Life News (Popular Culture)

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Cornell University Press has aroused attention and controversy by publishing Jodi Dean's "Aliens in America: Conspiracy Cultures from Outerspace to Cyberspace."

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Ever since 1925, when the Scopes "monkey trial" brought the contest between Darwinism and religion to the fore of the nation's attention, the debate between creationism and evolution has raged. Concerned by the growing influence of creationists, one professor decided to combat their claims by using what he knows best -- science.

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Drive-in movies and root-beer stands have all but disappeared from the American landscape, but one summer leisure-time blast from the past continues to pack 'em in: the annual state, county or regional agricultural fair.

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Is country music losing its soul? The question is posed by Joli Jensen, a University of Tulsa communication professor and author of a new book that examines how country music changed in the 1950s and 60s as it reacted to the success of rock íní roll.

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A Purdue University Extension specialist in landscaping, urges homeowners to try something a little different. He suggests creative alternatives to grass for the front yard.

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Steven Price has for two decades indulged a deep curiosity with the mother of all highways, Interstate 80, which girdles the continent from New York City to San Francisco. Hoping to convince us that interstates can hold the same charm of the old winding two-lanes, Price has authored an unusual travel guide that invites readers on a milepost-by-milepost look at the great highway.

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News tips for the media from Notre Dame faculty

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Chocolate may be a harmless treat for humans, but it could land a racehorse into trouble. Researchers found that horses fed chocolate- coated peanuts every day for eight days showed detectable levels of caffeine and theobromine -- substances that are banned for horses.

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When a University of Missouri-Rolla history professor volunteered to host a radio program on bluegrass music 15 years ago, he had no idea it would lead to a publishing career. Now that professor is also the publisher of "Bluegrass Now" magazine.

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East Lansing, Mich. - Forget to watch "NYPD Blue" this week? If so, you probably missed seeing 25 percent of all Latinos portrayed on prime time TV. A Michigan State University study reveals that although Latinos are the second largest minority in the nation, they are distinctly underrepresented on prime time broadcast television. In fact, Latinos constitute only 3.2 percent of the prime time TV population but are 11 percent of the nation's population.

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A synthetic author the likes of Proust, Joyce, or Kafka may not be in the future, but Brutus.1--an artificial agent capable of story generation--just wrote its first story about betrayal.

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What has become of civility in our society? The John Hopkins Civility Project will host an international conference to explore that issue. "Reassessing Civility: Forms and Values at the End of the Century" will be held in Baltimore March 26-28. Coverage is welcome.

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Kids' Spring Sports Bring Mealtime Frenzy --In a recent national survey, almost half of American families said they'll have children participating in organized spring sports this spring. A large majority of these said it will affect the family's mealtime routine. The National Cancer Institute offers quick ways to eat healthfully -- especially five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day -- during this busy time.

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The hit film Titanic serves as more than just a way to entertain moviegoers and make millions of dollars for the creators, according to a researcher who has written about the disaster. The film, like most examples of oral, written or other narratives of disaster, embraces a number of social purposes, said James Hikins, associate professor of journalism and communication at Ohio State University.

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The Book of Love (Norton 1998), an anthology of writings about love, edited by Diane Ackerman, co-leader of the Cornell University English Department's Mind and Memory course this semester, and Cornell Media Services staff writer and novelist Jeanne Mackin, takes on that ancient and heart-stoppingly contemporary question, what is love?

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Exactly two years ago Stephen P. Ryder, now a junior at the University of Delaware, created a web page about his hobby--the life and crimes of Jack the Ripper. Little did he know how his life would change. Today he is a rising star in the field of Ripperology, is about to have a book published and has been asked to serve as a consultant on a Showtime Television special on British murders which will air in April.

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Figure skating judges are biased, but the current scoring system balances out bias, according to a University of North Texas researcher. The research looked at competition scores from 1982 to 1994 to check for bias and found any bias is cancelled out after final calculations are made to determine ranking.

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Before the Internet and television, women's magazines were a one-stop shop for advice on fixing marriages, making a casserole, planting flowers and teaching children manners. Vanderbilt University Professor of English Nancy Walker usually researches women's literature, but her most recent book focuses on women's magazines from 1940 to 1960. "I think there is scarcely a better way to look at the lived history of a nation than to look at a popular periodical," Walker said. "You don't get that from a history book."

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Rules established by religious denominations allowing women to be ordained as ministers -- or prohibiting it -- have little to do with the roles women actually play in the church, according to a new book by a sociologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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One of the most popular courses at Johns Hopkins University this spring is "Anthropology of Love." Assistant professor Sonia Ryang, who teaches the course, is an excellent Valentine's Day story source on "falling in love" and society's view of romantic love.

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"Throughout U.S. history, when ever such affairs have surfaced, Democrats have been the alleged malefactors," says Rebecca B. Edwards, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Vassar College. "This has less to do with the individuals involved than with the larger patterns of partisan beliefs."

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Where have all the "flower children" gone and how have they fared?

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Although romance is far from dead on campus, many students believe "it's not cool" or just plain "cheesy" to show your feelings too much these days, according to a recent informal survey of more than 250 Boston University students. And as Valentine's Day approaches, most students agree that it has become too commercialized, some even saying that it has become less romantic than any other day of the year.

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Triskaidekaphobes be warned: You should be especially wary in the months of February and March this year. The 1998 calendar provides back-to-back Fridays the 13th. People should not worry, says a DePauw University psychology professor. Also, trivia about Friday the 13th.

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A Cornell marketing professor says prestige and worldwide attention, not just sales, influence Super Bowl advertising decisions

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Advertisements in popular fashion magazines are showing more skin in recent years in their depictions of women, according to a Wesleyan University study.

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Cornell University veterinarians have some unsolicited advice for the Clintons: Avoid overfeeding and overexercising Buddy, and give the First Cat a "dog-free zone."

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The predecessor of the Avon lady was a man, notes a University of Delaware historian currently completing a doctoral dissertation entitled, "Avon Ladies and Fuller Brush Men: The Gendered Construction of Door-to-Door Selling, 1886-1970.

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10th Annual National Snack Food Month Cures Winter Blues Nationwide Survey Shows Snacking Is One of America's Top Cures for Post-Holiday Doldrums

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TCKs are young people who have spent their formative years outside their passport country--U.S. or otherwise. They gradually develop a cultural identity different from that of their parents and different from that of the country in which they live. Lewis & Clark College has formed a support group for these students.

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Sign Wars: the cluttered landscape of advertising, a new book by Robert Goldman, professor of sociology at Lewis & Clark College and Stephen Papson, professor of sociology at St. Lawrence University, uses numerous advertising examples to demonstrate two central points: 1) consumer goods are parity items only distinguished only by signs and images and 2) culture itself is being driven by economic competition and has become treated as merely a commodity. Sign wars are both a cause and consequence of a media culture that appears cynical, skeptical and jaded but striving for authenticity.

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A new book, It's Not Only Rock and Roll: Popular Music in the Lives of Adolescents (Hampton Press) by Peter Christenson, professor of communication at Lewis & Clark College, and Donald Roberts, the Thomas More Storke Professor of Communication at Stanford University, documents the wealth of research on the effect of popular music on adolescents and strives to bring rationality to the volatile debate. The book includes the only research to date on the effect of warning labels on music.

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In an era of spin doctors and media handlers, high profile agents and power publicists, the public's awareness of celebrity is greater than ever.

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"Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity" is the culmination of extensive research into country music and the sociology of culture by Richard Peterson, Vanderbilt University sociologist.

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The start of a new year -- at least for most of us -- means a vow to diet and to get into shape. Beyond the obvious health considerations, did you ever wonder why getting skinny tops our lists of resolutions?

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Playing with the idea of "The End" is simply too close to the realities of modern anxiety and too much fun to ignore, as Carnegie Mellon Social Historian Peter N. Stearns shows in his book, "Millennium III, Century XXI."

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"It's a Wonderful Life" is one of the most popular and heartwarming films ever made. Long regarded as the definitive Christmas movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" tells the tale of a man's life that is recognized as wonderful and truly rich after he suffers through many hardships and trials. Yet in 1947, the FBI had some very different ideas about this holiday classic. In fact, the FBI branded "It's a Wonderful Life" and seven other films, including "The Best Years of Our Lives" as subversive.