For Immediate Release

Los Angeles—Instant access. High-speed technology. Fast food. Multitasking. When did the good life become the fast life?

USC’s Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy looks to address this important health issue at a special picnic and thought provoking discussion held in conjunction with the division’s 65th anniversary.  The sold-out event is open to media outlets only.

What: Slowing Down in the Fast New World
When:  Friday, November 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: USC’s University Park Campus, Doheny Memorial Library, Intellectual Commons, Room 233.

The program is in conjunction with USC’s Visions and Voices, a university-wide arts and humanities initiative.

“Today’s society lives its life in fast forward,” says Associate Dean Florence Clark, chair of the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy division. “We run at full speed, but often on half-empty. How is this new high-speed technology wreaking havoc with our lives?  We hope this discussion will shed light not life on what we think is becoming a serious mental and physical health issue.”

Gelya Frank, a USC professor in occupational science and anthropology, moderates the discussion.  Panel members include: Peter Whybrow, MD, director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and author of American Mania: When More is Not Enough; Robert Gottlieb, director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College; Evan Kleiman, host of “Good Food” on KCRW 89.9 fm, founder of Slow Food Los Angeles and owner of Angeli Caffe; Paula Stoeke, executive director of The Sculpture Foundation, writer and photographer (www.paulastoeke.com).
A picnic lunch catered by local slow food movement eatery Angeli Caffe (www.angelicaffe.com) follows the panel. 

The average New York business lunch has shrunk from 90 minutes 2 decades ago to only 36 minutes today.  French, German and Italian families take six- to eight-week-long vacations each year while most Americans barely utilize their two-week allowance.  The program focuses on the habits and routines of everyday life and the forces money, technology and use of time play on mental and physical health and personal happiness.  As the speed of life changes, how does that affect our health and quality of life?

For more information, please visit the Visions and Voices Website at www.usc.edu/VISIONSandVOICES, or contact us by email at visionsandvoices@usc.edu or by phone at (213) 740-6786.

For media inquiries, please call Angelica Urquijo, director of public relations, USC School of Dentistry at (213) 740-6568.

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The USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy is a division of the USC School of Dentistry and has ranked the #1 program in the country by U.S. News and World Report for the last eight years. 2007 is the division’s 65th anniversary year. www.usc.edu/schools/ihp/ot/.

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