Issue of the Week: Link between rap music and alcohol use

Alright, ya'll this is my last "issue of the week" post for the blog before leaving UCB and passing the task on to Mark Luckie, the new official tech cat. As I do daily, a couple of weeks ago I was listening to the NPR show, "News and Notes with Ed Gordon", a show focused on African American issues (highly recommended by the way--11am on 91.7FM). UCB's own, Denise Herd, was speaking about her research on the link between alcohol use and rap music. I thought it would be a great topic to discuss on the blog. Here is a link NPR's website where you can listen to an 8.5 minute clip of the show (click on "listen") and read a summary of recent study. Here is a description of the show segment taken from the NPR website:

"A recent study by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, Calif., suggests young people who listen to rap and hip-hop are more likely to abuse alcohol and commit violent acts. Ed Gordon discusses the issue with Denise Herd, an associate professor at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, and David Jernigan, executive director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University."

Several UCB students have research interests in Hip Hop so it would especially be great to hear some of your perspectives!