MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 04/17/98
Social Security Takes Stock of Wall Street
WASHINGTON -- The Senate Special Committee on Aging will explore what some consider a controversial idea for saving Social Security: investing some of the program's money in the stock market. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, and Sen. John Breaux, ranking Democrat, announced that the committee will hold a hearing, "The Stock Market and Social Security: the Risks and the Rewards", on Wednesday, April 22, at 1 p.m. in Dirksen 628.
"Over the next year, our nation will look at possibly hundreds of ideas for saving Social Security," Grassley said. "Many of those ideas will involve a private role for at least some of the money we all pay into Social Security. Some people would like to see the government invest part of the Social Security fund in the stock market. Others would like to leave private investment up to individuals.
Since these changes would be fundamental, it's very important that we explore all of the options carefully and thoroughly. Allowing private investment of public money could reap great rewards for the taxpayers." Breaux said, "I am very intrigued by proposals to invest a portion of Social Security funds in the stock market as the 77 million baby boomers begin to retire. A lot of people are understandably fearful of this because Social Security is a government obligation, and we do need to be extremely careful. But we need to make sure we get the maximum amount of return possible. We have to also remember that this would only be a small piece of overall Social Security reform efforts."
At the hearing, Grassley will release a General Accounting Office (GAO) report that he requested. The report is "Implications of Government Stock Investing for the Trust Fund, the Federal Budget, and the Economy." The committee also will hear testimony from experts on which stock investing approach would be more advantageous: (1) allowing only the government to invest Social Security funds in the stock market or (2) establishing an individual account component for Social Security in which workers would own and select investments.
The testimony will address how an individual account component could be implemented, what the costs would be in comparison to government investing and the costs of the current system, and how individual rates of return could be affected. "The discussion about Social Security's future presents us with a tremendous opportunity not only to save this program, but also to improve it for generations," Grassley said. "I'm looking forward to exploring the pros and cons of every approach."
See AgeVenture archives for related articles:
Think Tank Says No To Social Security
SAVER Act Promotes Retirement Planning
Australia's Pension Privatization Praised
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E-mail Cards Aim for the Heart
The America Heart Association (AHA) has a creative and healthy gift idea for Mother's Day this year. The AHA website is launching a new feature called Heart-to-Heart e-cards (e-mail greeting cards) starting April 27, 1998. Anyone who is on-line can create their own e-cards that include heart-healthy reminders that lead to further information on the AHA Women's Web site.
According to Martha Hill, PhD, president of AHA and director of the Center of Research at the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, mothers are ideal recipients of these e-cards. "Women face a greater risk of death from heart disease and stroke then men do," says Hill. "Research shows that most women are not aware of this fact and their lack of understanding is having tragic results.
These cards are a light-hearted way to remind your mother to take care of her heart and to show how much you love her." A Heart-to-Heart e-card offers tips that will improve women's health and help them live longer by making lifestyle changes. AHA's Women's Web site is designed to offer women everything they need to know about heart disease and stroke.
The American Heart Association spent more than $266 million during fiscal year 1996-97 on research support, public and professional education, and community programs. Visitors to the AHA Web site can support these activities, as well as honoring their mothers with memorials and tributes by making a donation to AHA. With more than 4 million volunteers, AHA is the largest voluntary health organization fighting heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, which annually kill more than 960,000 Americans. The AHA Women's Web site is located at
www.women.americanheart.org. Source: AHA.
See AgeVenture archives for related articles:
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Resolve to be Healthy in 1998
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New Bladder Drug Targets 17 Million Adults
Overactive bladder won't kill you, but if you are like many of the estimated 17 million people in the U.S. with the condition, it can steal your life. Overactive bladder is a condition that robs many of their personal freedom. It affects adults of all ages, primarily women, and can disrupt sleep, work, sexual activity, relationships and social interaction.
People often feel the need to alter their lifestyles in order to accommodate its symptoms. Overactive bladder, characterized by symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency or urge incontinence, is a more widespread medical condition than previously understood. Urgency is the sudden, overwhelming urge to urinate; frequency means urinating more than eight times per 24 hours; and urge incontinence is the sudden and total involuntary loss of urine.
Despite its prevalence, only an estimated 20 percent of people in the U.S. with overactive bladder are under a physician's care because those who suffer erroneously believe the problem is an inevitable part of aging. Now those who suffer have a new medication for managing the symptoms of this condition. Detrol tablets (tolterodine tartrate) was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Detrol, a prescription-only medication, will be available in pharmacies throughout the U.S. by early May. Under the name Detrusitol, the product has been launched in Sweden, Finland, Germany and UK and has received marketing authorization in 10 European Union countries. Pharmacia & Upjohn, developer of Detrol, is a global pharmaceutical and health care company.
See AgeVenture archives for related articles:
New UI Treatment Helps 11 Million Women
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Mature Couples Find Spouses Demanding
After age 51, both men and women rate their spouses as being more demanding than their children, friends, and relatives, according to a study by Susan A. Lynch, PhD, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. On the other hand, "for both men and women, children and friends/other relatives appear to offer a high level of positive support without being perceived as overly demanding," added Dr. Lynch. The study by Dr. Lynch is reported in the April 1998 issue of The Gerontologist.
The study investigated how gender is related to two dimensions of social support type of relationships and perceived quality and how these relations change across age groups. The University of Arkansas researcher analyzed data originally collected by James House, PhD, as part of the Americans’ Changing Lives study. The subsample studied included 2,867 Caucasian men and women, and examined their relationships with their spouse, children, and friends/other relatives. Although both women and men rated all three relationships highly in terms of positive support, women have a more positive perception of the support they receive from their children and their friends than do men.
On the other hand men generally rate the positive support they receive from their wives more highly than women rate the support they receive from their husbands. According to Dr. Lynch the data in this study provides strong evidence that children provide women with a more "consistently positive source of support than do their husbands." Interestingly, men rate the support they receive from their children as being as positive as that received from their friends and other relatives.
"This provides evidence that men may receive satisfaction and support from their children across the life span," Dr. Lynch noted. According to Dr. Lynch no matter what the degree of perceived support reported by men and women, "it is apparent that all three relationships are important sources of support for both men and women." The Gerontologist is a refereed publication of The Gerontological Society of America, the national organization of professionals in the field of aging.
See AgeVenture archives for related articles:
Husband Says Home Chores Lead to Sex
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Gen Xers Split on TV's South Park
If you think the baby boomer generation is contrary, take a look at what Gen-Xers are saying about television's South Park. "It's outrageously funny, timely, highly entertaining, too violent, downright disgusting, and definitely not fit for kids". How's that for flip-flop.
Here's a guy who can serve America best by simply saying "Do as I say, not as I do". On the other hand, America's Gen-Xers have their own contrariarn trophy, "South Park", the program they apparently love to hate. This love-hate relationship seems to exist all over the media where the supposedly most hated also have some of the highest ratings.
Howard Stern (himself a contradiction in terms as family man versus purveyor of, well, you don't really want to know). Then there's Jerry Springer. Need anyone say more. At any rate, AgeVenture sat down with a group of thirty-five Gen-Xers to learn their thoughts and opinions on the entertainment industry's latest controversy, "South Park", as in South Park Elementary School and the episodic lives of four little kids. South Park is a cartoon feature that includes language, sexual behavior, violent rages, and acts of mutilation that would probably make a Nazi storm trooper blush.
Needless to say, South Park is the talk of the town. This controversy in television programming has been with us since its inception. On the one hand, society blames the television industry for questionable standards, while the TV industry argues that it is only offering a reflection of society. Some of you might remember the work of Grey Panther, Maggie Kuhn who dispatched legions of elderly advocates to record incidents of ageism in television programming.
Hundreds of elder viewers combed the airwaves for evidence that television negatively depicted older people. Johnny Carson's Tonight Show was targeted for his portrayal of an elderly character called "Aunt Bladdy". Was it ageism, or a reflection of social reality? Well, In reality, age-ism is quite pervasive in our society. Government figures estimate that incidents of age discrimination occur every 30 minutes in society. Let's get back to our Gen-Xers. "Is South Park an example of television at its worst, or is it merely a reflection of a society?"
That's the question put to our Gen-X group. The consensus was that South Parkwas very adult entertainment ... and adults should know better. Even regular viewers among the group conceded that television does teach, kids learn, and then behave accordingly. The big question for the group was "What is television teaching, what are kids learning, and how is it affecting their choices in behavior?". Here's a sample of quotes from the Gen-X discussion on "South Park" (SP).
- SP is a product of the rating game, every new show is more sensational than the last one.
- SP divides families. It segregates family viewing. It conflicts with parental values.
- SP offers poor role models. All the characters are derelict: kids, parents, teachers, officials.
- Now that SP is watched by so many, can't we now use it to do something positive?
- Sample of a minority opinion:
"SP reflects what's going on in society so we can confront it and move on."
- Sample of a majority opinion:
"I remember thinking to myself, what kind of twisted people invented this TV show?"
Where do we stand, and where do we go from here? To the South Parks, Howard Sterns, and Jerry Springers of the entertainment industry ... substantial segments of the population are following you. So where are you leading them? And is it a place you'd be proud to take your own families? After all, they have to grow up and live in the same society that adults are now creating.
See AgeVenture archives for related articles:
TV's Family Hour Not Fit For Grandkids
Millennium Manifests Gen-X Moral Majority
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Priest Says Golf Holier Than Thou Might Think
The game of golf can offer a greater sense of spirituality and a better understanding of life's mysteries according to Father Mike Linder's new book, Golf and the Spiritual Life: Play It Where It Lies. Hmmm. Makes sense to me. Golf and lies have always gone hand-in-hand when ever I play.
The spiritual feature works for me too. Golfers tend to be very religious. Never have I heard the Lord's name invoked with greater frequency than at the golf course. At any rate, Father Linder uncovers many parallels between the game of golf and spiritual truth, including the gift of unexpected joy, acceptance of powerlessness, the need to rid oneself of delusion, and the value of personal integrity.
Father Linder approaches each chapter of the book from the perspective of a course hazard or a weakness in one's game and then employs terms like grip, tempo, short game, power and touch, and attitude to draw spiritual parallels to the mystery of life that surrounds everyone, not just golfers. And there are lessons for everyone. "If you think you have everything under control, take up the game of golf. If you think life is an endless battle with presumption and despair, let the game introduce you to hope. If you think integrity is synonymous with blamelessness or perfection, put an honest number on the scorecard."
The book (1998) retails for $12.95 (Miclin Publishing, Nashville, TN). Check your local bookstore, or call Miclin Publishing: 1-888-573-6874. Someday I've got to make a point of meeting Father Linder. Anyone who can convince his boss, the monsignor, that playing golf is really the Lord's work has earned my admiration, respect, and awe.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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