'Is that what we do in a democracy?'

       As a rule, I don't do protests. The futility of appealing to those deaf to reason, or in this case, savoring the distress they've created, is too much. But having encouraged readers to attend the "Stand Up For Science" rally at Federal Plaza on Friday, and being downtown anyway, I thought I should go. It was blustery, and cold, and snowy, but there were at least 300 people, maybe more, and I felt their enthusiasm. It's a truism to me that protests benefit the participants more than anything else but, having participated, I see the value in that. Several readers — hi Jill A.! — paused to say hello, which was nice. I didn't plan on writing anything, but the paper skipped the rally, to my surprise, so I though I should at least share the remarks of two speakers.
     The first was Sen. Dick Durbin:

Sen. Dick Durbin

      "The situation facing us now in Washington is pretty obvious. Just a few days ago. I have a purgatory experience called the State of the Union address."
   The crowd lustily booed.
    "It was worse than that. I will tell you, I brought as my guest, Elizabeth Sokol. Dr. Sokol is a medical researcher at Lurie Children's hospital. Her speciality is neuroblastoma, the No. 1 pediatric cancer in children 1 through 5. Through the research they have been part of the past decade they have cut the death rate from 100 percent to 50 percent.We need to keep her on the job and we need to keep you on the job."
   "My science is political science, so let me tell you — the key to this campaign to restore funding for medical research is very basic, It comes down to six words that should be part of your conversation on this subject: 'Let me tell you a story.' Tell a story about your research and the difference it makes in the lives of ordinary people. Tell your story about parents desperate to hear from a doctor, 'There is a cure.' That kind of information gets to the heart of the issue here. We need to stand together for medical research. 
    "The last point I'll make is this point: If you want a great nation, you don't eliminate the Department of Education. You don't eliminate research. Research looks into the future and gives us hope. We need to stand together. "

    Several academics spoke:  Dr. Luella Allen-Waller, a post doctoral fellow in the Department of Ecology & Evolution at the University of Chicago, said this:

 Dr. Luella Allen-Waller

     "In 2017 I chose to dedicate my life to studying the ocean," she said. "And  I thought I knew the stakes. I knew that rising temperatures meant bigger storms, crumbling coastlines, sicker animals, poorer fisheries. I thought that understanding these risks meant that people around the world could come together to come up with strategies to survive. 
     "But of course it's gotten worse than I predicted. The White House's severe  new funding guidelines directly attack the work of me and my colleagues.  Projects trying to identify strategies for resilience to climate change are now at risk. Projects like indigenous land stewardship. Things like protecting low income communities that are at risk from pollution. 
      "And not only are they trying to defund life saving science, but now they want to censor the research outcomes too. Is that what we do in a democracy? If we are going to meet the challenges of climate change, we need to be able to predict it. We need to support a diverse group of scientists able to predict the towns most at risk of flood and fire. We have the support of people around the world getting involved in  community science because they rely on food from the forest in their backyard or the coral reef that they fish every day. We need free and independent inquiry into these problems like our lives depend on it, because they do. 
     "I hesitate to talk to younger students about this part sometimes: but I'm afraid. I'm afraid for the ocean that I study. For our future on a warming and more unstable planet... But I don't hear speaking up, when there are so many of us speaking up, and the more of us who speak the stronger we are.
     "Go reach out to a community science initiative. Get involved. Reach out to your grad student union. Talk to your colleagues. Get started building solidarity. If we can build a shared vision for what we want and need, with the people we are already spending 8 or 10 or 12 hours a day in the lab with, we have a much better shot at making lasting change at a national level. It is urgent we do so. The time is now, we cannot afford to lose this moment and we cannot afford to lose each other. "

      Tina Gnade, "an educator, and an earth lover," with her children, Lily, 11, Max, 8, and Ben, 10, attending their first protest rally. "We want people to know science is good," said Lily.