Columns

Rachel Scott was having lunch with a friend outside when the horror began to unfold at Columbine High School near Denver on April 20, 1999.

We are each called upon to serve others in our lives. For some, this duty to the greater good means military service. Young men and women from across Kentucky step up to meet this challenge again and again, knowing well the risks. Yet, they still take that sacred vow to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic.

On March 19, 2003, President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. Three weeks previously he said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, “A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region” by serving “as a dramatic and inspiring example ... for other nations in that region.” It all sounded very noble, and, just like that, we marched off to war.

It might seem strange that something as natural as being outside in nature has been studied by scientists aiming to identify factors that improve health. But it’s true.