November Seminar Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 12 Noon - 1:00pm

"BEYOND TAILHOOK: Military Sexual Trauma: History, Current Causes, Diagnosis and Management" Speaker: Ann Thrailkill MSN, RNP Women Veterans Program Manager and MST Coordinator at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Palo Alto

Ann Thrailkill MSN, RNP will give a revealing talk on Military Sexual Trauma (MST).  One example of MST is what occurred at the 1991 Tailhook Convention in Las Vegas at which dozens of women were accosted and sexually molested. This was the first "Military Sexual Trauma" to come to the general public's attention, but it was not new to the military. Sexual harassment and sexual assault that occurs in a military setting (which is the definition of Military Sexual Trauma, MST) has been occurring since World War II and our November WIS seminar speaker will be recounting the history of MST, its current causes, how its diagnosed and managed. Our speaker will be Ann Thrailkill MSN, RNP, the Women Veterans Program Manager and MST Coordinator at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Palo Alto. In the subsequent DOD investigations of the Tailhook scandal, the behavior of the perpetrators was justified or at least excused because they were returning heroes from Desert Storm. Many younger officers viewed Tailhook as a means of celebrating US victory over Iraqi forces. Through their interviews of aviators, the authors of the DOD report were reminded that naval aviation is among the most dangerous and stressful occupations in the world. For example, all six of the Gulf War fatalities were aviators. In addition, more than 30 officers died in military aviation accidents during the year following Tailhook '91 . The authors found that the "live for today for tomorrow you may die" attitude expressed by the aviators is in fact a way of life for many of these officers. One might wonder if the women and men fighting in the more recent Iraq war and ongoing deadly engagement are experiencing high levels of MST? As recently as March 2003 another sex scandal was investigated by a congressional committee- at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12 Noon - 1:00 pm ~ Panofsky Auditorium SLAC, 2575 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park, CA

Steps to improve the climate for both women and men in physics : "Best Practices for Recruiting and Retaining Women in Physics"