Rodney Lewis Merrill
10828 SE 184th Lane C103
Renton WA 98055-7128
(206) 255-0661
e-mail: Rodney Merrill
SUMMARY
My publication credits include nature writing, poetry, creative essay, personal experience, and expository nonfiction in the fields of psychology, environmental health, personal health and fitness, cooking, and country living. Also reviews new health education media, general interest books, and new magazines.
I have contributed features to The Slate, Humanity and Society, Backwoods Home Magazine, Ruralite Magazine, Media Profiles, Worcester Magazine, New Times Magazine, National Beauty School Journal, Self-Employed America, Columbia Pacific University Abstracts, Buenaventura Daily, Ventura County & Coast Reporter, Santa Barbara Independent.
I was born in New Hampshire and raised sometimes there and sometimes in Massachusetts. I have spent significant periods in Wisconsin, California, Oregon, and Washington state.
EDUCATION:
1976 B.A. Sociology, Humboldt State University, Aracata, CA.
1980 M.A. Psychology (Social and Philosophical) Columbia Pacific University, San Raphel, CA
1983 Ph.D. Applied Psychology (Creativity and Business) Columbia Pacific University, San Raphel, CA
1989 M.P.H. Health Education, California State University, Northridge CA
PUBLICATIONS
The Many Ways to Earn a College Degrees. Backwoods Home Magazine, Issue No. 36, Winter (November/December) 1995.
To Edward Hoagland: The Meaning of Frogs. World Wide Web site http://www1.mhv.net/~omi/frogs.htm (Walt Carrol, publisher).
To Edward Hoagland: The Meaning of Frogs. The Slate, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Fall (October) 1995.
Long Distance Learning. Ruralite Magazine, Volume 42, No. 9 (all editions) September 1995.
The Corner College: Back to School from Home. Self-Employed America, Vol. 7, No. 4, July/August 1995.
Creative Advertising: Wise Marketing Moves Save Wasted Ad Dol- lars. Self-Employed America, Volume 2, No. 4, 1990.
Elegant Communications: A Skill that Makes Dollars and Sense. National Beauty School Journal, January 1990.
Earth Day. Ruralite Magazine. Volume 37, No. 4, 1990.
Remove the Toxic Waste Dump from Your Home: Switch to Making Your Own "Natural" Household Cleaning Agents. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Global Warming: Causes and Solutions. Backwoods Home Magazine.
As the Green Revolution Lose Credibility, Organic Gardening Makes a Comeback! Backwoods Home Magazine.
Bout with Drought: Two Ecologically Responsible Alternatives -- Xeriscaping and Graywater Reclamation. New Times Magazine.
The Bout with Drought: Law says "Greywater" Reclamation is Black- and-White Issue. Backwoods Home Magazine.
A Greenhouse Offer Advantages for the Organic Gardener. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Country Water Treatment. Ruralite Magazine.
A Backwoods Water Supply: How to Tell if It's Safe. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Toxins on Tap: The Facts Are Hard to Swallow. New Times Magazine.
Making Water Fit to Drink: How to Select an Appropriate Technolo- gy. Backwoods Home Magazine.
A Well Water Update! Backwoods Home Magazine.
Preparing for the Big One. New Times Magazine.
A Quake Preparation Primer. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Preparing Yourself for Springtime Floods. Baackwoods Home Maga- zine.
How to Deal with Hypthermia. Backwoods Home Magazine.
In Spite of DEET or Permethrin (or anything else) the Mosquito Still reigns Supreme. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Lethal Attractions: Children in Most Danger from Scorpion, Spider, and Snake Bites. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Ticks and Lyme Disease -- A Crippling Combination That is Diffi- cult to Detect. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Botulism: A Scary Word for a Rare Disease. New Times Magazine.
Some Healthy Advice About Canning and Botulism. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Infant Botulism: Babies and Honey Don't Mix. New Times Magazine.
Botulism Update for Babies. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Nosophobia -- the Dread of Disease: Now That a New Oat Bran Study Has Debunked All the Old Studies, It's Time to Study the Studies! Backwoods Home Magazine.
Death Row Placebo: The Controversy Over AZT Testing. New Times Magazine.
Exercise and Weight Loss: The Natural Combination. Worcester Magazine.
Facts About Fat: An Ex-Dieter's Notebook (six-part series). Ventura County & Coast Reporter.
Down with Dieting. New Times Magazine.
Starving to Fit: Can Dieting be Worse than Staying Fat?
Don't Eat Your Heart Out: Dieting Can Make You Fat! New Times Magazine.
Metabolism as a Thermostat. New Times Magazine.
Just Eat It! Quality of Food is More Important to Weight Control than Quantity. New Times Magazine.
Just Move It! Light Those Metabolic Fires with Excercise. New Times Magazine.
Virtues of Vitamins: A Megadose of Warning. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Virtues of Vitamins: A Megadose of Warning. Ventura County & Coast Reporter.
Everything You Know About Vitamins is Wrong. New Times Magazine.
Fiber Frenzy: Aye for Fiber, but Nix that Wooden Bread! Ventura County and Coast Reporter.
Fiber -- the Fact and the Fiction. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Fiber Frenzy: All the New That's Fit to Eat. New Times Magazine.
Fish -- Praise for a Once-Perfect Food. Backwoods Home Magazine.
A Yurt Was the Housing Answer for Geri Rose. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Making an Independent Living: Teaching Adults to Read. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Making an Independent Living: Caring for Children. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Nursing: The #1 Country Career or Business Opportunity for Men and Women. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Physician Assistant: A Country Career with Opportunities Galore. Backwoods Home Magazine.
A Short Course in Cutting Hair at Home. Backwoods Home Magazine.
New England Wit-Craft (humor). New Times Magazine.
Confessions of a Compulsive Tinkerer (humor). Buenaventura Daily.
Blood and Guts, Do-si-do (humor poetry). Backwoods Home Magazine.
Asylum (poetry). Santa Barbara Independent.
Sandy (short fiction). Buenaventura Daily.
REVIEWS
The New Solar Electric Home. A book review. Backwoods Home Magazine.
The Solar Electric Independent Home Book. A book review. Back- woods Home Magazine.
Practical Voltaics. A book review. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Debunking Disease Myths: a review of Diseasing of America. New Times Magazine.
Cholesterol Redux: a review of Heart Failure. New Times Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Home Power Magazine. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Smallholder. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Out West. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Friendly Exchange. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Ruralite Magazine. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Garbage. Backwoods Home Magazine.
Good Publications: a review of Factsheet Five. Backwoods Home Magazine.
The Survivors: Family Challenges and Triumphs After Brain Injury. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
The Survivors: Coping With Loss After Brain Injury. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
The Survivors: Managing Changes to Roles and Relationships After Brain Injury. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
The Survivors: Balancing Dependence and Independence After Brain Injury. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
The Survivors: Communication Challenges After Brain Injury. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
TB or Not TB: New Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Forging the Doctor-Patient Relationship. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Doctor-Patient Partnership: Issues in Clinical Practice. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Lyme Disease: Danger in the Grass. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
On the Brink: AIDS Chronicle. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Inheriting Alcoholism. A media review. Media Profiles. (Health Sciences Edition).
Face to Face on AIDS. A media review. Media Profiles.(Health Sciences Edition).
Fact vs. Fear: AIDS in the Workplace. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Finding the Way: AIDS and Home Health Services. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
AIDS: A Global Approach. A media review. Media Profiles. (Health Sciences Edition).
Peter, Donald, Willie, Pat. A media review. Media Profiles. (Health Sciences Edition).
Promises to Keep. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Mr. Nobody. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
A Time to Die: Who Decides? A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Playing it Safe. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
No Baby Now. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Can I Drink the Water? A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Water Supply and Sanitation in Development: People and Problems. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Water Supply and Sanitation in Development: Problems and Solu- tions. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
Water Supply and Sanitation in Development: Solutions and People. A media review. Media Profiles (Health Sciences Edition).
PROFESSIONAL/ACADEMIC WRITING PROJECTS
Eryka's Story: Using Communications Technology to Maintain Family Support. Nursing Notes (a publication of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin).
Cash Connection: Looking in on the Small-time Fence Hustler. Humanity and Society.
Out of Order: A Parable with Many Footnotes. Project Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Creativity and Business) at Columbia Pacific University (San Rafael, California).
The Painting of Birds: Psychiatric Labeling as a Social Problem in a Democratic Society. A thesis submitted in partial fulfill- ment of the requirement for the Master of Arts in Psychology (Social and Philosophical) at Columbia Pacific University (San Rafael, California).
Evaluation Design Workbook for A Senior Peer Counseling Program. Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Public Health in Health Education, California State University at Northridge. Adopted by Jewish Family Services of Ventura County as an accreditation guide.
Planning for Excellence: Report on the Investigation of Minority Recruitment at the Ventura Learning Center of California State University, Northridge and Recommendations for a Community Action Plan. Department of Health Science, California State University at Northridge.
Acid Rain: The Social/Political Economy of Ecology. Department of Health Science, California State University at Northridge.
Preliminary Assessment of Need for Stress Management Education Among Nurses at St. John's Hospital. St. John's Hospital, Oxnard, California.
Excellence Without Stress: A Comprehensive Curriculum Guide for a Stress Management Workshop for Nurses. St. John's Hospital, Oxnard, California.
Excellence Without Stress: A Mediated Instructor Training Pro- gram. Department of Health Science, California State University at Northridge.
Poverty Amidst Affluence: Report of the Ventura County Task Force on the Elderly Poor in Thousand Oaks, California. Submitted to the City of Thousand Oaks. Department of Health Science, Califor- nia State University at Northridge.
Will Health Educators Become Hucksters for the New Medical- Industrial Complex? A Task Force Report on the Public Health Tradition in an Era of Privatization and Retrenchment. Department of Health Science, California State University at Northridge.
The Social Construction of Illness: Is health education just another paramedical instrument? Department of Health Science, California State University at Northridge.