Influential (Adjective) Having or exerting influence, esp. great influence. (Noun) A person who exerts or can exert strong influence.

Given the lagging album sales of Britney Spears and the inability of Lindsay Lohan to successfully open a movie (she hasn't had a hit in four years), you'd think that, collectively, teenage girls didn't pay them much heed anymore.

Not true: Spears, Lohan, Paris Hilton, et. al., are actually far more influential than we ever imagined, evidenced by the results of a new federal study:

At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts. Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD. (Source)

Can you believe that shit? After years and years of safe-sex proselytizing, it's seemingly all been undone by the Bush administration's abstinence education policies in combination with the influence of the tabloid starledrunks, who'll open their legs for anything matted with pubic hair and smelling of testicle sweat.