“A Nondescript Monster”: Fanny Fern in Transatlantic Print Culture

Fanny Fern (real name Sara Payson Willis Parton) was one of the most profitable American columnists and novelists of the mid-nineteenth century. Fern sustained her celebrity status largely through unauthorised reprints of her articles in American and British papers. Consequently, her public image was for the most part constructed through those reprinted articles, which were usually framed by speculations about her private life. This article examines the implications and limitations of Fern’s efforts to stabilise the dissemination of her public image in periodicals by using the relatively more stable form of the book. As a celebrity, she had limited control over the way she was publicly represented. As a woman in the public sphere, she was particularly vulnerable to slander and libel. The circulation of a spurious biography entitled The Life and Beauties of Fanny Fern (1855), alongside her sanctioned autobiographical novel Ruth Hall, profited from her literary brand while simultaneously undermining it. Examining how these competing narratives about Fern’s private life – one fictionalised, one unauthorised – shaped her literary reputation at home and in England, this paper argues that textual representations as well as material market choices, including book bindings and advertising techniques, shaped authorship in the increasingly commercialised transatlantic literary market of the mid-century in ways that both benefited and imperilled the female writer.

PERILAKU MENCUCI TANGAN MAHASISWA BERASRAMA DAN DERAJAT KEBERSIHAN TANGAN: INDIKASI PROGRAM PENCEGAHAN INFEKSI FEKAL-ORAL

ABSTRAK Peneliti melakukan pengamatan terhadap pola hidup bersih sehat mahasiswa Universitas Advent Indonesia yang tinggal di asrama secara berkoloni yang selalu berhubungan satu dengan yang lain sehingga menjadi rentan terhadap penularan penyakit. Tujuan dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui perilaku cuci tangan dan kebersihan tangan mahasiswa berasrama. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pra eksperimental dengan pre-test dan post-test design dengan uji paired t-test dimana jumlah bakteri ditangan responden diukur sebelum dan sesudah mencuci tangan setelah defekasi, kemudian diberi penyuluhan tentang cuci tangan dan infeksi fekal oral. Responden dalam penelitian ini adalah 20 orang mahasiswi yang dipilih secara accidental sampling. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukan mahasiswa berasrama berasrama yang bertempat tinggal di Ruth Hall lantai 2 jarang melakukan praktik cuci tangan. Jumlah bakteri yang tertinggal setelah defekasi adalah 1.89 koloni/cm2 sebelum cuci tangan, dan 0.89 koloni/cm2 setelah cuci tangan. Gangguan fekal oral yang dialami responden adalah diare dengan presentasi 55% atau dialami oleh 11 orang responden. Frekuensi diare terbanyak adalah 1x (30%), 2x (15%), 3x (10%), dan tidak pernah (45%). Ada perbedaan yang signifikan antara jumlah bakteri pada tangan sebelum pencucian dengan sabun dengan jumlah bakteri pada tangan setelah pencucian dengan sabun. Promosi kesehatan untuk menggalakkan gerakan cuci tangan sebagai pencegahan penyakit menular dalam komunitas, dengan karakteristik hidup berasrama (koloni) dinilai sangat perlu dilakukan.  Kata kunci: Cuci Tangan, Infeksi Fekal Oral  ABSTRACT Conducted observations of clean healthy lifestyle of students who live in dormitories of Universitas Advent Indonesia found that they are in touch with each other so that it becomes susceptible to disease transmission as it is true to the collony living. The purpose of this research is to know the practice of handwashing and the degree of hand hygiene of students in boarding school. The method used in this study is a pre experimental with pre-test and post-test design with paired t-test where the number of bacteria in the hands of the respondents was measured before and after washing hands after defecation, then followed by health education about hand washing and fecal-oral infection. Respondents in this study were 20 female students selected by accidental sampling. The results of this study indicate that the boarding students who reside in Ruth Hall 2nd floor rarely do the hand washing practices. The mean number of bacteria after defecation is 1.89 colonies cm2 prior to washing hands, and 0.89 colonies/cm2 after hand washing. The fecal-oral disorders experienced by respondents is diarrhea which experienced by 55% or 11 respondents. The incidence of diarrhea reported is 1x (experineced by 30%), 2x (experineced by 15%), 3x (experienced by 10%), and never (45%). There are significant differences between the number of bacteria on hands before washing with soap by the number of bacteria on the hands after washing with soap. Health promotion to promote hand washing movement as prevention of infectious diseases in the community, with the characteristics of boarding life (colonies) is considered very necessary. Keywords: Hand Washing, Faecal Oral Infection

Vertical Transmission, May 2006

I look forward to seeing you at the ASM Annual Scientific Meeting in the Gold Coast from 2-6 July. The scientific programme is very exciting and is headed by Rubbo Orator, Professor Ruth Hall and Fenner Lecturer, A/Prof. Rick Cavicchioli, and features a plenary lecture entitled Infections & cancer ? opportunities & challenges by Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer. In addition, you can learn how to communicate with the media from the American Society for Microbiology?s Communications Director, Barbara Hyde. Escape the depths of winter and join us in July for some high quality science and a little sun; it is not too late to register