This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with “Dr. Happiness.” Ed Diener, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, has written extensively about what factors influence psychological wealth and well-being. We’ll talk with him about his research, how he got others in the field to take him seriously when he started trying to quantify something so abstract, and what makes life satisfaction so vital to our health.
This hour on Focus Mary Kay Mace, whose only daughter was killed in the shooting on campus at Northern Illinois University five years ago, joins us. She’ll tell us about the tragedy and what she has and hasn’t seen change since it happened. We’ll also talk with Dorothy Espelage, a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studies adolescent aggressive behavior, about what resources are available to young adults and what protocols are in place in case of an emergency on campus. Thom Pollock, Executive Director of Crosspoint Human Services in Danville will also be here to talk about the unmet need for mental health services in Champaign county and the surrounding area.
WILL also aired this video Tuesday evening during PBS' After Newtown programing. What's your reaction? Have you been personally affected by gun violence? Join our conversation on Facebook and Twitter, email will-talk@illinois.edu or post in the comments section below.
This hour on Focus, host Craig Cohen talks with Nina Totenberg, NPR’s award-winning legal affairs correspondent and this year’s winner of the Illinois Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism about her coverage of the US Supreme Court and some little known facts about her life and career. Then for the second half of the hour, we’ll talk with Nathan Wolfe, a virologist who has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, about his work in Africa and why globalization is making our society more vulnerable to pandemic diseases.
Both Totenberg and Wolfe are speaking on campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaing on Monday, February 11. Find more information at the links listed below.
This hour on Focus, host Craig Cohen talks with David Grotto, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, about the best things you can eat. We’ll talk about the vital nutrients everybody needs and why they are important. We'll also talk about some common food misconceptions. We welcome your nutrition and diet questions on Facebook and Twitter and will take your calls.
Diet, exercise, nutrition and heart disease have all been health buzz words lately. This hour on Focus, we'll talk with Dr. Sumuk Sundaram of Christie Clinic about men's health issues.
Samantha King, Associate Professor, Associate Director and Graduate Coordinator, School of Kinesiology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario
Host: Kimberlie Kranich
The National Cancer Institute estimates that just more than 12 percent of U-S women or “1 in 8” born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in her life. Approximately 40,000 U.S. women die from breast cancer each year. Only lung cancer claims more cancer deaths among women.
In the U-S and increasingly worldwide, the movement to end breast cancer is symbolized by a pink ribbon and the strategy is to raise billions of dollars for research and to promote early detection through mammograms. Cause-driven marketing encourages us to buy products that display the pink ribbon and to participate in 5k races for a cure. Are these the best strategies? Where did they come from and who is really benefitting?
We go beyond the pink ribbon to the politics of breast cancer, civic engagement and corporate philanthropy with Samantha King, author of “Pink Ribbons, Inc.”
The Department of Kinesiology & Community Health and the Center on Health, Aging and Disability is hosting a screening of Pink Ribbons, Inc. at 7:00 PM, on Thursday, September 27 at the Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL 61801. After the film, Samantha King will field questions about the film and her research.
Malcolm Hill, M.D., Pediatrician, Carle Physicians Group
Host: Craig Cohen
Our guest will be Dr. Malcolm Hill, pediatrician from Carle in Urbana. Dr. Hill can respond to a range of concerns, anything from vaccinations and common childhood illness, to coping with minor bumps and bruises. Any problem you might discuss with your own family doctor is welcome on this show.
Claudia Lennhoff, Executive Director, Champaign County Health Care Consumers
John Katsinas, Manager, Barham Benefit Group, Champaign
Host: Craig Cohen
Perhaps no single issue has been more politicized the last four years than health care. After more than a year of especially rancorous debate and discussion in Congress, and in town halls across America, this country’s health care system began an overhaul through passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. That law has set a number of changes in motion – not the least of which is a requirement for most Americans to have health insurance, or pay what the Supreme Court ruled this summer amounts to a tax. The Affordable Care Act has also addressed everything from providing relief to seniors who faced a Medicare prescription drug “donut hole,” to providing Americans under 26 with a chance to remain on their parents’ health insurance, to new regulations ensuring patients aren’t dropped from coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act is designed do more in the coming years, including funding for state Medicaid programs geared towards preventive care, and the establishment of insurance exchanges, state to state, in 2014.
We thought it would be helpful to provide an hour in which we walk through what is and is not in the legislation, what is and is not already in place, and what it all means for your personal health care. We welcome any questions you have about the health care system, as we seek to take the politics out of it, and focus instead, on how the system works, and what you, as a health care consumer, ought to know about it.
This is a repeat broadcast from Monday, June 11, 2012, 10 am
Daniel Halperin, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, University of North Carolina School of Public Health
Host: David Inge
Scientists believe that the virus that causes AIDS jumped from chimpanzees to humans about a century ago. It had been confined to a small patch of southeastern Cameroon, and it might have stayed there had not Europeans come, ensuring the disease would spread as an accident of their efforts to exploit Africa’s resources. We’ll look at the role of colonialism in the spread of AIDS. Our guest will be medical anthropologist Daniel Halperin, co-author of the new book "Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It."
