Cybersecurity Remains Top Business Concern As Risks Mount; State Task Force Formed to Investigate

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, marked annually in October, is sandwiched this year between one of the largest reported data breaches in history and the busiest online shopping period of the year. Now, the Connecticut Better Business Bureau says a new study shows small businesses are having difficulty calculating the cost versus risk of strengthening protection of their vital information.  And state and federal authorities have formed a new statewide task force to investigate cybersecurity crimes. The study, conducted by  the Council of Better Business Bureaus concludes that while most small businesses are aware of specific threats, the majority are at odds about how to prevent becoming a victim.

"Awareness of the potential and perceived cybersecurity threats is a crucial starting point," according to Connecticut Better Business Bureau spokesman Howard Schwartz. "The study shows that most small businesses are strengthening their data protection to some degree, however, it concludes they must place more emphasis on employee education to prevent cybercrime."

In an online survey of 1,100 businesses in North America, The State of Small Business Cybersecurity in North America finds 81 percent of small businesses use basic data protection tools such as antivirus software, and 75 percent protect their systems with firewalls. The downside is that the report reveals less than half of respondents concentrate on employee education, which is considered by the authors to be one of the most cost-effective prevention tools.

The most compelling reason for small businesses to take stronger cybersecurity measures, BBB points out, is because half of the study's respondents said they could not remain profitable for more than one month if their essential data was stolen.

Even though small businesses may be easier targets for determined cybercriminals, data breaches at the largest commercial, industrial and government networks yield information that is of much greater value because of stolen information's quantity and content, officials point out.  BBB urges businesses to train employees about data security protocols, because firewall and antivirus protection are not sufficient if your employees don't know how to detect and steer clear of suspicious online activity.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) points out that “getting hacked can destroy customers’ trust and cost companies millions of dollars in legal fees, investigations, damage control, and lost income,” adding that “too many companies underestimate this threat or simply don’t know how to protect themselves until its too late.”

CBIA is holding free webinars for CBIA member companies this fall, with sessions upcoming on Oct. 25, Nov. 15 and Dec. 15.

The State Director of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, Emily Carter, points out that for many small business owners, cybersecurity doesn't extend beyond using antivirus protection.  "It's something they think is only a threat for large corporations and big brands, but that's inaccurate," she explained.  SBDC recommends that small businesses train employees on best practices upon hiring and regularly provide training on cybersecurity.  SBDC has developed a workbook that lists resources that small business owners can access for free training, and a step-by-step guide to create a cybersecurity plan for their business.

“One of the most important things an employer can do for their business in the fight against cyber terrorism is to educate their employees," said Lynn Souza,  CEO of KyberSecure, with Connecticut offices in Fairfield and Rocky Hill.  "Cybersecurity is the responsibility of everyone, and end users are the gate keeper.  Teach them how to spot fraudulent emails, remind them weekly to be vigilant, and post cybersecurity information in public spaces.  Warren Buffet was quoted as saying ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that you’ll do things differently.’  However I like to change that just a bit and say ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and one click to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently.'  Teach your employees to always ask before clicking on anything and empower them with the tools and training they need to help protect your business,” Souza added.

Last July, Gov. Malloy announced a cybersecurity strategy for the state that included business among other sectors, and this week United States Attorney Deirdre M. Daly and representatives of federal, state and local law enforcement announced the formation of the Connecticut Cyber Task Force to investigate complex crimes in cyberspace.  The state strategy indicated "person, agency,organization and business in Connecticut faces some degree of vulnerability. You are affected whether you are a major corporation or the convenience store down the block."  It warned that "today’s firewall is tomorrow’s soft spot. Cyber risks are inherently complex and changing."   One of the key areas of focus for the Task Force is "to identify and disrupt criminal organizations that use computer intrusions to defraud companies of their money and information."

The Connecticut Cyber Task Force will be based at the FBI in New Haven. It includes representatives from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Connecticut State Police and 11 police departments from across the state, including the Bridgeport, Bristol, Fairfield, Greenwich, Hartford, New Canaan, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Torrington and Westport Police Departments.

“The broad reach of cyber criminals can be felt almost every day in Connecticut,” said U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly.  “Day after day, we learn of companies, municipalities, educational institutions, hospitals, public utilities, nonprofits and citizens being targeted by bad actors.  These cyber criminals seek to disrupt our work, steal our intellectual property, compromise the personal or financial information of employees, customers and citizens through dedicated denial of service (DDOS) attacks, spear phishing campaigns, ransomware and malware attacks and other computer hacks or cyber intrusions.”

Adds Carter, "Cybersecurity is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and it's not going anywhere."

Business owners can learn more about cybersecurity steps they can take through "5 Steps to Better Business Security" at bbb.org/cybersecurity. BBB also offers these tips to help protect personal and financial data while doing business and browsing online:

• Look for HTTP"S" - You will find it in your web browser's address bar. The "s" stands for secure and it will be accompanied by a padlock icon. That means the business is using technology to secure information between your digital devices and its website. Avoid using free wireless connections for shopping - Scammers can set up a fake wireless network with a legitimate-looking name in a coffee shop, restaurant, library, airport, hotel or anywhere else. Unless you verify the name of the establishment's real network, a hacker can burrow into your computer. Experts also recommend avoiding conducting any commerce or logging on to your accounts using a free public wireless network.
• Greeting cards can come at a high price - It's not unusual to receive an online greeting card at this time of year, but you can lessen the chances of downloading a virus if you confirm with senders that they emailed the card link to you. Clicking on a fake holiday card can cause big trouble and infect your computer.
• Educate your family - Explain why it is potentially dangerous to click on email or social media links or attachments, unless they are absolutely certain the sender is legitimate. Use the same caution on websites when clicking on hyperlinks or downloading files.
• Update and scan - Antivirus and firewall software do not provide sufficient protection unless you update it and scan your computer or smart device regularly.

With Varied Stories to Tell, State Authors Win 2017 Connecticut Book Awards

The Connecticut Book Awards returned from a five-year hiatus with a rousing ceremony and the selection of winners from among finalists in four categories:  Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry and Young Readers.  The competition was coordinated by Connecticut Humanities and the Connecticut Center for the Book, and the awards ceremony was held Sunday at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford. West Hartford author Okey Ndibe was awarded the 2017 Connecticut Book Award for Non-Fiction for Never Look an American in the Eye, published by Soho Press.  The Fiction winner was Robert H. Patton of Darien for Cajun Waltz, published by Thomas Dunne Books.  In the Young Readers, The Weight of Zero, written by Karen Fortunati and published by Delacorte Press, was selected. The Poetry winner was Fugitives by Danielle Pieratti, published by Lost Horse Press.

One hundred nine titles were submitted as candidates for the Book Awards between January 1 and April 19, 2017 and after review against the guidelines, one hundred titles were admitted into the judging process. Books published in 2016 were eligible for the awards.

Each category had five judges with expertise in the literary arts. They reviewed the titles over three months using criteria appropriate to the category.  Seventeen titles made it to the finalist list. 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.

In accepting the award, Ndibe, a journalist and educator, said that “literature is central to what binds us together as a community.”  Ndibe’s funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just thirteen days after he arrived in the US, in which he was mistaken for a bank robber; considers American stereotypes about Africa (and vice-versa); and juxtaposes African folk tales with Wall Street.

Fortunati, who described her debut novel as a “story of hope and resilience” in accepting the award, recently completed Trinity College’s master’s program in American Studies.  She recalled that as part of her studies, she visited the Mark Twain House & Museum, which made the ceremony location especially fitting.

The book’s subject is mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, and “it explores the shame, stigma and anxiety that often complicate the management of this chronic condition,” Fortunati explains on her website.  “The issue is personal to me having witnessed the impact of depression and bipolar disorder in relatives and friends.  My goal was to write a story of hope for teens who struggle with mental illness.”

Pieratti, who teaches English at South Windsor High School, relocated to Connecticut from upstate New York five years ago.  She said “I have been nurtured by this state since I moved here,” and expressed appreciation to her colleagues in South Windsor.  She has taught at the college and high school level, and was recipient of the Idaho prize for Poetry in 2015.  Her poetry “explores the mundane moments and materials that make up ordinary days and finds there the ambiguities of mystery, shadow, and song,” the CT Center for the Book indicated.

Cajun Waltz, the Fiction winner by Robert H. Patton, is set in southwest Louisiana, a "tale of family, music, love, and picturesque mayhem" that explores “three generations of the volatile clan” as they “grapple with the region’s economic struggles and racial tensions.”

In addition to the award recipients, Gray Jacobik, University Professor Emerita at Eastern Connecticut State University, received Lifetime Achievement recognition in Poetry.

The awards were presented annually between 2002 and 2011, and were re-established by CT Humanities this year.  The nominated books for the 2017 Connecticut Book Awards, by category:

Fiction

• Back Lash by Chris Knopf
• I’ll Take You There by Wally Lamb
• Shadows of Paris by Eric D. Lehman
• Cajun Waltz by Robert H. Patton
• Beneath a Shooting Star by Susan Harrison Rashid

Non-Fiction

• Rare Light by Anne Dawson
• Never Look an American in the Eye by Okey Ndibe
• The Lost White Tribe by Michael Robinson

Poetry

• The Banquet by Gray Jacobik
• Barrel Children by Rayon Lennon
• The Meeting House by Marilyn Nelson
• Fugitives by Danielle Pieratti

Young Readers

• All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
• The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati
• Ada’s Violin by Susan Hood
• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
• Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel! by Paul Meisel

Images above (L to R): Okey Ndibe, Karen Fortunati, Danielle Pieratti, Robert H. Patton

Three Foundations Join Forces to Advance Obesity Prevention Efforts in Connecticut

If an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, efforts in Connecticut may hold the key to turning around the nation’s obesity epidemic – especially among children. Connecticut has the 10th lowest adult obesity rate in the nation, according to a study released earlier this year. The state’s adult obesity rate is 26 percent, up from 16.0 percent in 2000 and from 10.4 percent in 1990.  That places Connecticut 42^nd among the 50 states.  The childhood obesity rate is 30 percent for 10-17 year olds, ranking 29^th among the states, and 15 percent for 2-4 year olds qualifying for federal nutrition assistance, the 12^th highest obesity rate in the country.  And that is where the focus of three Connecticut-based foundations will be, as they combine forces to award $194,884 in grants for obesity prevention projects in Connecticut.

The grants are being funded with contributions from the Children's Fund of Connecticut ($139,884), the Connecticut Health Foundation ($30,000), and Newman's Own Foundation ($25,000) and will be administered by CFC's non-profit subsidiary, the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI).

Funded projects will inform and advance efforts to prevent obesity by improving early feeding practices for diverse socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups across various early childhood settings.

"Childhood obesity is a wide-spread public health crisis disproportionately impacting racial and ethnic minorities and low-income children. Once obesity sets in it is very difficult to reverse; however, we are still searching for effective ways to prevent it," said Judith Meyers, President and CEO of the Children's Fund of Connecticut.

"New research on infant and toddler feeding practices shows promising results. These grants to improve infant and toddler feeding practices will help us learn more about what works so we can get ahead of the curve."

The competitive application process administered by CHDI yielded the following funded projects:

• Healthy Eating through Group Well Child Care: $59,904, Yale University

Under the direction of Marjorie Rosenthal, MD, MPH, the project examines the impact of embedding a healthy eating curriculum within group well child care, an evidenced-based model of primary care delivery at the Yale New Haven Hospital Primary Care Center. Expected outcomes include less rapid weight gain for infants in the first six months and improvement in mothers' weight over the first year of her child's life.

• Barriers to Participation in CACFP in CT: $64,998, UConn, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

Tatiana Andreyeva, PhD, Associate Professor at the UConn Rudd Center, will lead a study that documents and addresses barriers to participation in the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) among Connecticut child care centers serving infants and toddlers from low-income families. Connecticut has one of the lowest CACFP participation rates in the nation. The project team will use surveys and stakeholder interviews to assess perceived and actual barriers to CACFP participation and assess outreach and recruitment strategies currently used in Connecticut to increase center enrollment in CACFP.

• Supporting Healthy Eating in Low-Income Toddlers: $64,982, UConn, Allied Health Sciences

Under the direction of Valerie B. Duffy, PhD, RD and Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, MBA, the project will develop and assess a coordinated communications program to deliver consistent messages to low-income parents in East Hartford about best practices for feeding toddlers (1-2 year olds). The messages will be delivered through pediatric clinics, WIC offices, and Family Resource centers in East Hartford. The project will coordinate infant feeding messages and promote responsive feeding across diverse populations and settings.

Funding is also supporting Connecticut Children's Medical Center's Office for Community Child Health to develop and disseminate training for pediatric primary care providers. The training will address key messages to educate parents about best practices in feeding infants and toddlers.

These projects represent the second cycle of funding from CFC in the early childhood obesity prevention arena. Since 2015, CFC has awarded more than $420,000 to advance early childhood obesity prevention.

The work of the first round of grantees helped CFC and CHDI identify public policies that contribute to obesity prevention, test the effectiveness of messages promoting obesity prevention in infants and toddlers, support breast feeding strategies for hospitals, and harness existing medical record data to identify early childhood obesity risks.

The current round of funding was informed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's recently released Feeding Guidelines for Infants and Young Toddlers: A Responsive Parenting Approach, which highlights new areas of research and practice in obesity prevention.  The data-rich State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America, published earlier this year, was a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health.

With Continued Funding in Doubt, Gov. Rell, Former Legislators to Reprise Campaign Finance Reforms

Former Governor M. Jodi Rell, who supported and signed Connecticut’s landmark campaign finance reforms into law just over a decade ago, will be the keynote speaker later this month at a day-long conference that will bring many of the key players in that debate together again.  The October 26 event at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) comes the same week that the state legislature may be voting on a new state budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1, with the continued existence of public financing of state political campaigns – a core component of the reforms - in serious doubt. Among the panelists will be former Senate President Pro Tempore Don Williams, former House Speaker James Amann, former Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, and former House Minority leader Lawrence Cafero. They will be joined by former House member Tim O’Brien, who served on the Government Administration and elections Committee, and Senate Co-Chair of that committee, Sen. Michael McLachlan.

In addition to the legislators, key players in the debate including Karen Hobart Flynn, President and CEO of Common Cause, Jeffrey Garfield, former Executive Director of the Connecticut State Elections enforcement Commission Tom Swan, Executive Director of the Connecticut Citizen Action group, will be part of a second panel.

A week ago, in an op-ed published in Connecticut, Flynn criticized those who would now eliminate public funding of campaigns, known as the Citizens Election Program (CEP), which she described as “a remarkably successful alternative to the corrupt system that earned our state the unfortunate moniker ‘Corrupticut’ in 2004.”  A budget narrowly approved by the legislature and vetoed by Gov. Malloy late last month would have eliminated funding.  It has been estimated that $40 million would be disbursed to statewide office and legislative candidates in 2018, surpassing the $33.4 million distributed to qualifying candidates in 2014.  Recent studies suggest that the program has been effective in reducing special interest money in campaigns.

Flynn added that the law, passed in 2005, “allows candidates and officeholders to look out for the interests of all their constituents rather than being consumed with the needs of their major campaign contributors. It gives talented, motivated citizens who've never had the money or the connections traditionally required for success in politics a chance to seek and win public office with neither big money nor connections.  Now, nearly 80 percent of all candidates for legislative and state offices use the program.”  Qualifying candidates must raise $5,000 to $250,000 — depending whether they are seeking a statewide office or legislative seat — in $100 increments or less in order to receive a grant of public funds from the CEP.

Rell, in signing the plan into law at an Old State House ceremony flanked by legislators from both political parties in 2005, said "This is the bipartisan spirit that people want.  It takes special interests out of elections and is putting elections where they should be, in the hands of the people."

At the time, Connecticut was the first state to pass a public financing system that affects all statewide races including the legislature. The law took effect on Dec. 31, 2006.  Additional reforms were passed by the legislature in 2008, designed to strengthen the 2005 law by expanding the authority of the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) and enabling the state’s public financing system to operate more smoothly, Gov. Rell’s office said at the time.

The Oct. 26 program is coordinated by the Center for Public Policy and Social Research (CPPSR) at CCSU. The CPPSR has been designated a Connecticut Higher Education Center of Excellence, and is noted for offering innovative academic research and outreach programs which promote a greater understanding of the history, structure, processes, personnel and policies of State government. The center incorporates the Governor William A. O'Neill Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics.

The program, "Campaign Finance Reform  in Connecticut," will be held in the Constitution Room of Memorial Hall on the CCSU campus in New Britain, from 8:30 to 1: 30.

Connecticut's Top Teachers Lead Classrooms from Ashford to Westport

There will be an Awards Ceremony next month to honor Connecticut’s 2018 Teacher of the Year – Erin Berthold, who teaches at the Cook Hill School in Wallingford – along with Teacher of the Year nominees from throughout the state.  The ceremony is scheduled to take place in Hartford just days after Berthold’s application, representing Connecticut, is due at the National Teacher of the Year selection committee. Berthold’s selection was announced last week at her school.  She is the first Wallingford educator to be selected for the annual award.

“I’m beyond thrilled and surprised,” Berthold told the Meriden Record-Journal.  She is in her 11th year of teaching. “I never really thought I’d win an award for teaching. It’s my job, it’s what I do. Working with six-year-olds is the real reward of teaching.”

The teachers who were earned recognition as finalists in Connecticut, along with Berthold, included LeAnn Cassidy, Social Studies, Memorial Middle School, Regional School District 15; LeAnn Cassidy, Social Studies, Memorial Middle School, Regional School District 15; and Courtney Ruggiero, Social Studies, Bedford Middle School, Westport.  Their teaching will also be honored, along with a dozen semi-finalists.  It is the culmination of a process that touched school districts throughout Connecticut, as local districts shined a spotlight on outstanding teachers in their respective communities.

The process begins with the Commissioner of Education sending Teacher of the Year applications to every district superintendent in the spring, encouraging them to participate in the recognition program.  The Teacher of the Year Program seeks to recognize exemplary teachers and does not try to identify the “best” teacher in the state, according to the Teacher of the Year website.

District teams identify one exemplary teacher from within their teaching populations.  Each district nominee completes the state application in the ensuing months and submits it to the State Department of Education.  Applications are distributed to members of a reading committee, and the results are tabulated to identify approximately fifteen semi-finalists.

Semi-finalists are invited to an interview with the Selection Committee at which they present a prepared presentation and respond to several questions related to education issues and current trends.  Four finalists are chosen from among the semi-finalists.  A committee of 12-18 people then travels to each of the finalists’ schools to observe the teachers in action and to interview teams of parents, teachers, support staff, students, administrators, and Board members. 

Following the site visits, the selection committee travels to a neutral site where they deliberate and vote to determine who will emerge as the next Connecticut Teacher of the Year.  Once that selection is made, the announcement follows shortly thereafter, in early October.

The 2018 Connecticut Teacher of the Year semi-finalists teach in school districts all across the state are:

• Katie Amenta, English, Berlin High School, Berlin
• Rebecca Aubrey, World Languages, Ashford School, Ashford
• Kevin Berean, Technology Education, Amity Middle School, Regional School District 5
• Martha Curran, English Language Arts, Walter C. Polson Upper Middle School, Madison
• Cheryl Gustafson, World Language, Somers High School, Somers
• Brian Kelly, Music-Band, John Wallace Middle School, Newington
• Kristen Keska, Social Studies, East Hampton High School, East Hampton
• Yolanda Lee-Gorishti, Science, Crosby High School, Waterbury
• Jeanne Malgioglio, English Language Arts, Madison Middle School, Trumbull
• Candace Patten, Social Studies, Southington High School, Southington
• Colleen Thompson, Music, Simsbury High School, Simsbury
• Vincent Urbanowski, Mathematics, The Academy of Information Technology, Stamford

The Connecticut Teacher of the Year Program is made possible by contributions made to the Connecticut Teacher of the Year Council, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides recognition for exemplary teachers and excellence in teaching.

Berthold has taught at Cook Hill for three years and was previously a special education teacher at Yalesville School and Moses Y. Beach School in Wallingford, the Record-Journal reported. Earlier in her career, Berthold taught at Lincoln Middle School in Meriden and Woodhouse Academy in Milford.

The Connecticut Teacher of the Year and Teacher of the Year finalists serve as teacher-ambassadors for public education. They are appointed to various education advisory committees and become consultants to the Commissioner of Education. In addition, they present workshops; speak at education conferences and meetings; address student, civic, college and university, and governmental groups; and operate special programs in accordance with their interests and expertise throughout the coming year.

For Berthold, there is one additional assignment. The National Teacher of the Year application is due to the National Teacher of the Year office, Washington, DC on November 1.  Just two years ago, Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year, Jahana Hayes, a high school social studies teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, was also selected as National Teacher of the Year and was honored at a ceremony at the White House with President Barack Obama.

Lauren Danner, a General Science/Biology teacher and Science Department Leader at North Branford High School was Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year in 2017. Cara Quinn, a sixth-grade teacher at the Sunset Ridge School in East Hartford, was named the 2015 top teacher in Connecticut. In 2014, John Mastroianni, a music teacher at West Hartford’s Hall High School, was selected.

Photos:  (Above) Erin Berthold; (Below)  LeAnn Cassidy, Regional School District 15; Martha Curran, Madison; Courtney Ruggiero, Westport.

Municipal Leaders to Urge Community Involvement at Rell Center Forum

Municipal leaders from Essex, Hampton, Norwich, West Hartford, and Wethersfield will gather to discuss how citizens can make a difference in local communities at a panel discussion, “Better Government Begins at Home: How to Make a Difference in Your Community,” presented by the Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service at the University of Hartford. The discussion, to be held on Thursday, October 12, at 6 p.m. in the Harry Jack Gray Center’s 1877 Club on university campus, will include:

• Anne Gruenberg, the President of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and a member of the Hampton Board of Education;
• Norwich Mayor Deb Hinchey;
• Essex First Selectman Norm Needleman;
• former Wethersfield Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Rich Roberts.

West Hartford Town Manager Matt Hart will serve as moderator and lead a discussion about the importance of public involvement in local politics and how residents can take an active role in town governance.  Hart became town manager this summer, moving from Mansfield, where he was town manager since 2006.

Deb Hinchey was elected in November of 2013 and took the oath of office in December of 2013, becoming Norwich’s first female Mayor. Prior to being elected Mayor, Hinchey served on the city council.  She is not seeking re-election this year.  Norm Needleman is serving his third term as First Selectman, and is a successful local business owner.  He is currently seeking re-election.

Attendance at the program is free. More information is available at www.hartford.edu/rellcenter or 860.768.4234.

The program will focus on the many ways that individuals can get involved in local government service.  Some communities, such as Wethersfield, list individuals serving their local communities on the town website, also including vacant positions that need to be filled.

The mission of The Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service at the University of Hartford is to provide a community and academic forum for the discussion of ethics in government, the importance of civil discourse in politics, and citizen involvement in public service and government.

This fall, Leslie Smith of Hartford was named director of the Rell Center. Smith has taught American government at the University of Hartford since 2000 and directed the Politics, Economics, and International Studies Department’s internship program since 2005.  The Center seeks to encourage students and others to pursue careers in public service and to assist in providing a clearinghouse for student public service internships.

Unhealthy Food Marketing Targets Hispanic Youth, UConn Researchers Find

Hispanic children and youth, particularly youth in Spanish-speaking households, visited food/beverage websites at higher rates than their non-Hispanic counterparts, despite fewer visits to the Internet overall, according to a research study published by University of Connecticut faculty members. “The frequency with which youth in Spanish-speaking households visited popular food and beverage websites compared with primarily English-speaking Hispanic youth raises further concerns due to the potential for these sites to reinforce preferences for an ‘‘American’’ diet among less acculturated youth, which could contribute to Hispanic youth’s worsening diet with greater acculturation,” Maia Hyary and Jennifer Harris point out in the inaugural issue of the journal Health Equity, published in September.

They stress that “Further research is needed to understand why Hispanic youth disproportionately visit food/beverage websites to help inform potential actions to reduce their exposure to unhealthy food marketing.”

The researchers warn that “given higher rates of obesity and diet-related diseases among Hispanic youth, food and beverage companies should not target marketing of unhealthy products to Hispanic youth online.”

Dr. Jennifer L. Harris is Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and Associate Professor in Allied Health Sciences at University of Connecticut. She leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers who study food marketing to children, adolescents, and parents, and how it impacts their diets and health. Maia Hyary is a PhD student at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and a former Rudd Center Research Associate.

Food and beverage companies often target marketing for nutrient-poor products such as candy, sugary drinks, snack foods, and fast-food restaurants to Hispanic audiences, including youth, the researchers state.  They cite previous research that has documented disproportionate exposure to unhealthy food marketing by Hispanic youth in their communities and on TV, but theirs is the first examination of the phenomenon on the internet.

Sites that were relatively more popular with Hispanic youth than with non-Hispanic youth included ChuckeCheese.com, HappyMeal.com, the Lunchables website, FrostedFlakes.com, and two Spanish language websites (ComidaKraft.com and McDonald’sMeEncanta.com). Among Hispanic children (under 12 years), ChuckECheese.com, FrootLoops.com, HappyMeal.com, TacoBell.com, LuckyCharms.com, and SubwayKids.com were relatively more popular.

Health Equity is a new peer-reviewed open access journal that “meets the urgent need for authoritative information about health disparities and health equity among vulnerable populations,” according to the publication’s website, “with the goal of providing optimal outcomes and ultimately health equity for all.” The journal intends to provide coverage ranging from translational research to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of disease and illness, in order to serve as a primary resource for organizations and individuals who serve these populations at the community, state, regional, tribal, and national levels.

PHOTO:  Dr. Jennifer L. Harris, Maia Hyary

Focus on UConn Funding Includes View of Money Paid to Football Coaches

The UConn football season is underway, and UConn is in the news in a big way.  It is, however,  about not only prospects on the gridiron as prospects on the bottom line for the state’s flagship university.  Officials describe the university as being under unfair and counterproductive attack by a budget recently adopted by the state legislature that would require substantial reductions in state funding.  The budget is expected to be vetoed by the Governor, continuing the legislative stalemate that has prevented agreement on a state budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. Also within the past week, UConn was among a handful universities portrayed as the poster children for the practice of paying multiple head football coaches simultaneously.  UConn’s situation was listed as among the most costly.

The report, by The New York Times, indicated that “when the Huskies hired Randy Edsall last winter after three losing seasons under Bob Diaco, they got their once and future head coast for a reasonable $1 million salary.”  The article went on to point out, however, that “firing Diaco triggered a $3.4 million buyout.”  Thus, the University is paying $4.4 million in head coach salary this season, to two coaches – one employed by the university, the other not.

It could have been more costly.

“Even though the move was announced in December,” it was effective in January; “an effective end date in 2016 would have cost the Huskies $5 million.  The newspaper notes that “if it had not given Diaco a richer buyout as part of a two-year (contract) extension he negotiated only seven months before he was fired,” the buyout would have been significantly smaller – only $800,000.”

Leading the list of colleges cited in the Times article was Texas, “on the hook for the salaries of current and former coaches” this season to the tune of $12.45 million.  Next was Oregon, at $8.5 million; and Florida at $6.4 million.

Some doubted that Diaco would be fired, because of the continuing cost to the university of doing so.  The website theuconnblog.com said when the firing was announced in late December that “The primary driver behind Diaco’s assumed job security was a substantial buyout owed to him had he been fired right after the season. With UConn’s strapped financial situation, it could ill-afford to be paying Diaco millions to not coach the team.”

Diaco, in January, became the highest paid assistant coach in Nebraska history when he was hired by that university to be the team’s defensive coordinator for $825,000 this year and $875,000 next year.

At the time of Diaco’s firing, UConn emphasized that taxpayers would not be responsible for the buyout.

"It's not taxpayer money," Michael Enright, who oversees communications for UConn athletics told the Hartford Courant at the time. "It's from division of athletics revenues. So ticketing, concessions, licensing, conference revenue."

The Courant went on to report that “sports-related income isn't the only source of revenue feeding the department's $72 million budget. For the 2014-15 school year, student fees provided more than $10 million and the university contributed $18 million, according to a survey by USA Today. The school has taken pains to say the university's share comes from segregated accounts that do not include tuition or state funds. But critics see the university's and athletics department's budgets as homogenous taxpayer-supported piles of money.”

The state provides approximately 28 percent of the revenue funding UConn's overall $1.3 billion budget, the Courant noted, adding that Diaco's salary was $1.7 million last year, making him the third-highest-paid state employee, trailing only the UConn head basketball coaches.

In mid-2016, Diaco and his wife have announced "they will contribute $250,000 to the University to help fund the construction of several new UConn athletic facilities,” according to the UConn website. The Diaco gift, it was announced, would be used to help build new facilities for the UConn men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, and softball teams.

Personal Finance, Economic Education Curriculum Not Required in State's Schools

Connecticut has a curriculum for financial literacy for schools in the state.  But they’re not required to use it.  That’s true for economic education and personal finance education.  Despite having a 9-page state approved set of curriculum guidelines and expectations for student learning detailed on the website of the State Department of Education, there appears to be no indication as to where or whether courses are actually offered, taken and taught. Economic Education is included in the state’s K-12 standards in Connecticut, as it is in every state in the nation.  But Connecticut is one of only six states where the standards are not required to be implemented by districts, one of 27 states where a high school course is not required to be offered, one of 30 states where a high school course is not required to be taken, and one of 34 where standardized testing in the subject is not provided.

The numbers are similar for personal finance education.  Connecticut is one of 13 states that does not require standards to be implemented by local school districts, one of 28 states that does not require a high school course to be offered, and one of 28 that do not require a high school course in personal finance education to be taken. Connecticut, like most states (43) does not have standardized testing in personal finance.

That’s according to the Council for Economic Education’s “Survey of the States 2016,” a report on “Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation’s Schools.”  Among the national findings:

• While more states are implementing standards in personal finance, the number of states that require high school students to take a course in personal finance remains unchanged since 2014 – just 17 states.
• Only 20 states require high school students to take a course in economics – that’s less than half the country and two fewer states than in 2014.
• There has been no change in the number of states that require standardized testing of economic concepts – the number remains at 16.

Connecticut’s seven “content standards” in personal finance focus on personal decision making, earning and reporting income, managing finances and budgeting, savings and investing, buying goods and services, banking and financial institutions, and maintaining credit worthiness, borrowing at favorable terms and managing debt.  The “frameworks” outline skills that students are expected to master, and “learner expectations” at various levels, from beginning to advanced.

“Some states offer little guidance to school districts related to what personal finance content to offer in schools at each grade level; others have pushed ahead, requiring courses from elementary to high school aged students, supporting and training teachers, and in some cases even testing students on learning outcomes,” said J. Michael Collins, of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the report.

“Rigorous state standards can facilitate local schools to implement well-designed programs, which in turn expose students to concepts they otherwise would not learn. Communities may also benefit from having more financially competent households; perhaps stronger economics and personal finance standards could even be viewed ultimately as an economic development strategy, equipping young people with an increased ability to manage credit and invest in their future,” Collins added.

Statistics were not available in Connecticut on the number of school districts requiring financial literacy coursework, or the number of students who take such classes.

"States that combine personal finance and economics, support teachers, and hold students accountable for learning objectives have the best chance of promoting the development of young people who are better financial managers and stewards of their credit—behaviors with which many, if not most, young people tend to struggle," Collins pointed out.

The Council for Economic Education (CEE) is a leading nonprofit organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and education of students from kindergarten through high school.  The 65 year-old organization is based in New York City.

Constitution Day in the Constitution State - Celebrate?

Constitution Day, celebrated this year on Sunday, is a national holiday to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.  Connecticut is known as the Constitution State, but that designation has its roots more than a century earlier. Congress first established “Constitution Week” in 1956. It became a national holiday 44 years later when  Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) introduced an amendment to the omnibus spending bill that made the observance a national holiday, and to require that all schools receiving federal funding, as well as all federal agencies, to provide relevant programming to celebrate the Constitution.

Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world's longest surviving written charter of government, according to the U.S. Senate website.   Its first three words –– "We the People" –– affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens.

The National Constitution Center (NCC) devotes space on its website to the question of whether the "constitution" celebrated by Connecticut really a constitution?

The site explains that although the Connecticut Compromise at the 1787 convention in Philadelphia was a critical part of the process of agreeing to and ratifying the U.S. Constitution, Connecticut celebrates – and its nickname is derived - from an event that happened in 1639.

On January 14, 1639 (in the old Julian calendar), the residents of three Connecticut towns - Wethersfield and Hartford - approved a list of rules for running local government called the Fundamental Orders. Most historians agree the Fundamental Orders are significant, but the state of Connecticut decided in 1959 to call itself the Constitution State based on the premise that the Fundamental Orders were the first constitution in North America.

The Fundamental Orders document has a structure that is similar to a constitution, the NCC explains. There is a preamble and a list of powers about local government, taxation and voting rights.

Prior to the legislature determining in 1959 that Connecticut would be known by the official nickname of the Constitution State, it was known as the Nutmeg State.  Before that, in the post-Revolutionary War era, Connecticut was known as the Provisions State.

Officially, the state is not known as the Land of Steady Habits, but that too is commonly used. A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles, published in1951, defines “Land of Steady Habits” as “1. Connecticut, applied in allusion to the strict morals of its inhabitants.”