MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
On April 18, the story of James Heywood's quest to develop a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to save the life of his brother Stephen (sons of Professor John Heywood of mechanical enginering) was featured on "60 Minutes II" on CBS. James's efforts led to the founding of the ALS Therapy Development Foundation (MIT Tech Talk, March 15, 2000). The foundation's partnerships with leading ALS researchers and clinicians in the world have been the focus of stories in the New Yorker, the Boston Globe and the American Medical News. Those articles are linked to the foundation's web site.
GLOBE-TROTTING
Eve Sullivan, senior editorial assistant in the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, traveled to Iran for an annual meeting of the International Federation for Parent Education (IFPE) from April 22-24.
Ms. Sullivan is the founder of Parents Forum. The conference, whose theme is "Civilization, Education and Family," was co-sponsored by the Parents and Teachers Association of the Islamic Republic of Iran and was held in preparation for the 2001 International Year for Dialogue on Civilization. It was held in Tehran and followed by seminars in the historic cities of Isfahan and Shiraz.
"Iranian students Roya Beheshti Zavareh, Mehdi Yahhanejad and Sina Nazemi have encouraged me a great deal and helped me plan for the trip," Ms. Sullivan said.
AUTHOR, AUTHOR
Kenneth Keniston and Leo Marx, faculty members in the Program in Science, Technology and Society (STS), are co-editors (with Jill Ker Conway) of the just-published Earth, Air, Fire, Water: Humanistic Studies of the Environment(University of Massachusetts press). The volume of essays by the editors and others offers fresh approaches to urgent environmental problems. The authors argue that solving problems such as ozone depletion pollution and loss of biological diversity requires not only the efforts of scientists, but also changes in law and public policy, institutional structures and practices and habits of consumption.
Dr. Keniston is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Human Development; Dr. Marx, a senior lecturer in STS, is the William R. Kenan Professor of American Cultural History, Emeritus.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 26, 2000.
