Government Shutdown Hits Home

STORY BY CHRIS HARRIS »
As of the time writing this article
the government shutdown has been

going on for a total of 35 days, ac-
cording to the news website Reuters,

that has as been keeping track. The
shutdown will resume Feb. 15 unless a
solution is agreed upon.
But how is this affecting the
students here at EHS? Sophomore
Alexander Vonderbrink’s parents,
John and Jeannie Vonderbrink are
both employed by the Food and Drug
Administration and both share the
same job of testing food for pesticides
and other such contaminates.
Luckily, the Vonderbrinks were
prepared for the worst. They had

planned a vacation between Christ-
mas and New Year’s Day, and had

saved up enough cash in their bank
account to last them 3 to 6 months.
As a general rule of thumb, they
always set aside some funds in case
they either lose their job, or another
government shutdown happens.
“We were just blessed that we
had money in savings to carry us

through,” Jeannie said. The Vonder-
brinks have been avoiding applying

for part-time jobs, because it would
be a hassle to commit and then quit.
The hardest part is not knowing
when the situation will be resolved.
“We will read about it in the
news,” John explains. They don’t get

any additional information other than
a brief call they received from the
commissioner explaining that they
should expect the shutdown to keep
going on for another couple weeks.
Although the food aspect of the
FDA is shutdown as it is federally
funded, the drug side of things are

actually privately funded and main-
tained by the pharmaceutical indus-
try, meaning that half of the FDA is

still very active and all medications
are fully in standard regulation.
The Vonderbrinks have been back
at their old jobs this week. They hope
for the best.