Study debunks stereotype that men think about sex all day long

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) ? Men may think about sex more often than women do, but a new study suggests that men also think about other biological needs, such as eating and sleep, more frequently than women do, as well.

And the research discredits the persistent stereotype that men think about sex every seven seconds, which would amount to more than 8,000 thoughts about sex in 16 waking hours. In the study, the median number of young men's thought about sex stood at almost 19 times per day. Young women in the study reported a median of nearly 10 thoughts about sex per day.

As a group, the men also thought about food almost 18 times per day and sleep almost 11 times per day, compared to women's median number of thoughts about eating and sleep, at nearly 15 times and about 8 1/2 times, respectively.

The college-student participants carried a golf tally counter to track their thoughts about either eating, sleep or sex every day for a week. Each student was assigned to just one type of thought to record. Before receiving the tally counter, they had completed a number of questionnaires and were asked to estimate how often they had daily thoughts about eating, sleeping and sex.

Overall, a participant's comfort with sexuality was the best predictor for which person would have the most frequent daily thoughts about sex.

"If you had to know one thing about a person to best predict how often they would be thinking about sex, you'd be better off knowing their emotional orientation toward sexuality, as opposed to knowing whether they were male or female," said Terri Fisher, professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus and lead author of the study. "Frequency of thinking about sex is related to variables beyond one's biological sex."

Correcting this stereotype about men's sexual thoughts is important, Fisher noted.

"It's amazing the way people will spout off these fake statistics that men think about sex nearly constantly and so much more often than women do," she said. "When a man hears a statement like that, he might think there's something wrong with him because he's not spending that much time thinking about sexuality, and when women hear about this, if they spend significant time thinking about sex they might think there's something wrong with them."

The study appears online and is scheduled for publication in the January issue of the Journal of Sex Research.

The study involved 163 female and 120 male college students between the ages of 18 and 25 who were enrolled in a psychology research participation program. Of those, 59 were randomly assigned to track thoughts about food, 61 about sleep and 163 about sex. Most students were white and self-identified as heterosexual. The college-student sample made it comparable to previous research and involved an age group at which gender differences in sexuality are likely at their peak.

Before the thought-tracking began, the participants completed a number of questionnaires. These included a sexual opinion survey to measure a positive or negative emotional orientation toward sexuality (erotophilia vs. erotophobia); a sociosexual orientation inventory measuring attitudes about sex and tracking sexual behavior and levels of desire; a social desirability scale to measure respondents' tendency to try to appear socially acceptable; and an eating habits questionnaire and sleepiness scale. They also were asked to estimate how many times in an average day that they thought about sleeping, eating and sex.

Researchers then gave each student a tally counter device and told those assigned to the sexual thoughts condition to click the device to maintain a count their of thoughts about sex. They were told to count a thought about any aspect of sex: sexual activity of any kind, fantasies and erotic images, sexual memories and any arousing stimuli.

Others were instructed to use the device to record thoughts about eating that included food, hunger, cravings, snacking or cooking, and thoughts about sleep that included dreaming, sleeping, napping, going to bed or needing rest.

The questions about food and sleep were designed to mask the true intent of the study's focus on thoughts about sex, Fisher said. However, the results about these additional thoughts provided important information about differences in thinking among males and females.

"Since we looked at those other types of need-related thoughts, we found that it appears that there's not just a sex difference with regard to thoughts about sex, but also with regard to thoughts about sleep and food," she said. "That's very significant. This suggests males might be having more of these thoughts than women are or they have an easier time identifying the thoughts. It's difficult to know, but what is clear is it's not uniquely sex that they're spending more time thinking about, but other issues related to their biological needs, as well."

And when all of those thoughts were taken into account in the statistical analysis, the difference between men and women in their average number of daily thoughts about sex wasn't considered any larger than the gender differences between thoughts about sleep or thoughts about food.

In raw numbers, male participants recorded between one and 388 daily thoughts about sex, compared to the range of female thoughts about sex of between one and 140 times per day.

"For women, that's a broader range than many people would have expected. And there were no women who reported zero thoughts per day. So women are also thinking about sexuality," Fisher said.

The questionnaire data offered some additional clues about the influences on sexual thoughts. When all participants were analyzed together, those measuring the highest in erotophilia -- or comfort with their sexuality -- were the most likely to think more frequently about sex.

But when the analysis considered males and females separately, no single variable -- erotophilia score, unrestrictive attitudes about sex or a lack of desire to be socially acceptable -- could be defined as a predictor of how often men think about sex.

But for women, the erotophilia score remained a good predictor of more frequent sexual thoughts. On the other hand, women who scored high on the desire to be socially acceptable were more likely to think less frequently about sex.

"People who always give socially desirable responses to questions are perhaps holding back and trying to manage the impression they make on others," Fisher explained. "In this case, we're seeing that women who are more concerned with the impression they're making tend to report fewer sexual thoughts, and that's because thinking about sexuality is not consistent with typical expectations for women."

The participants' estimates about how often they thought each day about eating, sleeping and sex were all much lower than the actual number of thoughts they recorded. This suggested to Fisher that previous research in this area -- especially on thoughts about sex -- was weak because almost all previous studies were based on participants' retrospective estimates about how often they thought about sex.

"There's really no good reason that our society should have believed that men are thinking so much more about sex than women. Even the research that had been done previously doesn't support the stereotype that men are thinking about sex every seven seconds," she said.

Fisher conducted the research with undergraduate Ohio State-Mansfield students Zachary Moore and Mary-Jo Pittenger. Both have since graduated.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Emily Caldwell.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Terri D. Fisher, Zachary T. Moore, Mary-Jo Pittenger. Sex on the Brain?: An Examination of Frequency of Sexual Cognitions as a Function of Gender, Erotophilia, and Social Desirability. Journal of Sex Research, 2012; 49 (1): 69 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2011.565429

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111128132704.htm

traffic report chicago bears kmart opensky dia frampton dia frampton zook

More details about the Motorola Xoom's pending update emerge

If you recall, we told you a few days ago about a new soak-test for the Motorola Xoom, and today new details about what is being updated have come forth.  To start with, it's not Ice Cream Sandwich, and no amount of wishing will likely change that one.  The Verizon LTE model is getting an update that should appear "invisible" to the end user, and it simply provides improved support for pay-as-you-go customers on Verizon.  Users participating in the test have received an e-mail explaining how to go about providing feedback:

Hi again.

Thanks very much for signing up to give feedback about your Motorola Xoom on Verizon. You will be testing final software for your LTE Xoom. Despite the wild rumors about ICS, this is a very limited update providing improved support for pay-as-you-go customers on Verizon. It should be essentially "invisible" in terms of device operation.

Because of this, we will be looking for feedback on two primary questions:

• Did you update successfully?
• If yes, did the update alter your device in any unexpected way?

We feel this software is safe and ready, but your input will provide the data we need to make a go/no-go decision. Here are key points to know:

 

• I will send out another email with a survey where you can provide your answers to these two questions.
• It will come within a few hours of when the software begins to be pushed to your phones.
• That push is expected around mid-day tomorrow.
• Please do not post comments on public sites about this update; instead provide your input through the survey I will provide.
• Please do respond to the survey by Friday morning. We expect to make our decision to release this update later that day

Do not send emails to this account or PM me unless I ask you to do so. General questions sent to either place will go unanswered -- put your questions and comments in the survey please.

Thanks again for your confidentiality and participation. Your help with updates like this certainly counts in your favor when other test opportunities arise.

Regards,

- Matt
  Motorola Owners' Forums
  Motorola Feedback Network

If you're using your Xoom 4G on a month to month basis, this one's for you.  For everyone else, it's important to make sure it doesn't break anything.  We still expect ICS on the Xoom in short order, just not this time around.

Thanks, Anon!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/0pKVby-uMKU/story01.htm

mcrib pumpkin seeds mark herzlich malawi malawi angela davis angela davis

Warm blast hits UN climate summit

29 November 2011 Last updated at 09:35 ET By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

Despite non-record temperatures this year, the Earth's surface is continuing to get warmer, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

In its annual briefing to the UN climate summit, the agency says 2011 is so far the 10th warmest year on record.

But continued warming was masked by cooling La Nina conditions, it adds.

At the summit itself, in the South African city of Durban, delegates discussed Monday's news that Canada may formally renounce the Kyoto Protocol.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

The protocol... must be preserved and strengthened?

End Quote Silvia Merega G77/China

The government is concerned that its economic development could be hindered if it takes stronger action on greenhouse gas emissions than the US, its main trading partner.

The developing world is split between countries that share Canada's concern that curbing emissions could damage economic competitiveness, and those that insist curbs are absolutely necessary in order to safeguard their existence against projected climate impacts such as sea level rise.

The WMO briefing will not have given comfort to any delegates hoping that the slowdown in temperature rise observed over the last decade meant global warming had stopped.

Although provisional figures put 2011 as only the 10th warmest on record, the WMO says it has been hotter than any previous year on record that experienced such strong La Nina conditions.

Continue reading the main story

Adaptation

Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought.

Here, the appearance of relatively cold water at the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean reduces the average temperature in the atmosphere.

This year's La Nina conditions were also associated with droughts in East Africa, Pacific islands and the southern US, and flooding in southern Africa, eastern Australia and southern Asia.

The agency also points out that the 13 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997, and that the summer Arctic melt saw sea ice decline to the smallest volume on record.

"Our science is solid, and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities," said WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud.

"Concentrations of greenhouse gases... are very rapidly approaching levels consistent with a 2.0-2.4C rise in average global temperatures, which scientists believe could trigger far-reaching and irreversible changes in our Earth, biosphere and oceans."

Sticking to the rules

Inside the conference halls in Durban, one of the climate convention's sharpest divides - the future of the Kyoto Protocol - was thrown into sharp relief by Canada's announcement that it would not accept further emission cuts under the treaty.

On Monday, Canada's environment minister Peter Kent confirmed the government's decision to reporters in the capital Ottawa.

The current emission targets expire at the end of next year.

Though this helps align Canada with its giant southern neighbour, it has embarked on a collision course with developing nations.

As formal negotiations on the protocol began in Durban, Argentinian delegate Silvia Merega spelled out what the powerful 132-nation G77/China bloc of developing countries was anticipating.

"The Group of 77 and China expects that developed countries put forward ambitious quantified emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol," she said.

"The protocol, its mechanisms, its rules and its compliance system must be preserved and strengthened for the preservation of the legally-binding, international, multilateral rules-based system created under the [UN climate] convention."

Continue reading the main story

Durban climate conference

• Summit will attempt to agree the road map for a future global deal on reducing carbon emissions
• Developing countries are insisting rich nations pledge further emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol
• Delegates also aim to finalise some deals struck at last year's summit
• These include speeding up the roll-out of clean technology to developing nations?
• ? and a system for managing the Green Climate Fund, scheduled to gather and distribute billions of dollars per year to developing countries
• Progress may also be made on funding forest protection

The Canadian CTV network said the country would begin the year-long process of formally withdrawing next month, which Mr Kent declined to confirm or refute.

Russia and Japan have also said they will not make further emission cuts under the protocol, though it is not known whether they plan formally to withdraw.

In Durban, the US deputy climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing said he did not foresee governments changing their existing pledges on curbing emissions by 2020.

"The idea that countries would change their current pledges that they listed in the Cancun agreements [from last year's summit in Mexico] seems unlikely to me," he told reporters.

"I don't see the major economies shifting those actions."

At a meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) earlier this month - the body that brings together 17 of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters - India and Brazil joined the US in wanting to delay beginning talks on a new global climate agreement until at least 2015.

The EU and many smaller developing states want to reach agreement in Durban on starting talks as soon as possible, reaching agreement by 2015 and cutting emissions by 2020.

Reports by numerous organisations, most recently the International Energy Agency, have concluded that in order to meet the goal of keeping global average temperature rise since pre-industrial times below 2C, emissions should peak and begin to fall around 2020, if not earlier.

The current pledges to which Mr Pershing referred will not achieve this.

Follow Richard on Twitter

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-15941820

storm in alaska storm in alaska asteroid eric johnson eric johnson russell pearce russell pearce

How to Mentally Prepare Yourself to Start a New Job [Jobs]

You nailed the job interview, and now the hiring manager wants to know when you can start, and whether you're planning to take some time off between leaving your current gig and starting the new one. You may be tempted to take a week off just to put your feet up, or start as soon as possible to avoid any gaps in your income, but here's how to make the right decision and determine whether you're mentally or emotionally ready to start a new job right away.

Photo by John Kwan\Shutterstock.

Can You Afford a Break?

The first question to ask yourself when considering your new job's start date is how long you can afford to be out of a job. In some cases, your new employer may want you on the job as soon as possible, and if you can't afford to take time off in between jobs, even for a few days or a long weekend, then the decision is already made for you. If you can afford a few days away from work, have your own emergency fund, or just need some time to recharge, you may want to consider a couple of days in between jobs to help you get in the right mindset to start a new gig. Here are some basics you should consider.

• 
  
• Can you survive missing a paycheck? Make sure you can afford to take a few days off to relax before you make the decision.
• When does your new employer want you to start? You want to make a good impression on your new employer, and while most won't mind if you want a few days off between jobs, if your new employer wants you to show up the Monday after your last Friday at your old job, you may have an uphill battle trying to squeeze in a few days off in between to relax. Make sure your new employer is okay with you delaying your first day, or schedule your last day at the current employer so you can get a few days off between jobs.
• When do your benefits expire? For many of us, leaving a job means losing our health insurance and other benefits. Do your benefits expire the day you leave the company, or at the end of the month? When do the benefits at the new job kick in? Do you anticipate any medical needs if you have any periods without insurance? Consider your 401(k), and if you need to roll it over or make any changes to it, or if there's any paperwork you have to complete before you can start a new job. Think these things over carefully before deciding to take a few days off. If your benefits expire at the end of the month or your new benefits won't take effect for a month after you start anyway, there's no harm in taking a couple of days between jobs.
• Do you need time to recharge? If you're leaving your current job because you're burnt out and just need time to get away from what you're doing, you should definitely consider a little time between jobs. You don't want to start the new job carrying all of the emotional baggage from your last job?you want to go in with fresh eyes, eager to learn new things and meet new people. You shouldn't be world-weary on your first day at a new gig.
• Do you have questions for your new boss that you want answered before you get there? Are there any lingering questions you might have about the position that you want answered before you show up? You may want to take a day or so to get your thoughts in order and ring them with questions or thoughts so you can hit the ground running when you arrive on your first day.

Once you have the basics out of the way, you can address some more personal questions and considerations that might make you want to take a few days between jobs.

Photo by Images of Money.

Are You In The Right Frame of Mind for A New Job?

Stop and take stock of your mental, emotional, and physical health. How has your diet been? Have you been exercising regularly, and getting enough rest? They may seem personal, but all of them have an impact on your professional performance, and if you those personal habits aren't where you want them to be, you won't find a better opportunity to take the time to correct them than the time in-between jobs. It might be a good opportunity to infuse your diet with healthy foods, reboot your sleep cycle, schedule some time to get to the gym, or even let go of bad habits like working long hours overtime or bringing your work home with you. If you need a few days to put your mind and body in order and try to establish some good habits and behavior patterns before you have a new job to worry about and foul them up, take some time off between those two jobs to lay the groundwork of what will hopefully be a healthier and happier you, complete with a new job to match.

Photo by SocialIsBetter.

How Stressed Out Did Your Last Job Make You?

If one of the reasons you're quitting your current job for a new one is because you're just fed up with the nonsense you put up with at your current job, you should take some time to relax and de-stress before you start the new one. Even if you're feeling good about having left the old job, odds are that you're still a little tired, sleep deprived, or worked up over the process of leaving a job. It can't hurt to take a few days off. However, if your last few days were easy ones or your previous employer just told you to not bother coming back after you put in your two weeks, you may have all the time you need to recharge and get yourself in the right mindset for a new opportunity. Ultimately, only you can decide whether the stress and baggage from a previous job outweighs the happiness and excitement you have for a new job.

How Stressed Out Will This New Job Make You?

Even if your old job didn't stress you out, your new job may be the biggest professional challenge you've faced. If you know you're about to walk into one of the most hectic, busy, and possibly stressful positions you've ever had, you may want to take a little time before you walk in the door for the first time to get yourself psyched up for it. Stress cuts both ways?even if your last job let you off the hook easily, if your new job is looking like it'll be a trial (even if it's a trial you happily signed up for), you won't do yourself any favors by rushing into it without taking time to prepare.

Photo by bottled_void.

Do You Need to Brush Up On Your Skills?

In the same vein as stress and emotional baggage, if you think your new job will challenge you in ways you've never been challenged before, or you know from your interviews that your new job will require you to use some skills and abilities you haven't used in a while, it may be an absolute must to take a few days off between jobs to brush up.

This is especially important for developers or designers who will be required to use new tools or languages that they know but haven't used, or jobs where your organizational skills and productivity techniques will be put to the test. If you're going to manage people, now might be a good time to brush up on your management skills, or take a couple of days off to read your favorite management books or case studies. If you're a project manager, you may want to take a little time to re-acquaint yourself with the PMBOK and whatever project management tool your new job requires you use. Even your personal productivity technique may need tweaking for a new job with new challenges. Take some time to get your skills and tools sharpened and in order before starting your new job.

Do You Need to Make Any Changes to Your Wardrobe, Workspace, or Buy New Equipment?

You have a new job, but do you need to buy new clothes? Perhaps you'll be working from home and your desk just isn't set up for long hours of work. Do you need to entertain clients in your home office now, or plan for a new commute? Maybe you need to buy some new equipment, like a new laptop or monitor for your home office, a new laptop bag for work, some new notebooks, or just desk organization tools to help you get settled at the new job. The last thing you'll want to worry about when you start a new job is whether or not the Staples will be open on your way home from a new office on a drive you're not familiar with.

Make sure you talk with your future manager about what your company's equipment policies are and what your company will provide you with, and then go shopping for the rest. If you're switching from a job where the dress code was business formal to a job where the dress code is completely casual, you'll probably need to go shopping for enough pairs of jeans to get you through a workweek. The inverse is also true?if you're going from a business casual environment to a formal environment, you'll need some new clothes as soon as possible. Whatever your equipment, workspace, or clothing needs, you're better off shopping for them before you start the job. That way you can find bargains and shop at your leisure, well before they become required for you to function at work.

How do you prepare for a new job? Do you prefer to take a few days off before you make the jump, or do you go right from one job to another with barely a weekend in between? Share your experiences in the comments.

Photo by Kent Wang.

---

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/YFD1VFi97L4/how-to-mentally-prepare-yourself-to-start-a-new-job

delmon young sprint chris tucker phoenix jones danielle chiesi walter payton oneiric

Drum major who died in hazing was 'Mr. Band'

Robert Champion Sr, left, his wife, Pam, right, and their attorney Christopher Chestnut participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Robert Champion Sr, left, his wife, Pam, right, and their attorney Christopher Chestnut participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Robert Champion Sr., left, and his wife, Pam Champion, participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Pam Champion, right, and her husband, Robert Champion Sr., participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Robert Champion Sr, left, his wife, Pam, right, and their attorney Christopher Chestnut participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Robert Champion Sr., left, and his wife, Pam, center, are led away from a news conference by their attorney Christopher Chestnut on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

LITHONIA, Ga. (AP) ? Robert Champion fell in love with music at about age 6 when he saw a marching band at a parade in downtown Atlanta. So mesmerized by the festivities, he came home, took out pots and pans and started banging away like a little drummer.

His passion led him to marching bands from middle school through college. He was drum major for the famed Marching 100 band of Florida A&M University, a group that has performed at Super Bowls, the Grammys and presidential inaugurations. The prestige also brought a "culture of hazing" and a secret world that played a role in Champion's death, his family said.

"It needs to stop. The whole purpose is to put this out there and let people know there has to be a change," Champion's mother, Pam, said Monday at a news conference.

On Nov. 19, after the school's football team lost an away game to rival Bethune-Cookman, Champion collapsed on a bus parked outside an Orlando, Fla., hotel. The 26-year-old junior had been vomiting and complained he couldn't breathe shortly before he became unconscious.

When authorities arrived about 9:45 p.m., Champion was unresponsive. He died at a nearby hospital.

Authorities have not released any more details, except to say hazing played a role. An attorney representing Champion's family also refused to talk specifics.

"We are confident from what we've learned that hazing was a part of his death. We've got to expose this culture and eradicate it," Christopher Chestnut said. "There's a pattern and practice of covering up this culture."

Since Champion's death, the school has shuttered the famed marching band and the rest of the music department's performances. The longtime band director, Julian White, was fired.

The college also announced an independent review led by a former state attorney general and an ex-local police chief in Tallahassee, where the historically black college is based.

White, who believes he was unfairly dismissed, said Monday that he had suspended band members for hazing-related incidents before Champion died. White said he feared the death could lead to the end of the storied marching band.

Hazing has a long history in marching bands, particularly at historically black colleges, where a spot in the band is coveted and the performances are sometimes revered as much as the school's sports teams.

FAMU has been at the center of some of the worst cases. In 2001, former FAMU band member Marcus Parker suffered kidney damage because of a beating with a paddle. Three years earlier, Ivery Luckey, a clarinet player, said he was paddled around 300 times and had to go to the hospital.

The university's president said the school had been investigating hazing in the band before Champion's death.

Champion's parents said their son never spoke of hazing. Robert Champion Sr. said he talked to his son just a few days before his death and everything was fine.

"I wanted to believe stuff like that wouldn't happen," he said. "I would ask my son questions. 'Is there anything you need to tell me? Let me know.' He told me, 'Dad everything is going OK. I'm working, trying to go to school and practice.'"

Champion dreamed of leading marching bands. As a child, he would use a broom handle to mimic a band director's baton. At one point, he designed his own drum major uniform, his mother said.

"You put him on a field in a performance and he would give you a show," she said.

His first instrument was the clarinet, which he learned to play in the fifth grade. A middle school teacher recognized his talent and he was tapped to lead the school's orchestra and perform with the Southwest DeKalb High School band as an eighth grader. He could also sing and play keyboards.

Chapel Hill Middle School band director Natalie Brown said she'll never forget his outgoing personality and phenomenal musicianship.

"He was always smiling. He never gave me a hard time," she said. "If class was about to start, he'd get everyone quiet and start the warm-up process. He had the drum major mentality way back then."

Champion wanted to one day teach music. He was so enthusiastic about performing that his mother would call him "Mr. Band."

At times he struggled with his schoolwork and he didn't immediately go to Florida A&M after high school. But he eventually enrolled, balancing a job with school and his commitments in the band. In late 2010, he was named drum major.

"His experience in the band was, in his words, great. Robert was happy," his mother said. "He loved the band and everything that went with it. He loved performing. That was his life. You couldn't take him out of it."

The family's attorney said they hoped a lawsuit would lead to changes at the school and prod other hazing victims to come forward.

"We want to eradicate a culture of hazing so this doesn't happen again," said Chestnut. "Hazing is a culture of, 'Don't ask, don't tell.' The family's message today is: 'Please tell.'"

___

Armario reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Brent Kallestad in Tallahassee contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-28-FAMU-Student%20Dead/id-3f2f80aa45a347b1a9cb35b59ea5250b

notre dame football wisconsin badgers football wisconsin badgers football easter island dallas weather badgers badgers

Top Marine says service embracing gay ban repeal (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167162195?client_source=feed&format=rss

rich rodriguez the muppet movie the muppet movie mars rover mars rover trent richardson apple cup

Going shopping

Something about the juxtaposition of things reminds me of the politics of disruption, the emotional spring of the social generation. By themselves, interesting, intellectual perhaps, but not of the parallel land of hope and acceptance. I read an interview with Noel Gallagher, the supposedly sane one of the Oasis brothers. Something about Oasis being in the Top 10 of bands. He ducked the statement briefly, attributing it to alcohol and passing it off as Top 20 straight.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7raleac_MlM/

au pair trinidad trinidad jeff bezos slither slither schweddy balls