NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
* Working Mothers
* VDT/Health
VOLUME 4
NUMBER 6
June 1967
EPA's Working Mothers
Working women have a lot to offer
their children and their agencies if
they can overcome certain stumbling
blocks like false guilt, says
psychologist Patricia K. Esborg. One
quit her job to undertake certain
outside activities with her eight
year-old daughter. However, the
daughter wanted more time with
friends, not more togetherness.
Confounded, the mother eventually
returned to work; both are happier
now that each is doing her own thing.
According to Esborg, studies show
young people gain self-confidence
when they learn to manage their own
time. Contrary to popular belief,
children who come home to an empty
house after school don't necessarily
languish in misery: many like freedom
and quiet time after school. However,
she urges parents to assign regular
chores to instill a feeling of being a
contributor to a well-organized
household.
Working mothers can also help their
children develop more realistic
gender-role expectations by the way
they divide up household duties
between male and female siblings.
Finally, super-women who assume
total responsibility for child rearing
and household management while
holding full-time jobs hurt their
families by denying husbands and
children an opportunity for
responsible participation in domestic
affairs.
Suggestions for working mothers:
Let your partner help with nurturing
and teaching your children. If he
doesn't want to, insist!
When seeking ; Suitable child care the1
basic consideration should be your
^child's preferences, not cost or
convenience.
Make time for yourself; you will be
less resentful and have more
constructive energy to give your
family and job.
Plan some "quality time" alone with
leach child and your partner
[periodically. There is no better
occasion than when doing chores
together.
Keep in touch with your kids after
school. Place "love notes" around the
house, encourage short calls from the
Heimlich Maneuver:
The Breath of Life
Every year some 3,000 Americans
choke to death when food or other
objects become lodged in their
airways. According to Surgeon
General C. Everett Koop, the best way
to help a victim is the Heimlich
Maneuver.
Conventional methods such as back
slaps, chest pressure and abdominal
thrusts are hazardous, lethal or
ineffectual. A back slap can even
drive a foreign object deeper into the
throat. Chest and abdominal thrusts
can result in cracked ribs and spleen
or liver injury.
The Heimlich Maneuver was
developed in the early 1970s and
works with nature instead of against
it. Most victims still have a large
volume of air in their lungs even if
they were exhaling when choking
began. The Heimlich Maneuver blasts
that reserve air out of the lungs,
expelling food or other objects along
with it.
If someone seems to be choking on
food (this may spuriously appear to
be a heart attack) wrap your arms
around him, press sharply and as hard
OOON87003
children when they get home, and tap
the numerous resources in your
community for latchkey children. For
example, the superb Metropolitan
Mothers at Work, Suite 363,
6917-Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD.
20814. Phone 986-0725.
If you are happy, your children
probably will be too. But remember,
nobody can be a perfect parent—so
lay off that guilt. D
as you can with a balled fist wrapped
in the opposite hand at a point just
above the navel, but below the rib
cage and diaphragm. If done correctly
and with sufficient force, the
obstruction should be dislodged.
Koop says the procedure can be
performed on standing or seated
victims, on those who have fallen to
the floor, on children and even on
oneself. Don't hesitate for a
second—oxygen deprivation is
quickly fatal or can leave the victim
permanently brain damaged.
To prevent choking:
• Cut food into small pieces; chew
slowly and thoroughly.
• Don't laugh or talk while chewing
and swallowing.
• Avoid excessive intake of alcohol
before and during meals; booze
anaesthetizes the swallowing
mechanism .
• Stop children from walking,
running or playing while they have
food in their mouths.
• Keep small objects such as marbles
and thumbtacks out of the reach of
infants and toddlers.
• Lose weight, making that rescue
bear-hug easier, a
-------
People
Letters
One of Us
Retirees:
Headquarters
Everette Bristow, 20 years
Edward Dulaney, 25 years
Thomas Edwards, 21 years
Edward Finch, 34 years
Lacoast Mack, 30 years
Steadman Overman,
11 years
Vernerdet Weeb, 42 years
Henry Yang, 23 years
Cincinnati
William Audia, 32 years
Walter Schuk, 23 years
Region 3
Terrey Leo, 8 years
Region 8
Charles O'Boyle, 19 years
Wilma Schaub, 24 years
Region 5
Frank Ekman, 6 years
Region 9
Stauffer Walker, 18 years
Region 2
Robert Olson, 17 years
Special Act Awards
Administration and
Resources Management
John Showman
Paul Graves
Pesticides and Toxic Sub-
stances
Guynin Myers
Dianne Lowery
Tony Ellis
Policy, Planning,
and Evaluation
Irwin Auerbach
Suzanne Wells
Sustained Superior
Performance Awards
Pesticides and
Toxic Substances
Martin Kovacs
Policy, Planning,
and Evaluation
John Chamberlin
Departure
Richard Mays,
Senior Enforcement Coun-
sel, is leaving EPA to join
ICF Incorporated, a local
consulting firm. Mays had a
long and distinguished
career in Arkansas before
joining the Agency in 1981.
He speaks and publishes
widely on environmental
affairs, a
Dear Editor:
I was certainly proud of
EPA's Hazardous Wind
Ensemble that entertained
employees of Crystal Mall
May 26th during lunch
hour. The Ensemble was ex-
tremely well received and
some said the unit out-
performed the "President's
Own" Marine Drum and
Bugle Corps and Drill Pla-
toon, which played for the
denizens of CM in observ-
ance of Memorial Day. Hats
off to the omni-talented
Band Director, Mary
Mclnnis!
John M. Ropes
Director, Office of Small and
Disadvantaged Business
Utilization
VDT/Health Follow-Up
New evidence has come to
light on the health effects of
VDTs since we treated the
subject in our May issue.
According to the prestigious
British medical journal Lan-
cet, electrostatic shields
do not reduce viewscreen
static fields for long—or do
so only slightly. Six months
after installation the carbon
in every shield tested had
been rendered nonconduc-
tive, which means the
shields were incapable of
absorbing and grounding
weak, non-ionizing radia-
tion generated by VDTs.
The medical implications
are still not entirely clear,
but non-conductivity could
aggravate the rosacea-like
dermatitis that often devel-
ops in the low-humidity
static fields typical of office
environments. A practical
test: if dust accumulates on
your VDT screen, the anti-
static element is not work-
ing properly. As we said
last time around, VDTs do
not cause birth defects,
radiation injury, severe im-
pairment of the musculo-
skeletal system or long-term
eye damage. However, man-
agers take note—they can
cause temporary eye strain
and sore back muscles, de-
pending upon angle of
vision and chair design, n
Debora Jean
Strickley
Debora Jean Strickley
doesn't just set goals—she
marches out and achieves
them! As one of the State of
Texas nominees in the 1985
Outstanding Young Women
of America Program, she
gained national recognition
for her cultural, civic and
professional accomplish-
ments and leadership in
state and national Miss
American Sweetheart schol-
arship pageants.
Each year, the program's
Board of Advisors selects
51 young women to
represent their states in the
national program. From this
outstanding group ten
National Award Winners,
typifying today's women of
action, are chosen.
"I was not one of ten
national winners, but be-
cause of participating, I
made decisions and set
some challenging goals for
the future," Strickley says.
As a result of her activities,
she will be listed in the
1986-1987 edition of Who's
Who of American Women.
The 24 year-old dancer
and model has been in a
number of pageants since
winning the Miss American
Sweetheart title at 16. She
shares her skill and experi-
ence by teaching teenagers
the principles of modeling
and dance, and runs semi-
nars and workshops on how
teens should conduct them-
selves during pre-pageant
interviews. As a student
teacher at the Julia Robert-
son School of Dance, she
helped a blind girl learri
basic ballet and tap danc-
ing.
Strickley is famous for
persistence. She doesn't
give up when she sets a
goal and doesn't permit
anyone else to give up
either. "Every obstacle is an
opportunity in disguise,"
she declares. "Overcoming
your limitations is a great
test of character."
After a brief stint as a car
insurance manager, Strick-
ley joined EPA Region 6 in
1984 as clerk-typist. She
quickly moved up to the
position of branch secretary
in the Water Division and
then was selected to be a
legal technician in the Re-
gional Counsel's office. Her
next goal is to become a para-
legal, and then go to law
school, with a probable
focus on public interest
litigation.
Meanwhile, she is en-
rolled in various college
classes at night to broaden
her liberal arts backgound
and is an active member of
Federally Employed
Women and the National
Association for Female Ex-
ecutives. A confident and
accomplished speaker, she
describes herself as "a born
optimist."
Despite her busy sched-
ule, she keeps fit with
workouts and aerobics at a
health club, reads widely
and enjoys redecorating and
landscaping the house she
bought last year. We'll no
doubt be hearing more from
Debora Jean Strickley in the
years to come, a
Our thanks to Mary Efien Guay of
Region 6 for submitting the material
for this stor>'
The EPA Times is published monthly for EPA employees Readers are
encouraged to submit news about themselves or fellow employees, letters
of opinion, questions, comments, and suggestions to the Editor, The EPA
Times, Office of Public Affairs (A-107) Telephone: 475-6643. Items
selected for publication may be edited to accommodate space available.
Editor: Don Bronkema Departments: Marilyn Rogers
-------
Budget Guidance
Lee Thomas has released his FY 1989 Budget Guidance for
top managers, whose budget proposals are due in the
Comptroller's office by July 6, 1987. The FY 1989 OMB
Request will be submitted on September 1, 1987 in
accordance with the accelerated schedule of
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Thomas asked all concerned to
capitalize on the Shepherdstown strategic planning
conference and address the seven major objectives
outlined at the Baltimore senior management forum: risk
reduction, balance of environmental gains against other
goals, federalism, better science, negotiation/consultation,
enforcement and human resources.
Thomas said he expected managers to work in such a
way as to ensure the widest possible coordination
throughout the agency, especially vis-a-vis cross-cutting
issues. He urged close cooperation with Lead Regions as
well, with full attention to state needs, grant levels,
investment strategies and state/regional cohesiveness. In
documenting resource needs, regions should ask
themselves what are the most pressing environmental
problems in the relevant media, what activities deserve
priority and where shifts in emphasis are appropriate.
Managers must also consider the need for ORD support.
Thomas insisted that full coordination of programs and
ORD budgets is essential at the highest management levels.
"Budget requests,"Thomas said, "should explicitly identify
measures of environmental results. Managers should
consider how program and resource requests will
minimize risks to human health and the environment. EPA
must strengthen its capacity to base budget and other
policy choices on information identifying activities that
will have the greatest environmental impact." The
feasibility of expanding risk reduction as a tool in resource
allocation should be discussed. Impediments to
developing risk reduction estimates should be candidly
confronted.
Thomas urged managers to identify specific realms that
can yield resource savings and improve the workflow of
the Agency. Given EPA's relatively stable resource base and
heavier workload, it is critical that they streamline
operations in order to free up resources to address new
initiatives. Duplication of efforts should be targeted as
well as new means by which the agency can "work
smarter" and achieve the same goals with less.
It is important in addition that managers keep alert to
how their programs change over time and how shifts in
emphasis affect resource allocation. The idea is to examine
where the most resource-intensive activities are or should
be taking place (e.g., headquarters, states or regions), how
they shift as programs change and how budget accounts
must be adjusted pari passu.
Finally the Administrator asked managers to identify
activities necessary to meet EPA environmental
responsibilities on Indian reservations. Each office that
supports Indian programs is expected to submit a separate
attachment listing FTE and dollars for FYs 87,88 and 89
and describe the activities these resources support for each
year. For FY 1989, managers must distinguish between
resources in the base and what additional resources are
requested.
Pesticides in Food
i
Lee Thomas has responded to recent 'Washington Post '
coverage of the on-going controversy about p~esTfcfdes~tn
the nation's food supply, charging the paper with a
number of misleading and irmacurafe slalements. First,
"the Post was wrong," Thomas charged, "in jsuggesJLiiig that
the nation's_food suppl_yj_s ujisafe/TfTmsrepresentedi
j recommendations in a recent report of the National
Academy of Sciences, and it mischaracterized the
\j-egulatory program managed by EPA.^ J^
Thomas insisted thaf^fmTTJTS. tood supply is safe and
wholesome. The use of pesticides to enhance food
production and quality is under tighter control today than ••
at any time in the past." There is still room for
improvement, of course, and that's why EPA
commissioned the Academy study, entitled "Regulating
Pesticides in Food." The Academy looked at the existing
patchwork of legislation and regulation of pesticide
residues in food. It concluded that the system is complex
and sets different standards for different types of foods,
recommending that a single "negligible-risk" standard be t*
applied to both raw and processed foodstuffs.
The report calculated theoretical maximum residues for
common foodstuffs in_order to quantify relative risks;
these figures do not represent actual exposure and
risk, yet they were reported out of context and
sensationalized. The_ Academy clearly stated the
hypothetical nature of its calculations during a May 20
hearing-before the Senate AgricuLtUIg_l^mmittee. ___
C Finally, a Post editorial of May 26 charged that EPA has"
*^-^ed_l°_iSlEl'3m™Lf§deral pesticides law.^Thomas
emphatically denied this assertion. "EPA is aggressively
carrying out a program", he said, "to re-register some 600
active ingredients used in thousands of pesticide products.
These new registrations will be based on contemporary
standards. Where new data show unacceptable risks to
human health, those uses will be modified or cancelled.
The emergency suspension of the pesticide dmoseh earlier
thisryear js a case in point."
/t5f thoselTOTTcompounds, EPA has already called in new^
/primary toxicologicai data £ox 35_0_applied to food crops.
The agency has reassessed 150 of these in terms of
contemporary toxicologicai standards. That constitutes the (
_b_ulk of peslkides used on food. Additionally, EPA has
specifically called for data on 120 chemicals to assess their I,
potential as groundwater leachate. "
"All told", Thomas declared, "EPA has carried out a
comprehensive regulatory and data call-in program since
1981. As a result, more than 6,000 pesticide products he
been removed^frgirrtrlfi marketplace" He observed that
~wh~ereas there is always room for improvement, the
American people deserve to know that their food supply is
safe and that this agency is doing all it can with existing
laws and resources to ensure that it stays that way.
New Regional Health and Risk Official
Dr. Renate Kimbrough has been named to the new post of
Regional Director for Health and Risk Capability, where
she will help the regional offices acquire expertise and
-------
confidence in risk-based management and will consolidate
the risk-assessment network both at headquarters and in
the regions. Dr. Kimbrough has served since 1974 as a
medical offic'erTrTthe Center for Enx'ironmental Health at
the Centers for Disease'Control. She also was a research
medical officer from 1968-70 for the Food and Drug
Administration. She worked at EPA from 1970-72 as a
research medical officer, and from 1972-73 as_D_ir_ectpj-aL. ,
the quondam Toxicology Laboratory ^predecessor of the
Health Effects Research Lab at RTF. She earned her
medical degree from the University of Gottingen in
Germany and is a Diplomate of the American Board
Toxicology.
At the Library
The Headquarters Library has set up a display of
management books, journals, bibliographies and - -
conference announcements in its lobby, is publishing a
quarterly report, What's New in Management, and has just
produced^~specid bibliogTaprTy^on that unenviable .•
creature, the Tecfinicai fcxperfyurned Manager. For I
information, call 382-5922. / /
,
Elevators to Get a Lift
V
A recent GAO survey reveals that the number-one
complaint about federal installations these days is not
smoke-laden air or being mugged in the parking lot, but
obsolete elevators. None incorporate the advanced
operating programs available in the private sector. Many
such lifts are over-utilized and over-stressed, and they
convey to guests an impression of government
inefficiency.
Fortunately, William Finister, Director, Facilities
Management and Services Division (FMSD), has negotiated
with the General Services Administration (GSA) for a
comprehensive overhaul of all elevators at Waterside Mall.
It started in February and should be completed within
three months, but certain elevators must be taken out of
service during this period.
Rich Lemley, Facilities Operations Branch Chief, expects
these repairs and more frequent maintenance will result in
"less down-time and more convenient service for EPA
employees and visitors".
Phone Fixers
GSA has just installed a new nationwide Telephone
Trouble ReportingXIWumber. Wherever you are
located—and whatM/er the problem with your
long-distance federal telephone service— just_call
295-8500 to get it fixkd. Sample problems: no dial tone,
getting aTast" busy signal, hearing echoes or clipped
words, being cut off, not being able to hear or be heard.
Ventilation Update
Myra Cypser reports that the May 27 meeting of the
Ventilation Committee was largely devoted to asbestos
removal in the West Tower. Facilities Management and
Service Division (FMSD) told participants that O&M
procedures will be corrected to ensure that this type of
accident will not recur. In addition, FMSD will place
warning signs in all asbestos zones not already posted. It
was reported that repair and rebalancing of the ventilation
system has been completed in the mall. The 12th floor of
the East Tower will be started next. FMSD predicted that
this project will continue to be funded and not
interrupted. A separate repair project will be undertaken
in the NE mall. FMSD promised to correct deficiencies
vis-a-vis fresh air dampers, air-intake shafts and airflow
generally in certain areas of the NE mall basement and the
second floor of the SW mall.
To Form A More Perfect Union
The first Labor Management Committee in the History of
the agency has been set up by agreement between EPA and
Local 2050 of the National Federation of Federal
Employees (NFFE). One of the Committee's initial acts has
been to develop a document outlining procedures for
dealing with proposals from the Human Resources Council
and Mini-Councils regarding changes in working
conditions. The document represents a codicil to the
November 13,1986 collective bargaining agreement and
will be transmitted to all headquarters managers,
supervisors and professional employees.
John Chamberiin, center, Director OA, with, from left, Ear)
Price, headquarters personnel officer; WiJIiam ConigJio,
president-eject, NFFE; Gerald Bryan, director, OCAPO;
and Robert Carton, president, NFFE; signing an historic
document regulating improvements in working conditions
under EPA's collective bargaining agreement.
------- |