PERSPECTIVE: Making Our Own Individual End-of-Life Decisions

by Paul Bluestein I am speaking out about this because my friend Hal can’t.

Hal was an international systems analyst until his retirement after which he devoted his time to things he loved including music, theatre, painting, sailing, windsurfing, gardening, and photography. He volunteered for the CATCH Program in Bridgeport, and the Norwalk Senior Center. Over the years, he served on boards of the American Red Cross, his church, the Carver Center in Norwalk and the Voluntary Action Center.

Hal was physically active and involved in the life of his community then, at age 90, he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He did not want to endure the inevitable period of declining mental and physical capability or the pain of being dependent on his wife and children after a lifetime of independence. Hal had lived a long, productive and rewarding life and wanted to die with dignity … just as he had lived and not spending his hours and his days between medical treatments and interventions that would only prolong, for a short period, the remaining time he had. He wanted to bring a rapid end to what had been a life well-lived.

Hal’s wife of 57 years agreed with his decision and so did his children. He talked to his doctor who, not surprisingly, was unable to do anything for his patient. Hal wrote to his friends to say goodbye and to let them know that he had decided to not eat or drink – anything – until he died. He had made the calculations and figured that would be the way he could accomplish his quickest exit. It took Hal more than a week to die, but during that time he never voiced any regret about his decision but he often said that he wished there had been an easier option for him.

It would be easy to see Hal’s story as just an anecdote, especially if you don’t happen to agree with the decision he made. But this is not just an anecdote to me. It’s personal. For me, for my wife, and for most of my friends who are about my age, one of the biggest worries that we share is that we may end up without having the right to make the our own most personal decisions at the end of our lives.

We live with the fear that, because we live here in Connecticut, a state that does not honor individuals’ rights to use prescribed medication to end their lives peacefully rather than suffering a painful and protracted death, we may end up having to leave our home to travel to a more humane state, or to do as our friend Hal, and more recently Denny, did and quit eating and drinking to hasten our own final exits.

I sit before you now as someone past 70 wondering why you - strangers to me, members of this Public Health Committee as well as your colleagues in the CT General Assembly - get to decide what my end of life is going to be like. This is very real … and gets more real every day for me and thousands of other people in Connecticut.

I have been a practicing physician. I’ve seen firsthand the indignities and suffering that dying can inflict. I am no stranger to the American way of dying. But, in my last days or months, what I want for myself, for my wife and friends, and also for my physician, is to have available all options for care at the end of life. I do not want others to consign me to starving myself to death to avoid prolongation of life that has lost its meaning to me.

More than 20 years ago, Oregon implemented its Death with Dignity Act. Since then, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana, Colorado and Washington DC have passed legislation authorizing medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults, and just this week, the Hawaii State House approved the Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Last November, the Vermont Medical Society dropped its opposition to Death with Dignity; in December, its Massachusetts counterpart followed suit. Physicians are increasingly becoming Death with Dignity proponents and 7 in 10 Americans support death with dignity.

What about Connecticut? Death with Dignity bills have been considered several times. The first attempts came in 1995 and 1997. After Washington passed the second Death with Dignity statute in the nation, the issue returned to the Connecticut legislature in 2009. Bills considered in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 received Committee hearings but were not put up for a vote.

Isn’t it finally time for the citizens of this state, and their doctors, to have the right to make their own decisions about the care they will receive at the end of their own lives?

_________________________

Dr. Paul Bluestein, MD, FACOG is an obstetrics & gynecology specialist in Fairfield, and has been practicing for four decades. This testimony was submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Public Health Committee earlier this year and is included in the record of a public hearing on proposed legislation that would have allowed “a physician to dispense or prescribe medication at the request of a mentally competent patient that has a terminal illness that such patient may self- administer to bring about his or her death.”  The proposal was not approved during the 2018 legislative session.

PERSPECTIVE - Both Sides of the Wall: What Being in Mexico Taught Me

by Skylar Haines She loves nonfiction books about animals. She has a group of friends. She laughs and cries. She does her homework and sometimes struggles with silent letters on spelling quizzes. She tucks her hair behind her ears when trying to concentrate. She watches TV before her chores are done.

He plays soccer in the streets and stays out past his mom's calls to come inside for dinner. He knows everything about music, but can't wrap his mind around grammar and sentence structure. He sneaks dessert before dinner. He has a math teacher who changed his life just by believing in him. He makes jokes and gets angry. He takes the long walk home on nice days.  They could be my brother or sister. They could be the kid who sits next to you in class and shares their gum. They could be the neighbor that you drive by each morning. They could be a friend. They could be your child.

Yet, their streets look different than ours, with cracked sidewalks and stray dogs. Homes are turned into storefronts and host traditional embroidery, dulce de leche caramels, and cold grapefruit soda. People sit on the porch and call out to you as you make your way to the line of buses with people going to different jobs and different streets. No matter what street you're on, you'll see crucifixes and Virgin Mary portraits, food carts and hard-working owners, and strangers welcoming strangers with "Bienvenidos" and smiles.

Their schools look different than ours, with torn pages escaping their notebooks, desks missing a leg and chairs that sink too low, broken pencil stubs, and faded writing pressed into the old whiteboards. The bare courtyard has no toys and cracks all along the middle so they stumble while they run. The plaster of the walls peels slowly and teachers try to make do with a few pieces of colored paper and an eraser. Lunch stains are deep in the wrinkled uniform that hasn't been washed since the students started sleeping at the Salvation Army during the week, just so they could get to class consistently.

Instead of seeing the similarities that lie within these differences, and appreciating the uniqueness of culture, and finding ways to share our blessings… our nation has pushed them away. They have become a "them", divided from our population out of fear of these differences and blindness to the multitudes of commonalities. If you could talk to Reyna about her dream of being a doctor and how much she loves learning new words, if you could talk to Munir about his favorite songs and how he tells jokes to make friends… then you would see the similarities we share, and yet how many differences they face. However, do not be mistaken, this doesn't stop them.

On our last day at the Serapio School, a government school in the impoverished community, my Mother and I, volunteers teaching English, had to explain that we were leaving. Try explaining that to people who became familia in just one week. As I stumbled through a goodbye that day, Estefania, a fourth-grade student, reached into her Hello Kitty purse and placed something in my palm. A single confetti butterfly, smaller than a penny, that sparkled when it caught the sunlight. Holding that gift and looking at the school's empty concrete courtyard, the streets and people that occupy them, the faces of broken children sitting in disheveled desks- it was a piece of hope, and she knew that.

She didn't have to say a word at that moment, the butterfly was a tangible reminder of all they had taught me. They might remember a few English words or have held onto their pencils and eraser caps from the time I was there, but they taught me something I have held onto for much longer. The children I know find beauty in everything, despite the hardships they deal with each day, and every time I look at that butterfly I am reminded of their resiliency and resounding hope.

That's why I know they can do beautiful things. Being given so little- one ripped uniform, broken pencils without a sharpener, expo markers that have been dry for years- and still holding warmth for others and wonderful visions of a future through it all, cherishing the tiny butterflies in life, that is resiliency. I can only imagine what they could accomplish with just a little bit of support.

In fact, I know. My foundation, "Peace, Love and Art: Hope for the Children of the Serapio School in Mexico" provides creative therapies like art and musical instruments and classes for all the students where they express their culture, backgrounds, and dreams. We also raised money to install a computer lab which allows them to learn and grow. What I am most excited about though, is the letter exchange program.

This school year students from Hebron, Connecticut will be emailing with the students I taught in Serapio, Mexico. This cross-cultural understanding is vital in our world today, especially in younger generations, in order to ensure collaboration, empathy, and peace in our global community in the future. Also, children who have expanded worlds through travel, cultural research, and outreach have more perspective and a better insight into the world and our human interactions… I can truly attest to this. This emphasis on humanity as children reach over divisive boundaries that have been set for centuries, is more important now than ever.

Over 11.6 million Mexican immigrants live in the United States currently. Yet, national dialogue that fuels schismatic rhetoric isolates these people… the people I know, the children I taught, the faces that mean more to me than "Mexican" now. We see this dialogue leading directly to policy under the new administration - the administration that was elected while I was in a nation stereotyped and degraded throughout their campaign.

If you could see them the way I see them, as hard-working individuals that will do anything to provide for their family (like many of us would do), as welcoming neighbors who will open their doors to anyone...and as people. Not Mexicans, not drug-traffickers, not prostitutes, not foreigners, not aliens, not "them"...humans, people, children. These 11.6 million US citizens have names, stories, hopes, and families. The 303, 916 people who were apprehended at the Mexican border in 2017 have names, stories, hopes, and families. As do we.

A line drawn by hands who fear a color other than their own is not a line that should dictate who is human and our hearts should cross that border if our bodies will not. And whenever I see faces of children being torn away at the borders, people being turned away and unwelcome… I see the children I laughed with and learned with in Mexico. The same people who never isolated me for being an American, even on that Tuesday when the whole world woke up to a new president who had called the people I lived with "enemies", "criminals", "terrorists", and "rapists".

I only hope that in the future if we are ever faced with having to flee our nation, that Mexico will forgive us and not treat us with the same degradation and disdain. If we do not extend the decency of providing asylum and even treating them with respect and compassion, then they will never do the same for us. Or they might, because that is how they treat people in Mexico, no matter what. Their culture could teach us a thing or two.

When I share glimpses about my journey in Mexico, my experience of the culture, and all the people who touched me while there, I generally get asked one big question: "Are you afraid of the wall being built?!"

Well, here's my answer: the wall has been up for a long, long time. The real question is, when will we start breaking it down?

________________________________

Skylar Haines is a senior at RHAM High School in Hebron and the founder of “Peace, Love and Art: Hope for the Children of the Serapio School in Mexico”.  She is an active volunteer and advocate for those who are often not given a voice or platform. Her work was recognized by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, where she received the Global Engagement Award in 2018. She is also the director, reporter and writer of the program “Speaking Through Stories” on the Community Voice Channel in Bolton. Skylar hopes to pursue a career in broadcast journalism that will encourage open dialogue as well as share people’s unique stories and perspectives.

PERSPECTIVE: Homelessness at State Universities Hidden in Plain Sight

The CT Youth Count! is part of a statewide effort to better understand and end youth homelessness by 2020. For the past three years, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness has led this data-gathering and awareness-raising census in which teams of youth and volunteers survey young people in cities and towns, rural areas, within youth-serving organizations, in schools, and at local “hotspots” to collect information on their housing status.

Youth are not identified by name, but the count is an opportunity to gauge how many youth face housing insecurity and homelessness and to share information about available services. The Youth Count is an opportunity for communities to work toward a quicker system of identification when a student is struggling with a housing crisis.

Linkages to services to address acute instances of homelessness were established during the count. The data from the count resides at CCEH to analyze and share with the wider community, state, and federal partners. (The full Youth Count report can be found on the CCEH website, here.)

In the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system, unstable housing - or the lack of housing altogether – is a barrier to academic success and stability for many students. Faculty, counselors and deans report that students are living in cars and “couch surfing” at friends’ or relatives’ homes while, at the same time, they are trying to attend college because they know that education is their path to a better future. During Town Hall meetings across the state during the 2016-17 academic year, CSCU President Ojakian was approached by many students who said that they were homeless and needed additional support.

CSCU partnered with the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) to address this significant barrier to student success. A forum was held at Manchester Community College on September 15, 2017 to address this issue, along with mental health and other needs faced by CSCU students. Several CSCU institutions attended, including Norwalk Community College and Central Connecticut State University.

As a follow-up to that forum, Vice Presidents and Deans of Students Affairs, along with the system office, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) and others, have been exploring how to get more accurate data concerning homelessness and housing insecurity and how to implement a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) system to provide a more comprehensive, consistent and trackable response to homeless students.

CSCU agreed to have 16 institutions serve as sites for conducting the Youth Count survey from January 24 – 31, 2018 (Charter Oak State College did not participate because it is a fully online institution.). Because the Youth Count focuses on youth age 24 and under, the survey instrument was modified to capture CSCU students over the age of 24. The Youth Count, occurs in conjunction with the HUD-required Point-in-Time (PIT) count, an annual census of sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families experiencing homelessness on one night in January. For more details on the PIT or Youth Count methodology, visit CCEH’s website at www.cceh.org.

The [December 4] event focused on important steps to take leading to the count and provided an introduction to the Connecticut Coordinated Access Network (CAN) system of services. Each participating college or university identified leads for the effort and formed local steering committees to begin to articulate how the Youth Count would be conducted in each community. Specifically, each CSCU institution was asked to prepare an implementation plan, including how it would recruit volunteers, work with existing groups, schedule the survey times and places and spread the word to the school and region.

While additional research needs to be done, this preliminary research indicates some important findings on CSCU students and their housing instability. The total number of CT college and university students surveyed was 1,978, with CSCU schools representing the majority with 1,623 surveys completed by CSCU students. Of those surveyed, an average of 17.5% of CSCU students reported recent housing instability or homelessness. For those schools surveying less than 30 individuals, it is more difficult to have confidence in the percentages experiencing a housing crisis.

However, 12 of the 16 CSCU schools surveyed over 30 individuals, with some participating CSCU institutions completing over 100 surveys; including 320 surveys at Housatonic Community College, 290 surveys at Manchester Community College, 243 at Naugatuck Valley, 164 at Three Rivers and 117 at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Of those schools reporting more than 30 individuals surveyed, the schools with the largest percentages of students experiencing a housing crisis are as follows: 38% at Gateway Community College with 42 students surveyed; 21% at Middlesex with 71 students surveyed; 26% at Eastern CT State University with 117 students surveyed; 19% at Housatonic with 320 students surveyed; 14% at Manchester Community College with 290 students surveyed; 13% at Three Rivers Community College with 164 surveys completed; 10% at Northwestern CCC with 88 completed surveys;11% at Asnuntuck with 81 surveys completed; 9% at Naugatuck Valley Community College with 243 completed surveys; 13% at Norwalk Community College with 72 surveys completed, and 38 surveys completed at Tunxis Community College with a 13% rate of housing instability and homelessness.

The University of Connecticut system also completed 289 surveys and showed a rate of 10% of students experiencing housing instability or homelessness.

These percentages highlight the high levels of homelessness and housing instability among students on CT campuses. Although more precise data is needed, this data reinforces the need to create coordinated systems to address homelessness and housing instability on CSCU and other campuses across the state.

The establishment of a Single Point-of-Contact (SPOC) system within the CSCU system will provide a visible campus office that can assist in increasing student awareness, enabling earlier identification and intervention, and augmenting the expertise of administration, staff, and faculty to help these students find housing solutions.

____________________________________

This is an excerpt of the introduction to Homelessness and Housing Instability in Connecticut Colleges and Universities, a report prepared by the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system and published in July 2018.

PERSPECTIVE: Protecting the Separation of Powers

by Mark Dubois [This is] a topic that is much discussed by us who study and live the law, but little understood and appreciated by the public: the separation of powers.

The origin of the separation of powers is specifically credited to Montesquieu during the Enlightenment, who wrote of it in “The Spirit of the Laws in 1748,” a document whose influence was significant in the 1787 creation of the Constitution of the United States.

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.

“Again, there is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression.

“There would be an end of every thing, were the same man, or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the causes of individuals.”

James Madison wrote on the necessity of a separation of powers in the “Federalist Papers”: “It may be a reflection on human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

“This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public … that each may be a check on the other that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights.

“These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State.”

The role of the courts in regulating the other branches of government was not immediately acknowledged, receiving its first expression in Marbury v. Madison in 1803 and later in Dred Scott in 1857, both instances when SCOTUS held federal laws to be unconstitutional and unenforceable.

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until after the Civil War that the notion that our federal courts were a co-equal branch of government and not just a place for the resolution of private disputes really began to take hold.

Since then, however, it’s become accepted and understood that our courts remain the bulwark where those seeking relief from executive fiat or legislative errors can be given shelter.

Closer to home, and unlike the federal system where separation of powers is found in the interstices rather than in the text, we have our own constitution which specifically spells the concept out.

In Connecticut, separation of powers was not codified into our law until the adoption of the Constitution of 1818.

Article 2, as amended by Article 18 of the amendments, provides: “The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them confided to a separate magistracy…”

Before that constitution, much of the power of state government resided in the legislature. And here in the land of steady habits, change came slow. It took more than 60 years from the adoption of the 1818 constitution until the first meaningful iterations of the principle of separation of powers was realized by action of the Supreme Court of Errors in Styles v. Tylerin 1884 and the Norwalk Street Railway Appeal 13 years later in 1897.

Indeed, the most significant separation-of-powers cases did not begin until the latter half of the last century, with the Connecticut Bar v. Connecticut Bank unauthorized practice of law case in 1958, Adams v. Rubinow, dealing with probate courts in 1968 and State v. Clemente, in 1975, a criminal case nearly 160 years after the constitution was adopted.

As with our federal brethren, our state courts have now fully embraced their role as protectors of this important principle.

Recently we’ve seen separation of powers being the deciding issue in a number of cases in very different contexts. State v. Courchesne, and its progeny, dealt with the ability of the Legislature to establish rules governing how courts were to interpret statutes; Bysiewicz v. Dinardo (whether exercising executive powers and functions could be deemed to be practicing law); Persels v. Banking Commissioner (regulation of the legal profession by the executive branch); and Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell (education funding).

The push and pull of power and authority against and across the necessary porous boundaries between these separate magistracies remains an ongoing dynamic, no less today than when Montesquieu and Madison wrote about it in the 18th century. And, as Madison correctly noted, none of us is an angel. The process of government is far from perfect, and even the best systems are no better than those who enforce them.

Federal courts who have been asked to slow our president down have been attacked as “so-called judges,” not much different from a half century or more ago when they were desegregating the schools.

Closer to home, the recent legislative grilling of a sitting Supreme Court justice over his rulings on the death penalty and other politically charged issues during hearings over his proposed ascension to the position of chief justice warns us that we’re no better or worse than our friends in Washington.

We may not all agree on specific issues, but we can and should agree that the system of separation of powers or constitutional checks and balances is a necessary and enervating principle essential to the proper working of our government.

It is our duty, having taken an oath as both a lawyer and a commissioner of the superior court, to stand up and say no when political, personal or passing fashions or ideas threaten the proper and independent operation of any of our branches of government, especially the judiciary.

It is therefore fitting that we take time today, celebrating the rule of law, to reaffirm our fealty to these principles. If the ideals embodied in our state and federal constitutions are to continue to make us a strong and vibrant country, it’s all our duty to speak out and protect them when we see them under attack.

___________________________________

Former Connecticut Chief Disciplinary Counsel Mark Dubois is with Geraghty & Bonnano in New London.  These remarks were delivered as part of a Law Day 2018 observance in Middletown this spring, and subsequently published in the Connecticut Law Tribune.  

PERSPECTIVE: Challenging Times, Leaders Needed

by Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole I do not think I have to convince you that we are living in very challenging times.

But in case you ask me for evidence that all is far from peaceful and just in our communities, our nation, and our world—let me recall with you that on August 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacists wore the symbols and shouted out words associated with the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis. And day after day, we hear from more than one leader in the world expressions and actions of bigotry and hatred for people of color, for women, for people of Jewish and Islamic faiths, for individuals of LGBTQ communities, for differently abled individuals, for immigrants, and yes, for women, men and children who are poor.

Surely you agree with me when I say that in communities across our nation and our world, there is a crying need for peace, justice, and equality for all people. It is because of the state of our nation and our world that we turn to you, the graduates of this very special college, to say that you can be and you must be the leaders we desperately need.

So what is required of you to be the leaders we have been waiting for? First, you must be of service to others. Listen to these words of Dr. Martin Luther King:

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

This idea of being a servant leader was taught to me by my parents, my minister, and my community leaders as I grew up in the segregated South. They repeatedly said to me, “Doing for others is just the rent you’ve got to pay for your room on earth.”

The much-admired African American educator, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, who founded Bethune- Cookman College that is now a university, would often say, “Go on and climb to the top. But remember, you must lift others as you climb.”

Elie Wiesel, the great humanitarian who as a boy was put in a concentration camp because he was Jewish, once said this, “Our lives do not belong to us alone. Our lives belong to those who need us the most.”

There are so many ways to be of service, such as volunteering in a soup kitchen, a center for the victims of domestic violence, or an after-school program. Beyond the moral and ethical reasons to volunteer, there are some very practical reasons. Studies have shown that people who volunteer have less stress, greater satisfaction, as well as improved problem-solving and networking skills. And yes, students who volunteer do better in school.

A second requirement if you are to fulfill the promise of being effective leaders in today’s highly technological and diverse world is this: You must not only understand and respect your own culture; you need to have knowledge of and respect for people who are different from you. Indeed as technology transforms our world into a global village, a leader must respect the diversity of humankind and think and act in an inclusive way.

To acquire the skills and sensibilities to function in today’s world, you must be able to work and interact with people who do not have the same skin color and hair texture as you do, who do not speak as you do, worship as you do, move about physically as you do, and partner as you do.

There is an incredibly rewarding bonus in store for those who manage to do this. And that is you will come to more fully understand and respect yourselves. As we anthropologists say, “It’s scarcely the fish who discovers water.” Indeed by learning about others, we better understand ourselves.

Here is a third requirement if you are to fully embrace your potential to be the leaders we desperately need: You must believe that a positive change is possible and that you have a responsibility to help to make it happen. There are so many ways that, as young and not-so-young people, you can help to change our world. Indeed, we are witnessing a time in our county when young folks are at the forefront of the call for positive change on a number of issues.

One of my heroes, Marian Wright Edelman, the president of the Children’s Defense Fund, has said this: “If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it, you have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.” There is an African saying that speaks to the power of one person to make a difference. It says: “If you believe one creature cannot make a difference, you have never spent a night in a closed room with a mosquito.”

Let me bring closure to my remarks by telling you a story.

One day, while walking on a beach, an old man encountered a young girl picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. The old man asked, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” The girl replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out, and if I don’t throw the starfish into the ocean, they will die.” “But young girl, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? What you are doing can’t really matter.” The young girl listened politely to the old man, but then as she bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the ocean, she said, “It mattered to that one.”

The girl was indeed a leader. This young hero honored her responsibility to be of service to others—including starfish! She understood and respected diversity, including biodiversity. And this young girl was committed to being an agent for positive change, even when that meant saving a few starfish along a beach.

I believe that each of you can and must be the leaders we need—for you can be of service to others, you can respect human diversity, and you can be agents for positive change. So go on dear graduates and be the leaders we have been waiting for!

___________________

Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, and former director of the National Museum of African Art, delivered this Commencement Address at Trinity College in Hartford on May 19, 2018. In honor of her broad civic involvement in various worthwhile causes, Cole has received 64 honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the TransAfrica Forum Global Public Service Award; the Radcliffe Medal; the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal; the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Community Services from United Way of America; the Joseph Prize for Human Rights presented by the Anti-Defamation League; the Straight for Equality Award from Families and Friends of Gays and Lesbians (PFLAG); and the Alston-Jones International Civil and Human Rights award.

PERSPECTIVE: “Mamas, Please Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be CPAs” (apologies to Willie and Waylon)

by Bonnie Stewart Farm Aid, an event synonymous with Willie Nelson, will visit Connecticut this year on September 28.  The event makes me think of the great Willie and Waylon (Jennings) country anthem where each chorus pleads “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…” The duo continues their advice with “Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and CPAs…”  

Well, all right, they don’t actually sing “and CPAs…”

But they should.  Here’s why…

Parents counseling their children on careers would do well to suggest that of the certified public accountant, as it offers outstanding opportunity, reward, and respect.  There’s never been a better time than today to be a CPA -- except for maybe tomorrow!  And it comes down to – you guessed it – the numbers.

Opportunity

First, we need more CPAs.  Lots more.  Connecticut’s CPA profession is aging.  We expect that 75 percent of CPAs will retire over the next 15 years; at the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CTCPA) it’s referred to as “The CPA Silver Tsunami.”  And yes, it’s tied directly to the national demographic phenomenon of Baby Boomers qualifying for Medicaid to the tune of 10,000 per day – every day – until 2029, according to the Pew Research Center.

In its 2018 Salary Guide for Accounting and Finance Professionals, Robert Half, a global staffing firm specializing in accounting and finance professionals, reports “There’s high demand for top talent in public accounting due to a severe shortage of skilled candidates…”  Their “In-Demand Certifications” list puts “CPA” at the top.

Nationally, college accounting enrollment remains at an all-time high – 79,524 in 2016 – but the number of new CPA exam candidates for that year was far lower at 48,044.  At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster through 2018 than for all the occupations the bureau tracks.

Some CPA firms now start recruiting accounting majors on campus as early as the students’ sophomore and even freshman years, and certainly by the time they are juniors and seniors, these students know where they’ll land well before they don cap and gown and “walk.”  Not every college grad shares such a bright employment outlook.  Hey, even during the 2009 recession, the unemployment rate for the accounting profession was 4.5 percent – equal to full employment.

Reward

CPA expertise is in demand, and people are willing to pay for it.  CPAs earn 10 to 15 percent more than non-CPA accountants.  Recent grads with “up to one year” of experience who are good to very good candidates start at a range of $46k to about $55k annually; for superstars, that jumps up to the low $70k’s.  Senior managers are well into six figures and new partners can earn upward of $250,000 annually and as much as $500,000 or more when you factor in bonuses and other parks. 

Respect

In addition to the compensation, there are intrinsic rewards, such as respect.  Ninety-one percent of business decision makers consider CPAs valuable assets to their organizations.  Many CPAs serve as expert members on the various boards of municipal governments, not-for-profits, and volunteer organizations, where their fellow board members appreciate the talent those CPAs bring to the table.

Forget the so-very-yesteryear, hackneyed Hollywood image of the pocket-protected number cruncher.  Today’s and tomorrow’s CPAs increasingly must understand technology but more so, its application.  A recent Deloitte survey showed 21 percent of organizations currently have blockchain in production, with 25 percent more planning to do so in the next year.  Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, and the so-called “disruptive changes” taking place today and tomorrow will only further heighten demand for CPAs and their analytical skills.

As long as people and their various organizations seek to maximize financial outcomes, manage business performance, make informed investment decisions, plan for their financial futures, and comply with local, state, federal, and international rules, regulations, and taxes, the CPA will be in demand.

“Mamas, please…“

Indeed!

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Bonnie Stewart is Executive Director of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants. The Connecticut Society of CPAs is celebrating more than a century of service to membership and community alike.  Formed by nine CPAs in 1908 at New Haven’s Union League Club, today CTCPA has a current membership of almost 6,000 individuals in public practice, business and industry, government, and education.  Its function is to advocate on behalf of the accounting profession, foster a professional community among CPAs, and provide continuing education opportunities as well as a comprehensive peer review program and a variety of membership services for CPAs in Connecticut.

PERSPECTIVE: Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation of Connecticut's Hunters and Anglers

by William A. Hyatt R3, or recruitment, retention, and reactivation, is the newest buzz word being bantered about Fish and Wildlife Agencies. At first glance, R3 seems like nothing new. After all, it is just another way of saying that our agencies need to pay close attention to the ever-changing interests and behavior of our customers if we are to remain a vital force for conservation, hunting, and fishing through the 21st century. But, it is something new, really new.

While agencies like ours have always understood the need to recruit new sportsmen and women—witness our tremendously successful Conservation Education/Firearms Safety and Aquatic Resource Education programs—we have not historically recognized the importance of retaining and reactivating participants or understood the impact of “churn” on our customer base. Most of us have grown up thinking that the majority of hunters and anglers purchase a license each and every year. However, recent data have revealed this is simply not the case. In fact, participation rates of two or three years out of five are more the norm (this is “churn”) and many people stop buying a license at some point due to unrelated life events and simply do not return to the sport.

Why is this so important?

I’ve previously written about the amazing contributions hunters and anglers make in supporting conservation through the purchase of licenses and gear. By now, I hope all of Connecticut’s hunters and anglers know that 100% of the money they pay for licenses and permits comes back to our Agency and is used to fund natural resource programs. But, it’s not just about the money!

Conservation of our fish, wildlife, and natural landscape is a quality of life issue that affects not only us, but our children and all subsequent generations. Our collective ability to succeed in conserving critical habitat, public access for fishing and hunting, or just enjoying nature is a function of having both the financial resources and political will to get the job done and done right. Funding provided by sportsmen is our foundation and the large number of hunters and anglers, found across all walks of life in Connecticut, are the engine that makes all of this possible.

Sportsmen spend a huge amount of time in the woods and on the waters learning what they need to know to be successful. In the process, they absorb a great deal of knowledge on how natural systems work and develop an instinctive feel for what is truly needed to conserve fish and wildlife. Along with this comes a passion for wild places and, oftentimes, a lifelong commitment to hunting and fishing traditions and environmental stewardship. In short, these sportsmen become the public’s most knowledgeable, passionate, and effective conservationists. This is why our Agency has invested so deeply in conservation education, youth hunting days, pheasant stocking, trout parks, community fishing areas, free fishing days, and Connecticut Hunting and Fishing Day.

Let’s get back to R3 and the need to do even more.

Going forward to help motivate and inspire, we will make hunting and fishing information more convenient as we deliver interactive maps, posts on social media, and live stream about fish and wildlife (check out our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CTFishAndWildlife). We also will be emailing relevant news and information through monthly newsletters and exploring truly innovative methods for contacting and encouraging lapsed sportsmen to get back outdoors.

However, we cannot do this alone. To be successful, we need to call on each of you to be on the lookout for friends and family members who used to hunt and fish but no longer do. We need you to reach out to these folks and help them return to the outdoors. Often all that is needed is an invitation; your excitement and passion will carry the day. Please join me in making a pledge for 2018 to re-introduce someone to hunting, take a kid or a friend fishing, buy someone a license, or invite a nonmember to your club. You will be doing them a favor and also helping future generations and all of Connecticut in the process.

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William A. Hyatt of Glastonbury is Chief of the Bureau of Natural Resources in the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  This first appeared in the Connecticut Angler's Guide.  The Bureau can be reached at (860) 424-3010. The DEEP Bureau of Natural Resources celebrated 150 Years of Natural Resource Conservation in Connecticut in 2016.

PERSPECTIVE: Marketing Connecticut to College Grads

by Kevin McLaughlin As a rising senior at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, I find that there is one thing at the forefront of my mind, and the minds of all my fellow classmates who are entering their final year of college: post-graduation plans.

The mere mention of those three words causes stress and anxiety levels to skyrocket amongst many college seniors. The significance that those in college place on post-grad plans can be discerned through the fact that, according to a major annual survey of incoming students conducted by UCLA, the number one reason that people attend college is to “get a better job,” which has superseded the former number one reason, which, before 2006, was to “learn about things that interest me.”

Disregarding the question of whether this shift is a positive or negative one, the fact remains that college students today are overwhelmingly preoccupied with securing their futures. Despite this, college students are struggling to find the good jobs that they desire. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, nearly half of new college graduates are underemployed, which means that they are working in jobs that do not require a Bachelor’s degree.

If college students care more than ever about getting a job after graduation, then why are they struggling to find good jobs in a relatively strong economy? The disjunction here is apparent. Many potential factors can explain this disconnect, but one that I find prevalent on my campus is that all rising seniors seem to want to work in the same select few cities.

When you ask the average college student at Holy Cross where he or she would like to work post-graduation, the answer is almost always one of two locations: Boston or New York City. Sometimes you will hear answers that are as exotic as Washington D.C., San Francisco, or Chicago, but places more obscure than these are rarely, if ever, considered by the vast majority of Holy Cross students, and it seems as if this is a familiar refrain expressed across colleges throughout the northeast.

This reality is disconcerting for Connecticut because one key way to develop the Connecticut economy is to inject it with the region’s best available young talent. This will fail to happen if college students never consider Connecticut, along with its cities and towns, as a worthwhile destination for post-graduate employment.

If there is a large supply of new college graduates wishing to find good jobs, and there is demand from the Connecticut economy for these new college graduates, the question becomes how Connecticut can attract these students by marketing itself as the great job source and place to live that it is. It is about shifting the image of Connecticut from “that state in between Boston and New York City,” to a place where recent college grads will be able to thrive—in and outside of work.

With the goal of conveying some of the qualities that make Connecticut a great place to live and work for young college grads, the following are my top 5 qualities of Connecticut that should attract young workers:

1. Cities – Connecticut cities such as Hartford and New Haven offer cultural attractions that young college graduates crave, but are not as large as Boston and New York City—a smaller size that allows young people to feel a more integral part of the community. Cultural attractions in Connecticut’s cities include concerts, festivals, and ballgames which, along with vibrant bars and clubs create a great nightlife.
2. Nature – Immediately outside of its cities, Connecticut offers premiere natural attractions, with serene lakes and miles of hiking and walking trails, that give young people an escape into nature only minutes outside the city. Furthermore, Connecticut also has many miles of breathtaking shoreline which are a quick drive from most Connecticut towns and cities. Weekend or even day-trip getaways to lakes, mountains, or to the beach are easily accomplished in Connecticut, which creates a balance between city and country living that is unrivaled by any location proximate to downtown Boston or New York City.
3. Convenient Location – In addition to being situated between Boston and New York City, with easy access to both, Connecticut provides its residents with proximity to a hassle free international airport and easy access to busses and trains. This convenience means that if you want to leave the state for any reason, there are painless ways to get anywhere across the country, and the globe.
4. Affordable Rents – Connecticut offers housing that is far more affordable than that found in either New York City or Boston. This is evidenced by the statistic that, according to the apartment listing website Rent Jungle, the average one-bedroom apartment in Boston rents for $2703 a month, while the average one-bedroom apartment in Hartford rents for only $1291 a month. This significantly lower rent gives recent college graduates more available capital to spend on cultural attractions, and to pay back student loans!
5. Opportunities to Give Back – Connecticut offers its recent grads great opportunities to volunteer and improve the lives of people around the state. Since Connecticut is home to many small cities and towns, young volunteers can have a real, tangible impact in those communities. This is a significant social impact that they cannot as easily access in big cities such as Boston and New York.

If Connecticut can successfully market itself as an ideal place for recent college graduates, a more significant portion of those graduates will move to Connecticut towns and cities, which will in turn promote economic growth, leading to more opportunities. It is a path dependent process, meaning that once a more significant portion of young people settles in Connecticut, the culture will shift, and more young people will follow. Now, it is imperative to get the ball rolling.

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Kevin McLaughlin of Farmington will be a senior at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA this fall.  This piece first ran as a blog post on the website of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC), where he is interning this summer.  It is reprinted with permission.

PERSPECTIVE – America’s Infrastructure: Is Our Country on the Road to Ruin?

by Roger L. Kemp, PhD The term “infrastructure” refers to the basic facilities and installations necessary for society to operate.

These include public transportation and communication systems (highways, airports, bridges, telephone lines, cellular telephone towers, post offices); educational and health facilities; water, gas, and electrical systems (dams, power lines, power plants, aqueducts); and such miscellaneous facilities as prisons, national park structures, and other improvements to real property owned by higher levels of government.

In the United States, the infrastructure components are divided into the private and public sectors. Public facilities are owned by the municipal, county, state, and federal governments. There are also special district authorities, such as the Port Authority of New York and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, among many others.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) — the only professional membership organization in the nation that grades our nation’s public infrastructure — recognizes and evaluates the major categories of our government’s infrastructure: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, ports, parks and recreation, rail, roads, schools, solid waste, transit, and wastewater.

Managing and Financing America’s Infrastructure

All levels of government are facing a new era of capital financing and infrastructure management. Revenues that once were available for capital construction, restoration, and maintenance, have either diminished or evaporated entirely in recent years. Portions of our national public infrastructure that were once adequate are now experiencing signs of distress, even decay, with no end in sight to the ongoing deterioration of our nation’s public infrastructure.

Congested highways, overflowing sewers, and corroding bridges, are constant reminders of the looming infrastructure crisis that jeopardizes our nation’s economic prosperity as well as the quality-of-life for our citizens. With new grades just published in 2017, the condition of our nation’s infrastructure has shown little to no improvement since receiving a collective grade of a C- in 1988 and with some areas even sliding toward failing grades.

ASCE’s 2017 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure assesses the same categories as it did in their previous survey. The grade comparisons of the various categories of America’s infrastructure between ASCE’s original 1988 survey, and its most recent survey in 2017, are highlighted below in alphabetical order:

• Aviation – Received a grade of B- in 1988, and a grade of D in 2017.
• Bridges – Received a grade of C+ in 1988, and a grade of C+ in 2017.
• Dams – While not graded in 1988, they received a grade of D in 2017.
• Drinking Water – Received a grade of B- in 1988, and a grade of D in 2017.
• Energy – While not graded in 1988, this category received a grade of D+ in 2017.
• Hazardous Waste – This category receive a grade of D in 1988 and D+ in 2017.
• Inland Waterways – While not graded in 1988, they received a grade of D in 2017.
• Levees – While not graded in 1988, they received a grade of D in 2017.
• Parks and Recreation – While not graded in 1988, they received a grade of D+ in 2017.
• Ports – While not graded in 1988, they received a grade of C+ in 2017.
• Rail – While not graded in 1988, this category received a grade of B in 2017.
• Roads – Received a grade of C+ in 1988, and a grade of D in 2017.
• Schools – While not graded in 1988, this category received a grade of D+ in 2017.
• Solid Waste – Received a grade of C- in 1988, and a grade of C+ in 2017. This is the only infrastructure category to increase its grade since the original “graded” evaluation was done nearly 30 years ago.
• Transit – Received a grade of C- in 1988, and a grade of D- in 2017.
• Wastewater – Received a grade of C in 1988, and a grade of D+ in 2017. The average public infrastructure grade for our nation was a C- in 1988 and a D+ in 2017.

The most recent Infrastructure Report Card reveals that we made some incremental progress towards restoring our nation’s public infrastructure. But it has not been enough! As of 2017, America’s cumulative GPA is once again a D+, the same as it was four years ago after the last evaluation of our nation’s infrastructure.

The 2017 grades range from a B for Rail to a D- for Transit, illustrating the clear impact of our public investment — or lack thereof — in our nation’s infrastructure categories.

National Leadership Is Needed

The prevailing philosophy of our national government has been to let the lower levels of government (states, counties, and cities) solve their own infrastructure problems, regardless of the nature of their complexity or the magnitude of the funds needed. If a solution is to be forthcoming, the political posture of our government needs to become more positive and proactive.

Assertive federal government leadership, like the President and the Congress, must make the difficult policy decisions, as well as approve the funding required, to solve our country’s infrastructure problem.

Fundamental changes are needed to redirect national priorities about how public infrastructure investments are made. Officials at all levels of government must recognize that they can no longer build public facilities without adequately maintaining them in future years.

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Dr. Roger L. Kemp, PhD., has been a career city manager in Connecticut, California and New Jersey. He has been an author, editor, and contributing author to nearly 50 books focusing on America’s cities, including their public infrastructure. He is a Practitioner in Residence, Department of Public Management, University of New Haven, and can be reached via his website or at rlkbsr@snet.net.  This article first appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of CT Planning and appears here with permission of the author and CT Planning, a publication of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association.

PERSPECTIVE - Surprise! Connecticut is a Great Place for Small Business

by Caroline Goldstein When you think of Connecticut, you might think of fall foliage, Gilmore Girls, big casinos, Mark Twain, Mystic Pizza, Yale University, country clubs, and commuters (and, if you’re Senator Chris Murphy, pizza to rival New York’s City’s). You might not think of Connecticut as a great state to start a small business—but you absolutely should.

Local business is incredibly important in Connecticut: Small businesses make up 97% of Connecticut’s total businesses, and employ almost half of the state’s private workforce. And Connecticut takes small-business promotion seriously, offering a range of state-specific small business financing programs and Connecticut tax incentives that encourage business investment.

What does all that boil down to? Connecticut is a promising state in which to start a small business.  Out of 169 towns and cities in the state, we determined the five best cities in Connecticut to start a small business - cities that are ideal for entrepreneurs looking to start a new venture: Stamford, Norwalk, West Hartford, Danbury, and Fairfield.

Our methodology consisted of data culled almost exclusively from the U.S. Census and the Connecticut Department of Labor. We used additional data from AreaVibes, Sperling’s Best Places, Data USA, and reports from town resource centers.

Then, we weighed 10 metrics, which indicate the overall economic health of each town, their business climates, and their relative affordability. Next, we came up with a score for each town—a city’s highest possible score was 5. We also considered qualitative data like access to small business resources, overall quality of life, and economic and commercial development initiatives in each town to come up with a more holistic definition of the “best.”

The breakdown: Median gross rent (5% of score); Percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher (5%); Total number of firms (5%); Unemployment rate (10%); Median household income (10%); Recent job growth (10%); Overall cost of living, compared to the state average (10%); Growth in median household income (15%); Total retail sales and total retail sales per capita (15%) and Projected job growth, compared to the national average (15%).

The top five communities are:

Stamford (3.45) - Stamford has long been home to some of the world’s biggest corporations, including nine Fortune 1000 companies. In particular, though, over the past year-plus Stamford has seen a “string of economic coups,” especially in the corporate market. Henkel are opening their North American headquarters in Stamford, ITV America just signed a lease for a TV production studio, Greenwich-based hedge fund Tudor Investment plans to relocate to Stamford this year, and WWE, Conair, and RBS have headquarters here, too.

Despite its reputation as a nerve center for Connecticut’s big business, the City of Stamford’s resources for small business owners are robust. That includes a comprehensive guide to starting your business in Stamford, help with finding locations for your small business, information on registering your business, and a guide to financial advantages including available grants and funding options. Business owners can also benefit from Stamford’s tax incentive programs, which includes a program for businesses that develop and reuse rehabilitated industrial areas.

Norwalk (3.45) - A few years back, Norwalk initiated a comprehensive economic development action plan. Included are efforts to “provide resources for start-ups, entrepreneurs and small businesses in Norwalk,” like free counseling programs, permit guidance and advocacy, information on funding, job-training programs, and quality-of-life initiatives to support local businesses and residents. Norwalk is small-business friendly, but its economy is boosted by big business, too. Major corporate headquarters in Norwalk include Pepperidge Farm, MetLife, Xerox, and GE Capital.

West Hartford (2.95) - In a recent presentation, West Hartford’s economic development officials showed that the community’s commercial districts are growing. Dozens of new small businesses—including restaurants (a total of 1,400 outdoor restaurant seats), cafes, retail, a new luxury boutique hotel, and other small firms—are opening this year, or are planning to open soon. Small businesses at 485 New Park, for example—one of West Hartford’s independent retail enclaves—include a comic book store, a vintage shop, a bakery, a photography studio, a boutique fitness studio, a kitchen and bath designer, an IT solutions company, and a brewery, among others. Similar growth patterns abound across the town, with small businesses dominating many of its commercial areas.

Danbury (2.75) - Danbury is dedicated to revitalizing its commercial centers, drawing new business opportunities, and supporting both new and established businesses. Recently, the town invested over $100 million in their Main Street shopping area. Other small business resources in Danbury include an Office of Business Advocacy, which helps small business owners establish and expand their businesses and oversees economic development programs. CityCenter is an organization of property owners, sponsors, businesses, and more that contribute to projects to revitalize the downtown commercial area and support new and existing ventures.

Fairfield (2.6) - Fairfield is home to Fortune 500 companies GE and Bigelow Tea, but it’s also a college town, with Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University in the vicinity. These stalwarts feed Fairfield’s economy and boost its spending population. But the town offers support and incentives to small business owners, too. Fairfield’s Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program, for instance, offers entrepreneurs and small business owners with “training, technical assistance, and start-up capital needed to create and sustain viable and productive small businesses in Fairfield.

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Forbes ranked Connecticut #5 for quality of life in the country—which makes this small state attractive to city workers to raise their families, buy country homes, or move to entirely (and bring their spending power with them).  And, despite that extreme wealth and massive income gap, the overall cost of living and doing business in Connecticut is much lower than its’ neighboring New York City.

So, consider starting your small business in one of these high-growth, resource-rich towns—and, who knows, you might eventually join the state’s 16 resident billionaires. (Can’t hurt to dream.)

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Caroline Goldstein is a small business and finance writer at Fundera, where a longer version of this column first appeared. Before joining Fundera, she received an MFA in Fiction from New York University. She loves finding creative ways to help entrepreneurs grow, and is a Connecticut native. Fundera is a funding marketplace and resource site for small businesses.