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At 06:45 PM 3/9/97 -0500, Marjorie Moorefield wrote: > >IMOHO I have been wondering how we could go about emailing the >President and the Vice President , to encourage them to use their >influence to get the House of Reps. to reintroduce this bill, SOON. > >Don't quote me on this, but I believe that March 17, 1997 is the beginning >of "The Decade of the Brain Week". I will check it out in the morning when >I return to work at the library. If someone knows for certain, please tell >us. > >If several hundred of us emailed the President and the Vice President during >the week of "The Decade of the Brain Week" and tell them we are tired of >feeling >like orphan children, always getting short-changed, and just once, we want our >share, it just might help. I don't see how it can hurt!!!! > ______________________________ Marjorie you are right! The Dana Organization is promoting 3/17-3/23 as the week that all sorts of activities will take place during "The Decade of the Brain Week". Their website has a long list of agencies & groups with various activities planned. Why don't we choose Thursday, 3/20 as our day to email the President and Vice-President -- it will be the day after some of the more media grabbing activities would have taken place. There is no reason that this cannot be an international event! Imagine 1500 +/- PWPs, CGs and friends sending email messages that clearly identify The Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease and Education Act as our banner. Someone with literary talent could compose a number of sample email messages and we could en masse press the "send" button of our mail program on Thursday morning, sit back and wait for a reaction. Or better yet, call the White House press office and ask whether anything "unusual" has happened??? To not be discriminatory, those without computers can telephone the White House with the same message. Email addresses: President Bill Clinton at: [log in to unmask] Vice-President Albert Gore Jr. at: [log in to unmask] Any other suggestions? Margaret Tuchman [log in to unmask] ________________________________ NEWS RELEASE--02/28/97 - -A Progress Report on Brain Research Issued- - New York, February 28--The progress and promise of brain research will be celebrated nationwide during Brain Awareness Week, March 17-23, under the auspices of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. More than 300 partners, including government agencies, research scientists, educators, universities, hospitals, and patient advocacy groups will participate in activities throughout the country. On Wednesday, March 19 on Capitol Hill, the Dana Alliance will release Update 1997: Expanding the Frontiers, a report on advances in brain research in the past year. Update 1997 details research, treatment and therapies for brain-related diseases and disorders that affect millions of people and cost over $600 billion a year. The report will be issued as part of a program presented by the Dana Alliance and hosted by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Leading neuroscientists, all members of the Dana Alliance, including Nobel laureate Leon N. Cooper, Ph.D., Brown University, will discuss the advances and challenges of brain research. Judy Woodruff, CNN anchor will serve as moderator. In his foreword to the Update 1997 report, David Mahoney, chairman and CEO of the Charles A. Dana Foundation and the Dana Alliance said, "Neuroscientists in laboratories across the United States are expanding the frontiers of understanding in every area of the brain's miraculous activity...but the highest goal for researchers is to heal the terrible diseases that arise when the workings of the brain are thrown out of balance. Everyone in America bears the burden of some brain-related disorder, either directly or in supporting an afflicted loved one." During the campaign week, the Dana Alliance's radio program,Gray Matters: Drugs, Alcohol and the Brain, hosted by sports commentator and former football star, Pat Summerall, will air on public radio stations across the country. Events vary from city to city. For example, in Miami, activities include a school program for pre-schoolers to help them understand why seat belts are important to special lectures on stroke and Parkinson's disease. In St. Louis, the Science Center is hosting an exhibit and demonstration on "Brain Science in Action." In other cities, researchers will open their laboratories to the public; partners will distribute the Brain Quiz (developed by the Dana Alliance for the general public); several questions and answers from the Quiz will be seen in selected movie theaters; symposia will be held; and several museums will host exhibits on the brain. The Dana Alliance will host a luncheon, "How Does Brain Research Fare in Today's Public Policy Arena?" on Wednesday, March 19. Remarks will be offered by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representatives George W. Gekas (R-PA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and John Edward Porter (R-IL). The Dana Alliance is a non-profit organization of more than 150 preeminent neuroscientists. The sole purpose of the Dana Alliance is to advance education about brain research. The Dana Alliance is supported by the Charles A. Dana Foundation, a private, non-profit philanthropic organization with particular interests in the neurosciences and education. Complete calendar listings for activities around the country, and the 1997 Brain Quiz can be accessed on the Dana Alliance Brain Awareness Week web site: http://www.dana.org/brainweek. Margaret Tuchman (55yrs, Dx 1980)- NJ-08540 [log in to unmask]