The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 27, 2000, Page A7, Image 7
_EtCetera__
Navy Brothers
from page A6
ter had put off the letter: Some of the boys didn’t like the
idea of saluting one brother who had been promoted. “M)
mother was crying and on her knees, praying in gratitude,’
Agnes Martin said.
So the Martins’ story wasn’t “Saving Private Ryan,” the
recent film that capitalized on the notion of sending broth
ers as brothers-in-arms into battle. But James Forrestal, ther
secretary of the Navy, did laud the sons’ patriotism in a let
ter to the family.
After the war, the brothers came home, started fami
lies and spread throughout the New York area. Charles be
came a cook in Brooklyn and later, like some of his broth
ers, an engineer. After retiring, he volunteered at the Brook
lyn School for Special Children, where one of his sons had
been educated.
Although the Martins talked little about those years of
service, their children knew that they never forgot them.
“They were... proud of it, too — not of the six thing —
but that they did their duty,” said Elizabeth Egan, Charles
Martin’s daughter. “They felt it was their obligation as Unit
ed States citizens to do that.”
But Agnes Martin recalled another family tradition
that may have had some impact. Their mother was a tal
ented seamstress who outfitted her first sons in sailor suits.
Those hand-me-downs still provoke a chuckle. “We
always thought it was so ironic,” said Agnes Martin. “It was
almost a premonition.”
CDC reports racial disparities
in health habits of Americans
by Justin Bachman
The Associated Press
Atlanta - They might live in the dairy state, but Wisconsin •
residents have a thirst for alcohol - enough to lead the na
tion when it comes to drinkers per capita and imbibers who
admit to binge drinking.
More say they don’t use a seat belt when they drive.
These findings come from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, which last Thursday released a sur
vey of health behavior broken (town by race and ethnic groups
for each state and Puerto Rico.
The numbers, compiled from 1997 telephone interviews
with 134,000 people, highlight continuing disparities between
whites and other racial groups when it comes to factors such
as high blood pressure, obesity and lack of access to medical
care.
The report, which contains data on 20 health topics, is the
first time the CDC has put together such a wide range of in
formation for each state on a comparative basis, said the re
port’s author, Julie Bolen of the CDC’s National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
“This is the first time we’ve put it all under one cover
to compare states." she said. “It’s a good chance for people
across the country to see how they’re doing.”
The report is intended to help state health departments
compare prevention activities and see which are successful.
The Clinton administration wants to eliminate racial and eth
nic health disparities by 2010 in six areas: cancer, cardiovas
cular disease, diabetes, HIV and .AIDS, immunization and in
fant mortality.
Bolen said the report should help advance that goal, es
pecially as non-whites are projected to make up nearly half
the U.S. population by 2050.
The survey topics included Pap tests, seat belt use and cig
arette smoking.
Wisconsin’s per capita drinking rate of 70.4 percent was
ahead of all the states; Puerto Ricans drank the least, 26.6 per
cent, followed closely by Utah and Tennessee.
When drinking was defined as having a drink in the past
month, Utah and Puerto Rico reported the smallest figures.
In Maryland, only 6.3 percent admitted to binge drinking, or
having five or more drinks on a single occasion. That was
the lowest binge-drinking rate in the nation.
Texas led the nation in the percentage of uninsured resi
dents; nearly half of the state’s Hispanics - 44.9 percent - said
they had no health insurance. Only 6.1 percent of Hawaiians
said they had no insurance.
Hie report found bad news concerning colorectal can
cer screening.
Fewer than one-third of adults over 50 reported having
completed a home blood-stool test, with 18 percent the me
dian response. Maine led the country in such screening,
with 28.5 percent Only 9.3 percent of Mississippi residents
had performed such a test.
Women in Georgia reported the highest rate of having a
Pap test within the preceding three years - 92 percent - while
Puerto Ricans were the lowest at 71.8 percent.
Georgians admitted to being the least physically active,
with more than 51 percent reporting no leisure-time physi
cal activity in the past month. Utah had the highest activity
rate, with only 17.2 percent reporting no physical activity.
The CDC said socioeconomic factors and education lev
els are believed to be responsible for the differences among
the groups. People with more education generally have high
er-paying jobs and are then more likely to be in better health.
Rates were calculated based on how tall and heavy people de
scribed themselves.
Reanae McNeal is a dynamic playwrite and performing
artist whose critically acclaimed shows have received
national attention and awards. Reanae seeks to preserve
and share the finest traditions of African and African
American storytelling, song, and dramatic presentations.
As griottes (storyteller), she is considered the keeper of
the culture.
Reanae will be performing her play, “Don’t Speak My
Mother’s Name in Vain’’. This play uses interconnected
vignettes, dance, and song to trace the experiences of
African-American Women through a wide range of
"herstorical’’ contexts, linked by the thread of interpersonal
and institutional violence. Through this play,
Reanae tells her own story of being a rape/sexual assault
survivor when she was in college.
We welcome her as our keynote speaker for the 2000
Clothesline Project:
Tuesday, March 28, 2000
7:00 p.m.
Russell House Ballroom
"I have learned in my life to realize
there are traumatic things that happen
that are really hurtful and painful, r
but even in the trauma, the hurt
and the pain, beauty can be
birthed out of that.”
See the Clothesline
Grand Display
Wednesday, March 29,2000
(Rain Date: Thursday,
March 30, 2000)
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Greene Street
T-Shirts are color-coded as follows:
White for those who have died from violence
Yellow for those who have been battered/assaulted
Pink for those who have been sexually assaulted
Blue for survivors of incest or child sexual abuse
Purple for those attacked because of their sexual
orientation or perceived sexual orientation
^ This event is sponsored by:
Association for African American Students * Multicultural Student Affairs
Residence Hall Association * SHARE * Sorority Council * Women’s Student Association
Women’s Student Services * Women’s Studies
Sexual Health Programs & Sexual Assault Services
— Student HealtlvServices * Department-of Student Development * Division of Strident and Alumni Services
Idiot's Guide' tries to bring lofty
religious topics-down to earth
by Allison Kennedy
College Press Exchange
When you think of the millions of Jews who were
killed in concentration camps, you probably don't feel like
laughing.
But Rabbi Benjamin Blech - echoing Freud's senti
ments - says humor is a natural response to the tragedies
of life.
“I just read a book about humor in the concentration
camps,” said Blech, a lOth-generation Orthodox rabbi.
“Jews have had so many terrible events in our history that
we've had to develop humor to survive.”
Which is partly why his light-hearted “The Complete
Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism” was almost a nat
ural to write.
“It just kind of flowed,” Blech said in an interview re
cently from his home in Manhattan. “I learned long ago
that a good sermon should have some humor in it and that
the most complicated idea can be heard, accepted and un
derstood.”
Blech's book in “The Complete Idiot’s Guide” series
is the second of three he has written for Alpha Books, a
division of Macmillan. His first was “The Complete Id
iot’s Guide to Jewish History and Culture,” released in
1998. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Yiddish” - the lan
guage of Eastern European Jews and their descendants -
was released earlier this month.
Though recent sales figures for the titles were not avail
able, the rabbi said his second book has fared better in sales
than “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amazing Sex.”
“You can't get much better than that,” he said.
Blech and his publishers have apparently hit on something:
a market that doesn't know that much about religion but
wants to leant in easy-to-understand ways - and with hu
mor.
But some aren't completely sold.
The Rev. John Durden, academic dean at Beacon Col
lege in Columbus, Ga., and interim pastor of Rose Hill
Baptist Church, said he hopes the books offer balance be
tween humor and substantive material.
Durden acknowledges he hasn’t seen or read the books,
but says there’s a general danger of “dumbing down” a re
ligious message through this medium. “Critical thinking
gets left out,” Durden said, ” and people say, ‘Please don't
bother me with the facts. Just entertain me.’”
But Blech thinks a writer can do both, offering sub
stance in an easy-to-understand and fun way. For instance,
the “Understanding Judaism” book contains light “info
boxes” in each chapter such as “Ask the Rabbi” and
’’Schmoozing.” (Schmoozing is a Yiddish word that means
talking with somebody; but more than talking, schmooz
ing conveys warmth and friendliness between the con
versants.)
In Chapter 13, “Feasting and Fasting,” a Schmoozing
box reads: “On Purim it is a man's duty to inebriate him
self to the point that he is unable to distinguish between
the phrases ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Morde
cai.’” And it’s true; it’s written in the Talmud, a collec
tion of writings that contains Jewish civil and religious
law. Blech just found a humorous way to illustrate this lit
tle-known fact.
In addition to Blech's books, there are also “Idiot’s
Guides” to religions online, the Bible and prayer, among
others.
Stan Campbell, who lives near Chicago, co-authored
“The Idiot’s Guide tp the Bible” with Jim Bell. Campbell,
a former youth director, is a free-lance writer specializ
ing in Bible curricula. Bell is editorial director of Moody
Press.
“The Bible” is 348 pages of Bible trivia, cartoons and
easy-to-read graphics. Chapter titles include “Joseph: Not
Your Average Joe” and “You've Got Mail!”, about the
Apostle Paul's letters found in the Christian New Testa
ment.
In an interview from his home in Woodbridge, 111.,
Campbell said that ’’having worked with kids, the book
was a natural. It was the same (humorous) tone but a dif
ferent audience.”
Campbell, 46, said the response has been mostly fa
vorable.
“People say that it helps to see the common threads
through the Bible and how the Old and New testaments
make sense together,” he said. “In Sunday school and
church, we just get the bits and pieces.”
According to Campbell, a challenge for the two au
thors was to steer clear of controversy - particularly with
the book of Revelation, the last book in the Christian Bible.
The authors report it is by far the hardest book in thfe Bible
to understand.
“Everybody's got a basis for what they believe, so we
didn't want to say something that would step on some
body’s toes,” Campbell said.
. Test they be outdone, IDG Books - the publisher who
brought out the Similar “For Dummies” guides and
boasts 60 million books in print - has gotten religion, too.
Breaking away from the original line of “Dummies” com
puter manuals, “Meditation for Dummies” debuted last
April, written by California psychotherapist Stephan
Bodian.
Marketed as “a reference for the rest of us,” the 348
page New Age book has chapters with such titles as “Open
ing Your Heart: Tove, Compassion and Forgiveness” and
“Cultivating Spirituality.” There are pictures to teach
readers how to meditate, and in the correct posture.
In an interview from California, Bodian said he
wanted to make the “Dummies” book - his first for IDG
- “accessible to all.
“In Zen, we talk about the concept of the beginner's
mind, an empty mind,” said Bodian, who was a Zen Bud
dhist monk for 10 years. “In that sense, everyone's a dum
my, so the book fit that quite nicely.”
7-0
PA*Ps.£s LAt-EC(?
We celebrate pots every pay of the weel. We Also
CELEBRATE MUGS, POG PISHES ANP 200 CITHER ITEMS. Xt's
ceramics with A twist! ThurspAy Nights Are USC
NIGHTS - STAFF ANP STUPENTS RECEIVE 1/2 PRICE PAINTING
TIME W USC TV.
The Map Flatter
Faint your own pottery stupio
3(0! Mtllwoop Avenue
Columbia, SC 20205
803.11! .8080 MApPlAtter@Aol.com
___—---1
Dobson Volunteer Service Program
Internships Now Available
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN
COMMUNITY SERVICE?
DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE ACADEMIC CREDIT
WHILE SERVING OTHERS IN NEED?
CAN YOU MAKE AN IMPACT AND CHANGE
SOMEONE’S LIFE?
Through a generous gift from Mr. Robert Dobson, HI, The Office of Community
Service Programs is proud to sponsor the Dobson Volunteer Service Program,
a Capstone Community Service Experience for USC students.
Applications are Available in
THE CAMPUS ACTIVITIES CENTER.
APPLICATION DEADLINE IS
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2000.
* Questions? Contact the Office of Community Service Programs @ 777-6688._