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Drug Use Up for Boomers, Down for Teens
Some moms and dads might want to take a lesson from their kids: Just say no. The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of baby boomers ages 50 to 59 indicated that they had used illicit drugs in the past month. It marks the third consecutive yearly increase recorded for that age group by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Meanwhile, illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005.
"Rarely have we seen a story like this where this is such an obvious contrast as one generation goes off stage right, and entering stage left is a generation that learned a lesson somehow and they're doing something very different," said David Murray, special assistant to the director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The annual survey on drug use and health involves interviews of about 67,500 people. It provides an important snapshot of how many Americans drink, smoke and use drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Overall, drug use remained relatively unchanged among Americans age 12 and older in 2005. About 19.7 million Americans reported they had used an illicit drug in the past month, which represented a rise from 7.9 percent to 8.1 percent. The increase was not only due to the boomers, but an increase was also seen among those 18-25, the age category that always ranks highest when it comes to illicit drug use.
Among the 18-25 group, drug use rose from 19.4 percent to 20.1 percent. Federal officials commenting on the report emphasized the drop in use among younger teens without citing the increase in the next older age group.
"The news today is there is a fundamental shift in drug use among young people in America," Assistant Surgeon General Eric B. Broderick said in a statement.
Murray called the 18-25 group the gauntlet through which everybody runs. He said the peak of drug use among youth in the United States occurred in the late 1970s.
"And they brought it with them like baggage when they hit 50 and 60," Murray said.
Drug use by baby boomers increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent last year. Marijuana was by far their drug of choice, Murray said.
That's true overall. There were 14.6 million people who reported using marijuana in the past month, about 2.4 million cocaine users and 6.4 million people who used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, such as pain relievers, tranquilizers or sedatives. In 60 percent of those cases, the drugs came from a relative or friend for free. Only 4.3 percent reported buying the drug from a drug dealer or other stranger.
While drug use went up slightly in '05, so did alcohol use. Slightly more than half of Americans age 12 and older reported being current drinkers of alcohol. That translates to 126 million people, up from 121 million people the year before.
Officials noted that alcohol use among those 12-17 did decline from 17.6 percent to 16.5 percent.
The percentage of Americans who acknowledged driving drunk at least once in the past year also dropped slightly in 2005 from 13.5 percent to 13 percent.
Meanwhile, tobacco use held steady at about 29.4 percent, even though among youths 12-17, tobacco use did drop from 14.4 percent to 13.1 percent.
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On the Net:
Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/
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Establishing Fitness Routines
Once you have determined that you want to become fit, you will want to establish a fitness routine. Although most people think of classes and specific activities (such as jogging or tennis) as the way to fitness, there are many ways you can work activity into your life.
Structured fitness
Fitness classes or groups provide a consistent approach to an activity. Local gyms, schools, and churches may sponsor a regular fitness group. Teams also provide a consistent approach to fitness but are more competitive. Many communities have intervention programs to help adults and children become fit. They often are found within social agencies and schools.
Structured fitness has the advantage of:
* Being held at the same time and place, which is easier for your schedule.
* Having a social atmosphere.
* "Healthy" peer pressure to show up and participate.
Self-directed fitness
Many people find an activity they enjoy and create their own fitness program. For it to be effective, you must set up a regular schedule and stick to it. Self-directed fitness gives you:
* Flexibility as to the time and place.
* The ability to try different types of exercises.
Fitness within your day
You can use "everyday" activities for fitness, as long as you do them regularly. This includes:
* Daily aerobic activity, such as raking leaves, mowing the lawn, or doing housework.
* Physical activity in the workplace, such as using stairs instead of elevators.
* Muscle-conditioning exercises, such as scrubbing the bathtub, washing walls, tilling the garden, or pulling weeds.
* An outdoor interest that promotes walking or another type of exercise. For example, bird watching may involve considerable walking, and trail building may involve both walking and strength to clear paths.
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Dell Chairman Touts Video Games
View Stock Quote: Dell Inc: DELL
Click for Larger Image Dell Inc. chairman Michael Dell responds to a question during a "fireside chat" at a video game conference Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, in Austin, Texas. His talk comes a month after the computer giant acknowledged a federal probe and recalled millions of faulty laptop batteries. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
A month after being hit by a massive battery recall, Dell Inc. founder and Chairman Michael Dell emphasized the company's and his own forays into video games.
"The truth is, I don't have as much time to play as I probably would like to," Dell, one of the few dressed in a suit, told a packed crowd at the Austin Game Conference.
Dell's remarks came in what was billed as a "fireside chat" discussion on the show floor of the annual trade show. This year's event, at the Austin Convention Center, drew more than 2,000 attendees.
Dell didn't address the company's ongoing woes, and audience members who took part in a question-and-answer session seemed more interested in future product upgrades and features than fiscal issues.
Dell has been rattled in recent months as it deals with fierce competition from rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. Dell saw revenue plummet 51 percent in its most recent earnings report last month.
Dell also issued a voluntary recall of 4.1 million faulty laptop batteries made by Sony Corp. and acknowledged it was being investigated for unspecified accounting issues by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month.
On the hardware front, Dell said he favored Blu-ray over rival format HD-DVD for next-generation optical disk drives but didn't see either platform making much headway anytime soon.
"We think that the content is really going to drive it," he said.
He also touted the company's ongoing push to deliver the latest technology to its customers, from its XPS line of pricey computers to its acquisition earlier this year of boutique game computer maker Alienware Corp.
Also this year, Dell changed its long-standing stance on using only processors from Intel Corp. and has begun offering chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on certain servers and desktop PCs.
"We've seen that, particularly with online gaming, the high end of the gaming market really is a great way to take advantage of a lot of features and performance that are evolving in the modern PC," he said.
He added that Dell has no plans to enter the console market, which is currently dominated by Microsoft Corp., Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp.
"In principle we could do it, but we think we're far better off putting all our energies behind one gaming platform than two gaming platforms," he said.
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On the Net:
http://www.dell.com
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By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago
AUSTIN, Texas - Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.
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She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said. Richards was found to have esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments.
The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others - especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.
"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995.
She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush.
Her four adult children spent Wednesday with her, said family spokeswoman Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend.
"They're a strong group of people but they're broken-hearted, of course," Bonner said.
Her family said as governor she was most proud of two actions that probably cost her re-election. She vetoed legislation that would allow people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and "cop-killer bullets." She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed the destruction of the environment over the Edwards Aquifer.
She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels."
Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that nominated
Bill Clinton for president.
Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."
In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.
She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female officers.
She polished Texas' image, courted movie producers, championed the North American Free Trade Agreement, oversaw an expansion of the state prison system, and presided over rising student achievement scores and plunging dropout rates.
She took time out to celebrate her 60th birthday by earning her motorcycle driver's license.
Throughout her years in office, her personal popularity remained high. One poll put it at more than 60 percent the year she lost to Bush.
"I may have lost the race," Richards said after the defeat. "But I don't think I lost the good feelings that people have about me in this state. That's tremendously reassuring to me."
Richards went on to give speeches, work as a commentator for CNN and serve as a senior adviser in the New York office of Public Strategies Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm.
In her last 10 years, Richards worked for many social causes and helped develop the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, scheduled to open in Austin in 2007.
Born in Lakeview, Texas, in 1933, Richards grew up near Waco, married civil rights lawyer David Richards and spent her early adulthood volunteering in campaigns and raising four children. She often said the hardest job she ever had was as a public school teacher at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin.
Richards served on the Travis County Commissioners Court in Austin for six years before jumping to a bigger arena in 1982. Her election as state treasurer made her the first woman elected statewide in nearly 50 years.
But politics took a toll. It helped break up her marriage. And public life forced her to be remarkably candid about her 1980 treatment for alcoholism.
"I had seen the very bottom of life," she once recalled. "I was so afraid I wouldn't be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn't. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing."
The 1990 election was rough. Her Democratic primary opponent, then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, accused her of using illegal drugs. Williams, an oilman, banker and rancher, spent millions of his own money on the race she narrowly won.
After her unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bush, Richards said she never missed being in public office.
Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.
"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."
Survivors include her children, Cecile Richards, Daniel Richards, Clark Richards and Ellen Richards; their spouses; and eight grandchildren.