FROM CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME TO CANCER,
COMPUTING Danoers
CAN BE AVOIDED
STORY BY SCOTT MACWILLIAMS ▶ GRAPHIC BY ANDY ROHRACH ▶ ILLUSTRATION BY MATT H
Anja Schiemann plays video games until her eyes hurt,
but knocking out those term papers doesn't cause a problem. "When I'm writing,I'm not just staring at the monitor like I do when I am playing a video game," said Schiemann, Tuebingen, Germany, graduate student. "Moving my eyes back and forth from the monitor
But just sitting at the computer monitor for hours on end could cause a variety of physical ailments ranging from aching muscles and burning eyes to the possibility of cancer and genetic mutations.
EYES 24 TO 28 INCHES FROM SCREEN
An area generating controversy is health problems related to radiation from computers.
Computers create X-rays and ultraviolet radiation. Computers also create extremely low frequency (ELF) and very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic radiation. While the debate continues as to whether serious health problems are caused by computer radiation, research also continues.
A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Medical Department indicated the possibility of cancer, genetic mutations and nerve damage related to long-term exposure of low-level radiation from cathode ray tube monitors, or CRTs.
To minimize risk, computer users can take some simple precautions to protect themselves. They include:
Do not use a monitor made before 1982, because there were no guidelines to control radioactive emissions before then.
Consider using a monitor other than a CRT, or television-style monitor. Liquid crystal display
Try to reduce the total time in front of the monitor. Pregnant women are advised to limit their use to a maximum of 20 hours a week.
Sitting at arm's length from the monitor. The magnetic field emissions drop off with distance.
- Maintaining at least a four foot distance from the sides and backs of all monitors in the area. The fields are strongest there and are not stopped by cubicles, walls or shielding devices.
Mike Russell, director of the Department of Environment, Health and Safety, said there were many contradicting studies on the effects of computer radiation.
If the monitor appears to be malfunctioning, have it serviced. It might be emitting excessive radiation.
Posturing Safety
used mostly on lap-top computers, do not emit VLFs.
But he said he would prefer to err on the side of safety.
of Russell's desk.
"Anything that's out there, with enough exposure, can lead to problems," he said. "People should try to buy low-radiation monitors. But as far as I know, the University has no set standard for monitor radiation levels in the equipment that they use."
radiation is not the only danger from prolonged computer usage.
If numbness develops in the hand, specially between the thumb and
the ring finger, and is accompanied by swelling, it is important to get an immediate checkup to make sure it isn't the beginning of carpal tunnel syndrome.
A low-radiation monitor site
R
Carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to permanent disability.
"We recommend that people take frequent breaks," said Judy McGuire, a registered physical therapist and supervisor at the University of Kansas Medical Center's physical therapy services office. "They should get up and stretch, do exercise rolls."
and move around for at least ten minutes every hour."
McGuire also recommended that computer users try these steps to alleviate pain:
Sit with feet flat on the floor.
Have the monitor set so it is viewed at a 15-degree incline below eye level.
Use a lumbar pillow to support the lower back.
Stretch the wrists by rotating them down fully, and flex them by pushing back on the fingers.
Rest your eyes by closing them or putting your hands over them to temporarily shield them from all light.
- Keep eyes moist by blinking often or using eye drops when dryness occurs.
Use wrist support pads to prevent nerve damage.
Keep forearms parallel to the floor.
Do a "neck glide," pulling the chin in toward the chest to stretch the muscles in the back of the neck.
Other ergonomic tips include releasing tension in muscles by doing stretching exercises, repeating them five to ten times and relaxing the neck by turning the head slowly from side to side.
Computer use continues to grow exponentially, and the evidence of problems related to extended use is mounting.
As long as the computer is part of a college student's life, there will be health risks. With a little planning and proper equipment, the health hazards can be minimized.
Weird Topics
Former prostitute Jessi Winchester, 53, announced in February that she soon would file papers declaring her candidacy for Congress from Nevada's Second District. (According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the highest-ranking elected ex-prostitute was Sausalitó, Calif., mayor Sally Stanford in 1972). Mistress Madison, 32, a San Diego dominatrix who operates the Slave Cave and runs a phone-sex service, ran for Congress in the March primary under the banner of Ross Perot's Reform Party. Dominatrix and former stripper Madame Lash, 50, has campaigned vigorously around Sydney in her quest for an Australian Senate seat.
Tracey Emin, 32, opened a museum in December in London featuring only artifacts about her own life. She was fresh from a show in Minneapolis in which she exhibited a tent with embroidered names called "Everybody
I've Ever Slept With: 1963-1995."
For the January opening of Janine Antoni's current show at the Matrix Gallery in Hartford, Conn., the artist performed Loving Care — soaking her hair in a scrub bucket filled with dye and painting the floor by swishing her locks across it. Among the other pieces at the show is a sheet of paper onto which Antoni had bathed her eyelashes more than 1,000 times after applying Cover Girl Thick Lash. A New York
Times reviewer wrote that Antoni "has earned admiration for extracting multiple interpretations from seemingly simple actions."
The Society of Smoking Artists in San Francisco announced in January a Butts for Jesse campaign to encourage artists to send cigarette butts weekly to anti-arts, pro-tobacco U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms to let him know that artists are his friends, because they consume higher-than-average levels of
cigarettes.
Hill Topics
British artist Tony Kaye, 43, brought his Roger show to San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art in November. Roger consists of a live, homeless man sitting in a transparent cube so patrons can question him about being homeless. Kaye plans to sell Roger later as a work of art — which Roger agreed to in writing before the exhibit opened. Said Roger, "I know that Tony wouldn't sell me unless he knew I had a good home."
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