Input needed for police cadet project
The Chattanooga Police Department Academy Class 2016-4 is proud to participate in the Community Immersion Project, which uses fundamentals of community policing to increase community relationships and uphold the vision of the department.
That vision is for the department to be respected and trusted by all segments of Chattanooga's diverse community. To uphold this vision, four groups of future police officers will reach out to citizens to better understand their specific needs and concerns. At the conclusion of the project, this research will be presented to community leaders and the public.
One of these groups has a two-fold assignment: those dealing with mental illness and residents living with an intellectual or developmental disability.
To better serve the community, we ask for your assistance in providing feedback to a survey. Some topics may be uncomfortable to discuss, so the survey will be anonymous. We, Chattanooga Police Academy Class 2016-4, greatly appreciate your interest and involvement.
The survey can be taken at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SX3KQG8
Alisha Chavez
Training Division
Page detractor is taken to task
I am responding to Clarence Page's Feb. 7 commentary, "Why President Trump needs a history lesson."
First, it's Frederick Douglass, spelled with double "s." Mr. Page wrote that since Mr. Douglass died in 1895, he is generally referred to as a "was" not an "is." President Trump's statement appeared to refer more to Mr. Douglass' body ("was"), not his spirit ("is").
He wanted a more significant message concerning Black History Month than the presidential tweet - short and superficial mention of the four big heroes of black history: Douglass, Tubman, Parks and King Jr. Not even a shout-out to Booker T. Washington or W.E.B. Du Bois.
As to the writer's other points: 1) Banning immigration from several countries and delaying for months those of a particular religion is anti-immigration; 2) Tired of open borders? Will we build a wall with Canada, too? 3) Political correctness? Next time you describe your friend's kid, use the words you really want: "fat," "ugly," "stupid," "clumsy." No, you'll probably be kinder and gentler; 4) "Murder of innocent unborn babies"? Get behind Planned Parenthood's contraceptive initiatives. 5) Bathrooms and gay marriage? Get over it. It's 2017, not 1717.
Grady S. Burgner
Bioequivalent, drug are the same
The article "Bill would nix drug swaps by insurers" (Feb. 18) is confusing.
Most pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) update their drug formulary quarterly. Also, most prescription plans offered through insurance companies via these PBMs only allow individual sign-ups annually.
Beyond these facts, advocacy groups appear to be blurring two issues into one. If after sign-up, a PBM replaces a brand-name drug with a bioequivalent generic, no harm has come to patients, and considerable cost savings may accrue.
Two pharmaceutical products are bioequivalent if they contain the same amount of the same active ingredient, in the same dosage form, for the same route of administration and at the same dose. They're so similar their effects, with respect to efficacy and safety, can be expected to be essentially the same.
Separate, however, is the problem of replacing a brand or bioequivalent generic drug with a different drug of the same therapeutic class. For example, brand Crestor replaced by bioequivalent generic rosuvastatin is not the same, nor its bioequivalent generic rosuvastatin replaced by brand Lipitor or bioequivalent generic atorvastatin. Rosuvastatin and atorvastatin are different molecules.
In any bill considered by politicians, this dichotomy must be differentiated.
Michael J. Zema, MD
ACA participants: Don't panic
I am fed up with the misunderstanding proliferated by the media about President Trump's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
What seems to be emphasized by the media is the repealing of this health care plan and not the Republicans' stated plan to replace it with a better plan. They are not planning to eliminate people's coverage, leaving them with nothing.
I was prompted to send this after reading the plea made by a reader in a letter to the editor in last Saturday's edition in which the writer states that "The Republicans want to throw it out, and that's not right." I agree with her.
Let's give the president a chance to present a replacement plan. While we are waiting for this new plan, coverage under peoples existing plan will remain intact.
Chapin Miller
Signal Mountain
Muslims, like us, are God's children
Recently, my wife and I went to an open house at our local Islamic Center. Hundreds of people were warmly welcomed. We got to hear how Islam is one of the world's major religions, based on the same roots as Christianity and Judaism. We heard how Islam believes in faith, family and community, just as our churches do. Visitors learned how Muslims work in our community, own businesses, and serve in health care and education.
This event made me proud that, in Chattanooga, our different faiths and ethnic traditions can get along.
Today in our country, anti-Muslim groups want to ban Muslims, ban refugees fleeing war and cut back on immigration. These groups want people to hate Islam because of acts of terrorism committed by a few Muslims.
To blame Islam for terrorist acts is like hating all the members of a church because one of its members or ex-members committed a crime.
I hope and pray that in the Chattanooga area, we can prevent these anti-Muslim hate groups from gaining a foothold. We have a strong community. We do not need it broken down by hatred. We are all children of God.
Allen Chesney
Universal health care best choice
U.S. House Republican leaders recently released their initial plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. I have many concerns. Here are two:
- The plan includes no estimate of how many Americans would gain or lose insurance and doesn't include comparisons with the ACA, which extended coverage to 20 million people.
- House Republicans stated they would continue providing protection for people with pre-existing conditions, but their plan doesn't say how.
The ACA was at least a beginning. A health care plan that depends on the for-profit sector to determine costs isn't working. Medicare for all is the best way forward and, eventually, universal health care operated by the nonprofit public sector is the wisest choice
The government takes and redistributes money for roads, schools, police and fire departments, the military and the government. Universal health care is an investment that will reap substantial benefits for our country.
We need our elected officials to work in a bipartisan manner and come up with a real plan that will benefit real people. Health care isn't partisan; every American needs it.
Therese Pace Tuley
U.S. founders' wisdom key now
There is an active attempt by the Democratic Party and to a lesser extent the Republican Party to overthrow the government and remove President Trump.
Since the election, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of the men who founded the United States and gave the Constitution as a model to the world for how free people should govern themselves and conduct their affairs.
The concept of the Electoral College is to equalize the impact of each vote and region. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights is to ensure the final power remains with the people.
Perhaps those Marxists who desire to remove President Trump should remember the law of unintended consequences before subverting the expressed will of the people.
Ronald E. Lavender