Letters: A ‘new and improved’ normal; Community well served by Mount Nittany Health
‘Dune’ lessons on a mob
In Frank Herbert’s book “Dune” (1965), the Fremen chief Stilgar says:
“A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few individuals, and a people reverts to a mob.”
A ‘new and improved’ normal
Almost nothing frustrates me more these days than hearing someone say, “I can’t wait to go back to normal.” There is no going “back to normal.” In the past year we, as a people, have learned so much about ourselves, our infrastructures, our relationships, and our priorities that going backward would be disastrous. Learning is a forward-movement enterprise. We learn from our mistakes. We learn from our experiences. We learn from our failures. We learn from one another. Post COVID-19 will most certainly be different. We will interact with one another very cautiously, whether from fear of infection or fear of dissimilarities. We will remind ourselves, daily, what isolation felt like and enthusiastically create joy and happiness by appreciating one another and each person’s special talents. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a notorious hugger. Being physically separated from others was particularly hard. But I learned there are ways to let other people know I care, that they matter, and each one of them is critically important in my life and the life of my community. The “new normal” should be very different. It should be “new and improved.” It should require conscious change of behavior and attitude. If not, COVID-19 and the last year’s experiences have been for naught.
Community well served by Mount Nittany Health
Our community is extremely blessed to have the competent and caring professionals at Mount Nittany Health (MNH) who, under the excellent leadership of CEO Kathleen Rhine, offer a myriad of health and wellness services. Over the past several years, I have had the pleasure to interact with the administration and staff at MNH on three very critical community needs, all of which MNH readily engaged with our community and offered to provide services to address these needs.
The three areas include MNH volunteered to staff, operate, and financially support the Child Advocacy Center of Centre County which they have done since 2013. Secondly, Dr. Tiffany Cabibbo and Dr. Brian Newcomb served on the Task Force on Mental Health Crisis Services in 2019/2020. Lastly, over the past year, Tom Charles has and continues to very capably represent MNH in engaging Penn State/Centre Region/Centre County stakeholders in collaborating on strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most recently, MNH established a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to serve the community. Based on my own, first-hand experience, the manner in which this clinic is operated is outstanding and very efficient. The entire vaccine process is a “well-oiled machine.” The professionalism and caring demeanor of the clinic staff is obvious and makes the patients very comfortable.
Fortunately, MNH does not limit their role to only providing traditional medical services but have consistently shown the desire, ability, and excellence in providing broad health and wellness services for the community.
Thank you, Mount Nittany Health.
Reality of Trump 2024?
Donald Trump’s CPAC speech and a reminder of his Jan. 6 lovefest won me over. And let’s make sure he brings along Betsy DeVos so we can get rid of socialist public education. And wouldn’t “Trial by Combat” Rudy make a great Attorney General!
Only white refuge cities will receive federal funding. No immigrants allowed. We will outlaw scientific inquiry. Forget separation of church and state. Three branches of government – two too many. And who needs voting when we can vote with our feet, clubs and flags ... after every lovefest. And on the local front let’s make sure Corman, Benninghoff, Keller and Thompson remain in office to help him out.
I just can’t wait for 2024.