STOMP Meeting Reminder

Hi Folks:

This is just a friendly reminder that we have are having a meeting tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. in 244 Natural Science Building. We have a lot to discuss. Look forward to seeing you all there.

-Aaron

October 2, 2008 STOMP Meeting Cancelled

Dear STOMPers:

I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel the meeting for tomorrow. I'm actually not going to be at school tomorrow, as I'm home for the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah (or, in English, "New Year"). At first I had thought that I would be back in time, but it looks like that wont work.

Since Wednesdays seems to work best, let's push the meeting back to next Wednesday (Oct. 9) same time and place (4:30 p.m. in 244 Natural Science Building).

Sorry again for the inconvenience and the late notice. Talk to you all soon.

Aaron Schaer

iVote

So here is the deal with iVote. I know this has all been a little confusing, but believe me -- I'm just as confused as the rest of us. I think the guy in charge may have multiple personalities because he keeps changing his mind/the plan for how things are supposed to run.

But anyway, here is OUR deal -- we're going to meet in the TA office on the third floor of North Kedzie (room 306) at 5. Once everyone is there, we'll make our way over to the Breslin Center. We don't really have all that much to set up (just a banner, a sign up sheet, and some t-shirts). Then, we'll be at the Breslin Center at our table until 7, when the concert starts. I think we should just leave at 7. Everyone will be in the concert at that time anyway, so it's kind of pointless for us to hang around. If anyone wants to stay and enjoy the concert, you're more than welcome to, but I'm going to leave at 7.

That's about it. Please e-mail me back and tell me if you can or cannot make it so that I have an idea of how many people we're going to have. Here are the people who are signed up right now:

Derek
Ashley (are you going to with us or your other group?)
Danielle Donovan
Greg
Levi
Rachel
Danielle Pombier and hubby

Also, if you have a Buzzkill t-shirt, please wear it. If you don't have a Buzzkill shirt and you want one, you can purchase one in the TA office before we go (they're $10). If you want a shirt and can't be at the TA office, just tell me what size you are and I'll bring it to the concert.

Hope this clarified everything. Sorry again for the confusion.

Aaron

Mosquito T-shirts

Hi guys:

Since the majority of you are working with our friends the insects, I thought that you might like to have an eye on the link bellow. It is actually an online museum created by some guys in the UK (maybe some of you already know this web site museum) . The museum aims to show high resolution/definition pictures of the mini/micro world. Hence this beautiful collection of insect portraits. As a photographer, I have never seen microphotographs as focused and clean as this. Having pictures like this is just impossible with normal techniques. Anyway, the guy explained to me that they used stereomicroscopy coupled with a software to compile images taken at different focuses. Check the definition of those pictures, it is just amazing!

I thought that a picture of the portrait of a mosquito (of the type that you have on the website) on a T-shirt would be great. A friend of mine that is a stylist in Paris already made T-shirts with insects on them and those had a lot of success. I think that having a well-designed T-shirt would be great. People would buy our T-shirt because they would be making a good action but also because they would have a really nice T-shirt to show to their friends. We live in a world where people care so much about the way they look.

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/micropolitan/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/micropolitan/insectportrait/

Thanks,
Greg
--
Grégoire Seyrig, MSc
Graduate Student
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Center for Microbial Ecology

Sept. 18 Meeting Notes

STOMPers:

I hope everyone had a great weekend...I know I did (in the library!!).

Here are the minutes from our meeting last Thursday.

Things to Do:

• Save lives.
• Get some pamphlets developed explaining about malaria and the goals of STOMP.
• Arrange another tabling day -- possibly during a football game. I'm sending an e-mail out to the appropriate people (thank you Rachel) concerning getting a table during a football game. We should also think about having a table in front of the Rock on another day.
• T-shirt Design. Have Gabe set up a competition with his classes to design a t-shirt logo for us. Everyone who submits an entry gets 5 points extra credit. The winning designer also gets a free t-shirt and a free lunch with Gabe.
• Get another banner made that doesn't say "National Awareness Day" on it so that we can use it year round.
• Get the Stephen Colbert picture of him holding up a "Buzzkill" t- shirt blown up into a poster or something of the sort.
• Rachel is taking care of the window display in Nat. Sci. (thanks again Rachel).
• Possible mosquito costume??
• See if we can get registered for Autumnfest. I'm sending out an e- mail to the appropriate person for this (Rachel, just assume I'm going to say thank you for everything).
• And last, but certainly not least, iVote. Thanks to Ashley who went to the meeting, STOMP is scheduled to be a part the iVote Concert that is this Thursday, Sept. 25. I'm attaching all of the information that Ashley sent me below so that nothing gets lost in translation. The only thing that has come up is that instead of us being allowed to have 10 people at our table, we're only allowed to have 4. However, they still are going to give us 6 extra concert tickets so that 10 of us in total can get in. I had to give 4 names to the guy for security purposes so I gave my name, Gabe, Derek, and Danielle Donovan (Ashley I figured that you signed up with your other group). The rest of the people that expressed interest in going (Greg, Levi, Rachel, Danielle Pombier and hubby) there will for sure be tickets for you. I think the guy was just nervous about it getting too crowded around the tables. If any of the 4 people that I put down are a little unsure about going, I can switch your name with someone else and simply get a ticket for you. Just let me know.
  

Thats about all for now. Also, plan on having another meeting Oct. 1, same time same place (4:30 p.m. in 244 Nat Sci). This seemed to work out well for most people.

Thank you to everyone.

We're doing some really cool things that are going to help a lot of people that really need it. It's going to take a lot of effort, but it's really awesome to be a part of something so beautiful.

Talk to you all later.

-Aaron

P.S. Try to bring someone new to our meeting on the 1st

Here are the 2 e-mails from Ashley:

iVote is taking place on Thursday September 25,2008 set up begins at 4 and continues until 5:30 (doors open at 6) each group will get two platform badges and 8 tickets (a total of ten for each) we will come in through the ticket office, parking is yet to be worked out by ASMSU and the Breslin Center As I understand it, however each member needs a MSU ID to get into the Breslin. (Skye- I don't think Michael and Brandon will be allowed in)

It's best that everyone arrives together, but not imparative if people come later someone has to meet them outside to give them a ticket to get in.

• respect sound checks... or else you will get kicked out...
• 4 people working each table at a time
• you cannot sell t-shirts (sorry Aaron!) and you also can't raffle
• each voter registration needs to have the student's e-mail address at the top right hand corner and must sign twice at the bottom
• Uvote will have a table to direct questions
• try to get people to register in Ingham County
• explain that first time voters cannot fill out absentee ballots
• pens and clipboards will not be provided by ASMSU.
  

Rules and Guidelines for RSO fair:

1) Each RSO must send a representative to out iVote Info/Train meeting Sept. 17 (check). : )
2) Each RSO must work and participate in registering students to vote.
3) RSOs may not solicit or bribe students to register to vote.
4) Voter registration forms must be filled out completely and legibly.
5) Form should be checked by the RSO before being turned in.
6) Incomplete forms will not be counted.
7) Each form should have an e-mail address written in the top right- hand corner.
8) Each RSO must have a representative at their table at all times before and after the concert.
9)Each RSO must turn in a sealed packet of Voter Registration Applications at the end of the event.

Meeting Today (Sept. 17)

This is just a friendly reminder to everyone that STOMP is having a meeting this afternoon (Sept. 17) at 4:30pm in Natural Science Room #244.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Have a great day!

-Aaron

P.S. Try to bring someone with you that you think may be interested in what we're doing.

STOMP (Students Taking on Malaria Prevention) is back!! So all you anopheles gambiae -- watch out!

Dear STOMPers:

I know we're already a few weeks into school, but welcome back. I hope that everyone had a great summer. But now that we're back, we've got some life-saving work to do!

First things first -- we need to meet again. I've talked to some STOMPers recently about times that will work for them and it's looking like Wednesday around 4:30 works best. So September 17th at 4:30 p.m. we're going to meet in room 244 of the Natural Science building. I hope that this time and place works for most, if not all of you.

Second, and we'll talk about this more at the meeting, I've signed us up for the iVote event that is coming to campus. It's for RSOs and it looks like it will be great publicity for us and possibly help us get more STOMPers. Not to mention -- it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun! I'm pasting the description of the event below.

Other things we're going to discuss at the meeting (tentatively):

• goals for the upcoming year
• formal positions for people
• other events that we can put on/take part in
• adopting a village in Africa
• partnering up with a study abroad
• bringing STOMP the Broadway show and Stevie Wonder (you're welcome Gabe) to campus.
  

Needless to say, this is going to be a fun-filled and important meeting so that we can get our year started off right!

Please contact me back and tell me if you'll be able to make this meeting. If you can't make the meeting, please tell me what times would work best for you.

Talk to you all soon.


Aaron Schaer
schaerraa@msu.edu

Farewell to Sue

First, thanks to everyone who has supported the MSU Nothing But Nets Team! We're up to just over 49 percent of our goal -- your generosity and willingness to help is so amazing.

To me, the beauty of our Nothing But Nets team is it's ability to embody both MSU's land-grant heritage and the university's movement forward to become a "global-grant" university that uses its research to help people worldwide.

Second, I'd like to thank and say good-bye to Sue Nichols, my colleague who helped me brainstorm and make the MSU Nothing But Nets team a reality. Sue has posted here a few times, but her contributions behind the scenes have helped make this program the success it is. She's moving down to the University of Michigan to become director of communications and marketing for the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute. I'm horribly sad to see her go, but this is a great opportunity for her and I wish her much success. We shall carry on without her and may be able to get her to pop in once in a while.

Slow and Steady

As I noted last week, summer break has caused us to slow down a little. But it's nice to see that donations continue to come in steadily. We're up to 47 percent -- almost half way to our goal!

If you're a student, I hope you're enjoying your break. If you're a faculty member, staff person or alumni, soak in the relative calm and tranquility of the campus. No matter who you are or where you are, consider making a donation to the MSU Nothing But Nets Team.

When most groups ask for a donation, they start by asking for $50 or $100. To me, the great thing about the Nothing But Nets program is the opportunity to do so much good for so little money. The cost of a bed net -- $10 -- is an amount that most people can afford without too much sacrifice. Every time I slap a mosquito, I think about the family that's using the net I provided. And I feel good.

A Slight Summer Slowdown

Between finals, graduation and other pressing matters, our Nothing But Nets campaign slowed down a little. But fear not, we're still working away behind the scenes to send bed nets to Africa to stop the spread of malaria.

Donations are still coming in and I'm proud to say we're achieved 45 percent of our goal. Thanks to all!

I'm hoping to have an update on Ned's research very soon. Stay tuned for more event announcements.

We've Reached 44 Percent

Thanks to all the fund-raising efforts of STOMP on World Malaria Day, we've jumped up to 44 percent of our $10,000 Nothing But Nets fundraising goal. That means collectively we've sent 443 bed nets to Africa -- amazing!

And Aaron, one of the STOMP student leaders has said that a middle school teacher is going to donate the $400 her class raised to the MSU Nothing But Nets team. How exciting is that?

Let's keep the momentum going. If we all tell one person we know about this and get them to donate one net, that would make an incredible difference. If you're successful, leave a comment. Thanks again to all.

World Malaria Day Report

This is a couple of days late, but I wanted to pass along a note from Aaron Schaer, one of the STOMP student leaders, about the campus events on April 25:

YESTERDAY'S EVENT WAS AWESOME!!! For those of you who couldn't be there, here is a brief description:

Ned and Danielle set up a volleyball net on the sidewalk in front of The Rock, where they hung a sweet banner and a bunch of "Buzzkill" shirts and wristbands (which I still think are cool despite what everyone else says).

We also had a table, some chairs, and some good music (courtesy of Ned). We would have painted The Rock, but another student group (who did not register to have it unlike other groups *cough cough*) painted it and literally were laying down and guarding it in sleeping bags. They were there for the National Day of Silence which signifies the discrimination that gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people face in society (between that, National Malaria Awareness Day, and Earth Day, April 25th is a pretty popular time).

Their cause was definitely a good one, but seeing as none of them were speaking due to it being a "day of silence," I'm not sure how many people they actually reached. Perhaps talking would have been a better strategy...I don't know, that's just my opinion.

Anyways, back to our awesome group. All in all we raised almost $400.

I truly feel that if we had more shirt sizes than just 3XL and youth small, we probably would have sold more. In addition to that, a woman came by who works over at the local middle school and she told us how they also did a Nothing But Nets fund-raiser where they raised over $400, but she wasn't sure what to do with the money now. So, after talking with her for 30 seconds, she has decided to trust us with the money, which she is sending over to Gabe's office in the very near future.

In short, good times were had by all and we've raised enough money to purchase around 80 nets!!! That's at least 80 more people who will be much safer because we spent 5 hours sitting outside and hanging out.

If that doesn't motivate you, check your pulse.

Thank you so much to everyone that helped. A special shout-out to Derek for bringing his bunk bed so that we could display a bed net; Ned for getting the volleyball net, music, basketball hoops, donuts and bagels, and a bunch of other stuff that I'm probably forgetting; Ashley for being there for about 4 hours; Danielle for waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to help set up; and Emily, Emma, and Rachel for being there and just being great. If I'm forgetting anyone, I'm really sorry...but a special shout-out to you as well.

I'm not really sure what STOMP is going to do over the summer, but if the past 3 weeks are a sign of things to come, then we're definitely going to be busy. I'll write everyone again just to stay in-touch and keep you guys informed of anything fun, interesting, or just because I'm bored.

Thank you all again. This couldn't have happened without everyone's efforts. We truly have done a lot for a group that isn't even formally registered yet.

Good luck with finals, and if I don't see you--have a great summer.

Sincerely,
Aaron

P.S. For the graduating Seniors: "Adventure is not in the guidebook, and beauty is not on the map. Seek and you shall find." (Someone who I once went camping with told me that. She is one of the nicest, coolest people I've ever met and at age 32 still has not grown up.
She is also the happiest person I know). Be courageous, be influential, and most importantly, be you! Good luck...and I'm keeping you on the e-mail list.

Here's How MSU is Celebrating World Malaria Day

The MSU Student Group -- Students Taking On Malaria Prevention (STOMP) -- has a table and info out by the Rock (in front of the Auditorium) today from 11 to 4 p.m.


You can actually see what a bed net looks like. And you can also buy a Buzz Kill t-shirt or an armband. Every cent from the shirts and armbands buys a bed net for a family in Africa. And the MSU Nothing But Nets Team gets the credit. What's not to like?!

In the photo on the right, Ned Walker (in the baseball cap) is hanging up Buzz Kill t-shirts with one of the STOMP members (sorry, I don't have your name).

Celebrate World Malaria Day!

Make sure you stop by the Rock today from 11 to 4 and check out all the information available. Shoot some hoops, buy a Buzz Kill t-shirt and see an actual bed net. All proceeds go to the MSU Nothing But Nets team.

Malaria Day Events Moved to the Rock

All the World Malaria Day events will now take place in front of the Rock (on Farm Lane, in front of the Auditorium). STOMP will be painting the rock, shooting hoops, selling t-shirts and generally having fun. Stop by!

World Malaria Day Events at MSU

Friday, April 25 is World Malaria Day. A new student group at MSU, Students Take On Malaria Prevention (STOMP), has done a great job of organizing events very quickly.

On April 25, the group will have a table set up from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. between North Kedzie and the Natural Science Building (look for the giant banner). The display will feature information on malaria, Ned Walker's research, the MSU Nothing But Nets campaign, as well as bunk beds with a bed net on them. There will also be a basketball hoop set up. Students (and anyone else who wants to) can donate $1 to shoot hoops and win a Nothing But Nets Buzz Kill arm band. The group also will be selling Buzz Kill t-shirts. All proceeds go to the MSU Nothing But Nets campaign.

So stop on buy, shoot some hoops and buy a t-shirt. It should be a lot of fun.

Student Group Meeting Date/Time Confirmed

The next student group meeting is Friday, April 18 at 12:30 p.m. in 334 North Kedzie. Again, send Gabe Ording (ordingga@msu.edu) a note if you have questions.

Another Student Group Meeting

There's going to be another student group meeting on either April 17 or 18 (Thursday or Friday) at 12:30 p.m. in 334 North Kedzie. As soon as I get confirmation on a day, I'll let you know. If you'd like more info, contact Gabe Ording at ordingga@msu.edu.

The plan is to discuss a name for the group, start planning a fundraising event and figure out what to do with all the Buzz Kill t-shirts and armbands Nothing But Nets has sent.

Look for Buzz Kill T-shirts Soon

Gabe Ording, who's helping coordinate the MSU Nothing But Nets student group, sent me the following note:

I have some good news from D.C. I was contacted this morning by Adrianna from Nothing But Nets. We had a really nice talk and she is incredibly supportive of our MSU efforts. She is sending me an initial care package, the contents of which will include (but may not be limited to) info pamphlets, a few bed nets, wrist bands of some sort, and an initial pile of (about 50) BuzzKill t-shirts. She indicated that we will be able to get all of the t-shirts we can possibly sell and more.

She also indicated that we are welcome to "borrow" their BuzzKill theme but would request an opportunity to see our products for her approval before we get them made, and that we use socially acceptable globally conscientious t-shirt manufacturers. She also has asked us to take part in an upcoming conference call with other supporting institutions to share ideas for fund raising. And last but not least, she has asked if we are interested in sending student representation to D.C. this summer for a workshop, to get trained as a NBN representative. Phew, that was a good phone call!

Look for the incredibly stylish Buzz Kill t-shirts to show up on campus soon. If you want to be one of the first to get one, leave a comment here and someone will get back to you.

We're up to 64 percent of our goal!

Student Group Forming to Fight Malaria

As an outgrowth of the MSU Nothing But Nets team, Gabe Ording, in the Entomology Department, is organizing a meeting today, April 8, 2008, at noon for students interested in starting a group to fight malaria.

The meeting is in 244A of the Natural Science Building and Gabe says he's providing pizza and pop.

To keep the momentum going on this campaign, we need some visibility on campus and I know Gabe has several ideas in mind for World Malaria Day on April 25. He's also working with the athletic department to get some basketballs signed by Tom Izzo and Suzy Merchant that we can raffle off. Now that will be exciting!

If you're an MSU student and want to help fight malaria, please attend the meeting. If you can't attend, but still want to participate, leave a comment on this blog or send Gabe or Ned Walker a note.

As an update, our team is up to 34 percent of its goal and we have 62 sponsors. Thanks to all!

A New Game Lets You Send a Net for Free

In honor of World Malaria Day on April 25, the Nothing But Nets organization has developed a video game that you can play on your computer. Once you're done, it sends a bed net to Africa for FREE up until April 25!

Here's the note from Nothing But Nets:

We’ve got another way for you to get in the game and help prevent malaria! All you have to do to help save a life is play, Deliver The Net, a cool new game created by the UN Foundation.

The challenge: race the sun and hand out as many insecticide-treated bed nets as you can to African families. The more nets you deliver before the mosquitoes come out the more lives you save. Once you’re done playing the game, sign up, confirm your email, and a life-saving bed net will be sent on your behalf!

It’s never been easier to send a net and save a life!

Check out the game and challenge your friends to beat your net score up until April 25, World Malaria Day. Play this game and everybody wins.

The game is a little confusing, but I got the hang of after my first time. Plus, it's worth it to send a free net. Check it out and let us know how you do!

What's grunt got to do with it?

I've been thinking a lot about grunting and flailing during March Madness.

In addition to the requisite athletic exertion by teams, there’s a veritable Olympics of the spectators – the hand waiving, gasping, forehead smacking, fist clenching, roar and grunting that comes with cheering a team on. It’s a lot of work.

And I can’t help but notice it doesn’t really GO anywhere, other than a vague feeling of gratitude that no one’s posting you and your gyrations on YouTube.

I’m kind of a spectator spectator when it comes to sports (I go to games to people watch. Sue me) but I do my own share of flailing without purpose. Today, my dog, who takes homeland security seriously, maimed a stray cat in my yard, and I had to have poor kitty put to sleep. Lots of mental gyrations here.

So I’m laying down a challenge for the armchair grunters and flailers – sports-induced or otherwise: How about after an exhilarating afternoon of athletic grunting and flailing, you channel those feelings -- be they celebration or despair -- by buying a net or two? 10 bucks, I argue, can buy a bit of mental peace. $20 may buy me back into heaven.

Even though I've already bought a fair amount of nets, I'm gonna go buy another one. For the poor kitty. Because my flailing isn't doing anybody any good. But buying a net will help a family in Africa that's got a lot more worries than I do.

This way, I can feel like I slam dunked something.

As I write this, we're 22 percent of the way to the goal. That's cool -- but it's still a ways from those nets.

World Malaria Day and an Update

World Malaria Day is Friday, April 25. Plans are in the works for some type of activites on the MSU campus. Check back for more details.

We're 22 percent of the way toward our goal! This means the MSU community has sent more than 220 bed nets to Africa. Which means lives have been saved. Give yourselves a pat on the back!

Thanks to Lorraine for posting the comment about the Jazz Benefit Concert for Bed Nets on March 30. For more information, click the link she posted.

Donation update

We moved up to 18 percent of our goal over the weekend. And the Spartan basketball team defeated Pittsburgh to move on to the Sweet 16 and No. 1 seed Memphis. A nice two days all the way around. Any predictions on next weekend's scores? Thanks again to all.

A Quick Thanks

Just a quick note to say thanks to Ned for posting very interesting and helpful information. Also thanks to all who have donated -- we're up to 16 percent of our goal. And congrats to the basketball team for beating Temple! On to the second round!

Response to Sandra's comment

I wanted to respond to Sandra's comment about the Nothing but Nets program too, as has Jamie. Sandra expressed concern in her comment that this program could undermine the local bed net economy, and she noted that bed nets in Malawi were cheaper by half than the $10 donation/bed net in the Nothing but Nets program. Thanks to Sandra for bringing these points of view to our attention.

RETAIL MARKETS AND BED NET DISTRIBUTION AND USE
There has been a lot of focus on how to get bed nets into communities of rural Africa, and it led to a pretty sharp debate that seemed to follow the political spectrum to a certain degree. On the one hand was a group of people who felt that retail market forces should drive purchasing decisions. However, it has been determined that under these conditions, when people could simply pay for their own nets in the retail market on the basis of an economic choice when a wide range of choices exists (buy food, a new bicycle tire, a battery for the radio, cell phone time, medicines), that bed net purchases fall behind and the number of bed net users in a community does not rise to a sufficiently high level to lower malaria transmission. Here, it is important to understand that bed nets are really best thought of as community protection tools, as opposed to personal protection devices. The goal is to get as many people using them as possible in a community, so that mosquitoes die and malaria goes away.

Given this observation, a series of "social marketing" programs were tried in several different countries, including Malawi. Traveling shows would put on music events and education programs, hand out hats and t shirts, and try in this way to market bed nets by raising social consciousness of them. Those programs didn't work well either. In both cases, people had to pay part or all of the price of the net and in the realm of choices, bed net purchases were down the list of priorities for people.

On the other end of the spectrum (and I'll admit this is where I fall) is to consider that bed nets are a public good, much like a vaccine, and that poor people should be given them through national roll out programs. But somebody, somewhere, still has to provide the funding to buy the nets. This is where the Nothing but Nets program, the President's Malaria Initiative, and others like it come in. National ministries of health have partnered with this idea.

I recently saw a graph of bed net use in Kenya surveyed from the late 1990s to 2007. Use rates very slowly went up with the initiation of retail sales, but stayed low overall. When the national rollout campaign began in 2006, use rates shot up rapidly to nearly 60%. This shows that the retail market system is inadequate to achieve the high use rates needed to have an impact.

TYPES OF NETS
Another comment is about the kind of nets. There are actually no bed net manufacturers in Africa. The companies that make them are typically "first world." Nets are mostly made in factories in India, Thailand, and Vietnam, and are imported. So, undermining the local economy is not really an issue. A single bed net factory in Tanzania has been constructed to produce Olyset Net, a brand owned by Sumitomo, but the quality of these nets has been variable. Many countries have agreed to eliminate import tariffs on nets to keep prices down.

The cheaper nets that Sandra refers to are an older formulation that need to be retreated with insecticide every 6 months or so, and that are not wash durable. They remain on the market under several brand names but are now being replaced by LLINs. The newer types of nets are so called Long Lasting Impregnated Nets or LLINs and these are wash durable, do not need to be retreated, and may last for up to 5 years depending upon the type of synthetic fiber used in them. These indeed are more expensive and are of the type that Nothing but Nets and other programs purchase for distribution. They are superior to the other non-wash durable types in all respects and in the long run are cheaper because they last so much longer. All of them are manufactured by "first world" companies, e.g., Vestergaard Frandsen of Denmark, Sumitomo of Japan.

ECONOMICS OF MALARIA
The idea that donating bed nets would undermine the local economies of rural Africa (which I think is highly unlikely given the above discussion) must be balanced by a discussion of the positive economic effects that alleviating the malaria burden has. When bed net use is high enough to reduce malaria transmission, there are healthier pregnancies, healthier newborns, fewer trips to clinics for malaria treatment, fewer medicine purchases, higher school attendance rates, and better growth and development of children. When the human population is alleviated from the malaria burden, there is a surplus of resources that otherwise would have gone to malaria prevention and malaria treatment; this surplus can then be used for other types of economic activities. All of these outcomes have clear, positive economic effects and could be viewed as part of a larger, socioeconomic and development context. I believe Jeffrey Sachs and the Earth Institute through its Millenium Village program is having a look at these economic benefits; certainly Dr. Sachs has written about it.

Bed net research in western Kenya

Notes from Ned:

I wanted to post some information here about my research on insecticide treated bed nets in Kenya, and to show how the research is related to the Michigan State Nothing but Nets Team. Interestingly, none of the research described below has a direct relationship to the Nothing but Nets program. The donations are not used for my research. I am not even sure that any of the nets obtained through the program will even end up in Kenya, vs. another country or setting, but that is fine. I asked the Nothing but Nets administrators if there was a way to steer the funds to western Kenya to identified villages as a philanthropic activity, but that is not the way the program operates and they were not able to support this idea. Rather, Nothing but Nets at the programmatic level interacts with the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, the Gates Foundation, and other groups to ensure that the bed nets purchased by donations arrive into users' hands in needy areas of a wide variety of countries. The distribution system, interestingly, is tied to measles vaccination programs in ante-natal medical clinics, so that pregnant women and women with newborns can learn about bed nets and have access to the bed nets when they come in for care and for vaccinations for their children.

The main thing is that we know that use of bed nets really helps to push malaria infection down wherever they are used in SubSaharan Africa, and that is a worthy philanthropic goal and participating in a program like this one is very unifying. It brings people together who otherwise would never interact with each other. My motivation is to think with my head and my heart as my technical studies of bed nets in Kenya go forward. Just doing the science alone, without trying to apply the results of the research to achieve a noble end such as alleviating the malaria problem, is not enough for me.

RESEARCH VENUE AND PARTNERSHIPS
My research engages two partner organizations: the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the US Centers for Disease Control. These two groups have themselves formed a partnership to conduct research on infectious diseases in western Kenya, including malaria. The governments of Kenya and the United States signed a cooperative agreement to work together in this way. They have constructed a laboratory complex in a village called Kisian, which is about 10 km west of the city of Kisumu. The research station is called the Centre for Global Health Research. Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya, and is located on the shores of Lake Victoria. University researchers such as myself can bring forward projects to this research station, particularly if external funding is available (which we do have) and if the Kenyan and US staff scientists based at the station agree to collaborate (which they have). My main collaborators in Kenya are Dr. Nabie Bayoh, Dr. John Vulule, Dr. John Ayisi, Dr. Luna Kamau, Dr. Simon Kariuki, and Ms. Damaris Matoke. Two key staff members are Mr. George Olang and Mr. Maurice Ombok. On the US CDC side, my main collaborators are Dr. Mary Hamel, Dr. Kayla Laserson, Dr. Ya-Ping Shi, and Dr. John Gimnig. The other MSU scientist involved is Dr. Joe Messina. So you can see that this is really a team effort which I feel privileged to lead.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Anopheles mosquitoes
The research itself builds upon several recent studies at this same site, including some of my own work, on how community-based implementation of insecticide treated bed nets affects the mosquito populations and the intensity of malaria transmission. We already know, based upon a set of randomized field trials conducted in this setting and in 4 other locations in SubSaharan Africa, that when most people in a community use bed nets nightly for an extended period, malaria transmission goes way down and the burden of malaria infection in children and pregnant women also goes down. What we don't know is how sustainable this kind of program is, and what the potential long term consequences are. My particular interest has to do with what we call the "population structure" of the mosquitoes and the malaria parasites. For the mosquito populations, we think that the widespread use of the bed nets causes a shift from a mostly human feeding form of Anopheles to a mostly cattle feeding form, with an overall reduction in density of the mosquitoes too. Those are both highly desirable outcomes. We will test this idea over a 5 year period, to see if such a desirable shift occurs and sustains itself. Secondly, we are concerned about the emergence of insecticide resistance in the mosquito populations, so we are establishing some long term studies on the kind of insecticide resistance (either "target site" resistance or "metabolic" resistance) and are putting into place some methods and procedures to analyze the frequency of these traits genetically in the mosquito populations. Thirdly, we are interested in the interactions of lowered mosquito density and the rate at which genes conferring insecticide resistance "flow" or move through populations, which obviously will affect its spread.

Malaria parasites
Our research on malaria parasites parallels that of the mosquito research described above. As transmission drops with increased bed net use in western Kenya, we will study the "population structure" of the malaria parasites using molecular methods to study genetic factors in the parasite populations. It is important because malaria has always been very resilient to control; history has shown that it is a difficult disease system to manipulate for purposes of controlling it. The malaria parasites are tough. They easily evolve resistance to drugs, and they have virulent forms. One thing that sometimes happens in disease control programs generally is that the control results in emergence of more virulent forms of pathogens. We would like to know if that happens in the malaria parasite populations during the course of a long term bed net implementation program. So we are studying some of their "virulence factors" using genetic methods. Secondly, we are studying the frequency and form of antibiotic resistance in the malaria parasites. Just as with the insecticide resistance issue mentioned above, we would like to find out if the use of bed nets (which we know already causes a drop in malaria transmission) also concomitantly results in reduced frequency of antibiotic resistance in the parasite populations, and reduced gene flow of the genetic factors underlying this resistance. Wouldn't it be wonderful if use of bed nets turned out to be a way to manage drug resistance in malaria parasite populations? So we are having a look at that possibility.

People
Lastly, we are studying people. There are two aspects to our studies of the rural residents of western Kenya where our bed net studies are taking place. First, we would like to know how well these people adopt the use of bed nets into their homes and their lifestyles. We have a situation underway where one population of people has already been engaged in a long term bed net study and so have been educated about their use and are very familiar with them. The other population of people has had no such experience but now has the opportunity to obtain bed nets through a Kenyan national bed net campaign voluntarily, but one that does not include an educational component. Will this latter group assimilate use of bed nets to a high enough coverage rate in their villages to have an effect? What is their knowledge of bed nets, and their opinion about them? We will ask them about these things, including economic and other barriers to use. It may be that we will find out that education is a crucial component of the national program, but as of yet we have not started that part of the study. You can see that this part of our research is oriented toward social sciences rather than biological sciences.

The second aspect of our study with people is more medical and epidemiological. We are enrolling groups of people (babies, children, and adults) into a program where we will obtain a small blood sample from them and analyze the blood for presence, type, and number of malaria parasites. We will also test the people for anemia, and we will use the malaria parasites we find for the studies outlined above. When we find malaria-infected people, we will treat them for the infection. This part of the study will engage people in the two study populations described above, i.e., the group that has had a long term experience with bed net use and the group that has not had this experience. We will do these studies over a 5 year period, with the goal being to find out if bed net use programs sustainably reduce malaria infection over the long term.

Thanks for your support and comments

First, thank you to all who have donated. As of this morning, we've achieved 15 percent of our goal. Outstanding!

Second, I'd like to thank Sandra for her thoughtful comments. I've asked Ned Walker to respond since he has been to Africa many times and has worked with local communities on bed net projects. While it would be great to buy all bed nets locally, my understanding is that there just aren't enough of them to meet the need. Also, the $10 per net cost through Nothing But Nets includes an education component -- what it is and how and why it works and why it's important to use it every night, as well as general information on how malaria spreads, its symptoms and how it's treated.

I have to admit I'm a little puzzled by your comments about bed nets creating tension. If it's that people will be upset if some households get nets and others do not, that could be valid. But based on my conversations with Ned, aid groups are working with local communities to make sure that everyone who wants a net gets one.

I'm sure that Ned will have more insights for us.

Thanks again to everyone!

We've Met 10 Percent of our Goal

The generosity of Spartan faculty, staff, alumni and friends is amazing. We've been engaged in this campaign for three days and we're already 10 percent toward our goal. Thanks to everyone for your support.

I see that MSU will be playing Temple in the first round. I hope our success rubs off on the basketball team and we're all cheering "Nothing But Nets!"

A Big Thank You!

I'd like to thank everyone who donated so far! We've only had the site up and active for a day and we're already 7 percent of the way to our goal. That's fantastic! We only get notification that someone donated (not your email address or the amount), so I can't send you all personal thanks as I'd like to do. But we are most appreciative!

It's also exciting that the Spartans beat Ohio State this afternoon to advance in the Big Ten tournament. As they move on, we're hoping that CBS, ESPN and other media hear about our Nothing But Nets campaign and cover it. If anyone's going to tomorrow's game against Wisconsin, make a sign!

Have a great weekend!

Excitement about Bed Net Success

As part of his research, Ned Walker travels regularly to Africa and international conferences. Here are short reflections from two trips:

I just returned from the annual conference of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, where some of our work was presented but where further there is a general excitement about the clear reductions in incidence of malaria owing to national roll out campaigns of bed nets in Africa.

On my trip to Kenya I consulted with local Kenyans about this idea, in particular to pick some communities (villages) that we could use as partnered sites for a net distribution program. Two villages -- Tiengre and Kakwema -- near Kisumu in western Kenya are interested and offer local cooperation.

Why Bed Nets?

Despite its apparently simplicity, malaria has resisted rigorous attempts to control it. That is, until recently when insecticide-treated bed nets have emerged as a powerful and simple control tool. What we don't know is whether malaria will find some way to overcome this disruption to its system. That's what Ned Walker and his team are studying.