9.4 million lighters

The United States Census Bureau just released it's Statiscal Abstract for 2007. It's worth a read. Why would you try and take a lighter on a plane?

This stat stood out to me among others,

Nearly half (47 percent) of college freshmen enrolled in 2005 had earned an average grade of A in high school, compared to 2-in-10 (20 percent) in 1970. The majority (79 percent) of freshmen in 1970 had an important personal objective of “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” By 2005, the majority of freshmen (75 percent) said their primary objective was “being very well off financially.” (Table 274)

In our student ministry we are fighting a battle against the idol of education. This stat proves to be true in our student ministry culture as we find students who are incapable of participating in spiritual community on a consistent basis because they are overloaded with homework.