July 20, 2011
Newsmakers July 21
THAI ELECTION: “There is a period in history going on right now that Thailand is part of,” Charles Keyes, UW professor emeritus of anthropology, told The New York Times in an early-July article about the election of a party in Thailand controlled by the former fugitive prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. Though there is no sign of a direct connection, he said the election resonated with recent regime-changing events in the Middle East. “There is a strong desire for more popular participation in the shaping of the political system.”
The losing party in the election, the Times reported, is the party of the establishment — “royalists, old-money business owners and high-ranking military officers — who have defended their place at the center of a traditional hierarchical system of power and wealth.”
Keyes added, “I think what this has shown to the military and to the elite is that you cannot simply deny that there is a strong desire on the part of the working class for a significant influence on the political system.” Read the story online.
WAIT AND SEE: “Well, I have to admit, there was a rush to convict.” Thats how Pepper Schwartz, professor of anthropology, began an early-July opinion piece about the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case at CNN.com that ran under the headline “Lesson of DSK? Be careful who youre alone with.” Schwartz continued, “So we have to do what we should have done in the first place: Wait. See what the facts are and hope that those involved in the legal proceedings are honest and diligent.” Read the story online.
SPERM SABOTAGE: A childhood injury to the testes is among the “events that can sabotage the sperm,” according to a late-June article in the Wall Street Journals Health Journal column. Others include intense cycling and using a laptop directly on the lap, as well as lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking and using marijuana or cocaine. The article went on to quote John Amory, associate professor and specialist in male reproductive medicine. “That’s why wearing a cup for playing sports is so important,” Amory said. “It’s not just to prevent pain.” Read the story online.
CROWS WITH GRUDGES: Much has been written about John Marzluff, forestry resources professor, and his fascinating work with crows. Among the most recent is a late-June article at MSNBC.com, under the headline “Hitchcockian crows gossip about mean humans,” which tips a hat to the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds.
It turns out that even a year after seeing humans who had captured and banded its members before, a “murder” of crows will remember who did it, and scold them from above should they turn up again. So, in addition to using tools, and even figuring out how to work with unfamiliar tools, crow populations can hold a collective grudge as well.
“Most of the birds that are scolding us are not the ones we captured,” Marzluff said. “Its likely that theyre learning from their parents and their peers that this dangerous person is still out there.” Read the story online.
EPT for STDs: Its called “expedited partner therapy,” or EPT, and it was just made legal in Connecticut, according to a late-June story at MSNBC.com. It means allowing physicians to prescribe medications for sexually transmitted diseases to partners of the patients they see in the clinic.
In the process, the story stated, the doctor writes the patients unnamed partner a prescription “under the assumption that the partner will be infected. Then its up to the patient to have the prescription filled and give it to the partner with information on how to take antibiotics.”
The story said that though the process is “far from ideal in medical care,” the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had endorsed it. The article also quoted Matthew Golden, associate professor of medicine at Harborview Medical Center and the Center for Aids and STD.
“We have clinical trials showing a decreased risk of being re-infected,” said Golden, who, the article stated, helped write a 2006 CDC report on the practice that has led to its widespread adoption. Millions of Americans are reinfected with chlamydia and dont even realize it, and undiagnosed infections can lead to other, more serious health problems.
“Men in particular, with no symptoms, when their partner says ‘You might have it. Go to a doctor, they will not do it,” Golden said. Expedited partner therapy cuts cost, time and embarrassment — all barriers to treatment, the article said. Read the story online.
