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Barb wrote >I get the feeling that much (if not all.... ) of the squabling we've >had on the List the past few months was also alive and well at the PD >Allience meeting. This comment is completely wrong. There was plenty of lively discussion but virtually no squabbling, no negativity, simply intense discussion amoung a group of great people. >It appears to ME that the birth of this current argumentativeness (is >that a word?) has grown out of utter FRUSTRATION amongst our Parkie >and caregivers brothers and sisters who put in so many years of >grassroots efforts and expectations into getting the Udall Bill >passed, only to see no PD research funding come of that tremendeous >effort (so far, anyway). We preceive that there is a pent-up energy (frustration) and we hope to provide a positive channel to direct that energy. Many of the members of the Parkinson Alliance Executive Committee (Cordy,Walton, Tuchman, Richards, Morabito,Severance) and the Leadership Council (Vernice Roberts, Terri Whittling, Saul Siegal, Jackie Urso, Jim Warsaw, Gayle Zoller, Mary Yost) played major roles in passage of the Udall Bill. We never thought it would be easy. We have battled on the front lines and at times have been frustrated. We are not there yet but we have made tremendous strides. The President of the United States of America spoke the words Parkinson's disease first when he spoke of medical research in his State of the Union Message. That is not research dollars but it will be. We have fought the most difficult battles. Now we have to convince the National Institues of Health whose charter is to find cures for diseases, to spend a portion of their unexpectedly huge $2 billion increase in appropriations, on a disease which the majority of neuroscientists believe is curable. Surely we can do that. How do we do that? There are a lot of good PD proposals before NIH now, but our goalis to innundate NIH with 100 more top quality proposals each of the next two years. We will do this by providing seed money grants to researchers. When (not if) we do this we will get even more than the $100 million we wanted earmarked and WE WILL CURE PARKINSON'S DISEASE. When I am with those brothers and sisters that have already accomplished the impossible I know we can complete the job we started. If we can convey this feeling to all of those on this list we will have taken another big step toward our goal. A goal we are within striking distance of. You have three choices: 1)The worst of which is to be apathetic, sit back and let this disease have its way with you. 2)You can join the skeptics who didn't think we could pass the Udall bill or get the $2 billion increase in appropriations 3) or you can join us and see PD relegated to the same scrap heap as polio. Put aside negativity. Make this list sizzle with suggestions, questions on how you can help, success stories. Skeptics, there is a role for you. Challange us to convince you But please please no apathy. That is our Achillies Heel