Lift Up Your Hearts!

Although most children apparently handle roseola with little difficulty, for others an HHV-6 infection can be devastating, often swiftly fatal. Furthermore, just as chicken pox (another herpesvirus, HHV-3) sometimes resurfaces as painful shingles after years of lying dormant in the body, HHV-6 can reactivate. Research is still in the preliminary stages, but reactivated HHV-6 infections have been implicated in a wide range of serious illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, some cancers and mental illnesses, and an array of other neurological or immune system diseases.

The Virus Within is not only a frightening medical thriller, it’s a sad object lesson in the politics of medical investigation, which I glimpsed briefly in my research laboratory days. As much as we would like to believe that the governmental agencies responsible for overseeing our health, and the academic institutions pursuing the conquest of disease, are primarily interested in truth and the benefit of mankind, in reality the support, funding, and publication of scientific research is tainted by politics, self-seeking, and prejudice at all levels.

I found The Virus Within to be frightening and frustrating, but not discouraging. It has strengthened my opinion that the most serious “health care crisis” in the United States is not lack of universal medical insurance, nor litigation and high malpractice rates, nor the vagaries of managed care. It is that we depend too much on the blessings of medical and technological breakthroughs, to the neglect of critical lifestyle concerns. HHV-6, like so many other diseases, preys primarily on those with weakened immune systems. Very few of us can influence governmental health policies or make medical breakthroughs, but most of us can take steps to strengthen our immune systems.

Eat healthy foods. Avoid junk food. Exercise more. Have a positive attitude. Breastfeed your babies (good for their immune systems and yours!). Get plenty of rest. Drink plenty of water. Minimize your exposure to harsh chemicals (smoke, pollution, food additives). Avoid legal drugs whenever possible and illegal drugs at all times. Drink alcohol only in moderation. Practice sexual restraint (an act of rebellion against modern culture if there ever was one, but you will save your immune system from a host of assaults). Smile a lot. Practice forgiveness. Reserve your anger for injustice against others rather than yourself, and even then indulge in it only when you can translate it into action. Meditate on the good, the true, and the beautiful. Make music. Do whatever is necessary to strengthen your family life. Turn off the television. Learn to appreciate silence. Read an uplifting book. Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Reassess your schedule, your job, your expectations, and your priorities. Know the difference between healthy and unhealthy stress. Consider getting your food more from “organic,” or “natural” sources, and less from factory farms with their artificial fertilizers and feed, their added hormones and antibiotics, and their highly-stressed animals. Take a long walk in the woods or by the ocean. Hug a child. Spent time with uplifting, optimistic people. Think more of others than you do of yourself. Relax. Look at the sky. Count your blessings.

Valencia Community College professor John Scolaro raises some interesting questions in his discussion of the state-mandated display of American flags in public college classrooms. “What value does the placement of an American flag have within the context of any classroom?” he asks. Very little, I would agree. It’s a silly law, like many of the bureaucratic rules that bedevil our country. Equally ridiculous, however, is the thought that such a flag poses an impediment to free speech and controversial dialogue.

“Who would dare criticize America with a flag shimmering in your face?” Just about anyone! Having grown up in the 60’s and 70’s, with flags in every classroom and the Pledge of Allegiance recited every morning, did not hinder my generation from criticizing America with great vigor, in class and out.

“Suppose I decide to blow my nose on one of the flags, or remove it from its holder, or even burn it. What then?” Then, Professor Scolaro, you would be rude, uncivilized, and unworthy of the teaching profession. Long ago I decided not to participate in group recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, but never doubted that basic human courtesy requires me to stand, quietly and respectfully, in the presence of others for whom the exercise is meaningful.

When the startled mother approached the teacher, asking her to clear up this obvious misunderstanding, she was berated for "pushing" her child. What she did at home was her business, of course, but such behavior certainly wasn't going to be encouraged at school. There were children of many different levels in the class, she was told, and it was important that they "all catch up to each other in school."

It's tempting to dismiss this as an aberration, an isolated problem with one particular, crackpot teacher. I know a number of teachers who will be as appalled by this as I was. However, this is not the first time I've run into the attitude that the purpose of kindergarten is to get all children on the same level. In practice that philosophy is at least as much about holding some children back as it is about bringing others forward, resulting in a bland mediocrity.

I couldn't say that our own children were actively discouraged from learning, except insofar as school required so much of their time and gave so little in return. Certainly they were not encouraged to learn very much. One of our daughters, thanks to her avid curiosity and an older sibling, entered kindergarten knowing as much about mathematics as most children several grades above her. When she left public school at the end of second grade, she had gained almost nothing mathematically—and this in a decent, suburban school with good, caring teachers. Her mathematical ability meant only that her teachers had more time to spare for the rest of the class; encouraging her to learn material beyond her grade level was not even considered. Another teacher, learning of her plight, sneaked her an unused workbook from a higher grade, which fed her happy hunger for a while—but only at home.

Not that this is a new problem. In my elementary school days, nearly half a century ago, school officials explicitly told parents not to interfere in any way with their children's schooling. Education was to be left to the professionals, never attempted at home, leaving children all the more at the mercy of whatever their schools chose to teach—or not teach.

That's the intriquing title of an article by Vigen Guroian, a professor at Loyola College in Baltimore, who warns that unsuspecting parents have been "persuaded that they must send their children to college with no questions asked, when in fact this [is] the near-equivalent of committing their sons and daughters to one of the circles of Dante's Inferno." That comment is only slightly less blunt than the title of a book I heard about but never read, I Spent $75000 To Send My Child To Hell!

The article is lengthy but valuable, and you can read it here. According to what I hear from my own campus spies, Dr. Guroian is unfortunately more accurate than not. I once laughed when I read about a college at which the lack of dormitories was a matter of principle; now I recognize a noble attempt to swim against the sweeping tide. Perhaps it is time to rethink the entire college experience, to heed John Holt's advice and ask ourselves, "Where are we trying to get, and are we getting there?"

Update 5 April 2009  The link to the essay on why the college does not provide dormitories no longer works, so I have removed it, but the school in question is New Saint Andrews in Moscow, Idaho.

David Hahn was not an ordinary teenaged boy, but a brilliant mind trapped in an unfortunate life. Long before David began playing with radioactive materials, his nuclear family experienced its own meltdown. He had two parents, two step-parents, a step-sister, numerous schoolteachers, a Scout troop, and plenty of fellow students, but none of them realized how bright and determined he was. He told them what he was doing, but no one believed him.

It’s a fascinating tale, so the book should be hard to put down. Instead, I found it hard to wade through. The basic story must be teased out from the midst of the author’s diatribes against nuclear power, the Boy Scouts, and anyone with a positive attitude toward scientific progress. Some of his logic is so bizarre as to be almost amusing: The Boy Scouts are to blame for David’s actions because they have an Atomic Energy merit badge. Scouting is an evil institution because Lord Baden-Powell, its founder, was opposed to masturbation. It’s not surprising that no one recognized David’s genius, because he was a bad speller. Real geniuses get good grades and channel their scientific inquisitiveness into school-sponsored activities.

What a change this morning! Suddenly the air pouring through my open office window has a welcome chill, driving off the computer-generated warmth. Time to switch back to long pants, maybe even break out some soup and our Christmas hot chocolate. Alas that the cooler weather that brings blessing to us brings hardship to more northern climes!

If you are looking for general information about World Vision, or to donate to something other than tsunami relief, you will not currently find it at www.worldvision.org, which is usually their main website. Clicking there now sends you automically to the World Vision page at Kintera. My guess is that this is for a very good reason: that World Vision's normal website was so swamped with donations after the tsunami that they had to seek outside help. That's good news, indeed!

However, there are other distressed people and places in the world, and you can still reach out to them (as well as to tsunami victims) through World Vision's Ways to Give gateway. This takes you to a general donation page, from which you can choose further elaboration of the "child sponsorship," "basic needs," "emergency aid," and "gift catalog" categories. In a way, the whole website is a gift catalog. I'll admit, this is somewhat of a gimmick, but I love it! I want my charitable donations to be more personal and have less of the feel of a business transaction, and being able to chose to give a goat, or a well, or Bibles, or medical supplies, etc. does that for me.

Some reasons I like World Vision International, taken from their answer to the question, "Why Donate to World Vision?":

• World Vision has long experience in Asia. The organization has worked in the region for more than 40 years, responding to emergencies as well as conducting long-term, sustainable programs that lift families out of poverty. World Vision works in nearly all of the countries most affected by the tsunami.


• World Vision is effective on the ground. More than 3,700 World Vision staff—many of them nationals—live and work in the Asian countries devastated by the tsunami. They were assisting victims within hours of the disaster. These workers speak the local language and understand customs. Their relationships with leaders and communities are based on mutual trust.


• World Vision is accountable. World Vision carefully monitors and reviews programs and costs, uses donations and grants for their intended purposes, and looks for ways to leverage funds. World Vision strives to keep its overhead rate low. Last year, 87 percent of the total revenue directly benefited children and families in need.


• World Vision is motivated by faith. Motivated by faith in Jesus Christ, World Vision workers serve the poor as a demonstration of God's unconditional love for all people.


• World Vision does not discriminate. World Vision serves the world's poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. Staff understand and respect the cultures in which they work.

Since amyloid plaques are also present in the brains of people afflicted with the human form of mad cow disease and other spongiform encephalopathies, this finding may be of even wider importance.

Yee-Ha! I just pushed Florida past Wisconsin to take over the #33 spot in the Geography Olympics. Pennsylvania (#31) here we come!

When I started keeping track, Florida was down at #45, so I feel that I (and many others) have made good progress. Currently Nebraska is #1 (Andy must be helping out.)

This is a great game for learning geography, though it does require patience (many games) and/or iniative (studying a world map between games), because the program itself doesn't tell you the true location of the country you guessed wrong. I know I've learned much, although I'm still shaky on the countries of the former Soviet Union, and the Pacific island nations.

Thanks, Jon, for introducing us to the Geography Olympics!