A phoenix of peace rises from the ashes
Article Abstract:
On December 7, 1988 a powerful and massive earthquake struck close to the city of Spitak, Armenia. The devastation of this town as well as the towns of Leninakan, Kirovakan, Stepanavan and the surrounding 150 villages was nearly total. Eight million square meters of housing, including 35,000 homes, schools, clinics, and over 5,000 hospital beds were instantly lost. The remembrances of three American physicians working in the disaster area are reported. From firsthand observation and from data that has now been made available for the Soviet government it is now estimated that 24,896 individuals are confirmed dead and many more continue to be listed as missing. Nearly 50 percent of the region's population of 1.1 million population was left without adequate resources at the beginning of the severe Armenian winter. The statistics yield a picture of the disaster which is easily compared to the total destruction of an atomic blast such as occurred at Hiroshima. Throughout the destruction and the pain, a picture of international assistance for the Armenian people emerged that caused the writers to consider the fate of a world in which nuclear weapons threaten us, and their expense restricts good and positive social work. It seems clear that if the trillions of dollars wasted on armaments could be converted to support basic human needs, the world would be a very different and considerably better place.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Fraternity hazing revisited through a drawing by George Bellows
Article Abstract:
A drawing by George Bellows called 'I Remember Being Initiated into the Frat' shows various hazing rituals, many of which are still practiced. Bellows attended Ohio State University between 1901 and 1904. There he joined the baseball team and pledged Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The drawing is an outdoor scene that shows some fraternity brothers hitting pledges with paddles while other brothers are tossing a pledge on a trampoline and forcing pledges to climb a utility pole. In the background, fraternity brothers are hanging a pledge. Group psychology and the importance to the individual of being accepted play into the dynamics of hazing. Typically, an individual must go through a conversion that includes relinquishing past beliefs and loyalties and assuming new ideas and a new identity. Groups employ tactics like isolation and public humiliation to achieve this conversion.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
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Peace through health in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Article Abstract:
The World Health Organization has successfully brought together warring factions in Bosnia-Herzegovina to discuss measures to protect the public against rodent-borne diseases. Various forms of communication are crucial to WHO's Preace Through Health program.
Publication Name: World Health
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0043-8502
Year: 1997
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