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Susan's long trail

December 15, 2005 - For many people, Susan Butcher is the face of Alaska. She is the face of ruggedness, of perseverance. She is one of the most recognizable faces of the Iditarod and reminds fans of an era of gloriously intense rivalry between dog mushing champions.

She now happens to be the face of acute myelogenous leukemia, and if her face alone brings even half as much celebrity to the issues of leukemia and bone marrow registries as it has to Alaska and dog driving, those issues will benefit greatly.

People of celebrity have a unique ability to benefit the efforts at finding cures or treatments for the illnesses and injuries that have struck them. The initial news of a celebrity's illness or injury itself brings positive attention to whatever has befallen them, but some make further use of their position to help others who found themselves in similar misfortune. They certainly aren't obligated to do so, and some may not have the strength to do so, but when they do, they can make a tremendous difference.

The examples are many.

The actor Christopher Reeves suffered a devastating spinal cord injury that brought much public attention to the cause of spinal injury research. Former NBA star Magic Johnson has lived, thrived, for more than a decade with HIV and has become an activist for HIV/AIDS prevention among minorities. Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali has Parkinson's disease, and his name greets people at the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. Former President Ronald Reagan brought previously unimaginable attention to Alzheimer's disease when he announced he was a victim.

And so it might be, though perhaps on not so grand a scale, with Susan Butcher and leukemia. GCI, Ms. Butcher's longtime sponsor, plans to donate money to the Blood Bank of Alaska to help pay for the bank's Dec. 30 statewide bone marrow donor drive that ultimately could benefit more than just Ms. Butcher. That's because people who are tested through the blood bank will have their names and type information entered into a national bone marrow database. Ms. Butcher, in an interview shortly after announcing she had leukemia, was already thinking beyond herself when she expressed a hope that Alaska Natives will participate in the donor drive and have their names added to the national registry. Few Alaska Natives are registered, she said.

The celebrity of Susan Butcher stands to benefit someone, somewhere, who is needing a bone marrow transplant. Dave Monson, Ms. Butcher's husband, emphasizes the point: "[T]hey have the possibility to save someone else's life. This process is so important, and this call for help is for everybody who needs a bone marrow donor."

Alaskans and fans of Susan Butcher everywhere wish her and her family the best as they combat her leukemia.

Mesothelioma Search Engine to Consolidate Medical and Legal Information

New lung cancer search engine provides information on medical and legal web sites for those researching this asbestos-caused killer cancer

Minneapolis, MN, February 25, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- On the one-year anniversary of the launch of their Vioxx Search Engine, Nielsen Technical Services today announced the launch of their Mesothelioma Search Engine.

Niche search engines or vertical search engines have increased in popularity, but the time and expense of creating and maintaining a search engine for a highly vertical segment of an available search audience is generally not a good investment financially. When asked about the financial viability of such a site, owner Chris Nielsen said, We have some interested parties that would like to be associated with us and are exploring those options, but will not compromise our values for the sake of making a buck. The massive amount of money the asbestos and mesothelioma lawyers are spending have resulted in a feeding frenzy which has spawned thousands of sites and millions of pages of fluff, trash, and recycled content. I admit our site is expected to carry ads at some point, but that is not the reason for creating the site.

Nielsen was then asked the reason for creating such a site. I just could not find a central source to go for information where sites were not bidding or competitively optimizing for position and search engine ranking. Search engines are fighting to maintain relevancy but they are having problems. Many scraper sites are only looking to get visitors that will click on ads to reach real content. If you try a search for mesothelioma it should be clear what the problem is.

As with their Vioxx medical and legal search engine, Mesothelioma Search Engine will carry no paid search engine results or paid inclusion of sites. The site has a form for visitors to suggest sites. The list of sites included in the index is posted on the site and available for download, a feature not offered by other search engines.

The company is indexing selected sites for those looking for more information such as patients, researchers, families, doctors, pharmacists, students, and those in the legal profession. This site is offered as a public service for those looking for information related to medical and legal information on mesothelioma lung cancer, or asbestos lung cancer for which there is no cure and is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers or asbestos dust.

About Nielsen Technical Services
The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has been providing computer and software services since 1988. The Internet has transformed the company from a hardware services company into Internet consulting and specializes in search engine optimization.

Contact:
Chris Nielsen
Mesothelioma Search Engine
952-943-0170

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