Benefit for American Red Cross at Devotay This Sunday

Devotay, 117 N. Linn Street, Iowa City, Iowa, launched Benefit Sundays last month to give back to the community by partnering with a local charity.

This Sunday, the restaurant is partnering with the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief Fund. According to Devotay line cook, Jeremy Tole, the restaurant had taken 10 benefit reservations for about 25 patrons as of Friday night. They’re hoping for even more people to designate their reservations in the name of this Haiti relief effort.

Haiti is the hemisphere’s poorest nation, and many survivors have no access to water, food, shelter, or healthcare, according to Devotay’s website. The charity proceeds from Sunday’s meal will assist the American Red Cross in their work with earthquake victims in Haiti….

Haiti on Our Minds

Like many of you, I’ve been watching three days of news reports streaming from MSN.com and CNN.com. As I sit here in the comfort of a sturdy Midwestern home, I grieve for people I have never known. I watch in frustration as the planes land with supplies, yet reports from the streets are that aid is not reaching those who are most affected and most vulnerable.

What amazes me is the overall calm that has prevailed so far in this desperately poor country, even in the face of a disaster of massive proportions. Men, women, and children alike wait for help that is far too long in coming — in a relatively orderly manner for the most part. Yes, there are outbreaks of violence and looting. But the astonishing thing is how long peace reigned before any trouble began — and that it still reigns still over most of the capital city.

Speaking to an MSN.com camera crew, one young man with a clear American accent said, “I don’t expect you to get it to us immediately. But at least give us something, so we can have courage.” …

Harming Environment Leads to Societal Collapse

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond addressed a crowd of about a thousand at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on February 3. Dr. Diamond, a professor of history at UCLA, held us in rapt attention while he talked about the subject of his 2005 book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. “That doesn’t seem like the most cheerful subject to write about,” he wryly pointed out, causing a fair amount of laughter among the crowd.

“The real question,” Diamond said, “is, why do some societies collapse, having failed to solve problems that other societies succeeded in solving?”