Young Adults

I found the Jan. 3 episode of "Dennis the Menace" to be in poor taste. Tens of thousands of people die each year of "old-timers disease" (Alzheimer's disease), and they do not die pleasantly. This cartoon made a joke of the misinformation that surrounds this deadly disease. Alzheimer's kills - young adults as well as "old-timers. " More research and geniune concern is needed to cure this mysterious affliction. Terrence Quinn Philadelphia.

The Special Victims Unit is investigating two attacks on women that happened earlier this week in South Philadelphia. In both incidents, the attacker grabbed the victims, choked them and attempted to sexually assault them. Both victims were young adults, and the attacks occurred east of Broad Street in the very early morning hours, police said. Police have no suspects in the attacks.  

Acting Without Boundaries partners with the Arden Theatre to bring AWB Goes Broadway: Some Enchanted Evening, The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein to stage on Sunday featuring performances by children, youth, and young adults with disabilities. Hear the performers, many on a professional stage for the first time, sing adapted versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs such as "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific, "In My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella, and "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song.

Beth Gorny has heard since she was a teenager working part-time jobs that Social Security might not be around to help her through old age. In her first job from college, she remembered those warnings and signed up to have 3 percent of her pay invested in a retirement savings account. Her friends, she said, thought she was nuts for not spending the money on something else, such as a larger apartment. About a year and a half ago, Gorny, now 27, switched employers and joined the Brownstein Group, a Center City public relations and advertising firm, and thought her new job was great, except for one thing.

Three juveniles pleaded guilty and were fined yesterday for trespassing during a July 24 party in which teens and young adults trashed an unoccupied Solebury home. The three teens, two of them 17 and one 16, pleaded guilty to defiant trespass before District Justice Robert A. Schell, who fined each of them $50, plus $65 in court costs. "These kids testified they had gone to the house, went in, realized they shouldn't be there and left," Diane Gibbons, chief of major crimes at the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, said of the relatively light fines.

The more common attitude of many young adults in Philadelphia toward the Police Department is negative - and deservedly so. Police officers have been overstepping their bounds and breaking the code that governs all Philadelphians by deliberately using excessive force to abuse and mistreat young adults. A few of my friends are police officers. I have a lot of respect for the men and women who work diligently to prevent crime, restore peace and bring civil obedience in our communities.

Fewer American teenagers and young adults are lighting up as cigarette taxes that have broken the $3-a-pack threshold in some states make smoking too costly, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Daily smoking, the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States, fell to 15.8 percent in 2010 among young adults 18 to 25, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said in a report. That share was down from 20.4 percent in 2004.

ATLANTA - On an average day, U.S. adults get roughly 11 percent of their calories from fast food, a government study shows. That's down slightly from the 13 percent reported the last time the government tried to pin down how much of the American diet is coming from fast food. Eating fast food too frequently has been seen as a driver of America's obesity problem. For the research, about 11,000 adults were asked extensive questions about what they ate and drank over the previous 24 hours.

The thought of rich, spoiled youngsters breaking a sweat to build a home for a less fortunate family brings a smile to Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubenstein's face. But it will be a reality soon for seven teens and seven young adults who were sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to trashing a luxury home under construction in Solebury Township. In addition to the 14 minors and adults performing community service for Habitat for Humanity, they must spend seven days in jail after the holidays.

Embedded in the minds of campaigners and consultants is the stark axiom: Twentysomethings don't vote. No candidate loses sleep trying to figure out how to reach today's young adults. No consultant devises strategies for luring the nation's youngest voting bloc. The problem is, however, that this assumption of apathy can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, the research is troubling. Over the last 20 years, the decline in voter turnout has been most apparent among young adults.