Issue XXII - Italic Institute of America

lflTTHEROAD,JACQUESFollowing in the footsteps of CardinalRichelieu and Napoleon Bonaparte,Jacques Toubon, France's culture minister,sought to purify the French language.Like his predecessors, Toubonused the precedent set by the AcademieFrO!icaise to cleanse French of odiousEnglish words. In emulating Napoleon,who obliterated regional languages anddialects, the culture minister thought hewas upholding French tradition. Instead,the country's ConstitutionalCouncil overturned Toubon's dictum,saying it violated freedom of expression.According to the Council, thegovernment has no right ro tell Frenchcitizens what words 10 use. This iscertainly a victory for freedom ofspeech. However dubious his methods,Toubon's heart was in the right place.Does Italy have a Toubon to uphold thehonor and tradition of the Italian language?Speriamo.THE OLD BOOT"In 1994, Italy became the frrst countryin the world with more people overthe age of 65 than young people underthe age of 15." So announced ItalianFamily Minister Antonio Guidi to thedelegates at last September's populationconference in Cairo. More ominousis the Italian birthrate of 1.21, thelowest in the world.What it all means is Italians are onthe decline. They are not producingenough bambini to replace themselves.And because it is a wealthy and highlyeducated nation, menial jobs go unfilledcreating a demand for immigrant labor.Indeed, one million residents are non­Italians (nearly 2% of the population),mostly all unskilled immigrants. Suchan influx of foreigners hasn't been seensince the days of the Roman Empire.Wouldn't it make more sense torepatriate Italian-Americans to fill thelabor pool? Italy offers universal healthWorld Notescare, great vacation benefits, and goodchow.NAUGHTY NORDICS"The Swedes did a great public relationsjob when they came to New York.[The Italian] Captain Calamai becamethe scapegoat." So says Capt RobenMeum of the U.S. Merchant MaineAcademy about the sinking of the Italianluxury liner Andrea Doria off Nantucketin 1956.Basing his opinion on earlier researchby an engineer friend, Capl. Meum statesLhat it was an officer on the Swedishfreighter Stockholm who was negligentteria. including the flesh-eating strainLhat disfigures its victim. With some 80different varieties of strep throughoutthe world, finding a vaccine is elusive.Enter Dr. Vincent Fischetti ofRockefeUer University in New Yorlc.Dr. Fischetti and his colleagues have developedan oral vaccine using geneticallyengineered bacteria Having succeededin tests on mice, Fischetti • steamplans to begin human testing in Mexicowhere the incidence of strep infectionsis high. If his vaccine works, Dr. Fischettihopes to innoculate all children toprevent strep.In 1956, the pride of Italy's luxury fleet was the victim ofnautical errors and a cover-up.in reading a radar screen. TheStockholm's course recorder revealedthat the officer mistakenly thought theAndrea Doria was 12 miles away in thefoggy night when it was only 4 milesdistant Worse still, the officer changedcourse as an avoidance maneuver only tohead his ship direclly into the flank of theItalian ship. Capt. Calamai's last minuteattempt to tum his vessel away was unsuccessful.The Andrea Doria went to thebottom ten hours later. Fifty-one liveswere lostSTREP BY STREPThis decade has witnessed the growinghealth menace of Streptococcus bac-LORENZO'S OILUPDATEWell, you may have seen the movieLorenzo's Oil, about Agosto andMichaela Odone' s discovery of an elixirthat slowed dl'wn a progressively debilitatingdisease in their only sonLorenzo. The magic oil has moved froma curiosity to a scientific possibility inthe eyes of some scientists. Skeptics arebeginning to acknowledge Lhat the Italianbanker turned chemist may havesomething to teach the medical establishment.Studies of children withLorenzo's nerve disorder respondedfavorably to the special oil preparationThe Italic Way ---=-=iOiiiiiiiiiiiii-=-=;;;;;;;;;;;-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;-=o}6 XXII. 1994