The Stack Family Visit & some Soap Box Action

This week Carey, Brianna and Austin Stack have been visiting us (their dad, Randy, Zac and me) this past week! They have been so kind to let me tag along on all of their explorations of Oahu. They are currently on the Big Island learning about volcanoes and such, and will be back for Wed. and Thurs. before they fly back to NH. :( CLICK HERE to see some of the pics from their visit. As you can see, we've been to the USS Arizona Memorial, Sandy Beach, the North Shore, Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head Crater - AND they've been able to get several things done on base for their move to Italy this summer. I hope that they have loved their vaca to Oahu!

And now for a little Soap Box Action...

I have been thinking a lot about my sister and the other poor students in the 1 year nursing program at UTMB. Not only are the totally ignored by their "administration" (if you can even call it that), but they are also treated as if they are college freshmen - however ALL of the students in this program HAVE a bachelor's degree - one of the requirements in order to get the 2 year nursing degree in only 1 year. Talk about insulting their intelligence. The program seems to be turning several of the students AGAINST the field of nursing - are you seeing the problem here? While it was the students' decision to sign up for a grueling program, they definitely did NOT sign up for the treatment (or neglect) that they have (or haven't) received. I have read several published articles, all questioning why the University of Texas Board of Regents continue the neglect of UTMB after Hurricane Ike. The overall consensus seems to be that UT is completely ignoring the school and hospital down in Galveston. Do they think that if they ignore it, it will just disappear? UTMB is the oldest medical school in Texas, and was once an amazing medical facility. But WHY are the regents not tackling the financial obstacles in order to bring the school back to life? Obstacles that are EASILY within reach with the amount of $$ that the UT system brings in. These are the questions I keep running over in my head. Not only should UT take a good hard look in the mirror, and put their craving for prestige behind them, but they also need to go through the faculty at UTMB nursing school with a fine tooth comb and weed out those not making the grade.