Editor's Column
by
Tim Benjamin
Finally, it seems, we have
made it through the winter. This last month has been a roller-coaster
of weather. One morning, the warm bright sun would wake you by 6
a.m.; then the next day you wouldn’t even see the sun, and
a wet chill would remain throughout the day. But this is Minnesota!
And no one knows that better than legislators.
What are those legislators
doing? John Tschida does a great job of
explaining some of the goings-on at the Capitol. I sure hope that
some of the health-care
reforms he writes about come to pass. With
health-care costs consuming 25 percent—an
unsustainable amount—of the state’s overall budget, the “health
care home” Tschida describes sounds like a very positive restructuring,
rather than a patch-the-hole fix. Rewarding providers through financial
incentives for preventive practices and for delivering the best products
and services sounds like a good idea.
Maybe after the upcoming
elections there will be some serious proposals to change the whole
health-care system throughout our country. I think we have to think
positively and get very involved as a community for our health-care
coverage problems to become a thing of the past. The only way that
this can work, though, is if we all start getting involved in the
politics of health care for everyone. At least one way to get involved
is volunteering for politicians that are like-minded. Another is
getting to know the policymakers we already have. I think our leaders
really do want what is best for us, but unless we tell them what
that is they can only be “those politicians.” Get
to know them on a first-name basis, and let them know what you need.
I know I would fight much harder for someone I know than for someone
I have only heard about.
Have you ever heard
of Doha, Qatar? I hadn’t, until Mary Kay
Kennedy from Advocating Change Together (ACT) came to our office
and said that she had just been invited by the Princess of Qatar
to come with one of ACT’s board members and check out their
new Center for Children with Special Needs. ACT board member Roberta
Blomster and Kennedy took the short trip around the world to see
how the disability
rights movement is expanding in the Middle East.
Don’t miss the article.
There was some concern
that last month Access Press was disrespectful to our police department
through the choice of words used in an article title and subtitle.
Policing our communities is an honorable profession, and I can’t
imagine the stress, challenges, insults, assaults, danger and even
chaos that police officers face every day. I thank every police
officer for the respectable work that they do and I meant absolutely
no disrespect. I believe that the community and the police department
should show one another the utmost respect for their human—and
professional—dignity at all times.
In this particular situation, we were reporting a story concerning
the Crisis Intervention
Team (CIT), where officers are trained both
to prevent and de-escalate mental health crises. I did not intend
for the paper’s wording to be perceived as appalling or disrespectful.
We are printing the two letters we received on this
topic. Maybe, like one of the letters said, the words we chose showed
my ignorance on the topic, and I will work on correcting that. It’s
hard to always pick the right words, but where I can correct an offense,
I will.
Along with those two letters we are printing two
other letters that
concerned other words that have multiple meanings.
This month our history note has been expanded. Luther Granquist
reports on a topic that seems both appalling and incredible in this
day and age. The sterilization
of people with cognitive disabilities
at the hands of government and the scientific community can only
be described as barbaric and criminal, yet at the time the decision
makers were sure that they were doing the right thing for society.
We can only hope that these kinds of horrendous acts are recognized
in the future and that as a society we will be wise enough to acknowledge
and admit wrongs, and apologize.
Clarence
Schadegg fills us in on what National
Crime Victims’ Week has brought to the disability community. Olegario D. Cantos, Special
Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the U.S., explains
a new federally granted initiative to improve public safety and
broaden public awareness, civil rights training and greater crime
reporting efforts. This new initiative should help in many areas,
including making available more factual information on crimes against
people with disabilities.
Thank you for reading and supporting Access Press. ![end of story bullet]()
