POWER on...

I Know I have been away for a while, and have had quite a few reminders, but I have had a traumatic few months with my back, and getting back into University, and something had to give. Sorry. I knew if I posted so I would be hounded so I just quietly slipped away, but I am BACK!!!

From the ABC, I have been watching Will for a couple of years, since his first "one off" race in the Indy on the Gold Coast in 2006? I had noticed him before, and thought he had 2 things he needed to survive in world class open-wheeler racing. 1. is talent... DUH. 2. is sex appeal, good looks, or charisma... Sounds kinky, but true! He was rooky of the year last year, after nearly winning his first (and home) GP. Can he do the Aussie double? Marcos can win the rookie title in the NASCAR Busch cup, and Will the CART? Add in Lewis Hamilton (Unfortunately a.... Englishman) in F1, with a 3rd and 2nd in his first 2 races, absolutely unheard of in the last 20-30 years, and the "old guard" in motorsport is in trouble. The V8 Supercars to have Rick, and Todd Kelly, Courtney and others giving the "old" fellows a hurry on.... I am really looking forward to this year for the first time in a long time...

Next week I will get into Nuclear Power and water conservation, so Don't go away!

Congatulations Mate, as a fellow Toowoomba boy, Go Get EM!!!!!

Last Update: Tuesday, April 10, 2007. 2:08pm (AEST)
Power remains composed following Champ Car win

Australian driver Will Power says he is not getting carried away with yesterday's win in the first round of the Champ Car World Series.

The Team Australia driver from Toowoomba, in south-eastern Queensland, started in pole position and dominated the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the United States.

Power says the team has been building steadily towards a victory.

"It felt really good winning but, you know, we've been pretty quick in the off-season in testing and as you know we finished on a high last season, getting a pole in Surfers and getting a podium in Mexico," he said.

"So, you know, the team has stepped it up another notch and got pole position and won the race."

Big companies shamed for over-packaging

Monday Feb 5 21:15 AEDT

A Victorian green group has dumped on retail giants Coles, Woolworths and a host of manufacturers, alleging they damage the environment by using too much packaging.

Environment Victoria's annual DUMP awards, now in their third year, name and shame the companies the green group says harm the environment with unnecessary and damaging product packaging.

The awards are judged by an independent panel of experts from academia, local government and the community sector, DUMP awards report author Jenny Henty said.

Woolworths/Safeway and Coles jointly won the people's choice award for "needlessly packing fruit and vegetables, particularly organic products, on polystyrene trays and covering them with cling wrap".

Toymaker Fisher Price's Interactv toy won the award for excessive use of material for its "copious" packaging that included a separate recorded advertisement, powered by three batteries, that the company advises should be discarded despite the fact the toy also requires three batteries.

Beverage companies who packaged drinks in plastic or glass bottles that were then covered with non-recyclable printed plastic sleeves won the award for poor recycling design.

The misleading labelling award went to snack manufacturer Smith's for its Stax chips packaging, which Ms Henty said displayed three different and "confusing" disposal messages.

The Seakist Lunch Kit packaging was named "most likely to be littered" because its packaging contained seven small parts that were likely to be thrown away carelessly or dumped in the bin because no recycling instructions were provided.

The "going backwards" award went to Nescafe for its Short Black coffee jar, which would be rejected for recycling because of its smoky colour and its non-recyclable lid and tamper-proof seals.

Ms Henty, Environment Victoria's zero waste campaign director, said the award winners were "the tip of the iceberg" of companies ignoring the food industry's own environmental guidelines.

"Manufacturers would be hard-pressed to come up with worse products for reuse, easy recycling or waste minimisation if they tried," Ms Henty said.

"Australian consumers are trying to do the right thing at the supermarket, such as reusing green bags and embracing recycling, but are not being helped by excessive packaging, poor design and misleading recycling instructions."

Internationally, retail giants including Walmart, Marks and Spencer and Tesco were responding to criticism with action to significantly reduce waste but Australian supermarkets lagged behind badly.

Nature's voice Attenborough to retire

Monday Feb 5 20:36 AEDT
Sir David Attenborough, the voice of the television nature documentary, has announced he is retiring. A sequel to the highly successful BBC series Planet Earth is being planned, but Sir David has indicated he will not narrate the new show, called Life.

"If I go to a network controller and say that I want to make a three-year series, then they'll rightly be concerned about their investment," Sir David, who will be 83 when Life is screened in 2009, told Britain's Times newspaper. "They'd say, 'It's lovely to hear from you, but are you sure you'll be standing by the end?'"

Sir David joined the BBC as a Cambridge natural sciences graduate in 1952.

He intends to retire after completing his latest series, called Life in Cold Blood, about reptiles and amphibians, which he said would complete my survey of all the major animal groups.

Possible successors include Bill Oddie, the co-creator of the 1970s and 80s comedy series, The Goodies, who has become an accomplished television presenter with his own documentaries focusing on birds. Sir David said he had also been impressed by the work of zoologist Charlotte Uhlenbroek. Alastair Fothergill, Sir David's collaborator in the BBC's Natural History Unit, is the insiders' tip, according to The Times. Fothergill caused a stir in Australia when he branded the late Steve Irwin a showman more interested in stardom than the animal kingdom.

His comments came shortly after Irwin was killed when a stingray barb pierced his chest while filming a program last September.

Last Update: Monday, February 5, 2007. 7:10am (AEDT)

Scientists say under their plan, residents could profit from their water savings. (ABC TV)

Water trade would prevent restrictions: scientists

Three of Australia's leading water scientists want a water trading system to be introduced for metropolitan users.

They say it should be similar to one used by river irrigators.

Scientists from the CSIRO, Land and Water Australia and the University of Adelaide have put their name to the proposal.

They say their plan would prevent the need for water restrictions by allowing those who reduce their water use to sell water to big users.

The University of Adelaide's Professor Mike Young says the cost of water would increase by up to 700 per cent under the proposal but some people could make a profit from their water savings.

"People are telling us that it's very hard to cope with urban water restrictions and there's an alternative way of doing it, which is to have a system where we give all Australians a choice as to how much water we use and if they can afford it can trade to solve their problem and escape water restrictions," he said.

Climate report fails to highlight extent of global warming, Flannery says

Tim Flannery says findings by the UN are conservative. (File photo) (ABC)

ABC-Online -Climate report fails to highlight extent of global warming, Flannery says

The Australian of the Year, scientist Tim Flannery, says a new report on climate change grossly underestimates the speed at which global warming is effecting the planet.

The report from the United Nations Climate Panel will officially be released in Paris tonight and is expected to find that it is very likely humans are responsible for climate change.

But Professor Tim Flannery says the report's findings are conservative and the real impact of global warming will be felt much sooner.

"The actual trajectory we've seen in the arctic over the last two years if you follow that, that implies that the arctic ice cap will be gone in the next five to 15 years," he said.

"This is an ice cap that's been around for 3 million years."

It is expected to forecast catastrophic consequences from the increase in global temperatures this century.

Professor Flannery says the consequences could last for 1,000 years.

"There's a 10 per cent chance of truly catastrophic rises in temperatures, so we're looking there at 6 degrees (Celsius) or so, that would be a disaster for all life on earth," he said.

"We will lose somewhere between two out of every 10 and six out of every 10 species living on the planet, at that level of warming."

Break in eastern drought expected within months

End in sight: Climatologists believe the drought may soon be over. (ABC TV )

Can It Be True?

The ABC ran this story today on their on-line service. If true it will save a lot of political consternation in the comming years/months and weeks as the South-east corner of Queensland gets to critically low water levels. The only question is, will it be in the right areas to fill those desperatly dry catchments?

Climatologists are optimistic about a break in the drought across eastern Australia over the next couple of months.

A National Climate Centre report says the drought-producing El Nino event is weakening.

It says a switch to average or wetter-than-average rainfall patterns is likely in late summer or autumn.

The prediction is backed by computer modelling.

Sea temperatures have been cooling over the equatorial Pacific since early December, pointing to the end of the current El Nino weather pattern.

The climate centre says the recent southerly extension of tropical moisture to produce heavy rain through parts of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland is a further sign that patterns are turning.

PM considers funding for Qld waste water pipe

Queensland has asked for money for water recycling infrastructure. (File photo) (ABC TV)

I have been watching this story and wondering when the Queensland Government would get around to the paperwork.
In the past few days here in QLD, Australia, we have huge tracts of land in the West and North that have been in drought for up to 10 years (Thanks to global warming and climate change)? that are now under water! Many flooded areas have not even had rain!
Secondly the Federal Government is going to take over management of the whole Murray Darling river basin. This watershed covers about 2/3 of all the Eastern states, and drains from as far north as Central QLD all the way through to South Australia. (Everything west of the Great Dividing Range!!) There are huge envioronmental problems in the South, and wastage of water , but it has been a political minefield due to the involvement of 6 different states and territories.
Thirdly, The Queensland State government had abandoned a referendum about whether re-cycled water should be used in drinking supplies. With the entire SE corner of the state within 12-18 months of running out of water, and opinion Polls (Supposedly) running 75% in favor, they are just going to do it.

So the polititions in our end of the world must be in election mode... I don't care, at least they are MOVING!

The following is from ABC On-Line (Again!!)

The Prime Minister's office says the Queensland Government's request for $408 million to help fund a waste water pipeline will be given "due consideration".

The 200-kilometre pipeline will take recycled water from Brisbane to Wivenhoe Dam and power stations.

For months, the State Government has been criticising the Commonwealth for failing to provide any money for the project.

But incoming federal Environment and Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blamed Queensland for the delay, saying it has not provided the necessary paperwork.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister has confirmed a 52-page application for funding has now been received and is being examined.

Fluoridation

Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says fluoridation has not been considered in the State Government's water plans for the south-east of the state.

The Government is building a dam, a desalination plant and pipelines to link-up communities in the south-east to one big water grid.

Residents will be forced to accept recycled drinking supplies if there is no major rain, with treated waste water to start flowing into the region's dams at the end of next year.

But Mr Beattie says there are no plans at this stage to go beyond the incentives the Government offers to councils to voluntarily fluoridate water.

"We've been encouraging councils and at this moment that's our policy," he said.

"There's no change unless all the councils come to us and ask for fluoridation, we'd leave it as it is.

"We're not going to mandate it as part of this recycled drinking water program."

Mr Beattie says the drought is so bad that there is no choice but to introduce recycled water. [File photo]

Last Update: Sunday, January 28, 2007. 10:26pm (AEDT)

Mr Beattie says the drought is so bad that there is no choice but to introduce recycled water. [File photo] (ABC TV )

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says other Australian cities will one day follow his state's lead and drink recycled water.

Mr Beattie had promised to give south-east Queenslanders a vote on adding recycled water to drinking supplies as normal practice.

They were heading to the polls in March but Mr Beattie has now scrapped the $10 million plebiscite.

He says the drought is so bad, there is no other choice.

"We're not God, we couldn't make it rain," he said.

New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma and South Australian Premier Mike Rann today ruled out the use of recycled effluent in homes for the immediate future.

But Mr Beattie says he believes other cities will face the same predicament.

"People are going to have to make the same decision in Sydney and Melbourne, whether they like it or not," he said.

Recycled water will not be available in Queensland until late 2008, when a pipeline is built.

State Opposition Leader Bruce Flegg says the race is now on "as to whether we run out of water first or they get the infrastructure built first".

Dr Flegg says it is shaping up as a photo finish

Water restrictions to remain despite recycled supplies

ABC ONLINE - Last Update: Monday, January 29, 2007. 9:04am (AEDT)

The Queensland Government has warned water restrictions in the south-east of the state could be in place for another 10 years, even with the introduction of recycled supplies.

With the plebiscite on recycled drinking water scrapped and if current low rainfall trends continue, the Government will start pumping recycled water into the region's dams late next year.

The Opposition says the plebiscite was a farce and it is pleased it has been abandoned, as are many mayors.

Greg Hoffman from the Local Government Association says polls were showing 75 per cent of residents were planning to vote yes anyway.

"The plebiscite would have been redundant really," he said.

Even when the recycled water comes on line, Infrastructure Minister Anna Bligh warns that does not necessarily mean restrictions can be lifted.

"[There] could possibly be emergency circumstances for some five or six years after we start putting this water into the dam," she said.

Ms Bligh says without decent rain, it could take 10 years before the dams are back up to 40 per cent capacity.

Treatment process 'rigorous'

Meanwhile, Premier Peter Beattie has warned against any "scare-mongering" over recycled water, insisting it is safe to drink.

Mr Beattie says recycled water poses no health risks and is consumed in cities like London and Washington.

Ms Bligh says the treatment process is rigorous.

"The technology that will be used to treat this water is a combination of what's called microfiltration and ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis," she said.

"The water will go through six or seven steps of treatment before it goes into the dam and then, like all the other water in the dam, will go through further treatment before it comes through our taps."

Also, the State Opposition is predicting the race to introduce recycled water before drinking supplies run out will go down to the wire.

Liberal leader Bruce Flegg says it is a precarious situation.

"We have here a race that's coming down the line as a photo finish as to whether we run out of water or get some piece of infrastructure finished on time," he said.

But Ms Bligh says construction is moving as quickly as possible.

Food exports

Farmers have rejected suggestions that using recycled water could harm south-east Queensland's food export industry.

Developer and former Toowoomba mayor Clive Berghofer says Japanese buyers will not import product that has been washed in recycled water.

Mark Panitz, from the peak horticulture group Growcom, has dismissed the argument and says the claims are not helpful.

"Some particular buyers may be sensitive, but that's why food safety systems are in place, so we can guarantee our consumers and our buyers - wherever they are around the world - that our product is really pure and very safe," he said.

Suprise! States not keen to hand power to Commonwealth...

From the ABC Online service

Murray-Darling ... the PM says the old way of managing the river system has reached its use-by date. (File photo)

States reluctant to hand over Murray-Darling

State premiers have reacted with scepticism to the Federal Government's $10 billion national plan for water management.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has warned the states his plan can only work if they hand over control of Australia's largest river system.

Mr Howard today unveiled the plan, which includes the Commonwealth assuming control of the Murray-Darling Basin.

It also includes a massive buy-back of water allocations from farmers and an increase in irrigation infrastructure.

A task force will be set up to explore water development in Australia's north.

Mr Howard says the old way of managing water in the Murray-Darling has reached its use by date.

"The tyranny of incrementalism and lowest common denominator must end," he said.

"The $10 billion plan I have just outlined will only work if the governance arrangements for the basin are put on a proper national footing."

Rudd supportive

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says he supports the plan, but most of the premiers in the Murray-Darling states are cautious.

Mr Rudd says he is looking forward to working with the premiers and the Prime Minister because water should not be political, it should be bipartisan.

He says the idea of centralising control of the river systems belongs to him.

"In recent days I've called for the establishment of a single national water agency in Canberra - Mr Howard's done that," he said.

"I've also called in recent days for the establishment or the appointment of a single national water minister, and Mr Howard has done that.

"Because I've called for these things I want to support them and I do so today."

'Collaboration'

The South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, says he'll only support a national takeover if it is run by an independent body.

"One that is a really independent Murray-Darling Commission, one that is independent of politics and one that actually acts in the interests of the river and in the national interest," he said.

"And for me, national means collaboration, not a hostile takeover."

Mr Rann says a legal challenge to the plan would be a waste of money.

"And rather than collaboration or seeking agreement, the first thing that [new Environment Minister] Malcolm Turnbull talked about on radio this morning was a High Court challenge, and then boasted that he was no stranger to the Constitution.

"We want these bucket loads of cash to go into water, not into lawyers' pockets."

The Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, says he would like to meet with his federal counterparts before the plan goes any further.

"I would really request that Prime Minister as a matter of urgency bring together the relevant premiers from each of the affected states again to talk about how this will operate and how it'll work in the future," he said.

The New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma, says New South Wales is 100 per cent in favour of a national approach and will co-operate fully with Canberra.

"But don't stop on water - this is an example of climate change - I've been calling for some time for a national summit on climate change and the Prime Minister should go further and call such a summit and he'll find that Australians will follow if he does choose to do so," he said.

'Catch-up'

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says the Commonwealth has been dragging its feet on water and is now trying to play catch-up.

"I just say to the Prime Minister, let's not have a war about water," he said.

"Let's cooperate on water in the national interest. I mean frankly what's going on here is politics intervening.

"You've got Kevin Rudd working with the states, you've got the Prime Minister trying to fight with the states for political advantage."

Mr Howard says parochial differences need to be put aside in order to protect Australia's water resources.

He says water management is Australia's greatest environment challenge and must be approached on a national basis.

"This is our great opportunity to fix a great national problem - it can only be solved if we surmount our parochial differences, it can only be realised if, above all, we think as we should, on the eve of Australia day, overwhelmingly as Australians," he said.

The New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma, says New South Wales is 100 per cent in favour of a national approach and will co-operate fully with Canberra.

"But don't stop on water - this is an example of climate change - I've been calling for some time for a national summit on climate change and the Prime Minister should go further and call such a summit and he'll find that Australians will follow if he does choose to do so," he said.

Murray-Darling Association

The general manager of the Murray Darling Association, Ray Najar, says he supports the Federal Government's plan.

"It seems now that the Prime Minister has been listening to what's going on out at the ground level rather than the top level, and I think he feels that it's worthy of pursuing as long as the states are prepared to understand the big picture," he said.

The Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) has welcomed the plan, but wants to ensure WA gets a fair share of the funding.

WAFF president Trevor De Landgrafft says there is huge potential for agricultural development in the Kimberley.

"We've got development that could take place in the Fitzroy Basin and in the Fitzroy River itself and there's a number of other aquifers that could be exploited in the northern districts," he said.

"I would really like to see some focus put on those particular areas."

Faulty meters 'depleting' Murray water

I saw this on the nine msn news site today... I wonder who dreams up these figures. However I once worked in a position where the farmer told them about a faulty meter, and they still didn't fix it for over 12 months...

Friday Jan 12 00:23 AEDT

Faulty meters are allowing billions of litres of water, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to be siphoned out of the Murray-Darling basin, a report says.

Enough water to last Perth and Canberra for a year, 350 billion litres, is not being accounted for by irrigators using ageing meters to measure extractions, News Ltd reports.

The water is worth more than $500 million, but experts to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission report say it cost as little as $1.5 million to fix the meters.

The commission report, quoted by News Ltd, says "improvements in diversion measurements should occur as matter of urgency".

©AAP 2007

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Amazing Trivia from Psychology

Smile Away the Flu
Happy people heal faster. The link between positive thinking and the immune response.

Keeping your chin up when you feel lousy really does help you heal. Neurologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a link between the body's immune response and a positive attitude. Their conclusion: Happy people heal faster.

A group of 52 Wisconsinites volunteered to be vaccinated against the flu. Before administering the vaccinations, neuroscientist Richard Davidson and colleagues scanned the subjects' brain activity as they recalled a vividly happy memory and as they thought of another that made them feel sad or angry. The prefrontal cortex regulates our emotional responses—the right side registers negative emotions and the left positive ones.

Researchers tracked the antibody count of the volunteers over the following six months. A half year after being vaccinated, the happier subjects—those with more activity in the left prefrontal lobe—had more antibodies in their system. Less positive subjects had a weaker immune response.

North Qld physicists play down nuclear power fears

Last Update: Thursday, January 4, 2007. 12:41pm (AEDT)

Two north Queensland physicists have labelled the potential effects of radiation from nuclear power sources as 'overstated'.Dr Peter Ridd and Dr Thomas Stieglitz from James Cook University are calling on politicians to investigate in earnest, developing a nuclear power station near Townsville. Dr Ridd says another Chernobyl type accident at a modern nuclear power station would not happen.

"You don't have to have it right in the middle of the city, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to have," he said. "I certainly would have no difficulty in having one over my back fence. Modern power stations, nuclear stations are extremely safe devices, certainly nothing like the nuclear power stations such as Chernobyl where they had the bad accident."

Technorati Tags: Nuclear power australia

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Democrats urge SA Govt to buy Cubbie Station

These two stories from ABC online show some of the stupidity of the factions in the south of Australia. For one Cubby Station's allocation is made from hundreds of smaller allocations they bought off others, and is not a huge amount of water in the larger scheme of things, and secondly, Queensland uses a tiny fraction of all the water from all the Murray-Darling river system FROM QUEENSLAND!!. I am sure it was about 10% of all the Queensland water used in Queensland in the mid to late 1990's. Lastly if you want to look at waste look at the aerial irrigation, flood irrigation and wasteful practices in southern NSW and Victoria. At least the QLD water provides a significant amount of export income from cotton, and it's not wasted on overstocked dairy paddocks...

1. Democrats urge SA Govt to buy Cubbie Station

Buying the Queensland cotton farm Cubbie Station is again being raised as a way to put water back into the River Murray for South Australia. The leader of the Australian Democrats in South Australia, Sandra Kanck, says the South Australian Government is clutching at straws by building a weir at Wellington.

She says joining with other states to buy Cubbie Station would provide about half the amount of water that the weir would and would cost about $130 million. "We really need to look at whether spending up to $300 million on a weir is a good use of taxpayers money," she said.

"The Democrats would argue that there are a whole lot of other ways that we can save water and make better use of the water we've got."

2. SA Govt slams Cubbie Station proposal

The South Australian Government says buying the Queensland cotton farm Cubbie Station would not help solve the state's water problems. The Democrats' state leader, Sandra Kanck, says South Australia could join with New South Wales and Queensland to buy the station for about $400 million. She says the Rann Government's share of about $130 million would be far cheaper than a weir at the end of the River Murray.

However the Minister for the River Murray, Karlene Maywald, says the suggestion demonstrates the Democrats' lack of understanding of the drought situation.

"The current drought situation means we could buy Cubbie Station, and Cubbie Station would be many many hundreds of millions of dollars, and we'd still have no water," she said. "It's ludicrous to expect that would be the silver bullet solution."

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States called on to act on water recycling

This is the first of a series of post I intend to do regarding the effects of global warming on our little corner of the world. I will look at the impact on the Ozone layer and the hole to our south, the potential of rising sea levels, (which will effect many other nations far more, as I sit on top of a mountain range...) politics, and temperature and rainfall patterns. This was in todays news, and I thought was a good trigger to start. I have about 6 done, but am still working on the first couple.

Watch this space...

Last Update: Tuesday, January 2, 2007. 2:29pm (AEDT)

Weather: 2006 was the 3rd driest year for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (file photo). (ABC TV )

The Federal Government has used the latest climate figures to reiterate calls for state governments to act on water recycling.

Preliminary figures from the Bureau of Meteorology's national climate report show 2006 was Australia's 9th warmest year on record.

The parliamentary secretary for the environment, Greg Hunt, says the figures also show there was above average rainfall overall, but not in the biggest cities.

"It's been the third driest year in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane - the south-east catchments," he said.

"So that's quite significant. It's consistent with the bureau's long-term trend that there will be more rain in the north, but less rain in the south and south-east."

Mr Hunt says that has implications for state governments.

"There's no longer any acceptance of dumping recyclable water off our coast," he said.

"National recycling schemes, major recycling schemes in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria are a priority for industry and agriculture, there's just no question about that."

The full report is due for release tomorrow.

Sleep’s effect on studies

I love these sorta studies that prove my allergy to cramming, and the confusion it inherently causes in my simple brain box. I have always believed that the last minute absorption of large amounts of detail has the only effect of limiting recall of everything,

EXCEPT THE LAST THING YOU READ!.

And What do you know... I was right!
Must go buy a lotto ticket!

Studying sleep’s effect on studies: Better to rest than cram for tests, psychology professor says

Overnight cramming sessions might hurt students’ exam grades rather than help them, and naps before games might help athletes improve their performance.Those were the findings this semester of a Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts sophomore, Danielle Durand, whose study of 10 students, under the supervision of psychology professor Peggy Brooks, Ph.D, indicates people retain factual information better when they’ve had a good night’s sleep.

“Research shows that the benefits of sleep have to do with memory,” said Brooks, who also supervised two previous long-term studies that looked at the sleep habits of 257 MCLA students. “Sleep is very important for motor-skill performance and declarative memory of words, names and facts — the first kind of memory you lose when you lose sleep.”

... In the two earlier studies, [...] examined student sleep patterns and their effects on academics, athletics and mental health.

Participants were evaluated using standardized sleep pattern questionnaires, a depression inventory, and a 14-day sleep diary modified from one provided by the National Sleep Foundation.

... Mirroring the national average

MCLA students in the studies averaged 7.44 hours of sleep each night, almost mirroring the national average of 7.42 hours.

But the times the students went to bed [...] might be increasing the need for naps to make up for late nights and changing sleep patterns, Brooks said.

“Bedtimes have gotten later over the decades,” she said. “The average bedtime reported (in our study) was 1:15 a.m. on weeknights and 2:15 a.m. on weekends. “The effect of being more of a 24-hour society, and the advent of the Internet and other technology that keeps us stimulated longer, all contributes to students staying up later and getting less sleep.”

The sleep diaries also revealed that women taking part in the study, who reported sleeping an average of 30 minutes longer than men, showed fewer symptoms of depression than the men. Depression is twice as likely to be reported in women than in men, according to the American Psychological Association.

“The finding suggests that for women, sleep may make the difference for other symptoms of depression,” Brooks said. “But our sample was not a clinical sample; we were looking at symptoms of depression in a general student sample. With our students, less sleep was associated with depression.”

Girgenti, a senior at MCLA, and Mills, a 2006 graduate, [...] discovered a relationship between grade-point averages provided by students and the times they reported waking up in the morning.

“National samples show that ‘early to bed, early to rise’ makes students wiser,” Brooks explained. “In our sample, we found that students who had better overall sleep quality had higher grade-point averages.”