04
Feb
2003
• According to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report evaluating the long-term effectiveness of the DARE program, DARE does not influence graduates to refrain from experimenting with illicit drugs. DARE receives an estimated $230 million in federal and corporate subsidies to offer its curriculum in approximately 80 percent of public schools. Despite the program's popularity, the GAO found no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE in the fifth or sixth grade and students who didn't. The GAO also noted that DARE curriculum urging students to resist peer pressure had no long-term impact in discouraging youth from using drugs. In 2001, DARE representatives admitted that there were serious problems with the program's existing curriculum, and announced that they would overhaul it to focus on older students. DARE's revised curriculum is currently being evaluated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, although that study is not expected to be completed until 2006. The DARE program continues to receive federal funding from both the Department of Justice and the Department of Education despite its notably poor performance. The GAO report, "Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations & Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs," is available on the GAO web site at (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf).
• Nearly 100,000 Americans are legally owed some $80 million in IRS income tax refunds, estimates the non-profit National Taxpayers Union (NTU). Now, thanks to NTU, it only takes a moment to see if you're one of them. NTU has compiled a free online database that can be searched in seconds at ( http://www.ntu.org/ntu_IRS02/). The 335,000-member National Taxpayers Union was founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, the elimination of wasteful government spending, and more accountability from elected officials. Each year, thousands of income tax refund checks are returned to the IRS as undeliverable because the taxpayer has moved, changed his or her name, or simply because the check has an incomplete or improper address. NTU's database is designed to provide users with the maximum flexibility of search options (by full name, partial name, and state), so they can quickly find refunds that may be in limbo because of these problems. The IRS's Web site also has an interactive refund feature. However, in typical bureaucratic fashion, the IRS site requires taxpayers to provide a refund amount and other information that makes the search process difficult, complicated, and confusing.
• The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that will halt domestic implementation of the Defense Department's controversial Total Information Awareness program (TIA) until Congress specifically authorizes it. The provision would not apply to military operations or intelligence activities outside of the country. The TIA amendment was included by voice vote in the FY'03 Omnibus Appropriations bill that passed the Senate late Thursday. The legislation also requires a detailed report to Congress jointly from the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Director of Central Intelligence within 60 days or face a moratorium on research and development for TIA until the report is submitted. The Senate measure requires that the report include a detailed explanation of the actual use of funds under TIA; the schedule for proposed research and development on all TIA activities; target dates for deployment of the data-mining project; an analysis of TIA's value if it were deployed; a list of laws and regulations that govern private information to be collected by the TIA program; and a description of any required modifications of those laws and recommendations for how to minimize effects on privacy and civil liberties.
• The Tobacco-Free QC Coalition has just released the results of a survey titled "Comprehensive Assessment of Tobacco Use & Other Health Behaviors of College Students in the Quad City Area." In this comprehensive assessment, of the 734 college students who participated, most view tobacco use as dangerous in abstract terms, but do not see themselves as being at personal risk. According to the survey, 41 percent of the participants reported using tobacco in the last 30 days. Among tobacco users, 55 percent say they want to quit, but only 16 percent of users believe that they are addicted, and 78 percent believe they can quit at any time. Copies of the report are being distributed to agencies in the Quad Cities. The report is available on the Web at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/health), directly at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/health/pub/Tobacco_Use_College_Study.pdf). Contact JaNan Less, Disease Prevention Specialist for the Scott County Health Department at (563)326-8618 to receive a printed copy.
• Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation (RIEGC) will hold a lottery drawing to determine five homeowners eligible for owner-occupied rehabilitation assistance. RIEGC has been granted $157,00 by the Illinois Housing Development Authority through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and its Single Family Owner Occupied Rehab Program. The program is now available to homeowners in Rock Island. Interested person should contact Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation at (309)788-6311 for more information and a pre-application form. The forms must be returned to RIEGC by the close of business on Friday, February 28.
• A bill has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature by Senator Maggie Tinsman, R-Bettendorf , that would require absentee voters to either mail their ballots back or return them to election officials personally after they have been completed. Tinsman said she submitted the bill to help end practices used in the November general election. Tinsman said she is not alleging voter fraud in the election, but added that some candidates were "pushing the gray area," and some of the activities raised questions about whether the outcomes of some races were affected. Democrats say use of the ballots help increase voter turnout.
• A Web site designed to help Iowans learn of road conditions has had unintended consequences. During the recent inclement weather, the site (http://iowaroadconditions.org) was getting 60 to 70 requests per second, causing problems with other Iowa government Web sites located on the same server, including the Iowa Division of Emergency Management, Iowa Homeland Security, and the Iowa Department of Transportation. The problem was fixed when technicians moved the Web site to another server.
• Narconon means no drugs or narcotics and is a non-profit organization dedicated to treating drug and alcohol addictions. It offers over 11,000 local referrals and free assessment by calling (800)468-6933 or going to (http://www.stopaddiction.com).
• Nearly 100,000 Americans are legally owed some $80 million in IRS income tax refunds, estimates the non-profit National Taxpayers Union (NTU). Now, thanks to NTU, it only takes a moment to see if you're one of them. NTU has compiled a free online database that can be searched in seconds at ( http://www.ntu.org/ntu_IRS02/). The 335,000-member National Taxpayers Union was founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, the elimination of wasteful government spending, and more accountability from elected officials. Each year, thousands of income tax refund checks are returned to the IRS as undeliverable because the taxpayer has moved, changed his or her name, or simply because the check has an incomplete or improper address. NTU's database is designed to provide users with the maximum flexibility of search options (by full name, partial name, and state), so they can quickly find refunds that may be in limbo because of these problems. The IRS's Web site also has an interactive refund feature. However, in typical bureaucratic fashion, the IRS site requires taxpayers to provide a refund amount and other information that makes the search process difficult, complicated, and confusing.
• The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that will halt domestic implementation of the Defense Department's controversial Total Information Awareness program (TIA) until Congress specifically authorizes it. The provision would not apply to military operations or intelligence activities outside of the country. The TIA amendment was included by voice vote in the FY'03 Omnibus Appropriations bill that passed the Senate late Thursday. The legislation also requires a detailed report to Congress jointly from the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Director of Central Intelligence within 60 days or face a moratorium on research and development for TIA until the report is submitted. The Senate measure requires that the report include a detailed explanation of the actual use of funds under TIA; the schedule for proposed research and development on all TIA activities; target dates for deployment of the data-mining project; an analysis of TIA's value if it were deployed; a list of laws and regulations that govern private information to be collected by the TIA program; and a description of any required modifications of those laws and recommendations for how to minimize effects on privacy and civil liberties.
• The Tobacco-Free QC Coalition has just released the results of a survey titled "Comprehensive Assessment of Tobacco Use & Other Health Behaviors of College Students in the Quad City Area." In this comprehensive assessment, of the 734 college students who participated, most view tobacco use as dangerous in abstract terms, but do not see themselves as being at personal risk. According to the survey, 41 percent of the participants reported using tobacco in the last 30 days. Among tobacco users, 55 percent say they want to quit, but only 16 percent of users believe that they are addicted, and 78 percent believe they can quit at any time. Copies of the report are being distributed to agencies in the Quad Cities. The report is available on the Web at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/health), directly at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/health/pub/Tobacco_Use_College_Study.pdf). Contact JaNan Less, Disease Prevention Specialist for the Scott County Health Department at (563)326-8618 to receive a printed copy.
• Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation (RIEGC) will hold a lottery drawing to determine five homeowners eligible for owner-occupied rehabilitation assistance. RIEGC has been granted $157,00 by the Illinois Housing Development Authority through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and its Single Family Owner Occupied Rehab Program. The program is now available to homeowners in Rock Island. Interested person should contact Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation at (309)788-6311 for more information and a pre-application form. The forms must be returned to RIEGC by the close of business on Friday, February 28.
• A bill has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature by Senator Maggie Tinsman, R-Bettendorf , that would require absentee voters to either mail their ballots back or return them to election officials personally after they have been completed. Tinsman said she submitted the bill to help end practices used in the November general election. Tinsman said she is not alleging voter fraud in the election, but added that some candidates were "pushing the gray area," and some of the activities raised questions about whether the outcomes of some races were affected. Democrats say use of the ballots help increase voter turnout.
• A Web site designed to help Iowans learn of road conditions has had unintended consequences. During the recent inclement weather, the site (http://iowaroadconditions.org) was getting 60 to 70 requests per second, causing problems with other Iowa government Web sites located on the same server, including the Iowa Division of Emergency Management, Iowa Homeland Security, and the Iowa Department of Transportation. The problem was fixed when technicians moved the Web site to another server.
• Narconon means no drugs or narcotics and is a non-profit organization dedicated to treating drug and alcohol addictions. It offers over 11,000 local referrals and free assessment by calling (800)468-6933 or going to (http://www.stopaddiction.com).
