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Tuesday, December 10, 2002 |
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News - Self-adjusting glasses may help people in Africa with poor eyesight: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/health/10GLAS.html Comment -- Adaptive glasses have lenses that are filled with silicone oil and form a chamber bounded by polyester film. Turning a knob on a small frame-mounted pump changes the amount of oil in the lens, altering the curvature of the lenses and, therefore, the power of the glasses. Users adjust the oil levels on each side until they can see clearly, a process that takes about 30 seconds. People need glasses they can adjust on their own because a country like Ghana has 20 million people and only 20 optometrists. Almost no one can afford to visit a doctor and get prescription glasses. It's kind of sobering when you realize that Lansing has an eyeglass store about every other block, and you can buy a wide assortment of reading glasses at Rite-Aid. News - Article says that media and advertising lead to stereotype that blacks are more violent than whites: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/health/psychology/10RACE.html Comment - The article says that "Numerous studies over the last 30 years have found that in ambiguous situations, blacks are more likely to be perceived as violent than whites performing the same actions. In one study, the subjects saw two men engaged in a discussion in the course of which one man lightly pushed the other's shoulder. When a black man pushed a white man, the action was described by the subjects as violent. When the situation was reversed, the push was perceived as 'playing.' Why should these results be surprising, when rap and hip hop celebrate thuggish-ness as the essence of black culture? Click here to see current comments and add your own. 11:21:53 AM 
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