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Andy Evangelista
first appeared 06 March 2000 Leaping at an Opportunity March may be a letdown for Barbara Gerbert, who celebrated her "14th" birthday during the entire month of February by spreading good cheer and bringing cakes to department and various committee meetings. Gerbert, who is chair of the division of behavioral sciences in the department of preventive and restorative dental sciences, is a leap day baby (born Feb. 29, 1944). When your real birthday comes only once every four years, it’s appropriate to make it a big deal, we agree, especially if you’re providing the cake. And leaping to the conclusion – Barbara had never met a fellow leap day baby. So on Feb. 29, she received permission to visit the labor and delivery unit on the 15th floor of the Medical Center, and she spent a bit of time with some of the 10 babies born on that special day and their families. She especially enjoyed a visit with a young couple who had the rare pleasure of giving birth to leap day twins. The happy parents pointed out to Barbara that this is the Chinese "Year of the Golden Dragon," which comes only once every 60 years. Flick Skin Our favorite movie-watching dermatologist, Vail Reese, has updated his "Skinema" website in time for the awards season. His "Oscar Buzz 2000" analyzes cutaneous qualities and slight defects, from the moles, scars and beauty marks on the faces of the cast of "American Beauty" to the tanning habits of the Matt Damon character in "The Talented Mr. Ripley." While viewing celebrity skin, stop by Reese’s recent addition to his "Dermatology and Music" section (Part 3). In addition to close-ups of Tina Turner’s port wine stain birthmark and Celine Dion’s frown marks, you’ll be shocked to see that the smooth-faced, "La Vida Loca" Ricky Martin actually has acne scars -- perhaps from "the stress of being thrown out of the teen group Menudo." A Shot at the Big Apple The campus recently said goodbye to one of its truly good guys. Elan Masliyah, Empact! event and marketing coordinator for five years, took off for New York last week to get in the business of marketing big time entertainment. Of course we’ll remember Elan – a basketball fan and regular on the Millberry court – for hitting THE big shot. It was two years ago at the Oakland Arena, when he was picked to attempt a half-court shot during a break in the Warriors game. Good karma seems to follow Elan – he sank the improbable shot, and won a $18,000 Chevy Malibu. The car’s been sold. Of course, he won’t need one in Manhattan. F#%*&* Research From the research file: NYU neurolinguist Diana Van Lancker and UCLA neurologist J.J. Cummings recently reported their findings on the neurological patterns found in swearing. Published in Brain Research Reviews, the study includes provocative sample data on the frequency of certain swear words by various populations of people, based on age, regions of the United States and other countries. Van Lancker's research examines neurological similarities in cursing in individuals with brain disorders and in healthy individuals. For individuals suffering from brain injuries, stroke, spinal cord and other traumatic injuries, swearing is commonly the one set of speech pattern that is often "selectively" preserved when other communication functions fail or are severely impaired. Learning swearwords is a natural part of language development, according to Van Lancker. Knowledge of swearwords occurs early in child language development and establishes a strong mental hold on immigrants learning a new language in a new country. "While swearing is an emotive form of communication, its place in language is both linguistically and neurologically complex," she said. "There is substantial neurological study of other emotional behaviors such as pathological laughing and crying, but not swearing. In general, this neglect is partly due to the pervasive view that swearing is taboo in society. In the scientific community, swearing is viewed as peripheral to other communication patterns." Pure Silliness Thanks to the AP and the Silly Putty website , we learn that the bouncy, pink stuff that came in a plastic egg is celebrating is 50th birthday. What started as a failed rubber substitute, has become useful for work, play and therapy. It’s been used to clean ink off keyboards, work hand muscles during physical therapy and to relieve stress at the office. According to the AP and Silly Putty, the stuff has been also been handy to geologists to model geographic events, doctors put it over the eyes of patients during CAT scans, and it secured tools during the Apollo 8 moon launch. We slap it on our heads and computers, and then bounce ideas off the wall. Readers: If you have any items or suggestions for this column, send us an email: aevangelista@pubaff.ucsf.edu . |
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