LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Feb. 12
By:
Deer-plan opposition knows no boundaries
To the editor:
Is Princeton Township Committeeman Leonard Godfrey suggesting in his letter (The Packet, Feb. 1) that my opinion about the grisly deer slaughter by While Buffalo is invalid (or unwelcome) because I live in the borough? Does he believe ideas can be contained by borders? And is he, indeed, implying that only outsiders are revolted by White Buffalo and that their reprehensible activities are unanimously condoned by the township’s population?
So, from right here in the middle of Princeton Borough I will continue to exercise my First Amendment right to speak freely and to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." I scoured the Constitution and nowhere could I find a word about staying in my own back yard.
C’mon, borough folks, speak out, write letters, ask Mayor Marchand to stop the violence and get White Buffalo and the guns out of the township. After all, it is possible for a stray bullet to cross the border.
Madge Bennett
Wiggins Street
Princeton
Don’t turn back clock on deer management
To the editor:
Princeton’s deer-control program appears to be back on track for this winter as I write. However, we must not let down our guard against legal maneuvers by well-intentioned but misguided individuals who would end it and allow deer to increase once again unchecked.
Let’s remind ourselves of what the consequences are the costs of what happened without deer control were summarized in a New Jersey Woodlands article which I wrote in 1999, "Princeton’s Deer Dilemma" (copies available on written request). In brief, the community’s herd of an estimated 1,600 deer cost residents (and non-resident drivers) nearly $1.5 million a year for collision repairs, fences, garden and landscape destruction, lost nursery sales, farm losses or abandonment, and Lyme disease treatment and lost time. Loss of forest regeneration and destruction of habitat for ground-nesting birds were not included, because they were too difficult to quantify.
In 2001, Princeton employed White Buffalo Inc. of Hamden, Conn., to remove 322 deer. This was done, and it proved that professional deer management worked safely and well. However, it didn’t make a dent in the herd any greater than what could be replaced in one breeding season. The culling operation went smoothly with no incidents or human injuries, and it provided 13,000 pounds of venison which was used to feed the hungry.
If deer control is abandoned, it will take only a year for us to return to the 1997-1999 situation. Deer-car accidents will increase, some accident victims will be injured or killed, gardens will be destroyed, more ugly fences will go up, farms will be abandoned and people will be afraid to let their children play outdoors for fear of infected deer ticks. Is this the sort of community we want? I hope not.
John E. Kuser
Professor Emeritus
Cook College
Rutgers University
Lambert Drive
Princeton
Carnage comes as no surprise
To the editor:
Yet another thought on the deer massacre … While many of the more civilized citizens of Princeton Township wring their hands in revulsion and embarrassment or attempt judicial intervention, the carnage that is presently being perpetrated by White Buffalo should come as no surprise to anyone.
To the best of my knowledge, Mayor Marchand has never deceived her constituents. From the beginning her intentions were clear and based upon her previous advocacy of slaughter and her total refusal to even consider an alternative deer-management plan, her current unprecedented attack on the town’s wildlife was to be expected.
The evil and shame that is taking place in Princeton Township was tacitly supported by its citizens when they cast their ballots last November.
Barbara Huttner
Sayre Drive
Plainsboro
Don’t be misled by non sequiturs
To the editor:
Eve Niedergang’s letter (The Packet, Feb. 8) contains many non sequiturs. Suffice it to say that if we were faced by a scourge of rats, I, for one, would object just as strongly if these creatures were tortured and killed rather than humanely dispatched, no less than I do to the horrific manner used by our township (netting and bolting) for killing deer. See the letter by Nancy Bowman in the same edition of The Packet.
Arnold A. Lazarus
Herrontown Circle
Princeton
How does Princeton tolerate this savagery?
To the editor:
Like the elephant or the Empire State Building in the middle of the living room, deer reproductive response to certain levels of killing remains the entirely unexamined heart of this issue. Today’s astonishing revelation that a hunt club has been using a 160-acre tract in the northwestern part of Princeton Township seems to have set bells ringing for no one. It’s the final piece of the puzzle. The smoking gun.
Big-game harvest theory syllabuses energetically ignored in this debate for over 16 years instruct potential game managers how to "harvest" enough deer to put the animals into their "most productive range." Light kills can do it. Half of carrying capacity, or K, can do it. Illinois’ game agency admits that "an additional complication of urban deer management is that per capita reproduction is density-dependent, meaning that the average number of fawns produced and reared by each doe increases as the total population increases. . . deer reproduction increases as managers begin to remove deer, thus requiring managers to work ever harder to reduce the deer population to offset the population’s increasing reproductive effort." The agency warned that costs rise "exponentially" as years run on.
Princeton Township’s 16 years of killing resulted in a male/female ratio of l to 2.5 highly unnatural ratios leading to increased breeding. The natural ratio is about one male to one female. No one’s been held accountable for that. Add a 160-acre hunting club into the mix acres usually managed for deer, where hunters take a high if not total percentage of bucks, right in Princeton’s midst; add that during the years Princeton banned gun hunting, surrounding towns permitted it, creating not only a refuge effect but increased breeding, and it all comes together.
But there’s been no accountability, for captive-bolt, for any of it, down the line. These graceful, gentle, manifestly innocent animals, so easy to pick on, are paying terribly, and suffering terribly, with 4-inch bolts through their heads. Now, they are being annihilated. Whom do we see about that profound injustice?
History shows us that boors history’s real cretins don’t know they’re boors. They remain of course unaware, even proud. And they have their peanut galleries. What’s astonishing is that the rest of Princeton Township tolerates this level of savagery, mendacity and incompetence. Or that in this seat of higher learning, nobody bothered to crack open a game text. Even once.
Sue Russell
League of Animal Protection Voters
Little Silver
Princeton Little League to offer new program
To the editor:
Last summer, the Princeton Little League board considered that, while several youth baseball opportunities were available to most of our children, we had no program for our mentally and physically challenged youth. With the support and encouragement of the Princeton Recreation Department, Princeton Little League decided to change that circumstance. It therefore is with high hopes that we announce our new Challenger baseball program.
Challenger is a division of Little League baseball that provides mentally and physically challenged children with the opportunity to learn to play baseball, develop sportsmanship and team skills and have all of the fun that youth baseball affords, in an environment tailored to their abilities. Princeton Challenger is open to girls and boys from age 5 through high school. Children from towns close to Princeton, such as Cranbury, Plainsboro and East and West Windsor, are welcome and invited. Each player will be supported by a "buddy," some of whom may be challenged themselves, further enhancing the camaraderie and team building – for both the players and the buddies – that are hallmarks of Little League baseball.
Princeton Little League has been an integral part of the towns for more than 14 years. We think Challenger can touch the lives of everyone in our community, local and extended. We invite and encourage anyone who may be interested to contact us or visit our Web site: www.myteam. com/go/princetonyouthll.
For more information, please call or e-mail Deborah Martin Norcross (279-0191; norcrosd@jacksonlewis. com) or Carmine Conti (683-1822; [email protected]).
Deborah Martin Norcross
Vice President
Princeton Little League
Princeton
Bring WGN back to RCN lineup
To the editor:
On Jan. 1, RCN removed WGN from its Princeton cable TV service and replaced it with the Home Shopping Network. This action was taken by RCN without taking into account the viewing interests of Princeton subscribers.
The removal of WGN took away the coverage of the Chicago Cubs, whose many afternoon games provided entertainment for retirees; and the Chicago Bulls as well as the many movies and news reports that are carried by WGN. These interesting programs were replaced by a channel that carries advertisements and sales of merchandise 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the letter announcing the removal of WGN, RCN suggested its customers would be pleased with the addition of one more shopping channel to the two that were already carried by the Princeton cable system.
This was done even though RCN operates in Princeton under a franchise that requires it to "give due consideration to programming preferences expressed by customers." This disregard for our wishes was illustrated by a recent letter from RCN, in which it was flippantly stated that WGN appeals only to former Chicago residents and sports fans. If this is the case, to whom does the Home Shopping Network appeal?
Many people have protested the removal of WGN from the RCN channel lineup to the Princeton Cable TV Committee. As a result, the Cable TV Committee has scheduled a hearing Feb. 21 to obtain public comment on the removal of WGN from the RCN Princeton channel lineup, and the replacement of WGN by the Home Shopping Network. The hearing will be held in Princeton Borough Hall at 7:30 p.m. This is your opportunity to express your views concerning the removal of WGN, its replacement by yet another shopping channel and its reinstatement. The Cable TV Committee intends to invite RCN to attend this hearing.
The committee will videotape this meeting and will send a copy to the Board of Public Utilities, the state agency that regulates cable TV in New Jersey. Come to the hearing on Feb. 21 and make your views heard on the unilateral removal of WGN from the RCN Princeton channel lineup. We restored WGN 10 years ago and with your help we can do it again.
Arthur Lyding
Broadripple Drive
Princeton
We are all part of support system
To the editor:
There are any number of instances that can devastate our lives sudden illness, a death in the family, divorce, disability, unemployment, domestic violence or a fire. Any one of these events can leave its effects for months to come. Strength of character helps us through these difficult times, and a collective system of support services can help minimize the trauma of these instances. As a society, we are all a part of that support system.
Each year, our community comes together in our Plainsboro Township annual Holiday Drive to address the needs of those who are facing such tests of endurance. What is so very heartwarming is that while the need comes from within our community, so does the multi-faceted response.
From our churches to our civic groups; from corporations to office staffs; from mothers’ clubs to youth groups; from families to individuals this unified effort saw to the needs of 64 households and two groups of disabled adults. Coats, boots, work clothes, school clothes, food, games and toys were all donated to make the holidays brighter.
And so, to all who opened their eyes to see those in need, and then opened up their hearts to embrace those needs, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in our Holiday Drive this year. Whether you dropped off a toy, a turkey or a needed winter coat, please know that it was all appreciated.
On behalf of our mayor, the Township Committee, the administration and all of those who received as a result of your generosity, I would like to extend best wishes in the coming year. May 2002 bring you peace and joy.
Jan M. Bayern
Director
Department of Municipal Welfare
Township of Plainsboro