Watching the World

EMPLOYEE THEFT

Crime costs British industry more than $9,000,000,000 a year, asserts John Banham, director general of the Confederation of British Industry. Of this total, from two to three thousand million dollars is due to employee theft. Reporting the results of a recent survey, the London Daily Telegraph reveals that 85 percent of those contacted would not report a colleague to their superior for stealing from the company. Of other dishonest practices, the poll noted that attitudes varied with age. Whereas more than half the employees over 45 years of age found it unacceptable to use company telephones for private calls, less than one in four of the 16 to 24 age group disapproved. Also, only 19 percent of this younger group considered using work time to talk of matters unrelated to company business to be “time theft.”

INFANT MORTALITY RATE

The United States now almost tops the list of developed nations with high infant mortality rates, says Dr. Regina Lederman, an associate dean and a professor at the School of Nursing of the Medical Branch of The University of Texas. Twenty years ago the United States was in 5th place internationally for having healthy infants, but by 1987 it had dropped to 20th place. America is beset by drug and alcohol abuse, AIDS, poor nutrition, homelessness, stress, an epidemic of teen pregnancy, and the effects of smoking. All contribute to low birth weight, the overwhelming threat to newborn life and the cause of many lifelong handicaps. According to Lederman, between 1950 and 1987, a national commitment to health care for women and children boosted Japan from 17th place to first place, achieving the world’s lowest infant mortality rate. “Virtually all studies show prenatal care increases the chances of a normal birth and healthy baby,” says Lederman. “Ideally, prenatal care begins before conception.”

APE DECLINE

The large tailless monkeys of the Rock of Gibraltar known as Barbary macaques are dwindling in number, reports The Times of London. The apes have till now foraged freely on the Rock under the care of the British army garrison. But many of the three-and-a-half million tourists who visit every year feed the monkeys chocolates and other candies. As a result, obesity and addiction to sweets make some Barbary macaques “lose interest in mating and fight over food.” This has caused a fall in the animals’ birth rate, and its population has decreased from 130 to 70. To counteract this, the Gibraltar government has now established a wardened park where one troop of monkeys will be protected and put on a less sugary regimen consisting mainly of food pellets. The park director hopes that this will result in normal conduct and help preserve this endangered species.

EUROPEAN NATIONAL PREFERENCES

“Managers of the Nineties,” reports The European, “will have to overcome more than language barriers” to get a job abroad. Studies carried out in Europe indicate that “definite national preferences” exist when it comes to hiring foreigners. In a survey of 700 British companies, Germans and Dutch were found to be compatible with over one third, whereas Italians and Spaniards are less popular. French and Belgians are often acceptable as foreign employees, but the Swiss are said to be too expensive and demanding. For Spanish companies, the best alternatives are French. British and Dutch like to delegate, but French and Italians do not. “People are different” comments the newspaper, “and therefore judge efficiency differently.”

WHY CHILDREN RUN AWAY

Australia’s Canberra Times analyzed reasons why children run away from home. For some, it’s a spur-of-the-moment decision. Some leave for the adventure of it. Most of these runaways soon get hungry and lonely and return after a few days. But others have deeper reasons, such as school problems, alcoholic parents, physical or sexual abuse, and parental marriage breakup. Those who leave home for these reasons stay away longer, some permanently. They may turn to prostitution and to petty crime to get money to live on. The warning signs are: constant arguments in the home, staying out very late at night on a regular basis, and persistent truancy. To lessen the chance of a runaway, the article lists these suggestions for parents: ‘Provide a warm, loving home environment; achieve a balance between being overindulgent and overauthoritarian; give children autonomy and responsibility; develop effective communication skills, especially the ability to listen; provide fair and consistent discipline.’

BUDDHAS TO PROTECT FORTUNE

Jewelers in Japan report that gold statues of Buddha suddenly constitute their best-selling items. Why? Gold items have become cheaper since a new tax system was introduced. Additionally, there is a popular conviction that these religious statues are exempt from inheritance tax. The Tax Agency, though, is threatening to tax statues of Buddha that have been bought to circumvent the law rather than for their religious significance and use. Jewelers point out, too, that the labor involved in fashioning a Buddha increases the price by up to 75 percent of the value of the gold, making it an unwise investment.

HIGHWAY KILLERS

◻ “A lot of people who are getting killed on the highways are using cocaine,” says Dr. Peter Marzuk, coauthor of a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, made because New York City traffic fatalities had increased, showed that 56 percent of those killed had residues of cocaine or alcohol, or both, in their bodies at the time of death. Marzuk thinks a lot more drivers are using cocaine than the study showed. Some do not get killed, while others who are killed did not use enough so that it could be detected.

◻ “Falling asleep at the wheel causes about 6,500 traffic deaths annually and may cause up to 400,000 accidents a year” in the United States, says Science magazine, reporting on the findings of neurologist Michael Aldrich, a University of Michigan sleep researcher. Up to 25 percent of the population suffer from sleep disorders, says Aldrich, and are the ones most likely to drowse while driving. Sleep apnea, where breathing stops often during the night, is the most common, and leaves the sufferer feeling exhausted the next day. However, the highest number of accidents happened to those afflicted with narcolepsy, a condition that produces sudden sleep “attacks.”

COCKROACH CONTROL

“Cockroaches can withstand a higher dose of radiation than humans can,” says Richard Brenner of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, “but they cannot thermoregulate, so heat that we can stand​—because we sweat to keep our body temperature down—​will kill them.” Now a California pest control company is using that fact to rid houses of cockroaches and other pests. An infected house is encased in a canvas tent. Propane burners and fans are installed inside to raise the temperature there to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit [66° C.]. “After four hours at that temperature, every part of the building will have reached more than 50° C [122° F.], which is enough to kill cockroaches, ants, flies, ticks, moths and even termites,” says New Scientist.

“FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE”

“Marriages, it is said, are made in heaven,” states India Today. “But for these two couples in Patan village, marriages seem to be unmade on earth.” It happened when two separate wedding parties arrived for their marriages at the same time. Both were in a hurry, and the ceremonies were quickly performed. The shock came when the long veils obscuring the faces of the brides were removed, and a mix-up of the brides was discovered. “Even though the brides were horrified at the exchange, relatives insisted that what was done could not be undone,” says India Today. “So now, for better or for worse, the couples have to stick it out till death do them part.”

EGYPTIAN ART TIME BOMB

“Painters in Ancient Egypt created colourful works of art, frescoes, coloured statues, coffins and tombs. They were a highly specialised guild and found the first synthetic colour, a bright ‘Egyptian blue,’ more beautiful than all natural blue colours available to them,” notes The German Tribune. But they “did not realise that with their Egyptian blue they were introducing a Trojan Horse into their works of art. It contained a chemical virus which could destroy them.” The culprit is atacamite, a mineral not intentionally added but which, researchers found, appeared later through a chemical reaction, gradually changing the blue to green. The process continues under humid conditions, loosening the pigment and causing it to crumble away. Much of the dampness comes with visits of tourists, leaving Egyptian authorities with a dilemma: close sites to tourism, upon which the country depends financially, or risk losing all blue and green colors within a century.