Temple Story Ideas for 11-30-01
RECESSION? TOLD YA' SO! -- The National Bureau of Economic Research officially declared that the country is in a state of recession, and has been since last March--something laid-off workers, retailers and manufacturers have known for at least that long. According to Richard Bernstein, associate professor of economics in Temple's Fox School of Business and Management, it takes two consecutive quarters of negative change in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to declare a recession.
"The events of Sept. 11 greatly impacted consumer confidence and made the downturn even more severe, possibly lengthening the recession." Is there an end in sight? Bernstein predicts the recession should end in an official sense by next summer, but unemployment may continue to rise for some time after that. "Unemployment always lags behind the economy on both the downside and upside. Employers will not hire again in numbers until they see some prolonged increase in sales." Contact Bernstein through the Office of News and Media Relations, 215-204-7476.
EATING DISORDERS AND THE HOLIDAYS -- Are the holidays hardest on people with eating disorders, who are often encouraged by family members to eat, eat and eat some more? Not necessarily, says Temple clinical psychologist Denise Sloan. "We all struggle to some degree with eating. For people who don't have eating disorders, the holidays are the hardest times. But it's the onset of warm weather that's probably the hardest time for people who have eating disorders," says Sloan, who recently completed a study which showed that women living in a warm weather climate are at a higher risk for developing eating disorders than those who live in more seasonal climates. "People with eating disorders have developed a lot of cover stories over time to explain to others why they're not eating," which can help them get through holiday celebrations more easily, says Sloan. "The biggest misconception about people with eating disorders is that they have a lot of control over it, that they can just stop doing it. But they're really caught up in a cycle that they don't know how to get out of, even if they wanted to." Reach Dr. Sloan through the Office of News & Media Relations.
DON'T LET LIGHTS AND ORNAMENTS 'SHORT-CIRCUIT' YOUR HOLIDAYS -- Before you deck the halls, the walls, and that freshly cut Christmas tree, be like Santa--who always checks twice--and double-check those holiday lights and electrical decorations, says Dennis Silage, Temple professor of electrical and computer engineering. Silage says taking extra care in selecting, inspecting, and displaying electrical lights and ornaments can prevent electrical shocks and fires. "Christmas lights should be of the in-line fused variety, so that if a short occurs in the lights, a small replaceable fuse in the lights' plug will blow well before the house circuit breaker," he says. When displaying lights outdoors, Silage recommends that all lighting connections- plugs and in-line sockets--be wrapped in "sandwich bags" and taped closed to protect them from the elements, and plugged into a ground-fault interrupter (GFI)outlet or extension cord. "If an electrical cord shows any sign of exposed wire or becomes warm, it should be replaced," he warns. To reach Dr. Silage, contact the Office of News and Media Relations.
Cheryl AfonsoTemple UniversityOffice of News andMedia Relations215.204.7476[email protected]
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