Watching the World
Cause of Heart Attacks?
◆ Doctors tell us that heart attacks are caused by the blockage of blood flow in the coronary arteries. But what causes this blockage? An Italian team of doctors has provided evidence to show that spasms of an artery supplying blood to the heart may be a contributing factor. Seventy-six patients suffering from chest pain due to the blood’s not reaching the heart were carefully monitored by the researchers at the University of Pisa. It was found that these developed clots only after they experienced spasms, and the clots were located exactly where the spasms in the arteries had occurred. Such findings have opened up the possibilities of different approaches to preventing heart attacks, such as using medication to stop the spasms. However, the doctors concluded that the spasms usually took place in a hardened, deteriorated artery.
Recent findings by a Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) researcher have further linked smoking with the hardening and general deterioration of small arteries. The doctor concluded: “What smoking does is damage these particular arteries and make their walls stiff. So when a pulse of blood comes down, the vessel can’t expand (to ease its passage). That would happen in old age anyway, but it happens twice as fast in smokers.”
Violence in School
◆ According to the National Education Association, more than 60,900 teachers were attacked during the 1977-78 school year. Though this represented only 3 percent of the teachers in American public schools, 17 percent live in constant fear of attack and 12 percent were threatened. Assailants, which included both students and their parents, wielded a battery of weapons, including chairs, lead pipes, fire extinguishers, handguns, files and steel combs fitted with ice picks. Angered over low grades, one group of Los Angeles students even set their teacher’s hair on fire. Many assaults go unreported by teachers for fear of reprisals from their attackers or criticism from school officials. One teacher’s union official stated: “Kids feel free to commit assaults because they know they’re not going to be punished.” These assaults have taken their toll emotionally on the teachers. A study of 253 Los Angeles inner-city teachers reveals that many teachers developed conditions similar to the “combat neuroses” found in soldiers at war.
Toys for Adults?
◆ A store designed to provide expensive “toys” for wealthy adults has opened in California. A person can take his pick from the stock that includes a one-passenger Scorpion helicopter ($30,000, U.S.), a one-passenger jet aircraft ($50,000, U.S.), customized cars (from $40,000 to $100,000, U.S.), and a 40-foot (12-meter) powerboat ($100,000, U.S.). In case this is too much for a person’s pocketbook, he can get a store banner for $60, which is one of the cheapest items in the store. Are their items selling? “We expect to liquidate the inventory in December,” said one of the owners about their reported $6-million inventory.
Where Are Most Rapes Committed?
◆ Not in a dark secluded place, but indoors, and usually these are committed by someone the victim knows. A new study by Pauline Bart of the University of Illinois showed that there is more indoor rape primarily because it is easier for the victim to avoid it outdoors. What is the best method to avoid rape when confronted? Screaming and struggling.
The researcher concluded: “I do not mean to suggest that verbal strategies are useless. Women have been able to negotiate with rapists on such items as getting their credit cards back and where the rape should take place. But very few women simply talked their way out of rape.” Even indoors, she suggested, women should scream and resist, since sometimes a delay could enable outside help to arrive.
Ouija Board Causes Abuse
◆ A foster child was beaten and abused for over four years by guardians who believed in “messages” received from a Ouija board, charges a lawsuit filed in Oregon. It is claimed that when something was missing in the house, the board would be consulted and the boy’s name would usually be the answer. As a punishment, it is alleged that the boy was tied to a chair, then beaten with a fishing rod or a belt. He was also forced to swallow spoonfuls of pepper, to chew and swallow large amounts of tobacco snuff, and was locked in his room for as long as three days while the rest of the family relaxed at the beach.
Book Reading—Dying?
◆ Almost half of 1,450 Americans over the age of 16 who were interviewed admitted that they had never read a book, according to the results of a study authorized by the book industry. The study revealed that 39 percent said that they read only newspapers and magazines, and 6 percent confessed that they never read any published material. However, among the 55 percent that still did read books, the most favored subjects were biographies and autobiographies, followed by cookbooks, history, religion, instructions, current events, sports, psychology and self-help. The study claimed that people who watch TV are not necessarily inhibited from reading and that leisure time for other activities is not so overwhelming that people have no time left over for reading books. It was found that the busiest people do read.
The Shame Has Gone
◆ The shame of bearing an illegitimate child, which caused many girls to flock to homes for unwed mothers, has practically vanished. With it has gone much of the need for such homes. The vast majority of these homes have closed down and the few remaining ones, usually run by social agencies, have beds to spare. Even the kind of girls who come to the homes has changed. First, they are younger. The officials at one home indicated that the average age had dropped from 17 to 15 in the last 10 years. Still, pregnancies of 13- and 14-year-olds were common, and some were even as young as 11. “This place has become a real child-care center,” said one official. In times past, girls who came were embarrassed about their condition and tried to hide from those outside the home. One home supervisor said that now the girls will go in noisy groups to local department stores and that “they don’t mind who sees them. They even flirt and try to pick up boys.” However, one youngster said remorsefully: “I thought I wanted a baby, but now I’m scared. What if I can’t make it stop crying? What if I ruin its little life?”