No. 219 April 2001
IRONY OF THE PILL THAT TURNED 40 YEARS OLD Is there irony in the birth of the pill that prevents birth? Did you know the birth date? Did you miss the 40th birthday news item? You can read "The Pill At 40" by Suzanne White Junod on page 36 of the FDA Consumer, V. 34, No. 4, July-August 2000. Or you can find it on the FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/2000/400_word.html . June 23, 1960 was the date the FDA approved the first oral contraceptive, the Envoid by G.D. Searle. Junod’s article is a year old, but is timeless in its very brief review of the many ways the pill has had an impact on society since its first use. It seems the pill had the same impact as the computer. Junod says that "while there may have been impressive singular moments of technological triumph over the last 100 years, few have had the impact on society as the development of a tiny tab let, the Pill." There was an immediate opposition by the Catholic Bishops. Then federal government said little about the Pill and excluded it from any family planning portion of U.S. foreign aid policies. This was the beginning the 20th century era of sexual liberation in America’s marital behavior and lifestyles. But the FDA was still left with and still has the dilemmas and sometimes occuring side effects of this monumental medical drug product. One of the latest solutions to the Pill’s dilemmas is to stop taking the Pill and start taking monthly injections of Lunelle. In October, 2000 the FDA approved Lunelle, a once-a-month injection that combines the hormones progestin and estrogen to inhibit ovulation. "Several clinical trials of Lunelle’s safety and effectiveness have reported failure rates of less than one percent." "Monthly Injection Provides New Contraceptive Choice" (in the Updates Department of the) FDA Consumer, V. 35, No. 1, January-February, 2001, page 5 (HE 20.4010:35/1) or on the FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/2001/101_upd.html
EMPLOYMENT-AT-WILL DOCTRINE "Many workers in the United States have believed that satisfactory job performance should be rewarded with, among other job benefits, job security." Since the last half of the 19th Century, employment in each of the United states has been "at will", or terminable by either the employer or the employee for any reason whatsoever. This employment-at-will doctrine "avows that, when an employee does not have a written employment contract and the term of employment is of indefinite duration, the employer can terminate the employee for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all." This doctrine is based on the concept that the employer and employee were on equal footing in terms of bargaining power. This concept of equality and the doctrine were short-lived. Blue collar employees rely on labor union protection but many white collar workers work without contracts and union protection. Those white collar workers without a contract can still be fired for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all, as in plant closings and corporate restructurings and mergers. The American Judicial system (the Courts) is issuing judicial rulings on court cases for three exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine to prevent wrongful terminations. Per the (1) Public-policy exception, recognized in 43 States, employees cannot be fired if their termination violates a well established public policy of the State. (2) Implied-contract exception, recognized in 34 States means an employee cannot be fired if there is an implied-contract between the employer and employee. (3) The third, recognized in 11 States, is an implied Covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the employee’s relationship to the employer. "The Employment-at-will doctrine: three major exceptions" by Charles J. Muhl, Monthly Labor Review, V. 124, No. 1, January 2001, pages 3-11 (L 2.6:124/1) is an good introductory article on this interesting topic.
HIGHWAY TRAFFIC NOISE Highway traffic noise, the unpleasant and unwanted sounds generated on our streets and highways is the price of progress. That’s the introductory statement of Highway Traffic Noise an 8-page pamphlet found on the Federal Highway Traffic Administration website at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov///////environment//htnoise.htm . The level of traffic noise depends on (1) the volume of traffic, (2) traffic speed, and (3) the number of trucks. The noise of traffic is increased by heavier traffic volumes, higher speeds, and the greater number of trucks, since traffic or vehicle noise is a combination of the sounds produced by the engine, exhaust, and tires. The level of noise will be higher if a vehicle has a defective muffler or other faulty equipment, the driver squeals the tires, or has a loud radio. The number, speed, and type of vehicles is significant to estimate noise levels. Traffic affects noise in (1) volume (of traffic), since 2000 vehicles per hour sound twice as loud as 200 vehicles per hour. (2) Speed affects traffic noise since traffic at 65 miles per hour sounds about twice as loud as traffic at 30 miles per hour. (3) Trucks affect traffic noise since one semi-trailer truck at 55 miles per hour sounds as loud as 28 cars at 55 miles per hour. Of course, traffic sounds very loud if you are close to the highway. It is not a problem if you are more that 500 feet from a heavily traveled freeway and more that 100 to 200 feet from a lightly traveled road. If you open your car window on the interstate, the highway noise will "drowned-out" your radio. With air conditioning in the summer, and heat in the winter, most people do not have their car window(s) open and this also keeps out the traffic noise. In a "quiet" residential area you can drive with an open window. The purpose of Highway Traffic Noise is to explain some the acoustical techniques used by government agencies, highway designers and planners, construction engineers, and private developers to lessen the impact of highway noise on the surrounding community(ies).
RIDE WITH A DRUNK DRIVER?? In a 1997 survey of 4,010 persons aged 16 or older in the United States, one in ten (10%) has ridden with a driver they though may have consumed too much alcohol to drive safely. Of those who said they rode with a drinking driver, 23 percent were age 16-20. 24% of the respondants reported driving within two hours of drinking alcohol. 79% of the driving age public see drinking and driving as threat to their personal safety. Of the drinking drivers, there were there males for every females (36 vs 13 percent) and adults aged 21-29 was the most likely age level. In addition to identifying some of the basic characteristics of the drinking driver and "his" daring passenger, this survey also deteminend that three in ten drivers acted as a designated driver in 1997. That is most admirable and shows that three out of ten wanted to be sure they would get home safely. This survey which has been done every two years since 1991 measures topics including the reported frequency of drinking and driving, prevention and intervention, riding with impaired driver, designated drivers, perceptions of penalties and enforcement, knowledge of the BAC levels, and alcohol impaired crashes. This January 1999 report, National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behavior: 1997 has 127 pages with 40 charts of 1997 data with some comparisons to selected years 1991-1995. This report is summarized in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Traffic Tech Summary No. 192 http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/traftech/pub/tt192.html which tells how this 1997 Survey may be obtained.
LAWS FOR DUI, DWI Some important semantics: for the driver who drinks alcohol, DUI means Driving Under the Influence of alcohol. DWI means Driving While Impaired because the driver drank alcohol. The United States must have led the world in terms of DUI problems, because page 2 of On DWI Laws of Other Countries (DWI) states "much of the progress that has been made in impaired driving [i.e. in the United States] in the last decade or more has been facilitated by lessons learned from other countries. It is therefore both timely and appropriate for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to sponsor a systematic effort to gather information about impaired driving laws from around the world." Need I say more! DWI is a 55 page (when printed) report (DOT HS 809 037) issued in March 2000, on the NHTSA website and is sometimes wider than the computer screen. The report covers the impaired driving policies of 25 countries, most of which are economically and demographically comparable to the United States. Yet, we are behind them in DWI reform. The foreign DWI laws presented in DWI cover BAC levels for classes of drivers, minimum age for drinking, purchasing alcohol, driving, and licensing. There are sanctions for first and multiple offenses, severe sanctions for drivers with higher BACs, graduated licensing systems, and legal systems for the regranting of licenses. Along with the latest DWI law information provided by each country, there is a per capita alcohol consumption chart, and a section entitled: Social Attitudes about Drinking and Driving in Europe. In regard to DUI, and DWI laws, what do these countries’ legal systems have that we don’t? The answers are at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/pub/DWIothercountries/dwiothercountries.html where you will find text, charts, graphs, and very interesting reading/information. NHTSA has a summary version at http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/traftech/pub/tt221.html .
COMPUTER MICROPROCESSER CHANGED THE WORLD IN 40 YEARS In 1958, Jack Dilby at Texas Instruments created the first integrated circuit with a bunch of transistors on a piece of silicon. In 1971 Intel had a "computer on a chip", the first true microprocessor. Handheld calculators appeared in 1972, bar code scanners in 1974, and the personal computer in 1975. As Edison’s electricity allowed the development of (all electrical) devices such as radio and television, the microprocessor radically changed our electronic world of data, collection, storage, manipulation, and transmission. Microchip processors are found in pets, livestocks, and there are over 120 in an automobile. There are 16 examples of how computer chips apply to existing electronic and mechanical products. "Microprocessors allow electronic products to be smaller yet function faster, more efficiently, and cheaper. Data collection, storage capacity, and transmission speeds increase with more powerful microprocessors. As electricity allowed the development of electrical devices and technology, the microprocessor has solved problems of data storage, manipulation, and transmission. The microprocessor has resulted in a new virtual world of interactive image and data collection, storage, manipulation, and transmission, i.e. the Internet. The New Paradigm, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 1999 Annual Report has a "The New Paradigm" chapter (pages 3-25) which explains the impact of the "The Microprocessor Miracle" on the 20th century American economy. There are 15 pictorial, graphic,and text Exhibits in the pdf version of this 1999 Annual Report at http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/pdfs/anreport/arpt99.pdf which are not in the text version. All Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Annual Reports are found at http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/annual.html .
EARNINGS GAP – MEN AND WOMEN "Earnings Differences Between Women and Men" is the name the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau web page http://www.dol.gov/dol/wb/public/wb_pubs/wagegap2000.htm . With earnings data taken from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the Women’s Bureau has determined that "in virturally all of the occupations for which data is available, women’s median weekly earnings are less than men’s earnings." Since the women’s earnings are a percentage of men’s, the earnings gap is the difference between this percentage ratio and 100 percent. This page's first statistical chart "Stubborn pay gap persists for almost 50 years" provides 1951 to 1999 data, but the wage gap problem of women earning less for equal work goes back further than 1951. Women, blacks, Hispanics, and those with a limited education, like everyone else, chose their profession, so why the problem? "What are the nonoccupational choice factors that affect the earnings gap?" The author used 13 sources for 14 quotes documenting a very interesting history of a problem over 50 years old. There are five charts for earnings by age-group by race, sex, and education and two tables of hourly, weekly, and annual earnings data for men and women in selected occupations for 1979-1999.
June 30, 2001
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0104.html