Central Michigan Life » Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff

‘Get a Financial Life’ is one good book

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Fri, 01 Sep 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Those who would like tips on managing credit card debt, paying off student loans, finding the right bank and more may want to check out the book “Get A Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties,” by Beth Kobliner.
The book is an updated and expanded version of Kobliner’s first edition of the same name. The first “Get a Financial Life,” released in 1996, made the New York Times, Business Week and USA Today bestseller lists.
Kobliner said the revised edition, which hit bookshelves in June, updates the first by including advice on individual retirement accounts (IRAs), online investing, student loans, the best financial deals on the Internet, with more than 100 new financial Web addresses. The revised edition of “Get A Financial Life” also covers many other topics, such as making wise auto loan decisions and choosing a bank without paying outrageous monthly fees.
“There are so many different tax deductions now and changes in student loans. The Internet has changed everything,” said Kobliner, who recently became the financial editor and commentator for MSNBC’s HomePage. The HomePage program airs from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Kobliner majored in English and said she took only one economics course from Brown University, in Providence, R.I. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Brown in 1986, and lives with her husband and two children in New York City.
After graduating, Kobliner said her writing skills paid off when she began working for personal finance pioneer Sylvia Porter, whose syndicated column appeared in more than 150 newspapers nationwide.
“Being able to write well helps with any type of job after graduating,” Kobliner said.
As a finance writer for Porter, Kobliner researched and wrote more than 100 columns. She was a staff writer at Money magazine from 1988 to 1995 and has contributed to the New York Times. In addition to her role at MSNBC, Kobliner also appears frequently as a financial expert on CNN and public radio’s MartketPlace and has been a repeated guest on Today (NBC), This Morning (CBS), CNBC, CNNfn and Oprah.
She said her books are targeted toward younger people, whether they’re single or married, students or non-students, about money issues in an easy to understand but not condescending manner. For college students, credit cards remain a menace to their budgets, she said.
“Credit card debt is really a major problem nationwide on college campuses. Twenty years ago, no credit card company would offer cards to students without a job or income. But today, credit card companies are bombarding college campuses. They’re basically preying on younger people,” Kobliner said.
After most Baby Boomers became credit card holders, companies knew they needed a new group of customers so they began targeting college students, she said.
“The companies knew students do not have a lot of money, and that they don’t pay off their total debt every month. That way, interest gets raised. Companies felt students wouldn’t default, but would only pay low, $20 monthly payments. And if college students get in trouble, I think some companies assume parents will help pay off their debts so they don’t ruin their credit reports.”
Although access to credit cards may be easier these days, the penalties tied to them may be harsher. Kobliner said most cards offered to students have interest rates as high as 18.5 percent.
“Most students leave college with thousands of dollars in credit card debt plus their loans. The high interest makes financial life a lot harder, in terms of buying a car or a first home,” she said.
In “Get A Financial Life,” readers can find helpful Web sites like www.bankrate.com and www.cardweb.com, which offer good information for low interest rate credit cards. Kobliner said people with a decent credit record can often move from high to low interest rate cards.
She said some students may inherit poor financial habits from their parents while others may not.
“I think it really varies. Students with financially irresponsible parents may become financially responsible. Then there are those whose parents are extremely responsible but they let things slide, or break out and spend like crazy.”
The author recalled her entrance into Brown University and personal finance.
“My first day of college, I was in the student loan office with my parents. I was told I had less in aid than I expected, and I burst into tears. I think I got some sort of scholarship, so they had to take away some financial aid. It was a devastating experience. I had to make it up in loans.”
Kobliner said at that time, credit cards companies were just beginning to hit college campuses.
“I didn’t get a credit card in college. I tried to keep my budget within my limits. I didn’t spend a lot of money in college. I was pretty careful because I didn’t have much money.”
In the updated “Get A Financial Life,” Kobliner offers tips on helping students paying off their loans once they’ve left school.
“It’s easy to blow off loans. But if you do not pay them, they’ll show up on your credit report and could haunt you for seven years. I know people who defaulted on their loans and liens were put on their homes.
“I think the important thing is to pay your bills on time.”
Loaners like Sallie Mae offer rewards students should be aware of, Kobliner said. For example, borrowers who make their first 48 payments on time can have their loan interest rates reduced by 2 percent.
Credit card interest is usually much higher than the interest on loans, so students should pay off their credit cards first, she said.
“You can stretch out student loans from 10 to 20 years, reduce the monthly payment, and use the money to pay off higher rate credit cards more quickly.”
The revised “Get A Financial Life” edition also includes advice on 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts.
“The most important thing is to start saving in these plans in your 20s, not in your 30s or 40s. Even with a low salary, force yourself to put some money into these plans. You can often borrow money from them to use for college education for your kids or for a first home.”
People can avoid certain bank fees and other charges by shopping around for the best deal, Kobliner said.
“Ask parents or relatives who belong to a credit union, which charges a lot lower fees, and often requires no minimum amount. Or consider an online bank. They offer a lot of good options. Pay attention to ATMs, and use them only twice a month. By only using them twice monthly, you’ll get a better handle on your money and how to budget it.”
The revised edition of “Get A Financial Life” is published by Simon & Schuster and costs $13.
In Mount Pleasant, the book can be purchased at The CMU Bookstore in the Bovee University Center or ordered from The Student Book Exchange Co., 209 E. Bellows St. and The Book Mark, 2200 S. Mission St.
For more information on “Get A Financial Life,” visit
www.SimonSays.com
and www.kobliner.com.

Party Central ready to serve good times

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Mon, 28 Aug 2000 00:00:00 +0000

The Party Line has been Centralized.
As of May 10, The Party Line, 104 E. May St., has a new owner, a face-lift and a different name – Party Central.
“Party Line is dead. Long live Party Central,” said new owner Jenny Darling, Mount Pleasant resident.
The store’s name change should help customers realize there is a new owner, Darling said. In addition, the building was freshly painted in Central’s maroon and gold colors.
Located between Washington and Main streets, Party Central is surrounded by CMU fraternities and sororities, which are boons to business, Darling said.
“We try to give the students a place for a fast lunch on their way to school, to pop in for a quick snack. And of course, we have lots of beer at reasonable prices,” she said.
Nearby road construction over the summer may have been a blessing in disguise for the store, Darling said.
“During the construction, business was extremely slow. But we remained positive about it because it gave us the chance to get our remodeling done,” she said.
The building was built in 1917, and originally served as a neighborhood grocery and butcher shop. The Party Line served in the location for 20 years under previous owner Ray Horrocks, Mount Pleasant resident.
Darling said she looks forward to students returning to Mount Pleasant to check out the changes made to the store.
“We did a little remodeling, with new counters and new equipment in the kitchen. And the ceiling tiles have been replaced. There’s no more writing on the ceiling tiles. Some people will be upset about that,” she said.
While kegs of Bud Light and Busch Light can be purchased from Party Central, the store does not deliver beer orders like The Party Line used to “because of the liability, and with drunk driving laws and problems with alcohol on campus,” Darling said.
She said she has made prices more reasonable to compensate for the loss of the delivery service.
Party Central is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. The business can be reached at 773-7993.

Investigation: No direct proof of Agent Orange

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Mon, 01 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000

An investigation into claims of Agent Orange on CMU’s campus has found no direct proof that the chemical lies underground.
Jean Lindley, senior officer for Facilities Management and CMU Police, said she talked to the former supervisor of Facilities Management, the foreman of the grounds crew and a grounds worker from the 1970s in her investigation.
“I did not find any specific evidence that a product named Agent Orange was utilized on campus,” Lindley said.
Her investigation took place after CM LIFE spoke with a current Facilities Management worker in late March. The worker had said he helped bury pesticides and herbicides at three locations on and near campus in the early 1970s.
The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had helped bury chemicals, including Agent Orange, at the McRae Farm, CMU’s official chemical-burial site behind Kelly/Shorts Stadium; under mounds of dirt to the east of train tracks running south of West Campus Drive; and at a site located on Crawford Road, two blocks north of Deerfield Road.
The worker said his supervisor, a former Army officer, had purchased Agent Orange at an Army surplus store in Lansing for the CMU grounds in the early ’70s.
Agent Orange was a herbicide that became infamous after U.S. troops used it during the Vietnam War to destroy crops and vegetation cover. It was not the only herbicide sprayed in the war, but, due to its intensified usage, is the most commonly mentioned and blamed for health problems from that era.
The use of Agent Orange was discontinued in 1970 in the United States and banned altogether in 1972 by an act of Congress.
The name Agent Orange derives from the orange identifying bands used on 55-gallon drums in which the product was shipped.
In her investigation, Lindley said she talked with George Stansbury, the former supervisor of her department from the early ’70s, now retired and living in Arizona. She said Stansbury provided most of the information she needed and that the former foreman and the grounds worker confirmed Stansbury’s report.
Lindley said she did not have the name of the foreman when she talked during a telephone interview on Thursday. The grounds worker she talked to in her investigation still works for Facilities Management, but she said he also wished to remain anonymous and is not the same person who talked with CM LIFE in March.
Stansbury said he had purchased a 55-gallon drum of herbicide for killing grass growing in sidewalk cracks at CMU sometime in the early ’70s, Lindley said.
She said the first anonymous source believed the chemical was Agent Orange, but she said Stansbury told her there was no name on the drum marking it as Agent Orange.
“The markings on the drums were hardly visible to read,” the anonymous source had said in March. “I remember seeing skull and crossbones, though.”
Lindley said Stansbury told her this particular drum of chemicals was stored in the Towers basement for an unknown period of time. Lindley said it could have been stored there for months or years.
“Then it was removed and taken to a shed on the McRae Farm. A company that was certified to dispose chemicals had the product pumped out. It was never used on campus,” Lindley said.
She said she does not know the name of the company that removed the chemical or why or when the chemical was removed.
But the anonymous source said CMU did use the chemical he believes to be Agent Orange for weed control before it was banned.
Lindley said Stansbury told her that the 55-gallon drum that had been stored in the Towers basement may have ended up in the McRae Farm burial site after the chemical inside it was removed, but said he isn’t sure.
“(Stansbury) spent quite a bit of time trying to locate the barrel but he couldn’t find it,” Lindley said.
Items buried at the other two sites the anonymous source mentioned include items such as paint cans, tree limbs and grass clippings, but no chemicals, Lindley said.
Radioactive waste, such as radioactive isotopes, from some science departments were also buried at the McRae Farm site in the 1960s. This site is currently undergoing a Risk Assessment by Jennifer Ehlert, safety coordinator for the College of Science and Technology, who is working in conjunction with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Lisle, Ill.
“The purpose of my investigation was to put a record in the file that whatever was remembered was on file,” Lindley said.
She said she has not spoken with the worker who talked with CM LIFE in March, but will do so “at a later date.”
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has said it would take soil tests from the three CMU burial sites to determine any health risks if a complaint is made about Agent Orange being buried. But Lindley said tests for Agent Orange are not needed.
“That is not my impression,” she said.
The anonymous source said he will not file a complaint about Agent Orange being buried at CMU until “I meet with (Lindley) and see what she tells me.”

Hackel found guilty of rape

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Fri, 28 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Macomb County Sheriff William Hackel faces up to 15 years in prison after a six-man, six-woman jury found him guilty of rape Thursday in Isabella County Circuit Court.
After deliberating for almost 10 hours beginning Wednesday, the jury announced its verdict Thursday morning. Hackel was convicted of two counts of third-degree criminal-sexual conduct, involving oral penetration and forced sexual intercourse.
“Oh my God, my God,” Hackel’s son, Mark Hackel, said after Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain denied continuing the sheriff’s bond. Hackel’s wife, Ada, bent over in her seat and sobbed as the bailiff led him to the Isabella County Jail.
Hackel, 58, is guilty of raping a 26-year-old woman Oct. 11 in her hotel room at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd., during a Michigan Sheriff’s Association fall conference.
The trial began April 17, and closing statements were given Wednesday. Hackel had admitted he and the woman had sex, but testified that it was consensual.
The victim, an MSA staff member, said she was “shocked” and “happy” about the jury’s ruling.
Third-degree criminal-sexual conduct requires a mandatory jail sentence, but Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick said he doesn’t know yet what he’ll recommend. The maximum prison sentence is 15 years.
Hackel will remain jailed until his sentencing, which should take place within four to five weeks, Burdick said. Hackel had been free on a $10,000 surety, or 10-percent bond.
Hackel’s sister, Linda Ahern, attended the trial and said Ada Hackel is devastated by the jury’s decision and the judge’s bond rejection.
“The man isn’t going anywhere. They could have let him go home,” Ahern said. “This goes beyond belief. It was something that never should have happened.
“We’ll just have to live with the decision. Anger or crying won’t change the decision.”
Defense Attorney Jim Howarth said the verdict will definitely be appealed. Hackel, who has been Macomb County’s sheriff for 24 years, had planned to run for a seventh four-year term this fall, but resigned following his conviction.
Howarth said he was stunned by the jury’s decision.
“I don’t understand it, I’m in shock,” he said. “The judge can order a new trial because no rational juror could come up with this verdict.”
Upon hearing the decision, Hackel “reacted with the same dignity he has shown throughout this trial,” Howarth said.
He said the jury held Hackel to an unfair standard because of his job position, saying “if William Hackel was a custodian in a hotel, he would have been acquitted.”
The prosecution won the case because the victim had the courage “to run the gauntlet” and that she “handled the media attention and the court hearings with great courage,” Burdick said.
“This case also stands for women who suffer these kinds of assaults, so they can see that the system can work for them.”
Women who suffer a sexual-assault incident can come forward and will be treated with respect, Burdick said.
Prosecuting the case of a sheriff accused of rape was difficult, but “no one person is above the law,” he said.
After sentencing, Hackel will be transported to the Jackson State Prison’s processing center, where his place of incarceration will be determined.

Defending your beliefs

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Mon, 24 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

During his imprisonment by Chinese
communists, Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso ate belt and shoe leather so
he wouldn’t starve and endured electric cattle prod tortures because
of his beliefs.
Today, Gyatso is free and able to share his experiences
with the world, including a packed Moore Hall Kiva Wednesday night.
Speaking in the Tibetan language and through translator
Namka Tenzin, Gyatso described his 33 years spent in a Tibetan prison.
“The communists came to power in 1949 and immediately
invaded Tibet,” Gyatso said.
China’s invasion was gradual.
“At first they made good with the Tibetan elites,”
Gyatso said.
China gave money to Tibetan monasteries and gave
gold Rolexes and other gifts to officials. Then they began hauling arms
and ammunition into Tibet, Gyatso said.
“China started showing its real face,” he said.
The communists built airfields and highways in Tibet
to help transport its military into the country. Gyatso said Tibet’s
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, tried to negotiate with China, but
China refused.
Gyatso, who became an ordained Buddhist monk at 18,
was jailed in 1959 at age 27 for protesting the communists. He said
thousands of Tibetans were arrested and political activists were jailed
as China sought to crush Tibetan culture and enforce “thought reform”
on the people.
At the time only two prisons existed in Tibet, so
the Chinese converted huge monasteries into prisons which could house
10,000 people. The conversion involved removing religious scriptures
and gold statues and covering the windows.
Gyatso showed a pair of shackles the Chinese used
for prisoners’ feet. The shackles had a short chain between the cuffs
only a few inches long.
“It was impossible to move your legs,” he said.
Sharp edges on feet and hand shackles pierced skin
and caused bleeding, he said.
Thumb cuffs were used because of the large number
of prisoners. Gyatso showed the audience a pair of thumb cuffs and how
they were used.
He put his left hand behind his left shoulder and
wrapped his right arm behind his back. Prisoners’ thumbs were tied this
way, near their left shoulder.
Gyatso discussed the starvation in prison as well.
“We were allowed one cup of soup a day. Many began
dying. When we were marched out to fields to work, many prisoners would
start eating grass, leaves, insects and mice to fill their stomachs,”
he said.
Gyatso said he and others ate leather from mattresses,
belts and shoes in order to stay alive. But many of his friends perished.
“When they knew they were going to die, they would
say, ‘If you survive this inhumane condition and torture, you must work
for the freedom of Tibet.’ Even at the time of dying, they would think
of their country and not of their family,” he said.
Every four to six months during Gyatso’s imprisonment,
the Chinese would hold an interrogation period. Small stones and cut
glass were spread on the ground. A prisoner was brought in with his
pants rolled up past the knees and with his hands tied behind his back.
Chinese officials would say, “In 1959, we arrested
you because you were saying Tibet is independent. But we say Tibet is
a part of China. Do you now think Tibet is a part of China?”
Inmates who did not answer or said Tibet is independent,
had their tied arms yanked around and their legs cut by kneeling on
the sharp objects.
Gyatso said he still cannot fully stretch his arms
and hands properly because of the tortures.
He also received a prod torture during an interrogation
in 1990. An official asked him about Tibet’s independence, but Gyatso
said nothing and then saw the official’s finger on a button on the prod.
“Do you want independence? I’ll give you independence,”
the official said.
The electric prod was forced into Gyatso’s mouth,
and he passed out from the pain. He said he woke up with his mouth full
of blood. After one month, all of his teeth fell out.
Gyatso held out a white cloth with a pair of dentures
on them. He said Amnesty International, the group who worked to free
him in 1992, gave him the dentures in 1995. For Gyatso, they signify
both the brutality and the kinship of human beings.
He said executions at the prison involved up to 15
prisoners at a time and took place in front of all other inmates.
“In America, prisoners are asked ‘What is your last
wish?’ But in Tibet, they tell you, ‘You are about to be executed. But
before that, you must sing and you must dance.’”
Gyatso has testified before the U.S. Congress and
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about his experiences,
and has spoken at all four Tibetan Freedom concerts.
He said students can play a vital part in helping
Tibet gain its freedom back from the Chinese, as students helped end
apartheid in South Africa.
Gyatso told the audience that Tibet has its own language,
religion, government, currency and ruler, the Dalai Lama, and that historical
records prove Tibet is an independent country.
Tenzin, Gyatso’s translator, said that today the
Chinese far outnumber Tibetans in Tibet and said Gyatso and himself
“are now kind of like endangered species.”
Tenzin said 120,000 Tibetans live in exile today,
and the Dalai Lama’s attempts to negotiate with China are disregarded.
Sarah Reader, Beaverton sophomore, said the talk
was informative.
“I thought it was interesting and was very important
information for people to know.”
Beaverton resident Jeremy Vallender said, “I thought
it was nice and to the point.”
After the talk, a large line of people formed to
buy copies of Gyatso’s autobiography. At this time, fliers were handed
out by people opposing Tibet and the speakers.
The fliers said, “Do you know any society which was
still a slavery world in 1930s? Tibet!!!” and “Do you know why (Gyatso)
is here? Power!!! No one is willing to see the loss of power after being
ousted!!!”
The fliers also said, “Tibet joined China hundreds
of years ago. The historical records can prove it.”
Gyatso’s translator, Tenzin, saw the fliers and said,
“If they think this is true, they should come forward and talk. We can
discuss this.”
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion Guy
Newland said the fliers were offensive, but whoever made them had the
right.
“The good thing about the freedom of speech is that
it makes it possible for Gyatso to come and voice his views, as he is
unable to under Chinese rule, and for them to voice their views as well,”
he said.
Newland said the opinions expressed in the fliers
were offensive but sincere because many Chinese were raised with teachings
of history very different than what was told Wednesday night by Gyatso.
But he said evidence shows that Tibet was independent
before China invaded it in 1949.

SGA voting act lawsuit to proceed in state court

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Wed, 19 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

A lawsuit against the state of Michigan that aims to nullify a new voter law may now be heard in a state court rather than a federal court.
A preliminary injunction hearing was held at the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit April 11.
Seven universities, including CMU, serve as plaintiffs in the suit and are attempting to have Public Act 118 ruled as unconstitutional. The law, which prevents Michigan residents from voting at an address different from the one on their driver’s licenses, took effect April 1.
“We wanted an injunction, but didn’t receive one,” said SGA Sen. Melissa Gill, Sterling Heights sophomore and a plaintiff in the case.
An injunction would have put a hold on the voting law until the court case was settled.
The lawsuit was filed Feb. 24 in a Detroit federal court by the Michigan Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the universities. CMU’s SGA had voted to count Central in the lawsuit on Feb. 14.
The defendant in the suit is the Department of State, headed by Secretary of State Candice Miller, and is represented by the Department of Attorney General.
Mary Ellen Gurewitz, a Detroit lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the federal judge decided that federal law does not preempt state law regarding Public Act 118.
The judge “decided that it was not inconsistent to require different addresses on driver’s licenses and addresses. She said it is not very burdensome to the students to have to change addresses,” Gurewitz said.
“We had hoped she would have recognized that this law could deter students from voting. But she said the state would soon be undertaking a publicity campaign to make it easier to register student voters.”
Gurewitz said the judge wished the SGA would join in the state’s efforts for student voters.
The dispute over Public Act 118 should still reach a trial in a state court unless a resolution is worked out with the defendant, Gurewitz said. She said no court dates are scheduled at this time.
The case will take place in a state court because the plaintiffs are now focusing on how Public Act 118 may breech the Michigan Constitution, rather than the U.S. Constitution, Gurewitz said.
The other schools in the lawsuit include Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Western Michigan University.

Neither side budging in fluoride debate

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Wed, 19 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Mount Pleasant citizens have drank fluoridated water since the 1950s because the American Dental Association found fluoride to be beneficial, according to one city official.
“It was found to benefit people’s teeth,” said Malcolm Fox, superintendent of the city’s water treatment plant, 4195 S. Lincoln Road. “It has high benefits and very low risks.”
In February of 1956, the Mount Pleasant City Commission suggested a proposed ordinance to institute a fluoridation program. The proposal met with opposition from some city residents who then filed a petition to get an ordinance prohibiting the use of fluoride in public-drinking water.
The issue was put on the ballot for the Nov. 6, 1956 election, was voted down and the fluoride program was instituted.
Fluoridation of a water supply involves adjusting the level of fluoride, either increasing or decreasing the level. Fox said the naturally occurring level of fluoride in the Mount Pleasant water supply is 0.4 milligrams per liter.
Fluoride is added to reach 1.0 mg/liter, the level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency to provide optimal dental protection. The EPA considers levels up to 4 mg/liter to be protective against crippling skeletal fluorosis.
According to the International Society for Fluoride
Research’s Web site, fluoride-journal.com,
dental fluorosis is a disorder of enamel-forming cells, is irreversible
and only occurs with exposure to fluoride when enamel is developing.
Signs of dental fluorosis include white specks or blotches, yellowish-brown spots or brown pits on teeth. In its more severe form, fluorosed enamel is structurally weak and prone to erosion and breakage, especially when drilled and filled.
According to the Web site, skeletal fluorosis is a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease caused by ingesting large amounts of fluoride either through water or through some foods.
Age, sex, calcium intake in the diet, dose and duration of fluoride intake are some factors that influence skeletal fluorosis. Bone-density measurement is a tool for early diagnosis.
According to the World Health Organization’s Web
site, www.who.org., skeletal fluorosis,
with adverse changes in bone structure, is observed when drinking water
contains 3-6 mg of fluoride per liter, while crippling skeletal fluorosis
develops where drinking water contains over 10 mg of fluoride per liter.
According to the site, fluoride is excreted via urine, feces and sweat.
But some Mount Pleasant residents allege that expert certifications don’t tell the whole story about fluoride.
A group of concerned citizens, called the Central Michigan Citizens Opposed to Water Fluoridation, worked to bring the issue to local voters in Mount Pleasant’s 1997 general election. Voters supported fluoridation and it has remained in the drinking water.
According to the EPA, 10 states, require fluoridation of public-water supplies that serve communities with populations greater than 5,000. Fluoridation is decided by city in the rest of the states, including Michigan.
Mount Pleasant resident Alan Gamble, member of the citizen’s group, said the group is still intact.
He said fluoride accumulates in bones and teeth overtime and leads to skeletal and dental fluorosis, despite EPA’s standards, which conclude that 1 mg/liter is beneficial.
“Fluoride is a very potent poison, more so than lead and only slightly less than arsenic,” Gamble said. “It replaces calcium in the bones, and it makes the teeth so hard that they get brittle.”
Calcium serves as a softener, but fluoride replaces the calcium, he said.
The citizens group may try to put the fluoridation issue on a future Mount Pleasant ballot, he said.
“The dental community actively opposing it last time was too powerful.”
Gladys Mitchell, also a member of the citizen’s group, said local dentists appeared via radio stations before the 1997 election to tell people not to remove fluoride from the drinking water.
“We don’t have the money to combat that effort,” Mitchell said.
She also said she uses non-fluoridated toothpaste from Greentree Co-operative Inc., 214 N. Franklin St., or baking soda rather than fluoride-laden toothpastes.
Gamble said he drinks water that has gone through a reverse osmosis filter rather than unfiltered tap water. Fluoride can be removed by reverse osmosis or by distillation, but not through a standard carbon-water filter.
Fluoride is actually a chemical found in compounds, said CMU chemistry Professor Calvin Tormanen. He said the compound added to Mount Pleasant’s water isn’t fluoride, but hydrofluosilicicacid, which contains fluoride.
The compound breaks down in the water to form fluoride. The compound is a waste by-product from the phosphate fertilizer mining industry, which manufactures fertilizer, and from aluminum manufacturers, Tormanen said.
Hydrofluosilicicacid is too toxic to be released in the environment, so chemical companies separate and purify it and then sell it to communities for their drinking water, he said.
“Why not just put fluoride in the water? It’s too difficult to do,” Tormanen said. “By releasing hydrofluosilicicacid, the right amount of fluoride can be added very accurately. Because it’s a waste product, it does not cost very much. Mount Pleasant isn’t the only city that uses it. It’s done nationwide.”
The water-treatment plant offers annual competitive bids to chemical suppliers for the compound, Fox said. Mount Pleasant receives its hydrofluosilicicacid from KC Industries, based in Mulberry, Fla.
The compound is stored in a 5,000-gallon tank at the Mount Pleasant plant. This amount lasts between one and two years, Fox said.
He said the price of the compound depends on each bid, but 5,000 gallons generally cost between $2,000 and $3,000, or about 25 to 35 cents per person.
A 41-gallon tank attached to the larger tank is used in releasing the compound into the water supply. The small tank assures that if an overflow amount occurred it would not be harmful, he said.
State requirements of fluoride are the same as federal criteria, or the EPA-approved level, because the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality enforces the EPA requirements at the state level.
Mount Pleasant’s water is ground water, which is replenished by the Chippewa River. The treatment plant softens, filters and disinfects the water for its customers.
The plant, which began service in 1995, is financed through user fees, Fox said. Water sales generate revenue needed to operate, so no public taxes are used.
Bob London, a professional engineer for MDEQ’s Saginaw Bay District Office, said the department visited Mount Pleasant’s water treatment plant in March to test procedures for adding and measuring fluoride in the water.
“We brought them two water samples. We didn’t tell them the fluoride content in them,” London said. “They ran the samples through tests and confirmed for us the amounts of fluoride in them.”
“We passed with flying colors,” Fox said. “We don’t take waste. We only take American Water Works Association and EPA-approved chemicals. And we don’t make money by taking any waste. That’s illegal and unethical to buy waste and put it in the water.”
London said, “The public-health folks in our department looks at both sides of the issues and still promote fluoride for dental health. We don’t see the negative effects of fluoride as being a reason to remove it from drinking water.”
Dr. Susan Smolinske, managing director for the Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, said amounts of fluoride above the EPA-approved level can be harmful.
For example, a warning on the back of a tube of Colgate toothpaste containing fluoride reads: “If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately.”
“There is much more fluoride in one gram of toothpaste than in a cup of drinking water,” Smolinske said.
Some foods with high amounts of fluoride can cause dental fluorosis or staining of the teeth, Smolinske said.
“But these things will not occur with ordinary consumption of water,” she said.
Mineral water and herbal teas also have very high concentrations of fluoride, she said, and people are more at risk from drinking these than from consuming fluoridated water.
Fluoride is “great for the dental health of our children, and it is the primary reason why kids today are not having the number of cavities that we had growing up. It’s very good for bones and for teeth,” Smolinske said.
Virtually all foodstuffs and vegetation contain at least traces of fluoride. Foods with high levels include fish (0.1-30 mg/kg) and dry tea (3-300 mg/kg), with an average for the tea at 100 mg/kg.
Fox said the Mount Pleasant water-treatment plant would not do anything to put the public-drinking water in danger.
“We don’t have to soften the water, or remove the iron, but we do. We have an obligation to be concerned about the public health,” he said. “My kids drink this water, and I drink it. I’m not going to do anything to hurt them, or my customers or myself.”
But Gamble said the effects of fluoridation are accumulative.
“Is one less cavity worth a hip fracture 40 years from now?” he asked.
Fluoridation of public water in the United States began on Jan. 25, 1945 in Grand Rapids in a U.S. Public Health Service experiment. The city was the test site for the effectiveness of fluoridation while Muskegon served as the control city, or the city without fluoridation.
The health service’s aim was to track cavities and report a dramatic decrease of tooth decay in the fluoridated cities. The experiment was aborted five years early with the agency’s endorsement of fluoridation in 1950.
Evidence on a decrease in tooth decay was unavailable.

Monk to speak on Tibetan opression

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Mon, 17 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

A Tibetan monk that spent half of his life imprisoned and persecuted by the Chinese government because of his beliefs will share his survivor’s story with CMU Wednesday.
Palden Gyatso will speak at 7 p.m. in the Moore Hall Kiva room as part of his U.S. speaking tour.
The Buddhist monk suffered torture and interrogation from Chinese officials for 33 years after being jailed in 1959, 10 years after Chinese Communist forces invaded the nation of Tibet. In 1959, Tibet’s political and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India to escape the Chinese invasion.
“Gyatso will speak about China’s ongoing attempts to dominate Tibet and the Tibetan culture, religion and political beliefs,” said Angie Forton, CMU alumna and member of the Grand Rapids group TIBETWestMichigan – the state’s only major Tibet support group that is helping coordinate Gyatso’s visit.
Gyatso became an ordained Buddhist monk when he was 18 and, next to the Dalai Lama, is one of the most recognized and well-loved Tibetans in the world. He was freed from prison in 1992, due in part to the efforts of groups like Amnesty International.
Since his release, Gyatso works to expose the abuse still endured by Tibetans by the Chinese government. In addition to testifying before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the U.S. Congress about his experiences, Gyatso has spoken in all four Tibetan Freedom Concerts and in all 50 states, Forton said.
At CMU, Gyatso will share his prison experiences and will show the instruments of torture that Chinese officials used on him and other prisoners, she said.
“He has a large knapsack he smuggled from Tibet to India, full of instruments of torture. He has a stun gun, a cattle prod and a thumb cuff.”
Gyatso knows very little English so translators travel with him on tour.
“He’s the political side for Tibet. The translators are ex-monks and are more on the religious side,” Forton said.
China invaded Tibet for many reasons, she said, including the desire for Tibet’s metal resources and for more space for China’s immense population.
“And it’s human nature to be afraid of and try to destroy something you fear. Tibet challenges China’s brainwashing machine.”
Guy Newland, philosophy and religion associate professor, teaches courses such as REL 320: The Buddhist Tradition and REL 220: Religious Traditions of China. He said there were no Chinese in Tibet prior to the invasion.
Tibetans have a different language, political history, religion and culture than the Chinese, Newland said. The Chinese have recently allowed some free practice of religion, but still do not allow Tibetans to have pictures of the Dalai Lama.
Newland said Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama a living embodiment of the spiritual principle of compassion, but the Chinese regard him as a rebel, politically, because he tries to free Tibet.
The Dalai Lama still lives in exile in India. He attempts to negotiate religious freedom and a regional autonomy for Tibet, but the Chinese are unwilling to negotiate, Newland said.
According to human-rights organizations, there are currently over 1,200 political prisoners in Tibet. Newland said more than 90 percent of Tibet’s monasteries have been destroyed by the Chinese.
Government and economic conditions around the world still allow human rights abuses to exist in Tibet, he said.
Forton said Gyatso’s current speaking tour started in March and will continue for a couple more months.
“He’s almost 70 years old, though, so his health is always a concern of ours, because he had been in prison for so long.”
Gyatso’s efforts in the Tibetan Freedom Concerts has earned him the moniker “the MTV monk.”
“But when you see Palden, it’ll be more than a fad, more than a rock concert.
“We hope this motivates students on campus to start a Free Tibet movement, to do letter mailings and to write to their Congress members about Tibet,” Forton said.
Copies of Gyatso’s book, “The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk,” will be on sale after the talk.
The monk’s nationwide U.S. tour is organized by Global Exchange, a nonprofit human-rights organization in San Francisco that works with groups like TIBETWestMichigan to arrange speaker tours.
Gyatso’s CMU visit is also sponsored by the Multicultural Education Center, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, the department of philosophy and religion, the department of history and the department of sociology, anthropology and social work.
The event is free and open to the public.

Officials look into claims of Agent Orange

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Mon, 17 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

An investigation into claims of Agent Orange buried on campus is in progress.
A Facilities Management worker told CM LIFE on March 28 that he helped bury Agent Orange chemicals in three locations on and near CMU’s campus in the early 1970s.
Jean Lindley, senior officer for Facilities Management and Police, said she met with the worker and is still working on finding out if his claims are true.
Lindley said she has met with the source and Robert Kohrman, dean of the College of Science and Technology, but needs to talk with one more person before she can discuss the situation.
She would not disclose the identity of the third person.
“I’d like to wait until I get all the facts together to determine what the situation is,” Lindley said.
She said to her knowledge no records of Agent Orange burials exist.
The worker who said he helped bury Agent Orange also said he can not talk about the investigation until it is complete. He would not say whether he plans to call the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality about the possibility of the Agent Orange.
The MDEQ has said, if a complaint is filed, it would test the burial sites where the Agent Orange was allegedly buried to find out if the soils are contaminated and if they are harmful.

Fishbone is still kicking it with latest release, it’s good

Anthony JudnichLIFE Staff — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

In the year 2000. . . . Fishbone is back!
These veteran funksters return to shake your booty with mischievous grooves and fat, cellulite-laden bass beats.
“Fishbone and the Familyhood Nextperience Presents the Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx” is the long, title to ‘Bone’s seventh full length blend of rock, funk, punk, jazz, soul, ska and reggae. The LP was released March 21.
After surviving the 80s and rising like a phoenix from the ashes in the 90s, Fishbone is ready to snag more of their share of the rewards of righteous funk that The Red Hot Chili Peppers enjoyed for so long.
But Fishbone doesn’t harbor any ill will toward the Peppers. In fact, the two groups go way back together in L.A., and both have survived separate tragedies. (Drug overdoses in the Peppers, religious overdoses in the Fishbone family.)
A long list of friends help out ‘Bone on this latest 10 tunes, including Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante from the Peppers. Lending their voices are George Clinton, Rick James, Gwen Stefani, Perry Farrell, and Donny Osmond.
Donny Osmond? Truly a primordial soup of flavors here.
The obvious rising star on this CD is the cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everybody Is A Star.” Increasing the fun is the metal and punk closing that earmarks the remake as one scandalized by Fishbone.
‘Bone lead singer and horn player Angelo Moore, aka Dr. Madd Vibe, finds inspiration from big butts, and perhaps from black bar pants. For proof, check out “Where’d You Get Those Pants?” as he croons “Where’d you get those pants? Like honey stickin’ to a jar attractin’ ants. It makes me salivate when your chocolate shakes, so gimme double chili cheese and bacon cake, and throw me in a side of romance.”
Fishbone has kept an ear to the ground throughout their 20-year career in keeping in touch with Everyman, and continues their groove-filled fight against injustices in songs like “One Planet People” and “Aids and Armageddon.”
Ska and reggae influences help power this disc, while new guitarist Tracey Singleton brings his heavy metal roots into play without resorting to cheesy solo overtones. But the foundation of the ‘Bone sound continues to be set by the vigorous horns of Moore and Walter Kibby II, who, along with bass player Norwood Fisher, form the two decades old core of the band.
Overall, it sounds like Fishbone is still having fun after coming a mighty long way, with help from their Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx.
**** out of 5