Ideas and initiatives to promote sustainability and environmental health in NYC schools.

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The common cold (also called viral rhinitis) is a viral infection, characterized by nasal congestion, a clear, runny nose, sneezing, scratchy throat and general malaise.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder of the hand (caused by swollen tendons in the wrist) resulting from repetitious, forceful motion of the hands and wrists.

What is allergy? Allergies are abnormal reactions to ordinarily harmless substances. The sensitizing substances, called allergens, may be inhaled, swallowed, or come into contact with the skin. Allergens that most frequently cause problems are...

What is epilepsy? Epilepsy (EP-uh-LEP-see) is a brain disorder. It occurs when the electrical signals in the brain are disrupted. This change in the brain leads to a seizure (SEE-zhur). Seizures can cause brief changes in a person's.

Staphylococcus is a family of common bacteria. Many people naturally carry it in their throats, and it can cause a mild infection in a healthy patient. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but is shorthand for any strain of...

Ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus that can affect the scalp, skin, fingers, toenails or foot. In New York City, ringworm is not required to be reported so that the number of people infected each year is unknown.

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial illness that causes a cough lasting several weeks.

Lice are six-legged, wingless, insect parasites of humans, mammals (cattle, pigs etc.), and birds (chicken and other birds). Lice are divided into two groups: lice found on mammals, which need blood for sustenance; and those found on birds, which...

Mumps is a viral illness that causes fever and swelling of one or more glands near the jaw. Mumps is more common during winter and spring.

Meningococcal meningitis is a severe bacterial infection of the meninges (a thin lining covering the brain and spinal cord) caused by the bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis. Meningococcemia is the term for infections involving the bloodstream...

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that causes fever and a rash. Measles is more common in winter and spring. Epidemics of measles can occur.

Infectious mononucleosis is a viral disease that affects certain types of white blood cells. It is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is a member of the herpes virus family. Most cases occur sporadically and outbreaks are rare. Infectious...

Hepatitis B (formerly known as serum hepatitis) is an infection of the liver caused by a bloodborne virus.

Rubella is a viral disease that causes fever, rash and swollen glands. Illness is usually mild, but if a woman gets rubella during pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or birth defects in her unborn child. Rubella is more common in winter...

Influenza is a viral infection of the nose, throat, bronchial tubes and lungs. There are two main types of virus: influenza A and influenza B. Each type includes many different strains, which tend to change each year. Influenza is not a reportable...

Asthma is a lung disease. There is no cure for asthma, but you can take charge and learn to control it. See the UFT's guidance and resources for educators and families.

Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella virus, a member of the herpes virus family. It is the most commonly reported childhood disease. In 1994, there were 5,977 cases reported among New York City residents (rate of 81.6...

Viral meningitis is a viral infection of the lining (meninges) covering the brain and spinal cord. There are many types of viruses that can cause this disease. There were more than 450 cases of viral meningitis reported among New York City residents...

As his fledgling union teetered on the brink of a strike, Albert Shanker was the linchpin of a last-minute settlement that laid out the goals that would dominate his thinking for the rest of his life.

Albert Shanker was born to immigrants from Czarist Russia, Morris, who delivered newspapers, and Mamie, a garment worker holding union cards in both the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union.

Jeannette DiLorenzo, was a champion of worker and senior causes who helped organize the UFT before serving as an officer of the union for many years.

It was the Depression and even the salesgirls at Macy's were required to stand 5-foot-5 and have a college degree. Rose Schuyler had the diploma, but not the reach.

In 1962, Al Shanker was after Sol Jaffe's job. The two had worked together closely in the Teachers Guild and the early UFT, with Shanker supporting Jaffe in his first bid to become the UFT's secretary. But now Jaffe had sided with the "militants" and...

Like the others who gave up their nights and weekends for the collective bargaining campaign in 1961, June Temple was a dutiful foot soldier. She could live with the long exhausting hours and no pay — not even car fare. But for some there were worse...

He hated supervisors with a serious passion. To him, all the raises in the world wouldn't change the fact that teachers were forced to work in a system he called "a thinly veiled despotism."

It's your typical August day in Washington, D.C.: One of those patented pool-of-sweat afternoons when most people have peeled off as much clothing as good taste — or at least the law — allows. But here in his small Georgetown apartment, propped up in...

Militancy lost its romance early in Fanny Simon’s life. Only a teenager, she found out that a strike doesn’t guarantee a happy ending. Her father lost his job and the family was uprooted when a strike by glove cutters was crushed.

They made for an odd couple. Henry Linville, soft-spoken and almost courtly, with neither the temperament nor talent for personal confrontation. Not so his longtime and much younger sidekick Abraham Lefkowitz. “He was a fighter,” remembers Ruben...

George Altomare, a founder of the UFT who led with insight, devotion and a great deal of heart, died on Aug. 20, at age 92 after a long illness. He loved teaching and dedicated his life to improving public school education for New York City students...

Born in 1898, Layle Lane was a toddler when a vow to lynch her Congregational minister father forced the family to flee their Marrietta, Ga. home. A graduate of Howard University with a master's from Columbia, she became a high school social studies...

By the mid-1950s it was apparent there was no shortage of rising young stars on the horizon. Still, none shone brighter than Ely Trachtenberg.

If your idea of an accountant is a conservative, number-crunching nerd, you should have known Dave Wittes.

The youngest of seven children, Martha Straus grew up on the Lower East Side. "There was no starvation but there were no luxuries either," she says. Her father and older brother took part in the 1910 cloak makers strike that came to be known as "the...