Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
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April 4
The Advocate on Louisiana tunes named to the National Recording Registry:
The Library of Congress recently announced its latest list of 25 recordings worthy of special attention from preservationists, and three recordings related to Louisiana are on the roster.
That’s a testament to Louisiana’s unique role in national culture, and it should be a source of pride to all who live here.
Each year, the library adds 25 more recordings to its National Recording Registry, which makes them a priority in the library’s preservation program. The latest selections for the registry bring the total number of recordings on the list to 450.
Among the new additions are Louis Armstrong’s performance of “Mack the Knife” and Clifton Chenier’s 1976 zydeco album “Bogalusa Boogie.” Also added was composer Alex North’s soundtrack to the 1951 film version of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Armstrong’s recording of “Mack the Knife” became an unexpected sensation when it was recorded in 1954, inspiring 17 cover versions in the United States alone.
Chenier, the Opelousas musical legend, cut his “Bogalusa Boogie” album in a single day, with no second takes, “and remains a definitive performance by one of zydeco’s greatest artists,” according to the library.
When director Elia Kazan persuaded North to do the score for “Streetcar,” he sent him down to New Orleans to “sop up the atmosphere.” The visit helped North become the first composer to integrate jazz into a major motion picture score.
We’re glad these recordings are getting the recognition they deserve. They’re a tribute to American ingenuity - and the Louisiana culture that’s nourished it.
Online:
https://theadvocate.com/
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April 5
The Courier on legislation that can allow patients to designate a caregiver:
Caring for an ailing loved one is difficult, time-consuming and emotionally exhausting. There is no reason it should be done without the necessary information.
But that is exactly what is happening now.
AARP Louisiana and the Louisiana Hospital Association have signed on to support legislation that would allow hospitals to share more information with caregivers when people are released to go back home.
It is a real solution to a real problem that affects people across the state.
“Before I got power of attorney for my dad, the doctor wouldn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know his medicine. I didn’t know what he needed to eat, for his nutrition. They wouldn’t talk to me. They would only talk to him. He has Alzheimer’s, so he can’t remember what they tell him. He can’t come back and relay the information,” said Britnee Fergins, of Shreveport, who cares for her 91-year-old father.
The story was echoed by others in similar positions.
Hospital workers “would explain things to my father, knowing that he had three brain surgeries and probably couldn’t remember things 24 hours later, and not tell us. They would give him medication and not tell us,” said Tracette Hillman, of Abbeville, who also cares for her father.
The process of taking care of a sick or injured person is difficult enough without dealing with the challenges created when hospital workers won’t communicate with caregivers.
There are privacy concerns, of course, and no one is suggesting that the hospitals share any unnecessary information with anyone who isn’t integral to the patient’s recovery. But at some point, common sense has to play a role in who can know what about patients.
The bill in the state legislature would introduce some much-needed common sense.
Proposed by state Sen. Yvonne Dorsey Colomb the measure would require hospitals to allow patients to designate a caregiver. At the time of discharge, the hospitals would have to consult with those caregivers and give them information on the patients’ future needs.
The fact that both the AARP and the hospital association are in favor of this legislation speaks to the number of people whose lives it could ease.
Caregivers wouldn’t be kept in the dark, unable to know for certain whether they are doing what they should for their loved ones. And hospitals wouldn’t have to worry about improperly sharing information about their patients.
It seems like a great way to remove an unnecessary obstacle from an already-difficult path. Let’s hope this bill makes it through the process.
Online:
https://www.houmatoday.com/
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April 2
The Town Talk on equal pay:
It’s getting to the point we dread reading when a new national poll gets released. If the poll ranks the states, odds are Louisiana will be on the wrong end of the standings.
Louisiana’s latest entry into the growing hall of shame - data compiled by the federal government shows Louisiana has the nation’s largest gap in wages between women and men.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana is behind every state and the District of Columbia in gender wage disparity. According to the report, women in Louisiana earn an average of 65 cents for every dollar paid to men, a wage gap of 35 percent.
Men and women are not paid on the same level in any Louisiana parish, according to the Census Bureau findings. The wage gap is greatest in West Carroll Parish, where women on average are paid 49 cents of every dollar paid to men, a gap of 51 percent. Women fare best in Orleans Parish, where they earn 80 cents for each dollar paid to men, a 20 percent wage gap. Orleans is the only parish with a smaller wage gap than the national average of 21 percent. Neighboring Jefferson Parish is close, coming in at the national average 21 percent wage gap.
The Louisiana Legislature is expected to weigh in on the matter during the current regular session. Sen. J.P. Morrell has filed SB 254, which would extend pay equality to all workers in Louisiana. The current state law requires gender pay equity for state/public employees.
That’s nice, but we are at a loss for why we need a law to make businesses do the right thing. The government doesn’t set wages for the private sector, CEOs and boards of directors do. And, apparently, there are a lot of business owners who don’t value the work of men and women equally.
Just taking it at face value, it clearly appears unfair. A job should have a value, and that value shouldn’t be different if the worker is male or female, black or white, Democrat or Republican, or any other different way of classifying individuals. Equal pay for equal work seems a no-brainer to us.
Looking a bit deeper into the numbers, in Louisiana at least, if there is a gap it probably should go the other way because women are actually attaining a higher education level than their male counterparts. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows 84.5 percent of women have a high school degree or higher compared with 81.1 percent of men. The survey shows 23.1 percent of women had a bachelor’s degree compared with 21.1 percent of men.
Despite that, the study reported that men who have some college, an associate degree of a bachelor’s degree are paid 25 percent more than women who have the same education level. The study also reported that men with advanced degrees earn 26 percent more than women who hold advanced degrees.
As a result, annual earnings for Louisiana women, according to the Census Bureau, are more than 20 percent lower than the national women’s average.
That’s just wrong. And it’s well past time for Louisiana business owners to step up and do the right thing.
Online:
https://www.thetowntalk.com/
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