MarketShare is an analytics company that enables businesses to grow more efficiently via cross-media attribution and marketing optimization through our platform of combined technology, data, modeling and business intelligence solutions. We are reshaping the way companies think about advertising and marketing their products and services and delivers unprecedented recommendations and checkpoints to help them achieve the best possible ROI via marketing. The mathematics and modeling behind our work are globally recognized and respected as industry-leading.
We pride ourselves on a track record of developing ground-breaking innovations in predictive analytics and software, and delivering insights that exceed client expectations, which has led to continued growth and long-term client relationships. MarketShare is currently powering marketing and media insights for many of the Fortune 500 companies, leading ad agencies and large media conglomerates around the world. We have helped direct over $100 billion in marketing spend for clients in over 45 countries and all U.S. DMA's.
MarketShare team has grown worldwide across Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, and Bangalore.
MarketShare provides a unique opportunity for professionals seeking to develop and grow their skills in marketing, analytics, consulting, and project management through intensive client engagements and ongoing firm development.
Strategy Analyst
Location: Central London (Requires current UK residence and/or work authorization)
We're searching for individuals with excellent quantitative and analytical skills who can combine the art and science of marketing and analytics to help clients address their marketing challenges such as marketing effectiveness, ROI, brand equity impact, channel effectiveness, and pricing.
Ideal candidates will have the opportunity to grow in a number of areas:
Marketing: Strategically transform findings from modeling analyses to qualitative insights to help clients understand strategic marketing implications
Client management: Communicate key findings; Participate in client interactions; Support account leads and engagement managers to strengthen and grow client relationships
Analytics: Manage data collection, processing, review and quality checks to ensure accurate information is used for modeling analyses; Develop findings and insights derived from modeling analyses
Project management: Manage workstreams and priorities for distinct projects; Support development of client deliverables; Organize aspects of projects
What We Look For
As a company developing innovative and ground-breaking solutions for our clients, we recognize that candidates from distinct backgrounds may be a good potential fit. Our ideal candidates possess a combination of professional work experience in line marketing, media planning, marketing/media mix modeling, predictive analytics, financial analysis, or consulting.
Must haves:
Excellent diagnostic skills to analyze and identify discrepancies within data sets
Advanced proficiency with software tools such as Excel to gather and assess data and PowerPoint to build presentations
Strong work ethic with the ability to adapt to the situation, be flexible and nimble in terms of work planning, and the ability to think quickly on your feet
Ability to support client engagements to grow them into more substantial long-term relationships
BS or BA along with 1-5 years of previous work experience.
(Bachelors Degree preferably in applied science, statistics, mathematics, marketing, or economics.)
Some strategy or marketing consulting, or other client-facing experience is preferred.
Updated at 12:24 a.m. ET: It's over! Kellie Pickler is the winner of the 16th season of "Dancing With the Stars." The confetti rained down on the "American Idol" alum and country-music star as she was awarded the coveted (though some might call it a little tacky) mirror-ball trophy on Tuesday night. It's an honor she shares with her pro partner, Derek Hough, who now has the distinction of being the first ever four-time champ on the show.
"Oh my God!" a clearly surprised Kellie exclaimed when her big win was announced. "This is amazing."
It was an "amazing" win that came without the aid of the usual online voting via the official "Dancing" website, thanks to a technical glitch that affected East Coast voters. (According to host Tom Bergeron, in the spirit of fairness, none of the later votes cast on the site were counted either.)
While Disney star Zendaya (who came in second place for the season) was ahead of Kellie by one point going into the finale, Kellie's victory didn't exactly come as a shock. After all, viewers voted Kellie's emotion-packed contemporary freestyle -- the clear showstopper performance from Monday night -- the dance they most wanted to see again at the top of the show. Traditionally, the celebrity with the winning freestyle takes the trophy too, a trend that proved true once again on Tuesday night.
The results came after Kellie and her fellow finalists, Zendaya and Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones each performed one last dance, the dreaded "instant dance," wherein each of them learned the music they'd move to shortly before hitting the floor. (Olympic gymnast and final four competitor Aly Raisman didn't participate. She was cut just prior to the instant routines.)
Those last efforts earned rave reviews from the panel and perfect scores for all, but in fairness to Zendaya, her jive was a bit more "perfect" than Kellie's jive and much more so than Jacoby's salsa.
It was Kellie who earned the highest praise from the judges, though.
"I have to be honest with you," Bruno Tonioli told her after the dance, "you remind me of Julianne Hough."
Getting compared to the one of the best dancers ever on the show (and the sister of her own pro partner)? That almost counts as another win.
But those instant efforts weren't the only performances during the two-hour season ender. As is custom on finale night, many of the familiar faces who got the ballroom boot earlier in the competition returned to show off their fancy footwork (such as it is) too.
Reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump impressed with the crowd as she took a spin, both with her former partner Gleb Savchenko and with head judge Len Goodman. And actor-comedian Andy Dick? He reminded fans how he went from underdog to beloved ballroom beginner by delivering one last reason to cheer him on -- not so much for the second take at his Mad Hatter jazz routine (although it was just as entertaining as an encore), but for his willingness to poke fun at his own weepy ways with a mountain of tissue.
There was another returning hoofer hopeful to hit the floor too -- one who wasn't ousted from the game at all, but rather voluntarily bowed out of the ballroom bash. Former Olympic figure skater (and permanent America's sweetheart) Dorothy Hamill, who's past injuries hindered her earlier efforts, joined returning "Dancing" winner Kristi Yamaguchi in a beautiful synchronized routine. During her brief ballroom stint, Dorothy credited Kristi as her inspiration to join the show.
In an unfortunate bit of irony, Dorothy's original partner, Tristan MacManus couldn't join her due to his own injuries.
And that, plus a hefty dose of traditional finale filler, was all there was from the last Tuesday night results show of season -- and possibly ever. "Dancing With the Stars" will return in the fall, but the Tuesday episodes won't.
January Jones Takes Advice from Jack Nicholson?[The Frisky] Kelly Rowland Joins X-Factor?[HollyWire] Chaz Bono Drops Major Weight?[Right Celebrity] Demi Lovato Gives Directing a Shot?[The Celebrity Cafe] Amy Adams Flashes Her Spanx?[The Blemish] Eminem Sues Facebook Over Song?[The Huffington Post] Carly Rae Jepsen Speaks Out on Teen Pregnancy?[PopCrunch] Keanu Reeves Puts on Weight?[CeleBitchy] Demi Moore All ...
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#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main(void) { char *strstr(); char sentence[80]; char search[80]; printf( "Enter a line of text: \n"); fgets(sentence, 80, stdin); printf("Enter your search query: \n"); fgets(search, 80, stdin); char *searchPtr; searchPtr = strstr(sentence, search); printf("%s\n", searchPtr); }
my output for -
Enter a line of text: love love hotdogs /*sentence*/ Enter your search query: love /*search*/ (null)/*searchPtr*/
but if I do this
Enter a line of text: love/*sentence*/ Enter your search query: love/*search*/ love/*searchPtr*/
obviously strstr is only pointing to the first 'string' in my array, or is only comparing my 2 strings to see if they are exact, but I am not sure why! This program is suppose to use the strstr function to point to a certain area of the sentence, and only read from that part of the sentence on. But it's hard when I can't get my pointer to point to anything!
-Thanks, this may come down to my lack of understand of pointers, but god am I trying to get it!
This post has been edited by jimblumberg: Today, 10:06 PM Reason for edit:: Added missing code tags. Please learn to use them properly.
Is This A Good Question/Topic? 0
Replies To: Having trouble with the strstr function.
#2 jimblumberg ?
Reputation: 3048
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Re: Having trouble with the strstr function.
Posted Today, 10:12 PM
Please explain what you intend by the following snippet:
char *strstr();
Why are you trying to redefine a standard function?
Next part of your problem is probably the new line character that is at the end of your strings. Remember that fgets() extracts the end of line character and places it into the string.
ST. LOUIS, Mo (Reuters) - Five people were killed and six were injured Monday morning when a van carrying them home from a religious gathering in California rolled over off of Interstate 70 near Vandalia in southern Illinois, police said.
Fayette County Sheriff's Department Deputy Shawn Carter said the van had Maryland plates, but the van's destination is as yet undetermined.
Carter said the van was eastbound about four miles west of Vandalia, which is about 70 miles northeast of St. Louis, when it went into the median, then crossed back over eastbound I-70, and rolled several times south of the highway.
Carter said the five people who died were thrown from the white 2002 Dodge van.
Four of the injured were taken to Fayette County Hospital in Vandalia and were in fair condition, a spokeswoman said. Two were taken to Greenville Regional Hospital in Greenville, Illinois, but their conditions were not immediately available.
Both eastbound lanes of 70 are closed while the crash is being investigated and will remain closed through mid-afternoon, police said.
(Reporting by Tim Bross; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bob Burgdorfer)
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.
IRL is a column about stuff we're using in real life and yes, that sometimes includes neon-green charging cables. It also includes all manner of smartphones, as you know, and this week we've got a short-and-sweet write-up comparing the GS3 and GS4. Is the 4 worth an early upgrade? Not if you ask Jon Fingas, anyway, but that's mostly because he's happy with the camera, performance and LTE radio on last year's model.
rogueclassicism: 1. n. an abnormal state or condition resulting from the forced migration from a lengthy Classical education into a profoundly unClassical world; 2. n. a blog about Ancient Greece and Rome compiled by one so afflicted (v. "rogueclassicist"); 3. n. a Classics blog.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit.
Mrs. Obama spoke for 22-minutes to the Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School in Nashville in her only high school graduation speech this year.
The first lady told the 170 graduates that she spent too much of her own time in college focusing on academic achievements. She said while her success in college and law school led to a high-profile job, she ended up leaving to focus on public service.
Mrs. Obama had this message for the graduates: "Do not waste a minute living someone else's dream."
Mrs. Obama later presented graduate diplomas on stage.
Gloria Osorio, a teacher at Charles Leroy Lowman Special Education Center, encourages her students to reach beyond their apparent limits. Sponsored by Grape-Nuts.
About this sponsorship:?In honor of the 60th?anniversary of?Sir Edmund Hillary?s?historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains.
Story written by Katharine Blossom Lowrie.
In 1971, Gloria Osorio began working as an assistant at?Charles Leroy Lowman Special Education Center, a school for the disabled in North Hollywood. Inspired by the students at the school, eager to help them, she attended Los Angeles Valley College at night, finally earning her teaching credential in 1994.?
As fate would have it, Gloria, who married in 1977, had a son, Patrick, who turned out to be severely disabled. At the age of 3, Patrick became a student at Lowman and attended until he was 22 years old.?He currently lives with his parents in their home in San Fernando. A nurse tends to him during the day so Gloria can work.
Something of a legend at Lowman, Gloria, 60, runs Mobility Opportunity Via Education (MOVE), a program that is activity-based and keeps the students moving, standing and walking.?
As she has said in the past, "We're not big on keeping kids in their wheelchairs. We want them to have a life, because if you have movement, even if you can't talk, you have a life."?
She also holds a weekly beauty salon for female students, and even arranged through the?Art of Elysium?charity to bring in professional makeup and hair stylists. Top among her priorities is getting students to participate in as joyful life as possible. That includes encouraging things like oral feeding, one of the tasks she was once led to believe was impossible for her son.
Here, Gloria shares the most challenging parts of dealing with the disabled. Q. What?s?the biggest challenge you?ve taken on? or, What's a goal you're trying to achieve right now???My biggest challenge has been the belief that the severely disabled ? if supported properly ? are able to participate in the basic activities of life, simple tasks like clearing one?s throat, breathing comfortably, and eating orally.?
Even when these people are said to be "too medically fragile"?to accomplish such things, it is my belief that the body wants to heal itself and that belief causes me to always work toward that end.? As a teacher, I feel that we need to?realistically assess our students' needs, but strive to get them to the next level, regardless of their apparent limits. Q. What inspired you to take on this challenge? ?or, How do you plan to achieve this goal??I was inspired initially by my many students at Charles Leroy Lowman Special Education Center. Because so many required the support of suctioning and breathing devices, not to mention feeding tubes, I knew this would gravely complicate their ability to participate in a multitude of social events, certainly in any type of eating/dining situation, which is how most of us interact with loved ones.?
Then my firstborn son came into the world disabled and had many of the same issues as my students. Most important to me was his comfort and, if possible, feeding him orally. Because of his inability to keep his body and head upright,?we eventually had to resort to support devices, but I was able to feed him, and he entered the Lowman Center at age 3.?
After graduating at 22, we wanted to enroll him in a adult day program in the community. I found one, but there were many concerns because of Patrick's seizures and eating problems, which necessitated an adult holding his head in proper alignment in order for him to swallow properly.?Because of this, they ordered a swallow study, which he failed miserably. They insisted he be fed through a feeding tube. When I asked if I could feed him, I was told it wouldn't make any difference.?Since I had been feeding him orally for 22 years, I wondered why he wasn't dead by now. Fortunately, Patrick?s doctor was supportive of my choice to continue feeding him as I always had.? Q. Did you succeed??My son is?now 34 years old and still eating orally. Does he eat perfectly or independently? No. But it is a pleasure to feed him and know how much he enjoys real food. I also have been blessed by knowing so many teachers and people who view the disabled as?able?human beings. They continue to teach forward, always with caution, of course, but forward nonetheless.
VISTA, Calif. (AP) ? The lawyer for a California heavy metal singer accused of trying to hire someone to kill his estranged wife says the singer's mind has been ravaged by steroid use.
U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/16EWVKZ) reports that the detail came to light during a Friday hearing for 32-year-old Timothy Lambesis, who has pleaded not guilty to solicitation for murder. A judge at the hearing reduced Lambesis' bail from $3 million to $2 million.
Prosecutors say Lambesis, frontman for Grammy-winning band "As I Lay Dying," paid $1,000 cash to an undercover detective posing as a hitman and gave instructions on how best to kill his wife.
Lambesis' attorney Thomas Warwick said in court that his client had gotten into body building and steroid use. He said Lambesis' thoughts were "devastatingly affected" by the drugs.
(updates with quotes, details, adds byline) * Chest infection worsens, forcing Wiggins to withdraw * Defending champion Hesjedal also out * Italy's Nibali leads as Uran takes over as Team Sky leader By Alasdair Fotheringham BUSSETO, Italy, May 17 (Reuters) - This year's Giro d'Italia claimed two major victims when pre-race favourite Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Ryder Hesjedal withdrew prior to Friday's 13th stage, the pair citing illness as the reason for abandoning the tour. ...
Ex-Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson had been hard at work on the project for over a year before Valve sliced off their bit of the company. Fortunately, Valve also let the project go with them, and the pair formed Technical Illusions to finish the sucker off. Now they're showing it off at Maker Faire where The Verge caught up with them.
Basically, once you don the glasses, the projectors shoot images out at a specialized, reflective projector screen. Then the screen spits them back at your face, and the glasses split them into left-eye and right-eye images for your 3D viewing pleasure.
While they are at it, the glasses also pick up on LEDs placed around the outside of the screen, and use that data to track your head's location in real-time, feeding you the correct perspectives of the non-existant 3D objects you're craning your head around to look at. It's pretty crazy.
So why not just goggles? Well, this approach lets you incorporate things like AR cards that sprout up game characters and whathaveyou, and then the glasses can track your line of sight to those physical objects to make sure they're rendering correctly in 3D.
The tech is obviously in its early stages, and part of the reason Technical Illusions has taken to Maker Faire is to try and figure out exactly how to apply this stuff. Beyond that, the setup?while impressive?is crazy sophisticated, with waaaaay more parts and requirements than any of the competing systems out there.
Still, it looks promising, and hopefully it'll make it out in some kind of simplified consumer form someday. But if nothing else, it's good to see other people shaking up the AR/VR scene with some wild new ideas. Who knows what other approaches there might be. Holodeck, you guys? You can hop over to The Verge to see these puppies in action. [The Verge]
Study of 'screen time' on mood, memory, and cognition wins top NIH Addiction Science AwardPublic release date: 17-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: NIDA Press Team media@nida.nih.gov 301-443-6245 NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Projects on 'bath salts' and the link between fetal alcohol exposure and diabetes take other honors
An exploration of electronic "screen time" and sleep on mood, memory and learning was given the top Addiction Science Award at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)the world's largest science competition for high school students. The awards are coordinated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Friends of NIDA, a coalition that supports NIDA's mission. The Intel ISEF Addiction Science Awards were presented at a ceremony Thursday night at the Phoenix Convention Center.
First place distinction was awarded to Zarin Ibnat Rahman, a high school junior at Brookings High School in Brookings, S.D., for her project, The At-Risk Maturing Brain: Effects of Stress Paradigms on Mood, Memory and Cognition in Adolescents and the Role of the Prefrontal Cortex. The 16 year-old hypothesized that excessive screen time with computers, phones and other electronic devices serves as a stressor ultimately affecting mood, academic performance and poor decision making. She asked 67 teens -- divided into two groups -- to take a series of tests measuring factors such as use of electronic devices, sleep patterns, anxiety, mood, and attention. She concluded that excessive screen time shapes adolescents' sleep patterns, compromising academic success and emotional health. Rahman noted that electronic devices are tools, and like tools, they can be used to build or destroy. She hopes teens will re-think the amount of time they spend on these devices after reading about her project.
"This young scientist identified important risk factors that can cause a teen to stumble on his or her way to adulthood," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "By taking a comprehensive look at how the developing teenage brain responds to various stressors of modern teenage life, she was able to make the link between excessive use of electronic devices to sleep deprivation and its consequences."
The second place distinction went to two 17-year olds, Emory Morris Payne and Zohaib Majaz Moonis of the Bancroft School in Worcester, Mass. Their project, The Effect of Ethanol on Beta Cell Development in Zebrafish, made a unique link between alcohol exposure during fetal development and type 1 diabetes. After exposing Zebrafish embryos to increasing concentrations of ethanol (a pure form of alcohol), the team observed the health and function of pancreatic beta cells, which are needed to produce insulin. As the alcohol concentrations increased, more beta cells became degraded. Poor beta cell functioning in the pancreas is directly linked to diabetes, leading the team to conclude there might be a link between alcohol use during pregnancy and type 1 diabetes. Moonis has just graduated from high school and plans to attend New York University; Payne will be a high school senior this fall.
Winning third place distinction was Alaina Nicole Sonksen from Camdenton High School in Camdenton, Mo., also an upcoming senior. Her project, Determining the Behavioral and Physiological Effects of Pentedrone-Based Bath Salts on Drosophila melangaster, looked at the effects of two versions of the drugs called "bath salts" on the common fruit fly. Bath salts refers to an emerging family of drugs containing one or more synthetic chemicals related to cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant found naturally in the Khat plant. She looked at three possible effects: mortality, feeding patterns and activity levels. Many of the flies died from exposure to bath salts, and many others decreased their feeding activity. However, Sonksen assumed the flies would "go a little crazy" from the drugs, since they are commonly considered to be stimulants. Instead, her research showed that substances acted more like a hallucinogen, with the flies appearing to be in a daze. While she did test the substances for their general contents, she pointed out that since these products are not regulated, it is difficult to know everything that is actually in them. The 17 year-old high school student ordered the substances directly from the Internet and turned them into law enforcement officials when her project was completed, underscoring how easy it is for a teen to get access to these drugs. More information on bath salts can be found at http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/bath-salts-synthetic-cathinones.
An honorable mention award went to 16 year-old sophomore Gili Rusak from Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y., for her project, Properties of Twitter Network Communications among Teenagers. Rusak demonstrated how Twitter could be used an effective social media platform for many health related messages, including drug abuse prevention.
The Friends of NIDA provides funding for the awards as part of its ongoing support of research into the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of drug abuse and addiction.
"This year's projects broke new ground in several ways," said Dr. William Dewey, president and chair of the Executive Committee, Friends of NIDA, as well as the Louis S. and Ruth S. Harris Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. "We saw our first look at bath salts by an Intel finalist; a possible new health consequence of alcohol use; and our top winner put a new spin on electronic devices and their link to decision making. We are incredibly proud of them all, and we know they will be contributing to addiction science for many years to come."
This year, about 1,500 students from 70 countries, regions and territories participated in the Intel ISEF competition, coordinated by the Society for Science and the Public. The nonprofit organization Society for Science and the Public partners with Intelalong with dozens of other corporate, academic, government and science-focused sponsorsto provide support and awards each year. Addiction Science Winners receive cash awards provided by Friends of NIDA, with a $2,500 scholarship for the first-place honoree. NIDA has developed a special section on its website, which includes other resources on addiction science, to highlight the winning projects and to help science fair entrants understand the criteria for the awards: The NIDA Science Fair Award for Addiction Science.
###
Image Caption: First place winner of 2013 Addiction Science Award
(l-r): Judges and NIDA grantees Dr. Janet Neisewander and Dr. M. Foster Olive, Arizona State University; winner Zarin Ibnat Rahman; and NIDA's Carol Krause
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at http://www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA's media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide/, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at http://www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
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Study of 'screen time' on mood, memory, and cognition wins top NIH Addiction Science AwardPublic release date: 17-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: NIDA Press Team media@nida.nih.gov 301-443-6245 NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Projects on 'bath salts' and the link between fetal alcohol exposure and diabetes take other honors
An exploration of electronic "screen time" and sleep on mood, memory and learning was given the top Addiction Science Award at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)the world's largest science competition for high school students. The awards are coordinated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Friends of NIDA, a coalition that supports NIDA's mission. The Intel ISEF Addiction Science Awards were presented at a ceremony Thursday night at the Phoenix Convention Center.
First place distinction was awarded to Zarin Ibnat Rahman, a high school junior at Brookings High School in Brookings, S.D., for her project, The At-Risk Maturing Brain: Effects of Stress Paradigms on Mood, Memory and Cognition in Adolescents and the Role of the Prefrontal Cortex. The 16 year-old hypothesized that excessive screen time with computers, phones and other electronic devices serves as a stressor ultimately affecting mood, academic performance and poor decision making. She asked 67 teens -- divided into two groups -- to take a series of tests measuring factors such as use of electronic devices, sleep patterns, anxiety, mood, and attention. She concluded that excessive screen time shapes adolescents' sleep patterns, compromising academic success and emotional health. Rahman noted that electronic devices are tools, and like tools, they can be used to build or destroy. She hopes teens will re-think the amount of time they spend on these devices after reading about her project.
"This young scientist identified important risk factors that can cause a teen to stumble on his or her way to adulthood," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "By taking a comprehensive look at how the developing teenage brain responds to various stressors of modern teenage life, she was able to make the link between excessive use of electronic devices to sleep deprivation and its consequences."
The second place distinction went to two 17-year olds, Emory Morris Payne and Zohaib Majaz Moonis of the Bancroft School in Worcester, Mass. Their project, The Effect of Ethanol on Beta Cell Development in Zebrafish, made a unique link between alcohol exposure during fetal development and type 1 diabetes. After exposing Zebrafish embryos to increasing concentrations of ethanol (a pure form of alcohol), the team observed the health and function of pancreatic beta cells, which are needed to produce insulin. As the alcohol concentrations increased, more beta cells became degraded. Poor beta cell functioning in the pancreas is directly linked to diabetes, leading the team to conclude there might be a link between alcohol use during pregnancy and type 1 diabetes. Moonis has just graduated from high school and plans to attend New York University; Payne will be a high school senior this fall.
Winning third place distinction was Alaina Nicole Sonksen from Camdenton High School in Camdenton, Mo., also an upcoming senior. Her project, Determining the Behavioral and Physiological Effects of Pentedrone-Based Bath Salts on Drosophila melangaster, looked at the effects of two versions of the drugs called "bath salts" on the common fruit fly. Bath salts refers to an emerging family of drugs containing one or more synthetic chemicals related to cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant found naturally in the Khat plant. She looked at three possible effects: mortality, feeding patterns and activity levels. Many of the flies died from exposure to bath salts, and many others decreased their feeding activity. However, Sonksen assumed the flies would "go a little crazy" from the drugs, since they are commonly considered to be stimulants. Instead, her research showed that substances acted more like a hallucinogen, with the flies appearing to be in a daze. While she did test the substances for their general contents, she pointed out that since these products are not regulated, it is difficult to know everything that is actually in them. The 17 year-old high school student ordered the substances directly from the Internet and turned them into law enforcement officials when her project was completed, underscoring how easy it is for a teen to get access to these drugs. More information on bath salts can be found at http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/bath-salts-synthetic-cathinones.
An honorable mention award went to 16 year-old sophomore Gili Rusak from Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y., for her project, Properties of Twitter Network Communications among Teenagers. Rusak demonstrated how Twitter could be used an effective social media platform for many health related messages, including drug abuse prevention.
The Friends of NIDA provides funding for the awards as part of its ongoing support of research into the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of drug abuse and addiction.
"This year's projects broke new ground in several ways," said Dr. William Dewey, president and chair of the Executive Committee, Friends of NIDA, as well as the Louis S. and Ruth S. Harris Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. "We saw our first look at bath salts by an Intel finalist; a possible new health consequence of alcohol use; and our top winner put a new spin on electronic devices and their link to decision making. We are incredibly proud of them all, and we know they will be contributing to addiction science for many years to come."
This year, about 1,500 students from 70 countries, regions and territories participated in the Intel ISEF competition, coordinated by the Society for Science and the Public. The nonprofit organization Society for Science and the Public partners with Intelalong with dozens of other corporate, academic, government and science-focused sponsorsto provide support and awards each year. Addiction Science Winners receive cash awards provided by Friends of NIDA, with a $2,500 scholarship for the first-place honoree. NIDA has developed a special section on its website, which includes other resources on addiction science, to highlight the winning projects and to help science fair entrants understand the criteria for the awards: The NIDA Science Fair Award for Addiction Science.
###
Image Caption: First place winner of 2013 Addiction Science Award
(l-r): Judges and NIDA grantees Dr. Janet Neisewander and Dr. M. Foster Olive, Arizona State University; winner Zarin Ibnat Rahman; and NIDA's Carol Krause
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at http://www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA's media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide/, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at http://www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Earlier today, Yahoo sent press invites to a "product-related" event in New York City Monday afternoon and there are already two separate rumors about the company's plans. The first, from Bloomberg, concerns the event specifically and cites a "person familiar with the matter" reporting we'll hear about new updates for Yahoo's once-mighty Flickr photo service. The second is from AllThingsD, which has upgraded rumors of a Tumblr purchase from possible to possibly imminent, saying the company's board will meet to decide whether it will make a $1.1 billion all-cash offer for the site. That announcement is also penciled in for the 20th, but whatever actually goes down you can be sure we'll have the details as they're unveiled at 4:30PM ET.
BANGKOK (AP) ? The price of oil fell below $94 a barrel Thursday after a survey showed crude inventories on the increase.
Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 38 cents to $93.92 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 9 cents to finish at $94.30 a barrel on the Nymex on Wednesday.
A report released by the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude supplies for the week ending May 10 rose 181,000 barrels to 390.2 million from the prior week. Ample supplies and predictions of tepid global growth have kept crude prices muted.
The outlook for the global economy took a punch Wednesday with the release of data showing Germany, while avoiding recession in the first three months of the year, grew a mere 0.1 percent. Traders had expected to see a 0.3 percent expansion of Europe's biggest economy.
"With recovery optimists so dependent on the occasional glimpse of sunlight from Germany, their miss was particularly disappointing," said Toby Morris, senior sales trader at CMC Markets, in an email commentary.
Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 32 cents to $103.18 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
? Wholesale gasoline fell 0.4 cent to $2.844 a gallon.
? Heating oil fell 1 cent to $2.87 a gallon.
? Natural gas lost 0.1 cent to $4.069 per 1,000 cubic feet.
South Africa's new radio telescope reveals giant outbursts from binary star systemPublic release date: 16-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter Franklin p.franklin@soton.ac.uk 44-238-059-5457 University of Southampton
An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa, the pathfinder radio telescope for the $3 billion global Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.
The results appear in the latest issue of the prestigious international astronomical journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).
Using the seven-dish KAT-7 telescope and the 26 m radio telescope at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), astronomers have observed a neutron star system known as Circinus X-1 as it fires energetic matter from its core into the surrounding system in extensive, compact `jets' that flare brightly, details of which are visible only in radio waves.
Circinus X-1 is an X-ray binary (or two-star system) where one of the companion stars is a high-density, compact neutron star (a neutron star is an extremely dense and compact remnant of an exploded star and only 20km in diameter.) The two stars orbit each other every 16.5 days in an elliptical orbit. When the two stars are at their closest the gravity of the dense neutron star pulls material from the companion star. A powerful jet of material then blasts out from the system.
During the time astronomers, including a team from the University of Southampton, observed Circinus X-1 (13 December 2011 to 16 January 2012) the system flared twice at levels among the highest observed in recent years. KAT-7 was able to catch both of these flares and follow them as they progressed. This is the first time that the system has been observed in such detail during the full flare cycle.
"One way of explaining what is happening is that the compact neutron star gobbles up parts of its companion star and then fires much of this matter back out again," explains Dr Richard Armstrong, an SKA SA Fellow at the University of Cape Town and lead author of the paper. "The dramatic radio flares happen when the matter Circinus X-1 has violently ejected slows down as it smashes into the surrounding medium."
Professor Rob Fender, Head of the Astronomy Research Group at the University of Southampton, says: "Circinus X-1 continues to reveal new aspects of its behaviour, and is arguably the best laboratory for relativistic jet astrophysics in the southern hemisphere. It is furthermore an excellent control to the large population of jets associated with accreting black holes."
Dr Armstrong adds: "These types of observations are crucial for understanding the processes of both accretion of matter onto extremely dense systems, such as neutron stars and black holes of both about the sun's mass, and also the so-called supermassive variety we now know to be at the centre of most galaxies."
KAT-7 is the world's first radio telescope array consisting of composite antenna structures. It is the test array for MeerKAT, a much larger radio array, which is itself in turn a precursor for the dish-based component of the SKA.
The MNRAS study was carried out as part of the development for the ThunderKAT project on MeerKAT, which will find many more of these types of systems in the galaxy and search for new types of radio systems that change rapidly with time.
Professor Fender, who is co-leader of the MeerKAT project, adds: "This project will test the extremes of physics, density, temperature, pressure, velocity, gravitational and magnetic fields, and are beyond anything achievable in any laboratory on Earth. It provides a unique glimpse of the laws of physics operating in extraordinary regimes. Nearly all such events are associated with transient radio emission. By studying radio bursts from these phenomena, we can pinpoint the sources of explosive events, probe relativistic accretion and understand the budget of kinetic feedback by such events in the ambient medium."
###
Notes for editors:
1. A copy of the scientific paper 'A return to strong radio flaring by Circinus X-1 observed with the Karoo Array Telescope test array KAT-7 (Armstrong et al, 2013)' published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society is available from Media Relations on request.
2. Images available -
Image of Circinus X-1 showing the core source flaring
Caption - The bright region in the middle of the KAT-7 radio images, observed at 1822 MHz (with 256 MHz bandwidth), shows Circinus X-1. Also shown are several supernova remnants - the large loop mid bottom, and the smaller loop mid left, as well as several other radio sources.
An artist's impression of the Circinus X-1 system showing the binary (double) star system.
Caption - The small white sphere is a neutron star an extremely dense and compact remnant of an exploded star, only about 20 km in diameter. The red sphere represents an ordinary star the companion star in this system. These two stars orbit each other every 16.6 days in an elliptical orbit. When the two stars are at their closest, the gravity of the dense neutron star pulls material from its companion star. An accretion disk (the wavy blue lines) forms around the neutron star, containing the matter that is sucked from the ordinary star. Powerful jets of material (the orange rays) then blasts out from the neutron star at almost the speed of light, causing powerful flares in radio frequencies.
High res images of KAT-7 are downloadable at: http://www.ska.ac.za/media/kat7.php
3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of 435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Institute for Life Sciences, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus. http://www.soton.ac.uk
For more information:
Peter Franklin, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel 023 8059 5457, email p.franklin@soton.ac.uk
Marina Joubert , SKA South Africa Project Office, email: marina@ska.ac.za /
Dr Richard Armstrong, email: richarms@ska.ac.za
http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/unisouthampton
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unisouthampton
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
South Africa's new radio telescope reveals giant outbursts from binary star systemPublic release date: 16-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter Franklin p.franklin@soton.ac.uk 44-238-059-5457 University of Southampton
An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa, the pathfinder radio telescope for the $3 billion global Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.
The results appear in the latest issue of the prestigious international astronomical journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).
Using the seven-dish KAT-7 telescope and the 26 m radio telescope at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), astronomers have observed a neutron star system known as Circinus X-1 as it fires energetic matter from its core into the surrounding system in extensive, compact `jets' that flare brightly, details of which are visible only in radio waves.
Circinus X-1 is an X-ray binary (or two-star system) where one of the companion stars is a high-density, compact neutron star (a neutron star is an extremely dense and compact remnant of an exploded star and only 20km in diameter.) The two stars orbit each other every 16.5 days in an elliptical orbit. When the two stars are at their closest the gravity of the dense neutron star pulls material from the companion star. A powerful jet of material then blasts out from the system.
During the time astronomers, including a team from the University of Southampton, observed Circinus X-1 (13 December 2011 to 16 January 2012) the system flared twice at levels among the highest observed in recent years. KAT-7 was able to catch both of these flares and follow them as they progressed. This is the first time that the system has been observed in such detail during the full flare cycle.
"One way of explaining what is happening is that the compact neutron star gobbles up parts of its companion star and then fires much of this matter back out again," explains Dr Richard Armstrong, an SKA SA Fellow at the University of Cape Town and lead author of the paper. "The dramatic radio flares happen when the matter Circinus X-1 has violently ejected slows down as it smashes into the surrounding medium."
Professor Rob Fender, Head of the Astronomy Research Group at the University of Southampton, says: "Circinus X-1 continues to reveal new aspects of its behaviour, and is arguably the best laboratory for relativistic jet astrophysics in the southern hemisphere. It is furthermore an excellent control to the large population of jets associated with accreting black holes."
Dr Armstrong adds: "These types of observations are crucial for understanding the processes of both accretion of matter onto extremely dense systems, such as neutron stars and black holes of both about the sun's mass, and also the so-called supermassive variety we now know to be at the centre of most galaxies."
KAT-7 is the world's first radio telescope array consisting of composite antenna structures. It is the test array for MeerKAT, a much larger radio array, which is itself in turn a precursor for the dish-based component of the SKA.
The MNRAS study was carried out as part of the development for the ThunderKAT project on MeerKAT, which will find many more of these types of systems in the galaxy and search for new types of radio systems that change rapidly with time.
Professor Fender, who is co-leader of the MeerKAT project, adds: "This project will test the extremes of physics, density, temperature, pressure, velocity, gravitational and magnetic fields, and are beyond anything achievable in any laboratory on Earth. It provides a unique glimpse of the laws of physics operating in extraordinary regimes. Nearly all such events are associated with transient radio emission. By studying radio bursts from these phenomena, we can pinpoint the sources of explosive events, probe relativistic accretion and understand the budget of kinetic feedback by such events in the ambient medium."
###
Notes for editors:
1. A copy of the scientific paper 'A return to strong radio flaring by Circinus X-1 observed with the Karoo Array Telescope test array KAT-7 (Armstrong et al, 2013)' published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society is available from Media Relations on request.
2. Images available -
Image of Circinus X-1 showing the core source flaring
Caption - The bright region in the middle of the KAT-7 radio images, observed at 1822 MHz (with 256 MHz bandwidth), shows Circinus X-1. Also shown are several supernova remnants - the large loop mid bottom, and the smaller loop mid left, as well as several other radio sources.
An artist's impression of the Circinus X-1 system showing the binary (double) star system.
Caption - The small white sphere is a neutron star an extremely dense and compact remnant of an exploded star, only about 20 km in diameter. The red sphere represents an ordinary star the companion star in this system. These two stars orbit each other every 16.6 days in an elliptical orbit. When the two stars are at their closest, the gravity of the dense neutron star pulls material from its companion star. An accretion disk (the wavy blue lines) forms around the neutron star, containing the matter that is sucked from the ordinary star. Powerful jets of material (the orange rays) then blasts out from the neutron star at almost the speed of light, causing powerful flares in radio frequencies.
High res images of KAT-7 are downloadable at: http://www.ska.ac.za/media/kat7.php
3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of 435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Institute for Life Sciences, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus. http://www.soton.ac.uk
For more information:
Peter Franklin, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel 023 8059 5457, email p.franklin@soton.ac.uk
Marina Joubert , SKA South Africa Project Office, email: marina@ska.ac.za /
Dr Richard Armstrong, email: richarms@ska.ac.za
http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/unisouthampton
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unisouthampton
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Elizabeth Smart?s criticism of abstinence-only sex education has set off a firestorm of commentary about purity culture, and how Catholics in particular should think about sex-ed.
Calah Alexander has written an impassioned plea to do away with metaphors that imply someone is used up once they?ve had sex:
?If you had sex before marriage, it was like someone took a huge drink of your water, swished it around in their mouths, and then spat it back into the glass. The more sex you had, the dirtier your glass of water got. ?So think of that before you have premarital sex,? we were admonished. ?Think of the gift you?re going to give your husband on your wedding night. Do you want to give him a pure, untouched glass of delicious water, or a dirty cup of everyone else?s backwash???
Alexander raises the point that this IS Abstinence-only education as it is currently practiced. And I couldn?t agree more that such metaphors are problematic.
When else do we suggest to our kids that they should think of themselves as objects but when we?re talking about sex? It?s very confusing imagery, especially when the ultimate message we are trying to convey is that no one should use others as an object, nor should they allow themselves to be used. The very core of Christian teaching is that every person has dignity by virtue of his or her humanity, so that no one can be used up or beyond the reach of grace.
It can be very tempting to suggest to our kids that their lives will be ruined by unfortunate sexual decisions, because there really are dangers to a promiscuous life, and we want to protect them from disease, bad love, and teen pregnancy, etc.
But suggesting that they will lose their ability to stick to their spouse like a post-it note if they?ve already adhered to too many other people, for instance, sends the subliminal message that redemption is not possible after a point.
Anecdotally, not only do such metaphors extinguish hope, they also just don?t stand up to scrutiny in our current culture. I know formerly promiscuous people who have gone on to have happy marriages, and virgins who have married poorly.
As Catholics, we believe that premarital sex is a sin. The antidote is repentance and grace. The effects of sin are often not felt until purgatory. Many sinners are not unhappy with their lives, I?ve observed, and maybe that?s what troubles parents most?the idea that the children we?ve raised with hopes of passing on the faith will reject Christianity and live comfortably without God in a state of sin.
But scaring them out of sin is not an option, especially since the ironic turn of such efforts is often our children?s flight from the religion in which they believe there is no longer hope of reconciliation.
Neither can we throw out the concept of abstinence.
There can be no authentic Christian life without abstinence of various stripes. Abstinence has always been valued in the Church, whether we are abstaining from meat on Fridays, or from sexual relationships that are illicit due to our married status, or from sex within marriage, for a time, for the health and well-being of the family.
Abstinence is not just ?The absence of something? as I?ve seen it termed lately. It cannot be reduced simply to ?not doing.? It?s the practice of self-mastery over one?s physical urges, the abnegation of the body for the good of the soul.
Regarding the fourth precept of the Catholic Church, ?You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church? the Catechism says:
?The fourth precept ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.?
Abstinence also protects the freedom of others. There are actions from which I ask all of my children to abstain for the good of our communal life. I tell the boys to please abstain from walking around with their hands in their shorts?for the good of the Kingdom, and everyone who must share a room with them. Abstain from hitting others even though that is a natural response in some circumstances. Abstain from acting on the sexual instinct until you leave this family and cleave to your espoused.
It takes practice to build good habits and at home is the proper place for such habits to be defined and honed. In the home we can also help develop in our children the maturity of repentance. We teach them tenacity in so many things, picking themselves up after they fall on the playground, continuing with sports after a loss. Developing self-mastery over sexual urges also requires tenacity, and the maturity and humility to return to the Sacraments again and again over the course of a lifetime.
And of course, one cannot talk about abstinence independently of the virtue of chastity. As New Advent defines Chastity:
?Chastity is the virtue which excludes or moderates the indulgence of the sexual appetite. It is a form of the virtue of temperance, which controls according to right reason the desire for and use of those things which afford the greatest sensual pleasures. The sources of such delectation are food and drink, by means of which the life of the individual is conserved, and the union of the sexes, by means of which the permanence of the species is secured. Chastity, therefore, is allied to abstinence and sobriety; for, as by these latter the pleasures of the nutritive functions are rightly regulated, so by chastity the procreative appetite is duly restricted.?
A life of chastity includes some abstinence. One cannot get around it.? And we need to move our children towards an understanding of this virtue of chastity. But for kids, especially young ones, it?s often easier to understand why not to do something than it is to comprehend the virtues one might obtain through a variety of life choices that include some do?s and some dont?s.
While it?s fun to think about all the wonderful philosophical concepts that informed JPII?s Theology of the Body and how we might impart this positive message to our kids, the very first instructions God gave to humanity was a list of ?thou shalt not?s? because most of us, and especially our kids, don?t have advanced degrees in theology and philosophy, and yet we still need easily identifiable boundaries. A parent has a right and responsibility to tell his children no.
The important thing is that we define these boundaries in a loving way and make clear the way home when the boundaries have been crossed.
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A couple of caveats:
1.) Several of my kids have been through sex-ed programs both at Church and at public school. The church program was aimed more at detecting sexual predators and protecting what they termed the ?circle of grace? that surrounds the individual. The school program was more of a health class that discussed changes during puberty and the reproductive system. I?ve found it to be very helpful to a) preview these programs and b) have discussions with my children to clear up ideas that do not cohere with our Catholic faith. These have been some of the most precious and useful conversations I?ve had with my kids to prepare them for a world that does things a little differently than we do. Of course I think that the role of sex educator belongs properly to the parents, and both of these programs (from which we could have opted out) have been one more step in a long and ongoing education.
I don?t have a prescription for what public schools should be teaching regarding sex ed.
?
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2.) I have not seen any statistical evidence that the practice of abstinence before marriage makes enjoying sex after more difficult, though I?ve seen a lot of anecdotal evidence for such an argument, often (though not always) by people who have an axe to grind with purity culture or abstinence-only education. I?ve also heard a lot of anecdotal (though not statistical) evidence from people who were promiscuous and have their own corresponding sexual baggage in marriage. Since we?ve already established that the stupid metaphors should go, and that purity culture as it exists in some religious circles is sort of creepy, but that abstinence is a sometimes good in Christian life, I think we also need to accept that difficulties with sex in married life are often due to a complex and nuanced stew of factors.
Rough patches in the married sex life happen to almost every couple for a period of time. This should not be a cause for panic. Marriage should last a long time, and it, too, is an apprenticeship during which both spouses learn the skills that make sex enjoyable for both spouses. But having good sex is not the primary end of marriage, nor is having a less than stellar sex life for a time an irredeemable feature of a relationship.
?
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3.)?See also Sam Rocha?s interesting take on this conversation: ?Sex Miseducation: Abstinence Doesn?t Make Sense. While I agree with this statement:
?Teen pregnancy can have a whole range of serious and devastating negative consequences, but it does not follow to say that it MUST have those results. In Mary?s case the result was the Incarnation. Perhaps the real issue is not about prevention: maybe it is about putting into place viable exits and alternatives and ways to imagine life outside the hegemony of schooling, psychology, and economics.?
?
I don?t agree with this one:
?Teaching fertile females?and virile males?to abstain from having sex is crazy. It is almost as crazy as instructing?trees to abstain from growing leaves in the spring?
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4.) Darwin Catholic weighs in on the problem of teaching abstinence without morality in public schools:
?Since abstinence programs aren?t allowed to say that sex outside of marriage is wrong, they instead try to come up with way to say that it?s icky ? which most people will go and mentally convert to ?wrong?.
So while all these suggestions about how the topic should be addressed are great, none of them would pass muster for what?s taught in public schools. They can?t talk about the moral meaning of sex. They can?t talk about how the end of sex is procreation and the proper context for it is marriage. Theology of the Body is verboten.?
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Public release date: 17-May-2013
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Elizabeth Smart?s criticism of abstinence-only sex education has set off a firestorm of commentary about purity culture, and how Catholics in particular should think about sex-ed.