This Week's Facts:
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April 5th is Deadline to
Register to Vote
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Interactive Map Tracks
Neighborhood Census Returns
-
Next Week is Dedicated to
Root Canal Awareness
-
Program Helps Defray
Long-Term Health Insurance Costs
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QUICK FACT: View Healthcare
Reform Bill via FEDsys
Dept. of
Ed Offers Tools to Analyze Campus Safety
As high school juniors begin the process of figuring out where
they want to go to college, there are a lot of factors they take
into consideration. Safety is usually not one of them. However,
that is often number one on their parents’ list! The Office of
Postsecondary Education, part of the U.S. Department of
Education, has a tool that may help answer parents’ safety
questions. The
Campus Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool
allows users to search by state, city or even specific school to
access crime data for the past three years. Details are not
provided; however, you can find out the number of crimes
reported to both campus security authorities and local police
stations, broken down by type. It’s important to remember that
these are crimes that have been reported, and not necessarily
those that have been prosecuted.
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Friday Facts Editorial Team:
Katharine Springer
State Data
Center Coordinator
Elisabeth
O’Donnell
Federal Documents Librarian
&
Kim Brown-Harden
State
Documents Coordinator
-------------------------------------
Join the
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QUICK FACT: View Healthcare
Reform Bill via FDsys
As anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to current
events knows, President Obama recently signed into law
healthcare reform legislation. While it’s very easy to find
opinions on both sides of the line, don’t forget that you can
also look at the legislation itself via
FDsys. In addition to
simple searching, there is a sidebar on the website that will
take you directly to the bills. To view the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) directly, click
here. |
April 5th is
Deadline to Register to Vote
 Indiana
primary elections are coming soon. Are you registered to vote?
If you need to register, the deadline is April 5th. For the
first time in Indiana’s election history, there is an electronic
database, the
Indiana Statewide Voter Registration
System (SVRS),
linking the voter registration records for all of Indiana’s 92
counties. This system also links to the Indiana Bureau of Motor
Vehicles and the Social Security Administration database. The
system will help election officials detect and deter voter fraud
and keeping voting rolls current and accurate. Voters are
encouraged to verify their information on this system. Any
incorrect information needs to be reported immediately to the
county clerk or board of registration. For more information,
check out the
election division of the
Indiana Secretary of State’s website.
Interactive
Map Tracks Neighborhood Census Returns
 The
Census Bureau has released new interactive maps showing
mail-back rates for neighborhoods all over the nation. You can
use the
Take 10 Challenge map to
view your community’s census participation rate by zip code.
Cities in Iowa claim four of the five top participation rates in
the U.S. However, local news reported this week that
Indianapolis was near the top as well. Zoom in and see what
percentage of your part of the state has mailed in their census
forms. For those who have been waiting and haven’t yet received
a census form, you and your patrons can also use the Take 10
maps to find Questionnaire Assistance Centers and Be Counted
sites near your home or work. Type in your zip code and find
several locations where you can fill out a form, some with on
site 2010 Census workers.
If you’d like to embed the participation rate maps into your
organization’s or your own website, see
Embedding Participation Rates on
Your Website on the
State Data Center/Business and Industry
Data Center Clearinghouse homepage.
Census Introduces Special Promotions
Can you read that question, or is it too…big? One of the
promotions being used by the Census Bureau for this year’s
census is a special supply of census forms. It’s understandable,
you might think, that the form be reproduced in order to
encourage residents of the U.S. to fill it out. But there’s
something different about these particular forms. They might
look exactly like 2010 census forms, but they’re too large to
fit in your living room. Enormous, inflatable
Big Forms were unveiled
this month in public spaces in major U.S. cities such as New
York City and Chicago. For the press release and photos, click
here. This is one of many
other promotional efforts, such as the
2010 Census Road Tour and
Census on Campus, which aim
to educate the public about the U.S. Census, which has taken
place every ten years since 1790. A special edition the Census
Bureau’s Facts for Features,
Census Historical Highlights: 1790-2010,
also notes many of the unique characteristics of each census in
this nation’s history.
Next Week is
Dedicated to Root Canal Awareness
 We
all know dental hygiene is important. However sometimes despite
our best efforts, bad things happen to good teeth. In some of
those cases, a root canal is necessary. For that reason, the
week of March 28 through April 4 has been declared Root Canal
Awareness Week. According to
Medline Plus, a root canal
is a “dental procedure to remove dead or dying nerve tissue and
bacteria from inside a tooth.” It is done when you have in
infection that affects the nerve in the root of the tooth.
According to the American Association of Endodontists, more than
15 million root canals are performed each year. The procedure
can be done by a dentist, but also may be performed by an
endodontist. On average, 46% of root canal cases are referred to
endodontists by dentists. The AAE offers several tips when
selecting an endodontist: look for convenience, accessibility
and a solid track record; ask about equipment; and look for
long-term relationships. For more information, view the AAE
website.
Program Helps Defray Long-Term Health
Insurance Costs
 It
is a fact we all must face: the costs associated with getting
older and senior care are increasing. The State of Indiana and
private long term insurance companies
have joined to create the
Indiana Long Term Care Insurance Program
(ILTCIP) to help Indiana residents with the cost of long-term
care. New medicines, technologies, and lifestyle have been
dominant factors in adults living well into their 80s and
beyond. Because humans are living longer, there may be medical
issues that can hinder or prevent some adults from caring for
themselves. It is estimated that 7 out of 10 will need home
health care sometime in their lives. Overall, individuals living
over the age of 65 will have a 60-70% chance of needing some
type of long-term care service. If you need to leave the state,
Indiana is among other states to participate in the
National Reciprocity Compact
for Medicaid asset protection. In addition, there may be
federal or
state tax breaks to help
cut some of the costs of insurance. For additional information,
view ILTCIP's
Frequently Asked Questions. |
