[afro-nets] Supercourse Newsletter, March 9, 2004

[Ron LaPorte <super1+@pitt.edu>]

Supercourse Newsletter, March 9, 2004
-------------------------------------
 
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/
 
 
The Rings of Prevention
 
Three rings for all Communicable Diseases under the sky
Seven for the Non Communicable ones in all lifestyles
Nine for the havoc Man wreaks in our Planet, doomed to die
One against the Dark Lord of Ignorance on his dark throne
 
In the land of Earth, where the shadows lie
One ring of prevention to rule them all, one ring to bind them
One ring to bring them all, and in the light of the Supercourse 
bind them
In the land of Earth, where the shadows lie
 
- Denish Moorthy, India
 
 
Denish was brilliant in his poem linking the Supercourse to the 
Lord of the Rings. Incredibly creative! We decided at the last 
minute to not put up my presentation as it was a work in pro-
gress, rather than a work that was finished. However, we did 
something most interesting in the presentation. About 30 minutes 
into the presentation a cell phone rang, and I was discussed. I 
picked it up and put it into a speakerphone. It was strange as 
the person was speaking Russian. Now one in the audience could 
understand him. It was?of course?Eugene Shubnikov from Siberia. 
He presented to the seminar from Russia about the FSU Super-
course. It was fantastic, and showed how we can "break down the 
walls" of prevention. Eugene was great, and everyone loved him. 
If ever you are presenting about the Supercourse, one of us can 
"break in" by calling to your cell phone as you are presenting. 
It was most fun and you get a lot of attention.
 
Disasters: 
We are preparing for the next disaster. The next natural disas-
ter in the US most likely will by a Tornado, therefore Eric 
Noji, with Julia and Eugene Shubnikov are preparing a template 
Tornado lecture. We plan to link this directly with the USAToday 
newspaper so that when a major tornado occurs, the newspapers 
will have directly links to our lecture and teachers can 
download it immediately. We will update the lecture daily as the 
event unfold. We now have template lectures on Earthquake, Air 
Safety, and Mad Cow disease. Should one of these disasters occur 
in your country we will contact all of you and we can build a 
JIT Tornado lecture in Japan, China, Russia, or any place. 
Please think now of how you could link with the major newspapers 
in your country. 
 
Student Listserv Dom Cirillo, a student at the University of 
Iowa has created a nice listserv for students in Epidemiology to 
talk with each other. You can find out more about it at: 
mailto:dominic-cirillo@uiowa.edu
 
Nobel Prize winners: 
It is amazing as to the interest in the Supercourse by Nobel 
Prize winners. Currently there are 7 who plan to join, of which 
we have collected lectures from 4 of them. We just wrote to the 
Nobel Prize foundation to discuss the possibility of collabora-
tion.
 
Aka Khan University Position: 
A position has opened for the Chairperson, Department of Commu-
nity Health Sciences at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Paki-
stan. It is a very exciting position, were I not locked into 
Pittsburgh, I would consider applying. There are enormous possi-
bilities for research in Pakistan for both Infectious and 
Chronic diseases. In addition there is a large amount of US For-
eign aid coming into the country. Aga Khan is one of the most 
progressive and scientifically motivated centers in the world, 
with brilliant faculty and students. It is a very attractive po-
sition for a researcher in Epidemiology and/or Public Health. 
You can find out more about the position by contacting President 
Latka at <president@aku.edu> or me at <ronlaporte@aol.com> . 
President Latka is an impressive person, someone you would be 
honored to work for. We will send to you a more in-depth job de-
scription and answer any questions. If you know of other people 
who might be interested, please distribute this newsletter to 
them.
 
1,700 to 2,175: Eugene has informed us that we have an incredi-
ble 1,700 lectures. If we keep going at this rate then by the 
end of the year we will have collected 2,175 lectures. Really, 
really, really amazing.
 
Best regards from a snowy and bluster Pittsburgh. Remember that 
a Tornado is coming soon and we can then try out the JIT lec-
tures. It should be most interest.
 
BMJ: 
Tony Delmothe, the web editor of the BMJ recently sent Gaven 
Yamey to visit with us. Gaven is an assistant editor, and spent 
a day with us learning about the Supercourse. The BMJ will be 
writing an editorial about our Supercourse and publishing it in 
April. Please look forward to reading it, as it is about all of 
us. We have had a long and productive history with the BMJ, and 
are proud that they chose the Supercourse to write about.
 
Take care,
 
Ron, Faina, Mita, Soni, Eugene, Eric, Abed, Rania, Denish, 
Charles, Tomoko, Wendy, Dorothy in Kansas
mailto:super1+@pitt.edu