A History of Hooch The Greeks worshipped it; the Aztecs were a little more conflicted. review of the book * By Sam Anderson * Published Jul 6, 2008

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newsminer.com City seeks solutions to chronic inebriate dilemma By Rebecca George Published Tuesday, June 10, 2008 * Print story * E-mail story * Comments Fairbanks Police Chief Dan Hoffman, lower right, address the new Alcohol Impact Area committee Monday, June 9, 2008, at a meeting before the city council's work session and meeting. Members of the committee, counter clockwise from Hoffman, Rudy Gavora, Charlane Krause, Ellen Ganley and Phillip Evans. Mayor Terry Strle, lower left, formed the committee. Photo by Sam Harrel The first of the chronic inebriate work sessions with the city of Fairbanks got off to a heated start Monday night. The issues surrounding chronic inebriation in Fairbanks brought a wide range of experts and opinions to the table from businessmen, treatment centers, law enforcement and neighborhood residents, among others. Police Chief Dan Hoffman began the work session with a quick presentation that defined contributing factors to the on-going presence of chronic inebriates. According to Hoffman’s research, co-occurring mental health disorders were found to be more prevalent in many chronic inebriates. He also explained the vulnerability of the population as many are homeless and unable to care for themselves, often leaving them victims of assault, sexual abuse and death in extreme temperatures. The city observes several deaths per year due to hypothermia among the homeless. “Mental illnesses are two and a half times more prevalent in this population and that gives them an 11 times greater chance of victimization,” Hoffman said. Local treatment facilities, such as the Ralph Perdue Center which recently re-opened after a brief hiatus, and the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, along with the Fairbanks Correctional Center Sleep-off program, all see repeat visitors who are a drain on the system’s resources. “We call this a revolving-door utilization of services,” Hoffman said. Hoffman stressed the importance of integrating the substance abuse and mental health resources to provide proper and more effective treatment to the inebriated population. “No one institution can do this alone,” Hoffman said. Several members of health and public service organizations spoke up about possible solutions. The meeting was an exploratory work session in which Hoffman and several others provided a wide range of opinions. Though the discussion became rather heated at times, nearly everyone agreed that there was a problem and that Fairbanks as a whole needed to pull from many resources to find an answer. “Folks, we have a legitimate concern and it’s incumbent upon all of us to have resources to treat these individuals whether they want it or not,” he said. Hoffman listed four possible solutions but stressed the need for treatment that was culturally appropriate as statistics from the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and Ralph Perdue Detox Center have shown a significantly larger population of middle-aged males. “It’s not a crime to be a chronic inebriate,” Hoffman said. “We have to treat this like it’s a disease,” he said. He referred to a plan that would get the court system involved to entice chronic inebriates to seek treatment rather than jail time. “Inebriation is a medical concern, not a crime, but if someone continues to abuse the resources then we need to practice some tough love at a certain point,” Hoffman said. Hoffman also addressed a possible Alcohol Impact Zone that would limit the selling of easily accessible liquors in more populated areas. Mayor Strle and the Alcohol Impact Zone committee met just prior to the work session and are hoping to have a recommendation to the council in August. Other strategies included a long-term funding plan for the Community Service Patrol operation that wouldn’t rely on finite grant money. Janelle Wilhelm directs the security force and made jaws drop in the room when she told the community about the working conditions and lack of funding in the program. The Community Service Patrol works around the clock picking up inebriates who are in danger and highly intoxicated. Wilhelm and other officers drive inebriates to the hospital, detox center and the sleep-off center depending on the severity of the case. The original intent of the CSP was to decrease the burden on city police but since a significant amount of funding was cut in 2005, both the city police and the CSP are matched for workload. As a result of limited funding, the CSP limited the area in which it patrols covering the area from Barnette Street to the Old Steese Highway and Main Street to Airport Way. The CSP officers are unarmed, without even a can of pepper spray or pepper spray. From herniated discs to broken noses and busted teeth, Wilhelm shared a long list of injuries her staff has acquired while performing the community service. “Every single one of my officers has suffered an injury on the job,” she said. Currently, they operate with three security officers and only one vehicle but Wilhelm will have to cut an employee and the van come June because there is no money. Councilman John Eberhart has been apart of the Fairbanks Native Association and added that it was a major safety issue that the CSP officers were unable to work in twos. “Many of the inebriates can become violent and can be armed,” Eberhart said. “If we’re going to run these vans, we need two people in them,” he said. Guy Patterson of the Fairbanks Native Association also spoke in behalf of the Community Service Patrol, which seemed to be the hottest topic at the work session. “It’s an integral part of managing the problem,” Patterson said. “We have inadequate facilities all the way through the treatment spectrum and how soon we forget that chronic inebriation is a brain disease with many relapses and these people deserve long-term respectful treatment.”

J Am Diet Assoc. 2006 Jul ;106 (7):1055-63 16815122 (P,S,E,B) Diet quality among Yup'ik Eskimos living in rural communities is low: the Center for Alaska Native Health Research Pilot Study. [My paper] Andrea Bersamin, Bret R Luick, Elizabeth Ruppert, Judith S Stern, Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr Department of Nutrition, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this pilot study were to describe the nutrient intake of Yup'ik Eskimos in comparison with national intake, identify dietary sources of key nutrients, and assess the utility of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to measure diet quality of Yup'ik Eskimos living in rural Alaskan Native communities. PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN: A single 24-hour recall was collected from 48 male and 44 female Yup'ik Eskimos (aged 14 to 81 years), who resided in three villages in the Yukon Kuskokwim River Delta, AK, during September 2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: HEI scores, nutrient intake, and traditional food intake. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Spearman correlations for associations between variables. RESULTS: Youth scored higher than elders despite similar nutrient intakes. Overall diet quality was generally low; 63% of all participants' diets were classified as poor. Although the HEI serves to identify areas of concern with respect to diet quality, it is limited in its ability to detect the positive value of traditional foods. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional foods and healthful market foods, including rich sources of fiber and calcium, should be encouraged. Although traditional foods were important sources of energy and nutrients, market foods composed the preponderance of the diet, emphasizing the importance of appropriately modifying a diet quality index based on a Western framework, such as the HEI. Mesh-terms: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alaska; Calcium, Dietary :: administration & dosage; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet :: standards; Diet Surveys; Dietary Fiber :: administration & dosage; Energy Intake; Female; Health Promotion; Humans; Inuits :: statistics & numerical data; Male; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Nutrition Assessment; Nutrition Policy; Nutritive Value; Pilot Projects; Rural Population :: statistics & numerical data; Statistics, Nonparametric;

Aleitamento materno e cárie do lactente e do pré-escolar: uma revisão crítica Nilza M. E. RibeiroI; Manoel A. S. RibeiroII IEspecialista em Odontopediatria pela SOBRACID IIPediatra neonatologista, Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). Pós-graduado em Gestão em Saúde pela PUCRS Endereço para correspondência RESUMO OBJETIVO: Buscar evidências científicas que comprovem ou refutem a afirmação de que o aleitamento materno noturno e em livre demanda está associado com cárie do lactente e do pré-escolar. FONTES DOS DADOS: Foi realizada busca de artigos científicos utilizando-se as bases de dados MEDLINE, Lilacs e SciELO, páginas de internet relevantes, livros técnicos e publicações de consenso de organismos nacionais e internacionais. As palavras-chave utilizadas foram: early childhood caries, dental caries, dental decay e breastfeeding. Percebida a relevância, também se buscou diretamente as referências indicadas nos artigos encontrados. SÍNTESE DOS DADOS: Os estudos que relacionam a cárie com o aleitamento materno invariavelmente só observam os fatores inter-relacionados com o surgimento dessa doença, deixando de lado aqueles associados à amamentação. Muitos desses fatores atuam como variáveis de confusão porque, do mesmo modo que interferem no aleitamento materno, também têm influência no surgimento da cárie. Além disso, estudos atuais têm demonstrado a cariogenicidade de vários alimentos dados às crianças e a não-cariogenicidade do leite materno. CONCLUSÕES: Não há evidências científicas que comprovem que o leite materno possa estar associado com o surgimento de cárie, sendo essa relação complexa e confundida por muitas variáveis. Palavras-chave: Cárie do lactente e do pré-escolar, cárie precoce na infância, cárie de estabelecimento precoce, aleitamento materno, fatores de risco.

NOME -- A man on a snowmachine ran into the dog team driven by Yukon Quest and Iditarod champion Lance Mackey in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, seriously injuring a key animal in Mackey's kennel. Mackey broke down in tears Saturday telling how a veteran race dog, Zorro, was injured as the animal rode in the sled's basket... two snowmachines came up fast from behind. "I was flashing them like mad with my headlamp," he said. "I was shining my headlamp right in his face, but they kept on coming at me. .. The machine impaled the sled bag with its runners. "Three or four dogs were sucked underneath and Zorro was trapped in the sled bag," Mackey said. The accident happened several miles west of the Safety checkpoint. Mackey made a plea for race officials to keep snowmachines away from the trail at the end of the race, a growing safety issue. "Running from Safety to Front Street is almost suicidal," Mackey said. "I almost got hit on the way into Nome during Iditarod and then was almost hit half an hour later." Safety Roadhouse, about 22 miles east of Nome, operates as a bar during the race and attracts spectators on snowmachines.

In nearly 1,000 cases studied over a two-year period, the average age of victims was 16 while the average age of alleged abusers was 29. In four out of five cases, the suspects were relatives or friends or acquaintances. Overall, 89 percent of the victims were female. One out of three cases were reported more than a month after the abuse occurred, making it hard to collect evidence.

Only 35 per cent of attackers identified By GILES BROWN - The Press | Monday, 04 February 2008 Only 35 per cent of recorded sexual crimes in New Zealand result in the attacker being identified, according to government statistics. The figures for rape may be even lower, with only 9 per cent of rapes being reported and only 15 per cent of these resulting in a court case. Statistics New Zealand figures for the 12 months to June 2007 show there were 3607 recorded sexual offences, with 1289 unresolved. Of these, 2347 were classed as sexual attacks - with 892 unresolved. The director of Rape Prevention and Education, Dr Kim McGregor, said the situation was worse than the figures revealed. "Only 9 per cent of rapes are reported to the police in this country,'' she said. "When the rape complaints get to the police, 60 per cent to 80 per cent of them will be knocked off at the investigation stage. Only 15 per cent of them may make it through to court.'' In July 2007, the Govern ment formed the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence with part of its remit being to look into how sexual crimes were handled in the criminal justice system. McGregor said one option was to adopt an inquisitorial system, which tries to determine the facts of a case, rather than the current adversarial system, which prosecutes a particular person.