Al's Morning Meeting

• Violent and property crime rates at the nation’s schools during 2005 –– 57 such crimes per 1,000 students age 12 or older –– were statistically unchanged from the 2004 rate of 55 victimizations per 1,000 students, according to a new report by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice  Statistics (BJS) and the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.  The crimes measured are rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault and theft.

• During 2005, older students (ages 15 to 18) were less likely than younger students (ages 12 to 14) to be victims of crime at school, but older students were more likely than younger students to be victims of crime away from school.

• From July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, there were 14 school-associated homicides involving school-aged children. Other BJS data show that youths are over 50 times more likely to be murdered away from school than at school.

• The rates for other serious violent victimizations were lower at school than away from school for every survey year from 1992 through 2005. Serious violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault.

• In 2005 nearly all (99 percent) students ages 12 to 18 observed at least one of selected security measures at their school. The percentage of students who observed the use of security cameras at their school increased from 39 percent in 2001 to 58 percent in 2005.
  

• During 2005 an estimated 90 percent of students reported observing school staff or other adult supervision in the hallway, and 68 percent of students reported the presence of security guards and/or assigned police officers at their school.

• Fewer students are avoiding places in school because of fear for their safety.  Between 1995 and 2005 the percentage of students who reported avoiding one or more places in school declined from 9 percent to four percent.

• Among students in grades 9 through 12 an estimated 43 percent reported drinking alcohol anywhere and four percent reported drinking at school during the 30 days prior to the 2005 survey.  There were no detectable differences in percentages across grade levels in the likelihood of drinking on school property, but students in higher grades were more likely than students in lower grades to report drinking alcohol anywhere.  In 2005, 25 percent of students reported that someone had offered, sold, or given them illegal drugs on school property in the 12 months prior to the survey.
  

• Between 1993 and 2005, the percentage of students in grades 9 through 12 who reported carrying a weapon to school in the preceding 30 days declined from 12 percent to six percent. In 2005, 24 percent of students reported that there were gangs at their schools compared to 21 percent of students in 2003.

• Twenty-eight percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school during the last 6 months.  Of those students who reported being bullied, 24 percent reported that they had sustained an injury as a result of the incident.

Makers of basic and utilitarian products are also seeing an opening to hawk their wares this holiday season: Siemens AG's Osram Sylvania, a maker of lighting and electronics, this year created an online holiday store (store.sylvania.com) featuring gift suggestions such as long-life flashlights and desk lamps that use a light emitting diode instead of a traditional bulb.

National Geographic says:

According to one U.S. Department of Energy study, if everyone replaced their conventional holiday light strings with LEDs, at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in a month.

The savings would be enough to power 200,000 homes for a year, according to Littleton, Colorado-based Holiday Creations, which makes and distributes a popular line of LED light strings.

Karyn Atwood, Holiday Creations' director of domestic and commercial sales, notes other added bonuses: The LEDs release little heat, and they last about 200,000 hours. In the unlikely event that one does burn out, she said, the rest of the lights keep on glowing.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's day, Americans throw away a million extra tons [900,000 metric tons] of garbage each week, including holiday wrapping and packaging, according to Robert Lilienfeld. Lilienfield is co-author of the book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are.

So why not recycle holiday gift wrap? Lilienfield, who has published a newsletter on reducing waste since 1996, notes that if every family reused just 2 feet [0.6 meter] of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles [61,000 kilometers] of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.

And not all gifts need wrapping. "Think back to your three favorite holiday memories," Lilienfeld said. "I'm willing to bet that they all involve time you spent with your family and friends."

By giving gifts that can be experienced, like tickets to a baseball game or a homemade dinner, you can minimize wrapping and still win points with the receiver. "People like these gifts just as much," he said.

1. Be sure your material gift will get used
It may be the thought that counts, but a gift that the receiver does not use is simply wasted: not a very nice thought. Give material possessions only if you know the recipient well enough to pick out something they were on the cusp of getting for themselves, or which they really need and will certainly enjoy using.

2. Give a consumable gift
Your friend will love your consumable gift twice: once while enjoying the organic teas, fair trade coffee, fresh flowers, fresh or dried fruits and nuts, or other consumable gift; and again when they appreciate that your gift leaves them with no guilty conscience about a gift left unused in the corner of their closet.

3. Share a piece of yourself
Avoid material consumption altogether. Instead, offer your services to baby-sit while your friend enjoys a cozy date with their partner, give a gift certificate for a relaxing massage, or a winter’s-worth of driveway shoveling (in which case you just save that massage for yourself).

4. Make a gift of a green service
If your time is prioritized elsewhere, you can buy a green service. Consider a gift of carbon offsets for a commuting colleague or a Zipcar membership for a friend who more frequently must turn to taxis to supplement their public transport lifestyle.

5. Make a gift of any service
You will still reduce material consumption by giving a service of any kind. Especially heart-warming are humanitarian services, such as making a gift of a micro-loan (for example via Kiva).

6. Give a gift where it is needed on behalf of someone better off
Make a child smile when they get a card describing the child in another part of the world whose life will be improved by the gift of a llama or a sheep on their behalf (for example via World Gifts or Heifer.

7. Creative gifts show you care
The baby sweater you knit yourself is more likely to become a family heirloom, extending the life cycle of the materials in your gift.

8. Buy a local gift
A gift made or grown locally can tell a story or share a unique product you have discovered on your own stomping grounds. Your locally-sourced gift will save the environment from the emissions involved in shipping.

9. Buy high-quality goods
Sometimes a little extra care or money invested will result in finding a high quality gift that will do justice to the materials consumed in the manufacturing by a long lifespan. Try flea markets or vintage and second-hand shops for quality goods you can afford: then make the gift “new” with a personal touch like a special paint job, or some ribbon around the edges. Your friend will enjoy your perfect high-quality gift much longer!

10. Think about your packaging
Use packaging that will not go to waste. Your packaging may be part of the gift itself, such as wrapping the gift in a scarf or enclosing it in a box that can be reused for collecting life’s odds and ends. Reusable wrapping, such as a gift bag, will pass on the fun. For family and close friends, consider the Sunday funnies instead of commercial gift wrap.

The Environmental Defense Web site suggests:

• Donate time or money to a charity in honor of the gift recipient [...]
  
• Buy carbon offsets in the recipient's name. Along with cutting your own carbon emissions — and fuel bills — help your friends and family offset theirs.
• Give a national parks pass or a membership to botanical gardens or aquariums. (For an extra-special gift, surprise with a cross-country train tour or an eco-vacation.)

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.