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A step closer
Scientists discover clues to elusive Lyme bacteria. 6D
TSO names Hahm next director
Life
■ Health and Fitness Section D
Thursday, March 1, 2001
THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS
Please, stop the spinning Normal Inner Ear
Balance Canals: Collect balance information
By MARK HUGHES COBB mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com
The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra has named frequent guest conductor Shinik Hahm as its new music director. Although his three-year contract doesn’t officially begin until summer, TSO patrons can again witness Maestro Hahm’s effect on the orchestra March 12, when he will lead the musicians and guest soloist Ann Harper Pilot in “The World of the Harp.” The group began searching late fall of last year, when Louis Lane announced he was stepping down Hahm from the post due to a lingering illness. While the search progressed, Hahm agreed to guest-conduct the March 12 concert. Considered one of the most exciting young conductors working, Hahm came under consideration for the same post twice in the past decade. The TSO underwent searches in the early 1990s and again in 1996. After auditioning six guest conductors in 1995-96, Hahm and Lane rose to the top. “At that particular time, the board and players had the feeling that Louis Lane was going to be our best choice," said Leslie Poss, manager of the orchestra. Proximity — he lives in Atlanta — experience, musical expertise and a respected and established name weighed on Lane’s side. “It was such a great opportunity to have someone of that caliber associated with the Tuscaloosa Symphony,” Poss said. “He was able to bring the musicians’ playing to a new level.” Back in the fall, Lane became ill during rehearsals for an early season concert. By November, he had tendered his resignation to the board. The TSO appointed John Owens as chair of the search committee, and three representatives of the players’ association — Charles “Skip” Snead, J. Patrick Rafferty and Sheryl Cohen — were brought in to discussions. Following some extensive electronic communication, an executive meeting in mid-January pointed to Hahm. Official negotiations began after a full board meeting Feb. 2. Owens began haggling with Todd Stanton, Hahm’s manager. Disagreements were ironed out pretty quickly. “He’s very much interested in coming here, which was very flattering to us,” Owens said. “We offered a contract, they countered, we countered back,” Poss said. “It was mostly small things. He had specific needs as far as transportation. We were very close as far as the money; not much of an issue at all.” Hahm was “right away the first choice,” said Snead, who along with others remembered Hahm’s three previous guest appearances. “He’s very effective in his communication skills. His musical demands are very high, but the way he communicates with the orchestra has been very effective.” Because Hahm conducted a youth concert with the symphony in Livingston, the group got a chance to see him work with young people. Education outreach will continue to be a major focus for the symphony, Poss said. “There are so many skills needed now [to lead a symphony] beyond who’s the best person on the podium,” she said. “It’s not just about musicality, but about public relation skills and educational outreach. Those off-stage responded to Hahm’s work, too; part of what the TSO considered was the patrons’ response.” “To my knowledge, just about everybody he interacted with liked him,” Snead said. “He has as strong a base of support as
Please see HAHM Page 6D Birmingham PostHerald columnist and WIAT-TV sports broadcaster Paul Finebaum, left, talks before the 10 p.m. show Wednesday with staff meteorologist Bonnie McLaughlin. Finebaum’s radio show network signed a deal with 10 radio stations across Alabama, including two Gospel stations. Birmingham Post-Herald
Endolymphatic Sac: Keeps inner ear fluid at a constant level Hearing and Balance Nerve: Carries information to the brain from both parts of the inner ear Hearing Canal: Collects sound information
(Meniere's Disease) Endolymphatic Hydrops condition
Swelling in the Balance Canals: Distorts balance information
Backed-up fluid in the sac: Leads to swelling and pressure Distorted Information: Travels from the inner ear to the brain causing a loss of balance Swelling of the Hearing Canal: Distorts or blocks sound information anthony.bratina@tuscaloosanews.com
Meniere’s Disease: A devastating inner ear affliction
Many times people with Meniere’s can no longer work, as the mere process of standing becomes difficult. erlon Beck tried to get out They lose time at work, as well as of bed one morning and quality time with loved ones at home. fell on the floor. She couldAnd sometimes they are completely n’t stand up and, at first, incapacitated. Many stay at home she thought she was dying. because it is the only place they feel “I’d turn my head, and it seemed safe. Meniere’s affects all ages, genlike the room would turn,” she said. ders and races. “It was frightening.” “The dizziness is what is most bothShe went to the hospital — the ersome,” Loftin said of Meniere’s suffirst of many episodes related to ferers. “An attack of dizziness can Meniere’s Disease, named for the last several hours or a day. It can be French physician Prosper Meniere, incapacitating.” who first described the condition in Wright wants to start a support 1861. group to help others in Tuscaloosa Meniere’s Disease is an inner ear who have Meniere’s. disease that allows too much fluid “Thank God I have the support of to back up in the ear canals and the good Lord and friends and family affects roughly 2 million people in and a good doctor,” Wright said. the United States. Extra fluid caus“There’s a lot of people out there who es pressure to build up, so the don’t have that.” canals swell and can’t work right. Wright had surgery that helped her This leads to problems with the vertigo but destroyed some of her ear’s hearing and balance systems. hearing. The surgery aimed to selecPressure in the hearing canal tively destroy malfunctioning cells in interferes with sound signals to the michael.palmer@tuscaloosanews.com the inner ear, but Wright said the brain. Signals can be blocked, Sherry Wright, left, and her friend, Gerlon Beck, both suffer from Meniere’s disease, a rare decision to have it was a difficult one. which causes hearing loss, or get “They cannot invade the inner ear disease that causes hearing loss and vertigo. About 100,000 to 120,000 new cases are diagsent improperly, which causes ring- nosed each year. without totally destroying it,” Wright ing or roaring in the ear. Pressure said. “All they can really do is treat also causes the balance system to malfunction erratic behavior, including his suicide at 37 and a the symptoms.” and makes the brain think the person is spinning now famous incident in which he sliced off one of Before surgery, Loftin said he first tries other in circles. his ears. remedies to treat the symptoms of Meniere’s, Dr. Lee Loftin, Wright’s doctor with Tuscaloosa “The worst thing about it is that you never such as a salt-restricted diet, steroids or diuretEar Nose and Throat, said many people confuse know when it’s coming on,” Beck said of ics. Those help the fluid sacs in the ear to not dizziness or light-headedness, which could be Meniere’s. “And when it does, you have no idea swell, helping the organ to function properly. part of another inner ear disease, with Meniere’s which way is up.” Some treatments and surgeries will help one perDisease. In addition to feeling like the head is The noise in her ears keeps her awake at night, son and not another. spinning, other symptoms of Meniere’s include and she described the head-spinning feeling of “None are 100 percent successful, and some are hearing loss, a feeling of pressure in the ear, Meniere’s like trying to walk wearing someone pretty drastic,” Loftin said. roaring in the ears, vertigo and severe nausea. else’s glasses. Beck and her husband Robert used to love to go “Exactly what is going on in the inner ear is The world looks like a kaleidoscope to Sherry to baseball games, but not since Meniere’s not completely understood,” Loftin said. “The Wright, who also suffers from Meniere’s Disease. struck. trouble is, we cannot study the inner ear in a livHer husband, Jerry drives her to work because it “I would not dare climb those bleachers at a ing person.” is dangerous for her to drive. baseball game now. I ran into the wall twice,” she Beck, Wright and other Meniere’s sufferers “It’s extremely debilitating,” said Wright, who said of a recent outing. “It’s embarrassing when hope for public awareness of their disease so that just recently returned to her job — though only you’re out in public.” funding to find the cause and cure of the disease part-time — after having ear surgery for the disBeck and Wright laugh together about running will increase. Currently, there are no research ease. “It’s so horrendous and life-altering that it’s into walls, even though it’s not funny. It is how programs on the disease, a crippling roadblock to just torturous. This is not a fatal disease, but one they cope. finding a cure. It is also not known if Meniere’s is of the major side effects is people with it commit “You have to laugh,” Wright said. “You have to hereditary. suicide at high rates.” find humor in it.” Wright thought for years that she was having A report in the Journal of the American MedAnd they also find comfort in the numerous letmini-bouts with the flu. She would have severe ical Association, suggested that the 19th Century ters and phone calls they get from others with the vertigo, vomit and have flu-like symptoms that Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh suffered from disease. would subside. But for the past year her sympMeniere’s disease, a condition that was little Hope is not totally lost for those with Meniere’s. toms have been non-stop. She often wakes up and known at the time and was often misdiagnosed as “I think we will learn more about it by continurolls off of her bed trying to get out of it. She has epilepsy. ing to study people with Meniere’s,” Loftin said. constant motion sickness and the roaring in her The Meniere’s disease theory, put forward by “It’s not a hopeless condition, but it’s one that we ears is almost unbearable. specialists at the International Meniere’s Disease don’t have the answer for.” “I was vacuuming the other day and I could her Research Institute and others, is the latest in a For more information about Meniere’s or the the roar over the vacuum,” she said. series of explanations offered for Van Gogh’s support group, call Wright at 556-6904.
By MEREDITH CUMMINGS
meredith.cummings@tuscaloosanews.com
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Finebaum brings his gospel to town By DAVID COOPER david.cooper@tuscaloosanews.com
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dds are there isn’t one sports fan in Alabama who would call Paul Finebaum a saint. But that isn’t stopping a local gospel radio station from bringing the devil’s advocate of sports talk radio to statewide syndication. The gospel according to Finebaum, the vilified yet notorious broadcaster and sports columnist, hits Tuscaloosa airwaves Monday on WACT 1420 AM. Thanks to a following of listeners reached through three media outlets, Finebaum has kindled heated debate with his opinions
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We have always desperately wanted to be on in Tuscaloosa. Paul Finebaum,
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sports broadcaster
on University of Alabama and Auburn University sports since the 1980s. This week, Finebaum’s radio show network signed a deal landing his daily production with 10 stations across Alabama, including two Christian gospel stations. The show is to be in a daily for-
mat from 3 to 7 p.m. For Finebaum, reaching the Tuscaloosa market has been a task long overdue. “We have always desperately wanted to be on in Tuscaloosa,” Finebaum said of his show, which originally airs on WERC in Birmingham. “You do a show day in and day out where topics revolve around the university and Tuscaloosa, and it’s frustrating to get people there to drive to Bessemer to listen to the show with tin foil on their car antennae. “You do want to be heard where the center power of sports is.” While it would seem bringing
Please see PAUL Page 2D