Emory Report
February 4, 2008
Volume 60, Number 18

   
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February 4, 2008
Soundbites


Wilson on how the neighborhood goes
“We cannot continue to ignore the needs of inner-city poor blacks,” Harvard University professor William Julius Wilson said in his King Week keynote address Jan. 25.

He called their plight the “unresolved question” in conclusions drawn from “There Goes the Neighborhood,” a book that resulted from his research on racial and class dynamics in four Chicago neighborhoods.

Wilson and his team studied the reactions of residents to changing ethnic, class and racial make-ups in their neighborhoods, ones in which the residents chose “exit” — to leave the inner city — and the ones in which they chose “voice,” where they stayed, mitigating the changes.

Strong neighborhood identity turns out to be a “double-edge sword,” Wilson noted, on the one hand fostering intolerance but on the other, keeping an area stable and resisting problems of turmoil and change.
— Leslie King

Oncologist warns of sun’s dangers
“There are very few cancers that at your age, you can prevent,” Keith Delman recently told students at Redan Middle School. “Skin cancer is one of them.” The assistant professor of surgical oncology at Winship Cancer Institute is working with DeKalb County Schools on an innovative skin cancer education program aimed at middle school students. Delman spoke to students about the dangers of sun exposure and how to prevent melanoma.

“We’ve reviewed a lot of literature that tells us this age group is the most likely to actually listen and take this information to heart,” says Delman, who hopes to expand the program statewide. — Kim Urquhart

Fundamentals of higher education
Jan Love, dean of Candler School of Theology, told those who attended the State of the School Address on Jan. 23: “Our faculty are deeply dedicated to teaching, produce a large volume of excellent research, regularly win national awards, serve the church, and hold office in prestigious organizations. Our dedicated staff work hard to serve us all. Our students demonstrate daily their determination to love God with their minds as well as their hearts. Soon we will be in a new, wonderful building.

“To sum it up, we deliver the fundamental elements of theological education very well.” — Kelly McLendon