No. 260 September 2004
WOMEN IN CONGRESS VOTING 1917 -1920 Jeanette Rankin who was the first woman to serve in Congress, was elected as Congressional Representative from Montana on November 9, 1916. Her election is somewhat of a milestone in the history of a woman’s right to vote, in contrast to Susan B. Anthony who was arrested for illegally voting for a Presidential candidate in 1872. From 1890, Wyoming led the way giving women the right to vote, and by 1916, women could vote in seventeen states. Women did not get the national right to vote until August 26, 1920 with the States ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Was it the case that women in Congress could vote, but could not vote in the Presidential election? In 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first woman Senator even though; she was appointed and served for only one day. From 1917 to 2004, 219 women have served in Congress. There were 186 women in the House of Representatives, 26 in the Senate, and 7 women have served in both houses. Holding the longevity record is Edith Nourse Rogers who served 35 years in the House. Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve in the House and in the Senate for a total of 33 years. The tally for minorities includes twenty-three black, seven Hispanic, and two Asian women who have served in the House. All these women are listed in Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2004. This March 2004, Congressional Research Service volume lists them alphabetically by name, by congress, and by state including details about committee assignments, dates of service, and district number information. This volume, found on a Senate website (http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30261.pdf) should be updated with the new women elected in 2004 to the 109th Congress.
QUARTERLY SERVICES SURVEY (QSS) –NEW ECONOMIC INDICATOR PREMIERES Economists have a new economic indicator provided by the Census Bureau to measure and then discuss America’s economic activity and growth in the Service Sector. The Service Industry which accounts for about 55 percent of the nation’s activities was covered by the Census’ Quadrennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey, but the Service Industry sector of our economy has been without an Economic Indicator. This new indicator will supplement the Economic Census and the Annual Survey, and also fill the gap within the Census Bureau’s other Economic Indicators. The QSS home page provides links to the Related Programs Links (i.e. publications) such as the Economic Census and Annual Survey series; and to the Economic Indicators page of the current 15 Census Bureau Economic Indicators. The QSS now includes NAICS Sectors: “Information(51); Professional, Scientific and Technical services(54); and Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (56). In 2005 QSS will expand to include Hospitals and Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (622 and 623). On September 13, 2004 at 10:00 A.M. the first QSS data will debut with the release of the data for the 4th quarter of calendar year 2003 and the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2004. Whether you were surprised or not by the debut of the QSS and you want to know more, the Census Bureau has a website for the QSS (http://www.census.gov/indicator/qss/QSS.html) where one can learn more about this economic instrument.
HOW TO FLY AN AIRPLANE You can learn to drive a car from a parent, high school driver training, or a professional driving school. It is relatively easy. Most people are satisfied driving a car, but some individuals want to fly an airplane. However, learning to fly a plane is not as easy as learning to drive a car. There are many people who have the time, money, physical abilities and aptitudes, and do find a pilot training school and learn how to fly. There are people who would like to fly, but get dizzy when they get to top of their step ladder. Their real interest is the theory of flying. What does the pilot do and experience when flying an airplane? What are the parts of a plane and how do they work? What do they do? How does one take-off and land? How do you fly an airplane? One of the best and most authoritative sources which answers all these questions is the Airplane Flying Handbook, 2004 (about 200 pages) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Standards Service. As it says in the introduction, “the Airplane Flying Handbook is designed as a technical manual to introduce basic pilot skills and knowledge that are essential for piloting airplanes.” As FAA handbook FAA-H-8083-3A, this volume is for sale from the Superintendent of Documents and can be purchased from the online GPO Bookstore. At U.S. Government Online Bookstore (http://bookstore.gpo.gov/) type “Airplane Flying Handbook” in the search window and the book costs $44.00 (U.S. price). This volume is in some libraries under TD 4.8/2:8083-3A and in the FAA Flight Standards Service Aviation Information Website. In the advanced search engine (http://av-info.faa.gov/srchAdvanced.asp) , if you select the “Training Handbooks” and search “Airplane Flying Handbook”, you will find this volume in seven PDF files. The FAA Standards Service Aviation Information Website Home page (http://av-info.faa.gov) is the BEST location to identify all the FAA Aviation Education publications any future pilot would need to learn about.
22,000 FIRE DEPARTMENT DALMATIANS Did you ever visit a fire station? Did you ever tour one? What did you see? If the building had a second floor sleeping quarters, did you get to slide down the pole? Did the station have a Dalmatian mascot dog? In 1998 the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) called for the development of a Fire Department Census and from 2001 to March 2004, 22,000 of America’s fire departments responded to the FEMA request to voluntarily register specific data and information to the National Fire Department Census. This national database will be used to conduct special studies of America’s fire departments. It currently provides a directory of registered fire departments and includes address, department type, web site, and number of stations. This directory information is now available but other data to be released only in a summary format includes a department’s population and geographic area protected, its number of personnel and its specialized services. Currently, the USFA National Fire Department Census Database (http://www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/census/) includes information about 22,867 fire departments. At this site you can find your local fire station and produce a list of the fire stations in your city and state. For example, there is a list of all the Fire Departments in the State of Kentucky and the basic information for each which can be downloaded as a text file. However, this web access did not reveal any information about Dalmatians, one has to visit the fire departments to learn about Dalmatians. The National Fire Department Census, issued in March 2004 by FEMA, (HS 5.202:C 33) is the brochure which provides basic information about this new Census.
TERRORISTS (LIST) IN THE NEWS Since September 11, 2003 when the Al Qaeda terrorists destroyed the Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, there has been one or more terrorist groups which have been in one or more of the media news broadcasts almost daily. There are terrorists groups such as the Basques in Spain, FARC in Columbia, and IRA in Ireland whose activities are usually limited to a specific country. One of Al Qaeda’s goals is to bring terrorist activities to America or to the American citizens who are overseas. The United States military base(s) and embassy in any foreign country could be the American target of the terrorist group(s) in that country. Terrorism and terrorists’ actual and potential threats to the United States and Americans abroad are such a concern to Congress that the Secretary of State has designated as “Foreign Terrorists Organizations” a List of 36 terrorist groups. The 36 are listed by full name, followed by popular name or acronym such as Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path or SL). Foreign Terrorist Organizations, issued February 6, 2004, is the latest edition of a biennially revised publication found as a PDF file at (http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/29722.pdf) on the State Department Foreign Press Center webpage (http://fpc.state.gov/c4564.htm). This 111 page publication identifies each of these organizations. Information for each group includes official name (or names), goals and objective, a brief history, its favorite tactics, anti-American activities, primary geographic area of operation, strength and composition, connections to other groups, state supporters and other sources of funding, date it was designated as a foreign terrorist organization, date of latest designation, issues of congressional concern , and a bibliography of sources of information. Patterns of Global Terrorism issued by the Department of State is a companion volume which reports what the terrorists groups do each year
AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY DATA In February 2002 issue of the Monthly Labor Review V. 125, No. 2, pages 34-44, (http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2002/02/contents.htm) Lisa K. Schwartz’s “The American Time Use Survey: Cognitive Pretesting” gave us a preview of what was to come. The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) has been completed and the data is available. For the first time, this annual survey has measured (1) Work (by Employed People), (2) the Household Activities (by the Entire population), (3) Care of Household children (by Adults in Households with children), and (4) Leisure Activities (by the Entire Population). Now there is data about the amount of time people spend on activities such as paid work, volunteering, child care, commuting, reading, playing video games, reading, playing sports, having parties, going to soccer games. The 2003 data by age, race, sex, ethnicity, and educational attainment present how time use by the aged, the young, men, and women. The first of ten tables of information provides time use data for “The Average Day” of most Americans. The TIME-USE SURVEY—FIRST RESULTS ANNOUNCED BY BLS is the title of the 20 page BLS Press Release found in both HTML and PDF formats. This press release consists of four pages of Introductory Explanation followed by four pages of Technical Notes, which prepare the reader for 10 tables of data. The Table No. 1, “The Average Day” summarizes what America’s time use of the average day. Page 4 of the Introduction promises of annual updates to this 2003 data and states that Future ATUS estimates. This and more related information and publications are found on the ATUS web site http://www.bls.gov/tus/ .
DOT KIDS & THE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA At home, many of the kids of the 1950s viewed, and were educated by national programs such as Miss Frances’ Ding Dong School, and Captain Kangaroo. In the 1960s, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers Neighborhood became national standards. It would be interesting to know how much television was used in the public schools, but that is another issue. Let’s jump ahead about forty years to the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Kids.us Forum: Developing a Safe Place on the Internet for Children ( http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2004/kidsusforum_06042004.htm ). NTIA’s 2002 Report, A Nation’s Online: How Americans are Expanding Their Use of the Internet (http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17442) the Executive Summary
(http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17443) tells us that 95% of kids ages of 5 and 17 and 65% of kids 10-13 use the Internet.” Many children who watch the Disney Channel Television Programs go to Playhouse Disney online ( http://disney.go.com/playhouse/today/index.html ) which allows viewing and interaction with the website Disney characters. To protect children and to promote and develop the educational qualities of the internet, Congress has past the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 (DOT KIDS Act is Public Law 107-317, United States Statutes at Large, V. 116, pages 2766-2771). A special Internet domain for children. “The Dot Kids Act required the creation of a .kids Internet domain within the .us domain establishing “kids.us”. NTIA’s NeuStar. Inc. is mandated to establish a kids.us domain and to monitor the kids.us sites as to their content. All web sites with and in the kids.us domain must be safe for children. Welcome to kids.us – Play, Learn, and Surf… (http://www.kids.us/) is the homepage for the NeuStar’s KIDS.us, Play, Learn, Sur, etc. There are 8 major topical sections which provide links to related websites. The For Parents links include: “About kids.us,” “Activities Content,” “Report a Violation,” and the Updates link is “Important Notice for Parents.” The PBS Television Childrens Programs are listed and have two websites (http://pbskids.kids.us/ ) and (http://pbskids.org/). These sites link to Arthur, Barney, Teletubies, and others for a total of 27 childrens programs. The United States government has its FirstGov for Kids (http://firstgov.kids.us/ ) portal includes 19 topical links to federal agencies’ pages and one to States Governments web page.
December 19, 2004
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0409.html