TypicalU.S.

collegestudentspends40hoursaweeksocializingandjust13hours studying
Asthousandsofhighschoolseniorschoosetheircollegeofchoicetoday,May1,newstudiesshowthatcollegeis notalwaysthesmartestinvestment. Nearlyhalfofallundergraduatesfailtomakesignificantimprovementsincriticalthinkingorwritingduringtheirfirst twoyearsofcollege,accordingtoacontroversialrecentstudyinthebookAcademicallyAdrift. SociologistsRichardArumandJosipaRoksaarguethatcollegeismostlyaboutsocializing,sayingthatthetypical studentspends40houraweekhangingoutoutwiththeirpeersandjust13hoursstudying. Theargumentforhighereducationwaslongassociatedwiththehighersalariesawardedtotherecipientsof bachelorsdegrees,whoearnonaverage$20,000morethanthosewithonlyhighschooldiplomas,accordingtothe WallStreetJournal. Butasstudentdebtlevelsrisetoalarmingamounts,$1trillionacrossthenation,moreandmorepeopleare questioningthevalueofcollege. Theymightgraduate,buttheyarefailingtodevelopthehigherordercognitiveskillsthatitiswidelyassumedcollege studentsshouldmaster,thepairwriteinAcademicallyAdrift. Thesefindingsaresoberingandshouldbeacauseforconcern. Theirresearchdrawsonsurveyresponses,transcriptdata,andthestandardizedtestingofmorethan2,300 undergraduatesattwentyfourinstitutions. TheU.S.highereducationsystemhasinrecentyearsarguablybeenlivingoffitsreputation,thetwosociologists write. Americasacademicsystemisbroken,theysay,citingthatinmanylargelecturehallstheattendancerarelyreaches just55percent. ButBryanCaplan,aneconomistatGeorgeMasonUniversityandauthoroftheupcomingbookTheCaseAgainst Education,saysthatthatthestudentsdontneedtobechallengedbytheirschool. Goodstudentstendtobesmart,hardworkingandconformistthreecrucialtraitsforalmostanyjob,saidDrCaplan, accordingtotheWallStreetJournal. Whenastudentexcelsinschool,then,employerscorrectlyinferthathe'slikelytobeagoodworker. DrCaplanarguesthatemployerschoosetheirjobcandidatesbasedsolelyontherigorousapplicationprocessof differentschools,ratherthanthecandidate'sindividualperformanceintheclassroom.

Bingedrinking?Britonsjustworkhardthenplayhardattheweekends,says psychologist
Britonsdrinktoexcessatweekendsbecausetheyworksohardandbottleuptheiremotionsduringtheweek,a psychologisthasclaimed.ProfAnnaVanWerschsaidtheboozingcultureoftheBritishisleswentbacktothedays oftheVikingsandwasawayoflettingoffsteamafterastressfulweekatwork.AndcontrarytotheGovernment's adviceaboutbingedrinking,theDutchbornacademicsaidshedidnotbelievedrinkingtoomuchwasentirely unhealthy. ProfvanWerschsaid:'Youngpeoplegooutinlargegroupsforthepurposeofgettingdrunkbecausetheyhavespent allweekworkinghardandbottlinguptheiremotions.Itisanadventure.Theydonotknowwherethenightwilltake them.'Sheadded:'Ifpeopledidn'thavethe'bignightoutwithfriends'tolookforwardto,whatwouldtheydoandfeel likeattheendoftheweek?Wedon'twantanationonProzac,dowe?' TheTeessideUniversitypsychologistwasspeakingaboutherstudywithWendyWalkerfromLeedsUniversity, publishedintheJournalofHealthPsychology,whichquestionedpeople'sperceptionsoftheirdrinkinghabits.The teaminterviewed32menandwomenlivinginnortheastEnglandaged22to58,includingintervieweesfromGreece, NorthernIrelandandLondon.ProfvanWerschsaidthecultureofdrinkingtogetdrunkwasdeeplyembedded. 'PeopleinEnglandaremorehighachieversthantheDutch,'shesaid.'Thequalityoftheirworkhastobeperfectand theirperformanceismuchhigher.There'salotofpressuretodowellandtobehaveappropriatelyandcontrolone's emotionsandthatcanbestressful.That'swhyIthinktheBritishputsomuchemphasisinhavingsomethingtolook forwardtoattheweekend:achancetoletoffsteamandlettheirhairdown.' TheBritisharemoreinclinedtogetdrunk,whilepeopleonthecontinent'simplyenjoythetasteofaglassofwine'. Inthestudy,bingedrinkingwasdefinedasdrinkingtogetdrunk.Butofficiallyitisclassedashavingfivedrinksor moreononeoccasionwithadrink,orunit,beingaglassofwine,halfapintofbeerorpubmeasureofspirits.One infivewomenandoneinthreemenarenowdrinkingatlevelsconsideredhazardoustohealth14unitsormorefor womenand21unitsormoreformeneachweek.AstudylastyearshowedthatBritishteenagersarethe'biggest bingedrinkersinEurope',with30percentofyoungstersdowningfivedrinksormoreduringfrequentsessionsthat occuratleastonceaweekthedefinitionofbingedrinking. Butamentalhealthexpertwarnedbingedrinkingcanleadtoalcoholdependencyandphysicaldamagetotheliver. PrincipallecturerGordonMitchell,aTeessideUniversitycolleagueofProfvanWerschsaiditwasdangerousto promotethehabitaspartofourculture. MrMitchellsaid:'Iseethedestructiveeffectsofalcoholandthesocialimpactitcanhaveuponsomeone'sfamily,with lossofemployment,divorceandsocialexclusion.Iamnotconvincedthatthebingedrinkingculturegoesbacksofar asfromtheVikings,asweBritisharemostlydescendentsfromAngloSaxonorigin.TheVikings'influencewasonly reallyinthenorthofScotlandandpartsofnorthernEngland.' Headded:'Ialsothinkthealcoholandpubtradehasencouragedthisapproachbytheirhappyhourspromotionsearly onintheevening.Theyshouldbeencouragingresponsibledrinkingthroughouttheevening.Therehasbeenacultural changeintheBritishapproachtoalcoholinmorerecenttimes,withtheincreaseinfemaledrinkersandyounger drinkers.Thesegroupsarenotonlydrinkingatweekend,butdrinkingthroughouttheweek.' Alcoholmisusecoststhenationaround7.3billionincrimeandantisocialbehaviour,withdrinkingalcoholafactorin morethanhalfofviolentcrimes.Thebingedrinkingcultureisfuellingariseinviolentattacksbywomen.Lastyearit

emergedthatthenumberofviolentattackshasdoubledinjustfiveyears.