crm@cs.duke.edu (Charlie Martin) (06/28/88)
A couple of points on previous submissions:
(1) The Kaiser-Permanente VDT study was heavily weighted toward
California in general and the Silicon Gulch in particular, because
that's where Kaiser is biggest and also an area of intense VDT
usage. There is also a fair bit of drinking water contamination
there with various organics that are known to be biologically
active. It's not clear the two effects could be separated
assuming that VDT usage actually has an effect.
(2) I suspect that computer companies tend in fact to be better places
for people to work, including women. Since the companies are
often younger companies -- both in terms of lifetime of the
company and age of the employees -- and since computer-skilled
people are in great demand, the companies either adapted by choice
or been forced to adapt to the sort of working conditions we the
baby boomers demand.
Also, I suspect (don't have empirical evidence to back it up, but
this could be argued easily from some studies I've seen published)
that people who are, say, age <= 35 are more likely to consciously
avoid allowing sexism to affect decisions because the effects of
feminism have changed the ideas with which they've grown up.
Either in terms of people in general or women in particular, I'm
*sure* they beat the hell out of the steel mill in my home town.
Charlie Martin (crm@cs.duke.edu,mcnc!duke!crm)