{"id":1910,"date":"2015-08-21T15:02:27","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T19:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=1910"},"modified":"2015-08-21T15:02:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T19:02:27","slug":"hoppy-kercheval-coca-cola-and-the-west-virginia-university-school-of-public-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=1910","title":{"rendered":"Hoppy Kercheval Coca Cola and the West Virginia University School of Public Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Hoppy Kercheval is host of the popular West Virginia radio talk show &#8212; Talkline.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The show runs weekdays from 10 am to 12 noon statewide on the West Virginia Metronews Radio Network.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v8D3y2y_iqA\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kercheval\u2019s politics run right of center, but he\u2019s considered a fair and balanced host.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On Fridays at 11:30, Kercheval opens the phones to his listeners in a segment he calls Steam Release.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">During Steam Release, listeners can call in and vent their frustrations on any topic they like &#8212; and Hoppy says he won\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cYou can do your mini-monologue,\u201d Kercheval told his listeners this morning. \u201cPractice it, organize your thoughts, what needs to be said &#8212; punch it hard. And if you want, you can punch me. And I\u2019ll take it. I will not respond. I will not respond. I\u2019ll take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But this morning, Kercheval reneged on his promise to not respond and to take whatever came his way.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">And he cut off a caller &#8212; twice.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I know, because I was the caller.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I was not happy with the news, <a href=\"http:\/\/well.blogs.nytimes.com\/2015\/08\/09\/coca-cola-funds-scientists-who-shift-blame-for-obesity-away-from-bad-diets\/\">first reported earlier this month in the New York Times,<\/a> that Coca-Cola had given money to Gregory Hand, now the dean of the West Virginia School of Public Health, to fund a non-profit group &#8212; the Global Energy Balance Network &#8212; to promote the view that \u201cweight-conscious Americans are overly fixated on how much they eat and drink while not paying enough attention to exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Health experts say this message is misleading and part of an effort by Coke to deflect criticism about the role sugary drinks have played in the spread of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, the Times reported.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The health experts contend that the company is \u201cusing the new group to convince the public that physical activity can offset a bad diet despite evidence that exercise has only minimal impact on weight compared with what people consume,\u201d the Times reported.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cCoca-Cola had provided significant funding to Dr. Hand, who left the University of South Carolina last year for West Virginia,\u201d the Times reported. \u201cThe company gave him $806,500 for an \u2018energy flux\u2019 study in 2011 and $507,000 last year to establish the Global Energy Balance Network.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt is unclear how much of the money, if any, ended up as personal income\u201d for Dr. Hand, the Times reported.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I called in to Steam Release, got on the air, and started talking about the money from Coca-Cola to set up the Global Energy Balance Network and said that Dr. Hand should resign or be fired.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But then the phone went dead.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I heard Kercheval say &#8212; \u201cI just cut him off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I called back in, thinking that Kercheval accidentally cut me off.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I was put back on the air, started speaking, and was again cut off.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cDon\u2019t do pejorative, personal attacks on Steam Release, okay?\u201d Kercheval said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Calling for the head of the West Virginia School of Public Health to resign for taking money from Coca-Cola to set up a foundation to mislead the public about public health is a \u201cpejorative, personal attack\u201d?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">And what about &#8212; \u201cpunch it hard and I will not respond &#8212; I will take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe Coca-Cola Company is a key cause of the epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes that plagues our nation,\u201d said Gary Ruskin co-director of the Oakland, California based public interest group U.S. Right to Know. \u201cThe Global Energy Balance Network is a corporate front group for Coca-Cola. \u00a0It is wrong for a professor of a public health school to help establish a corporate front group to protect Coca-Cola and its profits. \u00a0It is especially wrong for a dean to do so. Dean Hand should be fired or should resign immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">My point exactly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hoppy Kercheval is host of the popular West Virginia radio talk show &#8212; Talkline. The show runs weekdays from 10 am to 12 noon statewide on the West Virginia Metronews Radio Network. Kercheval\u2019s politics run right of center, but he\u2019s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=1910\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}