The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "health assessment" ...
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"Drinking at Duke"
In this two-part series, Sanette Tanaka examines the alcohol policy and drinking culture at Duke University. The reporter reveals differences in drinking policies between private and public universities, as well as examines the effectiveness of the "new associate dean," who has implemented an "education-based harm-reduction model" in an effort to curb "binge drinking among students."
Tags: alcohol; binge drinking; Tom Szigethy; Stanford; Harvard; Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research; UNC; Wake Forest; National College Health Assessment
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Banktracker
Banktracker is a project built to assess the financial health of every bank and credit union in the United States, and to disclose the information. The Troubled Asset Ratio serves as a measurement for bank safety.
Tags: banks; credit unions; safety; troubled assets; United States; financial health; benchmark; banktracker;
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A Question of Security
The "investigation discovered allegations of overfilling and security gaps at three major facilities in South Florida- the Miami Metrorail system and the Juvenile Assessment Center and a major hospital. All have contacts with Wackenhut, one of the largest security companies in America. The publicly funded contracts involve millions of dollars. Not only did we observe unfilled posts first-hand, but guards, former guards and supervisors went public detailing a pattern of fraud."
Tags: security; fraud; city government; contracts; transportation; health care; hospital; guards; Wakenhut
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Toxic air raises unhealthy odds
This examination centers on an Indianapolis neighborhood that has had more people die of lung cancer than anywhere else in Marion County. The investigation found that residents of the neighborhood, in an industrial part of town, were hospitalized for respiratory problems at rates more than three times the county average. Nevertheless, state and local health officials have done almost nothing to investigate documented risks from air pollution or the health problems they may cause.
Tags: cancer cluster; air pollution; cancer death rates; EPA; Environmental Protection Agency; National Toxic Assessments data; public health
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"Toxic air: Lingering health menace"
This ongoing series uncovered the extent of hazardous air pollution in Louisville, the health risks, the source of pollution, and the failure of federal and local regulators to better address the problems. The newspaper's own independent analysis of air sampling data, published months before the EPA's own official assessment was released, showed pollutants in some areas at concentrations hundreds of times higher than established health thresholds. The series also includes a detailed look at the impact of toxic wastes from industrial plants.
Tags: air pollution; smog; EPA; environment; health; CAR; computer-assisted reporting; industrial pollution; emissions
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Children Left Behind
The reporters set out to assess the problems children in Cleveland face. They managed to uncover hazards that even the public officials and community activists who had dedicated their careers to these issues. for example, they found that half a million Ohio Children live next door to a toxic waste site. Another finding was that nearly 1 million children live in poor housing, putting them at greater risk for fires, accidents, and environmental health hazards such as lead poisoning and asthma. They also discovered that babies born to teenage mothers are much more likely to be premature, and these babies had cost the state roughly $161 million dollars in five year. Another finding was that children of color were in most danger, they account for about a quarter of all child deaths.
Tags: toxic waste; poor housing; fires; accidents; environmental health; teenage mothers; teen pregnancy; premature babies; inner-city neighborhoods; Guatemala; African American children; child deaths; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Planned Parenthood; Federation for Community Planning; Ohio Department of Health; lead poisoning; poor housing; asthma; Child deaths; food banks; poverty; Rocking Horse Center; birth rate; child mortality rate; hazardous waste sites; Sherwin-Williams; Benjamin Moore; Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland; pollution; youth prison; Youth Health Empowerment Project; STD's; birth control
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Stonewall
This story addresses clause in Ohio's Bioterrorism Bill, which allows it to hide information gathered during public health investigations. The reporter discovered that hiding this information was more of a pattern than an exception. She found examples of the Department's efforts to bury information, stonewall citizens, and downplay health risks. For example...in one community, data was skewed to show no link between toxins in the soil and local leukemia cases. Not only does the Health Department hide this information, they make it nearly impossible to retrieve, by ignoring information requests...even the State Attorney General couldn't get answers to its health-related inquiry.
Tags: Ohio Department of Health; Bioterrorism Bill; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; Ohio Attorney General; EPA; health assessment; public health; stonewall; health risks; public health information; Ohio Attorney General; Centers for Disease Control; Waste Technologies Industries; hazardous waste; cancer rates; air pollution; pollution testing; leukemia; autism; neurological disorders; multiple sclerosis; well water; health hazard; toxic chemicals; Trichlorethylene (TCE); anthrax; e.coli; Greenpeace
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Home Deadly Home: Toxins in Air
The Environmental Protection Agency and many states ignored or downplayed the health threat posed by toxic chemicals that vaporize from groundwater and enter homes. The formula the EPA used to assess the ganger is demonstrably inaccurate. Colorado, having failed to address such problems in the past, now is one of the few states that ignores the inadequate EPA guidelines and tests individual homes."
Tags: Environmental Protection Agency; toxic chemicals; pollution; contamination
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Workers Comp: Falling Down on the Job
"Consumer Reports uncovered a series of formidable obstacles that disabled employees face in winning medical care and compensation. These include: cruel and unnecessary delays; endless medical examinations by a series of doctors; a probe of their medical and personal histories to see whether some "preexisting condition" led to their illness or injury; surveillance by private detectives; and a disability-assessment system that leaves them so little that they are forced into poverty." The investigation questioned the common perception of injured workers as "slackers, out to cheat the system." The reporter found that, "ironically,...employers and health care providers - not claimers - were responsible for the biggest losses."
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Unqualified Disaster
The Philadelphia City Paper examines the Philadelphia Family Court's system of evaluating suspected juvenile delinquents prior to their court cases. Unlicensed, under-educated 'psychologists' use outdated tests to evaluate the mental health of juveniles. Many delinquents receive improper diagnoses that lead to improper treatment. (June 28, 1996)
Tags: Farmelant Unqualified disaster Contest entry Youth Mental Health Assessments (MHAs) 11 pgs.