The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

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MassachusettsUniversal health insurance requirement in Mass. causes unintended problemsSince Massachusetts adopted a new requirement last year requiring all residents to have health insurance, unintended consequences and problems have arisen. Many patients are seeking primary care doctors, however doctors are booking up and it appears that there are not enough doctors available to see so many new patients who, prior to this new law were unable to see a physician. Since the law was passed, 340,000 Massachusetts residents now have a health care plan. “It’s a recipe for disaster,” Dr. Patricia Sereno, state president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said. “It’s great that people have access to health care, but now we’ve got to find a way to give them access to preventive services. The point of this legislation was not to get people episodic care.”Primary care doctors earn less than specialist and with high debt accrued by medical students doctors are less likely to become a primary care physician than a specialist.———–WashingtonJohn Hopkins University instructed computers to ignore “abortion” in searchesOn Friday, John Hopkins announced that they had instructed their computers to ignore the word “abortion” in their searches as well as instructed their employees to ignore the word as well. John Hopkins’ database on reproductive health is the largest in the world. After the problem was brought to the attention of the university by librarians at the University of California medical school. The librarians were told that “abortion” was no longer a valid search word. A manager for the search suggested using a phrases like “pregnancy, unwanted”. “We sent this out on a listserv and it just exploded,” Gail Sorrough, director of medical library searches at the University of California said. Eliminating this term essentially blocks access to reports in the database and ultimately to information about abortion. Unwanted pregnancy is not a synonym for abortion.The term has been ignored since February. ———–United StatesClintons Release Tax InfoAfter leaving the White House with little money, Senator and democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton released their tax documents which show that since leaving the White House nearly eight years ago, the couple has made $109 million. Other presidential nominees including Clinton’s opponent, Barack Obama, have released their tax results. However no one except for Clinton has yet to release their 2007 tax results. The majority of the Clinton income has come from speeches and books in the past couple of years. “Now don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against rich people,” she said. “As a matter of fact, my husband, much to my surprise and his, has made a lot of money since he left the White House, by doing what he loves doing most – talking to people. But we didn’t ask for George Bush’s tax cuts. We didn’t want them, and we didn’t need them.” ———–VermontWal-Mart soon to be built in St. Albans after long battleWal-Mart has finally been granted Act 250 Permit to allow the building of a Wal-Mart in downtown St. Albans. Act 250 is a Vermont law that created strict zoning regulation in order to preserve the character of Vermont. Many citizens have become angered by the permit allowance. On the NW Citizens for Socially Responsible Growth, their headline states: “In pursuit of cheaper stuff, Vermonters need to be especially careful not to overload their winding roads and covered bridges, not to ruin their green rolling landscapes and not to empty out their small historic downtowns. More than a quarter of the state’s income comes from tourism and nobody’s going to mail home a postcard of Wal-Mart.” Construction for the first Wal-Mart in Franklin County will begin immediately. This will be the fifth Wal-Mart in Vermont and will be slightly larger than the one in Williston. ———–VermontChittenden Bank to downsize within a monthChittenden Bank, which is owned by the Connecticut corporation, People’s United Financial, Inc. will close five branches and lay off 37 employees across Vermont, including the Bank St. branch in Burlington. People’s United Financial will eliminate 420 jobs in total. The Vermont branches will close within the next month. In addition to Burlington, Brattleboro, Bennington, West Dover and Arlington will all lose a Chittenden Bank branch. Laid off employees will recieve a severance package and were given one month’s notice on Wednesday. All information collected from The New York Times, Der Spiegel and the Burlington Free Press

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