No. 226 November 2001

CAUSES OF INJURIES CLASSIFICATIONS SYSTEM  The CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) has the task of collecting injury data from the Emergency Departments of America’s hospitals.  The NCIPC collects information about the injuries; their external causes, and circumstances creating a database of data for injury identification and analysis of data. This data is for use by the injury researcher and prevention practitioner.  Traditionally, injury data have been presented using the external cause codes of the International Classification of Diseases, but these external codes do not adequately represent injury data. In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) tested its new International Classification of External Causes of Injuries (ICECI). At the ICECI web page (http://www.iceci.org/csi/iceci.nsf/pages/A1?OpenDocument), the WHO presents this new injury classification and provides links to all related publications. There are also pdf files of the reports of the field test results of the ICECI and the CDC Short Version. The experts tested the first Version of ICECI (ICECI 1.0), and then coded case scenarios, reviewed the codes, and conducted field tests.  The CDC tested the Short Version and made its report (CDC’s Short Version of the ICECI, International Classification of External Causes of Injury, A Pilot Study, Report to the World Health Organization Collaborating Centers on the Classification of Disease, September 2000) available as a pdf file at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/icecibk.pdf. 

SCHOOL DISTRICT MAPS, WHO LIVES THERE?  School administrators have the same question as Mister Rogers:  Who are people in your neighborhood?  School districts have boundaries that change often due to city growth, annexation, district divisions, and district consolidations.  School administrators need current demographic data and a map of that district. In 1994, Congress passed Public Law 103-382 and Section 404 solves this problem. It specifies the content of the social and economic data to be collected, analyzed, cross-tabulated, and reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) in its NCES School District Demographics http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.asp. This page links to  “2000 Census School District Demographics”  (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/c2000.asp) for local school district administrators.  Per the NCES “Resource Timetable,” (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/c2000s.asp) the Census 2000 Summary files 1 and P.L. 94-171 (Redistricting) Data file, do not provide school district geography, but their block data can be aggregated to develop school district summary data.  The Census 2000 School District Special Tabulation is another source of school district summary data. The NCES  “2000 Census School District Maps”  (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/c2000m.asp) is the site for the “Standard Map Viewer” and the “Java Map Viewer”.  This site provides easy-to-use, user-friendly interface to the state, county and school district information and these district maps will show current district boundary changes. For the first time there will be maps for State schools, schools on American Indians Reservations, and schools on military bases. A District data user can start with the  “2000 Census School District Demographics Data Files” at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/c2000d.asp, check for their district(s) profile(s), and download their state(s) data at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/downloadmain.asp.  Anyone interested in 1990 Census and Interregional School District Estimates demographic data will find these files are under  “School District Demographics” on this NCES web site at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.asp.  

LOOKING FOR A GIRL FRIEND?  BOY FRIEND? AVOIDING ONE? How many men and women are there? Where are the most men? and the most women? nationally, regionally, by state, by city?  As of September 2001, you will find April 1, 2000 population data, total number of men and total number of women, and ratio of men to women, for total U.S. and by Census Region, State, District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  The men to women ratio are also given for 10 cities of 100,000 or more with highest and the ten with the lowest ratio of men to women and ratio by age. There is also a United States County thematic map showing the 2000 men to women ratio.  The data for April 1, 2000 is compared to April 1, 1990 and there are summary trends from 1900 in Gender: 2000 issued in September, 2001 as Census 2000 Brief 01-9 available as a 8 page pdf file at http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-9.pdf.  

TITANIC: MOVIE AND THE BOOK  Have you seen the movie? There have been several movies, but most likely you saw the very long (194 minutes) and latest (1997) version staring Leonard DiCaprio and Kate Winslet?  Have you read the original account that came out in April 1912?  When the United States Senate Committee on Commerce investigated the wreck of the White Star Liner “Titanic” in 1912, there were 18 days of Congressional Hearings from April 19th to May 25th, 1912 that interviewed 82 witnesses.   “Titanic” Disaster, Hearings before a Subcommittee on Commerce, United States Senate pursuant to S. RES. 283 directing the Committee on Commerce to Investigate the causes leading to the wreck of the White Star Liner “Titanic” is 1163 pages which include an 11 page subject index.  The Hearings were published as Senate Document No. 762 (62nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1912).  This Senate Committee then issued a report of its findings. Senate Report No. 806 (62nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1912)  “Titanic” Disaster, Report of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate pursuant to S. RES. 283 directing the Committee on Commerce to Investigate the causes leading to the wreck of the White Star Liner “Titanic”, together with speeches thereon by Senator William Alden Smith of Michigan and Senator Isador Rayner of Maryland is 92 pages. Within the Report is Investigation into Loss of S. S. “Titanic”, a 19 page summary report of the circumstances, events, problems, and human errors that contributed to the Titanic’s disaster. This Senate Report also contains 15 lists of names. First is an alphabetical list of the names of the Titanic’s crew.  There are alphabetical lists of the names of the first class passengers, and the first-class survivors.  Lists of the second-class passengers and the second-class survivors rescued.  There also four lists of the third class  (British, Scandinavian, and continental) passengers and another list for the third-class passengers rescued.  Then there are two very long speeches by Senators Smith (pages 67-82) and Rayner (pages 83-92)

CALIFORNIANS DARKNESS There once was a religious television program whose motto was  “ it is better to light one little candle than curse the darkness.” It would be interesting to have heard the Californians’ comments when the lights dimmed and went out during the brownouts and blackouts during their electricity shortages from 1995 to 2000.  With all the media coverage of these events, everyone's knowledge of this these events depends on how much they kept up with the news.  Still, there is one more publication worth reading.  Causes and Lessons of the California Electricity Crisis is a 33-page report published by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in September 2001.   This report opens with a summary of electricity restructuring and chronology of events, 1994-2001, and then presents the details of how and why the structure of the California electric power industry impacted on the its generating capacity from 1995 –2000.  It also discusses the generating capacity of the Western, Mountain, and Pacific regional power companies from which California was buying electricity.  A major portion of this report is devoted to the “Supply Side” and “Demand Side” marketing lessons to be learned from these events for future restructuring of a States electric power production industry.  This CBO publication will be found on the CBO Homepage at http://www.cbo.gov/ along with other interesting CBO publications, and has its own web page at http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=3062&sequence=0&from=7 .  

 COLLEGE CAMPUS CRIME ONLINE Alma Mater is the Latin for “Foster Mother”, a term applied to the post-secondary educational institution that a student attends and from which he/she gets a degree.  How does a prospective college student rate the Foster Mother qualities of the college(s)/university(ies) he or she is considering? To what degree are there “behavioral problems” on a campus and how well will that institution “protect” its students?   What campus(es) will be a safe place (or places) to live and study?  The new U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) has a new web site: http://ope.ed.gov/security." The introduction of the OPE’s page includes OPE Campus Security Statistics Website.  This link is a search engine providing direct access to information about more than 6000 colleges and universities in the United States that can be identified by specific name or instructional program(s) offered.  When considering attending an urban university, a small liberal arts college, a specialized college, or a community college, this site will help potential and currently enrolled college students and their parents research criminal offenses on college campuses.  A search will result in an institution’s “Name and address”.  The “Name” is a link to an information page that includes Name, Address, IPEDS number, (campus) “Security Officer Information, Residence Halls, and Local Crime Statistics”. There are links to “Criminal Offenses”, Hate Offenses, Arrests, and “NCES IPEDS COOL” and “About NCES IPEDS COOL” pages that will provide 1998, 1999, 2000 crime statistics and information and NCES  (National Center for Educational Statistics) IPEDS COOL (College Opportunities On-Line) information.  COOL is the current information about the degrees offered, tuition and fees, books and supplies, and  (on and off-campus) room and board and other expenses at that institution. The information on this web site may help decision making as to what campus is best for you. 

APPLE BITES AND PHRASES The apple of our eye is the apple that has brought the downfall of man, gets polished for the teacher, and keeps the doctor away.  The fruit whose many colors and bites are neither the computer nor an electronic byte. Apple consumption has increased since the 1970s reversing the downward trend of the first half of the 20th century. Fresh apples appeal to people in the Western region of the United States, who eat more than Southerners, while the people of the Northeast Region let the apple industry do the peeling since they prefer processed apples. Most apples are consumed at home, and men generally consume more apples than women.  Apple juice, the largest component of processed apples, was most popular among boys age 2 to 5. The older boys lost their preference for apple juice and so there are more (older) girls than older boys who drink apple juice.  Fresh apple consumption was greatest among the Hispanic consumers and people of other races, while processed apple products were more popular among black, non-Hispanics. In regard to the “truth” of the phrase “As American as apple pie”, the next question is how many Americans like apple pie? This picture of American apple consumption of fresh and processed apples was painted using the data from the USDA’s 1994-96, 1998 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (A 77.40:F73/2000/CD). The “Demographic Profile of Apple Consumption in the United States” by Agnes Perez, Biing-Hwan Lin, and Jane Allshouse is a  “Special Article” in Fruit and Tree Nuts Situation and Outlook FTS-292, September 2001, pages 37-47 is a PDF file at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fts/Sep01/AppleCons.pdf.  This FTS-292 Special article is cited and link found within the new ERS (title) Fruit & Tree Nuts Outlook Newsletter, FTS 293, September 24, 2001. This new ERS Newsletter is a PDF file (http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fts/sep01/fts293.pdf ) on the USDA Economic Research Service web site (http://www.ers.usda.gov).

OLD AND RARE PLANTS "Plant lovers" who grow perennial indoors and/or outdoor plants sometimes have a special plant, which was inherited or just has survived a long time.  Or, if you don't have a green thumb but like domestic and exotic plants of all kinds, the place to visit is The United States Botanic Garden.  Located in the Capitol Building in Washington, D. C., the Botanic Garden has one plant that was donated by an American Admiral Charles Wilkes in 1842, and the Cycad plant is still alive. The Botanic Garden Conservatory, created in 1916, is a 1933 DECCO building that has undergone a 4-year renovation and reopened at 10:00 AM on December 11, 2001. The Conservatory, completely computerized, provides the perfect atmospheric conditions for this 159-year-old plant and some orchids so rare they lack names. This Botanic Garden also houses many plants that were confiscated at airports from international travelers under the CRITES law that controls the international trade in rare plants. The Conservatory is the primary of four facilities of this botanical world.  Bartholdi Park consists of the outdoor fountain, demonstration landscape, and many gardens illustrating many botanical themes and styles.  The National Garden, whose construction began in 1998, is on three acres adjacent to the Conservatory.  The Production Facility, which is the largest greenhouse complex in the United States, is 85,000 square feet under glass, divided into 34 greenhouse bays and 16 environmental zones. This Production Facility, which would be a sight-worth-seeing, is not open to the public. The Botanic Garden that was conceived by its concept and origins back to 1816 has new web site pages are found at http://www.aoc.gov/USBG/usbg_overview.htm.    The Morning Edition News report audiotape of the Botanic Garden’s grand opening can be heard at http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/dec/botanical/011210.botanical.html  

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December 14, 2001

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