This Week in Words: April 13 - 19, 2019

An eleven-year-old girl from El Salvador who has recently become the face of the immigration debate in the United States had her pending deportation halted by a federal judge this week. Laura Maradiaga-Alvarado was scheduled to be deported back to her country without her sister and mother, who are seeking asylum here, but Maradiaga-Alvarado’s case has been reopened instead. The Maradiaga-Alvarado family's situation first gained national attention when a Houston police chief tweeted about it.

Another candidate has entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President. Pete Buttigieg, is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and is known in the media as “Mayor Pete.” At 37, he would be the youngest person ever to become president. Buttigieg is also a Rhodes Scholar, a war veteran and he is fluent in seven languages. Buttigieg is viewed as more of a centrist than some of his competitors for the nomination.

A new treatment, called Proton Radiation Therapy (PRT) has shown promise in treating childhood brain cancer. The treatment is both non-invasive and limits the damage to healthy cells. Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer that has resisted treatment for years, but recently PRT has been effective in treating it. A study in Pennsylvania using the largest group of patients to date demonstrated a doubling of the survival rate when compared to traditional treatment.

The trade talks between China and the United States have passed the preliminary stages and reached the point where the main representative negotiators will meet face to face. The officials will meet in late April and again in early May, with the goal of reaching an agreement in late May or early June. The tariffs that the U.S. has imposed on China have been a major component of President Trump’s trade policy.

The Overstory by Richard Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this week. The novel is about the relationship between man and nature, and the power and mystery of the forest. Powers previously won the National Book Award in 2006 for The Echo Maker. When something is evocative it brings to mind all kinds of associations and connections and is rich in memory-stirring detail.

In more Pulitzer news, Aretha Franklin was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for her lifetime of artistic achievement and excellence. The citation was awarded posthumously, because Franklin died in August 2018. The award dates back to 1930. Franklin makes history by winning this award, as she is the first solo woman to win it. Something indelible will endure, lasting for generations to come.

A fire broke out at the Notre Dame cathedral in France this week. Although the spire could not be saved, the main section of the cathedral was found to be structurally sound after the flames were extinguished. No one knows yet how many priceless religious artifacts were lost in the fire. A fund to rebuild the damaged section has already raised nearly 1 Billion dollars, and the French President has pledged that the restoration will be completed in five years.

There have been several stories of dogs being able to smell or sense low blood sugar in their owners with diabetes or dogs even being able to detect cancer. Now a woman who noticed a smell on her husband who turned out to have Parkinson’s disease is working with researchers to develop a method of diagnosing the disease. The woman has been shown to be 98% accurate in her smell test for the illness. Early diagnosis of a degenerative disease like Parkinson’s is considered crucial to treatment.

A new study suggests that the beards of human men are dirtier that the fur of the average dog. The study measured the amount of microbes harmful, or pathogenic , to humans in beard hair taken from below the mouth and on the neck of dogs. The study was limited to thirty dogs and eighteen men, and would have to be reproduced on a much bigger scale to be judged truly scientifically significant.

The long-awaited Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 election will be released this week. The report will be available in a redacted form, with sensitive or secret information blacked out. The report, which is said to be about 400 pages, is the result of a two- year investigation that examined whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. William Barr, the Attorney General has written a summary which suggests that the report clears the Trump campaign of wrongdoing.