The Gazette
August 21, 2012
Letters to the Editor

Recently, Chris Atchison, director of the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa and associate dean for UI’s Public Health Practice, related an inspiring story.

An Illinois expectant couple traveled to Iowa. As luck would have it, their baby was born in Iowa. Iowa’s standard screening process discovered a rare condition. Public health officials immediately contacted the couple, who had returned to Illinois, and their Illinois physicians. Treatment that focuses on nutrition was begun in time to save this baby.

Public health is an infrastructure. Like our roads, mental health services, military and energy grid, it requires citizens to fund. It takes a highly intelligent state legislature to understand the difference between frivolous expenses, rhetoric of no taxes and actual fundamental infrastructure needs. Saving a newborn from death from an undiagnosed condition during week one is a fundamental need.

We as citizens must educate ourselves on what our infrastructure encompasses and reject inane slogans like “rollback taxes” without thought to the consequences, such as food banks without food, mental health services slashed and employment services rendered useless. We need a person who can bring together diverse people/ideas, control spending and champion the rights of all Iowans.

Art Staed will advocate for Iowa, championing education, veterans, bipartisan and equitable government.

Diane and Andrew Peterson
Cedar Rapids