As a journalist, I always bow in appreciation to the July 4 holiday in that it means I live in a country that cherishes democracy and protects our freedom of speech.
As an American, I often wonder how I could be a better citizen. How can I give back to this country that I love so much.
Beyond hearth and home, some of us may feel we have little to contribute. Which is so not true.
We all are called to serve, whether its in the classroom or boardroom, planting seeds or building roads.
On every level, we as individuals can make a big difference, but oftentimes the power behind numbers is what moves the needle.
Teachers comes to mind.
Even the most inspiring teacher needs a network of local support attentive parents, good facilities, caring administrators, adequate pay to enable her to be at her best.
On the state level, that Iola teacher needs to be assured her schools will be funded and a fair pension awaits her at careers end.
And on a national level, that teacher needs to know federal funds are there to help feed low-income students and pay for services for the handicapped and those with special needs.
We all depend on a host of services government and private to help keep the wheels turning each day.
OF ALL THE changes Ive witnessed in my short time on Earth, the most dramatic is climate change. As a youth, the only way I knew to be an environmentalist was to prevent forest fires pretty easy in Kansas and to not be a litterbug.
It was only years later that I connected the dots that having to scrape our house windows with a razor blade followed by a rinse of muriatic acid wasnt something everyone did, that the dust wafting from nearby Lehigh Portland Cement could be harmful to my lungs.
But how to fight that? Only through federal regulations, standards that are impossible to come about on an individual level.
In Lehighs case, corporate leaders out of Allentown, Pa., regarded new emission-control mandates as too expensive an upgrade for Iolas plant and instead of comply, opted to shutter the plant in 1970.
That attitude comes in part from a refusal to recognize how our actions affect the Earth. It is not some impervious ball. Just like us, it is alive and is affected by pollution and weather extremes.
