‘Did you know?’ feature proposed

For being such a powerful country, the United States falls short of other developed countries when considering overall health. The teen birth rate in America is 700 percent that of other rich nations. The pharmaceutical companies spent $58 billion on ads for drugs as opposed to research and development in 2004. Black women in California are 400 percent more likely than white women to die during childbirth. Approximately 291,000 Americans will die this year from poverty and income inequity. The United States ranks 45th percent in infant mortality. Needless to say, we are lacking in many areas.

I am writing because I am hoping that I could bring awareness to some of these issues. People read your newspaper every day; they learn about their local community and news on a global scale from your articles. Which is why I was hoping that you could help, by adding a new segment to The Herald.

There are many things that are not perfect about our country, we know this to be true, and I am not narrowing my view on one topic because there are many issues that citizens are not aware of. We get caught up in our jobs and lives, and do not realize the sad reality that our powerful nation is only the 34th healthiest nation in the world.

I propose that you add a new feature to your newspaper, a daily or even weekly fact. Give a statistic or piece of information that is not commonly known, like, “We are the only rich nation to deny workers paid time off.” It would spark interest in your readers and give the public an opportunity to further educate themselves.

Through this “weekly fact” we can bring awareness to the public and allow them to see a larger picture outside of their own lives. I believe that people would not only enjoy it, but that they would find that they might truly care about these issues. It would bring more attention to health issues in your successful newspaper. I urge you to consider this idea if you have the time and funding.

Sarah Niklason

Bellingham