Dean's Update
December 20, 2024 - Aron Sousa, MD
Friends,
We face health challenges each day. For much of humanity’s existence, our longevity was determined by available calories, clean water, parasite load, accidents and injuries, and occasionally the tooth and claw of nature, whether the aggressor was human or some other animal. For the children of our country ages 1-17, the number one cause of death is not infection or cancer. It is not car accidents; The number one killer of American children is a person with a gun. School and other mass shootings, like the recent tragedy in Madison, are only a small part of the larger problem. One of our student groups and faculty have been working to prevent gun violence through public health interventions and special programming to address high risk situations. In the past, cars were the number one killer of American children, and cars have become progressively safer. You will notice the solution was not taking cars off the road – we’ve made them safer. There are lessons we can and should learn to reduce gun violence.
When my faith in humanity falters, I like to think about all the people who have looked at the stars and the moon and the sun and tried to make out how those bodies move across our sky. Tonight, above the clouds of Michigan, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the moon will all be visible. In the morning, Mercury will lead the sunrise. Our ancestors, even those in cloudy climes, came to know these travelers well.
Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, when the axial tilt of the earth orients the Northern Hemisphere to the year’s most oblique angle from the sun. The cold and snow have only just started in earnest, but the days will begin to get longer and the nights shorter from tomorrow until the Summer Solstice in June.
Long, long ago people sorted out that the sun shifts on the horizon as the seasons change. They calculated the equinoxes and solstices based on where the sun rose or set on the horizon, and they recorded those findings with buildings and stones and mounds. In my imagination I see some elder, probably younger than me, up before dawn with a clutch of youngsters waiting to mark the sunrise’s position on the horizon with a stick or stone or carving. Eventually, the curious band marked enough sunrises that they could find the full extent of the sun’s travel on the horizon each year. From that data they identified the solstices and equinoxes. Whatever use they made of that information, they passed it on to the young people - the next generation.
The solstice is just another day. Sprouting or browning plants and migrating animals are surely a more functional marker of the seasons than the sun, if you depend on plants and animals for food. And yet, our ancestors across the globe noticed the changes in the sun, were curious enough to investigate and record the changes, and then, in that most gloriously human of endeavors, they taught this marvel, so that the dumb abyss would be filled with knowledge. Teaching, the transfer of curiosity, information, and skill from one person to another, comforts me as though I am paddling still waters or walking green pastures.
The next few days bring a break and time to be with loved ones. May all be peaceful and joyous. To all of you who will work to care for our patients and keep us safe and sound over break and throughout the year, thank you for your talent, dedication, and service.
Aron Sousa, MD, FACP
Dean, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine