Seconds later, the episode’s title, “Birth Control,” flashes on the screen.
That sort of wry, pointed presentation has helped the show lure thousands of viewers since its debut this past summer. Some may have been attracted by the provocative title, but this isn’t pornography. Instead, it aims to teach teenagers about sex using risqué sketches, explicit language and anecdotes that draw on the teenage experiences of its two 28-year-old creators — host Nikol Hasler, the aforementioned woman, and Guy Clark, an aspiring filmmaker.
The two felt that existing sexual-education efforts were far too prim — and boring — to be useful to teens. Their podcast focuses less on birds-and-bees basics and more on real-life scenarios teens are likely to face.
In “The Older Boyfriend,” which warns teenage girls against taking up with a guy in his 20s or 30s, Ms. Hasler says, “You may think you’re pretty cool for having an older boyfriend, but what you have to remember is he’s not cool for dating you. He’s a loser. And you can find plenty of losers to date at school.”
More than 50,000 people subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. The “Midwest Teen Sex Show” is listed under iTunes’ “Health” category, where it regularly is in the top 10. Yesterday, it was No. 7, compared with Discovery Health Channel at No. 20.
Along with growth has come controversy, particularly among sex-education teachers and therapists. While some praise it for tapping a hard-to-reach audience, others worry it’s too racy for younger teens, and still others say the podcast focuses too much on humor and not enough on the facts kids need.
]]>By all accounts, patrons of the Perry Branch Library in Gilbert, Ariz., are happy with the new digs.
Since the doors opened last month, visitors have checked out about 900 items a day, far more than the 100 to 150 that typically circulate daily in nearby branches, said Harry Courtright, director of the Maricopa County library district. Part of the branch’s appeal has come from the addition of bookstore-like features, including lower shelves, lounge furniture and displays of popular titles.
But it’s what’s missing from the library that has drawn the most attention: Perry abandoned the Dewey Decimal Classification System for its books, whose spines instead carry labels with plain-English subjects such as “history” and “weddings.” Instead of locating books by the traditional numerical system, patrons use a computerized catalog to find out which subject a book has been filed under, and then follow signs posted throughout the library. Many visitors skip the catalog altogether, and just head for the aisles that interest them.
The opening of a Dewey-free facility has sparked heated debate in the library world. “The day that the Maricopa news hit, I just had to steel myself,” said Karen Schneider, a moderator for PubLib, an online discussion list where comments blasting the move have been running about even with those praising the new library.
In defending Dewey, some have decried what they call the “Barnes & Nobling” and “Googlization” of libraries. On blogs and newsgroups, more than one commenter fumed “Have you ever tried finding something at a bookstore?” Some pointed out that Dewey is already essentially a list of subject headings, whose call numbers specify exactly where each book should be placed on the shelves. Many libraries print those subject headings on shelves under books.
Others, however, praised Perry’s decision, saying doing away with the inscrutable codes makes libraries easier to browse and more approachable.
]]>But the 23-year-old, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, instead plans to study the growth of social-networking sites like Facebook and why unpaid volunteers spend time fixing incorrect Wikipedia entries. He enrolls this fall in a new graduate program in social computing at the University of Michigan.
Michigan’s program clinched his decision to attend that school. Social computing “has more of a focus on real-life applications, whereas [computer science] is very broad and more ambiguous,” he said. “I do think there’s a growing interest from students, myself included, and the universities seem to be responding to that.”
After years of worrying about how much time freshmen spend on Facebook, schools are incorporating the study of social networking, online communities and user-contributed content into new curricula on social computing. The moves, like other academic expansions into fields like videogame design, are part of an effort to keep technology studies relevant to students’ lives – and to tap subjects with entrepreneurial momentum. Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are among the tech companies that have invested in schools’ social computing programs.
The programs tend to draw as much from the sociology, psychology and communications departments as they do from more traditional computer science classes.
]]>“My doctor, once in a while, will say it’s depression, but I don’t really feel depressed,” says the 73-year-old retired nurse. And support groups, where others find information and solace, are of little interest to her.
But Ms. Ghidotti, who lives most of the year in Columbus, Ohio, has found help from a Houston nurse practitioner who recommended a mouthwash for her mouth soreness — a common side effect of chemotherapy drugs — and prompts her to discuss some of the gastrointestinal problems she wouldn’t bother her busy oncologist with. She has never met the nurse, but reads and often responds to her message-board entries every day around 6:30 p.m.
Read more (subscription required; contact me for a copy)
(Also appeared in Belleville [Ill.] News-Democrat, Napa [Calif.] Valley Register, Naples Daily News and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)
]]>