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In a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal January 31, Jerome Klein, MED professor of pediatrics, criticizes a recent study in Pittsburgh that concludes that antibiotics should not be used for children's middle ear infections. "There is no authoritative medical group in the U.S. that has agreed with this view," writes Klein. "The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both consider middle ear infection to be a treatable disease . . . In the preantibiotic era, children with acute otitis media suffered from complications such as mastoiditis and meningitis. In developing countries, where children do not have access to medical care, acute otitis media is still responsible for permanent hearing loss and suppurative complications . . . Ear infections in infants are painful because of the inflammation caused by the bacterial pathogens. Appropriate use of antibiotics results in resolution of acute signs and symptoms of infection within 72 hours in most children."

The commonwealth of Massachusetts recently lifted its 38-year ban on tattooing, and tattoo artists are revving up their tools and mixing their inks in anticipation. The January 31 Boston Globe includes a story on current tattoo trends and fashions and what makes a person choose a particular design. Ethnic symbols, it seems, have become increasingly popular. Joseph Boskin, CAS history professor and director of the Urban Studies Program, speculates about why these symbols have become more prevalent than such past trends as a partner's name. "One of my theories about American culture is there's a growing sense of vulnerability," he says. "There's a sense that everything is changing. The idea of community or commonality has disappeared completely. People are using their bodies to make permanent statements that no one can take away from them."

On January 26, Boston resident Abdelmajid Akouk was sentenced to 40 to 45 years in prison after a jury convicted him on all counts of raping a Boston University freshman 16 months ago in her Fenway dormitory. A story in the January 27 Boston Herald reports that after the verdict, the victim's father criticized Akouk's defense lawyers, who claimed their client and the young woman engaged in consensual sex. At the same time, he praised prosecutor Edmund Zabin and Boston University Police Lieutenant Robert Molloy and his officers, who arrested Akouk within minutes of the crime and conducted an investigation that yielded damning DNA evidence and fingerprints.

"In The News" is compiled by Mark Toth in the Office of Public Relations.

8 February 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations