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October 2006
Genital mutilation: What’s your cultural tolerance limit?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A collision of cultures has put the spotlight on Duluth.
Khalid Adem, 31, was accused of using scissors to circumcise in 2001 his then 2-year-old daughter at the family’s Duluth apartment.
A jury found him guilty today. (Nov. 1) He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years probation.
In Adem’s country of origin, Ethiopia, female genital cutting is practiced. Here in America it is a heinous crime.
The outcome of Adem’s trial may become a landmark case for health and human rights activists who have fought against female genital mutilation.
The practice of female genital mutilation is widespread throughout much of Africa, the Middle East and western and southern Asia, according to news reports.
UNICEF estimates that throughout the African continent between 100 to 130 million girls and women have had their genitals cut.
In one UNICEF article about female genital cutting an Ethiopian mother spoke about the upcoming circumcision of her 8-year-old daughter:
“We know about the health risks, but this is our tradition,” she said. “Without it, she won’t be married. We believe it is a kind of cleaning.”
Moreover, the older women who are paid to perform female genital cuttings often rely on their earnings to support themselves and their families, the article said.
Strong cultural and economic ties make female genital cutting difficult to eliminate.
Often female genital cutting is done without sterile instruments or anesthesia so the risks from shock and infection are great. The long-term consequences can be loss of self-esteem, an adverse impact on one’s sexual development and sexuality, and life long pain and sensitivity because of the procedure.
Last week the New York Times reported about Adama Bah, an 18-year-old Muslim woman who came to this country from Guinea with her parents when she was two years old.
At 16 her childhood visa expired and Bah, who was reared in New York City, was to be extradited to Guinea for not having proper documents to continue living in the United States.
Bah will ask the immigration court that will hear her March 1 trial to grant her asylum on the grounds that she will be forced to endure a painful and unwanted female circumcision if she is forced to return to Guinea.
Health educators in countries where female genital mutilation is performed have made some inroads in reducing the practice but there is still much work to be done before it will be abolished.
I hope that in my lifetime the custom of female genital cutting will be eradicated worldwide. It is a cruel cultural tradition that is destroying the lives of countless girls and women.
I struggle to be respectful and open to the ideas and traditions of different immigrant communities in America, but female sexual mutilation is one area where I draw the line with cross-cultural acceptance and tolerance.
I hope that immigrants from those countries where female circumcision is performed will quickly and fully assimilate to the American values and laws that forbid the practice.
Where is your line in the sand for cross-cultural tolerance?
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Want more no-tipping service?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wanted to do something different with my curly locks. To get the new hairdo I envisioned I decided that I’d have to explore upscale beauty salons.
I figured that trendy, exclusive Buckhead would be a smart place to start.
So recently I searched on Google using the words “Buckhead beauty salons.” To my amazement, the first search result said: “A Buckhead Beauty and Hair Salon in Gwinnett.”
It’s called Salon Greco.
And to my delight it was right in my Duluth neighborhood near Gwinnett Place Mall.
I made an appointment and was told that Salon Greco is a “no-tipping” salon. I’d never heard of a salon where tipping was taboo.
The hair and nail services that I received at the salon exceeded my expectations. (In my current AJC photo I’m sporting a Salon Greco haircut that a stylist named Andi gave me. It’s a more conservative cut than the one I originally got.)
In place of a tip, I was asked to refer others to the shop if I was satisfied with my service.
I decided to ask owners and sisters Cathie Politis Kobsa,45, and Olga Politis Barton,42, about their shop’s no-tipping policy.
The sisters came from Athens, Greece to New Jersey with their parents in 1976. Like their parents before them, the Politis sisters became entrepreneurs. Their parents taught them to value hard work, respect, and integrity in every aspect of their lives.
Cathie moved to Loganville in 1986 and her sister Olga followed in 1992. Both sisters worked for a while at separate upscale Buckhead salons.
Tiring of the commute to Buckhead and knowing that many of their customers were traveling from Gwinnett to Buckhead for salon services, the sisters saw a need for a chic salon in Gwinnett. In December 1996 Salon Greco opened.
Salon Greco has always been a no-tipping salon. My research tells me that it’s the only no-tipping salon in Georgia and one of about a dozen no-tipping salons in the United States.
“We have trained our stylists to be top professionals, not waitresses,â€? Cathie Politis Kobsa explained.
They compensate their employees accordingly.
Full-time stylists at Salon Greco average $700-$1000 weekly and part-timers earn an average of $22.50 an hour. (I can attest to the fact that prices are very fair considering the no-tipping policy and the good wages salon employees are paid.)
The no-tipping policy eliminates the friction of competition for customers among stylists that other salons endure.
It also helps to ensure that all income earned by the salon and its stylists is properly accounted for and taxed.
The salon, which has won countless awards, is moving to larger and even more elegant location in Suwanee next month.
Eight thousand customers are registered in their database with more than half currently active. Customers come from all over the world - some even as far away as Australia.
You can visit Salon Greco online.
Is this the first time that you have heard of a no-tipping beauty salon?
Should other establishments adopt this policy?
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Is there a link between American and Muslim values?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
American values and Islamic faith co-exist amicably in the personal lives of thousands of American Muslims against a backdrop of misunderstanding and discord between Islam and much of America.
They exist in the Rahman family of Gwinnett.
Ahmadur Rahman, his wife Rumana Afrin and son Raiyan, 9, are Muslim immigrants to this county.
Rahman, who is originally from Bangladesh, first visited the United States in the early 1990’s as a participant in an international Lions Club convention, held in New York City. In 1993, he and his wife returned to New York City as immigrants. Their son was born there.
The Rahmans relocated to Gwinnett two years ago to be near family who had also migrated to the area. They have contributed a lot of good to Gwinnett in the short time that they have been here.
Rahman, 40, holds a degree in economics and is a Microsoft Certified Systems engineer. He works a part-time and a full-time job in the hotel food and beverage industry.
In addition to holding down two jobs, he is the founder of Northeast Atlantans for Democracy. It helps Muslim and non-Muslim immigrants alike learn about American politics and encourage them to be involved as voters, lobbyists, and candidates.
His wife Rumana has two masters degrees, one in geography and the other in education. Rumana could choose other better paying jobs, but instead she has decided to enrich the lives of young children by teaching pre-school.
When Raiyan grows up he plans to become a physician like his paternal grandfather.
The Rahmans’ are so firmly rooted in their faith that they’re not afraid to expose their son to other beliefs. He attends Killian Hill Christian School in Lilburn. The family likes the school’s strong academic program and they want their son to understand and respect the predominant religion of the society they live in.
Despite the tragedy of Sept. 11, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States.
Today, there are an estimated two to four million American Muslims and more than 1,200 mosques. Sixty-two percent of these mosques have been founded since 1980, according to the U.S. Department of State website.
The prosperity and diversity of Gwinnett that attracts many newcomers to our county is also inspiring thousands of other Muslim families from around the world to make Gwinnett their home. There are now several mosques in Gwinnett, including Norcross and Duluth.
The Rahmans’ lives exemplify the best of American and Islamic values. Gwinnett is fortunate that the family has chosen to make their home here.
Is there a link between American and Muslim values? Can Christianity and Islam ever peaceably co-exist?
THE RAHMAN FAMILY
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Are abusers victims too?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Violence against women is a major public health crisis and a human rights problem, according to the World Health Organization.
Women worldwide are more likely to be sexually and physically assaulted and even murdered by their intimate partners in their own homes than by anyone else or anywhere else.
Violence against women transcends all of those things that usually divide people, such as race, culture, class, income levels, and wealth.
Poor Third World women and well-to-do, educated women in the United States, such as Gwinnett County resident and pre-school teacher Jennifer Barber Corbin and dental student Dorothy “Dolly” Hearn, have nearly an equal chance to encounter in-home violence and death by a spouse or lover.
Both Jennifer Corbin and Dolly Hearn were murdered in their homes by Barton Corbin, who was a dentist in Dacula before his arrest.
Last month, Barton Corbin admitted to killing both women as part of a plea agreement. Jennifer Corbin was killed on Dec. 4, 2004 by a gunshot wound to the head. Jennifer Corbin’s body was discovered by her 7-year -old son Dalton. Dolly Hearn was killed in almost an identical way by Corbin, when both were dental students at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta in 1990.
The crime scenes in both instances were made to appear like the women had committed suicide. Not until Jennifer Corbin died did investigators take a closer look at Barton Corbin in the death of Dolly Hearn. Barton Corbin finished dental school and went on with his life seemingly unaffected by the murder of Hearn for 14 years until the death of his wife Jennifer caused investigators to re-open the case.
Murder is the most dramatic outcome of domestic violence. Most domestic violence is chronic emotional and physical battering. This kind of violence may not kill you but it eats away at one’s self-esteem. Moreover, all domestic violence has the potential to become lethal.
In 2005, a total of 1,649 cases of domestic violence were presented to the Gwinnett Solicitor General’s office for prosecution, says Rosanna Szabo, Gwinnett County Solicitor General. Most of these cases were classified as misdemeanors. Szabo advises to get a more accurate count on reports of domestic violence in Gwinnett that one should go to the individual police departments within the county and ask for their statistics.
Domestic violence negatively impacts everyone. Even if you do not know a person affected by domestic violence you still cannot escape its impact. The consequence of domestic violence affects our health, educational and legal systems.
Moreover, the family and friends of women like Jennifer Barber Corbin and Dolly Hearn who were killed by domestic violence, forever mourn the loss of women who were their mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, and best friends. And we - the larger society in the case of Jennifer and Dolly - have lost out on the gifts of women who chose to become an educator and a dentist and help their communities in needed and valuable ways.
Perhaps Barton Corbin in a strange way has suffered the largest and most devastating loss because of domestic violence because he seems to have lost his humanity and his soul.
Are batterers victims of domestic violence who didn’t get the help they needed? Should we feel sorry for Barton Corbin? Have you suffered from domestic violence and, if so, what did you do about it?
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Ready to fight the threats in your fridge?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Americans probably have more to fear from foodborne illnesses than they do from terrorists.
Only consumers in a vegetative state could think that the E.coli outbreak of contaminated spinach that has killed at least one person and sickened about 170 others in 25 states cannot affect other crops and occur again in the near future.
Each year about 76 million Americans become ill by tainted food. Many with severe cases of foodborne disease are children, the elderly, and persons with compromised immune systems.
Most foodborne illness last for only a day or two. However, 325,000 people are made sick enough to be hospitalized and more than 5,000 deaths occur because of foodborne disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most foodborne illness can be mitigated by good personal hygiene and by following the Food and Drug Administrations recommendations on proper food handling and preparation:
Regular and thorough hand washing, avoiding cross contamination of meat, poultry, and seafood and other groceries; cooking and reheating food to prescribed safe temperatures and properly refrigerating, freezing, and defrosting foods.
However, when it comes to fruits and vegetables that can be eaten raw, such as spinach, we must explore methods other than cooking to destroy deadly bacteria like E.coli.
(Now that I’m eating more fruits and vegetables - including spinach, a favorite of mine - this issue has affected my life more than I thought it would.)
Because people must eat to live, the risks of foodborne disease is ever-present. The fallout from foodborne disease can include death and severe economic loss. It is estimated that spinach growers have lost about $200 million because of the E.coli outbreak.
Therefore, now is a good time for scientists, government officials, and consumers to begin a public dialogue about using existing technology like food irradiation as a proactive means to lessen the occurrence of foodborne disease outbreaks.
Food irradiation is one method along the continuum of modern science and technology that can reduce the possibility of foodborne illnesses.
“Like the pasteurization of milk and pressure cooking of canned foods, food irradiation can destroy bacteria and parasites that would otherwise cause foodborne disease,” says the Infectious Diseases Society of America on its website.
Irradiated food is exposed briefly to a radiant-energy source — the amount of energy depends on the food. Those energy waves kill bacteria and other pathogens and insects that can make human beings sick. Irradiated food retains most of its nutritional value and its color, shape, texture, and aroma.
Irradiation does not make food radioactive and unsafe to consume. Both the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association endorse food irradiation.
Currently 40 countries use irradiation to help protect their food supply. NASA uses food irradiation to ensure food safety for its astronauts and irradiation can be used to sterilize surgical instruments.
Irradiation will raise the cost of produce by a few cents per pound, but the increase is minimal in comparison to human suffering and death and economic loss caused by foodborne illness.
Because of the spinach scare I’m now more open to eating irradiated foods and I’m thinking of asking my grocer more about it.
Will you learn more about food irradiation? Will you consider asking your grocer to stock irradiated produce?
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