CCF’s Weekly Media Review by Steve Mintz, October 21st, 2015

1. The Myth of Welfare’s Corrupting Influence on the Poor
2. The Soft Evidence Behind the Hard Rhetoric of ‘Deterrence’
3. It’s All Right to Cry, Dude
4. The Lonely Death of George Bell
5. What Happened to Working Women?
6. The Implications of Very Short Hair
7. Overselling Breast-Feeding
8. Do We Really Need to Sleep 7 Hours a Night?
9. How the Modern Workplace Has Become More Like Preschool
10. The Effects of Seeing Asian-Americans as a ‘Model Minority’
11. Stopping Absenteeism at the Age of 5
12. A Feminism Where ‘Lean In’ Means Leaning On Others
13. Small Increase Expected in Health Insurance Enrollment
14. Treating Severe Mental Illness: The U.S. Lags Behind
15. The Richer You Are, the Better You May Do After Heart Surgery
16. Science Won’t Settle The Mammogram Debate
17. More Evidence That Immigrants Don’t Steal American Jobs
18. Graduating, but to what?
19. How contraception can promote the American Dream
20. Babies Take Months to Link Touches to What Touches Them
21. The Lost History of Gay Adult Adoption
22. Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study finds
23. Funeral Prices Are Hard to Get and Vary Widely, Survey Finds
24. Majority of Americans Support Legal Marijuana
25. When Tragedy and Adolescence Clash, Helping Grieving Teenagers Cope
26. For men in prison, child support becomes a crushing debt
27. Five unexpected shocks that could hurt your retirement
28. $4.6 billion
29. Racism, based on a name
30. How to Fight Homelessness
31. How to Get Around a Criminal Record
32. Sex Registry Challenge Cuts Penalty for Man, 19
33. Many Low-Income Workers Say ‘No’ to Health Insurance
34. After Technical Snag, Fury and No Cash
35. Ending the Cycle of Racial Isolation
36. The Great ‘Sanctuary City’ Slander
37. Police Killings of Blacks: Here Is What the Data Say
38. Talk Therapy Found to Ease Schizophrenia
39. Brazil Pension Crisis Mounts as More Retire Earlier, Then Pass Benefits On
40. Light Drinking While Pregnant Is Probably Safe
41. Weak Brain Connections May Link Premature Birth And Later Disorders
42. U.S. Social Spending Is Already On Par With Scandinavia
43. The Price of Egg Donations
44. Crimes Without Punishment?

Nominate a story for a CCF Media Award here

1. The Myth of Welfare’s Corrupting Influence on the Poor

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/business/the-myth-of-welfares-corrupting-influence-on-the-poor.html

Studies rebut a long-cherished belief in America, on the right and left, that welfare encourages bad behavior by the poor.

 

2. The Soft Evidence Behind the Hard Rhetoric of ‘Deterrence’

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-soft-evidence-behind-the-hard-rhetoric-of-deterrence.html

Reconsidering the word that was used for decades to justify long prison sentences.

 

3. It’s All Right to Cry, Dude

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/fashion/its-all-right-to-cry-dude.html

Attitudes toward grown men crying are changing, but when John Boehner, Kanye West and Wilmer Flores wept in public this year, it still made news.

 

4. The Lonely Death of George Bell

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-new-york-city.html

Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed.

 

5. What Happened to Working Women?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/17/opinion/what-happened-to-working-women.html

For all the talk about helping the American economy, little attention is paid to the disturbing fact that women’s place in the workforce is shrinking.

 

6. The Implications of Very Short Hair

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/t-magazine/pixie-cut-style-implications.html

The style is a rejection of what’s considered feminine — and a provocation to redefine it.

 

7. Overselling Breast-Feeding

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/overselling-breast-feeding.html

All too often, advocates cross the line from supporting a woman in her decision to breast-feed into compelling a woman to do so.

 

8. Do We Really Need to Sleep 7 Hours a Night?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/112251/

A new study is challenging the notion that artificial light and the hectic pace of modern life are disrupting natural sleep patterns, fueling an epidemic of sleep deprivation.

 

9. How the Modern Workplace Has Become More Like Preschool

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/upshot/how-the-modern-workplace-has-become-more-like-preschool.html

The only jobs showing consistent wage growth in recent years are those requiring both cognitive and social skills.

 

10. The Effects of Seeing Asian-Americans as a ‘Model Minority’

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/10/16/the-effects-of-seeing-asian-americans-as-a-model-minority

Asian-Americans are often categorized as a single group, comprising about 5.4 percent of the U.S. population. But despite economic disparities between nationalities, it is the highest paid racial group, and its members are more likely to be seen as advantaged, than disadvantaged. But is it fair to stereotype Asian-Americans as a “model minority,” free of the burdens of discrimination?

 

11. Stopping Absenteeism at the Age of 5

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/stopping-absenteeism-at-the-age-of-5/

Missing days at school, even when excusable, can can start children on a pattern of falling behind in class. So school districts are beginning to intervene when they see chronic absenteeism as early as kindergarten.

 

12. A Feminism Where ‘Lean In’ Means Leaning On Others

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/a-feminism-where-leaning-in-means-leaning-on-others/

Mainstream feminism focused on climbing the corporate ladder cannot achieve justice for women, or anyone else.

 

13. Small Increase Expected in Health Insurance Enrollment

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/us/politics/health-insurance-enrollment-expected-to-see-small-increase.html

The number of Americans covered through exchanges is expected to grow by only one million by the end of 2016, for a total of 10 million, a much smaller number than earlier projections.

 

14. Treating Severe Mental Illness: The U.S. Lags Behind

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opinion/treating-severe-mental-illness-the-us-lags-behind.html

A psychiatrist says thousands of mentally ill are homeless or imprisoned for nuisance crimes that were avoidable if they had not been neglected.

 

15. The Richer You Are, the Better You May Do After Heart Surgery

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/the-richer-you-are-the-better-you-may-do-after-heart-surgery/

Swedish researchers found that the higher a person’s income, the lower the risk of death following cardiac surgery.

 

16. Science Won’t Settle The Mammogram Debate

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/science-wont-settle-the-mammogram-debate/

 

17. More Evidence That Immigrants Don’t Steal American Jobs

http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/10/more-evidence-that-immigrants-dont-steal-american-jobs/410926/?utm_source=nl__link6_101915

Low-skilled native workers pursue very different jobs than their immigrant counterparts.

 

18. Graduating, but to what?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/10/17/poor-students/

Poor students in the Deep South who successfully navigate traumas at home and dysfunction at school find few opportunities afterward

 

19. How contraception can promote the American Dream

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2015/10/15-contraception-american-dream-haskins-sawhill

The most effective way to promote more stable relationships and better outcomes for children is to help couples avoid early, unplanned childbearing.

 

20. Babies Take Months to Link Touches to What Touches Them

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/science/babies-take-months-to-link-touches-to-what-touches-them.html

Babies do not link the sensation of touch with the object or person touching them until they are about 6 months old, a new study suggests.

 

21. The Lost History of Gay Adult Adoption

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/magazine/the-lost-history-of-gay-adult-adoption.html

Previously excluded from marriage, some gay people adopted their partner for legal protection. But what happens to these adoptions now that same-sex marriage is legal?

 

22. Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study finds

http://hechingerreport.org/schools-exacerbate-the-growing-achievement-gap-between-rich-and-poor-a-33-country-study-finds/

Central to the American dream is the notion that any kid, even one from the poorest of backgrounds, can study hard, do well in school and make it in our society. But many of us fear that the schoolhouse is no longer a path to the middle class. That fear grows with the rising number of U.S. schoolchildren in poverty, and the growing achievement gap in school between them and their wealthier peers.

 

23. Funeral Prices Are Hard to Get and Vary Widely, Survey Finds

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/your-money/funeral-prices-are-hard-to-get-and-vary-widely-survey-finds.html

An analysis of 10 local markets by two consumer groups suggests that comparison shopping, difficult as it is for the bereaved, might be fruitful.

 

24. Majority of Americans Support Legal Marijuana

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/facts-figures-majority-of-americans-support-legal-marijuana/

After a dip in 2014, support for legalization is back up, tying the record level reached in 2013.

 

25. When Tragedy and Adolescence Clash, Helping Grieving Teenagers Cope

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/when-tragedy-and-adolescence-clash-helping-grieving-teenagers-cope/

The reality of death and grief unfold differently for teenagers.

 

26. For men in prison, child support becomes a crushing debt

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-men-in-prison-child-support-becomes-a-crushing-debt/2015/10/18/e751a324-5bb7-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines

New regulations would give parents in prison the right to pause child support payments, but opponents say it undercuts welfare reform.

 

27. Five unexpected shocks that could hurt your retirement

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/get-there/five-unexpected-shocks-that-could-hurt-your-retirement/2015/10/16/d094efb6-712d-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines

 

28. $4.6 billion

http://www.propublica.org/article/medicare-spending-for-hepatitis-c-cures-surges

How much money Medicare’s prescription drug program paid out in the first six months of 2015 on hepatitis C drugs. That’s much more than in the same period last year thanks to new, yet expensive, drugs to treat the liver illness.

 

29. Racism, based on a name

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/10/19/job-discrimination-based-on-a-name

How can employers confront racial bias over something as seemingly irrelevant as a name?

 

30. How to Fight Homelessness

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/how-to-fight-homelessness.html

If we don’t want more people on the streets, let’s stop kicking them out of their homes.

 

31. How to Get Around a Criminal Record

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/how-to-get-around-a-criminal-record.html

Judicial expungement.

 

32. Sex Registry Challenge Cuts Penalty for Man, 19

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/us/sex-registry-challenge-cuts-penalty-for-man-19.html

The punishment for a teenage sexual encounter with a girl who lied about her age prompted a nationwide call to change sex offender registries.

 

33. Many Low-Income Workers Say ‘No’ to Health Insurance

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/business/many-low-income-workers-say-no-to-health-insurance.html

The Affordable Care Act requires employers with more than 50 full-time workers to offer insurance, but many find few low-income employees will buy it.

 

34. After Technical Snag, Fury and No Cash

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/business/dealbook/after-technical-snag-fury-and-no-cash.html

Hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans lost access to the money on their RushCard prepaid debit cards.

 

35. Ending the Cycle of Racial Isolation

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/ending-the-cycle-of-racial-isolation.html

Racial discrimination in housing remains pervasive and well entrenched, and governments at all levels bear a heavy share of the blame.

 

36. The Great ‘Sanctuary City’ Slander

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/17/opinion/the-great-sanctuary-city-slander.html

 

37. Police Killings of Blacks: Here Is What the Data Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/upshot/police-killings-of-blacks-what-the-data-says.html

Eliminating the biases of all police officers would do little to materially reduce the total number of African-American killings. Police bias may well be a significant problem, but in accounting for why some of these encounters turn into killings, it is swamped by other, bigger problems that plague our society, our economy and our criminal justice system.

 

38. Talk Therapy Found to Ease Schizophrenia

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/health/talk-therapy-found-to-ease-schizophrenia.html?emc=edit_th_20151020&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=2782969&_r=0

A landmark study found that a bigger emphasis on one-on-one talk therapy made greater strides in patient recovery than the usual drug-focused treatments.

 

39. Brazil Pension Crisis Mounts as More Retire Earlier, Then Pass Benefits On

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/world/americas/brazil-pension-crisis-mounts-as-more-retire-earlier-then-pass-benefits-on.html

Brazilians retire at an average age of 54, and some public servants, military officials and politicians manage to collect multiple pensions totaling well over $100,000 year. Then, once they die, loopholes enable their spouses or daughters to go on collecting the pensions for the rest of their lives, too.

 

40. Light Drinking While Pregnant Is Probably Safe

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2015/10/pregnant_women_should_not_drink_at_all_says_american_academy_of_pediatrics.html

So why are women being told otherwise?

 

41. Weak Brain Connections May Link Premature Birth And Later Disorders

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/10/19/450012150/weak-brain-connections-may-link-premature-birth-and-later-disorders

Brain scans found that the abnormally weak connections in the brains of premature infants may make them more prone to develop autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other emotional disorders.

 

42. U.S. Social Spending Is Already On Par With Scandinavia

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/10/20/can-the-us-become-denmark/us-social-spending-is-already-on-par-with-scandinavia

By conventional measures, the U.S. ranks significantly below average among industrialized countries for public social spending. But when the many complex tax deductions that have accumulated over the years are added in, true American public spending on social issues eclipses Norway, and is no longer so far behind Denmark.

 

43. The Price of Egg Donations

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opinion/21wed2.html

The current payment system favors the fertility clinics and shortchanges the donors.

 

44. Crimes Without Punishment?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opinion/crimes-without-punishment.html

The Capitol Hill neighborhood is a test case in the national debate over high incarceration rates, the elimination of mandatory sentencing, the decriminalization of lesser offenses, including drug possession, and President Obama’s recent decision to grant clemency to federal inmates convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.