Absent Parents Drowning ‘Tweens’ in Cash

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, May 6—A recent report in the daily newspaper noted with alarm the growth of a “high-rolling ‘tween’ demographic: 9- to 14-year-olds, with an average weekly income of more than $20.”

Such children are increasingly given lavish allowances by “guilt-ridden” parents, who work too many hours to spend much time with them, the paper said. “Tween financial wherewithal is reshaping childhood itself,” it warned, pointing to high-priced pre-teen rituals such as luxury birthday parties, lasertag games, catered bar mitzvahs and other high-end entertainments, which some children are coming to expect.

The Monitor cited another study that found that “tweens” expect parents to spend between $124 and $182 on their Christmas gifts. The story concluded that “to many tweens, money is something that spills from ATMs.”

Bush Aide's Resignation Highlights Women's Hard Choices

THE BOSTON GLOBE, May 6—Cathy Young, a libertarian columnist often critical of feminism, pointed to the surprising retirement of key Bush aide Karen Hughes as an instance of a common phenomenon: “Successful woman sacrifices high-powered career for motherhood.”

The Globe columnist noted that Hughes was strongly motivated by concern about her 15-year-old son, whom she wished to be schooled in Texas, rather than Washington, D.C.

“It is an undisputed fact that women are far more likely than men to quit or scale back their careers for family reasons… A man who puts in long hours at work can be seen as working ‘for’ his family; a woman tends to be seen as shortchanging hers,” Young noted. She suggested that there is some biological basis for this, in the different psychologies of men and women, and the priorities they bring to the workplace.

But Young also argued that some of these priorities are malleable, and that men may have begun to defer career advancement for family reasons as well—although the evidence for such a change so far is scant.

Catholic College Coming to Georgia

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, May 9—There is no Catholic college in the state of Georgia—but there will be one soon, according to the Atlanta daily.

The co-founders of the school have already collected nearly $10 million towards the creation of Southern Catholic College, which will operate in Dawsonville, Ga.

Paul Voss, the new school's vice president, is leaving a tenured position as a professor at Georgia State University to help start the school. “I jumped from a wonderful job to a bit of uncertainty,” he told the Journal-Constitution. “As a product of a Catholic school and somebody who values the Catholic intellectual tradition, it's a leap of faith both literally and figuratively.”

Tom Clements, another founder and the chairman of the college, retired in 1999 as CEO of Conduit Software, selling his business for some $70 million. “It became a question of how can I give back and build the community,” Clements said. “There are 235 Catholic colleges in the country. Only seven of them are in the Southeast. There are none in Georgia… [T]he Catholic population has increased by 95% in the last decade. Today we could support two or three Catholic colleges.”

Atlanta Archbishop John Donoghue led a groundbreaking service last week. While the diocese will not have an official role in the management of the college, its founders promise close cooperation with the Church.