news October 2007 archives
October 31, 2007
The psychiatrist and broadcaster Professor Anthony Clare has died suddenly at the age of 64.
Attacks on humanitarian aid missions are escalating
Guardian photo
Margaret Trudeau, right, signs autographs after speaking in Charlottetown Monday at a luncheon fundraiser for the Canadian Mental Health Association/P.E.I. division. Trudeau has made it her mission to help promote recovery and community support for those experiencing mental health problems.
Youngsters are missing out on their childhood because we over-protect them, a child play expert claims.
October 30, 2007
The area with the highest ratio of long-term benefit claimants in the UK is being failed by the Welsh Assembly Government, it is claimed.
iStockphoto | L McCorkle
Both males and females who suppressed thoughts of chocolate ate significantly more than those in the control condition, researchers found.
D Gee | Buffalo News
Damien Littleton, age 3, rides his bike past an abandoned home on Northumberland Street.
E PAGLIARINI | STAFF
Bonnie Brae student Mike G. opens the blinds in his room at the school in Bernards.
Half of the parents of 11 to 16 year olds could not say where their children are outside of school hours, says a report on "home alone" teenagers.
A County Tyrone woman has said she and her family are being forced to flee their home of 24 years after repeated attacks over the last six months.
October 29, 2007
Smoking large amounts of cannabis for therapeutic reasons may increase rather than reduce pain, a US study suggests.
Foster parents Vince and Pauline Matherick on their wedding day
Courier | D Sundin
Carol Logan spoke at the Southern Iowa Mental Health Center's 40th anniversary meeting Friday morning at Hotel Ottumwa. Logan gave attendees a rundown of the challenges they have faced in the past 40 years and the challenges they will face in the upcoming years. Logan did give a glimmer of hope by repeatedly complementing the quality of the Mental Health Center's staff.
iStockphoto | D Bisogno
While the children practice soccer skills on the field, the parents, including many fathers, can pick up tips on parenting skills. According to the researcher, success on the field means a greater chance of success at home and school.
October 26, 2007
Constance and Martin Silver
In the largest private donation to a school of social work in the United States, Constance and Martin Silver have pledged $50 million to the New York University School of Social Work. The gift will be used to support the Constance McCatherin-Silver Fellowship, which provides financial aid to M.S.W. students in need who are dedicated to helping minority populations; to establish an endowed professorship for a junior faculty member researching poverty; and to promote other new initiatives dedicated to the study of poverty and to better allocate funding, administration, and services.
"This gift marks a new chapter in the life of our school, and in a larger sense, it is an unprecedented moment for social work education,” said Suzanne England, dean of the School of Social Work at NYU. “The research, learning, and policy work sustained by the Silvers’ generosity will help deepen our knowledge about systemic poverty, and identify effective policies to lessen or eliminate its causes.”
The poverty-focused Institute and professorship in poverty research are both deeply resonant with Constance Silver’s life story. She grew up poor in rural Maine and occasionally visited New York City through the generosity of a wealthy family who lived in the city but spent summer vacations near her home. After graduating high school, she moved to New York, met her future husband her first week in Manhattan, and went to work in sales for a New York-based airline. It was not until she was in her mid-thirties that, at the urging of a neighbor, a social worker 30 years her senior, she decided to study social work.
In recognition of this historic gift, the NYU Board of Trustees has renamed the School as the Silver School of Social Work.
CA: Cannabis: Potent Anti-depressant In Low Doses, Worsens Depression At High Doses
iStockphoto | JM Deshaies
At higher doses, THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, can actually worsen depression and other psychiatric conditions like psychosis, a new study has found.
US: Viral Infections May Be Linked To Obesity
iStockphoto | L Fletcher
A growing body of evidence suggests that viruses may play a role in causing obesity in humans.
CA: Savannah Hall's mother raised concerns with foster-care home, inquest told
Courtesy | C Hall)
This is a photo of Savannah Hall with her mother, Corinna Hall, and her grandmother at a library in happier times.
US: Adoptive mothers' heartbreak is well understood
Nancy Bostock, a member of the Pinellas School Board, realizes now that she's not alone, that many parents of children with severe emotional problems struggle to get through the day.
UK: Prison for 'major' crack dealers
Cheddi Cummings, 29, and Junior Reid, 27, helped flood Aberdeen with hundreds of thousands of pounds of crack cocaine and heroin from their base in London.
October 25, 2007
UK: Is it OK for disabled people to go to brothels?
We live in a society saturated with sex, but disabled people can often feel they've not been invited to the party. Some feel prostitution might provide the answer. But is visiting a brothel the right thing to do?
US: Early Day Care Attendance May Protect Infants From Asthma Later
iStockphoto | M Adamczyk)
Day care attendance early in life seems to protect infants and young children from later developing asthma, according to new research.
UK: Gulf in rich-poor life expectancy
The wide gap in life expectancies between rich and poor persists, with professionals enjoying far longer lives than their low-skilled contemporaries. But some figures do suggest the rich/poor gap is narrowing.
UK: Kerb crawling soon to be outlawed
There have been repeated calls for NI to be brought into line with England and Wales, where it is an offence to cruise streets looking for sex.
October 24, 2007
UK: At Least Half Of Population Will Be Obese By 2032
iStockphoto
Obesity was found to be a much more passive phenomenon than is often assumed, as our bodies and biological make-up become increasingly out of step with our surroundings.
UK: The rising peril of crack cocaine
Once the scourge of sink estates in the UK's largest cities, crack cocaine has now spread all over the UK, according to a senior police officer.
US: Stress: Brain Yields Clues About Why Some Succumb While Others Prevail
Credit | UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dr. Eric Nestler (center) led a research team which included Dr. Ming-Hu Han and Vaishnav Krishnan in discovering that mice's ability or inability to cope with stress is linked to specific differences in the way brain cells communicate with each other. Understanding these mechanisms could eventually help scientists develop methods for humans to boost resilience to stress and depression.
iStockphoto | C Benavidez
Playing online multiplayer games had much greater positive and negative effects on people than playing traditional single-player video games, a new study has found.
US: Domestic violence survivor perseveres
Mike Vogt | IPT
Colene Brewer, left, reacts as she listens to a speaker talk about domestic violence at the Nampa Family Justice Center during a Thursday gathering designed to bring attention to Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
October 23, 2007
US: Stylists help fight domestic violence
Photo | U.S. Attorney's Office
U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan talks with local Empire Beauty School students Thursday following the introduction of the Cut It Out program.
US: Homelessness a vicious cycle
J Whitney | Columbia Missourian
Michele Silvey, her husband, Charlie, and their children called a Travelodge in Columbia home in July. They try to get off the streets as often as they can.
CA: Why poverty threatens us all
The gap between rich in poor in this country has reached Third World levels. Will it take widespread unrest to convince people they have a stake in this?
UK: Welfares support package agreed
Castle Morpeth Borough councillors have agreed a three year package of support to help ensure ex-miners' welfare centres of the former coalfields of the borough, continue to remain focal points for social and sporting life in four villages.
Photo | EFE
Some 6,000 people took part in a protest against poverty in Valencia this weekend
Photo | D Brash
Bernie and Pierre Boudieau, 42-year-old twins with their dogs Lady, Lucky and Jedi, sit in front of Streetlink on Store Street after having dinner. The two have been homeless for years and said they sleep on the streets because there is no social housing for people with dogs.
US: Rapper's death leads teens to re-evaluate lifestyle
J HANSON | THE CHRONICLE
Members of the Screwed Up Click, from left, Joseph Kyle Johnson, Antonio Martinez, Albert Driver and Adrian Washington, say they want people to know they don't endorse using Purple Drank.
CN: Growth behind China's identity crisis
Communist Party slogans are less important to some people now
US: Golden Gate Park slayings cast shadow on homeless debate
Chronicle | P Chinn
David Horn does a crossword puzzle near Alvord Lake at Golden Gate Park. He spends his days in the park and sleeps in doorways.
October 22, 2007
Katrina kept a diary of the false claims during treatment
Councillor Peter Thompson has condemned a proposed Government funding formula for social services
This World investigates how every week in India thousands of girls are killed, aborted or abandoned simply because of their gender.
US: LSU mental health program may be fixed
CA: Social work student’s funding cut
P Parsons | Staff
Melissa Myers sits in her wheelchair after a news conference in Halifax on Friday. The 23-year-old woman who has cerebral palsy was cut off social assistance when she enrolled in the bachelor of social work program at Dalhousie University.
US: Social Work grads get active
US: Easing transition from foster care
M Jory | Times-Herald
Former foster youth Elizabeth Hobbs, right, and Brittany West get their kitchen organized Thursday afternoon as they move into their new apartment in Vallejo.