News Clues
Just Enough News To Keep You Wondering
If Re-Elected, Santorum Will Seek Leadership Post
Apparently, "Santorum" is not Latin for "asshole", as one of U.S. Senator
Rick Santorum’s colleagues commented a while back, although several years
ago selected as one of the Top 10 Dumbest Senators to ever serve in the
halls of Congress. Nonetheless, his star may be rising.
If re-elected, Santorum hopes to land the number three position in the
ranks of Senate Republican Leadership. First, he has to defend his seat in
the November General Election against a challenge from popular Democratic
Congressman Ron Klink.
Reports indicated that Santorum has the support of Senate Majority
leader Trent Lott for his bid to be named Republican Conference Chairman.
If selected by his colleagues for the position, Santorum would be the
first Pennsylvania senator since Philadelphia’s colorful Hugh Scott, to
hold a leadership position. Scott served in the Senate and as Republican
National Chairman.
Writing Can Be Good For Your Health
Over the last 20 years, researchers have found that writing can have a
positive influence on your health. The work of psychologist James
Pennebaker shows that both emotional coping and physical symptoms were
improved in people who write. A more recent study reported in the
Journal of the American Medical Association reports that even for
people with health problems like asthma and arthritis, writing is
therapeutic. A local workshop to explore the benefits of writing for women
with breast cancer and concerned others will be held on September 16 at
the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. The title of the program is "Coping
through Creativity" and will feature Ruth Rothbard-Mayer from The Center
for Creativity for Women with Cancer in New York, and Lisa Roney, Penn
State Instructor and author of Sweet Invisible Body. For more
information or to register, contact Dr. Cheryl Dellasega at 531-8161.
United Way Asked To Deny Money To YMCAs
The International Health, Racquet &
Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) recently asked 250 United Way organizations
to withhold financial support from YMCA health clubs when they "are not
focused on the truly needy in our society." John McCarthy (Executive
Director of IHRSA) said that his letter was "an aggressive, educational
step in response to the virtual abandonment of a charitable mission by
many YMCAs."
IHRSA claims that many YMCAs are now indistinguishable from fitness
clubs, and target affluent adults in suburbs, rather than inner city kids.
McCarthy’s letter is available by contacting kma@ihrsa.org.
Sins of the Father? Casey Sons Address
Convention
Remember when the late Robert P. Casey,
former Governor of Pennsylvania, and arch opponent of women choosing
abortion over full-term birth, was barred from addressing the 1992
Democratic National Convention in New York City? All things change as
political winds continue to blow dust both into and out of the cracks of
ideology. This week in Los Angeles, two sons of the late Governor
addressed the Convention as part of a tribute to the late Governor.
Sitting Auditor General Bob Casey, Jr. is seeking re-election this
November and his brother Pat Casey hopes to unseat incumbent Republican
Congressman Don Sherwood who defeated him two years ago.
Log On, Email, Search, Log Off In
Nanosecond
The Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center was recently awarded a $45 million
three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to rev up its
ability to "terascale". To terascale is to perform, electronically,
a trillion calculations a second. Although intended for use by scientists
and engineers, imagine what households would be like with that capability
built into homes of the future. From a car phone or palm pilot, Mom could
order pizza, buy groceries, turn the air conditioning on, open the garage
door, start the sprinklers, do a load of laundry, get research on the PC
started for Sally’s homework. She could even make up a list of errands for
Dad that flies out of a fax machine next to his pillow. The center will
collaborate with Compaq Computer Corporation in building the new system.
GPU Sold, Fate Of Regional Office Unknown
GPU, Inc., a New Jersey-based electric
utility serving a major portion of Pennsylvania, was recently sold to
Akron, Ohio based FirstEnergy Corp. for $4.5 billion in cash and stock.
Upon completion of the buyout, current GPU Chairman and CEO Fred Hafer
will serve as FirstEnergy chairman.
GPU currently serves a large customer base in Pennsylvania and when
added to FirstEnergy, the combined company is the sixth largest investor
owned utility in the nation. The sale creates an energy company with 4.3
million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. FirstEnergy
officials hope to close the deal within a year.
A new FirstEnergy corporate board will include 10 members of
FirstEnergy’s current Board and six from GPU’s Board. The impact on
Pennsylvania communities such as Reading, home to a major GPU regional
office, is unknown, but the companies are projecting a 5 percent cost
savings from the merger. GPU shareholders will receive the equivalent of
$36.50 for each share of stock they hold.
Looking For Work On Labor Day?
Looking for something to do on Labor Day? Look no more. The American
Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
are conducting an online Labor Day Festival. Go to www.workingfamilies.com
to watch clips of a recent janitor strike, buy union made goods online or
learn where to buy them in your area. Viewers can also play games like
"Smash Corporate Greed."
Dead Man Dialing
When telecommunications giant Bell Atlantic,
now called Verizon, wanted to enter the long distance market, it
orchestrated a massive "grass roots" campaign for the benefit of the state
legislature. State House and Senate offices had about 15,000 signed post
cards dumped in their doorways.
As with any list of signatures used for political purposes, there is
always the question of whose names are these anyway? After looking into
the matter, Attorney General Mike Fisher determined that at least one name
was that of a deceased person — a dead man dialing. It was estimated that
another 10,000 of the names were used without expressed permission of the
name-holders. Consequently, Bell Atlantic will pay a $250,000 fine for
sleazy use of names.
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