Pointless Questions with Aaron Mucciolo

We’re back! Like the face lift? We figured you would, you appearance-concious Obies… Just a reminder that the questions line is open 24/7. I’m hardly there and I tend to grunt unitelligibly when called, but hey, it’s open. Try e-mailing instead and you can see your name in print, just like these lucky people:

Why do people with Tourette syndrome only use curse words?
-Jen Groseth, Lecturer in Theatre and Dance Department

Okay, first off, only about a third of the people with advanced cases of the neurological disorder Tourette Syndrome (TS) involuntarily shout or speak obscenities — a condition known as coprolalia. In fact, only about a tenth of people afflicted with TS will develop more than mild symptoms, meaning nationwide only 30,000 people or so curse or shout uncontrollably. The rest is all media buzz.
TS develops differently in each individual, but usually manifests itself at first as facial tics — usually eye blinking, but possibly grimacing or twitching one’s nose. With time, other muscle or vocal tics, or behaviors such as repeating what others say (echolalia) can develop. Tics are grouped into two categories, simple and complex. Simple tics are sudden, brief movements that occur in a single or isolated fashion. They are often repetitive and include, among others, eye blinking, head jerking, sniffing and yelping. Complex tics are coordinated patterns or groupings of movements involving several muscle groups such as jumping, smelling objects, touching other people, coprolalia or echolalia. Sufferers of TS sometimes also experience a wide range of neurological conditions from sleep disorders and learning disabilities to obsessive-compulsive disorder. And yet if they never curse, you just don’t care, do you?
And to close, here’s a really pointless bit of trivia. The first person diagnosed with the syndrome, diagnosed by Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the French neurologist for whom the syndrome is named, was an 86-year-old French noblewoman.

Why can you play the lotto at 18 but not gamble in a casino until 21?
-Mark Kornblum, college junior

The short answer: You can, it just depends in which state you plan on throwing away your money. Gambling activities within a state are regulated by that state, whereas gambling activities that cross state lines (such as internet betting or online blackjack) are federal matters.
The long answer: It’s primarily a function of drinking age, as you may have guessed. Since New Hampshire revived the state lottery in 1964, most states that have any form of gambling (lottery, casino, riverboat, etc.) have allowed 18-year-olds to participate. The most often stated rationale is that society already bestows upon 18-year-olds numerous other rights and responsibilities, from voting and independent legal status to draft eligibility. The feeling is phrased more casually by Arizona state senator Ruth Solomon who explained her vote against a bill to raise Arizona’s gambling age to 21 by rhetorically asking “Give them a gun, send them to Iraq, but don’t give them a quarter for a slot machine?”
For a while, this ideology conflicted with no one — aside from those who took a moral stance on youth gambling — since the drinking age in most states was also 18. The split in gambling ages resulted from the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, passed by Congress in 1984. States were still allowed to set their own drinking ages, but those that failed to raise their drinking age to 21 by 1986 would lose a portion of their Federal highway repair dollars. Needless to say, all states now have a drinking age of 21.
Some states, such as Arizona, have shown a willingness to allow casinos to continue to serve 18-year-olds as long as they maintain separate areas for drinking and gambling. In general, the question of to drink or not to drink becomes one not of morality or societal rights and responsibilities, but of money. States have a strong interest in keeping the gambling age for any gaming events from which they draw revenue as low as possible: out of the 37 states that hold lotteries, 14 direct all proceeds into education funding, and five others direct only a portion, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank. That leaves 18 states that use the revenues generated for any number of projects, including covering budget shortfalls. And more gamblers mean more revenue.
The same is theoretically true in casinos, except for one thing: nothing goes better with high stakes poker than blurry vision and memory lapses. With nothing governing a casino — a business — it will likely do whatever it can to maximize the amount of money it takes in while keeping costs as low as possible. Keeping drinks and gambling separate not only requires additional internal policing costs to ensure an 18-year-old isn’t getting illegally drunk while he should only be legally gambling but also probably lowers the amount of revenue brought in overall since the gamblers are not drunk, only bad at math. One Arizona casino even voluntarily raised its gambling age to 21, presumably because they found it to be more profitable to exclude 18, 19 and 20 -year-olds and instead let the beer flow like wine.

When Josie and the Pussycats were in outerspace, what was the name of the puffy guy that flew?
-Dave Karpf, college senior

Bleep, from the planet Zelcor. He was Melody’s pet space alien. Cute little guy, wasn’t he?

Now go read a book, you children of Saturday morning cartoons…

There’s no question too pointless! Email aaron.mucciolo@oberlin.edu with your question and as much information you have. Your name will be included only with your permission.