Study Finds Signs of Awareness in 3 ‘Vegetative’ Patients

NYTimes

Three severely brain-injured people thought to be in an irreversible “vegetative” state showed signs of full consciousness when tested with a relatively inexpensive and commonly used method of measuring brain waves, doctors reported Wednesday. Experts said the findings, if replicated, would change standards in treating such patients. 

Scientists have seen meaningful, responsive brain activity in such patients before, using a high-tech magnetic resonance imaging scanner. But the new study, posted online Wednesday by the journal The Lancet, is the first to demonstrate that clear signs of conscious awareness can be detected on an electroencephalogram machine by using an innovative strategy. The EEG is a portable, widely available unit that picks up electrical brain activity through electrodes positioned on a person’s head. Clinics and homes treating people with severe brain injuries are far more likely to have access to an EEG than to an M.R.I. scanner.

Blind man sees by echolocating clicks

CNN

Gilad Shalit and the Rising Price of an Israeli Life

NY Times

They produced data showing that 45 percent of those released in previous prisoner exchanges returned to terrorist activity. One example was a member of Islamic Jihad, Luay Saadi, who was arrested in September 1999 for providing logistical assistance to terrorists in the West Bank. According to Shin Bet, after his release in the January 2004 Tannenbaum deal, Saadi set up a widespread terrorist network that led to the deaths of 30 Israelis and the wounding of 300. He was assassinated by Israel in 2005.

Widespread Sexual Harassment of Students in Grades 7 to 12

New York Times

Nearly half of 7th to 12th graders experienced sexual harassment in the last school year, according to a study scheduled for release on Monday, with 87 percent of those who have been harassed reporting negative effects such as absenteeism, poor sleep and stomachaches.

On its survey of a nationally representative group of 1,965 students, the American Association of University Women, a nonprofit research organization, defined harassment as “unwelcome sexual behavior that takes place in person or electronically.” Over all, girls reported being harassed more than boys — 56 percent compared with 40 percent — though it was evenly divided during middle school. Boys were more likely to be the harassers, according to the study, and children from lower-income families reported more severe effects.

“It’s pervasive, and almost a normal part of the school day,” said Catherine Hill, the director of research at the association and one of the authors of the report.

Over all, 48 percent of students surveyed said they were harassed during the 2010-11 school year. Forty-four percent of students said they were harassed “in person” — being subjected to unwelcome comments or jokes, inappropriate touching or sexual intimidation — and 30 percent reported online harassment, like receiving unwelcome comments, jokes or pictures through texts, e-mail, Facebook and other tools, or having sexual rumors, information or pictures spread about them.

Preaching Virtue of Spanking, Even as Deaths Fuel Debate

New York Times

The pastoral mood in the hills of Tennessee offered a stark contrast to the storm raging around the country over the Pearls’ teachings on child discipline, which advocate systematic use of “the rod” to teach toddlers to submit to authority. The methods, seen as common sense by some grateful parents and as horrific by others, are modeled, Mr. Pearl is fond of saying, on “the same principles the Amish use to train their stubborn mules.”

Debate over the Pearls’ teachings, first seen on Christian Web sites, gained new intensity after the death of a third child, all allegedly at the hands of parents who kept the Pearls’ book, “To Train Up a Child,” in their homes. On Sept. 29, the parents were charged with homicide by abuse. 

Former Penn State coach accused of abuse/Others with coverup

NY Times

NBC

Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team once viewed as a favorite to succeed Joe Paterno as head coach, has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys, and the university’s athletic director and another university official were charged with perjury and failure to report after an investigation into the allegations.

Sandusky, 67, who had worked with at-risk children through his Second Mile foundation, was arraigned and released on $100,000 bail on Saturday after being charged with, among other offenses, seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child and seven counts of indecent assault.

Judge whips his daughter/ abused wife participates

Time Magazine

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Ultra-Orthodox spitting attacks on Old City clergymen becoming daily

Haaretz

Ultra-Orthodox young men curse and spit at Christian clergymen in the streets of Jerusalem's Old City as a matter of routine. In most cases the clergymen ignore the attacks, but sometimes they strike back. Last week the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court quashed the indictment against an Armenian priesthood student who had punched the man who spat at him.

Johannes Martarsian was walking in the Old City in May 2008 when an young ultra-Orthodox Jew spat at him. Maratersian punched the spitter in the face, making him bleed, and was charged for assault. But Judge Dov Pollock, who unexpectedly annulled the indictment, wrote in his verdict that "putting the defendant on trial for a single blow at a man who spat at his face, after suffering the degradation of being spat on for years while walking around in his church robes is a fundamental contravention of the principles of justice and decency." [...]

Well known psychologist found to have falsified research - major concern for field of psychology

New York Times

A well-known psychologist in the Netherlands whose work has been published widely in professional journals falsified data and made up entire experiments, an investigating committee has found. Experts say the case exposes deep flaws in the way science is done in a field, psychology, that has only recently earned a fragile respectability.

The psychologist, Diederik Stapel, of Tilburg University, committed academic fraud in “several dozen” published papers, many accepted in respected journals and reported in the news media, according to a report released on Monday by the three Dutch institutions where he has worked: the University of Groningen, the University of Amsterdam, and Tilburg. The journal Science, which published one of Dr. Stapel’s papers in April, posted an “editorial expression of concern” about the research online on Tuesday.

Dismal Tale of Arrest for Tiniest of Crimes

NYTimes

Early in the morning on Oct. 22, a Saturday, Ms. Zucker, 21, and her friend Alex Fischer, also 21, were stopped by the police in Riverside Park and given tickets for trespassing. Mr. Fischer was permitted to leave after he produced his driver’s license. But Ms. Zucker, on a visit to New York City with a group of Carnegie Mellon University seniors looking for jobs in design industries, had left her wallet in a hotel two blocks away.

She was handcuffed. For the next 36 hours, she was moved from a cell in the 26th Precinct station house on West 126th Street to central booking in Lower Manhattan and then — because one of the officers was ending his shift before Ms. Zucker could be photographed for her court appearance, and you didn’t think he was going to take the subway uptown while his partner stayed with her at booking, did you? — she was brought back to Harlem. [...]

Rabbi Moti Elon indicted for indecent assault

Jerusalem Post

Haaretz

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office filed an indictment on Wednesday afternoon against Rabbi Moti Elon, charging him with indecent assault and indecent assault by force.

According to the indictment, which was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Elon is alleged to have carried out the offenses by exploiting two minors. [...]

‘Bank-fraud’ case jolts Satmar schools

new york post 

A massive federal bankruptcy case threatens to cripple the school system of Brooklyn’s Satmar community, whose operator is accused of a huge money-laundering scam, court records show.

The United Talmudical Academy is being sued for $200 million by a bankruptcy trustee who claims the UTA helped a big donor conceal bank fraud at the contributor’s company -- and the case is expected to go to trial early next year.

The trustee claims in Brooklyn federal bankruptcy court records that as far back as 1997, the UTA was helping the family of Victor Jacobs hide the fact that his Allou Distributors was cooking its books to boost its line of credit from a lender.

Up to 50 free copies of Child & Domestic Abuse vol I - available to rabbis & organization heads

My 3 volumes of Child and Domestic Abuse were published about a year ago. It has been sold in seforim stores and Amazon and  distributed without much fan-fare around the world. I have received very positive feedback from those who have read it, and at the same time have not received any criticism of the content or conclusions.

Now the time is right to give it more publicity and make it available to rabbis, lay leaders and community organizations. A generous donor has offered to pay the printing costs for up to 50 copies of volume one.

If you know someone influential in the Jewish community who you think would benefit from it, please send me [yadmoshe@gmail.com] the name, address and reason you think he should get a free copy. Obviously not everyone suggested will receive a copy. In addition, volume II dealing with the rabbinic literature will not be included nor will the summary volume III - except in special circumstances. I also only want names of those who will read it

Hatzola & protecting women from embarrassment - guest post by Ruchi Freier esq.

This guest post deals with the delicate issue of women's embarrassment and degradation when treated by their well-meaning and purely motivated neighbors in Hatzalo. In my own recent investigation of the matter I have found that - contrary to the common belief of men - it is a traumatic experience for many women. One posek I asked whether it was permissible to have women members responded, "Why is their a need for this when they have been going to male doctors for many generations?"

When I explained the difference between a doctor and a neighbor - he told me to speak to the director of that communities Hatzalo concerning the practicability and only then would he evaluate the proposed solution in terms of halacha. The director told me he would bring it up at the next general meeting. I spoke to a senior Hatzaloa member in Lawrence who felt that the issue of modesty was not common. However he said that even if there were a need and there were no halachic objection - the proposal would be rejected because of a more serious barrier. He said that one of the most important factors in saving life is response time.

He said it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to add another level to the organization without significantly increasing the response time. But he also was open to suggestions that would accommodate women's feelings. In sum, this is a legitimate question and concern for the Jewish community.