Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

Letters can be sent by e-mail to editor@riverreporter.com]

To the editor:

In a graduation address, Narrowsburg teacher John Ogozalek recalls how students used their First Amendment rights to campaign against being transferred to Jeffersonville. He describes their unsuccessful efforts as “the kind of learning that should be happening all the time in our schools.”

While I agree with Mr. Ogozalek and applaud the students, I believe there are other lessons to learn.

The First Amendment does not confer individual rights. By stating, “Congress shall pass no law,” it restricts government power.

The Bill of Rights was originally not part of the Constitution. People demanded it to ensure protection of individual liberties.

In demanding a Bill of Rights, people did not recognize the principle of delegation that underlies the Constitution. The preamble proclaims, “We, the People ... do ordain and establish this Constitution.”  In delegating specific powers to the Federal government, the people retain all rights.

When Narrowsburg students exercised their freedom of speech, the school board refused to listen. Advancing the building projects as quickly as possible outweighed any other consideration. However, high bids and delays in obtaining state approvals forced the district to postpone the projects for one year.

Starting renovation work in Narrowsburg last winter instead of waiting until summer exposed elementary students to environmental hazards and disrupted classes. Because these were foreseeable, I believe the renovation started early only to justify the transfer of students to Jeffersonville. I believe the transfer was unnecessary.

People have power. People abdicate their power when they focus on rights. Government does not confer rights. People retain all rights and confer power to their government. People hold ultimate power and authority.

I urge people in Sullivan West to hold their school board accountable. It is not enough to offer opinions for the board to politely acknowledge and ignore. When people assert freedom of speech, they must incite action. Inciting action is power.

Sullivan West is in crisis. The board is dysfunctional. Two key administrators have resigned. The district has mismanaged the projects and deliberately mishandled funds. It has stifled programs, cut sports and created unnecessary disruptions.

It is time to demand answers. It is time to incite action. It is time for people to assert their rightful power.

Ken Uy
Callicoon, NY

To the editor:

It’s heartening to see The River Reporter finally awakening to the problem of drownings on the Delaware River. Now with over 40 drownings, it is just amazing that the problem has taken so long to reach the editorial page. This problem has been going on for years, and even when the paper receives letters to the editor, the paper has largely ignored the problem. It is, in reality, an epidemic and it is also a warning of things to come. Usage of the river will increase, and so will drownings unless preventative steps are taken.

With the arrival of NPS, the number of drownings has decreased with their boating safety program: their strict enforcement of life jackets while tubing and their insistence of children 12 years old or under wearing properly fitted jackets at all times.

Some of the more farsighted liveries have also contributed to this drowning decline by enforcing strict alcohol policies (but other liveries are not helping by refusing to limit alcohol or prohibiting glass).

I often canoe between Pond Eddy and Matamoras and can speak about drownings as a frequent river user.

The paper’s suggested remedy of employing river lifeguards or posting riverfront areas is both naïve and impractical.

In the 11.5-mile stretch of the river I paddle frequently, there are by my count over 46 areas where swimming occurs on a regular basis. Some of these areas are owned as private land, some by the railroad, some by the liveries, some by the county, some by the State of Pennsylvania, some by New York Game Commission, some probably by county or state DOTs. In order to employ lifeguards at each of these entities, they would have to hire at least two trained and certified lifeguards for every eight-hour period of use. This would demand 90 certified lifeguards on this short stretch alone. This many lifeguards are not to be found even at the current rate of $8.50 per hour. In addition, who is going to pay and supervise this work?

Posting is the other suggestion. Posting both increases liability in some ways and decreases it in other ways. If an area is posted, such as the jumping rocks across from Eddy Farm where there have been at least 5 or 6 recent drownings, in addition to many near drownings and many many serious injuries, the owner thinks he is free from liability because of the signs. When an injury occurs, his defense is the victim was trespassing on a clearly posted area. Often such a defense works, but when there has occurred several injuries and/or deaths, the courts call this an attractive nuisance and require more forceful restraints, say a fence, or even guards and prevent trespass. Even then, if the fence is breached and not repaired or the guards are sleeping, the owner has increased his liability.

But the basic problem with the editorial is the writer hasn’t done his homework. A knee-jerk reaction to a drowning isn’t going to help solve the problem. Private owners, campgrounds, counties and states don’t regulate the river, the National Park Service (NPS) regulates the river and enforces its policies. NPS’s current regulations, which are enforced, are that anyone 12 years old or younger must wear a PFD while on the river. The fine is $50. If they would remove the words “12 years old or younger” the drowning problem would be resolved. Everyone would be required to wear a PFD or get fined. Drownings would decline.

There has yet to be a single drowning on the Delaware with a properly fitted PFD.

It would seem odd to demand that property owners insist on everyone wearing properly fitted PFDs when very few drownings have been known to occur in dry land. Yet this is the only place where property owners have jurisdiction; on their property, not on the river.

As the editorial states, the public-private partnership has successfully dealt with problems in the past and it is time to do it again. It is the public’s responsibility to demand action, but it’s NPS responsibility to act.

The real solution is simply and easily done. But the real responsibility to solve the problem lies with NPS.

It’s the paper’s responsibility to insist in editorials that this occurs.

Walter South
New York City, NY

To the editor:

The Beach Lake Volunteer Fire Company is late this year with their 2002 Fund Drive Appeal because of address and zip code changes. Please correct our forms mailed to you if errors still exist and return to us even if not making a donation so we can serve you better. Thank you.

Again, the Beach Lake Volunteer Fire Company gratefully thank those who have given to our past appeals. Through you, we can continue to serve you and our community.

As of June 30, 2002 the B.L.V.F.C. has responded to 99 service incidents, which included 22 fires, 25 motor vehicle accidents, 39 emergency medical service calls and 13 miscellaneous incidents. A volunteer fire department worthy of your praise and your support.

Our members do take additional training and classes to update their dedication and service to and for you—our community. Please, when you receive our mail request, prove to these selfless volunteers that you appreciate them with a support donation return that says “I Love My Beach Lake Volunteer Fire Company.” They need your support. Show them you care and appreciate them. Give them the tool they need to do the job demanded from them —money.

Money is needed for the fire truck loan, repair, part replacements, inspections, fuel, oil and tires. Then there is the replacement of medical and surgical supplies and batteries for all sorts of safety and communication equipment, plus the mandatory testing of equipment. Just a small list to justify our appeals as to how your donation is used. You are the “White Knight” of your community. We need you! You need us! Send us help! Please!

Yes, we do receive municipal support, but not enough to satisfy the demands of law to sustain a viable department. Fund drives are needed to raise revenue for the extra required expenses. Note that not one member receives any monetary compensation for their service. In fact, every member inadvertently lays out money from his or her own pocket in their service to you. Their dedication to community, coupled with your generosity, gives this volunteer emergency service its survival. Please become a new member in absentia to the B.L.V.F.C. with a generous contribution today.

Our members—the men, the women, the young and the old—all volunteer their time all year and around the clock. Please do not discard our request sent to you. Take a moment and think of how important your volunteer fire department is. Seriously think of what it could mean to you in an emergency to your family, your home and there were no volunteers or no equipment available to answer your call of help. Let us face it! You need us! We need you! We depend upon your responsible support so we can respond to an emergency.

Your 2002 Fund Drive contribution is an assurance of a viable emergency service and our future! Please write your contribution check today payable to the “Beach Lake Volunteer Fire Company” and send it to P.O. Box 56, Beach Lake, PA 18405.

Again, thank you.

Ramon V. Lockier
2002 Fund Drive Chairman
Beach Lake Volunteer Fire Department
Beach Lake, PA