University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2010-09-08 | Page 5

OPINION Abstaining from alcohol shortens average lifespan 5 Wednesday, www.dailyutahchronicle.com L ast week brought news that will drive those who abstain from alcohol and their advocates crazy. For decades we have all been beaten over the head with the mantra that drinking alcohol in big amounts will bring the Grim Reaper to your door faster than Usain Bolt. But a recently concluded paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests otherwise. Since this was a 20-year study, it eliminates the argument that many of the abstainers in the study were former drinkers who partied harder than Lindsay Lohan and then went through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The authors looked into that assumption and found that it made no difference. In fact, they seemed to have covered their bases on almost every conceivable notion. A Time magazine article about the study said, "But even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables— socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on—the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics, second high- ALEX NOSHIRVA Staff Writer est for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers." The sample group of the study included more than 1,800 people from the ages of 55 to 65 who in the past three years went through some form of outpatient care. Sixty-nine percent of people abstinent from drinking died during the 20-year study, 6o percent of the heavy drinkers died and only 41 percent of moderate drinkers died in the same time. In short, abstaining from alcohol is not only boring, but it also shortens your lifespan. The study concluded that drinking appears to be linked to regular social interaction, and social interactions are paramount to sustaining a healthy mind and body. This becomes even more apparent when those who prefer O'Doul's—non-alcoholic beer—report much higher levels of depression than those who regularly finish their day with an alcoholic beverage of choice. Statistically speaking—especially outside Utah—the majority of those who do not drink at all come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, because often these people do not have the resources to splurge on alcohol. Lower incomes yield higher stress rates, which can lead to earlier death. But for anyone who has lived in Utah for even a month knows, this state has numerous people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds who abstain from alcohol. And since they do not drink, some are taking the edge off of their day with prescription pills. As of 2008, about one in five Utahns were prescribed opioid pain medications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2009, more than half of the 432 people who died of a drug overdose in Utah did so on prescription pills, according to a www.ksl.com article. Maybe if these people poured a glass of wine, or drank a beer every now and then, the rates of depression and pill abuse would go down. A 28 percent mortality difference between not drinking and moderate drinking is a huge difference that cannot be ignored. So either live slow and die fast or pour one up next time life gets stressful. [e-mail] LETTER TO THE EDITOR Voters have a say on energy policy Editor: Logan Froerer's column on tar sands mining, published Aug. 3o, 2010, should have mentioned that voters will have a say on this issue in the upcoming Nov. 2 election since the two major-party candidates for governor of Utah have taken opposite positions on energy policy. In the 2010 General Session of the Utah Legislature, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill that defines tar sands as "alternative energy" and provides tax credits for tar sands development. Herbert has also issued an energy policy that emphasizes conventional fuel jobs and specifically states the Utah energy plan will not follow the federal model of providing incentives to develop clean energy sources. By contrast, Democrat Mayor Peter Corroon's energy plan emphasizes clean energy strategies for Utah. As for tar sands, Corroon's plan says, "As new technologies are further developed and proven, extraction of oil from rock and sand may become economically feasible in an environmentally friendly way in Utah, without the environmental destruction sometimes seen in the Canadian oil sand industry." Voters can read and compare the two energy plans on the Web. Amy Brunvand, Librarian, Marriott Library Letters to the editor should be sent to [e-mail] . Letters should be fewer than iso words and must include the writer's name. Letters from students should also include the writer's major and year in school. Letters from U faculty and staff should include department and title. Letters from alumni should include the year the writer graduated. All other letters must include the sender's name and city of residence. All letters become property of The Daily Utah Chronicle and may be edited for style, length and content. Campus issues crime gl obal warming h urricanes September 8, 2010 Rallies exploit civil rights anniversary S aturday was the 47th anniversary of Dr. JORDAN Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I JOCHIM Have a Dream" speech. On a date that should Staff Writer have served as a reminder of the valor and persistence of King and the Civil Rights Movement, two rallies were held that exploited the significance of this day in order to further partisan agendas. The "Restoring Honor" rally was lead by reactionary ideologue Glenn Beck, and the other was a local protest aimed at the amount of federally owned land in Utah, aptly titled "Take Utah Back." Both of these rallies were inherently political and serve as a reminder of the prominence of reactionary politics this campaign season. On the local level, the "Take Utah Back" event realized once again the pervasiveness of right-wing, fringe politics heading into the November elections. This rally was an attempt to convince the federal government to relinquish much of its control over lands within Utah boundaries. The federal government and the Bureau of Land Management collectively own approximately 57 percent of Utah land, according to www.bigthink.com. Although this might seem like an inordinate amount, and it might appear that those at the rally have a valid point, they simply don't. Rep. Rob Bishop, District 1, was one of the main organizers of the event, and it's no coincidence that this was held in an election year. The issue of federally owned land has been a rallying cry for conservatives across the state for years, and it's just the type of issue that gets people to the voting booth. Tim Chambless, a professor of political science at the U, said because of our massive recession, "Utah simply does not have the resources to properly manage these lands." He said nearly 8o percent of Utahns live in urban areas and it's not realistic to think that further developing these lands will do much to promote job growth. Beck's rally was enough to get any thinking person to pause. Beck said this event is meant to "restore honor" to the Civil Rights Movement. It is unclear which idea is more untenable—that the Civil Rights Movement has lost its honor or that a head case such as Beck is the one to restore it. After battling substance abuse for decades and dropping out of college in 2006, Beck began his television career at Fox News and has not hesitated in ranting about Federal Emergency Management Agency death camps, the "racism" of President Barack Obama, and numerous other irrational diatribes. "Considering (Beck's) background as well as his past and recent behavior, he is a public figure whose judgment should be questioned," Chambless said. Both of these rallies were political to the nth degree. In the case of Beck, just adding a "not political" disclaimer does little to dissuade anyone away from this fact. Hiding under the guise of some sort of spiritual leader is absolutely laughable. Beck is not a minister, and neither were any of the speakers at the event, including Sarah Palin, former Republican vice presidential candidate, as well as the ever-tactless Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. The "Take Utah Back" parade was a ploy on the part of Bishop to rally voters on what should essentially be a non-issue. Sorry, ATV aficionados, that dastardly federal law that doesn't let you take your four-wheeler on BLM lands does not put you on the level of those bruised and beaten masses who marched for civil rights in 1963. "The reason why there was a quarter of a million people (in attendance) back in 1963, when transportation was much more difficult and mass media was certainly less extensive than it is now, was because the people who came were hurting and highly motivated to bring about change," Chambless said. "What we have now is people who are complaining but are not ready to get involved in the process to try and help...I think I'd feel better if when I turned on the TV these people were getting involved in local school boards and planning commissions." In both cases, all you see is a shameful ploy on the part of the right to exploit a day in U.S. history where people voiced legitimate concerns and fought for social justice, not some sorry ploy to influence midterm elections. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu Don't just think about it... Start writing. Opinion writers wanted for The Daily Utah Chronicle. WIMMIIMIMMI////////////////////1 SUBSCRIBED? r Become a fan of The Chronicle on Facebook - } Follow The Chronicle on Twitter • Contact Brandon Beifuss for more information. [e-mail] I Add The Chronicle's RSS feed % I Register for The Chronicle's 1 daily newsletter dailyutahchronide.com 1111111111MM11111111111111M111111)