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Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

“7 Germiest public places”

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Just got my March 2012 issue of Prevention Magazine, and on pages 39 & 40 is an article entitled “7 Germiest Public Places” –enough to put the fear into anyone who dares to venture out into the public.

Here’s their list (and see if you agree with the results):

71% of gas pump handles

68% of sidewalk mailbox handles

43% of escalator rails

41% of ATM buttons

40% of parking meters

35% of crosswalk buttons

35% of vending machine buttons

The article says this research was done by Kimnberly-Clark Professional. Six major cites were studied in which testers checked for ATP (adenosine triphosphate, which exists in all bacteria.)

Noticed that the study did not include faucets of public bathrooms, which are reportedly quite dirty.

Now I know why we probably should be carrying those hand sanitizers, towelettes, or using gloves when we touch anything that other people touch. Public libraries in Pima County have those sanitizer stands to use after you touch the keys of the library computers, utilized by many patrons over the course of one 10 hour day.

Tucson doesn’t have a lot of sidewalk mailboxes left, nor a lot of escalators since we don’t have that many high-rises, but we do have elevators (whose buttons are probably just as germ covered).

Readers — do you agree with the results? Will this knowledge change your behavior in public places such as washing your hands more frequently? Yesterday I touched a pedestrian button to cross a street, and recoiled afterwards thinking of the germs on that button.

4th Annual Tour de Cookie

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

Sunday February 12, 2012 – 9:00 am
Mercado San Agustin (100 South Avenida del Convento, Tucson, AZ 85754) The rides start & finish there.

From website: www.tourdecookie.com. It’s in the 4th year, so I must have missed the other three. Register online now for either 13 or 30 mile rides.

Welcome to the 4th Annual Tour de Cookie! Participants will race/ride between 10 cookie-stands (hosted by local clubs and organizations) and purchase/eat as many pastries as possible. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide and pay for the Tucson Kids’ Try-athlon, a free triathlon designed for children with special needs and/or disabilities.

Participants will receive a collectible long sleeve t-shirt and a custom medal. Awards to the top 3 finishers (male and female), best cookie-stand and most money-raiser. You’ll have to visit every cookie-stand to be eligible for awards.

Congratulations to all cyclists and the dozens of cookie stand volunteers! The 2011 Tour de Cookie was a huge success and we really appreciate your help and support.

2011 Winners: 1st Place: Betsy Woodhouse and Phil Roper (also winner of the 2010 ride); 2nd Place: Dori Fisher and John Peterson; 3rd Place: Kim Sooter and Howard Grahn; Last Bite Award: John Henneberger Jr; Best Cookie Stand: Tucson Roller Derby (winner of the 2010 ride).

Sounds like great exercise and I hope those are healthy cookies at the 10 stands.

Truly “A New American Family” by former UA President Peter Likins (book review)

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

Dr. Peter Likins

Dr. Peter Likins, who served for 9 years as President of the University of AZ wrote an autobiography about himself and his family last year, entitled “A New American Family: a love story” (2011, University of AZ Press).

My husband (a University Distinguished Professor at the UA) and I listened last Spring to Dr. Likins at the UA Bookstore when he read excerpts from his book. And I finally got around to reading it just recently.

The book chronicles Dr. Likins’ rise from his childhood in a small 2-room cabin near Santa Cruz, CA (raised by a single mother) to President of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, and to the University of AZ. Along the way he studied engineering at Stanford and MIT, and worked at Caltech, UCLA, and Columbia.

But this story is more about his family life. He had met his wife Pat while they were in middle school. They married as teenagers, but then faced 7 years of infertility and miscarriages before they decided to adopt children. The couple had wanted 4 children, having both grown up with the same number of siblings. So they eventually adopted six.

Their adopted children:

Lora: White, a nurse, has adopted her nephew (son of adoptive sister Teresa), is in a 2nd marriage with 2 step children

Paul: Hispanic/White, gay, career in management/communications

Krista: Black/White, a nursing assistant, had two children out of wedlock who were adopted by a cousin & her husband

John: Black/White, wrestled like his adoptive father, had a daughter out of wedlock at age 17 (adopted out by friends), schizophrenic with drug problems, fatally overdosed at age 33

Teresa: Native American (Morongo Tribe), studied to be a nurse, biological sister to Linda, had a son out of wedlock with a White man (adopted by sister Lora)

Linda: Native American (Morongo Tribe), a nurse, biological sister to Teresa, had two children also out of wedlock

If you’re counting, this means that Pete & Pat Likins also have 8 grandchildren (counting the two step-grandchildren of Lora’s).

With such a multi-cultural, racially diverse family, Dr. Likins and his wife were obviously advocates of racial tolerance and acceptance, creating this “new American family”. He states on page 52: “Learning to be prejudiced is easy, but overcoming denial to learn about prejudice is very hard.” He observed first hand the racism that was directed mostly against his Black and Native American children.

And as for the adversity he and his wife endured by raising all these children, and losing one to mental illness & a drug overdose, Dr Likins states on page 109: “Few qualities better predict success in life than resilience, the ability to bounce back quickly from a bad experience. Everyone takes a hit now and then, and a certain mental toughness is necessary for quick recovery and agile response.”

Most of us have adopted people in our families. My half-Turkish nephew in Germany is adopted, as was my sister-in-law’s half-brother who was adopted out (product of an affair by their same mother with a married man), and several of my cousins (of different Asian ethnicities). And some colleagues here in town are adopted. Growing up in the State of Hawaii I was exposed to numerous multi-cultural, multi-racial families, which just seemed “normal” to me.

I congratulate Pete and Pat Likins for the tremendous love they have in their hearts for each other, and for adopting so many children of mixed ethnicities and needs (three of the six developed drug problems). He writes on page 169 “We see our family as a model of inclusivity that might be embraced as an American ideal.” They may be representative of new American families with biracial/multi-racial children, from different cultures & religions, but all alike in nationality and dreams.

Read this fascinating & inspiring story of education, adoption, diverse families, and the American way. It’s a good read for upcoming Valentine’s Day.

Note: I chatted with Dr. Likins at the summer dedication of Likins Hall (that new dorm named after him, just west of the UA stadium, NE corner of Highland Ave. and E. 6th Street).

Left to right on book cover: top row – Lora, Dr. Peter Likins, wife Pat, Teresa; bottom row – the late John, Linda, Krista, Paul, with their Norwegian elkhound Smokey.