Selected Media Coverage: November 9, 2007

PAKISTAN: Madrassa bombing revenge attack kills 42 soldiers
11/09/2006 - Radio Australia (cir. )

Quick Home Cures: Stock Up On These Doctor-Tested Medicine Cabinet Essentials, Part II
11/08/2006 - Sarasota Herald-Tribune (cir. 100,294)

No family for the holidays? Party with your friends, the family you choose
11/07/2006 - WPMI-TV (cir. )

Lehigh to Open Center to Bolster Urban Leadership
11/07/2006 - Education Week (cir. 51,186)

N.J. researchers receive grant for chemical threats research
11/01/2006 - Newsday (cir. 427,771)

Trading Spaces, B-School Edition
10/31/2006 - BusinessWeek Online (cir. 133,333)

con_paperclip.gif alt=>PAKISTAN: Madrassa bombing revenge attack kills 42 soldiers
11/09/2006 - Radio Australia (cir. )
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A suicide bomber has struck at a Pakistani army base in the country's north-west, killing at least 42 soldiers. Military officials are saying the bombing at Dargai was in response for an army airstrike on a religious school late last month. Will it have ominous implications for Pakistani government attempts to engage the militant northwest frontier?
Presenter - Sen Lam, Speaker - Professor Rajan Menon, International Relations, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
[NOTE: You can listen to a windows media audio file of the interview by clicking on the paperclip to the left. Under Latest Program, scroll down until you see the headline PAKISTAN: Madrassa bombing revenge attack kills 42 soldiers.]
MENON: No question about it. As you know, there've already been agreements signed between the Pakistani authorities, the Pakistani military in particular, and leaders in Waziristan. That agreement already, is very leaky. Now, there's been an attempt to reach a similar agreement with leaders in the North-West frontier province and this attack in Dargai in North West Frontier province is going to make it much more difficult. As you know, it comes barely a week after the Pakistani air strike in the neighbouring area of Bajaur that killed eighty people. There've been conflicting reports. The Pakistanis said at that time that this was an Al-Qaeda Taliban stronghold, the local leaders claimed that there were children killed there, but what's important to note is that in that attack, a leader of a very prominent Islamist group, was killed there. He was the head of the seminary. So once that happened, there was immediate insistence by the local Islamist leaders that there would be retaliation. So it's not entirely surprising that this has happened.
LAM: So do you think the Pakistani military miscalculated late last month in attacking the madrassa in Bajaur?
MENON: I think there's no question - whether or not they were correct in assuming that this was a hostile target - there was no question that there was going to be a reaction sooner or later. The entire area has been a stronghold for radical Islamists, in particular, this movement called Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi, or movement for the implementation of Muhamad's Shariah law. It is a group committed to institutionalising and implementing the purist Islamist regime in the region, and it has long had ties with the Taliban elements, going back, I would say an anti-Soviet resistance movement, going back to the 1980s at the very least.
LAM: Returning to the bombing at Dargai, it's by far the biggest blow for the Pakistani military by militant groups, and indeed, to date, 42 soldiers have been killed. Do we know who was responsible?
MENON: I would say, this group, T-N-S-M that I just mentioned, because soon after the attack on the madrassa or the religious seminary on October 30th, they were already vowing to take revenge. As I mentioned, one of their leaders died in the attack - the head of the seminary was a leader in T-N-S-M. In the early part of this year, I believe it was January, there was an attempt by the United States to launch an air strike to kill the head of T-N-S-M, so there's been a long history of hostility between the Pakistani military on the one hand, and the United States, against T-N-S-M. So, the Dargai attack, coming within a week of the Bajaur attack, shows that it's very clear the two are related. It's going to make the whole business of trying to reach an accommodation between the Pakistani authorities and the local leaders in NWFP - the North West Frontier Province of Waziristan much more difficult. These agreements by the way, are not proving to be viable in any event.
LAM: Indeed, how much support does the T-N-S-M enjoy in the North West Frontier province?
MENON: It's hard to know what level of support it enjoys, but there's no question that it has a long presence there, going back about two decades. It has an avowed idealogical aim, and I think it is safe to say that it has been able to survive in that region not purely by intimidation but its idealogy and its long-term plans have some attraction in the local area.
LAM: It would seem then, that there doesn't seem to be much room for manoeuvre for the Pakistani government. President Musharraf has said extremism and terrorism must be eliminated. Has his government made much headway?
MENON: No, I don't think so. The army and the militants are in a see-saw battle. I think that as far as the militants are concerned, Musharraf is a sell-out, if not an apostate, by virtue of his decision to align himself with the United States. There is a great deal of pro-Taliban sentiment in Waziristan and in the North West Frontier province, and I think the latest attack shows that the problem has not been taken in hand by the Pakistani authorities. Furthermore, there is no question that crossings of borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan by Taliban militants and their Pakistani sympathisers, goes on significantly. You cannot seal that border, the army efforts to seal it have been unsuccessful, and so that problem continues as well.

con_paperclip.gif alt=>Quick Home Cures: Stock Up On These Doctor-Tested Medicine Cabinet Essentials, Part II
11/08/2006 - Sarasota Herald-Tribune (cir. 100,294)
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By Amanda MacMillan, Kristin Kane, Camille Noe Pagan, and, Aimee Whitenack
c. 2006 The Boston Globe
Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate
Doctors don't always have a pharmacy at their fingertips -- sometimes they have to improvise just like the rest of us. The difference? They have all that training backing up their choices. So Prevention asked health professionals what home remedies they use for themselves and their families. Now you can relieve, recover, and restore just like the experts in Part Two of our story.
SORE of fatigue are actually dehydrated, says Merrell; aim for six to eight glasses a day.
If you're already well hydrated, try Siberian ginseng; in animal and human studies, it's been found to increase stamina. Take four 500 milligrams tablets of dried bark a half hour before a workout or a big day at work -- but for a reliable boost, use it for just 3 months at a time. The herb rhodiola may also increase alertness by encouraging production of brain chemicals that stimulate your central nervous system; one Russian study found that people taking rhodiola reported less mental fatigue along with higher levels of physical fitness and better coordination. Follow dosage instructions on the label.

con_paperclip.gif alt=>No family for the holidays? Party with your friends, the family you choose
11/07/2006 - WPMI-TV (cir. )
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NEW YORK (AP) - When Aunt Sarah died, so did a longtime holiday tradition. No longer would I have a place to go for Christmas Eve in South Philly with the Sicilian-American clan in which I grew up.
Without any surviving close family, I looked forward to a lonely season in New York - until I realized how many other urban transplants there were. Why not be the Italian Mamarelle for those who couldn't get back to the folks?
This year marks my seventh annual Christmas Eve bash, proving you can have happy holidays without family. 'Our closest friends are our chosen family,' observes Paul Siegel, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at the State University of New York/Purchase.
Particularly in cities, he says, 'connections ground us. So if you are unable to spend the holidays this year with family members, do whatever you can to create a sense of connectedness to others in your life.' More and more people seem to be on their own these days. Census figures show that one-fourth of the nation's households - 27.2 million of them - now consist of one person, compared to just 10 percent in 1950. For that matter, the average American has only two close friends in whom to confide - down from three in 1985, according to an authoritative sociological study released in June. Nearly a quarter have no confidant at all.
The holidays can be particularly hard on those who have suffered the death of loved ones, divorce, empty nests or relocation. There also are those who do have family but would rather not see them; for them too, it can be a lonely season.
So it's been good to see 15 to 30 people at my Christmas do each year. And stragglers are more than welcome.
Co-workers appreciate having someplace to go and gratefully call it my 'Orphan Christmas.' Neighbors are glad to get out of the house. Non-Christian friends have an excuse to party.
Sure, Christmas carols waft out of the stereo, but eventually Prince, Green Day, Talking Heads or the Oliver Nelson Sextet will take over. The perpetually burning yule log - an old New York tradition recently revived by a cable channel - burns on the TV screen. Who said my place didn't come with a fireplace!?
Tradition is important in defining ourselves and our values, but so is adapting as circumstances change, says Purdue University cultural anthropologist Andrew Buckser. 'Holiday rituals are really a kind of play, and everyone is always rewriting the script,' he says. 'Each of us is our own character, and we each have something we want to say.' Re-thinking expectations - and letting go of the goal of a picture-perfect holiday - can relieve the pressure on those who find themselves without family, says another expert, Kansas State University professor Charlotte Shoup Olsen, who specializes in family issues. 'If there ever was a time to look beyond the box, this is it,' she says. The key, she says, is keeping plans simple.
That's what I do: buy plenty of booze and 6-foot hoagies; a monster pan of lasagna; antipasto; and various cheeses, olives and other noshes. Some people bring cookies and pastries.
Another option is potluck, says Lehigh University professor Nicola Tannenbaum, who studies the cultural significance of food and eating. She suggests serving 'comfort foods, but what these are depends on the people involved, their ethnic backgrounds and their experiences.' Potluck lets everybody bring what's right for them.
Or you could invite people over to make soup, or anything that requires several pairs of hands. 'Actually, working together to prepare food is a way to draw in new people who may not have much in common beyond the fact that they have nowhere else to go,' Tannenbaum says. On Christmas Eve, there isn't the mammoth mandate to have fun - or the mournful introspection - that can make New Year's Eve oppressive.
Which reminds me: I still miss getting to Philadelphia for the Mummers Parade on New Year's Day. There's no substitute for that. 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

con_paperclip.gif alt=>Lehigh to Open Center to Bolster Urban Leadership
11/07/2006 - Education Week (cir. 51,186)
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Lehigh University’s college of education has received a $2.25 million gift to establish a Center for Urban Leadership that will provide research and professional programs to help develop the next generation of city leaders.
Faculty members from across the university, located in Bethlehem, Pa., will take part in the new center’s interdisciplinary programs, which will focus on education and the leadership of nonprofit organizations.
Peter Bennett, the chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Partners, in New York City, made the gift. His company owns Edison Schools Inc., a national school management firm based in the city.
The university will raise an additional $2.75 million over the next several years to help make the center self-sustaining, it said last week in a press release.
Mr. Bennett, it said, was inspired to make the gift by the work of the Philadelphia Urban Leadership Program, which was funded three years ago by the U.S. Department of Education, Lehigh’s college of education, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the Philadelphia school district. To date, the program has educated 21 aspiring principals to work in schools in the city.

con_paperclip.gif alt=>N.J. researchers receive grant for chemical threats research
11/01/2006 - Newsday (cir. 427,771)
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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) _ The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $19.2 million grant for UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University to develop treatments for chemical weapon attacks, the schools said Wednesday.
The money will support a new research center that will include faculty from the two institutions, as well as Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
The center will concentrate on developing drugs to treat those exposed to sulfur mustard. The chemical warfare agent, which causes burning and blistering of the skin, eyes and lungs, was used as far back as World War I, and more recently in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. 'We will develop drugs that can be used against actual chemicals that could be used in a terror attack,' said Jeffrey Laskin, of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson, who will direct the new center.
Laskin said there were already promising leads with which to work. 'We are quite hopeful that drugs will be available in the foreseeable future,' Laskin said.

con_paperclip.gif alt=>Trading Spaces, B-School Edition
10/31/2006 - BusinessWeek Online (cir. 133,333)
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Lehigh's Financial Services Laboratory is featured in an article and, along with nine other university trading rooms, in a slide show on BusinessWeek's Web site. To view both, click on the paperclip to the left and look for the link titled Slide Show: B-School Labs Teach the Art of the Trade to see Lehigh's profile.