National Nurses United

6 M A Y 2 0 0 5 C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E News | Briefs ■ ■ ■ California Nurses Association Regional and State Scholarship Programs T he California Nurses Association is pleased to announce that it is scholarship application season again. Through CNA there are several different scholarship programs available for members on both a regional and statewide level. The following scholarships are available and accepting applications: ■ Shirley C. Titus Scholarship (open to members statewide) ■ Sandra R. Spaulding Scholarships (open statewide to those in an ADN degree program) ■ Region 11 Scholarship (open to all CNA members in Region 11) For detailed information on each of the scholarship programs, as well as details on who is eligible to apply for them, please visit the CNA website at www.calnurses.org and click on Nursing Practice. You can also download an application while there. Applications for all scholar- ships must be complete with all supporting documents requested by July 1, 2005. Only completed applications with all supporting documentation received by mail will be accepted. Faxed applica- tions will not be accepted. If you have any further ques- tions or need more information that wasn't available at the web- site, please feel free to e-mail scholarships@calnurses.org or you may call the Scholarship Hotline at 510-273-2200 x 344. I magine the power. Virtually every politician, business leader, and thou- sands of prominent citizens in your town will give you their time and allow you to tell them exactly what you think. Writing a letter to your news- paper's editor is a cheap and effective way to influence others in your com- munity. The people who are con- cerned enough to read letters to the editor are motivated voters. You can't find a better audience. When I was asked by CNA to write an article explaining how to get letters published in newspapers, I Googled "How to write a let- ter to the editor" and found scores of sites. They all had similar advice: Write in response to a recent news article or editorial, state your purpose in the first sen- tence, use short sentences, only discuss one or two key points, have another person proofread your letter, and always include your name, address, and phone number so the editor can verify you wrote the letter. Important, boring stuff. I quickly realized my article just bought a ticket for the bullet train to Dullsville so I convinced myself that what CNA really wanted was not a piece on how to write a letter, but on why we should all be writing letters. Pick up any newspaper and you'll find stories on war, torture, pollution, political and corporate corruption, environmental rape, exploding deficits, and massive cuts to healthcare, schools, and social programs. Those in power simply lie about what they're doing and right wing news outlets report them as facts. Their "think tanks" pump out article after article supporting the conservative agenda while blasting anything progressive— and their media do the same. Most importantly, they are able to raise vast sums of money to run TV and radio propaganda promoting their agenda. Because of this, workers and the poor are continually fooled into voting against their own best interests. If you're like me, you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it anymore. As a registered nurse, you know you have an obligation to advocate for your patients. With Arnie occupying the Governor's Mansion and Bush in the White House, your obligation has expand- ed well beyond your hospi- tal walls. We must all do our part to fight the lies, greed, and corruption that perme- ate our lives. Somewhere between abject apathy and armed rebellion lies the all- American activism of the letter to the editor. When you see an item in the news- paper that makes you want to spit blood, that's it. You've found your topic. Tell others what you think and get feedback from your friends. Write your letter and send it off. When you see that you don't actually die from writing a letter and that it's actually a pleasant, invig- orating experience, you'll want to do more and more. Don't be discouraged if your first letter isn't published—keep trying. Send your letters to several nearby papers. I send mine to a hun- dred at a time and I've gotten letters and articles published at least 40 times in the last few months. Can you imag- ine the social and political impact 60,000 mad-as-hell, letter-writing CNA RNs can have? Let's do it. I'll see you in the funny papers. Mike Kirchubel is an RN working at Kaiser Per- manente in Vallejo. He can be reached at: michael.kirchubel@kp.org and his letters and articles can be seen at www.nurseactivist .blogspot.com. Don't Just Get Mad, Get Published Write a letter to the editor. By Mike Kirchubel, RN " When you see an item in the newspaper that makes you want to spit blood, that's it. You've found your topic. "

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