American Morning
When co-workers kill: Workplace violence on the rise
For Johna Lovely, who lives in Presque Isle, Maine, news coverage last month of Annie Le’s murder, allegedly by a co-worker at Yale University, brought back painful memories of the day she lost her daughter. “It brought everything back,” Lovely said. “I just cried and cried.”
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/07/sperrey.erin.art.jpg caption="Erin Sperrey was killed by a co-worker on January 2, 2005 in Caribou, Maine."]
Lovely’s youngest daughter, Erin Sperrey, was killed by a co-worker on January 2, 2005. Sperrey was a supervisor for a fast food restaurant in Caribou, Maine. She was working the overnight shift with one other employee – Christopher Shumway.
Shumway is now serving 45 years for beating Sperrey to death.
Nationwide, 517 people were murdered at work last year according to government statistics. And while that number is down 52 percent since 1994, an American College survey found things like bullying, harassment, and physical altercations are up.
Laurence Barton, who studies workplace violence at the American College, a nonprofit educational institution that trains financial services professionals, says that kind of violence is becoming epidemic.
“The call volume to human resource officers, to their EAP programs, to counselors is sky rocketing,” Barton says. “We are absolutely in a period right now of among the highest periods of threats at work in certainly recent memory.”
That doesn’t surprise Lovely and her daughter, Amanda. They’ve worked tirelessly since Erin Sperrey’s death to stop workplace violence. They’ve set up a fund in Erin’s name (erinsfund.org) and have traveled around Maine to convince companies to install panic buttons, connected to police departments, so employees in danger can get immediate help. They thought armed with Erin’s story it would be a cinch. They were wrong. They told us just eighteen companies out of hundreds agreed to install new security systems or educate their employees about workplace violence.
What’s on Tap – Wednesday October 7, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Eight years in Afghanistan for U.S. troops and the general now in charge says we need 40,000 more to win this war. The president is making it clear withdrawal is not an option right now. But after a rare bi-partisan meeting with congressional leaders, something else is clear: the president is not ready to commit to a war strategy just yet.
- You're already paying more for peanuts, blankets and leg-room. Now the airlines are finding another way to make money. Several carriers are now hitting you with a 10 dollar peak-travel surcharge. The added fee goes into effect between Thanksgiving and New Years. You'll also have to pay more if you're traveling around the typical spring break season and Mmemorial Dday.
- If you live in New York City and have been through the drive thru in the past year, now you know why they call it a Whopper. The city was the first to start making chain restaurants post calorie counts on their menus. Others followed. It's forced some people to do a double take. But has it stopped them from “super sizing?” There’s a surprising new study that says some people are actually eating more!
- To catch a predator. Our Rob Marciano is on the hunt for 20-foot sharks off Virginia Beach with scientists who are trying to find out why they’re behaving differently… and what that could mean for their next meal.
We Listen – Your comments 10/06/2009
Editor's Note: The White House’s discussions on Afghanistan disturbed Tuesday’s American Morning audience, as the majority supported pulling out troops immediately. Others suggested a “troop surge” to complete the mission and then leave. A third contingent wondered what the ramifications of a withdrawal now would mean to the U.S. and to Afghanistan.
- Bob: Regarding Afghanistan: get out now! If Americans knew in advance what Iraq would be like after spending hundreds of billions of dollars, thousands of America lives and a million Iraqi lives, would they have been so enthusiastic about going to war? The high numbers against more troops to Afghanistan reflect a lesson learned by the America people. Obama should listen to them.
- Elaine: In answer to your question of whether the US should send more troops to Afghanistan, no! The policy of honoring the dead with more dead is ludicrous and blasphemy. Afghanistan is an un-winnable war due to the topography and tribal beliefs. Predator drones kill mostly innocent citizens make them into USA haters. Not very smart but good for those defense contractors.
- P.M.: Please: have one heck of a surge, get things in control in Afghanistan. Our boys are dying over there! Stop dragging your feet ... Just do it! […].
- Jason: I would like to know what the outcome of us pulling out of Afghanistan today might be. Good or Bad? thank you.
What do you want the Obama administration to do regarding the war in Afghanistan? Is there one solution, or should there be many?
Letterman apologizes to wife & female staffers
David Letterman was back on stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater last night. The host publicly apologized to his wife and staff for having sex with women who've worked on his show. Our Alina Cho has the report.
Frist supports Snowe's health care 'trigger' plan
War strategy in Afghanistan and President Obama's failed Olympic bid may have stolen the headlines last week, but beneath the surface the health care debate rages on.
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday to talk about health care reform and his new book, “A Heart to Serve.”
Dr. Frist, who is a heart and lung transplant surgeon, says he strongly supports the bipartisan efforts of the Senate Finance Committee and Olympia Snowe’s “trigger” plan. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: You said, not too long ago, if you were still in the Senate you would probably vote for a health care overhaul.
Bill Frist: A transformation of the health care system today.
Roberts: What exactly is it that you would feel comfortable voting for? Any of the plans that are out there now?
Frist: Two things. And again, these next two or three weeks are critical. We have to bring people together to get it done. It’s a great moment in time if it can be done. Number one, we’ve got to get the uninsured into the market itself. There’s too much cherry picking going on. There’s too much adverse selection.
Roberts: How many? All of them? Half of them?
Frist: The 46 million out there. There are 20 million, who are hardcore uninsured, who just can't get it because they can't afford it. So I would start there, but eventually we need to get them all into the insurance market. We just don't have enough money to do it right now, but 20 million hardcore. Number two, it’s the cost in health care. And basically, health care costs went up three times faster than inflation. Your typical person out there simply can’t afford it any longer. $15,000 policies being the average for a family of four is too much, but it's going up too fast.
So the health care reform we need is something that brings in as many as we can – I’d say 20 million now; that addresses issues – the spending – by putting benefits out there with competition on the marketplace, eliminating the about 30% waste in health care, and that can be done through information technology and transparency and accountability. And if we can do that, we can both afford it today and bring people into the market itself.
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