Nutritionists give chocolate milk thumbs down, Black Youth Project launches a forum, more.
Got Controversy? — What could be better than a glass of chocolate milk? Lots of things, according to some nutritionists. Sure, youth may love the stuff, but calorie-counting experts note that one eight-ounce glass of low-fat chocolate milk has almost as many calories and sugar as a 12-ounce glass of Coke. Long a staple of the school lunch menu, chocolate milk has already been cocoa-beaned by school districts in two cities: Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colorado. But hold the phone, there, says the dairy industry. Chocolate milk is loaded with good nutrients like vitamin D, potassium and, of course, calcium. Chocolate-milk makers have launched a $1 million, YouTube-intensive ad campaign to help support their product. “Flavored milk really fits two needs,” says Ann Marie Krautheim, senior vice president of nutrition affairs for the National Dairy Council. “It meets kids’ taste preferences, and it provides the nutrition that they don’t get elsewhere.” (Time)
Black Youth Get Forum Online — A few years ago, the Black Youth Project conducted a comprehensive survey of young African Americans and found that many felt disenfranchised. About half, in fact, felt that the government treats immigrants better than American blacks. In an effort to help ease that sense of disenfranchisement — or, at the very least, provide a forum in which black youth can discuss the issues that are important to them – the Black Youth Project launched a site dedicated to young African Americans. The site, titled www.blackyouthproject.com, includes blogs, video forums and a database of rap lyrics, among other things — all designed to help black youth communicate and support one another. “We felt there needed to be a space on the Web where young black people could speak for themselves,” says Cathy Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Chicago and the lead investigator at the Black Youth Project. “This is a space for young black people to be politically engaged, and it’s a place for teachers to think of creative curriculum based in the lives of young black people.” (ABC News)
Coming Soon … 3D TV? — Another excuse for kids to spend more time in front of the tube: Experts say that it’s only a matter of time before 3D technology infiltrates our living rooms. According to a survey of patent activity by Thomson Reuters, 69-percent more patents were issued in 3D television technology, including one for special lenses that allow people to see 3D images without special glasses. But the report notes that 3D technology is extraordinarily popular across the board – a point emphasized by its title, “Coming Soon in 3-D — Everything.” Thomson Reuters tells us that we could well soon see 3D photographs and far cooler 3D glasses, too. (New York Daily News)
Quote: “I try to tell people that I am like them. I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I’m just a normal person.” -Magnus Carlsen, who, at age 19, recently became the world’s youngest No. 1-ranked chess player in history. Carlsen became a chess grandmaster at age 13. (Source: Time)
