With the approach of summer public health officials in Virginia will once again be on the lookout for West Nile virus, a mosquito-born disease that is potentially fatal in humans. The disease made its first appearance in New York City in 1999 and has been carried southward primarily by birds. Last year, seven dead crows were found with West Nile virus in Virginia. Entomologist Sally Paulson (Va Tech) discusses the role mosquitoes and birds play in transmission of the disease and steps we can take to prevent its spread. Also featured: Environmental historian Edmund Russell (UVa), author of War and Nature: Fighting Humans and Insects with Chemicals from World I to Silent Spring, examines the shared history of chemical warfare and pest control.

Second Week (May 12 – May 18) Asthma and Synthetic Blood

Physicians often recommend that asthma sufferers get rid of their pets. But allergist Thomas Platts-Mills (UVa) thinks in some cases that's not what the doctor should order. A recent study by Platts-Mills suggests that exposure to cats reduced some children's likelihood of developing asthma. Pulmonary specialist Benjamin Gaston (UVa) discovered last year that the breath of asthmatics becomes thousands of times more acidic when they're having an attack. Gaston hopes that the finding could help researchers better understand the causes of asthma. Also featured: Anesthesiologist Bruce Speiss (MCV/VCU) considers the implications of the recent development of synthetic blood.

Third Week (May 19 – May 25) Depicting Reality: Portrayals of Gay and Bi-Racial Individuals

After garnering public attention in the early 1980s, AIDS began appearing in film and on television. Communications professor Kylo-Patrick Hart (UVA-Wise) says generally AIDS sufferers have been portrayed as either "innocent victims" or "guilty villains." Homosexuals with AIDS are often portrayed as villains, he says. Hart, author of The AIDS Movie: Representing A Pandemic in Film and Television, looks at media portrayals of AIDS and homosexuality. Also featured: The 2000 U.S. Census shows that an increasing number of Americans identify themselves as members of several ethnic groups. Theater professor Jasmin Lambert (W&M) discusses how drama over time has portrayed the "mulatto," a person of both African-American and white ancestry.

Fourth Week (May 26 – 31) Keeping Our Waters Clean

Almost 30 years have elapsed since passage of the Clean Water Act, which put federal muscle behind the push to rid America's waterways of pollution. But are our rivers and streams getting cleaner? The number of miles of polluted rivers in Virginia doubled between 1996 and 1998, according to a study released by a river conservation group in February. Geographer Rick Roth (Radford), treasurer of Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, and biologist Katie Register (Longwood), director of Clean Virginia Waterways, discuss the state of rivers in the Old Dominion and the impact that increased development will have on them. Also featured: Suburban sprawl in Tidewater is in part to blame for the declining numbers of canebrake rattlesnakes, according to biologist Alan Savitsky (ODU). A species tied to our colonial past - its likeness graced the "Don't Tread on Me" flag of the American Patriots - Savitsky says the canebrake rattler's dwindling numbers are a harbinger of the demise of important forest wetlands.