A WP article on the front page today detailed a report released Thursday that found that not only is the US at an all-time high in the percentage of people we incarcerate, but we also lead the nation, both in numbers and percentages, in incarceration.  More than 2.3 million people are behind bars, 1/100th of our population. 

The report attributes the increase to stricter laws.  The report also presents some statistics on more effective, and cheaper, alternatives.  For instance, it suggests that for some non-violent offenders, community supervision is better option.  The co-author of the report also suggests that even though imprisoning often reduces crime, other changes, such as in unemployment rate, wages and the ratio of police officers to residents may be more influential. 

There was one statistic I found semi-misleading.  At first it alarmed me when I read that five states (Vermont, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut and Delaware) now spend as much or more on corrections as on higher education.  My first thought was “shouldn’t we be spending more to invest in people rather than punish them?  This is a very pessimistic approach.”

But then I realized the statistic compared it to higher education.  Maybe we actually are investing more in people than we spend to punish them.  I think a more appropriate statistic would include money we spend on all education.  The statistic wouldn’t sound as persuasive, but I think just comparing to higher education paints a very different picture that is not reality. 

So I went to the original full report.  I found that there actually was a really good reason to compare spending on higher education and corrections – they represent “a roughly comparable portion of state expenditures” and both are funded almost entirely by state funds rather than federal funds.  Other than higher education, the report also mentioned pre-k funding.  However, this was tricky because it did not represent a similar portion of state spending.  In 2007, states collectively spent $44 billion on incarceration and $4.8 billion on pre-k education.  There were no statistics for spending between pre-k and higher. 

That said, I still think it’s sad that these five states spend as much or more on corrections as higher education.  Opening up opportunities for everyone would be a much more effective means of reducing crime than our over reliance on incarceration and moving away from this trend is very important. 

So what do we do?  Well, I think the report makes it very clear that we need to keep considering alternatives to incarceration.  Also, I think the way to go is to invest in people by spending money on education and working on decreasing unemployment.  

An article on Cosmopolitan’s webpage gives readers some suggestions on where to meet guys.  Among the list are the Apple store (because “most guys are natural gadget lovers”); a Fortune 500 or tech company (“Hint: Once you’re in, join the office Super Bowl pool”); and a grad school coffee shop (because some grad programs have larger male programs, “the dearth of chicks, combined with the little free time these studious dudes have to play the field, means they’re thrilled when you seek them out.  So stop by a café near campus during exam time.”)  Desperate? (Although did I expect good advice?)

But the one place I really want to mention: a political rally or campaign (“The hottest political organization these days is the Save Darfur Coalition.”)  And for a political campaign, Cosmo says:

“The best part: Many senatorial and gubernatorial campaign teams are male-dominated.  The atmosphere is intense (you’re all working hard toward a goal: the candidate winning), and there’s a set end point (the election), which lends itself to a love-for-the-moment attitude that’s conducive to love connections.”

Reducing serious issues into a dating game - I think this should slightly offend any activist who takes their cause seriously. 

I think we’ve all heard about games like this, but now the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is doing something about it.  They released a report which found that at least 82 youth have died since 1995 playing the “passout” game.  (Check out the Reuters story - link).

Although initially worried that releasing the report would cause more children to engage in the game, CDC officials decided that it was more important to inform parents and other people that work with youth.

I’ve lived in five different states, although I tend to claim California because, well, it just sounds really cool to most people.  While I only lived there for three years during high school, the thing I miss most about my adapted state is the beaches.  I have many summer memories from the beach (just to clarify, I live in Sacramento, not really close to the beach, but most people don’t really care where in California I live.  Anyways, I’ve done my fair share of day road trips to the beach.) 

When I heard that there was some discussion about building a road through an oceanfront state park in San Diego, I was slightly outraged.  And it’s not because of the many reasons why this would be bad for the environment (which I’m sure there are many reasons why this would be damaging to the environment), but I’m outraged because the beach has become a sort of refuge for me.  While I understand the need in California for more roads due to more and more commercial and housing developments, I think that the beach is too treasured of a place for many people for us to destroy it.  According to a New York Times article,  a panel will consider the issue on Wednesday and many groups from as far away as Washington State are coming to protest.  The commission will be held at the Fairgrounds in Del Mar because the interest in the vote is so great.