Though I concentrate on health,
education, technology and business topics, I enjoy writing
about many things, from a look at a filmmaker who created a
best-selling
autopsy video to an examination of why Internet urban legends
remain so popular to a portrait of the challenges atheist parents face
raising their children.
Here are samples of my writing, arranged by category:
Health,
Education, General
Features,
Business,
Technology,
and
Parenting. Most are available for
reprinting; all are copyrighted.
For a more extensive list of my health and medical articles, visit
Lorna Collier's
Health and Medical Articles.
For more business and technology writing samples, see
Lorna Collier's
Business and Technology Articles.
Health
A stroke of insight:
Jill Bolte-Taylor was a healthy, 37-year-old neuroanatomist at Harvard
when she suffered a massive stroke -- and recovered well enough to
write about it. (Neurology Now)
The
aging of
anorexia: Eating disorders affect middle-aged (and older) women,
not just teens, though treatment often is aimed exclusively at
younger patients (Chicago Tribune)
Selective
mutism: When children
refuse to speak, it's sometimes more than just shyness or stubbornness
-- it's a little-known disorder that can be treated if caught early
enough (Chicago Tribune)
CHIP
helps a city lose weight: An innovative
low-fat lifestyle campaign kicks off in a burgers-and-fries,
blue-collar Midwest town, hoping to be a blueprint for nationwide
success, (Chicago Tribune)
Childhood
obesity: So many kids are
overweight today that it's being called a crisis and an epidemic. What
can be done? This series looks at solutions (Knight-Ridder Tribune,
national distribution)
Autopsy
video: A California filmmaker
is fascinated by the autopsy process and makes a graphic video showing
one, though response is not always what he had hoped (Chicago Tribune)
Heart puts teen's future on hold: An
Illinois teenager living with late-stage cardiomyopathy awaits a
transplant (Rockford Register Star)
Education
The Shift to 21st Century Literacies: From Second Life to iPhones and videocasts, incorporating technology in the classroom (NCTE Chronicle PDF)
The C's of Change: Students and teachers learn 21st century skills. (NCTE Chronicle PDF)
"It's Like Magic, That's What Writing Is" - A look at the National Gallery of Writing submissions from all kinds of writers around the United States (NCTE Chronicle PDF)
Inspiration Information - New "Open Source" project aims to provide free interviews with experts for classroom use. (THE Journal)
Students Reading and Writing Online - How to use new Internet and social media technologies in the classroom to motivate English students. (NCTE Chronicle PDF)
Education
upgrade: An iPhone for
every college student? A look at tech trends affecting education in the
next five years (MSN Encarta PDF) (NOTE: for text version instead of PDF,
click
here.)
Long-distance
learners helped by high tech: Videoconferencing, podcasts, Second
Life, and other innovations are improving distance education (ATT.net)
Learning
styles: Not every child
learns the same way. How paying attention
to learning styles can help your child in school (Chicago Tribune)
21st
Century literacies:
How can teachers use Web 2.0 technologies to reach today's students?
(The Council Chronicle: National Council of Teachers of English
magazine) (NOTE: For text version instead of PDF, click
here.)
General
Features
OMG! My mom is online dating: How adult children react to their parents entering the world of e-dating. (CNN.com)
Tracy Kidder writes 'to catch the reflection of a human being on the page': Profile of Pulitzer-winning author of
Mountains Beyond Mountains and
Strength in What Remains. (NCTE Chronicle PDF)
Women
and
guns: Statistics indicate more women are arming themselves today,
which some feminists think is a good thing, though others disagree
(Chicago Tribune)
Camp
To Belong: Two sisters who
were separated as infants in foster care have created a special summer
camp where kids across the country can spend time with the siblings
they otherwise never see (Chicago Tribune)
Abortioncams:
A radical anti-choice
group is photographing women entering abortion clinics, then
uploading pictures to websites, which is being challenged in court
(Chicago Tribune)
Business
Tears
in
the
workplace: Why do women cry more than men, and what -- if anything
-- should women do to avoid tears on the job? (Chicago Tribune)
Business
profile: Envirovac: A look at a firm that's "flushed with success,"
thanks to its vacuum toilet business (Rockford Magazine)
Honey,
he shrunk the shirt:
Inventor comes up with new marketing gimmick (Sales and Marketing
Strategies & News)
Disabled
entrepreneurs:
Businesspeople with disabilities are able to use special programs to
help businesses get started, but want no special favors (Crain's
Chicago Business)
Green Chicago: The city is "greening"
as never before, thanks to aggressive efforts by administrators
(Crain's Chicago Business)
Technology
Internet
urban legends: Why are these crazy stories so popular and what can
be done to stop them from cramming your inbox? (Chicago Tribune)
Telemedicine:
Virtual reality
technology creates opportunities for long-distance doctoring
(Newmedia.com)
Digital
surveillance: Businesses
use hidden cameras and the Internet to monitor employees from afar
(Crain's Chicago Business)
Tempest:
threat or hoax: Can Big Brother see
what you're typing on your computer from outside your building, using
"Tempest" technology? (Smart Computing magazine)
Parenting
Boot
camps: Shipping troubled teens off to
boot camps seems to work on TV talk shows, but not in real life
(Chicago Tribune)
Life
with
the Sundays: How one family of modest means copes with the stresses
-- and joys -- of raising quadruplets (Chicago Tribune)
Atheist
parenting:
Raising children outside the religious mainstream can subject families
to prejudice and isolation, fueled by the misperception that atheists
aren't moral people, (Chicago Tribune)
Baby
sign language: Researchers are
discovering that babies can communicate using sign language before they
learn to speak (Chicago Tribune)
