Five things I accomplished last week

Dear [email protected],

You asked for 5 things that I accomplished this last week. I did a lot more than this but you asked for just FIVE, so here goes:

1. I sat with someone whose house in Ukraine was destroyed by bombs in the war;

2. I sat with a person who is terrified their grandmother will be deported even though she has lived here all of her life;

3. I called my representatives daily in support of following The Constitution, saving Democracy and sending you, Mr. Musk, back to South Africa;

4. I donated to special election candidates (1 in in NY and 2 in FL on April 1st) who care about Democracy and the Rule of Law;

5. I boycotted all the people, stores, networks, media, brands, and corporations that support this coup d’etat.

In closing, if you are looking to cut something, might I suggest looking in the mirror, and starting with the monster you see reflected back. He’s costing us trillions.

Sincerely yours,
A citizen (unlike you) and a patriot (unlike you)

Karla M Steffens
Mount Vernon

Intended Consequences

When I was in high school, many years ago, I joined one of the Explorer Club programs which were popular in the 1970s. It was basically a program meant to encourage curiosity, creative thinking, and community appreciation in our youth through hands-on activities. The intended consequences of these programs were to encourage young people to become thoughtful and confident civic-minded adults. The group I belonged to would meet monthly in the home of a National Park Service Ranger in the Quad Cities. We would learn about the ranger’s job and them embark on such activities as cleaning up park trails or working at deer check stations, where we would record the number and ages of the deer the hunters would bring in, (we could tell the approximate ages of the deer by looking at the teeth).

What I remember most about those days was the passion with which our ranger leader, (sadly I can no longer remember his name), took us under his wing and shared with us his love of the park and the joys and trials his job afforded him. It sparked in me my own love of nature and the sciences. So much so, in fact, that I went on to receive a biology degree from Iowa State University. In the end, instead of becoming a park ranger myself, I learned that what I really enjoyed was working in a laboratory. My career eventually took me to the University of Utah, where I worked in the research lab of a world-renowned cardiologist who pioneered the use of beta blockers in patients with heart failure.

From what I can tell, the intended consequence of decreased funding for the National Park Service is a reduction in taxes. I won’t pretend to know just how much that reduction is. And I know there are people who could use a tax break.

Here’s the thing: we can’t really quantify the true effects that the continued downsizing of the National Park Service will have. Of course, there are the obvious ones we can all think of. And it’s true that I was just one of many researchers and doctors who studied the role of beta blockers in heart failure. But, If you or a loved one is or are taking a beta blocker, (and if you or they have heart failure you most likely are), then in some small way you can thank a Ranger of The National Park Service.

Jana Klein
Mount Vernon