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Re: Jury acquits ex-teacher of sex abuse, story, July 2.
July 1 was just another sad day for one teacher, two families and the Pinellas County schools, as well as a community and public education. There were no winners. In the final judgment, the only truth will be that which each knows truly happened.
Former elementary school music teacher Mark Fronczak did, however, summarize an apparent educational situation that "everything males (male teachers) do is suspect."
While schools are scrambling for male role models to serve the abundance of children who don't have a stable male presence in their home environments, it appears that often "the knife cuts the wrong way." There appears to be a dichotomy between need and practice.
It's time that cameras are placed in every classroom. Just as on buses. Just as in most public places. That way, everyone can see what happened or didn't happen.
P.S. I am an educator.
I would like to commend the article that appeared in the Sunday Times titled "Determined to lose: Goodbye weight, hello triathlete." In today's society, it is very common for obesity and the treatment of obesity to be viewed in a negative light. However, this article was a positive and personal illustration of how weight-loss surgery dramatically affected the life of a morbidly obese individual.
Obesity is a growing health epidemic. It is estimated that more than 93-million Americans are obese, with that number predicted to climb to 120-million in the next five years.
More than 8-million Americans are morbidly obese, a disease characterized by an individual weighing more than 100 pounds over his or her ideal body weight. A vast majority of those considered morbidly obese often experience one or more obesity-related illnesses, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems and some cancers (endometrial, breast and colon).
It is important for those living with and/or affected by obesity to become aware of the seriousness of this disease and the need for treatment, whether it is medically managed weight loss or bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass. Furthermore, it is essential that those who wish to seek treatment for this disease are educated about their options, and more important, have access to that care.
In January 2005, Florida-based insurers began eliminating insurance coverage for obesity management services, including bariatric surgery. The medical treatment of obesity decreases mortality, improves or resolves obesity-related illnesses and improves quality of life. Denying patients and their physicians proven options for treatment (medical weight management and weight-loss surgery) endangers the long-term health of many Floridians. Just as the individual in the article was able to make an important health decision to improve her quality of life, so should each and every individual living with obesity.
The Obesity Action Coalition is a newly formed nonprofit patient organization based in Tampa, designed to educate and advocate on behalf of the millions of Americans who are obese. By building a coalition of members, it is our goal to provide a strong patient voice in the fight against obesity. We welcome you to contact our organization for additional insight into this issue of access to care. The phone number is 1-800-717-3117.
Thank you again for illustrating that those who are morbidly obese deserve an improved quality of life and the ability to make an important decision to dramatically affect their health.
Re: Hulkster, Lilly the rooster win latest round, story, Thursday.
I would think that Pinellas County would have a lot more money and time if we would stop wasting the taxpayers' money and time bothering both Hulk Hogan and Matt Geiger regarding their animals.
We have many areas, especially in education, that could better use this money and time spent on it.
These two families are very philanthropic and are very large taxpayers in our county. People should learn to coexist and leave others alone.