A study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights research findings that the antiretroviral drug Truvada is highly effective at preventing HIV infection in men who have sex with men (MSM). Researchers studied the effect of Truvada in a sample of 2,500 MSM in San Francisco, CA and Lima, Peru. While infection rates declined an average of 44%; when participants took the drug precisely as prescribed, its efficacy rose to up to 90%! Adverse effects are low and included nausea, increased creatinine, and weight loss. The finding holds promise that perhaps pre-exposure prophylactic treatment could be the key to greatly reducing infection rates in the population at most risk. Of great concern, however is the cost. In the US, Truvada costs between $12,000-$14,000 annually. In addition, Gilead, the maker of the drug needs to pursue FDA approval for the pre-exposure indication, which could take months.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Truvada Shows Promise in Preventing HIV Infection
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
UCF Ranked for First Time Ever
The UCF Knights football program is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in its history. UCF made the move to IA in 1996 but has never been in the Top 25. The closest ranking to the nation’s elite football teams came in 2007 when the Knights placed #27 after losing to MSU in the Liberty Bowl. This week, the Knights placed #25 in the AP Poll and #23 in the Coaches’ Poll. After beating the University of Houston Cougars (5-4; 4-2 C-USA) on Friday in front of a national audience on ESPN2, UCF (7-2; 5-0 C-USA) has ensured they will most likely host the Conference USA Championship Game at their own Bright House Networks Stadium on December 4th. Kickoff for that game is TBD and it will be broadcast nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2.
But, before then, the Knights take on the Eagles of Southern Miss this Saturday (kickoff @ Noon–TG Party begins @ 10am in Softball Lot), the Tulane Green Wave on 11/20 in New Orleans (kickoff @ 3:30pm), and Memphis Tigers on 11/27 in Memphis, TN (kickoff @ 12:00pm). While certainly out of their control, there has also been a lot of chatter that UCF will be asked to join the Big East, considered by most to be a major upgrade from Conference USA and would also place the Knights in an AQ-BCS Conference. Their ranking in the Top 25 will definitely bolster the Knights as a team worthy of strong consideration. (Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel).
Monday, November 1, 2010
“Remember” When You Vote Tomorrow
Watch an essential video (below) to “Remember” before heading to the ballot box tomorrow:
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Knights Get Top 25 Votes, Face HUGE Game Saturday
Homecoming was a happy affair on Saturday as the UCF Knights beat the Rice Owls 41-14. Freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey opened the game with a bang, connecting with senior receiver Kamar Aiken for a 59-yard pass. UCF’s defense pounced early and limited Rice to 41 yards total offense in the first half. The Knights’ offense was just as potent, scoring touchdowns on all four of its first-half possessions to claim a 27-0 halftime lead. The Knights’ advantage swelled in the second half, giving inexperienced reserve quarterback L.D. Crow valuable snaps. Crow, a junior who transferred from Stanford, moved from third to second string when junior quarterback Rob Calabrese suffered a season-ending knee injury Oct. 13 at Marshall. UCF was pinned on its 2-yard line, but Crow responded by leading the Knights on a nine-play, 98-yard scoring drive. He finished the drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to senior H-back Ricky Kay. Godfrey turned in his strongest passing game of the season. He completed 13-of-18 passes for 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Godfrey also rushed for 41 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. Junior running back Ronnie Weaver had another solid day, leading UCF with 53 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Senior defensive end Bruce Miller, junior defensive end Darius Nall and sophomore Josh Robinson led the Knights with six tackles apiece. Nall added 2.5 sacks, one quarterback hurry and forced one fumble. UCF now moves to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in C-USA and faces a formidable showdown against the East Carolina Pirates (5-2; 4-0 C-USA) this Saturday at 3:30pm at Bright House Networks Stadium. The victor of the game will most likely go on to host Conference USA’s Championship game. The Colleges of Nursing and Health & Public Affairs Alumni Tailgate Party will start at Noon in Softball Lot E5. UCF also picked-up 2 votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll, more than the University of Florida Gators, who did not earn a single vote. (Photo and contributions courtesy Orlando Sentinel).
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Equality Florida Releases Voter Guide
Still not sure who to vote for on election day? Then use the Equality Florida Voter’s Guide to help cast your vote. One word of caution: Equality Florida has endorsed Democrat Kendrick Meek for US Senate. While Meek is an excellent candidate, strongly consider voting for Charlie Crist as the main objective in the Senate race needs to be to stop Marco Rubio at all cost. Rubio is vehemently anti-gay and is a product of the Tea Party movement. Although Crist stops short of supporting full marriage equality, his chances of besting Rubio are much better than Meek and he has improved dramatically on his stances on gay rights. Click below for Equality Florida’s Voter’s Guide.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Last Known Survivor of Pink Triangle Gives Interview
While discussions and portrayals of the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust most often focus on the atrocities inflicted on Jewish prisoners, many are unaware that between 15,000-50,000 gay men were also imprisoned and slaughtered by the Nazi regime in the concentration camps under Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code. While Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David to identify themselves, gay men were forced to wear a pink triangle, designed to bring them shame by degrading their identity as men by reinforcing the feminine stereotypes of male homosexuality in society. Below is a video of a recent interview with the last known survivor of the Pink Triangle. His words are startling and serve as a reminder that the persecution of minority groups represents the worst of humanity.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
In Front of National Audience, UCF Beats Marshall
The UCF Knights (4-2; 2-0 C-USA) headed into Huntington, West Viriginia on Wednesday night with a showdown against the Thundering Herd of Marshall (1-4; 0-2 C-USA) on ESPN. The game was a soggy slugfest, with the Knights taking advantage of turnovers and easily handing the Herd a 35-14 loss. A rain delay that spanned an hour and eight minutes ended-up forcing a short 3-minute halftime. And the Knights’ backup quarterback Rob Calabrese was benched with a knee injury right after he scored UCF’s first touchdown (pictured, courtesy Orlando Sentinel). Starting quarterback Jeff Godfrey threw one pick during the game and the wet conditions caused a lot of fumbles and slip ups. But despite the challenges, the Knights put together a highly effective running game that really paid off. UCF returns to Bright House Networks Stadium for their next matchup against Rice on October 23rd. Kickoff is at 3:30pm.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Preview: Pet Shop Boys’ New Single “Together”
Pet Shop Boys released a snippet of their forthcoming new song “Together” from their upcoming greatest hits album Ultimate (releases November 1st). Take a listen below:
A Revised Love Never Dies Heads to Melbourne
Playbill revealed today that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, is undergoing a major change from its current West End inception and is heading to Mulbourne, Austrailia:
Love Never Dies will play at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre in May 2011. A new creative team will take a fresh look at the musical that is currently playing London’s Adelphi Theatre. Lloyd Webber has enlisted Priscilla Queen of the Desert director Simon Phillips to helm the Australian premiere, which will also feature a new production design by Gabriela Tylesova. Bob Crowley (Mary Poppins) rendered set and costume designs for the current London production. Tim McFarlane will produce the Melbourne staging. Tickets for Love Never Dies will go on sale Oct. 25. “Im delighted that Andrew Lloyd Webber has chosen an Australian team to work on his inspired new structural changes, which promise to further intensify the thrills and spills of the story as told in London,” Phillips said in a statement. “Ive already begun developing a design with Gabriela Tylesova, hoping to do with the razzamatazz of Coney Island what Maria Bjornsons iconic Phantom designs did with the opulence of the Paris Opera, and I cant wait to start the search for the formidable talents required to do justice to the score!”Australia has always been part of the international plan for Love Never Dies, which premiered in London this past March. However, critics were cool on the lushly scored musical that follows the Phantom and Christine to Coney Island ten years after the original production ends its tale.The musical was to premiere on Broadway in November but has since delayed its arrival. Tony-winning director Jack O’Brien and Jerry Mitchell, who staged the original London production, are reported to have withdrawn from the project. Lloyd Webber’s plan to stage an altered version of Love Never Dies while the original is still running is not unheard of for the award-winning composer. When the London production of Sunset Boulevard opened in 1993, he followed with an altered staging in Los Angeles in 1994. The L.A. production (and its star) famously arrived on Broadway the following year, while the London production shuttered to undergo an overhaul and subsequently opened with a new cast.
Florida’s Ban on Gay Adoptions Ends
As a Doctoral Student in Public Affairs, one of the early research projects I decided to complete in my studies was a Cost/ Benefit Analysis on Florida’s Ban on Gay Adoptions. I was able to show, through the process of policy analysis, that the ban was costing Floridians millions of dollars in taxes and that the social science research done on the topic indicated gay men and lesbians were actually very good parents. In fact, no published studies undergoing a rigorous scientific peer-review process have ever existed to the contrary. Of course, when a federal appeals court ruled several weeks ago that the ban was unconstitutional, I was ecstatic. But when Governor Charlie Crist promised he would not appeal the decision, I immediately endorsed him for Senator.
Today, the ban has come to an end. George Sheldon, the Director for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) held a press conference to indicate that DCF will no longer ascertain the sexual orientation of prospective adoptive parents. Equality Florida applauded the move, but cautioned that discriminatory forces are still at play. Their press release stated, “The same anti-gay forces who pushed for Florida’s marriage amendment in 2008 will likely try to put a return of the adoption ban up for statewide vote in 2012.” To read my Cost/Benefit Analysis on Florida’s Ban on Gay Adoptions, click on the “Research” tab. The document is filed under “Unpublished Research Reports.”