American House Research Articles

The food axis: cooking, eating, and the architecture of American houses

Blending architectural and social history with the necessity and the passion for food, this engaging new book attempts to understand the development of the American house by viewing it through one very specific lens: the food axis. Taking in far more than the kitchen, author Elizabeth Collins Cromley explores all areas of food management within the home preparation, cooking, consumption, and disposal. Her food axis implies a network of related spaces above and below ground, both attached to the house and separate from it. Studying the use and interaction of these spaces, and the ways in which their components change (often radically) over time, the author shows how these elements have helped shape the multiple forms of residential architecture in the United States, from the first settlement period to the present.Beginning with the earliest and relatively simple houses, Cromley traces changes in food spaces through the years, noting a steady escalation in the number of food-related rooms. Along the way, she considers multiple circumstances that shed light on this evolution, including the role of gender in determining food-space design, the relation of food spaces to nature, and the telling ways in which people and food circulate through kitchens and dining rooms. Because Cromley is interested not only in how designed spaces look but how they are used, she cites a wealth of primary sources autobiographies, travel journals, household diaries, letters, inventories in her exploration of the habits surrounding all aspects of food in the home.In addition to designers, preservationists, and architectural historians, this book will interest curious cooks as well as home-dwellers who want to better understand the spaces they inhabit.

Experimental infection of domestic canaries (Serinus canaria domestica) with Mycoplasma gallisepticum: a new model system for a wildlife disease

The ethical and logistical challenges inherent in experimental infections of wild-caught animals present a key limitation to the study of wildlife diseases. Here we characterize a potentially useful domestic model for a wildlife disease that has been of particular interest in recent decades; that is, infection of North American house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) with Mycoplasma gallisepticum, more commonly known as a worldwide poultry pathogen. Seven domestic canaries (Serinus canaria domestica) were infected experimentally with M. gallisepticum alongside two wild-caught house finches (C. mexicanus) and the resulting clinical disease, pathogen load, serology and pathology were compared. Although rates of morbidity were higher in domestic canaries in response to M. gallisepticum infection, no significant differences were detected between the two species in the four measures of infection and disease studied. Our results support previous field and experimental studies that have documented universal susceptibility to M. gallisepticum infection in the avian family Fringillidae, which includes domestic canaries. Our results also indicate that domestic canaries may serve as a potentially useful model system for the experimental study of M. gallisepticum infection in songbirds.

Rapid evolution of disease resistance is accompanied by functional changes in gene expression in a wild bird

Wild organisms are under increasing pressure to adapt rapidly to environmental changes. Predicting the impact of these changes on natural populations requires an understanding of the speed with which adaptive phenotypes can arise and spread, as well as of the underlying mechanisms. However, our understanding of these parameters is poor in natural populations. Here we use experimental and molecular approaches to investigate the recent emergence of resistance in eastern populations of North American house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) to Mycoplasma galliseptum (MG), a severe conjunctivitis-causing bacterium. Two weeks following an experimental infection that took place in 2007, finches from eastern US populations with a 12-y history of exposure to MG harbored 33% lower MG loads in their conjunctivae than finches from western US populations with no prior exposure to MG. Using a cDNA microarray, we show that this phenotypic difference in resistance was associated with differences in splenic gene expression, with finches from the exposed populations up-regulating immune genes postinfection and those from the unexposed populations generally down-regulating them. The expression response of western US birds to experimental infection in 2007 was more similar to that of the eastern US birds studied in 2000, 7 y earlier in the epizootic, than to that of eastern birds in 2007. These results support the hypothesis that resistance has evolved by natural selection in the exposed populations over the 12 y of the epizootic. We hypothesize that host resistance arose and spread from standing genetic variation in the eastern US and highlight that natural selection can lead to rapid phenotypic evolution in populations when acting on such variation.

Diabetes management in the age of national health reform.

National health care policy is a relatively new concept in the U.S. with a rather tortured and painful past (1). President Theodore Roosevelt's initial efforts to establish national health insurance in 1912 failed. Twenty-three years later, his cousin Franklin Roosevelt incorporated Maternal and Child Health Grants into the original Social Security Act passed in 1935 in the midst of the New Deal. His successor, Harry Truman, attempted to extend medical care to the poor through grant authorization to the states, but met opposition from the American Medical Association, and both Senate and House versions of the bill foundered. Until recently, the Medicare and Medicaid programs signed into law by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 were the most significant legislation addressing health care delivery and financing in the U.S.—extending care to the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. Since then, many have tried to establish national coverage, but neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have had success. Richard Nixon's Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan in 1972 was very much like the Obama Plan presented in 2009, but was considered inadequate to meet the national needs by the Democratic opposition. The Clinton administration's attempt to introduce the Health Security Act was met with bipartisan opposition so fierce that the bill was never brought to the floor of either chamber for a vote. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 is clearly the most sweeping revision of health care delivery and finance since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid. The questions surrounding it are numerous, and its impact remains to be seen; however, it is worthwhile to examine why health reform is necessary. Independent of the source of payment, per capita health care expenditures in the U.S. rose over the last 30 years from approximately $1,000 to $7,000 (adjusted for inflation) (Fig. …

Characterization of the Host Response in Systemic Isosporosis (Atoxoplasmosis) in a Colony of Captive American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Systemic isosporosis, also known as atoxoplasmosis, is a common parasitic disease of passerines. Infection is thought to be endemic in wild birds with fulminant, fatal disease occurring under the influence of stress, concurrent infections, or immunosuppression. Here, we describe the histologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of the cellular infiltrate occurring in captive colonies of American goldfinches and house sparrows. Necropsies were performed on 9 birds, and histologic examination was performed on the intestines of 7 additional birds. Lesions were most severe in the proximal small intestines. Histologically, the changes ranged from variably intense infiltrates of lymphocytes that filled the lamina propria to sheets of large, atypical cells that expanded and obliterated normal mucosal epithelium and invaded through the wall of the intestine and into the ceolomic cavity. Both the smaller lymphocytes and large atypical cells were immunoreactive for CD3. Intracellular parasites consistent with Isospora were detected in the large atypical cells, but they were more easily detectable in the more differentiated lymphocytes. Polymerase chain reaction and virus isolation performed on tissues from 7 birds were negative for retroviruses and herpesvirus. The immunohistochemical results of this study and the destructive nature of the cellular infiltrate suggest that the lesion represents T-cell lymphoma. In birds, lymphomas are most often associated with herpes and retroviruses; the absence of these viruses suggests that the parasite initiated neoplastic transformation. Though much work needs to be done to prove the transformative nature of the lesions, these preliminary results suggest that passerine birds may be susceptible to parasite-associated lymphomas.

The impact of West Nile virus on the abundance of selected North American birds

BackgroundThe emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America has been associated with high mortality in the native avifauna and has raised concerns about the long-term impact of WNV on bird populations. Here, we present results from a longitudinal analysis of annual counts of six bird species, using North American Breeding Bird Survey data from ten states (1994 to 2010). We fit overdispersed Poisson models to annual counts. Counts from successive years were linked by an autoregressive process that depended on WNV transmission intensity (annual West Nile neuroinvasive disease reports) and was adjusted by El Niño Southern Oscillation events. These models were fit using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm.ResultsModel fit was mostly excellent, especially for American Crows, for which our models explained between 26% and 81% of the observed variance. The impact of WNV on bird populations was quantitatively evaluated by contrasting hypothetical count trajectories (omission of WNV) with observed counts. Populations of American crows were most consistently affected with a substantial cumulative impact in six of ten states. The largest negative impact, almost 60%, was found in Illinois. A regionally substantial decline was also seen for American Robins and House Sparrows, while the other species appeared unaffected.ConclusionsOur results confirm findings from previous studies that single out American Crows as the species most vulnerable to WNV infection. We discuss strengths and limitations of this and other methods for quantifying the impact of WNV on bird populations.

Reflection Coefficient Measurement for North American House Flooring at 57–64 GHz

In this letter, the reflection characteristics of the house flooring construction materials at 57-64 GHz frequencies for both horizontal and vertical polarizations are studied. Three common flooring groups-finished floorings, subfloorings, and underlayments-participate in this study. A frequency-sweeping network-analyzer-based experimental setup is employed. We use the measured reflection coefficients to estimate the complex permittivities associated to these materials. Moreover, we import these complex permittivities into the mathematical model and ray-tracing simulation and compare the reflection coefficient results obtained from all three methods. It is shown that the mathematical modeling and the ray-tracing simulation results very well follow the measurements for both polarizations.

Disco’s Revenge: House Music’s Nomadic Memory

This article addresses the role of house music as a nomadic archival institution, constituted by the musical history of disco, invigorating this dance genre by embracing new production technologies and keeping disco alive through a rhizomic assemblage of its affective memory in the third record of the DJ mix. This exploration will be illustrated through a close analysis of a specific DJ set by a Chicago house music producer, Larry Heard, in the setting of Rotterdam, 2007, in which American house music is recontextualised. Refining the analysis through close attention to one of the tracks played during that particular set, Grand High Priest’s 2006 “Mary Mary”, the analysis shows how DJ and music production practices intertwine to produce a plurality of unstable cultural and musical connections that are temporarily anchored within specific DJ sets. The conceptual framework draws on the work of Deleuze, Guattari and Foucault, as well as Baudrillard’s sense of seduction, with the aim to introduce a fluid notion of mediated nomadic cultural memory, a type of counter-memory , enabled by the third record and thereby to playfully re-imagine the dynamic function of a music archive. Keywords : house music, DJ practices, third record, cultural memory, nomadology

Race, Gender, and Symbolic Representation: African American Female Candidates as Mobilizing Agents

The symbolic importance of women in the political system has been well documented in recent studies. However, these studies frequently overlook the intersectional effect of race and gender on women’s political engagement. This article expands the existing research on symbolic representation, assessing the extent to which race shapes female candidates’ symbolic political influence. We analyze data from the 2000, 2002, and 2004 NES in order to assess whether the presence of African American female House candidates results in increased political participation among African American women. Our findings show that the presence of black female candidates increases African American women’s likelihood of proselytizing and voting. This research bolsters arguments regarding the salience of identity and its broad and lasting consequences for engagement. It also challenges existing perceptions of how women candidates influence political attitudes and behaviors.

Identification of Neryl Formate as the Airborne Aggregation Pheromone for the American House Dust Mite and the European House Dust Mite (Acari: Epidermoptidae)

The American house dust mite, Dermatophagoidesfarinae Hughes, and European house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus Trouessart, are major pests of medical importance throughout the developed world, causing atopic diseases such as asthma, rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that the behavioral responses of house dust mites toward volatiles from food sources could be assessed using a Y-tube olfactometer assay. The current study used this Y-tube assay to investigate house dust mite pheromones. A hexane extract of D.farinae, along with fractions of the extract prepared by microscale liquid chromatography over Florisil, were tested for behavioral activity. One of the chromatographic fractions was shown to be significantly attractive (P < 0.05) for D. farinae, compared with a solvent control. Coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of this behaviorally active fraction indicated that neryl or geranyl formate was the major component. Peak enhancement by gas chromatography, using authentic samples of the neryl and geranyl isomers prepared in high purity by chemical synthesis, confirmed the identity of the major peak as neryl formate. In Y-tube assays, male and female D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus both were significantly attracted to synthetic neryl formate at doses of 100 and 10 ng, respectively (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found for D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus when synthetic neryl formate and house dust mite extracts containing natural neryl formate were tested at the same level. Dynamic headspace collection of D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus colonies showed that neryl formate was released as a volatile organic compound by both species. Our study shows that neryl formate is an aggregation pheromone for D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus, and has the potential to be used as part of a novel lure-and-kill system for house dust mite control.

Identification of Neryl Formate as the Airborne Aggregation Pheromone for the American House Dust Mite and the European House Dust Mite (Acari: Epidermoptidae)

The American house dust mite, Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes, and European house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus Trouessart, are major pests of medical importance throughout the developed world, causing atopic diseases such as asthma, rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that the behavioral responses of house dust mites toward volatiles from food sources could be assessed using a Y-tube olfactometer assay. The current study used this Y-tube assay to investigate house dust mite pheromones. A hexane extract of D. farinae, along with fractions of the extract prepared by microscale liquid chromatography over Florisil, were tested for behavioral activity. One of the chromatographic fractions was shown to be significantly attractive (P < 0.05) for D. farinae, compared with a solvent control. Coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of this behaviorally active fraction indicated that neryl or geranyl formate was the major component. Peak enhancement by gas chromatography, using authentic samples of the neryl and geranyl isomers prepared in high purity by chemical synthesis, confirmed the identity of the major peak as neryl formate. In Y-tube assays, male and female D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus both were significantly attracted to synthetic neryl formate at doses of 100 and 10 ng, respectively (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found for D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus when synthetic neryl formate and house dust mite extracts containing natural neryl formate were tested at the same level. Dynamic headspace collection of D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus colonies showed that neryl formate was released as a volatile organic compound by both species. Our study shows that neryl formate is an aggregation pheromone for D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus, and has the potential to be used as part of a novel lure-and-kill system for house dust mite control.

Common garden experiment reveals pathogen isolate but no host genetic diversity effect on the dynamics of an emerging wildlife disease

Host genetic diversity can mediate pathogen resistance within and among populations. Here we test whether the lower prevalence of Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in native North American house finch populations results from greater resistance to the causative agent, Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), than introduced, recently-bottlenecked populations that lack genetic diversity. In a common garden experiment, we challenged wild-caught western (native) and eastern (introduced) North American finches with a representative eastern or western MG isolate. Although introduced finches in our study had lower neutral genetic diversity than native finches, we found no support for a population-level genetic diversity effect on host resistance. Instead we detected strong support for isolate differences: the MG isolate circulating in western house finch populations produced lower virulence, but higher pathogen loads, in both native and introduced hosts. Our results indicate that contemporary differences in host genetic diversity likely do not explain the lower conjunctivitis prevalence in native house finches, but isolate-level differences in virulence may play an important role.

On The Cover – American House Dust Mite

Dermatophagoides species were first reported in floor and mattress dust in 1956, although van Leeuwenhoek had discovered mites in house dust in 1694.1 The major mites in house dust are D. pteronyssinus, D. farinae, and Euroglyphus maynei, accounting for 80% of the total, the rest being storage mites.2D. farinae, the American house dust mite, and D. pteronyssinus, the European house dust mite, are found on all continents. D. farina will tolerate greater extremes of relative humidity and will therefore be found in a greater span of habitats.

Statement on Cortical Visual Impairment

In August 2008, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) brought together an advisory group to provide guidance and clarity on a range of issues related to cortical visual impairment (CVI) as those issues relate to the development of products. The internationally drawn CVI Advisory Group, with members suggested by APH ex officio trustees and consultants, represents a continuing effort by APH to serve the growing group of students with CVI who are registered for Federal Quota funds. Previous activities conducted by APH on behalf of these students have included improving the Federal Quota registration process by better defining eligibility criteria; hosting a CVI Synergy meeting in Louisville, Kentucky; identifying existing APH products that serve the unique needs of this population; developing and manufacturing new products for students with CVI; creating a CVI web site; and providing information on APH products that are related to students with CVI through workshops of the APH National Instructional Partnership. DEFINITION OF CVI: A WORKING DEFINITION FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CVI is defined as impaired vision that is due to bilateral dysfunction of the optic radiations or visual cortex or both. It can coexist with ocular and ocular motor disorders and can be the result of perinatal brain dysfunction or be caused by trauma. Approximately 30%-40% of children with visual impairments have CVI (see Figure 1, which can be viewed in an area dedicated to CVI on the American Foundation for the Blind's web site at ). One concern of professionals in the field of education of students with visual impairments is to establish a standard definition of CVI. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to clarify the differences between children who qualify for services from vision educators and those who have visual processing difficulties that are not considered visual impairment. Our perspective is that all children who have CVI should be classified as visually impaired and receive the necessary services, regardless of the severity of the degree of CVI or additional disabilities. A child with CVI is distinguished from a child with learning disabilities or developmental disabilities by the following criteria: (1) an eye examination that cannot fully explain the child's use of vision; (2) a history or presence of neurological problems, even when the child's brain-imaging studies may appear normal (Dutton, 2008); and (3) the presence of the behavioral or visual responses that are collectively associated with CVI. In most North American jurisdictions, low vision is defined as a reduction in visual acuity no better than 20/70 (6/21) but better than 20/200 (6/60) in the better eye with the best correction. Legal blindness is defined as visual acuity no better than 20/200 (6/60) in the better eye with the best correction. Legal blindness is also defined as a central visual field that is no greater than 20 degrees. Using this framework, CVI should be defined, albeit arbitrarily, by a reduction in visual acuity, in the visual fields, or in a child's ability to see compared to other children of the same age. Unfortunately, traditional methods of precisely determining acuity or visual field function in children with CVI are problematic. Because children with CVI frequently have additional disabilities, it is often difficult to measure visual acuity. When it is possible to do so, standard visual acuity testing should be performed. Electrophysiological measures, such as visual evoked potential acuities, may also be used. When warranted, visual acuities should be measured using forced-choice preferential looking acuities or estimating visual function through the identification of sized objects at specific distances. Dutton (2008) and others have proposed a theoretical construct for classifying higher-level visual processing. This framework considers the effects of damage to the dorsal and ventral streams of the brain to explain visual dysfunction. …

Western Pragmatists and the Modern American House

Research Article| December 01 2009 Western Pragmatists and the Modern American House Lauren Weiss Bricker Lauren Weiss Bricker Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Southern California Quarterly (2009) 91 (4): 413–427. https://doi.org/10.2307/41172495 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Lauren Weiss Bricker; Western Pragmatists and the Modern American House. Southern California Quarterly 1 December 2009; 91 (4): 413–427. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/41172495 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentSouthern California Quarterly Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 2009 Historical Society of Southern California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Host Selection by Culex pipiens Mosquitoes and West Nile Virus Amplification

Recent field studies have suggested that the dynamics of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission are influenced strongly by a few key super spreader bird species that function both as primary blood hosts of the vector mosquitoes (in particular Culex pipiens) and as reservoir-competent virus hosts. It has been hypothesized that human cases result from a shift in mosquito feeding from these key bird species to humans after abundance of the key birds species decreases. To test this paradigm, we performed a mosquito blood meal analysis integrating host-feeding patterns of Cx. pipiens, the principal vector of WNV in the eastern United States north of the latitude 36 degrees N and other mosquito species with robust measures of host availability, to determine host selection in a WNV-endemic area of suburban Chicago, Illinois, during 2005-2007. Results showed that Cx. pipiens fed predominantly (83%) on birds with a high diversity of species used as hosts (25 species). American robins (Turdus migratorius) were marginally overused and several species were underused on the basis of relative abundance measures, including the common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Culex pipiens also fed substantially on mammals (19%; 7 species with humans representing 16%). West Nile virus transmission intensified in July of both years at times when American robins were heavily fed upon, and then decreased when robin abundance decreased, after which other birds species were selected as hosts. There was no shift in feeding from birds to mammals coincident with emergence of human cases. Rather, bird feeding predominated when the onset of the human cases occurred. Measures of host abundance and competence and Cx. pipiens feeding preference were combined to estimate the amplification fractions of the different bird species. Predictions were that approximately 66% of WNV-infectious Cx. pipiens became infected from feeding on just a few species of birds, including American robins (35%), blue jays (17%, Cyanocitta cristata), and house finches (15%, Carpodacus mexicanus).

THE ORIGIN OF FAMILY ROOM AND THE FORMATIVE PROCESS OF DUAL LIVING PLAN

This study aims clarifing the origin of Family Room and the formative process of Dual Living Plan in American house. The findings are as follows. It is said by several researchers of the house history in USA that Family Room first appeared in Parents' Magazine in 1947. However We could not find that story in Parents' Magazine in 1947. We found only similar name which is Rumpus Room, Play Room and so on instead of Family Room. We discovered the name of Family Room in certain house plan on the Better Home and Gardens in 1948. Also the similar concept of Family Room already had appeared as Play Room in 1920's or Multipurpose Room in1930's. It suppose Dual Living Plan which is composed of Living Room and Family Room had been established by early 1960's by way of the embryo period and the trial period.

Improved tRNA prediction in the American house dust mite reveals widespread occurrence of extremely short minimal tRNAs in acariform mites

BackgroundAtypical tRNAs are functional minimal tRNAs, lacking either the D- or T-arm. They are significantly shorter than typical cloverleaf tRNAs. Widespread occurrence of atypical tRNAs was first demonstrated for secernentean nematodes and later in various arachnids. Evidence started to accumulate that tRNAs of certain acariform mites are even shorter than the minimal tRNAs of nematodes, raising the possibility that tRNAs lacking both D- and T-arms might exist in these organisms. The presence of cloverleaf tRNAs in acariform mites, particularly in the house dust mite genus Dermatophagoides, is still disputed.ResultsMitochondrial tRNAs of Dermatophagoides farinae are minimal, atypical tRNAs lacking either the T- or D-arm. The size (49-62, 54.4 ± 2.86 nt) is significantly (p = 0.019) smaller than in Caenorhabditis elegans (53-63, 56.3 ± 2.30 nt), a model minimal tRNA taxon. The shortest tRNA (49 nt) in Dermatophagoides is approaching the length of the shortest known tRNAs (45-49 nt) described in other acariform mites. The D-arm is absent in these tRNAs, and the inferred T-stem is small (2-3 bp) and thermodynamically unstable, suggesting that it may not exist in reality. The discriminator nucleotide is probably not encoded and is added postranscriptionally in many Dermatophagoides tRNAs.ConclusionsMitochondrial tRNAs of acariform mites are largely atypical, non-cloverleaf tRNAs. Among them, the shortest known tRNAs with no D-arm and a short and unstable T-arm can be inferred. While our study confirmed seven tRNAs in Dermatophagoides by limited EST data, further experimental evidence is needed to demonstrate extremely small and unusual tRNAs in acariform mites.

Commemorative Monuments, Land Use, and Racial Reconciliation: A Test-Case for Replacement of Symbolic Memorials to Advance Psychological Integration

The election of Barack Obama, the first African-American President, provides a precious opportunity for the advancement of racial reconciliation and integration in America that not only is the morally right thing to do, but is also vital to the continuation of the pre-eminence of American world power. Our population is expected to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years, and to include higher proportions of African-Americans and other racial/ethnic minorities. As Lincoln said, a house that is divided against itself cannot stand, and America of the future is going to be more and more a population in which there is no one clear and dominating racial/ethnic majority. Thus the strength of the nation requires that racial/ethnic differences no longer be the source of emotional differences that lead to the division of the American house. The dilution and ultimate dissipation of the emotional attitudes that are the foundation of discrimination is a goal devoutly to be wished. Yet dotted about our nation are monuments, statues, and memorials to people of an earlier time who, in important respects, stand for discriminatory - indeed, bigoted - attitudes that inspire in the hearts of today's onlookers an emotional reaction of revulsion. We ask ourselves: is there in our hearts today some remnant of those attitudes, that leads to the preservation and perpetuation of these offensive stones, shaped in the likeness of racists, engraved with words praising the perpetrators of divisiveness and division? To people who are members of the race demeaned by such men, such stones act as a physical repellent, driving them away from the region. This produces economic effects as the members of the disfavored target group refuse to live or work or engage in recreation in the area tainted by the racist symbol. America, more so than any other nation, is a country in which contemporary generations renew and remake the landscape. If a stone is psychologically radioactive to a particular population group, causing them to avoid a part of America, does not simple human decency for their feelings compel all citizens to want to remove the stone? This paper presents an example, a kind of case-study, for the replacement of a memorial to a United States Senator within Washington, D.C. It is offered here as an example of how to develop, document, and argue the case for removal of such a memorial and replace it with a memorial to one or two other persons. At the time of posting this paper, the effort has only just begun, and no result can yet be reported. The author will post updates, and evaluations of the process, as appropriate.

This Mattered to Me

Observations on the Habilitation of Children with Cortical Visual Impairment, by Maryke Groenveld, James E. Jan, and Patricia Leader, published in the January 1990 issue of the Journal of Visual & Blindness, Volume 84, pp. 11-15. I was first introduced to the article entitled Observations on the Habilitation of Children with Cortical Visual Impairment as a subscriber to the Journal of Visual & Blindness (JVIB). The content was timely because so many infants with cortical visual impairment (CVI) were being referred to the Blind Babies Foundation and other programs serving children with visual impairments around the United States. This article is important to me because it addresses issues about the nature of the CVI diagnosis and the need for better demographic data on children with CVI, and the authors' findings offer effective intervention strategies. Through his research with children who have CVI, James E. Jan (one of the article's authors) and his team at Children's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, brought attention to a population whose complex visual and neurological needs are still at issue 18 years after the article was first published. Because of the complex nature and increasing identification of CVI, the content of this article continues to be critically important to personnel preparation, service delivery, and consumer product development in the field of visual impairment today. When Dr. Jan presented the research contained in part in this article at the Blind Babies Foundation in the mid-1990s, he expressed concern about the impact of the needs of children with CVI on personnel and financial resources in western Canada. Today, teachers of students who are visually impaired and other concerned professionals still grapple with their capacity to serve an increasing population of children who have CVI, many of whom have multiple impairments. The article pointed out how little incidence data on CVI was available at the time: There are no accurate trend studies on the prevalence of [CVI] in childhood, but CVI is more common than was formerly believed. With this comment, Dr. Jan and his coauthors planted a seed that, supported by other influences, eventually grew into Babies Count, a U.S. registry of early childhood visual impairment. (Readers may contact American Printing House for the Blind, , to participate in this project.) TERMINOLOGY AND DEFINING A POPULATION In 1990, the authors also put into motion an effort to eliminate use of the term cortical blindness, since children in the study and elsewhere demonstrated gradual increased visual function, which made CVI a more accurate term, especially for parents who were confused by the blindness label when they observed their children using residual vision in daily routines. The term CVI and its definition continue to be a focus of debate in the United States and Europe. Present-day discussions center on the differentiation of the terms cortical versus cerebral and which word is most appropriate for the C in CVI, the use of which can vary by individual, discipline, or geographic region. The article went on to frame the debate over whether CVI ought to include only persons with visual acuity loss or to expand the classification to embrace those with solely visual attention and visual perception problems. …