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Yahoo
21-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local reaction to the passing of Pope Francis
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The death of Pope Francis will, of course, affect life in Vatican City, but it also has an impact on some lives in the Wabash Valley. Passing away just hours after his public appearance on Easter Sunday in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis's death came as a shock. However, retired Priest of the Archdiocese, Todd Riebe, said the pope lived his final days doing what he loved. 'The beautiful thing is, up to the very last minute, he was doing what he did as pope and that was caring for his people', Riebe said. 'He came out yesterday for the Easter mass, to give the blessing after the mass, and then rode around in the popemobile for that visit for the last time then died peacefully. I think he gives us a great example of living life until the very end.' Riebe said members of the church feel like they have lost a family member, but all feel that they have lost a friend. 'We lost a father, it's like we lost a father', Riebe said. 'I think for the world, especially with this pope, they feel like they lost a friend. I think he has reached out to so many people in so many directions and been so concerned about so many people that, even if you don't see him as a spiritual leader, they see him as a friend.' The Pope's death will trigger a nine-day mourning period, before work begins on electing a new one. Riebe said Pope Francis will be remembered as a simple man. 'The first word that comes to mind when I think about Pope Francis is mercy because his first letter to the church was a letter on the importance of mercy', Riebe said. 'We see, all through his papacy how he, himself, acted on that. Doing things like bringing homeless in for dinner with him. The other word that would come to mind would be humility. As soon as he began his papacy, the first thing he did was to go back to the hotel where he had stayed as a cardinal and pay his bill. When they offered him the new shoes, which traditionally the pope wears red shoes, he looked at his shoes and said these are good. He lived his life with great simplicity and great humility.' Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods released a statement acknowledging Pope Francis's passing Monday. The full statement is below: 'With heavy hearts, the Sisters of Providence acknowledge Pope Francis's passing today. We join people everywhere in mourning for him, who became a symbol of hope, both in his person and in his ministry. From the moment he was introduced as pope and greeted the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, people knew he would be different. Almost immediately, he asked those present to pray for him, and he knelt in humility to receive those prayers. Certainly, his deep humility lent credibility to the challenges he made to us during his pontificate to go to the margins, to reach out to those most in need of God's mercy and hope. For the Sisters of Providence, Pope Francis' recognition of our common home, Earth, as one of the places most in need found resonance in our ministry of eco-spirituality and justice. His encyclical Letter, Laudato Si', began a truly universal movement to change our very relationship with each other and with Earth. In 2020, we and our wider Providence Community publicly committed to joining the worldwide Catholic community in responding to Pope Francis' appeal to participate in a seven-year journey toward sustainability and integral ecology by developing a Laudato Si' Action Platform. Perhaps just as remarkable has been Pope Francis's insistence that we become a synodal church. From the beginning, Pope Francis has seen the Synod on Synodality, first convened in October 2021, as 'what the Lord is asking of us, a call from God to walk together with the whole human family.' Radical inclusion, shared belonging and deep hospitality are recognized as the result of the listening that is at the heart of the synodal process. Pope Francis said, 'Instead of behaving like gatekeepers trying to exclude others from the table, we need to do more to make sure that people know that everyone can find a place and a home here.' Just yesterday, in what was to be his final Easter Blessing, Pope Francis again implored us to 'hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God! … I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible!' May Pope Francis's death renew that hope in us, and may his memory stir us into continued action on behalf of the lost and the least. In this time of mourning, we will join the global Catholic community in prayer and reflection. For the next nine days, Pope Francis will be included in the prayers and in the necrology read daily during liturgy at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Higher ed's reallocation bill well-positioned to becoming law
The legislative bill calling for fund reallocations across Utah's public universities and colleges easily survived a Senate committee hearing Wednesday — but not before a bit of pushback from lawmakers and the public. When word began spreading last year among academic circles that a legislative push for higher education budget cuts and reallocation was coming, many worried that liberal arts programs would be on the business end of the cuts. Proponents of the bill, meanwhile, argued that Utah's higher ed institutions needed to better prioritize industry-alignment in their course offerings — while cinching-up costly inefficiencies. On Wednesday, Senate Education Committee Chair John Johnson, R-North Ogden, voted to move House Bill 265 to the Senate floor, but he took a moment to warn of 'culture wars' that are eroding 'the greatness' of a university education. 'I believe that postmodernists have done their duty, and they've really injured the pursuit of the liberal arts within a university, and there's some backlash because of that from society,' said Johnson, an emeritus college professor. 'But I hope that we don't make the same mistake when we look at workforce alignment.' Competency-based learning, added Johnson, is a good notion. University students need to be prepared for future jobs. But there's danger in blurring the lines between industry-alignment training and what it means to gain a university education. 'I look back at my education, and some of the most valuable things I learned were from philosophers and from my French literature class and from my classes in the humanities and the social sciences,' he said. 'I hope that somehow we can set out a boundary in this bill to really articulate that — and I don't believe it's in this space that it actually needs to be in.' Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, voiced concern for employees whose jobs may be cut during the reallocation process without receiving adequate due process, especially in light of recent legislative modifications to collective bargaining. A public school teacher, Riebe said teachers in the K-12 community are 'more stressed than ever' by increased legislation. 'Now I feel like we're expanding this into our higher ed systems by creating a system that is measured constantly,' she said. 'Education shouldn't be just about measuring people all the time — and it shouldn't be about just being employable. 'It should be really about those soft skills, and we've lost that completely.' Riebe concluded by saying that the Legislature should indeed have oversight over its higher education institutions — 'But I think this has gone too far.' John England, representing Libertas Institute, said he supports HB265. 'We support the Legislature taking this step and process in finding ways to reduce costs and hope that they can find ways to also reduce the cost and time (to earn a degree),' said England. 'That being said, we would like to see the Legislature to define what 'qualitative' and 'quantitative' measures mean in the bill … making sure you're getting the type of information from these reports that you would like to see.' Brianne Kramer, representing the American Federation of Teachers-Utah College Council (the union for Utah's university faculty and staff), has taught in higher education for 16 years — including several years in Utah. She appreciates that the cuts facing Utah's higher education institutions may not be as severe as those seen in other states. 'However, we do have some ongoing concerns — including the bill's possibility to harm sectors of the workforce in communities in which colleges and universities are major employers.' Students, said Kramer, will also be harmed if instructional programs are cut. 'Students (would) lose opportunities to choose the majors and minors that they want and that are best suited for their careers, interests and passions — and they also lose opportunities to take a broad range of classes.' Utah students, she added, would also take an economic hit if they have to travel further to pursue their chosen degrees because study programs are cut at their local colleges. Kramer also asked that the bill be amended to ensure faculty, staff and students are included in reallocation decisions. 'I want to first start by saying how much I appreciate the role higher education plays in our state,' said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, during her Wednesday committee presentation. 'Higher education is critical. We need a strong higher education system. We need a strong system of colleges and universities, and I'm grateful that we have that. I'm grateful that we can continue to make sure that those institutions are responsive to changes — both in industry, but also changes in student demands and needs.' So what does Peterson's 'Strategic Reinvestment' bill do? HB265 establishes a strategic reinvestment fund for Utah's eight degree-seeking colleges and universities. The state's base budget approved by the Legislature last month removed $60 million from the combined budgets from the eight schools. Each institution's budget 'cut' was different — accounting for things such as the size of each school's student body and its unique institutional mission. The University of Utah, for example, had $19.5 million pulled from its budget. The much smaller, regional Southern Utah University had $3.1 million pulled. And the state's largest two-year institution, Salt Lake Community College, had $5.2 million pulled. But the dollars cut from each school's budget are not necessarily lost for good. Each school, according to the bill, can recover their 'cut' funds as they work through a fairly lengthy reallocation process. The dollars pulled from each of the schools' respective budgets were moved to Utah Board of Higher Education, where it will go through an iterative process as each college or university develops their own strategic reinvestment plans. The institutions, according to HB265, would then present their respective strategic plans to the board in the coming months — and then ultimately to the Legislature. The Legislature's Executive Appropriations Committee would have opportunities to review each institution's reallocation plans and, if approved, release the funds back to the institutions to execute their respective reallocation plans. Assuming HB265 becomes law, Utah's higher education institutions will be required to instigate a process of evaluating several factors such as enrollment, high-demand programs and job outcomes of graduates. That data will then inform their respective reallocation plans to identify optimized investment returns. The schools are also being asked to boost efficiencies by making modifications such as combining colleges and administrative positions. The second part of HB265 limits bachelor's degrees to no more than 120 credit hours — with allowances if programs require additional credit hours if they require accreditation or licensing. The bill allows the state's university and college presidents to formulate a reinvestment plan at their individual schools — working within a matrix of several criteria, rather than a single formulaic approach. There are also strategic planning allowances for nuances, such as the demand for durable skills that often come from general education and the liberal arts. 'These are three year plans,' explained Peterson on Wednesday. 'We know that it takes some time to think about that. We want to ensure that students who have started programs don't have the rug pulled out from underneath them; that they can complete the programs that they're in.' Each year, Peterson added, lawmakers will check with the state's higher education institutions as they implement their reallocation strategies — while examining evolving student needs, interests and trends. On Wednesday, Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Geoffrey Landward emphasized that higher education is 'critical to the prosperity and success of the state of Utah.' The state will continue to prioritize its investment in higher education. 'However, we recognize as a Board of Higher Education that the state of Utah does not have unlimited resources at its disposal, and that means that we bear significant responsibility and stewardship over the resources that we are given.' Every dollar the state provides to higher education, he added, should double as reliable investment for taxpayers and students. Landward emphasized the flexibilities that will exist within the board's broad criteria for evaluating each institution's reinvestment plans. They will not use formulaic approaches. There will be allowances for nuances. It's important, for example, that graduates take durable skills into the workplace. That's a need Utah's industries are demanding. 'Durable skills can come from several different educational methodologies,' said Landward. 'We want the institutions to be able to say, 'Well, that's a workforce demand. How are we meeting that?' ''And how would that be reflected in how we invest the resources that we have?'' Ultimately, the board will want to see that Utah's higher education institutions are putting together strategic reinvestment plans that create value — and offer the best possible return on investment for the taxpayers and the students, said Landward.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah poised to pass transgender rule on dorms, marking 4th year of LGBTQ+ restrictions
People rally in support of transgender rights at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) For the fourth year in a row, the Utah Legislature appears about to pass another bill that targets the transgender community. A bill that would require transgender students at public universities to live in dorms corresponding with their sex at birth, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, passed Senate on Thursday. It faces just one more vote in the House before receiving final legislative approval. Opponents blasted HB269 for targeting the transgender community, creating potential litigation and legal concerns, and as government overreach. The bill easily passed the Senate 22-7 in a near party-line vote. During Wednesday's debate of the bill, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, criticized the Legislature for using a single case that 'blew up on social media' to create new policy. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Riebe was referring to a viral social media post from the mother of a Utah State University student who complained to the school because her daughter was sharing a common space with a transgender resident assistant, who had been randomly assigned to live in the dorm. 'We hear one case blowing up social media, and we're creating a law — a heavy-handed law — to change policy that's worked for generations. If we don't believe social media should be guiding our actions, then this is a bill that shouldn't be guiding our actions,' Riebe said. 'Our universities have done a fantastic job working to make sure every student's as safe as they can, and I believe that this is overreach, and we should allow our universities to rectify these situations.' Republican Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, told lawmakers he was concerned that there were no protections for students who live in private housing when it acts as an extension of the universities. 'My concern is that there isn't a remedy for those individuals that have that (random roommate) assignment,' he said. 'Even though it's private property … I would say 90% to 95% or more of those students all are university-based or at a state entity, and so, having no protections in there makes me a little bit concerned.' Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, brought up constitutional concerns surrounding the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which requires states to treat people equally under the law. Escamilla questioned a provision in the bill that would still restrict a transgender person from living in a dorm of their choosing even if they have a birth certificate that has a changed gender marker and undergone surgery. 'If that person had already an amended birth certificate and has gone through that transition of surgery, how is that not an equal protection violation when that person does not match where you're going to send them?' Utah House passes bill changing university housing policies for transgender students Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, answered and said he didn't know if it was appropriate to do a legal analysis on the bill. 'I would say that it is overall from a legislative standpoint, it is not an equal protection violation, because the designation between male and female has been upheld in court in almost every circumstance, and it is not tied to the genitalia of the person, it is tied to their genetic makeup at the time of birth,' Brammer said. Escamilla said when someone has gone through the defined legal process of fully transitioning, including surgery and changing the gender marker on their birth certificate, the genetic piece is not clear. 'The impact is so big,' she said. 'I do believe there may be an equal protection piece because otherwise, you're looking at these individuals who have gone through transition … why wouldn't they not be then seen as that complete person that they are under that new place?' Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, was the only Republican to vote against the bill alongside Democrats. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states gender necessarily includes gender identity, and therefore any infringement that would be prohibited on gender is also prohibited on gender identity. In a 6-3 decision in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that firing people for their sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination, which is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 'It is my belief that just like many of the other bills that we have passed that infringed on gender identity, this will also be unconstitutional,' Thatcher said. 'But the damage isn't necessarily the bills that we pass. It's the messages that we send, and sometimes we pass bills because they are messages.' Brammer, in his summation, addressed Thatcher's concern. 'That was a very narrow decision that was limited only to Title VII employment situations,' he said. 'I've read the case. It's not applicable to these situations in any way, and (the justices) were very careful to make sure that it was not, and to a large extent, that's why the Supreme Court has taken up very similar cases in the sense of transgender surgeries that they'll be deciding in June.' The Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on United States v. Skrmetti, a case about medical treatment for transgender children. Utah banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023. As the bill was discussed again on Thursday, Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, said the last several years of legislation targeted toward transgender individuals have made that community feel isolated. 'It does break my heart on some degree, that every year for the last four years, we have had very targeted legislation toward them,' she said. 'They will never be legislated out of existence. They will be adored, loved and treasured by some of us for the rest of all of our lives.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
