No. 264 January 2005
MILESTONES IN GARBAGE HISTORY The historical timeline of garbage may have started with the food scraps and animal bones the cavemen could not eat followed by some their ‘worn out” clothing.” As man and civilization have developed so has his garbage. Garbage is now known as Solid Waste and includes more than food scraps, bones, and worn out clothing. The current EPA definition of Municipal Solid Waste—more commonly known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries. As documented in Milestones in Garbage: a historical timeline of municipal solid waste 500B.C. to 2002 (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/timeline_alt.htm), solid waste control started in 500 B.C. Athens required the citizens to dispose of their garbage outside the city walls. If you go to British website Waste Online, there is a similar Chronology of Waste from 3000 B.C. to 2003 (and present day) of solid waste management and recycling facts and history for England and Europe (http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/informationsheets/historyofwaste.htm). In 1515, Shakespeare’s father was fined for “depositing filth in a public street,” in 1588 Elizabeth I granted special privileges for the collection of rags for papermaking, and in 1848 the British government passed the Public Health Act which began the process of waste regulation. The facts show a slow development of solid waste control history in the United States. In Washington, D.C. in the 1860s, people were still dumping garbage and slop in the streets, while pigs, rats, and cockroaches flourished. The history of solid waste control and recycling is part of the world’s history of garbage which consists of a series of innovations, laws, and waste disposal policies found in a both Europe and America. Each has its own chronology.
GEOLOGY’S NEW TRASHIC ERA Geology is a scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the Earth. Per the Geologic Time Scale, we are in the Holocene Period; however, it seems we are entering what could be called a new Trashic Era. David Taylor, “Talking Trash: the Economic and Environmental Issues of Landfills” Environmental Health Perspective, V. 107, No. 8 August, 1999 pages A404-A409, discusses “Trash Mountain” which is one of solid waste landfills in Pennsylvania. Trash Mountain is one of the 1,858 landfills found in the United States in 2001, and the number grows annually. The Earth is getting covered with trash and we are full or getting full of solid wastes. There are 13 EPA Solid wastes Commodity categories which include anything one throws away…from Aluminum to food scraps to yard wastes. Of America’s trash, some items are recycled, some burned, and some just buried. What's the composition of the landfill near you? In your state?, In the United States? You can get more information about the “Geology of Trash Mountain(s)” by going to the EPA Solid Waste Basic Facts (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm ). There are links to other web pages the Commodities, State Landfill(s) information, and the 1960 through 2001 data. Municipal Solid Waste in the United States 2001Facts and Figures presents cumulative data for the years 1960 to 2001. This is the latest edition (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/msw99.htm) also provides access to each annual Update volume. The EPA has provided all the field data, graphs, and charts for Earth’s new geological “trash” structures and formations, but does not provide specimens. The Solid Waste geologist must do the fieldwork.
ELECTRONIC PASSPORT PROPOSED The American public has 45 days as of February 18, 2005 to input comments or suggestions to the Department of State on the form and content of the propose Electronic passport. The new passport will be a more sophisticated version using an imbedded electronic chip to digitally carry the information printed on the data page. It will also include a biometric version of the bearer’s photo, and coding to prevent any digital data from being altered or removed. If the electronic passport is developed as planned, the first electronic passport is to be issued in mid-2005. When all the passport issuing agencies have the technology, all only electronic passports will be issued. It is expected that within a year, all passport issuing agencies will have this technology and then issue only electronic passports. Traditional passports will be valid until they normally expire or are individually invalidated. Of the three biometric identifiers available, facial image, fingerprints, and iris scan, the facial image was selected to be put into the electronic chip. The Proposed Rule for the electronic passport the border inspector would compare the facial image stored on the electronic chip to the passport bearer. The facial image is the first biometric identifier and first step in U.S. passport system technology. Later passport developments include the use of fingerprints and iris scans as possible biometric recognition tools. “Electronic Passport, Proposed Rule,” Federal Register, V. 70, No. 33, February 18, 2005, pages 8305-8309 (AE 2.106:70/33). The link to this proposed regulation and the all the latest information about Electronic Passports are found at the U.S. Electronic Passport website (http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/eppt_2498.html).
BACTERIA CELLS In the 1600s, Antony van Leeuwenhoek used the microscope to discover, i.e. view for the first time, bacteria. Bacteria cells, which have been studied by microbiologists since then have now made another major advance. Now, U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and colleagues from three universities have found a new way to study each living bacterial cells and their chemistry using high-energy X-ray fluorescence technology. Scientists now have the spatial resolution technology to analyze individual bacterial cells noninvasively and nondestructively. This technology can observe and measure these single free-floating, or planktonic, and surface-adhered, or biofilm, cells of Pseudomonas fluorescens mapping and chemical analysis. Ultimately their study of the contents of cells changing from the planktonic state to the biofilm state will enable them to determine whether a bacterial cell is living or dead. “New method studies living cells” is a brief but informative article found in “New method studies living bacteria cells,” Argonne News, October 22, 2004, found at the Argonne Media Center web page http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2004/news10222004.html. The full discussion of this research in found in the October 22, 2004 issue of Science which may be found in your local academic library.
THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN: SOME INDICATORS How well-off are America’s children? The socio-economic quality of life of America’s children is presented in terms of national indicators of annual data which go back to 1997. The seventh report, America’s Children: Key Indicators of Well-Being 2003, (July 2003) has been expanded to cover 25 national indicators. The annual issues are arranged in five major categories: (1) Population and Family Characteristics, (2) Economic Security, (4) Behavior and Social Environment, (5) two Education. On page of The “Summary List of Selected Measures and Indicators of Child Well-Being” lists Indicators/Measures five (as of 2003) Population and Family Characteristics, five Economic Security Indicators, nine Health Indicators, four Behavior and Social Environment Indicators, and seven Education Indicators/Measures and cites the year(s) in which data is included. America’s Children 1997 to current issue are all available on the Federal Interagency Form on Child and Family Statistics website at http://childstats.gov or America’s Children in Brief 2004, a condensed version was issued in July 2004, and will alternate with the full edition will reappear in July 2005. For the well-being of the physical side of children, America’s Children and the Environment: A First View of Available Measures (http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS15270) issued in December 2000 is a very good source of information, but America’s Children and Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses, Second edition (http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS31397) issued February 2003 is a more comprehensive edition . This edition covers such Environmental Measures as (1) five Environmental Contaminants, (2) three Body Burdens (Lead, Mercury, Continine), (3) three Childhood Diseases, (4) two Emerging Issues (mercury and AD/HD), and (5) three Special Features (lead, pesticide use, birth defects). The discussion under “Future Directions” on pages 119-124, presents the how and why of the future expansion and updating of the data found in this edition.
VEHICLE HEADLIGHT GLARE Many of the new cars, trucks, and SUVs are well designed and equipped for night driving with high mounted lights, fog lights, auxiliary, and high intensity discharge (HID) lights (blue head lights). The HID lights have a bluer spectral content, a wider beam pattern, and can have a smaller luminous area. The vehicles equipped with numerous headlights have a higher level of light intensity enabling the driver to see on the highway during very dark nights. Yet, this new level of light intensity causes adverse and blinding effects on other drivers of oncoming vehicles or those approaching from behind. Since September 1, 2001, about 4,000 people have sent critical comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about headlight glare, so NTSHA surveyed American drivers and collected data about both types of glare. The drivers surveyed were asked if they were “disturbed” by either type of nighttime glare and to what degree they were disturbed. The survey results were analyzed in terms of gender and age, with men and women in age groups 35-44 and 75 and above. The women aged 35-44 were shown as the group most bothered by glare and found it disturbing. This survey revealed the problems of headlight glare and respondents varied reactions, the report documents the need for a balance of headlight intensity with the resulting glare problem. The car designers and regulators have the challenge of achieving that balance through further research into the hazards and remedies for the glare problem. Drivers’ Perceptions of Headlight Glare from Oncoming and Following Vehicles, by Santokh Singh and Mike Perel, issued as NHTSA Report DOT HS 809 669 on January 2004 is a 16 page PDF file found at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rpts/2003/809-669/images/GLARE_PERCEP.pdf
HOURS WORKED 1950-2000 How have the work patterns of what Americans changed since 1950? What were the social characteristics of the labor force and unemployed in 1950? What single and married, at what age(s) were men working? How many hours? What about the single and married, at what age(s) were women working? How many hours? How many of each type of worker were not working in 1950? What weekly hours worked pattern of Americans by sex, age, and marital status, from 1950 to 2000? Based on the employment and hours worked data provided by Americans in the Census of Population for 1950 through 2000, Ellen R. McGratten and Richard Rogerson “Changes in Hours Worked Since 1950,” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – Quarterly Review, V. 22, No. 1 Winter 1998, (http://minneapolisfed.org/research/qr/qr2211.html ) described and analyzed the composition of the American Labor Force from 1950 to 2000. For a fifty year period, the authors tracked the number of hours worked, and the status individuals reporting those hours. To quoted the authors: “we have demonstrated that there are large reallocations of hours from males to females, from older to younger people, and from single-person households to married-person households. It seems the lessening wage gaps and household technological developments enable women to work outside the home. Contraception and family planning have enabled women to go into medical, legal, or other professions. Also the number of older workers is decreasing due to increasing social security benefits, and more single-person households have changed to married-family household.” The socio-demographic structure of the hourly workforce has changed and McGratten and Rogerson show why. What they didn’t discuss is that the American labor force works more hours than many of our European counterparts.
LANGUAGES IN THE UNITED STATES Per the information in the 2000 Census of Population, there are 322 languages spoken in the United States. A study has shown that the 207 is the (greatest) number of languages spoken by the people of California and Wyoming residents reflect only 59 languages. Many Languages, One America is lengthy unpaged research report published by the U.S. English Institute in 2005. This volume has an “About this Report” introduction to its five sections. The “Disclaimer” section tells us that there are 281,421,906 Americans who speak 321 languages (other than English). For discussion purposes Washington, D.C. is considered a 51 State and for comparison purposes the 3,141 divisions of all States have been term “counties.” There is language usage data for the Nation, States, Counties, and MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas). There are Nationwide Facts, State-by-State Facts, County-by-County Facts, Metropolitan Facts and Language Specific Facts. There are Language usage lists, state rankings, and county rankings for languages. There are also lists of languages, states, counties, and metropolitan areas where you can (lookup i.e.) search for data for a specific (i.e. your choice of any) state, county, metropolitan area, or language. There is separate Search option where you can sort and display the data by either geographic region or language. This U.S. English Foundation report is found on its website (http://www.usefoundation.org/foundation/research/lia/) and is prefaced by its Press Release Linguistic Diversity Underscores Importance of A Common Language
(http://www.us-english.org/inc/news/preleases/viewRelease.asp?ID=153).
March 30, 2006
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0501.htm1