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In the 1930s, Americans listened to radio four to five hours a day. What did radio mean to them? A lot, apparently.

1.) Vaudeville comedian Eddie Cantor divulged his shirt and sock sizes on the air, fifteen thousand fans sent birthday gifts;

2.) Amos and Andy complained they could not afford a typewriter, NBC received 1,880 machines from listeners wanting to help their radio friends.

3.)Thousands of letters were mailed every week to radio's musicians, announcers, domestic advisors, and soap opera characters. Some offered advice, some asked for help, and some simply said thanks. "You are not giving us a fairy story," wrote an admirer of the eponymous heroine of The Story of Mary Marlin, "You are giving us Life" (71).

Shake the blues away

Modern readers may think imagining an intimate relationship with voices on the air is nuts; Bruce Lenthall concludes otherwise. Reading the letters collected in radio archives while doing research for his dissertation, Lenthall saw irony, not insanity. Depression-era Americans, he reminds readers, felt overwhelmed by change. On guard against distant forces of government and commercial empire that increasingly mattered in their lives, Americans relied on one of the leading change agents of mass culture, broadcasting, to personalize an impersonal and potentially threatening public sphere, even imagining ways that the medium could help them count and perhaps be noticed by those wielding power in the broader world. Yes, readers should question the adequacy of this remarkable use of radio, Lenthall allows. But he asks us to appreciate how and why so many found radio useful for humanizing mass society.

Airwave romance

Lenthall begins with the concerns of public intellectuals in the 1930s who provide him with his theoretical frame. Some, such as the economist William Orton and the Marxist journalist James Rorty, feared that mass culture would overwhelm individual voices and choices, cordoning off public speech to all but the powerful, who would use the airwaves to engineer a mass mind. Cheerleaders for radio countered that the commercial nature of radio's ownership guaranteed that ultimate power over programming lay with the masses. Lenthall assesses these claims through a series of case studies analyzing important understandings and practices that developed around radio. Examining the ethereal relationships listeners formed with radio characters--the radio democracy exemplified by Roosevelt's fireside chats, the faith in popular radio champions such as Father Charles Coughlin and Dr. John Brinkley, the birth of media studies, and the hope that radio could make art matter--Lenthall concludes that neither critics nor defenders got the significance of radio completely right.

Balance of culture

The meaning of radio, argues Lenthall, can be found "in some delicate balances" between individual authority and centralized mass culture (210). If Americans learned to accept the new rules of mass culture, such as the power of corporations to control broadcast programming, they also found ways to push back as individuals, leaving their stamp on the culture they inhabited.

A welcome development in recent years is that a number of scholars have set out to update Erik Barnouw's classic three-volume work, A History of Broadcasting in the United States. Lenthall's book is less comprehensive and descriptive than Susan Douglas's Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination. But advanced students will find it valuable for its clear and undistracted focus on important analytical questions raised by the rise of mass culture.

Elderly have troubles finding jobs with discrimination

I always thought it was annoying when I played the computer The Sims 2 when I would have an elderly Sim who was down on their luck but couldn't get anything better than a low paying part time job. The same job the teenage Sims would get.


Mortimer Goth from the Sims 2. Photo from Google Images

Though the Sims is just a game, it illustrates the discrimination that is going on in today's work force.

Walk into the Rock Hill Chick Fil-a on Cherry Road and you will see at least three of their employees who are over the age of 60. The elderly people serving us our eight count chicken nuggets are working the same job and skill level that any 16-year-old high school student could work.

Photo from Google Images

As our economy is failing, many retired people are having to return to work but have found it increasingly hard to get a job because of their age.

Joanna Lahey said in an article written for the Retirement Research at Boston College entitled "Elderly Workers Face Discrimination," that as more 'baby-boomers' retired, they are relying on Social Security Checks along with the population over the age of 65. Social Security is dwindling and many Americans find themselves having to work longer and retirer later.

One of the reasons for discrimination is not because older workers have a lower skill level than younger workers, said Lahey. Elderly might leave jobs with higher wages to go to another job. The elderly worker is expecting the same high pay they might have had at their old job, but since they can not exhibit the same expertise and skills they had in the past, they will not have an equally high pay.

Another reason for age discrimination is that the person hiring for the job is as old as the elderly person applying, said Richard Posner in his book "Aging and Old Age." Posner said that this causes them to forget that they are capable of doing the job.

It is unreasonable for someone hiring applicants to base the person's abilities off of their own, whether the applicant is older or younger. No two people are alike, so it is hard to judge working abilities off of age.

Regardless of the Social Security money issues, elderly people need to be provided for somehow before they go into financial ruin due to the economy.

It isn't expected that an older person will get a job as an engineer at Michelin, but it should be better than what they are generally being given now.

Working the customer service counter at Belks Department Store would be better than working the drive-thru at Chick fil-a.

First person feature story video

Greek life reminicent of segregation of the 1950's

Photo by Rebecca Macias of the University of Southern Mississippi

Schools like Winthrop University shout diversity and celebration of culture. But when it comes to segregation blacks and whites of Greek organizations, it seems that someone never heard about Brown v. Board of Education (1954) which integrated black and white schools.

The school year begins, the freshman arrive and the sororities and fraternities pounce on the new students like lions pouncing on a zebra.

Winthrop University has convocation every year which displays the different religious groups, clubs and Greek sororities and fraternities.

While walking through the vast amounts of tables during the convocation picnic, when one comes to the Greek tables the members are either predominantly black or white.

Little or no integration of race is practiced when it comes to sororities and fraternities at Winthrop.

Very few black students are in the predominately white fraternities and sororities while there are equally as few white students in the black Greek organizations.

It is ironic that Winthrop has this problem when they frequently boast the the goodwill and harmony different races will enjoy on the culturally diverse campus.

Winthrop University is not the only college that has this issue.

The New York Times discusses a similar issue at the University of Alabama in 2001.

The article, "Alabama university attacks fraternity bias," states that of the 37 white fraternities, no black members were accepted during the pledge season.

With statistics like this, one would think that Governor George Wallace was still spouting pro-degradation speeches on campus steps.

The president of the school, Andrew Sorensen, demanded that sororities and fraternities needed to accept black members into their clubs or they would face punishments.

But should Greek clubs have to face punishment and threats to accept different races into their groups? Shouldn't they be welcoming them in with open arms?

An article from the student newspaper The Student Printz of the University of Southern Mississippi, stated that many of these groups justify that the segregation is based on the historical background of the clubs.

"Racial integration in Greek life lingers," says that some of the black fraternities that were formed in the early 1900s say that their club was a product of segregation in the early part of the century when it was founded.

Though organizations have been predominately black or white for decades, is no excuse for their lack of racial diversity today.

We are living in a generation that walks on their tip-toes to constantly make sure they are politically correct.

Talking in speech to avoid offending different races is not the same as actions that bring these races together.

Sororities and fraternities are supposed to be the pinnacle of college society that some students might look to for an example.

An example needs to be set in regards to integrating fraternities and sororities before the two races are once again ripped apart by separation.

Skin Cancer Video and Podcast

Skin Cancer Podcast

Skin Cancer Video:

Skin Cancer makes life more difficult for college student

Daniel Yates grew up in a military family, living in Hawaii as a child and was active in ROTC as a teenager.

For most of his life he grew up on a military base in Beaufort, S.C. where the Yates family frequently traveled the 30 minutes to the beach.

Yates, like most teens, didn’t think about the possibility of skin cancer while he swam, played tennis, ran track and drilled with ROTC without any skin protection.

In December of 2008, Yates was diagnosed with basil cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer that affects the outer layer of the skin.

Basal cell carcinoma and it affects at least 1 million people every year in the United States, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Skin cancer is one of the biggest threats to human life in the United States, compared to heart disease or other forms of cancer.

Skin cancer is a concern to people of all ages, but it usually develops during childhood and teenage years, said Jill Simpson, family nurse practitioner at Crawford Health Services.

Sunburns and sun exposure in childhood and teen years increase the risks of getting skin cancer as an adult, Simpson said. Sun exposure includes any UV exposure whether it is outdoors or in a tanning bed.

Yates’s cancer not might have been found at all if he had not gone to go see dermatologist Dr. Karen Autio about a large red scar on his forehead.

A June 2009 article in "Health" magazine says suspicious looking moles and other blemishes need to be checked out because they might be cancerous.

The article says that basal cell carcinoma moles are generally pink or red and might scab or bleed.

In comparison, a normal mole is small, round, symmetrical and has an even coloring.

“When I was a junior in high school, I was being a stupid teenage boy and was playing skins paintball (paintball without any protective gear),” Yates said. “I was hit in the forehead and an angry red scar stayed there for years. It flaked, hurt and would flare up frequently. Little did we know that skin cancer was underneath.”

For years, Yates had gone to military doctors who thought nothing of the persistent scar and gave him creams to hopefully fade the scar.

The only doctor who took any notice about the bizarre scar was Autio.

She took skin scrapings and gave Yates a full body exam to find cancer cells in the scar. Autio found cancerous spots on his neck, back and nose.

"It is good that I thought to look at the scar," said Autio. "No other doctor had even considered skin cancer for the five years that Daniel had this scar. That really concerns me. His life could have been in danger if another ten or twenty years had gone by and the skin cancer had not been discovered."

Helen Yates, Daniel's mother, said that Daniel got several sunburns and had a dark tan when their family lived on a military base in Hawaii when he was about four years old.

People who have fair skin and hair and light colored eyes such as gray, blue and green, are more at risk to get skin cancer than those with darker features and complexions, according to both the Skin Cancer Foundation and a 2009 article in the "International Journal of Cancer."

Yates has both fair skin and blue eyes.

Basal cell carcinoma treatment is unique from other cancer treatments because it is relatively easy, though not painless.

The most common treatment is surgically removing the infected areas in the form of biopsies, according to a 2009 article in the "British Nursing Journal." This might cause scaring and disfigurement but has a low recurrence rate.

Topical creams, laser therapy and injections have helped to cure basal cell carcinoma, says the "British Nursing Journal."

Yates had to endure several painful surgeries, the worst being the removal of the area under the scar on his forehead and another area along the side of his nose.

“While they were removing the area from my forehead, the plastic surgeon told me that it was the process they used for people who wanted plastic surgery,” Yates said. “I have no idea why anyone would want to go through that just for looks.”

The surgeries helped to remove the cancer from Yates’s body, but it made his life anything but easy.

Helen Yates said that the surgeries were very difficult on Daniel, who is her oldest son. Not only was it taxing to have to go through the procedure, but sleepless nights followed along with throbbing pain and nights of nausea.

"This hasn't been a simple procedure of finding the cancer and cutting it out," Helen Yates said. "The recovery was almost as bad or worse than the actual surgery."

Simple activities like sleeping, turning his head and carrying backpacks put him in pain due to incisions on his neck and head.

Several people, friends and strangers, also questioned him about large scars, Frankenstein looking stitches and bulky bandages.

“I was in the restaurant Moe’s once and I had the cashier ask me ‘Dude, what happened to your head?’ I didn’t even know him,” Yates said. “I’m always tempted to say I was in a bar fight or something more exciting when people ask.”

He also was forced to miss a couple weeks of a swimming class in spring of 2009, because he couldn’t get the stitches wet.

Yates’s active outdoor life has slowed from caution and fear.

Instead of being able to walk freely around the beach or an amusement part in the summertime without concern, he now has to wear a hat and at least SPF 45 sunscreen.

“Every aspect of my life has been made more difficult in some way or another,” Yates said.

Doctors are fairly certain that he is cancer free, but he has to have a full body checkup every six months to search for any cancerous moles.

“I probably just got way too much sun exposure as a little kid and slowly mutated the basal cell carcinoma over time until it became aggressive around 9 months ago. Now the sun is my new worst enemy.”

Jill Simpson said some preventative tips to avoid skin cancer are to stay out of the sun during the times when it is strongest - between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

She also said to wear sunscreen, protective clothing that covers the skin and to regularly examine your skin for any changes.

Other ways to help prevent basal cell carcinoma are to add more vitamin D to your diet, according to a study done at Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter.

Obama Health Care News Analysis

President Obama continues to rally for support for his health care reform bill tomorrow in his televised speech on Tuesday Sept. 9, 2009.

Obama had hoped to get the bill passed at the end of Aug. before Congress went on hiatus, but failed and is continuing to rally for support.

The president seems to be one of the few people still fighting for the bill as many democrats are growing tired from the battle, according to Robert Pear and David Herszenhorn in their article "Democrats grow wary as health care bill advances."

Time is running out for the bill to be passed and many are getting nervous.

""We’re not in the second inning. We’re not in the fourth inning. We’re in the eighth or ninth inning here, and so there’s not a lot of time to waste,” said the president's senior advisor Dave Alexrod, in Mike Allen's article "President Obama to address Congress."

"His goal is to create the best possible situation for consumers, create competition and choice," Axelrod said. "We want to bring a measure of security to people who have health insurance today. We want to help those who don't have coverage today, because they can't afford it, get insurance they can afford. And we want to do it in a way that reduces the overall cost of the system as a whole."

But why does there need to be competition in health care? Doctors, nurses and other health care providers do not work in a business but a service.

Axelrod says that making health care a competition will make people feel safer and that it will be less expensive for those who can currently not afford it. Making health care competitive and potentially a monopoly sounds like it could become more expensive than it was prior to the bill, which also makes one wonder how it would make citizens feel safer.

Obama is quoted as saying that the health care plan is his "moral obligation."

Depending on viewpoints, it is hard to understand how the health care bill is a moral obligation when funds the plan which will allow citizens to be able to get abortions in hospitals as out patients, rather than just being able to get them in abortion clinics.

How is it a moral obligation to make it so doctors have to give abortions in hospitals, whether they choose to or not?

Some citizens and political leaders also believe the bill to be socialist, since the inexpensive health care is similar to what many other socialist countries are currently practicing.

“These struggles always boil down to a contest between hope and fear,”Obama said. “That was true in the debate over Social Security, when F.D.R. was accused of being a socialist. That was true when J.F.K. and Lyndon Johnson tried to pass Medicare. And it’s true in this debate today.”