The Environment, Bodybuilding & Race, from Two Favorites

A couple of favorite blogs have recently included (broadly) health-related posts, so I will close out the week with a few comments about each.

I've already mentioned the briliant writing of Twisty-Faster and her patriarchy-blaming ways. And, she recently saw the Al Gore film which she refers to as a globalwarmingumentary. God knows I love a made up word and that's a doozy. Ms. Twisty mentions this blurb from NPR which perpetuates the myth of global warming as a 'controversy," noting in her inimitable style: "NPR. Ever since they got that Bushite pit boss, you’ve really gotta keep your eye on’em." Love her.

And, from my other favorite blog, Liz over at Granny Gets a Vibrator, writes about her experiences with personal training. Liz, who is white, tells a story of working out with an African American woman, and a conversation ensues about black-white body differences. As it turns out, African Americans on average, "tend to have greater bone density than white people, different patterns of fat distribution, and unique shapes to certain muscles." Then, she goes on to talk about a bodybuilding-buddy of hers who is an African American man, and who has "high short calves." She relates this back to the sport of bodybuilding and writes this:

"But even as I was expounding on the anatomy lesson, it occurred to me that of course there is nothing inherently wrong with Kevin's calves. They're strong and sturdy, hard as rocks, well developed and healthy, and they do a damn good job of supporting his enormous bulk. The only problem is that they don't quite meet the gold standard for bodybuilders, which is--surprise!-- arbitrarily based on the average shape of white people's calves."

Bingo. Well-said, Liz!

Gender, Time & the Push to Multi-Task

Interesting presentation last night in class by Kezzie Joseph about multi-tasking and the impact on women's health. As she notes on her blog, she sees "multi-tasking [as] more of an woman's health issue," and I wanted to expand a little on that idea.

So, why is it do you think that women, more so than men, feel so pressed for time that they are risking their health? While you may have heard about the "wage gap," the fact that women still make less than men in paid employment, you may not have heard about the "leisure gap," wherein even in double-earner couples women have significantly less leisure time than men do. The reason for disparity in leisure time between women and men is primarily the result of the unequal allocation of housework and childcare. Overwhelmingly, women have the primary responsibility for housework and childcare, even when both partners work.

Given this inequality that shapes women's lives on a daily basis, it's no wonder that women feel pushed to multi-task. Of course, some women have advocated different strategies for resisting this inequality. Some have argued that housework should be paid labor. And, as I mentioned last night some people, women and men, are resisting all the ways our lives have sped up and are part of the Take Back Your Time movement.

Bayer Accused of Releasing Tainted Drugs in Foreign Countries

This story was originally reported a few years ago by CBS News, but I ran across it today via this student blog.

The story is that Bayer came out with a drug for hemophiliacs that was found to be tainted with the HIV-virus. The FDA blocked Bayer from releasing the drug in the U.S., but the company went ahead and sold it in France, Spain and Japan. Bayer, of course, denies any wrong-doing.

I wanted to post this story for a couple of reasons. One, so that I could mention Progressive U, which bills itself as "the new media voice for students," and seems to be a growing portal for young people interested in civic engagement through the Internet.

I also wanted to focus attention on the pharmaceutical companies who are in the business of "Selling Sickness," as author Ray Moynihan puts it. As Moynihan notes in his excellent book, even when pharmaceutical companies are not engaged in the kind of egregious behavior that Bayer is accused of, they are actively pursuing the creation of new diseases and conditions for which that they can then sell us "cures," at great profit to them and tremendous cost to the consumer. It's too bad Bayer felt the need to expand beyond the business of selling aspirin, which seems to be one of the few miracle drugs. Clearly, the huge profits of the pharmaceuticals are a higher priority for them than good health. And, these profits, in turn, influence politics in Washington around health care. No wonder we have no national health care.

TechSoup, NetSquared and Blogging for Justice

A few things worth noting from TechSoup. If you're not familiar with this organization and you work in a non-profit that makes any use of technology, I urge you to visit their website (linked above) and sign up for their newsletter.

If you can make it down to D.C. this Thursday, June 29, there's an interesting conference on "Blogs, Wikis, and Workspaces," that will explore ways new technologies, like the ones we've been using in the course, can help public policy organizations be more effective and efficient.

TechSoup has also started a project called NetSquared, which is intended to help nonprofits harness Web technologies for social change. One of the social justice efforts highlighted on NetSquared is about "Justice for Gwen Araujo." In case you don't know, Gwen Araujo (pictured above) was a transgendered woman who was killed when her attackers learned she was biologically male. A community activist joined with others and blogged about the trial of Araujo's attackers. You can read more about it at the link above. I think it's a great example of the way Internet technology can be used for social justice.

Laptops for the Homeless

Circling back to this meme about how technology can improve the lives of the poor, there's an article from WIRED Magazine about laptops for the homeless, brought to my attention by Bill McIver on the Digital Divide Network listserv. Here's a brief bit from that article:

"Many of those now living without a permanent roof over their heads have cell phones in their pockets or laptop computers at their hips. While people living in shelters and alleys have found it difficult to cross social divides, the digital divide seems to disappear on the streets. Nearly all homeless people have e-mail addresses, according to Michael Stoops, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. 'More have e-mail than have post office boxes,' Stoops said. 'The internet has been a big boon to the homeless.'

Helping the homeless get e-mail addresses has been a priority for years at shelters across the country. And in an age when most every public library in the nation offers internet access, the net has proven a perfect communication tool for those without a firm real-world address."


Clearly, there are some implications here for public health and public health practitioners. It might be possible to get health information to homeless people via email, and certainly those who want to work with this population need to know how to help people set up email accounts.

And, even more encouraging is this story:

"Terri Hellerich's connection to the information superhighway is all that made life livable on the streets. 'It kept me sane and provided my income,' she said. Hellerich found herself homeless after a landlord in West Sacramento kicked her out and kept her belongings to make up for a debt. She didn't have a change of clothes, but she did have an old cell phone that she could use to stay online and check her inbox.

Hellerich slept on benches but she frequented a women's shelter with a cluster of internet-connected computers used mostly by the children who arrived at the safe house with their mothers. She started blogging and conducting a business. As an independent internet marketer, she was able to maintain bank accounts, nurse existing client connections and forge new business relationships. The business brought in only about $100 a month, but that was enough to help get her life back on track."

The article goes on to mention the blogs of several other homeless folks, including Kevin Barbieux, a woman in the UK known as Wandering Scribe, Willie York, and another blog written by a young woman who wrote about being homeless and now has housing.

Anytime, Anywhere Learning Podcasts

Via Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth, a series of podcasts from the anytime, anywhere learning foundation summit in Boston. Each podcast is about 45 minutes long, between 15 and 20 megabytes. To dowload and listen, click on the name of each speaker below.


Ben Shneiderman:

Ben is the author of Da Vinci's Laptop, and is a computer scientist/edtech researcher at the University of Maryland. He talks about the need to make students ecstatic about learning, using authentic, interactive learning experiences that positively affect the community. He also talks about his work with Hive Group, developing web-based visualization tools for exploring complex data sets.

Mike Furdyk:

Mike is one of the founders of TakingITGlobal.org, the global youth activism network. He talks about his life growing up with technology from the time he was a toddler, and how it led to him creating an online community where young people can come together to affect positive social change.


Tim Magner:

Tim is the director of the Office of Education Technology at the US Department of Education. In his presentation, he offers a broad overview of emerging technologies, from mobile devices to nanotechnology, and examines the role these tools should play in education and educational management.

Although these are all focused only on "education and technology," I think each of these has clear relevance for health communication.

Information Technology & Poor Communities

Interesting discussion in class last night about "digital entitlements," using Mansell's phrase, a couple of items through my inbox today that relate to that discussion. Via The Chron.com, a recent forum, called the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, at the United Nations urged:

"... urged private businesses to help governments make information technology more accessible and affordable, especially in developing countries.

Computers and communications technology should not just be "a privilege for the rich, but a tool for the poor," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said at a meeting of policy makers and high-tech experts.

Efforts to bridge the current "digital divide" should include linking villages to the Internet and providing cell phone technology cheaply to rural communities, he said at the launch of a U.N.-backed forum on using technology to battle global poverty and unemployment."

And, via the DDN listserv, notice of the Southeast Wireless and ICT Conference, which will "focus on the new and evolving technical, political, legal, and financial issues surrounding municipal broadband deployment. Industry experts and community leaders will present research results and practical hands-on experience derived from case studies on applying ICT to create digital communities and enhance rural life."

Finally, here's the link to the group I mentioned that's involved in grassroots efforts to provide wifi throughout NYC.

Technology Used to Combat Childhood Obesity

A few people in the class, including Liudmila, Tara, Julie, Nurit, and Cris, have been blogging about food and nutrition-related issues. Lots of folks have pointed to the increase in sedentary activities for kids, such as watching tv and playing video games, as part of what is responsible for the rise in childhood obesity. However, some have seen the power of technology for addressing the epidemic among children, as in this intervention,via eSchool News.

Jill Bond, a teacher at Morningside Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, Fla., uses food nutrition education to teach her fourth grade students core curriculum subjects such as math, science, and language arts.

"It's amazing how little these children knew about nutrition," Bond said. With resources gleaned from textbooks, the internet, and Discovery Education's Health Connection, she taught her students math, science, reading, writing, and about food groups, carbohydrates, fats, and more.

For a lesson on grains, she had her students grind whole grains, such as popcorn, wheat berries, and groats, into cornmeal, flour, and oatmeal. Students also kept journals of what grains they ate that week, and they watched a video from Discovery Education Health Connection about how different cultures eat different grains.

Although showing video to students might seem counter-productive, Bond said it engages her students more quickly than she otherwise could.

"Children 'so' need the entertainment, so it's nice to have the multimedia tie-in," Bond said. "These kids are so multimedia-entwined since birth. They've been raised with big-screen TVs, and some of them can text message faster than I can type."

The videos offered by Discovery Education are arranged in short segments. The videos Bond shows are only minutes long, but still, she will pause them to ask questions or to get students to anticipate what is coming up next.

Discovery Education Health Connection is a full health and prevention curriculum program available online. Its content covers nine areas: alcohol and other drugs; the body; growth and development; mental health; nutrition; physical activity; safety; tobacco; and violence."

It's also worth noting that the Wikipedia entry for Childhood Obesity is a stub, maybe some of you will consider contributing to it and expanding it.

Blogs from the NYTimes

There's a fairly useful page over at the New York Times about blogs. The page, Blogs 101, provides a set of "Collection & Rankings" blogs, and then categories of blogs by subject.

On an interesting note the author writes:

"This page is under development; feel free to suggest your own finds."

And, there's no subject heading for "Health." Perhaps you'll send in your own, or a classmate's, blog? Something to aim for.

Cancerland & Patriarchal Medicine

I mentioned this blog last night in class as one that has a unique and compelling voice. Originally, I visited the blog because I was looking for new voices in feminism, but I return again and again for her writing, her beautiful food photography, and the real-life drama of living with breast cancer. Browsing her archives, I also ran across this article by Barbara Ehrenreich about her journey through "Cancerland." In the United States, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point. The chances of her surviving for five years ore 86.8 percent. For a black woman this falls to 72 percent; and for a woman of any race whose cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, to 77.7 percent. There's been a lot of focus on "awareness" as a public health response to this, and Ehrenreich does a fantastic job of dissecting this cultural phenomenon. Here's one clip:

"What has grown up around breast cancer in just the last fifteen years more nearly resembles a cult—or, given that it numbers more than two million women, their families, and friends-perhaps we should say a full-fledged religion. The products—teddy bears, pink-ribbon brooches, and so forth—serve as amulets and talismans, comforting the sufferer and providing visible evidence of faith. The personal narratives serve as testimonials and follow the same general arc as the confessional autobiographies required of seventeenth-century Puritans: first there is a crisis, often involving a sudden apprehension of mortality (the diagnosis or, in the old Puritan case, a stem word from on high); then comes a prolonged ordeal (the treatment or, in the religious case, internal struggle with the Devil); and finally, the blessed certainty of salvation, or its breast-cancer equivalent, survivorhood. And like most recognized religions, breast cancer has its great epideictic events, its pilgrimages and mass gatherings where the faithful convene and draw strength from their numbers. These are the annual races for a cure, attracting a total of about a million people at more than eighty sites—70,000 of them at the largest event, in Washington, D.C., which in recent years has been attended by Dan and Marilyn Quayle and Al and Tipper Gore. Everything comes together at the races: celebrities and corporate sponsors are showcased; products are hawked; talents, like those of the “Swinging, Singing Survivors” from Syracuse, New York, are displayed. It is at the races, too, that the elect confirm their special status."

The entire article, linked above, is long but definitely worth reading if you care about women's health.

Personal Trainer Download

As I was just saying, there are lots of possibilities for getting fit online now. Another site came across my radar that has a page targeted especially toward public health professionals, and then the New York Times just featured an article about a yoga instructor who makes work-outs available via download.

And, here's a link to someone providing fitness and health-realated podcasts.

Online Diet & Fitness?

In our discussion in Wednesday evening's class about "Health Risks of the Internet," one of the issues that came up afterward was the sedentary nature of sitting, hour after hour, in front of a computer screen. This, obviously, has health risks in terms of obesity and all the co-morbidity issues related to it. In addition, there are repetitive strain injuries (RSI) that can result from overuse of the body at the computer.

But, this also got me thinking about the other side... are there ways that IT can be used to benefit diet and fitness? In terms of RSI, there's software you can install on your computer that reminds you to take breaks and claims to help prevent injury. I don't know of any research that's been published that puts this software to the test, but it would be interesting question to investigate.

Of course, there are also those online pharmacies that can be used to purchase diet pills although that's certainly an area that includes more risk than benefit in my opinion. Frankly, I don't want to trust the possibility of a heart attack or stroke from a diet pill based on the claims of Anna Nicole Smith (although, I really do wish her well in her lawsuit).

Then, there is the online diet and exercise support available at places such as eDiets.com and Weight Watchers Online. Again, I wonder if anyone has done any clinical trials examining the effectiveness of these sites. If I were designing such a study, I'd randomize a group that needed to lose weight, assign half to the face-to-face Weight Watcher meetings and half to Weight Watchers Online and see who lost more weight over time.

And, as I've been saying, wireless technology (wifi) opens up a whole new arena in terms of connectedness and the implications for health. This is no less true around diet and fitness. Now, you can download software for your PDA or PocketPC that allows you to track your daily diet and exercise, and it charts your progress for you. The added bonus here, of course, is that with a wireless-enabled hand-held device there's no sitting in front of a computer screen, you can take it with you! Still, there are no clinical trials on the effectiveness of these hand-held devices, but it's certainly worth researching given that the National Weight Control Registry reports that keeping a food diary was the most important factor (along with regular exercise) for those who have lost significant weight and kept it off for two years or longer.

Health Benefits of IT, Globally

I talked with several people after class last night about the potential of mobile and wireless Internet technology (IT) and the implications of these for addressing health disparities. And, in thinking about that, I wanted to point you to a couple of links. One is the blog of Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs. The blog is part of the work he did for his most recent book of the same name and there's lots of interesting information there. In terms of the connection to health, there's a recent post up about how a blog saved a girl's leg in China.

I also wanted to mention the amazing work of a Boston-based non-profit called Satellife, which is doing work to address health disparities in Uganda using wireless networks. Here's a Wired article about Satellife from a couple of years ago.

Part of what connects these is the notion of "leapfrogging," a strategy in which developing countries (or poor neighborhoods), skip inferior, less efficient, more expensive or more polluting technologies and industries and move directly to more advanced ones.

Google Juice & Boosting Your Rank

Got "Google juice"? The web service Alexa allows you to check a website's traffic and rankings. And, in addition to being a fun tool to play around with it's another way to check the origin and credibility of the information that you see online.

Seeing site's rankings may also raise questions about how you can increase your website's rank in Google and other search engines. A recent article in the Washington Post gives a good description of how people go about boosting their website's ranking, or in the lingo of the day getting more "Google juice."

How do you get more "Google juice"? According to the article:

"a whole new industry has arisen around mining the Web for links and other page-tweaks that can help sites boost their Google rank and reel in more visitors.
This industry calls itself "search-engine optimization," though I think a better name would be "search-massage consultants."

The key to the 'search-massage' is to propogate links to your site. And, that's what folks in this industry do. Here's another snip from that article:

"Rand Fishkin, chief executive of a Seattle-based search consultancy called SEOMoz, said he focuses on getting editorial links for his clients, partly by creating feature articles that Web publishers will link to: "We call it link-baiting. The idea is to attract a lot of natural links."

It sounds like the Web's version of public relations, with consultants baiting webmasters much like PR firms pitch stories to reporters. "


I think this notion of 'Google juice,' and how it can be manipulated, is important for several reasons. One, it highlights that the order in which results are returned from a Google search are not a vetting process that tells you anything substantive about the results. And, I also think it highlights the need for the kind of critical thinking that I've been talking about in class and online, when we find information on the web. Think about the "juice" behind your next Google search.

Reproductive Health Information Online

As should be clear by now from the discussions in class, finding information online is not a straightforward proposition, especially when it comes to politically charged health issues such as reproductive health. Harkening back to a day when "Operation Rescue" operated storefronts that posed as "women's health clinics," The Rosetta Foundation's "TeenBreaks.com" is a front for pro-life advocates. They are using the website to push forward a claim for something called "post-abortion syndrome," which is not a clinically recognized diagnosis, but rather, an insidious attempt to question women's right to choose.

And, this has real life consequences for us here in New York City, as the abortion opponents gear up their fight nationwide and the city becomes a refuge on a kind of underground railroad for women seeking safe, legal procedures.

Into this fraught online (and offline) environment, comes this breath of fresh air: RHReality Check, a blog and website devoted to fighting the agains the disinformation around reproductive health. Via Jeanne Flavin, Fordham University.

Kenneth Cole, KFF, Webcast Event

Today, Tuesday, June 13, the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a live webcast event with AIDS activist, Kenneth Cole as part of “Kaiser Conversations on Health,” an ongoing interactive program designed to elevate public debate of significant health issues. Submit questions for Kenneth Cole in advance of the live program at conversations@kff.org.

WHO: American fashion designer, humanitarian and president and chief executive officer of Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., Kenneth Cole, has been at the forefront of AIDS activism since 1985 when he allocated his company's entire advertising budget to a campaign featuring an Annie Leibovitz photo of eight well-known models posing barefoot with a group of children to support the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). He joined amfAR's Board of Directors in July 1987 and became Chairman of the Board in 2004. In addition to Board leadership, Cole designs and donates most of amfAR’s annual advertising creative and every year donates a portion of his company’s retail sales on World AIDS Day to amfAR. Cole continues to fight HIV/AIDS, most notably with the recent "We All Have AIDS" campaign.

WHAT: Kenneth Cole talks with Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Jackie Judd and a live audience, reflecting on his AIDS activism work and strategies for success.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 13 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

WHERE: Watch the live webcast on kaisernetwork.org.
http://cme.kff.org/Key=10987.GWB.C.D.F81nFH

HOW: Submit questions for Cole in advance of the live program at conversations@kff.org.

The archived webcast of this event will be available at 5:00 p.m. ET. In addition to the archived webcast, kaisernetwork.org provides the transcript, podcast, and links to related resources.

Please note: The program is accessible via webcast. If you have never viewed a webcast before, please test your media player in advance of the live webcast.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_howto_view.cfm

"If you see someone on a cell phone...."

If you see someone with a cell phone, what do you think of them? Who do you guess they're talking to, and about what? Over the weekend, a friend of mine was in town and was using her photo-enabled cell phone to blog her trip. I guess that's part of what's got me thinking about cell phones today.

There are several bits in the news that have me thinking about cell phones and mobile computing. Here in NYC, there's an on-going story about public school restrictions on cell phones. And, in today's NYTimes there's a piece about the use of higher-range ring tones that, according to the article, younger people can hear but older people can't hear. What struck me about the coverage of this is the way adolescents are likened to other-than-human-creatures, like dogs, with special hearing.

This is via Rich Ling, and a forwarded email listserv posting. There's another news story on MSNBC and in Newsweek that caught my attention as well. The focus of the article is about the war in Iraq, and how you discern who is a threat, and what caught my eye was this quote:

"If you see someone with a cell phone," said one of the commanders, half-jokingly, "put a bullet in their f---ing head."

Here, people with cell phones are seen as a particular kind of threat, not unlike the public school kids in NYC are viewed.

Any time there's technological innovation, there are unintended consequences that follow. Howard Rheingold has an interesting piece from a couple of years ago comparing the development of mobile computing via cell phones with the other sorts of technological innovation, like the automobile. Some of the unintended consequences he talks about in this piece are about how technology has influenced mating and dating patterns, which certainly has some relevance for public health.

I wonder, too, about the unintended consequences of "Othering" and new technology, and I worry about the unintended consequences of mobile computing for forces that want to destroy civil liberties and human life.

MTV and KFF Sponsor Video Blogging Contest about HIV/AIDS

I received this, dated June 5, from Julia Davis at The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) today, and wanted to pass it long. The partnership between KFF and MTV has been remarkably successful, and is a real benchmark for anyone interested in public health campaigns that target a large youth audience.

"Today, think MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation – as part of their think: Sexual Health campaign and with support from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), iFilm and WebMD – announced the creation of think HIV, the first ever multi-platform, interactive community for this first generation of Americans who have lived their entire lives during the AIDS epidemic. The initiative seeks to provide a platform to foster dialogue and active engagement on the topic of HIV/AIDS and especially its impact on young people, as well as provide information and resources to young people about HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS, half of new HIV infections worldwide are among those under the age of 25.

“The MTV audience has never known a day without HIV, and young people around the world are at the center of the epidemic,” said Brian Graden, President of Entertainment for MTVN Music Group and President of Logo. “We have a long history of educating and empowering our audience on this issue, and while progress has been made, there is still work to be done. think HIV will offer our viewers a new, interactive and safe place to learn about and fight it.”

“By utilizing the latest media technologies, think HIV gives voice to a generation of young people about a topic that deeply affects them in unique and powerful ways,” said Tina Hoff, Vice President and Director of Entertainment Media Partnerships for the Kaiser Family Foundation. “A core tenant of work has always been to go where young people go to reach them with information and this new joint venture brings us into the new age of media.”

think HIV will feature the following components:

* think HIV Online Community – think HIV online will serve as an interactive community that will launch following the premiere of the “THINK HIV” documentary on August 18th. The site will be an engaging and interactive, safe space for young people to share their personal stories through videos, photos and blogs and text about HIV/AIDS. The user-friendly site will also provide easy access to information and resources about HIV/AIDS including prevention and testing as well as how to get involved in the global fight – including access to health information, resources and the online community at WebMD. Visitors will be able to upload their videos to the site via software from iFilm. The Alive at 25 HIV Vlogging Competition winners will be featured on the site with official state information about HIV/AIDS, links to local services, and key resources for young people developed in partnership with NASTAD members.

* Alive at 25 – National HIV Vlogging Competition – Beginning June 5th and running until June 30th, young people ages 13-25 from around the country are encouraged to submit essays of 250 words or less at think.mtv.com on why they should be selected as the exclusive think HIV vlogger (video blogger) for their state. One winner will be selected from each state by Kaiser, MTV and NASTAD, and will be given a video camera to vlog about what HIV/AIDS means from their unique perspective. Vlogs will go live on the think HIV website on August 18th. One vlogger will be awarded a grand prize VIP trip to the MTV studios in New York, and earn the opportunity to showcase their vlog on MTV. For details about the competition visit www.think.mtv.com.

* THINK HIV Documentary – MTV News & Docs – in partnership with Kaiser – will produce “THINK HIV,” a documentary in which young people themselves tell the story of how their generation has been impacted by the virus. Part memorial, part testimony, these short vignettes filmed entirely by infected or affected young people will paint a raw, intimate, and informative portrait of the epidemic’s impact on their lives. The half hour show will premiere on MTV on August 18th — the last day of the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

think HIV builds on both MTV and Kaiser’s long-term commitment to educating and empowering young people in the fight against HIV/AIDS, in part through their 10-year partnership, currently called think: Sexual Health. To date, the Emmy and Peabody Award winning partnership has garnered more than 100 million viewers to its documentaries, 1.2 million calls to the toll-free hotline (1-888-BE-SAFE-1), and has distributed more than 450,000 informational guides. More than two out of three think: Sexual Health campaign viewers are more likely to use condoms, talk to their partner about safer sex, and to get tested for HIV or other STDs."

Class Blogs ~ Honorable Mentions

Coming to the end of the first week of Summer session, I wanted to take a few minutes to bring attention to some folks who are quickly getting the hang of blogging.

First, in terms of the assignment to "blog everyday" even though there have been groans and sobs (possibly the gnashing of teeth), lots of people have been able to do this, including: Cris, Beatriz, Kezzie, Steffie, Tara, Mary and Matt.

Second, in terms of content, I wanted to recognize a few people who are getting the hang of both the blogger interface and the task of creating health-focused content. Take a look at Tara's blog about alternative health, Cris's blog about diabetes disease management, and Kezzie's blog about women's health (and her impressive tech-skill at adding a video component!).

Finally, if you're still struggling in the class, you might seek out one of these classmates for help on getting up to speed.

Teleshrink

There's an interesting article in yesterday's New York Times about the practice of therapy by remote, technological set up.

What struck me about the article was this snippet:

"Basically, doctors can do, surprisingly, almost everything," said Don McBeath, the director of telemedicine and rural health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. "The difference is they can't touch you or smell you."

Dr. Gibson said the lack of smelling and touching, at least when it comes to psychiatry, has proved to be a good thing. Being physically in the presence of another human being, she said, can be overwhelming, with an avalanche of sensory data that can distract patient and doctor alike without either being aware of it.

"Initially we all said, 'Well, of course it would be better to be there in person,' " she said. "But some people with trauma, or who have been abused, are actually more comfortable. I'm less intimidating at a distance."


This is completely counter to what I would have expected. To me, it would seem that therapy would be more effective in person. I was surprised to find that some patients and clinicians actually prefer remote counseling to face-to-face.

Wondering What a Blog is, Anyway...?

If you're still a little perplexed by what a blog is, and what the term "blogosphere" means, there's a terrific post by Andy Carvin, another technology activist at Learning.Now, that explains it all for you.

How to Make Best Use of Class Time

As we discussed on Monday, each class time will start with a "practicum," that is a period of hands-on practice posting to your blog, commenting on classmates' blogs, the course wiki, and preparing your in-class presentation. Of these, the priority should be posting to your own blog, then reading and commenting on others' blogs.

This is also a time to get to know your classmates, share knowledge with them, ask questions.

As a third use of your time, you can use this time to check in with me, ask me questions about things you couldn't solve on your own.

Digital Divides and Community Activism

One of the things we'll be discussing in this class is the "digital divide," which is usually defined as "the gap between those people with access to communications and technology tools nd those without it."

For those of you interested in this topic, I wanted to pass long some excellent resources for learning more about what this means. In addition to the recent reports on the digital divide that I have linked above, you should also familiarize yourself with The Digital Divide Network (DDN). The DDN offers a tremendous wealth of information on their website, and they also have a fairly robust listserv (email list) that you can sign up for. If this is an area that you want to learn more about, I strongly encourage you to subscribe.

From your introductions to each other last night, I gleaned that many of you have a strong committment to social justice and community activism. So, it might interest you to learn that there are lots of people are activists around technology and issues of unequal access to technology, and of course, they have blogs! Check out this blog, by community technology activist in Ohio, Angela Stuber. I learned of her work, and her blog, through the DDN listserv.

Blogroll For Summer

We have a good group for the Summer I session, and I've posted the "blogroll" (list of blogs). Please take some time between now and the next class to go through and meet your classmates, leave a comment, and get acquainted.

First Meeting of Summer I Course

Today is the first meeting of the Summer I Course. We'll cover a lot of ground tonight, so come prepared to stay the entire time. Also, please review the course materials already posted on Blackboard, and take a few minutes to scroll back through the previous entries on this blog.