Current Events in May 2013

Former Education Secretary William Bennett has never shied away from controversy and has now waded into the debate over the cost of higher education with a new book with the provocative title, "Is College Worth It?" 

In it, Bennett argues that only 150 out of 3,500 U.S. colleges and universities provide an education that is worth the investment it requires. He points out that nearly half of those who start a four-year education drop out.

Among 2011 graduates, he says half are unemployed or significantly underemployed. If you aren't attending a handful of colleges, including California's Harvey Mudd College, MIT, the California Institute of Technology, Stanford, Harvard or Princeton, it's not worth the money, he argues.

Another view

Blogger Zac Bissonette, writing at Yahoo Finance, argues that Bennett is wrong – that most of the time getting a college education will pay off. He agrees that college may not be right for students who didn't perform well in high school. However, he says college is worth it if you opt for a lower-cost in-state public college, minimize debt, study hard and make connections. 

At ConsumerAffairs we have heard from a number of students who don't think college was worth the cost. By and large, these students have attended one of the growing number of for-profit colleges.

“I had attended the University of Phoenix and graduated only to learn that I had over $7,000 in student loans - half what the school advisor had explained to me,” Bob, of Portland, Ore., posted at ConsumerAffairs.

Gail, of Mason City, Iowa, writes that she incurred more student debt to attend Kaplan University than she can pay back.

“The student loans were consolidated and I was on the income-based plan,” she reports. “Now I need to contact legal aid to get help, because they put me on a standard plan. I was never given any help in finding a job, so I'm working for two temp services.”

Can't make the payments

Sarah, of New Oxford, Pa., writes that her husband is unable to make his student loan payments to Sallie Mae.

“They will allow him to defer the loan for $150 for three months, but the $150 does not go towards paying off his loan,” Sarah wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “We have told them we could squeeze $300, but they will not lower to that amount, and will not accept partial payments."

Lori, of Colver, Pa., attended DeVry University, another for-profit school catering to mostly adult students, and writes that she spent a lot of money without getting a degree.

“This past July I was informed that I no longer had enough in loans to finish my degree,” she write. “My entire degree as a part-time online student was to cost $58,000 and as of July DeVry had billed me over $73,000. That is with 28 credits still remaining and 8 transferred credits.”

Public colleges cost much less

The cost of a for-profit school is similar to that of an established private, non-profit institution and almost everyone who attends one pays for it with student loans. State-supported schools – particularly community colleges -- cost much less and can often be paid for by working a part-time job.

Even so, getting a degree won't guarantee a job, at least not right away. A new study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., along with the online student hub Chegg, finds that many young people coming out of college are overqualified for today's job market, yet are completely unprepared for its challenges.

More than half the graduates in the survey said they would do things differently if they had it to do over again.

Are you willing to spend $20 a month to turn your car into a rolling hotspot and mobile communications and entertainment center? General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is hoping you are.

Akerson's optimism is understandable. He was, after all, a telecommunications executive before coming to GM in 2010 and he has been turning up the heat on GM's engineers to boost the connectivity of the company's cars. 

GM built an early lead in the telecom business with its OnStar, a relatively primitive 2G tool that provides safety, diagnostic and directional services to its 6 million subscribers.

Now, Akerson wants to see OnStar morphed into a 4G LTE service that provides all kinds of mobile telecom services, including some that nobody's thought of yet.

LTE is fourth-generation high-speed wireless service being rolled out by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. It makes it possible to stream video and music while also providing enhanced GPS, voice and text services. Oh, and advertising as well.

Advertising opportunities

If you think about it, the opportunities for advertising to people in their cars can get pretty exciting, if you're into that kind of thing. Instead of hiring an out-of-work English major to stand outside your business spinning a sign around, you could create an ad that would, to paraphrase an old AT&T ad, reach out and grab someone.

"Hey, looking for a great pedicure? Turn right now!"  Or something like that. We're not sure this is what Akerson has in mind but something along those lines will not doubt be haranguing tomorrow's drivers. 

His thinking seems to be of the "If you built it, they will come" school. Or as he put it in a Bloomberg interview: “The bigger the pipe, the more you’re rewarded into the future.”

“So, when we look at what we can do with a 4G pipe into a car, you can change the business model almost entirely. You may be able to have a real revenue-generating opportunity,” Akerson said.

GM is not the only company traveling down this road but not everyone is in the same lane. Ford is concentrating on providing an infrastructure that will connect its cars to the Internet through a user's smartphone while Akerson seems to want the car itself to provide the processing power of a smatphone. In effect, the car will be a big smartphone with wheels.

The thinking is that younger drivers have grown up staring endlessly at screens and don't want to be locked in a hurtling pile of metal with nothing to play with but the radio.

The days of hanging your head out the window to listen to the burble of your V-6 engine and straight-through stainless steel exhaust are pretty much history, it appears.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are instantly recognizable as today's top web browsers. But for how long?

As technology changes, web browsers will have to change too, as people don't use the Internet in the same way as they did even 10 years ago. Many people are constantly online or they're using smartphone apps, but web browsers have stayed more or less the same.

Take Internet Explorer for example. It hasn't changed that much at all over the years, but now according to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is going the touch-screen route and creating a web browser that can be manipulated by a press or a swipe.

Since a lot of folks are using apps today almost as much as they're using the web, companies are attempting to make web browsers just as fast and easy to use as today's apps.

Just this past April, Google released its updated version of Google Chrome which includes a voice feature so you can surf the web by talking instead of typing. The new Google Chrome is still in beta.

Mitchell Baker, Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation and former CEO of Mozilla Corporation, said web browsers have to be updated to meet the ever-changing ways that people are using the Internet.

Consumers no longer browse, Baker says says. They have specific destinations they like to visit and most times they know what pages they want to go to. Browsers should accommodate that. 

"The way we think about it is much too concrete. We don't browse anymore for sure," said Baker at the LeWeb conference in Paris.

No longer mysterious

And it's true. The web is no longer this new and mysterious thing that we want to explore. Most of us know which pages we want to visit and we visit these same pages every day.

Then there's the touch-screen, which seems bound to replace the mouse. In February, Microsoft released a new browser for Windows 7 and 8 called Internet Explorer 10, which takes the touch-screen concept and completely runs with it. 

Instead of clicking on different icons to access the site you want, all you have to do is touch a page to open it. Microsoft says Internet Explorer 10 is the first browser that's perfect for touch.

Cloud browsers

With most people having multiple devices, many want to be able to access their files, sites, apps and messages whether they're on their computer, smartphone or tablet. So companies like Maxthon Ltd.are creating browsers that allow them to do that.

Similar to Dropbox, the Maxthon "cloud browser" lets users send or download information to a cloud-based account and access that information on multiple devices.

Right now Maxthon customizes its browsers for whatever device you're using, whether it's your smartphone, home computer or tablet. 

In addition, Maxthon announced a deal with Pioneer Electronics to create touch screens in cars. That's not popular with safety advocates but there may be ways to reduce the risks from driving while browsing or texting. Maybe a new kind of browser could do that somehow.

Then there's Servo, a relatively new project created by Mozilla and Samsung that's supposed to reinvent how web browsers function as well.

"Servo is a research project to develop a new web browser engine," said a Mozilla employee during an interview with NetMagazine. "Our goal is to create an architecture that takes advantage of parallelism at many levels, both on the CPU and GPU, while eliminating common sources of bugs and security vulnerabilities associated with incorrect memory management and data races."

"With Servo, we aim to take the kinds of fluid, richer multimedia experiences expected in today's smartphone and tablet applications to the next level on tomorrow's web and tomorrow's hardware," the Mozilla worker said.

Internet Explorer may even have to come up with a new name eventually, because we don't explore the Internet anymore. We quickly grab our devices, visit a page, then move on.

You might not think of delis as dangerous places but they can be a source of food-borne diseases. Listeria contamination is one of the trickiest problems to manage and two federal agencies have teamed up to study the problem.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 179-page document last week that outlines steps to reduce the risk of Listeria monocytogenes in deli products reaching consumers’ plates.

Listeriosis, the disease caused by Listeria, is rare but has a high fatality rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 1,500 people fall ill with listeriosis each year and about 260 of them -- or 16% -- die.

Salmonellosis is far more common but far less serious, with a fatality rate of about half of one percent.

The study released last week, formally known as a risk assessment, links certain deli practices to potential public health risks. It's intended to apply to all kinds of retail delis, from the mom-and-pop deli on the corner to large deli departments in supermarkets.

“The risk assessment will be a tremendous asset in our efforts to reduce the 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths attributed to this pathogen annually,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. “Essential information has been gained from these findings, including the fact that once Listeria monocytogenes enters a retail environment, it has the potential to spread due to cross contamination."

The study found that a combination of several best practices can significantly reduce the risk of contamination:

• Storage temperature. If all refrigerated, ready-to-eat foods are stored at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below at least 9 of every 100 cases of listeriosis caused by contaminated deli products could be prevented.
• Growth inhibitors. If all deli products that support Listeria growth were reformulated to include growth inhibitor, 96 of every 100 cases of listeriosis caused by contaminated deli products could be prevented. 
• Cross contamination. Slicers and other machines play a big role in cross contamination. Proper cleaning and personal hygiene can make a difference.
• Contamination of incoming product. If current levels of Listeria in ready-to-eat foods received by the retail deli from processing establishments were reduced by half, 22 of every 100 cases of listeriosis caused by contaminated deli products could be prevented.

FDA offers a number of food safety resources for retail delis online.

The children of pregnant women exposed to the flu have four times the risk of developing bipolar disorder in adulthood, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health.  

The findings add to mounting evidence of possible shared underlying causes and illness processes with schizophrenia, which some studies have also linked to prenatal exposure to influenza. Similar processes may influence develop of autism, some researchers think.

“Prospective mothers should take common sense preventive measures, such as getting flu shots prior to and in the early stages of pregnancy and avoiding contact with people who are symptomatic,” said Alan Brown, M.D., M.P.H, of Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Flu shots are best prevention

“In spite of public health recommendations, only a relatively small fraction of such women get immunized. The weight of evidence now suggests that benefits of the vaccine likely outweigh any possible risk to the mother or newborn,” Brown said. He and colleagues reported their findings online May 8, 2013 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Although there have been hints of a maternal influenza/bipolar disorder connection, the new study is the first to follow families in the same HMO, using physician-based diagnoses and structured standardized psychiatric measures.

Among nearly a third of all children born in a northern California county during 1959-1966, researchers followed 92 who developed bipolar disorder, comparing rates of maternal flu diagnoses during pregnancy with 722 matched controls.

The nearly fourfold increased risk implicated influenza infection at any time during pregnancy, but there was evidence suggesting slightly higher risk if the flu occurred during the second or third trimesters. 

Schizophrenia link

A previous study, by Brown and colleagues, in a related northern California sample, found a threefold increased risk for schizophrenia associated with maternal influenza during the first half of pregnancy.

Autism has also been linked to first trimester maternal viral infections and to possibly related increases in inflammatory molecules.

A California company that calls itself CallFire has agreed to stop blasting illegal robocalls to consumers and pay a $75,000 fine.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said the Santa Monica company helped its clients place illegal outbound pre-recorded telemarketing calls to consumers.

Such calls have been illegal since September 2009 and the FTC said that CallFire either knew or purposely avoided knowing that its clients were breaking the law.

The settlement agreement requires CallFire, whose official corporate name is Skyy Consulting Inc., to review all pre-recorded messages it delivers from now on and to terminate its contracts with clients who are breaking the law.

The company also has 120 days to review all of the existing messages on its platform to be sure they're in compliance with the law.

The company's website says it's the "safe way to send text and voice messages to your customers."

There's a new product on the market for the long-term, once-daily, maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and or emphysema.

Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate and vilanterol inhalation powder), which has been okayed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is also approved to reduce exacerbations of COPD in patients with a history of exacerbations.

Symptoms of COPD, a serious lung disease that worsens over time, can include chest tightness, chronic cough and excessive phlegm. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD which, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Breo Ellipta, a combination of fluticasone furoate, an inhaled corticosteroid, and vilanterol, a long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist (LABA), works by decreasing inflammation in the lungs and helping the muscles around the airways of the lungs stay relaxed to increase airflow and reduce exacerbations in patients with COPD.

A serious problem

“COPD is a serious disease that makes breathing difficult,” said Curtis Rosebraugh, M.D., M.P.H., director, Office of Drug Evaluation II, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA. “The availability of new long-term maintenance medications provides additional treatment options for the millions of Americans who suffer with COPD.”

The safety and efficacy of Breo Ellipta were evaluated in 7,700 patients with a clinical diagnosis of COPD. Those treated showed improved lung function and reduced exacerbations compared with those who used a placebo.

Asthma warning

The drug carries a boxed warning that LABAs increase the risk of asthma-related death. The safety and efficacy of Breo Ellipta in patients with asthma have not been established, and it is not approved for the treatment of asthma.

Breo Ellipta carries a patient medication guide that includes instructions for use and information about the potential risks of taking the drug. It should not be used as a rescue therapy to treat sudden breathing problems (acute bronchospasm) and is not recommended for people younger than 18 years.

Serious side effects include increased risks of pneumonia and bone fractures. Among the most common side effects are inflammation of the nasal passage (nasopharyngitis), upper respiratory tract infection, headache and oral candidiasis (thrush).

Breo Ellipta was developed by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with Theravance.

If you follow the monthly reports from the Labor Department, you know that inflation has all but disappeared from the U.S. economy. Despite the Federal Reserve pumping money into the economy for years, prices have hardly risen.

In fact, the government's inflation report for March 2013 showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) actually went down 0.2%. Over the last 12 months the inflation rate has been a feeble 1.5%.

A big reason for this is the absence of demand in the economy. Since the Great Recession, businesses and consumers have reduced their spending. If there isn't increased demand for goods and services, it's hard to raise prices. But as any consumer will tell you, the cost of many things still seems to be going up.

For consumers who want a more accurate reading on prices, they need look no further than their neighborhood McDonald's. Just keep an eye on the price of a Big Mac.

The Big Mac Index

In 1986 The Economist devised what it called The Big Mac Index as a way to track relative currency values. By monitoring what a Big Mac cost in yen, Swiss francs or dollars, you could see how currencies were fluctuating in relation to each other. 

But investment broker Peter Schiff, author of The Real Crash, says you can also use The Big Mac Index to measure real inflation in the U.S. He says over the last decade the Big Mac, McDonald's iconic burger, has gone up in price almost three times as fast as the official rate of inflation. 

Schiff and others claim that the government's official inflation statistics mask the true nature of inflation. Consumers suggest the same thing from time to time. William, of Conroe, Tex., complained recently about the new packaging of Nabisco crackers.

Smaller boxes

“Quite frankly, you are now selling 10 oz. boxes instead of 16 oz. boxes for the same price,” William wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “I will go to another brand if you don't bring back the multi-grain wheat crackers with sea salt. Are you looking to go away like Hostess did?”

It can also show up in more subtle ways. You book a flight on an airline, choosing what appears to be a competitive fare. But when you actually take the flight you pay fees for luggage, food and desirable seats and enjoy less and less service.

Both the airline and the cracker company are faced with the same problem. Their costs are rising but they don't want to raise the cost of their product for fear they will lose business to their competitors. So the cracker company sells fewer crackers for the same price and the airline adds fees and reduces service to keep its fares low.

Common trend

A 2011 report by Consumer Reports found the downsizing of products was a trend that spread across a number of industries.

“Higher commodity and fuel costs are expected to spike in food prices by as much as three percent,” Todd Marks, senior editor and resident shopping expert at CR said at the time of the report. “But if manufacturers are skimping when costs go up, why aren’t they more generous when costs hold steady or fall?”

Companies sometimes go to great lengths to disguise their price hikes. They indent the bottom of containers, make plastic wraps thinner or whip air into ice cream, just to name a few tricks.

For consumers who want to stay focused on the true cost of things, however, watching the price of McDonald's double-deck hamburger may provide the best clue.

To form its index The Economist averages the price of a Big Mac in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco. In 1986 the cost of a U.S. Big Mac was $1.60. In 2011 it was $3.80. Between 2001 and 2011, when inflation barely rose, the price of a Big Mac increased $1.28.

That works our to 33%, or 3.3% per year.

A measure that's pending in Congress would require cosmetics manufacturers to certify that new products are safe before they begin selling them.

What's that, you say? You thought there was already such a law on the books. Sorry, there's not. Under current law, companies do not have to show that cosmetic ingredients are safe before they go on the market.

Since substances we smear on our skin are often quickly absorbed into our bodies, this is no small oversight, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has started a campaign to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2013, introduced by Reps. Jan Schwakosky (D-Ill.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

13 chemicals

EWG’s 2008 teen body burden study found an average of 13 cosmetics chemicals in the bodies of teenage girls.  Among them were phthalates, triclosan, parabens and musks – all of which have been found to alter the hormonal system.  Other EWG tests have found the same hormone-disrupting cosmetics ingredients in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies.  This research clearly documented in utero exposure to these cosmetic ingredients, EWG said.

The law that governs cosmetics has not been updated since its enactment in 1938, EWG noted. Under the current system, the industry mostly regulates itself.  

The Safe Cosmetics Act  would:

1) require pre-market safety assessment of cosmetics to the gold standard of “reasonability of no harm ” to protect vulnerable populations like children and the elderly;

2) establish a list of ingredients, such as carcinogens and reproductive toxins, that could never be used in cosmetics;

3) authorize the federal Food and Drug Administration to move swiftly to take unsafe products ingredients off the market; and

4) require full disclosure of ingredients used in cosmetics.  

ABC is becoming the first over-the-air TV network to start live-streaming its programming on the Internet, but it's starting out with baby steps. 

The New York Times is reporting that ABC will quietly add a button to its iPhone and iPad apps this week that will let users around New York and Philadelphia begin live-streaming all ABC programming -- the first time any network has gone live on the web.

But wait, there's a catch: the live stream will only be available to paying customers of cable and satellite systems in the New York and Philadelphia markets. The six other cities where ABC owns TV stations will be added later this summer, the company said.

The network will have to negotiate with its more than 200 affiliates in other markets to clear the way for live-streaming outside the major cities where it owns stations.

The Times said ABC has already completed negotiations with Hearst Television, which owns stations in 13 markets, including Boston and Pittsburgh.

Could catch on

It may start a trend. Seven years ago, ABC became the first network to stream full episodes of its shows the day after they were broadcast and other networks quickly followed.

The broadcast and cable business is being broken open by pressure from consumers, lawmakers and regulators. The latest volley was fired last week by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who introduced a bill that would open up "a la carte" cable programming -- allowing subscribers to order only the channels they want to watch instead of being forced to pay for large tiers of channels they seldom or never watch.

The companies that produce shows for cable -- like AMC and HBO -- already distribute much of their programming via Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other Internet channels, putting additional pressure on over-the-air broadcasters to do the same. 

AT&T  is launching a new brand, Aio (pronounced “A-O”) Wireless, a data-centric prepaid wireless service that AT&T says will provide "a first-class wireless experience at a value price, without an annual contract."

Aio will run on AT&T's network but will not have access to its highest-speed LTE network, meaning that while customers may be getting unlimited data, they may have to be a little patient when downloading large files. Network speed isn't as much of a factor in text and voice communications.

So is Aio a response to T-Mobile's recent removal of long-term contracts from some of its service brands? AT&T says it's not. 

“We talked with no-annual-contract customers and created our service around what they want.  They want simple, easy plan choices with unlimited offers; first-class service at affordable prices; great devices; nationwide voice and data coverage; and no annual contracts. Today’s wireless customers don't want to compromise,” said Jennifer Van Buskirk, president of Aio Wireless. “We are set up to win over value-conscious customers who are increasingly moving towards smartphones and mobile broadband.” 

Florida & Texas

Aio debuted in Houston, Orlando and Tampa and will be rolling out to other cities over the coming months, AT&T said.

Aio will have its own dedicated stores and will be sold with three rate plans to choose from. Aio’s unlimited talk, text, and data rate plans range from $35 to $70 per month, with pricing varying by market, and will offer 4G download speeds of up to 4Mbs per second.

The company insists there will be no hidden charges. "The price you see is the price you pay," AT&T said. Customers can bring a compatible, unlocked device for activation on the Aio network. 

AT&T already has a prepaid service, called Go Phone but Aio is targeted more at data-centric users, the company said. Smaller wireless carriers have traditionally done well with prepaid services, which have been mostly shunned by the bigger carriers.

A high-energy legal battle is shaping up in San Francisco, where the city has sued Monster Beverage and Monster Beverage has sued San Francisco. The dispute revolves around the city's claims that Monster targets its advertising to kids.

It's the latest round in a nationwide tussle over energy drinks and other caffeinated products. On Friday, Wrigley withdrew its Alert Energy caffeinated chewing gum saying it was responding to concerns expressed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Monster, the largest maker of energy drinks in the U.S., claims in its suit that San Francisco District Attorney Dennis Herrera is overstepping his authority by trying to require it to curb its advertising and serving sizes.

But Herrera's not buying it.

"Monster Energy is unique among energy drink makers for the extent to which it targets children and youth in its marketing, despite the known risks its products pose to young people's health and safety," he said. "Consumption of highly caffeinated energy drinks by children has been widely condemned by pediatricians and scientists, and the NCAA has banned its member institutions from providing these products even to college athletes because of the grave safety risks."

Remains defiant

Herrera said Monster Energy has remained defiant even in the face of the FDA's expressions of concern.

"As the industry's worst offender, Monster Energy should reform its irresponsible and illegal marketing practices before they're forced to by regulators or courts," Herrera said in a prepared statement.

Herrera's lawsuit came one week after Monster pre-emptively sued Herrera in an legal attempt to halt his office's months-long investigation into Monster's marketing and sales practices.

"Mr. Herrera appears to be motivated by publicity rather than fact or science," a Monster spokesman said.

Alcohol and drug abuse are huge problems in this country. According to statistics from the American Council for Drug Education, 10 to 15 million people in The U.S. are addicted to alcohol.

And based on figures released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2.1 million people in the United States had to seek emergency treatment for drug abuse and that was just in the year 2009.

Perhaps it's not surprising that these and other forms of addiction are huge problems in the U.S. and all around the world.

High-tech help

But what may be surprising is how today's technology is helping people overcome their addiction.

Take the smartphone app DTOX for example. It has all kinds of helpful features to assist a person going through the recovery process.

"DTOX is a recovery app for your smartphone that helps you overcome addiction," said Rae Dylan, an interventionist and the creator of DTOX, in an interview with ConsumerAffairs. "DTOX not only tracks your daily progress but also helps you build the support structure that everyone needs when trying to change their life. By incorporating DTOX into your daily routine, you will be taking an important first step on the road to recovery."

Dylan says DTOX assists families of addicted patients too. 

"DTOX connects users together," she says. "It helps to show how others are feeling in their moods based on their days off their dependency. It provides inspiration and evidence that people are able to get clean and stay off their substances with each other, with work and dedication." 

The app is also able to track a person's detox history, document a particular feeling or craving and send daily motivational messages.

Part of the solution

Right off the bat, some people may be skeptical about using an app to help beat their addiction, but Dylan says DTOX should be used along with other types of assistance.

"The app is a tool to be used in conjunction with other elements of recovery," she said. "You can use it to be connected to others; you can use it to provide a sense of anonymity. You can use it to find your way in what you might not know you need yet to get sober."

"Many addicts are skeptical in general and that is why they continue to think that they cannot get clean," Dylan points out. "If you cannot fathom it then you can't start to open yourself to the awareness that people all around you have been addicted once and are recovering."

Dylan has been coaching addiction patients for 10 years and has worked with rehab facilities, psychiatrists, doctors and 12- step program coordinators as well.

She says working with people suffering from a dependency and the professionals who try to assist them gave her the perfect kind of experience to create DTOX.

"There are all kinds of people and there are many facets of addiction," she says. "Addiction is the aftermath of an emotional disturbance and/or genetic disposition. Working with people who are in recovery themselves has proven to be extremely successful because it helps one to realize that it takes understanding, knowledge and experience. You will be able to accept help like that as an addict, when you are getting help from someone who has been there."

Help at your fingertips

The benefit of using an app during the recovery process is that your smartphone is always with you, says Dylan, adding that with the support the app gives, DTOX serves as a constant teacher and helps to remove some of the fears that are associated with starting recovery.

"Because of technology today, privacy for many addicts seems so terrifying," Dylan said.  "The phone is our constant companion. If we could turn our phone into a tool for recovery, then we could perhaps see that what we think we know -- we do not know how to do."

In addition, Dylan says helping people overcome their addiction and making them feel more confident about beginning recovery is really why she created DTOX.

"There are people that are on the recovery road that have lived miracles along their journey and can help others have hope," she said.  "If we see evidence that we can do something about addiction and all the fear that surrounds it, then we are sure to see that DTOX is another way to get connected."

Dairy Fresh is recalling a specific batch of IGA Brand “Vanilla & Chocolate” Ice Cream (1.75 quart, 1.66L) with the plant code “3783” and a SELL BY date of 08-13-13.  The company is also recalling packages with a sell date between 06-08-13 and 08-27-13.

The package incorrectly contains Heavenly Hash ice cream, which contains almonds, coconut, and soy, which are allergens not declared on the carton. The company says it is not aware of any other complaint or illness to date related to this issue.

A small number of Vanilla & Chocolate packages were inadvertently used when the company was producing Heavenly Hash ice cream. As a result, a consumer may purchase a Vanilla & Chocolate package that contains Heavenly Hash ice cream.

This product is produced by the Dairy Fresh processing facility in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and is sold at IGA stores.

Consumers who purchased the product may discard it and return the product package to the place of purchase for a full refund or exchange.

Consumers with questions can contact Dairy Fresh 1-800-587-2259 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Central Time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

General Motors is recalling 42,904 model year 2012 and 2013 Buick LaCrosse and Regal, and model year 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco vehicles equipped with eAssist.

These vehicles may have a condition in which the Generator Control Module (GCM) may not function properly. This could cause a gradual loss of battery charge and the illumination of the malfunction indicator light. If the vehicle continues to be driven, the engine may stall and/or the vehicle may not start. In addition, there may be a burning or melting odor, smoke, and possibly a fire in the trunk.

GM will notify owners and dealers will test the GCM and replace it, as necessary, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. GM's recall campaign number is 13136.

Acadian Fine Foods of Church Point, La., is recalling approximately 17,037 pounds of pork stew and chicken stew products because of misbranding and undeclared allergens. The products contain whey and soy, allergens that are not declared on the product label.

There have been no reports of adverse reactions associated with consumption of these products.

The following products are subject to recall:

• 12-oz. single-serve bowls of "Savoie's Cajun Singles Louisiana Pork Stew" bearing the establishment number "Est. 13587" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on various dates from May 24, 2012 through March 21, 2013. The product packages bear "Use By" dates from May 24, 2013 through March 21, 2014.
• 12-oz. single-serve bowls of "Savoie's Cajun Singles Louisiana Chicken Stew" bearing the establishment number "P-13587" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on various dates from June 6, 2012 through Feb. 25, 2013. The product packages bear "Use By" dates from June 6, 2013 through Feb. 25, 2014.

The products were distributed for retail sale in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Jim Miller, Acadian Fine Foods' Plant Manager, at (337) 684-6933.  

Chrysler Group is recalling 5,440 model year 2008-2012 Jeep Wrangler right-hand drive vehicles manufactured February 1, 2007, through October 10, 2011.

The affected vehicles have airbag clockspring assemblies that could experience broken airbag circuits. In the event of a crash necessitating airbag deployment, a broken electrical circuit in the airbag clockspring wiring assembly can lead to non-deployment of the driver-side frontal airbag and will not be able to properly protect the driver, increasing the risk of injuries.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the clockspring and add a steering wheel dust shield, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 2013.

Owners may contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753. Chrysler's recall campaign number is M31.

Meijer Distribution of Grand Rapids, Mich., is recalling about 4,560 Touch Point portable baseboard convection heaters.

The heaters can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers. The company has received two reports of overheating incidents, including one report of a fire that resulted in minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves Touch Point brand portable, electric baseboard convection heaters with model BBC-1500 and date code 0611. “Touch Point” can be found on the front of the product and the model and date code can be found on a silver sticker on the back side of the product. The heaters, manufactured in June 2011, are black and measure approximately 30-inches long by 6-inches deep by 12-inches high.

The heaters, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Meijer stores from September 2011, through February 2013, for about $50.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled heaters and return them to a Meijer customer service desk for a full refund.

Consumers may contact Meijer at (800) 927-8699 anytime.