May 14, 2002
Vol. LIV, No. 10

Family Lodge Dedicated
with Major Gift
by Safra Foundation

New Firehouse Will
Replace Aging Facility,
Due in March 2003

NIEHS' Robertson
Collects Books, Illustrations

Kolb To Give Pittman Lecture, May 29

Tessier-Lavigne Inaugurates CSR
Director's Seminar

NIH Holds Health
and Safety Expo, June 11

NIH Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Program Holds Two Events,
May 17 and 28

By Rich McManus

Dr. Elias Zerhouni Dr. Elias Zerhouni (pronounced eh-LEE-as zer-HOO-nee) was confirmed, by unanimous voice vote of the full U.S. Senate on May 2, to become 15th director of the National Institutes of Health. Two days earlier, at a 75-minute confirmation hearing before the Senate committee on health, education, labor, and pensions chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (which also voted unanimously to confirm), Zerhouni offered a preliminary vision of his plans for NIH, which include relying not only on the creative spark of the individual scientist, but also on a "new science" approach emphasizing multidisciplinary teams working in concert.

M O R E . . .

The 'Haves' Still 'Racialize' Have-nots, Says Holt

By Rich McManus

Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday sang it many years ago, and the Bible said it even earlier than that: "Them that's got shall get, them that's not shall lose," which capsulizes a message given by scholar Dr. Thomas C. Holt at the inaugural talk in a new series launched by NCI's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities on Apr. 11. Wealthy elites of the new global economy still depend, as did their economic ancestors of the 16th century trans-Atlantic slave trade, on the cheap labor of an exploitable workforce. Economic might, Holt argues, determines most facets of the political economy of any historical era; the wealthy, therefore, can "racialize," or stigmatize and exploit, whatever group constitutes the impoverished of the moment.
M O R E . . .