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Re: The only acceptable racism left: Islamophobia by Abdul Malik Mujahid

YoungCalifornian — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 22:58:21 GMT

Okay, I know I'm being nit-picky here, but "Islamophobia" is not racism. Muslims aren't a race, and so being prejudiced against them does not make one a racist. In fact, most of the people the author of this article cites as having prejudices against Muslims are of the same race as the majority of Muslims. Anyway, now to address the more important parts of the article...

The Danish cartoon affair - Europe's latent Islamophobia comes to life
The latest example of Islamophobia comes from Denmark and Europe, not the United States. By now, we've all seen and read about the protests against 12 deeply offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

What is critical to know is that it was not some random cartoonist drawing one cartoon and an editor who decided to publish it. Rather, a neo-con newspaper chose to commission artists to draw these images that depict the Prophet as a terrorist. These cartoons were not an ignorant mistake. The intent was to insult and inflame. The concept of respect and honor among Muslims is well-known. So is the potential risk of incitement, especially after knowing what happened when the Muslim world came to know about some American soldiers disrespecting the Quran last year.

I resent the author's assertion that the Danish cartoons are examples of Islamophobia. He needs to realize that criticizing something is not the same thing as insulting it. People should be able to voice unflattering opinions about Islam without fearing violent retribution or being called prejudiced. I understand why Muslims would find the Danish cartoons offensive, but that doesn't mean that what was said or implied in those cartoons is without merit. In my opinion, Muslims like this man need to stop asking why the cartoons were published, and instead ask where the view of Islam reflected in those cartoons comes from. The answer isn't as simple as labeling them "racists".

If Islamphobia is indeed real and has permeated Western society to a very large degree, we need to look for reasons why. While true Islamophobia should not be tolerated, people must also realize that hostile feelings towards Muslims are the result of different factors than most other prejudices. Most prejudices against race, ethnicity, or religion are the result of ignorance and/or elitism. For instance, whites in America were prejudiced against blacks largely because they enjoyed having greater status than a visible minority (this was especially true of poor whites), and feelings of racial superiority that resulted from ignorance and limited interaction. While there is clearly a lot of ignorance and misunderstanding between Western and Islamic peoples, much of the fear that Westerners may have of Muslims are the result of very real actions and events. Many people in the West fear Muslims, or at least a sizeable minority of Muslims, because of the ties they make between their religion and violence. Stereotypes of terrorists and violent extremists are not just the result of ignorance, but also of observation. While many Westerners need to do a better job of keeping things in perspective, their fears are not irrational.

But well before these dramatic images that must have made editors salivate for their sensational qualities made the news, Muslims in the Muslim world and abroad launched peaceful, lawful protests for four months against the cartoons that would have made Martin Luther King Jr. proud.

Danish Muslims wrote letters of protest. They were ignored. Eleven Muslim ambassadors in Denmark asked to meet with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He refused to do so. A grassroots boycott of Danish products was launched in the Middle East. That got some attention, but not much until Danish businesses realized how much of their $1 billion business in the region was at stake.

The cartoons were printed in September 2005. In September, October, November, December and almost all of January, the Muslim opposition to the cartoons was characterized by peaceful demonstrations of love for the Prophet and restrained protests of how he was being denigrated.

Arrogant Response to Peaceful Protests
When newspapers in Norway, Germany and France, in their Islamophobic frenzy, decided to republish the cartoons in the name of "freedom of expression," the scale of anger and protest widened. What started off as peaceful opposition spiraled out of control.

Now, the situation was out of the hands of Muslims who had made serious attempts to resolve the issue peacefully. They had tried their utmost, but to no avail. From this point onwards, all kinds of people, including those with little knowledge of Islamic rules that forbid harm to foreign emissaries in Muslim lands, had upped the ante. The torching of embassies is wrong. So is stepping on and burning the symbols of Danish pride, their flag. It is Haram and a sin in Islam.

This outline of events serves only to assuage Muslim guilt regarding the violent reaction to the cartoons. With all his talk of honor and respect, the author should realize that he is disrespecting Martin Luther King, Jr. by attempting to draw a parallel between his actions and those of Muslims protesters. King advocated non-violent resistance, and while that may have been the initial stance of Muslims, they resorted to violence relatively quickly. Martin Luther King and his followers were met with violence over the course of years, and firmly refused to react any way but peacefully. In contrast, the Muslim protesters are the only ones who have resorted to violence in this controversy. Furthermore, one cannot forget that Muslims are protesting against what they perceive as an insult; King was protesting decades of segregation, violence, and active discrimination. There really is no comparison, and it is clear that the author only evokes King's name in further efforts to shift the blame for the violence from Muslims to Westerners. It really doesn't matter if Muslims were unable to get the response they wanted peacefully. That doesn't even begin to excuse their ultimately violent reaction.

In a further effort to absolve Muslims of any meaningful blame, the author never even considers that any actions taken on the part of Westerners were anything but Islamophobic. He is being just as prejudiced as those he condemns. Why is it impossible to consider that those European newspapers who reprinted the cartoons were actually doing it in the name of freedom? You don't have to agree with their actions, but it is unfair to mischaracterize their intent. There is never any consideration on his part that maybe Muslims (especially those living in Western countries) are being too sensitive, and that the reason their peaceful protests got little response was because they warranted little response. Most everyone has a voice in Western societies, but if no one wants to hear what you have to say, that doesn't mean that it's their fault if you choose to then make yourself heard through violent means.

But the world media, always in search of dramatic images of death and destruction, lapped up the anger and violence with glee. There was little coverage of the peaceful response of the Muslim community to these cartoons in the initial days after their publication. There were no calls for death, there was no fire involved or images of screaming bearded and Hijabed Muslims. Just peaceful bearded and Hijabed Muslims. Yawn. The media was bored.

When it comes to Muslims, everything goes
Would the media outlet which commissioned and printed these cartoons, as well as those which reprinted them, call for artists to develop grotesque anti-Semitic caricatures to prove that they have the freedom to do so? Of course not. The French even have laws to punish anti-Semitic "speech" and "writings."

The current cartoon affair is not about freedom of expression, it's about Islamophobia.

Again, the author never even considers that the cartoons were anything but Islamophobic, and implies that Western inaction essentially forced Muslims to react violently. His points about anti-Semitism (a misnomer considering how many Muslims are Semitic) are made with the assumption that the only intent of the cartoons was to maliciously attack and belittle Islam. Most Westerners though, would look at those cartoons as an attempt to say somthing valid about Islam in a humorous manner. It seems clear to me that the cartoons were not printed with the intention of simply offending Muslims and denouncing their religion and prophet. It was known that some Muslims may be offended, but seeing as the cartoons were largely a commentary on extreme Muslim sensitivies and intended for a Western audience, it was not irresponsible to print them. Westerners in Western lands should not be bound by Islamic sensibilities.

It is due to Islamophobia fanned by government policies and a media frenzy that a majority of Americans continue to hold negative opinions of Islam and Muslims. And a few thousand bin Laden terrorists contribute to authenticate this negative image. Forty-four percent of Americans queried in a Cornell national poll favor curtailing some liberties for Muslim Americans.

True Islamophobia is reprehensible. It's a terrible tragedy that so many peaceful and law-abiding Muslims are lumped together with the violent extremists. Still, there's a double standard here. The author wants to hold Western media accountable for inciting Muslim violence by printing those cartoons, and yet he does not seek to blame violent Muslims for inciting fear and distrust in Western societies. Instead, he claims that Western media and governments distort perceptions of Muslims by focusing on Islamic violence. While it is true that Western media tend to give a lot of attention to violent events (and not just Islamic ones), that doesn't excuse the Muslims who actually commit the violence. The Western media is just reporting the news, it's the Muslim extremists who actually make it.

Perhaps we need to learn from Canada, where hate speech is banned despite the guarantee of free speech in the country's constitution.

Since the author seems to be an American Muslim and I am also an American, I find this point perhaps the most troubling. To put such a limit on freedom of speech seems fundamentally un-American. I'm not a proponent of hate speech, but outlawing an entire subject or point-of-view sets a dangerous precedent. For instance, how do you define hate speech? My feeling is that the majority of Americans would not consider the Danish cartoon hateful, but clearly the author would. Whose opinion is more important then?

Islamophobia is today's accepted form of racism. It will require Muslims to fight hard against it. Muslims are neither solely responsible for its creation, nor will they be able to fight it on their own. It is a collective responsibility for all bridge-builders of the world.

There are important questions that need to be answered before the author's opinion can be taken more seriously. Namely, what are examples of true Islamophobia? And, from where do these feelings stem? It seems to me that the author is attempting to put the onus for answering these questions mostly on non-Muslims. I think it should first be the other way around. Muslims need to ask themselves what are examples of true Islamophobia and what are valid criticims, as well as who is responsible for the association of Islam with violence.

The only acceptable racism left: Islamophobia by Abdul Malik Mujahid

Firas — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:44:34 GMT

"So what do you do for a living?" the activist asked me. He was an American Christian, an ordained minister and leader of an interfaith peace organization. I was attending a conference organized by his group.

"I produce Islamic videos and programs, particularly for children," I replied.

"Oh. Doesn't Hamas produce programs for children, too?" he asked.

I was stunned. This exchange occurred shortly before the Hamas victory in the recent Palestinian elections. What floored me though was that this man associated what I do for a living with a group considered terrorist by the American government. It is clear that the ugly tentacles of Islamophobia have penetrated places where Muslims have normally felt safe from it. An interfaith gathering is the last venue I'd expect these comments.

I was representing the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago as it's chair, and he knew that pretty well. It's a federation of more than 55 mosques and Islamic organizations serving 400,000 Muslims from the region.

The Danish embassy in Lebanon has been torched, the country's flags burned, death threats have been issued and some protesters have been killed as a result of police firings.

Unfortunately, some Iranian newspapers have commissioned the drawing of anti-Semitic cartoons in protest. This is a disgusting form of retaliation that deserves absolute condemnation. It will neither help fight Islamophobia, nor elicit any understanding about why Muslims are upset about the Danish cartoons. The conflic has hit a new low with this move.

The current cartoon affair is not about freedom of expression, it's about Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is real
Islamophobia, or the fear and hatred of all things relating to Islam and Muslims, has become an acceptable form of racism. A sympathetic Jewish lawyer who was representing a Palestinian client in Chicago pre-9/11 said something telling to me in this regard: "Muslims are the new Nâ¦ers of America. If you will not fight for yourself, no one will."

He's right. But Muslim complaints about Islamophobia continue to be dismissed. More than one fourth of all American Muslims surveyed by more than one public opinion organization stated that they have personally experienced Islamophobia or know someone who has. Over 200,000 American Muslims have been subjected to some kind of law enforcement activity since 9/11. At least 15,000 Muslims have been detained or arrested since that tragedy. Over 16,000 were either deported or are in the process of deportation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations annually issues reports about the state of Muslim civil rights in the United States. Harrowing tales of anti-Muslim discrimination on the job, at schools, stores, restaurants and on the streets fill these publications. The case of Capt. James Yee is a disturbing example of how American Muslims even in positions of authority and respect must endure Islamophobia publicly at the hands of our own government.

Over half of schoolchildren in the Australian city of Victoria view Muslims as terrorists, and two out of five agree that Muslims "are unclean", a survey has revealed.

Islamophobia is older than 9/11 and is based on ongoing ignorance
The fear and hatred of all things Islamic can be traced much farther back than 9/11. Edward Said's landmark book "Orientalism" outlined how European colonial masters viewed their Muslim subjects with disdain and disgust. This attitude continues to characterize the discipline today. That view of Muslims as bloodthirsty, misogynist and violent savages persists. It is furthered by Bernard Lewis, America's top Orientalist, and his neoconservative students, a number of whom are the architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In the 1980s, funding was cut throughout the United States for programs that attempted to understand other peoples and nations. With the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and the establishment of America as the world's sole superpower, a fair amount of arrogance towards the rest of the world pervaded America's dealings with other countries and continues to do so.

The barring of Yusuf Islam in 2004 and Tariq Ramadan in 2005 from the United States are examples of how we are not only closing our borders to Islam but opening them to Islamophobia. Even worse, we are closing our minds. As Diana Eck, President of the American Academy of Religion wrote in the Boston Globe on February 2, 2006 about the Ramadan case, "Denying us face-to-face access to scholars and theologians who contribute to critical reflection on the religious currents of our world is an intolerable impoverishment of the academic enterprise." The Academy is currently suing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff for barring Ramadan entry into the US.

Islamophobia harms all of us
In my four interfaith interactions in the last two months, I have met a whole lot of very nice people. But I was surprised to find at almost each event I attended, one or two Islamophobic people who seemed to have a high dose of Fox News in their system. I listened to them and prayed for them instead of responding to them.

Like racism and anti-Semitism, Islamophobia hurts all of us. In America, it is eroding our civil liberties. In Europe, it is further isolating minority communities and inflaming latent xenophobia. It is perpetuating the neocon wish for a "clash of civilizations" at a time when no country in the world, Muslim or not, can afford it politically, economically or otherwise. Just ask the Danish dairy industry how Islamophobia has hurt its business.

Islamophobia is responsible for torture. Islamophobia is responsible for the grave misunderstandings that only serve to perpetuate hatred and demonization.

Perhaps we need to learn from Canada, where hate speech is banned despite the guarantee of free speech in the country's constitution.

Let us today take a stand to end all kinds of fear and hatred of "the other."

I read this article on the following webstie: http://soundvision.com/info/racism/islamophobia.asp, and I liked to share it with you.

Re: need help research paper

trueazn — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 12:27:28 GMT

Please! help me fix my research paper.....thanks a lot

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Girls and the Science>>

>>Just about everything one comes in contact with involves mathematics in one form or another. Most of the items one uses on a daily basis are so common that one may not realizes that they are all related to mathematics. The shirt one wears, the shoe one treks in, and the bulb that lightens one's dark room are all using mathematics. It takes arithmetic to calculate the size of the shirt, the shape of the shoe, and the wattage of the light bulb. At first sight the issue raised here seems amazingly easy to address, âmathematics is beautiful, even if it is, sadly, and more inaccessible than other forms of art. The second is that it is useful, that it is utility depends in part on its certainty, and that certainty cannot come without a notion of proofâ (mathnews). So, if without a proper understanding of math, and mathematical concepts, will today's students find themselves unable to compete in an increasingly technological world, will they be able to find jobs? Why should the non-mathematician care about things of this nature? Perhaps, we should study it to find out what it is. We owe it to ourselves to at least know what mathematics is before we claim that it isnât really important in our daily lives. In the other hand, if there are differences between males and females in the area of logical thinking? A research paper published in 1980 suggested that girls have less mathematical ability than boys (gender). Furthermore, will American industry be able to compete successfully against its foreign counterparts? Therefore, to look into the impact of culture on mathematics learning, why are there many Asian so much better at mathematics than the majority of American students? Thus, what if the U.S does without foreign students who are good in mathematics? To finding this attitude quite curious, as well as opportunities for students should discussion of the student's professional plans and intended contributions to the field of mathematics education.>>

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Labelle (2000), professor of mathematics at the UniversitÃ© du QuÃ©bec Ã MontrÃ©al, says âI like mathematics because it is beautiful, full of surprises, and gives me complete freedom of thought.â Feelings of surprise and beauty are emotional. Doing mathematics is emotional. Students also express these attributes. âMath is just another way of both creating meaning and describing it. It's lovely. I'm lousy at it, but I love feeling my brain tumble over as it understands something for the first time.â The feeling of connectedness to stimuli that math provides this professor and student should not be mistaken for sentiment or mere personal expression (Lakoff 2000, 176). Mathematics can give a new perspective when looking at architecture, music, plants, and sculpture. Mathematics is the gateway to many educational experiences and professions. However, math is a stumbling block for many people. >>

It is a subject that evokes more fear and anxiety than any other. It causes sweaty palms, shortness of breath, and panic. Math anxiety is real and is something that every adult education teacher needs to deal with (Nancy L. Markus). In response to such arguments that is mathematics can be beautiful, Principal Investigator Dr. Stephen Linton said, âSymmetry is everywhere and studying objects and ideas through their symmetries has been a central plank of mathematics and science since the early nineteenth century. Symmetry apply to very many other problems, laying out components on a circuit board or a chip, working out how to allocate orders to slabs of steel in a mill, planning computer networks and so on. In almost all of these problems, symmetry is an issueâ.>>

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In particularly, the study of mathematics can satisfy a wide range of interests and abilities. It develops the imagination. It trains in clear and logical thought. It is a challenge, with varieties of difficult ideas and unsolved problems, because it deals with the questions arising from complicated structures. Yet it also has a continuing drive to simplification, to finding the right concepts and methods to make difficult things easy, to explaining why a situation must be as it is. In so doing, many professional in mathematics get even more interesting over the year. Therefore, Albert Einsteinâs a great mathematician in the world; heâs European, he sought to understand beauty of nature. By 1911 Einstein was able to make preliminary predictions about how a ray of light from a distant star, passing near the Sun, would appear to be bent slightly, in the direction of the Sun (JOC/EFR Nov 94). Rate of change really is often found in practical, everyday problems, math is heavily used in business, economics, social studies, communication, etc. In reality math is the basic language of the world, Abraham Wald was born into a Jewish family in Hungary, he was the first to build it into a statistical theory, he also was the first to solve the general problem of sequential tests of statistical hypotheses, which is a paper for the seminar on the existence of a solution to the competitive economic model (J J O'Connor). Beside the beauty of mathematics, there are not a lot people realizes that, just because students feel that they shouldnât feel this anxiety. Itâs a weakness which they should overcome, by brute force if necessary, when this effort doesnât succeed (as invariably it doesnât) the self-criticism becomes ever harsher, leading to a deep sense of frustration and often a severe loss of self-esteem Consequently, suppression of math anxiety is not only unconstructive, but can actually be damaging (Galileo). >>

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In college, learn formulas that are even more complicated and harder to remember. The deeper you go into mathematics, the more formulas and rote methods you have to learn, and the worse it gets. Itâs not easy for everyone learns mathematics, Students who do well in mathematics have more positive attitudes about the subject, and thus they are likely to take more courses and may perform better. Especially, girls and young women do not tried to study mathematics, all the emphasis on technology meaning machine-related skills is something that keeps young women away from the field, while many articles had been poorly analyzed and/or included sexist interpretations, there was evidence to support the idea that there were differences between girls' and boys' learning of mathematics. According to the expert opinion of Leder, âthey did believe much more strongly than did young women that mathematics was more appropriate for males than for females. The importance of these variables, their long-term influence, and their differential impact on females and males was reconfirmed in many of our later studies, as well as by the work of many othersâ. Also, Stage and Maple uses the evidence to suggest that âwomen drop out of mathematics at a higher rate than men, even when they are equally well prepared, particularly in the early years of their undergraduate careers. Women cite a variety of reasons for dropping out of mathematics and related fields. As the focus in upper level mathematics narrows, some women report being turned away by the very qualities that attract them in the first placeâ. >>

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Enrollment patterns of college undergraduates show that few students anticipate a career in science, mathematics or engineering, and very few major in mathematics, in fact, less than 1 percent of undergraduates (Haycock & Steen, 2002). The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (Lutzer & Maxwell, 2000) showed that bachelor degrees granted in mathematics fell 19 percent between 1990 and 2000, although undergraduate enrollment rose 9 percent. This study was an effort to determine if there is gender differences in college, a level where there has been little research compared to that at the K-12 level. Recent research on brain function (through functional magnetic resonance imaging of the working brain) has shown small but revealing differences in how male and female brains process certain tasks. Moreover, Darwinian reasoning has long suggested that males, being more expendable in nature's scheme, may be over represented at the extreme ends of human behavior. That is, they may be more "experimental" in evolutionary design, while females tend towards moderation and stability. Yet biology cannot be the whole answer -- nurture makes its claim as well. Different socialization of males and females certainly reinforces slight predispositions. We expect males to gravitate towards math and science, while girls may face social impediments that affect their classroom preparation. This argument is strengthened by the fact that girls in many other nations, such as lace>Singaporelace> or lace>Korealace>, do substantially better than American girls on math performance, suggesting that biology cannot be the whole story. Finally, this is not necessarily a question of greater intelligence or talent, and it is certainly not one of self-worth. Boys and girls simply have complementary skills and strengths; each group is stronger in certain areas than in others. Clearly, both boys and girls could benefit from more encouragement and better math instruction. But in the aggregate, genuine differences show up at the extreme ends of performance. It is this reality that the SAT legitimately captures. The most interesting finding, however, an intervention directed at changing social norms promises to reverse some of these circumstances. Psychosocial factors combine with social norms in creating perceived barriers to women's participation in mathematics. Even highly talented females report less self efficacy than males when completing mathematical tasks (Seegers & Boekaerts, 1996). Boys and girls have similar mathematics and science proficiency scores on tests at the age of 9, but a gap begins to appear at around age 13, or at least this has been the pattern from 1973 to 1994 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). However, in 1994 there was no measurable difference in the math proficiency of 13-year-old boys and girls (Campbell, Reese, O'Sullivan, & Dossey, 1996). If there was a problem in spatial visualization or other innate sexual-biological traits explaining math differences, they suddenly cleared up about a decade ago. >>

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Traditionally, men have outnumbered women in computer science and engineering, but that trend has been changing. Increasingly, women are becoming successful computer scientists and engineers, mathematics, challengers of this evidence are against the sexist, controversies surrounding the research should be looked at from both the positive and negative side, there are some research found that many women successes in mathematics. Stage & Maple pointed out that âthe focus in upper level mathematics narrows, some women report being turned away by the very qualities that attract them in the first placeâ. To be successes in this field, research suggests that when women do pursue fields that require mathematics, they often do so because of successful early childhood experiences with parents or interested teachers (Hart, 1992; Jacobs, Finken, Griffin, & Wright, 1998). Most can name a particular person or persons responsible for their interest in their major. Without such individual mentoring, they would not have made it into the pipeline. Similarly, many women who succeed in undergraduate mathematics courses credit support networks and study groups created by faculty and administrators (Stage & Maple, 1996), women want to try to be able to be in the real world and be independent, especially some Asian students most better at science than other country, they know that despite however they may feel about the label of "Asian American' that they are predominantly perceived to be "different' from the dominant (white) culture. They know that to understand what these perceptions involve is having access to some important self-knowledge that can inform them about others behavior towards them. A survey of female students in Biology at Hanoi University showed that most are confident in their ability and the great majority have a passion for science, are willing to pursue a scientific path and aim to reach the highest level, women in Science Club aims to assist by raising the morale of students possibly by making an evaluation slightly higher than the students' actual capability so as to bring into play any latent ability and give an impulse to go forward (Dr Pham Thi Tran Chau and Dr Luu Lan Huong). Mathematics and science are generally considered disaster zones in American schools. Many people have heard, for example, that only the top 1 percent of American students score as high in math as the average student in Japan (Gerald W. Bracey). In math, American eighth graders finished slightly below average among the 40 nations. They got 53 percent of the items right, while the international average was 55 percent. American fourth graders, on the other hand, finished above average, ranking twelfth of 26 nations. In science, American eighth graders were slightly above average, scoring 58 percent correct compared to an international average of 56 percent. At the fourth-grade level in science, American students finished third among the 26 countries. However, only about 15 percent of American students scored as high on TIMSS math as the average Japanese student, while about 39 percent of American students scored as well as 50 percent of the Japanese students in science (Gerald W. Bracey). Similarly, children in lace>Vietnamlace> are taught two-digit multiplication as early as second grade whereas children in the lace>United Stateslace> learn multiplication more than a year later, around third grade (Daniel C. Orey & Kieu T. Nguyen . With these evidences to study sciences, mathematics, why don't American students do better? According to the expert opinion of Danial C. Orey & Kieu T. Nguyen, the content of the Vietnamese Educational system is more rigorous than that found in the lace>United Stateslace>. Vietnamese schools do not allow every student to pass and move on to the next grade level unless they can demonstrate mastery of the material, it appears from our research, that the Vietnamese education system does not make it possible for every student to be successful, only the âsmart and quickâ kids are able to take advantage or overcoming the system. As for the poor, or those who need some form of extra assistance, these students are left behind and drop out of school. For another reason, lace>U.S.lace> schools are much more likely to allow calculators in the early grades than schools in highest mathematics achieving countries. Singapore, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and lace>Hong Konglace> all score high on international mathematics exams and each restricts or prohibits calculator use in the elementary grades until mastery has been demonstrated. In addition, fourth graders who used calculators more frequently in their classrooms had lower scores on the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress in Mathematics.[ii] According to the Public Agendaâs 1997 survey, âseventy-three percent of teachers want students to memorize multiplication tables and do mathematics by hand before using calculators (lace>Washington, tate>DCtate>lace>). However, brain science can and indeed should inform the debate about gender equity and education policy. But the first requirement is that the âbrain scienceâ should be science rather than stereotype.>>

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I would like to conclude by adding my own personal experience with âgirls and the sciencesâ I mentioned above how Vietnamese study mathematics showing that among young children and gender, there are many more boys who are math geniuses than girls. But if girls had the opportunity to learn math at their own pace, I think the odds are good, or better than good, that we would have many more teenage math geniuses who are girls. Just as many boys are late bloomers with regard to literature and foreign languages, many girls are or could be late bloomers with regard to math and science. As I study mathematics, in adolescence that is I am a Vietnamese, the impact of culture on mathematics learning. I think Asian children do well in mathematics because they are hard working and have the persistence to keep trying and to not give up easily. Furthermore, they have been influenced the Vietnamese educational system, with the Chinese and the French making the greatest impact of all in the shaping of the current academic structure in lace>lace>Vietnamlace>lace>. So, what if the U.S does without foreign students who are good in mathematics? In fact, there are many Asian so much better at mathematics than the majority of American students. What if, as critics continue to claim, American schools have not improved and Asian schools are better, what is the relevance of the schools to economic performance? Pragmatically, overcoming widespread math phobia wouldnât help Americans keep up with the Japanese (and in the near future, Koreans, Chinese, and Indians) in technological development. America canât do better, and they can learn from other countries if they pay attention to what they actually do, but junking their whole system isn't the way.>>

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Re: I want to know what you think of gays

Guest — Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:48:29 GMT

Wow....well to be honest i've never seen so much misunderstanding ever...:S

Almost EVERYBODY (AND I MEAN EVERYBODY) is confused about this subject.....

I AM GAY!

...and you know what? Im proud of that....and i feel it is my duty to tell you all whats what (sorry if i sound patronizing) ... but on the previous page, Za-Zen is the only one who i agree with...no where shall i start...

Guest:
"i found that gay is very popular in Europ.i want to how percent people are gays.and someting about gay."

My Reply:
Being gay isn't a thing....so you can't randomly wake up and say "oh ill be gay today" therefore it cannot be popular out of choice....and to answer your question....roughly 1 in 10 people are gay in Europe...

Jennyji:
"i think that i won't support them, but also i won't reject them. i thought that it's their own choice, and we shouldn'd comment on them. and their sex choice maybe different from the common people, but we shouldn't biase them,right?
and i must say that they should still pay attention to the dangerous disease: AIDS, i hope they can have a happy life , but they should also pay attention to the health first.
t"

My Reply:
1) Its not my choice I became gay...whether you think its a choice or not...it ISNT!
2) Common people? Gay people are just as normal or common as straight people
3) AIDS. This ISNT a gay disease. Please read what Za-Zen said on the previous page regarding this

Evita:
"But there is a right and wrong way to choose.
I am not phobia about homo, but I strongly believe gay are not the best way to live."

My Reply:
Hey, thats your opinion...if you ask many gay people, the chances are that they will say that they prefer being gay than straight....and i for one prefer being gay than straight anyday of the week...(and i've we've all been both!)

Light_warrior:
"I'd like to know why Gay people behave as heterosexuals. i.e. A masculine and a feminine!"

My Reply:
Well...we dont...! GENERALLY, many gay guys act iffeminatly....and GENERALLY many gay girls act masculine...mainly due to the reasoning that we believe that we have too many female or male hormones....but THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE! Many gay guys act masculine, and many gay girls act feminine. What you have to remember is that being gay doesnt suddenly mean you act like something or someone, but we are ALL human, so we will ALL be human in our personalities and characteristics...so theres no certain way we inparticular behave at all.

Moltobella:
"Gay is in fashion right now"

My Reply:
Yeah at one point (when Britney/Christina & Madonna kissed) being gay (moreso lesbian) was in fashion....but i see that as pretty pathetic because you cant 'choose' your sexuality...so anyone who does 'choose' to be gay, i have no respect for lol

Ananglelhascome:
"well some peopel like to beat each other up when they are having sex..some people like to molest children..etc...some people become heroin addicts..
they dont choose to be that way....but does that stop it from ebing wrong??? "

My Reply:
Excuse me? How dare you compare us to heroine addicts or child molesters! And no being gay isnt wrong...never has been...never will be...

Anangelhascome:
"people become gay because of certain evils that create the condition for someone to be gay..evil creates greater evil.......like women who are abused by men..or who have fathers who were abusive to theirs mothers...etc....create lesbians..overbearing mothers..create gay men..thats a simplified explanation..but all the gay peole i know..have that kind of history..
so if you dont want gay children...be careful how youre treat your children...hehe"

My Reply:
How dare you compare us to evil! We are not evil....we are like you, your best friend, your neigbour, your aunt....anyone! WE ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM STRAIGHT PEOPLE! And treating your children? I was brought up fine....so were my friends who are gay etc etc it has NOTHING to do with parenting skills so i am insulted you would bring it to that.

Anangelhascome:
"you just have to look at nature..."

My Reply:
Yeah ok lets look at nature now...oh by the way...did you hear about those german gay penguins in that zoo the other week? No..? Well thats nature...animals can be gay too you know...if you're interested take a look at this article:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1275591.html

And yeah the fact they're trying to get them to 'turn' straight (which is impossible) is because they need to reproduce because theyre endangered...

(Follow up article: http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/2002-06-10/591.asp)

Anangelhascome:
"yin and yang...that everything is created.....gay peole are running against the current of nature..the way things are....
yang with yang= death"

My Reply:
So that means that all gays as destined to be dead, and all straights are desitned to have eternal life? No...think about it...!

Simply_Ed:
"they are famous about abusing children..."

My Reply:
Oh comon are you REALLY going to believe that rubbish? Get your facts straight and THEN come and tell me that thats the case....because it isnt!

Simply_Ed:
"if it was up to them, we'd be all gays..."

My reply:
No not neccessarily...i wouldnt wish for everyone to be gay because it would go against THEIR attractions....my personal attractions are towards men, hence im gay.

Guest:
"I think some gay people can't bear the thought that many, probably most, other people do not approve of their bedroom activities."

My Reply:
No....i think you'll find many gay people dont care what other people think of their sex lives...its not the ultimate sin to make love between two consenting adults who love each other...gay or straight so why would we care if people didnt "approve" of our "activities"

Henrietta:
"I'm sure many have at some point wished they were straight because life would have been so much easier if they were."

My Reply:
(By the way i agree with everything you put in that post) But yeah of course we do....think about it...we go through massess of homophobia and rejection in our everyday lives...and it DOES effect our everyday living...so yeah on that streak, one wishes that would want to be straight because you dont have that! Also, straights can easily have children and build a family....but apart from that....im 100% proud and happy to be gay! And adoption is an option for us to build families so woo

Well thats it...i really hope you all read this because i hope that now you have a broader picture of everything....

God bless,

Guest

Re: longest word in English

Guest — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 07:29:56 GMT

Hi Everyone, My name is Geoff Ramsay.

I'm a first year University student (Queens - Comp Eng!), and as such I like to spice up my door every week with a new quote or interesting piece of information, it just so happens that a few weeks ago I put up my thoughts on the longest word in the english language, so I thought this was kind of fitting!!

here's what I found:

Now, people NORMALLY say the longest word is "antidisestablishmentarianism" (28 letters) but that is defiantly wrong :(
I'm sorry.

the less known one is of course:
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS (45 letters)
= a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.

but seeing as that wa made up JUST to be the longest word by one Everett Smith in 1935 (as many people have noted), sort of discredits it and I feel it can't count!

I think you ALSO have to discredit most Chemical names, as they are hardly ever used, and they all 'normal' equivalents in common english, additionally, there is really no END to how long you can make some chemical terms, so I think we need to draw the line some where. However, it is interesting to note the longest chemical term ever ACTUALLY used (in a published written medium) is:

ACETYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬TYROSYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬ISOÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬TRYPTOPHYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬CYSTEINYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬TRYPTOPHYLÂ¬LYSYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬TYROSYLÂ¬LYSYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬TYROSYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬TYROSYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬ASPARTYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬ISOLEUCYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬ARGINYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬TYROSYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬GLUTAMINYLÂ¬ASPARAGINYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬PHENYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬GLUTAMYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬METHIONYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬GLYCYLÂ¬LEUCYLÂ¬VALYLÂ¬TRYPTOPHYLÂ¬THREONYLÂ¬SERYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬PROLYLÂ¬ALANYLÂ¬SERINE (1,185 letters)

Which I think someone previously mentioned is Tobacco.
But as any first year Eng student will tell you, it doesn't count because Chemistry sucks!!! (and so does my mark in it :\)

Anyway!!!

After narrowing it down like that I concluded the longest word must be:

HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPPEDALIOPHOBIA (36 letters)

ta da!!

now here's the best part, it actually means: THE FEAR OF LONG WORDS!!

Awesome or what?
I thought so. :p

Re: It's Friday the Thirteenth!!

Woodward — Fri, 13 Feb 2004 13:33:18 GMT

Did you know what Triskaidekaphobia is?
It's the phobia or fear of the number of 13.
I read an article once that a group of guys that didn't believe in superstitions organised a special meeting for Friday the 13th where they would breark mirrors, walk under ladders, open up umbrellas inside the house etc. The thing is one the way to the meeting the plane crashed and everyone died. How's that for bad luck! LOL!
(Only joking about the last part). In fact it was organised and one of the organisers did die shortly before but I don't remember how.
Did you know that in Chile the unlucky day is Tuesday the 13th! People almost never get married or sign contracts or anything on that day. It's interesting when you think about it that in our western society, Tuesday 13th passes by uneventfully, without any thought about it being unlucky so nothing out of the usual happens for the superstitious. Is that because we create our own 'bad luck'? Maybe on Friday 13th people are out looking for cases of it more so obviously they will find it.
What are my plans for today?...I looks like I'll be going to the beach for the weekend with some students. Maybe it will turn into Friday the Thirteenth part nine or ten (the movie) or whatever they are up to now. You know, all those movies start with a group of college friends hanging out somewhere.

Another interesting thought is how we never say the thirteenth of Friday is the unlucky day.
Normally the dates are given both ways depending on UK or US English. But with that date, the US version is almost always used.

Story of a mother

sur — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 10:26:04 GMT

This story will give an insight into the struggle and all the possible odds one has to face, especially in the developing country, where somtimes struggle assumes the form of determination.

with love to all

sur

Story of a mother

âHello Maâam,â I was surprised to see a young gentleman in his late 20s greeting me. I had never seen the caller, but still I responded his greeting with a smile, but my eyes were on my son, who was making fuss over his food.
He introduced himself, â I am Dr. Narayan, from school of Naval Medicine.â For me he also was one of the doctors from one of those polyclinics so I gave a nod without registering any other details in my mind.
I was preoccupied with my son, who was testing my patience, the more I was coaxing him to eat his food, the more he was irritating me. Not knowing what to do at that moment, I gave up, and started looking for my husband. I was wondering where he could be, how I will search for him in this crowd, at least he or my mother anybody around, so I can go and leave the table and wash my fingers.
It was one of our relativesâ wedding. Normally I donât take my son out for the functions because of his fussy attitude towards food, and being âa slow learnerâ he had a problem communicating with people, but sometimes one has to compromise also.
âMay I help you maâam?â I heard Dr. Narayan asking me, sensing my plight. More then willing I accepted his help and requested him to look after my son for a few minutes till I leave the table and wash my fingers.
I was surprised to see Ani, my son, engrossed with Dr. Narayan and making some small talk, a boy, who would not like to talk to any unknown person, is laughing at some joke!
âMaâam, at what age did your son have the surgery?â - a question that struck me hard, but seeing that sympathetic look in his eyes, and genuine concern in his voice as if mesmerized, my stern, stiff attitude melted and words started flowing.
â At the age of 7 months, he underwent retinoblastoma surgery, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Due to that his physical as well as mental growth suffered, we put him on growth hormone treatment for three years, and being a slow learner he is going in a special school, there they have to learn special syllabus.â
âWhy donât you give him HBOT treatment?â He said. âA what treatment?â I asked. I was alarmed, cautiously I told the gentleman, âyou see, I have to talk to my husband and my childâs doctor also; if they permit, then I can think of the treatment you have suggested.â
Hearing this he gave me his phone number and address and said I can call him any time to get further information about the treatment, and if I have a computer then I can surf the net and get the details. He warned me âyour doctors may not know about itâ. At this comment I didnât know how to react, so I thanked him and bid him good-bye.
On the way back I told my husband. He said ask Aniâs doctor, if he knows and if he feels it is useful for him, then give him the treatment. When I contacted Aniâs pediatric, his first question was âwhat is it?â and âhey think twice before you get into itâ. I was wondering whom to ask.
I thought might as well ask Dr. Narayan. Tell him to explain what it is and how one gives this treatment. I called on him and a typical âman-in-uniformâ response came. With polite conversation came a suggestion, why not to go to their center and see by my self, not only that âhave a word with our seniors, and surely all your doubts will be cleared; after that, if you feel confident, your son can be treated.â
Armed with all the medical papers and possible questions, I went to the HBOT center with my neighborâs son, an intern in a government hospital. Thus started my introduction to one more therapy.
They took me to the âchamberâ, where a person âbreathesâ 100% pure oxygen! ! !
You must be wondering - we all breathe Oxygen, but there is a difference in our breathing and this breathing. Like we use only 2 to 3 % of our brain, our lungs only breathe 21% oxygen in the air. Hence oxygen getting into our body is not 100%.
It was a cylindrical chamber. Inside 6 people can sit and breathe 100% pure oxygen with masks, or - if child is very small â through a hood. Once patients are made comfortable inside, with trained attendant keeping a watchful eye on all the patients, the chamber is sealed.
Gradually, the air pressure is increased. Patients start breathing pure oxygen at the one and half or two atmospheric level. Which means, our body comes under the pressure which is one and half time or twice more then our normal atmosphere level. Oxygen breathed at this level turns into medicine/drug and helps wounds to heal. After about an hour or one and half hours, the patient comes out of the chamber, all sweating, thirsty and little tired, but with lots of life giving oxygen!
I was wondering how this will help my son, and worried too. With great difficulty we have brought him to this level where he manages his own affairs, plays tabla, does his homework, but with problems in simple mathematical calculations, and being a âfussy eaterâ, he loves to drink his food rather than chew it.
Doctors around assured me: âMaâam, assume your child is at a 50% level, donât worry he will not go down to 40 or 35%; but we can assure you he will surely go to 65 to 70 % level of function, but donât expect improvement to 100% normalcy.â
I was more than willing to take a chance, if my son could go to 70% level and start eating solids, start doing âsimple mathematics, start understanding abstract concepts â like what is today, what is tomorrow.â
Thus began a new treatment for my son and a new quest for me to find out more about the treatment: Who can use it, how does it work, where is it available, etc.
Let me tell you one thing - I am not a doctor, I am a mother of a âspecial childâ who needs attention all the time, who has to be taught to do certain things, and this article is just to inform people at large and parents of âspecial need childrenâ in particular: Please donât feel shy in accepting that you have a special child. Once you accept this, then it becomes easy for you to access the doctors to help your child. Think along this line too: âAfter you are gone, how will your child manage?â A little improvement goes long way for these children.
With this treatment, a child who could not hold a cup may be able to hold a pen; a once autistic child may become more sociable and recognize people. A word of caution too: this is not the only possible treatment, but given in combination with other therapies, HBOT enhances the effect of other medicine.
As Dr. Arun Mukherjee of âUdanâ says:
âHBOT is like watering the parched earth of the brain. Watering alone does not give you a good crop to harvest.
You also need:
1.Good seed (intensive standard therapy with OT/PT/Special Education/Speech Therapy)
2.Good fertilizer to enhance cellular activity (Ayurvedic neuro-restorative drugs that enhance metabolism of the regenerating / recovering brain cells)
3.Good sunshine (Acupuncture to specific points that would stimulate the recovering brain areas to faster recovery)
4.Timely pruning (Botox nerve Block where intractable muscle spasm shows risk of causing permanent joint deformity)
Now let us see what the mechanism is which helps to heal the wounded tissue and briefly review the history of this therapy, and where in India this treatment is available.

âHYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENTâ: âHyperâ means âgreaterâ and âBaricâ means âpressureâ, which means, HBO is a mode of therapy in which the patient breathes 100% pure oxygen at pressure greater than normal atmospheric (sea level) pressure.

It has long been known that healing cannot take place without appropriate oxygen levels in the tissues, where most illnesses and injuries occur and often linger. In many cases, such as in circulatory problems and strokes, adequate oxygen cannot reach the damaged area, and the bodyâs natural healing process does not function properly. HBOT can provide this extra oxygen naturally with virtually no side effects.
Hyperbaric works by dissolving much higher levels of oxygen than normal breathing does into body fluids, especially blood plasma. Usually, 95% of the bodyâs oxygen needs are transported by red blood cells, but this can be greatly reduced by injury or disease. When patient is placed in a chamber in which pure oxygen is delivered at one and half time greater than normal earthâs surface pressure, the amount of oxygen dissolved in other body fluids that reaches the brain is about six times that of normal respiration.
Several beneficial mechanisms are associated with intermittent exposure to the HBO treatment. In combination with other medical and surgical procedures this treatment enhances the healing process.
The method and its technology was originally developed by the military for diving operations, decompression sickness and air embolism.
First documented use of Hyperbaric Therapy actually precedes the discovery of Oxygen. Oxygen was discovered in 1775 by Joseph Prestly, whereas British physician Henshaw used compressed air for medical purposes in 1662. The chamber was called â Domiciliumâ, with pressure provided by a pair of large bellows.
There was no further development in the field of hyperbaric oxygen for another two centuries.
In 1837 Pravaz made the largest chamber. The first hyperbaric chamber in North America came in 1860 at Oshava, Canada. Cunningham built a chamber in Kansas city in 1920 to treat neurological diseases, but due to mechanical failure all his patients died.A mobile chamber was developed by Fontane in 1877 for surgery.
If the history of the treatment dates back to 1662, then after these many centuries why it is not used so extensively and why are very few doctors getting involved in setting up of the chambers? These are natural questions, which will come to anybodyâs mind after reading the usage of it. Before we find out the answer to the questions let us see which all indications can be treated with the HBOT.
A I R O R G A S E M B O L I S M: This occurs when air bubbles enter arteries, veins and/or capillaries. This results in reduced blood flow and poor oxygen delivery to the areas supplied by the affected circulation. If not fatal, this air embolism can result in severe, long-standing and irreversible physical and emotional disabilities. Paralytic limbs, impaired vision, brain, heart, lung and other organ damage, leading to severe disabilities, requiring maximum medical care.
Hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to reduce the size of bubbles and drives the remaining gas into physical solution, while the high oxygen pressure washes out inert gas from the bubble. When bubbles are resolved, blood flow resumes. Poorly oxygenated tissues then receive higher levels of oxygen delivery. Once the blood flow resumes with more oxygen, swollen tissues will start healing and local swelling also will subside.
Thus HBOT treatment is the primary treatment for Air embolism. Apart from this other indications are: Carbon Monoxide poisoning, Gas Gangrene, Crush Injury, Decompression Sickness, Arterial Gas Embolism, Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds -(this includes diabetic feet / compromised amputation sites / non healing traumatic wounds and vascular insufficiency ulcer, all these indications share the common problem of tissue hypoxia - that is low tissue oxygen level - usually related to impaired circulation), Exceptional Blood Loss (anemia), Intracranial Abscess, Soft Tissue Infections, Refractory Osteomyelitis, Skin Grafts, Thermal Burns, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Migraine, Cerebral Edema, Coma, etc.
Oxygen, when breathed under increased atmospheric pressure, is a potent drug. But this can produce noticeable toxic effects if administered indiscriminately, and it may be a problem in the presence of certain indications, such as: Untreated Tension Pneumothorax, Cold and Cough, Emphysema, A symptomatic Pulmonary Lesions, Thoracic or Ear Surgery, Uncontrolled High Fever, Claustrophobia, etc.
After seeing the indications where HBOT can be used and contra indications where HBOT should not be used, let us examine why doctors rarely recommend the therapy, and why usually doctors themselves are not aware of this treatment, how it works and how it may help their patients.
First of all, doctors are rarely taught about hyperbaric oxygen therapy in medical colleges and therefore most donât know about it. Sometimes this therapy does get mentioned in the syllabus, but it stops at that level. Since it is expensive to provide hyperbaric chamber facilities, medico students donât have access to the treatment know how. So it is obvious - what a physician doesnât know he will not prescribe, and thus the most useful treatment remains unnoticed, unused.
How many chambers are being used around the world? Armed forces, especially the Navy, is using HBOT chambers - both monoplace, that is single person, and multi-place, where 4 to 6 or more patients can be treated at one time. Approximate figures show China and Russia have the most HBOT chambers â around 3000 each, which includes navy as well as civilian population chambers. South Korea has 4.9 chambers per one million population, whereas Russia has only 3.6. In the United States there are around 500 chambers and every year this number is increasing by about 30 chambers, both monoplace or multiplace. Australia and Germany have only multiplace chambers, whereas Japan prefers monoplace units. In USA, about 10,000 patients per day are treated with HBOT, and insurance coverage is provided for 13 indications. However, China and Russia are allowing insurance coverage for 40 to 70 indications.
Now - where does India stand with this therapy? Well, India has total of 16 chambers, out of which 9 chambers are with Indian Navy. Mumbai has three operational chambers - one with Kasturba Hospital, which is monoplace, another with Mumbai Port Trust Hospital that too is monoplace and one multiplace with INHS Aswini Hospital of Indian Navy.Apart from this New Delhi has one in Apollo Hospital and one in Banglore City. Considering the population of India, this figure is highly inadequate.
You must be wondering how my child has benefited and progressed, and how we managed to cope with this treatment.
After 30 sessions - one hour each for 30 days - we have noticed changes in Ani. He has started eating solids, he has become more expressive in his feelings - likes dislikes are clearly conveyed. Simple mathematical calculations, which were very difficult for him, are coming along easier, but he is yet to get hold of the abstract concepts like âtoday and tomorrowâ, which is a bit complex for him. But I am confident after more rounds of the treatment he will be able to understand that too.
Well, for the parents of normal children these things may not make any sense. However, those who understand the traumatic situation of dealing with âspecial needs childrenâ will realize: the gift of a small progress in your child is nothing short of a miracle. For a Cerebral Palsy or otherwise brain-injured child, if this child can manage to hold a glass of water by himself, this is a great achievement for the child and a relief for the parents. When an autistic child, normally a loner, improves and becomes little more socially active, then the parents will be more relaxed.
Dr. Paul Harch, one of the well known authorities on HBOT has treated a number of children with various ailments, and states, âthe results of the treatment is so encouraging that it is going to change the entire landscape of traumatic brain injury treatment, HBOT has change my career and life.â
Let me tell you we are not so fortunate that every city has these chambers and we can treat our children there. If in the advanced countries, parents of these children they have come forward to establish these facilities, then why not in India?
It was the courtesy extended by the School of Naval Medicine to treat the patients from outside armed forces, but they have their own charter to follow, where priorities are clearly defined. Surely, with their guidance and support, parents groups can establish such centers in the various cities of India.
To get more information please use any search engine (like Yahoo or Google) on the net and type in the word âhbotâ or âhyperbaricâ and you will be surprised to see the data available. Make sure you find a reputable website, because you may find some site which talks about âhow to stop the aging processâ. Look for sites that talk about HBOT for Cerebral Palsy and Brain Injury, Autism,Coma and Stroke.
If even one parent of a âspecial needs childâ accepts the reality and becomes actively involved in this treatment for their child, I will feel that my job is done. My E-mail Id is âsur52@yahoo.comâ.
Thank you.
Ref: any search engine on the internet (Yahoo search engine has almost 19,500 web sites listed).*www.hbot4u.com.
*www.hyperbarics.org.*http://www.netnet.net/mums/index.htm