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Show Page 12 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXX Issue VI November 1, 2023 Red Cross Advocates for Lifesaving Skills During A Sure, Sound and Anchored Ship for All Americans oramic story of America itself, a story of how By Shanna Francis Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month various widely scattered New Worlders first During National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month this past October, the American Red Cross of Utah called on all Utahns to learn to save a life. With over 300,000 people in the United States succumbing to cardiac arrest each year, it is crucial to know how to respond to a cardiac emergency. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a lifethreatening emergency that occurs when the heart abruptly stops beating. It can affect people of all ages, including those who appear healthy. SCA can lead to death within minutes if the person doesn’t receive immediate help. Survival largely depends on nearby loved ones or bystanders promptly calling 911, initiating CPR, and using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), according to the National Academy of Medicine. The Red Cross emphasizes that every minute counts when the heart stops with three out of four cardiac arrests occurring at home or work. “That means any one of us could be needed to help save the life of a person we know or love by using CPR,” said Heidi Ruster, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross Utah/Nevada Region. “We encourage everyone to learn CPR or hands-only CPR (chest compressions without rescue breathing) and be prepared to act swiftly and confidently during an emergency.” SCA differs from a heart attack, which is caused by a blockage interrupting blood flow to the heart. SCA involves the heart suddenly stopping due to factors like arrhythmias, structural heart problems, or physical stress, such as during sports activities. Get the Red Cross Training You Need - The Red Cross offers a variety of certified training classes, including traditional CPR and hands-only CPR, available in-person, online or through hybrid courses. The Red Cross also provides AED certification, teaching how to use a defibrillator to restart the heart, which can prevent death and brain damage. More information is available at redcross.com/take-a-class. The Red Cross also provides free hands-only CPR training to schools, businesses, community groups, and religious organizations. To request a presentation, visit rdcrss.org/3KdoALo. “CPR can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest,” said Dr. Walter Kelley, Medical Director for the Rocky Mountain Division of the American Red Cross. “Maintaining blood flow, even partially, extends the window for successful resuscitation once medical professionals arrive on the scene.” Download Free Red Cross First Aid App The Red Cross First Aid app offers instant access to information on handling common first aid emergencies, including CPR and AED usage, in both English and Spanish. Compatible with Apple Watch and Android wearable devices, the app can be found by searching “American Red Cross” in app stores or visiting redcross.org/apps. Navigating the Holidays: Talking to Your Kids About Drugs & Alcohol As the holiday season approaches, joy can sometimes be overrun by stress and concern for our children. Here are a few suggestions to help your families: Reaffirming Family Values & Expectations - Start by reiterating your family’s core values and expectations. Emphasize the importance of making wise choices that align with these values. Encourage them to have a plan for difficult situations and assure them that it is acceptable to say “no” to peer pressures. Reconnecting with Each Child Individually - The holiday season is an ideal time to reconnect with each child individually. Set aside dedicated time for heart-to-heart conversations. Create a safe, judgment-free space for them to express their thoughts, concerns, and experiences. By understanding their perspectives, you can tailor your discussions about drugs and alcohol to their specific circumstances. Revisit How Often You Have Family Meals Together - Never underestimate the power of family meals! Sharing a meal encourages communication, fosters togetherness, and offers the ideal atmosphere for discussing essential topics. Strive for regular family meals where everyone can engage in meaningful conversations. By reaffirming family values, reconnecting individually, and prioritizing family meals, you can create a supportive environment for your children to navigate peer pressure, make informed choices, and strengthen family bonds. These conversations are not just about prevention; they are about empowering your children to lead healthy, responsible lives.For more information visit parentsempowered.org. “ The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends talking to kids about underage drinking as early as age 9. Research shows kids are making up their minds about alcohol between the ages of 9 to 13.” On November 11, 1620, aboard the English ship Mayflower, 102 passengers, along with 41 religious separatists, believing that since they weren’t landing in the English settlement of Virginia but the unclaimed territory of Plymouth Harbor, deemed it advisable to establish a community of law, even before disembarking from that now famous ship. Thus, the small group entered into a solemn agreement that is called the Mayflower Compact. In part, it reads, “Having undertaken for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together in a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod… Anno Domini [in the year of the Lord] 1620. Andrew Williams writes that the Pilgrims of 1620 recognized: “the need for the rule of law to govern effectively throughout a range of ideologies if they were going to make their new colony survive—let alone prosper—while maintaining a close connection with the will of righteous governance.” Akhil Reed Amar, renown Constitutionalist and Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, and common advisor to the Supreme Court, agrees. He writes in his 2020 book The Words That Made Us that he is worried about the widespread constitutional illiteracy among all groups, young and old, left and right. He holds, “A nation that does not understand its history is like a person who suffers amnesia. Without a strong memory of one’s own past, how can a person live a meaningful life? Without a deep understanding of our collective constitutional past, how can Americans live together?” Amar recognizes the great diversity found in our nation, which is in contrast to other countries and peoples who, for the most part, are united by race, language, religion, political leanings, cultural history and identity, and/or geography, unlike those of us living in vast and varied lands of America. These commonalities, uncommon in American, tend to solidify and unite people, acting as a type of “national glue.” In contrast, American citizens come from many varied and diverse backgrounds. So, what has kept us together these past centuries? Amar holds that it is our common Constitution and shared narrative behind it that keeps us united. We have, as the Pilgrims held, this, our sacred compact—our Constitution, our “common core,” the “words that made us.” And the result: E Pluribus Unum, “out of many, one.” However, without a common, basic understanding and agreement about our foundation, and what we believe in—common “Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices”— Amar says we become lost—a non-united people. As, then, there is nothing left to hold us together. The Pilgrims clearly understood this Amar explains his concern, sharing that, today, even among many of his fellow scholars and law and history professors, there are deep deficits regarding the meaning and understanding of the U.S. Constitution and its history. He is amazed and disheartened by scholars and pundits on news channels such as C-SPAN, MSNBC, or Fox News who say such “silly,” “ridiculous” “nonsense” and “baloney” about the founding of our country, her people, and the Constitution. Today, more than ever, there is divisiveness and a waning core of shared principles to hold us together, to unite us as cohesive Americans, notwithstanding our many differences. This has become especially apparent with the recent efforts to tear down this great nation’s Constitution, our history, the symbols that remind of this history—our common core—and this country’s heroes. The surprising Palestinian protests being waged across this nation at our college and university campuses, including the University of Utah’s, is another manifestation of this lack of unity in core principles and beliefs about what America is, what she stands for, and what being American means—those principles that should be uniting us—not dividing us. “We need facts and analysis, not reflexive right-wing boosterism or knee-jerk leftist hooting,” Amar holds. But, currently, Americans are no longer being educated on what it means to be an American, nor taught about those principles that kept us united through the decades and past centuries—our “extraordinary” Constitution and its history. Amar’s comprehensive book “tells a pan- became Americans and then continued to debate and refine what being American meant, legally, politically, militarily, diplomatically, economically, socially, ideologically, institutionally, and culturally—what being American meant constitutionally.” However, in the early twentieth century, this once common narrative of the Constitution started unraveling as it came under attack, and this attack has continued to mount, the narrative becoming misplaced. While Amar admits that the Constitution is not perfect, it gets much more right, than it gets wrong. According to Amar, who was recently a guest speaker at Brigham Young University for Constitution Day (September 18, 2023), the new narrative of the Constitution, which began being taught in our schools and on campuses, views this document as a product of “fat cats,” an elite who met behind closed doors, headed up by a general who was a military figure. “They went beyond their instructions, they foisted on Americans this relatively undemocratic document that was of, by, and for the one percent. They were worried about the excesses of democracy as epitomized by things like Shay’s rebellion. The masses were getting out of control so [they, the founders] wanted to create a type of elite project that would keep the masses down, such as an indirect election of the president, power for a court.” Amar adds, “That story, whether you know it or not, is a version of what [many of] you were taught. It was based, in part, by a very famous book by a man named Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution (1913). His popularizers were people like Howard Zinn, who many of you were exposed to in high school…. I think it’s actually bunk. I think it’s more wrong than right. It gets a lot of things wrong, in fact.” Why? “Because they put the thing [the Constitution] to a vote, and there was a vote up and down the continent. And more people were allowed to vote on the Constitution than had ever been allowed to vote on anything before in human history. And in eight of the thirteen states, actually, property qualifications were eliminated, or lowered, compared to what they ordinarily were. It was like a Jubilee Year, where special [more liberal] rules applied. In New York, for example, all adult female citizens got to vote on the Constitution. No race test, no religious test, no property qualifications, no literacy test. That’s pretty astonishing for 1787. Do you know what kind of property qualifications there are to be a member of the House of Representatives? None. To be a Senator? None. To be President? None. So, I think that story actually misses more than it captures, truth be told. But it’s the story you were told, and it features very prominently in Madison’s Federalist 10… this is what you were taught.” Amar continues, “Now, there’s another narrative. It’s epitomized by the great Gordon Wood. It also talks about Federalist 10 and James Madison, but it’s more of a story about making democracy, or self-government work.” The story goes, “Democracy has problems, so it needs to actually be solved with a filtered representative system. Oh, ours is a republic, not a democracy, you’ve been taught. This is a narrative, as I said with the great Gordon Wood, with people like Jack Rakove. These are very distinguished scholars from the 1960s…. “Who is the Father of the Constitution? I know you were taught this because I was… James Madison…. But when you go to D.C., is it called Madison D.C.? Is the tallest obelisk in the world called the Madison Monument? No! There’s a part of your brain that actually knows that it’s Washington’s Constitution. He is the unanimously selected presiding officer at Philadelphia. People vote for the Constitution because he vouches for it. He’s unanimously elected President, and unanimously re-elected President. And he has a different vision than Madison. He’s actually more National Security oriented, he is a much more Hamilton person than a Madison person, so the Wood narrative is actually missing something. “And, now, there’s another narrative. It’s the 1619 Project. And, oh this is all about slavery… pro-slavery. Yeah… but if it’s all about slavery, and there’s some truth to this…. But if that’s the whole story, why is it that immediately after Independence, the northern states start abolishing slavery? Not freeing slaves, but ending slavery… in the world? And that is actually a new thing in the world, and that’s associated with the American Revolution. So, I think the 1619 Project actually gets some things right and some things way wrong. “And then, this is the immodest part, my narrative. You’re going to need to unlearn things, the same way I did because what I learned was not right, the true narrative. My narrative in a nutshell: The Constitution is way SAFE AMERICANS cont. on page 13 |