A PURITAN minister once wrote that woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.

No portion of the human skeleton has generated more literary consideration than the ribs. Before the rise of modern science, many people believed that all human males had one less rib than females.

The beginning of the clash between biology and religion can be traced to Andreas Vesalius, the founder of modern anatomy, who boldly stated the rib cages of both sexes contain the same number of bones. In 1543 he wrote: "The ribs are 12 in number on each side, in man and woman ... The popular belief that man is lacking a rib on one side and that woman has one more rib than man is clearly ridiculous, even though Moses, in the second chapter of Genesis, said that Eve was created by God from one of Adam's ribs." Brilliant, but lacking in public relations savvy, Vesalius received heavy criticism from sometimes-murderous churchmen for stating an easily verifiable empirical fact.

Both men and women have 24 ribs, more or less. The first seven sets of ribs, known as "true ribs," are directly attached to the sternum through the costal cartilage. The following five sets are known as "false ribs," as three of these share a common cartilaginous connection to the sternum. The last two rib pairs are called floating ribs as they are attached to the vertebrae only and not to the sternum or cartilage coming off of the sternum. Some people, not just Adam, are missing one of the two pairs of floating ribs, while others have a third pair.

The function of ribs is threefold. First, they provide protection for the lungs and heart. The ribs more or less form a “cage” around these very important organs. Second, they are one of the few bones that continue to make red marrow (and thus blood cells) in the adult. Third, they serve as attachment points for chest muscles involved in respiration.

Like a punch to the ribs of the beast called Wasteful Government Spending, Gov. Calvo has called for a $43 million austerity program to include government worker layoffs. In order for this government austerity plan to succeed, the Guam Memorial Hospital must eliminate the 300 employee positions that are non-essential to patient care.

Guam’s citizens deserve and must demand excellence in public health, safety, and education. The bone of contention is that GMH has too many non-medical employees for it to be able to perform its medical mission. During the past year, the hospital has struggled to finance its bloated payroll, pay for its medical supplies, and keep current with lawful Retirement Fund obligations. Since the beginning of the Calvo administration, GMH has added more than 200 extra staff and the hospital has been a dumping ground for political hires.

That the people of Guam should be paying for off-island travel, opulent government SUVs, senatorial rollover funds, and expensive government consultants is clearly ridiculous. The government of Guam must be focused on delivering core services to its citizens regardless of political affiliation. Government service was never meant to enrich obsequious sycophants.

If Gov. Calvo is sincere in his efforts to improve GMH, then he must immediately comply with the recommendations of the last three hospital management audits: non-critical administrative staff must be laterally transferred and nurses and Allied Health staff must be competitively compensated.