Letters to the Rockville Centre Herald May 26-June 1, 2011

Unimaginable tragedy calls for compassion

To the Editor:

I’m writing in response to the letter “Important message: Don’t drink and drive” (May 12-18) about teaching parents to speak to their children about driving under the influence. The writer stated that there is one thing he doesn’t understand and another thing he just doesn’t get. What I think he doesn’t understand is that this event has left families enduring an unimaginable tragedy. What the writer doesn’t get is that times like this call for compassion and empathy, not judgment and self-congratulation.

Ellen Foley

Rockville Centre

Youth Council offers safe teen alternatives

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Rockville Centre Youth Council Inc., I’d like to respond to the letter “Important message: Don’t drink and drive.”

The RVC Youth Council was incorporated in 2009 as a not-for-profit organization, and we have worked hard to get this message across, to both the youth of this community and their parents.

We have been very active over the last two years in bringing together Rockville Centre teens and dedicated adults to develop teen-related social action initiatives, social events and drug- and alcohol-awareness and educational programs, all with the intent of keeping our teens out of danger.

One of the initiatives we sponsor is the Student Lifeline Card, a safe-rides-home program, so teens in potentially dangerous situations can get free taxi rides home. In the past year, the SLL card has provided nearly $2,500 worth of free “highly critical emergency rides” to dozens of Rockville Centre-area students. We are always looking for local businesses that will display and distribute the SLL cards, so please contact mcaffrey15@verizon.net if interested.

In addition, we’ve partnered with the Police Department and several other organizations to bring Operation Medicine Cabinet to the village. The program encourages residents to drop off expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs, no questions asked, at police headquarters, in an effort to prevent teens from abusing readily available prescription drugs.

We are also involved in other drug- and alcohol-abuse awareness and educational programs. This past Sunday, we partnered with Floodlight Rescue Company No. 1 and the Confide Drug and Alcohol Counseling Center for a CPR and alcohol training program, providing students with the knowledge, awareness and skills to prevent toxic drinking deaths.

We have also sponsored several substance-free teen events at area businesses. These have included bowling nights at RVC Lanes, a Chinese New Year dinner at the Palace of Wong, a capacity-crowd ice cream social at Five Pennies Creamery, movie night at Sportset, Café and Jazz night at Revolution Yoga, and the list goes on. This has been made possible by the generosity of businesses in our community who have opened their doors to our group after hours, with the hope of helping us provide substance-free alternatives for the youth of Rockville Centre. Our long-term goal is to open a teen center, a place where teens can socialize safely in a substance-free environment.

As the school year comes to a close, we are looking for more local teens, in ninth grade or older, to join the RVC Youth Council to continue the work that is in progress. We also need passionate adults who are committed to our youth. This is everyone’s opportunity to make your voice known and to help improve our community. If you’re interested, please join us at the Recreation Center on June 7 at 7 p.m. for our open house, installation of officers and thank-you to our business partners. Email info@rvcyouthcouncil.org or call me at (516) 659-4026 for more information.

Beth Hammerman

Chairwoman, RVC Youth Council Inc.

The definition of insanity

To the Editor:

  The last letter I wrote to the paper was because I felt compelled to comment on a young man who died in a drunk driving accident. This time I can’t help but feel just as ashamed over another issue: Is it just me or are we all just insane for voting, year after year, to increase the school budget?

When I was in high school I had a few incredible teachers. All of these brilliant young minds were employed for two years and then before reaching their tenure, were quietly asked to leave. We all knew it was not their teaching methods or any irrational behavior that lead to their departures. Rather than increase their salary and keep them on the books, it just made more sense to the administration to hire a new person. This way they could keep paying low salaries to new teachers without ever having to worry about stretching the current budget. Meanwhile somewhere in this warped sense of reality, the idea of having three assistant principals made total sense.

When I turned 18 I was standing in line waiting to vote down the budget. The principal of South Side High School walked past a friend and me and said, “Vote yes to increase the budget boys, otherwise they will cut sports!” I wanted to yell out loud, do we look like idiots to you?

How do they sleep at night being dishonest like that? The coaches of most high school teams are teachers! Even the stipends they are paid to coach these teams are very low. If anything, most of them coach for the love of the sports. And last time I checked the cost of a football game or lacrosse match wasn’t nearly as high as the $300K-plus salary Superintendent Dr. William Johnson would be making that year.

For years South Side High School has had a disciplinarian as a position in the school. When our parents were growing up that was the principal’s job! Are we all just losing our minds? God forbid that little Johnny would not have to go through the 1st assistant principal, the 2nd assistant principal, the 3rd assistant principal, the disciplinarian, followed by a final visit to the principal just to be sat down in detention. He may not learn his lesson about smoking cigarettes in the bathroom without having to go through the chain of command. Give me a break.

If you want to improve our schools, keep the good teachers, cut the excessive salaries of administrators and cut the excess of administrators themselves. It’s time the schools take a step back to come to their senses about what is really important to the children and to our village as whole. We are not out of these hard economic times yet. And with inflation rising, and gas prices over $4 a gallon, can the average family afford to keep increasing budgets year after year?

Next year I hope to gather many young people against the budget. However, I know that even if it’s voted down, the board will just have another vote a month later until they get the result they want. But there’s no harm in trying. This is still America…. right?

Adam Cafarella

Rockville Centre

D’Amato has class, Kreiss doesn’t

To the Editor:

In his recent column “Geronimo” (May 12-18), former Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato showed a lot of class in setting aside partisanship while praising President Obama for making the decision to eliminate Osama bin Laden. He gives credit where credit is due. D’Amato did write that the killing of our No. 1 enemy came as of the result of enhanced interrogation tactics, and urged the president to reconsider his position on the subject. But D’Amato said it with respect.

Contrast that with far-left-wing columnist Randi Kreiss, who also justifiably praised the president but did not give any credit to the enhanced interrogation tactics that helped us locate bin Laden.

It would have been equally magnanimous for Kreiss to set aside partisanship and praise former President George W. Bush for his efforts, as her hero, Obama, humbly did in his speech to the nation when he announced the killing of bin Laden.

Among the many things that Kreiss slandered Bush with over his eight years as president, and at any opportunity during the Obama presidency, was the enhanced interrogation tactics employed under Bush. Kreiss stayed true to her lack of class, however, and did not mention either the successful enhanced interrogation tactics that led us to bin Laden or Bush. That would have meant praising the former president, which she seems too petty a person to do.

Fortunately, one of the political commentators in the Herald has class — and that’s D’Amato. Randi Kreiss does not.

Rich LePetri

Rockville Centre