February 8, 2012
Page-turner: 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' is university's 2012 common reading 1xbet best casino website
Debates on race, research and bioethics won't be a surprise on the Kansas State University campus next fall -- they'll be encouraged, and all because of the 1xbet best casino website "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks."
The best-selling 1xbet best casino website by author Rebecca Skloot is the 2012 Kansas State 1xbet best casino website Network, or KSBN, selection. That means incoming first-year students and the campus community will participate in thought-provoking discussions and activities tied to the 1xbet best casino website throughout the fall.
"The 1xbet best casino website Lacks" is based on the true story of Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells -- known as HeLa to the many scientists who use them -- were taken without her knowledge and used to help develop some of the most important advances in medicine, including the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization and more. Lacks was never recognized or compensated for the use of her cells.
"The Kansas State 1xbet best casino website Network's 1xbet best casino website selection committee is excited about choosing 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' for this fall," said Stephen Kiefer, co-chair of the 1xbet best casino website network and director of the university honors program. "We received a lot of input from the university community on the KSBN website, and comments were very enthusiastic. That positive response reflected the committee members' as we discussed our choice. We know that the 1xbet best casino website will generate wonderful discussions throughout the university and that great events can be built around it."
The campus launch of the 2012 1xbet best casino website selection will be in March, with details to posted on the Kansas State 1xbet best casino website Network website, http://www.1xbet best casino website edu/ksbn, and in K-State Today soon, said Karin Westman, co-chair of the 1xbet best casino website network and head of the department of English.
"Now in its third year, KSBN has found yet another 1xbet best casino website which will get people talking," Westman said. "With 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' we look forward to compelling conversations about individual rights, bioethics and the complex history of race in American culture."
K-State joins a number of other universities in selecting the 1xbet best casino website about Lacks for their first-year reading programs or university reading programs, including Purdue University and Southern Methodist University.
"A common 1xbet best casino website provides incoming students with a topic of conversation -- something they can talk about with each other and other members of the K-State family from the moment they arrive on campus," said Emily Lehning, assistant vice president of student life, director of new student services and co-director of K-State First, the university's first-year student experience program.
"KSBN has two key purposes," said Greg Eiselein, professor of English and co-chair of 1xbet best casino website First. "We want to encourage new students to engage with good books and challenging ideas from the very start of their 1xbet best casino website careers. Common reading experiences are also a great way to build campus community and to welcome new students to the university."
Lehning said students enrolling on the Manhattan campus will receive a copy of the 1xbet best casino website as part of the reading program. Faculty and staff who would like a copy for use with students can contact Tara Coleman or Kiefer at ksbn@1xbet best casino website edu.
Fall events related to the 1xbet best casino website are in the planning stages and may include a visit by author Skloot, as well as panel discussions with K-State and community experts on bioethics, history, law, biography, African-American culture and other topics, according to Westman and Kiefer.
Just like the previous reading program selections of "The Hunger Games" and "Zeitoun," faculty members are excited to begin using "The 1xbet best casino website Lacks" in their classes with first-year students, including Christopher Culbertson, associate professor of chemistry.
"We use HeLa cells acquired from Henrietta Lacks in some of our research, but I had no idea at all about the history behind these cells," Culbertson said. "The 1xbet best casino website was a real eye-opener for me. I also sit on scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health and this 1xbet best casino website really made me appreciate the detailed human subject protocols now required for researchers by NIH to make sure that people are well informed about any research that they or tissues taken from them might be subjected to.
"I think that all students need to be made aware of and should reflect on the biomedical issues raised in this 1xbet best casino website for they will need to be able to make informed, intelligent choices at the ballot box over the course of their lifetimes about our increasing ability to fundamentally manipulate life and the ethics of doing so," he said.
More information about "The 1xbet best casino website Lacks" and author Skloot is available at http://rebeccaskloot.com.