Dialogue

Published Winter 2020

Words of Consequence

I was appalled by the sexist phrasing in "Battle at Home" (Forefront, Fall). I grew up a military brat with both parents in the Air Force (my mom outranked my dad). As an adult and a civilian working for the Army, I interact with female soldiers on a very regular basis. Not only is it annoying to see phrases like "dad … suffering from PTSD" and "momma is not happy," it is also dangerous. The mentality that all soldiers are men leads to very real consequences for women service members. I'm extremely supportive of improving the quality and availability of physical and mental health services, but we should recognize that military families can look very different. This read as though it was written in a women's magazine from the 1940s.

Colleen Jenkins, Engr '20 (MS)

Perry Hall, Maryland

Poor Phrasing

I had just opened the fall issue of Johns Hopkins Magazine when I saw Congresswoman Lauren Underwood identified as a "trained public health nurse" ("Lauren Underwood Has Hit Her Stride"). This is wrong on both style and substance. Why is the word "trained" even there? Are there any "untrained" public health nurses? This is a phrase nurses have been fighting against since the 19th century. Nurses are educated, credentialed, licensed health care professionals. Training is for dogs, not nurses.

Burden S. Lundgren, SPH '88 (MPH)

Norfolk, Virginia

One Professional to Another

I read each issue from cover to cover, and I enjoyed every article and the updates on graduates. I wanted to comment on the article on neuroscience by Katie Pearce "Nature, Meet Nurture" (Forefront, Fall).

I work with children and adults with a visual sensory stress issue called scotopic sensitivity syndrome, or light sensitivity affecting the brain and body by overstressing the visual system, which, in turn, contributes to stress in other sensory systems, body function like motor control and balance, immune system function, executive functioning, and emotional balance and well-being (attention, focus, behavior). I am an occupational therapist who has been studying this issue for over 16 years, and I am never bored. Each client brings a unique set of issues, and our success rate after a thorough assessment and intervention plan is pretty impressive.

Neuroscience is such a fascinating area of study, and for me opened up a part of my career that expanded my ability to diagnose and provide intervention to children and adults with a variety of issues usually treated with extensive and expensive therapies and medications.

Blessings of health and success in providing more and more interesting articles. As Professor David Linden said, "That's cool—I'm going to put that in."

Shoshana (Sondra) Shamberg, Ed '00 (MS)

Baltimore

From Twitter:

A little self-promotion in response to "Triple Layer Literature," about a new literary magazine by alum M.M. Carrigan:

Farouk Dey, JHU's vice provost for integrative learning and life design, applauds Peabody's efforts to adapt to performances post-COVID-19, covered in "The Near Future of Performance":

In support of our recent story on Rep. Lauren Underwood:

Ed. note: In the wake of COVID-19, there has been an ongoing discussion among magazine staff about how best to photograph the people you see on our pages. Mask on or off? Indoors or outdoors? Whether and how to photograph groups of people? We value the safety of our community, and we want to adhere to public health policies. In the case of Rep. Lauren Underwood, who appeared without a mask on our fall cover, we opted for an abbreviated, outdoor, physically distanced photo shoot rather than one indoors, where she would be wearing a mask. Our photographers are getting creative—shooting with long lenses, sometimes even through windows—and we continue to consult with public health experts from within our community when making decisions about reporting.

Give us your feedback by sending a letter to the editor via email to jhmagazine@jhu.edu. (We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, clarity, and civility.)

The opinions in these letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine's editorial staff.