European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To your health 7 Wear and tear   vat avoiding eyestrain with vat s while vat s Are not known to Emit rays that Hurt the eyes eyestrain is a real and common problem. People who Don t Wear glasses maj need them for vat work and Many people teed different glasses to focus their eyes at per distance and height for vat Vork Ltd w 1 Light Over right or badly placed lighting causes Glare a tillable screen helps avoid it. Detachable keyboard to Combine the proper viewing Angle with the right position for typing a detachable keyboard and adjustable space to put it on Are essential. Nyl by Peter h. Lewis new York times a the san Francisco Board of supervisors passed an ordinance in december that will require larger businesses in the City to pay. More attention to the health and safety consequences of using computers in the workplace. The legislation which mayor Art Agnos signed after. Some last minute compromises is being heralded by labor unions  Model for other cities and counties. The health issues of computer use in the office. Including radiation from video display terminals Job. Stress and repetitive motion disorders Are Likely to a receive widespread attention in the coming decade. A a tens of millions of computer workers will enter the Job Force joining tens of millions of current computer users who will be getting older a Quot in the 90s, with the aging of the baby Boom generation there will be a lot More people entering their forties and that s when you Start seeing increases in Wear and tear injuries Quot said Rani Lueder president of Humanick inc., an ergonomics consulting company in Encino Calif. A. A. ,. Quot there is also a cumulative effect from a number of years of exposure to . Lueder and other critics say that although the measures adopted in san Francisco May help reduce the physical ailments of computer users they do. Little to address what May be a greater cause of computer. Related injuries the increasingly stressful workplace. The san Francisco legislation is similar to a Law passed in Suffolk county n.y., in 1988 that was struck Down by a state court on the ground that Only the state had the authority to make such Law. Because the san Francisco Law was negotiated with the business a. Community however perhaps no Legal Challenge will be mounted. A a a a neither the san Francisco nor Suffolk county Laws directly addressed the Issue of video display terminal radiation which is being investigated As a possible Factor in increased cases of some types of cancer and. Pregnancy problems. ,. Rather the san Francisco Law focuses on repetitive motion injuries Eye Strain headaches  and other neuromuscular ailments that Are believed to be caused by extended computer use. The san Francisco Law requires the use of adjustable chairs and tables lighting Angle adjustable screens and keyboards work time at tasks away from the computer training of workers and supervisors and the use of Printer covers to reduce office noise. In general the Law affects any business with 15 or. More daily employees and those employees who spend More than half their working hours at a computer terminal. A. A Quot business owners and business associations opposed the san Francisco Bill As they had the Suffolk Bill because of the perceived High Cost of buying new tables chairs Light fixtures and other equipment supporters of the measure say businesses pay even More for the lost work time higher medical Bills and lost productivity that the current environment brings. Under the compromises reached by business leaders and Agnos companies in san Francisco have 30 months to refit existing work stations to comply with the Law but no company is required to spend More than $250 per work station. All new work stations installed after this year must comply with the Law regardless of Cost. Repetitive motion injuries of the sort associated with computer use Are among the fastest growing. Categories of workplace injuries the Bureau of labor. Statistics says. They accounted for 18 percent of All workplace injuries in 1981, the year International business machines corp. Introduced the first ism pc the percentage Rose to 52 percent in 1989, by which time there were some 40 million personal computers in Ltd use the Bureau reported 28 percent More repetitive motion injuries in 1989, the latest year for which figures were available than in the year before. Although repetitive stress injuries Are also associated with Many Assembly line jobs where people perform one task Over and Over some office workplace researchers feel that hand and wrist problems caused by use of computer terminals May be a much larger. Problem. A the most frequently cited ailments among computer users Are carpal Tunnel syndrome and wrist tendonitis the most common victims Are secretaries Telephone operators data entry clerks airline reservation workers and journalists. The  caused when wrist and hand tendons Are stressed repeatedly without sufficient time to recover. Over time it can become debilitating causing pain so great that some workers resort to surgery or leave their jobs. Some ergonomics researchers fault the approach taken in san Francisco saying that simply buying adjustable furniture May do Little to help people who. Suffer from those ailments. Quot like other vat Laws it is inadvertently designed to sell products and services rather than protect vat users Quot said Bert Dumpe of erg Otec a nonprofit office ergonomics association in Arlington a. Lueder of Humanick added Quot i done to know of a single study that has found that ergonomic furniture or adjustable vat work stands will prevent carpal Tunnel syndrome or improve it in any  a increasing workplace stress she said rather than ill fitting furniture is the probable cause of most cases of carpal Tunnel syndrome. / a computer use is becoming a lot More stressful a than it used to be Quot she said. Quot the technology is pushing people More than Ever before. At a phone company i visited recently for example they keep adding new software systems that make people spend More time on the Job and intensify the  the stress is exacerbated she said by the current recession which has caused Many computer workers to fear for their jobs. Another problem is that most workers do not take advantage of the adjustable furniture when it is provided Quot in a study at Ontario Hydro in Canada they found that Only 5 percent of the adjustable furniture had Ever been adjusted and that Only 12 percent of the workers even knew it was adjustable Quot Lueder said. The. San Francisco ordinance Calls for workplace education to inform computer users about health issues of computers. All employees Are to be Given training on proper use of computers adjustable furniture and lighting foot and wrist rests and other work station equipment. Quot in the end though the Best defences against computer related ailments Are Low tech or no tech. Frequent Short rest Breaks Are better than infrequent Long ones for people doing computer work. Other advice from experts get plenty of rest and exercise do not smoke lose weight sit up straight and learn to manage stress. A and workers who Hammer away at the keyboard Are More Likely to injure themselves than those who Type lightly and smoothly. Page16 a a a the stars and stripes tuesday january 22, 1991 h Ope la r of s of f e re is . Dickerson associated press a advertising executive Jerry Varon was in a clients office the afternoon his songs paediatrician called and asked to meet with him that evening. A Quot he said bring a Friend and bring tissue. Your son has cystic  i had to ask him How to spell it Quot said Varon tears stinging his eyes at the memory of that Spring Day 25 years ago when there was still Hope a cure might come in time to save his sons a a. Richie Varon then almost 7, was getting Over his second bout of pneumonia when the suspicious. Paediatrician ordered of testing because the disease is inherited the Var ans daughter and their other son were checked. Linda 3, was Fine but 4-year-old Jimmy had of too. A it a. Quot a a a a. A a. Doctors offered Little Hope. There was a and still is a no cure for of one of the most com motto amp noetic diseases.  the discovery of the of Gene in 1989 and then the 1990 test tube experiments that replaced the defective Gene with a Normal version give Hope to people such As of sufferer Linda Stamey who turned 30 on Jan. 17, and Wendy  Spokojny whose 13-year-old son has the disease. A a Robert Beall medical director of the cystic fibrosis foundation expects a lifesaving therapy within five years. Of affects 30,000 children and Young adults in the United states. Their lungs produce a Sticky thick mucus leading to lung infections and damage that robs them of breath while mucus elsewhere interferes with digestion. Improved treatments and antibiotics mean that children live into their 20s on average a few beyond 40. Twenty five years ago of victims generally died by their teens. A Quot you know your child has a terminal illness but Youcan t prepare. You re never ready Quot Sharon Varon said during a recent interview at their suburban Detroit Home a where Richie a 12-string guitar is lovingly mounted on the living room Wall. Quot these kids teach you How to live about life. They lived every minute. They had the Best possible  for three weeks after the diagnoses the varas who own their own advertising Agency stayed in an Ohio Hospital As specialists began treating the boys and teaching their parents of therapy thumping the boys bodies to dislodge the thick mucus. Richie worsened the year he went to Michigan state a Sharon and Jerry Varon show photos of their sons Richie right and Jim with wife Laura and daughter Molly. Richie and Jim both died of cystic fibrosis. University he died in november 1977, just 19 years old. Their younger son Jimmy who lettered in swimming at Michigan state worked As a photographer for the Detroit news winning a National press photographers. Association award for his coverage of the palestinian uprising. A. Jimmy Varan married and 11 weeks before he died on Jan. 7,1990, at age 28, daughter Molly was born. Because the thick mucus of of often affects male Fertility Molly is a Miracle to the varas. Quot he cried when he looked at his daughter Quot Jerry Varon said a. A a. A a a a a a a �./. His parents believe that increasingly weak and fearful a of. Becoming an invalid Jimmy Varon gave up. Quot Quality of life was important to Jimmy Quot his father said. Scott Spokojny was diagnosed with of the week that Richie Varon died. His Mother had Feare her firstborn was ill because he ate constantly but barely gained an ounce. A. A a a a a a a a. A. A a a a a. Quot by nine weeks,1 was hysterical Quot she said. Of testing was arranged. It was positive. Quot its hard to accept Quot said Milton Spokojny a lawyer. A a it a like a death sentence Quot added his wife. Scott was hospitalized the night his parents received a the test results. He was Given enzymes to let his 6-Pound, 8-ounce body absorb food. Quot he gained half a Pound overnight with the three feedings Quot Wendy Spokojny said. Scott is Lucky he has not been hospitalized since then and is Well enough to play baseball basketball and a football. He hates taking 40 pills daily vitamins and antibiotics his Mother plucks from a double Kitchen Cabinet its three shelves stuffed with medicines. But to does t mind his twice daily hour Long ritual of beating the mucus from his lungs and two types of inhalation therapy. Quot it s fun. I m used to it Quot Scott said. Of his disease he Rolls his eyes and says a it s not that bad. I can pretty much do what i want. Maybe in the next 10 years they la have a . Beall of the cystic fibrosis foundation believes Gene therapy will become reality within a few years since the discovery of the Gene has prompted a flurry of new of . A. Quot More people want to get into this Field now that we re past this bottleneck Quot to said. But the Gene s discoverers Francis Collins of the University of Michigan and Lap Chee Tsui of the Hospital for sick children in Toronto will say Only that they Hope for a cure within their lifetimes. A _ those scientists labs and others Are exploring Gene therapy wherein the defective of Gene would be replaced with a Normal copy. The first two human Gene therapy trials began last fall one to treat a rare immune disorder and another to treat Melanoma a lethal skin cancer a. A a a a Quot Tsui said studies on of Gene replacement in people Are years away Quot it is impossible to make predictions on the time involved in making this a treatment Quot Collins  a Revenue officer with the internal Revenue service in Pontiac about 20 Miles North of Detroit is so optimistic that she and her husband John plan to Start a family in a few years besides having undergone three Bowel operations necessitated by thick of mucus Stamey is also diabetic. Quot in the general population in a the sickly one. But in Tho of and diabetes Community i m the healthy one Quot she said. Quot we Don t dwell on it. You have to get on with living your . Jerry Varon remains on the metro Detroit of chapter s Board of directors still raising Money for research. Quot children should t die Quot he said. A. Even so a cure would be bittersweet. Til be real Happy for everyone else Quot Sharon Varon said. A a a a a a what better Way to show the whole world that you care you can print your personal Valentine message s to family special friends or loved ones in the stars and stripes annual Valentine s Day Section on february 14. A. A a a a to order your Valentine select the style you want from the samples shown. Write your message in 25 words or less. For longer messages add 1.0c per additional word children 16 and under can Send messages for half Price. Make your Check or Money order payable in . Dollars do not Send Cash to stars and stripes fund ecn-874.deadline is Friday february 1,1991. Mailing address is stars acid stripes attn Valentines Box 266, Apo 09211-4211. Daddy Happy Valentine s Dayto the Best daddy in the world. Thanks for being there for mom and me even when away. I love you very Muchl a Sweet pea duly phone. Home phone a a style 1, above meet age Only $6.00 $3.00 Lor 16 a under in Elci Cohne of Cir of Yeadt us do wife of Skye Happy Valentine s Day How do i love thee let us count the Days. I love you husband to be you mean More to me than a the grains of Sand m Saadi Happy Valentine s Dayl . V a v. Style 3, above boxed i Lentone six 00 $ �?T2 so for 16 under style 7, left Heel late with Mee Eege $10 00 $5 00 for 16 amp under tuesday january 22, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17