Will Mattel never learn?

From a Friend at work, an NP, clearly:

From The Center for Nursing Advocacy

Mattel on the "Nurse Quacktitioner": Problem? What problem? Oh--and did we mention the new Nurse Barbie?

January 11, 2006 -- Mattel has now received letters from over 2,000 nurses and supporters, and the Center has held discussions with Vice President of Corporate Communications Lisa Marie Bongiovanni, about the Furryville "Nurse Quacktitioner" doll. Sadly, the company still refuses to remove or buy back any dolls. Mattel has suggested that nurses aren't really that upset about the doll because some unspecified number have actually told the company they like it, and because it thinks all the negative letters it has received are form letters. (In fact, we know the company has received and seen the hard copies we sent of 400+ different original letters). The company stresses that it had no malicious intent in creating the doll, and that the name of the duck doll includes the word "quack" because ducks quack, a point that had eluded us completely. Mattel still does not seem to understand that the doll exploits a pernicious stereotype of nurse practitioners, and that it has infuriated thousands of nurses, many of whom control or influence the purchasing decisions of countless family members, friends, patients, and students.

Please:

1. (1) call Mattel as often as you wish, using this contact information, and explain that you are really are upset about the doll, and that you will urge everyone you know to boycott all Mattel products until the company pulls or agrees to buy back all remaining dolls and issues a genuine apology;
2. (2) if you have written an original letter, please send a copy directly to Ms. Bongiovanni;
3. (3) if you have not written an original letter, please send one to Ms. Bongiovanni, even if it is only one sentence;
4. (4) in all communications, urge Mattel to consult the Center and other nursing organizations in creating the forthcoming Nurse Barbie.

Thank you very much!

The Center has tried to explain to Mattel the problem with the Nurse Quacktitioner and to persuade the company to recall the remaining dolls, or allow retailers to sell them back, as Wal-Mart has agreed to do. Unfortunately, our discussions with Ms. Bongiovanni and others at Mattel have not yet had this effect. Reportedly, the company's reluctance to act is due in part to the fact that one or more nurses have told the company that they actually like the dolls; supposedly one or more nurses believe the dolls help ease pediatric patients' fears about nursing. We urge anyone who holds this view to consider the message sent by a doll that exploits the main professional stereotype of nurse practitioners--that they are "quacks," untrained persons who pretend to be physicians and dispense medical advice. That the doll can reinforce this stereotype is not simply a common sense evaluation of its likely effect on impressionable youngsters and others. For proof of the doll's potential real world effect, consult the reactions of the UK physicians who have told Mattel that the doll is a perfect summary of NP skill and urged the company to keep selling it. For further discussion of the importance of nurses speaking out to improve public understanding of their work, please read "From Silence to Voice" and our FAQ pages.

We also understand that Mattel is working on a new Nurse Barbie. In order to increase the chances that the doll might actually improve the nursing image, and avoid problems like those that are evident from the Nurse Quacktitioner, we have asked Mattel to hook us up with the designers. So far that has not occurred.

Mattel's contact information How to let Mattel know about your ongoing concern about the Nurse Quacktitioner doll and the pending Nurse Barbie: Please call Lisa Marie Bongiovanni, VP of Corporate Communications, at 1-310-252-3524. You will likely get her assistant, who might take a message or give you voicemail. Whichever option you choose, please explain in as much detail as you wish why this doll should be pulled and how vital NPs are to public health. If you cannot get through to Ms. Bongiovanni's office, please call CEO Bob Eckert: dial the main Mattel number 1-310-252-2000 then press 1# to dial by last name. Dial in "Eckert" which is 325378 or call Valerie Rodgers from Consumer Relations at 1-310-252-3197. Mattel's business hours are 8 am - 5 pm M-Th and 8a-1p F, Pacific time. Email is LisaMarie.bongiovanni@mattel.com

We have a winner!

A new top-ten answer to my standard beginning-of-term questionnaire:

"Please tell me something interesting about yourself."

"I like to travel to forbidden countries, i.e. Cuba, certain cities in Russia, someday N. Korea."

i love and fear this student. Definitely CIA material.

Hey little sister, what have you done?

i need to re-read some Mary Poppins.

My god, it's been an entire year since i've looked at APoD?! That's SO SAD. --SG

Zero to 290 in 3.8 seconds

VROOM!

Christ, i am looking back at those last entries (after six months of radio silence) and wondering how i am going to survive January. There is no way i could pick one of those things to pass up, though.

Seeing as how i still have a syllabus to plan, classes begin, and i am trying to negotiate a better gig at work at the same time, i'll be a busy, busy grrrl.

Let's hope for a good old-fashioned manic phase. And not this hypomanic-depressed-panic attack-filled-mixed-state bullshit i've had going for almost a month. This sucks, but it is par for the course at the end of semester, i guess. These are the choices i have made. Bleah.

Speaking of which, i should try to sleep and see if i can't reset the brain back to normal for work tomorrow. It's worth a shot, anything could happen, in theory.

Happy New Year!

Seamless v.2 02/01/06

When Science Meets Art Program #4 — seamless: computational couture

Nick Knouf & Christine Liu, MIT Media Lab, seamless-producers
Wednesday, February 1 7:00 p.m. Galaxy Cafe

A runway fashion show featuring innovative works of interactive and technology-based design. This stunning collection, created by current and previous students of MIT, Harvard, RISD, Mass Art and Parsons School of Design, features real clothes that inspire and provoke. Emceed by MIT Media Lab's Chris Csikszentmihályi. Beats by DJ Technician. Tickets include dessert reception. Advance purchase is strongly recommended. Please note tickets do not guarantee a chair, limited seating is available on a first-come-first-served basis.

The Seamless v.2 Website

This is especially exciting because Bravo's horrifically addictive Project Runway S2's Diana Eng is exhibiting for the second year in a row. And we LOVE our Fashion Nrrd Grrl!

BUY A BUTTON

10:16 PM | Klatsch (0)

Unicorn in Captivity 01/18/06

It was (quite literally) half a lifetime ago that i got to visit the Cloisters on a Senior trip to NYC. Seeing the tapestry that i had worked as a jigsaw puzzle with my Auntie Di (which, at the time, was half a lifetime ago) was such an unexpected delight.

And now in a few weeks, my love for this piece will be married with my interest in technology. Stumbling across this event quite by accident was another unexpected delight:

When Science Meets Art Program #2 — The Unicorn in Captivity

David & Gregory Chudnovsky, Directors, Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 7:00 p.m. Cahners Theater

To create an exact visual reproduction of one of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Unicorn Tapestries, digital cameras photographed every inch. When the hundreds of digital photographic files didn't fit smoothly together, the Chudnovsky brothers with their supercomputer were brought in to figure it out. Mathematical geniuses, David & Gregory Chudnovsky are renowned for having built their own supercomputer from mail-order parts. Hosted by Amir D. Aczel, author of Fermat's Last Theorem and Pendulum.

The Chudnovsky brothers have been featured on Nova ScienceNow (last summer, you can read the transcript).

Also of interest, a fascinating New Yorker Article on the tapestries.

Science on Screen: Richard Feynman 01/16/06

Science on Screen:
Richard Feynman: No Ordinary Genius

with guest speaker Stephen Wolfram

At the Coolidge Corner Theater Mon Jan 16 7:00
co-presented by the Museum of Science and New Scientist magazine

'I'm an explorer, OK? I like to find out!' - Richard Feynman

Filmmaker Chistopher Sykes looks into the life and mind of theoretical physicist and adventurer extraordinaire Richard Feynman in this intimate, moving, and quite funny account of the most extraordinary scientist of his age. With a unique combination of dazzling intellect and touching simplicity, Feynman had a passion for physics that was merely the Nobel Prize-winning part of an immense love of life and everything it could offer. He was hugely irreverent and always completely honest—with himself, with his colleagues, and with nature. Sykes used this film (and several other documentaries he made on Feynman) as the basis for his best-selling book of the same name.

Stephen Wolfram is a scientist, author, and business leader. He is the creator of Mathematica, a groundbreaking software program that can quickly perform mathematical calculations and produce three-dimensional graphic images. He is the author of A New Kind of Science, and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. His relationship with Feynman began at Caltech - Wolfram was 18, Feynman was 60 - and they remained close over the course of ten years.

Friday the 13th with DOLEMITE!!! 01/13/06

OH. MY. GOD.

Signifyin'! Monkey!

Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) in person!

Stand-up, music and a special screening of The Human Tornado
At the Coolidge Corner Theater Fri Jan 13 midnite

Nothing says good clean raunchy fun like Rudy Ray Moore, also known as the legendary blaxploitation hero DOLEMITE! Rudy started his career as an R&B singer (and a darn good one, we might add), but became truly known for pushing the boundaries of good taste with his hilarious profanity-filled comedy routines (his version of The Aristocrats can probably never be told). Then in the 70s he morphed again into the super-hero Dolemite, who fought da man in a series of hilarious and fun independently made action films.

A major influence on many of today’s comedians and hip-hop artists (some say he started rap with his rhyming comic patter), Rudy Ray Moore joins us IN PERSON with his own blend of comedy, music, and our favorite of his Dolemite films, THE HUMAN TORNADO.

In his second film, the rappin', snappin', action packin' Dolemite lets loose with a whirlwind tour-de-kick-ass! After Dolemite gets caught in bed with a racist sheriff's wife, he and his posse go on a cross country run. Along the way Dolemite does it all: he escapes naked down a hill; he changes jumpsuits, he fights off sucka hick cops; he busts rhymes and does stand up. Finally, he and his crew land in California just in time to help his old friend Queen Bee save her club (and her well-endowed girls) from a mafia plot to muscle her out.

Extreme Makeover: Mural Edition 01/11/06

When Science Meets Art Program #1 — Extreme Makeover: Mural Edition

Wednesday, January 11 7:00 p.m. Cahners Theater

Featuring: Gianfranco Pocobene, Head of Conservation, Gardner Museum and Richard Wolbers, Associate Professor of Art Conservation, The University of Delaware and Moderated by Kathryn Acerbo-Bachmann, Director of Art & Architecture Program, Trinity Church

In “One of the most significant restoration projects anywhere in America,” science and art merged to conserve the John La Farge murals at Trinity Church Boston. But what happens when the conservation choices are not clear cut – and the world is watching?

A limited number of tickets will be sold for seats in the theater with the speakers. Tickets: $10/night. Includes dessert reception. Advance purchase is strongly recommended.

Limited additional seating in a separate theater with simulcast projection of the event will be available for FREE thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Institute. Free seating tickets to the simulcast available to the general public in the Museum lobby beginning at 5:45 p.m. the evening of the program; first come, first served.