Roz Plotzker

Recent Actions

• Posted Eat for a Cause to Phillyist
  There is a debate on the best way to combat HIV/AIDS. Researchers are developing new treatments and possibly an HIV vaccine. What about those of us who gave up on our chemistry doctorate degrees after eleventh grade? Should we focus our efforts on better awareness campaigns? More accessible testing? Stronger policies? Why not fight HIV with a fork? You read right. Go out for dinner on May 1st. We know, it’s a Thursday night; you...
• Posted What Have We Got to Lose? to Phillyist
  Picture yourself in fifth grade. Three of your classmates are cooler than you. Two think you are the cooler one, but you are unaware of this fact, and thus it has no effect on your opinion of them. Regardless of your rung on the social ladder of prepubescence, your elementary school has thrust new rules upon you all: 1) No sodas 2) Snacks must fall within limits of fat, sugar, and salt contents 3) Nutrition...
• Posted Bone Marrow Drive Honors Philly Jazz Legend to Phillyist
  Philadelphia native Michael Brecker is one of the most expressive, celebrated jazz saxophonists of his generation. Musicians ranging from Paul Simon to Frank Sinatra, from Quincy Jones to Herbie Hancock, featured him on their albums. After a career that included over 900 albums and more than a dozen Grammy awards, he died at age 58 from a bone marrow disease known as myelodysplastic syndrome. Under normal circumstances, bone marrow makes blood stem cells that go...
• Posted Who's Your Daddy to Phillyist
  A recent report on the western bluebird stated: “Genetic studies showed that 45 per cent of nests had young that were not fathered by the defending male, and that 19 per cent of all the young were fathered outside the pair bond.” Our feathered friends do not have access to an affordable, reliable way to identify paternal lineages on their own. Philadelphians, however, do. Over the counter DNA paternity tests are now available at Philadelphia...
• Posted What's Up Your Butt to Phillyist
  In the 1970s health activists were yelling about their mothers’ breasts. Women were reluctant to check regularly for lumps, let alone have mammograms to screen for breast cancer. A tumor in a woman's breast was like a tumor in her entire womanhood, especially when oncologists were predominantly male. The outcry about breasts was an uncomfortable, necessary step that empowered women to take care of them. Today there are pink ribbons, breast cancer walks in October,...