Petition Tag - health

According to a Marketing profile on the Eastern College Athletic Conference, (http://www.ecac.org/Marketing/College_Market_Demographic_Profile.pdf) Most college students live away from home, and of those who are employed, (66%) most only work part time. [There were no explicit figures available on average college student income, however I believe it is common knowledge that part-time wages are quite low.]

In her article: "College tuition rising faster than the average income", USA Today writer Mary Beth Marklein notes that college tuition rates increased 107% from 1980 to 2002. This increase makes affording food a challenge for college students.

But the real problem is not being able to afford healthy food. According to Ted W. Grace of the Journal of American College Health in his article: "Health Problems of College Students", students' eating habits get much worse in the college years, where students often turn to the convenient, cheap, fast food industry to sustain them.

One February 25, 2004 article of The Daily Orange (the school newspaper of Syracuse University) tells of the growing trend of students who desire to eat healthy but find themselves only able to afford unhealthy fast food items.

Providing food stamps to college students who meet the requirements I listed would be a step in the right direction for our nations future. The college years are the time in the lives of young Americans where they make formative habits that stick with them for the rest of their lives. If students are forced into the habit of poor eating choices due to financial constraints, then they will continue with those habits, and the health of this nation will continue to deteriorate in a very negative way. However, having a steady source of food would set many students at ease, knowing that expenses such as rent and tuition can be prioritized on their personal budgets, without having to sacrifice good eating.

Thank you for your consideration,
-Thomas K.

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We, the undersigned registered students of San Diego State University (SDSU), hereby petition the Theatre, Film and Television Department of SDSU, to submit to the students request to have Theatre 525 also known as Stage Combat offered in the next school year 2005-2006.

Stage Combat is a highly popular class for all classmen in the major Theatre Arts. Theatre 525 has been utilized by students in their forever attempt to improve on their skills as actors and professionals in the Theatre industry at SDSU and after graduation.

This personal enrichment is a great addition to ones confidence, health and mind.

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Injustices causées par Santé Canada (ARLA) face aux fabricants de chasse-moustiques naturels/population.

Injustices caused by Health Canada (PMRA)concerning natural insect repellent products/people.

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October 16, 2004

At present, Bermuda has no infrastructure in place to support home births or birthing center births.

All the Island's Obstetricians have explicitly stated their preference for hospital births and discourage home births. As a result Midwives do not have the requisite Obstetrician support to perform home births.

Midwives are not permitted to administer pregnancies or perform deliveries on their own in the hospital.

The Maternity ward at the hospital is very much like any other ward. It is very clinical and has no bathtubs, resting facilities for family members (except a waiting room area with chairs), and very small birthing rooms - limiting the number of people who are allowed to witness the birth. No alternatives to medication for pain-relief are available.

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In 1946 a promise was made by Congress to the coal miners, as a direct result of the sweat and blood of generations of coal miners whose toil carried this Nation through war and peace, through the Industrial and the Technological Revolutions.

A promise of cradle to grave health care that manifested itself into the 1992 Coal Act. And a promise made in 1977 to coalfield citizens and communities as a result of the ravages of past abuses, and on the souls of the 118 individuals who perished in 1972 at Buffalo Creek in Logan County, West Virginia.

A promise to reclaim their devastated landscapes, to return their land to productive uses, and to protect their health and safety that is part and parcel of the landmark Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program has been a success. Unlike the Superfund, this program has a track record of real, on-the-ground progress in restoring lands and eliminating health and safety threats. And since 1992, through the transfer of just the interest which accrues to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to the Combined Benefit Fund, it has provided health care for tens of thousands of elderly retired coal miners whose former employers can no longer be identified.

The nexus is there. The welfare of abandoned miners and of reclaiming abandoned mines, you see, go hand in hand. To date, the promise has been kept.

Yet, in June of 2005 the fees assessed on the coal industry which finances this effort expire.

If legislation is passed it will keep the promise to some 50,000 retired coal miners that their health care will continue uninterrupted.

Recently the passage of such legislation has shown dire importance, especially in the states of Kentucky, West Virginia and Illinois where On Aug. 31, 2004 in Lexington, KY, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge William Howard finalized the decision allowing Horizon Natural Resources to file bankruptcy, thus voiding union contracts providing health care coverage for nearly 3,000 employees, including 2,300 retirees -- many of whom suffer from black lung as a result of their working years at Horizon. For many of these miners their only hope for health care coverage will be the passage of such legislation.

I urge you and your constituents to move promptly and vote for the passage legislation that would KEEP THE PROMISE TO THE COAL MINERS and to fully understand that thousands of coal miners and retirees futures are hanging in the balance of your decision.

Coal miners and their families, along with countless others who support those miners, will use this issue to evaluate your commitment to working families in America. I await your prompt response.

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The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy
termination.

Dr. W. David Hager, recently re-appointed to a position on the committee, is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice. His views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women. In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying.

As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.

We are concerned that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health. Dr. Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee. Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by anti-abortion politics. Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion. American women deserve no less.

The section of the Code of Federal Regulations dealing with the FDA states that "A nonvoting member does not represent any particular organization or group, but rather represents all interested persons within the class which the member is selected to represent." [Title 21, Subchapter A, Part 14, Section 14.86(c).] Dr. Hager does not represent all women, and should not be permitted his imposition of religious views on them. Further, Section 14.80 of the same chapter and part states that members of a policy advisory committee "Shall have diverse interests, education, training, and experience" - Dr. Hager's rigid and intolerant religous stance is hardly indicative of broad interest or sufficient training and experience. This section also allows for the removal of committee members for good cause.

Please sign this petition to show that you believe that Dr. Hager's lack of regard for women's health is a good cause for his removal from the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.

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Sept. 30 could be the beginning of economic doom for our coal producing states if Congress does not take action to extend a federal program that mining reclamation supports 45,000 retired miners benefits.

The Abandoned Mine Land, or AML, is a program created in 1977, when it passed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

Under the program, coal operators pay 35 cents tax per ton of surface-mined coal and 15 cents per ton of underground-mined coal. The money is used to clean up coal mines that were abandoned before 1977.

If that happens, thousands of abandoned mine sites — mostly in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky — would go unreclaimed.

Currently the AML is languishing on capital hill and set to expire at the end of September
Without congressional action, the coal tax that funds mine cleanups would expire Sept. 30.

As a result, more than $2 billion worth of high-priority coal reclamation will remain unreclaimed, leaving millions of people who live, work and recreate in the nation's coalfields to continue to be exposed to the many dangers these areas represent.

Tax payers of coal producing states could be forced to pay for the clean-up, instead of the coal operators. The state is already in a budget crisis and paying for this would sink the Bluegrass in to a much deeper deficit - one that potentially we would never find our way out of.

Lawmakers and Interior's Office of Surface Mining have showed great humanitarianism by allowing AML money to fund infrastructure projects like health-care benefits (UMWA Orphan Funds) for retired miners who have fallen between the cracks by coal corporation bankruptcies.

On Aug. 31 in Lexington, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge William Howard finalized the decision allowing Horizon Natural Resources to file bankruptcy, thus voiding union contracts providing health care coverage for nearly 3,000 employees, including 2,300 retirees -- many of whom suffer from black lung as a result of their working years at Horizon. Many of these affected by the decision are Kentuckians who's only hope for health care is for the AML to continue.

Cutting off the health care benefits provided by the tax could not only devastate thousands of retired coal miners lives, but also be detrimental to the state's local economies who's doctors and pharmacies main source of income is treatment of these miners.

Congress Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., with support of House Democrats, took the first step Sept. 14 to stave off the end of the federal program. Sen. Byrd won Senate Appropriations Committee approval to extend a tax that funds the cleanup program for another nine months, but so far no outward support has been shown by House Republicans to save the issue.

The current extension calls for 9 months, but House Republicans have agreed to this measure by cutting the tax 75% - a drastic reduction in the amount of money to fund the miners health care plans and for money to repair the environmental damage done by the coal operators.

The far reaching effects of letting the AML languish and die could spell disaster for the all coal producing states if an extension is not granted.

I will use this issue to evaluate your commitment to working families in America. I await your prompt response.

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The 54-tonnes per hour general waste incinerator and 1-tonne per hour radioactive waste incinerator (at Lakeside Estate, Colnbrook, Slough)proposed by Grundon's will pollute an area with a 17 mile radius, affecting the lives of nearly five million people living in Berkshire, Bucks, Surrey and a large section of west London. The major implications are:
A significant increase in cancers, especially childhood leukaemia and many other problems.

Possible increase in birth defects.

Pollution of air, water and soil, emissions of greenhouse gasses.

Radioactive pollution with unknown results.

Increases in asthma and heart disease.

With the air quality levels already below the standards if the EU and WHO, the poorest health records in the South East and the proposed site being within a densely populated area, this is a highly unsuitable location for a highly unsuitable project. The tragedy is, safer methods of waste disposal exist.

We are urging the Council to scrap the proposed incinerator plans and look at safer alternatives.

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Overview: Governor Murkowski and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) have proposed new rules to increase pollution in Alaska's wild salmon streams. Currently, state law rightly prohibits "mixing zones" in salmon spawning areas. The Governor's proposal will rollback these safeguards, and allow mining, sewage, oil and gas and other pollution to be dumped into our fish streams. The deadline for comments is September 10, 2004.

The Problem: A "mixing zone" is an area in a waterbody where pollution levels exceed water quality standards designed to protect people and fish. Normally, a pollution discharge must meet water quality standards at the end of the discharge pipe. When the discharge is too polluted to meet such standards, regulators often employ mixing zones - which are simply loopholes that allow compliance to be measured downstream, after the polluted discharge has dispersed in the receiving water. Mixing zones adopt the long-discounted notion that dilution is the solution to pollution, and in practice, they create sacrifice zones where water and habitat quality fail to meet the fish protection goals of the Clean Water Act.

The Solution: Speak Out! Let the Governor and ADEC know you oppose increased pollution in Alaska's renowned salmon streams (see talking points below):

Ernesta Ballard, Commissioner
Alaska Dept. of Env. Conservation
410 Willoughby Avenue, Suite 303
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
Email: ernesta_ballard@dec.state.ak.us
ph: (907) 465-5066; fx: (907) 465-5070

Governor Frank Murkowski
State of Alaska
Box 110001
Juneau, AK 99811
Email: frank_murkowski@gov.state.ak.us
ph: 907.465.3500 fx: 465.3532

Attend a Public Hearing!!! ADEC will hold public hearings (see schedule below) and we need people to come out in force to reject this short-sighted proposal:

Fairbanks , August 24 from 4-6 p.m. - 119 N Cushman Street, Suite 101 .
Anchorage , August 25 from 4-6 p.m. - 716 W. 4 th Ave, Suite 200 .
Juneau , August 26 from 4-6 p.m.- Terry Miller Building , Suite 111

Send a Letter to the Editor!

Letters to the Editor
Anchorage Daily News
P.O. Box 149001
Anchorage, AK 99514
letters@adn.com

For more information, contact:
Cook Inlet Keeper (Anchorage Office): 907.929.9371
Alaska Center for the Environment: 907.274.3621

TALKING POINTS

MIXING ZONES & SALMON STREAMS

· Alaska Law Rightly Prohibits Mixing Zones in Salmon Streams. Alaska law currently prohibits mixing zones in salmon streams because mixing zones allow pollution at levels above state standards designed to protect fish. The state says it is simply conducting "housekeeping" to make permit decisions easier for industry and agencies; the fact is that the new rule will allow toxic pollution discharges in Alaska salmon streams where none occur now. Polluting industries have lobbied for years for this loophole, and now, the Murkowski Administration is set to reward them with yet another way to foist pollution treatment costs onto everyday Alaskans.

· Polluting Salmon Streams Will Hurt Fish Marketing Efforts. In response to the global glut of farmed salmon, the Alaska salmon industry is successfully branding and marketing wild, fresh and clean Alaska salmon to consumers who demand quality seafood. If the Administration adopts the proposed rules, farmed fish vendors will have a powerful to undermine Alaska salmon sales. Furthermore, salmon marketing and certification entities - such as the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Kenai Wild, Copper River Red Salmon and the Marine Stewardship Council - may be forced to amend their salmon quality specifications and grades to reflect fish taken from waters with heightened pollution from mixing zones.

· The Murkowski Administration Is Gutting Fish Habitat Protections. The Murkowski Administration has embraced an extreme anti-salmon agenda since taking office. At the start of his term, the Governor effectively silenced the biologists in the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's Habitat Division, by moving them to the resource development agency - the Department of Natural Resources. Soon after, he and his supporters gutted the primary state law which protects salmon habitat in coastal watersheds - the Alaska Coastal Management Program - by effectively removing citizens and local governments from decisions affecting coastal salmon habitat. The Murkowski Administration has also pressed hard to allow pesticide and herbicide spraying around salmon streams. Together, these sweeping changes herald disturbing rollbacks to common sense protections for our wild salmon and the people and communities they support.

· More Pollution Threatens Fisheries Health & Consumer Safety. The State of Alaska does not regularly sample and test salmon for toxic pollution. Research from the Exxon Valdex oil spills has proved that low levels of hydrocarbons - as low as one part per billion - can harm fish eggs and smolt. Furthermore, many Native and subsistence consumers eat large quantities of salmon, and toxins in the fish can bioaccumulate in human fat cells, leading to health concerns (especially for vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and children). As a result, the current proposal to allow more pollution in salmon streams adopts a "head in the sand" approach to fisheries health and consumer safety.

· The Comment Period Falls During Prime Fishing Season. The Murkowski Administration chose to wait until the middle of the fishing and subsistence seasons to open a 45 day comment period - when those people who would be most affected by the proposed rule are unavailable. As a result, the comment period should be extended until October 31, to allow stakeholders a realistic opportunity to weigh-in on this important proposal.

For more information, contact:

Cook Inlet Keeper (Anchorage Office): 907.929.9371
Alaska Center for the Environment: 907.274.3621

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The food is old and dirty. The illegal aliens that work there do not wash their hands when cooking. The boss John harasses female employees,
work conditions are unfair, and the place is a health safety hazard.

Someone needs to stop it, and we need the health inspectors to go in. If they do, The Countryside Market and Delicatessan will be shut down in a second.

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Dear Reader~

I am an individual from the UK, whom through personal and close friends' experiences have found that the "Taboo" around Mental Health Issues has caused a great amount of ignorance around the subject. I as an individual, with the help of others, aim to both write a letter and submit this petition to many parties throughout the government in a campaign to make our voices heard and attempt to cease this problem

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This Petition is for us all.
I used to work in a Nursing Home, in Mid Wales, and became a Whistle Blower. Because i saw abuse towards the elderly, ie..from been hit, forced in the bath, shouted at, been tied down,and the list goes on.

Now i want to bring Civil Action against this home. Since 13 ex members of staff have come forward, who also seen abuse.

I have been to my Local Goverment office, Social Services, Police, The Care Standarts Comission, And i was told there is a Network in this town i should not upset. "MASONS" I BELIEVE. So now i need the Public's help to get this case heard.

The Fact is 500.000 elderly get abused in the UK each year.You have organisations like the RSPCA, NSPCA,but you have nothing for the elderly to be protected.
Ohh do not get me wrong you have got organisations, but i have tried them all.And all of them cover there ears and do not want too know.
Since every citizen is duty bound to report crime, and if it is ignored by the Police and Public Servant.Us the Citizen's must use they Rights, EXPOSE THE OFFENDERS WHO ACT IN THE CONTEMT OF THE LAW.

We all have to stop putting our heads in the sand. Because one day we will be old. And ask yourself you want to be abused?? The System does not work and the law needs to be changed.

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We all live with in 2 miles of a dirt pit that Anderson Columbia Construction owns. They run trucks in & out and they contract other trucks such as Holmes II out of Anniston AL to do so also. And then there is Grice & Son who runs in & out often also.

We have some people that live on the Popular Springs Road that have very bad health and some with severe breathing problems. We have called and go very littel response to them keeping the roads wet down so that the dust doesn't become unbearable to these folks. The trucks of course keep the roads a mess. They came last week and barely sprinkled the road, that is just not what we need. We need it to be maintained as long as they are going to be running in & out all day.

It is awful for all of us, but our main concern is for the health and well being of the families who live here in Jackson County.

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The purpose of this petition is to clean up the community of Magnolia Park in efforts to provide a more healthy and safe environment for the residents to live. The community has a serious rodent problem. The responsibilty to minimize this problem lies in the hands of the city of Atlanta, Lane Company and the residents of Magnolia Park.

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We, the undersigned residents of Canada, petition Parliament to:

Lead the international community to increase access to affordable medicines for the world's poorest populations as our commitment to the universal right to health;

Triple Canada's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and that these funds not be taken from existing commitments to international development assistance;

Challenge international financial institutions' current paractices demanding debt repayment and imposing structural adjustment austerity measures that limit people's capacity to ensure their own health and well-being.

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The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Oak Park consists of residents, businesses, organizations, and friends of Oak Park who are dedicated to raising awareness in the community about the dangers of secondhand smoke and increasing support for a smoke-free Oak Park to protect workers and patrons from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

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We, the undersigned, hereby wish for there to be a full time health centre for people living with cystic fibrosis. This would allow for a place, outside of hospitals, where families and individuals can go to receive treatments, be cared for when they're ill, and speak to others dealing with the same medical problems as themselves.

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It is quite apparent that the community of Barrhead, which has it's mental health services provided by Aspen Mentla Health Services, needs help. There are next to no resources available to the mentally ill residences of Barrhead. These residences are in desperate need of more resources. It's time for someone to step up and take action.

It's also apparent that the world tends to ignore mental illness as they figure that way they will go away. Well here's a shocker guys it isn't going to go away. By you ignoring it it's only going to get worse.

I beg someone to take action regadring this matter and bring more Mental Health resources to Barrhead.

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SocIal Skills Training for children with Asperger Syndrome and Autism is not taught in the Inclusion Environment of Special Education anywhere from Preschool through High School. These children are treated as Behavioral problems rather than Neurological function disorders.

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Ohip needs to fund vaccines for Meningitis, Chicken pox Pneumonia and inner ear conditions. Our children deserve this protection. The cost for prevention of these diseases is a small fraction of the cost of what it takes to treat them. We cannot afford to ignore our childrens health, especially when the level of our health care system is falling at an alarming rate.

Publicly funded vaccines

Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Tetanus, Polio, Diphtheria, Pertussis (whooping cough), Hemophilus influenza

Not publicly funded

Menjugate (meningitis) $80 to $120 per dose

Prevnar (pneumonia and inner ear infection) $95 to $110 per dose

Varivax (chickenpox) $81 per dose

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The current CRNP Cindy Coogan is being relieved of her services from the health center in which she has served for many years. Her current patients are in disagreement with Titusville Hospital's decision to remove her from Tidioute as they consolidate. We are now supporting her decision to seek a doctor and health center in the Tidioute Borough through a different hospital, Warren General Hospital.

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Over the past year the quality and standards that we have grown accustomed to have slowly deteriorated in our Bally Total Fitness Health Club in Matteson, Illinois.

We have not had any heat in the upstairs area where the free weights are housed. For over two months loyal members have been compelled to wear tee shirts, sweat shirts, skull caps, and gloves just to start their workout. Besides the lack of heat, the area has several lights that flicker on and off at any give time.

Furthermore, if you are upstairs working out, most likely without a watch on; you will have to go downstairs to the other side to view a clock. The clock that is in sight from upstairs has been stuck on 8:45 for weeks.

The facility removed two free- standing incline benches over six months ago. They have yet to be replaced. The dumb bells are loose and potentially dangerous. There are no weights sizes marked on them; they have worn off over the years and never been repainted.

Other evidence of deterioration includes, but are not limited to:

*The Men’s bathroom has three faucets and one has not worked for an excessive time.
*The whirlpool was broken for over three weeks and was resolved only after repeated calls to the Corporate Office.
* One of the Precore Elliptical machine was out of commission for at lease a month.

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We as health and physical education teachers are in need of a new department chair. In the past, we have had someone to represent us in the district office to answere questions, set up pdd days, organization of new ideas and activties, helping to set up new curriculums, implementing new technology in the classroom and a leader who is there to direct and organize our initiatives. This past year, our past head of the department, Linda Cowart, has resigned. We need to fill this position as soon as possible if we want to contiue moving forward in our profession.

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Milton Keynes needs rubber/plastic wheelie bins, to keep out animals and wasps. To limit the spread of rubbish around our gardens. For health and safty standards.

We need the trash collectors to be able and willing to empty the rubbish bins without problems.

On July 22nd I was stung by a wasp, due to the rubbish collectors failed to pick up my rubbish on the 15th of July. IF my partner had been stung that would have caused a instant reaction and possiable death due to he is highly allergic. I phoned the rubbish collectors company numberous times between the 15th and the 22nd with out answers. PLEASE sign this petition. Thank You.

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Dear Colleagues:

As you know, on March 4th & 5th of 2003 Spherion Corporation presented the new years benefits plan. "This plan will cost the employees less, fore less will be deducted from their weekly earnings". Yes, of course that is absolutely correct. The coverage is also reflective of this very ideal. (The ole' cliche')"One gets what one pays for" Comes to mind. For the facts are self-evident, this plan is morbidly insufficent health coverage for any basic annual health expense, yet alone any specialized care or prevention.

Secondly, what becomes of the individuals undergoing treatment for pre-existing conditions and/or life threatening illnesses/decease? This newest development in benefits will halt all treatments and medications for these people. What are they going to do?

Research into finding alternative health providers proved feeble. Most will not even consider someone with any pre-existing condition. Also for a healthy individual to get coverage for thenmselves runs from $200.00 to $400,00.

After, last August's cut in pay, most do not have the means to entertain that option.

The new plan provided via Allstate was designed for someone healthy. It is referred to as a "Mini-Plan" quote unquote by Allstate. This is simular to having Supplimental health insurance like AARP.

For

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A petition to keep Head Start under the Department of Health and Human Services where it will receive sufficient funding.

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Some of the successes of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's and 70's included the implementation of programs that sought to address the marginalization of communities of color caused by our nations racist history. For example, affirmative action programs in college admissions and public contracting essentially involved the issue of access and were designed to counter the massive discrimination found in colleges and the workplace. But unfortunately, since the 1990's there have been successful attempts to eliminate many programs that are meant to help communities of color in specific and society as a whole. And now, with the possible passage of the Information Ban/Racial Privacy Initiative, our ability to detect continuing disparities due to current and past discrimination practices is threatened. Ultimately, the Information Ban/Racial Privacy Initiative will prevent state and local governments from collecting data "by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting or public employment."

In 1995, the Regents of the University of California, pioneered by Ward Connerly, passed Standing Policies 1 and 2—which banned the University of California from considering race, ethnicity, and gender in admissions, hiring and contracting. Not satisfied there, Ward Connerly then became one of the main proponents of California's Proposition 209 in 1996 which abolished all affirmative action programs in the State of California. The controversial initiative (Prop 209), which passed by a slim margin, has had devastating effects on our society.

Since the abolishment of race conscious programs in California, a series of disturbing phenomena have emerged. Our institutions of higher education, for example, are resegregating. In fact, according to a Harvard study, Black and Latina/o students are in many instances more segregated today than they were in the 1960's! Critical problems like resegregation can be detected due to the legal collection of racial data. Now imagine the effects of banning the collection of such information. The consequences can be devastating.

Furthermore, the Information Ban/Racial Privacy Initiative will greatly affect the health field. It is common knowledge among individuals in the health sciences that health related data based on race is necessary in order to adequately address the varying health related necessities of specific racial groups. For example, without racial information in the health sciences, we would not know that Vietnamese women have the highest invasive cervical cancer incidence rates of all women and that Latina women rank second highest (Coalition for an Informed California, 2002).

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There is no health care benefit coverage for women who suffer from issues related to infertility. Only testing of infertility is allowed, there is no coverage for treatment of such.

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My name is Shiannon Corcoran and I am a member of the Australian Pituitary Foundation. I have a condition known as Panhypopituitarism caused by the removal of a Pituitary tumour six years ago. I now take replacement medication to stabilise my condition and stay alive.
My body no longer produces Growth Hormone, which is unavailable to me and other GH deficient adults on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at present.
Growth Hormone is a very important hormone that is produced throughout adult life and studies around the world have shown it plays a vital role in maintaining health. A lack of GH causes muscle wasting and weakness, poor heart function - including degeneration of the arteries, bone and skin thinning, loss of vitality and reduced energy levels. In addition to greatly reducing quality of life, it also reduces life expectancy.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has recently rejected Government funding of GH therapy and other life saving medications. To obtain a supply of this drug would cost up to $25,000 per year for life - way beyond the reach of the average person. All we are asking is a chance to be able to lead a normal life that is not ruled by illness or pain, and function at normal levels - therefore creating long-term minimal cost to the Government.

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