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News:
The eponymy game
Posted by Brendan Maher
[Entry posted at 19th December 2006 06:23 PM GMT]

I love a good bit of unintentional levity. One of my favorite discoveries is when an interviewee -- one of our own or even in another publication -- has a name that fits their field just a little too well. Now, call me a suspicious Aloysius, but when it happens twice in a week, in the same publication, I start getting wary. Today Jane Brody for the New York Times writes on the important exercises for maintaining health in aging baby boomers. A key source warns that unless one does "something to slow the deterioration in muscle, bone strength and agility that naturally accompanies aging," he or she will become a prime candidate for, "boomeritis."

The source: Nicholas A. DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Last week, a major news splash on the effectiveness of circumcision in reducing the risk of HIV transmission hit most major newspapers. The New York Times? Donald G. McNeil judiciously has a key source tell us that circumcision is "not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention."

The source: Kevin M. De Cock, director of H.I.V./AIDS for the World Health Organization.

A quick search reveals that both individuals are regular sources. No conspiracy here, I guess.

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