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Modem Times, Ancient Ways
An article in the August 9th issue of The Washington Post discusses the lack of efficiency in the publishing industry. According to the article, publishing and related activities (like magazine subscription fufillment) are performed by processes that have barely changed in 40 years.
Most publishing activities still involve making corrections on manuscripts that have been printed on paper - sometimes from computer diskettes. The edited manuscript is eventually retyped into another database from which it is pubished (after more corrections). Published legal opinions may involve the processing of data sent by modem from thousands of jurisdictions, which use a wide variety of hardware and software. Using, reformatting, and publishing this data is time-consuming and difficult. And authors and editors often find it more efficient to use paper manuscripts.
Magazine subscription fufillment is still accomplished by batch-oriented data processing methods. It is usually not cost-efficent to continuously update large subscription lists, since popular magazines are typically printed once a month in one large printing run. The front page article was written by Post staff writer David Segal.
No Uniform Assessment of Academies
A front page report in the August 12th issue of The Washington Post questions whether the U.S. Naval Academy and other service academies achieve their goal of producing the best possible military officers. Although Naval Academy and other service academy graduates stay in the armed forces longer and are promoted faster, there is no data to show a discernable difference in performance between academy graduates and officers commissioned through ROTC and officers candidate school. A recent survey taken by the U.S. Navy (which will not release the survey data) indicated that U.S. Naval Academy graduates performed about as well as Navy officers commissioned from ROTC and OCS.
According to the article, thirty years ago 95% of the Army's lieutant generals were educated at West Point - now only a third are. The article reports that there is much disagreement between service academy proponents and detractors about the costs and benefits of the academies. The taxpayers spend $197,000 for every new officer who graduates from the Naval Academy. That is three times the amount spent to commission an officer through ROTC and seven times the amount spent to commision an officer through OCS. The U.S. Army and U.S.Air Force spend $299,000 to educate and commision an officer from their service academies. The article was written by Post staff writer Amy Argetsinger.
President to Order Drug Makers to
Conduct Pediatric Studies
On August 13th The New York Times reported that President Clinton will order changes in the testing of prescription drugs to insure that manufacturers examine the effects of drugs used by any significant number of young patients. Under a rule to be issued on August 13th by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, pharmaceutical manufacturers will be required to conduct studies to determine the appropriate dosage for prescription drugs used widely by children.
According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association - a trade association for drug companies - the studies will be difficult for drug companies to design and implement. The Association is concerned that there may not be enough child volunteers to test the drugs on a number of age cohorts.
The White House decided to act because many drugs, including asthma medications and antibiotics, have not been specifically studied in chilldren or approved for use in children. The new regulations will require pharmaceutical manufacturers to conduct studies on new drugs and some drugs already used by children.
The report concludes by stating that pharmaceutical manufacturers haven't any data about the effects of drugs for large groups of children, because the drugs were developed for adults and dosages are adjusted for characteristics like body weight. The article was written by Times staff journalist Robert Pear, and appears on page A17.
Credit Reports Made Available Online
According to a Washington Post article that appeared in the August 10th issue, one of the nation's largest credit bureaus has started allowing people to view their credit reports over the Internet. The credit bureau - Experian Inc., formerly known as TRW Information Systems and Services - began offering online credit reports for $8 apiece on August 13th.
Those who connect to Experian's web site (www.experian.com) can determine what information is stored there about his/her loans, payment patterns, former addresses, and other financial details. To protect agains unauthorized access, Experian requires persons requesting credit reports from the site to provide a social security number and other personal information.
Privacy advocates have voiced concern about the service because they feel it is not secure enough. They contend that Experian's security measures are inadequate to prevent information theft by "identity thieves" - criminals who steal personal information and use it to commit fraud. Officials at Equifax and Trans Union Corporation, two other major credit bureaus, haven't launched similar services - not wanting to risk a breach of privacy.
Experian also wants to offer its clients, particularly retailers, a service that would generate mailing lists of customers who use credit cards. But first, Experian must settle ongoing litigation with the Federal Trade Commission, which is attempting to limit information credit bureaus sell about consumers. The article was written by Post staff writers Robert O'Harrow, Jr. and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, and appears on page D1.