Letters to the Editor, May 19

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, May 19

Many participate in recycling event
To the editor:
   
On Saturday, May 13, the Princeton Environmental Commission (a joint borough and township body) and the Princeton Township Public Works Department held a very successful electronic and computer collection and document shredding event. Over 200 township and borough residents came out with cars full of recyclables, some arriving before the 10 a.m. start time.
   The paper shredding truck left at noon, with 5 tons of shredded material. It came back empty an hour later, and continued to shred residents’ old bank statements, personal computer printouts and other papers until 2 p.m. A 53-foot tractor trailer with pallets of shrink-wrapped monitors, CPUs, phones, faxes, printers and other electronics pulled out of the township parking lot at 2:30 p.m.
   David Breithaupt, Environmental Commission chair, and Janet Pellichero, recycling coordinator, are to be commended for the superb planning and organization of the event. The township’s capable public works staff provided assistance, as did many volunteers, including members of the Environmental Commission, and high school students doing public service.
   If you didn’t get the garage or attic or home office emptied before last Saturday, watch the township’s Web site, www.princetontwp.org, and this paper for notices of a possible fall event.
   Kudos to all who participated.
Vicky Bergman
Member
Princeton Township Committee
Leabrook Lane
Princeton
Starbucks honors work done by nurses
To the editor:
   
On behalf of the entire administration and nursing staff of Princeton HealthCare System, I would like to thank Starbucks Princeton for celebrating National Nurses Week last week by donating $2,000 worth of free coupons and gift cards to the nurses within PHCS.
   This act of generosity and community involvement was inspired by Eric J. Lemmo, a Starbucks Princeton employee who also is an EMT for a local rescue squad and has come to appreciate the heroic and often unrecognized work done by nurses.
   This initiative was not a national Starbucks promotion, but rather one implemented only by the Starbucks Princeton on Nassau Street.
Pam Hersh
Vice President for Government and Community Affairs
Princeton HealthCare System
Witherspoon Street
Princeton
Arts Council celebrates successful programs
To the editor:
   
The Arts Council of Princeton would like to thank all of the people who helped make the past two weeks of events a success.
   On May 5, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with the Princeton Shopping Center, entertaining an audience with art workshops, piñatas, dance and the salsa band Swing Sabroso. We would like to thank the following people and organizations for their help and support: Ivonne Clarke, Lewis Wildman, Felipe Cruz, the Princeton Shopping Center, Chris Hanington, Julie Drobits, Swing Sabroso, Henri Velandia, Tamara Fay Hayes and the Arts Council staff. We would also like to express our appreciation to the following merchants for participating: McCaffrey’s, Main Street and Matteo & Company.
   On May 12, the conTEMPORARY Arts Center presented Tablao Flamenco to a packed audience. The response to this event was overwhelming and we plan to deliver another performance in the future. The event featured dance by Lisa Botalico and her students, guitar by Carlos Revollar and singing by Dominico Caro. We would like to thank the following people: Lisa Bottalico and her students for delivering a fantastic performance; Anna Castro for decorating the Arts Center; Carol Salus; Bob Jenkins; Mark Germond; and the Arts Council staff.
Michael MaRiccia
The Arts Council of Princeton
North Harrison Street
Princeton
Frustrations abound over 206 bypass
To the editor:
   
The report by Staff Writer Jake Uitti, "Resignation reveals rift in Montgomery" (The Packet, May 16), clearly captures the current frustration felt by the people who led the struggle to protect the communities of central New Jersey from the destructive super-highway system that was proposed by the state in the early 1980s. That highway system included the expansion of Route 206 to a dualized, limited-access highway from Somerville to the northern border of Princeton.
   Through Hillsborough, the existing Route 206 was to be replaced by a new highway to the east known as the Hillsborough Bypass. In 1992, a negotiated settlement was reached between Montgomery and the New Jersey Department of Transportation that incorporated a provision giving Montgomery the right to participate in the design of the southern terminus of the bypass, which is in Montgomery. Since that agreement was signed, the DOT has consistently and repeatedly violated that clause of the agreement.
   Like Bob Kress and John Warms, I, too, was appointed as a member of the original Transportation Advisory Committee. In October 2003, I resigned from the TAC for exactly the same reasons that are attributed to Bob in the referenced article. The comments attributed to Mayor Wilson in the article reveal that she still doesn’t recognize the immediacy of the threat posed by the 25-year-old plan for the Hillsborough Bypass. Her comment, "the Township Committee wants to exhaust diplomatic options," is painfully reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain’s declaration of "peace in our time" after he signed an agreement with Adolf Hitler, ceding the Sudentenland to Germany.
   The time for "diplomacy," if it ever is a meaningful term when the DOT is involved, is long past. It was evident to me in 2003 that Mayor Wilson was not using the knowledge available from the TAC to advantage in creating her naive approach to dealing with the DOT regarding the bypass. Now, legal action is probably the only recourse available to Montgomery. The "diplomatic" approach was tried in the 1980s. Then, as now, the DOT ignored the bargaining table and the 1992 agreement resulted.
   It is a sad day indeed for Montgomery when a person like Bob Kress is lost just as the battle lines are being drawn. We do not agree on all the details but I believe I share the pain of his disappointment. The gains derived from the victory of reason that occurred in 1992 have been fumbled away by inexperienced, wrong-headed people with distorted priorities.
Daniel E. Huttar
Tall Cedar Court
Montgomery
Medicare drug penalty is usurious extortion
To the editor:
   
I am one of the Medicare seniors who refuses to join in the charade of being an accomplice by enrolling in the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program. Our poor excuse for a president had the audacity to respond to a Floridian’s question about the May 15 deadline by saying, "Deadlines are important. Deadlines help people understand there’s finality, and people need to get after it, you know?"
   No, I don’t know.
   What kind of doubletalk political drivel is this?
   The Medicare Prescription Drug Program is just one of the many frauds perpetrated on the American people by this administration. The relentless intent to privatize Social Security and other so-called government entitlement programs, which have been immensely humane successes of the 20th century, are insidiously being dismantled by an administration of predatory thugs.
   When are the American people going to wake from their long slumber? Are we a mass of self-flagellating idiots?
   Getting back to the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, we arrive at the doughnut. Just wait until these seniors begin paying full-cost — between $2,250 and $5,100. Many will be unpleasantly surprised by the handiwork of our benevolent lawmakers in Washington. By the way, whatever happened to the Munchkin?
   Now, returning to the May 15 deadline and the penalty imposed on those who have not signed up, the penalty is 1 percent per month, compounded monthly. This amounts to nothing more than usurious extortion. I thought that was a crime in this country.
   One last thought — according to many jurists and experts, the president has committed numerous impeachable violations of the U.S. Constitution, which he has sworn to uphold. Just to name two, the First and Fourth Amendments, pertaining to religion and warrants.
   If so, the House of Representatives is derelict in fulfilling its responsibilities. Aiding and abetting are also crimes.
   I rest my case.
Spartaco Liberi
Jay Court
Plainsboro