- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Readers, Uncle Ezra is on vacation for the Summer. The questions below
were received earlier in the year. See the main "Dear Uncle Ezra"
page for details. Uncle Ezra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hey Uncle Ezra,
What do they put in the ginger cookies at Collegetown Bagels?
They are soooooooooooo good! I have tried so many different recipes,
but not one has the same flavor, texture, color, and bite of those
cookies. I am graduating soon and can't imagine not being able to
indulge in their goodness. Please try to find out how they make them
so yummy!
Thanks!
Unsigned
Dear Cookie Aficionado, The friendly bakers at Collegetown Bakers and Appetizers
(273-4975) were happy to supply their list of ingredients and some
hints about how they prepare their ginger cookies. They didn't
provide the exact proportions, because they doubted you would want to
prepare the cookies in the quantity they do!
They suggest you fool around with one of your recipes that is
*almost* good enough, by using ingredients and mixing procedures
similar to theirs.
Ingredients:
solid vegetable shortening
extra fine white sugar
Domino sweet molasses
eggs at room temperature
unbleached high gluten flour
baking soda
Frontier Herbs powdered cinnamon
Frontier Herbs powdered ginger
The secrets:
1. Use the highest quality, freshest ingredients. It makes a
big difference. For example, the powdered ginger and cinnamon they
use is very fresh and high in oil.
2. Cream the shortening and sugar until very light and fluffy
before adding other ingredients.
If all else fails, you can buy several dozen at a time from CTB
and freeze them for those alumnal nostalgia rushes you're sure to have
after you leave this place! Uncle Ezra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hello,
Ezra.
My name is J., I am a sophmore in high school, and I found your
site while searching for online help in dealing with a crisis. I am
not sure if I am supposed to be sending mail here..not sure if it's
for Cornell students only. If it is, please direct me to where I can
get help.
Anyway..
My girlfriend is 3 years younger than me (don't be too shocked).
We met online, and it is a long-distance relationship, very
long-distance, but we are very close and serious about our
relationship. However, she's shared some information with me about
people she knows who have done what seems to me like sexual
harassment, requesting felatio, forcefully kissing her, and even her
math teacher snapped her bra. I really don't know what to do to help
her. I suggested she tell her mother about all that has happened, but
she seems afraid to. I'd like to know what I can do to help, or any
advice I can relay to her. Thanks, Ez!
--J.
Dear J., Telling you about these incidents is a brave step for your
girlfriend to take. You can let her know that you appreciate the
trust she's placing in you, and that there are other trustworthy
people, nearer her own home, who can help her even more directly than
you can. That doesn't change the fact that you are always available
to listen and support her in every way possible.
Many cities have a rape crisis center which will counsel people
about any kind of sexual harassment problem; it needn't be rape per
se. Your girlfriend should look for the phone number of the center
nearest to her in the Yellow Pages under "Rape" and/or "Rape Crisis
Centers." She may find further directions there -- for instance, "See
Social and Human Services" -- and under this latter listing she'll
find the rape crisis number listed. As an alternative, she can call
the local police anonymously to ask for the phone number of the rape
crisis center nearest her.
You and your girlfriend can also read the Sexual Assault
Information Page online at
, which has links to
many other relevant sites.
Finally, encourage your girlfriend to talk with the adult she
trusts most ...if not her mother, then perhaps a guidance counselor at
her school, her doctor, or another relative. If they'd like to help
but feel they don't know much about this, your girlfriend can share
the above web page with them, and they can look through it with her to
figure out steps to protect her.
Thank you for being a caring presence in her life and for passing
this information along! Uncle Ezra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Uncle Ezra,
Can you please tell me who was the first person to study the
effects TV violence has on childrens aggressive behavior, and a source
to access where I can find information about that person?
Thank you,
Danielle
Dear Danielle, Interestingly enough, one of the first people to comment on the
effects of television was author and Cornell alum E.B. White, who way
back in 1938 prophetically observed in HARPER'S magazine: "I believe
that television is going to be the test of the modern world, and in
this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our own vision, we
shall discover either a new and unbearable disturbance of the general
peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by
television, of that I am sure."
I have not yet pinned down the name of the exact person who first
studied the effects of television violence on children, and I wouldn't
be surprised to learn that more than one person started at around the
same time, as often happens in this synchronistic world of ours.
However, I did discover an excellent person for you to consult with on
this topic. John P. Murray, Interim Associate Vice Provost for
Research and Professor of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas
State University, is an expert on the history of the controversy over
children and television violence (see www.ksu.edu/humec/kulaw.htm).
You can reach him by email at jpm@ksu.edu or by phone at (785)
532-6195. Uncle Ezra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Uncle Ezra,
Where did the term "bang for your buck" originate? ... for
example ... "With that purchase you didn't get a lot of bang for your
buck."
I was discussing it with friends... one was upset that it was
sexist and vulgar language that we use every day but actually
references paying a prostitute for sex. ... the contradicting
arguement was based on the fact (maybe) that the term "buck"
originated in early american history when a buckskin was used as money
for trading value... so the phrase must predate the modern slang term
for sex, "bang"... thus making the entire phrase reference something
other than money for sex. But we didn't know what.
Can you help?
Thanks,
S
Dear S., Here's what the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF IDIOMS (p. 425)
has to say: "The...term originated in the late 1960s in the military
for expenditures for firepower and soon was extended to mean an
increased financial return or better value." So no, it's not sexist,
though it's not without a certain vulgarity in it's application of
"more is better" to military destruction. You're right that the slang
term "buck" comes from the use of buckskin as a unit of exchange with
Native American people. Uncle Ezra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DUE,
I have two semi-convaluted questions:
1) When someone you are fairly close to asks about your job, what
do you tell them you do? For instance, I would assume your significant
other/family knows your true identity but what about those who are a
little more extended? Does it give you a secret thrill? Be honest! No
skirting the issue!
2) A good friend of mine is getting married this summer. I was
asked to be in her wedding but declined b/c I'll be abroad. Her bridal
shower is in 2 wks and I won't be able to travel to it. I am feeling
very guilty about my general absence from this important part of her
life, but don't know what to do about it. I really should send
something to the shower but to complicate things further- i am
*really* broke. I mean...i can afford to SEND something but not BUY
something to send unless it was under $10. I have thought so much
about what i could make for her but can't come up with anything. I
tried "putting myself in her shoes" in hopes of a revelation but the
problem is I really hope that I will never have a wedding, etc
(although I do want to be married someday)so it is difficult to
relate. Do you have any suggestions as how to show I really care since
my means seem rather inadequate?
Unsigned
Dear Caring, Fortunately for anonymity's sake, being your Uncle is only one of
my hats, so I don't need to mention it at all except when appropriate.
And of course it's a thrill -- not even a secret one -- to be Uncle
to so many marvelous nieces and nephews!
Take that $10 overseas with you, and look for a memento of your
trip to give your friend, something very special and unique but
inexpensive. And within the next two weeks, call or write your friend
to tell her you're sad to be missing out on her important event. Let
her know you'll be there in spirit, and that you want to get her gift
overseas as a way of demonstrating the connection between you while
you both go through life-changing experiences. You can even mention
that it won't be big, because you're short on money, but it will be
special, because it will be purchased with her in mind.
Or spend the $10 on a blank book and take it overseas with you.
Every place you visit, find one thing that reminds you of your friend
and write about it. That will be a treasure she'll keep for a
lifetime. Uncle Ezra |
