Bobby's Dead and I''m Next

The polio vaccine came in when I was in the first grade.  I knew about polio by then.  When someone in the city came down with polio, children were denied contact with anyone outside  their family for several weeks.  If polio came calling in the summer, all public swimming pools closed.   I loved the water, no swimming seemed the ultimate victory for the virus.

A mass vaccination for all children was held in Austin in the summer I was a second grader to be.   High school auditoriums were set up as vaccinations sites.  My paternal grandmother arranged for us to go with our neighbor and her son to McCallum High School.   That was fine with me.  Bobby and I played together every day.  We were best friends.

McCallum was packed.  Bobby and I took our places in line.  Adults were shooed to the other side of the auditorium, so mu grandmother and his mother deserted us.  Bobby and I were left in a line slowly moving toward the place of vaccination..  Bobby, always the brave one, went ahead of me.

I do not know how long it took us to reach the nurse delivering the shots, but it was long enough for me to build up considerable apprehension.  We had had our first shot in our elementary school, one class at a time.  There had been little time to fret about that shot.   Now, however, I had plenty of time to worry.  Bobby did not seem worried.  His nonchalance helped keep me calm.  Some kids behind us were crying

Jonas Salk vaccinating a child.

Now, we were at the vaccination station.  There were two nurses.  One giving the shot and the other comforting the last recipient of the vaccination.   Bobby stepped forward resolutely.  The nurse pushed up his sleeve a little, swabbed is arm, and injected the vaccine.

Bobby's  skin  instantly turned a translucent white.  He fell at my feet eyes closed, unmoving.  Dead, I assumed.  I could not move.  That shot had  killed my best friend.

Out of nowhere my grandmother and Bobby's mother appeared.  His mother scooped him up while my grandmother cradled his head.  They left with the body.

 Bobby was dead and I was next.  My grandmother had left me.  I was as frightened as I had ever been in my life.  I was so afraid that I did not cry.  I wanted to run, but I was frozen in place.

The helping nurse urged me forward with platitudes I do not remember.  All I remember was my heart pounding.

I managed to step to the appointed place.  The vaccinating nurse rubbed my arm with something cold, then deftly injected the vaccine.  I barely felt it.   I took a deep breath.  I was still alive,

The helping nurse patted me on my shoulder.  "You can go now."

I moved away as quickly as I dared, but I did not run.  The auditorium was large it took me a moment to spot my grandmother and Bobby's mother.  I went to them.  Between them on a bench lay Bobby.  Alive.

Bobby was a still pale, but his eyes were open.  The back of his had was resting on his mother's purse.

"Bobby's fine.  He just fainted," my grandmother said.

I said nothing.  Bobby was alive and so was I.

Texas Running Out of Smart People

Photo by Seansie

Today, I read an article about ten states that are running out of smart people.  Guess what?  Texas is number nine.


That Texas is losing smart people is no surprise.  The Texas legislature has reduced funding for higher education for years.  The result has been an increase in tuition and fees.  I can attest to the change in students attending the University of Texas at Austin by simply observing the student inhabitants of a good friend's street.  Once the rental houses on his street were filled with students who drove small used cars and beat-up pick-ups.  Now those same houses have students with new, fancy pickups and BMWs.  Once students on her street picked up their garbage, now they expect their neighbors to. The University is changing from a place for smart kids to a place for rich kids.


Another reason that Texas is losing intelligent people, especially academics, is the unfriendly attitudes of many legislators.  Regenerative medicine is looked on with suspicion.  Every session finds new attacks on any research that offends fundamentalists.  The result is that researchers are leaving the state, even if their research is not controversial.  Many fear that the next legislative whim will be to attack their area of research.  Young researchers seeking positions simply mark Texas off.  There is lack of funding, but more important is the fear that they could waste years on a project that could be prohibited.  Texas colleges and universities are slowly sinking into mediocrity.


Now with a huge budget shortfall, the legislature plans to decimate K-12 education and reduce funds to institutions of higher learning.  This will exacerbate the already bad situation.


Ignorance begets ignorance.  Texas needs to improve its education system.  The legislature needs to stay out of the research.  Of course, the legislature can demand stringent ethics provisions for review of research projects.  But these reviews need to be performed by those that understand the field and by independent ethicists..  Texas does not need to scare anymore scientists away.


All scientists pay attention to the research climate in a state in all areas of research, not just their own.  Texas has gained the reputation as a backward and ignorant state. 


What will the statistics be ten years from now?  Will Texas rank number one in ignorance?  Will Texas' budget parsimony this year destroy our future?

DNA Detective Work Sheds Light on King Tut's Life, Lineage, Death - AOL News

The article, DNA Detective Work Sheds Light on King Tut's Life, Lineage, Death - AOL News, hit me hard.because I have suffered from the same bone disease he had, avascular necrosis.  My bones die unexpectedly, just as his did.  Maybe I am related to King Tut.

I have lost most of my right ankle bone and have had my left femur replaced because of necrosis.  I can tell you that the pain is intense and the crippling profound.  Tut may have been lucky to die young because without modern medicine his bones would have continued to die leaving him more and more disabled.

Before my hip replacement my left leg had lost more than a half inch in length,  My last request to my surgeon was "Make my legs the same length."  He did.

My problem is not related to inbreeding.  My mother and father were from different states and different ancestries.  I know my genealogy on both sides and their were no family intermarriage.  I have no ancestors to blame.