Dollars & Sense articles from May 2001

Dollars & Sense archives from May 2001

letters.
May 1, 2001... STRATEGIC ALLIANCES Jennifer Berkshire's "Active Culture" piece ("Storming the Universite," D&S January/February 2001) on the activities of students and farmers in ATTAC [Association for Taxation of Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens]...

HERE'S TO OUR HEALTH.(health care)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... In recent years, we've been hearing a lot about personal responsibility and individual choice. If you don't have a job, it's because you haven't tried hard enough to find one, or don't understand the proper way to dress. If you don't have...

An "F" for Summers.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, the newly appointed president of Harvard University, got quite a welcome from students and faculty, according to the March 13, 2001, Boston Globe. About 200 people turned out for a Harvard Yard rally...

For the Man Who Has Everything.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... We don't know whether George W. Bush had a good President's Day, but Planned Parenthood certainly did, thanks to Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison. Morrison suggested that readers make President's Day donations to the group, and to make...

The Grass is Always Greener.(an ex-convicts resume)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... When Brian O'Dea went back on the job market for the first time in 10 years, he boasted some impressive qualifications, having "co-owned and participated in the executive level management of 120 people world-wide" in a "venture with revenues in...

Morally Bankrupt.(bill to repeal bankrupcy protections against credit-card debt)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... A recent study shows that nearly half the people who fall into personal bankruptcy are actually pushed in by major ill nesses and medical bills. If people are going bankrupt due to their doctors' bills, however, that's no reason for the...

Steal This Hour!(Review)
May 1, 2001... Automated Interiors, Inc., a Worcester, Massachusetts, company that offers video surveillance and other security equipment, recently published a pamphlet entitled 55 Ways to Steal Your Boss Blind! An Employee's Guide to Riches. Intended for...

Help Yourself.(George W. Bush and his cabite benefit from reduction in estate tax and income tax)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... When George W. Bush trotted out a bunch of "middle-class" taxpayers as poster children for his tax-cut program, a reporter asked him who was there to represent the plan's wealthy beneficiaries. Bush wisecracked, "I'm representing [them]. I got...

On the Gravy Train.(soft money for Senate campaigns)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... After years of getting trounced in the soft-money sweepstakes, the Democrats finally bested the GOP -- at least for Senate campaigns -- during the last election cycle. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $50 million, compared to...

Six-legged Snack.(chocolate-coated insects)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Take 5,000 insects and scorpions, bake them, cover them with chocolate, and what do you get? London's latest snack-food craze. According to the Reuters news service, maker Todd Dalton is promoting the bugs as a health food. "They are very high...

Dress for Success.(National Association of Manufacturers, rally instructions)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... There's nothing quite like a politician addressing a crowd of workers or farmers, especially when the pol is trying to look like the champion of the average Joe or Jane. But what if there are no workers or farmers to be found (or at least none...

Wrestlemania Mergermania.(World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. merges with World Championship Wrestling)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... With corporate mergers sweeping the airline, automobile, banking, and other industries, it was only a matter of time before merger mania came to the world of professional wrestling. On March 23, 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)...

Medical Residents Organize.(St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... On March 23, residents at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan voted overwhelmingly to join the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), affiliated with the Services Employees International Union (SEIU). The final tally was 283 to 44. ...

Solidarity Trucking.(Solidarity Truckers Inc., deliveries to developing countries)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, people are resisting the "free market" onslaught. If that wasn't a tall enough order, they often lack the resources to meet basic needs, especially health care needs. Enter Solidarity Truckers,...

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ARE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.(community life, benefits)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... You come home from a long day at work, hungry and a little cranky. There's a couch inviting you to rest your weary head, and perhaps a promising ball game (or the next episode of Survivor) on TV. No one could blame you if you just kicked back...

ACCESS DENIED IMMIGRANTS AND HEALTH CARE.(United States, regulations)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Any supporter of public health who visits Sister Pietrina Raccuglia's office at Cabrini Immigrant Services in New York City is likely to become enraged at the modest tools she has to work with. Hers is a small office in the worn rectory of a...

THE DEADLIEST WEAPON SANCTIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN IRAQ.(report)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... Saddam Hussein is the enemy, three successive U.S. presidents -- George Bush the Elder, Bill Clinton, and now Bush the Younger -- have proclaimed. So what have ten years of UN sanctions (the most draconian in world history) accomplished? Well,...

CAUSE OF DEATH: INEQUALITY.(mortality statistics analysis, United States)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... INEQUALITY KILLS. You won't see inequality on a medical chart or a coroner's report under "cause of death." You won't see it listed among the top killers in the United States each year. All too often, however, it is social inequality that...

THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF HEALTH AND DISEASE.(research, United States)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... In 1980, when the World Health Organization proclaimed that the planet was free of smallpox, it confirmed modern medicine's program for achieving health: Identify the microorganisms responsible for diseases, and then find a way to kill them...

"RAISE THE ALARM LOUDLY".(AIDS epidemic in Africa, health care)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... AFRICA CONFRONTS THE AIDS PANDEMIC We were both standing on the sidewalk, watching the convoy of returning soldiers on their way to the military hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. Amid the noise from the heavy-duty military...

OUT OF THE ASHES.(Interview)
May 1, 2001... An interview with Ochoro E. Otunnu, executive director of the New York-based Africa AIDS Initiative (AAI). Ochoro E. Otunnu is originally from Gulu, Uganda. In 1999, he co-founded the Africa AIDS Initiative (AAI) together with Rory E....

DRUG PRICES IN CRISIS.(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... THE CASE AGAINST PROTECTIONISM In recent years, drug prices have risen to astronomical levels. In the United States, senior citizens are increasingly unable to afford prescription medication, while in developing nations, life-saving drugs...

THE HEALTH-CARE STRUGGLE TODAY.(Interview)
May 1, 2001... No single organization represent the health-care reform movement in the United States today. Numerous groups are joining the battle on various fronts. Some work for national health reform, some for change at the state level. Some focus...

SUSTAINABLE SANITATION.(international health challenge)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... A GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGE In late October 1995, in the small town of Greenland, New Hampshire, Wheelabrator Water Technologies, Inc. dumped 650 tons of sew age sludge on Rosamond Hughes' field. The sludge contained not only the dregs left...

PUTTING NAMES ON THE NUMBERS.(medically uninsured Americans)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... TESTIMONIES OF THE UNINSURED The United States is the only modern industrialized country without a sound health insurance program. In 1999, one in six non-elderly U.S. residents -- more than 42.5 million people -- went without health...

MAKING PATIENTS PAY.(dangers of the U.S. health system)(Industry Overview)
May 1, 2001... U.S. HEALTH SYSTEM PUTS PROFITS FIRST When Cynthia Herdrich visited her primary-care physician complaining of abdominal pain, the doctor scheduled an ultrasound for eight days later and sent her home. Shortly thereafter, Herdrich's...

SPENDING #1, PERFORMANCE #37.(WHO rates U.S. health care)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... HOW U.S. HEALTH CARE STACKS UP INTERNATIONALLY Overall, the United States spends about 50% more per capita on health care than any other country. The private sector accounts for about 56% of total health spending in the United States,...

ASK DR. DOLLAR.
May 1, 2001... Dear Dr. Dollar: Recently, my social work students asked me what incomes are "middle class" and whether the middle class is shrinking. It seems that a lot of people who call themselves middle class are really in the upper class. What are...

"MISSING WOMEN".(international aspects of female-to-male ratio)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... If you look down a column of population statistics for the world's 200-odd countries, the female-male split rarely seems to stray very far from 50-50. Women rarely make up less than 48% of a country's population, and they seldom account for...