Global, Public Health, Students

The world in our backyard

February 18, 2008

Global fashion show

global_fashion_dth1.jpgWhen I think I know what to expect on any day at our School, I am surprised, often pleasantly. The global fashion show was one of those times. When Omar Robles asked me to be in the show, I knew “no” was not an option. But I never expected hundreds of students and others, an amazing array of fashions from around the world, cool music and a great announcer (Omar!). So, wrapped in a beautiful Indian shawl from our friend Sri, I followed fabulous Peggy Bentley (Associate Dean for Global Health) down the “catwalk.” As students, their children, faculty, staff and friends from across the campus (and NC State) sauntered down the red carpet in every imaginable traditional garb, there were hundreds cheering from the atrium. What a wonderful, inspiring, well-orchestrated event, and a lot of fun. Congratulations to Omar, Elena Lebetkin and the Global Health Advisory Committee. These folks raised $3000 for the Honduran Health Alliance.

Student Facebook page

I’ve resisted setting up a Facebook account for some reason. Anyway, I registered today so I could check out our students’ page. I was impressed not just by the pages and the useful information they offer, but also by the fabulous pictures. You all are painting a human, helpful, diverse picture of the School. Thank you so much! You can find this page by registering at www.facebook.com and searching for “UNC School of Public Health.”

What I’m reading

I recently read an interesting book, The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. I am now reading The Republic of Suffering by Drew Faust, president of Harvard. Both contain a lot of information relevant to public health in fascinating ways. Ghost Map tells the story of how contaminated water caused a terrible cholera outbreak in England in 1854 (Broad Street pump and all that). The story is really about water and how water was a fundamental part of the fabric of social connections, how rank and status influenced the water one drank and consequently, risk of becoming infected. It also is about how the mystery of the outbreak’s cause was determined by what today we would call really good epidemiology. One learns how important it was that John Snow understood the neighborhood and its patterns to understand the disease, and that he collaborated with a minister who observed patterns of death in relation to neighborhoods.

In her book, Faust paints a clear, frightening picture of death during the Civil War, but the really interesting fact is that she says the soldiers feared infectious diseases more than being killed in battle. And what caused a lot of those infectious diseases — tainted water. Public health was important in the 19th century, and it is vital in the 21st.

Happy Monday and have a good week.

Barbara


Comments

Noel Brewer

03/03/2008

Barbara, Thanks for the tip about the SPH Facebook page. Colleagues and I who work on the Interdisciplinary Health Comm Certificate sat in a room one day talking about the Next Big Thing. We were all shocked when a student told us that people their age just don't use email anymore. There was a pause in the room, and one of the bespectacled faculty asked, "Can you tell us what the young people do these days?" We laughed, but it is a real issue that even the younger faculty in the room had only a vague notion. The answer to our question is that the "young people" use texting and Facebook. As we strive to put the SPH in front of a new generation of public health professionals to be, we'll benefit from continuing to move beyond websites and email and into new domains like blogs and social networking websites. And then, by next year whatever Next Big Thing comes along. Noel Brewer

Good afternoon, Dean Rimer. I love to meet other people who are avid readers. Reading is my main hobby and I've been keeping myself busy by reading the past Carolina Public Health magazines that I received while in Kansas. Now, that my family and I are in North Carolina, I would like to let you know that people like you and many others, have impacted the lives of so many, here and abroad, through the field of Public Health. I am a prospective student for the 2009/10 school year. Each day, I have big dreams of Public Health. I also dream big of being a graduate student at the School of Public Health. Great job, Dean Rimer.

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The views expressed in this blog are Barbara Rimer’s alone and do not represent the views and policies of The University of North Carolina or the Gillings School.