LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, April 2
By:
Plane traffic is a blessing … right?
To the editor:
I can’t understand why so many of my neighbors object to the excessive air traffic gracing our lives. I refuse to see anything other than the metal frames oops, I meant to say silver linings in our supposedly dark clouds.
There is nothing more boring than our country view of the heavens moon, stars, planets yeah, I’ve seen it a thousand times. But now, what a vision! The sky is alive with lights in every direction. Forget Dec. 25. All I have to do is raise my eye skyward for red lights, green lights and white lights. It’s Christmas every day!
Plus, with the new air traffic my family has never felt safer. Heck, all those folks looking down from their airplane windows would immediately report anything amiss in our bustling hamlet. I know this for a fact. They told me so. At the altitude their flying, I’ve made friends with hundreds of them. They wave, smile and make small talk. I always invite them in for coffee and Danish, but so far they’ve politely declined.
When we first moved to rural Montgomery, we worried about UFOs abducting us. I admit that it’s an "X-Files"-inspired phobia. But now, we rest easy knowing that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of aliens traveling within 50 miles of our house. They’d have to be either idiots or have impossibly good insurance coverage, because the risk of mid-air collision with our boys is way too high.
While I no longer stay awake fretting over an involuntary trip to Pluto, I’m sorry to report that recently my nights belong to our toddler. She’s cutting those baby molars. But now my problem is solved. The powerful thrum of Lockheed engines has her purring like a kitten. Her vocabulary has improved as well. She used to whisper "mommy" or "dada" in her sleep. Now, thank God, we’re getting variation. So what if she keeps saying the word "plane"? And with her sleeping happily, my nights are grand. I’ve kissed those infomercials goodbye! Instead, I count flybys. Thirty, maybe 40 planes later, I’m snoozing away. The Home Shopping Network can’t be pleased.
On the downside, I find myself dreaming every night about planes. Don’t think that you have me on this one. I’ve got the perfect angle. My psychiatrist says that the recurring dream shtick caused by the air traffic should support a million-dollar lawsuit. So, thanks to the airlines, I’m another step closer to the American dream. I can hardly wait for that airplane toilet chemical crud to splatter our house. It will be a nice touch to the lawsuit and I’ll laugh all the way to the bank. With the extra money, I plan on making new investments. Of course, the top item will be real estate adjoining Newark International Airport. The property taxes are lower, and I know exactly how to market homes under a flight path. Our lawyer is excited too. He says a class action suit is worth billions.
William L. Hoffman
Grist Mill Drive
Montgomery
Support incumbents for Princeton board
To the editor:
When I first ran for the Princeton Regional Board of Education two years ago, most of my friends and family thought I was out of my mind. The school system had been in great turmoil for a number of years with numerous superintendents and a contentious board. Claire Sheff Kohn, our outstanding superintendent, and a terrific board have changed all of that. The members of the current board bring a wide range of talents and interests and unquestioned dedication. We have worked very hard under Claire’s leadership to become a cohesive team. As a result, the board has been very effective.
This new environment has stimulated considerable interest in the Board of Education with the result that six well-qualified people are running for three seats this year. The positive aspect is that all of these people are very capable and would be excellent additions to the board. However, I strongly believe that the current members who are running for re-election deserve your support on April 16.
Jeff Spear has not only chaired the Program Committee, which plays a crucial role in providing guidance in curriculum and educational policy, but he has been a leader in addressing minority education issues. One of his most important accomplishments was his collaboration with key administrators on the development of a proposal, the writing of the grant and the operation of an educational enrichment and tutorial program. This program, from which hundreds of students have benefited, will receive over $750,000 in federal funds over three years. We are now in the second year of funding, and Jeff’s leadership is crucial to addressing the long-term future of this program.
Barbara Prince, who chairs the Finance Committee, has been one of the most dedicated members of the board. She has not only played a key role in instituting major improvements in budgeting and financial management, she has assured that communications between Board of Education, the township and the borough remain very open as a result of her personal attendance and involvement in all meetings where issues of mutual concern are being discussed.
Frank Strasburger has played a vital role as vice president of the board and has provided leadership in the facilities area. His accomplishments are reflected in the successful passage of the referendum for renovating the schools a thoughtful plan that will sustain and extend the educational excellence of PRS. He is also responsible for the major financial contributions from Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Studies.
The next years will be challenging ones as we strive to maintain academic excellence while providing close oversight to the renovation and construction projects. Continuity of the current leadership would be a tremendous asset.
Myra Williams
Broadmead Street
Princeton
Meters could be more welcoming
To the editor:
We live a few minutes from Princeton, across Route 1 in Plainsboro. We subscribe to theater and concerts in Princeton, we shop there with our granddaughters, eat in restaurants and occasionally like to go to a movie.
The movie we saw yesterday, "Monsoon Wedding" (a marvelous work of art and humanity we can highly recommend) was just under two hours long. However, to our dismay, we found that Princeton parking meters will not let you pay for more than two hours’ stay. We therefore had to wait to the last minute to insert our coins and rush to see the movie, in full knowledge that we may find a ticket when we return back a few minutes late.
Had the movie been any less uplifting, we would not have been able to enjoy it. We also didn’t get a ticket, but still think it would be a good idea for Princeton authorities to be a bit more welcoming to visitors.
Jasha M. Levi
Marion Drive
Plainsboro
New immigrant is proud to fly flag
To the editor:
I am a new immigrant and am passionate about America and the flag. Not because of some bloated arrogance, as opined by the anti-patriotic, politically correct, but because I know exactly what it means. It means freedom.
After escaping the murderous oppression of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, the land of my birth, believe me, I know what the red, white and blue of "Old Glory" really means. Imagine my astonishment then, when I encounter young American-born citizens that are not only ambivalent towards the flag, but actually don’t have any idea of what it stands for.
I was recently living in a shared house in Princeton with three other 30-something young adults. Two were American-born citizens, the other a Haitian citizen. Since arriving in the United States, I have expressed my patriotism as a new immigrant by flying the flag outside the house. The Haitian citizen has been "temporarily" resident here for the past 10 years, on the now infamous "student" visa. She has never legally worked in this country, never paid taxes, never made any valuable contribution to this society. She attends college subsided by the U.S. taxpayer, has abandoned the calamity that is Haiti and has her mother and younger brother in the United States as refugees. She is critical of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, took such offense to the flag flying she stated that "having the flag flying outside a house says as much about the people living in the house as having dog st on the lawn." This wholly shocking and contemptible statement was made right at height of the aftermath of Sept. 11.
What I found extraordinarily alarming about the above was not the antipathy felt by this person toward America and the flag, but the reaction of the other two American citizens. They both totally acquiesced to her position, saying that although they "didn’t mind the flag," if it made her "uncomfortable" then it should come down. This despite the fact that the flag was flying outside millions of homes across the country in solidarity with the victims of Sept. 11. Incredulously, one of the Americans is Jewish, whose parents fled to this country as refugees from the Holocaust, and had many family members murdered by the Nazis. The other is the ex-wife of a Marine Corps officer who served his country on active combat duty.
At what stage, for God’s sake, can America expect any sense of patriotism or fidelity from people like these? This country deserves so much more from its citizens than the insipid lack of principle or commitment displayed by these two.
Needless to say, I now have a different address. My flag and I were gone from that place that same day. My flag, for it now truly is my flag, flies proudly outside the home of my recently arrived children, who know that being American is not a matter of which country you were born in … but which country you believe in.
Adrian Devine
Heathcote Road
Kingston
Myriad alternatives to killing deer
To the editor:
Go get your scissors. Cut this out. Paste it on your refrigerator. Tack it on your corkboard. Bring it to cocktail parties. Bequeath it to your heirs.
Here is how to deal with deer in your own yard and in your own car. These are facts Princeton Mayor Phyllis Marchand doesn’t want New Jersey to know:
1. To reduce accidents, mount an electronic deer whistle on your car. It works at any speed and is endorsed by insurance companies and law enforcement. Go to www.deer-whistle.com. For $39, you and Rudolph will have peace of mind.
2. If you are worried about your garden, go to www.deerscram.com. This all-natural product keeps deer from your flowers.
3. For a few more bucks, contact a landscaper specializing in plants deer won’t eat. Call Cobalt Design Inc. at (800) 658-1579 or e-mail them at [email protected].
4. Worried about Lyme disease? Deer don’t have any more to do with it than other animals, particularly mice. Lyme is not serious, except for 10 percent of patients who develop long-term symptoms. These symptoms have nothing to do with Lyme, but with wholly unrelated bacteria carried by the same tick. The pioneer in treating this is Dr. Eugene Eskew. Call him at (908) 782-7625. Tell him I sent you.
Any of these options could have been promoted and encouraged in Princeton, as they have been in other states. Instead, Mayor Phyllis Marchand has made Princeton a laughing stock in the state and national media by pursuing a net-and-bolt kill program that has not been adopted in any other town in the country and that no other town in New Jersey has adopted because the majority of New Jersey residents oppose it.
Should Mayor Marchand or any other politician try the needless slaughter of animals again, mail them this sheet. Remind them that all the studies show that even if you kill the animals, they come back in greater numbers.
Tell them that other communities handle the deer democratically and humanely by surveying residents and implementing effective nonlethal solutions. For the facts, go to www.hiltonheaddeer.com. To see how road reflectors prevent accidents, go to www.streiter-lite.com. For other communities that have solved the problem using contraception or sterilization, call the Humane Society at (202) 452-1100 and ask for Dr. Alan Rutberg. Or call Adelaide Gomer at (607) 257-9289 for information on Cornell’s humane program. Or go to www.holterra.com for information on how to trap and remove the deer effectively.
The ultimate joke is on the taxpayers because Ms. Marchand’s five-year, million-dollar folly will not solve the problem. Ms. Marchand and her cronies write the same warmed-over nasty letters about how the opposition doesn’t have solutions to this problem. There are myriad solutions. They have all been ignored or buried by Ms. Marchand and the deer killing industry.
After introducing violence and incivility to Princeton, Mayor Marchand walked away from negotiations with those favoring nonlethal alternatives.
Don’t let this happen in other towns.
Carl Mayer
Battle Road
Princeton