Rally combats attacks on
women’s bodies, issues
NATIONAL
AS!UNf, t ON (AP} — Under the banner of
coot bating violwu against women. a broad
coalition of interest groups rallied Sunday on
fhi* National Mail. «mbra< mg a wide range of
causes. from nhortion rights to affirmative a< tion
Phi* rally, organized bv the National Organization for
Women, was endorsed by more than 700 groups, including
abortion-rights advocates, labor unions, gat and lesbian orga
nizations. environmentalists, socialists and victims' rights
advocates
1 he rally was meant to "make the connection among the
physical attacks on women, the anti-abortion terrorist attacks
at clinics and the political a 11 a t ks were facing in Congress ’
said NOW President Patrh ia Ireland
Eleanor Smeal. president of the Feminist Majority. related
domestic abuse to violence nt abotiion clinic s and other forms
of violence against women
"Be it personal terror or politic «J terror, it has |ust one put
pose — control." Smeal told the crowd We are the maturity
Our rights will only he taken away if we allow the terrorists
to reign."
Coming at the end of the first too days of the new OOP tec)
Congress, the rally fin.used heavily on the conservative agen
da of House Speaker Newt Oingrii it R Oa and fears that ( on
gross would end abortion rights, curtail spending on welfare
programs lor women and . hildren, and t ut funding '
domestic violence.
Gulf War syndrome researched
DURHAM. NC (AJ') Ami
nerve gas pills combined with
anti insect compounds mny t««
the cause of a mysterious cluster
of ailments known <is Gulf War
syndrome. researcher* said.
Duke l 'Diversity Medii il ( on
ter researchers tested nerve gas
pills. ins« t repellents and uua ■
tickles given to U S troops dur
ing the Gulf War and dist oveted
nervous system damage in labo
ratory animal*. The Herald-Sun
of Durham reported Stmdav
The team's lead scientist
warned that no undisputed link
has been established Imtween the
chemicals and intetlicidtH and
the ailments reported by about
37.IKM! veterans of the war But
that's where the preliminary find
mgs point, said Mohaiiii d Abou
Damn, deputy dins tor of Duke's
toxicology program
"I'm confident we have more
than a hypothesis," he said "We
have very solid ilata to demon
strate ivi! have a plausible si e
nario of what could have hap
pened tn the Gulf War
In every case the lab animals
— chickens exposed to the
combination of chemicals suf
fared nervous system damage like
that suffered by veterans.
Ia»*t month, the lVntagon's top
doctor said no single cause of
Gulf War syndrome had been
found Dr Stephen Joseph
released updated figures of a Pen
tagon medical eyaluation pro
gram of Gulf War veteran* show
ing that m H4 percent of rases a
t'.loar diagnosis of health prob
lem* could be found
Of the 2,() '-t cases analyzed.
Pentagon doctors were unable to
diagnose afamt 1 ♦» percent in the
study complaining of fatigue,
headaches and sleep distur
bances
Alwit tS.OOt) veterans are par
tn ipating in the program,
Ross Perot, a longtime veterans
advocate, gave the Duke
researchers $ 150,090 for the
study that began last July
Abou Donta said the Depart
ment of Veterans Affairs has
invited him to Washington to pn*
sent his data.
We're not saying this is w hat
happened in the C.ulf War. ’
Abou-Donia said
I lia navi step, he said under
standing how tt happens
government may restructure Social Security
WASHINGTON (AP) The
White House is drafting plans to
streamline Social Set urtty bv
turning some work over to pri
vate business and by staggering
the monthly mailing of retire
ment and disability checks.
Some critics snv tho blueprint
overlooks Social Security's most
pressing problem: looming
insolvency for the national
retirement system. Others say
giving for-profit companies a
piece of Social Security s $381
billion budget is a privacy risk
'Hu1 proposed reforms are part
of the Clinton administration's
push to "reinvent government."
The changes, which could save
as much as St billion over five
years, are to be announced
Wednesday.
According to documents
obtained by The Associated
Press, the Social Security
Administration is considering
letting large employers file a
retiring worker's claims for ben
efits directly with the agency, by
computer. However, an employ
ee of a participating company
could still chose to file for ben
efits directly with Social Securi
ty
The agency acknowledges that
several privacy issues must be
resolved, but says the changes
would reduce its workload.
Social Security keeps records
on the earnings of almost 140
million working Ament ans. and
i hr. i n format ion i> co\ tied! by
collection agencies, private
investigators and information
brokers
M&K Block Tax Services Iru
the nation's largest income tax
return preparation service, is
already trying to get in on the
action
Social Security has promised
to consider using the i ompany
and Others like it to assist people
with filing for all types of bene
fits, according to correspon
dence between HAR Blea k and
the agency.
Discussions with specifu
companies, however, are
beyond the scope of the overall
policy changes lieing pushed as
part of White House streamlin
ing efforts
Another proposed change
involves staggering the sending
of checks to retired and disabled
recipients. The change would
apply only to futon* retirees, and
current beneficiaries who volun
teer to switch payment dates
Checks now go out on the
third of the month to 4‘l million
Americans, prompting more
than 2 million calls during the
first week of the month to the
agency's toll-free phone number
Thu crush of callers ties up the
lines and keeps some people
from getting through with ques
tions about their fienefits.
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Staggering the distribution of
ohecke could even out the
impact on financial institutions
as well a% Social Security's
workload, particularly .i\ tin*
number of recipients grows to
7fi million by the year 2020
Under Social So( uritv's pro
posol. three additional payment
dates could be added, such ns
the second, third, and fourth
Wednesdays of the month
The later dates would cost
some recipients a little interest
on their benefits: less than 25
cents a month by Social Securi
ty's estimates
So< ml Security also wants to
require recipients who have
bank accounts to have their
che« ks automatically deposited,
instead of mailed
Among the other proposals
lining considered closing five of
the agency's It) regional offices
and assigning half of the 7(H)
employees who would lie affect
ed to front-line operations deal
ing with the public. The rest of
the jobs would be lost as the
agency cuts its work force by
4,500 over the next four years
As of September. Social Secu
rity had fift.207 employees work
ing in its vast network of offices,
including 1,301 field offices and
37 service centers. Ten regional
offices provide support services
for local offices, but do not deal
directly with the public.
Ttw purpose of these promts
a Is is to provide better puiilk .«' r
vitati at less cot! to the taxpayer."
said spokesman I’hil (>umhim>.
Hut some Social Security
experts say the agent \ should U
focuskng its efforts instead on
the system's long-range sol sen
IV
David M Walker, who was
one of two public trustees over
seeing Social Security's funds
for the past five years, said it
appears that the agent v has "got
the i art fie fore the horse."
" 1 his might he looked on as a
smokescreen, when the real prole
lorn is how do you protect the
financial integrity of the trust
funds,' added Warren I- ref well,
executive vice president of an
American Federation of Govern
ment Employees lot at that rep
resents field office workers in
upstate and t entral New York
"We should be paying more
attention to that, instead of tin
kering with service delivery
when the maturity of people are
very satisfied with the service."
Fretwell said
John Rot Iter, legislative direc
tor for the American Association
of Retired Persons, said the steps
taring outlined by Social Sec.uri*
ty "are designed to make the
agency run better. Clearly. Con
gress's job is to figure out long
term solvency. That's not the
commissioner’s job."
. & —
Think
pring
For Easter
April 16
Send the HD*
Joy of Spring'" Bouquet
Order early to send,>
basketful of flowers home
Our Hands
Move Hearts ■
Eugene’s Flower Home
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^1^ 1 'lh ill l^lllcfson • *4K.!S - 1{SSS • Ownrrti anr t uf O ilunmi
One possible region some vet
or.'ins not su k and others didn’t
is that each person's ability to
deaI with toxic chemicals vanes
Also, some veterans may have
1***0 exposed to higher doses of
c hemicals. Ahou-Donia said
Another tnxu ologist said the
Duke team's rescan h will |w hard
to prove
"It s a kind of scenario that is
fairly easy to construct but dif
fie nit to prove." said Ernest
Hodgson, head of the toxicolo
gy department at North Carol!
n« State University in Raleigh
He isn't involved in the study
"( hemic .ils do interne t. and
there are cases where the toxic i
ly of two i hemic ais is far greater
than when given swpamtfily So
it s i redihle, but that's a long yvnv
from proof." Hodgson said
The Duke researc hers have
c ompared the animals' blood
samples with blcxxl samples from
about ic dozen Gulf kV.tr veterans
If thc> researc hers c an uncover
a "biological fingerprint" in the
blood samples, that c ould lie uses!
to diagnose veterans with Gulf
War illness. Ahem Donut said
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