Gratefully unplugged November 30, 2009

Posted by Paul Busby in Uncategorized.
add a comment

There is something wholesome to the smell of a local hardware store. It’s remarkably earthy, a scent so recognizable you could be blindfolded and still conjure up images of grease-covered hands on sturdy metal, or coarse gloves gripping garden trowels. It’s akin to the feeling of household productivity and the small pieces that hold together a fulfilling life.

After taking it all in you walk by the checkout counter that’s located only a few feet from the door. They keep it close so they can check-in on you. The cashier knows your name and probably even why you’re there. “Hey Mr. Busby. Your lawnmower part came in today.” You say their names back because it feels right to be loyal to a place that commits itself to connecting with you so personally, instead of digitally or remotely.

But who needs this old-fashioned interaction, when these days anyone can order anything from their computer desk and their bathrobe. Sites like Amazon.com make shopping a breeze, just three clicks and the taps of some scattered keys. No words. No interactions. No need.

Back at the hardware store, fathers are hunting among the tools to find the fix to their day-to-day problems. One walks up to the parts counter in front of me with his small, blonde son in tow. The boy’s hands are fidgeting, looking for something to do as his dad asks for a part that he had reserved on some other occasion.

“Did you eat a lot of turkey?” the cashier asks the boy. The boy’s face slowly starts to release a smile. “I don’t know if he likes it as much as I do yet,” the dad demurred. Grins are spreading as the older clerk goes in the back to find the reservation.

It seems so insignificant, this small exchange of pleasantries. But there’s something more tangible there than on any website. It’s something the father paid for when he invested the time to visit the store, or when he remembered the clerk’s name. It’s something his son needs now more than ever if he’s going to grow-up being socially healthy.

The clerk hands over the part and wishes them a happy holiday. There seems to be more interest in the boy’s eyes than before as they pass all the categories of nuts and bolts that oft go invisible to a normal kid’s eyes. Hopefully he was reminded of the touch of human interaction and the thrill of talking to someone’s face.

Hopefully he won’t grow up to be like his older brother, too busy texting in the car outside.

Not exactly canoeing weather November 24, 2009

Posted by Paul Busby in Uncategorized.
add a comment

It was the second time the Elon canoeing class trip had been cancelled in a row, literally. Junior David Ciambruschini was getting sick of the weather patterns interrupting his rhythmic strokes down the Haw River. 

“We were supposed to go on a whole canoeing trip last Saturday and Sunday,” Ciambruschini said. “But both days got cancelled because the Haw river is six feet past its banks, because of all this rain we’ve been having.”

The trip was initially postponed but had to be rescheduled again when the river had not gone down. Eventually, Ciambruschini got out to the river but the trip was cut short by a whole day.

“It really ruined the semester for me,” he joked. 

But the rain doesn’t stop there. It also decreases Ciambruschini’s day-to-day activities as well.

“This rain’s really been impacting my social life and my academic life,” Ciambruschini said. “I don’t want to go outside of my house anymore, or walk to my classes. It’s just really all around depressing.”

The Maryland native is used to his share of rain, but he still can’t shake the fact that it is complicating his craving for the outdoors. 

The drizzly surroundings seemed to support his theories though, as the paths outside of the library looked like a slick and deserted ghost town.

Movie Clip from interview with David Ciambruschini

Iraqi doctor speaks on medical reform November 10, 2009

Posted by Paul Busby in Uncategorized.
add a comment

Michael Brennan first met fellow ophthalmologist Tara B. Rashid in her conflicted hometown of Baghdad. Now she is visiting Brennan’s home in Burlington to share stories about the many obstacles she and Brennan have been trying to overcome in the Iraqi medical system.

In addition to being a local doctor, Brennan is the director and chairman of the Medical Alliance for Iraq. His work with Rashid started in 2003, when he formed the non-profit organization hoping to help train Iraqi doctors to today’s standards.

Brennan invited Rashid to come speak to his local Rotary Club group, and raised the money for her 6,000-mile journey. Here he introduced her as a valuable friend and colleague.

“When she acts, it’s not out of her self-interest. It’s for the benefit of others,” Brennan says.  

For Rashid, being a doctor in a war-torn nation is tough, especially when the country lacks technological, institutional and educational know-how.

Rashid had both good news and bad news for the Rotary Club, but she chose to break the bad news first by describing Iraq’s suffering medical system.

“The ministry of health is what we call the biggest dictator in Iraq, next to Saddam Hussein,” she joked. “It controls the resources, society, and everything,” Rashid said.

Earning a medical degree is difficult in her country. Rashid said that students must first get all A’s in high school, since the Iraqi government pays for students to go to its medical college. After eight years of medical college, students can choose to become general practitioners or take several more years to learn specialties.

Afterward, the doctor must get two licenses: one from the Ministry of Health and another from the Iraqi Medical Syndicate, which is similar to the

American Medical Association. Whereas the Ministry of Health is too controlling, Rashid says the Iraqi Medical Syndicate doesn’t do enough.

“It’s just like a country club,” Rashid said. “You go there, you register, you get your license, and that’s it. It will never back you up, it will never help you, and it has no rules whatsoever.”

This lack of rules is opening the door to more specific problems like malpractice and a lack of accreditation. The Ministry of Health, she adds, uses an outdated set of practices.

“The guidelines we are still working with are the 1942 British curriculum guidelines. No upgrades, no changes,” Rashid said.

Also, the introduction of new medicine is difficult because the nation lacks the laws that allow them a budget for more advanced drugs and equipment.

Then there’s the physical danger. When the war hit in 2003, doctors were threatened, some even kidnapped and killed. Many hospitals shut down all together.

“You could count all the hospitals in Iraq who could give at least emergency care. One, two, three. That’s it,” Rashid said.

Then Rashid shared the good news from Iraq.

The country sent out a cry for help, and support began to materialize. Help from neighboring nations led to an increase in the number of hospitals. Rashid said the Italians built a hospital for burn victims, the Japanese built a large multi-purpose hospital and the United Arab Emirates built a small hospital in addition to donating funds and drugs.

The U.S. Army fortified these health facilities against looting and attacks. The Army offered some of its own medicine in addition to funding hospital rehabilitation projects, said Rashid.

Then came the financial and physical aid of NGO’s like Brennan’s Medical Alliance for Iraq. He and his fellow doctors brought equipment Iraq had never seen before, in addition to new surgery procedures and training. 

“The alliance has built good attitudes and results, and it’s percolating up,” Brennan said. We’ve learned some lessons of what to do and what not to do and that personal relationships are the most important.”

The strong relationships seemed apparent to even those attending the Rotary Club meeting. When a question was raised as to whether the people of Iraq appreciated the help of America’s troops, Rashid’s answer was resounding.

“Yes!” she said. “Let me tell you one thing. Iraq has been under invasion since the day it was put on the map of the universe. But you are the best invasion we have had.”

After pausing for a laugh, she added, “I mean it! Not one of your soldiers broke a door, not one of your soldiers has raped a woman and not one of your soldiers has looted anything! They were there in the streets carrying plastic bags and cleaning the streets of Baghdad of garbage.”

Rashid is still hoping for more permanent internal reform.

“We need to upgrade our system, because now we are open to the world,” Rashid said. “We need to start catching up with the countries around us.”

Elon hosts “The Great Marijuana Debate” November 5, 2009

Posted by Paul Busby in Uncategorized.
add a comment

The tension felt like a thick and giddy curtain draping over the La Rose business theatre, as a packed room of Elon students and citizens awaited the two credentialed debaters that would be leading the “Great Marijuana Debate.”

Ten minutes before the speakers arrived the anticipation of the situation set in, as everyone fell silent in one sweeping hush. The nervous silence passed, but the excitement still intensified. Tonight would definitely push some borders.

On the pro-side of legalization was Kris Krane, director of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which is an organization that fights punitive drug policies.

Across from Krane was Dr. Paul Chabot, a recently returned Iraqi war veteran who has worked extensively in governmental administration as well as the law enforcement of narcotics.

When the moderator asked the gentlemen who would like to start the night’s arguments, Krane quipped, “Let the establishment start,” with a smile and a wave to Chabot.

As a father of two, Chabot urged the audience to primarily think about the responsibilities they will one day owe to their families. He mentioned overcoming his own drug addictions at the early age of 12, and his subsequent trip to rehab.

“I used to be on the same side as Kris,” Chabot said. But now he claims that he fights on the minority’s side versus a majority of rich pro-drug organizations.

Chabot claims that many of the war on drug’s problems are stemming from these organizations. “They stand on the backs of the sick people to prove that marijuana is good. But the opposite is quite true,” Chabot said.

Krane responded by saying that the two men had similar goals but very different ways of going about them. He used prohibition as a starting point by saying that the movement began with the noble idea of getting rid of alcoholism, but suppressing alcohol’s consumption actually made things much worse. The rise of pro-drug organizations today is not too dissimilar.

When Chabot mentioned a 30,000 person marijuana festival that had recently occurred in his community “backyard,” Krane responded by saying, “This is a testament to the fact that prohibition is not working.”

Chabot later warned of a possible “Amsterdam effect” that could invade and corrupt the U.S. economy and moral system.

Krane disagreed with this viewpoint and clarified his position. To him, responsible management of legalization would improve the U.S. economy in a safe way.

“The idea that we want a weed smoking utopia with everyone smoking all the time is simply not true. Rather we want a more regulated market that controls its distribution,” Krane said.

Chabot’s concerns quickly turned back to the safety of children, especially in parks and playgrounds. “Parks were made for kids, not drug addicts. That’s a fact,” Chabot said.

He also addressed marijuana as being a gateway drug to other drugs’ physical abuse, as well as their potential legislative legalization.

Krane argued that it is only associated thus because of marijuana’s illegal status. He claims it is currently clumped with worse drugs by the government’s own drug scheduling policies, as well as the illegal drug dealer’s own tendency to sell more than one drug.

“If we are going to give marijuana a legally regulated market like we have for alcohol, we need to take it out of the black market’s hands,” Krane said.

For Chabot and traditional law enforcement it’s a continuous fight for removal without considering the substance’s relocation in society. For Krane it’s a battle for relocation and regulation. Both sides agree however, that it’s a debate that will be reoccurring for quite some time to come.