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发表于 2009-1-30 08:56
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美国93岁老人欠电费被冻死：中国媒体报道无德?
中国媒体《XXX》报道了美国93岁老人因为欠费而冻死的新闻，为此编辑查看了英文原报道，发现中文报道刻意“忽视”了其中一些细节。
1、老人被停电，是因为电力公司安装了欠费停电的装置，限制金额是1000美元。1000美元的电费，大概是这个寒冷地区普通家庭一个冬天的取暖电费。更为重要的是：这个装置只是让电掉闸，用户到屋外重新开一下就可以继续使用。（做为警告？）
2、这个老人不缺钱，死后发现他桌子上很多钱。
3、老人家并不是用电取暖，而是烧煤气。问题是没有电，煤气燃烧装置有点问题。这样看，这个老人欠费应该超过2年多了，美国冰箱、电灯用电，每月一般不会超过40美元。
4、该市除了要马上调查，还下令停止了所有限电装置。
中文媒体应该关心中国人，片面歪曲报道国外事件，忽视国内百姓疾苦，除了蒙骗世人，还有一个很大的负作用，就是使得中国人看不到光明，因为天下一般黑，坏人会缺少负罪感，受苦的会觉得一切正常。过去60年，中国人逐渐根据官方媒体编造的虚假宣传，学习了西方一切黑暗的东西，西方文明、优秀的东西则被掩盖和丢弃。简单一句话：西方人不是那么的无情，相反，远比中国有人情味。就以此新闻的英文报道为例，此事发生后，人们的愤怒，政府的立即行动，足以说明问题。假设，一个有钱的中国人，欠电费2年，而取暖不是用电，这个人被暂时断电，他可以到屋外重新开启供电（美国是每户外面有电表等装置），如果冻死了，人们如何反应？政府如何反应？媒体是否会报道？
同一篇英文报道提到，该地一户因为不让狗进屋而要受刑事起诉。
中英文媒体的报道都全文附在下面：
美国93岁老人因欠费被停电 被冻死家中
星岛网
美国密歇根州的93岁独居老翁舒尔，日前因为欠缴约1000美元电费而被电力公司限制供电，最后在摄氏0度的低温下活生生冻死于家中。当地司法部门已就老翁死因展开调查。
据香港《文汇报》报道，舒尔生前独居在密歇根州贝城，膝下无儿，妻子则于多年前去世。报道指，当地电力公司于1月13日以欠缴电费为由，在舒尔家外安装了一个限制供电装置。只要用电量超过一定限度，供电便会自动中断。
装置安装4天后，有邻居发现舒尔冻死于家中床边。当时屋内气温只有0度，就连厨房洗碗盘内的水都已结冰。法医表示，舒尔死去的过程是“又慢又痛苦”，“他的手指脚趾会先感到火烧般的疼痛，继而全身失去知觉。整个过程长达多个小时。”
Freezing death of Mich. man in house sparks anger
By DAVID EGGERT, Associated Press Writer David Eggert, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 28, 7:08 pm ET AP – People stand in front of Marvin Schur's home in Bay City, Mich., Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009. Schur, 93, froze … BAY CITY, Mich. – When neighbors went inside Marvin Schur's house, the windows were frosted over, icicles hung from a faucet, and the 93-year-old World War II veteran lay dead on the bedroom floor in a winter jacket over four layers of clothing.
He froze to death — slowly and painfully, authorities say — days after the electric company installed a power-limiting device because of more than $1,000 in unpaid bills.
The old man's sad end two weeks ago has led to outrage, soul-searching and a resolve never to let something like this happen again.
"There's got to be a way in today's computer age they can find out if someone's over a certain age," said Chad Sepos, 37, a copy machine installer who lives a block away in this Lake Huron city of 34,000 people, about 90 miles from Detroit. "It's just sad."
One of the saddest things of all was that Schur appeared to have plenty of money, and, in fact, one of the neighbors who entered the home reported seeing cash clipped to a pile of bills on the kitchen table. Schur's nephew suggested the old man's mind may have been slipping.
Schur, or "Mutts," was a retired foundry worker who lived alone, his wife having died a couple of years ago. The couple had no children. He could often be seen through the big front window of his comfortably furnished home of 50 or 60 years, watching TV or keeping an eye on his neighborhood.
On Jan. 13, a worker with the city-owned utility installed a "limiter" on Schur's electric meter after four months of unpaid bills. The device restricts power and blows like a fuse if usage rises past a set level. Electricity is not restored until the device is flipped back on by the homeowner, who must walk outside to the meter.
City Electric Light & Power did not contact Schur face-to-face to notify him of the device and explain how it works, instead following its usual policy by leaving a note on the door. But neighbors said Schur rarely, if ever, left the house in the cold.
At some point, the device evidently tripped and was not reset, authorities said. Schur's home was heated by a gas furnace, not electricity, but some gas furnaces do not work properly if the power is out.
Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17 in his home, a yellow house with peeling paint. The outside temperature ranged from a high of 12 degrees to a low of minus 9 on Jan. 15, the day he was believed to have died. A heating pad was on his favorite armchair by the window. The oven door was open, perhaps to heat the place.
"The body has a tremendous fighting power for survival. He died a slow, painful death," said Dr. Kanu Virani, who found frostbite on Schur's foot when performing the autopsy. Investigators are trying to establish how long he was without electricity.
City officials are reviewing their procedures and in the meantime have suspended shutoffs and removed all limiters from homes after using the devices for 18 years.
The medical examiner is looking into whether Schur suffered from dementia, particularly after police found enough cash lying around in the home to cover his bills. His nephew William Walworth said Schur told him two years ago he had $600,000 in savings.
"It's definitely not a situation where money is an issue. The issue has to do with the mental faculties you have and your ability to make good decisions," said Walworth, 67, who lives in Ormond Beach, Fla.
"I think the utility's policies are horrible and insane," he added. "For 50 years he paid the bill on a regular basis and never had problems. If people would know who their customers are and take concern for their customers, maybe they'd go knock on the door and see if everything is OK."
Neighbors and others have posted messages on the Internet, complaining it was a shabby way to treat a veteran and demanding city employees be fired or prosecuted for not taking a few minutes to check on Schur, who was a medic in the South Pacific and earned a Purple Heart.
One blogger noted that even a pet owner who leaves his dog outside to freeze can face charges.
Sharon Gire, director of the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging, said Schur's death was preventable. "He was one of Michigan's most vulnerable citizens in need," she said. "It is a tragedy that he had to suffer such a painful death."
Michigan's big, state-regulated utilities are not allowed to shut off power to senior citizens in the winter and must offer payment plans to the poor. State regulators also discourage the use of limiters. But Michigan's 41 smaller municipal utilities — Bay City's included — are not overseen by the state.
Schur's death has prompted Michigan lawmakers to start writing legislation that could ban the use of limiters by municipal utilities.
"The concern was particularly with elderly customers; they can be frail or confused," Public Service Commission spokeswoman July Palnau said. "Anything that can require some sort of mechanical intervention can be overwhelming."
Bay City Manager Robert Belleman said that he was "deeply saddened" by Schur's death and that State Police will investigate. But he also said neighbors have a responsibility to each other.
"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department." |
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