than 73,000 centers employing more than 800,000 workers and another 678,000 self-employed people or other businesses without paid employees. Many mothers turn to these centers to help juggle motherhood and careers.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html and Nonemployer Statistics http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/index.html

67%
Percentage of women who gave birth for the first time between 2001 and 2003 and worked during their pregnancy. This compares with 44 percent who gave birth for the first time between 1961 and 1965.
Source: Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns: 1961-2003 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/employment_occupations/011536.html

80%
The percentage of first-time mothers who worked one month or less before giving birth in the early part of this decade. This compares with percent who did so between 1961 and 1965.
Source: Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns: 1961-2003 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/employment_occupations/011536.html

55%
The percentage of first-time mothers in the early part of this decade who were working by the sixth month after they gave birth. In the early 1960s, the corresponding percentage was 14 percent.
Source: Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns: 1961-2003 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/employment_occupations/011536.html

83%
The percentage of mothers who went back to work within a year of their child's birth who returned to the same employer. Seven in 10 of these women returned to jobs at the same pay, skill level and hours worked per week.
Source: Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns: 1961-2003 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/employment_occupations/011536.html

Single Moms

10.4 million
The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18, up from
3.4 million in 1970.

Source: America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2006 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html

6.1 million
Number of custodial mothers entitled to child support in 2005.
Source: Custodial Mothers and Fathers and their Child Support http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/010634.html

Meals with Mommy

54% and 79%

Percentages of children younger than 6 who eat breakfast and dinner, respectively, with their mother every day. The corresponding percentages who eat with their father were 41 percent and 66 percent.
Source: A Childs Day http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/010850.html

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.

Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureaus Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail:pio@census.gov.