Self Help Nation/Alzheimer's Cafe/Giving 101

If you’re in the mood for a little self-improvement at the start of the year, you’ll have no trouble finding guides; there are at least 45,000 self-help books currently in print. They run the gamut: the self-made man, mind-cures, chicken soup, subliminal messages and Zen meditation. They’re published in dozens of languages, but self-help books are predominately an American phenomenon.  To explain why, we turn to Laura Vanderkam, author of “The Paperback Quest for Joy”.

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Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia can strip away memory, sometimes even dignity, and can isolate even the most outgoing individual. There’s no cure for the brain disorder, but now, patients and those who care for them are finding relief at something called the Alzheimer’s Café. Todd Bookman has the story.

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Last semester, students attending a course on philanthropy at University of Pennsylvania’s Urban Studies Department were given one-hundred thousand dollars to dispense to area non-profits.  Yesterday, Virginia Prescott caught up with Doug Bauer, Executive Director at the Clark Foundation – who co-teaches the course alongside Greg Goldman, Vice President of Development at the non-profit Philadelphia Zoo.