Masonry Magazine October 1988 Page. 27
A bipartisan effort is being made in the Congress to write a new drug bill. If all goes well, it could be approved and become law before Congress quits. The principle emphasis of present law has been to stem the supply of drugs-by means of eradicating crops, halting smuggling and stopping sale and use. Some 75% of the money budgeted is being spent on halting the flow of drugs. But experts have concluded that these measures are generally not effective. So the idea is to shift the emphasis toward controlling use of drugs, with the money going to education, prevention and rehabilitation. Included in the plan in mandatory testing for companies doing business with the Federal government.
BUSINESS IS BEGINNING TO FOCUS ON LOOPHOLES in the plant-closing law, which requires companies with 100 or more workers to give notice of closure. Employees must be notified in writing at least 60 days before a plant shuts. Layoffs of 50 or more lasting six months or longer require similar notice. But the statute has two major loopholes, besides exempting small companies. First, there is the "faltering business" exemption that was built into it. The clause says a company actively seeking capital or new business to help avoid closings or layoffs does not have to abide by the notice requirement. The, there is the exemption for businesses affected by financial disasters, or acts of God, that could not have been "reasonably" foreseen in advance. The language of the exemptions is vague enough to create legal fights-keeping lawyers busy in litigation over the exemption.
A UNITED EUROPE POSES AN ECONOMIC THREAT TO THE U.S. in years ahead. The European community will lift all trade barriers between members in 1992. What could emerge is a single, integrated and continental market in Europe. U.S. officials worry about the Europeans making progress in reducing costs, as they create a home market with more than 320 million spending consumers. There's fear that the European market will be surrounded by protective walls. That could make it harder for U.S. exporters to find markets for their goods. Washington has warned the Commission not to erect barriers to exports from the U.S. It wants U.S. companies to be treated in exactly the same fashion as competing European companies.
Plan International Standards Program
The Construction Sciences Research Foundation (CSRF) has launched a new research program into the feasibility of and support for developing a computer-stored database of international construction standards, announced CSRF president Arthur Miller, P. E., FCSI.
"Timely access to current design and construction standards of other countries and determining their comparability with U.S. standards will be useful to several segments of the design and construction industry," said Miller, who is also president of a Florida-based design and consulting firm.
BuildingMeasure, a Virginia-based consulting firm, has contracted to prepare a paper on the technical feasibility of an electronic search and comparison system to evaluate and compare design and construction standards in the U.S. and other countries.
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MASONRY-SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1988 27