| |
by Andy
Evangelista First
appeared 19 May 1999
Scar Wars - Diagnosing the Prequel
Vail Reese, UCSF's resident skin and movie buff, has jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon of
hype. His "Skinema" website, -- designed
to enlighten people about common and rare skin conditions by putting the spotlight on
movie characters -- devotes a new section to "Star Wars Skin."
 Reese, for example, diagnoses the devilish horns of Darth Maul, the
lead villain in "The Phantom Menace." " It turns out that humans can grow
horns too," says the UCSF dermatologist. "Termed 'cutaneous horn,' (skin horn),
these lesions are made of hard protein called keratin. Usually horns are solitary growths,
so leave it to Lucas to overdo with a character with several." And Reese further
quips: "Given the number of action figurines of this character that are selling, they
should have named him 'Darth Mall.'"
Reese has his web viewers peer closely at the facial moles of Natalie Portman, the queen
in "Episode I" and Ewan McGregor, who plays the young Obi Wan Kenobi. She has
"the ever-popular beauty mark," while the young Jedi knight, who in the original
Star Wars and his later years was played by Sir Alec Guinness, is very moley. The latter
brings up the continuity issue. "Usually moles grow large, flesh-colored and
protuberant over time," says Reese. No such bulging moles were seen on the face of
the elder Obi Wan. "Did our Jedi hero use the force to cause them to disappear? Did
future prequel character Darth Dermatology remove them with a light-scalpel?"
Reese doesn't ignore some Star Wars originals. The skin of the Evil Emperor, who led the
dark force, shows signs of sun damage rather than age or battle scars. "Deep furrows
and superficial wrinkles are all caused by the sun, not just time alone." Presumably
upcoming prequels will feature scenes of the Emperor getting a deep tan on the planet
Tatooine, or perhaps in a futuristic tanning bed, says Reese.
Of the favorite and hairy Chewbacca, Reese says: "Though it is normal for Wookies to
have large amounts of flowing locks, humans prefer to have such bountiful tresses only on
their scalps. Hirsutism can run in families, result from hormone imbalances, or occur as a
medicinal side effect. For those with normal amounts of hair in places that they prefer
not to have it (shoulders and backs for men, underarms, face and legs for women) several
forms of hair removal are available. Shaving, waxing, and electrolysis are old standbys.
Laser hair removal has the potential benefits of less discomfort and the possibility of
permanent hair reduction. Many people don't mind their hair. Like Chewbacca, we gladly
say: 'may the fur be with you.'"
Drilling for Disaster
The riddle goes something like this: How many university people does it take to change a
light bulb? Answer: 50 -- one to hold the bulb and 47 to sit on the committee to appoint
the important two people to rotate the ladder.
But last Wednesday (May 12), UCSF's top decision-makers were so quick, decisive and
resourceful that they not only provided light and power to key parts of a blacked-out
campus, they also stemmed floods caused by broken sewer lines, put out fires, rescued
employees trapped in elevators, searched for missing research animals, children and
students (not necessarily in that order) and treated the injured.
It was all part of a drill to test the campus' emergency procedures in case of a major
disaster. It was a scenario you would not wish on your worst enemy, let alone your
favorite administrator: a 7.2 earthquake rocked the Bay Area, structures all over damaged,
many injured, electricity out, only some working phones, no working computers, and a lot
of people shook up.
Some 85 campus administrators and staff, ranging from vice chancellors and deans to
environmental health and safety and building inspection leaders, holed up in Millberry
Union and fended off as may mock catastrophes and challenges that a "simulation
team," which was sitting in a separate room, could throw their way. The emergency
operations center, headed by Associate Vice Chancellor Bill Neff, performed quite
admirably, although there are certainly some kinks they'd have to iron out before the real
big one hits (hopefully there's time and hopefully it won't happen). Nice to know
preparation is part of the agenda. Hello, Y2K.
Future Science Professors
Every year, the Science and Health Education Partnership program sponsors a science
teaching contest for students in San Francisco public schools. The goal is to get the
students to examine a subject in depth by having them develop a lesson plan and then teach
the material to younger students. A team of seventh-graders from Herbert Hoover Middle
School won this year's $500 for its imaginative and captivating session in which kids
dissected owl pellets to find the bones and fur of rodent prey regurgitated by the owls.
For the best project titles, we nominated "The Yucky But Cool, Gross But Interesting
Cow's Eye" by a Roosevelt Middle School team, followed by the entry "Digestion -
The Ins and Outs."
Smart and Healthy Homes
From the science and health news clips: A recent New York Times article described a
prototype home of the future, which among its numerous high tech gadgets includes several
to keep track of the owner's health. These include, in the bedroom, an electrocardiometer,
blood-sugar-meter and links to transfer data to the home computer or a doctor's office. In
the kitchen, the refrigerator and microwave recommend foods and recipes geared to dietary
needs. The topper, or bottomer perhaps, is a toilet that provides a "morning
checkup" by measuring the user's weight, fat content and urine sugar levels. It
processes the information, which can be sent (presumably by modem), to a doctor or
insurance company. The "smart toilet" and the rest of the smartypants house is
being developed by the Japanese electronics firm Matsushita.
Readers: If you have any items or suggestions
for this column, send us an email: aevangelista@pubaff.ucsf.edu.
|
|
