The Observer, April 27, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 26
World and Nation
Ireland's text-mad youth losing writing abilities
According to recent national tests performed by Ireland's Education Department, the youth of Ireland are becoming increasingly bad writers and spellers.
Results and reports of the tests, which tested roughly 37,000 students between the ages of 15 and 16, released last Wednesday primarily blame the excessive use of cellphone text messaging. The Examination Commission of the Education Department issued a statement claiming that the choppy text messaging of the teens has significantly decreased their ability to produce academic writings.
"Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing," said the report written by the department's chief examiner.
The report claimed that today's text-messaging teens are "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary." In addition, the report cited that many of the test-takers answered written questions sparingly "rather than seeing questions as invitations to explore the territory they had studied and to express the breadth and depth of their learning and understanding."
The citizens of Ireland typically use their cell phones more than citizens of any other country. Traditionally, the cost of traditional phone lines are much more expensive than cell phones, thus children acquire a cell phone at the average age of 12. Typical text messagers in the country send more than 250 texts per week.
U.N. accuses Iraq of withholding a true count of causalities
Officials in the U.N. accused Iraqi government officials on Wednesday of withholding an accurate count of civilian deaths in order to avoid portraying a "very grim" situation.
The evidence for the claim, found in a human rights report by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, covered the deaths of civilians for three months, ending on March 31. The report was heavily criticized by Iraqi officials who called into question the credibility of the U.N. staff.
"The government of Iraq continued to face immense security challenges in the face of growing violence and armed opposition to its authority and the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis," the report said, adding that "the use of torture and other inhumane treatment" in government detention centers "continues to be of utmost concern."
The report's evidence will likely cause debate among the Democratic-controlled Congress on whether to begin troop withdrawal on Oct. 1.
The report did indicate, however, that there was initial drop in civilian deaths in late February, though the number rose significantly in March. An official, comprehensive account of deaths could not be produced, however, since the Iraqi government refused to release numbers.
Iraq Body Count, a private organization that relies on its data from published reports, estimates that the civilian death has reached between 62,400 and 68,430 for the war.
The U.N. claims its data emanated from the Iraqi Health Ministry, hospitals around the country, and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad.
However, the report itself claims, "It is unclear on what basis these figures were compiled."
Despite confusion on the accuracy of the figures, the report found a nationwide trend of increased violence, with many of the deaths arising from killings and assassinations by insurgents and militias.
