I am no logistics major, or heck even a good driver, but there is something wrong with the transportation system here at Lehigh. While on the topic of transportation, the ever-present parking issue ought to be brought up as well.

Before discussing its flaws, however, some of the better qualities of the transportation system should be pointed out. First off, it exists. Except in cases of extreme snow, ice or injury, it is very possible to walk anywhere on the Asa Packer campus. The fact that the University realizes the value of students’ time and shuttles us around is definitely something to commend. Secondly, it is free. If you plan on living in an urban area after college you will most likely have to pay for others to drive you around. According to Transportation and Parking Services’ web site (They have a very informative website!), some of the cost of bussing is “funded by parking fees.” But despite some positive elements, this system leaves a lot to be desired. Fortunately, there is something being done about it.

Every year, Student Senate forms committees dedicated to solving problems on campus. A committee focusing on the bus system has been reestablished almost every year as the Senate continually sees a need to improve transportation on campus. So far, this year’s 8-member committee has compiled a long list of transportation related issues they would like to address this year. Much harder than rattling off grievances, however, is discerning which projects can actually be done. Thus, a substantial portion of the committee’s activity involves bringing issues to the attention of administrators and collaborating to devise ways to improve the services provided.

One of the committee’s biggest projects is improving T.R.A.C.S., as they believe something needs to be done to make it safer and more efficient. According to Lehigh’s transportation website,

“The Escort Bus Service, sometimes referred to as the T.R.A.C.S. (Take a Ride Around Campus Safely) Bus Service, provides transportation between University buildings and student residences…During the academic year, two vans operate from 10:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M., Sunday through Wednesday, and 10:00 P.M. – 3:00 A.M., Thursday through Saturday, and follow a scheduled route in and around the Asa Packer campus.”

While this looks good on paper, many students cite spending eternities waiting outside the library for a T.R.A.C.S. van to meander over. Additionally, with the temperature dropping and finals on the horizon, this is bound to become an increasingly common frustration. Several seniors have reported remembering their freshmen days when T.R.A.C.S. was willing to stray from its route to bring you exactly where you wanted to go, and then simply hop back onto its scheduled route. Easy enough, right? The Escort Bus Service’s schedule has since become stricter, preventing drivers from taking 2 minutes to bring students within a safe distance of their off-campus houses. Even worse, rumors are circulating that administration discourages drivers from picking up visibly intoxicated students.

The Student Senate committee is also trying to improve the daytime bus system to make it more user-friendly.  One suggestion that would be very easy to implement would be to have busses leave on the “5”s instead of on the “10”s. The reasoning behind this is that the students that get out of class early can get, say, the 12:05 bus, while the kids getting out a little later or with farther to walk could catch the 12:15 bus. This would alleviate the mass of people at the bus stop come 12:10, which can pose a problem because many students living on the hill have only an hour for lunch.

A project that the committee has carried over from last year is its effort to try and get more covered bus stops put on campus. Some of their other projects include identifying ice problem areas, promoting the ride board on portal, and improving parking.

Limited parking is a difficult thing to fix, due to the finite amount of space on campus. However, there are many ways it could be improved. For starters, most of the meters on campus, in addition to only taking quarters, only go up to one hour. So a student with a three hour class or lab is fated to get a ticket. An impending $50.00 fine is probably not what you want on your mind while trying to pay attention in class, take a test, or experiment with chemicals. Another flaw is that if your car is not registered with the university, but gets ticketed, there is nothing Parking Services can do to enforce collection. Tickets are distributed with the intention of making sure the spots are free for people who paid for the permit to rightfully park there. As the parking web site puts it, “[by] enforcing parking on Lehigh’s campus, we ensure that there are adequate spaces available for faculty, staff, students, and visitors who have registered their vehicles and/or paid for their parking. When people park on campus illegally, it means someone with a valid permit loses out on a space.” But this person who loses out on their rightful space is forced to park somewhere else, and thus get ticketed as well, but also have to pay it. It is also hard to ignore that there is a problem when the University Announcement e-mails unfailingly includes titles such as “NO PARKING – in front of Building X, 12/12/09.”

Unfortunately, despite the aforementioned issues affecting students on a daily basis, they have little to no ability to personally enact change. The administration must be contacted; they are the only agent capable of implementing any changes. And while the administration appreciates hearing the Senate committee’s constructive ideas and plans, the fact remains that it is a challenge to get money allocated towards making improvements. Yes, an obvious way to better the T.R.A.C.S. system would be to add another van or five, but the cost of gas for four or five hours of non-stop driving, and wages for a willing driver add up. Thus, a current focus for the committee is coming up with cost-effective solutions.

Despite the fact that many students are frustrated with the current transportation system here at Lehigh, Transportation and Parking Services has done nothing wrong. They have done their part to inform students of what services they can and cannot offer. The administration is not ignoring the transportation system’s shortcomings either; there just are not ample funds allotted towards getting any given student from A to B at 2:19 A.M. on a Saturday. So if blame must be allocated, go with the scapegoat du jour and blame it on the recession, and know that people are working to improve upon the situation.

When many people gather to live together in close proximity, it is inevitable that there will be crime. Such holds true for the Lehigh Valley, where the most urban areas have a pressing problem with a rise in gang activity and the violent crime that is coupled with it. Crime is not only a serious concern for the safety of people like us already living in the Lehigh Valley, but it is a potential problem as it lowers the quality of life and reduces the attractiveness of the area to families, workers, and prospective students of the nearby universities. Distinguishing the Lehigh Valley as an area increasingly prone to crime is the fact that it lies within two driving hours of the major metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York City. While the externalities from these cities’ crime activity are responsible for a significant portion of the crime in the valley, they are not the cause of all of it.

The most consistent and comprehensive source for crime data required for an accurate assessment is obtained through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI sorts crime data into eight indices, which are the acts “considered most likely to be reported to police and, as a result, are used nationally as a basis for comparison of criminal activity. The offenses are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor-vehicle theft and arson,” (Pennsylvania State Police). These principal crimes are then divided into two subcategories: violent crimes and property crimes. Violent crimes include the offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, while property crimes are the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The counts of crime are normalized for comparison across cities by computing their rate per 100,000 residents. These categories will be the basis for a majority of the crime assessment in this article, but it is important to take into account that the data may be less than the actual number of crimes, as not all crimes committed are reported to police.

The general state of crime in the Lehigh Valley can be assessed by looking at the three major cities in the area: Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Allentown and Bethlehem have increasing or steady levels of violent crime in recent years, while Easton has seen a drop. Furthermore, while Bethlehem and Easton have maintained violent and property crime rates below the state and national average, Allentown has not.

In fact, the number of murders in Allentown has more than quadrupled from 5 in 1980 to 21 in 2007. Forcible rapes, robberies and aggravated assault have all increased as well, prompting the total number of violent crimes in Allentown to jump from 321 in 1980 to 870 in 2007. This is a troubling 171% increase in only 27 years, approximately a 6.3% increase per year. If this trend continues, it is projected that there will be 1074 violent crimes committed in Allentown in 2010.

Unfortunately, this trend has been echoed by the city of Bethlehem. While the number of reported rapes has remained relatively constant since 1999, murders, robberies and assaults have increased. As shown in the table, the total of violent crimes has not increased steadily, but has increased from 227 in 1999 to 270 in 2007. Data for the year 2006 and 2008 has not yet been made available by the FBI.

Year     Murder     Rape     Robbery     Assault     Total Violent Crime

1999     3     21     84     119     227

2000     3     13     93     113     222

2001     4     14     76     155     249

2002     2     31     98     114     245

2003     1     20     94     75     190

2004     1     24     83     115     223

2005     2     17     114     135     268

2006     N/A     N/A     N/A     N/A     N/A

2007     6     24     100     140     270

(Violent Crime in the City of Bethlehem)

Property crimes should also be considered when evaluating the current crime situation in the Lehigh Valley. Following the trend of violent crimes, the total number of reports of property crimes has increased in Allentown in recent years, from 4,946 in 1999 to 5,379 in 2007. This is largely due to an increase in the number of burglaries and larceny-thefts cases; the reported number of burglaries in Allentown has increased 20% since 1999, while the number of larceny-theft cases has increased 7%.

Contrary to Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton have seen a decrease in the total number of Property Crimes since 1999. Cases of burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson in Bethlehem have all fallen since 1999, at 10%, 3%, and 46%, respectively. In Easton, however, only cases of burglary and larceny-theft have decreased in recent years. While these crimes have seen 46% and 12% drops, motor vehicle thefts and arson cases have risen 47% and 30% since 1999.

With homeland security receiving an increasing amount of press in recent years, it is understandable that there has been less attention focused on local crime. For example, on Governor Rendell’s website, even though he is the head of The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, there is nothing listed under his agenda pertaining to making Pennsylvania a safer place to live or working to decreasing crime rates. This does not do justice to the fact that many long-term residents of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley are concerned that crime is taking over their towns. In a quality-of-life poll conducted by The Morning Call, more than 54% of respondents said that they believe life in Lehigh Valley is getting worse, up from 48% in 2007 (Drobnyk). This is significant because crime has a direct influence on residents’ judgment of the quality of life in the area. Furthermore, only 25% of residents in the Lehigh and Northampton counties surveyed in 2008 said that they think life in the Lehigh Valley is getting better. This is the lowest percentage since The Morning Call began its annual quality-of-life poll in 2003. Even though 81% of people gave local law enforcement a rating of excellent or good, nearly 33% of residents polled by The Morning Call said they are very concerned with becoming a victim of crime. This figure has been rising steadily over the past five years, as less than 20% of residents said the same in 2003 (Drobnyk). If the Lehigh Valley wants to continue attracting families and workers into its community and economy, then it needs to tackle the issue of crime to remain an attractive place to live.

Furthermore, it is widely acknowledged that, like Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley cities have struggled with crime in recent years. Despite Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton having lower crime rates in every front in 2007, Allentown tied its record high in homicides in 2007 with 21, and Easton and Bethlehem have seen an increase in gang activity. This rise in Easton and Bethlehem is definitely a concern, because gangs have the ability to easily migrate from city to city depending on how much pressure they are receiving from the law enforcement agents there. Thus, as Bethlehem Police Lt. Robert Righi, who serves as head of his department’s criminal investigations unit, reports, “[gang activity has] become more of a regional issue rather than a local issue,” (Falsone). Consequently, it is crucial that all of the Lehigh Valley support efforts against the infiltration of such activity into the region, and be open to changes in policing strategies, especially as the dynamic of the valley changes.

For upperclassmen at Lehigh, you may remember that in 2006 the announcement of the construction of a new Casino in Bethlehem was met by mixed feelings. While some argued that it would stimulate the lagging local economy, others saw it as a catalyst for increased gang activities and violent crimes. While there is justification for both sides of the argument, it is irrefutable that, historically, casinos have had connections with organized crime. One study analyzed crime data collected from all 3,165 U.S. counties from 1977 to 1996 by looking at local crime rates before and after casinos opened. The study found that crime began to rise after the first year, slowly at first and then at an increasing rate. Crime continued to rise until it had easily surpassed what it would have been if the casino had never opened. “By the fifth year of operation, robberies were up 136%; aggravated assaults, 91%; auto theft, 78%; burglary, 50%; larceny, 38%; and rape, 21%. Controlling for other factors, 8.6% of property crimes and 12.6% of violent crimes were attributed to casinos,” (Morrin). Furthermore, the conductor of the study found that “crime rates didn’t rise in neighboring counties while they soared in casino counties – [which is] evidence that casinos create crime locally and don’t merely attract it from somewhere else,” (Morrin). Despite these published findings, the casino is scheduled to open by 2009. In an attempt to assuage a rise in crime, Bethlehem should increase the number of officers on patrol in the area around the casino, if not assign one officer to be stationed there permanently. The town should also make sure that the casino employs legitimate security personnel to assist in the local police department’s efforts to mitigate crime, and encourage a continuous exchange of information.

“On the [national] political front, crime has fallen way behind issues such as Iraq, health care and gas prices, not to mention the meltdown of our financial system,” (Jones). The United States’ economy has now entered a recession, and in times of negative economic growth people are more likely to be unemployed, become desperate, and resort to criminal activity. Elected officials, police and community members need to take an active role in protecting their Lehigh Valley communities, such as South Bethlehem, and provide a safe environment for all residents. The Lehigh Valley is a unit, and “Allentown’s problem today could be Easton’s problem tomorrow” (Falsone). It is thus imperative that the Lehigh Valley as a whole takes the initiative and continues to not tolerate crime.

Works Cited

¬Callaway, Brian. “Lehigh County may help pay for more police: Executive Cunningham wants to give $1 million to localities to fight crime.” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Washington: 12 February 2008.

Drobnyk, John. “Optimism tanking: Valley residents have deep concerns about crime, the economy.” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Washington: 16 May, 2008.

Falsone, Nick. “The battleground: Gangs rooted in NYC; shared intelligence key to fighting back.” The Express Times. 2 June 2003.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Uniform Crime Reports.”

Jones, Ashby. “Crime Hasn’t Dropped as Much as Our Interest in Talking About It.” The Wall

Street Journal. 2 October 2008.

Office of the Governor. “Governor Rendell’s Agenda.”

Morrin, Richard. “Casinos and Crime: The Luck Runs Out.” The Washington Post. 11 May 2006.

NBC 10. “Residents Say ‘Best Place to Live’ Title No Longer Applies.” 19 August 2008.

Pennsylvania State Police. “Crime Index Offenses Drop 2.2% In 2007: Overall Number of Crimes Reported in Pennsylvania Also Decrease.” Harrisburg: 9 October 2008.

Published in 2008, the political fable Cry Wolf by Paul Lake is indeed the self-proclaimed “Animal Farm for the 21st century.”

Like Animal Farm, in the opening chapters of the book, “Green Pastures Farm” is described as being completely run by domesticated animals who have assumed power after their master’s death. It is reported that a year has elapsed in which they have organized themselves and, through wise planning, have created a self-sustainable lifestyle without the machines and hands of men.

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Considering how much this country has a history of intolerance toward people of every ethnicity, I am surprised that people even care about this country. Can you really love something that, throughout history, has done everything but love you back? Then I realize that it’s the people like Martin Luther King, Jr. that advocate and campaign for change so persistently that they restore people’s faith in the potential of this country. This was, at least, my reasoning while pondering the extension of King Day, which wasn’t even a national holiday until 22 years ago, to an entire week here at Lehigh.

The Monday of King Week, I reported to the Multicultural Room to attend what I thought was going to be Nikki Giovanni reading a few of her poems before her keynote address on Wednesday. I was quite taken aback, however, when I got there, sat in the circle, and an earmarked copy of one of her poetry books was handed to me. I was encouraged to select a poem that had meaning to me, and read it in front of everyone there. Me? Reading someone else’s poetry? In public? A stenograph of my thought process over the following ten seconds would rival most Tom Clancy novels in length. Would they chase me if I got up and ran away? Flipping through the pages I was hard pressed to find a poem I would be comfortable reading. Did I want to read the poem entitled “Swaziland”? I hear the life expectancy there is 29. I could read the short one called “Rain,” but I don’t especially feel like saying the phrase “God’s sperm” in front of seven complete strangers right now. And, unfortunately, the lady before me had already read Giovanni’s “No Reservations,” so any chance of solace through pretending Anthony Bordain wrote what I was about to read had been vaporized. Appropriately enough, I settled on a poem called “Choices,” which ended up conveying the message that one needs to spin whatever life hands you for the better.

Just when I thought I was done and safe, one of the individuals at the poetry reading questioned me as to why I had chosen that particular poem. Refraining from confessing, “Because it was short,” I replied that, “Honestly, I would have been uncomfortable reading any of the others I saw.” Without so much as a five second pause, someone interpreted my hesitance and made light of the situation, saying something to the effect of, “So you actually see that much of her own identity in the poetry!”

Wow, that was actually it. They say “All the world’s a stage, the men and women merely players,” but Giovanni’s words were too powerful for me to play, or even read, while sitting down. I left the Multicultural Room a tad shaken up, but anxious to hear Giovanni speak later in the week.

On Wednesday night, a brief opening performed by Provost Mohamed El-Aasser introduced Giovanni as a professor of writing and literature at Virginia Tech. Giovanni was, in fact, responsible for speaking at the convocation commemorating the 27 students murdered in the 2007 shooting. She is also the recipient of 25 honorary degrees and holds the keys to more than two dozen cities. Furthermore, she was the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award, and has been named Woman of the Year by Ebony magazine and dubbed the “Princess of Black Poetry.”

So if Martin Luther King, Jr. was a firm believer in the power of the spoken word, who better to bring to campus than this poet and civil rights advocate Nikki Giovanni? Many audience members apparently thought the same, as Giovanni received a standing ovation from numerous individuals as she shuffled across the stage to the podium.

Wasting no time, Giovanni began by reiterating that it is the time of year during which many people travel and lose track of exactly what day it is. But this day, she said, everyone knew what day it was- January 21st. Why? Because yesterday was January 20th, Inauguration Day. Adhering to the biography on her webpage, her “outspokenness” was unquestionable; Giovanni easily flowed between current events while dropping opinionated comments such as “Wasn’t it just a pleasure to see Cheney in a wheelchair?” and, regarding Washington, “Let’s try truth, or something like that.”

As she continued to muse on current events, she brought up the fact that although President Barack Obama is seen as the first African-American president, the 29th president, William G Harding, had an African-American grandmother. Her keynote then remained historically oriented, as she recounted the events preceding Rosa Parks’s arrest and the subsequent emergence of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. as a leader in the civil rights movement. Especially thoughtful was her insight into what could possibly have been going through his head as he walked up to address the Montgomery, Alabama crowd for the first time. She recounted that he must have known that every step he took forward was a step away from dying a peaceful death, of old age, in a warm bed at home. And yet he kept walking.

Further into the keynote Giovanni returned to discussing Rosa Parks, and took the opportunity to present her poem entitled, “The Rosa Parks.” Unlike any poem I’ve seen performed, a dance was incorporated in which she “[did] the Rosa Parks” and stepped sideways across the stage while bending her knees as to sit down.

As the lecture concerning the progression of civil rights was coming to an end, Giovanni caught the audience off guard. “I’m a big fan of Deal or No Deal,” she said, and presented a poem she had written for her students at Virginia Tech, who had told her she couldn’t be on the show. “I don’t want to play the game,” she told the audience, “I want to be the game.” Giovanni then proceeded to end the keynote with another personal poem, although much more serious, about how she will always be from Tennessee.

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“Thank God it’s Mother-day!” Leslie thought as she wandered past the ice-palace construction site, and down the spacious streets of Washington D.C. She was taking it slow today; she was still getting used to repressive heat of summer city life, having only moved here a couple months earlier in the spring month of Barbara. Her family had been forced to relocate to the capital city so that her ailing mother could have access to a hospital, as all the hospitals and clinics in the countryside had been ordered closed. She could almost see the logic in President Bush’s argument that everyone should come to the capital for treatment. Getting there had been a challenge, since no one in her family had been able to pass the morality test required for a driver’s license. It also didn’t help that both her elderly parents’ pensions had been revoked. Times were certainly rough and not showing any hint of improvement.

It frustrated Leslie even further to think that after coming all this way, the nurses here were hardly nurses anyway, ever since Bush had replaced public health workers with cheaper military conscripts. And she had heard that doctors now took an oath to the president, not the normally universal Hippocratic oath.

Living in the city wasn’t so bad though. There was lots of culture; there was ample government artwork and even a golden statue of the self-declared “Leader of All Americans,” Bush, to be admired. It was actually a shame she hadn’t moved to the city earlier, maybe she could have caught a ballet or an opera before such shows were banned. “Oh well,” she sighed, and continued her walk home.

This tale may sound outlandish, and indeed it is. But such policies would have been a reality if one were living in Turkmenistan during the rule of the late President Saparmurat Niyazov. Niyazov has been criticized as one of the most totalitarian and repressive dictators the world has ever seen, and he was in power a mere two years ago.

Niyazov came to his leadership position in 1992 as the country’s first popularly elected president. Fair enough, except that he was the only candidate. Wasting no time, he declared himself “Turkmenbasy,” or, in English, “Leader of all Turkmen,” only a year later.

Appropriately, in 1994, a plebiscite extended Niyazov’s term eight more years to last until 2002, the justification being that he needed to see to completion a 10-year development plan. Five years later, in 1999, after Niyazov had been in power for 8 of 13 years, a recently elected Parliament declared Niyazov “President for Life.” And by “recently elected Parliament,” I mean that parliamentary elections were held a couple weeks earlier between candidates that Niyazov had hand picked.

It couldn’t be too bad though. That is, as long as Niyazov was doing a good job as a leader, things couldn’t be too terrible. Take for example Niyazov’s improvements in the Turkmenistan educational system. (Presumably) so there could be more books for students in schools, Niyazov decreed that all rural libraries be closed. In support of this decision, he cited that ordinary Turkmen do not read books anyway. Surely having an increased sense of nationalism as his goal, Niyazov made a national epic required reading in schools. Coincidently, though, he was the author of said epic, entitled the Ruhnama. The Ruhnama was a mix of history and offerings of his personal spiritual and moral guidance. He eventually had precepts from his morally guiding literature displayed on the walls of Mosques, right next to suras from the Qur’an. A modest guy, eh?

Furthermore, President for Life Niyazov banned young men from having beards because he thought facial hair was linked to Islamic extremism. He also stopped citizens from owning more than one cat or dog, and proceeded to ban dogs from cities altogether because of their odor.

To elucidate the policies alluded to in the story, while in power Niyazov took the liberty of renaming the days of the week, Friday being changed to “Anna,” which means “mother.” Continuing with this maternal trend Niyazov renamed the month of April to “Gurbansoltan,” the actual name of his mother. He also changed the word for “bread” to his mother’s mellifluous moniker. In 2004 he ordered that an ice palace be constructed outside the capital, and closed all hospitals except those in the capital city of Asgabat. Also in 2004, it was decreed that all licensed drivers pass a morality test, this morality test being based on his Ruhnama. In January of 2006, over 30% of Turkmeni elderly had their pensions terminated or significantly reduced. Regarding the nurses, in 2004, President Niyazov had 15,000 public health workers, such as nurses and midwives, dismissed from their jobs. Less expensive military conscripts were hired in their place, and in November of 2005 physicians were required to swear an oath to Niyazov in place of the usual Hippocratic Oath. Regarding the aforementioned artwork, Niyazov had a twelve meter high golden statue of himself erected in the capital. It even rotated as to always be facing the sun. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of the performing arts though; in 2001, ballet and opera were banned from Turkmenistan, being cited as unnecessary to Turkmeni culture. Regrettably, before he could get anything else done, Niyazov passed away in December of 2006, at the age of sixty-six.

So you may have heard the phrase “history repeats itself.” For our sake, I certainly hope not. People should be learning from history, not making the same mistakes as people in the past. It is not people’s mistakes that are enshrined in history as so much those of leaders. But here in America we have the privilege of getting to democratically elect our leaders, so a faulty leader is somewhat a reflection on a faulty people. So if your opinion is the right one, and you want to hand-pick the next president, get your hands on a ballot, and get to your picking inside a voting booth. I hope the above anecdote and Turkmeni tale enlighten you to how horribly awry a country and the lives of its citizens could turn if subject to poor leadership. So if it’s not too late get out and vote AND STOP COMPLAINING; it could be so much worse.

Don’t have sex; you will get depressed, and you will die. Or you’re sure to contract an STD or two, and consequently die. This may seem like an eccentric claim, but parents and abstinence advocacy groups are pushing for a revision in sex education in elementary and middle schools that would make such teachings routine. Fueling the ado are the disconcerting findings of several recent psychological studies. These studies have identified adolescents’ sexual activity as a direct precursor to increased levels of depression. Such begs the question, is sex increasing your likelihood of depression?

The short answer? Yes, if you are a teenage female. And for guys? No. For males it’s binge drinking and habitual marijuana use that lead to higher levels of depression.

Don’t believe it? Well, it’s the conclusion of one recent, leading study (1). This article will review those findings, briefly examining both facts and possible reasons.

In the mid-1990s the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, along with seventeen other federal agencies, funded the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. It was the largest, most comprehensive survey of adolescents ever taken. It took the form of two interviews, cited as Waves I and II. The study sample included over 13,000 youths, grades 7 to 11, who after the first interview were classified into groups based on the level of risk of their current lifestyle. All the conclusions published were controlled for race, age, and family income. So dismissing the findings as a statistical fluke or being due to other variables is unjustified, unless you are especially prone to ignoring reality.

The facts culled from the study are as follows. Abstainers, (those individuals who choose not to partake in sex, drugs, or drinking), comprised 25% of the survey subjects. Out of these students about 4% were classified as depressed in Wave I. When re-interviewed a year later in Wave II, the individuals comprising this 4% had not gone on to experiment with drugs or sex. Thus initial depression was in no way foretelling of self-medication by means of high-risk behavior.

For those who were classified in Wave I as “experimenters,” the study revealed girls who drank were over two times more likely to be depressed than abstainers, with a depression rate of 8-10%. Girls who experimented with sex were three times more likely to be depressed, with a 12% depression rate. Their experimenting male counterparts, on the other hand, did not show higher levels of depression compared to the abstainers.

Furthermore, a satellite study conducted by The Heritage Foundation found that 25.3% of sexually active girls reported feeling depressed “all, most, or a lot of the time,” whereas 7.7% of girls who were not sexually active felt the same. In line with this trend, depression rates rise in girls who have multiple sex partners to an alarming 44%. This Heritage Foundation study, which utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, was designed to examine suicide rates as well. They, in turn, found that about 14% of girls who have had intercourse have attempted suicide, while only 5% of sexually inactive girls have. Similarly, about 6% of sexually active boys have attempted suicide, while less than 1% of sexually inactive boys have.

Common to both studies’ findings was the transcending theme that, “sex and drug behavior predicted an increased likelihood of depression, but [as exemplified by the depressed abstainers] depression did not predict [such] behavior. Among girls, both experimental and high-risk behavior patterns predicted depression.” (1d)

But what about the gender difference? Why do the percentages vary so much between the sexes, and for that matter, why should they vary at all? Psychologists have related that, “the studies’ findings are consistent with existing theoretical perspectives that suggest girls’ greater interpersonal sensitivity contributes to higher levels of interpersonal stress during adolescence. Therefore, the greater exposure to stress due to risky behavior, as well as girls’ more negative reactivity to interpersonal stressors, may partially account for demonstrated gender differences in rates of depression” (2). Relating to this view is the fact that girls who engaged in the high risk behavior of having sex for drugs or money were less likely to be depressed in Wave II than those who had multiple sex partners just for fun, (2.71 and 10.9 odds ratios, respectively). Dr. Meg Meeker, a specialist in adolescent medicine, explains that, “teenage sexual activity routinely leads to emotional turmoil and psychological distress. [Sexual permissiveness leads] to empty relationships, to feelings of self-contempt and worthlessness. All, of course, precursors to depression” (5). So it is appropriate that when sex can be justified as a job, and not just an empty relationship, girls seem perfectly capable of dismissing their promiscuous actions. Apparently able to turn off their instinctive “greater interpersonal sensitivity,” girls who have sex in exchange for money or drugs manage to preserve their feelings of self-contempt and worth, and thus, like guys, have fewer regrets about it later.

It should be noted, however, that neither the studies mentioned nor this article are averring that guys are unemotional clods compared to girls. Nay, take heart; a second (3) and third (4) study show that guys’ depression rates increase by 2.5% with 5 or more sexual partners, and as mentioned above there are increased rates of suicide attempts in sexually active compared to sexually inactive males.

These studies have shed some new light on the long observed correlation between individuals’ involvement in sex, drugs, and alcohol and the occurrence of depression. While this correlation was often assumed to be an attempt by the depressed to self-medicate, an analysis of the data collected shows the reverse as more likely to be true. Future research is needed to better understand the mechanisms of the relationship between adolescent behavior and depression, and to determine whether interventions to stop risky behaviors and a conservative reform of schools’ sex-education programs will reduce the risk of later depression.

Teens’ families could also get involved in the process. When faced with a depressed, sexually active teen, adults commonly excuse sexual behavior or drug use with the hope that it will cease once the depression has. Now, according to these studies, it appears likely that such a hope will ultimately be in vain. Also, parents rarely neglect to protect their children physically, preaching at an early age habits and rules to keep their children out of physical harm (“Always look both ways before crossing the street,” “Wear your helmet when biking,” “You’re not going outside without a coat on!”), but what about the emotional needs of children? Emotional scars, although intangible, are often longer-lived and deeper-cutting than a scrape on the knee. A failure to ingrain a sense of self-worth or watch for reckless behavior could have dismal repercussions in later years.

It is undeniable that our generation is a liberated one. Technologically savvy and pushing back the frontiers of human freedom, with access to the world at every waking moment via the Internet and television, youth are clearly growing up faster. And yet, it is somewhat depressing that this modernity has not served to make us wholly happier. But then, this growing up too quickly, making risky decisions, and getting depressed couldn’t happen to you, right? Or to your younger brothers or sisters? And if you choose to have children, it definitely won’t happen to them either. If that’s the case, let’s hope they have a good sex-ed teacher.

This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Keith Schray

References.

1. a. D. Halifors, et al. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine 29, 163-170 (2005) and b. Walter, M. et al. Archives of Women’s Mental Health 9, 139-150 (2006). For reviews in the general literature see c. W. Throckmorton, The Washington Times, Dec. 12-18, 2005 and d. www.pire.org/print.asp?detayl=y&core=17603
2. C. DeFranco, NeuroPsychiatry Reviews 6, December, 2005 (www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/dec05/adolescentdepression.html)
3. R. Rector, et al www.heritage.org/Research/Family/cda0304.cfm and a general literature review in USA Today, www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-06-03-teen-usat_x.htm
4. E. Kosunen, et al. Child: Care, Health, and Development 29, 337-344 (2003).
5. M. Meeker, Epidemic: How Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids. Regnery Publishing Co. 2002, p. 12.