Outside in, inside out

It has been an exciting week. We had the first meeting of our Acceleration Advisory Committee, UNC mens’ Tar Heels beat NC State in basketball, celebrated with Dennis and Joan Gillings when Dennis was given the award as Triangle Businessperson of the Year and heard Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice give the Zollicoffer Lecture at the School of Medicine.

Bringing the outside in

Thursday: In creating Carolina Public Health Solutions (CPHS) to actualize the gift from Dennis and Joan Gillings, we wanted to create an advisory group comprising diverse individuals from different worlds — business, foundations, government and academia, and within those groups, people focused both globally and locally.

Julie Macmillan and I were thrilled that a spectacular group of people agreed to be part of this, chaired by Dennis Gillings (details: www.sph.unc.edu/accelerate). We had the first meeting this past week, and it was truly remarkable. As a school, we are fortunate that outstanding people are willing to advise us on future directions, and the members of this group are especially impressive. As a group and individuals, they are smart, savvy and successful with a great deal of vision. We are getting a lot of advice from wonderful people in the School, including our Dean’s Council. But we also want to subject our efforts to scrutiny by people who live in other worlds and learn from them. As I have said before, CPHS is about accelerating public health impact through strategic investments in people and projects that will speed the pace of solving important public health problems. Our focus is on accelerating our impact.

Friday: Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, Dean, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical School, gave the Lawrence Zollicoffer Lecture. It was a very thoughtful presentation that highlighted disparities in health care. Looking out at the audience, she said that it was encouraging to see such a diverse audience at UNC. I hope some of you were able to hear her. She encouraged people to find ways to make a difference in our own spaces. One of the really great things about public health is the opportunity to make a difference.

Taking the inside out

This Friday (Feb 29, 2008), our Minority Student Caucus will hold the 29th annual Minority Health Conference at the Friday Center. Already, more than 600 people have registered, and there is even a waiting list. I am awed by so much that our students accomplish, but this is particularly awe-inspiring. Special thanks to the student co-chairs of this year’s conference, Eboni Taylor and Janelle Armstrong-Brown. The lectures, seminars and posters that comprise the conference will focus this year on the impact of poverty, culture and environment on minority health. I’m looking forward to the 10th Annual William T. Small Jr. Keynote Lecture which will be presented by Nancy Krieger, PhD, Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Motivational messages

I came of age during the ‘60s—no surprise. One of my personal heroes was Pete Seeger, a folk singer who could motivate hundreds of thousands of people to feel and act on injustice in the world. It was great to hear Pete Seeger Sunday afternoon on Bob Edwards Weekend. He talked about how important participation is in a democracy, and it got me to thinking about how intertwined public health and democracy are—both depend on the participation of people. Seeger said “participation is the saving of the human race.” He ended by singing Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), one of my favorite songs. So, if you haven’t heard it or it’s one of your favorites, here are the words.

To everything
(Turn, turn, turn)
There is a season
(Turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose
Under Heaven
(Repeats after every verse)

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

A time of war, a time of peace
A time to love, a time to hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sow
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late.

Let’s hope the time for peace is coming.

Happy Monday!
Barbara