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Older teens often text behind the wheel By Mike Stobbe Associated Press
ATLANTA — Think your teen would never text while driving? More than half of high school seniors admitted in a government survey that they’ve done just that. It’s the first time the question was asked in a teen poll on risky behavior, and the finding comes amid a renewed federal crackdown on distracted driving. Texting and cellphone use behind the wheel is “a national epidemic,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday. “We need to teach kids, who are the most vulnerable drivers, that texting and driving don’t mix,” LaHood said at a Washington news conference to announce pilot projects in Delaware and California to discourage distracted driving. In the survey, about 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors acknowledged they did the same thing. “I’m not surprised at all,” said Vicki Rimasse, a New Jersey woman whose son caused a fender bender earlier this year after texting in traffic. She made him take a safe-driving class after the mishap. “I felt like an idiot,” said her 18-year-old son, Dylan Young. The episode taught him “to be a lot more cautious,” although he conceded that he sometimes still texts behind the wheel. The findings released Thursday are the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is in teens. Distracted driving deaths are most common in teens, blamed for about 16 percent of teen motor vehicle deaths. Focusing on a cellphone instead of the road leads to delayed reaction times, lane swerves and other lapses with sometimes fatal consequences, experts say. Thirty-nine states ban texting for all age groups, and an additional five states outlaw it for novice teen drivers. And authorities are increasingly cracking down. In the last two weeks, teens in Missouri and Massachusetts have been sentenced to jail — one for a year — for fatal accidents involving texting.
Suicides are surging among U.S. troops By Robert Burns Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Suicides are surging among America’s troops, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation’s decade of war. The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan — about 50 percent more — according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press. The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior. Because suicides had leveled off in 2010 and 2011, this year’s upswing has caught some officials by surprise. The reasons for the increase are not fully understood. Among explanations, studies have pointed to combat exposure, posttraumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems. Army data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed. The unpopular war in Afghanistan is winding down with the last combat
The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan. troops scheduled to leave at the end of 2014. But this year has seen record numbers of soldiers being killed by Afghan troops, and there also have been several scandals involving U.S. troop misconduct. The 2012 active-duty suicide total of 154 through June 3 compares to 130 in the same period last year, an 18 percent increase. And it’s more than the 136.2 suicides that the Pentagon had projected for this period based on the trend from 2001-2011. This year’s January-May total is up 25 percent from two years ago, and it is 16 percent ahead of the pace for 2009, which ended with the highest yearly total thus far. Suicide totals have exceeded U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan in earlier periods, including for the full years 2008 and 2009. The suicide pattern varies over the course of a year, but in each of the past five years the trend through May was a reliable predictor for the full year, according to a chart based on figures provided by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner. The numbers are rising among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel despite years of effort
to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems. Many in the military believe that going for help is seen as a sign of weakness and thus a potential threat to advancement. Kim Ruocco, widow of Marine Maj. John Ruocco, a helicopter pilot who hanged himself in 2005 between Iraq deployments, said he was unable to bring himself to go for help. “He was so afraid of how people would view him once he went for help,” she said in an interview at her home in suburban Boston. “He thought that people would think he was weak, that people would think he was just trying to get out of redeploying or trying to get out of service, or that he just couldn’t hack it — when, in reality, he was sick. He had suffered injury in combat and he had also suffered from depression and let it go untreated for years. And because of that, he’s dead today.” Jackie Garrick, head of a newly established Defense Suicide Prevention Office at the Pentagon, said in an interview Thursday that the suicide numbers this year are troubling. “We are very concerned at this point that we are seeing a high number of suicides at a point in time where we were expecting to see a lower number of suicides,” she said, adding that the weak U.S. economy may be confounding preventive efforts even as the pace of military deployments eases.
Friday, June 8, 2012
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Boy Scouts to review ban on gay leaders By David Crary
Area group takes no stance
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts of America will review a resolution that would allow individual units to accept gays as adult leaders, but a spokesman says there’s no expectation that the ban on gay leaders will in fact be lifted any time soon. The resolution was submitted by a Scout leader from the Northeast in April and presented last week at the Scouts’ national meeting in Orlando, Fla., according to BSA spokesman Deron Smith. Smith said Wednesday it would be referred to a subcommittee, which will then make a recommendation to the national executive board. The process would likely be completed by May 2013, according to Smith, who said there were no plans at this time to change the policy. During last week’s meeting, the Scouts were presented with a petition, bearing more than 275,000 names, protesting the ouster of a lesbian mother, Jennifer Tyrrell, who’d been serving as a Scout den mother near Bridgeport, Ohio. Among those who presented the Change.org petition, and met with Scout officials, was Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, an Iowa college student who was raised by lesbian mothers. Wahls, in a telephone interview, said he and his allies planned a campaign to mobilize opposition to the gay-exclusion policy from within Scout ranks, with the goal of building
An official at the Heart of America Council, which administers Boy Scout programs in a 19-county area around Kansas City, didn’t take a stance Thursday on the issue of the national organization reviewing a policy that would allow gays to serve as adult leaders. Mark Brayer, director of support for the Heart of America Council, said his group would follow the lead of the national organization. “It’s a decision at the national office and the national executive board,” Brayer said. “It really doesn’t affect us at the present time whatsoever.” Brayer declined to give his personal opinion on the issue, saying that as an employee of the Boy Scouts of America, his personal opinion wasn’t germane to the conversation. pressure for the resolution to be approved. “Up to the day they end this policy, they’ll be saying they have no plans to do so,” Wahls said. “But there’s no question it’s costing the Boy Scouts in terms of membership and public support.” The Scouts, who celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2010, have had a long-standing policy of excluding gays and atheists.
BUSINESS AT A GLANCE
Notable The Kansas winter wheat harvest is nearing the Nebraska border. Industry groups including the Kansas Wheat Commission reported Wednesday that combines are rolling north of U.S. Highway 36. As in other parts of the state, production in northcentral Kansas is mixed. The Central Plains Co-op in Smith Center expects to take in only about half its average of 1 million bushels. Farmers in that area are reporting yields of 20 to 50 bushels an acre. Production looks much better in southern Dickinson County, where cutting is at the midway point. The North Central Kansas Co-op in Hope has had farmers reporting yields of nearly 40 bushels per acre.
Thursday’s markets
More teens smoke pot than cigarettes
Dow Industrials
ATLANTA — A government survey shows more teens are now smoking pot than cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 23 percent of high school students said they recently smoked HEALTH marijuana, while 18 percent said they had puffed cigarettes. The survey asked teens about a variety of risky behaviors. For decades, the number of teens who smoke has been on the decline. Marijuana use has fluctuated, and recently rose. At times, pot and cigarette smoking were about the same level, but last year marked the first time marijuana use was clearly greater. An earlier survey by the University of Michigan also found that pot smoking was higher. A Michigan expert said teens today apparently see marijuana as less dangerous than cigarettes.
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Bernanke signals no imminent steps to aid economy By Martin Crutsinger Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Slumping job growth has alarmed some economists who fear the U.S. economy is in trouble. Ben Bernanke doesn’t appear to be one of them. The Federal Reserve chief sketched a hopeful outlook in testimony to a congressional panel Thursday and sent no signals that the Fed will take further steps soon to aid the economy. Bernanke acknowledged that Europe’s debt crisis poses risks to the U.S. financial markets. He also noted that U.S. unemployment remains high at 8.2 percent. And he said the Fed is prepared to take steps to boost the U.S. economy if it weakens. But he said Fed officials still need to study the most recent economic trends, including job growth. For now, Bernanke said he foresees moderate growth this year. He said he’s mindful that all that could change, if Europe’s crisis quickly worsened or U.S. job growth stalled. “As always, the Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the U.S. financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate,” he told the Joint Economic Committee. The Fed could buy more bonds to try to further re-
duce longterm interest rates, w h i c h might encourage more borrowing and spending. Bernanke Or it could extend its plan to keep short-term rates near zero beyond late 2014 until an even later date. But most economists don’t expect a major announcement at the Fed’s next policy meeting June 19-20, despite signals this week from some other Fed members in favor of considering further action. For one thing, longterm U.S. interest rates have already touched record lows. Even if rates dropped further, analysts say they might provide little benefit for the economy. They say it’s unlikely that many businesses and consumers who aren’t borrowing now at superlow rates would do so if rates declined a bit more. And Bernanke could face pressure not to pursue further stimulus before the November election because such steps could be perceived as helping President Barack Obama win re-election. “The Fed stimulative effects have really run their course,” Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, argued in a television interview last week.
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