Letters to the Editor: Keep trying at science

I bet by now you have forgotten about me. I'm the guy who used to interrupt your pleasant Tuesday mornings with science discussions you probably didn't care about. Well, I have gone away, but I didn't forget about you all. I still read your paper, though online now. I keep up on what you're doing. And, most importantly, I still feel disappointed when I read stories like Tom Holm's, regarding the continued downfall of graduates in the sciences.

I know what the lysosome is. For clarity, the lysosome is an organelle inside your cells that breaks down the used garbage your cells no longer need. In four years spent pursuing a biology degree, I probably learned what the lysosome is 47 times. If there was one thing with which I left UM, it was a pretty solid understanding of the lysosome. Did I ever REALLY care? No. Well, last week the lysosome came back in full force.

Last Wednesday, while working in the clinic in which I have been tasked to hang around Dr. White like a bad rash, I saw a couple who had come in for genetic counseling. Several years ago they had a child who was afflicted with Tay-Sachs disease. In TS disease, the lysosome does not function normally and causes the buildup of, essentially, cellular crap in the organelle. Over time this buildup damages the cells, specifically those in the central nervous system and causes mental retardation, blindness, seizures, loss of motor skills and death by the age of 3 or 4 (at most). This family had lost their first child to Tay-Sachs and needed to know what their risk was of bringing another infected child into this world. I understood what was going on, and couldn't believe how much it DID matter.

I love Montana and always will, but the fact remains that opportunities in science may be few. Despite this, the need for people trained in the science fields is high and ever-climbing in other parts of the nation. From my somewhat funnelled looking glass of the health profession down here in Denver, I have observed shortages in nearly every area from researchers and nurses to doctors and physical therapists. Holm did well to bring this issue to light again, as I tried every Tuesday during last school year. If you are reading this, then maybe you do care just a bit. Please stay with it. It does matter.

David Elison

UM graduate, Class of 2011