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February 19, 2010

I-Team Reveals Truth About Cockpit Fatigue

Reporting Michele Gillen MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) —A unique team of human rights activists told CBS4’s I-Team the big Super Bowl game makes South Florida the perfect target for human trafficking and the illegal sex trade.

A CBS4 I-Team investigation into your safety has uncovered troubling instances of pilots falling asleep at the switch in the cockpit.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ I-Team: Scrutinizing Stimulus Spending

“They said to you, you have no choice but to sell your body?”

Michele Gillen asked a young Nigerian woman whose identity CBS4 is concealing to protect her life.

A year after it passed the US Congress, the American Economic Recovery Act is being hailed as a victory by its supporters. But it has been criticized as a big deficit creator by its detractors.

“Yes!” she said.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Citi Offers “Foreclosure Alternatives”

In her first television interview, in fear her traffickers will find her and kill her for escaping their world, she said, “I’m afraid.”

Elizabeth, a former sex slave, shared the horror of a life few can imagine.

She says the saddest part was, “The fact that you see yourself as a prostitute.” She says sometimes she’d be expected to sexually service 10 to 20 men a night.

Bank to Let Distressed Homeowners Stay in Homes for 6 Months in Exchange for Deed to Property

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Generic Medications: Are They The Best Choice?

Americans spend more than $250 billion every year on prescription medications and trying to control the cost of drugs can be tricky.

She was trafficked from Nigeria into Italy, where she was then forced to pay off her alleged travel debt of $40,000.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ The Rise and Rise of Susan Boyle

Elizabeth is speaking out because she believes her message and story of rescue is universal. She says the miracle that saved her was the “Sister Squad”—a pioneering group of nuns who walk the world’s dark streets to identify girls who were trafficked and offer help to those who were trapped and wanted out.

“We cannot rest until all these women are protected and have the right to be recognized,” said Sister Eugenia continued on page 11

Her Fast Ride to Worldwide Fame Had Its Costs, But Scottish Singer Says She Wants to Continue Inspiring Others

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ From the Wreckage, Saints Rise to the Top

I-TEAM Special Report

CBSSports.com Looks at the Formula Behind New Orleans’ Remarkable Climb from Its Nadir in 1999

Next Edition: MARCH 5, 2010

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February 19, 2010

5

I-Team: Questionable Purchases On City Cards discovered the only use for this system and type of equipment was to get DirectTV. Even so, Miami Fire Department Executive Assistant Captain Joseph Zahralban defended the purchase and said it was needed.

Reporting Stephen Stock MIAMI (CBS4) —The last thing you might imagine an emergency search and rescue truck might need would be Satellite TV. But that’s exactly what Miami’s office of independent auditor found had been purchased using a city run credit card system called P-Card. CBS4 I-Team investigator Stephen Stock went through the report and found some questionable expenses that have city officials trying to justify their costs.

The audit found $2,400 dollars was charged to a city official’s P-Card to buy a Trac-Vision satellite for a fire rescue captain’s vehicle. Fire officials told auditors the system was supposedly used for navigation.

But the independent auditor

“So we can pull information from CNN, Channel 4, Channel 6, Channel 10 and even the weather channel to determine basically what the entire scene is developing into and where we need to focus some of our efforts,” said Captain Zahralban.

“It’s just another means of intelligence.”

This questionable expense is just one of dozens of items the independent auditor discovered had been charged and in some cases reimbursed using thousands of tax dollars dating back to October, 2006.

Among other questionable items: * $1500.00 for an upgrade on flooring on property rented by the fire department * $1008.05 for binoculars that then apparently disappeared at Miami city’s general services administration; the auditor never found them

* $4465.65 charged to the P-Card for 160 toll and 5 parking violations; 132 of the toll violations were nonemergency vehicles. * $150 for a plane ticket change to return from Los Angeles by a Grants Administration Department employee who was on vacation * $430.92 in hotel expenses where city business was never conducted * $2725.20 in P-Card charges by officials at Miami’s Parks and Recreation Department for things like barstools, beverages from Target, items from a dog supplies store and Publix supermarket

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This audit report concludes that internal controls at many Miami city offices failed and could be improved.

While this P-Card system was set up to quote “empower city employees,” the audit shows that it instead has resulted in dozens of questionable purchases and that should be fixed. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

7

I-Team: Enviro Crime Unit Expenses Investigated The fund currently has a surplus of $1.6 million.

But a CBS4 I-Team investigation raises serious questions about how those environmental trust fund dollars are being spent.

Reporting Jim DeFede MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) — In Miami Dade County, illegal dumping is a time-honored local past time.

Tires.

Old furniture.

Construction debris. It’s everywhere.

From empty fields, to canals, to the side of roadways. This is why Miami-Dade County residents are fortunate to have one of the best funded environmental crimes units in the state, if not the nation.

Flush with cash from the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in court fines levied against local polluters, the unit’s mission is to track down and arrest individuals and companies that violate state and federal environmental laws.

Reviewing hundreds of purchases, dating back to 2002, the I-Team found the trust fund was being used for items that have little to do with investigating environmental crimes Previous reports showed that six hybrid SUV’s worth almost $300,000 were purchased with trust fund dollars and given to the department’s top brass, including former Police Director Robert Parker. Even Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez was given one of the pricey hybrid SUVs to ride around in for a short time.

But the CBS4 I-Team found the number of vehicles bought and leased using trust fund dollars is actually closer to $900,000.

They even bought an $8,000 camper.

And even though the environmental

unit employs fewer than three dozen people, records reveal close to half a million dollars in computer equipment has been purchased.

There has also been more than $180,000 in travel expenses charged to the trust fund in the past five years alone, and $10,000 in subscriptions to DirecTV. But the most unusual expenditure from the environmental trust fund occurred Lou’s Police Supply equipment in Hialeah, where nearly 30 Smith and Wesson assault rifles, worth almost $20,000, and another $15,000 in high-powered rifle scopes were purchased.

Why the environmental unit would need to be equipped like a SWAT team is not clear. But it is one of the questions that both the Miami-Dade Inspector General’s Office and the EPA’s Inspector General are now investigating.

Both agencies are trying to determine if Miami-Dade is using the environmental money to bankroll other activities within the cashstrapped department.

Perhaps even more serious are questions over who authorized the expenditures. Under its agreement with the federal government, both the department director and a local EPA official must sign off on all purchases.

But if you look at the memos authorizing the purchase of the SUVs, the word “for” appears next to the signature -- meaning someone other than the EPA official actually signed it. Even Parker’s signature is nothing more than a squiggly line, suggesting he didn’t sign it.

So who did sign the authorizations?

The CBS4 I-Team requested interviews with Chief Frank Vecin, who oversees the environmental crimes unit, and Glen Theobold the department’s legal advisor, but both men refused to answer our questions. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

9

I-Team Reveals Truth About Cockpit Fatigue “What happened?!” supervisor.

asked

a

“I have no idea,” replied the first air traffic controller after the flight literally disappeared off his radar screen.

“Colgan Air. Buffalo,” repeated the first air traffic controller.

Reporting Stephen Stock

“You got him?” asked the supervisor.

MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) —A CBS4 I-Team investigation into your safety has uncovered troubling instances of pilots falling asleep at the switch in the cockpit.

“No! What’s his call sign?” asked the first controller.

We all know what happens when we fall asleep behind the wheel. Imagine the same thing happening while flying a commercial airplane.

“Colgan 3407!” the first controller said into the microphone. But, again, no response.

The CBS4 I-Team discovered it’s happening a lot more than you might think.

For the first time, the I-Team has pieced together three separate federal safety records showing an increase in the number of pilots asleep in the cockpit.

I-Team investigator Stephen Stock spent the last four months sifting through thousands of lines of aviation safety data as well as interviewing dozens of pilots, officials, scientists and regulators to dig up the truth about fatigue in the cockpit.

Here are excerpts from the audio tape from air traffic controllers guiding a Continental Connection commuter flight operated by Colgan Airlines into Buffalo-Niagara International Airport last February 12th.

“Check Colgan Air,” comes the voice of air traffic controller number one.

But there is no answer.

“Colgan 3407!” supervisor.

replies

Buffalo crash is only the latest incident involving pilot fatigue in the cockpit.

The problem, the I-Team found, has become a persistent and serious safety risk in recent years.

“For me it was a flight from JFK (New York) to Pensacola (Florida),” said a long time commercial airline pilot.

The veteran commercial pilot asked that we hide his identity for fear he would lose his career.

the

It was that moment that air traffic controllers realized 49 lives just disappeared off radar, five miles outside of Buffalo, New York.

“He just disappeared,” the first air traffic controller said incredibly.

“I don’t have him Lonnie! He went ‘xxx’ then nothing!” the controller told his supervisor.

And he tries to get the commercial flight one more time.

“Colgan, 3407, Buffalo tower how do you hear?

How do you hear?”

But no answer ever comes.

The panic that seized those Buffalo air traffic controllers last February soon swept across the entire commercial airline industry with the realization by investigators that pilot fatigue played a role in the crash along with lack of training, inexperience and ice on the wings.

The CBS4 I-Team has discovered the

“And we ended up very late at night with a very difficult approach and with tough landing conditions and fog,” the anonymous pilot told the ITeam.

“We were all dead tired and I look back on it and say maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe I should have called a timeout back up in New York.”

The I-Team uncovered aviation safety data showing that pilot is not alone.

Here are just a few examples from NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting Program (ASRS) where pilots selfreported being affected by fatigue: A pilot reported falling asleep on approach to land and waking up on the ground left of the runway.

At least four other commercial pilots also nodded off while on approach to land big jets such as 737’s and A320’s, in other words commercial airlines.

A B737-700 Captain reported falling asleep and waking up an hour and a half later unaware of what had happened.

Two different crews admitted being so tired they landed on the wrong

runway.

Two more separate crews landed on taxiways!

Another crew taxied to the wrong gate.

Yet other crews landed without clearance from the control tower.

Still others landed off the runway!

Another plane landed at the wrong airport.

All of this happened because pilots self-reported that they were fatigued.

“They are flying when they probably should be staying at home,” another veteran pilot told the I-Team.

He, too, asked to remain anonymous.

A veteran pilot of two decades from a different commercial airline he fears economic repercussions for speaking out about this problem.

“I would say that the fatigue issue is growing,” the pilot told the I-Team.

While the pilot says fatigue has always been a problem, he admits it has become more and more prevalent and dangerous in the cockpit.

“I don’t think it’s really until you’ve landed and you’ve really kind of gotten through the day that you realize how tired you were at the end of the day and how far you were pushed,” the pilot told us.

Using data collected from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the (National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the I-Team pieced together a troubling history of pilots asleep or fatigued at the switch.

The I-Team found 1,011 incidents in the combined databases where pilot continued on page 13

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February 19, 2010

11

I-Team: Camp Lejeune Water Findings untold numbers.

“They are not taking care of the soldiers, who were under their command at the time, clearly we were injured by the water, we ingested it, and at the time they knew about it,” says Mike Segura, who proudly enlisted at 18-years-old. An athlete into 40’s, he had to undergo torturous chemotherapy treatments and surgeries to fight cancer.

Reporting Michele Gillen MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) — Janey Ensminger was the daughter of a Marine, and a little girl whose face and fight for life will draw military personnel and now-grown children of Marines to the nation’s capital Tuesday.

This new chapter begins on the heels of the CBS4 I-Team investigation into the presence and potential health impact of dangerous chemicals in the drinking and bathing water at Camp Lejeune.

From children, to those who fought for our country, the nightmare has affected

continued

“I was diagnosed with cancer in September, 2005. My bladder cancer at age 47 is a signature cancer of the kind of exposure that we were subject to from drinking the water. The big thing I am in shock over is to find out in 2008 an issue that they knew about in 1985,” Segura told Chief I-Team Reporter Michele Gillen.

She met with him in Winterhaven, Florida. His case is one of many that resonates Senator Richard Burr in Washington D.C. “Our inability to communicate to all

these families has been a pitiful example of what the power of the federal government is,” Senator Burr told Gillen when they met in the nation’s capital.

Senator Burr is author of the Caring for the Families of Camp Lejeune Act. The legislation would provide medical help to former Marines who were exposed to toxic water at the base and are ill today, and their families. It pushes for answers as to what truly went wrong.

“We can’t wait for that to do what’s morally right, and that’s for the federal government to step up and make sure that no family loses their future because of a health need that might have been the cause of a contamination or exposure to contamination at Camp Lejeune,” the senator continued.

The house version of Burr’s bill will be introduced Tuesday and will be named the Janey Ensminger Act. The little girl’s mother drank the water of Camp Lejeune while pregnant. Janey died of

leukemia at nine years-old. Her father Jerry, a Marine, says he finds himself on the mission of his life, exposing the truth of what happened to his beloved daughter and getting the word out to others, who still might find themselves in the fight of their lives.

All this is happening as the I-Team reviews a set of government documents indicating that one source of contamination at the base is an underground fuel spill, once estimated by the Marine Corps to be 3,000 gallons but was actually 800,000 gallons. They’re clues to potential well water contamination documented and discussed more than a decade ago and never before revealed to the residents who lived there. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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I-team: Miami Activists Tackle Human Trafficking

continued from page 1 Bonetti, a missonary who has devoted much of her life to bringing voice to these young women.

The US State Department has named Sister Bonetti one of the world’s antitrafficking heroes. She has rescued hundreds of enslaved girls, offering them refuge in a network of unique protective shelters.

“Their youth is going to be stolen, their life, their dignity, everything. They become merchandise,” said Bonnetti.

“What is common for them is the terrible sense of fear and guilt. It takes months and years to rebuild a person,” she went on to say meeting with Gillen in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. “ We are seeing minor children being sold for sex and that’s where we need to be another Sister Bonnetti,” said Anna Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking . “There are girls out there who need help but can’t escape on their

own.”

Rodriguez is leading a team of volunteers who have gathered from across the nation and will fan out across our community to help identify girls at risk during the Super Bowl weekend.

“Right here in Miami the merchandise is available and people are buying it.

Large Events like the Superbowl attract those who traffic in sex and slavery.

The problem is real in Florida, and at the Tampa Superbowl last year we uncovered and saw that sex sites on the internet quadrupled,” Rodriquez underscored to Gillen.

The I- Team identified internet ads asking for girls to serve dinner to alleged Saudi royal family members in town for the Super Bowl--a sampling of an avalanche of advertisements experts say can be indicators of sex exploitation.

Rodriguez is a former law enforcement victim advocate who played a pivotal

role in a pioneering Florida case that broke open the horror of human trafficking on US soil. She met with Chief I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen at a local South Florida church where teams of councelors, activitists and volunteers slept just a few hours a night, hitting the streets to offer a lifeline to enslaved and exploited young girls. Many wore t-shirts emblazened with the slogan “Tackle the trafficker.”

No one knows who Rodriguez and her team will meet up with on the streets this visit and might potentially help.

But one thing is for sure. If not but for a “stranger” that Elizabeth met one night ...in the middle of the night... she believes her life which includes raising a little girl , would have been over. The kindness of that stranger, a Sister, gave her a second chance.

“It is a miracle that I am alive” Elizabeth told Gillen who asked what her heart is filled with today.

“It is filled with joy, peace, happiness

and hope.”

For more information on Human trafficking visit: http:// www.stophumantrafficking.org/ (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

13

I-Team: Atlas Air Had Previous Plane Incidents

Reporting Stephen Stock MIAMI (CBS4) — The plane that gave many at a South Florida mall quite a scare, was operated by Atlas Air out of New York state. It was on its way to land at MIA from Santiago, Chile when the fiberglass part dislodged and fell off at the International Mall in Doral.

The CBS4 I-Team learned that parts have actually come off other Atlas Air 747’s in the past although not all the

continued

way off. In fact, CBS4 discovered falling parts coming off other airplanes have hurt and killed dozens during the last 30 years.

airport and says he recently became worried about a crash or falling debris from planes passing overhead on final approach.

“A big piece of the wing fell from the sky,” exclaimed one eyewitness.

He told CBS4 he thought one of these days an accident would happen.

It was the kind of thing no one would expect.

While it’s rare to have parts fall off airplanes, the CBS4 I-Team dug up records that show it happens more often than you might imagine. Since 1982, there have been at least 53 other incidents where parts fell off airplanes in flight just in the United States. The incidents killed 51 people, injured 26 others.

“I couldn’t another.

believe

it,”

admitted

A huge chunk of wing, technically something called the actuator ferring cover, fell off Atlas Air cargo plane Flight 46 as it was on final approach to Miami International Airport.

The 747 landed at the airport without incident and fortunately, no one was injured. The piece of fiberglass fell onto the mall’s empty parking lot.

Resident Rodhney King lives near the

And the I-Team dug further and discovered this is not the first incident or accident involving an Atlas Air cargo plane. There have been 5 incidents around the world involving Atlas 747’s including three very similar incidents to this one where parts started to come off the plane. One of those happened in

Miami in April 17, 1997 when the skin of the right wing partially came off during take-off damaging an engine and forcing pilots to turn around and land at MIA with no further damage.

We learned that in a 1997 incident, where part of the wing came off, that the Atlas Air plane had been inspected four months earlier. The inspectors apparently missed the problem with the right wing and failed to correct it. On Friday afternoon, Atlas released a statement saying it was grateful no one was hurt, it is cooperating with the investigation and takes this matter very seriously.

The FAA is now investigating. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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I-Team Reveals Truth About Cockpit Fatigue consultant in Lakeland, Florida.

Dr. Thomas “Mach” Schnell.

The data shows 689 of those incidents happened in the last five years (20052009).

Using his 35 years experience in aviation Coleman recently formed his own company, Aerospace Management Systems Institute to improve aviation safety culture.

Dr. Schnell is leading a team of scientists on a two-year NASA sponsored study of the effects of fatigue on real commercial pilots.

“There are more and more people flying tired,” our first anonymous pilot told us.

For nearly two decades Coleman investigated airplane crashes for the FAA and NTSB.

The data revealed the following information: In 2008, there were 189 incidents involving pilot fatigue.

That is up from 117 incidents the year before (2007).

And in just the first nine months of 2009 (the latest timeframe this data is available) there were 104 incidents. 104 incidents equals or exceeds the number of incidents in entire years in the past.

“Let’s concentrate on the small foundational level of what causes us to be fatigued,” Coleman said. “If we concentrate on that (and fix it) you will not have fatigue related accidents in aviation. One (fatigue related accident) is too many.”

continued from page 9 fatigue caused a safety concern or an actual crash.

“If that (fatigue) is happening to me, it’s happening a hundred times over throughout the country and the world,” said the first veteran pilot.

“We know it’s there,” said Ben Coleman, a private aviation safety

To find out exactly what’s being done to investigate those foundational causes of fatigue and ways to mitigate them, the CBS4 I-Team flew to Iowa City, Iowa, home of the University of Iowa where we got a behind the scenes look at some of the most innovative research by scientists into pilot fatigue.

“This type of research is of national importance,” said lead research scientist

The researchers allowed the CBS4 ITeam to go behind the scenes to see how they put subjects in flight simulators, track their eye movements and sleep patterns and even track their brain patterns using a special net on pilots while flying actual airplanes as well as in flight simulators.

“We will see them blinking their eyes much slower when they are fatigued and spaced out,” said Dr. Schnell.

“For many years we’ve been looking at what happens when you overload pilots with too many tasks, too much to do,” Dr. Schell said. “(But) In last couple years or so we’ve heard more and more need to look at people who are falling asleep at the switch.”

flight decks and at the line is not necessarily accessible in a most straight forward fashion. And formal human factor research is absolutely necessary to see what we can do to help those crews cope with these types of situations.”

The I-Team has also learned that for the last several years the NTSB has been pushing the FAA to change the maximum number of hours a pilot is allowed to work because this problem has become so serious.

But the pleas to fix the system have, so far, fallen on deaf ears.

A spokeswoman for the FAA now says it is considering changes in the rules and for that reason refused to answer our questions or otherwise respond to our request for comment on this issue. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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“We definitely need to know more,” Dr. Schnell told the I-Team. “We don’t know much because what goes on in

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February 19, 2010

15

$60 Thousand Scholarship Yours For The Right Essay community, and was prompted by a terminally ill child who died while her mother was in dire financial straits.

Reporting Dave Game Dade Medical College Wants To Send A Lucky Winner To School With A Full Scholarship Life Changing Event Starts With A Contest And An Essay MIAMI (CBS4) — You can win almost anything in a contest; on cbs4.com, you have the chance to win everything from movie tickets to a new car. But there’s one contest you might have missed, and the prize is a chance for a new future, in the form of a scholarship that could be worth as much as $60 thousand.

The scholarship is being offered by Dade Medical College, which turned to CBS4 and CBS4.com for help in finding a way to give back to the

“Really, this is a tribute to Gildiana Soza and her mother, who was trying to help her terminally ill child with no income and no resources,” said Michael Mut, marketing director for Dade Medical College. “We just wanted to do something nice for someone who really needs it.

Thus was born the idea for a major scholarship for one person, and financial assistance for two others.

Dade Medical College CEO Ernesto Perez knew what he wanted to do, but wasn’t sure how to get the word out. That’s when the college turned to CBS4 and CBS4.com.

“So many people think a for-profit learning institution is all about the money,” Mut said. “People might see such schools as simply diploma mills. We’re different. We’re concerned about the community, and we’re trying to be socially responsible.”

“This is one way we can show that.”

The scholarship and financial aid will be awarded to the winning entrants through a contest being held on CBS4.com. Entrants are asked to answer some simple questions, and then complete a short essay explaining why they should be awarded a scholarship.

A few well chosen words could add up to a new future.

“The winner will receive a full scholarship for a program of their choice at Dade Medical College, worth up to $60 thousand, depending on the course chosen,” Mut said.

“They can choose anything from a diploma in Massage Therapy to an Associate of Science degree in Nursing.”

“We’ll match the program to the interests of the winner,” Mut said.

“The nursing and radiology courses require passing an entrance test, but other courses are available just based on the winner’s interests.”

While there is just one full scholarship being awarded this year, two other lucky winners will get financial assistance to attend the program of their choice. A second

prize winner will receive a $5 thousand scholarship, and a third prize winner will receive a $1000 scholarship.

The contest if open to people who live in Miami-Dade or Broward county, with some restrictions.

Entries will be taken until May 25th, after which a panel of judges will select winners based on the material in their essay.

Dade Medical College said while this is the first scholarship awarded to someone through an online contest, it may not be the last.

“We’d like to do this once a year,” said Mut. “We’d like to set an example for giving back to the community, and showing that anyone can improve their future with a little help.”

To enter, visit cbs4.com/future. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

17

I-Team: Scrutinizing Stimulus Spending Dolphin expressways.

While standing on the interchange construction site, Florida’s Department of Transportation’s District 6 Secretary Gus Pego said the progress shows how the US Stimulus bill is working.

Reporting Stephen Stock MIAMI (CBS4) — A year after it passed the US Congress, the American Economic Recovery Act is being hailed as a victory by its supporters. But it has been criticized as a big deficit creator by its detractors.

So the CBS4 I-Team decided to dig into the dollars and dig up the truth.

CBS4 I-Team investigator Stephen Stock looks at the stimulus package one year into the program.

One year ago a $550 Million project was just a dream on a drawing board.

Now thanks to the US Stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) construction is now going full tilt to widen, fix, and improve the interchange at the Palmetto and

“Behind us you can see it’s finally being delivered,” Secretary Pego said.

“We’re going to be living it for about five years of construction. But the benefits we’re going to obtain for generations to come.”

That’s why Secretary Pego and Congressional Representatives Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Kendrick Meek joined Miami-Dade commissioner Jose Pepe Diaz at a news conference to champion the one year anniversary.

They said it’s a sign of the success of the stimulus package which has meant $402,300,000 in awarded projects so far in Florida alone.

Florida creating jobs, saving jobs so we can rehire people,” US Representative Debbie WassermanSchultz said. “We just need to keep getting the word out.”

But the CBS4 I-Team has dug further and found questionable stimulus spending too. These are projects that, by federal officials own admission, create or save few to no jobs.

Take for instance, Florida Atlantic University: It has been awarded $213,750 in stimulus dollars to study the venom of cone snails.

At Florida International University, one research project received $59,402 in U.S. stimulus dollars to study the physiology of juvenile mosquitoes.

Another project was awarded $648,737 to develop and study marijuana use among Latino 10th and 11th graders.

Supporters say the stimulus package (American Recovery Act) has created or saved 29,321 jobs in Florida so far.

“When you have the deployment of these dollars and mosquitoes, that’s something I didn’t vote for the stimulus package to do,” US Representative Kendrick Meek said.

“We’ve really been phenomenally successful at bringing funds to South

“But I can tell you there have been a lot of positive things towards it,” the

Democrat from Miami-Dade said.

“The accountability piece to be able to uncover those kinds of deployments of those dollars is key and transparent. And it (transparency) hasn’t been there in the past.”

Even critics admit that the stimulus package has turned things around economically and halted America’s slide towards a depression.

But problems with the stimulus package remain. The I-Team’s analysis of stimulus grants here in South Florida show 75 different projects have been awarded more than $93,146,211 with no jobs created.

Representative Meek said he wants to see more jobs created as the stimulus package goes forward, with the largest amount of money yet to be spent.

Representative Wasserman Schultz said that money is expected to hit the streets in the next four to six months. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

18

Scam Artists Are Posing As U.S. Census Workers

MIAMI (CBS4) — Scam artists are posing as U.S. Census workers with the hope of stealing your identity, the Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services warned in a statement released Friday.

To avoid falling prey to a scam, officials stress that you should

never reveal your social security number to anyone.

census taker to call or come to your door to take down information.

“With a little caution and common sense, residents can protect themselves and their identity,” said Charles Bronson, Commissioner of Fla. Dept. Of Agriculture.

Bronson urges residents to observe the following safety tips:

The federal government expects to mail out 134 million census forms on March 1st and includes 10 questions about your age, date of birth, race and whether you own or rent a home. But the form will not ask for anyone’s social security number.

Any unreturned census forms not done by April 1st will cause a

* Do not provide your Social Security number or any financial information, including credit card or bank account information, to anyone claiming to represent the U.S. Census Bureau. * Never invite a census taker into your home. * All census takers carry official government badges. * Census workers are supposed to provide you with a letter from the Census Director on official letterhead.

* The Census Bureau will not contact you by e-mail, so any website that pops up disguised as a census survey is fraudulent. The Census Bureau does not solicit information over the Internet.

For more information about the 2010 census, residents can visit the U.S. Census Bureau website by clicking here or call the bureau’s telephone assistance center at 1866-872-6868. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Shopping Strategies To Cut Your Grocery Bill feed her family for less.

“I have a coupon so its 29 cents, but that is 1.45 regular price,” said Nelson.

Reporting Al Sunshine MIAMI (CBS4) — What type of grocery shopper are you? Are you always in a rush or are you armed with lists and coupons determined to save? Maybe you’re in between.

No matter what kind of shopper you are, there’s one woman who says with just a little effort, many shoppers can cut their grocery bills by as much as half.

The clipping, the cutting, the circulars with tiny print! At first, all Stephanie Nelson wanted to do was

Now she’s the self proclaimed Coupon Mom. In her best-selling book, “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half”, Nelson is sharing her strategy to save.

Nelson believes there are three types of shoppers, busy, rookie and varsity.

A busy shopper has very little time to plan or shop.

what time of day they do, because if you can pick a great markdown that you can make that night it’s perfectly good,” said Nelson.

A rookie shopper matches circular sales with coupons before leaving home and plans a whole weeks meals in advance. Stocking up, when the price is right.

Finally, there’s the varsity shopper who uses multiple coupons, even writing to manufacturers to request them.

Varsity shoppers follow through on every rebate and gift card offer.

But quickly scanning the store circular for deals, using a frequent shopper card, and being brand flexible can help.

Nelson knows the difference between shoppers. One day at Shop Rite, Nelson filled her cart with $125 dollars worth of food and items.

“Find out from the meat manager if they ever mark down meat and

Using her strategy the busy shopper would have paid $90, saving $35

dollars just for swiping a frequent shopper card and limiting purchases to what was on sale.

That savings was nearly doubled for the rookie shopper who, by using coupons, would walk away with 67 dollars in savings. Final cost? Around $58 bucks.

But it was the varsity shopper that walked away the winner on this trip, combining multiple coupons with rebates, saving $97 dollars.

That $125 cart full of groceries cost her $28 bucks.

Stephanie says most people are going to be a different type of shopper each week, depending on how much time they have. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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19

Miami Faces Specter Of “Bankruptcy” it’s going to move the city “further toward bankruptcy and, maybe, receivership by the state.”

City Manager Hernandez took heat from commissioners for failing to administer cuts mandated in the spending plan the commission approved last September, and for miscalculating the projected deficit for the current operating year.

Reporting Gary Nelson City Manager Takes Heat From Commission; City Operating Millions Of Dollars In The Red MIAMI (CBS4) — If Miami’s city manager can’t live within his budgeted means then, “this mayor should find a new city manager.” That was the assessment Thursday from city commission chairman Marc Sarnoff as the commission grappled with a deepening budget deficit, and unloaded on City Manager Pete Hernandez for failing to implement spending cuts ordered last year.

Commissioners got a sober assessment of the city’s finances Thursday from Management and Budget Director Michael Boudreaux who said Miami is in a “financial crisis.” Boudreaux said if Miami continues to dip into its shrinking reserves to make ends meet,

Looking directly at Hernandez, Sarnoff said, “There is no reason, at all, for this city to be over budget. If your projections were wrong, then Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack better get his act together.”

Hernandez, appointed by former mayor Manny Diaz, now sits on a dais occupied by four commissioners who are new to the panel since he was hired.

The newcomers are not happy.

“We came in here thinking we had a balanced budget, no problems. And now we find out there’s going to be a deficit,” said recently-elected commissioner Willy Gort.

Commissioners were also frustrated that managers have been unable to give them a firm number on just how deep the projected deficit might be. “Just two weeks ago they mentioned $40 million,” new commissioner Frank

Carollo said. “Now they’re saying $20 million. Isn’t there a problem here?”

Richard Dunn, appointed to the commission last month, looked at Hernandez and asked, “Can we get a real figure and, if so, when?”

Hernandez said the projected deficit had fluctuated because of a lack of comprehensive information available to the city’s finance staff, but estimated it today at $20.8 million. Hernandez said that number should be good through the fiscal year that ends September 30th.

financial experts to study the city’s finances and recommend solutions.

Long term, Sarnoff said, the city has to find a way to slash the cost of pension plans for its police officers and firefighters. Under current agreements the city guarantees high rates of return to the plans that are “unheard of in any other marketplace,” Sarnoff said.

Sarnoff said a “credible, independent” study panel could “provide cover” to commissioners who might come under attack from employees’ unions for cutting benefits.

The deficit has been exacerbated in part

by Hernandez’s failure to achieve employee cuts ordered by the commission last year.

Short term, the commission chairman said City Manager Hernandez has to live within the budget he’s been given – or else. “Failure to do so should mean that this mayor should find a new city manager,” Sarnoff said.

Hernandez acknowledged that he has been slow to axe more than a hundred bureaucrats whose positions were eliminated. He said he was trying to “save as many jobs” as he tried to cut costs. “You’re talking about people’s lives,” Hernandez told CBS4’s Gary Nelson.

Told of the apparent ultimatum, Hernandez told CBS4’s Nelson, “I’m not a miracle worker. I’m not God. We’re trying to do all we can to cope with less revenues, and to manage expenses.”

Mayor Tomas Regalado did not attend Thursday’s meeting. He was snowed in in New York by a blizzard that has paralyzed much of the Northeast.

Sarnoff said he and Regalado intend to appoint a “blue ribbon” panel of

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Aviation Safety At Odds With Global Recession industry that’s flying at margins.

In 2009, this industry lost between $3 billion and $5 billion,” said James C. May, CEO of the Air Transport Association of America.

These financially-strapped carriers are slow to replace an aging fleet -- some are flying planes more than 15 years old.

NEW YORK (CBS News) —When was the last time you boarded a flight and thought about how much sleep your pilot had? Or how much training the air-traffic controller had? Or where the airplane got its last tune-up? Those are just some of the thoughts that keep one former accident investigator awake at night.

“I think right now, aviation safety is average. Probably a C-plus rating in my book because in some parts, it excels,” said former National Transportation Safety Board investigatorGreg Feith.

“But in others, it’s in a ‘D’ or even an ‘F’ category.”

CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg reports this is one report card where an “F” could mean fatal, as it did nearly one year ago when Continental Connection Flight 3407 experienced an aerodynamic stall, and crashed, killing 49 people on board, and one on the ground.

Statistically, the United States is currently enjoying its safest era in aviation history. Over 26,000 flights take off and land without incident every day. The number of serious runway incursions involving commercial airliners has dropped by more than 63 percent, and last year’s crash in Buffalo was the first fatal accident in more than two years.

But here are some other numbers: since Sept. 11, 2001, 33 airlines have declared bankruptcy. In the last two years, 8,500 pilots lost their jobs.

Throw in soaring fuel costs, and a global recession, and you’ve got an

“I think aviation safety is falling victim more and more to the almighty dollar,” Feith said.

The Problem The problems are easy to identify, and there are a lot of them.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman said “Right now, we have about 500 open recommendations to the FAA.”

than there were in 2002 - the lowest level in 16 years.

“Our busiest facilities in the country are well below their comfort level,” said Paul Rinaldi, President,National Air Traffic Controllers Association. .

“The FAA has to speed up its process, said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “It’s slow-walked everything.”

He says an effort to manage more than 5,000 flights in the skies at any one time, many air traffic trainees are learning on the job.

The FAA declined our request for an interview, but said it does plan to propose new regulations for pilot fatigue and training this spring.

“The analogy we like to use is, we’re taking high school pitchers and putting them in Yankee Stadium to throw a nohitter,” Rinaldi said.

CBS News also tried -- unsuccessfully - to talk with the CEO’s of 4 major legacy airlines. Their chief lobbyist, Jim May had this to say. “Our guys can cut costs with the best of them. They have to learn how to do that to survive,” he said. “But that isn’t the case when it comes to safety and security.”

Speaking of the minor leagues, a recent government study of nine commercial airlines revealed that in 2007, of the roughly 1200 major maintenance checks performed on planes, over 70 percent were outsourced. More than 200 of them were done at foreign repair stations.

“Five-hundred,” Greenberg asked?

“Yes,” Hersman replied.

Hersman says some of the items on the NTSB’s “Most Wanted List” of air safety improvements date all the way back to 1990. But the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to implement them.

“We have some oldies but goodies on our most wanted list,” Hersman said.

“Under the aviation list, every single one on your list is coded red. What does red mean,” Greenberg asked.

“Red means that the progress they’re making is not satisfactory to us,” Hersman replied.

Pilot fatigue is one of them. The NTSB says it’s been a factor in at least 300 airline accident deaths over the last 16 years.

Fatigue in the control tower is another concern. Even though airlines have cut flights by roughly 16 percent, there are also 1,000 fewer air traffic controllers

minimum amount of flight experience from 250 hours to 1500 hours at regional carriers.

Who’s flying those planes? Pilots like “Miracle on the Hudson” First Officer, Jeff Skiles.

“The people doing the maintenance are completely unlicensed. They hold no accreditation from the FAA,” Skiles said.

Perhaps worse, not enough federal inspectors to thoroughly and frequently check that work.

“We now have to move forward and say what can we do for future families to prevent them from going through the tragedy we have,” said Scott Maurer.

His daughter Lorin perished in the crash of Continental 3407 one year ago.

Since then, he’s been to Capitol Hill 15 times to advocate for air safety.

The Solution The families of flight 3407 are working on solutions. They’re proposing legislation that would revise flight and duty times for pilots, improve the level of pilot training - especially in adverse weather conditions - and increase the

Historically, when the NTSB has made urgent recommendations, the airlines have often lobbied to block, or delay them -- claiming “severe economic impact.”

Debbie Hersman worries that as the economy languishes, so will her wish list.

“When we lose 50 people in an aviation accident that might have been prevented had previous recommendations been implemented, I ask you if you can face the families and tell them that the cost-benefit didn’t make sense,” Hersman sain. “Because I surely can’t.”

Hersman is frustrated that continued inaction will cost more lives.

“It’s somewhat of a tombstone mentality. We have to, unfortunately, kill more people in order for us to get our recommendations adopted and that’s a tragedy.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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February 19, 2010

25

The Coming Foreclosure and Commercial Real Estate Storms mortgage modification continues to fail.

This post by Jill originally appeared MoneyWatch.com.

Schlesinger on CBS’

When you read that foreclosure filings fell 10% in January from December, don’t get too excited.

According to Realty Trac, foreclosures are 15% higher than they were a year ago and there’s likely to be an increase in foreclosure activity in the next few months, as the government’s crappy

program

policy that bank lenders have pursued over the past year.

James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac noted that “if history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-inlieu of foreclosure alternatives works.” In other words, another storm is a-brewing in the housing market.

From the banks’ point of view, the longer they keep you on the hook, the better it is for them. Avoiding the mess of foreclosure allows them to keep the fictitious valuations on their books and in this new Citi program, ensures that some of the costs of carrying the dud loan get transferred to the borrower, who in all likelihood, will end up defaulting.

Some experts believe that a new round of foreclosures could trigger a double-dip in housing prices.

The continued reluctance of banks to tackle the foreclosure problem is astounding. There’s near-universal agreement that principal reduction is the key, but we are left with lame programs, like this one announced yesterday by CitiMortgage. The socalled “strategic non-foreclosure” continues the “extend and pretend”

As if the foreclosure mess weren’t enough to keep you up at night, today we’re also digesting a new report from the Congressional Oversight Panel (that’s Elizabeth Warren & Co, the TARP watchdogs) about the looming storm in the commercial real estate market. The

report predicts a wave of losses, totaling $200-$300 billion, from commercial real estate loans could “trigger economic damage that could touch the lives of nearly every American.”

Here’s how the dire analysis plays out: “when commercial properties fail, it creates a downward spiral of economic contraction: job losses; deteriorating store fronts, office buildings and apartments; and the failure of the banks serving those communities.” The report reminds us that the failure of community banks would further restrict small business access to capital, just the economic recovery is occurring.

Don’t put away those shovels just yet - two potential storms could be coming.

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Citi Offers “Foreclosure Alternatives” Many housing analysts say these borrowers - particularly those who owe at least 20 percent more than their home’s current value - are choosing to walk away because they see little chance that home prices will come back.

Bank to Let Distressed Homeowners Stay in Homes for 6 Months in Exchange for Deed to Property (CBS/AP) Citigroup Inc. plans to let homeowners on the verge of foreclosure stay in their homes for six months - if they turn over the deed to their property.

Citi said Thursday it is launching the pilot program, dubbed “Foreclosure Alternatives,” this week in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio. Initially, about 1,000 homeowners are expected to participate. Citi may expand the program nationwide.

In a normal foreclosure, a lender assumes legal control of the property and evicts the homeowner. But Citi’s program, like other “deed in lieu of foreclosure” efforts, allows the homeowner to avoid a completed foreclosure. While the owner must still leave the home after six months, the program results in a less severe hit to the borrower’s credit score.

The policy is an attempt to deal with what lenders see as a growing phenomenon: borrowers who choose to default on their mortgages. Close to one in every three U.S. homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, according to Moody’s Economy.com.

Also, many states have lengthened the time it takes to complete a foreclosure, making the process more time-consuming and expensive for the lending industry.

“Why should we all go through the foreclosure process and evict people?” said Sanjiv Das, Citi’s top mortgage executive.

Avoiding foreclosure, Das said, is “less painful for our borrowers as well as for us.”

Borrowers in Citi’s program will still need to pay their utility bills. But Citi will pay at least $1,000 in relocation costs and will consider helping out with other expenses. Citi also plans to provide relocation counseling.

The program is intended to help borrowers who don’t qualify for a mortgage modification or a short sale - one in which the lender agrees to sell a home for less than the total mortgage amount.

Citi’s policy is similar to one announced in November by Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage finance company. Fannie is allowing homeowners to hand back the deed to their properties, then rent them back at market rates.

But CBS Moneywatch.com editor at large Jill Schlesinger is skeptical about the Citi’s motivation.

“From the banks’ point of view, the longer they keep you on the hook, the better it is for them. Avoiding the mess of foreclosure allows them to keep the fictitious valuations on their

books and in this new Citi program, ensures that some of the costs of carrying the dud loan get transferred to the borrower, who in all likelihood, will end up defaulting,” she writes.

Schlesinger also said the programs like Citi’s miss the real problem.

“The continued reluctance of banks to tackle the foreclosure problem is astounding. There’s near-universal agreement that principal reduction is the key, but we are left with lame programs,” she writes.

A new report shows the number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in January increased 15 percent from the same month last year.

RealtyTrac reports that more than 315,000 households were sent a foreclosure-related notice last month. That was equivalent to one in every 409 homes receiving a filing, which includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.

Ohio had the nation’s 14th highest foreclosure rate for January, with a notice going out to one out of every 457 households in the state.

Foreclosure numbers could remain high as unemployed homeowners who have tried to keep up with their mortgages finally start missing monthly payments. © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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29

I-Team: Jackson Losses 4 Times Worse Than Expected “I am frustrated because we need to be much closer to a solution so that our board can take the necessary decisions to curtail this problem,” Medina told DeFede.

Reporting Jim DeFede MIAMI (CBS4) — The financial outlook at Jackson Memorial Hospital is far worse than first expected, according to figures released Tuesday morning at a meeting of the Public Health Trust, which governs the hospital system. Board members were told the hospital has a $200 million deficit for 2009, four times what had been projected, and faces an even bigger deficit for 2010.

“The facts are we’ve got a bigger hole than anyone ever dreamed of,” said a clearly annoyed Angel Medina, vice chairman of the Public Health Trust, Jackson’s governing board, after the news was delivered. “This is really, really bad. This is the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Now, Eneida Roldan, president of Jackson Health Services, said everything is on the table from layoffs to cuts in service.

“We’re looking at everything and we intend to work with all our stakeholders our partners which as you saw in the meeting University of Miami and union members to look at this problem as a community problem,” Roldan told CBS4’s Jim DeFede.

Cuts could hurt those that are most vulnerable -- indigent, uninsured South Floridians. Medina expressed his frustration at Roldan for not offering more concrete solutions.

The problem is that Jackson collects less than 26 cents of every $1 billed, according figures disclosed at Tuesday’s meeting. Last year, Jackson billed a total of $4.2 billion for patient care but only received a little more than $1 billion in payments. The other $3.2 billion went uncollected.

Some of that uncollected debt is due to the discounts that the hospital gives to major insurance carriers as well as care provided to indigent patients, but a sizeable portion is due to problems with the hospital’s billing department, hospital officials admitted Tuesday.

For instance, nearly half of all Medicaid claims filed with the state of Florida are either denied or significantly delayed because Jackson fails to fill out the reimbursement forms properly.

Hospital officials admitted the 600 person billing department is poorly managed and in disarray.

Martha Baker, the president of the union representing nurses and doctors, said the administration needs to do its job better before coming to them for cutbacks.

“Before you turn to your employees and say, ‘We’re short, give us some back’ or cut services to patients in this community, we won’t stand for that,” Baker said.

In addition with the $200 million loss for 2009, board members were told that losses for 2010 are expected to be around $230 million.

The numbers were released during an Executive Board meeting Tuesday

morning. The news is devastating for the county-owned health system, and angered members of the board who are now faced with significant losses.

CBS4’s Jim DeFede reports board members expressed concern that they couldn’t trust any of the numbers coming from Roldan and her team.

Board members had been waiting for an auditor’s report on the shortfalls, and had been warned by the hospital’s chief financial officer that the losses could change with that report.

“We know there’s going to be a sizable adjustment,” Frank Barrett told the board in January, but at Tuesday’s meeting it was clear nobody expected such a massive difference.

Board members expressed concern with Roldan’s inability to provide them with concrete solutions to the budget problems – even though Roldan has only been in charge of Jackson for seen months.

“I will tell you that if I’m in my normal business and I go to my [chief financial officer] or my [chief operating officer] or any other leadership and I ask them a question and they tell me, `I don’t know, I’ll get back to you, I’m going to hire a consultant,’” noted board member Martin Zilber. “I start asking why am I asking this person. Why do I need this person?

“All I heard today was we may or may not be sure of these numbers, we’re still waiting for our audit, we may or may not be hiring a consultant to help us collect the money that we may or may not know we are owed,” he continued. “And that’s the bottom line of what I heard today. And that is just not an acceptable answer.”

As the hospital, which employs 12,000 people, struggles with the losses, it’s been hit by another problem; a lack of patients. The number of patients has

dropped by 6.5 percent, further reducing the hospital’s income. The hospital has also experienced a crisis with cash on hand to pay bills, a crisis that will likely grow with the latest news.

What is not immediately known is the effect this will have on the hospital system, which in addition to paying patients is the hospital of last resort for the uninsured and indigent. The hospital has already announced it will close some facilities, attempt to sell some nursing facilities, and end dialysis treatments for indigent kidney patients, who must now be treated through the emergency room or find other facilities.

“Management has to come to us with some reasonable expectations as to what they can do, that won’t sacrifice quality, that will protect our employees and that will keep this hospital providing the levels of service that we are accustomed to in our community,” said Medina, the board’s vice chairman. “Our community won’t stand for us not delivering care in the same manner that we have been delivering it.”

While most of the board members expressed shock over the size of the budget deficit, the board’s chairman, John Copeland, said it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.

“We are in a ditch,” he said. “If I go back five years we had projections that would show we would be in this ditch.

And we have not avoided going into the ditch.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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What’s Behind The Chemistry Of Love?

Then, each woman was asked to rate her pain on a scale while holding her loved one’s hand. Sarah Master and Naomi Eisenberger were surprised at the results.

NEW YORK (CBS News) — They make it seem so . . . effortless. But the residents of this D.C.-area retirement home are the superstars of love.

“I’m still physically attracted to her. I think she’s a nice-looking woman,” said Phil Weiner.

“People talk about working on a marriage, and I think that’s a very strange thing to do,” said Doris Teti.

“I think it just has to happen. I think it has to be there.”

Aber and Shirley Dearfield have been married for nearly 60 years. The Pasternaks are coming up on 44.

James Kennedy said of himself and his wife, “Here we are, 56-some half years later. Trying to find out if it’s gonna work!” he laughed.

Most of the couples here have been together for decades. But to those who think this kind of romance is an eternal mystery, take heart: Scientists are now closer to understanding what these people have known all along.

A recent UCLA study shows that the very sight of a loved one can ease your pain.

In the study, 25 couples in long-term relationships were brought to a lab, and the woman was subjected to pain - in this case, a bearable but unpleasant burning sensation.

“We indeed found that women holding their partner’s hand reported significantly less pain than holding a stranger’s hand or inanimate object,” said Master. “But what was really interesting was that we found parallel results using the photographs.”

In other words, the women reported that the experiment actually hurt less when they were looking at pictures of their loved ones . . . even though the burning sensation they were subjected to stayed the same.

Love, it turns out, can be a powerful drug.

“It’s amazing to me that love can have the same effect as Acetaminophen, as Tylenol.

“It’s better than Tylenol!” said anthropologist Helen Fisher, who has looked at love for years. She says affairs of the heart are often functions of the brain.

cravings - the ventral tegmental area (or VTA) - is flooded with the chemical dopamine when you do something pleasurable (like, say, eat chocolate) or see someone you’re in love with . . . no matter how many years you’ve known them.

Fisher and neurologist Lucy Brown of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York also scanned college students in the throes of young love, and found that the part of the brain that makes true love so durable also makes rejection so agonizing.

“When you’ve been dumped, you’re still madly in love with the person,” said Brown. “As a matter of fact, looking at a picture of the person still brings you some reward. And that’s part of the problem. I wish it didn’t!”

It’s true: Science can’t completely save us from heartbreak, but according to author Tara Parker-Pope, it can help.

“I think science teaches us the value of love and can help us make better decisions,” said Parker-Pope.

mind, beyond conscious decisionmaking, when we find ourselves drawn to another person and attracted to another person.”

But beyond animal attraction, there’s a mathematical ratio that can predict whether love lasts: 5 to 1. Five positive interactions to every one negative, like a critical comment, said Parker-Pope: “A pat on the shoulder or a squeeze of the hand or a ‘Honey, you look pretty today’ or ‘Gosh, I’m proud of you’ or ‘I like you in that suit.’ Those little moments are highly protective of a marriage, and good marriages have them at least on a 5-to-1 basis.

Of course, few (if any) of these studies were published when our long-term couples were courting. But you don’t really need science to tell you this is love.

“We’re very thankful for each other, still feel that,” said Phil Weiner. “And the older you grow, and the longer you have the relationship, the more you realize how fortunate you are to have a partner like this.”

Her upcoming book “For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage” (Dutton) describes the science behind relationships, including a study that delved into why exotic dancers make more money some weeks than others.

“Yeah, and still be together!” laughed Diana Weiner.

One man who claimed not to know how to put it into words summed it up this way: “Solid as a rock woman.

There you go.”

“When you’ve just fallen in love, when you’ve been rejected in love, and when you’re in long-term love, the same brain region that makes dopamines becomes activated,” said Fisher.

“They looked at strippers and they looked at the tips that they earned over the course of their menstrual cycle,” said Parker-Pope, “and what they found was, at the time when the strippers were most fertile, at the time when their fertility peaked, that’s when their tips were the highest.

When they were the least likely to conceive, their tips were very low and there was a wide gap.

In simple terms, one of the parts of the brain involved in rewards and

“What it shows is that there’s a whole lot going on beyond the conscious

“The brain is built to respond,” Fisher said. “We are an animal that is built to love. We’re built to love.”

Fisher, with colleagues Bianca Acevedo and Lucy Brown, did brain scans on couples who’d been in love for decades, and found that the sight of your long-time mate triggers the same brain reaction as new love.

“To me, she’s like half of my life,” one man said. “Without her, I could not survive.”

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Generic Medications: Are They The Best Choice?

Reporting Cynthia Demos

pharmacy filled his prescription with a generic drug as a substitute for the brand name he’d been taking without telling the family.

ingredient in the same amount of time as brand-name drugs. But some say, for a few medications, inactive compounds can affect how the drug is absorbed.

“He started seizing and he ended up in the intensive care unit,” said AJ’s mom Sarah.

“Things like wax, coatings, starches or binders that hold the tablet or capsule together. It’s all how these dissolve in the body,” explained pharmacist Suzanne Brown.

It was a similar situation for 21-yearold Natalie DiSabatino. When her epilepsy drug was switched to a generic to save money she wasn’t warned about the potential risks.

MIAMI (CBS4) — Americans spend more than $250 billion every year on prescription medications and trying to control the cost of drugs can be tricky.

Millions of Americans take generic medications for everything from fighting infections to birth control and heartburn but switching to generics may not always be safe.

“Thank God I didn’t have a seizure while I was driving,” said Natalie. But the college student did pass out at school, and ended up in the emergency room with cuts and bruises.

22-month old AJ Mullins depends on medications to control seizures caused by a genetic disorder. One day, a

The FDA requires generic drugs to deliver the same amount of active

Generics can be up to 50 percent cheaper than name brand drugs and the co-pays are lower too.

Brown says the absorption rate is critical for anti-seizure drugs, thyroid medications and blood thinners. Still, the FDA maintains with all drugs, the difference in the absorption rate between brand name and generic is medically insignificant.

But AJ’s family did see a big difference and they feel it’s important to always check your prescriptions.

“You should never walk away from the counter without checking your medications and you know it’s hard because AJ’s screaming at you, he

wants to play and you’re busy and you just grab and go,” said AJ’s dad Mike.

Even if you do check, sometimes prescriptions aren’t labeled generic so you have to know the name of the drugs and that they look different.

Natalie wishes she knew the risk before her switch.

“It could have cost me my life. saving money isn’t worth my life,” said Natalie.

In some states, by law, pharmacists are allowed to switch medications to generic without a doctor’s approval.

Experts stress that generic drugs are safe for most people but you should always check to make sure what you’re taking is what was prescribed. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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New Procedure Clears Discolored, Blood-Shot Eyes It just really affects your self esteem and self confidence.”

Year after year, he was told there was nothing he could do – until recently.

Now he’s traveled Colorado to California for a new procedure called IBrite.

Before and after photos show the results: eye redness, spots and discoloration are all wiped clean.

LOS ANGELES (CBS4) — It’s something that Greg Watterworth has lived with all his life: eyes that look blood-shot, a redness that just won’t go away.

“It is hard to talk about and emotional,” Watterworth said. “It really affects my relationships with people; you can’t look people in the eyes. You have a hard time looking in the mirror. You don’t go out as often as you would like.

“With the technique that we’re doing, we’re getting excellent cosmetic results and that’s the key: that the cosmetic result looks great. His eyes look nice and white and bright and that’s the reason why we’re doing it,” said Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, an eye surgeon.

Beverly Hills Eye Surgeon Brian Boxer Wachler created I-Brite. First, he marks the area of each eye he’ll be working on. He focuses where the visible spots

and redness show, between the upper and lower lids. In surgery, he carefully lifts off and separates the membrane that contains those blood vessels, spots and discoloration.

“The third step is we let the eye heal because it will regenerate its own membrane that’s crystal clear,” Dr. Boxer Wachler said. “The beauty is it won’t have any blood vessels in it,” he added. Blood vessels are what give the eyes a blood-shot appearance.

The doctor says the response to this new procedure has been overwhelming.

Patients see results within two weeks.

He says it’s life-changing for all of them.

It’s been three weeks since Daphne Foster had the I-Brite procedure. The discoloration and bumps on her eyes that made her self-conscious are gone.

She does admit that she was surprised at what caused the problem in the first place – a problem often seen in South Florida: sun damage.

“I didn’t wear sunglasses growing up. I was told to wear sunglasses growing up. I didn’t know that the sun could affect your eyes that badly,” Foster said.

Sun damage causes the majority of eye redness and spotting.

Insurance doesn’t cover I-Brite procedure, about $3,500 per eye. But for patients like Daphne Foster, it’s well worth it. “I feel great; I feel more confident, you know, my self-esteem is up. I feel great,” Foster said. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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35

A Love Song for Jeff Bridges “It was all about music,” he said of the project. “And it didn’t have any music attached to it. So I took a pass.”

That changed when his old friend, music producer T. Bone Burnett (who produced the music for “The Big Lebowski”), signed on.

The Veteran Actor Has Won Praise (and an Oscar Nomination) as a Down-and-Out Singer in “Crazy Heart” (CBS) Jeff Bridges has won the hearts of critics with his role in “Crazy Heart,” and he drew from his own long love affair with his wife to do it. Cynthia Bowers has this Sunday Profile:

“This is a little thing we did out of friendship - this is a friendship movie,” Burnett said.

The film found its heart when a former bull rider named Ryan Bingham brought them the song, “The Weary Kind.” “‘The Weary Kind’? I mean, you look way too young to even be weary,” Bowers said of Bingham.

“Where did that come from?”

Jeff Bridges is feelin’ the love, receiving a standing ovation at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, when he won for his latest performance.

“A year ago he was sleeping in his car, you know?” said Burnett.

“It wiped away all my nerves about what I was going to say,” Bridges said. “It was like some kind of love hurricane coming at me or something! It was wonderful.”

“If we didn’t have that song, we didn’t have a movie at the end of the day,” Burnett said.

After winning this year’s Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Bridges now has an Oscar nomination - his fifth - for the role of Bad Blake in the film “Crazy Heart,” a low-budget movie that almost didn’t make it to the big screen.

“We thought we might be going direct to DVD, you know?” Bridges said.

The story of a down-and-out country singer and his unlikely romance was a labor of love for all involved.

Bridges, a musician himself, at first turned down the role.

The song won the Golden Globe, and is nominated for an Oscar.

“I remember when Ryan came in to play that song for us the first time,” Bridges said. “I remember kind of like a collective, you know, looking around the room and I saw everyone go ‘Aahhh!’”

The response to the film has surprised even those who worked on it.

“Whether you win or lose, you’ve accomplished more than you set out to,” said Bowers.

“Oh, absolutely,” Bridges said. “You have high expectations when you go into something like, well, anything you go into. You think, Oh, this could be good, you know?”

“That’s what I thought when I got up today!” said Bowers.

“They you go! And then every once in a while it transcends those expectations, and it’s even better than you thought.”

Jeff Bridges has been acting almost all his life. His father was the film and television star Lloyd Bridges (“Sea Hunt”), and his older brother is actor Beau Bridges.

Jeff is also an accomplished photographer who chronicles the making of each of his movies.

For the love story in “Crazy Heart,” Bridges looked to his own love life.

“I’ve been married to my sweetheart for 33 years now, you know?” he said, “and I draw on that intimacy that I have with my wife, with Susan.”

“When you’re on the road as much as you are, I guess, do you have the girls coming after you?”

Bowersasked.

“I’m in love, you know?”

“I’m more proud of this than any work I’ve done so far,” Gyllenhaal said. “I think it’s more grown up. I think, you know, in some ways I actually am a woman in this movie in a way that I wasn’t exactly completely before.”

“You love the character Jean - what did Jean see in Bad?” Bowers asked.

“Well, look, I don’t think that anybody, any human being gets to decide who turns them on, or who really moves them. I think that just hits you,” she replied. “Inside him is, I think, a pretty incredible man, you know? And he’s pretty lost in the beginning, but that can be hot sometimes too, you know? And he’s Jeff! I mean, everybody asks me what it’s like to act with such a sexy guy!”

Bridges, now 60, is often called one of Hollywood’s most underappreciated actors. He has more than 50 films to his credit, with roles ranging from the high school football star in “The Last Picture Show,” to one of “The Fabulous Baker Boys” with his brother Beau, to the Dude in the cult favorite “The Big Lebowski.”

“So your eye’s not wandering?”

“Oh, my eyes wander, you know, but my heart stays put pretty much!”

In “Crazy Heart,” his eyes wander to Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays a young reporter and single mom.

The day we talked, they’d just learned they both were nominated for Oscars. While Bridges’ nomination was expected, Gyllenhaal was surprised by hers.

“I really am shocked by this, you know?” she said.

Now, with the possibility (some say likelihood) that he may win that Oscar that’s eluded him four times before, he views his career with satisfaction.

“When I look down at my filmography, I really have had a pretty cool career, really. I’m really thankful for that. I feel lucky.” © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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February 19, 2010

37

The Rise and Rise of Susan Boyle

Her Fast Ride to Worldwide Fame Had Its Costs, But Scottish Singer Says She Wants to Continue Inspiring Others (CBS) The whole world seemed to fall in love with Susan Boyle last year when she first sang on British TV. She appeared at first to be a living her dream . . . but that’s not at how it seemed to her. Mark Phillips has her story: Susan Boyle wasn’t just an unknown wannabe when she walked onto that stage ten months ago.

She was an innocent, placing herself in the jaws of fame. And they almost chewed her up.

It was the beginning of what she now calls her roller coaster ride.

“Minding my own business, getting into a talent show, I didn’t even know how I was going to do in the talent show, and suddenly poof!

All Susan had come to do, appearing on the ITV series “Britain’s Got Talent,” was sing - a promise she had made to a dying mother. And when she did, the world couldn’t help but stop to listen . . .

Her performance became a “Where were you when you heard?” event.

In a day, she had gone from being a nobody from a place you never heard of, to being one of the most famous people in the world. It was YouTube’s most-played clip of the year 300,000,000 hits.

Then, she said, “a bit like a demolition ball hit me!”

“Do you have any sense or idea how your life is going to change?

“It seems like you’d been hit by a 2x4 or something,” said Phillips.

“I have no idea,” she said. “One step at a time, each day as it comes.”

“Something like that! Suddenly it felt that way!”

And boy, did it come. She couldn’t get a haircut without the newspapers weighing in.

But if Susan Boyle stunned the world, it was nothing compared to way the world would stun her.

“Well, I knew I was well enough to sing, but I was just coping with the press and added distractions and the stress that brings... Has been, it’s been making the stress out of control at that time. There were about 50 television stations outside my door and stuff like that.”

“Including us, ha ha ha!” said Phillips.

“I’m not saying you! No, no, not at all,” she laughed. “And it’s difficult for someone who was really quiet to come to terms with that.”

She was then a 47-year-old woman who had never left the home in which she had cared for her aging mother in the down-at-the-heels Scottish town of Blackburn. By her own admission she had never been kissed, had “learning difficulties,” was bullied at school.

And now the world was beating a path to her door.

“You’ve lived a quiet life, looking after your mother in this house,” Phillips asked her last spring. “You were known locally, but why did you [go on TV] now?”

“I did, yeah, because I felt I owed something back from my mother, so I thought I’d do this as some kind of tribute to her.”

“What do you think she’d think?”

“She’s probably be very proud of me!”

She couldn’t have an argument with a pestering fan without being labeled a thug.

Susan broke under the pressure, and had to retire to a clinic. Her new life wasn’t just chewing her up - it seemed about to spit her out.

you can do. You see whether or not you are versatile.”

“Have you surprised yourself with your versatility?” Phillips asked.

“I have actually. Absolutely honest, I have.”

“You didn’t know that you can do that kind of thing?”

“I didn’t know. It was actually an experimentation. But it’s good to experiment. It’s a bit like having a wee flower. If you put wee bit of water it gradually blossoms. So we see what happens from there.”

“You’re that blossoming flower!”

“Well, I was like a scared child before, but I’m not the scared person I used to be,” she says now.

“What ways were you unprepared?”

“Well, I had to learn how to deal with a lot of publicity, and the glare of attention. And that takes a bit to get used to but, um, I got there in the end!” she laughed.

Where she’s gotten to is the next chapter in the remarkable rise and rise of Susan Boyle.

Her new CD, “I Dreamed a Dream,” released late last year, has done what everything associated with Susan Boyle has done: set records. It shot to number one with a bullet, and was the fastest-selling female debut album ever. It’s sold 3.5 million copies so far.

“Well, the baby step, yes.”

Susan often talks about taking baby steps. She’s had brief forays of travel . . . New York, L.A., Japan . . . has done the morning show circuit in the U.S. . . . and she’s even hoping she gets to the point where she can go on tour and keep surprising her audience, and herself.

“I think I’m entertaining people,” she said. “I’m inspiring a lot of people.

What people have written to me about how much I have inspired [them], and I like to keep on doing that for as long as it lasts.”

“Do you still have to pinch yourself?”

(Pinches her arm) “Ooo, yeah, certainly yes!” she laughed.

“You can vouch for it.”

And it wasn’t just a medley of her hits. It showed she is an artist with range, with performances ranging from the torch song “Cry Me a River” and the inspirational “Amazing Grace,” to the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” and Madonna’s “You’ll See.” “I like to be challenged, and saw them as a challenge. So if you sing things that are away from what people expect, it shows them what

“I can vouch for it, I’ve just done it!” © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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38

From the Wreckage, Saints Rise to the Top

CBSSports.com Looks at the Formula Behind New Orleans’ Remarkable Climb from Its Nadir in 1999 (CBS) This story was written by CBSSports.com National Columnist Mike Freeman In a list of lowlights the length of a skyscraper, it’s difficult to pinpoint the lowest point in the history of the New Orleans Saints, but one candidate begins with a man named Ditka.

In the 1999 draft, it was Mike Ditka -coach and commander of the franchise -- who made football’s version of a criminally negligent decision to trade eight Saints draft picks to the Washington Redskins, including each of their 1999 picks and the first and third round selections in the 2000 draft, for the opportunity to select runner Ricky Williams.

After the disastrous trade was consummated, a scout for the Redskins remarked privately: “We just embarrassed the entire New Orleans Saints franchise.”

Unfortunately, for many years, that wasn’t all that hard to do.

But the Saints have proven more resilient than anyone imagined. Once malignant, the Saints have emerged not as a cancer but as an inspiration.

How the franchise overcame the Ditka debacle as well as decades of incompetence, ownership stupidity -and, yes, a horrific natural disaster -- to reach the Super Bowl is one of the

inspirational stories in the history of American sports.

going to have a home field to play on. I didn’t know what to expect.

The question is how exactly did the Saints do it?

“Drew Brees called me the night I was drafted and told me he was excited to play with me. He told me how he got to play with LaDainian Tomlinson and he was looking forward to playing with me. That changed my entire view on what I was going into. It also eased my mind. I had a chance to watch Drew play when he was with the Chargers, so for a guy like Drew to call me says a lot about him. It eased my emotions about what I was getting into.”

There are a handful of key critical moves that helped the Saints overcome their painful past and emerge as a hopeful story. Many were tactical, most demonstrated the smarts the Ditka trade never did, and some were as a result of good, old fashioned luck.

Here’s how the Saints’ turnaround happened.

The quarterback It’s hard to believe but Drew Brees wasn’t always so coveted. A shoulder injury left many (including his own team, the San Diego Chargers) skeptical about his long-term future.

The Saints took a chance on him and he took a chance on them, signing as a free agent in 2006 to a six-year, $60 million deal. Mickey Loomis, the team’s general manager, remembered: “It’s easy to say how great Drew is now but not everyone in football felt that way then.”

“All the intangibles were there,” Loomis added. “From high school to college to his pro career, you heard over and over how professional he was.”

Getting Brees was the most critical factor. His deep pass prowess and accuracy allowed Sean Payton to run his wide open offense. But Brees didn’t provide solely physical skills -he gave the Saints greatly needed stability. After Brees went to New Orleans, it showed both the league and players on the Saints that New Orleans was a place where players could go and win.

“When I was first drafted by the Saints, I am not going to lie, I was pretty scared,” said Reggie Bush. “I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect.

It was a year after Hurricane Katrina, and they didn’t even know if they were

The only free agent acquisitions in NFL history more important than the Brees signing was Reggie White going to Green Bay, Deion Sanders signing with Dallas and San Francisco, and Curtis Martin going to the Jets.

The coach As a young coach, one of the people Sean Payton admired was Bill Parcells.

When they met on a flight from New York to Dallas (on Jerry Jones’ private jet) the two men drew up plays on a napkin for over two hours. Actually, Parcells did much of the drawing and Payton did much of the listening.

“For a young guy to work with a Hall of Fame coach,” said Payton, “it [was] invaluable.”

Payton took the lessons he learned from Parcells and others -- how to organize, how to teach, how to motivate -- and over the years morphed those lessons into his own coaching style.

The general manager Loomis came to the Saints in the aftermath of the Ditka disaster. He was initially an assistant personnel man on the team but still knew just how badly that trade had wrecked the Saints.

“The thing that stood out for me was because of the trade, we didn’t have any second-, third-, fourth-round picks,” said Loomis.

Eventually he took control of an atomized franchise and began steering it from oblivion. Truthfully, the conduit of the Saints’ success runs through Loomis. He hired Payton and signed Brees, drafted Reggie Bush and signed key free agents Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer.

The 2006 draft by Loomis started the re-engineering of the team. He took offensive lineman Jahri Evans in the fourth round and he was named to the Pro Bowl that same year. In the seventh round came Marques Colston and initially, Colston looked like a bust. He showed up to rookie minicamp out of shape and with an ailing back. Then Payton and other coaches pushed Colston hard (Colston believes he was given the unusual jersey number 12 because the Saints didn’t think he’d make the team) and Colston responded with a 1,000-yard season and eight touchdowns in his rookie year.

One year later, Loomis drafted wide receiver Robert Meachem, a critical contributor this season. Then came the pick of Sedrick Ellis in 2008. Other players like Mike Bell and Jonathan Vilma were solid pickups.

What Loomis did was take an organization that was literally in pieces and slowly, through many chess moves, glue it all back together again.

“This isn’t a team that was built in two or three moves,” said Loomis. “It was a lot of moves.”

They were a wreck, the Saints, both figuratively and literally. Then after the storm, both figuratively and literally, came the drafts and free-agent pickups, a bevy of them, and then came the calm.

After that came the Super Bowl. ©MMX, CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

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Concussions Have Big Impact on Kids “Football was my life,” Saum told Ashton.

However, Saum’s football career and dream of playing after high school ended before he could finish his senior season after suffering a concussion.

Student Athletes at High Risk of Serious Head Injuries, Dr. Jennifer Ashton Shows New Gear Designed to Minimize Blows

Saum was the star running back and captain of his high school football team. Then he started getting violent headaches after a game.

(CBS) Concussions occur when a blow to the head shakes the brain, resulting in a temporary loss of normal brain function.

He told Ashton, “Every time I was running, I felt like my brain was bouncing in my head.”

A recent study commissioned by the National Football League found that players are 19 times more likely to suffer from dementia and other long term brain ailments than the average person between the ages of 30-49.

However, according to CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, it’s not just pro-athletes that have to worry.

She says student athletes are actually at greater risk for concussions. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 300,000 students suffer one every year.

She said younger student athletes are particularly at risk.

Ashton shared the story of Kevin Saum, who began playing football when he was just 7 years old.

Despite the headaches and blurred vision, Saum played the following week. Then one hard hit changed everything.

“I went back to the huddle with my buddies and I told them, ‘I definitely have a concussion or something, I definitely have a concussion.’”

Saum walked back to the sideline and collapsed. He was air-lifted to a local hospital, where an emergency procedure was performed to relieve the pressure on his brain.

Doctors told him he was extraordinarily lucky to be alive, but would never play again. Saum said he cried when he got the news.

“(The) most important thing is just not be afraid to tell someone,” he said. “You’re not going to look like a sissy if you tell someone you have a headache. If your head hurts, don’t play.”

Ashton said that one recent study found that 40 percent of high school students get back on the field too soon after a concussion. She added at least six states are considering laws like the one passed last year in Washington State, which requires an athlete to be removed from the field if a concussion is suspected, and prohibits their return until they receive written medical clearance.

But how can student athletes avoid concussions altogether?

Ashton suggested new upgraded helmets that now have individual shock absorbers in the helmet that act like an airbag to the head during a collision.

“It changes the physics and the vector of movement that your head hits and your skull moves when you’re hit,” she said.

“The best type of prevention is not to get hit in the first place, but absent that, new helmets are making a huge difference.” © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Now a sophomore in college, he wants other athletes to learn from his painful mistakes.

February 19, 2010

39

The Adtimes Newspaper February 19, 2010 Edition

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February 19, 2010

41

Are Pushbutton Starters Just a Bit Too Cute? read the reports of drivers being unable to get their runaway Toyotas under control and wonder “why didn’t they just put the car in neutral or turn it off?” I can’t explain the neutral thing; blind panic I assume. But I can understand why some people might not be able to turn their car off in a tense situation.

Posted by Brian Cooley Pushbuttons for turning a car on or off were, until recently, an exotic touch on a few sporty cars that harkened back to the fashion of purebred vintage racers.

So why is there one on a Mercedes SUV? Because cabin electronics are a big selling point in cars today and the pushbutton starter is one piece of gimcrack that wows ‘em in the showroom . Too bad it can kill you.

Sound extreme? Well, did you ever

Depending on the make & model of car with a pushbutton starter, it works different ways and it’s never as simple and positive as turning a key a couple detents. Some cars require you press the button twice, or maybe three times in short succession. Sometimes it depends on how fast the car is moving or if the doors are open. Other cars require you lean on the button for 2 or maybe 3 seconds. Ever double-click the mouse on your computer a little too quickly or slowly to do what you wanted? That’s the sort of easy-tobungle dexterity some cars now demand in order to turn them off. And leaning on a button for 2 or 3 seconds

in a runaway car when your brain is screaming IS IT WORKING?! isn’t going to go well.

I would eschew the pushbutton starter altogether in exchange for an keyless switch. It’s sort of a stubby plastic key handle mounted on the steering column where the key used to go and mimics the physical behavior and feedback of one while retaining the convenience of keyless entry and start.

An example of this is found of cars like the Mazda CX-9 we just had in the CNET test fleet. (“Turn one way for on, the other way for off. Mazda’s keyless key is clear from the very first time you use it.”)

Toyota doesn’t like that method and instead may take some voluntary steps to address this soon, by changing their pushbuttons to shut off with three quick presses rather than leaning on it for three seconds. Nice try, but still too fussy in an emergency.

At the very least it may be time for federal vehicle regulators – and believe I hate to involve them any further in automotive design -- to require pushbutton starters all work the same way. I don’t think pushbuttons will ever have the sure, positive operation of a key-like device but let’s at least create some universal driver knowledge of how they work.

Such enforced commonality is not at all odd: You’d find it pretty unsettling if turn signals were operated by a stalk on some cars and by a knob or button on others.

This all risks making me sound like the luddite love child of Ralph Nader and Joan Claybrook but it’s a matter of safety and purpose: You spend the tiniest sliver of time starting and stopping your car, it’s not a big driver experience issue. Until you can’t do it when it counts.

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February 19, 2010

43

Horoscopes provided by www.astrology-online.com

NEWSPAPER NEWS POWERED BY

Pisces

(Jan. 21-Feb. 18)

(Feb. 19-Mar. 20)

You might be overly emotional when dealing with your partner. It’s time to reevaluate your motives.

False information is likely if you listen to idle chatter or gossip. Don’t be too quick to respond to a plea for help. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

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Taurus

Gemini

(Apr. 21-May 21)

(May 22-June 21)

Do not let others exhaust you financially. You must take care not to over exert yourself if involved in sports. If you’ve been under stress and worrying about older members of the family, it’s time to come to terms with the situation.You will be overly generous with children this month. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

(Mar. 21-Apr. 20)

Use your charm, but don’t sign or agree to anything. You will do well if you mingle with the brass this month. You will reach the most people if you speak out at an organizational function. You might not be as reserved on an emotional level as you’d like. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

Cancer (June 22-July 22)

You need time to think things through. Property purchases should be on your mind. Chronic health problems are likely to surface if you are keeping your problems locked up inside. Try to channel your energy into physical work. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

You have to take hold of your life and make some crucial decisions. Try to concentrate on research and acquiring information that will be of value in your chosen field. Someone important may be watching you from afar. Sudden trips will take you by surprise. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

Leo

Virgo

Libra

(July 23-Aug. 23)

(Aug. 24-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Focus on what’s important rather than spreading yourself too thin and accomplishing little. You will learn easily if you put forth an effort. You may find a rare antique this month.

You’ll be dropping friends for no apparent reason. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Thursday.

FRANCHISING Tony Gambirazio

Your generous nature could be taken advantage of.

You may be angry if someone tries to take credit for something you did. Do what you can but don’t jeopardize your health trying to please everyone.

You may be up for some changes in your home.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

You will find that social activities will be enjoyable and will promote new connections. Deal with inlaws this month. Do not force your opinions on others the connections will be short lived. Deep discussions may only lead to friction.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

Risky financial ventures will result in unrecoverable losses. Don’t let anyone take credit for a job you did. Some of your new friends may not be that trustworthy.You may not be that popular at home but you should be able to shine at social gatherings. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Thursday.

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

Changes regarding your career direction will payoff handsomely. You may have major blowups with someone you love if you don’t back down. Try to make arrangements with close friends or relatives to spend a few days away. Be cautious handling tools, machinery, or dangerous objects. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Sunday.

The home environment will be unpredictable this month. They will not have the patience to wait for you to complete things that they’ve asked you to do. You need to keep everyone on your domestic scene too busy to complain.

You may be likely to have difficulties with females. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

Try to take some time to listen to their complaints, and in turn, do something to appease them. Family trips or projects should be on your mind.You could find yourself caught in a one sided relationship. Entertainment should include your whole family. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

January’s Solution

5 6 9 2 1 3 8 7 4

4 3 1 9 7 8 5 6 2

2 7 8 5 4 6 3 9 1

9 2 7 1 8 5 4 3 6

1 8 3 4 6 9 7 2 5

6 5 4 7 3 2 1 8 9

7 9 2 8 5 4 6 1 3

3 1 5 6 2 7 9 4 8

8 4 6 3 9 1 2 5 7

6

3 5

1 3 8 2 4 9 9 2 5 6 8 4 1 9 5 7 6 9 3 8 8 5 9

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Aries

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