MEAT, FISH, GLUE and Sunday Dinner: Our Latest Lunch Colloquium

Al Padwa writes about the Lunch Colloquium. What was Jim Snyder talking about?

Click to read about the talk below  

Getting Together for Activities

Are you interested in getting together with other EUEC members for various types of activities? If so, read below  how you can do that.

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Most of you probably know that EUEC has been offering a series of retirement seminars for over ten years on various aspects of planning for retirement and that EUEC member Pat Douglas has been helping plan and organize those seminars.   Jeff Pennell, the Richard H. Clark Professor of Law, has given several of those seminars, and he gave another one on October 29. We are fortunate to have such experts at Emory who are also willing to talk in a practical way about their expertise to Emory faculty.

There is no way I could begin to summarize all of the advice he gave, but much of it was relevant even for those who have retired. Particularly intriguing were his recommendation of the use of trusts, rather than wills, as a primary vehicle of estate transference, his opinion that living wills are nearly worthless (as opposed to a health care power of attorney), and his comments on the implications of our longer lifespans. With respect to the latter, he mentioned that his mother is still alive at 91 and that he will probably be 70 by the time his mother's estate would pass to him--well past the time he might need any financial help from her! He thus urged consideration of generation-skipping inheritance and offered ways of providing for various contingencies. He also mentioned that he had a strong recommendation for a lawyer who could provide help with establishing trusts.

Many thanks to Jeff for such a useful seminar and to Pat for helping to organize it!

MOOCs

As I have said before, I don't think MOOCs will take the place of universities like Emory anytime soon, but I do think they represent a great educational opportunity for those seeking intellectual engagement. (MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. Click here for a more complete explanation of MOOCs, how EUEC members might want to use MOOCs, and one member's experience in taking MOOCs.)

Robert Lue was on campus last week and gave two seminars, both of which I attended. Among his many roles, he is Faculty Director of HarvardX, Harvard University's MOOC initiative, which is part of EdX. His second seminar was The Digital Evolution of the University

Safety in Aging

EUEC member Andy Nahmias recommended the articles in last week's New York Times on the danger of falls and steps one could take to minimize the dangers. (Those articles were later reprinted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.) For those of you who did not see them, you can click on the following links:

Bracing for the Falls of an Aging Nation Part 1 

Bracing for the Falls of an Aging Nation Part 2 

Steps to Avoid an Accident 

Getting Together for Activities, cont'd

Last year, when I was working in the Provost's Office, I conducted a survey of recently retired faculty. One of the questions I asked was whether respondents would be interested in getting together with other emeritus faculty for activities that could be for one event or could be ongoing. If they were interested in such activities, I asked how many would be interested in a list of particular activities. I found that of the 66 who answered this survey question, 19 would potentially be interested in some type of book club, 9 would be interested in a photography club, 11 would be interested in a group that attended music events, 14 would be interested in a group that attended theater events, 9 would be interested in a group that attended visual arts events, 22 in a group that would go to various restaurants, and 17 in a group that would organize day trips for hiking or other outdoor activities. The list of possible activities is obviously much longer.

What those results told me was that there are many members who would like to get together with other faculty for a variety of different activities. How might that happen? The EUEC office does not have the capacity, or expertise, to organize such a wide variety of activities. The people who can are you, EUEC members. The problem is being able to find one another. I have established another email listserv, EUEC-Activities, that will allow EUEC members to find others who would like to participate in the same activity. All you have to do is send email to EUEC-Activities@listserv.cc.emory.edu stating your interest in starting a photography club, or a book club, or hiking Stone Mountain, or whatever you would like to do. My survey suggests that many of you would be interested in getting together--what is lacking is someone to step forward to organize a given event. Now is your opportunity!

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"MEAT, FISH, GLUE and Sunday Dinner: Our Latest Lunch Colloquium" cont'd 

On November 4th as part of the Emeritus luncheon program, Dr. Jim Snyder from the Chemistry department at Emory presented a lecture entitled "MEAT, FISH, GLUE and Sunday Dinner."  As was pointed out during his presentation, in commercial food processing the enzyme transglutaminase is used to bond proteins together to form extensively cross-linked, insoluble protein polymers. Examples of foods made using transglutaminase as a glue include imitation crabmeat and fish balls. The enzyme is produced by fermentation in commercial quantities or else extracted from animal blood,and is used in a variety of processes, including the production of processed meat and fish products. It is often used as a binding agent to improve the texture of protein-rich foods such as surimi or ham. Transglutaminase is also employed in modern day cooking, especially in the creation of unusual foods, so as to meld new textures with existing tastes. What is generally done is to glue several small pieces of beef together using transglutaminase as a powder. After setting overnight, the "fused" loaf is sliced into portions, cooked and served. A typical picture of the resulting loaf is shown below:

Dr. Snyder pointed out that the downside of "meat gluing" is that meat has bacteria like E. coli on its surface and if small pieces are rolled and cooked rare, there is a risk of contamination by the internal surviving bacteria. Aside from this issue, TG appears to be quite safe and presents no health issue. For some additional info check out the U-tube video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXXrB3rz-xU 

Another topic covered in his presentation dealt with the fact that some sea animals such as shrimp, crayfish, lobster and salmon possess red-colored flesh. Wild salmon is naturally colored by a chemical known as astaxanthin ("Carophyll pink"), while farm raised salmon is "pink" by a combo of astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, not found in salmon but widely distributed in nature. Most consumers want great-looking and brightly-colored fish but due to cost issues the majority of salmon (70-90%) is farm raised and artificially colored. Aside from the coloration  (see photo),

there are some subtle differences

between farm-raised and wild salmon. The most important factor is that farm-raised salmon contains a lesser amount of the chemical Omega-3 which is believed to be important as an anti-inflammatory agent and has benefits for arthritis, blood pressure and lower risk of stroke. Aside from this difference (vs costs), there is little difference and hence no solid reason to fear farm-raised salmon. In contrast, tilapia (the fastest growing and most widely farmed fish) has much less omega-3 than salmon and trout. Dr. Snyder focused his talk on some of the chemical issues associated with both meat glue and red colored salmon and it's best to check out the pdf version of his slide show for more information.

--Al Padwa

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Atlanta, GA 30329