Health Consultants For Pre-School Age Children Can Improve Health; Report Urges Policy Changes in CT

Research shows that the presence of a health consultant, usually a nurse by training, in child care centers leads to positive outcomes including improved nutrition, better sanitation and infection control, increases in access to preventive health care, specialty health care, mental health care, and oral health services. That’s according to a report by the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI), which recommends health consultation as a “key strategy for integrating health into early learning systems and maximizing the contribution of early learning programs to children’s healthy development.”

“We rely on child care health consultants to ensure children’s health and safety in early care settings according to child care licensing regulations, but these providers are not fully supported nor utilized by our child health systems,” said Lisa Honigfeld, co-author of the report and vice president for health at CHDI. “Policy reform can strengthen and expand the role of child care health consultants to connect parents, child health providers, and child care centers to better promote health and developmental outcomes for children.”

CHDI’s “IMPACT, Promoting Children’s Health in Early Care and Education Settings by Supporting Health Consultation,” summarizes research on the role and benefits of health consultation in early learning settings, and reviews policies, regulations, training, and payment structures used in Connecticut and other states. The report concludes that Child Care Health Consultants (CCHC) can be “instrumental in contributing to the achievement of pediatric population health goals in Connecticut by monitoring the health of young children at the community level and contributing to community health system efforts.”

The 30-page report provides a framework for Connecticut to integrate health into early learning systems by taking advantage of opportunities presented as part of the state's overall health reform efforts. Recommendations include:

1. Develop infrastructure within the State to support health consultation with training, reimbursement, and quality improvement.
2. Strengthen licensing requirements to collect and report detailed health consultation information for all licensed child care sites.
3. Advocate for inclusion of CCHCs in Connecticut’s health reform plans.
4. Use a multi-disciplinary oversight group to develop a system of health consultation services to the meet the needs of Connecticut’s child care programs.

The report notes that a majority of children younger than age five spend “significant time” in early care and education settings, with more than 98,000 children enrolled in licensed child care centers, Head Start programs, and family child care homes.

“Unlike mental health consultation,” the report states, “overall health consultation is not supported with state level infrastructure and payments for health consultants to early Childhood Education sites. For private child care or preschool programs, the cost to hire a health consultant is borne by the program, with no system in place to ensure the quality of the CCHC workforce or ensure that health consultation is implemented to maximize the health and safety of children in child care.”

Connecticut regulations allow child care sites to employ a registered nurse, advance practice registered nurse, physician, or physician assistant to serve as the site’s health consultant.  Child care licensing requires child care sites that serve children ages three to five have quarterly health consultation visits.

Indicating that “several states and initiatives are testing innovations to better support integration of primary care medical services and community services,” the report suggests that “Connecticut, too, is poised to promote increased cross-sector collaboration in early childhood,” citing the establishment in 2013 of the Office of Early Childhood at the state level, which brought under one roof a range of services and responsibilities that had been housed in a number of different state agencies.

In most states, including Connecticut, a CCHC is typically a licensed registered nurse, according to a survey of states undertaken for the report.  Two states (Hawaii and Indiana) require that the CCHC be a physician, the research found, and four states (Illinois, Maine, Maryland, and North Carolina) allow licensed practical nurses to be health consultants. North Carolina allows other disciplines (sanitarian, nutritionist, and dietician) to be trained and credentialed as a health consultant.

The report points out that “CCHCs need specialized training, skill sets, and experience to address health issues for individual children and for the group setting as a whole. They also need to be aware of health and community resources so they can link child care facilities and families to appropriate services when needed. Programs with a significant number of non-English speaking families benefit from the services of a CCHC who is culturally sensitive and knowledgeable about community health resources for parents’/guardians’ native cultures and languages.”

The Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI), a subsidiary of the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, is a not-for-profit organization working “to ensure all children have a strong start in life with ongoing supports to ensure their optimal health and well-being.” CHDI advocates for “effective policies, stronger systems, and innovative practices.”

Combating Opioid Epidemic in Connecticut Schools - Officials Team Up for Educators Workshop

The Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS), in partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and victims of drug abuse, will be offering a one-half day workshop for administrators, teachers, and counselors on the devastating opioid epidemic that is growing in severity in Connecticut an across the country. This video-based educational program is designed for high schools and geared specifically for teens and adolescents, officials explain, and will be accompanied by an educator’s discussion guide. The guides will be available for participants to immediately use in a variety of educational settings.

Projections for 2016 by the State Medical Examiner indicate that close to 900 people died of accidental drug overdoses in Connecticut. That is almost three times the number of people who died in car accidents last year, organizers point out. Even more devastating, they note, is the fact that a majority of these deaths are of young people ages 18 to 25, many of whom developed an addiction to opioids after misusing prescription pills while in their teens or early adolescence. Sports injuries, dental pain and other illnesses are common reasons for the original prescription.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.Significant increases in drug overdose death rates from 2014 to 2015 were primarily seen in the Northeast and South Census Regions. States with statistically significant increases in drug overdose death rates from 2014 to 2015 included Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.  In Connecticut, between 2014 and 2015 the rate increased by 25 percent.  

Recognizing that law enforcement is only one facet of the solution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is fighting this epidemic on several fronts, including criminal prosecution and outreach to schools for prevention, officials said. The office has formed a Heroin Education Action Team (HEAT), which includes parents of local overdose victims, to further assist in this effort.

“Opioid Epidemic in CT – Stemming the Tide” will take place on March 3, 2017, 8:30 to 11:00 a.m., at the CAS-CIAC Conference Center in Cheshire.  Registration deadline is February 24, 2017; the cost is $15.00

CAS officials are also calling for schools to show, “as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the school year,” videos about the crisis.

“Please ensure that every student in your high school sees at least one of the following two films,” the association urges:

• 1) a 15-minute film called The Opioid Crisis Hits Home: Stories from Connecticut that can also be used to educate educators, parents and the general public about the opioid epidemic; and
• 2) the FBI/DEA documentary film Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, which is 45-minutes long and accompanied by an educator’s discussion guide geared specifically to teens and adolescents.

Since last September, a number of Assistant U.S. Attorneys have partnered with parents of overdose victims, young recovering addicts, FBI, DEA, and local law enforcement to facilitate Chasing the Dragon presentations at high schools in Milford, New Haven, Danbury, Plymouth, Shelton, East Hartford and New Fairfield.

The films “are provided as a public service for the sole purpose of saving lives,” officials underscore. School officials can schedule an opioid awareness presentation by contacting  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vanessa Avery or Robert Spector at 203-821-3700.

The Connecticut Association of Schools,  a non-profit, tax-exempt educational organization, has grown to represent well over 800 of Connecticut’s public and parochial schools.

First Television, Now Picture Books – Contributors to Less Healthy Eating Among Children

Concerns about the impact of television promoting products such as snack food and soda have been well documented for some time, but academic research is now suggesting another culprit for childhood obesity and a growing lack of healthy eating among youngsters. Children’s picture books – the books filled with brightly colored drawings and basic themes that are staples of bedtime stories, pre-school readings and local story hours.  How they depict food – and eating – has led a UConn researcher to raise red flags.

The study – conducted by Jane Goldman, professor emerita in UConn’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and Lara Descartes, a former assistant professor with the department and now a professor of Family Studies at Brescia University College in Canada – found that while the ratio of healthy to unhealthy foods depicted in books is higher than it is on television, books more often link positive events and concepts – such as love and nurturing – to treats, such as ice cream and baked goods, rather than fruits or vegetables.

The findings were first published a year ago in the journal Appetite and were the subject of presentations last fall by Goldman and Descartes at the University of California at Irvine and a global conference on food in the United Kingdom, and reported this month by UConn Today.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t have ice cream in books, but people should be aware of what the underlying message is,” Goldman said. “What are the messages children are getting about foods when a picture book is read to them, and are those messages related to the obesity epidemic among children?”

The researchers evaluated 100 picture book titles in Scholastic’s “Favorite Books for Preschoolers” collection – a mix of classics and newer titles, fiction and non-fiction. Sixty-nine of the 100 books in the collection included one or more food items in the text and/or illustrations. Although “the ratio of healthy foods to nutrient-poor foods was higher in the books,” according to the researchers, there was bad news as well as good in their findings.

Goldman and Descartes first identified books in which food is mentioned one or more times – 48 titles fit into that category – and others in which food is a theme or sub-theme, a group that included 21 titles. The pages on which food is mentioned were then coded based on the placement of the food, or centrality; the level of emotion expressed, or affect; and the number of times, or frequency, with which the food is mentioned. Using characters’ expressions as a guide, researchers assigned a rating of positive, negative, or neutral to each food reference.

The researchers found that vegetables are depicted in more than a third of the books and centrally portrayed in more than half, but only 18 percent of the depictions received a positive “affect” rating.  Conversely, sweetened baked goods are both centrally positioned, and have a positive “affect” about 80 percent of the time.  And ice cream, although not in many books, always was associated with positive outcomes - five of the seven times ice cream is mentioned, it’s offered as a treat, to make someone feel better, or as a happy ending.  Among the other findings:

• Almost all 69 picture books in the sample depict one or more healthy foods.
• Twenty-nine (42 percent) depict only healthy foods; and thirty-three (48 percent) depict both healthy and nutrient-poor food, but the majority of the depictions are healthy foods.
• Fruits, while depicted in more than half the books, are most often in the background, and only one-third of fruit depictions received a positive “affect” rating.

The researchers say it’s important to look at the context in which foods are presented as well as the frequency, observing that the people they interviewed rarely noticed that food was mentioned in children’s books, nor what messages were being conveyed, UConn Today reported.

Goldman was not surprised, UConn Today reported, that many of the picture books surveyed in the study portrayed sweet and comparatively unhealthy foods as very desirable or that they were associated with positive outcomes.  When nutrient- poor foods are presented both frequently and positively, she indicated, it may well contribute to children’s view of them as more desirable.  This is especially likely given the fact that picture books are just one part of a child’s total media consumption and that television content is known to promote a positive association with nutrient-poor foods.

“What we hope the study  does is make people aware of how food is presented in picture books, in the same way they have become aware of how gender roles are presented in books,” Goldman says. “Books are a tool we use all the time, so how can we use books to promote healthy ideas about food. In early childhood there is an emphasis on helping children read and on healthy eating and lifestyle, so why not think about the messages in books that support or contradict that healthy lifestyle message.”

College Students in Connecticut Gather for Study Abroad Conference in Changing Context

Timing, as the saying goes, is everything.  This Saturday, February 4, the fourth annual Connecticut Area Study Abroad Conference will held, sponsored by eight higher education institutions and hosted at the University of Hartford.  The conference offers sessions for students who have studied abroad, highlighting “unpacking your time abroad, and learning how to use your study abroad experience to network and get your dream job.” Developed by a committee of study abroad professionals, the conference will also offer sessions on topics including career paths of study abroad participants, volunteer and non-profit opportunities abroad and internationalizing your résumé and interviews.

Organizers from eight colleges and universities in Connecticut could not have imagined, when the date was set months ago, that international travel through the United States would be the focus of world-wide attention in the wake of a presidential executive order.

Participating universities include University of Bridgeport, University of New Haven, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, Quinnipiac University, UConn Law School, Trinity College and University of Hartford.  Last year’s conference was hosted by the University of New Haven.

“Now more than ever, studying abroad is important,” said Trinity College’s Zachary Macinnes, one of the individuals developing the conference.  “In addition to setting students apart on the job market after graduation, participation in study abroad is positively associated with a host of benefits, including higher GPA, retention, increases in critical thinking and writing skills, greater appreciation for diversity, increased lifetime earnings and deeper engagement overall.” 

Macinnes, Outreach Coordinator and Study Away Advisor: Spain, Latin America & the Caribbean at Trinity College in Hartford, also notes that only 10 percent of U.S. students study abroad during college.  Taking the lead for the University of Hartford is Meaghan Murphy, international program administrator for the school’s Study Abroad program.  Nationwide, 33 percent of college students participating in study abroad programs are juniors, 26 percent are seniors and 13 percent are sophomores.

The top nations for U.S. students participating in study abroad programs are the United Kingdome, Italy, Spain, France, China, Germany, Ireland, Costa Rica, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, India and the Czech Republic, according to data compiled by the Institute of International Education.   The most frequent academic areas studied include the STEM fields, business & management, physical or life sciences, health professions, engineering, math or computer science, and agriculture, the organization’s data reveals.

The website promoting the event tells students that “Your study abroad experience is not an isolated activity that has a definite beginning and end. Instead, study abroad is a life-changing event that continues to develop and evolve long after you have returned home.”  The site adds that “You will find yourself changed, sometimes in surprising, unanticipated ways. Your academic and personal goals may be different, and you may now have a better appreciation for the international students on campus.”

The plan was for student resumes to be reviewed, and for information to be provided to enable students “learn more about how to go abroad again.”  Organizers indicate that will still take place, but clearly in a very different context.

The event is open to any student from a college or university in Connecticut who has studied abroad, in any foreign country, for any length of time. The conference, hosted by Trinity College and the Univeristy of Hartford, will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2017 from 9:30am-3:00pm at the University of Hartford in the Great Room of Konover Campus Center.

Economic Insecurity A Key Factor in School Shootings Nationwide, Academic Study Finds

There is a connection between economic insecurity and gun violence in the nation’s schools.  That is the conclusion reached in a “rigorous” Northwestern University study of a quarter-century of data which found that when it becomes more difficult for people coming out of school to find jobs, the rate of gun violence at schools increases. The study, “Economic Insecurity and the Rise in Gun Violence at US Schools,” was published this week in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.  It breaks new ground, researchers explain, replacing a “patchwork of contradictory claims” with a clear finding that “multiple indicators of economic distress significantly correlate with increases in the rate of gun violence” at both K-12 and post-secondary schools.

The interdisciplinary study by data scientists Adam R. Pah and Luís Amaral and sociologist John L. Hagan reveals a persistent connection over time between unemployment and the occurrence of school shootings in the country as a whole, across various regions of the country and within affected cities, including Chicago and New York City, the university reported.

“The link between education and work is central to our expectations about economic opportunity and upward mobility in America,” said Hagan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Sociology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “Our study indicates that increases in gun violence in our schools can result from disappointment and despair during periods of increased unemployment, when getting an education does not necessarily lead to finding work.”

The December 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut is among those routinely cited among a number of mass shootings that have garnered public attention in recent years.  While a number of factors have been said to have contributed to the violence, clear answers have been elusive as to the cause or causes.

The Northwestern researchers used data from 1990 to 2013 on both gun violence in U.S. schools and economic metrics, including unemployment, in an effort to determine factors that may be relevant. They found the rate of gun violence at schools has changed over time. The most recent period studied (2007-2013) has a higher frequency of incidents than the preceding one (1994-2007), contradicting previous work in this area, according to the university.

The researchers focused on all gun violence at schools, not only mass shootings. They used the following criteria for an event to be included in the study: (1) the shooting must involve a firearm being discharged, even if by accident; (2) it must occur on a school campus; and (3) it must involve students or school employees, either as perpetrators, bystanders or victims.  They then evaluated the timing of these events against multiple indicators of economic distress, including unemployment, the foreclosure rate and consumer confidence.

The researchers found that “given the nature of the school-to-work transition, it is predictable that more violence would occur closer to the last link in the chain from education to employment. An implication of our findings is that as economic prospects improve, the frequency of shootings in K12 schools should remain relatively stable, with declines at post-secondary schools.”

The research indicated that gang-related violence and lone mass shooters comprise only small fractions of the gun violence that occurs at U.S. schools. Gang-related violence constitutes 6.6 percent of all incidents.  Among the key findings were that gun violence at schools has not become more deadly over time and that most shootings are targeted, with the shooter intending to harm a specific person.

The report also noted that while Chicago is singled out in the study as one of the six cities with the most incidents from 1990 to 2013, Chicago schools are not any more dangerous than schools in other large cities.

The results suggest that during periods of heightened unemployment, increased gun violence may be a growing risk in American college and university settings, finding that “a breakdown in the school-to-work transition contributes to an increase in gun violence at schools.”

“Once we consider how important schools are to American ideas about economic opportunity and upward mobility, we can better understand why school settings are revealed in our research as focal points of violent responses to increased unemployment,” said Hagan, who also is a research professor at the American Bar Foundation. “Prior research about gun violence in schools has not adequately analyzed these connections.”

The Northwestern study differs from earlier studies on gun violence in U.S. schools by considering accumulated knowledge about the school-to-work transition in American society. In the last 25 years, there have been two elevated periods of gun violence at U.S. schools, the researchers found; 2007-2013 was largely due to events at postsecondary schools while 1992-1994 more often involved events at K-12 schools.

“Our findings highlight the importance of economic opportunity for the next generation and suggest there are proactive actions we could take as a society to help decrease the frequency of gun violence,” concluded Pah, clinical assistant professor of management and organizations at the university's Kellogg School of Management.

Connecticut Book Awards Set to Make a Comeback in 2017

Connecticut Center for the Book at Connecticut Humanities is now accepting submissions for the Connecticut Book Awards, returning after a multi-year absence from the literary landscape in the state.  The awards were last presented in 2011.  They were presented annually beginning in 2002. These awards recognize the best books of 2016 by authors and illustrators who reside in Connecticut.   The 2017 Connecticut Book Awards will honor authors in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. There will also be awards open to authors and illustrators in the category of Books for Young Readers (Juvenile, Young Adult, and Teen).  Book award nominations may be made through April 21, with the formal announcement of recipients later this year.

"There is a void in the Connecticut literary landscape for this kind of recognition of home grown authors. Several other awards and prizes in the state exist, awards such as The Nutmeg Awards, New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Awards, The Windham Campbell Prize, and a small handful of others, but these awards have specific criteria and don’t necessarily focus on Connecticut-based authorship," the Center for the Book website points out. "Without the Connecticut Book Awards, there is no statewide recognition of Connecticut authors who craft words and convey ideas in a compelling way."

Entry fee starts at $40 for a 2,000 copy or less print run. Award winners will receive exposure in Connecticut media outlets and personal appearances in Connecticut locations. For guidelines and to submit, please visit http://bit.ly/CTBook2017

The Center for the Book at Connecticut Humanities promotes the written and spoken word throughout the state and is an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.  "We’re bringing the Connecticut Book Awards back. Because they are important," the website notes emphatically.

Nominated authors must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three successive years or have been born in the state, or the book must be substantially set in Connecticut. Panels of five judges will assess nominated books in each category.

Eligibility Requirements for Book Awards to be made in 2017:

• Author must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three successive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the work may be substantially set in Connecticut.
• Titles must have been first published between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.
• All submitted books must have a valid ISBN.
• Authors may enter more than one book per year.
• Anthologies are acceptable. Author(s) must have resided in Connecticut for at least three years of have been born in the state. Alternatively, the works must be substantially set in Connecticut.
• Books by deceased authors will be accepted only if the author was still living at the beginning of the eligibility year (January 1, 2016).

Nominations Open for State's First Connecticut Entrepreneur Awards

A consortium of public and private associations and agencies, higher education institutions and entrepreneur-assisting nonprofit and for-profit organizations is launching the CT Entrepreneur Awards, designed to celebrate “the entrepreneurs and support system that make Connecticut work.” The inaugural awards, to be presented this spring, will recognize a variety of individuals and organizations that connect, collaborate and communicate amongst each other to help entrepreneurs succeed, according to organizers of the initiative. Nominations are now open for the CT Entrepreneur Awards, which will recognize the individuals and organizations that are instrumental in running the state’s ecosystem. From community builders and events to government officials and advisors that continuously support entrepreneurs, the awards are intended to highlight local leaders “that make a difference.”

Award categories include: Venture, Community Builder, Program, Space, Event, Education, Funding, Corporate/Institutional, and Government.

The CT Entrepreneur Awards are described as “community driven,” reflecting the easy online nomination form. The nine main categories were established in an effort to gather and honor “a broad array of leaders that create the foundation for entrepreneurs to succeed.” Individuals are asked “to nominate as many leaders that deserve recognition for their work in the community.”

During January, nominations are being sought and collected. From that broad list, the consortium will narrow the field and hold final online voting in February. Plans are to hold an awards in late March or early April, with event serving to “bring together all of the people dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs throughout the state.”

The CT Entrepreneur Awards are a product of the CT Entrepreneur Event Organizers consortium, an all-volunteer cooperative effort of people and organizations that host and facilitate entrepreneur facing events in throughout the state.  Proceeds from the CT Entrepreneur Awards will be directed to fund the statewide Entrepreneur Events Calendar, www.ctevents.co.

Consortium members include Accelerated Ventures, Axis 901, Baypath University, BEACON, Bridgeport Innovation Center, Business New Haven, CBIA, CCSU, ColoDesk.com, Congressman Jim Himes, Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc., Connecticut Innovations, CTNEXT, Connecticut Small Business Development Center, Connecticut Technology Council, CountMeIn!Hartford, Crossroads Venture Group, CT Entrepreneur Meetup, CT Hackerspace, CT Invention Convention, CT User Experience, Design Professionals CT ,Women's Small Business Development Council, CURE, and Danbury Hackerspace.

Consortium members also include the state Department of Economic & Community Development, Digital Surgeons, Economic Development Corp of New Haven, Enhanced Capital, Entrepreneurship Foundation, Fairfield University, Founderstood, Goodwin College, Hartford Business Journal, Help CT Grow, Innovate Hartford, Innovation Destination: Hartford, Launch EZ, LEARN TO PROGRAM MEDIA, LootScout, M5 Information Services, Madison Mott, MakeHaven, MakerspaceCT, Metro Hartford Alliance, Miles Finch Innovation, and MJX Asset Management

Also participating in support of the initiative are National Invention Convention, New Haven Chamber of Commerce, New Haven Lean Startup Meetup, Remarkable Technologies, reSET, SCORE – Hartford, SCORE - Western Connecticut, Senator Chris Murphy’s office, Spark, SPARK MakerSpace, Stamford Innovation Center, Stamford Tech Meetup, Startup Grind - New Haven, Startup Hartford, TAN2000 International, Test My Pitch, The Business Council of Fairfield County, The Diversion, The Grove, The Refinery, Thrise, Town of Old Saybrook, and Transactions Marketing, Inc.

Members also include the U.S. Small Business Administration, University of Connecticut, UConn - Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, UConn - Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium, UConn - School of Business, UConn - School of Engineering, UConn - Technology Incubation Program, University of Hartford - Entrepreneurial Center, University of Hartford - Women's Business Center at Entrepreneurial Center, University of New Haven - Tagliatela College of Engineering, Wesleyan University, Western Connecticut State University, Westfair Communications, Whitneyville Cultural Commons, Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, Yale Office of Cooperative Research & Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, Yale School of Management, and Yale University.

National Effort to "Revive Civility" is Underway, Looking Ahead to Next Elections

The National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), launched in the aftermath of the shooting targeting Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Arizona in 2011, has launched a new initiative – Revive Civility. “Incivility in America has reached epidemic proportions,” organizers point out. “Every day rudeness, disrespect and hostility sideline collaboration and compromise. Sound bites replace sound journalism. Extremes on both ends of the political spectrum stymie productive dialogue. The public, initially worn and weary, is increasingly enraged about how the lack of civility has left government helpless in the face of our nation's most pressing problems.”

The initiative includes proposed Standards of Conduct, toolkits for citizens, and suggested text messages  that emphasize how ”civility strengthens our democracy.”

Pointing out that “research found that most people think mocking or making fun of a political opponent, making disrespectful or demeaning statements, refusing to listen to arguments of different points of view, or making exaggerated statements that misrepresent the truth are all uncivil behaviors.”

In 2017, “reviving civility is more important than ever” and NICD plans to continue to champion “respectful interactions” in media, legislatures, and the public.  The organization will also educate “the next generation on the importance of civility and ways in which respectful dialogue and interaction between a variety of viewpoints can be created in your own life.”

The 2016 campaign, NICD points out, “brought political incivility directly into living rooms across America,” pointing out that candidates used “disrespectful remarks, name calling,” insulted various members of minority groups, and “the tone of the campaigns has also led to physical violence. Uncivil words have led to uncivil actions and are the direct result of the nature of the rhetoric expressed by those competing to lead in public office.”

NICD points out that:

• 2 in 3 voters say the 2016 election has been less civil than other elections.
• 6 in 10 agree with the statement "The 2016 election will go down as one of the most negative elections."
• 4 in 10 voters say Americans are very or somewhat civil to each other today.
• 7 in 10 Americans say civility has decreased over the past few years.

The honorary chairs of NICD, a nonprofit organization, are former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  Among the honorary co-chairs is former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Financial Cost to Connecticut Smokers Among Highest in the Nation

The financial cost of smoking in Connecticut is higher than just about anywhere in the United States.  The total cost over a lifetime per smoker is $2,183,204, the third highest in the nation, and the annual cost per year per smoker of $42,808, is also third highest in the nation, just behind New York and Massachusetts. The lifetime health care cost per smoker, $274,272 in Connecticut, is higher than every state but one, (Massachusetts), and the out-of-pocket cost per smoking individual of $170,513 for smokers living in Connecticut is third highest in the nation.

The data was compiled by the financial website WalletHub, where analysts calculated the potential monetary losses — including the cumulative cost of a cigarette pack per day over several decades, health-care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. 

Emphasizing that “the negative physical and financial effects of smoking can be significant,” WalletHub noted that Connecticut’s rankings placed it as among the most costly in every category.

Over a lifetime, the financial opportunity cost for smokers living in Connecticut was $1.436,335 and the income loss per smoker was calculated at $286,950.  Other costs per smoker, such as not being able to qualify for homeowner’s insurance discounts for non-smokers, were $15,133.  In each instance, the costs in Connecticut were among the three highest among the 50 states and District of Columbia.

Annual income loss for Connecticut smokers is calculated at $5,626.  Only Maryland, Alaska, New Jersey and D.C. were higher, according to the analysis. Attributable factors included absenteeism, workplace bias or lower productivity due to smoking-induced health problems.  The website also noted that according to a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, smokers earn 20 percent less than nonsmokers, 8 percent of which is attributed to smoking and 12 percent to other factors.

For the calculations, WalletHub assumed an adult who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day beginning at age 18, when a person can legally purchase tobacco products in the U.S., and a lifespan thereafter of 51 years, taking into account that 69 is the average age at which a smoker dies. Data used in developing the ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Insurance Information Institute, NYsmokefree.com, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), Kaiser Family Foundation and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

In 2016, the American Lung Association gave Connecticut an “F” grade in its spending of tobacco prevention and control funds.  The ALA points out that 40 states and Washington D.C. spend less than half of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends on their state tobacco prevention programs.  Overall, states spend less than two cents of every dollar they get from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes to fight tobacco use.  Each day, more than 2,600 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and about 600 kids become new, regular smokers, according to nationwide data from ALA.

A report on Connecticut's spending on tobacco prevention just over a year ago found that the state was being outspent over 67 times by tobacco companies' marketing efforts - due in large part to the state spending only a small portion of tobacco settlement funds on anti-smoking efforts.

The report, “Broken Promises to our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 17 Years Later," said the state was spending $1.2 million in FY 2016 to fight tobacco use. That's compared to an estimated marketing investment of $80.4 million by tobacco companies in Connecticut that year. The national average shows a margin of 20.1 to 1.  At that time, Connecticut ranked 38th in spending on a percentage basis.  The state has consistently spend less than the CDC has recommended.

The annual report was developed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), a coalition that includes the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, and the Truth Initiative.

A year later, the next report ranked Connecticut last, as Connecticut’s projected spending on smoke cessation and tobacco prevention efforts for FY 2017 dropped to zero.  The report found that 13.5 percent of adult state residents are smokers, and 10.3 percent of high school students smoke.  Just under 5,000 deaths each year are caused by smoking in Connecticut, and 27 percent of cancer deaths are attributable to smoking.  Connecticut’s cigarette excise tax, $3.90 per pack, is the second highest in the nation. It was estimated that the state would collect $519.7 million in revenue this year from the 1998 state tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend none of it on tobacco prevention programs.

Was Holocaust News in Connecticut As It Happened? Historians Seek to Find Out

What could Americans have known – in Connecticut and across the country - about the Nazi threat from reading their local newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s? The Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO) is looking for some research help to find out. CLHO is participating in History Unfolded, a project of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. It asks students, teachers, and history buffs throughout the United States what was possible for Americans to have known about the Holocaust as it was happening and how Americans responded. “

Participants look in local newspapers for news and opinion about 31 different Holocaust-era events that took place in the United States and Europe, and submit articles they find to a national database, as well as information about newspapers that did not cover events. History Unfolded raises questions for scholars and will inform the Museum’s initiative on Americans and the Holocaust.

CLHO and Connecticuthistory.org are teaming up to introduce this project to Connecticut. On January 26, 2017, (the day before the United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day) “citizen historians like you can register to join ‘Team Connecticut’ as we explore Holocaust history.”  Research volunteers will learn how to use primary sources in historical research, and challenge assumptions about American knowledge of, and responses to, the Holocaust.

Officials stress that no experience is needed to participate. Individuals may get involved on their own using online newspaper archives, at local libraries or participating museums, or in groups working as members of a research team.

Data from History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust will be used for two main purposes: to inform the upcoming exhibition on Americans and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and to enhance scholarly research about the American press and the Holocaust. Information captured in the general database will be available as a research source for generations to come.

As of January 9, 2017, 920 participants from across the country had submitted more than 6,300 articles from their local newspapers. The articles were published in newspapers located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and represent news articles, editorials, letters to the editor, political cartoons, and advertisements. Individuals are urged to check with their local museum, historical society, or library to see if they will be hosting a research group. A classroom or school, a temple or church, a museum or library, or other community organizations can participate. Individuals can also participate.  Organizations can email Liz Shapiro at liz@clho.org or Gregg Mangan, at gmangan@cthumanities.org for additional information.  For more about the national project, visit the project at https://newspapers.ushmm.org/