AUSTRALIA SOUTH AMERICA AFRICA www.beaufortgazette.com FROM THE FRONT The Beaufort Gazette, Thursday, December 16, 2004 7A Experts expect flood of stressed soldiers Bush Continued from 1A Continued from 1A By SCOTT SHANE New York Times News Service WASHINGTON The nation's pressed health care system for veterans facing a potential deluge of tens of sands of soldiers returning from Iraq serious mental health problems brought by the stress and carnage of war, veterans' advocates and military doctors say. An Army study shows that about in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms major depression, serious anxiety or traumatic stress disorder, a proportion that some experts believe could eventually climb to one in three, the rate ultimately found in Vietnam veterans. Because 1 million American troops have served far in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures, experts predict that the number eventually requiring mental heath treatment exceed 100,000. "There's a train coming that's packed people who are going to need help for next 35 years," says Stephen L. Robinson, a 20-year Army veteran who is now executive director of the National War Resource Center, an advocacy Robinson wrote a report in September the psychological toll of the war for Center for American Progress, a Washington research group.
"I have a very strong sense that the tal health consequences are going to be medical story of this war," said Dr. Sanford Continued "This is a bill with no funding for this Folks said. "Creating a task force when you have funding for it seems impossible to Ceips said she planned to get the for the revolving loan added to the tion when the General Assembly next month and stressed that the bill designed just for the impending base closures, but for the future of the military communities. Retired Army Gen. Jim Shufelt, who on the executive committee of the base task force and volunteers with County's Military Enhancement an offshoot of the Greater Beaufort Warming Continued greenhouse gases that some say contribute heavily to Earth's warming.
Scientists say a sustained increase in temperature change is likely to continue disrupting the global climate, increasing the intensity of storms, potentially drying up farmlands and raising ocean levels, among other things. Michel Jarraud, the World Meteorological Organization secretary-general, said the warming and increased storm activity could not be attributed to any particular cause, but was part of a global warming trend that was likely to continue. Scientists have reported that temperatures across the globe rose an average of 1 degree over the past century with the rate of change since 1976 at roughly three times that over the past 100 years. The World Meteorological Organization said it expects Earth's average surface temperature to rise 0.8 degrees above the normal 57 degrees Fahrenheit i in 2004, adding this year to a recent pattern that included the four warmest years on record, with the hottest being 1998. The month of October also registered as the warmest October since accurate readings began in 1861, said the agency, which is responsible for assembling data from meteorologists and climatologists worldwide.
During the summer, heat waves in southern Europe pushed temperatures to near-record highs in southern Spain, Portugal and Debt Continued from 1A Overspending during the holidays disrupts savings for the rest of the year, and experts worry about customers mired in yearlong debt. "They've got to have their budget under control, they've got to have their income exceeding their outgo," said Owen Hand, a Beaufort certified financial planner OBITUARIES Richard Oliver CHARLESTON Richard Nelson 50, of Beaufort, died Sunday, Dec. 2004, in the Ralph H. Johnson VA Center, Charleston. Graveside services will be 10 a.m.
at Beaufort National Cemetery with tary honors. Mr. Nelson was born Oct. 24, in Atlanta, a son of Martha and Oliver Sr. He was educated in Georgia schools and was a veteran of the hardis thouwith on one of post- about so some could with the the Gulf group.
on the menthe Stephen from group," don't do." money legislareconvenes was not round of state's serves governor's Beaufort Committee, Chamber THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jolinda Quiroz hugs her husband, Sgt. Eric Quiroz, during a homecoming ceremony for HHC 13th COSCOM soldiers returning from Iraq on Wednesday in Fort Hood, Texas. C. Joseph, who served as the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs from 1994 to 1997. What was planned as a short and decisive intervention in Iraq has become a grueling counterinsurgency that has put American troops into sustained close-quarters combat on a scale not seen since the Vietnam War.
Psychiatrists say the kind of fighting seen in the recent retaking of Fallujah spooky urban settings with unlimited hiding places; the impossibility of telling Iraqi friend from Iraqi foe; the knowledge that every stretch of road may conceal an explosive device is tailored to produce the adrenalinegone-haywire reactions that leave lasting emotional scars. And in no recent conflict have so many soldiers faced such uncertainty about how long they will be deployed. Veterans say the repeated extensions of duty in Iraq are emotionally battering, even for the most stoical of warriors. Military and Department of Veterans Affairs officials say most military personnel will survive the war without serious mental 1A Continued from Saxton of Commerce working to protect the area's bases, said he wasn't surprised the governor vetoed the bill. "The bill without the funding mechanism doesn't really accomplish very much," Shufelt said.
It might be beneficial to reexamine the bill and see if there is a better way to accomplish some of its goals, rather than by creating the commission, he said. "It certainly should not be construed by anyone as saying the governor does not support the bases," Shufelt said. "That's clearly not what he's saying. Michael Kerr at 986-5539. More than half of the remains of the defunct battery were demolished by the construction of the Comfort Inn.
The seeds of the park project were planted in 1999 when the Historic Beaufort Foundation recognized the 4-acre site on its endangered properties list and appealed to the Beaufort City Council to save it from development and destruction. The council purchased the land for nearly $400,000, said City Manager John McDonough. City planning officials and historic foundation volunteers cleared away trash that had accumulated over 40 years, and the Ozone hole gives reprieve this year issues and note that the 1 million troops include many who have not participated in ground combat, including sailors on ships. By comparison with troops in Vietnam, the officials said, soldiers in Iraq get far more mental health support and are likely to return to a more understanding public. But the duration and intensity of the war have doctors at veterans hospitals across the country worried about the coming caseload.
"We're seeing an increasing number of guys with classic post-traumatic stress symptoms," says Dr. Evan Kanter, a psychiatrist at the Puget Sound veterans hospital in Seattle. "We're all anxiously waiting for a flood that we expect is coming. And I feel stretched right now." A September report by the Government Accountability Office found that officials at six of seven Veterans Affairs medical facilities surveyed said they "may not be able to meet" increased demand for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Officers who served in Iraq say the unrelenting tension of the counterinsurgency will produce that demand.
"In the urban terrain, the enemy is everywhere, across the street, in that window, up that alley," said Paul Rieckhoff, who served as a platoon leader with the Florida Army National Guard for 10 months, going on hundreds of combat patrols around Baghdad. "It's a fishbowl. You never feel safe. You never relax." 1A city's Public Works Department landscaped the site in 2003. Benches and historical information, including Civil War artifacts, will be placed at the site, McDonough said.
Crist said he's pleased to be a part of the preservation program and that many of Beaufort's Civil War sites are threatened by development. "Our history is going very fast," he said. "Our children need something tangible besides a movie or a book to tell them about their history." Omar Ford at 986-5538 or 0 1,400 mi Depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica has been less Punta severe this year than in 2003, a good sign for the people of Chile 0. 1,400 km Arenas, southern Chile who are subjected to increased solar radiation Ocean without the ozone's protection. Depicts Dobson units Annual fluctuation averages Atlantic one-month Ozone levels are measured The size of the hole 2002 from by calculating how varies each year.
2002's Ocean September Dobson of each thick it would be if relatively small hole was all the atmospheric scale followed by one of the 2004 year ozone over an largest ever in 2003. Ozone area were hole compressed to The trend standard units ANTARCTICA First recorded 200 0 temperature and in 1979, the Indian pressure. hole usually Areas with fewer develops in than 220 units are August and considered holes remains into in the ozone layer. December. While generally increasing in Annual ozone hole size since 1979 100 size, scientists 9 million square miles '95-'99 are optimistic 8 that regulations have been we 7 effective in '90-94 6 South stabilizing 5 Pole its growth.
4 '85-'89 00 2 '79 One Dobson unit is equal to '80-'84 average 0 0.01 millimeters of thickness August September October November Dec. SOURCES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Prediction; The Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge University such as the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Grand Cayman were also hit hard. Other parts of the world also witnessed extreme weather, with droughts occurring in the western United States, parts of Africa, Afghanistan, Australia and India. Jarraud, of the U.N. weather agency, said the droughts were part of ing compulsive purchases.
"We do a Christmas club every year," Dawn Stavac said of the programs offered by banks in which customers elect to have a portion of regular deposits put into a separate account that becomes available near the holidays. Stavac, who was shopping for toys Wednesday afternoon in Expressions on Bay Street, favors using a debit card or cash rather States Air Force, where he served from 1972 to Romania, where thermostats peaked at 104 degrees while the rest of Europe sweltered through -average temperatures. The extreme weather of 2004 extended to storms. The Caribbean had four hurricanes that reached Category 4 or 5 status those capable of causing extreme and catastrophic damage. It was only the fourth time in recent history that so many were recorded.
The hurricanes of 2004 caused more than $43 billion in damages in the Caribbean and the United States. The worst damage was on Haiti, where as many as 1,900 people died from flooding and mudslides caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne in September. Japan and the Philippines also saw increased extreme tropical weather, with deadly typhoons lashing both islands. Japan registered a record number of typhoons making landfall this year with 10, while back-to-back storms in the Philippines killed at least 740 people in the wettest year for the globe since 2000, the U.N. agency said.
Statistics released at the climate change conference showed that natural disasters across the world in the first 10 months of the year cost the insurance industry just over $35 billion, up from $16 billion in 2003. Munich Re, one of the world's biggest insurance companies, said the United States tallied the highest losses at more than $26 billion, while small developing nations with Hand and Tanner group. "The key thing is to mize the number of credit you have don't buy you can't pay off in 30 days its an absolute emergency." Hand emphasized the of shoppers sticking to a shopping comparatively and Financial minicards anything unless importance budget, avoid- 1976. He moved to Beaufort in the early 1990's. Survivors include a sister, Margaret Geer of Tacoma, and three brothers, Robert Oliver of Beaufort, Lymon Oliver of Ray Oliver of Waynesboro, Ga.
Wright-Donaldson Home For in charge. "That's not an economic plan. It is yet another giveaway to the insurance, drug, HMO and nursing-home industries." The hourlong session on "the high costs of lawsuit abuse" was one of several panels examining various aspects of Bush's second-term domestic agenda. With nary a word of dissent, the panelists all of them selected by the White House endorsed the president's plans to partially privatize Social Security, permanently extend his first-term tax cuts and limit lawsuits. "We're tickled to death that your exodus was postponed for four years," Nardelli told Bush, expressing a viewpoint widely shared at the gathering.
Nardelli was one of several Republican donors at the conference. The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign spenders, found that conference participants donated nearly $195,000 to various Republican candidates or causes in recent years, including $40,000 to Bush. Panelists included a Mississippi drugstore owner who said she was driven out of business by lawsuits, an Ohio gynecologist who stopped delivering babies to avoid the cost of malpractice insurance and one of the gynecologist's pregnant patients, who said she was still looking for a backup doctor. All pointed the finger of blame at trial lawyers. "I think we need to hold these people to a higher standard the same standard that physicians are held to," said gynecologist Barbara Coen of Norton, Ohio.
Carlton Carl, a spokesman for the trial lawyers' group, dismissed the White House conference as political theater. "It's not government. It's not seeking solutions," Carl said. "The only people invited to attend and participate are campaign supporters and people who have been well-rehearsed." Turning the president's agenda into law won't be easy. A variety of powerful interest groups are gearing up to challenge his ambitious plans.
Even some of his fellow Republican lawmakers aren't sold on some issues. There's no consensus plan to revise the federal tax system, and some Republican lawmakers remain wary of any major changes to Social Security. Some of the president's proposals to restrict lawsuits, including his plan to limit damages for "pain and suffering" in medical malpractice cases to $250,000, stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate in his first term. Carl said Bush was "not even close" to legislative victory on medical malpractice changes, but might win congressional approval for his plan to limit class-action lawsuits to federal court. Legislation to forestall asbestos-related lawsuits by establishing a special fund to deal with injury claims has stalled over the size of the fund, tentatively pegged at about $140 billion.
Trial lawyers, consumer groups and labor unions say that isn't nearly enough to compensate people who have cancers related to their exposure to asbestos, a substance that once was commonly used in insulation, flooring, ceiling tiles and other everyday products. Bush signaled his determination to push the changes through Congress and promised to say more about them in his State of the Union address early next year. from 1A OLIVER OLIVER 1954, Robert Atlanta and public Marshel's United Funerals is Dan DeLorenzo AF what appears to be a surge over the last decade. The prolonged rising temperatures and deadly storms were matched by harsh winters in other regions. Peru, Chile, and southern Argentina were all hit with severe cold and snow during June and July.
than buying on credit. "I don't want to buy a twentydollar doll and be paying for it for three months," said Stavac. "It gets out of hand if you're charging you can't even keep track of it at Christmastime." For those soon to be dealing with high credit card bills, certified Financial Planner Henriette Huybregts recommends first "to cut up your credit cards imme- Thomas Richardson NEW YORK Thomas Richardson, 85, formerly of Jasper County, died Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004, in the St. Luke Hospital in New York.
Graveside services will be at noon Friday in the Antioch Cemetery in Pineland. Mr. Richardson was born Dec. 12, 1919, in Timmonsville, S.C., a son of Martha and Quincy Richardson. He lived most of his life in New York City, where he was a private chef.
Young Funeral Home, Yemassee, is Jarraud said the high temperatures like those seen in parts of Europe this year were expected to inch up in the coming years. Citing recent studies by European climatologists, Jarraud said heat waves in Europe "could over the next 50 years become four or five times as frequent as they are now." diately," removing the chance of furthering your debt. "There is no magic pill for this; you just start paying them off one at a time," said Huybregts on the next step. "Pay the high interest one first, then start on the next one. "Pay more than they request," Huybregts warned, as just paying the minimum balances required Alayna Tharp YEMASSEE Alayna Skey Tharp, 16 months, of Yemassee, died Tuesday, Dec.
14, 2004, in her home. Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. today at Sheldon Baptist Church. Miss Tharp was born Aug. 10, 2003, in Charleston, a daughter of Schelly Callahan Tharp and John Tracy Tharp Survivors include her parents, of LOTTERIES SOUTH CAROLINA Winning numbers selected Wednesday in the South Carolina Lottery: Pick 3 Midday: 0-1-7 Pick 4 Midday: 2-7-4-2 Pick 3 Evening: 9-7-9 Pick 4 Evening: 6-6-1-0 Powerball: 1-6-11-38-53 Power number: 11 GEORGIA Winning numbers selected Wednesday in the Georgia Lottery: Cash 3 Midday: 6-7-1 Cash 4 Midday: 2-2-9-2 Cash 3 Evening: 9-0-4 in charge.
Oliver 12, Medical Friday mili- Yemassee; maternal grandparents, Kenneth and Deloris Woods of Yemassee and John and Angie Miller of Seabrook; maternal grandmother, Patricia Callahan of Michigan; paternal grandmother Tharp of Grenada Hills, paternal grandfather John Tracy Tharp Sr. of Fort Worth, Texas; maternal great-grandmother Margaret L. Woods of Gillisonville, maternal parents George and Eve Hallman of Port Royal, and paternal great-grandparents James and Jean Driggers of North Charleston..
