No.
235 August 2002
ALL
VITAL RECORDS REQUESTED ONLINE Now you can find, order, and (possibly) pay for a
copy of all your vital records online at a State’s Vital Statistics website. Where
to Write for Vital Records is a source, originally issued in paper by the
National
Center
for Health Statistics
(NCHS) as early as the 1970s. It was one of the lesser-known, but unique sources
of information for anyone needing a copy of an official certificate of birth,
marriage, divorce, and death. If
you are like the character in the movie The Castaway, gone long enough to be
declared legally dead, and divorced
by your wife, you can go online to the appropriate State’s vital records
office and find birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates.
Currently, Where to Write for Vital Records is on a NCHS web site
found at the NCHS Home page http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm#How%20to%20use%20this%20web%20page
. This page contains over 50 links to all the States and
U.S.
territories and there
are some instructions “How to use this Web page” at the bottom.
Links to all the States are in the middle, and for novice users, an
“Application Guidelines” link at the top. This electronic publication
provides an inventory of the oldest to the latest vital records in every State
and Territory. Most birth and
death certificates can be immediately requested by letter or online from a
State’s Vital Records office. However, the information on that same State web
site about official copies of a divorce decree or marriage license may send you
to your the County Court records. It is easy to find and navigate the electronic
world of vital records information to locate and request the needed
certificate(s). Many times a birth
or death certificate can be obtained by a letter, but a copy of a marriage
license or a divorce decree may require a trip to or additional correspondence
with a local county court house. The
records database for each State varies as does the fees for any certificate(s)
obtained.
BETTER
THAN A BRIDAL REGISTRY A bridal registry, maintained by many department stores,
is list of household items
a prospective bride and groom have determined
they would like to have to setup a household. The department store
registry is primarily an inventory of what can be purchased and provides little
positive guidance on setting-up housekeeping.
However, there is something which can provide some positive assistance to
the newlyweds who are seeking advice. “Selection
of Household Equipment” by Helen W. Atwater should be considered an old
stand-by. When considering buying a
house, she advises that one considering a house that will be chosen for
necessity, convenience, and pleasure. Any
household equipment should fit into your particular household conditions as to
needs and space. The goal is to have
a well-furnished comfortable, but not cluttered house.
Also, one should consider the cost and quality of the appliances,
fixtures, and furniture. There are
also advice about the choice of kinds and colors of the woods used in the rooms.
There are even hints about tables and kitchen utensils as well as kitchen
design. Helen W. Atwater, of
the USDA Office of Experiment Stations, who was writing for the prospective
female farm householder of 1914, does have some helpful hints which would apply
today. This little bit of history is found in the Yearbook of the United
States Department of Agriculture 1914, pages 339-362 (A1.10:914).
SOME
PIANO HISTORY Take note, “this year marks the three hundredth anniversary of
the invention of the piano. Over
time, it has been an instrument of culture and conquest.” The piano, a popular
instrument played both manually and with piano rolls, has some lesser known
roles in world history. In 1871, Japanese Prince Iwakura Tomomi led a party of
100 students and government officials to the West to learn about the piano and
Western music to “negotiate revisions of the previously unequal treaties that Japan
had concluded at
gunpoint with the Western powers.” Treaties, which left the Japanese with a
negative image, until Iwakura’s group called “The Iwakura Embassy,”
regained Japan’s positive image by
using the piano to create a cultural link to the West.
After Tomomi’s return to
Japan
in 1873, the Japanese
government began its musical training programs which led to the Tokyo School of
Music’s production of Gluck’s opera Orfeo in 1903. This was the beginning Japan’s acceptance of
western classical music. The piano’s role in Japanese history is described in
Atsuko Hirai’s “Piano Diplomacy” Humanities, the Magazine of the
National Endowment for the Humanities, v. 21, No. 4, July/August 2000 page
25 (NF 3.11:21/4). Hirai’s article is an adaptation of Parakilas’ book about
piano roles in history. Piano
Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life With Pianos by James Parakilas, Yale
University
Press 1999 and Piano 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of People and Pianos,
An Exhibition
at the International Gallery Produced by the National
Museum
of American History
Smithsonian Institution, March 9, 2000
through October 21, 2001. Piano 300 is currently found at http://piano300.si.edu/
.
URBAN AREAS LIST
UPDATE “An urbanized area consists of densely settled territory that contains
50,000 or more people.” 1990
Census Data geography defined an Urban area as a group of specific counties
around a city that contains 50, 00 or more population.
The list of Urban Areas covered the 50 States,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam
, the
Northern Mariana
Islands
, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. The Census Bureau has
reviewed and revised the criteria for urban area status. Due to population
changes, the Census Bureau reviewed each existing Urban area, made several
adjustments, and issued a new list of Urban Areas.
The new Urban Area Criteria found at (Federal Register V. 67, No.
51, March 15, 2002, pages
11663-11670) lists of (1) Urban Clusters and (2) Major Airports evaluated for
inclusion in qualifying urban areas and Urban Clusters. “The 2000 urban
criteria do not include the word city. (1)
An Urbanized area consists of densely settled territory that contains 50,000 or
more people,” (2) “An Urban Cluster consists of densely settled territory
that contains at least 2,500 people, but fewer than 50,000 people,” and (3)
Major airports are airports with an annual enplanement of at least 10,000 people
and adjoin an Urban Area or Cluster Area. In
the “Qualifying Urban Areas for Census 2000, Notice” Federal Register,
v. 67, No. 84, May 1, 2002 pages 21961-29167 (AE 2.106:67/84),
provides a new list of the 453
urbanized areas in the United States, 11 in Puerto Rico, 1 in Guam, and 1 in the
Northern Mariana Islands. There is
also an up-to-date alphabetical list of (all the 453) Urban Areas (Name &
Population total). There is a complete list of the 3,638 qualifying urban areas
at List of Urban Areas, List of Urban Clusters, and List of Major Airports
found through links at the Census 2000 Urban and Rural Classification http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html
web page. This web page provide complete information and discussion of
the Urban Areas, Urban Clusters, and Major Airports geography with links to the
full texts of all lists, Federal Register Notices, including
“corrections notices.”
LIST
PUBLIC HEALTH PESTS Is the squirrel in the tree, the raccoon under your front
porch, or the mouse in your house a pest which might be endangering the health
of your family? How about the noisy
cricket in your garage? You now have
quick access to an answer to these questions? Section 28(d) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act requires the EPA, in coordination
with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Service, and the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture to identify pests of significant public health importance, and
develop programs and methods for the safe chemical, biological, and other
methods of combating and controlling these pests. These agencies are also
required to publish this list of pests which appear as Notices in the Federal
Register. Currently, the lists are announced in the Federal Register as
being available electronically. The
latest Notice, “List of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance; Notice
of Availability, Notice” Federal Register V. 67, No. 176, September 11,
2002 pages 57597-57598 identifies and provides
links to the latest list of public health pests.
The answers are easily retrievable with a computer and internet access.
“PR Notice 2002-1 - Lists of Pests of Significant Public Health Importance,
(32 page PDF file)” is the link to look for on the EPA Office of Pesticides
Programs “Pesticide Registration (PR) Notices” web page
(http://www.epa.gov/opppmsd1/PR_Notices/
).
LIST/KNOWLEDGE
OF GRAPES/WINE LABELS What do you know about Grapes in American wines?
As part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)’s
regulation of the winemaking industry in the
United States
, it regulates the
names of the grapes which are used to make wine. A name identifies a variety of
grape. Every wine bottle label includes the name of the wine and the name of the
grape(s) used in that wine. Did you
know “Thompson Seedless (Sultanina)” was an approved variety name?
Effective November 4, 2002, (“Addition of Tannat as a Grape Variety
Name for American Wines(2001R-207P), Treasury Decision, Final Rule” Federal
Register V. 67, No.171, September 4, 2002, pages 56479-56481 (AE
2.106:67/171) Tannat was added to the “List of approved prime names”, a list
of about 270 names of varieties of grapes. New names must be approved by the
Director of the ATF, and any interested person may petition the Director for the
approval of a grape variety name. Just send a letter and provide evidence of the
criteria specified in Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Part 4.93
Approval of grape variety names. The
Director’s approval will appear as a Treasury Decision, Final Rule in the Federal
Register. Reading all the labels
on American wine bottles is one way to learn the names of the varieties of
grapes. However, the variety name
Norton, had the Alternative name Norton Seedling on the bottle, if the wine was
bottled prior to
January 1, 1997
.
Learning the names of varieties of grapes by reading wine labels also
requires learning Alternative Names. The
use of Alternative Names on the labels also requires ATF regulatory approval.
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Subpart J, - American Grape
Variety Names , Sections 4.91 to 4.93 (AE 2.106/3:27/1-199/2002) provides a list
of all the prime grape names, the alternative names/prime names, and criteria
for getting a new variety name approved and added to the list.
The names of the grape varieties, when added to this List of Names, can
be found under the “ATF, Rules” section of the Federal Register Index.
NEED
HELP WITH A MOVING EDUCATION?? The
moving of household goods from one house to another is quite an experience,
whether within a city, or to another city. No
matter who pays for the move, the trauma of household moving is lessened only by
a moving education. A mover should know what should occur and what may occur,
before, during, and after the actual move. Also,
having commercial movers move your household goods is physically easier than
completing the move by yourself. To
get a moving education and lessen one’s moving trauma, read
A General Services Administration publication entitled: Shipping Your
Household Goods, Employee Guide, revised and issued
2001, (GS 2.2:H 81/2001) is 40 pages of valuable information and detail
for the novice and the experience mover (with a short memory).
However, some of content may not apply to you if you are not a Federal
Employee, as shown by the (Part 1) Entitlements Section.
A moving household education will be found in the other sections which
provide information about Methods of Moving, Planning the move, Making the move,
transporting mobile homes, Claims and complaints, a weight chart of household
goods and furnishings, a personal inventory, and a pre-move survey of household
goods. Even if you are not a federal employee and some of the information does
not apply to you, this is still a very good source of information. It is found
in some Depository Libraries under GS 2.2:H 81/2001. If you have a computer, go
to the GSA Federal Supply Service Household Goods web site (http://www.kc.gsa.gov/fsstt/hhg/
) and click on the “Employee Guide” link to view and download this pdf file
to get a moving education.
Back
to Philip’s page
June 24, 2003
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0208.html