Furor fades a year after military's gay ban lifted

By David Crary
The Associated Press
Originally published on September 16, 2012

They are images Americans had never seen before. Jubilant young men and women in military uniforms marching beneath a rainbow flag in a gay-pride parade. Soldiers and sailors returning from deployment and, in time-honored tradition, embracing their beloved — only this time with same-sex kisses.

It's been a year now since the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed, enabling gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly, no longer forced to lie and keep their personal lives under wraps.

The Pentagon says repeal has gone smoothly, with no adverse effect on morale, recruitment or readiness. President Barack Obama cites it as a signature achievement of his first term, and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, says he would not push to reverse the change if elected in place of Obama.

Some critics persist with complaints that repeal has infringed on service members whose religious faiths condemn homosexuality. Instances of anti-gay harassment have not ended. And activists are frustrated that gay and lesbian military families don't yet enjoy the benefits and services extended to other military families.

Yet the clear consensus is that repeal has produced far more joy and relief than dismay and indignation. There's vivid evidence in photographs that have rocketed across cyberspace, such as the military contingent marching in San Diego's gay pride parade and Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan leaping into the arms of his boyfriend after returning from six months in Afghanistan.

The entire story is here.

Malaysia holds seminars to help teachers spot 'gay children'

Light-coloured clothes and large handbags for boys listed as signs, as government forges ahead with anti-gay agenda

The Guardian

Originally published on September 14, 2012

The Malaysian government has begun holding seminars aiming to help teachers and parents spot signs of homosexuality in children, underscoring a rise in religious conservatism in the country.

So far, the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia has organised 10 seminars across the country. Attendance at the last event on Wednesday reached 1,500 people, a spokesman for the organisation said.

"It is a multi-religious and multicultural [event], after all, all religions are basically against that type of behaviour," said the official.

The entire story is here.

Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No Exception

By Richard Perez-Pena
The New York Times
Originally published September 7, 2012

Large-scale cheating has been uncovered over the last year at some of the nation’s most competitive schools, like Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, the Air Force Academy and, most recently, Harvard.

Studies of student behavior and attitudes show that a majority of students violate standards of academic integrity to some degree, and that high achievers are just as likely to do it as others. Moreover, there is evidence that the problem has worsened over the last few decades.

Experts say the reasons are relatively simple: Cheating has become easier and more widely tolerated, and both schools and parents have failed to give students strong, repetitive messages about what is allowed and what is prohibited.

“I don’t think there’s any question that students have become more competitive, under more pressure, and, as a result, tend to excuse more from themselves and other students, and that’s abetted by the adults around them,” said Donald L. McCabe, a professor at the Rutgers University Business School, and a leading researcher on cheating.

The entire story is here.

Former Bangor Psychologist Sentenced for Sexual Assault and MaineCare Fraud

Maine Attorney General Press Release
Originally published August 31, 2012

Attorney General William J. Schneider announced today that former psychologist John A. Keefe, 60, of Veazie, pled guilty to one count of Class B theft by deception and one count of Class C gross sexual assault for engaging in sexual acts with a client and billing MaineCare for mental health therapy services for that client.

Penobscot County Superior Court Justice William R. Anderson sentenced Keefe on each count to three years imprisonment with all but 120 days suspended and two years of probation, to be served concurrently. He also required Keefe to pay $14,806.52 restitution to MaineCare.

From 2007 to 2010, Keefe engaged in sexual acts with a female client while claiming to provide mental health therapy to that client. Some of the sexual acts occurred in Keefe’s office at Columbia Psychology Associates in Bangor during mental health therapy sessions that he billed to MaineCare. On June 22, 2010, Keefe surrendered his license to practice psychology during the pendency of the criminal action through entry of a consent agreement with the Maine Board of Examiners of Psychologists.

The entire story is here.

Study of U.S. Health Care System Finds Both Waste and Opportunity to Improve

By Annie Lowrey
The New York Times
Originally published on September 11, 2012

The American medical system squanders 30 cents of every dollar spent on health care, according to new calculations by the respected Institute of Medicine. But in all that waste and misuse, policy experts and economists see a significant opportunity — a way to curb runaway health spending, to improve medical outcomes and even to put the economy on sounder footing.

“Everybody from Paul Krugman to Paul Ryan agrees it is essential to restrain costs,” said Dr. Mark D. Smith, the president of the California HealthCare Foundation and the chairman of the committee that wrote the report, referring to the liberal economist and Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, and the conservative Wisconsin congressman who is Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate. “The health care industry agrees, too.”

The Institute of Medicine report — its research led by 18 best-of-class clinicians, policy experts and business leaders — details how the American medical system wastes an estimated $750 billion a year while failing to deliver reliable, top-notch care. That is roughly equivalent to the annual cost of health coverage for 150 million workers, or the budget of the Defense Department, or the 2008 bank bailout.

The entire story is here.

Racial And Ethnic Diversity Goes Local

By Barrett A. Lee, John Iceland, and Gregory Sharp

September 2012

During the last three decades, the United States has become more racially and ethnically diverse. We examine this trend at the local level, where the consequences of increased diversity for the economy, education, and politics regularly prompt debate, if not rancor. Decennial census and ACS data spanning the 1980-2010 period allow us to determine (a) the pervasiveness of diversity across America, focusing on metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas and places, and (b) the community characteristics that correlate with diversity.

We nd that almost all communities—whether large immigrant gateways or small towns in the nation’s heartland—have grown more diverse. However, the data show a wide range of diversity proles, from predominantly white communities (a shrinking number) to minority-majority and no-majority ones (an increasing number). The pace of local diversity gains, as well as shifts in racial-ethnic composition, has similarly varied.

While surging Hispanic and Asian populations often drive these patterns, other groups, including African immigrants, Native Americans, and multi-racial individuals, contribute to the distinctive mixes evident from one community to the next.

As for the correlates of diversity, communities with large populations, abundant rental housing, and a range of jobs are more diverse. So are those where the government and/or the military is a key employer. Locationally,diversity tends to be higher in coastal regions and along the southern border. 

In short, a growing number of Americans now live in communities where multiple groups—Hispanics, blacks, and Asians as well as whites—are present in signicant proportions.

The entire report is here.

NH psychologist's sex charges reinstated

Hollenbeck’s sex charges reinstated

By Danielle Rivard
Sentinel Source.com
Originally published September 6, 2012

The case of a psychologist with a practice in Keene who was accused of having sex with a former patient is headed back to court.

Burton G. Hollenbeck Jr., 58, of Richmond faced 30 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault before a Cheshire County Superior Court judge dismissed the charges.

Prosecutors appealed to the N.H. Supreme Court, which reversed the decision in a ruling released Wednesday.

Hollenbeck was accused of engaging in sexual conduct with the woman less than a year after her therapy with him ended, which violates state law, according to court documents.

(cut)

In its 3-1 decision Wednesday, the N.H. Supreme Court said the state has a legitimate interest in protecting people whose ability to consent to sexual contact may be compromised by the inherent nature of the treatment relationship, and in maintaining the integrity of mental health professionals.

The entire story is here.

Considering Death Row for Organs

By Brandi Grissom

The New York Times

Originally published September 8, 2012

Before Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon established a moratorium on his state’s death penalty last year, Christian Longo, a death row inmate, started a campaign to allow the condemned to donate their organs.

Mr. Longo argued that a new execution protocol that many states — including Texas — have adopted leaves inmates’ organs viable for transplantation.

“While I can potentially help in saving one life with a kidney donation now, one preplanned execution can additionally save from 6 to 10 more lives,” Mr. Longo wrote in a plea that Oregon officials denied.

No state allows death row inmates to donate their organs. Although Texas recently abandoned a three-drug cocktail in favor of a single-drug method for execution, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it did not intend to change its policy. 

There are 11,000 Texans on the organ transplant waiting list.

The entire story is here.

Medical waste: America loses billions to sloppy health care

Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Originally published September 10, 2012

The influential Institute of Medicine has completed a comprehensive review of the nation's health care system, and here's the frightening diagnosis: Nearly $750 billion a year is wasted on unnecessary care, excessive administrative costs, fraud, duplication and poor communication.

The institute's conclusions may not be surprising to anyone who has had to reschedule an appointment because tests results were not available or to repeat a procedure in order to get accurate data. In fact, the group's study found that 20 percent of patients experienced the former and 25 percent the latter.

The entire story is here.