Visitors from ULM and visiting the Columbus Water Works and Kannapolis

Visiting the Columbus Water Works

Last week, I visited the Columbus Water Works (in Columbus, GA) which is managed by an ESE alumnus, Billy Turner, who is President of the system. It was really interesting. I was fascinated to see how biosolids are dealt with and how water is managed and delivered. Never having been to a water works, I never really appreciated how much is required to process waste and assure that water is provided with impurities removed. Columbus has done some very creative work to use the land, e.g. by creating a trail system that covers some of their property and runs through the downtown area—it’s 16 miles in all. Looks like a great area for biking and hiking. They also have designed a state-of-the-art processing plant that Mike Aitken, PhD, MS and Mark Sobsey, PhD advised on. It uses a new system for treating raw sewage and putting that into a digestion unit that ultimately produces class A biosolids and green power. The process is called Biosolids Flow-Throw Thermophilic Treatment.

There is a very interesting article in the November 2008 AJPH issue  about sanitation in Alaska—where the proportion of people without household sanitation is higher than elsewhere in the US as a whole. According to the press release from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium:

“A lack of running water in the home is linked to severe respiratory infections among Alaska Natives. These findings are a first, to the authors’ knowledge. Health professionals have thought the benefits of clean water were primarily gastro-intestinal. This study shows that lung and skin infections among Alaska Native persons are also associated with inadequate water service.

‘For decades, there hasn’t been enough money from federal and state sources to address the problem of clean water and sanitation,’ said Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Chairman and President Don Kashevaroff. ‘It’s time to build the systems needed throughout rural Alaska.’

‘The study highlights the need for sanitation infrastructure in rural Alaska, where about one third of the homes lack modern sanitation facilities,’ said Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Chief Executive Officer Paul Sherry. ‘It confirms that flush toilets and piped water lead to improved health status.’ The study’s findings are important because of the seriousness and rates of respiratory illness among Alaska Native infants and children. About 75 percent of all hospitalizations for Alaska Native and American Indian children are due to respiratory problems.

The findings may have international significance as well because acute respiratory infections are the second leading cause of child deaths worldwide where many communities lack adequate sanitation facilities.”

This is a good example of the connection between U.S. and global. Water problems aren’t just somewhere else. They are here in our country as well. Solutions apply here and elsewhere.

Visitors from ULM

Last week, we hosted 7 faculty members from University of ULM in Germany.  Several people from the SPH have had long standing collaborations with UULM.  It’s always interesting to see how graduate education is alike and different around the world.

Visiting the Nutrition Research Institute

Monday, November 17th, about 25 people from UNC visited the Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) in Kannapolis, NC. We heard from Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, Director, Nutrition Research Institute, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Pediatrics and Chancellor Holden Thorp, among others. Steve and Holden both did a great job! It was impressive to see legislators, citizens and a number of senior officials from companies, foundations and other agencies come together to support this enterprise. I spoke at length to a young woman who’d grown up in a mill home. Some of her family members lost jobs after the Pillowtex Corporation plant closed. She was so positive and excited about what Mr. Murdock is doing to create this renaissance in her home town. Our discussion made me appreciate even more how science and public health can be economic engines.

I remember my first visit to the campus when it was just bare structure and mud everywhere; I stepped in one hole that left my shoes covered in mud. Today was a very different experience. In this small town there now are magnificent buildings that house the people and laboratories that could transform what we know about the relationship of nutrition to diseases, health, performance and longevity. They have some of the best equipment anywhere. For example, the NRI has a ‘BodPod’ to measure body fat. It looks a little like a cocoon one sits in to be measured. This is a great alternative to the traditional gold standard measure in which one must lie on the bottom of a tank with a weight on one’s back and remain underwater for over a minute and what seems like hours. I know, because I tried to do that a few months ago, and became claustrophobic. And I am a decent swimmer! (By the way, I heard afterwards that a lot of people don’t like to be submerged under those conditions. At the time, I felt like a real failure!)

My stolen computer

I have heard from many of you who expressed empathy about my stolen computer. Thank you. It really has been traumatic (though not nearly as bad as what many people are going through with bad health, lost jobs, deaths in the family and the like). I am having a lot of trouble getting used to the larger keyboard of the loaner, and keep thinking that maybe I will walk in one morning, and my little Lifebook will be sitting there waiting for me. So far, no such luck.  But my new computer should arrive this week, and Joseph Love will do wonders to get it ready.

Have a great week. Happy Monday. Barbara