New America Media - Youth

Obesity Leveled Off in U.S., Except Among Boys

2010-01-21T12:35:00Z

A recent CDC report may give Americans cause for cheer. It suggests that we have finally turned a corner in our fight against obesity, which has leveled off across most of the population -- except one group: 6- to 19-year-old boys.

Dr. Gautham Rao, clinical director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he is also an associate professor at the School of Medicine, explained why obesity is still increasing among boys. He spoke with NAM health editor Viji Sundaram.

The CDC study suggests that obesity remains a significant problem in some 68 percent of the adult U.S. population. Yet, the study also suggests, there is an increase in obesity among 6- to 19-year-old boys. Why do you think this is?

The data need to be interpreted very carefully. Consider the following passage from the article:

“Among 6- through 19-year-old boys, there was a significant linear trend at the highest BMI (body-mass index) cut-off point, but not at the lower cut-off points, nor was there a significant trend in the younger age groups. The categorical analysis of survey period suggests that among 6- through 19-year-old boys, the difference is only significant between the two time periods 1999-2000 and 2007-2008, so it is not possible to tell if the 2007-2008 estimate is the continuation of a trend or not.”

Essentially, according to this data, boys in the heaviest category, that is, above the 97th percentile of body-mass index, did get heavier.

This estimate, however, is significant only when comparing 1999 -2000 and 2007-2008. We cannot be sure, therefore, that this is a trend. Consider this analogy: If the winter of 1999-2000 was cold, and the winter of 2007-2008 was colder, we cannot say for sure that winters in general are getting colder, since we are unsure of the (data) in between.

Earlier generation video games targeted at kids, like Super Mario Brothers and Halo, encouraged a sedentary lifestyle. Kids would sit for hours before their computers and use nothing more than their thumbs. But the more recent Wii video game consoles are designed to be interactive. They have players moving and exercising. Could playing these games have any impact on kids’ weight?

No, I don’t believe so. Many parents ask me about this. I always respond in the same way, with two questions:

1. Fifty years ago, how many obese children were around? Most parents know the answer is very few.

2. Fifty years ago, how many interactive video games were around? This opens up a discussion about how habitual physical activity -- which I wrote about extensively in my book titled, Child Obesity: A Parent's Guide to a Fit, Trim, and Happy Child —such as walking, cycling and free-time play—is best able to help children achieve or maintain a healthy weight.

Why is it that it’s mostly the white kids who are experiencing an increase in obesity, according to the study?

That isn’t supported by the study, which found that the heaviest 6- to 19-year-old boys overall experienced an increasing trend in obesity.

When the investigators parsed this data by race, they also found that the subpopulation of white boys had a statistically significant trend.

Bear in mind that obesity remains a much more serious problem among Latino and African-American children. More than half of children who come to our Weight Management Center in Pittsburgh belong to one of these two groups.

Many studies indicate that kids living in poorer neighborhoods are more likely to be from the African- American and Hispanic communities and are also more likely to be obese. They don’t have easy access to fresh produce. What role does right nutrition play in obesity?

Certainly obesity is much more common among blacks and Hispanics. Much is made of the availability of fresh produce, but that is only one, and perhaps an insignificant, factor. Many of our patients won’t eat fresh produce, even if it’s given away.

Obesity is a complex condition related to culture, poverty, taste preferences, health consciousness and different notions of what is a desirable weight. I sincerely believe that the leveling off is the result of better attention being paid to what I call “The Big Five” obesity culprits:

1. Sweet beverages (soda, etc.) There is more awareness of these as a cause of obesity, and better controls on their sales.

2. Fast food: More awareness of its role in obesity.

3. Screen time.

4. Habitual physical activity: More schools are incorporating physical activity into daily routines.

5. Eating together as a family. This remains uncommon, especially among minority families.

Perils Ahead For Iran's Leaderless Revolution

2009-12-31T19:32:02Z

It is now clear that the population of Iran is in full revolt against its leaders. There is a better than even chance that the government will fall before summer. Sadly, there is no clear successor leadership on the horizon. This may prove to be the worst of all possible revolutions—a leaderless coup often leads to a regime that feeds on itself.

The current governmental regime in Tehran, including spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have made error after error in dealing with the opposition. Iran is a hierarchical society. Persons in high positions are paradoxically in the most fragile positions. Either they must support their followers, or be toppled from power.

The government has, in the face of the questionable presidential elections in June, repressed, murdered and incarcerated thousands of legitimate protestors. They have jailed former architects of the Revolution of 1978-79 that toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and former government officials such as ex-Foreign Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Yazdi. These actions are a betrayal of the social ties that bind political leaders to their followers. In essence, Iran’s political elite has utterly lost its public support. There is no other possible result than that they leave the scene.

The situation has been exacerbated by the confluence of this repression with the annual observances of the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad. Hossein’s legitimacy to rule the Islamic community was opposed by the Umayyid Caliph, Yazid. Yazid then ordered his army to Kerbala where Hossein was encamped with his family. The male members of Hossein’s clan were beheaded and the women and children led into captivity in the Umayyid capital, Damascus.

Now the public is equating opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Musavi with Imam Hossein. They chant “Ya Hossein, Ya Mir-Hossein” in their opposition marches. Ayatollah Khamene’i is now equated directly with the Caliph, Yazid in street slogans and banners. Currency is being defaced with insults against the government. As veteran Middle East commentator, Robin Wright, has noted, the current Iranian resistance “is arguably the most vibrant and imaginative civil disobedience campaign anywhere in the world today.”

However, should Ayatollah Khamene’i, President Ahmadinejad and other high officials be toppled from power, it is unclear who will replace them. The opposition candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, has proved to be utterly feckless as a leader. His fortunes only improved shortly before the June election when he suddenly was seen as a viable opponent for the increasingly unpopular President Ahmadinejad. Since the election he has been more a follower than a leader. In fact, his wife, the intrepid Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, who apparently organized his campaign, emerged as a greater political force.

Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, former President and supreme political operative also engineered Mousavi’s campaign. Usually outspoken, he has been exceptionally cautious in recent weeks, and his relatives have been terrorized by Tehran’s leaders. Now in his 70’s, it is unclear that he could emerge as a strong leader in a new government.

There is also the sticky business of the bedrock principle of the Islamic Republic, the “Velayat-e Faqih,” or “Regency of the Chief Jurisprudent.” It is this principle that legitimizes the supreme authority of Ayatollah Khamene’i, who is said to be ruling as regent, or substitute for the 9th Century Imam, Mohammad al-Mahdi, who is believed to be alive, but “in occultation,” until the Day of Judgment. This doctrine was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1978-79 Revolution and is ensconced in the Iranian Constitution. If Ayatollah Khamene’i is toppled from power, either the constitution must be scrapped, or a successor must be found. Most religious leaders reject this doctrine today—a fact that has already created a de facto constitutional crisis.

Humanity has seen leaderless revolutions before, and they don’t turn out well. Those vying for power early on are condemned by those who arise after them. There is a perpetual scramble for both power and control of the ideology of the revolution. Much blood flows, and decades can pass before order is restored.

In light of this situation, the Obama administration is wise to stand aside and wait before making any commitments to the present power elite. More importantly, it behooves the administration to start preparing for a post-revolutionary phase, making sure that U.S. actions do not alienate the Iranian public or those who will accede to power.

Sadly, the U.S. Congress is not as wise as the executive branch. Still stuck with a crude and inaccurate fetishization of Iran’s nuclear energy program, they are on the brink of approving economic sanctions that will only cement the Iranian public’s already fixed notion that America only wants their nation to sink in misery and failure.

William O. Beeman is professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and is past president of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association. He has lived and worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years. His most recent book is "'The Great Satan' vs. the 'Mad Mullahs': How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other." (Chicago, 2008).

Anime: Tragedy Replaces Happy Ending in Fairy Tales

2009-12-27T19:12:35Z

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time in a village full of ninjas there lived an orphan named Naruto. When he was born, the chief of the village sealed a powerful and malevolent spirit of a nine-tailed fox inside thee child’s belly. Whenever Naruto loses control of his emotions, the fox takes over and wreaks havoc.

Naruto knows tragedy intimately. His parents were killed in a war; Sasuke, his best friend, lost his entire clan to a murderous brother and became hell-bent on revenge; Jiraya, Naruto’s favorite teacher, was murdered by another student named Pain, whose aim was to destroy the world. Sai, the newest member to join Naruto’s ninja team, had to kill his classmates in order to graduate from his martial arts school.

Magic, romance and martial arts aside, the story of Naruto would put horror master Stephen King’s novels to shame. Yet the Japanese manga (comic book or graphic novel) and anime (Japanese animation) series has become wildly popular all over the world. And in the United States, it has presented children with a radically divergent narrative than that of fairytales told a generation ago.

There are no soft landings, no candy-coated protection in the story lines from the Far East. Behind those round, puppy-eyed, cuddly characters, with their perfect western features, lies a set of ancient eastern sensibilities informed by human suffering rarely known in the land of “happily ever after.” It is why, now in middle age, as an immigrant from a war torn country, Vietnam, I watch Naruto religiously.

A few years ago in Tokyo, I asked professor Koike Kazuo, the celebrated author of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" manga series, about the difference between Japanese and American comic books. "Japanese mangas tend to deal with complex characters that are both suited for children and adults,” he said. Superman and other American superheroes, he said, "are too overwhelming, like the U.S. military forces with their high-tech weapons. You grow up and get bored by them."  Not so with Japanese protagonists. "The characters may have some powers, but they are vulnerable. They might be beaten by somebody, and people who read manga sympathize deeply with these characters.”

For Japanese adults, good manga is seen on the same level as a contemporary novel. “If Superman and Spiderman have wives and kids and real domestic dramas,” Koike said, “they will have adult readers.”

Koike, a history professor, can speak with authority. The first issue of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" U.S. edition sold around 120,000 copies in the late 1970s, making it the best-selling manga in the United States for decades. In Japan, the epic became one of the longest-running TV shows in its history, and was made into a six-film series.

It’s the story of a samurai who took his baby boy on a “road to hell” and became an assassin for hire while seeking vengeance against Retsudo, a powerful man who ordered the massacre of his clan. Daigoro grew up watching his samurai-turned-assassin father slash, stab and chop their enemies. In the final confrontation, with his father slain and Retsudo, their arch nemesis, wounded, the little boy picks up his enemy’s spear and rushes furiously toward him. Recognizing spiritual kinship in Daigoro’s warrior spirit, Retsudo embraces the boy and, as his own spear pierces his heart, cries out: “Grandson of my heart!”

Not exactly kid stuff of the late 70s. But these narratives are now vying for the attention of American kids. The saccharine happily-ever-after ending that has been spoon-fed to children by the church of Disney since the end of World War II is being seriously challenged.

Coined in 1815 by woodblock artist Hokusai, "manga" described his illustrated doodles as "involuntary sketches or unintentional pictures." But manga didn't turn into entertainment for children in Japan until 1952, nearly a century-and-a-half later, when Tezuka Ozamu created Astro Boy, the story of a robot with a human soul, a sort of modern-day Pinocchio.

Since Astro Boy, the sadness, fear, joy, humor and desire, not to mention aesthetic expressions and various sexual appetites of the Japanese people, have found audiences throughout the world.

In the United States, major outlets like Barnes and Noble and Amazon peddle an array of Japanese anime DVDs and manga. On cartoon networks, viewers can watch dozens of anime shows catered to all ages. And thousands of stories – from robot romances to cooking obsessions, from teenage alienation to various sexual situations, from government corruption to intergalactic noir detectives series – are available online anytime via sites like Yout ube, Vimeo and AniLinkz.

Anime-related merchandise like dolls and action figures peaked at around $5 billion by 2005, and has suffered a downhill trajectory ever since. The main cause? It is, ironically, due to the enthusiasm of fans worldwide. Thanks to an army of devoted admirers’ unauthorized scanning, uploading and translating– the anime-manga global archive is growing at a breakneck speed and readily available for free.

In his book “Japanamerica,” writer Roland Kelts, an American writer of Japanese ancestry, noted, “Anime is producing quality content at a time when quality is becoming endangered by advances in technology, which are outpacing attempts to control and even monitor distribution. And anime greets the American viewer with an enormous back catalog,” making it a powerful force in the digital age.

American animation, such as that produced by Pixar and Disney, Kelts wrote, are “like bursts of genius.” But the allure of manga, where there’s always something more to discover, lasts into adulthood.

Professor Koike never wrote his stories thinking they would be read by non-Japanese. “On the deepest level,” he said, “serious mangas are about spiritual drama and love."

Indeed, it is the spiritual drama in many of these stories that most interests me. It is what has drawn me to watch Naruto online. I recognize the Old World’s narratives in these Japanese stories. The nine-tailed fox is, after all, a creature of myth in the Far East as old as the hydra or the Minotaur in ancient Greek mythology.

And spiritual drama always moved beneath the sad-ending fairy tales I knew growing up in Vietnam during the war. Those unbearably hot afternoons in Saigon, my older siblings and I would often throw a mat on the tile floor in my grandma's room, the coolest in the house, and beg her for a story. Decades and a continent away, I can still hear her storytelling voice, low and sad, lulling her grandchildren toward phantasmagorical and melancholic dreams.

The husband fled after he realized that he had married his long-lost sister by mistake, and one night both mother and child turned into stone on the sea cliff ... The love sick princess died, her heart turned into a ruby, and the grieving king had it carved into a teacup and whenever he poured tea into it, the image of her paramour, the singing fisherman on his boat, appeared and floated to and fro ... In order to let his jealous older brother live happily with his new bride, a younger brother left home to die in the forest and overnight turned into a limestone.

In grandma’s stories, noble deeds were rarely rewarded with happily-ever-after endings, broken love was the norm, and those who did good were often punished. Yet, there was a mature wisdom in the stories’ resolution: The loyal wife’s virtues were reserved forever in stone and in time she became a local goddess known as the Stone Waiting For Her Husband … When the fisherman saw his own image in the ruby teacup, he cried, and his tears fell into it and the cup melted back into blood and disappeared, her love requited at last ... The older brother died, wracked with guilt for distrusting his own sibling, and turned into an areca tree. His new bride followed and she turned into a betel vine. “When you combine the betel leaf and areca fruit and a bit of limestone paste and chew, you get a tingling sensation on your tongue,” Grandma said as she chewed, then spat and laughed. “See, your spit turns into the color of blood. It’s true love, which is always sad and complicated.”

Grandmother told fatalistic tales that were thousands of years old, and if they were sad and strange, there was a sound reason for this morbid existentialism. Considering how many generations had seen war and experienced natural disasters, considering how calamities have a way of destroying hope, those stories were concerned with the spiritual growth of the young, and not with convincing them that they live in a benevolent universe. The old fairy tales have evolved over the millennia as a way to prepare the next generation for cataclysm and grief.

Despite the age of digital and high-tech wizardry, manga-anime hasn’t changed much in its message, which continues to distill the ancient ethos of the Far East: a shared cultural matrix between Japan and East Asia. They teach that sacrifice for others is more important than individual happiness, that to grow in strength and wisdom one must find something more precious to protect and love than one’s self, that there is an inherent beauty in sadness and spiritual growth to be had in suffering, and that honor and loyalty and duty sometimes far outweigh romantic love.

Now, as American children watch Naruto struggle to retain his sunny outlook so as not to turn, literally, into a destructive monster, it seems the Far East is not so far from the easternizing West. In a post-9/11 world in which waging wars in the name of peace has become the norm, and as the polar icecaps melt and the sea keeps rising, and ominous storms grow stronger -- if not at our shores then in our collective unconscious -- it may very well be that happily ever after narratives are no longer the appropriate medicine, and that the stories American children are gravitating toward are the alternative fairytales that can help them cope with the shifting tides.

Andrew Lam is author of "Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora" and the upcoming "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres" due out in 2010

Kanye Kils Fame Tour

2009-10-10T06:04:37Z

This week on YO! Radio -- Chicago youth's death brings up bigger issue of urban terrorism, Kanye cancels tour, and new black barbie goes too far. PLUS: Eming Piansay takes on the health care debate. Alicia Marie and Eming Piansay are content producers and Malcolm Marshall is a producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

Obama’s Chance to Spark Real School Funding Reform

2009-10-07T12:15:00Z

President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have an unprecedented opportunity to lead real school funding reform through the federal stimulus package. They can encourage states like California to fund public schools adequately and equitably. The question is, will they?

While much of the $100-plus billion in education stimulus funding is targeted to stave off teacher layoffs and keep class sizes in check, the so-called “Race to the Top” Fund stands apart. This $4.35 billion pot is the largest infusion of discretionary federal dollars ever into the public education system, bigger than the combined discretionary funds provided to all prior education secretaries over the past 29 years. States have to compete for funding, and not all will win. Money will be doled out on a selective basis to a subset of states that demonstrate their commitment to bold, systemic education reform. The idea is to reward innovation and results in public education and push states to undertake serious reform if they want to access to the pot.

The Race to the Top Fund places Obama and Duncan on the most effective education bully pulpit they are likely to have at any point during their administration. And it’s one they certainly haven’t been shy to use in pushing states like California to increase the number of charter schools and to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores. If things in Sacramento are any indication, when the feds dangle billions in potential education funding, states will jump to comply. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called a special session to pass legislation that will address those two issues to improve California’s chances of receiving Race to the Top dollars.

California desperately needs these funds. It ranked 47th in the nation in per pupil spending in 2006-07. When the latest rankings are released come January, it won’t be surprising if we drop to 50. And in the face of a state budget crisis and a nationwide recession, California state legislators have cut education funding by a shocking $2,000 per student over the past two years.

These massive cuts hit some students harder than others. Funding among California school districts is vastly unequal, ranging from a low of $6,000 per student in one district to a high of approximately $30,000 in another.

Wealthy suburban districts like Palo Alto have more flexibility ability streamline programs and services. Meanwhile, students returning to Hawthorne High School in southern LA County this fall found that English Language Development classes for beginning and intermediate English Learner students, which are vital to learning, have been eliminated.

At Mt. Eden High School in Hayward, where class size is close to 40, students sit on folding chairs or stand because there are not enough desks to go around. And as anyone who has ever taken a walk through Oakland High School and Piedmont High can tell you, unequal funding produces unequal learning opportunities and—down the road—unequal outcomes.

Sadly, Obama and Duncan have been conspicuously silent when it comes to spotlighting the funding issues at the heart of the current failures of our public education system. While the department’s proposed Race to the Top guidance requires states to “make education funding a priority,” it pays only lip service to this principle. The fine print requires that states spend only as much on education as they did last year—the year our national recession began and when many states cut education funding to their lowest levels in years—and places no conditions on states to allocate existing funding more equally. Frankly, that won't solve the problem.

But it’s not too late. The Department of Education is currently sifting through the hundreds of public comments it received on its proposed Race to the Top guidance and is scheduled to issue final regulations in November. There is still time for Duncan to use Race to the Top funds as an incentive to push states to fund their education systems adequately and equitably. The department should grant funds only to those states that are taking concrete steps to close funding disparities and to provide sufficient funding so that all students have the opportunity to meet their state’s academic content standards, including those requiring greater learning support.

This means requiring states to demonstrate they are providing poorer school districts with sufficient resources so that all students have access to expert teachers, small class sizes, rich and diverse course offerings, high-quality learning materials, equipped science and computer laboratories, and adequately maintained school facilities—plus the intensive intervention programs that many underperforming students need.

Let’s hope that Obama and Duncan don’t pass up this precious opportunity to lead real school funding reform. They may not get another chance. And our children can't afford for this one to slip by.

Tara Kini is a staff attorney with Public Advocates, Inc., a nonprofit legal and advocacy firm.

Kentucky Fried Cancer

2009-10-02T21:52:33Z

This week on YO!Radio -- Pizza Hut teaches kids to read, fast food calories crippling children's health, and toxic chicken goes to court. ALSO: YO!Radio caught up with author Enitan O. Bereola II at Maxwell's Lounge in Oakland to chat about his book: Bereolaesque: The Contemporary Gentleman & Etiquette Book For The Urban Sophisticate. Donny Lumpkins is a content producer and Malcolm Marshall is the producer of YO!Radio.

Berkeley HS Opens Green Academy

2009-10-02T03:30:00Z

Berkeley High School and Pacific Gas and Electric Company have partnered to open a first-of-it's-kind small school dedicated to green technology. Min Lee is an editor at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia. 6843345

Race + Gender = How Happy You Are

2009-10-01T14:21:12Z

Editor's Note: A recently published study suggests women today are less happy than they were in the 1970s, while male happiness has slightly increased. Some experts argue decreased female happiness is rooted in the stress of juggling many roles at once: the pursuit of higher education, a career, preserving the family unit, and upholding household responsibilities. According to the survey, black women rank highest in overall levels of happiness. We asked young men and women if women really are more stressed than men, and why black women are supposedly happier than other racial groups.

Success Creates Happiness

Nowadays, women don't stay home and wait for a man to bring home the bacon; they go to school, work and raise children by themselves. Women are independent, partly because lazy men don’t help them out. If your husband doesn't work, will you die of starvation? No. You’ll get your ass up and get a job application. That's what many women have done. I think women are more stressed than men because they work hard to pursue success. In my hood, boys don't go to school; they hang out on corners, in front of liquor stores and at just about any place that doesn't have anything to do with learning. Girls actually go to school, do homework and get good grades. Girls are expected to succeed, while the boys are expected to die or go to Santa Rita. I know black women are not happy. Most black women in urban communities are either middle-class or poor. These women can't be happy with changing diapers and welfare checks. The fathers of their children aren’t at home, nor are they financially supporting the women.
- Sean Shaver, 18

Black Women Have Stress, Too

A young woman could have a child and struggle, and that’s stressful. At the same time, young men stress out because they’re so into making money and getting girls. Young black men can’t get a decent job because of how they look or dress and because they are black. So that’s why these young men follow the crowd and hustle on the streets to make money. I don’t think black women are the happiest racial group because most black women live off food stamps and general assistance in low-income housing. These women are lazy. Happiness depends on how you choose to live your life and if you decide to make something of yourself. Black women have an option to go to college and not get pregnant by a guy who's selling them false dreams.
- Marina Saenz, 18

No One Is Completely Happy

I believe women are less happy than men because they want to be our equals, and reserve the right to be treated as such. But society still hasn't fully recognized their equality. Women work really hard to prove they can be our equals, and in doing so, they bite off more than they can chew. They take on everything in an attempt to prove themselves and to outperform men. Constantly having to prove yourself is stressful. Some men feel the need to be superior to women and to always be in control. These men perpetuate the "manly man" definition of what it means to be a man: strong, in control, never showing weakness or crying. Other men do acknowledge women, but they feel hesitant to treat them equally because to do so would make them less "manly." After all, "manly" men are superior and in control of women. Stating black women are the happiest racial group these days is a lie. No one can be fully happy because sexism, heterosexism, and racism are still issues that affect our happiness. Racism obviously has a lot to do with everyone’s unhappiness. The darker your skin is, the more you are discriminated against. Black women are less likely to be happy in this society. In the end, we really are just one people: humans. We chain ourselves to our own unhappiness because we eat up the lies and unfair gender norms that society feeds us in an attempt to keep us in control and submissive.
- Oscar D. Servellon, 17

Women Deal With Their Issues

Are men happier than women? Are women really that blue? I guess it depends. For myself, I would say that I'm fairly happy. Yeah, I'm stressed. It's hard juggling motherhood, work and a social life. But in the end it's fun for me and worth it. And, yeah, sometimes I feel like crawling into a ball and hiding, but so what, who doesn’t? That doesn't mean that the guy or black chick next to me is lovin' their life more. The women in my life (my sisters, friends, cousins) are happy because they aren't like most guys I know. We don't hide our feelings. We aren't pretending like everything's dandy nor do we act nonchalant about every issue in our life. We actually deal with issues. If something is bothering me, especially if it's big, I'm not going to let it ride its way into fixing itself. It doesn't work that way. I'm happy because I know what I want, I fix what doesn't work, and I don't listen to these stupid surveys. It sounds stupid in my head to even consider race or sex when determining a person’s happiness.
- Janet Lagto, 20

Living Life Recklessly

I think young men are less stressed because we live recklessly. We live as carefree as possible. Have you ever heard young people say, "So.... I don't care"? That response is the result of living recklessly. Black women are the happiest race group probably because they are the most comfortable in their own skin. Black women realized they can be independent and can offer the world much more than what they received while growing up. Black women have to fend for themselves, raise a child, all while attempting to get an education. It just goes to show that most women are good at multi-tasking. Young men get happier as they age because they gain an understanding that life has something to offer them and figure out what to live for.
- Roland Ballard, 18

Breadwinners Still Hit the Glass Ceiling

Long has the American perception of a revolution in women’s rights been double-edged. Indeed, women’s rights movements have elevated the status of women in society. However, the perception that women are now equal, that women’s rights are a chapter in a closed book, is dangerous. The conversations cannot stop with the formal declaration of rights. Surveys such as these are critical; we must continue the conversation. The new role of women as both breadwinner and caregiver is paradoxical. While advancement of women’s rights is one of the greatest achievements in the last century, wide acceptance of women in both spheres is often translated into the expectation that women must fulfill dual obligations to be considered truly independent and successful. While expectations remain high, society does not respond to the need of working women.

Men do less domestic work than women, and labor norms continue to function under the assumption that the primary earner is not the primary parent. While women have gained entry into the labor force, let us not ignore the fact that our society continues to function under institutionalized and socialized gendered norms in systems of education, employment, justice, and within the family. As breadwinner, women still face a glass ceiling and are paid less than their male counterparts. As caregivers, society continues to diminish the importance of domestic work. We limit understandings of productivity solely to labor force contribution and monetary reward. We must stop restricting definitions of productivity to waged labor and must consider the increasing responsibilities women face in the modern world. Failing to do so reflects and reinforces a silent hierarchy of worth.
- Liat Krawczyk, 22

Happiness Isn’t About Race

I think women have more to juggle then men, especially when a woman wants to have a baby. I think women stress more then men. Some men don’t really stress about little things, but the littlest thing will cause many women to stress out and complain. Being happy doesn’t have anything to do with what color you are. Happiness depends on how you are doing and what you are trying to do with your life. It depends on the individual. You can be a broke white person and be happy, or a rich black person and be sad.
- Ricky Rollins, 18

Men Rely on Women for Support

Growing up, I used to think young men have it harder than young women, especially black people because of the history of discrimination against black people. Nowadays, it’s still tough for black people, but times are very hard for everyone. I think young men are less stressed than young women because they don’t feel as many burdens as women. Young men have a slicker advantage because they often rely on us for support. I totally disagree that young black women are the happiest racial group. Young black women typically have to deal with a lot of things at once.
- Kendra Davis, 18

Despite Adversity, Black Women Still Smiling

I agree that women are more stressed. Women try to work too much and end up tired and stressed. That's why they age quicker than us, too. We are stressed, but not more than women. Women go to college after high school in addition to working. A man can get a career easier, doing less, simply because he’s a guy. It may be unfair, but its true. Men don't have to prove themselves as much as women have to. This is just the world we live in, I guess.

As far as black women being the happiest racial group, I guess there’s some truth to that. Let's say a white woman is dealing with what she perceives as a "big problem." To a black woman, that issue might actually be a little problem. Since the black woman has experienced more adversity, this "big problem" is no big deal, so she is happier than the white person because she's accustomed to dealing with problems and overcoming them.

A young black woman is usually born into worse-off circumstances but these women still have smiles on their faces amidst hardship. An example: a woman in Hunter's Point is on not living in luxury by simply living of just welfare. She is living well with all that she wants in the 'hood: cheap rent and a little bucket happy kid. Another girl, who isn't black, might not react to living to Hunter's Point the same way, and they might panic and be really unhappy living there.
- Amanze Emenike, 20

It’s All About Your Accomplishments

Happiness really comes down to the cards you are dealt and how you choose to play them. Where you're born in the hood, you grow up having to fend for yourself. Others who are born into a family with money have more choices. In the hood, you find a lot of black women who are usually playing the role of mama, and there is a lot of juggling with having to raise a kid in the hood. You also have people who try to leave the hood for a better life. Most black women I know are from the hood, and a lot of them aren’t really trying to better themselves. Instead, they spend a lot of time and money getting high and drunk because that is all they have to look forward to. I do know some black women who are actually very happy and very accomplished, but they didn’t come from the hood. I really do not think that black women are the happiest race group, although I do think they make the most out of what they got. The truth is, regardless of your race, when you’ve really accomplished something great, you start to get happier.
- Chris Vargas, 20

Family Means Happiness

The role women used to have is rapidly changing with more women choosing to not be stay-at-home moms anymore. Now, a lot of women need to get a job to support their families as the economy becomes worse. I think that could be one cause of the increasing stress in women. For example, my dad told me that he might lose his job as a sales person, so my mom is working extra hours at Community Christian School to pick up the slack. This burdens her more.

Right now, women seem to have more job opportunities than men, even if the jobs don’t pay as much. Women are the ones being kept on the job when their spouses are being laid off and becoming a part of the unemployment line. I believe that most women show stress a lot more than men. Here is an example: If you tell a man he is gaining weight, he might shrug it off or laugh. If you say the same thing to a woman, she may pretend it doesn’t bother her, but deep down, it usually does. Maybe that’s the reason the study shows women are taking more anti-depressant drugs. It doesn't seem to me that black women are the happiest racial group. However, maybe the reason black women are happier is because they worry less about what other people think of them. If I was to guess which racial group is the happiest, I would expect it to be Latina women because they are very family-oriented. They get support from their families. My girlfriend’s family is really glued together. They have dinner together almost all the time and you just know that they are close. To me, familial closeness is a real measure of happiness.
- Chris Alvarez, 18

Dear Arnold: Sign onto Education Funding Fairness

2009-09-29T09:20:00Z

Editor’s Note: Assembly Bill 8 is a school finance restructuring bill authored by Assembly member Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica). The bill will create a working group to examine new formulas for distributing state money to school districts. The group would then make recommendations for a more equitable and transparent budget by December 2010. Further legislation would be needed to implement the bill. The working group would use minimal state resources and receive a majority of its funding from the private sector. AB 8 is co-sponsored by Assembly member Cameron Smyth (R-Ventura) and State senators Gloria Romero (D- East LA) and Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley). The Campaign for Quality Education, a statewide coalition of students, parents, and advocates, has worked on AB 8 since its inception. AB 8 has passed through both houses and is awaiting the governor's signature.

Askari Gonzalez, 16 is a junior at Overfelt High School in San Jose, California. He is Chapter Vice-President of Californians for Justice, a statewide, grassroots organization working for racial justice in California public schools. He can be reached ataskarigonzalez@gmail.com.

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

When is the last time you talked to a public school student?

And I don’t mean one of those meet-and-greet, dog-and-pony shows. I mean, you know, really talked to one of us, like inviting us over to your office in Sacramento or going to lunch at a McDonald’s. To find out what’s really going on in our schools and in our lives.

Well, since it seems like it’s been a while, I decided to write you this letter. My name is Askari Gonzalez and I am a junior at William C. Overfelt High School in East San Jose, California. Overfelt is a lot like many high schools in California. The students and teachers do the best with what they have. It is mostly Latino. Two-thirds are considered low-income and almost one-third is learning English. Only 2 percent of our 1,600 students go on to a UC-campus.

Me? I plan on being in that 2 percent (though I think it is sadly much too low). I want to attend UC Santa Cruz and study English and Creative Writing. And when I graduate, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know, I want to return to Overfelt as a teacher.

For the last year, I have been working to improve my school and schools across California. And I’m not just talking about picking up trash or painting over graffiti. I mean, really change our schools. As a member of Californians for Justice, I am the Vice-President of my school’s chapter. In the last year, I’ve organized town hall meetings in San Jose, led our Summer Youth Leadership Academy, and made legislative visits with many member of the California legislature. All before I turned 16!

I do this work because I want my school and other schools like mine to change. Specifically, I want my school to offer more than seven AP classes. I want more than five school counselors. I want all my teachers to have a full teaching credential (currently 18% do not). At school, I hear my classmates talk about their dreams all the time, but without the right resources, I’m afraid they’ll just be empty wishes.

That’s why I’m writing to you Governor. In a 2007 address, you said, “We must invest in education. But it is not just how much money we spend but it is how we spend it…we must build not only structures, but accountability and transparency into our education system. “

I know you’re a busy person with a lot on your plate. That’s why I want to point out Assembly Bill 8 to you. AB 8 helps to do some of those things you mentioned in your speech. It will help make the education budget more understandable, so that we can track how our money is being spent.

Californians for Justice and I been working on this bill with Assemblymember Julia Brownley and the Campaign for Quality Education for months. I’m not just studying U.S. Government in school—I’m actually taking part in it.

I know it’s been a rough seven years. You’ve won some and you’ve lost some. But before you leave office, it would be amazing to leave a strong foundation for California schools. Good schools are the key to California’s success. You said it so well yourself in 2005: “We need to find big solutions for our Education system, because nowhere are the stakes higher than giving a quality education to our kids. Our future depends on it.”

Here in East San Jose, I’m doing my best and taking care of my responsibilities. I go to school and get good grades. I’m in the Honor Society. I take care of my three younger siblings. I work and volunteer. I don’t ask for much. But this time, I need to ask you for something.

I’m asking you to support Assembly Bill 8, which will help create transparency in the education budget and ensure that after graduation “all students are prepared…for college and careers…no matter where they live or what their economic, racial, or ethnic background may be.”

On behalf of the six million students in California’s public schools, two-thirds of whom are immigrant students, low-income students, and students of color, will you and the State of California meet us half way?

Thanks for listening,

Askari Gonzalez,

People Over Profit: UC Students and Staff Stage Walkout

2009-09-25T21:45:22Z

Editor's Note: On September 24, University of California students and faculty staged a statewide walkout at UC campuses across California. The walkout was organized to protest amounting budget cuts, which include fee increases, class reductions, and faculty pay cuts. YO! headed over to the UC Berkeley, the oldest campus in the UC system, to talk with students and faculty about the walkout. Ann Bassette is a senior producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

From the Ethnoblog: Day of Dissent: UC Rises Up]]> 6756351

Young Filmmakers Ride The Recession

2009-09-23T21:08:58Z

Editor's Note: The Labor Department announced the jobless rate in the U.S climbed to 9.7 percent in August, the highest rate since June 1983. When Austin Chu was laid off last December, he joined the increasing number of unemployment young people. With newfound free time on his hands, Chu traveled across all fifty states with his brother to film a documentary about the recession. Chu's film will featured at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco on September 30, 2009 at 8:30pm. Eming Piansay is a content producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

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Got Bad Grades? Fake Your Kidnapping

2009-09-19T04:38:16Z

This week on YO! Radio -- press accuracy fakes kidnapping to hide bad grades, and women beat men in the truth telling game. PLUS: YO! goes to Outside Lands music festival to get the dirt on the battle of the smart phones: BlackBerry vs. iPhone. Donny Lumpkins and Erricka X are content producers, and Malcolm Marshall is a producer at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

JA Comedians Snatch No.1 Spot on Youtube

2009-09-16T07:50:00Z

Ryan Higa, 19, and partner Sean Fujiyoshi, 18, started posting their popular videos four years ago. Now they’re an Internet sensation.
Japanese American comedians Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi started making humorous videos on YouTube out of sheer boredom under the name Nigahiga. It soon became a part-time job.

“We’d spent a lot of money going to movie theaters,” Higa said about the limited recreational activities in his hometown of Hilo, Hawaii. “We’d go about twice a week.”

“I started making videos with Ryan Higa about three to four years ago,” Fujiyoshi, 18, wrote in an e-mail. “We were really bored one day at Ryan’s house, because there’s nothing to do in Hawaii, and decided to go and make videos of ourselves.”

Nineteen-year-old Higa first made movies — mainly of him lip-synching to songs — by himself in his parents’ home for his friends and family. Now most of his viewers are in Northern California, but Higa receives comments worldwide on his YouTube channel.

“At first the videos weren’t very good, but my family liked it,” Higa explained.

He soon honed his talent to draw in more viewers. On Aug. 21, Higa beat out fellow YouTuber Fred Figglehorn to become the No.1 most subscribed to channel of all time. But do not expect to hear 19-year-old Higa boast of trouncing his competition anytime soon.

“It’s a good feeling to beat Fred, but I don’t want people to talk bad about him.” said Higa, during a call to the Pacific Citizen in between classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “He has his own style.”

How To Be a YouTube Hit

Nigahiga’s comedic style has garnered 1,447,041 subscribers to date while Fred, or Lucas Cruikshank, has 1,386,180.

Short videos like “How to Be A Nerd” and “How To Be Gangster,” (Fujiyoshi’s favorite) are some of the JA duo’s popular films, which millions have viewed. Fujiyoshi and Higa have also enlisted their friends and family to don wigs and costumes for their viral spoofs.

The buzz about their YouTube videos caught the attention of celebrities like Cash Warren and Jessica Alba. Higa made a promo video for the couple’s Web site www.ibeatyou.com and since then they have remained friends.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, Higa was invited to spend the weekend at the couple’s house. Higa, sporting dark sunglasses, was snapped by the paparazzi with the celebrities.

“Ryan has a lot to be thankful for,” said his mother Luci Higa. “His friends, his fans and YouTube have given him many experiences and opportunities we never imagined.”

With their newfound success on YouTube, executives from Zemrak/Pirkle Productions asked the Hawaii-born comedians to do a feature film. “Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure” was released July 14 and grabbed the iTunes No. 1 spot for independent films.

Despite the increased attention on YouTube, Higa’s mother said her son was not always outgoing.

“I’m not sure he was a ‘comedian’ but he was witty, which made it funny,” said Higa’s mother when asked about her son’s comedic chops as a child. “But if you don’t know him, he is actually quiet and soft spoken.”

So, where does Higa get his comic wit?

“We are still trying to figure that out,” said his mother, who had to be coaxed to make a cameo appearance in a video. Higa’s friends comprise the rest of the recurring cast members.

Tarynn Nago, Higa’s girlfriend of three years, is also a regular in his sketches. She has played various characters such as Hermione in a spoof of “Harry Potter.”

The Nigahiga Crew

Higa is now in his second year of college, majoring in film. He lives with his 23-year-old brother Kyle in Nevada. Being separated from his YouTube co-stars was difficult at first, explained Higa. A ring on his finger reminds Higa of his commitment to his girlfriend, who is a high school senior in Hawaii.

“A lot of people think we’re married,” Higa said. “I guess you could say it’s a promise ring.” He said comments from admiring fans do not bother his girlfriend since she receives her share of adoring messages. But for all the positive comments, Higa also receives negative feedback.

“There are a lot of racists ones,” Higa said about the messages he receives. “In every racist comment there are three recurring themes: one mentions my eyes, another mentions ‘Chinks.’”

The third most common theme in the racist messages is a variation of “Asians don’t belong on YouTube.”

To address racism in a light-hearted manner, Higa teamed up with “What The Buck,” a.k.a. Michael Buckley. They made the video commentary in response to actress Miley Cyrus allegedly making an anti-Asian gesture.

“It doesn’t offend me or anything,” Higa explained about the racist comments. “I get so many of them that’s it not worth responding.” The last time Higa tried to view his comments, his computer froze.

Shooting Solo

College is back in session and Higa does not have time or the desire to respond to negative comments. Maintaining his YouTube channel is already a part-time gig.

“My parents are still helping me out,” Higa explained. “It’s definitely good money to have on the side. If I weren’t on YouTube, I’d just be studying.”

Higa initially wanted to study medicine in college, but later followed his true passion.

“I thought I was pretty much supposed to go to medical school. I wanted to get a good job, but I really didn’t like it,” Higa said.

His film classes are helping Higa fine-tune his technique. People on campus sometimes stop him to snap photos. Those in his film class seem to be unaware of his YouTube status.

“My classmates are all alike: they have beards. I feel like I need to grow a beard!” Higa joked. The 19-year-old attends college part-time, so he can dedicate more time to making films. Attending college part-time will likely lead to a delayed graduation, Higa said. He knows fame can be fleeting, so he wants to take advantage of his YouTube success now.

Although the Nigahiga crew is no longer in the same state, Higa said his subscribers should still depend on him to make videos. The same boredom that fueled Nigahiga to make short spoofs years ago is still pushing Higa to create new videos.

“I can’t even stand in a casino,” Higa said about the limits his age puts on his leisure activities.

Higa’s latest video online is the 25-minute film “Ninja Melk,” where he shows off his martial arts skills. He has a black belt in judo and was also on the wrestling team at Waiakea High School.
“Ninja Melk” was the last video Fujiyoshi and Higa made while on summer vacation in Hawaii.

Fujiyoshi started college at the University of Portland where he is studying engineering. Being separated from the Nigahiga crew was difficult at first, Higa said. Now he makes videos from his home in Vegas, carrying his arsenal of costumes in a bag when he films outside.

“Recently I’ve been filming in Vegas,” the 19-year-old said. “It harder because the houses are closer together. People look at me weird when I film outside and I just wave.”

His next project is a rap video.

“It’s pretty much like spoofing really bad gangster rap,” Higa explained. “The beat is really hardcore, but the words are going to be really kind, like, ‘I love my dog. I love my cat!’”

Fans of Nigahiga need not worry about the fate of the YouTube channel. Going off to college will not stop these YouTubers from making videos.

“We are not too sure what we will do, but depending on our schedules we will see if we can have some time to make videos with each other,” Fujiyoshi explained. “If not, we would probably try to make videos during the breaks.”

Exonerated Inmates Make Bank After Prison

2009-09-12T04:21:21Z

This week on YO!Radio -- poll dancing doll stirs controversy, exonerated Texas inmates get rich and sex offenders find a home in Antioch. PLUS: George W. Bush's daughter gets a new gig. Jazmyne Young and Eming Piansay are content producers and Malcolm Marshall is a producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

Death on the Tracks -- Teen Suicides in Palo Alto

2009-09-04T22:05:21Z

Editor's Note: Over the past four months, three young people have committed suicide on the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto. YO! headed out to Palo Alto to talk to young people about the suicides and to see why these young people may have chosen to end their lives. Donny Lumpkins is a content producer and Malcolm Marshall is a producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- It was eerie. Very eerie to be standing there at the Caltrans tracks in Palo Alto where three different young people had taken their lives in four months. Stuck in the fence bordering the tracks, were dozens of flowers, a T-shirt from a summer camp and, on the sidewalk, a Rubik’s cube.

It’s hard to say the exact emotion that was running through my body until the bells began to ring and that little striped arm began to come down. The train was coming.

There is no way to explain suicide. To speculate is a purely idle act. But standing there, waiting for the rush and loud chugging of the train, I tried to put myself in the mindset of these young people. All of us, I’m sure, have at one point or another thought about killing ourselves. Maybe even some of us have gone as far as fantasizing about how we would take our own lives. But for most of us, suicide is just one of many bad thoughts that run through our heads on a daily basis.

But standing there, as the train barreled forward, getting closer and closer to the intersection, all I could feel in my heart was fear and sadness. It took four seconds for the train to completely pass by. Those four seconds have taken 10 lives this year on the Caltrans tracks – three of whom were young people from Palo Alto, who ranged in age from 13-17. Two of the kids went to local Gunn High School. YO!Radio went down to Gunn to ask the youth about how they felt things were going after the recent tragedies.

“The mood is depressing and the classes are kind of hard,” one Gunn student told me.

When I asked if they talked about the suicides at the school, she said they do – but they talk amongst themselves. “They don’t really announce it,” she says. “[The school] has all these papers about suicide, like if you need help or if you have a friend who needs help, but unfortunately it’s not helping.”

She told me kids do ask for help in ways that are comfortable to them, like the Internet resources, but no one takes these cries seriously. “The same kids that have been threatening to take their lives have been saying it for years.”

She definitely thinks the impact of the deaths is weighing down on people in the school. “The teachers look older, more serious,” she said. It seemed to have taken a toll on her as well. It was only the second day of school and she was already considering leaving Gunn for another school, one where she had more friends. “As far as I know, there is no suiciding over there,” she said.

One young man I talked to had the exact opposite to say about the school.

“I don’t think the majority of people are depressed, at least amongst my friends,” he continued. “But for the kids that have done that stuff, that’s what everybody else thought, too. There is no overall mood. The trend that I see is that now one or two people did it, now people are more down to do it.”

The students’ speculation about causes ranged from racism to family background, school difficulty and depression, while the news has called it a “suicide trend.” One young man with his shorts slung low and his hat to the side said in a very angry voice that these young people “were retarded. Why else would someone want to kill themselves?” he said walking away.

I think it’s natural to want to blame something or someone, to speculate and look for a definite reason someone takes their lives. But for anyone who has lost someone to suicide or who finds themselves contemplating it, it’s not as simple as all that. What I found out from a lot of people we talked to at the high school is that more than anything, the kids at the school wanted to distance themselves from the deaths. A number of kids we talked to started by saying, “I don’t know very much,” or “Well, I didn’t know them.” As if to be saying, it’s not my fault. I’m not depressed.

One of the theories for suicides that come in groups is it gets in the air like a virus and travels from person to person. What most of the kids wanted us to know is they did not have this virus.

The future at Gunn is uncertain. There are plenty of papers and phone numbers floating around the school to help the kids who might be thinking about hurting themselves. But the thoughts of suicide are with them. I’m sure it’s there in the backs of the minds of the teachers and students – lives have been lost. Cops patrol the school and the train tracks. Kids are encouraged to talk to their parents and their teachers. I’m sure there are whispers in the hallways and in the lunchrooms. Rumors, morbid little legends being born from this tragedy. There are no reasons, just memories, flowers in a fence, a T-shirt blowing in the wind, the aftermath of a life taken in four seconds that will last much longer.