New Hampshire Open

This past weekend was the New Hampshire Open chess tournament. Held in Manchester, NH and open to players from all states, the tournament doubles as the New Hampshire state chess championship. Grandmaster Alex Ivanov and International Master Jonathan Yedidia, both from Massachusetts, shared first place; the top NH finishers were International Master Joe Fang and FIDE Master Brad Bournival. Except for 2009, either Fang or Bournival has at least tied for the NH state champion title every year since 1998 (ties are not broken; players who finish with the same score are considered co-state champions). Congratulations to New Hampshire's new champions for a hard-earned victory!

My own performance was disappointing. I got off to a good start, defeating Class A player (and 2004 co-state champion) Erin Dame and drawing against National Master Hal Terrie (who was the NH Amateur Champion in 1974 and 1976). Going into the final day of play, I was half a point off of the lead. Unfortunately, I lost a topsy-turvy game against Vermont's #2-rated player, Haizhou Xu and then made a series of mistakes against NH expert Sherif Khater to lose despite being a piece up. I finished with 2/5 points, good only for a tie for twelfth place. Poor result or not, I had a lot of fun playing, I enjoyed my games, and I particularly enjoyed catching up with the cadre of NH, VT, and MA chess players that I only get to see at tournaments.

My next tournament is the Nashua Open in July, and I may play another match against my friend Dave Carter, the state champion and top-rated player in Vermont. After that, I will have to start looking for chess tournaments in Colorado!

A problematic benefaction

Medical and humanitarian organizations routinely collect recently expired medications from U.S. hospitals, doctors' offices, and ambulance services for distribution in impoverished nations. Proponents of this practice assert that the medication is still safe and largely effective, and it would have just gone to waste otherwise. This way people can have access to drugs that would have otherwise remained beyond their reach. Still, I can't shake the nagging doubt: Is this an ethical thing to do? A condescending one? Or is it noble and praiseworthy?

Reduced to its simplest form, the argument against sending expired medication to Third World countries goes something like this: These drugs aren't good enough for Americans to take themselves, but they're good enough for people in poorer nations? Who do we think we are?

I've never been involved in this practice myself, but I suspect that many supporters would reframe the question not as one of drugs being good enough for some and not for others but as one of regulatory reasonableness. Not all expiration dates refer to the medicine's point of last effectiveness/safety. Some, for example, refer to the guaranteed sterility of the packaging. And then there are some drugs which really don't "expire" per se. "D50,"  which is used to correct hypoglycemic emergencies, is a prime example: It's sugar and water. That's it.

One could make a further case against the regulatory standards that have been imposed on pharmaceutical companies, saying that many expiration dates have been artificially or arbitrarily contrived. I know little about pharmaceutical regulations, so I can't speak to this point. I am not persuaded by it, however, since I have a hard time believing that the oversight agencies knowingly impose false or incorrect standards.

I find the humanitarian argument most compelling and also most troublesome. I recognize that this may be one of the only ways that large numbers of people can obtain medicine they sorely need, and I in no way oppose that objective. But declaring medicine unfit for patient consumption in the United States and then turning around and sending it to patients abroad just doesn't seem right.

There has to be a better way to meet the needs of the medically underserved. Whether it be new international aid initiatives, pharmaceutical grant programs, or something else, this is a problem that has to have a solution. And I want to emphasize that I admire medical and humanitarian groups for the selflessness and dedication they practice day in and day out; it is only this one component of their work that I have doubts about.

I recognize the elements of truth in many of the arguments for and against doing this. Ultimately, though, if I have to remove a vial of medication from my ambulance because it is no longer appropriate to give to a patient, then I simply can't condone it being sent off for use on a patient.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment and let's discuss.

Go west, young man!

Thus famously spake Horace Greeley (whose statue in my hometown of Chappaqua, NY ironically faces east), encouraging the new generation of hungry young Americans to seek their fortunes in the rapidly evolving frontier. The frontier has settled in the last 150+ years, but evidently there is still room enough for two more Yankees out there, because Ellen and I are moving to Boulder, CO at the end of August. Ellen has accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship at a government lab starting in September, and I am hoping to continue working as a paramedic (I'm in the process of applying for a CO license now). We are looking forward to this new adventure!

It's going to be a busy few months! In addition to trying to find housing and make moving arrangements (not to mention the small matter of finishing and defending a doctoral dissertation), we are also trying to make sure we experience everything New Hampshire has to offer in our last summer here. We've already planned a hike up Mt. Washington and a trip to the Quechee Balloon Festival (which is technically in Vermont); if anyone has any other suggestions for can't-miss activities/attractions, please let me know!

In other news, Dartmouth graduated the Class of 2012 last Sunday. Congratulations to all the graduates! I can't believe it was three years ago that I was in their place ... time sure does fly, but at the same time, I feel like I've lived ten years' worth of experiences in that time. Hoping for many more years just like them!