Mothers deserve safety, not silence
By Chanel Sample
Published on May 28, 2025
Sample advocates for a new bill that would improve maternal care, especially for low-income Black women in the state
SHU Students Address Issues of Injustice in CT Mirror Opinion Pieces
Guest editorials focus on gun violence, housing crisis, mental health, public education and more
Sacred Heart University students majoring in nursing and health science, with concentrations in healthcare administration, public health and global health, had the opportunity to publish opinions in CT Mirror’s “Student Voice” column. Their stories are listed below.
Nutrition is the foundation for a child’s future
By Belinda Ein
Published on May 16, 2025
Ein explains how a growing rate of food insecurity in Connecticut is a problem that needs solving, fast.
Special education is in crisis in Connecticut
By Cassidy Thomas
Published on May 8, 2025
Thomas shares how extra funding would help foster academic, social and emotional growth.
Connecticut has a chance to address ER overcrowding
By Sydney Hess
Published on May 6, 2025
Hess explains how a new bill would help combat overcrowded ERs around the state.
What Connecticut is doing to protect the right to choose
By Deven Taggart
Published on January 16, 2025
Taggart talks about the work Connecticut has in front of them to ensure women are guaranteed reproductive freedom.
Women are Overlooked in Medical Studies
By Aleksa Sacchetti
Published on December 20, 2024
Sacchetti explains how women are often left out of crucial medical studies because of reproductive.
Elder Abuse is Shockingly Prevalent
By Jenna Duffy
Published on December 20, 2024
Duffy talks about how elders deserve better care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
DCF Laws and the Road to True Child Protection
By Claire O’Shea
Published on December 16, 2024
O’Shea advocates for the importance of home visits as a true solution to ending home abuse.
A Mother’s Second Chance: Every Woman Deserves Early Detection
By Emma Whitehead
Published on December 11, 2024
Whitehead shares why making mammograms more accessible is a crucial step in the fight against breast cancer.
My Sister’s Story: Why Kids Deserve Better Mental Health Resources
By Chloe Skene-Poirier
Published on December 6, 2024
Skene-Poirier shares why states need to do a better job providing adequate mental health resources.
What my brush with Connecticut's zoning laws taught me
By Courtney Fling
Published on May 28, 2024
Fling explains why CT's zoning laws should reflect the values of inclusivity and justice.
Young people can help each other through mental health struggles
By Carson McKinnon
Published on May 8, 2024
McKinnon shares why peer-run respite centers can help people's mental health.
To tackle 'deaths of despair,' CT must fund more mental health centers
By Hailey Conklin
Published on May 6, 2024
Conklin explains why more mental health centers are needed in CT.
We must talk to CT's very young kids about mental health
By Meriel Assi
Published on May 3, 2024
Assi explains why more funding needs to be put into mental health service for children.
Connecticut needs better oversight of proposed maternity ward closures
By Alex Calichman
Published on April 29, 2024
Calichman discusses the importance of having access to high-quality prenatal care.
Can software be a key to student mental health?
By Dominic Arborio
Published on April 24, 2024
Arborio discusses how technology advancements can help students with mental health struggles.
Lower CT's legal blood-alcohol limit
By Brooke Deweese
Published on April 18, 2024
Deweese explains how lowering the legal blood-alcohol limit could lower the number of drunk driving fatalities.
CT can, and must, do more to confront domestic violence post-COVID
By Sophia Conturso
Published on January 22, 2024
Conturso explains how COVID contributed to a rise in domestic violence cases in CT.
A truthful curriculum should not be controversial
By Sophia Carenzo
Published on January 17, 2024
Carenzo explains why schools should teach the truth about U.S. history.
Connecticut must ensure its paraeducators can afford health care, living expenses
By Macie Phillips
Published on December 27, 2023
Phillips discusses the importance of paraeducators having sufficient financial support.
CT must backstop essential childcare facilities
By Allison Benish
Published on December 26, 2023
Benish shares why Connecticut must reallocate funding to support childcare.
CT should require all insurance carriers to cover abortion
By Skyla Contarino
Published on December 22, 2023
Contarino explains the benefits of insurance carriers covering patients' abortions.
Parents should become certified in mental health first aid
By Mackenzie Hanley
Published on December 21, 2023
Hanley discusses how parents becoming certified in mental health first aid can help reduce the stigma of mental health issues.
Connecticut shouldn't prevent nurse practitioners from operating independently
By Anitha D'Souza
Published on December 20, 2023
D'Souza explains the benefits for patients if nurse practitioners were able to work independently.
Connecticut colleges must help students access abortions
By Maya DiNapoli
Published on December 14, 2023
DiNapoli shares why colleges should provide financial and emotional support for students who need abortions.
Why is intranasal naloxone not available to frontline medical staff?
By Francesca Annunziato-Royer
Published on December 11, 2023
Annunziato-Royer explains how access to intranasal naloxone is essential for the safety of frontline medical staff.
We must make sure children cannot access opioids
By Joanna Cole
Published on December 5, 2023
Cole discusses the dangers of children being in the vicinity of opioids.
Connecticut's nursing shortage is all about pay rates
By Latoya Hall & Heather Massicotte
Published on December 1, 2023
Hall and Massicotte address the concerns of compensation for CT nurses.
Schools should save students from drugs, not shame them
By Sarah Martins
Published on November 29, 2023
Martins expresses the importance of school support for struggling students.
Narcan access is a lifeline. CT needs to recognize that.
By Dana Umbro
Published on November 27, 2023
Umbro shares the importance of widespread availability of Narcan.
To cut the death toll from opioids, Connecticut needs safe-use sites
By Adelicia Beltz
Published on November 22, 2023
Beltz discusses the urgent need for Connecticut safe-use sites.
Schools must act to keep students safe from fentanyl
By Rossmary Cartier & Sibela Sheikh
Published on November 20, 2023
Cartier and Sheikh address the dangers of fentanyl for young adults.
Back the 28th amendment on gun safety
By Cheryl Mitchell & Gifty Quarm
Published on October 30, 2023
Mitchell and Quarm assess the ways in which the United States can mitigate gun violence.
Allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control
By Cate DiRamio
Published on June 2, 2023
DiRamio interviews peers at SHU regarding the proposed bill which would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.
Connecticut’s unfair housing market leaves families with nowhere to go
By Caroline Callanan
Published on May 24, 2023
Callanan touches on the inequality within the Connecticut housing market that leave families with limited options.
Florida’s discrimination has no place in Connecticut
By Megan Gaffney
Published on May 17, 2023
Gaffney talks about the importance of supporting and protecting the rights of young LGBTQ people in schools.
How many more students will we lose before guns are regulated?
By Colleen Goulart
Published on May 15, 2023
Noting the growing fear of violence among students, Goulart questions what more it will take to regulate guns.
CT must address the current and future shortage of nurses
By Kendall Holland
Published on May 12, 2023
Holland insists Connecticut must address nursing shortages beyond mandating staffing ratios in hospitals.
Housing discrimination in CT: abolished or just unreported?
By Makenzie Manning
Published on May 9, 2023
Manning reports on a bill that seeks to give Connecticut renters power to act against instances of discrimination.
In Connecticut, who is really safe from gun violence?
By Gabriella Leiba
Published on May 2, 2023
Leiba argues that despite Connecticut priding itself on strict gun laws, safety from gun violence depends on where a person lives.
The impact of rising health care costs on low-income families
By Lavinia Labrias
Published on January 24, 2023
Labrias encourages Governor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut legislature to reduce health care costs to alleviate the burden on struggling families.
Tackle food deserts to address a health crisis
By Mollie McManus
Published on January 19, 2023
McManus contends that supporting healthy choices at corner stores could be the solution to rising levels of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Addressing winter homelessness in Connecticut
By Iseabailla Hewitt
Published on January 9, 2023
A fully staffed hotline and adequate shelter space are just two of Hewitt’s suggestions for addressing the Connecticut homeless population.
Solving the college mental health crisis
By Morgan Rogers
Published on January 15, 2023
Rogers explains how mental health days and peer-support facilities are essential to combating the rise of mental health issues on college campuses.
The key to tackling Connecticut’s housing problem
By Jenna Santoro
Published on January 3, 2023
As evictions rise in Connecticut, Santoro explains that the first step in keeping families off the street is creating a “right to shelter.”
Is there a solution to the health care crisis?
By Jordan Italia
Published on December 29, 2022
Citing a disparity in health care provided among Connecticut towns and cities, Italia questions if there is a comprehensive solution.
Special education’s pandemic-era crisis
By Emma McGillicuddy
Published on December 19, 2022
McGillicuddy discusses the link between the pandemic’s impact on students and the urgent need for more special education teachers in Connecticut.
Parents are corrupting Connecticut’s public education system
By Madison Loney
Published on December 8, 2022
Loney analyzes the parental rights movement, which advocates for more control over what is discussed in the classroom.
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