Intellectual and Not-So-Intellectual Week

Weekend (too bad it's basically over...)!  Is it just me, or do the weeks seem to be getting longer?  Here's the breakdown:

Monday- The second half of the second term began.  My courses for the next five weeks are Designing Disease Control Programmes in Developing Countries (DDCPDC) and Epidemiology and Control of Communicable Diseases (ECCD).  As you can probably tell, the School fancies acronyms.  I don't blame it; try saying the names of my courses, in addition to my school--the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine--10 times fast.  Each course should be worthwhile: in DDCPDC, I'm working extensively in a group to tackle malaria in southeast Liberia and ECCD has been rumoured to be one of the hardest, but most beneficial, courses taught at the School.  I'm looking forward to a challenging but rewarding term!

Tuesday- The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the UK, Sir Liam Donaldson, visited the School to speak about the role of the CMO in the UK, his career and his achievements.  The UK's CMO is the equivalent of the US's Surgeon General.  The presentation was captivating, especially when Sir Donaldson spoke about his role in addressing several hospital trust scandals that rocked the country in the past decade (i.e. dead children's organs being harvested without their parents' consent OR under misleading circumstances, with the bodies being disposed of as general rubbish). The high calibre of lecturers and presenters at the LSTHM continues to be impressive!

Wednesday (day)- A second, extremely influential individual spoke at the School on his [former] role in the UK [government].  The previous top drugs adviser for the UK [Home Office], Professor David Nutt, gave a presentation on harm assessments for regulating drugs.  In short, he was sacked by the Home Secretary for criticising the drugs policy in the UK.  The "criticism" was based off of scientific evidence showing how alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous and harmful than some illegal drugs (i.e. marijuana and ecstasy).  Click here for a good BBC article on the story.  It was a phenomenal presentation on the relationship between science and politics, and evidence-based policymaking.  I'll keep my opinions on the story to myself (I'm sure you can guess some of my thoughts and the side that I take... Ask if you're inclined to do so) so you can make your own decision on how you feel about both the il/legality of assorted chemical substances compared to others and the role of [independent] advising [on/for science] in government!          

Wednesday (night)- FOOTBALL MATCH!  I've now been properly introduced to English culture and lifestyle.  A few of my coursemates and I went to a Premier League football (the 'Merican translation, of course, is "soccer") match between my local London team, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bolton.  It was a BLAST!  Half of the experience was the game (Tottenham won 4-nil!), with the other being the audience.  The stadium was PACKED and resonated with the drunken fans' chants and songs.  Furthermore, the way that many of the fans spoke was brilliantly entertaining: "hey, friend"= "oy, mate!", "my" = "me", etc.  Many of my British mates say that you can tell the social class of someone by his/her accent.  The more you encounter the wide array of people who live in/around London, the more you realise that it's true...  The bobbies on horses and riot police outside of the stadium also added a thrilling element to the experience as well!  Sadly there were no [exceptionally] rowdy football hooligans on which the bobbies needed to use their equipment.  Honestly, it was probably one of the most fun sporting event to which I've ever been!  I love the UK.            

Thursday- It's been waaaaaaaaay too long since I have seen a theatre production.  One of my hallmates was in the UCL production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.  I went to the show with some of my fellow hallmates.  The acting was rather good, and it was refreshing to be privy to an aspect of the fine arts once again!