Workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects an estimated 15 percent of the U. S. workforce, or 19. 2 million workers, according to a recent study conducted at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) and published in the current issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Survey participants were asked how often during the previous year they drank alcohol within two hours of reporting to work, drank during the workday, worked under the influence or worked with a hangover.

Experts say hard work can lead to happiness. Researchers from Gothenburg University in Sweden say working to achieve a goal, rather than attaining it, makes people more satisfied.

Figures show Kwanzaa is growing in popularity. Bill Nesmith, a reference librarian at Person County public library in Rocksboro, N. C. , says interest in the holiday is growing, with about 13 million people now celebrating the holiday that began in 1966, honoring African-American culture. There are seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Researchers at the University of Bath found that some young girls will mutilate and torture their Barbie dolls, reports The Associated Press. Coming from the university's marketing and psychology departments, the researchers questioned 100 children about their feelings toward a number of products. The girls had the strongest reaction to Barbie. Children reported feeling "rejection, hatred and violence," says Agnes Naim, one of the researchers.

Students can typically forget a number of things when they go to school, namely their books, notes, or term papers. But the one thing many universities are certain that students never forget is their cell phones - and that is why Japanese universities have decided to incorporate student identification cards on their phones. From next April, all new students at Kanagawa Institute of Technology near Tokyo will carry an ID on their phone that lets them register for classes, open locked doors and surf the Internet for school-related information.