N E W S R
E L E A
S E
February 15, 2013
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Janet
Kincherlow-Martin
Public Affairs, Community Relations and Special Events
(256)
306-2561
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calhoun to Host Community Panel Discussion
Culminating “Big Read” Project
Last fall, Calhoun Community College kicked off
its participation in the nationwide “Big Read” project, designed to encourage
shared reading by having the college and surrounding community read and discuss
the same book. “Modeled after the National Endowment for the Arts,
Calhoun’s ‘Big Read’ aims to engage students, faculty, staff and the community
in an energetic, robust, and academically-driven reading and sharing experience,”
commented Leah Vallely, Calhoun faculty member and coordinator of the Big Read
project.
Hundreds of
students, faculty, staff and community members have spent the last few months
reading the book selected for Calhoun’s “Big Read” program, The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. On Tuesday, February 19,
2013, this year’s program will culminate with a panel discussion on the
medical, legal and ethical issues associated with the legacy of Lacks. The
panel discussion will take place at 10am in the Health Sciences Building on
Calhoun’s Decatur campus.
In 1951, Lacks, a
31- year old poor young black woman who had once been a tobacco farmer, was
diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical
cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Lacks died as a result of the
disease, however, cells taken from her during her illness were used -
without her knowledge or permission – to develop the first immortal cell line.
The cells, called
HeLa (named from the first two letters of her first and last
names), became one of the most important tools in medical research, vital for
developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Lacks, the
person who was the source of these cells, was virtually unknown, and her family
was never informed about what had been achieved using her cells.
Although their mother’s cells have been bought and sold by the
billions, the Lacks family has received nothing from those cell lines, and
cannot even afford health insurance today. The book tells the stories of HeLa
and of Henrietta Lacks and her descendants, especially her daughter, Deborah,
who was consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. At the same
time it traces the history of cell research and examines the ethical and legal
issues raised by this research
Panelists selected
to lead the discussion include Kenneth Anderson, dean of Calhoun’s Humanities
and Social Sciences division and a nationally certified counselor; Parvathy
Bhooshanan, Ph.D., Calhoun English instructor; Jennifer Gibbs, a board
certified nurse practitioner and member of the Calhoun nursing faculty; Parker
Griffith, M.D., former U.S. representative for Alabama, oncologist and founder
of the Huntsville Cancer Treatment Center; Dr. Adam Hott, coordinator of
Educational Outreach for the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology; Mary Scott
Hunter, member of the Alabama Board of Education and a local attorney; local
news anchor Liz Hurley ; Calhoun nursing student Connie Jensen; Dr. Thalia
Love, coordinator of Developmental English and Reading at Calhoun; Bret McGill,
dean of the Health Sciences division at Calhoun; and Necia Nichols, chair of
the Calhoun’s Biology department.
Calhoun’s
participation in the “Big Read” is one of a number of activities outlined in
the college’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a major element of its
accreditation process. During the college’s reaccreditation process,
faculty and staff identified Academic Reading Comprehensive as the focus of its
QEP.
The QEP outlines two over-arching goals consistent with both
Calhoun’s mission and an extensive literature review of the influence of
reading comprehension on academic learning and success at the postsecondary
level. Students will improve their comprehension of course-specific readings in
reading-intensive courses through improved reading skills and increased
engagement in academic reading.
Vallely says that
the college is already planning for participation in the 2013-14 Big Read program,
which will feature the book, The Bridge to San Luis Rey by Thornton
Wilder. For more information on the Big Read or Calhoun’s QEP, contact
Leah Vallely at 256-890-4758 or by email at lcv@calhoun.edu
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