news December 2007 archives
December 31, 2007
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US: Constance & Martin Silver Donate $50 Million to University’s School of Social Work
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.
There are 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK. Some people in England are facing waits of nearly two-and-a-half years for an NHS hearing aid, the RNID charity says.
K Condyles | NY Times
SERVING Larry Sklar, doing what he does best.
Photo | B Swart
A group of homeless teen-agers are cleaning up areas exposed to sewage and standing water in their hometown. The goal is to have cleaner water, and eventually a water purification system.
Policemen and Hanoi residents watch the burning of confiscated illegal drugs
R Gauthier | LAT
Tiffany sits in an isolation room at Metropolitan State Hospital,after complaining of feeling ill. "The reason why I have been self-medicating is because I have nothing," she said.
R Perry | NY Times
MOM TO MANY Linda Yolman says that after 37 years of fostering children, “I still love babies.”
DM Barreda | Mercury News
Sabreena Westphal talks about her custody battle for her daughter at her San Jose home. Twenty years ago Westphal, then known as Tiffany Callo, was a poster child for the disabled parents movement when she fought for and lost custody of her two babies. She has cerebral palsy, is in a wheelchair and has only limited use of her arms. Now Sabreena is again fighting for custody of her third child, who is now 5 years old. But it looks like she's going to lose again.
Maurice Quinlivan, Sinn Fein
December 28, 2007
Image courtesy of New York City Health Department
A young girl wearing kohl -- a cosmetic that has been found to contain lead.
PA DWYER | BELLINGHAM HERALD
Rick Dudley, right, director of the Lake Whatcom Residential & Treatment Center gets a hug from resident Patrick Murray earlier this month.
CT KOJIMA | STAR BULLETIN
Marya Grambs, executive director of Mental Health America of Hawaii, recently received the Daniel K. Inouye Award from the Hawaii Psychological Association for "distinguished contributions to psychology and mental health."
The tin shelters are not suited to the climate. More than 40,000 people in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands made homeless by the 26 December 2004 Asian tsunami are still living in temporary shelters.
DRC | G Payne
After 22 years with the Denton school district, social worker Rosemary Rodriguez, center, has retired. Rodriguez speaks with her daughter Deanna Vasquez, right, and granddaughter Adriana Vasquez during her surprise retirement party last week at the school district's main building.
D Grove | Intelligencer Journal
Volunteers hand out desserts during dinner at St. Anne's Church
J WHONGStar-Gazette
Antoinette Cantrell holds two foster children, who are looking away from the camera to protect their identities. From left are Hannah Cantrell, 9; Adrianna Cantrell, 4; John Cantrell; and Cameron Cantrell, 6.
Stephen McManus urged people to back the campaign. Celtic and Rangers have given their support to a domestic abuse campaign, by screening advertisements to fans.
December 27, 2007
Richard Croxton
"When we first started talking about obesity as a problem, it was very hard to be heard," says Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern. "Now the pendulum has swung too far the other way - we hear nothing but. And the net result is that the kind of moralising the obese and overweight have always suffered has somehow become institutionalised."
F Ninivaggi
Medical care: Dr. Jessie Gaeta cares for those in need at Boston Health Care for the homeless.
iStockphoto | A Pustovaya
While swimming with dolphins may be a fun, novel experience, no scientific evidence exists for any long-term benefit from dolphin assisted therapy.
C Nelson
A foster mother gets a hug from her foster child, a Romanian girl who participated in a research project that removed children from orphanages and placed them in foster care.
Shantel Randolph is helping foster kids learn to advocate for change in the system.
J Phelps
Florence Mahoney is retiring after 25 years of heading the Hope Support Group.
Grant Shapps (r) admitted it was a publicity stunt
December 26, 2007
Many families can't afford a school lunch for their children
B BASHAM | TRIBUNE
Pat Anderson, left, presented Lake Park-Audubon social worker Jennifer Heggestuen with an award for her ethics in teaching.
Sun | Doug Kapustin
Bob Kight moves a box filled with donations into a truck. The donated clothes help the homeless in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore and Washington.
FSU graduate student Tamiria Sims poses with children in South Africa.
S Schmid | The Herald
Maddy Krygier speaks to her foster son, Jonathan Ho, 15, while Jonathan's 12-year-old sister looks on in their Marysville home. Along with their 14-year-old brother, the children have been under Krygier's guardianship for six years.
R PALMISANO | OC REGISTER
A HANDFULL OF KIDS: "This is my dream," says Raquel Pierce who loves working with kids and has added four foster children to her family. Her children Christina, left, and Megan, center, are two of her own.
For those of you tucking into dark chocolate this Christmas using the excuse it is good for you, think again.
December 21, 2007
iStockphoto | Claire George
Two rhesus macaque monkeys. Nonhuman primate subjects were two adult female rhesus macaques, named Feinstein and Boxer.
GW Arias | P-I
Ameen Salh, grounds maintenance worker with Seattle Parks and Recreation, announces his presence at a homeless encampment on the slopes just north of Elliott Avenue on Wednesday.
In Hong Kong, thousands of residents struggle with poverty, isolation and joblessness
VNA/VNS | D Hue
Disabled children make embroidery pictures at Tan Xuan Vocational Training Center. Support for disabled people was the focus for the National Conference on Disability in Viet Nam - an Agent Orange Perspective, in the capital yesterday.
In the biggest welfare overhaul for 30 years, the government announced plans to move a whole raft of single parents off benefits and into work. But what does that mean in practice?
An estimated 100,000 children run away from home every year, often from family conflict. Laura has run away from home 150 times.
F Klein
BITTER PILL: Dr. Chris Welsh Says That One of The Reasons Buprenorphine Is Not More Widely Used to Treat Addictions in Baltimore Is That It Can Be Difficult For Uninsured Patients to Afford The Drug.
Picture: PA
The heroin substitute is used by almost a third of addicts.
December 20, 2007
"Although 87 percent of our nation's wealth is generated in our cities, hunger and homelessness persist in most of our country's cities and urban centers," Douglas Palmer, the head of the US Conference of Mayors, said in a statement to coincide with the publication of the annual survey.
New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says he found some psychiatrists and other medical providers overcharged the state by more than $1.3 million for treatments.
Chronicle | B Ward
Niels Tangherlini is willing to state the hard truths about San Francisco's street population. And he's doing it, even if it causes howls of protests from advocates for homeless people or from some city political leaders. For example, Tangherlini strongly believes some severely mentally ill street people need "long-term, regular care. And if they don't want to accept that, we may have to impinge on their civil rights."
W Schumaker
Once regarded skeptically by the experts, seasonal affective disorder, SAD for short, is now well established. Epidemiological studies estimate that its prevalence in the adult population ranges from 1.4 percent (Florida) to 9.7 percent (New Hampshire).
De Telegraaf
Raymond Poeteray and his wife Meta.
Chronicle | K Stanley-Mills
The Chronicle studied accidental death certificates filed with the Muskegon County Clerk's office between 2003 and Oct. 31, and the conclusions were startling. Of the 58 drug-related accidental deaths during that time, 29, or half, involved methadone -- a drug commonly used for pain or to help narcotic users treat their addictions. The deaths involved methadone used alone or in conjunction with other drugs.
Pic | T Sanders
Not very long ago, being a “professional” in a public service – like social work, teaching, or nursing – generally meant that you were less likely to be a trade unionist than if you were a skilled worker in a manufacturing industry. Even among those who were in trade unions, commitment to their service led to a widespread rejection of the idea of taking industrial action. One of New Labour’s achievements has been to turn that on its head.
December 19, 2007
"When you're on the street it's hard ... because you get really depressed and you just don't see any hope" Alice
Photo | Index Open
Salaries for men significantly higher than for women
Reporter | P Flood
Alfred Bonner, left, of Fond du Lac blows on his hands to keep warm as he stands in line Friday waiting for a free meal to be served at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Harold Fenske, right, of Rosendale, wears a button denoting A-1 for one adult and C-0 for no children. The button helps volunteers at Broken Bread allot him the proper amount of food.
SG Winterton | Deseret Morning News
Lucia Guillen, left, helps Rene Gonzalez hit the pinata at a party at the Utah Foster Foundation's offices Saturday.
J Spink
Mary Dean Harvey, director of the state's Division of Family and Children Services, says children in its custody are safe.
B Edwards | The Journal
Students Sara Bushnell, left, and Erin Radke volunteered to help decorate the classroom for the new program, and think it's a good idea for the school to help students with mental-health problems.
A HEISENFELT | AP
Tents of homeless people fill Duncan Plaza across from City Hall in New Orleans last week. Some are reluctant to leave, believing the housing offered would not be an improvement.