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Chautauquans Advocate Balance At Institution

Sometimes renewal movements start with what could seem like small gestures. Such as a longtime Chautauqua Institution visitor’s 2018 newspaper ad. Was it a lost-and-found ad? Sort of. Chautauqua Institution, a national treasure, can’t achieve its potential without balance - meaning diversity of thought, the diversity that should most matter in such a place. The ad’s premise was that Chautauqua’s programming had lost balance. Most Chautauqua speakers come from one side of the philosophical spectrum. Even programming’s conception can be one-sided. Consider this: ...

Would I Send My Kids To School During COVID-19?

I do not need to decide whether to send children to school during this year’s COVID pandemic. I am doddering toward age 80. My children are grown. We are not raising grandchildren due to their parents being unemployed, ill, addicted or imprisoned. We are not regularly “babysitting,” as my grandparents did for me when my own parents were both working. But what if I did need to make the decision? If I were a young parent, I would send children to school with other children. To me, the benefits of education and socialization outweigh the risks of becoming sick from the COVID ...

His Friend, Christian, Reaches Out For Help

Mason, a retired nurse practitioner, sat down for his first session in my office. If first impressions spoke, I viewed a man who looked drained. His eyes were puffy. I thought allergies or lack of sleep. His friend, Christian, had made contact with me. He was worried about his friend. He’d watched from up close and personal a friend’s marriage deteriorating before his eyes. His friend’s avoidance led Christian to reach out for help. Mason agreed to come alone. Perhaps Christian might join us at another session. Hi Mason. Thank you for coming in today. How are you doing? I believe ...

Things More Dangerous Than Most People Think

COVID-19 has been making its way through populations around the world, including the United States. While it can be deadly, it is not nearly the biggest danger we face in America at the moment. Radical leftism has come out in the open and is a clear and present danger to America. Though ongoing riots in our cities are certainly a big deal, the real fundamental problem is that radical leftists have infiltrated most of our important institutions, from education to sports, from many municipal and state governments all the way to the hallowed halls of Congress. The riots continue only ...

The Surreal Economy

When I looked up the meaning of “surreal,” it seemed to me like a good description of our current economy — unreal, strange, dreamlike. Here we are with double digit unemployment, car sales down, the hotel, hospitality and travel industries on their back, airlines with few passengers…and yet the stock market and the economy seem to be just cruising along. It seems like we are in a dreamworld. What is holding up the economy right now? Stock prices are up and interest rates are at an all-time low. There are also “money” reasons — Wall Street generates a lot of money by ...

COVID-19 Pushed Healthcare Into A New Era

For years, health care systems across the United States, including UPMC, have been pushing for telemedicine integration, which connects patients with medical specialists remotely through a secure internet connection. While state legislation and regulations have been slow to catch up with its advantages, COVID-19 has pushed healthcare into a new era of telemedicine. To prevent the virus’s spread while keeping patients and providers safe, telemedicine has served as a critical tool and allowed doctor appointments to continue. Since COVID-19, UPMC has seen a surge in telemedicine ...