I was pleased to be mentioned in the Sept. 26 news article “Scientists seek clues as dementia patients near death get lucid.” It noted that the 2019 article I co-authored explored the possibility that some behavioral recovery may happen even with brain changes that are thought to be irreversible. This article was the result of a workshop held at the National Institutes of Health and is thanks to Basil Eldadah, who was then with the National Institute on Aging.
The article is a reminder of the value that the NIH has brought to the world. For a relatively modest investment, Americans benefit from the dedicated scientists and staff discovering new treatments and answers to critical health questions. I personally benefited from the NIH through training grants when I was an early-career researcher and again more recently as a policy fellow, enabling me to study the science of brain aging.
For those less familiar with the NIH, this article was a reminder that many of the cutting-edge treatments for diseases and the most transformational medicines are made possible largely because of the dedication of scientists and research funding provided by the agency.
Through grassroots initiatives such as the Bethesda Declaration — a letter detailing concerns with the Trump administration’s changes to the NIH — I learned that NIH productivity is at risk of disruption due to recent policy changes. The initial letter was signed by hundreds of scientists and staff members at the agency last year and garnered the support of more than 30,000 additional external signers.
I continue to be in awe of the amazing science and treatments that emerge from the dedication of those working for and funded by the NIH.
Lori Frank, Kensington
Leave warfare to ants
Entomologist Mark W. Moffett’s Sept. 25 op-ed, “There’s a world war raging, You might be standing on the front lines,” was a fascinating depiction of ants at war. Right in our backyards lie supercolonies of ants “locked in ferocious combat across six continents.”
Moffett seems to suggest that the general proclivity for violence and outright warfare among ants and other nonhuman animals is too closely mirrored in human motives and structures.
I’m a sociocultural anthropologist, and I object to Moffett’s sense that humans’ “deep-rooted urge for self-protection” is anything close to other animals’ instinctual urges toward violence and warfare. Granted, many nonhuman primates, such as chimpanzees, share a predisposition to aggressive, rival-killing behavior.
However, human violence at the national level differs from that of nonhuman primates in being large scale, coordinated and often institutionalized. Human violence is shaped by cultural norms, laws and political systems. We anthropologists stress that warfare is a cultural institution, not a direct biological inheritance. In short, humans have not inherited a tendency to make war from animal ancestors.
I appreciate Moffett’s gratitude that “unlike ants … the human mind shows us at our best in its capacity to imagine peace.” Realistically, however, we need to consciously and actively promote and practice peace as if it were an inherited imperative. The consequences of its absence, on a large scale, are unimaginable.
John Mason, Silver Spring
Free speech isn’t always polite
Regarding Conor Fitzpatrick’s Oct. 1 op-ed, “Why ‘Let’s go, Brandon’ is worth a legal fight”:
The Supreme Court held in Cohen v. California (1971) that the expression “F— the Draft” in a public courthouse constituted constitutionally protected speech. Writing for the majority, Justice John Harlan elaborated: “Much linguistic expression serves a dual communicative function: it conveys not only ideas capable of relatively precise, detached explication, but otherwise inexpressible emotions as well. In fact, words are often chosen as much for their emotive as their cognitive force. We cannot sanction the view that the Constitution, while solicitous of the cognitive content of individual speech, has little or no regard for that emotive function which, practically speaking, may often be the more important element of the overall message sought to be communicated.”
Public schools should train students for adulthood. Speech should not be limited to what is fit for nunneries or monasteries.
Bruce Fein, Washington
The writer served as associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan.
How to keep college affordable
Regarding the Sept. 20 Business article “A crash course on college finances”:
Selecting affordable education made college possible for both me and my son. My parents told me their college plan for me was: “You’re going to college and you’re paying for it.” I started my education at community college and then commuted to a local urban university while living with my parents. I worked to pay for school as I went. Finally, I went to Stanford University, which was paid for by my employer.
My son received a small inheritance from his grandmother when he was 13. His mom invested that money, and after he turned 18, he began to invest his money on his own. That was a financial education in and of itself.
My son lived with us and commuted to a local university, and he was able to cover all his college expenses from his investments and summer jobs. Unlike many of his peers, he didn’t have student loan debt. That allowed him to purchase a nice home in our neighborhood with his own money at the age of 29.
The lesson I’d pass on to prospective students is to choose an affordable college and keep expenses low. To their parents, I’d tell them to keep their children motivated.
Mark Rupersburg, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
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