Just got my March 2012 issue of Prevention Magazine, and on pages 39 & 40 is an article entitled “7 Germiest Public Places” –enough to put the fear into anyone who dares to venture out into the public.

Here’s their list (and see if you agree with the results):

71% of gas pump handles

68% of sidewalk mailbox handles

43% of escalator rails

41% of ATM buttons

40% of parking meters

35% of crosswalk buttons

35% of vending machine buttons

The article says this research was done by Kimnberly-Clark Professional. Six major cites were studied in which testers checked for ATP (adenosine triphosphate, which exists in all bacteria.)

Noticed that the study did not include faucets of public bathrooms, which are reportedly quite dirty.

Now I know why we probably should be carrying those hand sanitizers, towelettes, or using gloves when we touch anything that other people touch. Public libraries in Pima County have those sanitizer stands to use after you touch the keys of the library computers, utilized by many patrons over the course of one 10 hour day.

Tucson doesn’t have a lot of sidewalk mailboxes left, nor a lot of escalators since we don’t have that many high-rises, but we do have elevators (whose buttons are probably just as germ covered).

Readers — do you agree with the results? Will this knowledge change your behavior in public places such as washing your hands more frequently? Yesterday I touched a pedestrian button to cross a street, and recoiled afterwards thinking of the germs on that button.

ACLU to Co-Sponsor Centennial Discussion on Civil Rights, Liberties in Arizona Over the Past 100 Years (press release)

TUCSON – Former judges, academic historians and elected officials from the City of Tucson will gather on February 12th to engage in an interactive discussion about the expansion of civil rights and liberties in Arizona over the past 100 years.

“When the ACLU was founded in Arizona in 1959, there were laws prohibiting people of different races from marrying and banning the distribution of birth control information,” said Tod Zelickson, president of the ACLU of Arizona’s Southern Chapter. “But the ACLU has led the fight to expand civil rights and liberties throughout much of Arizona’s history and since those early days, the principles of due process of law, equal protection and separation of church and state have permeated our society and become enshrined in our state Constitution and laws.”

The public forum, which is hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona’s Southern Chapter in cooperation with the Second Saturday and Centennial Committees in Tucson, will be from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 12th at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 160 S. Scott, Tucson, Arizona.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Paul Barby at 520-299-3778.

Panelists are:

University of Arizona Law School Dean Emeritus Charles E. Ares, who represented the ACLU of Arizona’s first client, Henry Oyama, a native Tucson resident of Japanese descent who, along with his Caucasian fiancée Mary Ann Jordan, was refused a marriage license by the Pima County Clerk. Ares was instrumental in challenging Arizona’s discriminatory miscegenation law and securing an injunction requiring the Pima County Clerk to issue the marriage license;

Retired Arizona Chief Justice Stanley Feldman, who volunteered to handle cases on behalf of the ACLU in Arizona;

Former Tucson Mayor George Miller, who previously served on the board of ACLU of Arizona’s Southern Chapter; and

ACLU of Arizona Founding Board Member Cornelius Steelink, who served as a volunteer during the 1960s and 1970s who lobbied the Arizona Legislature to repeal the miscegenation law, create public defender offices in Maricopa and Pima Counties and ratify the constitutional amendment abolishing the poll tax.

The mission of the ACLU of Arizona is to protect the civil liberties contained in the state and federal constitutions through litigation, legislative and public education. The ACLU is funded primarily through private donations and offers its services at no cost to the public. The ACLU does not accept any government funds. Nearly 3,000 ACLU members live in Southern Arizona. They’re represented by volunteers who serve on the board of the Southern Chapter of the ACLU of Arizona. The ACLU of Arizona is an affiliate of the national ACLU, which boasts a membership of 550,000 with approximately 7,000 members and supporters in Arizona. For more on ACLU’s accomplishments over the past five decades, visit: http://www.acluaz.org/about-us/accomplishments.

Contact:

Tucson: Paul Barby, ACLU of Arizona Southern Chapter, at 520 299-3778 or pmbarby@earthlink.net; or

Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, at 602-773-6006 (office) or 602-301-3705 (cell) or ameetze@acluaz.org

INFO: www.acluaz.org.

Justice Feldman and Dean Ares were interviewed on KUAT Channel 6 (click here) about the Arizona Constitution.

Republican Sean Collins, a political newcomer has filed to run in the Republican primary against 4 term incumbent Supervisor Ray Carroll. Collins has served in the Air Force and is a small businessman, owner of a Dairy Queen in Vail, AZ. Mari Herreras at the Tucson Weekly had the story today (click here).

According to the Quail Creek Republican Club newsletter, Carroll’s challenger for the District 4 seat is Sean Collins, a U.S. Air Force veteran who owns the Vail Dairy Queen with his wife Tracy. “Collins was in the Air Force for almost 22 years, stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from 1999 until he retired as a senior non-commissioned officer in 2003.” (He’ll be speaking at the group’s meeting on Friday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m. at the Quail Creek Madera Clubhouse).

I hope to update this blog with campaign info/photo of Collins.

Supervisor Carroll was first appointed to his District 4 position in May, 1997, and prevailed in the 3-way Republican primary of September, 1998 with 43% of the vote (against Brenda Even & Ken Marcus). He then won the 1998 General Election against Libertarian Gay Lynn Goetzke (79% to 21%). Carroll has run unopposed in both the primary & general elections of 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Carroll is seeking re-election and will be having a campaign meet & greet event on Sunday February 12, 2 p.m. at the American Legion Hall Post 66, Duval Mine Road, Green Valley/Sahuarita. His campaign website is www.electraycarroll.com, campaign phone 520-570-7007. Carroll announced his re-election bid today on the Buckmaster radio show (click here).

4 of the 5 Pima County Supervisors are up for re-election, except for District 1 Supervisor Ann Day who is retiring. 4 Republicans (Mike Hellon, Stuart McDaniel, Ally Miller, & Vic Williams) are running for that seat in the primary on August 28, and one Democrat Nancy Young Wright (so far) will face the Republican winner in November. I’ve written about these incumbent Supervisors last year “Pima County Board of Supervisors – incumbency matters” (click here).