ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610070122
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
Q: I've heard that an on-line information company is compiling people's names and Social Security numbers in its database. How can we prevent our information from being included?
A: Lexis-Nexis, a commercial information provider in Ohio, introduced what it calls its P-Trak database June 1. A number of people have voiced objections based on privacy concerns. If you want your name removed, you must make your request in writing by fax (800-470-4365, toll- free); U.S. mail (Attention: P-Trak, P.O. Box 933, Dayton, Ohio 45401); or e-mail,
p-trak(at)prod.lexis-nexis.com To listen to recorded information, call 800-543-6862 and press 2.
Q: How many people in the United States work for minimum wage?
A: A spokesman at the U.S. Labor Department said 4.2 million Americans who were earning between $4.25 and $4.74 an hour got a raise Oct. 1 when the minimum wage increased to $4.75 an hour. Next Sept. 1, the minimum wage will increase to $5.15 an hour. Ten million people now earn less than $5.15 an hour, the spokesman said.
Q: I received a letter asking for a pledge to the New Party. It was on Harvard University stationery and was signed by someone named Cornel West. Do you know anything about this party?
A: You can get information from the national office: New Party, 227 W. 40th St., Suite 1303, New York, N.Y. 10018 (212-302- 5053). The New Party's policy statement calls it a ``political alternative for working people and their families.'' The party, founded in 1992, aims to build power from the bottom up, starting with school boards, city councils, county boards and state assemblies. It seeks to reduce the role of ``big money'' in politics and to ``break the stranglehold of the two-party system on American politics,'' according to the statement. Adam Glickman, New Party spokesman, said West is a party member and a Harvard professor, but there's no connection between the university and the party.
Q: How reliable is nutritional labeling on food packages? My wife and I are on low-fat diets. Knowing what I do about advertising, I'm not totally at ease with the truth of those labels.
A: You're wise to be skeptical, not so much of what the label says, as what it implies. Companies are expected to be truthful in their nutritional labeling, said Connie Crawley, food and nutrition specialist at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Sevice. What you need to consider carefully is serving size. For example, the label on a box of cereal will state nutritional values for one serving, but that serving may be one-fourth cup. So if you use a full cup instead - which would be a normal-size serving - you're getting four times what the label suggests. Similarly, cookies are often sold two to a package, but the label lists values for only one. So the values need to be doubled. That's why weight-loss programs and people who are conscientious about their food intake observe serving sizes of all foods so strictly, Crawley said.
Q: Broadcasts and articles about the space shuttles often refer to them as STS, followed by a number. What does that mean?
A: STS is an acronym. Space Transportation System is the official name for U.S. space shuttles. The first one, STS-1, was launched April 12, 1981. Other numbered STS missions have followed over ensuing years. The next one, STS-80, is scheduled Nov. 8.
Q: Is there any truth to the recurring rumor that John F. Kennedy was married to someone before Jackie?
A: Several books, including Current Biography (1950 and 1961), ``The Book of Presidents'' and ``Facts About the Presidents'' list one marriage only: to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on Sept. 12, 1953. The rumor of a previous marriage appears to have been sparked in the '60s by writers Joan and Clay Blair Jr., whose book ``Search for JFK'' had a chapter titled ``A Secret Marriage?'' It speculated about an earlier wedding, naming Durie Defloge as the purported wife. A researcher at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston said that is a ``falsehood.''
Q: The full moon in September is called a Harvest Moon and in October is known as a Hunter's Moon. Do full moons in other months have names?
A: There are lots of them, all with Native American origins. They're richly colorful compared to the mundane ``harvest'' or ``hunter.'' Some examples: January, Moon of Strong Cold (Sioux); February, Moon When the Coyotes Are Frightened (San Juan); March, Moon When the Buffalo Cows Drop Their Calfs (Sioux); April, Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs (Cheyenne); May, Moon When Horses Get Fat (Cheyenne); June, Corn Tasseling Moon (Winnebago); July, Moon When the Wild Cherries Are Ripe (Sioux); August, Moon When the Geese Shed Their Feathers (Sioux); September, Moon When the Corn Is Taken In (Tewa, and the basis for Harvest Moon); October, Big Wind Moon (Zuni); November, Moon When Rivers Freeze (Mandan-Hidatsa); and December, Moon When the Wolves Run Together (Cheyenne).
Q: What states are considered to have the cleanest and dirtiest rivers?
A: Louisiana recorded the greatest amount of direct toxic chemical discharge in the period surveyed (1990- 94), according to the Environmental Working Group in Washington. It is followed by California, Texas, Illinois, Washington, Alabama, Ohio and Georgia. The places where rivers showed the least direct toxic chemical discharge were Nevada, the District of Columbia, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, South Dakota, Vermont and North Dakota.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 linesby CNB