No.
233 June, 2002 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Almost everyone knows that a
message in a bottle is a means of communication for people stranded on a desert
island. It is the
subject of a novel by Nicholas Sparks and the 1999 movie A Message in a
Bottle. But how much do you
know about bottles and other floatables/pollutants in our oceans?
Some of them eventually wash-up on shore, some travel from continent to
continent, and some go in a circle and end up home. What about the people who collect and study the floatables/pollutants?
Did you ever hear of Curtis Ebbesmeyer?
Ebbesmeyer is a scientist who studies ocean currents by studying the
movement of random junk. His work
began by studying the movement of icebergs and oil spills, but now he tracks the
movement of almost anything that floats in the oceans.
Though his first love is garbage, he has tracked and studied the movement
of toxic waste containers, toys, light bulbs, bales of rubber and marijuana,
computer monitors, bottles with messages, and fishing nets and traps, to name a
few. On May 27, 1990, a
Korean ship was hit by a storm and twenty-one very large cargo containers were
swept off deck, five of which contained 80,000 Nike shoes.
Four of the five containers opened, spilling 61,280 shoes into the sea.
Ebbesmeyer’s observations and studies have provided new insights into the
ocean currents and why they move as they do. He has provided insights on a
variety of ocean floatables including the Nike shoes by determining what will
float, how far they will go, how long they might take to reach a destination,
and whether they will go full circle and return. Ebbesmeyer and a colleague have
a computer model of the Pacific surface currents they use to simulate how the
Nike shoes would flow during different years’ weather conditions.
“Message in a Bottle, By Studying Objects Cast Up on Our Shores,
Researcher Curtis Ebbesmeyer Traces the Flow of Ocean Currents” by Kevin
Krajick is found in the Smithsonian
Magazine, V. 32, No. 4, July 2001 pages 36-47 and Mariners Weather Log,
V. 45, No. 3, December 2001 pages 8-17. The
Mariners Weather Log issue is a pdf file at its web page
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/mwl/mwl.htm.
AIRLINES
PASSENER CARRY ON RULES Planning a
trip? Flying to California stay for a while with friends and play golf with your
new golf clubs? You can take your
clubs, but not into the cabin. You have to put them into the luggage
compartment. The gifts, i.e.
scissors, a new pool cue (stick), cricket bat, and autographed baseball bats)
also have to go into the luggage compartment. They are among the list of about
70 items that the Transportation Security Administration prohibits from going
into the passenger cabin. Some of these 70 items, prohibited from the cabin have
to be declared at the ticket counter in order to be carried in the luggage
compartment. Some items such as
explosives and road flares are not allowed in air transportation.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which oversees air
transportation safety and air travel guidelines has a website for the air
traveler’s “Do’s and Don’ts” http://www.tsa.dot.gov/workingwithtsa/travel.shtm.
The TSA provides a list of 10 “Do’s” and 3 “Don’ts”.
The 10 “Do’s” list includes links to “Guidelines for what you can
take in your Carry-on Luggage”, “Traveling with Children”, and “More
information for Persons with Disabilities or Special Needs”. The 3
“Don’ts” list has a link to the full list of items that cannot be taken
into the passenger cabin. Violations
of the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” can result in delays, and possibly, a
fine and prison sentence PER VIOLATION. RELIGIOUS
DATA & CENSUS BUREAU The November 1998 issue of this newsletter carried an
article entitled “RELIGIOUS BODIES” identifying the major Census historical
statistical publications. However, that article lacks some of the historical
background of these Census Bureau publications.
The four major religious compilations, Religious Bodies, 1906, 1916,
1926, and 1936 were compiled from questionnaires sent to religious
organizations. The Census Bureau did collect religious data during the 1850,
1860, and 1870 Census. Religious
data collected for 1880 was not published. In 1890, and later all Census issued
religious statistical data came from religious organizations through a
questionnaire. Religious statistics that appear in the Statistical
Abstract of the United States (C 3.134:) do NOT come from the Census Bureau.
The Statistical Abstract, prior to 1946, cited and used
information from the Census Bureau’s Religious Bodies volumes, and as of 1946,
from the Yearbook of American Churches published
by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Currently,
the Yearbook is still the source(s) cited. The 2000 Statistical
Abstract, which has a Religious web page
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/religion.htm
,
that links to Tables 74,75, and 76 which are in pdf files. This Census page also
states that a 1976 law (PL 94-521) does not allow the Census Bureau to ask
religious census questions. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001,
Tables 65, 66, and 67 give later data taken from other Religious sources on
pages 55 and 56 found in the paper edition (C 3.134:2001) and in the pdf file
found at
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/stat-ab01.html
HOMELESS
1990-2000 During the night of March 20-21, 1990 (S-Night) Census takers went
into the streets of America’s cities to take a count of the homeless people
who were living in emergency shelters and who were living on the streets.
Recounting a landmark in Census operations, on April 12, 1991 the Census Bureau
issued Press Release CB91-117. Census Bureau Releases 1990 Decennial Counts
for Persons Enumerated in Emergency Shelters and Observed on Streets (C
3.132/8:91-117) is a 12-page press release. The first two pages announces the
1990 Homeless Count and the later 10 pages, Factsheet for 1990 Decennial
Counts of Persons in Emergency Shelters for the Homeless and Visible in the
Streets, contains narrative information that includes five pages of state
and city data for all the cities visited by the Census workers.
The state and city data for the 178,828 people in emergency shelters and
the 49,793 people on the streets is found in Summary Tape File 1-A (STF1-A)
CD-ROMS. STF 1-A data with
age, race, sex characteristics is also found in the appropriate tables of the
(paper) 1990 Census of
Population, General Population Characteristics the 53 volume Series (C
3.223/6:990-CP-1- (No.) covering every state.
It is July 2002 and now the 2000 Census data is available for the
homeless. Population in Emergency and Transitional Shelters, (PHC-T-12)
dated October 30, 2001 carries the count of the one-day shelter enumeration held
on March 27, 2000. This table covers population in all states, and in census
tracts and counties with 100 or more homeless persons. Emergency and
Transitional Shelter Population: 2000, issued in October 2001, is 17 pages
of additional geographic and social characteristics of the homeless for 2000.
These titles in varied formats are found at the Census Bureau Special
Reports web site at
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html.
WEALTHY:
WHO ARE THEY? An easy, up-to-date
source is Forbes Magazine which has various
issues with annual items of information about the wealthy and the richest
people. The articles will center on the 100, 400, or some other slightly lesser
or larger number. Yet, does
this account of wealth and the wealthy adequately reflect the number and
characteristics of wealthholders of the United States population of 287,592,414
people (counted at 7/22/02 at 7:14 P.M.)? There
exists a more detailed mid 1990s picture of wealthholders and wealth
distribution in the United States. Did you know? Homes Account for 44 Percent
of All Wealth: Findings from the SIPP, 1995, issued May 2001, is 4 pages of
household assets data issued as Current Population Reports, Household Economic
Studies No. P70-75 (C 3.186:P-70/2/2No. 75). The Wealth of U.S. Families: Analysis of
Recent Census Data, dated November 10, 1999, is a 46-page Census Working
Paper No. 233 found as a pdf file (http://www.census.gov/dusd/MAB/wp233.pdf).
Household Net Worth and Asset Ownership: 1995 issued February 2001 is 20
pages of data found as Household Economic Studies No. P70-71 (C
3.186:P-70/2/71). Home Equity,
Wealth, and Financial Assets of U.S. Households in 1995, by Joseph M.
Anderson is a 262-paged 2000 Census Bureau Working Paper No. 237 that available
as a pdf file
(http://www.census.gov/dusd/MAB/wp237.pdf).
Both Working papers are on the Census Bureau Work Paper web page at http://www.census.gov/dusd/MAB/sipp~1.html.
All these titles reflect the data and information found in the Census Bureau’s
annual Survey of Income and Program Participation database. The Current
Population Reports are listed by number and available from the Census Bureau’s
web page
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/popula.html#pophhes.
SUPREME
COURT & MUSHROOM RECIPES: A LEGAL “FIRST”?? After Congress passed the
Mushroom Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act that mandates that
fresh mushroom handlers pay assessments that are used primarily to fund
advertisements promoting mushroom sales. The
United Foods Corporation that handles mushrooms did not want to pay the
assessments. The Secretary of Agriculture took the United Food Company to court
to enforce the law and the case ultimately appeared on the Docket of the U. S.
Supreme Court, which decided the case and resolved the problem.
As part of the Court’s decision, Justice J. Breyer wrote a dissenting
opinion that included an appendix: Let Your Love Mushroom, a two-page
brochure list of mushroom recipes issued by the Mushroom Council of Roseville
California. The Supreme Court’s
decision, UNITED STATES ET AL V. UNITED FOODS, INC, October Term 2000, Slip
Opinion, R-81, Docket No. 00-276, Argued April 17, 2001-Decided June 25, 2001
has been issued as Preliminary Print (JU 6.8/a: 533/pt. 2) and the Appendix is
found on pages 430-431. The online
version of this Decision can be found at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/00slipopinion.html
as a 32 page Opinion in a pdf file. The
mushroom recipes are found on pages 31-32. This inclusion of a list of mushroom
recipes in this Supreme Court Opinion opens up the question, how many previous
Supreme Court Justices have included similar consumer information in their
written opinions? If it is possible that similar information exists in earlier
Supreme Court decisions, this is worth some research. NURSES
I heard there was a shortage of nurses. Who are the licensed registered nurses?
How many are there? Where are they? In
March 2000 over 35,000 registered nurses received a copy of that profession’s
quadrennial survey form and about 49 percent of the nurses returned a completed
form. The results of this survey have been compiled and published as The
Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the National Sample Survey of
Registered Nurses – March 2000. Issued
by the U.S. Health Resources and
Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions Division of Nursing on
February 22, 2002, this 126-page report covers most anything you might want to
know about nurses and nursing. The narrative information is accompanied by 24
charts, 48 detailed tables, the methodology of the survey, 4 tables, and a
sample survey questionnaire. The questionnaire shows what questions were asked,
and what questions were not asked (since the latter are not there in the
questionnaire). Age, race, and sex
will reveal the number of Hispanic male nurses, and you can find out how many
male nurses have a doctoral degree, and how many women are advanced practice
nurses. Education level, as well as
earnings information, and how many are not employed in nursing positions will
also help tell you something about the current status of the nursing profession.
You will find the online version of the 2000 Report at http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurvey/rnss1.htm.
Under “Data & Reports on the Bureau of Health Professions, Nurses
web page http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/
there are links to the earlier reports for 1992, and the 1996 for anyone
interest in that data and/or comparative information. VALUE
OF A (WORK) LIFE How much are you, or I, or is anyone worth in terms of
work-life earnings? Determining the
just economic compensation for the loss of someone who has died or is
permanently disabled is not difficult. If you consider educational level,
current occupation, and current wage, there are work-life tables that will tell
you how much the deceased or disabled would have earned during their work
lifetime. The July 18, 2002 Census Bureau Press Release at
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-95.html
announces the latest information on the estimated value of someone’s work-live
value. The Big Payoff:
Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings. A July
2002 Census report illustrates the “economic value of an education…and
explores the relationship between educational attainment and earnings.
The synthetic work-life estimates are thus based on 1997-1999 earnings
data and are shown in terms of ‘present value’ (constant 1999 dollars).”
As The Big Payoff shows, some occupations yield very big lifetime earnings.
If you had a choice, what’s the “best” occupation for you? How much
money do you want to earn? Lifetime
earnings depend on your education and Technical Degrees Worth More, U.S.
Census Bureau Reports
(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-66.html)
correlates earning(s) levels with education level(s). What’s It Worth? Field of Training and
Economic Status: 1996 (Current
Population Report, Household Economic Studies P70-72) issued April 2001 a pdf
file at
http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p70-72.pdf
provides more current information and details. August
7, 2002 http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0206.html