No. 224 September 2001
STATE STATUS OF SMOKING “CDC has released a new, on-line tobacco information system — The State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stat-nat-data.htm. STATE is the first-ever on-line compilation of state-based tobacco information that combines many different data sources and allows the user to view comprehensive summary information on tobacco use in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The STATE System contains up-to-date and historical data on the prevalence of tobacco use, tobacco control laws, the health impact and costs associated with tobacco use, and tobacco agriculture and manufacturing.” The STATE System home page http://www2.cdc.gov/nccdphp/osh/state/ has four options. First, “About the STATE System” provides more descriptive detail. The second option, “Browse Topics” identifies the available statistics for the five major topics (and subtopics), (A) Behaviors (10), (B) Demographics (1); (C) Economics (3); (D) Health and Consequences and Costs (3); (E) Legislation (16); and (F) Funding (2) for every State and the District of Columbia. The third option, “Reports” provides access to over 20 online state oriented statistical reports, lists, and maps for topics (A), and (C) through (F). The fourth option is a “Help” page. STATE also has a “TIPS” (Tobacco Information and Prevention Source) page http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/index.htm which provides a “Table of Contents” for 14 specialized topics such as “smoking and health database,” “web tool kit,” “celebrities against smoking,” “sports initiatives” and (of course) “related [web] links” for tobacco use information. The “TIPS” sitemap http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sitemap.htm lists the national, state, and local tobacco control information and data.
TIRE
PRESSURE SURVEY On November 1, 2000, Congress passed the Transportation Recall
Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act and Section 12 of
this Act requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to create and install
a tire pressure warning system in new motor vehicles indicating significant
under-inflated tires by November 2003. The recommended tire in American's
vehicles is not adequately monitored nor maintained by their owners. Tire Pressure Special Study: Interview
Data is 4 pages (August 2001, http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2001/809-316.pdf) and the 10 page report Tire Pressure
Special Study Vehicle Observation Data, dated August 2001, (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2001/809-317.pdf
) reflect the concerns and views of the
American public as to proper tire pressure checks, frequency of pressure
checks, and methods used. These NHTSA
tire surveys show why the Pressure Monitoring System whose design and operation
specifications are presented as a Proposed Rule in “Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards: Tire Pressure Monitoring System; Notice of proposed
Rulemaking. Federal Register, V. 66, No. 144, July 26, 2001, pages
38982-39004. The final version of the specification will appear sometime after
September 6, 2001 which is the last day for the public to submit comments. Preliminary
Economic Assessment, Tire Pressure Monitoring System FMVSS No. 138 (July
21, 2001) incorporates the survey findings into an indepth discussion of this
topic (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/tirepressure/ltpwcover.html
).
FAMILY BUDGETS A family's budget is the amounts of money allocated and spent on food (eaten) at home, shelter (i.e. housing) costs, and other components (goods and services) for a one-year period. The measurement of family budgets and budget standards, which date back to the late 19th century, have been used to develop cost-of-living estimates, to assess wage rates, and examine the standard of living. The two methods of budget calculations are (1) the prescriptive method that was used to determine a "standard of health and decency", and (2) the descriptive method that was used to describe consumer spending and to determine cost-of-living. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has used both methods and is well known for its family budget programs and standards (using a prescriptive method) from 1966 to 1981. As of 1982, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stopped calculating and publishing family budgets, but recent family budget information and data still come from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey Data http://www.bls.gov/cex/home.htm. The National Research Council's (NRC) Panel on Poverty has been working with the latest version of the family budget and in 1995 the NRC Panel on Poverty recommended a family budget standard with an emphasis on budget-based poverty threshold. A lengthy and detailed history of the family budget in its various forms and variations is found in "A century of family budgets in the United States" by David S. Johnson, John M. Rogers, and Lucilla Tan in the Monthly Labor Review, V. 124, No. 5, May 2001, pages 28-45 (L 2.6:124/5). There are 56 footnotes from the many sources providing more information on this old topic.
A CHILD IS BORN “Unto us a child is born,” a line from Fredrick Handel’s Messiah seems appropriate for this 2001 birth announcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA). NHSTA announced the birth specifications for its new child. To be delivered as a 12-Month-Old Child Dummy, this child will be part of the NHTSA New Car Crash Test Program Anthropomorphic Family of Test Devices. The formal NHTSA birth announcement “Anthropomorphic Test Devices; 12-Month-Old Child Dummy; Final Rule; Response to Petitions for Reconsideration, Final Rule; response to petitions for reconsideration,” appears in the Federal Register V. 66, No. 169, August 30, 2001, pages 45777-45784. This national announcement identifies the design and performance specifications for this new 12-month-old infant dummy. NHTSA was seeking your comments as to what the infant should look like, but it is too late. The deadline was October 15, 2001 for the submission of comments on the proposed (rule and) specifications. The final version of the specifications became effective October 29, 2001. You did not get your comments in and did not contribute to the final design of this new infant, but if you check the New Car Crash Test Site http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/ maybe you may catch a glimpse of this bouncing baby in a crash test vehicle.
UNRULY PASSENGERS REPORTING As of October 2001 some airlines are inserting a leaflet into the airline ticket jackets issued to passengers. This paper leaflet is entitled: Safety Is Everyone’s Responsibility, and the front of this (paper not electronic) bookmark-sized leaflet says, Unruly behavior will not be tolerated. The leaflet outlines the penalties for unruly passenger behavior and is intended to encourage passengers to report any aviation safety concerns to the gate agent, flight attendants, or flight crew. There is also the aviation safety hotline phone number 1-800-255-1111 on the leaflet. A copy of this yellow two-sided leaflet can be downloaded intact as a PDF file or the text html version, which lacks color and shape, from the FAA web site at http://www.faa.gov/apa/brochure.htm.
DUMMIES SURVIVE THE HUMAN COLLISION Vince and Larry are two National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Dummies who work at the NHTSA "Car Crash Testing Grounds." Vince and Larry conduct and analyze the car crash tests to show anyone who visit their web page what happens when one does not wear seat belts. These dummies have shown that when a car crashes into an object such as a tree, there are three collisions. First, the Car collision, when a car is moving at 30 mph collides into the tree, with damage to the car. In 0.050 seconds (or one-fiftieth of a second) the car stops, crushes, and takes 0.100 seconds (one-tenth of a second) to stop. Without a seatbelt on, when the car stops against the tree, the passenger/driver is still traveling at 30 mph and 0.120 seconds later, hits the car interior. This is the second (i.e. the Human) collision. “In the Car collision, the car takes 1/10 of a second to stop; in the Human collision it takes on 1/100 of a second.” Vince and Larry presented these facts in The Human Collision, How injuries occur…How seat belts prevent them, Second Edition, September 1976 (TD 1.2:H88). Updating the 1976 research, Vince and Larry, in their Safety City Crash Testing Grounds research http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/kids/research/crashtest/index.html, determined there is a third collision, “The Internal Collision”. In that 30 mph car crash, after a human body comes stops against the car’s interior, its internal organs are still moving. When the body impacts, the internal organs slam into each other or the skeletal system. It is this "Internal collision" that causes serious injury or death. Vince and Larry are the test dummies who wear seat belts and “survive” all the crashes. Do you have to be a dummy to wear seat belts and survive a crash?
ENERGY HISTORY –UNITED STATES COLONIAL TIMES TO 2000 Very good tools for energy history education. Historically, the American Colonists first used wood as the primary source of energy. (1) Coal replaced fuel wood as America’s primary source of energy about 1855. In 1951, (2) petroleum surpassed the use of coal as America’s primary source of energy. Later (3) Natural Gas replaced petroleum. (4) Electricity from hydroelectric power appeared in 1890 and from (5) nuclear power in appeared in 1957. Now solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and geothermal technologies represent the latest forms of energy technology. Energy in the United States: 1635-2000 is a Department of Energy web site, which presents a comprehensive view of American energy history and use patterns. The Introduction is followed by a discussion of the traditional five kinds of energy. The discussion of nonrenewable forms of energy is complemented by information about Renewable energy, Environmental energy, and the U. S. energy outlook. (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/eh/intro.html) Complementing this website discussion is 1976 ERDA (Energy Research and Development Agency) 92 x 124 cm wall chart entitled Energy History of the United States 1776-1976 issued in 1975. (ER 1.21: H62). This wall chart provides explanation and details about America’s energy history. This Chart’s content includes names, date, statistics, descriptions, narratives, people (inventors, etc.), places, and energy-related people and inventions. The Chart’s teaching value lies in its many starting points and use. ERDA also provided So What’s New?, A “User’s Manual” to Accompany ERDA’S Wall Chart: Energy History of the United States 1776-1976. Issued in 1975 [i.e. 1976] that is 24 pages of old but useful information. (ERDA 1.21:H62/MANUAL). The Wall Chart and Manual, as depository publications should be found in many Federal Depository Libraries. Since we are in 2001, it would be interesting to look at the Wall Chart’s energy projections in (its) “Projection to Year 2001” to review the accuracy of its 1976 projections.
CYBERCEMETERY FOR DEAD ELECTRONIC FILES The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary links the term cyberspace with “computer network”. Let us assume, for a moment, that cyberspace is (the space) where a computer’s digital data exists. When a computer digital data file is created then saved, it is safely residing on your computer’s hard drive. When you delete the file, from the “trash” and it no longer retrievable, where does it go? It is GONE. There are many files (i.e. electronic publication) created, and puts onto computers that are available to the public by URLs. So where does the file or electronic publication(s) go when the website is closed? The computers may get recycled, the software discarded, but where do the electronic files go? Some go to the Cybercemetery. The University of North Texas Libraries created a “resting place” for the Federally created electronic (publications) files originally found on Federal Agencies web sites. Electronic publications that died when the Federal Agency(ies) and Commission(s) were abolished and their websites shut down. The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations and the National Gambling Impact Study Commission are two of the 13 dead agencies whose electronic publications were moved to the Texas Cybercemetery. An electronic cemetery that allows the continued public visitation and access to these valuable electronic resources. We now have “The Documents Department of the University of North Texas Libraries and the U.S. Government Printing Office, as part of the Federal Depository Library Program, created a partnership to provide permanent public access to the electronic Web sites and publications of many defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions. This collection was named the "Cybercemetery" by early users of the site.” (http://www.library.unt.edu/govinfo/research/research.html). This may be the first of many Cybercemeteries that are an essential part of our world of electronic information resources.
OLD BONES, PEOPLE, AND OTHER THINGS. Archeology and Ethnology are two American activities that have not had the publicity equal to the Boston Tea Party, but are an equal part of American history. To oversimplify, archeology is the science of finding and studying old or ancient fossilized bones (human and otherwise), tools, artifacts, pottery, etc. which have been preserved within the Earth. Ethnology is the study of the race or cultural aspects of the human or prehuman ancestors who were found by the archaeologists. America’s first Archeologists and ethnologists were colonists. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson directed the first controlled excavation of an ancient mound in Virginia, "the first scientific excavation in the history of archaeology" and the 1784-1906 era is the “Beginning of American Archeology” is the first of five historical time periods in “Public Archeology in the United States – A Timeline” http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/timeline/timeline.htm. This 1784 -2000 chronology presents over 200 years of historical names, places, and events that shaped America’s archeological and ethnographical history. The Archeology & Ethnology Sitemap http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/acpmap.htm presents a structured introduction to all of the components of these disciplines. In addition to all the bibliographic sources and internet links found in these pages, the National Archeological Database (NADB) http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/nadb.htm identifies and provides access to information on archaeological activities nationwide. NADB, created by congressional directive, is an expanded bibliographic inventory of approximately 240,000 reports on archaeological planning and investigation, mostly of limited circulation. State, county, worktype, cultural affiliation, keyword, material, year of publication, title, and author searches can query the NADB-Reports. What more can you ask? What ever you want to know can be found at http://www.cr.nps.gov/
December 3, 2001
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0109.html