Short Beer-Pong Asians

Huh? No, actually, I read three interesting articles in the New York Times this weekend that have nothing to do with each other.

The Short of It
The average height for a male in the United States is 5'10". At 5'5", that means most Americans dwarf me. (The average height for a male in China is 5'6", still slightly taller than me.) And it is this topic of height that is covered in the first article in the New York Times that I read (NYT-Short.pdf in my private stash). The article is quite long and covers a range of topics that would be futile to summarize here. It's basically about a surge in growth hormone treatments in children that is both expensive (~$20K/year for several years) and mild (~1-2 inches of total growth increase). The article also covers a recent study which concluded:

"A team of psychologists, led by David E. Sandberg at the University at Buffalo, concluded that a child's stature, whether tall or small, had "minimal detectable impact" on his or her social standing among schoolmates. At least in this setting, even extremely short children (those around the first percentile) made friends and earned the respect of their peers as easily as kids of average size."

But also makes reference to effects measured in adult earnings, which I had read previously elsewhere:

"There is a considerable literature suggesting that taller men receive higher pay than shorter men, and one recent study concluded that economic discrimination against short adult males was equal in magnitude to racial or gender bias in the workplace."

The article also touches on a number of issues ranging from methodology flaws in earlier child height psychology studies and the author's own experiences.

Beer Pong
I acutally did not know about beer pong until I witnessed it (under the game's alternate name Beirut) while on a ski trip a couple of years after I graduated. I found this second article that I read from the NY Times (NYT-BeerPong.pdf in the stash) quite amusing. It's about how the popularity of this "game" is growing and breweries have been cashing in on the trend. One company even sells portable "beer pong tables" for $150 apiece. They sold 2,000 this year. The article also has a hilarious quote about "Bud Pong":

"This past summer, Anheuser-Busch unveiled a game it calls Bud Pong. The company, which makes Budweiser, is promoting Bud Pong tournaments and providing Bud Pong tables, balls and glasses to distributors in 47 markets, including college towns like Oswego, N.Y., and Clemson, S.C.

Bud Pong may soon expand into more markets, said Francine Katz, a spokeswoman for Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.

But Ms. Katz said Bud Pong was not intended for underage drinkers because promotions were held in bars, not on campuses. And it does not promote binge drinking, she said, because official rules call for water to be used, not beer. The hope is that those on the sidelines enjoy a Bud."

Uhh yeah... the "official" rules call for "water to be used." I buy that argument... really...

Sister's Think Parents Did O.K.
This NYT article (NYT-AsianParentsRaise.pdf in the stash) was about a book written by two Korean-American sisters who argue that the stereotypically rigid Asian-American upbringing they had was the right approach and outline how they feel children should be raised by this example. It was, perhaps, only interesting for nostalgia reasons, but had this one very amusing quote:

"One daughter's C-minus in biology could cast shame upon them all, so the Kim family reviewed each report card as a group in order to strategize about how each child could address weaknesses."

The use of the phrase "cast shame" brings to mind all kinds of amusing seppuku jokes. Perhaps an untimely F would warrant a trip to Club Sudz...