Study: Marijuana has no significant association to GPA
There has been a lot of focus in the news lately on college students party habits,
particularly binge drinking. Shows like “20/20” and “Dateline” pummel us with
images of crazed co-eds beer-bonging enough alcohol to kill a horse, acting out
erratically in a drunken haze, or kneeling down to the porcelain god. Certainly,
most of us have overindulged ourselves with alcohol from time to time. But,
when was the last time you had no idea who you were waking up beside because
you smoked marijuana the night before?
I decided to tackle the issue of marijuana use among college students at Penn
State Harrisburg and how it affects their GPA. I handed out a questionnaire at
marijuana is 3.33. The mean GPA of the students who do not use marijuana is
3.36. Although the mean GPA of the students who do not use marijuana is
slightly higher, further statistical analysis concludes that there was not a signifi
cant association between marijuana use and GPA in this study of 50 random Penn
State Harrisburg students.
Other interesting results in the study included: 62 percent of the participants are
Higher expectations
The woman’s role in media is in a process of change, but the benefits have been
more progressive. That was the tone of “Women in Society, Women in Media,”
one of several events held to celebrate women’s history month.
“The market is heavy with women,” said Nancy Sacunas, president and CEO of
Sacunas and Saline. “When women work with the engineering field, it is the left
side or the right side of the brain thing. We have trouble explaining on how impor
tant it is. I don’t have a problem. I
will tell you my right hand man is a
“Pitching stories to gentleman ”
Pat Gadsen, president of Life-
Esteem :, said she and her husband
work in the media, however, main
taining a balance can be difficult.
“When we interview, some men will
look at him instead of me. It is kind
of different how men get involved.”
The women said it was not easy try
ing to work 40 hours a week. In fact,
many women wind up working 60 hours a week.
“It is a choice you have to make to make a higher experience,” said Assistant
Professor Catherine Rios.
Kirker Morgan, WHP-TV, said, “Pitching stories to men about women could be
difficult. We know what women want.”
But she still struggles with the male producers who think they know what women
Commentary by JOHN FOX
Staff Reporter
By GLORIA LONG
Staff Reporter
the Penn State
Harrisburg campus, in
the Olmsted Building
cafeteria, to 50 random
students. Each anony
mous student answered
14 questions and
returned the completed
questionnaire to the
Capital Times office.
The main goal was to
find a correlation
between GPA and mari
juana use. Out of the
50 participants, 21 indi
cated that they do use
marijuana while 29
indicated that they do
not. The mean GPA of
the students who use
Mean GPA of Penn Stale Harrisburg students who use
marijuana
vs. those who do not use marijuana
A 50-student survey performed by staff reporter John Fox
concluded that there is not a significant association between
marijuana use and GPA.
in favor of legalizing marijuana and an overwhelming 94 percent of the partici
pants are in favor of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. Also, 62per
cent of the participants indicated that they prefer alcohol to marijuana. Of the
62percent that prefer alcohol, 39 percent believed that marijuana was safer.
Considering Penn State Harrisburg’s student responses, it is possible that in our
lifetime, we may see medicinal marijuana legalized as well as the decriminaliza
tion of marijuana laws in America.
This study will set many of you marijuana users at ease since final exams are
right around the comer. You can now feel justified when you are smoking a joint
during that late-night cramming session for finals.
for women in media
The concept of women in media is that the expectations of women are now high
er. In movie-making, writing, and producing, women are now seen as having
some power and a lot of say as to what goes into media.
However, many times it is the things that are unspoken that may still be an indus
try hurdle for women.
Users
Marijuana use
Non-users
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graph courtesy of John Fox
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