North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 10/04/1995

Lordy It's Wednesday October 4th. Good night. North Carolina companies with small and big family need in North Carolina now. Good evening everyone I'm reading this right thanks for joining us on what is a dreary saw these Wednesday

evening across the state I hope you manage to stay dry today. The president of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine will be here tonight he's here to talk about the North Carolina child health report card. The results of that report are somewhat alarming. But first let's start with a report that is of interest to any employee with small children or aging parents in North Carolina. Eighty percent of women with school age children work outside the home. With so many parents in the workforce demands for family friendly company policies are increasing. And as Christina Copeland reports North Carolina businesses are responding. It's tough balancing responsibilities at home and it works with this Childcare Center Research Triangle Institute. It's a little bit easier. The company sponsored central allows many of the children to be only minutes away from mom or dad's office. It means giving me absolute peace of mind in knowing that while I am working I'm completely freed up in knowing that my children are well taken care of and that they're nearby

so that if they get sick or they have any needs during the day I can. Right and pick them up and take care of them five or six years ago there were very few childcare facilities like this available in the Research Triangle causing real problems for working parents. But then companies discovered that there were business benefits to helping employees deal with work family issues. Recruiting is improved because of having this here. Our turnover is much lower than other companies in the area. And obviously you know that that saves on training costs and replacement personnel. Now companies sponsor child care centers dot the triangle and other metropolitan areas of the state which may also help improve the quality of child care. We've seen developments here has built a center block so it's built a center core SAS as has a larger center because there's much more corporate sponsored daycare in the area and I think the the industry in general has improved because of competition.

A survey by Working Mother magazine named 10 companies with a strong presence in North Carolina as among the top 100 companies in the country for offering family friendly benefits. Three of them Glaxo welcome. IBM the nation's bank were among the top 10. Flora Glasser works with NC equity a women's advocacy group helping companies put together family friendly policies. The national research would tell you that workers that balance work and family responsibility because of their employer supports and helps those workers are more likely to be productive and they're more likely to stay with the company and most importantly these days they're more likely to be loyal to the employer. It has made Davidson Longo a loyal employee. Every morning he drops daughter Marissa off before going to work at RTI time literally one minute away from work. But it also gives me the opportunity to come over here during the day when I when I need my fix it provides some sense of support from the company that you're not just another number and other

identification number and I think it shows some sensitivity to what's going on with family trends. Those sentiments are also shared by colleague and fellow parent Kelly Wayne. And it makes me feel better about where I work and to know that a company is willing to support a childcare center or. You know whatever the benefit is these days family friendly benefits mean a lot more than just help with childcare flexible schedules job sharing and even work family seminars like this one at RTI have become the norm for some companies. Businesses are also beginning to look at another family issue many workers are struggling with. Elderly people are the largest growing group in the population and those who now live longer and longer lives are in greater and greater need that family support that they must have. And workers feel that they have an obligation to those elderly relatives.

Some companies now offer referral services to workers needing help with elderly relatives in Winston-Salem five companies including R.J. Reynolds and Sara Lee have formed a consortium to deal with the issue. It's also being looked at at RTI as part of an ongoing effort to keep up with workers changing needs. We've done a number of surveys of the staff to try to determine you know what's important to people. And we look we have a policy advisory committee of employees from a cross-section of the Institute. And we really try to get employees opinions about what's important to them. But many of the family friendly policies seemed aimed at middle and upper middle class workers those already in the best position to find childcare or elder care on their own. Glasser says some companies are beginning to target policies to low income workers. For example she cites Marriott Hotels for what that chain has done is to set up an 800 number hot long and they're counseling those workers who don't feel very productive because they have terrible issues that they're dealing with issues like housing problems issues like domestic

violence issues like work to go to get help with learning English as a second language. Well companies that do offer family friendly benefits get a lot of media attention. Glasser says it's important to remember that they're in the minority. An estimated 95 percent of companies around the country still haven't accepted the integration of work and family life. There are still many employers who see that very clear division and don't want to intrude in the family. But in so doing what they're really doing is losing some of their assets some of their company's best assets. And say equity sponsors an annual conference for companies that want to learn more about family friendly policies. This year the conference will be held November 15th in Charlotte. If you would like more information you can contact and see equity at 9 1 9 8 3 3 4 0 5 5. Well coming up Gretchen Lang has some pecan waffles cooking in the now kitchen. But first let's turn to Mitchell Lewis

to see what's cooking in the news how you like that segue Mitt. Not bad Merida but some of the stories I have today aren't that appetizing. Good evening everyone. North Carolina is vowing to get tough on environmental polluters. The FBI Special Agent in Charge for North Carolina says the state now has a plan to put environmental criminals behind bars. John Morley sends the plan includes a task force made up of state and federal officials and agencies. The task force will rely heavily on tips from citizens. Morley urges anyone who suspects an environmental crime to call the environmental crimes hotline at 1 800 waste 9 1 1. Your call will be kept confidential. An NC State researcher sans recent fish kills on the Neuse River pose a greater risk to humans than state officials will admit. Millions of fish have died on the river over the past three months most from a toxic algae. And recent weeks people who work on the river or have been swimming in it have also reported rashes sores and

other health problems. The researcher Joann Burkholder says the state should issue a health warning for the river around Newburn. But a spokesman for the state epidemiology Division says there's no hard evidence of hazards to humans. The state court of appeals says North Carolina's worker's compensation law discriminates against workers exposed to asbestos and silica dust. The court says the law does not grant the same benefits to workers who are injured by breathing these substances as it does other elements. The ruling overturns a law that says a worker who gets asbestosis or silicosis cannot sue for workers compensation benefits unless he's been exposed on the job for two years. The case stemmed from an Industrial Commission decision not to grant benefits to a worker who was exposed to asbestos throughout his career but sued his last employer after being exposed for 35 days. A Robison County judge says Keep Out to news cameras covering the trial of Daniel Green. Green is charged with murdering James Jordan the

father of basketball superstar Michael Jordan Superior Court Judge Gregory weeks ruled that no video or still pictures will be allowed during today's hearing. Green's lawyers plan to ask the judge to prevent jurors from hearing a statement Greene gave to police. A Greensboro Military Academy cadet is one step closer to her goal of attending the Citadel South Carolina's all male military school. A judge has placed Nancy molests name on a lawsuit originally filed by Shannon Faulkner challenging the school's no females policy. Faulkner was the first woman admitted to the school but left after a few grueling days of training. And now for a look at the weather forecast. Heavy rains and high winds associated with Hurricane Opal bring the threat of flooding and wind damage to the mountains and foothills of North Carolina tonight and tomorrow. There is also a possibility of flash flooding inland from the coast. Storm totals of four to eight inches are expected in those areas by late tomorrow evening. Officials are encouraging people that live along creeks and streams to

monitor their water levels frequently. Temperatures tomorrow despite the rain will be fairly warm with highs ranging from 70 degrees in the mountains to 85 degrees around Wilmington. In business news the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company is under scrutiny tonight for an alleged plan to court young smokers more than 20 years ago. According to The Washington Post The idea was proposed in a 1973 memo written by an RJR official. The memo suggests that the cigarette maker purposely create new brands of cigarettes tailored to the under 21 smoker. The Post says the memo sent out a strategy for young smokers which also suggested nicotine levels that suggestion appears to contradict statements by tobacco makers that they do not manipulate the content of nicotine in their cigarettes. In response RJR says the memo was a draft of one person's opinion and that there is no evidence the memo was ever reviewed or acted upon. The once in Salem Forsyth County schools have received a two million dollar grant to improve minority

achievement in science and math. The grant is the largest of four presented by the National Science Foundation. The stock market slipped for the second day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than nine points to forty seven forty point sixty seven. Three hundred thirty nine million shares traded hands the Standard Poor's 500 index was down nearly a point while the Nasdaq composite index lost 18 points. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest. This week the first ever North Carolina child health report card was released and the results are

cause for concern. The report is based on data from several state agencies North Carolina earned an overall grade of C minus when it comes to key health indicators for children. Joining me now is Dr. Gordon to freeze the president of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Dr. De freeze thank you for joining us tonight. Before we get into actually dissecting their report tell me first how the information was gathered. The American Health Foundation has been trying for the last several years to re Kendell interest all across the country and bringing attention to these issues and had been trying to develop for the country as a whole. A report card format like this to summarize the nation's child health indicators and they approached us about being one of several states just three or four states actually this year to actually try to bring these kinds of issues to the attention of our state's population and the Institute of Medicine in North Carolina which was created by the legislature in 1983 to do specifically this kind of

thing agreed to host this activity in the state. But it did mean bringing together organizations familiar with these issues so that we could assemble the data so that it would be pertinent to our state. And so with the help of the state health departments division of maternal and child health the north North Carolina area health education Center's program and the state Pediatric Society we were able to put these data together and we did it in the form of a report card so that it would call attention to these statistics but also to give us away in a in a very convenient form of being able to talk about these indicators all at one time. Well I know that as I mentioned in the introduction that the state got an overall grade of C minus but what are your personal impressions of this report card. Well like any kind of report card there's probably good news and bad news I think that what we're most concerned about is that people not think of this as a judgment once and for all but as a snapshot picture of what the child

health indicators for our state are today this year. It also is an indication of where we can improve and in particular areas where we can improve fairly easily. And yet we haven't done very well we still rank among the bottom third of all of the states on most of these health indicators which means that we have a long way to go but we have made substantial progress for example with regard to infant mortality. We have made a 15 percent improvement in 10 years this low. We're still low but it's an indicator that's very difficult to address. It is a multifaceted problem that requires energy being devoted in a number of areas. And we are making progress. But it is the kind of thing that won't change overnight. It's the kind of thing that needs a lot of effort over many years in order for us to rise to the level that we might be proud of. But. We work on that indicator at the same time we're working on a number of other

things like the number of women who give birth to low birth weight babies the number of teenagers who have babies in this state etc. as we make progress on those things. We make progress in infant mortality as well. One of the things that I noticed in reading the report and correct me if I'm wrong with this is just a general impression that I gathered from reading it it seemed like situations once the baby is born we seem to be very high in immunizations very high in missiles Rebell of diphtheria all the diseases that come from immunizations but as the child tends to get older towards the high school grades then we start to run into more problems drinking cigarettes drug abuse. Did it appear from the report that there is a lot of concentration on the babies. And then we lose sight of the children as they grow. Well I think the observation you make is a correct one that we are making a lot of progress at the early ages particularly

with regard to the factors that contribute to infant and the infant deaths and the deaths of young children. We're also making a lot of progress in the area of immunizations in our state for example. There is really no reason for a child to reach the age of two years of age and not be protected from vaccine preventable diseases. Yet only 65 percent of our 2 year olds are fully protected when they reach that age but they get their shots before they enter school because they're required in order to go to school. We don't have a way of catching these kids very easily at the earlier ages and we are making very serious efforts in this state to develop a registry system so that we can give parents reminders about when their shots are due. And I might point out that this is not just a problem of low income families. There are many middle income families and middle class families that know absolutely nothing about when their children are due for shots and don't want to know a whole lot about it but they would be glad to have their child children protected if they could just be reminded. And

from the from the point of birth until they reach age 2 we need to remind them and their health care providers when the shots are due. One of the things about that indicator that's particularly interesting is that we have a rate in North Carolina to your immunizations that is no better than that of many developing countries. And the reason has to do with the fact that we don't do a very good job tracking these infants like they would be the case in many of these developing countries. And so we can improve in that area this is the most effective preventive strategy we have available to us. And given what it protects us from it is the most cost effective one. And if we can't do this those problems you mentioned as being particularly difficult in the adolescent years are going to be really rather intractable and those problems are of a great concern to us because they are the ages at which kids are becoming much more independent of their parents. OK you're talking about snow right drinking all of the health risk

behaviors that kids engage in those years and in North Carolina we have rates of smoking for 11th and 12th graders. There are two or three times the national average smoking alcohol consumption marijuana use etc. We're very concerned about those behaviors because it's not really clear what can be done about those issues. It requires a multiplicity of things education. It requires changing the environment within which kids grow up. It requires some decisions about accessibility of those kinds of substances. Things that we may be reluctant to do. And I think that in our state we have a long way to go but it's going to take many different kinds of efforts by parents by teachers by school systems by local community groups. The Smart Start program in our state for young children is causing a lot of discussion about how at the community level all different kinds of issues can be discussed and multiple programs can be brought to bear on those issues for that age group. We don't have an equivalent kind of discussion

going on regarding adolescents. The night in the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute has done a wonderful job of bringing these kinds of data together. But the challenge is really quite formidable. Well Dr. De frays I thank you very much and like you said it is a big problem but at least we got to start with the report card. Well thank you for being here tonight sir for having me on. On a rainy evening like this you might need something to perk up your spirits. Food usually does the trick for me. Gretchen Lange has the recipe for warm tasty waffles.

Today I'm going to cook with a wonderful North Carolina nut the pecan. Now become trees not only grow beautifully all over North Carolina but are a uniquely American Nut. They're grown and used very little outside the United States which is interesting because they're so delicious. Pecan is a Native American word. And in fact the Native Americans used the pecan nuts extensively in their cooking for everything from grinding them up to thicken stews to pressing them for oil putting them into seasoned cooked fruit dishes and roasting them as a travel snack which is still a really good thing to do with the Khans. I've got a bowl here. Have pecans in the shell. These came from my neighbor's tree. They just dropped all over his lawn and we picked them up and you can see one here that still has part of its outer hall on it. When you get inside that outer hall the shell looks like this.

And then you crack this open to reveal these beautiful sweet rich tasting meats of the pecan. And today I'm going to use because to make a wonderful waffle batter pecan waffles and to tell you how to do that right now. First in a large bowl you want to sift together one cup each of whole wheat and white flour. And with that you want to sift in two tablespoons of cornmeal white or yellow is fine. Half a teaspoon of salt one teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda. Oops got that backwards. The Baking soda is in there because we're going to use some buttermilk. And then one and a half tablespoons of sugar. Those are your dry ingredients and those are going to go all in one bowl together. Now in a separate bowl you want to mix one and a half cups of buttermilk three tablespoons of a bland tasting vegetable oil such as canola. One teaspoon of vanilla and the yolks of three eggs. And the beat goes all together and add those

wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mix them until they're just combined. Then you can see here that I've chopped some of these pecan meats to a coarse texture. You can do that either in a food processor or just with a knife on a cutting board. Fold those into your batter and finally whip the whites of the three eggs until they hold stiff peaks and then you want to fold that into your batter just at the last minute right before you're ready to cook them and that makes a really light wonderfully textured waffle. And I should say also that waffle the proportions of waffle ingredients can vary some according to the thickness of your buttermilk and the moisture content in the flower. Don't be afraid to adjust those amounts in terms of adding a little bit more a little bit more less buttermilk if you want to change the consistency and let me just check my waffle here that I have baking in the waffle iron. OK it's not quite done. Once you get all those ingredients folded together you want to preheat your waffle iron.

And you want to bake these waffles and til they get really nice and dark brown you want them to have a really crispy exterior and if you look over here you can see some finished waffles that I've just made and whipping the egg whites really results in this beautifully light texture you can see the bubbles in the batter makes a very very light crispy waffle. These are delicious with just a touch of butter or any kind of syrup or jam that you enjoy and let's go back to this waffle iron and check to see how our waffle is coming along here. And looks really nice so I'm going to go ahead and just lift it out. Break it into pieces. Put it on my plate. And I am ready to eat some waffles. So enjoy pecans and waffles for breakfast. And if you'd like a copy of this recipe send a self-addressed stamped envelope to North Carolina now P.O. Box 1 4 9 0 RTP NC 2 7 7 0

9. I hope you enjoyed tonight's edition of North Carolina now our guest tomorrow night will be Dr. Patricia Sullivan. She was sworn in at the beginning of the week as the new chancellor of USC Greensboro as you know this is race week in Charlotte a big time for NASCAR fans. But how will propose tobacco regulations affect one of North Carolina's most popular sports. We'll head to Charlotte to find out. Well good to see you back here tomorrow night. Enjoy your evening. Good night everyone.