Hits and Misses
Volunteers from Fayette Outreach in Fayette County stood at Five Corners in Uniontown last Saturday, handing out candy, cards and other small gifts to passing motorists. The occasion? Kindness Day. The group’s been celebrating it for four years, showing random people that even a small gesture can have a big impact. Turns out kindness is also good for the heart. Literally. Scientists have found that doing something nice releases the hormone oxytocin, which in turn causes the release of the chemical nitric oxide in blood vessels. The chemical helps reduce blood pressure and protects the heart, making doing something nice a win-win for all involved.
In 1970, Pennsylvania’s system of county school superintendents was replaced by intermediate units that offer services for educators and opportunities for professional development. The first intermediate unit was in Coal Center, and it covers school districts in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. It recently marked its 50th anniversary, and the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf took notice. Dr. Noe Ortega, Pennsylvania’s education secretary, offered a tribute: “For 50 years, IU1 has innovated, offering transformative services and programs that prioritize their communities. They have overcome challenges, cultivated connections that created pathways and broken down barriers. They have changed lives.”
When it was being devastated by warfare and natural disasters, Bangladesh was dubbed “the world’s basket case” by Henry Kissinger, who was then President Richard Nixon’s national security adviser. Fifty years later, Haiti now seems to hold the title as the world’s basket case. The Caribbean nation is extremely poor and suffused with corruption, and in recent weeks it has been hit hard by COVID-19, has seen the assassination of its president, Javenal Moise, and endured a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which was followed quickly by rains, floods and mudslides brought by the tropical depression Grace. How can anyone here help? USA Today recently published a list of organizations doing their best to stem the suffering in Haiti, including UNICEF, Partners in Health, Locally Haiti, Hope for Haiti and World Central Kitchen. Haiti can certainly use all the help it can get right now.
When we engage in everyday conversation, it’s usually sufficient to let common sense guide what words you choose to use. If it’s offensive, it’s usually pretty obvious. But when students return to classes at Brandeis University in Massachusetts next week, they are being advised by the school’s Prevention Advocacy and Resource Center to avoid using such common words and phrases as “trigger warning,” because of its evocation of violence, or even “take a shot at,” or “killing it.” The words “victim,” “survivor” and “prisoner” made the list, and so did “picnic,” because of its alleged ties to Southern lynchings, but it was later removed. Writing in The Atlantic, Columbia University linguist John McWhorter aptly described the whole exercise as “distinctly callow sociological calisthenics.”