Scopes at 100: Evolution, Expertise, and America’s Cultural Battlegrounds
Revisiting the Scopes' trial 100 years later.

To bring attention to this widespread and incurable disease, the Alzheimer’s Association has chosen September 21st as Alzheimer's Action Day. It asks everyone to wear purple to show their support for the search to find a cure.
Alzheimer’s is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane that is barreling towards us, destined to leave a path of emotional and financial destruction, and poised to bankrupt our healthcare system. While the number of people living with Alzheimer’s continues to grow, last year was an eventful year for research and funding related to the disease. Although no scientific breakthroughs have yet occurred, with perseverance, support, and, most of all, hope, I still believe that a cure can and will be found. However, at this stage we still have no way to stop, prevent, or cure Alzheimer’s, leaving us with the fact that today we can only focus more on positively affecting how people live with it. Dementia care exacts an immense toll on both the one diagnosed as well as the one who is thrust into the care giving role. Family members caring for loved one with any dementia often lack the time, knowledge, and resources to help in meeting the overwhelming daily challenges along this roller coaster ride I call the dementia care journey. And so this Saturday, September 21, 2013, on Alzheimer’s Action Day, I encourage you to take individual action in recognition of how Alzheimer’s (or any dementia) severely affects the person providing care—not just the person suffering with the most horrific illness of our time. Let us focus additional attention on these dementia care champions who truly deserve a day when their courage and fortitude are honored without exception. As a worldwide advocate for the caregiver—the true hero of our Alzheimer’s Generation—I will be proudly wearing purple to show my support. And in keeping with the knowledge that caregivers who are caring for a loved one with dementia need all the assistance they can get, I also will be looking for opportunities to provide much needed hands-on support.My action plan for success is to go directly to the care giver and make specific offers of help, such as the following: