blogging social change

Linus Pauling (no, this has nothing to do with Linux!)is featured in a traveling exhibit
celebrating the life of one of the world’s great scientists and peace activists.
http://www.paulingexhibit.org/

Dr. Stanton A. Glantz, a leading US anti-smoking advocate, is recommending that all new movies that feature smoking scenes be rated 18a. Dr. Glantz, best known for the Smoke Free Movies campaign, will meet with the Ontario Film Review Board today to make his case.

According to the release, “smoking scenes in movies are now the number one recruiter of new, young smokers in the United States - 390,000 American teens every year.” The Adult-rating proposal is endorsed by the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Legacy Foundation, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, L.A. County Department of Health Services, and other public health authorities.

A well-written piece from Inc.com on social entrepreneurs Jeffrey Hollender and Alan Newman, who you’ll remember as the brains behind Seventh Generation, a manufacturer of environmentally-conscious household products in Burlington, Vermont.

Internal conflict, mergers, tell-all books, and angry public e-mails aren’t even the half of it. Social change is a rough business, I tell you.

In an age of rising tuition fees, who would have thought one of the top research universities in the world would start giving away their product …

MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) is a remarkable story of an institution rallying around an ideal, and then delivering on the promise of that ideal. It is an ideal that flows from the MIT Faculty’s passionate belief in the MIT mission, based on the conviction that the open dissemination of knowledge and information can open new doors to the powerful benefits of education for humanity around the world.

CBC is reporting that the Nova Scotia department of health is recalling thousands of buttons made to promote their annual flu-shot campaign.

Apparently, the letter “L” was accidentally left out of a particular word, resulting in the campaign being attributed to the “Office of Health Promotion and Pubic Health Services.” Whoops!

Discount Car and Truck Rentals’ Québec office announced today that their Montréal rental locations will begin renting the new Toyota Prius hybrid cars. Discount says this move makes them the first car rental company in Québec to rent gas/electric synergy-drive cars.

This kind of innovation will help push alternative fuel technology into the mainstream. Kudos to Discount.

Volunteer Canada has introduced a new program for nonprofits to offer them discounted Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance. As members of Volunteer Canada, non-profits qualify to save up to 30% on insurance premiums.

From the Volunteer Canada website: “The purpose of this program is to raise awareness of the legal risks facing directors, and to offer directors and organizations some practical ways to minimize risks.” (via CharityVillage)

Actor Christopher Reeve has “returned,” appearing in an ad advocating stem cell research this week, only days after his widow endorsed presidential candidate John Kerry. The ad, shot about a week before Reeve’s death, features images of the former “Superman” promoting human embryonic stem cell research.

The AP reports: “Stem cells have already cured paralysis in animals,” Reeve says, referring to work with paralyzed rats that were made to walk again after being injected with stem cells at the University of California at Irvine. “Stem cells are the future of medicine. Please support Proposition 71 and stand up for those who can’t.”

According to US National Public Radio (NPR), this year’s election is expected to draw the largest voter turnout since 1992, despite the steady decline in youth voter turnout. Some suggest that activism is as high in the US as it was in the ’60s. NPR has several segments online addressing the issue.

Documentarian William Greaves will receive the International Documentary Association’s (IDA) 2004 Career Achievement Award. Throughout his career Greaves has used film to tell the truth about African-Americans, and dispell myths and stereotypes. He worked during the ’60s as a producer and director with the United Nations, later developed films for the US Information Agency, and eventually started his own independent film company.

As Greaves describes it, “I decided to step behind the camera to try to counter all the B.S. that the media was selling to the American people and disseminating throughout the world. My goal was to use the medium of film to tell the truth about our history and that of Africa.”