European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday november 30, 1992 i commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 research on injuries yields alarming results George f. Will few noticed but in 1990 America passed a grim Milestone. In at least two states Texas and Louisiana the leading cause of death by injury was not motor vehicles but guns. Mark Rosenberg noticed. He is a doctor at the centers for disease control and prevention in Atlanta ga., specializing in injury prevention particularly the prevention of violence. Violence is epidemic and epidemiologists skills Are relevant to rendering violence a treatable Public health problem. Throughout Mankind a history the leading causes of premature death have been infectious diseases and injuries. Control of infectious diseases began accelerating in 1796, when Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine for smallpox. Since then improved sanitation Hygiene housing food handling pesticides and education have joined the inventory of disease controls. The contrast with the failure to apply scientific intelligence to the preventing of violence self inflicted suicides and assaultive a is marked. Violence is not a disease but neither is it something simply to be endured. It is a problem susceptible to ameliorative policies. Consider two analogies. Smoking is not a disease it is socially costly addictive behaviour and it is demonstrably comb table. If the motor vehicle fatality rate of 1952 had been the same in 1989, 155,075 americans would have died in vehicular accidents. But Only 45,555 did because the problem was treatable with improved vehicle and Highway design licensing requirements motorcycle helmet Laws Ana other measures. About one third of the 150,000 deaths per year from injuries Are from suicide or assaultive violence. Homicide is the second leading cause of death by injury among Ages 1-19 and the leading cause of deaths for Blacks male and female 15-34. Furthermore 2.2 million americans suffer non fatal injuries from violent and abusive behaviour. X u epidemiology looks for patterns in Large numbers and for predictive and diagnostic implications for at risk individuals and groups and for risky behaviour. For example Rosenberg says in 30 years the suicide rate in Ages 15-24 has tripled. The prototypical suicide casualty is no longer an older depressed male. The rate is rising most rapidly among younger males five times More numerous than female suicides who Are not usually depressed but Are angry frustrated resentful often using drugs and unable to communicate their distress. Another example Many people think the Way to avoid being a homicide victim is to stay at Home at night. But most homicides occur in the Home among acquaintances in connection with drinking in the con a id militia being acc essay to the. Security of amp fice state the i of the. People to keep and Bear arms shall not be the second amendment. Text of an argument and in proximity to a gun. The idea of government a a treating violence has occasionally aroused resistance on the right which fears the Rise of a therapeutic state staffed by what . Lewis called a official straighteners a coercive utopians trying to make something straight from the crooked Timber of humanity. On the left the suspicion is that governments focus on violence masks an attempt to control the disadvantaged by targeting racial and ethnic minorities thereby diverting attention from social injustices. The fiction that violence research is a racist plot was fuelled recently by misguided proposals for research on a genetic factors in there is no behaviour for which any single Gene has been identified As the cause. Granted there Are interesting avenues of biological research such As possible linkages Between nutrition brain chemistry and behaviour. However Rosenberg a objective is not to find a pacifying drug or any other strategy of biological intervention. The objective says Rosenberg is the empowerment of communities so they will not be passive victims. Practical measures against violence Are Many conflict Resolution skills for individuals and adolescents gangs improved Public lighting Hullet Prool barriers for cabdriver reduced alcohol and drug con sumption gun control family life education condemnation of entertainment that Fosters cultural acceptance of violence As a response to grievances Metal detectors to deter the one in 20 High school students who today carries a gun and so on. Today in Ages 1-19, More people die of injuries than from All diseases combined. Up to age 44 injury is the leading cause of death. Because the Young arc so often victims of fatal injuries injury is the leading cause of loss of potential life a More than heart disease cancer and stroke combined. To the staggering a scores of billions of dollars a monetary costs of assaultive violence must be added the costs of psychological and social dysfunction. These include fear anxiety isolation restricted mobility and activity and especially among the Young fatalistic despair a the feeling that prudent behaviour is unavailing because the Odds of ones situation Are against longevity. Clearly the criminal Justice system is inadequate to the task of turning lie tide of violence. So As a sound investment in improving the Quality of american life no Federal funds ate spent better than those that fund the do s i scarch. C Tho Winshi Ruxton Post Hillary Clinton May redefine role of first lady of All the transition events since Bill Clinton won the presidency none has occasioned More comment than the presence of future first lady Hillary Clinton throughout the president elects first meeting with democratic congressional leaders. Clinton dealt with the question in admirably straightforward fashion. A she stayed the whole time talked a lot a he told reporters. A she knew More than we did about some things a others at the meeting said that Hillary Clinton picked her spots and Drew on her experience As a lawyer and a Public policy advocate to make important Points about everything from education programs to the savings and loan cleanup. When speaker of the House Thomas s. Foley d-wash., was asked subsequently if he expected Hillary Clinton to participate in the regular White House meetings of the president and the congressional leaders he said a it would be appropriate if the president decides it s appropriate. I would have no so the country is clearly on notice that the first member of the baby Boom generation to become first lady is going to rewrite the rules for the office. It is a sign of the times. Had Dan Quayle or Tom Harkin or any number of other politicians with professionally trained politically savvy spouses been elected president this year the Prospect would have been the same. I take this As a necessary and nigh inevitable part of the generational change in the National leadership a and not something to be resisted or lamented. In Hillary Clinton a it it is Clear that the country is getting an exceptionally competent and capable political player. The briefing she gave years ago on the report of a commission she had headed on a the forgotten half High school students who do not go on to College a remains in my mind years later As a Model of clarity and forcefulness. But her role As a policy adviser perhaps More influential. Than and other in the Clinton White House raises questions of accountability that both Clinton must address. The Constitution did not create the presidency As a dual office so there is no Power sharing that is possible. By Law and custom presidential appointees who Are confirmed by the Senate Are later available to rive testimony to congressional committee s on matters in their jurisdiction. But the Clinton apparent have ruled out any David s. Broder such formal role for her. Senior White House Stalf officials a the chief of staff the head of the National Security Council or the Domestic policy Council for example a generally do not testify before congressional committees although they often have extensive private conversations and meetings with key lawmakers. Like the Cabinet members they also customarily Are available to the press for interviews on policy matters. This creates a degree of Public accountability for senior White House and Cabinet officials who Are part of the presidents decision making Circle. But three smart women with White House experience of their own a Sheila Tate of the Reagan administration and Anne Wexler and Patricia Bario of the Carter administration a said in separate interviews they do not think any of these devices is appropriate for Hillary Clinton. Wexler and Bario both said they Hope Hillary Clinton will rethink her opposition to taking a formal administration role which would clarify her responsibilities and engage her in one or More of the traditional accountability mechanisms. Wexler suggested the solicitor general a position in the Justice department Bario proposed that she head a presidential commission in one of the policy areas in which she is interested but barring that All three of them said Thev see serious problems in establishing any accountability mechanism for the first lady. Quot if she did any of those things Quot a testify to Congress or hold news conferences on administration policy for example a a half the nation would be outraged a Bario said. Tate said that a if she appears to be throwing her weight around in private she will have problems Quot but the Prospect of first lady press conferences on a wide Range of issues a makes my stomach Hurt. Quot is there any solution the closest analogy that comes to my mind is that of the modern vice president who since 19/n, has served As a senior and often influential policy adviser to the president but who cannot in terms of politics or Public image afford to be seen As an Independent Power Center. N recent vice presidents have used a combination of speeches and press interviews to give the Public a sense of themselves and their views while safeguarding from scrutiny their specific counsel to the president. The analogy is far irom exact be cause the first lady is obviously not in the line of succession. But perhaps there Are clues to be found in the Way the keeps from Mondale through Quayle have handled their roles. It is not going to be easy for Hillary Clinton. Whatever she does she is Likely to he criticized. So wish her Luck. I Pmj f of
