Stories by Jennifer Maerz
The common ground for advocates of a television rating system is splitting apart. While many agree that parents need some standard to govern what their children watch, crafting the solution splinters people into opposing camps. Some say what children watch should be determined by their age, while others argue maturity levels are not determined by age alone, and are pressing for a more detailed scale. And while Jack Valenti and the self-appointed Television Industry Ratings Implementation Group (TIRIG) push for the age-based ratings system, the Center for Media Education is forming its own ratings system that it says isn't tinged with concerns of losing advertising dollars.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
The instances of male prison guards sexually abusing female prisoners is reaching such high proportions that one human rights group is labeling it an "explosive national problem." The nongovernemental organization Human Right's Watch Women's Project (HRWWP) is asking the U.S. government and state correctional facilities to better protect female prisoners from continual incidents of rape, inappropriate body searches and verbal harassment.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
New Year's day traditionally is a time of new beginnings. But for the nation's low income communities, this New Year's will mark the start of surviving amidst dwindling resources as the congressionally mandated welfare reforms take hold. And to top it off, community groups pledged to advocating for the poor aren't fully prepared for the impending changes, according to the nonprofit think tank, Applied Research Center. "Low-income communities aren't set up for the coming onslaught," said Gary Delgado, executive director of ARC. "Unless we fund advocacy based on grassroots mobilization, low-income issues don't stand a chance."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
They prey on you at night as you're sitting down to dinner. They get you at work, hoping that staring at a computer all day will make you braindead enough to give into their ploys. They are fraudulent telemarketers -- scam artists who aim to suck up as much of your cash as possible. Together with home improvement/construction and mail marketing deception, phone solicitation rounds out the list as the most common type of fraud, according to consumer watchdogs the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The groups are urging people to take measures to prevent being on the wrong end of a bad deal.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Can you imagine buying nothing -- no food, gas, toothpaste, hairspray -- for 24 hours? What about staying home on Nov. 29 -- the biggest shopping day of the year and the start of the holiday season buying frenzy? As part of the fifth annual international Buy Nothing Day (BND), Canada's non-profit Adbusters/Media Foundation is challenging consumers worldwide to stand up on this "holiest of all shopping days" against pressure from corporations and advertisers to buy, buy, buy.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Spurring a protest complete with picketing, linked informational Web sites and a national day of protest, Chrysler refused to include the words "sexual orientation" in the Equal Application of Agreement section of their recent contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW). This refusal has frustrated and angered many proponents of equal rights, who say it symbolizes the deaf ear Chrysler turns towards its gay, lesbian and transgendered employees.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Forget YM, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Allure and Seventeen. Forget Sassy and its spiral downwards from content to cosmetics. A multitude of more hip and progressive magazines for young women can be found at places other than next to the candy and gum at the checkout aisle, where these thinly disguised sales pitches for girlie consumerism reside. Believe it or not, there is another realm of reading for female teens and twentysomthings who want writing that reflects their experiences and not national clothing chains: Bitch, Bust, Hip Mama, Teen Voices, New Moon, Blue Jean, Hues, YO!, Youth Outlook 360 Degrees, Reluctant Hero, and Brillo.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Fees to use the ATM, talk to a teller and check your balance. It feels like the banks are dipping into our wallet, but unfortunately, higher fees aren't the only consequence of bank consolidation; customers also are loosing convenient neighborhood access to banking institutions, especially those in lower income areas.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
An update on the Rocky Mountain Media Watch local newscasts story. Local newscasts from across the country faired poorly in their recent coverage of ballot measures and candidates specific to their viewers, according to Rocky Mountain Media Watch. The group found less than 10 percent of stations covered local election issues on evening broadcasts.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is charged with keeping a watchful eye on the nuclear power plants operating nationwide, seems to be falling asleep. Instead of holding these often hazardous facilities under tight scrutiny, the NRC has acquiesced to industry pressures by allowing safety problems to fester for years before fixing them, according to the non-profit government watchdog Project on Government Oversight (POGO).
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Local newscasts from across the country faired poorly in their recent coverage of ballot measures and candidates specific to their viewers, according to Rocky Mountain Media Watch. The group found less than 10 percent of stations covered local election issues on evening broadcasts. Of 52 stations from 32 cities studied, only 9 percent covered U.S. Senate races, 1 percent covered U.S. House races, 5 percent discussed statewide contests and only 3 percent discussed ballot propositions.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
It's no secret that politicians have strings attached to "political investors" and that 97 percent of campaign cash comes from contributors giving $100 or more. But while these generous spenders constitute only one quarter of one percent of California's population, 80 percent of funds for legislative seats in the 1994 general election came from outside the candidates' districts, according to the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPRIG). Since election laws have not changed in the past two years, there is little chance these numbers have dropped.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Four states -- Wyoming, Virginia, Missouri and Hawaii -- received flunking marks from the non-profit Brennan Center for Justice because their lack of diversity in candidates on the presidential ballot. (Pennsylvania came in a close fifth with a grade of D-.) The states failed because each was overtly hostile to new candidates attempting to get on the ballot. By manipulating ballot rules, individual states exert a profound, and sometimes unfair, influence on who can seek to represent the entire country, while markedly increasing campaign costs.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
In Latin America, violence associated with small weapons has metastasized across the hemisphere. Millions of weapons taken from government forces have worked their way into the hands of private citizens wanting to protect themselves, counter-military forces, drug cartels and urban gangs. The source of many of these weapons is the United StatesÑthrough lax gun control laws, weak law enforcement, legal governmental arms sales and covert arms sales such as those uncovered during the Iran-Contra scandal.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Evidenced by the recently passed welfare reform bill, many of our elected officials declared that they don't want any "free money" going where it's not "earned." Yet when it comes to "free money" flowing into their own bank accounts, there is a black hole where reform legislation should be.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
