Smoking policies at Pacific Bell

With approximately 75,000 employees, Pacific Bell is the largest employer in the state of California. Like many employers, Pacific Bell is very concerned about the adverse health effects associated with smoking and is actively attempting to control smoking at the workplace. This article describes the health and economic costs and legal pressures which compel companies to be concerned about workplace smoking and the strategies available to manage this major health problem. Also described are the new corporate smoking policy and company-wide smoking-cessation program established at Pacific Bell, as well as the research conducted among pacific Bell employees

Behavioural interventions: a powerful tool or unnecessary intrusion

During this era of health promotion and disease prevention, interest in health behavior change has never been greater. For example, interventions are being developed to prevent the occurrence of chronic disease through efforts aimed at reducing cholesterol, blood pressure, body weight and smoking-related behaviours. Other programmes are aimed at improving, through behavioural interventions, the health outcomes of patients with a variety of existing chronic conditions, including asthma, diabetes, arthritis and coronary heart disease. Still other programmes are being designed to encourage the public to enroll and participate fully in screening programmes for cancer prevention (e.g. mammography and Pap tests), as well as for other preventive clinical services, including immunisations. Previously, behavioural interventions were usually considered to be the stepchild of medical treatment and clinical interventions; now, behavior change strategies are often considered to be the “action of choice” for the prevention and control of many acute and chronic conditions. One need only look at the global efforts to control AIDS to understand the significant role that behavior change strategies are currently playing and their potential for future applications

Why we may need to reconsider the current one-size fits all approach to US housing policy.

Every year, the US federal government spends billions on low-income rental housing assistance. But is it spending this money effectively by using housing vouchers? In new research using panel data from rental units, Michael Eriksen and Amanda Ross find that the effects of housing vouchers vary from city to city. Introducing vouchers can drive up rents by increasing the demand of those who receive them for higher quality rental housing, but decrease demand and thus rent for lower quality accommodation. They show higher rent increases occur in areas where housing supply is inelastic due to a lack of developable land suggesting alternative place-based housing policies may be more effective in those areas

Statistikk over skogforhold og -ressurser i Hedmark. Landsskogtakseringen 2010-2014

Takseringen av Hedmark i perioden 2010-2014 inngår som et ledd i Landsskogtakseringens landsomfattende takstomdrev. I perioden 2010-2014 ble Landsskogtakseringens 10. omdrev på landsbasis utført. Registreringene i Hedmark er basert på 2507 permanente prøveflater som er lagt ut over fylket i henhold til et bestemt system. Produktivt skogareal som kan anvendes til skogbruk er beregnet til 1 387 000 ha, noe som representerer en økning på ca. 4% siden taksten i 2000-2004. Økningen skyldes vesentlig at områder over barskoggrensa, som tidligere var unntatt fra taksering, nå er tatt med. Det stående volumet er beregnet til 151 mill m3 uten bark. Dette er en økning på ca. 20 % sammenliknet med forrige fylkestakst. Rapporten inneholder to ulike alternativer for langsiktige avvirkningsberegninger. Videre opptar det omfattende tabellverket en betydelig del av publikasjonen