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DHS receives
bug-tracking
federal funds
A new $1.5 million, three-
year federal grant will allow
Oregon to develop and test a
plan for tracking environ-
mental health threats, accord-
ing to public health officials at
the state Dept. of Human Ser-
vices (DHS).
The goal is to have its
plan for linking environmental
hazard, exposure and health
outcome data ready by 2006,
said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epi-
demiologist. He added that an
nationwide system is also
needed.
“This will help us protect
the public’s health, because
we can begin to link environ-
mental exposures with the
occurrence of certain dis-
eases,” Kohn said.
“These data exist in a va-
riety of places, but in the past
we haven’t been able to bring
them together in a manner that
allows for comprehensive
analysis,” said Kohn.
The Oregon Dept. of En-
vironmental Quality will be a
key partner because it collects
data on air and water contami-
nants and other potential
sources of exposure to envi-
ronmental hazards, Kohn said,
noting the Oregon Dept. of
Agriculture and the Office of
the State Fire Marshal are also
important sources of informa-
tion, according to Kohn.
Additional information about
the grant is available on the
following Web site:
www.cdc.gov/nceh/tracking/.
A Look
Back This Week
January 28, 1878, the first
commercial telephone ex-
change opened in New Haven,
Conn. ... January 31, 1950,
President Truman authorized
production of the hydrogen
bomb ... January 31, 1958, the
Explorer I, the first U.S. earth
satellite to go into orbit, was
launched by the Army from
Cape Canaveral, Fla., and
subsequently discovered the
Van Allen radiation belt ... Feb-
ruary 1, 1960, protest sit-ins
began when four black college
students in Greensboro, N.C.,
refused to move from a lunch
counter in Woolworth's when
denied service ... January 30,
1968, Communist troops
launched the "Tet offensive,"
attacking Saigon and 30 prov-
ince capitals; heavy casualties
were the result ... January 30,
1973, two of the seven defen-
dants in the Watergate break-
in trial were convicted ... Feb-
ruary 3, 1984, the space shut-
tle Challenger was launched
on its fourth trip into space...
January 28, 1986, moments
after liftoff, the space shuttle
Challenger exploded, killing six
astr ona uts and Chris ta
McAuliffe, a New Hampshire
teacher, on board ... January
31, 1995, invoking emergency
powers, President Clinton ex-
tended a $20 billion loan to
help Mexico avoid financial
collapse ... January 29, 1998,
a security guard was killed
when a bomb exploded out-
side an abortion clinic in Bir-
mingham, Ala. ... January 27,
1999, in his final State of the
Union Address, President Clin-
ton said the country had never
been in better shape ... Janu-
ary 27, 2002, a fire at an army
weapons depot in a crowded
residential area of Lagos, Ni-
geria, spawned huge explo-
sions and a mass evacuation,
with many feeling across two
nearby canals; the death toll
was placed at over 1,000 ...
January 29, 2002, receiving a
warm welcome for his first
State of the Union address,
President Bush stressed that
the U.S. war against terror was
still only beginning, with tons of
thousands of al-Qaeda trained
potential terrorists "spread
throughout the world like tick-
ing time bombs" ... February 2,
2002, a report requested by
the board of directors of Enron
Corp. blamed top executives
for the company's bankruptcy.
(c) 2003 DBR Media, Inc.
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523, January 29, 2003