I am going to Strasbourg today. I woke up around 6:30 in the morning; in fact, I didn’t sleep all too well last night in the anticipation of getting up early. The train was at 7:45, and I live a short 5-minute walk from the station. I still managed to miss the train! Don’t ask me how. But it gave me about 3 hours to kill before the next train, and I came across this rather amusing article in Spiegel about doctors from a cancer research institute in Naples stripping to draw public attention to funding shortfalls in cancer research.
From the article:
Chest hair, biceps and boxer shorts: Doctors at a cancer research institute in Naples have posed half-naked for a pin-up calendar. Research in Italy is burdened by bureaucracy and funding shortages. It is hoped that this private initiative will re-animate patrons.
Through his glasses, Professor Mozzillo gives the camera a penetrating, slightly skeptical look. His hands are passing lightly over the abdomen of a patient, lying on an operating table. The surgeon is wearing gloves, a face mask and plastic cap, as though the operation were about to begin. But there’s a small problem: The woman on the table is fully clothed, the doctor practically naked.
Mozillo is one of 20 doctors and researchers at the Pascale Foundation, a cancer research institute in Naples, who are going to unusual lengths to raise awareness and money for their work. Just in time for Christmas, the Fondazione Pascale is bringing out a pin-up calendar in which oncologists, surgeons, nurses, caretakers and even the institute’s director are posing in their underwear. The slogan: “Without you, research is bare.”
This kind of made my day – now I am off to Strasbourg; I won’t be missing the train this time!
Interesting! Only if people would notice the value of life without the show of flesh. The most talked about fund raising event was probably the Chilean prostitute auctioning her body for 27 hours of sex to raise $4000 for charity for disadvantaged kids. Well, anything that sells! All for a good cause !
@aparna: True! But the fact that “show of flesh” get a lot of attention is also somewhat comforting. Maybe the Indian hockey team should have tried out this option instead of hunger strike.