Carmani Boozer fights sickle cell disease

“E:60″ talks with Carlos and CeCe Boozer about their fight against sickle cell anemia.   Carmani Boozer has now been disease free for the past year after treatment.

Sickle-cell disease or sickle-cell anaemia (or anemia) is a blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells’ flexibility and results in their restricted movement through blood vessels, depriving downstream tissues of oxygen. The disease is chronic and lifelong: individuals are most often well, but their lives are punctuated by periodic painful attacks and a risk of various other complications. Life expectancy is shortened, with older studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 and 48 years for males and females, respectively.

This has been Boozer’s plight ever since May 31, 2006, when Carmani was born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder that affects more than 70,000 people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Boozer is among more than 2 million people who carry the gene that allows them to pass it on their children. The disease creates abnormal blood cells that can clog blood flow through small blood vessels. It causes pain, blood clots and other serious problems, including death.

The condition was detected while Carmani was in the womb. Boozer and CeCe, who have been together since they met nine years ago at Duke, elected to try a risky new treatment that involved a bone marrow transplant and in vitro fertilization

Add 14 years to your life

I haven’t exactly discovered the fountain of youth, but I have stumbled upon something that comes as close as possible at the moment. According to a study in the journal PLoS Medicine, it’s possible to add 14 years to your life by simply adopting four easy lifestyle habits: exercising, eating lots of produce, drinking alcohol only in moderation and never, ever smoking. Not only do each of these practices help prevent heart disease, the number-one killer of American women, but each also helps send your cancer risk way, way down.

Because I’d love to become one of those little old ladies who gets written up in the local paper for celebrating her 100th birthday (while, of course, not looking a day over 75 and still skiing the black diamond trails with my great-grandkids), I’m trying my hardest to incorporate all of these habits into my everyday life.

By Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief

Read the full article

eBay bans ivory sales

In response to growing pressure from international law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, eBay, the online auction giant, announced it would ban all commerce in ivory, including most heirlooms, to avoid providing a market that would encourage the slaughter of endangered elephants.

The global ban on ivory sales will be enforced starting January 1, 2009.  Exceptions to the ban include products made before 1900 that contain small amounts of ivory.

The announcement came ahead of  a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare that over a six-week period tracked more than 7,000 posts offering body parts of protected wildlife, including pelts, teeth, bones, horns, and feathers. The report, titled “Killing with Keystrokes” [PDF], found that the United States was responsible for more than 70 percent of the trade, an amount nearly 10 times more than the two countries with the next highest volume, Great Britain and China. Nearly three-fourths of the posts were for ivory products.

By far, the single largest seller was eBay, with 73 percent of the total posts tracked on US websites.

The online auctioneer tried a limited ban on ivory last year, blocking all cross-border sales. According to eBay’s official blog, that ban attempted “to balance the protection of endangered and protected species while also providing a way for sellers to offer legitimate ivory products legally allowed for sale within domestic markets.”

But the illicit ivory sales continued. “…given the complexities of the global ivory trade, and the distinct and unique characteristics of the eBay Marketplace,” says eBay’s blog , “the sale of any ivory on our site continued to be a concern within the company and among stakeholders.”

In speaking with the International Herald Tribune, eBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe said, “It’s just so complicated.  As we’ve said over the years, we are not experts” in the items bought and sold through the site.

“We don’t have possession of the items,” she said. “We never allow anything illegal to be sold. Where there are complex laws, we work with a number of stakeholders to make sure we are in compliance. That’s especially true with ivory.”

Last year, the company instituted a ban on international sales of elephant ivory products, but Jeffrey Flocken of the animal welfare fund said it “has not worked at all.”

2 Million Minutes - compelling education reality

Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking.  From that very moment the child has approximately -

…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off — will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.

Dollars helping students ‘Aspire’ to graduate

Many scholars claim that the United States has a dropout crisis and  researchers now report overall graduation rates are near 70 percent.  African-American and Hispanic rates are often calculated to be as low as 50 percent nationally.

To many this isn’t new information.  Time Magazine dubbed the Untited States “Drop out Nation” in April of 2006.

The good news in this time of economic slowdown and restricted school budgets is that there are some programs aiming to help solve the crisis.  One of note is the Aspire program which is active and supporting schools across the country.

As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school retention and workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire program will support organizations with strong track records that promote educational success, from the classroom to the workplace. The recipient programs of this year’s High School Success grants provide a range of support for students, including academic intervention, mentoring and tutoring services.

In October alone, AT&T has announced several grants under the Aspire program for school districts in California.

• $700,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in Sacramento Area
• $730,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in Los Angeles Area
• $1.4 Million in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in San Francisco Bay Area
• $360,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in the Central Valley
• $650,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in San Diego and Orange County

As part of the Aspire initiative, the AT&T Foundation has committed $29 million in High School Success grants to more than 170 schools and nonprofit organizations. Statewide, AT&T is awarding 35 grants totaling more than $3.5 million.

America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest multi-sector collaborative dedicated to the well-being of children and youth, has noted that nearly one-third of U.S. high school students drop out before graduating — with about 7,000 students dropping out every school day, or one every 26 seconds.

“High school dropout rates are a serious issue affecting students all across the U.S. including here in San Diego and Orange County,” said Mark Leslie, vice president, AT&T External Affairs - San Diego. “We’re committed to helping kids succeed by preparing them for tomorrow’s economy. We are pleased with the response we’ve seen to the Aspire program, and look forward to working with these groups to build a brighter future for our youth.”

In addition to the retention program grants, AT&T Aspire will award funding in three other key areas:

• A student job shadowing initiative involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.
• The underwriting of national research that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.
• Support for 100 state and community dropout prevention summits, announced earlier this year by America’s Promise Alliance.

A Winner in the Fight for International Justice

The MacArthur Foundation will honor Justice Richard J. Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, with the MacArthur Award for International Justice. The Award provides Goldstone with $100,000 for his own work and invites him to suggest an additional $500,000 in support for non-profit organizations working on international justice issues. The Award will be conferred upon Justice Goldstone in The Hague on May 21, 2009.

“Justice Goldstone has played an instrumental role in building the emerging international system of justice,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton in remarks at a conference on international justice at American University. “He gave the tribunals moral authority and legal credibility. It is, in large part, a testament to the quality of his work that the international community accepted the Rome Statute and established the International Criminal Court with confidence. His unquestioned competence and integrity won the faith of the world.”

As Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, Goldstone helped shepherd these courts, the first of their kind since Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg following World War II. He stressed the importance of reaching top political and military perpetrators and, in 1995, filed charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic for their roles in the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims.

Goldstone also chaired the Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation in the aftermath of apartheid in his native South Africa. His service on the Commission proved invaluable to the democratic transition in that country, where he also served as an inaugural member of the Constitutional Court.

“It is an honor to receive the MacArthur Award for International Justice, as the Foundation has been a leader in supporting efforts to advance human rights and international justice,” said Justice Goldstone. “Since the early 1990s, we have witnessed the emergence of a system of international justice that is growing stronger with each new case tried in a regional court or UN tribunal and with each investigation opened by the International Criminal Court. It has given me tremendous pride and satisfaction to have played a role in ensuring that the perpetrators of mass atrocities have more reason today than ever to fear being brought to justice.”

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was the first recipient of the Award in 2008 in recognition of his contribution to building the International Criminal Court and encouraging the development of the concept of the Responsibility to Protect.

Poll Suggests Cell Phones Strengthen Family Ties

Parents and children might rush through their days in different directions, but the American family is as tight-knit as in the last generation — or more so — because of the widespread use of cellphones and the Internet, according to a new poll.

In what was described as the first detailed survey of its kind researchers reported that family life has not been weakened, as many had feared, by new technology.  Rather, families have compensated for the stress and hurry of modern life with cellphone calls, e-mail and text messages and other new forms of communication.

“There had been some fears that the Internet had been taking people away from each other,” said Barry Wellman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto and one of the authors of the report, published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. “We found just the opposite.”

In the poll, 60 percent of adults said that the new technologies did not affect the closeness of their family, while 25 percent said cellphones and online communication made their families closer and 11 percent said that the technology had a negative effect.

Wellman said families appreciated the innovations because “they know what each other is doing during the day.” This, he said, comports with his other research, which shows that technology “doesn’t cut back on their physical presence with each other. It has not cut down on their face time.”

The findings were based on a nationally representative poll of 2,252 people, which explored technology use and profiled a group of 482 adults who were married or living together with minor children. These “traditional nuclear families” have been of particular scholarly interest, the report’s authors said. They tried to examine trends in single-parent families, too, but the poll numbers were too small to be valid, they said.

Cellphones and Internet use were widespread in two-parent households, regardless of education, income, employment, race and ethnicity, with 94 percent saying at least one adult used the Internet and 84 percent saying children were using the Internet.

This marks a large change in short order. Only since the start of the decade has a majority of Americans been Internet and cellphone users, researchers said.

Where technology has changed family life, those polled said it was for the good.

Forty-seven percent of adults said cellphones and the Internet had improved the quality of family communication.

Another 47 percent said there was no effect, and 2 percent said there had been a decrease in quality.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Roy Williams runs route to fight world hunger

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams announced today that he is joining Pizza Hut and Yum! Brands in a global Hunger Relief effort. Williams issued a challenge to players in three other cities to see who could raise the most money for hunger relief.

“Every six seconds a child dies from hunger somewhere in the world,” said Roy Williams, wide receiver, Dallas Cowboys. “Hearing this fact inspired me to get involved and do something. I’m proud to be a part of the ‘Hunger to Hope’ program and I want to do everything I can to help end hunger.”

“Each of us can make a difference and together we can really make a change,” Williams said. “That’s why I’m challenging three other players to put on a uniform in a Pizza Hut restaurant for just one day to collect donations and see who can collect the most. We’re all competitive guys, so this should get interesting.

Williams and three football opponents will race to accept the most donations on Tuesday, October 21. The players will collect tips and donations from generous patrons at participating Pizza Hut restaurants in their cities. Participating players include:

• Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys (formerly of the Detroit Lions)
• Mark Clayton, Baltimore Ravens
• Davin Joseph, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Chris Spencer, Seattle Seahawks

“We’re honored that Williams has lead the charge with his fellow players to benefit this very worthwhile cause,” said Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut President. “Our goal is to double last year’s record by raising more than one million dollars at Pizza Hut restaurants by the end of this month, and we couldn’t reach it without the generous support of our customers and guys like Roy.”

The player whose city raises the most money as an average per participating restaurant will receive a catered pizza party for their team. All players are receiving pizza and pasta for a year as a thank you from Pizza Hut.

Last year, Williams raised $10,000 for the World Hunger Relief campaign after delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut in Detroit. The wide receiver publicly commented that he didn’t tip pizza delivery drivers as he was unsure of the protocol. Pizza Hut challenged him to walk in the shoes of a driver and Williams graciously obliged raising money for charity in the process.

Pizza Hut participates in World Hunger Relief as a Yum! brand. World Hunger Relief supports the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger relief agencies. Nearly 36,000 company and franchised restaurants located in more than 100 countries will be participating, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food.

This year, Mariah Carey is the Hunger Relief Ambassador with the quote, “The change from hunger to hope starts with you.” Customers who donate to the World Hunger Relief campaign at participating restaurants around the globe will receive a free download of her song, “Love Story” from her newest CD E=MC2.

Funds raised for WFP go directly to the areas of greatest need, feeding poor school children in the developing world and helping villages become self-sustainable. Every U.S. dollar raised during World Hunger Relief 2008 will provide four meals for hungry children all over the world. The company’s employees and franchisees will be volunteering their time around the globe at hunger relief agencies, food banks, soup kitchens and launching fundraisers.

During this year’s World Hunger Relief campaign, Yum! plans to generate the equivalent of nearly $50 million in awareness of the hunger issue through television and print advertising, public service announcements, public relations, web-based communications and in-restaurant posters and signage. In addition, the company is leveraging the power of the internet to reach millions of people through the http://www.fromhungertohope.com website and other online activity.

Yum! and its brands have been committed to fighting hunger for more than a decade by donating more than $46 million of prepared food annually to the underprivileged in the United States. Since the company went public in 1997, it has donated more than $500 million of its food to hunger relief agencies in the U.S.

Stroke, Back or Brain – More Evidence on the Benefits of Exercise

Medically speaking it was a good week for the proponents of exercise.  At the same time that Ali Vincent has become the new spokeswoman for 24 hour fitness, five studies have been released within the last several days highlighting the benefits of exercise.

Proper exercise and physical activity can speed up recovery from back surgery, lessen stroke severity, reduce uterine cancer risk, as well as reverse mental decline in older adults.

Here are the results:

• Dr. Lars-Henrik Krarup, from Copenhagen University Hospital, and colleagues looked at 265 people who had suffered a first stroke. “Subjects with the best outcome were up to 2 hours more physically active than the most sedentary subjects on a daily basis,” he added. “The activities included not only specific exercises but also physical work in the garden and heavy housework,” emphasizing that physical activity can be incorporated into daily routines.

• Dr. Alpa V. Patel and colleagues at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta identified 466 women who developed endometrial cancer between 1992 and 2003 among approximately 43,000 older “postmenopausal” women. Questionnaire responses showed that physically active women engaged primarily in low- to moderate-intensity activities, such as walking, biking, aerobics or dancing, equivalent to about 2 hours of moderately paced walking per week.

• Prof. Art Kramer, of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, says there is substantial evidence showing the benefits of aerobic exercise and physical activity on such executive-control brain functions as task coordination, planning, goal maintenance, working memory and the ability to switch task.  Some studies found that six months of aerobic exercise reversed age-related decline and that older adults’ brains retained plasticity — the capacity to grow and develop.

• Exercise therapy after surgery for a slipped disc may help people get over their pain and disability more quickly, a research review suggests.   And there was no evidence that rehab raised the risk of repeat surgery.

Related Links and information:

• Physical Activity May Lessen Stroke Severity (Reuters Health)
• Exercise May Cut Uterine Cancer Risk in Heavy Women (Reuters Health)
• Aerobics Can Reverse Mental Decline in Older Adults (HealthDay)
• Exercise After Back Surgery May Speed Recovery (Reuters Health)
• Strength Training Good for the Aging Brain (Reuters Health)

From CEO To Math Teacher

As the CEO of H&R Block (HRB) — America’s top tax preparation firm that revolutionized electronic filing — Tom Bloch produced huge profits and earned nearly $1 million a year.

Despite his success and fortune, he gave it all up at age 41 to do what he saw as more fulfilling and beneficial to society: teaching math at an inner-city middle school.

His career change drew national attention in 1995. Oprah had him on her TV show, as did NBC’s “Today.” People magazine featured him, as did the New York Times.

They all quoted people wondering how a CEO could leave the firm that his dad built and take a 98% pay cut.

Bloch’s answer? He borrowed one from the Dalai Lama on the meaning of life: Be happy and useful.

“I think when you find your calling and you follow your heart, you just become a more fulfilled person,” Bloch told IBD. “I find that my work in urban education in a very, very small way (is) working at repairing the world. And what I learned over these years is that when you work at repairing the world, you repair yourself.”

BY TRANG HO
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Read the full story From Tax CEO to Math Teacher

Related Posts:

• Tom Bloch interview with Entrepeneur.com - Sept 2008
• Seven Lessons Learned by CEO turned teacher Tom Bloch - Aug 2008
• Tom Bloch’s book - Amazon.com
  • Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School (Hardcover)

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