Our little miss Dr Lara came back from Bankok Thailand with a case of the flu! We had to go to the Duke University ER where they isolated us from everyone, thinking that she may have avian flu or SARS. We were quarentined all day! Finally, test results showed that it was only Influenza A. So, I passed the time by taking pics of Lara. As you can see, she didn't appreciate me doing that! 

Here is a pic of me in my hepa-mask in the ER! 

Here are my neighbors, Gary Parrish and his son Gregory. Gary is a postman in Raleigh. Greggie, an avid fan for the Wolfpack basketball is afflicted with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis and is treated here at Duke University Medical Center. They are originally from New Jersey area but moved to Rolesville so that Greg can receive treatment at Duke. Greg's mother is Charlene Parrish and they have two other children, big brother Ryan and little sister Brooke. 

A pic of the Capital Building taken on March 9th from the Library of Congress front steps. There is so much construction going on in the front of the building. 

Here I am "lobbying" for NIH on the cold blustery day in Washington DC. It was spitting snow outside! 

Another pic of the stream trickling down the granite slab! 

Walking in the vast woods around Rolesville, NC, we stumbled across this waterfall down a huge granite slab. 

Washington D.C. Lobbying!

Well, it is one week since we have been back from our Washington D.C. trip. What a fantastic day! We started off by meeting everyone on the Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy at the Capital Hill Club and putting together our agenda for the day. There were about 20 of us and we were seeing congressmen and senators all day long. With each representative, we explained who we were and what we did in the sciences. The Bush administration seems to me to be very hostile towards the sciences, limiting the funding for existing groups and eliminating the money for basic science research. The administration makes it sound as though we are getting an increase in the NIH budget, but they neglect to calculate the costs and upkeep increases and inflation of running a lab. Many new and exciting projects will not get funded due to their shortsightedness!!

My morning started off with a visit to Chris Van Hollen from Maine. It was delightful to meet him. He did state that he was a supporter for increasing the NIH budget by 6% (what our lobby group is asking for). He only stayed for a short time, but we stayed and talked to his staffer who took notes and asked good questions. Second in line was Richard Burr, representative from North Carolina. He wasn't in..(there was a vote on the floor for an 80 bil increase in funding for the war, so many people were in and out!)...so his staffer conducted the meeting. We also had personal meetings with Constituent representatives David Price of North Carolina and Brad Miller of North Carolina. Both men were great and personable. I especially enjoyed Rep.Price who spoke frankly about his displeasure with this FY2006 budget. I must agree with him about it. Cutting the sciences is not the area to get the war money from. Others met with Ed Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Barney Frank. The caucus at lunch was regarding Stem Cell research and given by Dr. Lawrence Goldstein. Many were in attendence and it was filmed.

We finished at the end of the day and was invited to attend a gathering at a tiny pub just down the street from Capital Hill on 1st street. We met for a few guinesses and had time to relax before we left on the drive home. We finally got home about 1:00 a.m., but as tired as we were, we were still smiling about how productive the day was. Not many people get to lobby on Capital Hill, and we were feeling effective and accomplished.

The James' go to Washington

I will be leaving for Washington DC tomorrow where I will have an opportunity to talk to congressmen about NIH funding! Being an advocate for the Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy, I am going to discuss increasing the National Institute of Health's budget for the fiscal year of 2006 by 6%. With the cost of research increasing at a much higher rate that does the funding, it forces scientists to make choices by guiding their research into areas that have a higher rate of funding. We will get to talk to our congress-people who are Elizabeth Dole and David Price. I am so looking forward to this, but I am soooooo nervous! I will take lots of pics since this is my first chance to go to Washington!

Pic of Uncle Bill Snyder and my mom, Shirley Ann Clemens-Boughton taken in March 2005. 

Here is cousin Tim Snyder and family...more pics to come! 

Here is a great pic of cousins Tim and Julie This is a pic of cousin Tim Snyder and wife Julie with son Josh and daughter-in-law Alice who is due with their daughter in April! This is Josh and Alice's new home in Louisiana. They are a handsome bunch! Tim is the son of William Snyder and Jane Clemens Snyder.