By Merrill Eisenberg
[Merrill@u.arizona.edu]
SfAA President and SfAA Policy Committee

Merrill Eisenberg

Arizona’s infamous ethnic studies law, adopted in 2010, prohibits a school district or charter school from including in its program of instruction any courses or classes that:

• Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
• Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
• Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
• Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.

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By Maureen Mersmann
[m.l.mersmann@gmail.com]
M.A. Candidate
Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

War and humanitarianism have always been connected. As Peter Hoffman and Thomas Weiss so aptly state, warriors and humanitarians peer through different lenses at a common reality. Humanitarianism has historically been characterized primarily by the articulated principles of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, but has begun to evolve from a strictly palliative measure to a more interventionist model. Rather than neutrally working to save lives and alleviate immediate suffering, humanitarianism is coming to be viewed as one part of a broader strategy to manage the transition from a conflict to post-conflict environment and build a lasting peace. In this context, military and civilian actors in the humanitarian sphere are not only peering at a common reality, but becoming increasingly intertwined in their dealings with it.

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By Robert A. Rubinstein
[rar@syr.edu]
Chair, SFAA Public Policy Committee
The Maxwell School of Syracuse University

Robert Rubinstein with SfAA Past-President Susan Andreatta

The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to revise sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that govern the operation of Institutional Review Boards (IRB), 45 CFR Parts 46, 160, and 164. The proposed revisions would be intended to “to better protect human subjects who are involved in research, while facilitating valuable research and reducing burden, delay, and ambiguity for investigators.” As part of the process of revising the regulations, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Science and Technology Policy have issued a request for comments on the proposed changes through the publication in the Federal Register of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM).

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By Robert A. Rubinstein
[rar@syr.edu]
The Maxwell School of Syracuse University

The SFAA Public Policy Committee has among its objectives enhancing the ways in which Society members contribute to public policy discussions, enhancing policy research, and supporting the training of students and professionals in anthropological approaches to public policy. Members of the public policy committee are appointed by the President of the Society, and serve multi-year, staggered terms to allow for smooth rotation in the committee membership. Currently eight colleagues serve on the committee, which is chaired by Robert Rubinstein, of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. The other members of the committee (with the expiration year of their term of service in parentheses) are: Diane Austin (2012), University of Arizona; Azra Hromadzic (2012), The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, David Price (2013), St. Martin’s University; Sandra Lane (2013), Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University; Lucia Ann (Shan) McSpadden (2014), Pacific School of Religion; Linda-Anne Rebhun (2014), University of California, Merced; and, Josiah Heyman (2014), University of Texas at El Paso.

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By Merrill Eisenberg
[Merrill@u.arizona.edu]
President-Elect, SfAA
University of Arizona

It’s not news that Americans are growing fatter. Obesity rates have been rising steadily since the early 1980’s, when the adult obesity rate was about 15%. Today, 33.8% of American adults are obese and another third is overweight. Like many other measures of wellness, (or lack thereof) obesity disproportionately impacts poor and minority communities. Recent BRFSS data for 2006—2008 show that non-Hispanic blacks had 51% greater prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics had 21% greater prevalence, when compared with non-Hispanic whites. Most alarming is that child obesity has also been on the rise – in 1971-74, 5% of children age 2-19 were obese. Today it is 16.9%. Children who are obese are likely to become obese adults.

Obesity is related to many health issues, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, liver and gall bladder problems, sleep apnea and respiratory problems to name a few. Forty-four percent of Americans have a chronic disease related to obesity, which makes it a societal problem. Health care costs related to obesity account for 9.1% of all health care spending – $500 per year for every man, woman and child in the US, according to the CDC. Obesity negatively impacts worker absenteeism and productivity, and is a growing concern with regard to military readiness, as 27% of potential recruits are deemed “too fat to fight” and the military discharges 1,200 enlistees annual because of weight problems.

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