Unanswered questions
To the editor:
I attended the Capital Health System (CHS) proposal for a hospital located on Scotch Road in Hopewell Township on June 4 with an open mind and left with some strong opinions regarding the project. I felt the need to convey these observations and feelings in the hopes that those unable to attend will contact the Township Committee members regarding the proposal.
Despite a full-page advertisement of the information session intending to "demonstrate the value the new hospital will create in the community," when asked about the specific advantages to Hopewell Township residents and taxpayers, the panel was actually unable to provide any advantages beyond those already available from the other hospitals currently within 20 minutes of Hopewell Valley. However, CHS was able to articulate their benefit in comparison to the previous project planned for the site. Their "lesser of two evils" approach did not sit well with me. Grand larceny is comparatively better than murder, but it is still grand larceny!
The most commonly asked questions revolved around the traffic engineering study, the fiscal impact of the hospital (specifically the dollar amount of taxes to be paid by the hospital) and the hospital’s plans for the excess 350,000 square feet that would be "buildable" or "sellable" at a future date. The panel was either unprepared or unable to sufficiently answer any of these questions. Instead, the panel focused on the aesthetic benefit of the hospital’s state-of-the-art construction. It seemed as though the panel sought to distract the audience from their valid concerns with power-point and video presentations of the proposed hospital.
After responding in the negative to a question regarding CHS’ move from Trenton to Hopewell Towsnhip solely for the resident "cash cows" that tend to have a higher paying rate, CHS representative Dennis Dooley contradicted himself on the very next question stating that without the move into Hopewell Township, the remaining Trenton hospital would not survive. The responses had a strong for-profit feel for a "nonprofit" organization.
I noted that those speaking against the project tended to be longtime residents of Hopewell Township or residents living in close proximity to the site. Those speaking for the project tended to be individuals with existing personal ailments who did not reside within an immediate vicinity of the proposed facility.
The president and CEO Al Maghazehe appeared noticeably uncomfortable and frustrated during the question and comment portion of the session. He did not refrain from making faces in response to comments and constantly fiddled with the table and equipment in front of him. It gave me the impression he was present solely as a mere formality rather than the benefit of township residents.
I am a 32 and reside in Hopewell Township with my wife and two young sons. Although I felt the information presented by CHS failed to address what I consider to be major concerns of the proposed hospital facility, I felt it was a valuable experience to hear the concerns of my fellow township residents. I urge you to consider the impact of the hospital on our wonderful township and inform our committee members of your concerns.
Jon R. Ansari
Hopewell Township
Misinformed!
To the editor:
In response to Nicole Lorenzetti’s bashing of the CHS band and its uniforms, as a musician, I would hope she realizes that it is first important to play good, before looking good. The uniforms are there, rest assured. Ms. Lorenzetti speaks as if when she was in the Hopewell Valley Marching Band, it was a world-class organization that had won countless parade and field competitions prior to the new band director, David Schwartzer coming aboard. I have three sons involved in the Hopewell Valley music program, and I have been in the district since 1996. As I recall, Hopewell couldn’t even put a marching band on the field at a football game or manage a pep band in the stands. Instead, they let other bands march on our field in front of us, a shameful insult and disgrace.
However, since Mr. Schwartzer has come aboard, the Pep Band has been playing at the football games, and a marching band will be on the field this fall for the first time in the school’s history. They are already recruiting students for the band, and have scheduled a marching band camp for this summer, as well as field competitions for the fall season. However, still more needs to be done to recruit not only musicians, but color guard, band fronts, etc., and build up the organization even more, as well as promoting the hard work, dedication, and excitement that surround it.
I, too, can get frustrated with the Hopewell Valley music program and I do not always agree with the way things are done, but I can assure you, Ms. Lorenzetti, that you have been misinformed, and your comments are simply not valid. There is a new spirit in the Hopewell Valley music program and I got to see it and hear it first-hand the other night at the Music Awards Banquet, as well as throughout the school year. If you are so concerned about the CHS band, and since you are band alumna, then I recommend you volunteer your time to the new organization. There must be something you can do to help. And if you think the high school band sounds like a bunch of sixth-graders, then I suggest you tell your friends who remain in the band to practice and get their "chops" up … practice makes perfect. These changes cannot happen overnight, but make no mistake the CHS Band is comin’ up.
Joseph D’Angelo
Titusville
Not the ‘bad guys’
To the editor:
It is with great concern and frustration that we read the editorial published June 7 in the Hopewell Valley News.
We have been bargaining in good faith with the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education since July 1, 2006. This has required many long and tedious meetings. We have gone through mediation and are currently in the fact-finding process.
The statement concerning the custodial settlement that "for the first time the custodians will pay a portion of their health benefits premiums" is simply not correct. Many Hopewell Valley employees do, in fact, pay for a portion of their premiums depending on the health care plan they choose. This has been taking place for more than 30 years. In addition, Hopewell Valley employees have diminished their benefits several times in the order to help prevent skyrocketing health care costs, fact not mentioned in the editorial.
We feel the editorial portrays the unsettled bargaining units as the "bad guys," and the editorial has undermined the process of fair negotiations.
Many issues are a part of the negotiations process. These issues cannot be discussed in a letter to the editor while negotiations are ongoing.
Hopefully there are a few taxpayers out there that will support a fair contract for dedicated employees of Hopewell Valley Regional School District.
Susan Ewart, president
Hopewell Valley
Secretaries Association
Reason and logic
To the editor:
In a recent letter, I speculated that some people would be upset if any proposed curricular study of religious views included non-belief, as it must given that, after Christians and Muslims, the third-largest group of people (approximately 1 billion) does not adhere to any religious beliefs. (See "religion" in Wikipedia.) It took only one week for the first response to arrive, unfortunately loaded with accusations and insinuations that nonetheless provide useful examples of what we should all try to avoid in future discussions.
I can assure that writer of that letter that, while I may lament the wrongs done in the name of religion (or any other reason), as we all should, it is wrong to imply that this indicates some "inner anger or bitterness" that should be feared. In fact, my entire point was that people need to use reason and logic in order to avoid emotionally charged contradictions that lead to anger or worse. We should all take care not to make such unwarranted extrapolations when we converse.
I hope that we can also avoid putting words in one another’s mouths, as the writer did when he implied that I thought that simply being religious is what causes conflicts. The fact that religion plays a central role in today’s conflicts does not imply that your local pastor is causing conflicts. I think we can all see how the use of such illogic can confuse the issue and inflame the situation.
Logic was also a problem in the writer’s attempt to attribute the crimes of Stalin and Pol Pot to their atheism. (I leave out Hitler, who wrote in Mein Kampf that "I am doing the Lord’s work".) Atheism was incidental to the actions of Stalin and Pol Pot. Their main goal was to eliminate all opposition and create an exclusive cult of personality. Should we try to draw a parallel to the first four Commandments? The point is that we should avoid the use of false syllogisms to create the illusion of compelling argument.
The bottom line is that we all need to work together to provide the next generation with the means to address the conflicts they will face. In my opinion, this is best accomplished by teaching them not only about the various conflicting belief systems, but also the view that one should question any beliefs that are without reason or proof, and reject those that contradict available evidence. We must impress upon them that it is not acceptable for people to act in ways that might harm others simply because their "beliefs" mandate or permit it.
The writer’s final sentiment is something with which I can agree. I think we all hope that "when the light bulb goes off above (young people’s) heads, it actually lights up knowledge based on reason and not angry bigotry." Amen to that.
John Sheldon
Hopewell Township
Facts, please!
To the editor:
Capital Health System’s presentation of their proposed new hospital project was a bit underwhelming. There was a disconnect between what CHS’ team was prepared to talk about and what the community needs to know in order to evaluate the project. CHS’ presentation came down to this: the proposed hospital would not be very visible except from I-95, and CHS is a great place to work.
Well, OK, but those were not the main concerns expressed by members of the audience, at this meeting or at the last one. People wanted to know about the potential traffic and fiscal impacts of the proposed construction, as well as the community services and recreational opportunities the hospital might offer. CHS had few details to give on these topics, in part because their traffic and economic impact analyses have yet to be completed. But why hold a big meeting when you are not prepared to discuss the major impacts of your project on the host community?
CHS did commit to scheduling additional public meetings (aside from hearings required by the permit process) once the reports are in. I urge our township government to hold them to that commitment. And let’s not have the next meeting in the middle of the summer when everyone’s on vacation, but once people have returned and had a chance to read the reports for themselves.
Specifically, we need an honest presentation not only of the potential benefits, but also of the negative impacts this construction would have on our community and how CHS proposes to mitigate those impacts. We have sat through the feel-good presentation. Now we need to discuss the facts.
Carol Hager
Titusville
Much more comfortable
To the editor:
When I first moved to Pennington in 1980 we attended our first Memorial Day parade. At that time I was impressed by the HVCHS Band, and back then thought their uniforms were dated and looked very hot and uncomfortable. Fast forward 25 years to the academic year 2005-2006: my daughter was part of the HVCHS marching band and we had one of these same uniforms in our home! Inspecting it closely it was beautifully tailored out of heavy black wool, hot, outdated and by this time, worn. Memorial Day 2006 was very hot and after the Hopewell parade, some band members did not feel well, having marched in the heat in the heavy black wool uniforms.
It is a welcome change during our transition that the band is wearing HVCHS Band T-shirts, much more in tune with the relaxed family atmosphere of the Pennington and Hopewell Memorial Day parades. The band members were much more comfortable marching in their band T-shirts and jeans; their dress reflective of 2007.The former band director asked that the old uniforms be turned in; band members were measured last week for their new uniforms.
Mr. Suab was an institution at HVCHS, and he made the decision to retire. The new director must be given freedom to make changes. There will be a transition period; things will stabilize and obviously are not going to be the same. The new band director has done an excellent job. For example, the jazz band, consisting mostly of underclassmen, made the state finals. The atmosphere, which was described in last week’s letter, does not reflect my child’s experience in Wind Ensemble, nor in the parade marching band.
Mariya Brown
Pennington
Thanks for award!
To the editor:
On behalf of Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, I would like to thank the Hopewell Chapter of the Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Pennington Business & Professional Association for awarding the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space with this year’s "Outstanding Community Service" Award and, particularly, for acknowledging the significant contributions of our past president, Ted Stiles.
FoHVOS and the Chamber share a vision and a philosophy based upon the concept of connectivity. FoHVOS’ vision is of a Valley characterized by an interconnected set of open spaces that support sustainable populations of plants and animals and provide access to passive recreational opportunities for all of the Valley’s residents. The Chamber’s vision is based on connecting members with other members and supporting a community rich in opportunity. The local businesses here in the Hopewell Valley much like our native flora and fauna make this place, our place and distinguish it from all of the other places out there. Our vision for conservation is consistent with the Chamber’s vision for supporting thriving local businesses. Without local businesses and local opportunities for passive recreation, our residents would not have places to connect and come together as a community.
We thank both groups for recognizing the parallel nature of our respective visions.
Jessica Wilkinson, president
Friends of Hopewell
Valley Open Space
Band letter not true
To the editor:
I’m fairly well known to my parent’s friends as an active member of the HVCHS band program (I’m a sophomore trombonist.) This comes up time to time in discussion, and I commonly get asked things like : "Hey, are you guys going to be marching at Memorial Day?" Last weekend, I only got asked one question: "Was that letter in the Hopewell Valley News true?"
They were talking, of course, about last week’s letter to the editor, "CHS Band: Is it falling apart?" The letter alleged that the high school band program was a formerly gilded, model program that had fallen upon hard times under "a new band director." (The author of the letter apparently did not bother to learn that the new director’s name is David Schwartzer.)
The letter, I’m pleased to report to you now as I have told countless friends, was almost entirely untrue.
The letter’s principal attack was on our rapidly expanding marching band program. The letter’s many factual errors about that program may be because it was written by a former student who was not "on the scene" this year. I’m a current high school student who witnessed the transition from the former director, Gary Suabedissen to Mr. Schwartzer. So here’s what really happened:
As Mr. Suab that’s what we lovingly called him was retiring, he made an effort to collect every uniform that he’d ever handed out. He told me one day, "I want to make sure all this stuff is collected for the new guy." He even declared "uniform amnesty" for any former student who still had a uniform. But some still kept their uniforms. So it was completely wrong for last week’s letter to assert that "the new band director hasn’t even bothered to collect" the old outfits. The onus was never on Mr. Schwartzer it was on Suab, and he did the best he could.
Mr. Schwartzer came to the school having been involved in higher level marching bands for most of his life. He marched in the Rose Parade as a high school freshman. After high school, he was a member of the "Cadets of Bergen County" one of about 25 programs in the "Drum Corps International Division I." Basically, he went pro in marching band.
Upon his arrival, Mr. Schwartzer made a few executive decisions. First he decided we really needed to learn how to "march" before we marched in a parade march in the modern, heel-to-toe step; march with a color guard, etc. He decided he didn’t have time to teach us full, correct marching technique between September and the Halloween parades. So he made the decision that, for this one year, we would just stand in a concert formation for the Halloween parades. Next year, according to everything I’ve heard, the Marching Black and Gold will be leading those parades.
Mr. Schwartzer also made a decision about the uniforms. He decided they were outdated and unnecessarily hot. (Personally, I was delighted that we were retiring those heavy, ugly, 100 percent wool outfits.) So he arranged for the design and purchase of new uniforms, which will be in action next fall. The uniforms are more than a "rumor," as last week’s letter calls them. They were passed in the budget, and they have already been fitted for students!
In the hiatus between these two uniforms, Mr. Schwartzer obtained shirts for us all to wear. This was a transition year, and those were our transition uniforms.
As the year wore on, he began to teach us all correct marching technique. Yes, this involved spending a part of the period learning to walk with the correct marching step which the letter calls "balancing on the heel of one foot and the toe of another." But as the new extracurricular field show marching band program begins this summer, lessons like that in concert band will cease altogether. We were only learning that so we would be ready for the Memorial Day parades in May.
The letter made one more false contention, that we didn’t put our songs together until the night of the concert. Well, we did.
I hope no one mistakes the tone of this letter to read that I didn’t like Suab. I loved Suab. He was one of those unique teachers you meet and instantly like and never forget. One of the great gifts Suab gave me was a phrase, one that he would repeat in rehearsals, at concerts, and before parades: "Dare to be Great." I try to remember that phrase every day.
This autumn, the marching band program will have its first field show, at a home HVCHS football game. This December, we’ll be having our winter concert. I invite all community members to come to them. Mr. Schwartzer will be there, as will I, and tons of other band members. And we’ll all be daring to be great.
Come to a performance. We, the students, are worth it.
Robinson Meyer
Pennington
Not falling apart!
To the editor:
In response to a recent letter to the editor no, the CHS band is not falling apart. In fact, based on my observations, the opposite seems to be true. If you were present at the recent Spring Concert, you heard two very dynamic concert bands, which had grown considerably since their winter performances. If you were passing by the high school recently, you witnessed the marching band practicing for the parades that occurred Memorial Day weekend. You also noticed the newly developed color guard, brandishing white flags and practicing a simple yet pleasurable routine.
If you were at these practices, you heard the current band director gather the students, and with spirit, passion and a surprisingly veteran style, motivate, instruct and direct both the new and old marching unit members in their task at hand. Putting all of these observations together, it is obvious to a seasoned high school musician like me that the CHS band is actually beginning to bud and blossom into what a true high school band program should be.
A current band student recently told me that the new band director is "the best thing to happen to the instrumental music program" in Hopewell and likened his initiative and work ethic to Ken and Rebecca Elpus, who have remarkably enhanced the vocal music program in the district. Certainly, there is no question that the recently retired band director created an amazing legacy at CHS. Now it’s time to realize that the current band director has already begun creating his own.
Debbie Nutt
Titusville
Job Fair,
huge success
To the editor:
It was a wonderful experience seeing the 150 Hopewell Valley Central High School teens so enthusiastically participating in this year’s teen job fair held at the high school recently. The interaction between the students and the employers was priceless.
Our community should be very proud not only of our students but of the local businesses and organizations that give our students an opportunity to learn something outside of the classroom. By providing these opportunities, it is showing that our community values our youth. Our young people need to be given useful roles in our community during these critical and influential years of growing up.
A sincere thank-you to the following companies and organizations for participating in this year’s Teen Job Fair: Around the Table, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, Hogan Security Group, Honey Brook Organic Farm, Hopewell Valley Community Bank, Hopewell Valley YMCA, Pennington Bagel, Pennington Quality Market, Pine Creek Miniature Golf, Starbucks and Stop & Shop.
I also would like to thank the Teen Job Fair Committee: Kat D’Ambra and Carol Rolewicz from Central High School, high school parents Donna Doran and Mary Clare Garber and Anne Thornton and Stephanie Gray from the Hopewell Valley YMCA for all their help and support. Also a special thanks to Laddie Franz.
We look forward to hosting another successful teen job fair in the early spring of next year.
Heidi Kahme, chairwoman
Hopewell Valley
Municipal Alliance
