Role of gays and lesbians should be taught
Last Thursday, California codified the teaching of the role and
contributions of gays and lesbians in American History. Under the
legislation, public schools must begin implementing the new
curriculum in January of the upcoming school year.
Typical of nascent, educational policies of the Golden State,
many questions still remain unanswered.
For example, will the state provide curriculum and materials or
will school districts develop their own? Which individuals and
events are to be covered? Will the high stakes, STAR test include
questions related to the new curriculum?
As a social science teacher at San Benito High School, I
strongly support the new law, despite the cloud of uncertainty that
looms over it.
Complex and ever changing, the canvas of American history
encompasses hues of every color and shade. Sadly, the artist’s eye
has often neglected to capture the contributions of gays and
lesbians, producing a work that lacks style, depth, and
understanding.
California’s new law will change this.
Since the founding our nation, gays and lesbians have played
critical roles in shaping our history. For example, during the
American Revolution General Baron von Steuben, a homosexual,
expatriate from Prussia, collaborated with General George
Washington in creating a handbook that brought regimentation,
discipline, and tactical changes to the Continental Army.
Von Steuben’s efforts transformed a rag-tag group of soldiers
into a professional army, resulting in confidence, victory, and
ultimately freedom.
After several wars and military campaigns, it appears that the
valor gays and lesbians have served with will finally be
recognized, as the armed services phases out its
”
Don’t ask, Don’t tell
”
policy.
While federal policy transforms the lives of our gay and lesbian
soldiers, state legislatures appear willing to follow suit on
issues of civil rights, enacting recognition and protection for
marriage equality.
As the archives of gay and lesbian history testify, the road to
equality and acceptance has been fraught with much difficulty and
at times danger, as the assassination of Harvey Milk
demonstrates.
Elected in the 1970s as a city of San Francisco supervisor, Milk
became the first-openly gay politician. A civil-rights leader and
pioneer, Milk embraced his homosexuality at time when career
aspirations and ambitions trumped expressing one’s sexuality.
Remaining in the
”
closet
”
offered anonymity and protection, while suppressing one’s
emotional well-being.
Milk’s open and honest lifestyle offered emotional security, but
failed to stave off physical threats and violence. On Nov. 27,
1978, Dan White, a former board supervisor and a self-described
homophobe, assassinated Milk.
Unfortunately, dangers still exist.
Supporters of California’s new law cite bullying and harassment
of homosexual teens as the impetus for the legislation.
Implicit in the legislation is the notion that homosexual youth
need both understanding and support.
Unlike what some presidential hopefuls and their spouses
believe, homosexuality cannot be prayed or wished away nor are
school-aged homosexuals
”
barbarians
”
who deserve a Spartan education, absent of love, acceptance, and
nurturing.
California’s state legislature sent a clear message to educators
around the country
—through understanding and recognizing a person’s identity,
sexuality, and history school communities become societal
equalizers and portals of empowerment.
More importantly, school environments become more focused in
their mission
—the education of our nation’s youth.
As the new school year begins in California, so does a new
chapter of American history
—a history that can potentially be appreciated as a
masterpiece.
Frank J. Perez
Hollister
Role of gays and lesbians should be taught
Last Thursday, California codified the teaching of the role and contributions of gays and lesbians in American History. Under the legislation, public schools must begin implementing the new curriculum in January of the upcoming school year.
Typical of nascent, educational policies of the Golden State, many questions still remain unanswered.
For example, will the state provide curriculum and materials or will school districts develop their own? Which individuals and events are to be covered? Will the high stakes, STAR test include questions related to the new curriculum?
As a social science teacher at San Benito High School, I strongly support the new law, despite the cloud of uncertainty that looms over it.
Complex and ever changing, the canvas of American history encompasses hues of every color and shade. Sadly, the artist’s eye has often neglected to capture the contributions of gays and lesbians, producing a work that lacks style, depth, and understanding.
California’s new law will change this.
Since the founding our nation, gays and lesbians have played critical roles in shaping our history. For example, during the American Revolution General Baron von Steuben, a homosexual, expatriate from Prussia, collaborated with General George Washington in creating a handbook that brought regimentation, discipline, and tactical changes to the Continental Army.
Von Steuben’s efforts transformed a rag-tag group of soldiers into a professional army, resulting in confidence, victory, and ultimately freedom.
After several wars and military campaigns, it appears that the valor gays and lesbians have served with will finally be recognized, as the armed services phases out its “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy.
While federal policy transforms the lives of our gay and lesbian soldiers, state legislatures appear willing to follow suit on issues of civil rights, enacting recognition and protection for marriage equality.
As the archives of gay and lesbian history testify, the road to equality and acceptance has been fraught with much difficulty and at times danger, as the assassination of Harvey Milk demonstrates.
Elected in the 1970s as a city of San Francisco supervisor, Milk became the first-openly gay politician. A civil-rights leader and pioneer, Milk embraced his homosexuality at time when career aspirations and ambitions trumped expressing one’s sexuality. Remaining in the “closet” offered anonymity and protection, while suppressing one’s emotional well-being.
Milk’s open and honest lifestyle offered emotional security, but failed to stave off physical threats and violence. On Nov. 27, 1978, Dan White, a former board supervisor and a self-described homophobe, assassinated Milk.
Unfortunately, dangers still exist.
Supporters of California’s new law cite bullying and harassment of homosexual teens as the impetus for the legislation.
Implicit in the legislation is the notion that homosexual youth need both understanding and support.
Unlike what some presidential hopefuls and their spouses believe, homosexuality cannot be prayed or wished away nor are school-aged homosexuals “barbarians” who deserve a Spartan education, absent of love, acceptance, and nurturing.
California’s state legislature sent a clear message to educators around the country—through understanding and recognizing a person’s identity, sexuality, and history school communities become societal equalizers and portals of empowerment.
More importantly, school environments become more focused in their mission—the education of our nation’s youth.
As the new school year begins in California, so does a new chapter of American history—a history that can potentially be appreciated as a masterpiece.
Frank J. Perez
Hollister
Article misleads public about hospital
On June 20, I was asked by the marketing director of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, Frankie Gallagher, to call the Free Lance and speak to Connor Ramey. He had questions about why a recent trauma victim was not treated at Hazel Hawkins. Frankie thought I could shed some insight.
I was happy to call Mr. Ramey and explain how the system works. I did not realize he would use this courtesy call as an opportunity to take my comments and use them out of context to portray the ED (Emergency Department) as an unskilled and useless facility. In the article, “Despite New ER, Trauma Patients Leave County,” posted on the Free Lance website June 29 and printed in the Pinnacle July 1:
– He misleads the public with statements like “Without the designation, the hospital does not receive patients who are in need of trauma care, unless they are in need of stabilization.” This is only part of what I tried to explain.
– He goes on to imply that without trauma designation, HHMH isn’t allowed to treat trauma patients. This is not true.
– He indicates that all HHMH needs to qualify as a Level IV trauma center are a nurse coordinator and medical director. This is incomplete.
– He uses my comment about “bare-bones” staffing out of context. Compared to larger facilities, our resources are limited. The ED is always staffed with RN’s to meet state guidelines. The ER Tech provides additional personnel that are not required by the state.
– He indicates the new ED has three trauma bays and 7 private treatment rooms. We actually have one trauma bay with three trauma rooms and 15 private treatment rooms.
– He implies that only 12 rooms are utilized. That is not accurate. We utilize as many rooms as necessary to take care of patients and meet state staffing guidelines.
After reading this article it is obvious to me that Mr. Ramey’s original intent was to demean the local hospital because a child that was hurt at the skate park was airlifted to San Jose. As evidenced by the title of the article, he had no intent of trying to explain why that occurred. His agenda all along was to put the local ED down. He was not able to or chose not to comprehend what I explained to him over the phone.
Here are some facts:
– The concept of a “trauma” room at HHMH ED is not new. There was a “trauma” room in the old ED. We treated trauma patients then, just like we do now. The trauma rooms in the new ED got a lot of publicity because they are large and have state of the art equipment. There does not need to be a “designation” to treat trauma patients. The three trauma rooms in the trauma bay are not only used for trauma, but for severely ill patients. Just because it is called a “trauma room” doesn’t mean it sits empty if there is no trauma.
– A little research would have noted that there is not a “designated” trauma center in this county, or Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
– First responders from the Emergency Medical System, EMS, arrive on scene and evaluate the patient to see if they meet MAP criteria. They can make the decision to transport to a trauma center without dealing with HHMH ED. We were not aware of the bicycle accident until after the child was airlifted. He was not turned away or denied care at HHMH.
– Mr. Ramey states in paragraph 5 that, “With staffing issues due to cost, the bigger E.R. has not been used to its capacity…”. He goes on a few paragraphs later to mix my comment about bare-bones staffing with the grand jury’s comment about the new ED being under-used. This is extremely misleading. The rooms are not under –used. The ED meets state- mandated staffing for RN’s and has processes in place to handle surges. We utilize an ER Tech and Physician’s Assistant during peak hours of 3 to 11 p,m. daily. All 18 rooms are open and available for use. Currently, the number of patients that come to the ED has not necessitated the use of all 18 rooms at once. There are times when non-urgent patients have to wait but that is not unique to HHMH ED. I did note that when compared to larger facilities, our staffing is less. An example is having an X-ray tech on call during certain night hours instead of in house 24/7. There are dozens of rural ED’s closing all across the country. We have to be financially conscious to keep our doors open.
– Mr. Ramey says near the end of his article that, “People with broken bones….traveling in Calstar helicopter….are sent out of town. Again, this is very misleading. We frequently deal with orthopedic injuries and have ortho surgeons to evaluate these cases. The ortho doctor may decide to transfer to a higher level of care, but the patient is initially treated in the ED. Just because a patient is transferred does not mean that HHMH is incompetent.
– As far as obtaining a “trauma center designation” it currently makes no difference in how we treat our patients. We are able to treat whoever needs t o be treated. We have contracts with San Jose Hospitals including the two trauma centers, to transfer patients that need a higher level of care, such as a neuro-surgeon or pediatric specialist.
As a side note, the “length of stay” for a patient that comes to HHMH ED is over one hour LESS than the national average. Our ED maintains less than a 3 hour average, while nationally, that time is four hours and 20 minutes. Our daily census in the new ED has increased over 1 0 percent when compared to last year. We try to make phone calls to all patients discharged from the ED. The comments are overwhelmingly positive.
HHMH ED has highly skilled doctors and nurses ready to take care of any emergency, 24 hours a day. I am very proud of the staff and proud to work at this hospital. Do we meet patient’s expectations 100 percent of the time? No. Are we continually trying to improve the care we provide to meet these expectations? Yes. I believe our emergency department is extremely competent to handle the emergent needs of this community. We will continue to provide care to whoever needs it, at any time.
Rebecca Jones RN, BSN
Director ED, HHMH
