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use to From Staff Reports ^ A large part of South Carolina's criminal record's system, which is based on a slow, confusing stream ( of paper, will speed up and be- ( come more accurate through an . overhaul by USC's computer science department. The revamped system will keep criminal justice agencies from hav ing to maintain and constantly update duplicate sets of computerized records, according to Capt. Jim Martin, director of criminal justice information for the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Eliminating duplication will also cut costs and provide police with more current records, he said. Currently, local police, SLED, he Department of Corrections and other criminal justice agencies don't use computers to share records by General Sessions courts in the state's 46 counties said Reports sa; to be diagr By The Associated Press People who smoke a pack or more of cigarettes a day are twice as likely to develop cataracts, and up to one-fifth of U.S. cataract cases may be caused by smoking, according to two studies published Wednesday. The studies, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, tracked 17,824 male U.S. physicians from 1982 through 1987 and 50,828 female U.S. nurses from 1980 through 1988. Among the doctors, men who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day were 2.05 times more likely to be diagnosed with a cataract than those who never smoked. Among the nurses, women who smoked 35 or more cigarettes a day had 1.63 times the likelihood of undergoing cataract surgery as non-smokers. Cataracts, the clouding of the eye lenses, affect about 3 million Americans. "If one assumes a roughly twofrvlH in/-?r<?oc??H riclr rvf ratarart ac?ru IUAU iiitiCdLiCU A AJA4. Oi tuim Uti ciated with smoking, then...approximately 20 percent of cataract cases are attributable to smoking in the U.S. population," according to an editorial accompanying the study. ^ ? ipSar" < | Hr Fr -^^^K w 'iu m ?..; <??? '-^m m Lamda Chi Alpha's Kenny Uj Tuesday set up for sorority rush overhai] Canton Matthews, the USC asso:iate professor who led the project. SLED provides a statewide crime computer with information on more than 5 million crimes and about 660,000 offenders, Martin said. But, the information from General Sessions courts reached SLED only after other agencies use court documents to tvne the same infor mation into their computers, he said. Martin said it can take weeks for the information to get to SLED. "We're just inundated with information. Our clerks have to keyenter all of the court information into the computer again," Capt. Jim Martin said. "We're trying to get all of the court information directly from the clerks of court in the state, electronically." Working on a grant fron SLED, y smokers losed with "For now, it appears that the litany of ills associated with smoking is growing, as we add to it cataracts, the world's leading cause of blindness," continued the editorial, by Sheila West of the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "For now, it appears that the litany of ills associated with smoking is growing, as we add to it cataracts, the world's leading cause of blindness." Sheila West Johns Hopkins Hospital Researchers who studied the men said smoking may reduce the number of nutrients in blood plasma that keep the lens clear. Of the men studied, 1,188 smoked 20 or more cigarettes daily, and 59 cataracts developed among them, a rate of 2.5 cataracts per 100 eyes. Among the 9,045 subjects who never smoked, 228 cataracts developed, a rate of about 1.3 per 100 eyes. Smokers of fewer than 20 ci JPPP^ ? ^ ? -ypH^L- ' jv ? ^ M- $ ^.w?*-':X;. 9K 9^JHngK?^E 8 :Wm t ?ton helps Kappa Delta members l open house. il state ci (JSC's computer experts have de- ni vised a new system that will have m courts in the state's 46 counties te transmitting vital records directly to SLED, where other agencies Sp have access to it, Matthews said. Qr For legal reasons, the paper document system will be maintained as backup. qi SLED's records computer is al- e: ready the main source for chronological criminal history informa- C tion in the state. Various agencies use 1,400 terminals located acros the state to retrieve information on criminals and suspects, Martin li said. c In addition to law enforcement, l the records are an important tool te for prosecutors, judges, and correc- p tions and probation officials as offenders pass through the legal system. tJ a Accuracy will be improved by p eliminating the need for a number r of agencies to type the same j more apt cataracts | garettes daily had no increased risk compared with non-smokers. Former smokers had 1.4 times the risk of non-smokers for one type of cataract, but no increased risk for another. Further study is needed to determine whether a "dose-response" relationship exists ? that is, if the more someone smokes the greater they are at risk of developing cataracts ? said Dr. William G. Christen, an instructor at the Harvard University Medical School and the study's lead author. In the nurses' study, past smokers of more than 35 cigarettes a day had about the same increased risk of developing cataracts, even 10 years after they'd quit, as people who still smoked 35 or more cigarettes daily. Unlike the doctors' study, the nurses' study also showed a proportional increase in cataract risk ii/i fV* flio omnnnt r\f pi OQfPtfpc Willi HIV aiavuill VI Vi^ui VV1.VU smoked. The nurses' study was led by Susan E. Hankinson, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a research associate at Harvard Medical School. 1 Citadel ha; By The Associated Press Citadel officials may have a susI pect in the hazing of a black cadet who refused to sing "Dixie," but the cadet's father and a city counI cilman split on how thoroughly the I school will investigate. The cadet found a noose hangIing from his bunk. ^ftiircpc ca\r c aa! Affirialc V/ V/Ul WO OUJ OV11V/V1 VAA iVlUIU have a suspect in the Thursday night incident, The Post & Courier reported today. South Carolina From Staff Reports South Carolina's economic recovery, like that of the country at large, has been "sputtering," according to the latest issue of South Carolina Economic Indicators. "The pace of business activity has been slow to pick up, in part because companies have kept a tight reign on payrolls," said the report, which is published by the University of South Carolina College of Business Administration and the state Employment Security Commission. "And without the stimulus of strong consumer spending, construction and business-fixed investment, the economy remains slug gish," the report said. Of the 16 indicators monitored in June 12 were negative and four were positive. For the second straight month, the Composite Indices of both the Leading and Coincident Indicators fell. Employment growth stalled in many ^ industries. The June Index of Leading Indi cators, which tends to foreshadow future economic barometer since > December 1991. Of the eight Generally Leading Indicators, six declined and two advanced. riminal r imes, addresses and other infor- '' ation into each agency's compu- year: r, Matthews said. drug tenc< According to Martin, one mistelling can produce an incomplete inaccurate criminal record. "W wi1 By getting the criminal records c|e lformation to SLED more ,, LUCKiy, III V_ llcUlCMUIl, 1VJI cample, will have an easier time taring information with police in 39' lemson or Connecticut, Martin - gel ma cic The SLED crime computer is * nked to FBI and other nationwide riminal identification systems. Matthews and his colleagues at ISC also devised a uniform sys;m of identifying crimes in comuter code. Many agencies had been using a q hree-digit code to identify crimes, ^ ind SLED called in USC's ex- ma( lerts, in part, because the state had un out of three-digit numbers to natch to crimes, Martin said. sai(j MR " fc JS|ih jRi? ^ W*flPi|gj|i ii l>W ^I mEh? .. Linda Szymanski experiments in s s suspect in Cadet urged tc Citadel spokesman Ben Legare would not comment. w* sai However, Jimmy Jones of w( Greenville, chairman of The Citadel Board of Visitors, said it ap- bi< peared only one cadet was in- ra( volved. The State Law Enforce- ta( ment Division is investigating pr whether any civil rights laws have ^ been violated. it economy slugg The "biggest disappointment" in n the Leading Indicators, said the re- rt pun, waj> an liioicasc 111 uuciiipiuy- jj ment insurance benefits, which oi jumped 13.5 percent. Total bene- tc fits paid to jobless South Carolinians reached their highest level in nearly a year. Initital claims for * unemployment insurance also ? jumped in June, to about the same ( level as a year earlier. j Still, the state's unemployment 1 rate actually improved in June, the 1 report said, falling from 6.6 to 6.3 percent. This compares to a level i of 7.4 percent in January. ? Another sign of vitality was 1 found in new business incorpora- 1 tions, which increased from 451 to Non-farm job vacancies declined 11.8 percent, testing a new low for 1992. The average manufacturing workweek edged down from 42.1 to 41.9 hours, bringing this indicator back to the April level. Residential construction fell 22.3 percent in June. The June Index of Coincident Indicators, which indicates current economic conditions, dropped 0.4 percent. Of the eight Coincident Economic Indicators, six declined. The only improvements were in ecords ie numbers ran out in recent Matthe s as the Legislature added new able to f( ; crimes and minimum sen- take part is to the books. . Martin s; ??m^^_ agencies time anc fe're just inundated duplicate th information. Our Mattiu rks have to key-enter ence de of the court informa ii mm me uuinpuici Aaminis ain. We're trying to Much t all of the court infor- loped tc ition directly from the that inci irks of court in the SLED' ite, electronically." Sentenc ' ' sion, cc Capt. Jim Martin ^vlp SLED Matt comput with fe ither agencies never adopted Abhijit uniform three-digit code which Valtoru ie it virtually impossible to and Dr. lyze some crime statistics and ger te impact of new laws, officials comput I. informs .jg . /'4M^Vj|^H i < JHB icience class where she is trying to hazing inci ) sing 'Dixie' J vive a The freshmen cadet s father, cadet' 10 asked not to be identified, d Tuesday he thought the school ut >uld investigate thoroughly. The man said he was aware ^ 1 ick cadets have been victims of colleg ce-related incidents at The Ci- Kii del. But he said the school's black esident, Lt. Gen. Claudius E. ing a| atts III, promised to try and stop cist a and tl ish, business reir ew car registrations and non- factui ssidential construction permits. ?-2 a r?th indirafors rpvprcpd thp ln?c? Retai f the previous month, recovering slid ) roughly their April levels. latesi avail; Total non-agricultural employnent shrank 1.1 percent. Textile F" ind related employment, a key dex < :omponent of the state's job base, stood vas off 1,100, declining for the ^e s hird straight month. Durable mear ?oods manufacturing employment jor e fell by 600. tore( Weekly earnings, adjusted for ceas inflation, and manhours in manuWCISC For your back-to-s 0 TARGI 1550 Bush River Rd., Columbia, S astern ws said the state won't be )rce counties and cities to in the new system. But, aid he expects almost all will participate to save 1 money by eliminating an. jws said the computer scipartment's recommenda:re recently sent to SLED S.C. Department of Court tration. of the report was deve>gether with a committee luded representatives from court administration, the ing Guidelines Commis rrections department and bation, parole and pardon hews developed the new er coding system together llow faculty members Dr. Sengupta and Dr. Marco L He worked with Sengupta Joseph Johnson on the lonrm project involving er-to-computer transfers of ition between agencies. jf Lea Clayton/The Gamecock i earn a PhD. dent lings will change and get betthis country is going to suris a nation, it has to stop," the s father said. Charleston Councilman JerCinloch said he did not have nuch faith in the military e. lloch said Tuesday that the community is "tired of hearX)ut The Citadel and their rattitudes. This is foolishness, lis can't continue to go on." iains slow ring both receded slightly, by ind 0.3 percent, respectively. 1 sales, adjusted for inflation, 3.7 percent during May, the t month for which data are able. aally, the June Diffusion In)f Major Employment Sectors I at a "paltry" 13.6 percent for second month in a row. This is that only one of the 11 ma:mploymeny categories moniI increased, while nine dennH nno uioc nnrhanopd VCU CUIU V/I1V " uo u?iv*?w*c :-fm chool needs,,, ET C 29210, (803) 798-6411