Laurels & lances: Scholarships and monkeypox

Laurel: To a different kind of support. When a kid wants to go to college, financial aid is one of the first considerations.

There are athletic scholarships for sports stars. There are academic scholarships for those who excel in the classroom. Even for those who want to go to postsecondary programs for things like cosmetology or plumbing, you can find financial aid programs to help pave the way.

But the Andrew Logan Beck EMS and Fire Scholarship Fund was established to give to those who want to give back.

The fund honors Beck, an EMT and firefighter who died in January. He was just 23, but he was living the life he always dreamed, working to save others. His mother Sheri Miller and friend and co-worker Kevin Hendrick created the fund to help others find their purpose in training to be first responders.

The fund helps offset the costs, which can range from $300 for some fire schools up to $6,000 for paramedic training. It’s way to further Beck’s legacy, as many people can’t afford to spend that kind of money when the very important work is often volunteer or underpaid.

Lance: To the new health concern. The ups and downs of covid-19 infections and vaccines are still being tracked, but we are already on to the next worldwide medical issue — and yes, it’s here in Western Pennsylvania.

Monkeypox has been out there in the conversation for months. The first case confirmed for the 2022 outbreak was on May 6. Globally, there are more than 8,000 cases confirmed. In the United States, there were 605 as of Wednesday, with 17 in Pennsylvania.

And two of them are in Allegheny County, with a third that was pending confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Let’s be clear: This is not the new pandemic. Monkeypox is not the invisible threat of an easily transmissible respiratory and circulatory disease. It’s also not a new disease with no baseline. Monkeypox has been known since 1970. The last U.S. outbreak was in 2003 when 71 people were diagnosed and none died.

But maybe we don’t ditch that elbow bump just yet.