Readers' views: tips to quit smoking, e-transcripts and Mike Braun's ad

Here's what community members had to say in three recent letters to the editor we received. Submit your own thoughts here.

Tips to quit smoking this holiday season

This holiday season, give your loved ones the gift of more time with you. By quitting tobacco, you can increase your life expectancy by up to 10 years. Nothing puts a damper on the holiday spirit like having to go out to smoke in the hail and snow. Save your money for gift shopping!

• Talk to your doctor about quitting tobacco — they can prescribe oral medications to help you quit, and answer any questions or concerns you might have.
• Utilize your support system. Talk to your friends and family about your quit plan. Quitting tobacco can be difficult and having support from your loved ones makes change easier.
• Grow your support system. Find a quit buddy to go with you on your tobacco free journey. Reach out to family, friends, coworkers and community members to find your quit buddy. Having someone to vent about the process with can help.
• Don’t be discouraged by slip ups — on average, it takes 8-10 quit attempts to successfully quit smoking. Have patience and believe in yourself.
• Call the Indiana Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW for free tobacco cessation counseling. Quit Coaches are available around the clock to help you combat cravings, identify barriers and come up with strategies to help you deal with triggers.

The Indiana Tobacco Quitline is a free resource available to everyone for help quitting all forms of tobacco, including vapes and e-cigarettes. Currently, the Quitline is offering two weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy in the form of patches, gum or lozenges. To learn more or get started, call 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit www.quitnowindiana.com.

Josy Williams

Indianapolis

Teachers should have access to e-transcripts to grow professionally

In 2023, the General Assembly passed several laws that improved K-12 education in Indiana.

Money was allocated to improve teacher salaries, and the expansion of the 21st Century Scholars program may be the single best piece of legislation that this state’s government has passed in modern times. Most significantly, the state has made strides in expanding the use of e-transcripts and the development of educational credentials that are more connected to workforce needs. We are closer than ever to getting those two wires, e-transcripts and workforce credentialing, to touching. As public school teachers with 30 years of experience between us, we would like to request that the 2024 General Assembly devote some time to bringing teachers along in this process.

Currently, about 90% of the state’s high school students have access to e-transcripts. Why not give these to teachers as well so that we can easily keep track of our professional growth points, necessary for re-licensure, and give us a place to collect educational credentials? This would cost next to nothing and would streamline the relicensing process for schools across the state.

More significantly, if teachers are given e-transcripts, then maybe Indiana’s universities will start offering credentials for innovative forms of teacher education. It’s easy to imagine. For example, Eli Lilly partnering with Purdue to develop an education program for in-service science teachers. Or, let’s develop educational programs that connect social studies teachers with the Indiana legal system so that students can learn to be paralegals and develop an interest in the law. Teachers need to have an ongoing connection to the state’s workplaces and educational facilities if we are to better educate students for the state’s workforce needs.

The General Assembly has done a lot of good in the last several sessions. Ivy Tech is one of the most affordable and accessible community college systems in the country, all of the state’s students now have access to a scholarship program that can help pay for postsecondary education and high school students can now take several pathways to graduation. Please just don’t forget to bring the teachers along in the process. Giving in-service teachers e-transcripts and developing educational programs to connect us with the state’s higher education systems and business communities are two achievable goals for a non-budget session.

Chris Edwards and Andrew Jones

New Palestine

Mike Braun's goals seem more apt for a senator

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun is running for governor of Indiana and running a political ad. In the ad, he states that he is going to keep Indiana safer by stopping illegal immigration at the border and the flow of fentanyl from China.

It seems to me that Braun would have more success actually achieving those goals if he was in the Senate. I also wonder why he was not able to achieve those goals while he was in the Senate. I think that if he wasn’t able to do it in the Senate, he will be unable to do it as Indiana’s governor.

Bryan Miller

Indianapolis