If Oglethorpe County were still my beat...

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in Oglethorpe County this semester. I wish I had had more time there to explore different story ideas. Being there made me miss small-town journalism and all the simple stories (and way-too-complex issues) that can exist there. That being said, here are a few ideas I picked up on, but didn't have the time or ability to dig deeper into:

1. People living in buses and sheds (what some call Butler houses, by the brand name). Seriously. There are people in Oglethorpe County who live in these structures, and it seems from talking to first responders and EMS that many choose to live there. It would be interesting to see why, and to see the health issues that may come from this - or the lack of health issues. Maybe these people are more in touch with nature and live a more healthy lifestyle. Both are possible.
2. ATV accidents. These are a big problem in rural Georgia. My husband has a student who was just in his second four-wheeler wreck and who still won't wear a helmet, even after the 10-plus stitches the first one cost him. But the issue isn't just helmet use, it's ATV safety in general. And, hey, ATVs are fun. It's hard to get most people to realize the dangers.
3. A ride-along with emergency services. They mentioned it. I should have taken them up on it. How cool would it be to ride an ambulance for the day and see what it's really like?
4. A day in the life of a rural school nurse. There are probably stories galore if you can get them to talk.
5. Lack of doctors in the county. There are only two, if I can remember correctly. However, it may not be as huge a problem as it could be because the county is located so close to Athens. But what about people who lack transportation?
6. Health issues related to number of grocery stores/types of restaurants in the county. I love down-home cookin'. Mmm, cheese grits, blackeyed peas and chicken. But when the only options are butter-loaded, fried in fat options at restaurants, the population will feel the effects. If you're interested in nutrition, there's a gold-mine of stories related to food served and consumed.
7. Community Connections meetings. I hear from my fellow students that these are great places to meet community members.

So, those are some story ideas. Here are a few people I would have liked to have talked to about other possible story ideas:

1. The two pharmacies in town. I bet those pharmacists have a wealth of information.
2. The MedLink nurse practitioner. Who she sees, what she does, how she helps, etc.
3. The school nurse(s) at Oglethorpe elementary, middle and high schools.
4. Organic growers. Yeah, sounds like a stretch in a rural county, but there's actually a growing number of these people. It would be interesting to see how they might (or might not be) changing their community's eating habits. New Moon Farms and Backyard Harvest are two that come to mind.

You better hurry if you want these ideas. I may just send them to the Oglethorpe County beat reporter at the Athens Banner-Herald. Wait, I think you're in luck. There may not be one. ;)

Finally, these are people you should talk to:
- Nancy Bridges (and her husband Mark). She's the county family and consumer sciences Extension agent, and she's so helpful. Like SO helpful. It was cool driving out to her office and just talking. Mark is a volunteer everything (first responder, fire department, head of the rescue unit), and he's just a cool guy.
- James Mathews. He's the guy pictured at top left along with Mark Bridges. James is the EMS director and coroner. So helpful. So is his staff. They're all nuts. Fun, but crazy.
- Lisa Vaughan. She is AWESOME! You'll notice my multimedia piece with her. She's wonderful. So happy and cheerful and full of life. Totally full of life. I had so much fun talking to her.

When my classes collide

The perfect time to take epidemiology in Grady's health and medical journalism program is when you're also taking health and medical reporting, part 1. I've thought this numerous times throughout the semester, and it's hitting home again tonight as I cram diligently study for my epidemiology final (which will continue after I finish this blog post).

The above thought may apply even more this semester though. Through her book, a lecture and a dinner, Rebecca Skloot brought us The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and, with it, a tale of life, science and exploitation. And, in the last few weeks of my epidemiology class, I've learned more about the dark side of science, particularly in public health. That's Rebecca signing autographs. Please excuse the camera phone shakiness.

I'm currently memorizing what my epidemiology professor Christopher Whalen has outlined as the top sentinel events in shaping federal regulations about research on humans. This was discussed during a lecture on ethics and professionalism in epidemiology - a lesson needed because of all the scientists, researchers and doctors who have been unethical and (to say it very, very lightly) unprofessional.

His top three events? The Nuremberg doctors trial, the thalidomide tragedy and the Tuskegee syphilis study. My heart breaks as I try to memorize the descriptions.

Nuremberg involves Nazi experiments on Jewish and other prisoners. They tested people (without consent) to learn more about human survival rate at high altitude by simulating an altitude of 65,000 feet (Athens is about 725 feet above sea level). Forty percent (80 people) died. They then tested people's survival in the north Atlantic by immersing them in cold water and giving them salt water to drink. 30 percent (90) died. They also inflicted people with common battlefield wounds (gunshots, amputations, stabbings, burns, etc.) and studied the natural history of different treatments. Finally, they tested poisonous gases, drinks and cyanide-tipped bullets on prisoners. 25 percent died.

Thalidomide was given to pregnant patients worldwide to help with their morning sickness. They took it without knowing, really, what it was - without informed consent. It was deemed safe for the women beforehand, but it caused horrible birth defects.

Finally, the Tuskegee study, which is where Skloot comes in. Thalidomide was bad enough, but Tuskegee was intentional. In this study, scientists studied untreated syphilis in black men. These men weren't informed of their disease, and they weren't informed that the research being done on them would also not benefit them.

But, here's the kicker, the piece of all this that makes me really want to cry - and makes me doubt many of "the greatest generation." In 1943, penicillin was discovered as the best treatment for syphilis. By 1951, it was widely available BUT IT WAS WITHHELD from treatment participants until the 1970s. They were even kept from joining the military so they wouldn't receive this miracle antibiotic.

The Atlanta Constitution summed up the tragedy in a way that is both objective and shows the sadness behind it: "Sometimes, with the best intentions, scientists and public officials... forget that people are people. They concentrate on plans and programs, experiments, statistics - abstractions - that people become objects, symbols or mathematical formula or impersonal 'subjects' in a scientific study." I googled the statement, and Whalen has it almost word-for-word.

Skloot mentions Tuskegee in her book, but her real focus was the people, the person of Henrietta Lacks, behind the science and abstractness of human tissue. We are made up of a bunch of cells. But we, as humans, are also beings. We're ultimately much, much more than firing neurons and sloshing cytoplasm.

I knew this, but thanks to a book and a powerpoint, the point was hit home with an intensity that will seal this semester - and ultimately stamp it as a good one.

I hope my generation has learned compassion as well as science. I hope by writing and reading about the past that we can avoid such atrocities in the future (although Whalen points to current studies gone wrong - or unethical in the first place - to prove otherwise). I hope we're bigger than that. That's my hope. I guess I'll wait until the books of the next generation come out to see how well we did.