2006.02.18: February 18, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Ethiopia: COS - Iran: Twins: Fort Wayne News Sentinel: Donna Shalala is a twin as was Paul Tsongas

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ethiopia: Special Report: Ethiopia RPCV, Senator and Presidential Candidate Paul Tsongas: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: RPCV Paul Tsongas (Ethiopia) : 2006.02.18: February 18, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Ethiopia: COS - Iran: Twins: Fort Wayne News Sentinel: Donna Shalala is a twin as was Paul Tsongas

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-186-164.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.186.164) on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 9:43 am: Edit Post

Donna Shalala is a twin as was Paul Tsongas

Donna Shalala is a twin as was Paul Tsongas

No one has studied how a childhood of sharing affects twins as they move into adulthood, Segal says. "But anecdotally I think that segues into just a sense of dividing things very equally, and always thinking of your twin as well as yourself ... (and) caring and sensitivity." The late Paul Tsongas, Senator from Massachusetts and candidate for President in 1992, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia in the 1960's.

Donna Shalala is a twin as was Paul Tsongas

Twins explosion: Boom in multiple births could shift politics, society
BY NARA SCHOENBERG
Chicago Tribune

Two years ago, I entered Twins Nation.

I don't just mean I gave birth to twins. I mean my obstetrician had twins, I attended a childbirth class exclusively for parents of twins, and not long after I came home to my Chicago three-flat, a family with twins three months younger than mine moved in downstairs.

A co-worker bought a condo a few doors down; now his wife is pregnant with twins.

This past fall I attended one birthday party with three sets of twins and another party with two sets and a woman with twins on the way.

Had I somehow slipped into a Twins Time Warp, a "Twilight Zone" episode populated solely by chubby-cheeked duos with a taste for mischief and mac `n' cheese?

As it turns out, the truth is almost as strange.

The twin birth rate, which stood at about 1 in 60 in 1971, has risen rapidly because of fertility treatments and an increase in the number of older moms, with almost 1 in 30 American babies now being born as part of a pair.

That's a figure that is unprecedented anywhere in the world, according to Dr. Louis Keith, an emeritus professor at Northwestern University's medical school.

"The real epidemic of twins didn't begin until the mid-1990s, so we are now in the epidemic," says Keith, president of the Center for the Study of Multiple Birth in Chicago.

Keith says it's too early to know what that might mean in the long term, but some experts say that the increase could have an impact on facets of society ranging from athletics to politics.

Already, the parents of twins have made their mark in the field of education, where schools have traditionally separated twins entering kindergarten. Minnesota recently became the first state to pass a law guaranteeing parents a say in separation decisions, and in December a similar bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly.

Parents of twins have turned to experts such as Nancy Segal, a psychology professor at California State University-Fullerton, who says that there is no scientific evidence to support always separating twins. In fact, says Segal, there is relevant data, regarding the effect of entering school with a close friend, which suggest that kids actually adjust faster in the company of a close companion.

Among the implications for the general population: If parents of twins can now increasingly request that their kids enter school together on the grounds that this will improve their academic performance, what's to stop parents of singletons from requesting a class placement with a best friend on the same grounds?

Other potential societal effects could spring from the unique characteristics of the twins themselves.

Twins tend not to be the very top achievers in their fields, many observers have informally noted, although no one has actually studied this. We have had no twin presidents, for example. Bill Gates isn't a twin; Picasso wasn't a twin, nor was Bach or Marie Curie.

On the other hand, twins do excel in athletics, perhaps even beyond what their numbers would indicate, with well-known examples such as gymnast Paul Hamm, an Olympic gold medalist, and his brother, Morgan.

"It's helped us a lot," Paul Hamm says of being a twin. "Just the fact that you have someone else there to kind of one-up each other, push each other to do new things."

There is also anecdotal evidence, according to Segal, that twins, because of their unusual side-by-side upbringing in which so much is shared, tend to be concerned with fairness and sensitive to the needs of others. These are qualities that at least one political scientist, Harvard professor Barry Burden, associates with support for welfare and education programs.

Will more twins mean more Olympic glory for America, fewer superstar entrepreneurs and more Democrats?

In search of answers, I traveled deep into the heart of twins country - which is to say, I went to Scullen Middle School in Naperville, Ill.

In a windowless conference room with a faux-wood table, I met with three sets of twins, one set of triplets and one set of quadruplets, all of them alumni of Wheatland Elementary, where last year 3 percent of students were twins and an additional 4 percent were higher-order multiples (triplets, quadruplets, etc.)

Such twin clusters have been attributed to factors ranging from coincidence to the proximity of fertility clinics, which implant multiple embryos in an effort to increase a woman's chance of childbearing. Overall, experts say, one-third of the increase in twins is because of a natural tendency toward twin births in older moms and the other two-thirds to fertility treatments.

Fertility treatments have contributed to higher triplet and quadruplet birth rates as well, but twins continue to account for the vast majority of "multiple" births - about 95 percent.

By some measures, the Wheatland twins are already living in Twins Nation, and, if Adam and Evan Bogart, 12, are any indication, it's a distinctive place with its own joys and aggravations.

The Bogarts finish each other's thoughts and, at one point during a group interview, one raises his hand on behalf of the other. They have the same haircut, similar clothes and the same suede Vans shoes, although they're quick to point out that Adam's are brown and beige while Evan's are all brown.

Not everyone here shares Adam and Evan's complaints of mistaken identity and stolen friends - some of the Wheatland multiples barely look like sisters and brothers - but almost everyone agrees with Evan's observation, "I have to share everything."

True, the children say, other kids have to share with their siblings, too, but it's not such a constant and intense experience. When you're the same age as your sibling, you're likely to want the same thing at the same time.

The actions and observations of the Wheatland Twins generally dovetail with the scientific research on multiples, with Segal saying that twins - identical ones, at least - really are different from singletons. That's not to say that, beyond the age of 6, they are different in terms of health or longevity, but that their bond with each other is different, even when compared to with the bonds between other siblings.

"It tends to be a very close bond, very non-judgmental - the feeling and comfort of being completely yourself and not worrying about acceptance," Segal says.

The bond between fraternal twins, the majority of the twin pool, isn't as well-researched, but even they show indications of an unusual bond, according to a few studies. For example, in Segal's research, fraternal twins rated the death of a twin as more painful than the loss of a non-twin sibling.

Another distinctive quality of twins is their finely honed sense of fairness, Segal says.

"Everything is divided, in a way, so parents have to become experts on fairness. If you give one child an extra grain on the cookie, you're going to be paying for it for a week."

No one has studied how a childhood of sharing affects twins as they move into adulthood, Segal says. "But anecdotally I think that segues into just a sense of dividing things very equally, and always thinking of your twin as well as yourself ... (and) caring and sensitivity."

Such qualities ring a bell with Burden, an associate professor of government at Harvard University.

Twins, he says, sound - from Segal's description - as if they may share traits with women voters, who, according to a popular theory in political science circles, favor "compassion" issues such as health care and education. Men are said to favor "justice" issues such as rewards for hard work.

"There might be more of an interest among twins in a social safety net, so (they'd be) supportive of - if you wanted to extrapolate pretty far - things like unemployment benefits or assistance to Katrina victims or health benefits."

And that mindset could make a difference in American politics, Burden says, even bearing in mind that the percentage of twins in the general population is only going up by a small amount.

"It depends on what metric you want to use," Burden says. "If it's 43 percent versus 45 percent saying yes to some survey question, that's not much of a difference. But if it's George Bush winning Florida versus losing Florida, that's a pretty big effect. It doesn't take much."

As for the low-achievement issue, it's important to note that Elvis Presley was a twin - his brother Jessie died at birth - as was "Our Town" author Thornton Wilder. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala is a twin, as was Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas. Rita Levi-Montalcini, winner of a shared 1986 Nobel Prize for medicine, is a twin. An identical twin named Charlie Duke walked on the moon.

In athletics, we have Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe, whose brother Charlie died at age 9, football players Ronde and Tiki Barber, race car drivers Aldo and Mario Andretti, baseball players Jose and Ozzie Canseco and Olympic skaters Kitty and Peter Carruthers.

Still, the very fact that Elvis Presley and Donna Shalala represent the pinnacle of accomplishment in Twins Nation reinforces the sense, in some quarters, that while twins scale the high peaks in politics, the sciences and the arts, they're less likely than singletons to reach the top.

"This is not something that's been studied systematically," Segal says of the achievement issue. "It's more of an impression. But it's an impression by enough people that it makes you wonder what's out there. It could be because twins tend to be biologically premature, then maybe they don't achieve as highly as non-twins."

For years, studies showed that twins' IQ scores lagged behind those of singletons by 5 to 10 IQ points, Segal says, but in a recent study out of Denmark, twins and singletons scored exactly the same.

One of the more interesting insights into the alleged achievement gap comes from Hamm, who said having a twin is an advantage for him, but one that may not translate beyond the world of gymnastics.

"When you're in athletics it's socially acceptable (for twins) to be in training together and working together, but in the real world it would be kind of a weird situation to see two twins in some corporation at the same level."

Such a sight would indeed challenge American ideals of individualism and self-reliance, but then again, 10 years ago the same might have been said of twins entering kindergarten side-by-side.

If our attitude toward kindergarten placements can change - based on the notion that sometimes togetherness is better for twins and those around them - can politics, the arts and business adjust in similar ways?

Already we have the Castro twins in San Antonio: 31-year-old Julian, who last year narrowly missed becoming the city's youngest mayor of modern times, and his identical twin, Joaquin, who is serving his second term in the Texas House.

Their tandem careers have attracted controversy, with foes alleging that Joaquin once tried to trick voters by subbing for Julian at a key event, an accusation the brothers deny, but the Castros also have attracted national media attention, much of it positive.

Will it someday be OK to have twins share a presidential ticket, credit for a famous painting, or the best office at Microsoft?

Stay tuned. Twins Nation is just getting started.





When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
History of the Peace Corps Date: March 18 2006 No: 834 History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

The Peace Corps Library Date: February 24 2006 No: 798 The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Date: March 16 2006 No: 827 Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh
Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say.

Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks Date: March 16 2006 No: 825 Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks
The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: The Ashland Daily Tidings has issued a request for all Peace Corps communications on the case.

Re-envision Peace Corps Date: March 16 2006 No: 823 Re-envision Peace Corps
Nicholas J. Slabbert says in his article in the Harvard International Review that an imaginatively reinvented Peace Corps could powerfully promote US interests in a period when perceptions of American motives are increasingly relevant to global realignment. His study envisions a new role for the Peace Corps in five linked areas: (1) reinventing America's international profile via a new use of soft power; (2) moving from a war-defined, non-technological, reactive theory of peace to a theory of peace as a normal, proactive component of technologically advanced democracy; (3) reappraising Peace Corps as a national strategic asset whose value remains largely untapped; (4) Peace Corps as a model for the technological reinvention of government agencies for the 21st century; (5) redefining civil society as information technology society. Read the article and leave your comments.

March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise Date: February 27 2006 No: 800 March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. "

Top Stories: February 2, 2006 Date: February 4 2006 No: 783 Top Stories: February 2, 2006
Al Kamen writes: Rice to redeploy diplomats 20 Jan
Peace Corps mourns the Loss of Volunteer Tessa Horan 1 Feb
RPCV pursues dreams in America's Heartland 1 Feb
Sargent Shriver documentary to be shown in LA 30 Jan
W. Frank Fountain is new board chairman of Africare 27 Jan
Abbey Brown writes about acid attacks in Bangladesh 26 Jan
Christopher Hill Sees Ray of Hope in N.Korea Standoff 26 Jan
Jeffrey Smit writes on one man diplomatic outposts 25 Jan
Joe Blatchford's ACCION and microfinance 24 Jan
James Rupert writes: A calculated risk in Pakistan 23 Jan
Sam Farr rips conservative immigration bill 21 Jan
Americans campaign for PC to return to Sierra Leone 20 Jan
Kinky Friedman supports Gay Marriage 20 Jan
Margaret Krome writes on Women leaders 18 Jan
James Walsh leads bipartisan US delegation to Ireland 17 Jan
Mark Schneider writes on Elections and Beyond in Haiti 16 Jan
Robert Blackwill on a "serious setback" in US-India relations 13 Jan
Kevin Quigley writes on PC and U.S. Image Abroad 13 Jan
Emily Metzloff rides bicycle 3,100 miles from Honduras 9 Jan
Charles Brennick starts operation InterConnection 9 Jan
Lee Fisher tells story of Pablo Morillo 7 Jan
Nancy Wallace writes: Was PC a CIA front after all? 4 Jan

Paid Vacations in the Third World? Date: February 20 2006 No: 787 Paid Vacations in the Third World?
Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think?

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Date: February 3 2006 No: 780 RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps
Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

Military Option sparks concerns Date: January 3 2006 No: 773 Military Option sparks concerns
The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger Date: October 22 2005 No: 738 Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger
When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000  strong Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong
170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Fort Wayne News Sentinel

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Ethiopia; COS - Iran; Twins

PCOL32159
19


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: