by pilgrim_media @ Tuesday, February 20th, 2007.
Filed under Humor, College
Alcohol use among college students has been a topic of intense interest in recent years. Without question, excessive use of alcohol is associated with a wide range of deleterious outcomes among students. It is well known that heavy drinking increases the likelihood of committing a litany of crimes, including vandalism and physical assault, and non-drinkers routinely suffer the consequences of other students’ irresponsible drinking (Wechsler et al., 2000).
The more a student drinks the lower their overall GPA is likely to be (White et al., 2002). More than ½ of students in one nationwide survey report having their studying or sleep disrupted by someone else’s alcohol use (Wechsler et al., 1995; Wechsler et al., 2000). In addition, as in the larger population, drinking and driving is a problem on many campuses (Wechsler et al., 2003). Traffic crashes claim more lives than anything else among young adults, and alcohol is involved in a significant proportion of these crashes. In the end, alcohol kills more kids than all other drugs combined (NIAAA, 2003).
by pilgrim_media @ Monday, January 22nd, 2007.
Filed under Humor, Entertainment
During American Idol 5, domain name registrations revealed the names of all the semi-finalists that advanced during the Hollywood stage of the competition. Apparently, American Idol producers were a little more cautious this year, and while some names have been rumored to have slipped out, there is not yet a similar list of the top forty or so semi-finalists. However, Reality TV Magazine recently looked up the domain name registrations for all of the American Idol contestant names that have been revealed on the audition shows and discovered an interesting pattern that could indicate how some of those contestants faired in the Hollywood auditions.
So far, the following fourteen American Idol contestants have been revealed as definitely receiving a golden ticket to Hollywood: Jordin Sparks, Anna Kearns, Rudy Cardenas, Sanjaya Malakar, Shyamali Malakar, Blake Lewis, Thomas Daniels, Sarah Krueger, Rachel Jenkins, Matt Sato, Michelle Steingas, Jarrod Fowler, Perla Meneses, and Denise Jackson. According to a rumor posted on MJs Blog, November 17, 2006 was the date when the American Idol contestants were narrowed down to the top forty or so semi-finalists.
Of the fourteen contestants named so far, Anna Kearns, Sanjaya Malakar, and Shyamali Malakar all three had their names registered as domain names on November 18, 2006. All three domains show that they have been registered by Domains by Proxy, which is basically a service which hides the identity of who actually registered the domain names. Given their domains are privately registered and the registration occurred one day after the Hollywood top forty or so were rumored to be selected, it could be theorized that American Idol producers registered Anna Kearns, Sanjaya Malakar, and Shyamali Malakar, because they advanced to the top forty in the Hollywood rounds.
Matt Sato, Michelle Steingas, and Perla Meneses did not have their names registered as domain names until sometime in mid-January. Apparently, their names were not registered until after their names aired as Hollywood contestants on the American Idol audition show. Since no one bothered to register Matt Sato, Michelle Steingas, and Perla Meneses as domain names until they appeared on the show, it could be theorized that they did not advance in the Hollywood rounds.
Jordin Sparks, Rudy Cardenas, Blake Lewis, Thomas Daniels, Sarah Krueger, Rachel Jenkins, Jarrod Fowler, and Denise Jackson all had their names registered as domain names sometime before the American Idol 6 Hollywood eliminations would have occurred. Their names were registered either by themselves because they were pursuing music industry careers or by someone who apparently shared or knew someone who shared the same name. Therefore, there is nothing to suggest one way or the other whether they advanced in Hollywood or not.
As more names are revealed during the remaining American Idol auditions, checking domain registrations to see if they were registered on November 18, 2006 could turn out to be a way to find out if they advanced to the top forty or so semifinalist.
