Bringing medical information to Iraq
On April 8, KGO-TV, Channel 7, ran a feature story on business communication
Professor Gary Selnow. One computer connection at a time, he rebuilds
communities and health-care systems in countries disrupted by war,
conflict or rampant illness. Selnow recently returned from Iraq, where
his nonprofit organization WiRED International set up 10 Medical Information
Centers. The centers use computers and a CD-ROM library to provide
education on a broad range of health-care topics. "Medicine touches
everybody, from the richest person in the country to the poorest," Selnow
said. "What we're doing is making available the skills to help."
Still fabulous at forty
Cars are "an identity statement," Gilbert Herdt, professor
of human sexuality studies, said in an April 16 Detroit News article
on the 40th anniversary of the Ford Mustang. "And the kind of car
you have, whether it’s a Volkswagen or a Ford Mustang or a Jaguar,
is a very strong identity statement."
Computer science majors needed
The soft market for tech jobs has led to a large drop in students majoring
in computer science, reported NPR's Morning Edition on April 19. Sam
Gill, chair of the Information Systems Department, is worried
that the decrease will hurt the United State's ability to create new
technologies because students are more likely
to have innovative and creative ideas. "The
Internet was not built by people like me in their 60s. It was built
by people
who
didn't
know different," he said. "So
basically
they didn't listen to 'this can't be done.' They just went ahead and
did
it."
Literature as a window to the Arabic world
Works of Arabic literature can help U.S. citizens better understand the
peoples of the Middle East, says Matthew Shenoda, lecturer
in American Indian studies, in an opinion piece that appeared in the
April 25 edition
of Newsday. "A survey of any of the major forces in contemporary
Arab literature teaches us that while U.S. media have painted Arabs
as villains of humanity, the truth is that dignity and a connection
to place are central to Arab identity," he writes. "We learn
that the preservation of a peaceful life in one's home is a major theme
in Arab literature. We learn that resistance as an innate part of people
who deeply love their home and their humanity comes second to a celebration
of life."
Selling passion at home
Following a model pioneered by Tupperware, in-home passion parties showcasing
products to enhance sex have become popular, reports the San Francisco
Chronicle in its April 25 issue. Deborah Tolman, director of the Center
for Research on Gender and Sexuality, said that the parties' popularity
makes sense because women have less opportunity to get together and
talk about these issues once they leave college or are living on their
own. "We all have so many pressures of life, and we are all tired
and have people to take care of," she said. "Sex doesn't
often get at the top of the list. ... In what venue do you talk about
it?"
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