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| by Andy
Evangelista first appeared 9 September 1998 Behind the White Coat He's a Reggae Music Man
The title tune of Cosmo's first CD, "Reggae Music Man" in 1995, tells the story of his love for singing and how his mother at first worried that her boy would become a musician rather than a doctor. But every one of his songs -- or stories -- "ends with a solution to a problem," says Cosmo, sounding every bit like his scientist side. Today, he is equal parts physician and artist. "My passion for medicine and music are the same," says Cosmo, who is as proud of his two CDs as his numerous publications in medical journals.
To learn more about Cosmo the Reggae man, check out his website (www.cosmomusic.com/), or listen to some CD audio clips (www.cosmomusic.com/audio.html). For those who prefer a live version of Cosmo, he will be performing this Sunday, Sept. 13, 9 p.m., at the Agenda Lounge in San Jose. Cheers for New Dean Congratulations are pouring in to Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, who was recently named interim dean of the School of Pharmacy. A hand, too, to the School, Chancellor Bishop and others who helped move her from chair of the department of clinical pharmacy to the post of dean. A check by the Eye with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy finds that of the 81 US pharmacy schools, Koda-Kimble is only the seventh woman holding the school's top position. Interesting, considering that nearly two-thirds (64.2% in 1997) of the more than 32,500 students in US pharmacy schools are women. Not Just Bunch of Vegetables For Diane Barber, "every Wednesday is like Christmas" -- you never know what surprise you're going to get. Last week, the goodies included different types of lettuce, green beans, sunburst patty pan squash, spearmint, chiogga beets and bunches of sunflowers (the latter, you can't eat, but they sure were pretty). Barber, an associate professor of stomatology, became a fan of the Purisima Greens Organic Farm several months ago and recruited seven other faculty and staff in her department to form a buyers club for seasonal veggies and fruits. The Half Moon Bay environment-friendly, community supported agriculture project now delivers its version of the produce picks of the week right to their UCSF door on the sixth floor of HSW. "I didn't do it for the organic part, but because I was too busy to shop. And you get things you can't get in grocery stores," says Barber. "My kids now eat beets, which they never would have eaten before." In addition to delivering boxes of produce from a farm that grows 60 different varieties of vegetables, they throw in a newsletter which includes recipes for such dishes as chard enchiladas and baked stuffed squash. The eight in the stomatology group pay $15 or $20 each a week for what Sandra Sanders, an administrative assistant who now coordinates the informal health-minded club, says is a pretty big pile of produce. "They're fabulous vegetables," she says. And you know they're organic, she adds, because they sometimes come with the snails and bugs. Geri van Engers of the department of stomatology has been so pleased by the quality of the produce and service, she wanted to pass on the food tip to campus readers. Purisima Greens can be reached at 415/826-6272. Prize Web Design UCSF's website design (check it our for yourselves at www.ucsf.edu/) has been selected out of some 1,100 entries to appear in the upcoming 1998 University and College Designers Association's Design Competition in New Orleans. Designers Martha Fitzgerald and Carol Kummer of the Publications office worked with web experts Robin Sease and Aaron Calhoun to redesign the campus' site last spring. It's the same crew that was involved in designing Daybreak. Readers: If you have any items or suggestions for this column, send us an email: andye@itsa.ucsf.edu. |
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Around UCSF and the VA, Cosmo Fraser carries the
titles of professor of medicine and chief of geriatric nephrology, but in his other world
-- where he jams with the fellas in dreads and offers some soulful rather than bodily
healing -- he's known simply as "Cosmo." And right now Cosmo and his reggae band
that goes by the same name are hot. "Fire This Time," Cosmo's new CD, is numbah
one mon on the US reggae charts. Thanks to rave reviews and some good press about this
singer-songwriter, who doubles as scientist and kidney specialist, the first run of 5,000
CDs sold out in three weeks. They only made a limited number, says Cosmo, because they
weren't sure how catchy the CD would be. Now they know, and major distributors, including
Borders Books and Tower Records, plan to pump up his music in coming weeks, he says.
The new "Fire This Time" includes the
Jamaican-born singer and writer's tales of love, justice and struggle. "You and
Me" is an upbeat, rocking reggae tune about the conflict between love and anger.
"River Jordan" is about conflicts around the world created by ethnic and
religious barriers. For some good old fashioned fun, there's his remix of the Drifters'
classic "Save the Last Dance for Me." And as a warning to those who might cross
the good-natured Dr. Fraser, who's always thinking about a new song, Cosmo devotes two
songs to a bad experience he had with an unscrupulous contractor. Now we at UCSF would not
want to end up as a lyric in CD number three.