Short Takes: News From All Over: October 14, 2004

Staff Utne.com

Top Ten Research Studies of 2003
By John Carlson, Total Health
Total Health magazine has published a list of the top ten health-based research studies of 2003, and they remain relevant as 2004 comes to a close. One study found that keeping an active mind is a good way to reduce risks of dementia in older adults. Another found that long-term users of vitamins E and C benefit from increased cognitive function and anti-oxidants. In another study, concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids are correlated with mood disorders, but the data is inconclusive and it's hard to know just what to do with the information. -- Elizabeth Dwoskin
http://tinyurl.com/5s33r

The Anti-Monument
By Do-Ho Suh, Walrus Magazine
Sitting in the middle of a park in Brooklyn is a stone pedestal that looks to be the foundation for a monument. But when the lowly park-goer casts her eyes upward, expecting to find the chiseled features of a war general, president, or unknown soldier, she will find only empty sky. Not because the work is unfinished, but because artist Do-Ho Suh wants her to look down, where she'll see tiny foot-high figures -- Black, Caucasian, and Asian -- holding that pedestal just above the ground. 'When you go to a plaza or square, there is typically some larger-than-life monument or statue up on a stone pedestal,' Suh explains. 'I wanted to rethink this notion of the distant, elevated figure.' -- Elizabeth Dwoskin
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/article.pl?sid=04/08/30/1939249

Female Muslim Comics Twist Bias into Comic Jabs
By Megan Cossey, Women's eNews
Being the target of stereotyping and demonization isn't just infuriating - it's comic gold. A small but talented group of Muslim stand-up comics are using their unique position in the American cultural landscape to crack jokes about family, religion, and airport security. Though their goals and techniques vary, these comic trailblazers are proving that the words hijab and hilarious aren't mutually exclusive. -- Brendan Themes
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2022/

The Breast Cancer Divide
By Michelle L. Smith, M.D., Ms. Magazine
Over the last twenty years, numerous advances have been made in the treatment of breast cancer. All women have not benefited equally, however; African American women are less likely to survive breast cancer than their white counterparts. Part of this disparity has to do with the type of cancer afflicting African American women, but much of the problem lies in the lower-quality health care these women receive. Cancer may not discriminate based on race, but it's clear that the medical establishment still does. -- Brendan Themes
http://www.msmagazine.com/fall2004/breastcancer.asp

Third Party Candidates Arrested
By Sarah Kliff, Student Life
While Bush and Kerry revisited their well-worn talking points and brandished their well-practiced smirks at debate number two, a more interesting exercise in democracy was talking place outside the event, with less photogenic results. Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb were arrested while attempting to serve a court order demanding that the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) show cause why third parties were excluded from the debates. Earlier that day, Libertarians had been stopped by security guards while trying to serve these papers to the CPD headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- Brendan Themes
http://tinyurl.com/6e2cx

Decision 2004: Our Candidates, Our Choice
By Staff, Women's eNews
2004 is the most significant national election for women's issues since 1992, arguably the most important since women were granted the vote in 1920, according to the editors of Women's eNews. And the future doesn't just sit on the Supreme Court, where up to four new justices may ultimately overturn landmark decisions such as Roe v. Wade. The site's top reporters have been delivering excellent and comprehensive coverage on a number of women's issues (which, really, are everyone's issues) that should be addressed by both candidates before the election; including a look at the Bush administration's claims of success in Afghanistan through the lens of women's rights, the marginalization of anti-choice members in the Democratic party, and why the mainstream media ignores women's issues ?- especially on the campaign trail. -- Elizabeth Dwoskin
http://womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1921/

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