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Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed what he hopes the U.S. learned in the pandemic, while being honored at The University of Texas's Ken Shine Lectureship.
The annual lecture held on Thursday by Dell Medical School at UT Austin features the winner of the Ken Shine Prize in Health and Leadership—this year, Dr. Fauci was the honoree.
"You've been a shining light for those of us in our communities that have been working hard to advance science and without you, I think many of us would have felt really completely abandoned," said Dell Medical School's Dean Clay Johnson of Dr. Fauci's leadership.
Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Fauci has been the voice of reason for many and has pushed for more effective COVID-19 projects and procedures every step of the way. Moving forward, he hopes people don't soon forget the damage caused by a lack of preparedness.
"I would hope that we do not forget that and realize that we really do have to take a serious look at pandemic preparedness," said Dr. Fauci in the Zoom-facilitated lecture. "Including the ability to do massive testing, including the ability to restrengthen our local public health system."
While he never laid out any new plans for the forward movement of handling COVID-19, Dr. Fauci certainly had some ideas on how to increase readiness for catastrophes in the future and how the next administration can better inform Americans. In the discussion, he suggested putting out a consistent message.
"When you have a consistent message from leadership, from those who implement, it becomes much easier because there are no chinks in the armor, no gaps that people can capitalize on," Dr. Fauci said.
He went on to speak about a closer working relationship between the states and the federal government. While Dr. Fauci believes there have been "some successes" in that area, there is still significant improvement to be made.
At the end of the lecture, Ken Shine, M.D., former Vice Chancellor for health affairs at the University of Texas System and the man whose name the award bears, was also in attendance and said the closing words in honor of Dr. Fauci:
"In terms of the integrity ... and the candor and the honesty which you represent, those are values, which are critical to our society. No matter how, what area we're talking about, those are values, which you represent to the nth degree."
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First score made by LAFC. (Sonia Garcia/Austonia)
Austin FC couldn't find the stamina to fight off a 2-0 loss against LAFC for their inaugural match on Saturday.
The match, which saw No. 21 Austin FC go head-to-head with No. 2 LAFC in Los Angeles, was broadcast nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes.
Salute the support. 👏
It's only the beginning for @AustinFC. pic.twitter.com/TduorqYr2y
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 18, 2021
Eleven players took the stage as Austin FC players for the first time, with five starters making their MLS debut. "Ringleader" Alex Ring took the captain's armband and wore it well. The defensive midfielder could be seen leading his teammates through their first ever match, but it wasn't enough to stage an Austin takeover in LA.
In the signature style of Head Coach Josh Wolff, the team played with quickness and intensity, nearly connecting on several fast breaks. It was harder for them to stay in front, however, something that Wolff credits with quick decision making and a tough LAFC defense.
"We have a quick attacking team, but I think when you make quick attacks and it fizzles it's just about some decision making," Wolff said. "Are we in position to finish attacks? If not, can we reestablish our attack and get stuff better?"
The club was given some generous breaks from No. 2 LAFC, who had one or both of their star DPs out for the half. While forward Diego Rossi is out for the entire match due to a hamstring injury, Carlos Vela was accidentally pulled too soon on what turned out to be a miscommunication.
"He gave us the sign that he needed to come off," LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley said on broadcast. "I can't say more than maybe it's my fault."
LA pulled some dramatics and slowly gained more possession throughout the half, but ATXFC's defense wasn't initially as shaky as it seemed in preseason. Jhohan Romana has pulled his weight in getting the ball out of goal, and a 34-year old Matt Besler held his own in center back.
As the second half commenced, however, it became clear that LAFC had the advantage over Austin's first major league team.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver had his work cut out for him, fending off 24 shot attempts, 11 of which were on goal. He didn't have much time to prepare, either: in the first 30 seconds of play, Stuver had already made a save to keep the match 0-0.
LAFC finally connected in the 61st minute of play as Corey Baird shot one into the bottom right corner. The team capitalized off their momentum and put one past Stuver a second time, drawing roars of approval from the LAFC crowd.
While some last-minute attempts from Jon Gallagher and others were made, Austin FC didn't have the endurance to bring a tie. After seven additional minutes of stoppage time, the club lost their first match 2-0.
While the scoreboard tells one story, Wolff said that the team did well considering the skill of LAFC and the pressure of their club debut.
"We've got to be realistic," Wolff said. "This is the first time this organization has been in front of TV with an opportunity to show itself and I think there were some promising moments. And we're going to maximize those and continue to try to develop those, but there's lots to build on."
The team may have lost, but it still won the support of thousands of Verde fans, dozens of which made it to watch their team's first match. When Stuver and the team made it to bthe stadium, Los Verdes fans were already there to show support, and Stuver said his wife saw the same back in Austin.
"The moment that we pulled into the stadium, we saw Black and Verde fans cheering us on as we got to the stadium," Stuver said. "During warm up, you can just look around and see different groups sitting in different sections of the stadium and it's just truly amazing to see the support in our first game. We know that we want to give the fans everything, because this we play for the city and we play for them."
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