Time USA - 06.04.2020

80 Time April 6–13, 2020

JASON

MARSH

Kindness t hrough

science

What makes life

meaningful? Why

do people do good?

The Greater Good

Science Center at

the University of Cali-

fornia, Berkeley, has

grappled with such

questions for nearly

20 years, translating

and sharing research

on social-emotional

well-being so that

those outside

academia can put

it to use in their

daily lives. While

many cultures have

wrestled with “the

good life,” the cen-

ter’s aim is to create

a common language

for discussing the

answers; they also

recently launched a

Bridging Differences

project to share

science- supported

techniques for

facilitating dialogue

across divides. By

connecting people

doing that research

with the people who

need it most, says

Jason Marsh, execu-

tive director of the

center and editor in

chief of its magazine

Greater Good, “we

can do so much

more good in the

world.” —M.C.

PAUL RAMSEY

Getting r esults

Watching the corona­

viru s c risis g row, Dr.

Paul Ramsey, the

CEO o f U W M edicine,

knew t he U niversity

of Washington’s virol­

ogy l aboratory was

scientifically r eady

to p rocess C OV ID­19

tests. W hat i t

needed was p eople.

So, o n M arch 1 3,

Ramsey e mailed t he

UW M edicine c om­

munity a sking

for v olunteers.

Qualified i ndi­

viduals f rom a v ariety

of b ackgrounds

dropped t heir

research t o h elp,

and t he l ab i s n ow

processing C OV ID­19

tests 2 4 h ours a

day, sev en d ays a

week. R amsey s ays

UW M edicine h as

achiev ed a t urn­

around t ime o f u nder

1 2 h ours for results

and h opes t o ev entu­

ally g et t hrough

1 0,000 t ests a d ay.

And t he v olun­

teerism i sn’t l imited

to t he l ab: r etirees

have returned t o

work , a nd a U W d ata­

base c onnects c om­

munity m embers who

want t o b e h elpful.

“Communities c ome

together i n t imes o f

crisis,” R amsey s ays.

“So I ’m p leased

and p roud b ut n ot

surprised.” —M.C.

JIN-YA HUANG

Cooking u p c ommunity

Jin­Ya H uang’s p arents were Ta iwa nese i mmi­

grants w ho o wned a C hinese r estaurant, E gg­

roll E xpress, i n D allas, w here h er m other u sed

the k itchen t o t rain o ther i mmigrant w omen t o

cook. A fter h er m other d ied i n 2 015, H uang, a

photographer, wanted t o h onor h er a nd t o h elp

some o f t he r efugees w hose s tories s he was

telling i n h er w ork. T he r esult was t he c atering

company Break Bread Break Borders. H uang,

4 9, r ecru its w omen f rom r efugee c ommunities

who l ove to cook. Her organization helps them

get f ood­serv ice l icenses s o t hey c an s tart

their o wn b usinesses, a nd a nyone who hires

the c atering c ompany can opt to hear from

them a bout w hy they left their homes. “We are

putting a f ace o n f ood,” H uang s ays. —B.L.

JAYDE POWELL

Guardian a ngel

Jayde Powell was heading home to Las Vegas

for s pring b reak o n M arch 1 3 w hen h er m om

ended t heir c all s o t hat a mid C OVID-19 f ears,

she c ould c heck o n t heir e lderly neighbors.

The e xchange g ot t he 2 0-year-old t hinking.

That d ay, she c reated a ds f or S hopping

Angels, a n etwork t o l ink s eniors and immuno-

compromised p eople t o v olunteers who can

deliver g roceries a nd e ssentials. I t s oon “ sur-

passed w hat I ever c ould h ave imagined,” she

says. Within a week, the group signed up more

than 2 ,900 p eople a cross t he U .S. w ho want

to b e v olunteers. Powell, a p remed s tudent,

ex pected t o r esume c lasses o nline M arch 2 3

but p lans t o keep t he p rogram g oing “ as l ong

as p eople a re wanting t o h elp.” —S.M.

BEN FINK AND PAULA GREEN

Pe rs onal p olitics

The 2 016 e lection p rompted m utterings t hat

Americans s hould e scape t heir e cho c hambers,

but f ew did so as purposefully as a group called

Hands A cross t he H ills. I n 2 017, rural voters

from L etcher C ounty, Kentucky, in Trump ter­

ritory, traveled t o m eet w ith ru ral v oters from

Lev erett, Mass., p art of Clinton country—not to

change e ach o ther’s m inds b ut t o b etter u nder­

stand o ne a nother’s thinking. “People are really

curious,” s ays Ben Fink o f t he L etcher C ounty

Culture H ub, w ho h elped o rganize t he m eeting.

“We h umanized e ach o ther,” s ays Paula Green,

a c onflict­resolution e xpert w ho was o n t he

Massachusetts s ide. T he s ummit b ecame a n

annual t radition; t he g roup p lans t o m eet f or a

fourth time in 2020—after the election. —K.S.

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