As a parent of a five year old daughter, I took interest in this recent article from CBS News which notes that according to statistics from 2002 (the latest year in which numbers are available), 10 percent of all kids between two and five are considered overweight, (up from seven percent in 2000). As the article describes,

The prevalence of obesity among adults is well-known, with an increase of 75 percent since 1991. So is the problem with school-age children, reaffirmed by new statistics showing that nearly 4 million children ages 6 to 11 and 5.3 million young people ages 12 to 19 were overweight or obese in 2002.

But the findings among preschoolers are a strong indication that kids’ weight problems are beginning even earlier. . . Experts blame the prevalence of junk food marketed to children, too much TV, and the decline in the number of families who sit down together to eat.

Of all the things that parents and adults can pass onto their children, habits leading to obesity should not be one of them. At the same time, we are careful not to impress upon our own child that her entire happiness needs to center around her appearance and not being considered “fat.” In the end, what we emphasize is the need to be healthy and usually, being healthy is directly correlated with not being fat.

As another indication of the growing tensions between conservatives and liberals on college campuses, CNN has an article that describes how political and ideological conflicts on college campuses have shifted from professors and administrators battling it out to nowadays, professors and their students increasingly at odds with each other over course content. As the article notes,

Traditionally, clashes over academic freedom have pitted politicians or administrators against instructors who wanted to express their opinions and teach as they saw fit. But increasingly, it is students who are invoking academic freedom, claiming biased professors are violating their right to a classroom free from indoctrination.

In many ways, the trend echoes past campus conflicts -- but turns them around. Once, it was liberal campus activists who cited the importance of “diversity” in pressing their agendas for curriculum change. Now, conservatives have adopted much of the same language in calling for a greater openness to their viewpoints.

As with anything, there are several different ways to look at this issue. One might be that this is a reflection of recent societal trends emphasizing the rights of “consumers” -- in this case, the students (and by implication, their parents) are paying thousands of money to a college and they want to be able to call the shots because of that.

Another angle might be that as this past election showed, conservatives have increasingly asserted their agenda (whether or not they represent the majority view nationally) and that they are not shy about trying to shape our social institutions to reflect their worldview.

Whatever the cause(s) may be, the result is clear -- the classroom is increasingly ground zero for these latest skirmishes of the Culture War and professors (at least liberal ones) may find themselves increasingly under attack.

I’m getting ready to submit the final grades for my Fall 2004 classes and I’m bracing for the inevitable wave of complaints from students about their final grades. Fortunately, at least for my big 100-level lecture class, I have teaching assistants who take the brunt of the complaints.

It makes me think -- why weren’t these students more concerned about their grades earlier, when they actually could have done something to improve their situation, as compared to after the semester when there’s basically nothing that they, my TAs, or I can do to substantially improve their grade?

You may have heard that an earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Ritcher Scale (the largest one in almost 40 years and the fourth largest ever recorded) rocked the Indian Ocean Sunday morning.

It was centered off the west coast of Sumatra (Indonesia). But it was the tsunamis (aka tidal waves) caused by the tremors that did the most damage. At last count, more than 10,000 have died in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. Surely the death toll will keep climbing as the days pass.

Obviously my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who’s been affected by this catastrophe. It’s in times like this that I remember just how privileged my life is and how easily I take things such as food, shelter, and physical safety for granted.

If you would like to help out, please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross (you can designate your donation to be used for the “International Response Fund", and where your donation is tax deductible) or the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (where you can also designate that your funds be used to help the victims of this tragedy).

China is holding a Miss Plastic Surgery pageant, where the contestants will strut their surgically-altered facial and body parts. As as article at Yahoo News explains,

Like many women in China who are increasingly influenced by Western standards of beauty, contestants have typically undergone surgery for bigger busts, larger eyes, more defined noses and slimmer bodies. Plastic surgery has taken off in China in recent years as people become wealthier and more conscious of their appearance.

Sponsors of the contestants -- from private beauty clinics to cosmetic surgery hospitals -- are vying for more business in a booming industry. . . However salons -- which often carry out cosmetic surgery -- have so far gone unregulated, and staff are often untrained.

Is this an inevitable consequence of globalization and the spread of western culture around the world? Is it a recipe for disaster as Chinese businesses try to apply the same cost-cutting procedures they use to produce consumer goods like shoes into doing plastic surgery? Perhaps both?

I’m itching to go see House of Flying Daggers. I’ve heard great things about it, like it’s just as good or even better than Hero or even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

But what the hell is up with its limited and gradual release schedule? Rather than releasing the movie nationally all at once, Sony Pictures seems to be using some kind of “tour” schedule where it opens in a few cities every week or so. What the hell is up with that?!?

Yesterday, I woke up to six inches of snow outside, temperature of zero degrees (literally), and a wind blowing at about 20 miles per hour. I guess winter is here!

A new opinion survey conducted by Cornell University shows that almost half of all Americans support restricting the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. The proportion who support this kind of treatement is, not surprisingly, well over half among Republicans and people who described themselves as “highly religious.” The survey also reports:

Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim Americans. . . The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim Americans to register where they lived with the federal government.

Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising.

Apparently “equal protection under the law,” “all men are created equal,” and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” only apply to Whites and Christians in this country.