VIC:Tsiolkas elated at The Slap series

AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2011
VIC:Tsiolkas elated at The Slap series

Melbourne author CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS says he feels proud and humble about how his explosive
novel The Slap has translated into television.

The 2008 novel tells how a child is slapped at a suburban barbecue by an adult who
is not his parent, and the impact on the lives of those involved, with copious amounts
of sex, drugs and middle-class angst embedded in the story.

ABC Television has turned the book into an eight-part series due to screen in September,
and TV director KIM DALTON says audiences should prepare for some uncomfortable viewing.

AAP RTV ees/wz/apm

KEYWORD: SLAP (MELBOURNE)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Aussie shout under fire by alcohol education group

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2005
NSW: Aussie shout under fire by alcohol education group

By Lisa Macnamara

SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP - The great Aussie shout was called into question by an alcohol
education group today after new research showed binge drinking is considered the norm.

The survey found almost half of the 500 respondents believed getting drunk was an acceptable
part of the Australian way of life.

The Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER) released the findings in
Sydney, and called on governments to assist with changing long-term cultural habits.

"I think `shouting' is one of our major problems," AER chief executive officer Daryl
Smeaton told reporters.

"If you get in a shout of more than five people, you're going to be drinking over the
safe drinking levels if you go through a full shout.

"That's something we really need to start thinking about.

"Is shouting - that time-honoured tradition in this country - is it good for us in
the long term but more particularly, is it good for us in the short term?"

AER said while Australians now drink less per head than they used to, the pattern of
consumption - in terms of greater acceptance of binge drinking - was relatively new.

"It's not about saying, `don't drink', it's about saying to people, `look at what happens
when you drink the way you do' and start to think about how you might change those habits
while still enjoying a drink," Mr Smeaton said.

Binge drinking is defined by reaching a blood alcohol level of 0.08 in two hours -
six standard drinks for a man or four drinks for a woman, the foundation said.

Conducted by Quantum Market Research, the survey found one in three Australians believed
binge drinking was okay, as long as it wasn't done all the time.

One third of respondents said it was okay to drink to excess at home or at celebrations,
and 21 per cent felt you should not tell another person how much is too much alcohol.

Mr Smeaton said action was needed to produce long-term cultural change.

And while drink-driving campaigns were effective, they also encouraged younger people
to consume to excess.

"It's an implied encouragement but certainly there is no question about the fact that,
particularly groups of young people, they go out with a designated driver and that works,
but everybody else gets absolutely plastered," Mr Smeaton said.

"Even in those circumstances, sometimes the designated driver doesn't get the keys."

AAP lmc/kp/pb/jlw

KEYWORD: ALCOHOL NIGHTLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:ABS launches recruitment 2011 census drive

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2011
FED:ABS launches recruitment 2011 census drive

It's census time again this year .. .. and the Bureau of Statistics is looking for
29-thousand people to collect the documents in August.

Policymakers use the data to plan for future capital projects and services like roads
.. railways .. schools and hospitals .. while allocating commonwealth funding to states
and territories.

In its centenary year .. the census will have a maximum of 43-thousand workers delivering
and collecting around 14.2 million forms to Australia's 9.8 million households.

Census collectors will receive between one thousand 300 and two thousand 800 dollars
for the casual position .. employed from July 1 until September 8.

AAP RTV el/sb/tm

KEYWORD: CENSUS (CANBERRA)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

QLD:Watchdog on police disciplinary system=2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-21-2010
QLD:Watchdog on police disciplinary system=2

The CMC said the government should amend laws to strengthen the police disciplinary system.

It said the police commissioner should be given the power to sack officers in whom
he'd lost confidence, without engaging in a protracted disciplinary process.

It also said the power to suspend disciplinary sanctions against officers should be removed.

"The use of suspended sanctions in the QPS discipline system is problematic as it removes
the deterrent effect of the sanction, and undermines public confidence in the system and
the QPS," Mr Strange said.

"Building public confidence in the QPS's ability to deal appropriately with police
misconduct is one of the purposes of the disciplinary process."

The CMC also recommenced the police service elevate complaints management to "core business".

It said the service must also ensure its Ethical Standards Command, which deals with
complaints against police, was properly resourced.

AAP tnf/sn

KEYWORD: CMC DISCIPLINE 2 BRISBANE

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

QLD:Civilians to man speed cameras

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2010
QLD:Civilians to man speed cameras

BRISBANE, Aug 13 AAP - Queensland police will leave speed camera vans to civilian operators
and go back to pounding the beat under a new state government proposal.

The plan for private operators to take over the cameras comes as the government and
police union wrangle over a three-year pay deal.

Police union leaders will meet with Premier Anna Bligh in Brisbane on Friday afternoon.

The government has offered a 2.5 per cent pay increase over three years, but the police
union has rejected the offer and mounted a television advertising campaign demanding more.

Police Minister Neil Roberts said the speed camera change would free up 100,000 hours
per year of police time.

"Currently, all of the mobile speed camera operations are done on overtime - they're
generally not done in normal office hours, so it's on overtime rates," Mr Roberts said.

"Being able to employ civilians would be a significant cost saving."

The police union is opposed to the idea.

"Once you give it to a private business, it's nothing more than about making a profit,"

said police union president Ian Leavers.

Mr Leavers said the move would not release more police onto the beat.

AAP stg/pjo/jl

KEYWORD: POLICE QLD

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Would-be robber left injured after bungled robbery: police

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2010
NSW: Would-be robber left injured after bungled robbery: police

A would-be robber has fled a Sydney convenience store empty-handed and injured after
a bungled robbery.

Police say the man entered the store on Lyons Road at Russell Lea .. in Sydney's west
,, early last night and allegedly threatened the shopkeeper with a knife.

They say he injured himself in a struggle and left the store empty-handed .. leaving
a trail of blood .. they're looking for a man who's aged about 20 to 30 years old .. the
car is a blue or purple Toyota Starlet .. displaying a green p-plate.

AAP RTV sg/ar

KEYWORD: ROBBER (SYDNEY)

2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Gillard to visit India

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2009
Fed: Gillard to visit India

Deputy Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD will head to India later this month .. ramping
up the RUDD government's efforts to rehabilitate Australia's reputation.

Canberra's been working hard to assure New Delhi it values the relationship .. after
a storm erupted over violence against Indian students and evidence of some sub-standard
education providers.

Ms GILLARD will leave for a five-day trip on Sunday week .. and will head to New Delhi
and Chennai.

Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD will go later in the year .. it'll be his first visit to
India since winning government in 2007.

AAP RTV so/ka/rt

KEYWORD: INDIA (CANBERRA)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Frustration endures against unelected elite

Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
04-15-2009
Frustration endures against unelected elite
Byline: Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune
Edition: 2
Section: NEWS

BANGKOK: --

Thailand, the land of politeness and smiles, is also famous for kickboxing. The street battles in Bangkok this week were a window into the country's pugilistic side, an outpouring of frustration by protesters who say they feel injustice and discrimination in the workings of Thailand's troubled democracy.

Although the protests ended peacefully Tuesday, the grass-roots resentment and anger are likely to linger.
"Whoever wins or loses this round, the stalemate and tension will remain," said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin.

The "red shirts," as the protesters are known, draw their strength from the north and northeastern parts of Thailand. Many of them are farmers and small businessmen, and they portray themselves as battling an unelected but influential elite, notably the judiciary, the military and the powerful advisers of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

A central lament of the red shirts is that the will of the electorate has been repeatedly thwarted: three prime ministers since 2006 have been forced from office - one in the military coup of 2006 and two removed by the courts in highly political trials.

"They chased out governments that were elected," said Thongdee Wongsamart, a middle-aged protester who recently lost her job as a cleaner in a tour company. "I'm angry."

Many of the red shirts are followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister ousted in the 2006 coup. But they are often quick to point out that their grievances about the state of Thai democracy are more important than their support for Mr. Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon.

"This is not only about Thaksin and his money," said Mr. Thongchai, of the University of Wisconsin. "These are people against the coup who are targeting an unelected bureaucratic elite."

Many red shirts say they do not trust the Thai media, which they accuse of siding with the government. Those from the provinces say they resent being looked down on as people who speak funny dialects.

They draw the contrast between the light touch used by security forces last year against royalist protesters and the thousands of troops who forcibly dislodged the red shirts from Bangkok's streets this week.

The royalists crippled the country late last year by blockading Bangkok's two commercial airports for a week, stranding hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors. They surrounded Parliament and trapped legislators inside, receiving moral support from the king's wife, Queen Sirikit.

"This country has a double standard, has no justice and will never be peaceful," read a comment on pantip.com, an Internet chat site that has a popular political section. "There will be civil war because people see that injustice has become an acceptable thing."

The royalists are seen as having an invisible hand protecting them.

"I don't understand why the army did nothing when the PAD seized the airports," said a user on pantip.com, referring to the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy. "They cannot touch the PAD, but they can suppress red shirts."

The leaders of the royalist protests were eventually arrested but then quickly released on bail.

The government has closed down several Internet sites linked to the red shirts as well as a satellite television station that carried live broadcasts of the protests. By contrast ASTV, a satellite television run by one of the royalist leaders, Sondhi Limthongkul, was never shut down.

While he was still in power, Mr. Thaksin sought to keep Mr. Sondhi off the airwaves. The red shirts gloss over this dark side of the former prime minister. Mr. Thaksin was very popular for lifting incomes in rural areas, cracking down on drugs and paying off the country's debts to the International Monetary Fund.

"Thaksin is a minor point in my opinion, and the major point is democracy," said Somchai Luangtant, 49, who sells graduation gowns in Bangkok. "People should know that the Thai people want real democracy, not like what we have right now."

*

Seth Mydans contributed reporting.

*

CAPTION

Showing loyalty to his country, if not to the government running it, a protester held onto his Thai flag after leaders stopped a rally in Bangkok on Tuesday, top.* His fellow demonstrators left the area around Government House as soldiers looked on, above.**

Credit: *Vincent Yu/The Associated Press **Sukree Sukplang/ Reuters

(Copyright 2009)

Qld: Funds will help Lifeline keep more families afloat

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2008
Qld: Funds will help Lifeline keep more families afloat

By Gabrielle Dunlevy

BRISBANE, Dec 8 AAP - For the past 12 months, counsellor Jillian Fletcher has seen
financial crisis spread like a cancer.

The number of people making appointments to her service, Lifeline's financial counselling
arm, grew steadily, and the profile of those people broadened.

Where they were once people vulnerable to financial stress due to health and other
problems, more families considered to be working or middle class began to appear.

They were no longer from the far-reaches of Brisbane, but increasingly from closer
fringe suburbs like Redcliffe and Logan.

And in the past three months or so, the number who had suffered the heartache of mortgage
repossession also jumped.

In Tuesday's mid-year budget review, Lifeline will receive a grant of $3 million over
two years, as Queensland's unemployment is forecast to rise.

Ms Fletcher said the funding would double the number of appointments Lifeline could
handle - a huge relief to counsellors, distressed by the number of people they had to
turn away.

For many people, the tipping point came when lines of credit were exhausted, she told AAP.

"People have realised that their spending is not sustainable," Ms Fletcher said.

"They say: `I didn't realise I was (in financial trouble) until I wasn't able to re-finance
and consolidate my loans'.

"But as financial counsellors, we probably have less financial options that we can
offer people as well, because (lenders) don't give as many options as they used to."

Lifeline financial counsellors usually meet clients face-to-face, helping them get
to the root of their money problems.

They then explore the consequences of not paying bills or meeting repayments, and look
at options to lessen the burden.

The service is impartial, confidential and free.

AAP gd/pjo/jm

KEYWORD: BUDGETQLD LIFELINE

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Government bowing to developers for Sydney site: architects

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2008
NSW: Government bowing to developers for Sydney site: architects

Architects appointed to the redevelopment of Sydney's East Darling Harbour have accused
the state government of allowing developers to dictate the site's outcome.

Formerly known as the Hungry Mile .. Barangaroo's design brief is Australia's most
significant since the Opera House .. but three architects appointed to the project say
the outcome could be disappointing.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the government has moved to increase office space
at the site by 120-thousand square metres .. more than a third larger than its original
plan .. under pressure from the Developers Lobby.

The Herald quotes PAUL BERKEMEIER .. one of the three appointed architects .. saying
the end result will be some very dumpy buildings .. and the development industry cannot
be allowed to dictate the outcome.



The architects' plans allowed for a park .. buildings of various shapes and sizes ..

and floor space allowing for 16-thousand workers.

The government's modified plan with bigger, block-like buildings .. pushes floor space
up to more than 508-thousand square metres and allows for more than 22-and-a-half thousand
workers.

The bigger buildings are expected to cast large shadows over parts of the city.

AAP RTV ad/psm/

KEYWORD: BARANGAROO (SYDNEY)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NT: Opposition should 'shut up' and let govt say sorry, CLC says

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2008
NT: Opposition should 'shut up' and let govt say sorry, CLC says

The head of one of the Northern Territory's most powerful land councils .. says the
federal opposition should shut up and let the RUDD government get on with the task of
wording an apology to the stolen generations.

The coalition has agreed to provide in-principle support for Wednesday's apology.

DAVID RODD from the Central Land Council says the Liberal Party has surrendered any
right to have a role in the drafting of the apology.

He says the coalition flatly refused to make an apology on behalf of the country ..

despite many requests.

Mr RODD says they should stop making demands on Mr RUDD who's showed guts over the
decision to issue the apology.

AAP RTV tr/sw/bart

KEYWORD: SORRY CLC (DARWIN)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Brack exhibition opens at Portrait Gallery

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2007
Fed: Brack exhibition opens at Portrait Gallery

When Australian art collector KYM BONYTHON'S house burnt down in the 1983 Ash Wednesday
bushfires .. only one painting survived.

And today .. he's donated that work .. a portrait of himself by Melbourne artist JOHN
BRACK .. to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Mr BONYTHON says the ceilings of his burning house in South Australia collapsed on
his WHITELEYS .. BOYDS and NOLANS .. leaving only the BRACK and one urn intact.

Mr BONYTHON'S donation coincides with the opening of the gallery's latest exhibition
.. Portraits by JOHN BRACK.

AAP RTV sld/sb/rt/tm

KEYWORD: PORTRAIT GALLERY (CANBERRA)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Sheik should be sacked over support for Iran: Rudd

AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2007
Fed: Sheik should be sacked over support for Iran: Rudd

KEVIN RUDD says Sheik TAJ ALDIN ALHILALI's support for the Iranian government deserves
complete condemnation.

The Labor leader says it's another reason for him to be sacked as leader of Australia's
Muslim community.

Mr RUDD says the Iranians are currently backing Hezbollah .. a global terrorist organisation
outlawed under Australian law.

He's among a list of senior Australian politicians calling for the sheik to be sacked as mufti.

Foreign Affairs Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER has described the sheik as a massive embarrassment
.. while Immigration Minister KEVIN ANDREWS has called on him to think about leaving Australia.

It follows reports the sheik travelled to Tehran and urged Muslims worldwide to support
the Iranian government of MAHMOUD AHMEDINEJAD .. whose nuclear ambitions have raised the
ire of the international community.

AAP RTV jb/tm

KEYWORD: SHEIK RUDD (CANBERRA)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NT: Son walks in father's footsteps at AFI Awards

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2006
NT: Son walks in father's footsteps at AFI Awards

Eds: embargoed to 2030 AEDT



By Tara Ravens

DARWIN, Dec 7 AAP - Jamie Gulpilil walked in his father's footsteps at Australia's
top movie awards in Melbourne tonight.

The young Aboriginal star from remote Arnhem Land faced the flashing cameras of the
media pack as his movie, Ten Canoes, vied for the Australian Film Institute's (AFI) best
film award.

He walked a red carpet similar to that trod by his father, David Gulpilil, after he
was launched on to the Australian film scene 35 years ago.

David Gulpilil, who first appeared in Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout in 1971, is arguably
Australia's best known indigenous actor and in 2002 took out the AFI best actor award
for his role in The Tracker.

David Gulpilil also had an unseen role in Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes, acting as the
narrator in Australia's first indigenous language feature.

But David Gulpilil was a long way from Melbourne tonight.

Worlds away from the glitz and glamour, he was on the streets of Darwin in the stifling
December heat, looking for a place to sleep and drinking beer in the scrub scratched around
the city's edges.

"I'm bored, I got nothin' else to do," he told reporters this week.

"All I do is get money, drink beer to keep my nerves down a little bit, and then I
smoke ganja to slow me down from the alcohol and then I sit down and write a script or
do a painting.

"I got no job and no government is ever helping me for my work. I'm on the dole, mate."

Australia has all but forgotten him, he said.

Enter Jamie Gulpilil, his 22-year-old son, who made his film debut in Ten Canoes, and
which was tonight tipped to beat Candy, Jindabyne or Kenny to win best film.

Shot with an entirely Aboriginal cast, speaking only local languages, the film has
acquired landmark status.

It has been selected as Australia's official entry for consideration for best foreign
language film at next year's Academy Awards.

"Dad has told me about how he does acting, making movies Storm Boy and Tracker, now
I'm doing it," Jamie said at the film's official launch in March.

On hand to help the young talent through his first press conference, director Rolf
de Heer shed further light on the father and son relationship.

"Jamie is young and learning. David is an old master," he said.

"Jamie is quite shy but must have learnt something from his old man because he knows
how to strike a pose."

But Jamie Gulpilil does not have his father's infamous gift of the gab and the shy,
unassuming actor is still dazzled by the attention.

David Gulpilil has appeared in more than 30 TV and film roles, including Crocodile
Dundee and Rabbit-Proof Fence, and has travelled the world and most of Australia.

He left big shoes for his son to fill.

AAP tr/sp

KEYWORD: AFI GULPILIL (FILE PIX AVAILABLE)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Fire destorys part of primary school in Orange

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2006
NSW: Fire destorys part of primary school in Orange

SYDNEY, Aug 1 AAP - A fire that gutted part of a primary school in the NSW central
west city of Orange is being treated as suspicious, police say.

A passing motorist alerted police to the blaze on Spring Street about 3.45am (AEST) today.

Firefighters extinguished the inferno a short time later but it destroyed classroom
furniture, a data projector, electronic whiteboard and a number of computers.

Officers from the Forensic Services Group will investigate the cause of the blaze today.

AAP tr/klw/maur/nf

KEYWORD: SCHOOL

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: PM gives his view on reasons for mental health crisis

AAP General News (Australia)
02-10-2006
Fed: PM gives his view on reasons for mental health crisis

CANBERRA, Feb 10 AAP - A decades-old policy of closing mental hospitals without adequate
facilities to care for their patients is behind Australia's mental health crisis, Prime
Minister John Howard says.

Mr Howard also believes a growing tendency to dismiss the harmful effects of marijuana
use is a factor in a crisis highlighted in recent times by the trend for people to talk
about their problems.

Mr Howard and state leaders agreed at a Council of Australian Government's meeting
today to pour more funds into dealing with the problem of mental health.

Experts have been given until June to develop a blueprint on how to reform the mental
health system.

"We will by not later than June ... have from our officials an assessment of individual
areas of change and reform needed in mental health," Mr Howard said.

Governments have gradually been acknowledging the growing need for mental health services
over the years and it was one of the big ticket items at the 2004 election.

Mr Howard says mental health has become such a focus because of problems that have
developed over the decades.

One factor is the policy of closing large mental health institutions and placing patients
back in the community.

"I think we made big mistakes in the 1960s when we ... thought the solution was to
close the institutions," Mr Howard said.

"I don't think we provided an adequate bridge between the institutionalisation of the
past and the realities of people being out of institutions."

Mr Howard repeated his belief that marijuana use was a big contributor to mental illness.

"I think at least a generation of Australians were too passive about the consequences
of illicit drug use," he said.

Changing community attitudes had also played a role.

"I think that modern life has produced more mental illness but finally and more importantly
it's something people talk about more," Mr Howard said.

"One of the great changes that's occurred in modern society is that people verbalise
and externalise their problems, particularly men, more than they used to.

"Maybe the reality is there was a lot more mental illness years ago but we didn't know
about it, we didn't talk about it, because somehow or the other it wasn't the right thing
to do and you just have to get on with life.

"Sometimes it's still not a bad idea for some people to be told that they should get
on with life but it's also a reality ... that mental illness is a huge problem and there
is nothing to be gained by pretending otherwise."

AAP so/sb/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: COAG MENTAL HOWARD LEAD

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Libs love to lower taxes, when it's achievable - Costello

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2005
Fed: Libs love to lower taxes, when it's achievable - Costello

CANBERRA, Aug 30 AAP - Treasurer Peter Costello says asking a Liberal whether he would
like to lower tax rates is the same as asking a farmer if he would like rain.

But the veteran of nine federal budgets believes lowering tax rates was so difficult
last time it might not be politically achievable.

After days of commentary on lowering the top rate by Prime Minister John Howard, prominent
Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull and Labor frontbencher Lindsay Tanner, Mr Costello said he
favoured lowering the highest rate, but only together with other tax rates.

"Asking a Liberal whether he'd like lower tax rates, is like asking a farmer whether
he'd like rain," Mr Costello told the ABC's 7.30 Report.

"I'd love to see it lower but I wouldn't just restrict myself to the top rate, by the way.

"I'd say, on all rates, of course we'd like to see all rates as low as is consistent
with good budget policy, low interest rates and decent expenditures."

Mr Costello said it had become a political question.

"All of this is just a question of what is achievable, what can you do," he said.

"It was hard enough to get the threshold increase (this year) without trying to do
more ambitious things in the last parliament."

Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Mark Vaile has warned the Liberal Party
against pushing for tax cuts just for the nation's rich, saying money had to be sunk into
country infrastructure and the environment.

AAP dep/it/sd

KEYWORD: TAX DAYLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

‘It’s one thing to have to fight; it’s another thing not to have to fight alone’

In the early 1970s, Mike Rangel purchased a chrome bracelet engraved with the name, rank and date of capture of an American prisoner of war in Vietnam: "Capt. Jerry Singleton, 11-6-65."

A veteran himself, Rangel wore Singleton's name to show support for the missing and captured troops.

But it was only a few weeks ago that the Olympia Fields man tracked down the name he's known for 40 years. Rangel found Singleton's information on the Internet, gave him a call and shipped the bracelet to him.

"I didn't know if I should send it because I didn't want to bring up bad memories," Rangel said. "But he said, 'Every one I get, I cherish.'"

Singleton, who now lives in Burleson, Texas, was shot down on an Air Force rescue mission in North Vietnam. He stayed a POW for more than seven years. Since coming home in February 1973, he said he has received more than 1,000 bracelets with his name on it from strangers around the country.

The POW/MIA bracelets were created in 1970 to garner American support for troops, regardless of sentiments on the war itself. Singleton said the bracelets contributed to his survival as a prisoner and his return to the United States.

Singleton's North Vietnamese captors used "wholesale torture of prisoners," he said, especially to coerce them into making anti-American propaganda. Many of them were isolated. They were given food for a few days whenever the captors thought the war was going to end soon. Besides that, they were fed just enough to be kept alive as political leverage.

But North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, and a year later, Americans began wearing the bracelets and speaking out against the torture. This scared his captors, he said, and the wholesale torture actually began to slow down.

"Whether they were for the war or against the war, it gave Americans occasion to say, 'Hey, stop torturing our prisoners,' " Singleton said.

His return to the U.S. was heavily publicized, and he estimated he received hundreds of bracelets within his first few years home — an experience he called "humbling."

"When I came home, there were a lot of people who knew who I was and I had no idea who they were, and they felt like they had a stake in me and my life because they had written letters, worn bracelets, prayed for me," he said. "And in a very real sense, they did have a stake in my life."

Now he only gets a few a year. The call from Rangel, another stranger, was a surprise but not unexpected, he said.

Singleton received Rangel's bracelet in the mail last weekend, just in time for Memorial Day.

"The people who wear the bracelets — they cannot possibly know the difference it made," he said.

"It's one thing to have to fight; it's another thing not to have to fight alone," he said.

This bracelet was owned by Mike Rangel since the early 1970s until he gave it to the man whose name is printed on the bracelet, Jerry Singleton.| Art Vassy~Sun-Times MediaArt VassyMike RangelJerrySingleton

Fact Box: Moving WallPeople can pay tribute to Vietnam veterans this Memorial Day weekend by visiting the Vietnam Moving Wall, a scaled-down, portable version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., from noon today to 7 p.m. Monday at New Lenox Tom E. Hartung American Legion Post 1977, 14414 W. Ford Drive. Free parking will be available at the Metra station on Laraway and Cedar roads with free shuttle bus service to the American Legion post. The New Lenox post is named after the first New Lenox resident to be killed in Vietnam.

Information management - products.(1999 Buyers Guide)(Buyers Guide)

PORTABLE DATA COLLECTION

Advanced Information Management, Inc., announces the release of all its Windows applications working with portable pen terminals. Using radio- frequency communications, users do not need to be cabled to their computers. They can collect data for MDS anytime, anywhere.

MAINTENANCE SOFTWARE

MPulse Maintenance Software[TM], a division of Spectech LLC, introduces MPulse Enterprise[TM], maintenance software that utilizes your network server and the Internet. This product is designed for facilities that own multiple buildings in diverse locations that need to connect to a central database via a WAN, an Intranet or the Internet.

MPulse Gold[TM] incorporates a new user security and management authorization system. A new component, the Remote Work Request[TM] module, allows anyone on the network to initiate a work request. As with all MPulse Maintenance Software, Gold supports multiple asset types, key and lock control management, and linked inventory and purchase requisitions. Users easily create and schedule preventive maintenance, generate work orders, and report on maintenance history. Current MPulse Maintenance Software users can upgrade to MPulse Gold seamlessly.

LONG-TERM CARE SOFTWARE

EDI LTC Systems offers user-friendly software for long-term care, including clinical and financial applications. Our software handles Inquiry and Sales Tracking, Preadmissions Screening, Admissions, Physicians' Orders, Assessments, Treatment, Care Plan, Progress Notes, MDS2, RUGs-III, RAPs, PPS, Billing for all payers with A/R; provides detailed management information online and in reports; and streamlines workflow in nursing, subacute care, assisted living, independent living and adult day care; and consolidates data across units and multiple facilities as required. It can significantly reduce the administrative workload and quickly show a positive ROI. For unusual needs, the software is quickly and easily customized.

The system is Lotus-Notes-based, fully integrated, 32-bit for efficiency (works on Windows 95/NT, AS/400 or UNIX), Web-ready, and HCFA and Y2K compliant. It is flexible enough to work with popular hardware and networks on sensitive data systems now and into the future.

CASE-MIX ANALYSIS

The Achieve PathLinks[TM] Case Mix Coach[TM] analyzes MDS data from any vendor's MDS software, enabling users to submit consistent, accurate reimbursement documentation. Upon completing the MDS documentation, users can send their MDS data to the Case Mix Coach for review. The Case Mix Coach will generate several reports to help identify inconsistencies or changes that could lead to RUGs-III reclassification.

QUALITY-OF-LIFE MODULE

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has introduced a new module for its Facilitator Quality Manager[TM] software to help long-term care facilities make quality-of-life improvements in areas that include: family involvement; respect and independence issues; and issues involving nursing home staff, treatment settings, dining, and safety and security. This module lets the facility and staff identify areas needing improvement, prioritize the improvement efforts that will have the greatest impact on residents and measure their effectiveness.

TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOFTWARE

ADI's Standard Time[TM] for Windows is a 32-bit, open-database-compliant time and attendance system. Its ODBC interface permits it to be used with a facility's existing database. Available for single or multiuser operation, the system has a variety of functions, such as flexible reporting, accruals, scheduling, password security, payroll interfaces and online help.

Additional options include bell-signal control, access control and report writer. Data collection is facilitated through terminals, PC Punch, wands or handheld units.

REFERRAL AND MARKETING SOFTWARE

Ideal Software publishes REPS for Windows, designed specifically for the long-term care market. As a lead- management tool, REPS allows you to track information about your leads and maintain a diary of your activity with those leads.

The REPS referral-source-tracking function maintains information on those companies and individuals who might refer prospective residents.

The third function of REPS is marketing analysis. Using all the information maintained in lead management and referral source tracking, the program can generate a variety of executive and summary reports that assist in managing and evaluating market activities.

ELECTRONIC FOOD BUYING DIRECTORY

Thomas Food Industry Register has announced its revised 1999/2000 Buying Guide, which will be available in print and CD-ROM versions, including free annual updates.

The Buying Guide features comprehensive information on 22,000 food industry companies, in product categories that include food and ingredients processors, equipment and services suppliers, and brand names/trademarks. Listings are cross-referenced by product, equipment, supply and service. The Buying Guide also includes complete company profiles.

The CD-ROM version can be searched by product, company, brand name and/or geographic location. The Buying Guide will be online in September 1999.

VIDEO MESSAGE DISPLAY SYSTEM

Message-Link Pro[R] is AFS, Inc.'s newest solution for video information display. This PC-based, complete computer system with dedicated software, presents custom-made announcements and full-color image screens conveniently on your TVs. It is quick and easy to operate with simple menu choices. Text sizes/colors vary to give residents easy-to-read, attention-getting messages.

The Y2K-compliant system features a Pentium-based computer with Windows 98[TM] and a VGA monitor for input. Message-Link Pro helps keep everyone informed about community news, ongoing events, available programs and services, weather updates, etc., with interchangeable announcement backgrounds, image preview and big-board message display.

WOUND MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

WOUNDPRO[TM] A Program for Healing, by Johnson & Johnson Medical, offers healthcare professionals direction in treating wounds. As a decision support tool, the program tracks patient information, provides wound-specific protocols and includes a product formulary to standardize care on a patient-specific basis. With the combination of these components, WOUNDPRO offers clinicians the information needed to select the correct dressing option, place a product order and track clinical costs and outcomes for each patient.

MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Eagle Technology offers a free evaluation copy of its ProTeus Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS). The evaluation copy is enabled for 45 days and includes a free tutorial manual, which introduces the users to important aspects of ProTeus, such as adding equipment and inventory files, setting up employee and labor crafts and printing work orders. Users can order the free copy over the Web with no obligation.

COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM

ANSWERS ON DEMAND[R] is a completely seamless and integrated information system with more than 30 separate software modules. Easily adapted to your environment, ANSWERS meets your financial, clinical and operational information needs by combining the modules that fit your situation and environment. Written for Windows 95/98/NT, ANSWERS software can run alone or in a networked environment.