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St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com  |
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 Study Shows Firearm Injuries Place Significant Economic Burden on American Hospitals PITTSBURGH, (PRNewswire), January 1, 2003 - Each year more than 35,000 Americans are admitted to U.S. hospitals as the result of firearm related injuries, the cost of treating whom, in hospital charges alone, totals more than $800 million, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine by researchers from Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A first of its kind report, the study also shows that 29 percent of firearm victims have no health insurance to pay for their care, the financial burden of which falls largely on the shoulders of urban teaching hospitals. Jeffrey Coben, M.D., an emergency medicine specialist and director of AGH's Center for Violence and Injury Control, conducted the study to illustrate the significant economic burden such injuries place on hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide. Claudia Steiner, M.D., MPH, a research scientist for AHRQ, served as the article's co-author. Coben and Steiner found that an estimated 35,810 cases of firearm-related injury occurred nationwide in 1997. Of those, assault was the leading cause of firearm-related hospitalization, followed by unintentional injury. The average length of stay for patients with firearm-related injuries was 6 days, with an estimated total of 111,506 hospital days for firearm assault cases and 214,372 hospital days for all firearm-related cases. The average hospital charge for an assault related firearm case was $23,904, while the average charge associated with self-inflicted injury was $30,201. Forty-nine percent of the estimated $2.3 billion in lifetime medical costs for victims of firearm injuries was expected to be paid for by U.S. taxpayers. "The cost of death and injury resulting from gun violence is tremendous not only in terms of medical expenses, but in terms of lives lost, time away from work, and its effect on families and communities," said Aurelio Rodriquez, M.D., Director, AGH's Level One Shock Trauma Center. Dr. Rodriquez said the typically severe nature of firearm injuries requires substantial medical expertise and resources. Consumer Confidence Index Declines More Than Four Points in December NEW YORK, (PRNewswire), January 1, 2003 - The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which rebounded in November, declined more than four points in December. The Index now stands at 80.3 (1985=100), down from 84.9 in November. The Present Situation Index fell to 69.9 from 78.3. The Expectations Index declined to 87.2 from 89.3. "Latest signals from consumers are in keeping with a continuing mixed bag of economic news," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "But the major factor dampening consumers' spirits has been the rising unemployment rate and the discouraging job outlook. Weak retail sales over the holidays clearly reflect the current mood of consumers. Until there is an improvement in labor market conditions, there is not likely to be a significant upturn in consumer confidence." Consumers' assessment of current conditions is more dour than in November. Those rating current business conditions as "good" decreased to 14.6 percent from 16.1 percent. Those holding the opposite view remained unchanged at 25.8 percent. Consumers reporting jobs are "hard to get" rose to 29.8 percent, up from 27.3 percent last month. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" fell to 12.4 percent from 14.2 percent. Consumers expecting business conditions to improve in the next six months edged up slightly to 20.8 percent from 20.3 percent. But the percentage of consumers expecting conditions to become worse fell slightly to 11.0 percent from 11.3 percent. The employment outlook is also less favorable. Consumers expecting fewer jobs in the coming months rose to 20.2 percent, up from 18.8 percent. Those anticipating more jobs dipped to 15.1 percent from 15.4 percent. Income expectations are also less optimistic. Currently, 18.7 percent of consumers anticipate an increase in their incomes, down from 19.4 percent in November.
PASADENA, CA, (Newstream), January 1, 2003 - Rain Bird(R) Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of sprinkler and drip irrigation equipment, was awarded the prestigious Sweepstakes Trophy today in recognition of their 2003 Tournament of Roses Parade entry, "Water Wonderland." The Sweepstakes Trophy, traditionally awarded to the parade's most beautiful float as determined by a panel of judges, has been won by Rain Bird in 5 of the last 7 years (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003), including the last 3. This year's winning float depicted an array of African animals gathering around a watering hole, and featured a family of magnificent elephants playing with their young. With five cascading waterfalls and 24 high-pressure misting nozzles, that used a total of 1,500 gallons of recycled water, the 55-foot long, 36-foot high float, continued Rain Bird's past Rose Parade tradition of saluting the Earth's most precious resource -- water. This marks Rain Bird's seventh straight Rose Parade award (Sweepstakes Trophy in '98, '99, '01, '02 and '03; Presidents' Trophy in '00 and the Directors' Trophy in '97) since 1997, the first year that the company participated in the New Year's Day tradition. "This is a credit to all of our employees who worked so hard, and devoted so many hours, to turn this vision into reality. I could not be more proud of what our team has accomplished," said Rain Bird Senior Vice President Art Ludwick following the announcement. "It has never been more important than it is now to effectively communicate the importance of preserving our world's environment. Our floats always convey the importance of practicing The Intelligent Use of Water(TM) to ensure that these magnificent animals depicted on our float remain available for future generations to enjoy." Built by the award-winning Fiesta Parade Floats, and designed and flowered by the team of Raul Rodriguez and floral director Jim Hynd, the realistic textures and coloration of the animals on "Water Wonderland" were achieved through the use of exotic flowers, including black lichen, ming, fino and spanish mosses, safflower blossoms, cordon puffs, marigold petals, rolled oats, chive and onion seed. The cascading acacia trees were made from thousands of vibrant yellow Giant Oncidium orchids with the trunks covered in spruce bark that gracefully adorned the garden plateaus, colorfully sculptured in waves of Kimi, Curcuma and Torch ginger, Kniphofia tritoma, cymbidium orchid sprays and fluorescent hot pink Revel roses intermingled with King, Queen and Pink protea. In addition, Jack Hanna (who has ridden on Rain Bird's floats from 1999 through 2003), Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and host of "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures," and Walter C. Crawford, Jr. (who joined Mr. Hanna on Rain Bird's floats in 2001, 2002 and 2003), Founder and Executive Director of the World Bird Sanctuary, served as riders aboard "Water Wonderland," using it as a forum to spread Rain Bird's important message of environmental preservation and water conservation. Nearly Half Of All Business Travelers Utilize Alternative Technology In Place Of Travel WASHINGTON, D.C. (SLFP.com), December 29, 2002 - The Travel Industry Association of America's (TIA) latest consumer poll, the Air Travel Survey, examines the possible reasons for the continued declines in air travel. Sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the survey was based on a representative sample of 4,000 travelers who have traveled by air at least once in the past year. Thirty percent of all air business travelers reported traveling less by air in the past 12 months, as compared to only 21 percent who said they traveled more. Despite the decrease in air travel in the past year, intentions are relatively strong for 2003, with 29 percent of business travelers planning on traveling more by air next year and 55 percent saying they will travel the same amount. Eighty percent of leisure air travelers say they traveled the same amount or more in the past year. When asked about 2003, only 14 percent of leisure travelers said they would travel less or not at all by air. Nearly 80 percent of all air business travelers say their company has one or more business travel policies in place. One-third said that one or more of these policies were implemented in just the past year. Examples of these new restrictions include limiting the class of air service that can be used (14%), requiring U.S.-only travel (31%), limiting travel per diems (19%), restricting the number of employees traveling (25%), and requiring/recommending they drive instead of fly (34%). Other new policies include restricting the number of trips taken (39%), restricting trip duration (25%), and restricting class of hotel (14%). "The question arises as to whether the industry is seeing a major sea change in business travel patterns or whether this is just another short-term, cyclical downturn," remarked Dr. Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for the Travel Industry Association of America. "Many companies have learned to do business in a different way and are taking a much more strategic approach to travel, in some cases calculating a return on investment to determine whether a trip should be taken or not. I do, however, think that many business travelers will return to the skies when times get better." The improvement in online business communications has accelerated the use of technology as an alternative to taking business trips. Teleconferencing was used by 42 percent of all air business travelers in the past year as a substitute for taking a business trip. Videoconferencing and webcasting or webconferencing were used in place of travel by 17 percent and 15 percent of business travelers, respectively. The usage of these alternative technologies rises with the frequency of travel. One-quarter of frequent air travelers (8+ trips per year), replaced some of their trips with technology, compared to only about 15 percent of infrequent travelers. While two-thirds of all air business travelers feel these technologies are more efficient in terms of the time and money spent on travel, only 20 percent feel they are more effective. Business travelers say slower business conditions, lean travel budgets, the uncertain economy and the high cost of travel have generated a lesser need for travel. For leisure travelers, one-third said economic and price concerns were major factors in not flying. Second in importance was the lack of time or ability to travel as much by air as in the previous year, as reported by 23 percent of leisure travelers. Business travelers are turning to the Internet for the best airline ticket price, with almost half of all business air travelers personally purchasing their ticket online at least once in the past year. Underscoring the impact of the Internet on business travel habits is the fact that 35 percent of those travelers say they plan on using the Internet much more in the next year to book business flights. And nearly one-third of those who did not use the Internet to personally book a flight in the past year say they plan on doing so next year. Underscoring consumers' concerns about their personal or business finances, only 16 percent of business and leisure air travelers say they are satisfied with the current cost of air travel, an interesting finding considering that airfares are now at their lowest level since 1988.
WASHINGTON, (Newstream), December 18, 2002 - Ford Motor Company will further its involvement in the aviation centennial by taking part in the Experimental Aircraft Association's "Countdown to Kittyhawk". As part of that effort, Ford is providing technical support for a reproduction of the Wright Brothers first flyer to be flown at Kittyhawk on December 17, 2003 - exactly 100 years after that first flight. Aviation pioneers and enthusiasts gathered, December 17, in Washington for a ceremony marking the yearlong 100th anniversary celebration of the first powered airplane flight. The ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum honored pioneers in flight, including the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. Those in attendance included former astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, and actor and aviation enthusiast John Travolta. The inclusion of Henry Ford may come as a surprise to some, but the man who put the world on wheels also helped to nurture and develop aviation in the United States. He was a pioneer in air mail delivery, developed the first modern airport, and devoted a factory to the production of a bomber that was indispensable to the allied war effort in World War II. Edsel B. Ford II represented the Ford family in accepting aviation pioneer honors for their great-grandfather. Public Library of Science to Launch New Free-Access Biomedical Journals Online SAN FRANCISCO, (BUSINESS WIRE), December 17, 2002 - The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a non-profit, international grass-roots organization of scientists, has announced that it is launching a new scientific publishing venture that will make the published results of scientific research more accessible and useful to scientists, physicians and the public. This new effort is backed by a five-year, $9 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and by an important policy decision from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The PLoS initiative has been led by Dr. Harold E. Varmus, president of the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, former director of the National Institutes of Health and 1989 Nobel Laureate; Dr. Patrick O. Brown of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University; and Dr. Michael B. Eisen of Lawrence Orlando Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. The senior editorial board of the new journals is an international group of scientific luminaries includes Sean Eddy, Ph.D., Washington University of St. Louis. PLoS will publish two new journals -- PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine. The PLoS journals will retain all of the important features of scientific journals, including rigorous peer-review and high editorial standards, but will use a new business model in which the costs of these services are recovered by modest fees on each published paper. This new model will allow PLoS to make all published works immediately available online, with no charges for access or restrictions on subsequent redistribution or use. "By making the published results of biomedical research available for free, and allowing them to be redistributed and used without restriction, these new journals will substantially increase the value -- to both the scientific community and the public -- of the tremendous investment our society makes in scientific research," explained Dr. Varmus. The PLoS initiative is confident that the open access publication will:
"We think that Web publications that are instantly available for free and are readily searchable and downloadable very much support HHMI's mission," noted Thomas R. Cech, president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. "They are clearly 'the wave of the future' in terms of our investigators disseminating their research discoveries and learning from the findings of others. In addition, we have a strong commitment to international science and the current subscription system puts many journals out of the reach of our colleagues in poorer countries," said Dr. Cech.  The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group . |
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