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)