Response to Greg Lukianoff on Campus Censorship

Greg Lukianoff makes an excellent point in his video on censorship and free speech at American Universities. I agree with his thesis that the American University is doing its students a disservice by enacting censorship codes with respect to free speech. The news almost every day describes how our political leaders, both republicans and democrats, are not able to compromise on policy for the betterment of the people. Lukianoff references the paradoxical assertion that our country is becoming more educated at the same time our discourse is becoming less civilized. The conclusion is clear: that the University is abdicating its responsibility to ensure its students are fully prepared to think critically about the societal issues they will inevitably live through.

Thomas Jefferson, the founder of my alma mater the University of Virginia, said to “follow the truth wherever it may lead” and “tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” In conceiving the University of Virginia, Jefferson envisioned a culture of scholars who through rigorous study of the “useful sciences” would develop the knowledge to make informed decisions with respect to their government and on behalf of the people they lead. The best way to develop this knowledge, however, is to have one’s opinions scrutinized and sharpened through debate and challenge.

The late journalist and moderator of the Meet the Press broadcast Tim Russert commented that in preparing for his interviews with national and international leaders he sought to “learn everything [he could] about the person’s point of view--and take the other side.” Russert knew that by openly and frankly challenging the interviewee’s arguments on the basis of fact they both, and by extension the American public, could develop a more complete opinion than previously considered.

If the American University aims to create the next generation of enlightened thinkers that will be equipped to tackle the major problems of the world, protecting free speech will be paramount. Otherwise, I’m afraid students will be “parrot[s] of other men’s thinking,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson quipped. The American University is a place where students should be exposed to opinions and ideas that range the entire spectrum, because it is with this exposure can students learn to develop their own world view. If students have the opportunity to avail themselves of the richness of college life, their world view will be grounded not in stereotype or prejudice, but a genuine and introspective study of how their value system and principles fit within their society.

Albert Camus wrote that "the evil that is in the world almost always comes out of ignorance …" Knowledge, then, is evil's first enemy and good's first line of defense. The world today is undergoing significant and sweeping political, economic, and social change that will require leaders who are able to think broadly and critically about how issues affect themselves and their society at large. It is imperative that the American University be the stalwart of knowledge that will allow its students to combat the ignorance that evil is based upon. Affirming free speech among its students is a crucial step.

NYC Salt Reduction Initiative

In a Wall Street Journal opinion column last week, Eric Felten writes that in a move to reduce the consumption of salt, New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched the National Salt Reduction Initiative. The plan, which recommends limits on the amount of salt contained in packaged foods and restaurant servings, is intended for the city initially, and ultimately for the whole nation. Felten questions whether the city's efforts are misdirected, noting that the health department has distributed brochures on heroin safety without further moves to limit the drug's use. Felten also questions whether the city's move to limit salt consumption will eventually lead to limits on other things such as cream and sugar.

While I like the spirit of this policy I do not think it is the best way in changing eating habits. One of the first things I learned in ECON 101 is that supply will adjust to meet demand. Therefore, demand--in this case consumer demand--is a more important target. We can't fault companies from selling high fat and salt foods. Consumers ask for these items. Look at the Hardees Thickburgers. Everyone knows that the burger is a heart attack in a wrapper. But people still go and buy them up because they taste good. I am a believer in the American value of choice and do not believe it should be inhibited by government. But I recognize the real concern over chronic disease incidence rates in this country as well. Again, foods will be sold if people buy them, so the way to reduce unhealthy food supply is to bring awareness about ways to eat right that are tasty. Or one can create a system where high fat foods are priced out of the average person's budget. This would be a reversal of the current system, as health foods demand a higher price than other foods.

Med and Nursing Schools Teaching Alternative Medicine

The AP reports, "The government has spent more than $22 million to help medical and nursing schools start teaching about alternative medicine." According to the government, "doctors need to know about popular remedies so they can discuss them nonjudgmentally and give competent advice...and many universities and medical groups agree." But, critics contend that "students are being asked to close their eyes to science principles that guide the rest of their training in order to keep an open mind about pseudoscience." Dr. Joseph Jacobs, former head of the federal Office of Alternative Medicine, noted, however, that "the real issue is not whether alternative medicine should be taught, but how." The creation of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 10 years ago is seen as having boosted the field by making "merging alternative and mainstream medicine 'a central and overarching goal.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110100980_2.html

The article opens with a note that no cures have been found from alternative medicine despite more than $2.5 Billion in research funding. I personally believe this conclusion is misleading, because the editors do not state what their definition of alternative medicine is. If the definition is acupuncture, distant energy healing, etc., then I believe they are correct. However, when I first read the article immediately I thought natural cures, like apple cider vinegar for blood pressure control. Then I would say this conclusion is not correct. This type of medicine is taboo in the United States and other Western countries, where the pharaceutical industry has maintained control of a messsage that defines medical cures as pharmacological agents only. However, I think that the medical profession has often underestimated how alternative therapies may be employed with benefit for certain demographics, and thus increase these patients' chance of proper medical follow up and consultation. This is especially true in this country with minorities who already harbor arguably justifiable distrust and skepticism for American medicine (think Tuskegee, Merek drug trials in Sub Saharan Africa). If more doctors take seriously how the confluence of culture/history/society affect different patients, we could increase the physician trust minority populations are reluctant to give, my Dad included.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110100980_2.html

Unnatural Causes Louisville

Here is a clip of a video I recently saw from the PBS series Unnatural Causes entitled There's No Such Thing as Small Stuff: Being Poor in Louisville. It chronicles the life of a poor person in the West End of Louisville (notoriously poor), the choices she has to make to feed her family, and how these choices can affect her family's health. A very provacative video that gleams insight into the struggle those who do not have go through and those who have take for granted.

And these Republicans say there's no need for reform????

Macho men don't get preventative care

In the August 14, 2009 edition of Vital Signs, Roni Caryn Rabin describes a Rutgers study in which researchers found that men who endorsed the old school notions of masculinity are not as likely to seek preventative healthcare, such as a physical.

I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately, in listening to CNNs Black In America 2 and observing my own father. If we are supposed to be Godly men, one who takes care of our families and do not shy from our responsibilities, we need to do a better job in utlizing the care in which we have been blessed to access.

We live in a different time, society, and environment. We can still be men and take ownership of our insecurities. We can still be men and accept our vulnerabilties. It isn't soft if men have these things--we all do--its soft when we don't take ownership of them and work to improve. This is the mindset that men have to have in a society in constant flux and change.

50 million people in this country do not have health insurace. I'm sure they would trade places with these men any time to access the healthcare coverage they take for granted. We have to train our men and boys that a man is more than a phyically strong, my way or the highway person. Men are secure with themselves enough to know their faults and work hard to make them assets. Men take pride and are responsible for themselves and their families--in this regard, being "macho" isn't being a man at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/research/18patt.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%2b%22health+insurance%22&st=nyt

Patterns: Do Real Men Go to the Doctor?

By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: August 14, 2009

Real men don’t ask for directions, and now researchers say the reluctance to ask for help may not just mean they get lost. It may also take a toll on their health.

Men who strongly endorsed old-school notions of masculinity — believing the ideal man is the strong, silent type who does not complain about pain — were only half as likely as other men to seek preventive health care, like an annual physical, the study found.

Even men with a high level of education, a factor that is strongly associated with better health and usually a predictor of longer life, were less likely to seek preventive health care if they strongly adhered to the ideal of the macho man, said Kristen W. Springer, the study’s primary investigator and an assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers.

“It’s ironic that the belief in the John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone archetype of masculinity — and the idea that real men don’t get sick and don’t need to see the doctor, and that real men aren’t vulnerable — is actually causing men to get sick,” Dr. Springer said. “These stereotypes and ideas are actually a reason why men do get sick.”

The study may help explain the gender longevity gap, with women outliving men by about five years, Dr. Springer said.

The findings, from a large longitudinal study of about 1,000 middle-age men who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957, were presented at a meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco.

Louisville's racial poverty similar to New Orleans

A somewhat dated, but poignant article by the Brookings Institute describes keen similarities to Louisville poor, minority, and elderly populations and that of similar pre-post Katrina populations in New Orleans. Prehaps this can explain the surprise on the white guy's face when I told him I was a medical student at UL....

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2005/1023metropolitanpolicy_katz.aspx

"October 23, 2005 —

Pictures of Hurricane Katrina's devastating aftermath for New Orleans' most vulnerable residents shocked and dismayed most Americans.

As well they should have. Poor blacks, including many children and elderly individuals from the city's most distressed neighborhoods, were left behind amid the fast-rising waters with little information or means to escape.

For Louisville, these images should resonate close to home.

That's because the conditions that exacerbated the New Orleans disaster—deep, segregated urban poverty—still exist in Louisville, and in most major American cities today.
Findings from a new Brookings analysis underscore the problem. As of 2000, the old city of Louisville ranked third among the nation's 50 largest cities in the degree to which its poor residents were confined to the city's very poorest neighborhoods. That placed it right behind-you guessed it-New Orleans.

The picture looks somewhat less bleak after the merger. More of Louisville Metro's low-income families now live outside the city's very poorest neighborhoods, ranking the consolidated city 14th instead of third. Even so, the new regional city ranks fifth in the degree to which its poor African Americans reside in the most distressed neighborhoods.

Why should Louisville be concerned? The dams and levees along the Ohio River constructed after the devastating flood of 1937 provide some assurance that the River City is unlikely to suffer a Katrina-sized natural disaster.

But extremely poor neighborhoods like some of those in West Louisville embody a slower-moving humanitarian disaster. Research shows how these communities limit job prospects and aspirations. Homeowners live in properties with low and declining values. High crime rates and poor housing conditions debilitate residents mentally and physically. In the end, the economic and civic health of the surrounding city suffers.

Fortunately, Louisville Metro government has acted boldly to break up the city's worst concentrations of poverty, and to give low-income families access to better living environments. Under Metro Mayor Abramson, Louisville has used the federal HOPE VI program to transform the once highly impoverished Park DuValle neighborhood into a healthy, mixed-income community. Similar revitalization is underway in the former Clarksdale development just east of downtown. And successive administrations have used market-oriented community development finance to stimulate business investment in the city's distressed corridors.

The city also boasts one of the most successful municipal campaigns to connect low-income workers to benefits like the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, coordinated by the Louisville Asset Building Coalition. By boosting wages, the credit helps enable these families to afford better housing in lower-poverty neighborhoods.

What's more, the merger itself signals Louisville's commitment to address economic and social issues on a region-wide basis. Three years ago, we prepared a report entitled "Beyond Merger" that laid out a series of challenges for the new regional city. Today, the work of the Greater Louisville Project continues to guide the city's long-term strategies to create more inclusive neighborhoods.

Clearly, then, Louisville Metro is no New Orleans. Still, the city's leaders must not let merger mask the remaining challenges. Just as before the merger, more than 30,000 of the city's residents, including 8,400 poor children, live in extremely poor neighborhoods. To give those children and their parents better chances in life, Louisville must sustain focus on alleviating concentrated poverty.

Louisville is on the right course already. But achieving progress will be all the more difficult in an era of shrinking federal assistance.

Programs like HOPE VI, housing vouchers, and the Earned Income Tax Credit helped reduce concentrated poverty in the 1990s, but all face budget cuts or wholesale elimination in Washington today. Breaking the cycle of poverty will take more local effort than ever before.
In that respect, Louisville must first ensure that its own housing strategies do not reinforce concentrated poverty. For instance, since 2000 nearly 250 affordable units funded by the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit were placed in Louisville Metro's poorest neighborhoods.

To help lower-income families access better local environments, Louisville must ensure that housing investments like these are distributed more equitably. Confronting local interests who seek to keep affordable housing out of their neighborhoods has been, and will continue to be, difficult. But the city cannot afford to tolerate the sort of discrimination that has held back its lower-income residents and communities for so long.

None of this will be quick or easy. Smart policies rarely are. But in its quest to be a truly great city, Louisville owes its neediest citizens a shot at real economic mobility. Eradicating concentrated poverty represents the critical first step."

First thoughts about Louisville

My dad and I went to Joe’s Crab Shack August July 3rd to eat. It is a nice restaurant on the Ohio River. All around the restaurant there were interracial couples openly out. I’ve noticed during my few days in Louisville the openness in which interracial couples are together in public places. Across the river in Indiana, much is the same. And what’s interesting is that the composition of the couples are black men and white women. That is significant because the history of this country has been to prevent black men and white women from getting together because it would disrespect the white male dominant social structure. It reminds me of the movie “Rosewood” where a white woman committed adultery with another white male and blamed it on a “nigger” to avoid being accountable (something that weak white people do all the time—blame their own character flaws on a socially stigmatized population to take advantage of the prejudices and biases against that population). The whole town rose up against the black section of the community with a slogan to protect women sanctity. However we have seen from Ida B. Wells in her writings referring to the constant lynching of black men for supposedly raping white women. She gave facts using white news papers refuting the justifications for the lynchings and made the conclusion that the white women were loose and actively pursued the black men. It is interesting that Louisville seems more open to this phenomena than Richmond, VA, and everyone from Richmond thinks of Kentucky in general as a country, backward state.

So we were waiting to sit down at our table outside where a white family with three children were sitting across from us. The father looked at us for a while and asked “Are you all from around here.” We said that we were from VA and he asked what we were doing here. I told him that ill be a first year medical student over at UL. He was like wow… I thought it was interesting how he was curious as to our origin, as if we acted differently from other blacks he has seen. I was wearing a UVA BME shirt, but the symbol on the front was quite small. I’m trying to learn if there are differences in the behaviors of blacks around here.