HAVE WE CHANGED THE WORLD

2010-08-01T19:48:32-04:00

One of the things that characterized the class of '70 was not so much a desire, but an expectation that we were going to make an impact on the world, change things and make the world a better place to live. So, how have we done? We need to document what we have done: when we are gone what will our foot print look like? I trust all of us have impacted the lives of others: some for good and some for bad; but that isn’t what I'm talking about. Nor leaving children for the future to do good. What did we do? I am asking that everybody think about that and leave an example of what you have done to make that positive change. Maybe it was to add to the body of human knowledge with a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Maybe it was to affect laws or changes in various policies at a local level. That's all good. It was suggested that we should do this as a video log, and I have no problem with that, though that will take more time and energy to put together, so I'll start here and others are encouraged to add their contributions; not for the purpose of bragging, or showing up the last guy, and don’t be shy about it; just tell us what you’ve done!

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I wish I had more impact than Ive had, but I have two little things and one modest change that I can claim: I have two publications in the medical literature that will hopefully be helpful to others who follow but, more importantly. I made a change in Medicare regulations that can benefit others:

I met John when I was a second year resident, in Denver. He was in the hospital at the time, but that wasn’t unusual for him. He had worked for the railroad and been crushed between two cars, severing his spinal cord and leaving him a paraplegic with no movement or sensation below the chest. He would lay around in his nursing home bed until the skin over his sacrum would break down leaving a huge ulcer. Then he would be hospitalized for 3-6 months, where he was placed on an air-floatation mattress, relieving the pressure, and would receive treatment there until healed, then he would be returned to the nursing home, where inevitably he would break down again and be re-hospitalized. I suggested he ought to have an air-floatation bed at the nursing home all the time to prevent his bed sores. Yes, that would increase his daily costs at the nursing home, but over time would save money as he would not be in the much-more-expensive hospital. However, Medicare regulations did not cover the use of such special beds in a nursing home. I appealed to the trustees at Medicare, but to no avail; it would require an act of congress to change the rules. So, I wrote to legislators to explain the situation. It took about 18 months to get it done, but the regulations were changed, John got his air-floatation bed and his skin did not break down again. However, he did get pneumonia and died a short time later. Regardless, because of John, and my persistent efforts, Medicare beneficiaries can now get specialized beds if they meet specific criteria for them. Probably this would have happened eventually; somebody else would have thought of it and made the change, but I got to be in the right place at that right time.

RE: Reunion 2020

2010-03-15T16:21:15-04:00

HI Richard--That's an interesting idea, but we are trying to focus on THIS reunion right now. Perhaps you could talk with folks at the event and see what they think. --Roblee

Reunion 2020

2010-03-14T19:51:06-04:00

2020 will be our 50th reunion. I have enjoyed being at the 20th and 30th and look forward to the one this summer. As we go forward, and more of us are added to the "Missing Classmates" and "In Memory" lists, our numbers will diminish. That provides for a more intimate group, or we can expand it to include others. I went to the reunion last summer for the class of '69 and enjoyed seeing those folks. I bet I would enjoy seeing some from the class of '71. So, in planning for 2020, do we want to join forces with those two classes and have our reunion together? The amount of work should be less (share the responsibility for the website and facilities), but the help would be more (each class responsible for finding its own people and gathering funds for same.) Just a thought...

Shasta High School

HAVE WE CHANGED THE WORLD

RE: Reunion 2020

Reunion 2020