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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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 Large Majority of Those Online Wants Spamming Banned ROCHESTER, N.Y., (PRNewswire), January 5, 2003 - The public is up in arms about spamming and does not want to take it anymore. Among those who are online, fully 80% say that they find spamming very annoying, a huge increase from the 49% who felt this way two and a half years ago. As a result of this hostility, an overwhelming 74% to 12% majority of those online favors making mass spamming illegal. This support for banning mass spamming is found among every demographic group. Between 70% and 80% of all age groups, all income groups, both sexes, blacks, whites and Hispanics, Republicans and Democrats all favor such a ban. These are the results of The Harris Poll(R) conducted online by Harris Interactive(R) between November 22 and December 2, 2002 among a national sample of 2,221 adults, aged 18 or over, who are online. While many people are annoyed by many different kinds of spam, messages selling pornography (91%), mortgages and loans (79%), investments (68%) and real estate (61%) annoy the largest number of people. While those who are angry about spamming have increased dramatically, some other problems associated with online activity have decreased since March 2002 when some of the same questions were asked in another Harris Poll. These changes surely reflect improvements in technology, with more people having faster connections to the Web, and the increased sophistication of Internet users. As a result:
St. Louis Moves Up to Fifth Place in 'America's Fattest Cities 2003' Survey ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire), January 5, 2003 - Houston tops the list for an unprecedented third year in a row as America's blubber capital in MEN'S FITNESS Magazine's 5th Annual Survey of the nation's 50 most populous cities. Also returning to the overweight list are Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia, with St. Louis rounding out the list of the rotund. The "fittest five" are Honolulu, Seattle, Colorado Springs, San Francisco and San Diego. Despite warnings from the magazine for the last five years and from health care experts and government officials especially during this past year, overweight and obesity rates continue to climb. According to the National Health and Nutritional Survey, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2002, roughly one out of three Americans is now obese, and if you factor in those who are overweight, nearly every two of three Americans has a serious weight problem. These statistics signal yet another increase over last year's numbers. "The increases are across the board for all age groups, both sexes and in all races," said Cynthia Ogden, PhD, co-author of the study. "If these rates continue - about one percent gain per year - we'll all be overweight by the year 2035 and obese by 2100," adds John Foreyt, PhD, director of the Nutrition Research Clinic at Houston's Baylor College. What additionally fuels the urgency of the editors of Men's Fitness is the financial impact on the health-care system resulting from America's overweight condition at a time when the nation struggles economically: $120 billion (and climbing) is spent annually treating the results of this epidemic of obesity. Also troubling is the fact that 15 percent of all children below 19 are now overweight, and the numbers continue to rise along with the emergence of heretofore adult medical conditions, such as abnormally elevated cholesterol levels and adult-onset diabetes. Land O'Lakes to Focus Feed Research in St. Louis ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire), January 5, 2003 - Land O'Lakes has announced plans to consolidate and focus its feed research facilities into its St. Louis, Missouri location. Current basic feed research at Ft. Dodge, Iowa and Kansas City will relocate to St. Louis. Calf milk replacer, seed and agronomy employees will remain at the Ft. Dodge Research Center. Plans were also announced for the consolidation of the Sure-Tech Laboratories Quality Control facility operations into the Indianapolis location. "Since our acquisition of Purina Mills in late 2001, we have been evaluating our systems and facilities. This decision is based on the need to maximize the efficiency of our operations and continue our focus on superior, high-quality products," said Bob DeGregorio, president, Land O'Lakes Farmland Feed. "A facility review indicated that the St. Louis location was the appropriate choice for our feed research needs. It has the available space, technology and research capabilities to support our organization now and into the future. It will allow us to continue to develop new products for our major brands, solidifying our industry leading research position." The state-of-the-art St. Louis facility is located on approximately 1200 acres, over twice the size of the Ft. Dodge location. There have been significant investments made in the St. Louis facility. It has a pilot plant for processing and manufacturing research, as well as superior facilities for horse and beef research. The Ft. Dodge and Kansas City research facility consolidation will affect approximately 34 employees. DeGregorio said the staffing structure at the St. Louis facility will be determined over the next several months. Land O'Lakes officials said the consolidation will take place in phases and will be completed by the end of the 2003. 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.  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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