Now that the era of scandal and corruption is on its way out at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, it’s time to think again about the benefits that a merger of UMDNJ and Rutgers University could bring to our state.
The playing field has changed substantially since 2002, when a commission led by former Merck CEO P. Roy Vagelos first recommended the consolidation of UMDNJ, Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
On July 29, 1994, Megan Kanka a 7 year-old resident of Hamilton Township was abducted. The next day, she was found dead.
Megan’s parents did not know that a twice-convicted sex offender was living across the street until that neighbor was charged with the brutal rape and murder of their daughter. Unfortunately, the police department was prohibited from disclosing the presence of this child molester because at the time the law did not allow for the release of sex offender information to the public.
The following was intended as Floor Remarks for the December 12, 2005 ceremony honoring the retirement of Senator Byron M. Baer, D-Bergen:
Every so often in life, we get to know a most unusual type of man, one who stands out from the rest of us because he actually lives by his ideals, because he actually stands for a set of principles which actually guide his actions in life.
Such a rare man is Byron Baer. We salute him today for a life of public leadership and legislative accomplishment.
The harsh reality of the pain inflicted on residents of the Gulf Region from horrific hurricane damage has not blown out to sea. Instead, it has widened its swath and refocused its eye on economies far to the north including our own State of New Jersey.
Like the mistaken judgements of those who thought they could ride out the fury of Katrina from their living room rockers in New Orleans, we in New Jersey would be foolish to sit back and ignore the signs of what is surely to come.
There’s nothing quite like the ability of a nearby smoker to spoil the taste of a dinner out at a good restaurant. Likewise, in some areas of New Jersey, there’s nothing quite like an outright ban on smoking in public places to arouse the wrath of bar patrons and restaurant owners who cater to those who love to ‘light’em up’ wherever they still can.
The truly combustible forces involved in this conflict might just be ready for a compromise to break a legislative stalemate between those who believe the right to breathe smoke-free air should be universal and those opposed to governmental restrictions on their personal behavior.
When people ask me what’s happening with “fast-track,” I smile and say, “You mean,‘Smart Growth,'” and then I say, “We’re getting there.” I just hope we get there ahead of the next new traffic jam or before another strip mall rises in some corn field that was meant to be preserved.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been attacked for sponsoring the Smart Growth law, a statute crafted to fight sprawl by encouraging growth where it’s wanted locally. It’s been held up by politics, some legitimate and some asinine.
Some may find it hard to believe, but right now, if an employer is so inclined, there’s a good chance that a woman could lose her job in New Jersey for getting pregnant. Likewise, it’s not clear under existing law whether employers are required to make accommodations in the workplace for employees who become pregnant.
The State Division on Civil Rights believes existing New Jersey law needs a definitive requirement that employers make it easier for pregnant women to work at store check out counters by, for example, allowing them to sit on stools. I agree.
The United States is a nation at war. Whatever your politics, we can all agree that the young men and women we send to foreign lands, protecting our way of life, deserve our support.
Right now, our men and women are being tapped for active military service overseas as members of the Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserves.