Time USA - 06.04.2020

(Romina) #1
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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