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Tracking The Science Of Birth
by Chloe Albanesius
New Jersey's acting governor this week issued an executive order for two test projects that will create databases of available umbilical cords and placental blood.
Cord and placental blood have shown promise in treating certain diseases, but the full potential is not known. The New Jersey effort, to be overseen by the state's Health and Human Services Department in conjunction with Community Blood Services and the New Jersey Cornell Institute for Medical Research, will result in the state's only nonprofit cord blood banks, Gov. Richard Codey said.
"This rich stem-cell source is [often] discarded as medical waste after childbirth," Codey, a Democrat, said in a statement. The move "solidifies New Jersey's place at the forefront of scientific technology."
The four-part executive order first demands that the health department target obstetrician-gynecologists, hospitals and healthcare professionals via an educational campaign in order to encourage pregnant women to donate to the database. When samples are collected, Community Blood Services and the Institute for Medical Research will begin the test projects -- one in northern New Jersey and the other in south Jersey. The department later must craft a plan to make the materials widely available and solicit funds for its continued operation.
Also in New Jersey, the Environmental Protection Department on Tuesday gave Panasonic an award for outstanding recycling efforts. The company's Secaucus facility had a 72 percent recycling rate for 2004, which included electronic equipment and copier and printer toner, as well as larger materials like furniture and construction debris.
Oregon Gives Text Phones To Storm Victims
Oregon's Public Utility Commission on Wednesday announced that it will donate 40 text telephones to hearing-impaired victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The phones, known as TTY devices, allow the deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired to type messages and send them by phone. Oregon officials had planned to put the machines in surplus storage and sell them later but instead will ship them to the Gulf Coast region.
For almost 20 years, the commission has collected surcharges on monthly phone bills in order to purchase TTY devices for Oregonians. The program currently serves about 4,000 residents. The commission initially contacted Louisiana officials about the extra phones but learned that the state had adequate TTY devices, so Oregon's phones will be shipped to the De L'Epee Deaf Service Center in Gulfport, Miss., this week.
"Communication is a basic necessity for those reconnecting with friends and family and rebuilding their lives in the weeks since Hurricane Katrina and even more so for those who cannot use a traditional telephone," Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said in a statement.
"Giving these survivors access to the phone is the least we can do for them," said Damara Paris, manager of the commission's telecommunications assistance program.
Indiana Offers E-Transcripts For Students
Indiana education officials are joining forces to facilitate the transfer of high-school transcripts to in-state colleges and universities.
The initiative, dubbed Indiana e-Transcript, will let students submit their school records online to the Indiana institutions of their choice. The state Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana Education Department will partner with Docufide to provide the service.
State officials were in Indianapolis on Monday to begin a 15-month implementation period. The state expects to add about 100 high schools each quarter, with full deployment expected by the end of 2006. At that point, officials will explore the option of enabling transcript transfers between high schools and between colleges.
"Many of our students already apply to college online, and now they can request their transcripts online as well," Higher Education Commissioner Stan Jones said.
The initiative will be funded by ISM Education Loans, and students will not be charged. "We believe e-Transcript will free up more time for guidance counselors, which can be better used to counsel students," ISM President Steve Clinton said.
High schools can expect to save up to $7 per e-transcript. On average, students request about six transcripts, which eventually could save schools up to $40 per college applicant. Colleges can expect to save about $9 per transcript.
In other news, two educational associations with a focus on technology this week filed formal paperwork with California officials to merge their organizations. NetDay will join forces with Project Tomorrow, an Orange County-based organization that focuses on improving science education. The resulting group will support and promote the use of science and technology in elementary and secondary education, NetDay CEO Julie Evans said in a Tuesday letter.
Illinois To Automate Its Tax Collection
The Illinois Department of Revenue on Tuesday awarded a $100,000 contract to San Diego-based Captiva Software to automate its tax-collection process.
The company will be charged with digitizing up to 2 million pages of tax forms, remittance advices, checks, and other paper documents and facsimiles received by the department each year. Officials currently enter such information into the system manually. Captiva expects its solution to let officials capture more incoming mail and paper documents, eventually taking in nearly 10 million pages each year.
In other news, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox last week posted information on his Web site about more than 2,500 repaired cars as part of a settlement with State Farm Mutual Insurance Company. At issue was State Farm's failure to put information about previous car damage on the vehicles' titles between 1997 and 2003. Cox, a Republican, subsequently has posted online each vehicle identification number, make, model and year.
Washington Prosecutor Plans Summit On ID Theft
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on Tuesday announced plans for a Nov. 2 summit on identity theft in Seattle.
The daylong event will feature presentations from ID theft victims and financial-service representatives from companies like Symantec and Target retail stores. Susan Storey, the senior deputy prosecutor for the King County prosecutor's fraud division, will discuss ID theft from the law enforcement perspective.
McKenna has been vocal in the fight against ID theft, having tangled recently with executives at CardSystems Solutions for not quickly providing him with more detailed information on how a data breach at the company had affected Washington state constituents.
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