Editorial Page

As many of you know from keeping in touch with NYDAA, this has been a big year for the profession of Certified Dental Assisting.  Our practice act has been amended and is doing away with a laundry list of what a NY Licensed certified dental assistant can do, to a negative list.

The work has begun to compose a negative list, and while it will be the New York Education Departments final say, now is the time to let the committees know your feelings on a negative list.  NYDAA worked with The New York State Dental Association and the Dental Hygiene Society of the State of New York to be able to have a voice in our profession.  All three groups came away from the negotiations with a win.  Yes there was compromise, that is what takes place to get to a general agreement.

And we learned that when organizations work together, there is strength in what your voice is.  I would especially like to thank Dr. David Lawrence MCC program director of Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting for standing up for dental assistants and keeping formal education alive for Licensed certified dental assistants, Mary Ellen Yankosky, the executive director of DHSNY, for her help and guidance in walking us through the legislative process (we actually know how it works now).  Her commitment to dental health for all is her driving force, and without her help, this probably would have turned out much differently. Mr. Chris Black, who is the lobbyist for the New York State United Teachers.  Mr. Black was contacted by Dr. Lawrence to help with our cause, and was instrumental with setting up the meeting in Albany with the State Education department and NYDAA, NYSDA, DHSNY.  We certainly made a statement in our States Capitol, and make no mistake, we were heard and taken seriously. Our organization was contacted by Senators and Assemblymen alike for our stance on the then pending amendment.

NYDAA has agreed to do what needs to be done for the profession, so I would like to thank them for their financial support as well as moral support.  There have been times when we wanted to throw in the towel, and they managed to recharge our batteries.  Both Sue and myself are near the end of our Professional Careers, so anything we do, we do for the love of the profession and for its future.  Our dream is to see all Dental Assistants Licensed in New York, as are Dental Hygienists, Practical Nurses and many others in the health profession, before we retire, so about ten years to go (we will be in our walkers still battling).

Sue Camizzi and Mary Beth Sojka/Legislative co-chairs

 

I FELT THE NEED TO PLACE THIS ON OUR SITE.  IT REALLY GETS TO YOU.

Written by an Australian Dentist....and too good to delete....
 
To Kill an American
You probably missed it in the rush of news  last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
 
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
 
"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
 
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
 
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.
 
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
 
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
 
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
 
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
 
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
 
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
 
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.
 
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.
 
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
 
So you can try to kill an American if you must.
 
Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
 
Please keep this going! Pass this around the World. Then pass it around again. It says it all, for all of us