Page 9 - Ct Viewpoints News Today

Let’s work toward oral health equity Almost half of all low-income and non-Hispanic Black adults have tooth decay that has gone without treatment. Kids are in pain and getting behind at school, low-income families and people of color are suffering. Too many families either don’t have coverage or can’t afford to pay for dental care because it takes money away from everyday survival. These social determinants are very real for the nearly 60 million Americans who don’t have access to denta...

Connecticut infrastructure solutions require private sector help The widening of bridge 1466 on I-91 at Airport Road. Like many states, Connecticut faces numerous infrastructure problems, largely resulting from a lack of long-term provision for repair and maintenance costs. Much of the country’s infrastructure was built with design-bid-build contracts focused on the cheapest way to build projects, making long-term management more difficult and costly, leading to the “crumbling” conditions...

Free market forces, not government, should create affordable housing Jayme Stevenson Winter has turned to spring here in Darien, kids are back in school, activities are starting to resume and COVID vaccines are being delivered. This is happy and hopeful news! Each and every one of us has had personal and professional challenges brought on by SARS-CoV-2. The human spirit to persevere and rise above is very much alive here in Darien and I have no doubt that our community will be stronger for our ...

Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us? Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity know that the path to achieving the American dream is through access to a quality education that prepares our children with the skills they need to be successful in the careers of their choice. Given the need to increase funding and opportunities across the board in Danbury Public Schools, why did State Sen. Julie Kushner vote to block a bill that would provide another $13 million in funding to our city’s sch...

Innovation isn’t helpful if we can’t afford it In response to Paul Pescatello’s opinion, (Connecticut price controls will stifle biopharma innovation), Connecticut residents desperately need the Governor’s bill, HB 6447, to limit out-of-control drug price hikes. The bill isn’t price control; it’s a small step that balances innovation with affordability. Jay Gironimi Anyone who says you can’t put a price on human life hasn’t been to the pharmacy. Drug prices are too high, and tho...

If ever there was an institution exemplifying the adage “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” solitary confinement in our prisons would be it. Quakers in England and in Pennsylvania played a large role in the introduction of isolation as an alternative to the mayhem that was prevalent in prisons. In the U.S. a group of reformers, including many Friends (Quakers), developed a vision of the penitentiary as an alternative to these squalid dungeons. The notion at the time was that p...

We, undersigned professors from Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State universities, believe that it is our responsibility and moral obligation to speak up on behalf and in support of our faculty colleagues and our students, and to express our deepest concerns about the harmful consequences that the contract proposals by the Board of Regents currently under negotiation will have on our students, our four institutions, and the future workforce of our state. We would like to em...

Expunge the criminal records of marijuana offenders Connecticut’s state legislature is once again debating the merits of decriminalizing the recreational use of marijuana.  Yet the most heated arguments are not about the wisdom of legalization.  Instead, they have focused largely on the commercialization of marijuana sales.  To what extent should the market be quickly opened to existing outlets for medical cannabis?  Or, in order for opportunities to be spread more fairly to communities o...

Support HB-5067 to stop non-consensual pelvic/prostate exams under anesthesia Latest status as of March 11, 2021 Imagine you are a patient who is undergoing abdominal surgery, perhaps you have a gynecological or prostate issue.  Naturally you gravitate to the best hospital in your network or you follow your physician. Many physicians wear two hats —they’re both caretakers and teachers. For you, this means that medical students may be there, observing. But many will do far more. As the Yale...

Bitcoin challenges the powers that be While the chattering classes are blathering about the racism of Dr. Seuss, the sexual harassment of Pepé Le Pew and the wokeness of Mr. Potato Head, a subterranean herculean battle is brewing over a new financial asset that could give the masses unprecedented power to prevent profligate governments from impoverishing them by printing money ad infinitum – Bitcoin. Joseph Bentivegna MD Bitcoin is a digital cryptocurrency, meaning that it is protected by co...