Week of January 31, 2007

National Public Radio

Audio: Los Angeles Cracks Down on Gangs, Once Again
Mandalit del Barco
Jan. 31, 2007
"L.A.'s war on gangs has gone on for decades. In the 1990s, the police department's special gang units got caught up in their own scandals: stealing evidence, and shooting and framing innocent people. Since then, Chief William Bratton, says, the police approach to combating street gangs has been piecemeal...Bratton now plans to target the city's 10 worst gangs." (Running time: 7:47)

Audio: Yuma's Lettuce Fields Remain Free of E. Coli
Carrie Kahn
Jan. 30, 2007
"America gets much of its winter lettuce from the fields of Yuma, Ariz. But unlike the country's other big lettuce region -- California's Salinas Valley -- Yuma's crops haven't been hit with E. coli contamination. Produce companies are learning new lessons about avoiding future outbreaks." (Running time: 4:53)

Audio: Book Review -- Medical Apartheid Tracks History of Abuses
Farai Chideya
Jan. 29, 2007
"The medical exploitation of African Americans over centuries has caused many black patients to mistrust the medical industry. Author Harriet Washington discusses the history and impact of medical abuse with Farai Chideya." (Running time: 12:10)

Audio: To Cut Out Trans Fats, You'll Need a Better Soybean
Scott Horsley
Jan. 26, 2007
"Across the country, restaurants are under pressure to get rid of trans fats, which are made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil; a July deadline looming in New York City. But it won't be easy to find a healthier cooking oil that can be produced at the scale needed to supply national chains and also hold up to extended use. The search begins in the soybean fields of the Midwest." (Running time: 7:46)

BBC News

VIdeo: Rape Prosecutions Criticized
June Kelly
Jan. 31, 2007
"Police and prosecutors are failing to implement measures to boost rape convictions, a watchdog has warned." (Related story) (Running time: 2:05)

CBS Evening News

Video: Dirty School Cafeterias
Sharyn Alfonsi
Jan. 30, 2007
"'Mystery meat' may not be the only food that turns a kid's stomach at school. A new report finds filthy kitchens in many school cafeterias." (Running time: 2:00)

ABC World News

Video: School Adds Alcohol Urine Test to Curriculum
Nancy Cordes
Jan. 29, 2007
"Students at Pequannock Township High School in New Jersey will soon be subjected to a new sort of pop quiz, one that alerts their parents if they have been drinking. They face a random urine test for alcohol...Pequannock and several other schools around the country are using government grants to step up their alcohol monitoring, as underage drinking and driving kills about 2,000 people under the age of 21 each year." (Running time: 2:09)

Week of January 24, 2007

CNN

Video: Prescription for Change
Alina Cho
Jan. 24, 2007
"CNN's Alina Cho breaks down President Bush's health care proposal point by point." (Running time: 3:47)

Video: Drink Coffee, Get Smarter?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Jan. 24, 2007
"Caffeine can wake us up, but can it also make us smarter?" (Running time: 2:43)

National Public Radio

Audio: Bird Flu Season Hits Asia, Despite Clampdown
Richard Knox
Jan. 23, 2007
"It's winter in the northern hemisphere -- flu season for people and birds. Sure enough, bird flu has recently flared up in eight countries in Asia and the Middle East. The World Health Organization fears that with a few mutations, the bird-flu virus H5N1, could touch off the next global flu pandemic. But WHO Director General Margaret Chan says the world is years away from controlling it." (Running time: 4:10)

Audio: Controlling Health Care Costs
Madeleine Brand
Jan. 23, 2007
"Princeton professor and health care economics expert Uwe Reinhardt talks with Madeleine Brand about why health care costs are rising in the United States, and the options for controlling them." (Running time: 3:41)

CBS Evening News

Video: Prescription Drugs for Less
Wyatt Andrews
Jan. 23, 2007
"Wyatt Andrews reports on how you can get a better price and even a better drug by doing some research on the Internet." (Related story) (Running time: 2:55)

Video: Getting Paid To Stay Healthy
Wyatt Andrews
Jan. 22, 2007
"A new phrase is buzzing among employees of some companies: 'wellness incentive.' Employers are offering rewards for staying healthy. Wyatt Andrews reports." (Related story) (Running time: 2:52)

Video: Cancer Prevention Vaccine
Sharyl Atkisson
Jan. 20, 2007
"After the government approved the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, parents and local health officials are grappling with who should be required to get it." (Related story) (Running time: 2:50)

Video: How Your Brain Handles Stress
John Blackstone
Jan. 19, 2007
"Almost two out of five Americans say they experience stress on a frequent basis. John Blackstone reports on how chronic stress can have a profound effect on your brain." (Related story) (Running time: 2:47)

Week of January 17, 2007

National Public Radio

Audio: Health Care Breaking Down on West Bank
Linda Gradstein
Jan. 17, 2007
"The health-care system in the West Bank is under severe strain. Government-hospital workers went on strike for several months, medicine is in short supply, machines lack spare parts and patients must bring their own sheets." (Running time: 5:04)

Audio: Rural Ethiopia Ignores Law Against Child Brides
Brenda Wilson
Jan. 15, 2007
"The government is backing a series of new family-planning policies, including a ban on the practice of marrying girls while they're still children. In the village of Yinsa, Ethiopia, some women are indifferent to the change. Others are welcoming it." (Running time: 10:08)

CBS Evening News

Video: How To Regulate Supplements?
Sharyn Alfonsi
Jan. 16, 2007
"Sharyn Alfonsi looks at the effects of the FDA's practice of regulating supplements as food, not as drugs -- a decision it made in the 1990s after a major lobbying effort by the supplement makers." (Related story) (Running time: 2:24)

Video: Do Herbal Supplements Work?
Sharyn Alfonsi
Jan. 15, 2007
"This year, Americans will spend around $20 billion on herbal supplements, but there is mounting evidence that many of these natural alternatives are unsafe or ineffective." (Related story) (Running time: 2:55)

Video: Older But Living Independently
Randall Pinkston
Jan. 14, 2007
"Beacon Hill Village, a community organization in a historic Boston neighborhood, allows elderly Americans to live self-sufficiently in their own homes." (Running time: 2:40)

Video: Gene Linked to Alzheimer's
Michelle Miller
Jan. 14, 2007
"Scientists have found a gene mutation that is linked to Alzheimer's disease." (Running time: 1:55)

CNN

Video: Aging and Exercise
Elizabeth Cohen
Jan. 16, 2007
"CNN's Elizabeth Cohen looks at the risks and benefits of exercising later in life." (Running time: 2:10)

Video: Somali Refugees Crowd Kenya
Jeff Koinange
Jan. 15, 2007
"CNN's Jeff Koinange reports on the conditions facing Somali refugees at the Kenyan border." (Running time: 3:47)

NBC Nightly News

Video: Internet Makes It Easier To Track Medical Records
Dr. Nancy Snyderman
Jan. 14, 2007
"NBC Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports on how people can now store their medical records online." (Running time: 2:10)

Week of January 10, 2007

National Public Radio

Audio: Low-Stress Life May Be Best Way To Prevent Colds
Allison Aubrey
Jan. 11, 2007
"The best evidence suggests there is no magic elixir that will keep you from getting a cold. So, is there anything -- besides washing your hands frequently -- that you can do to protect yourself? Researcher Sheldon Cohen at Carnegie-Mellon University is focusing on the role of stress." (Running time: 5:09)

Audio: Hospitals Face Shorter Notice for Inspections
Allan Coukell
Jan. 10, 2007
"U.S. hospitals used to have plenty of time to get ready for inspections. But that's no longer the case. The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the group that accredits the nation's hospitals, now gives just a few minutes' notice before a team of surveyors shows up in the lobby." (Running time: 4:46)

CBS Evening News

Video: Women Vets' Invisible Wounds
Lee Cowan
Jan. 10, 2007
"More women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan than in any other American war, and many are coming home with stress disorders. Lee Cowan talks with one." (Related story) (Running time: 2:23)

CNN

Video: Murder on the Rise in New Orleans
Sean Callebs
Jan. 10, 2007
"New Orleans is determined to put a stop to the rise in violence." (Running time: 2:05)

Video: One Tough Job
Jeff Koinange
Jan. 9, 2007
A child raising a household of children in Soweto, South Africa. (Running time: 4:12)

Video: Preventing Alzheimer's
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Jan. 9, 2007
"New research suggests folic acid may help fight Alzheimer's." (Running time: 2:58)

Video: Stem Cell Breakthrough?
Mary Snow
Jan. 8, 2007
"New research could change the controversy over stem cell research." (Running time: 2:17)

PBS: The NewsHour

Video: Schwarzenegger Proposes Universal Health Care
Gwen Ifill
Jan. 9, 2007
"NewsHour reports on the plan and California HHS Secretary Kim Belshe and NewsHour correspondent Susan Dentzer discuss the implications of the proposal." (Running time: 10:50)

The New York Times

Audio Slideshow: Childhood Obesity -- Making the Grade
Jodi Kantor
Jan. 7, 2007
"Jodi Kantor reports on the use of Body Mass Index letters in the war on childhood obesity." (Related story)

The Guardian (London)

Photo Slideshow: Romania's Orphans Under Pressure To Move On
Spencer Platt
Jan. 7, 2007
"Romania's population of homeless street children has its roots in the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. In an attempt to furnish the state with a larger workforce, families were encouraged to have more children, resulting in overcrowded state orphanages that could not cope. Now, as Romania joins the European Union, authorities are putting pressure on the children to leave the capital as they fear it tarnishes the country's reputation."

Week of January 3, 2007

NBC News

Video: Parents Decide To Stunt Child's Growth
Jinah Kim
Jan. 5, 2007
"A severely disabled girl in Seattle can't walk, talk or eat. So the parents of the 9-year-old have decided to keep her small. NBC's Jinah Kim has the details." (Running time: 1:35)

Video: Nicotine Water Helping Smokers Quit
Dustin Pearce
Jan. 3, 2007
"A Texas company is making water infused with nicotine to help wean smokers off of cigarettes." (Running time: 1:50)

BBC News Online

Video: Sierra Leone in Health Crisis
Julia MacKenzie
Jan. 5, 2007
"Aid agencies say that Sierra Leone is facing a health emergency, five years after the end of the civil war. An estimated 40% of the population is traumatised but the country has just one trained psychiatrist." (Running time: 10:22)

Video: Food Labelling Campaign Starts
Robert Hall
Jan. 4, 2007
"Some of the U.K.'s biggest food manufacturers are launching a £4 million campaign to promote nutritional information on labels. The advice is based on guideline daily amounts, unlike the traffic light scheme used by some other retailers." (Related story) (Running time: 1:58)

Video: Many Think Cancer Down to 'Fate,' Poll Finds
Branwen Jeffreys
Jan. 3, 2007
"The link between lifestyle and cancer is still not understood by many people, according to a leading charity. Cancer Research U.K. found almost 25% of people think getting cancer is just down to fate." (Related story) (Running time: 1:13)

CBS Evening News

Video: Timing Key for Stroke Victims
Dr. Jon LaPook
Jan. 3, 2007
"Timing is everything when it comes to treating a stroke. Dr. Jon LaPook looks at two drugs, one made from bat venom, that can limit the damage from a stroke if they're administered fast enough." (Related story) (Running time: 2:43)

Video: Binge-Drinking Teenagers
Sharyn Alfonsi
Jan. 2, 2007
"A new survey shows that teenagers are not only drinking alcohol, but they're binge drinking. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on a worrisome trend." (Related story) (Running time: 1:31)

CNN

Video: Smoking Ban
Judy Fortin
Jan. 2, 2007
"More cities and states are clearing the air of cigarette smoke in bars and restaurants." (Running time: 1:07)

Video: Clone Cuisine
Sanjay Gupta
Dec. 29, 2006
"Critics say food from cloned animals may be a hazard." (Running time: 2:07)

National Public Radio

Audio: Smokeless Tobacco Stirs Health Debate
Debbie Elliott
Dec. 31, 2006
"Sales of chewing tobacco are on the rise, and some public health officials are actually advocating it as an alternative to smoking -- or at least as a tool to use while quitting smoking." (Running time: 6:26)