March 2003
Program Notes
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First Week (March 1 - 7)
Mass Extinctions
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When it comes to mass extinctions, dinosaurs get all the press.
But there were actually five mass extinctions of life in earth's
history and the one that wiped out tyrannosaurus rex wasn't even
the largest. Now a majority of the nation's biologists agree that
we are in the midst of the greatest extermination of living species
since the end of the dinosaurs. Is mankind causing the earth's sixth
great mass extinction? Paleontologist Mark Reinhold (JMU)
and biologist Barbara Savitzky (CNU) examine the evidence
and recall the great disappearances of ages past. Also featured:
A peek inside dinosaur eggs.
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Second Week (March 8 - 14)
Southern Writing: Flannery O'Connor and Ellen Glasgow
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She's considered one of the best writers of the 20th century south,
but Flannery O'Connor published only 32 short stories and two novels
before she died in 1965 of complications from lupus. Jean Cash
(JMU) spent ten years researching the first full-length biography
of O'Connor. Also featured: Ellen Glasgow was born in 1873 into
an aristocratic Virginia family, but wrote about the dying southern
order. Her works are receiving new critical attention from literary
scholars, thanks in part to Carol Manning (MWC).
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Third Week (March 15 - 21)
The Problem of Evil
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Americans of all political and religious stripes agree the attacks
of September 11, 2001 were acts of evil. But many of us disagree
about what the word "evil" represents. Is it purely a
religious classification, or can it also be used in a secular society?
Jennifer Geddes (UVa) worries the term can be misused. Roger
Thompson (VMI) says fiction is the best place to explore the
questions of evil. Also featured: The late Flip Wilson used to make
us laugh when his Geraldine character uttered the phrase "the
Devil made me do it!" Rose Mary Sheldon (VMI) explains
that the figure of the devil derives from the early days of Christianity.
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Fourth Week (March 22 - 28)
Driven to Distraction
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On September 13, 1899, Henry Bliss stepped off a New York City
trolley and became the first person killed in a car accident. Since
then, auto manufacturers have tried to find ways to make driving
safer. Carryl Baldwin (ODU), director of The Driving Research
Center at Old Dominion University, and Jon Hankey (VT), interim
director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute discuss innovations
in collision avoidance systems and infrared sensors. Also featured:
The fastest growing sport in the United States is motor sports,
and Patrick Henry Community College is helping to train the next
generation of pit crews.
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Fifth Week (March 29 - April 4)
Improving Global Health
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While some believe there's a health-care crisis in the United States,
many citizens of developing countries have no access to health care
at all. Dr. Richard Guerrant (UVa) has spent most of his
career helping train foreign medical students, and spends part of
the year in a small Brazilian city. Also featured: Tom Calogrides
(Tidewater Community College) has traveled to the Philippines
eleven times to help train emergency medical workers there. He's
part of the Norfolk-based group Operation Smile.
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