news March 2008 archives
March 31, 2008
Dr Subash conducting the psycho-education session.
Ofwat says water meters could be a solution to help cut costs
Courtesy Photo
A group of Civilian Conservation Corps workers took a short break from their labors while working at Camp Italian Bar. On March 31, 1933, President Roosevelt signed the Civilian Conservation Corps into being. It took young men and boys from cities where the unemployment rate was 50 percent and placed them in camps working on projects to restore the country's natural resources.
T Silz | AFP/Getty
A new political party in Germany has made saving the working class and the country's welfare system rallying points for attracting votes. The party, Die Linke, or the Left Party, is a merger of the reformed Communist Party from East Germany and discontented former Social Democrats. One of its co-leaders, Oskar Lafontaine (above), says that Germany shouldn't turn its back on working people just as they are increasingly struggling to make ends meet.
Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services: "We have grave concerns" of the state's foster care tracking system. "We will be a partner and come on when it's functioning properly and not before."
D Gardner
Three-year-old Katie McKenzie mugs for the camera while her parents, Joan and Ken McKenzie of Wheaton, smile from the couch in Joan's office as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn.
'There's no room for the message to be anything other than crystal-clear that safety is job one' -- Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh
The white working classes are being left behind by England's education system, government research suggests.
March 28, 2008
In its annual report published today, the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) said more than 2.3m of the most vulnerable households in England alone are now forced to spend at least 10% of their income to heat and light their home.
Tribune | C Berman
Cherilyn G. Murer, chair of Northern Illinois University's Board of Trustees, discusses last month's shooting tragedy before trustees Thursday approved the appointment of a panel to investigate the university's response.
Sacha Bodner
AP | Wausau Daily Herald | B McCartney
Madeline Kara Neumann, of Weston, Wis., is shown working on chalk art last summer during downtown Wausau's Chalk Fest. Neumann died Sunday, March 23, 2008, after her parents prayed for healing rather than getting medical help for a treatable form of diabetes.
D DeLong | P-I
Dan Weiss, one of seven Department of Corrections special needs unit officers, scans the street for mentally ill offenders under their supervision who are in violation or have outstanding warrants. Many offenders are homeless or live on the street. About once a month officers patrol at night checking to see if offenders are where they're supposed to be. A computer in the van allows them to check the warrant status of offenders.
Schools are getting a new duty to take more care of looked after children
Tribune | T Harris
Clarissa McKay, 17, (left) and her adoptive mother Barb McKay look over a Lifebook at home in Rock Island.
Bad news for your brain? A big waistline in your 40s could almost triple the threat of dementia in old age, according to US research.
March 27, 2008
AFP | J Samad
Crisis: St Vincent de Paul says even middle income families are vulnerable to being made homeless
G Carlson | Photo Researchers
Depression and negative emotions seem to worsen cardiac health, whereas a good laugh might improve blood vessel function. Clues from new experiments could help explain why and suggest better treatments for heart disease.
T Ohsumi | Bloomberg News
People with high abdominal fat were found three times more likely to develop dementia, adding to previous studies showing that people with large abdomens face a greater chance of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
Almost 10,000 jobs could be lost across Northern Ireland's government departments, a leading union has said.
As part of Women's History Month, the UTSA Women's Studies Institute and the Department of History will present actor-educator Kristina Wong performing an excerpt from her seriocomic play about depression and suicide.
C Gold | Associated Press
THEIR TEST: “Autism: The Musical”
S Rawles
Physio assistant, Boris Donoso, from Ecuador, with resident John Viccars.
"There was no indication that the vaccine was protecting against infection, and there was no indication that the vaccine was lowering the ultimate level of the virus after one person -- after a person -- got infected," says Doctor Anthony Fauci. Dr. Fauci is Director of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
March 26, 2008
iStockphoto | H Gogolin
Hundreds of thousands of people count snakes and spiders among their fears, and while scientists have previously assumed we possess an evolutionary predisposition to fear the unpopular animals, researchers at UQ's School of Psychology seem to have proved otherwise.
P Greb
ARS researchers are looking at the different bioavailabilities of antioxidants in foods such as Bing cherries.
S Bauer
Food choices have a big impact on the amount of saturated fat in your diet. A croissant, which has about the same number of calories as a bagel, has 32 times as much saturated fat.
M Hensdill | Gazette
Brian Shuptar and his wife Robin Hayes adopted their two daughters from china several years ago and have recently adopted their third daughter from Ethiopia. From left, Brian Shuptar, Mia, 8, Mikal, 7, Salome, 6, and Robin Hayes walk together.
UK tests and league tables have made children the unhappiest in the western world, teachers have claimed.
Anger has been linked to heart disease and cancer, the report says
March 25, 2008
It's not just people who are the victims of a bad economy.
T Tully
More than 350 homeless men and women were served Easter dinner at the Old Savannah City Mission
Newsday | D Sanders
Jessamyn Waldman holds a bowl of blue corn tortillas at Hot Bread Kitchen, a not-for-profit bakery located in Long Island City, Queens. Hot Bread Kitchen employs immigrant women with the mission of preserving cultural baking traditions while using local organic ingredients.
M Seamans | Coloradoan
Rebecca Trumbull leans against husband Phillip Thornburg as their 2-year-old on, Jared, naps in her lap while they ride a Transfort bus. With no place to go during the day the family rode the bus to stay warm.
Blanche Ward works with Child and Family Services in Summerside. Ward says driving home to Charlottetown helps clear her head after a stressful day.
View image of Foster care by Neighborhood
With her surrogacy payment, Pushpa built a house
Patti Light and her son
REUTERS | C Charisius
A prostitute says goodbye to a guest at the infamous brothel 'Hotel Luxor' at the Reeperbahn red-light district in Hamburg March 18, 2008
March 24, 2008
R Fremson | NY Times
A slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Some disenchanted Haitians yearn for the days of the Duvaliers, a dynasty that ended in 1986.
J Grimes | Tribune
RUNNING ON EMPTY: Mesa United Food Bank warehouse and transportation manager Joel Lockwood stands in front of nearly empty storage areas Friday where nonperishable food is stored.
Playtime by Fred Ross, 1937, is an example of how art was used to lift spirits in the Depression.
Mt Palmer | Preservation Photography
After struggling to find a suitable, sustainable use, West Virginia sold Weston Hospital at auction last summer for $1.5 million.
THE Health Service Executive has said it remains committed to providing 24-hour social worker cover despite delays in finalising an agreement with staff.
iStockphoto | Peter Kim
Parents and coaches can make youth sports a fun, learning experience or a nightmare
Gracia is traumatised by the witchcraft accusation
iStockphoto | Kieran Mithani
Killer stairs? Taking the elevator could be worse for your body. Researchers found that a reduction in daily physical activity is an actual cause of many of the risk factors for chronic diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
March 21, 2008
M JOHNSTON | Daily Herald
Marc Gilchrist, a master of social work student at BYU, stands with a gag and signs in a final protest of the university's phasing out of the bachelor of social work program Friday, March 21, 2008. BYU social work students, who have been protesting for months, are unhappy with the decision to cut the program as well as the way it was handled.
E Fogleman
O'Hare will graduate from Saint Louis University in May with a master's degree in social work. A graduate assistant in the School of Public Health there, she also interns as a victims' advocate for sexual-assault and robbery cases at the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office.
G Turner
Benefits will be dependent on people working if they are able, the government says.
Andy Rogers / P-I
UW cultural anthropologist Debra Boyer and Vince Matulionis, background, director of the United Way of King County's Ending Homelessness group, stand in a downtown Seattle alley that is commonly populated by drunken homeless people.