Author: Baylor Lariat

U.S. births fell for the fourth year in a row, the government reported Wednesday, with experts calling it more proof that the weak economy has continued to dampen enthusiasm for having children.
But there may be a silver lining: The decline in 2011 was just 1 percent — not as sharp a fall-off as the 2 to 3 percent drop seen in other recent years.

“It may be that the effect of the recession is slowly coming to an end,” said Carl Haub, a senior demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.

Most striking in the new report were steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births.

In war-torn Sierra Leone, a young girl’s rape goes unnoticed. Rape is normal and socially acceptable, so when the horrifying experience is brought to authorities, the investigation never takes them from their desks. The young girl is merely another number.

Women’s rights are a universal issue of debate, although in some countries such as Somaliland, in which one in 14 women will die in childbirth because they lack the proper health care, the matter is more serious.

Television star John Stamos will join The Beach Boys on Friday at the Heart O’ Texas Fair.

Stamos has appeared on a variety of televsion shows such as “General Hospital” and the popular ABC series “Full House” and has displayed his musical talents on stage touring with The Beach Boys over the past 20 years.

He has been making appearances with The Beach Boys since 1985 and appeared in the group’s video for chart-topper “Kokomo.”

Festival-goers at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin will be able to plan their fun day thanks to the festival’s new app, which launched yesterday.

The 2012 edition of the application will feature a new design and is available for all iPhone models.

The Lariat recently asked you about the restrictions on partisan voter registration drives at Baylor, your political leanings and registration status. You responded and here are your answers.

Of those that wished to specify a political party 41 percent were Republicans, 38 percent Democrats, 6 percent Independent and 3 percent were either Libertarian or Constitution party.

When asked if they were registered, 96.8 percent said they were 3.2 percent weren’t.

Only 10 percent had ever registered at a registration drive.

Thank you for your responses and tune in tomorrow for the next week’s survey

If you are a dog or cat lover, your heart may be on the verge of breaking for the animals in Waco.

In case you weren’t aware, the Humane Society of Central Texas was denied funding and in a matter of just two months, will be forced to put an end to its adoption program, turning it in to a 72-hour kill shelter.

Furthermore, Waco’s Animal Birth Control Clinic has exhausted all of its funding, which will result in a major decline of spaying and neutering of animals in Waco.

The latest installment of the Don’t Feed the Bears podcast [soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/baylorlariat/dont-feed-the-bears-october-3″ iframe=”true” /]

Dr. Keith Devlin, National Public Radio’s “Math Guy” will present a lecture on the parallels between Leonardo Fibonacci and Steve Jobs as a part of the Baylor Undergraduate Lecture Series in Mathematics. He will speak at 4 p.m. today in D109 of the Baylor Sciences Building.

James Brody, director of the Musicians’ Wellness Initiative at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will present a lecture titled “Introduction to Alexander Technique” at 4 p.m. Thursday in Roxy Grove Hall. His Initiative is a comprehensive approach to the well-being of music students.

Baylor’s library system has garnered international attention for its hard work in preserving Texas history and culture.

“The Top 20 Most Impressive University Special Collections,” an article produced by The Online Education Database, ranked Baylor’s Texas Collection as no. 11 internationally. The Online Education Database is a website that helps students find education programs to fulfill their academic and career objectives.

Pennsylvania’s divisive voter identification requirement became the latest of its kind to get pushback from the courts ahead of Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.

Baylor’s NAACP chapter and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority are hosting a forum, “Politically Correct,” to examine political issues relevant to college students.

The forum will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Bennett Auditorium. There is no cost to attend, and all students and faculty are welcome.

The forum will begin with a nonpartisan discussion of the platforms of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, as established at their respective national conventions. NAACP and AKA members will present the discussion.

The verbal jabs flew fast Tuesday night in Texas during the U.S. Senate debate, with Democrat Paul Sadler calling his heavily favored, tea party-backed opponent Ted Cruz a “troll” and Cruz labeling Sadler an unapologetic liberal scheming to raise taxes.

Mandolin player and composer Chris Thile learned the hard way that when you get a call from the 312 area code this time of year, you should probably answer the phone.

Thile is among 23 recipients of this year’s MacArthur Foundation “genius grants,” which are given in a secrecy-shrouded process. Winners have no idea they’ve been nominated for the $500,000 awards until they get the call, and nominators must remain anonymous.

After the Baylor Lady Bears’ national championship in 2005, the team lost four seniors, two of them starters.

The next season, Baylor fell in the Sweet Sixteen to Maryland 82-63.

The best female-driven comedy movie to hit theaters since “Bridesmaids” has now arrived.

After a heavy social marketing regime, “Pitch Perfect” hit theaters a week early in some cities, living up to its expectation as one of the funniest films of the fall.

Beca, played by Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”), is a rebellious aspiring DJ forced into college by her English teacher father, whose job offers her free tuition.

After a month of solitude and interning at the student radio station, her father confronts her about finding a job and making friends by the end of the year, and if she can’t, he’ll help her move out to L.A. to live her DJ-ing dreams.

Frankenweenie,” Tim Burton’s new stop-motion animated feature for Walt Disney Pictures which comes out Friday, opens with a young boy, Victor, watching a homemade movie. The star happens to be his dog, Sparky, who rescues miniature townsfolk from a Godzilla-like monster, a foreshadowing of things to come.

A Baylor engineering professor and Mission Waco are partnering to form Six Eight Technologies, a new program of Mission Waco-Mission World that will offer training and opportunities for people who want to serve in a technical capacity in developing countries.

Changing light bulbs every few months can be a hassle. Using light emitting diodes (LEDs) can decrease the number of light bulb changes, because LEDs have a longer lifespan compared to traditional lighting.

This fall, Baylor Facilities will hire an intern to determine the most cost- and energy-efficient lighting for campus.

A Florida man’s bid to become the first illegal immigrant to obtain a law license in the United States met skepticism Tuesday from most of the state’s Supreme Court justices.

Jose Godinez-Samperio came to the U.S. with his parents on visitors’ visas when he was 9 years old, but the family never returned to Mexico. He graduated from New College in Florida, earned a law degree from Florida State University and passed the state bar exam last year.

“He’s somebody who has done everything he’s supposed to do. He complied with every rule,” Godinez-Samperio’s attorney and former American Bar Association president Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, said after the hearing.

Many of us come from hometowns filled with exciting nightlife, big cities or rolling hills. Some of us have even come from abroad—or states so different you feel like you might as well have been abroad.

We have made our long journeys from many different places, all with the common goal of arriving at Baylor — and Waco.

The United Nations General Assembly in New York is giving many international issues more prominence in the media than they normally receive.

Many of these issues are not issues immediately relevant to the average college student.

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As part of its Fall 2012 seminal series, The Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics, and Engineering Research will host Dr. Daniel Dubin, a professor at the University of California San Diego at 1:30 p.m. Friday in E231 at the Baylor Sciences Building.