Caring about the future

To the editor:

Thank you for your insightful editorial in the March 2 issue of The River Reporter regarding ridgeline zoning. I, too, was amazed at the inadequate response to this issue by the Highland Town Board. After public response to the model ordinance was invited with the idea that more discussion was necessary, it seems to have been dumped without much ceremony or public input. I thought the idea was for communities to take this model and create their own unique document tailor-made for their particular town.

The idea that ridgeline zoning is an intrusion on the freedom of property owners is terribly short sighted. Regulations are in place for the public good. There are rules so that many people can live in proximity to each other. For the public good we can’t bury construction debris, use an outhouse, dump our garbage anywhere we please, cut the power lines over our property, or dig for a well without a permit. Ridgeline zoning is simply one way to insure that the beautiful mountains that surround us in this scenic byway area don’t end up being chopped up for the short-term profit of a few. A strong ridgeline policy sends an important message to developers: we want you here but you have to respect what makes our area special.

Trees shelter birds and other animals, keep the ridge from eroding and create a gorgeous view from road and river. How many people will choose to make Highland their home or will spend their tourist dollars here when the things that make our area special are gone?

Once the trees are gone, the town board canšt complain that outsiders are ruining the town we love. Doing nothing sends a terrible message to all: “We don’t care about the future.” Only the Town of Highland can control the way the future of the area will play out. It’s our right to do so, and our responsibility. I urge all concerned citizens to continue to press this vital issue.

Open letter to the citizens of Highland

To the editor:

I had hoped that with the new supervisor and councilman we would see fairness and justice come to the forefront in Highland. My first experience with supervisor Barnes, on January 26 in a prearranged meeting, dispelled any hope of this happening. In short, when I asked for help, he ridiculed me in the presence of other local government agents. He claimed to be ignorant of our plight, even though in a short note to him in December, congratulating him on his new position, I reminded him of our ongoing dispute with the current town board and expressed the hope of a compassionate and intelligent resolution.

At the regular town board meeting on February 14, after bringing up our legitimate complaint at public comment for the first time to the new town board, I was told that unless I have new material, I would not be allowed to speak. It appears that if Mr. Barnes doesn’t like the comments, one is escorted out of public forum under the threat of arrest. I was not out of order by the furthest stretch of the imagination, as can be verified by people in attendance.

Our local government was already so terribly askew, but even with the newly elected, change does not seem likely. I believe the system here has hit rock bottom. I would like to point out to Mr. Barnes that true leadership cannot exist without the trust of those being led. In addition, the record in this case is that laws have been broken and sworn oaths are meaningless. I cannot help but wonder whether, if the town attorney continues to support a wrong decision, he still remembers the law?

[Editor’s note: this letter pertains to Watters’ contention that Highland town officials wrongly gave approvals for his home, which he maintains to be in violation of code. See his previous letter at www.riverreporter.com/issues/04-12-02/letters.html for background.]

Bad press

To the editor:

Last Saturday night, I sat in an upscale Italian Restaurant in Boynton Beach, FL and overheard two couples at the next table talking about a pending purchase of a condo at the Kutsher’s Hidden Ridge development. One of the purchasers was telling the other couple how excited they had been to be buying the condominium. However, his wife said she was thinking of backing out of the deal because of an article she had seen at the online site of a daily newspaper about how crime was a major problem in Monticello. I turned around and told them that Monticello has no more crime than any other area, including Boynton Beach. I also told them that the daily paper up there never publishes anything good about Monticello or Sullivan County, and they should read the weekly papers online instead for a more balanced approach. But the man said he may start looking further north as a result of the article.

The Times Herald Record (THR) continues to be one the biggest problems facing Sullivan County. Its yellow journalism about the county, particularly county government and the Village of Monticello, undermines the many good efforts to improve the image of the county. Just during the last month, they have printed several very negative, unbalanced articles that would surely repel anyone unfamiliar with the area. And as my experience on Saturday night showed, every time a disparaging article is published on the Internet, it stays there for years, deterring potential business.

When I was in the county legislature, we passed a resolution asking for another daily paper to consider publishing in Sullivan County after several similar unbalanced articles published by the THR. I also sought a boycott of the paper. The resolution resulted in the THR changing its tone for a while. But it looks like lately they are back to their virulent anti-Sullivan County bias.

I would urge residents of Sullivan County to stop subscribing to the THR and businesspeople to switch their advertising to local weekly papers. I know things are far from perfect in Sullivan County, but people do not need to support an institution that has blackened their image for a half a century and continues to hurt economic development on a daily basis. Maybe by hitting it in its pocketbook, the THR may get the message that the people of Sullivan County, even the ones living elsewhere, are fed up with the negativity being spewed in its pages.

Rousing of a nation

To the editor:

One Sunday after the church services at the St. Volodymyr’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Glen Spey, I met a couple of people who attended the Mass. They told me that they had read in some Catholic magazine about this beautiful wooden church and had come a long way to see it in person and to take few pictures.

Standing on the corner of High Road and Taras Shevchenko Road where the church is located, they asked me what Taras Shevhenko’s name means and who he was. To this couple and to any who may ask the same question, I will try to explain who he was.

Taras Shevchenko (March 10, 1814 - March 9, 1861) was the most outstanding literary figure in Ukrainian history, and a political thinker who understood that that nation would only exist if all classes could play a vital role in its development. He was born in serfdom, become an orphan at an early age and grew up in poverty. From the time of his childhood as a peasant, he hoped for an independent Ukraine. His poetry and literary compositions had a great impact on the enslaved people of Ukraine. He spent most of his life in banishment and in prison, for writing and expressing his beliefs.

Many nations have their own national bards and writers. Ukraine has Taras Shevchenko: writer, poet and spiritual titan for whom, every year in the month of March, Ukrainians, in quiet short ceremonies, bow their heads to honor the lyric poetry, ballads, dramas and stories that awakened this nation. No matter where Ukrainians live, in March they honor Taras Shevchenko as a “rouser of a nation.” In Ukraine almost in every town has one street named in his honor.

Bohdan Kandiuk

Free trade—when the pharmaceuticals say so

To the editor:

Here is a gripe of mine against our no-good, wheeling-dealing, thieving governmental officials.

A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it’s a free market.

A toy company can outsource to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it’s a free market.

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it’s a free market.

We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico. We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh.

When I need to speak to someone about my computer, I talk to somebody in India.

We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries. But heaven help the elderly who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian pharmacy.

That’s called un-American. And you think the pharmaceutical companies don’t have a powerful lobby? Think again! This thought is of interest to every person you know over age 50.

A course in cheating

To the editor:

The possibility of using the International Baccalaureate (IB) program is currently being considered by “as-yet unnamed” employees of the Sullivan West school district. One way to get a handle on how the program works is to find students who are currently in the system. One enterprising IB student has started a website which can be found at the following address: www.ibscrewed.net.

The following question appears in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) portion of the site: “Do you have any past exams/papers or example exams/papers?”

The reply by the site manager (a former IB student herself) is telling. “Short answer: Absolutely not. Long answer: IBO materials are copyrighted by the IBO. They sell exams to schools, so the best legal way to get exams to practice with is from your teachers. If your teachers won’t supply you, there’s an underground, illegal paper-trading network online.” In fact, many posts on the site are by students asking for sites where they can cheat. The level of this problem is found in the following terse posting by the site’s administrator:

“Don’t ask where to find past papers. I don’t care if you’re looking for sites or individuals to help you out. I repeat: Don’t ask.

Fact 1: It’s been asked repeatedly here before. Search for past threads.

Fact 2: IBO will shut down any sites they find offering past papers for download. Because of this, such sites have very short lifecycles and there aren’t really any good sources for past papers we can point you to.”

Proponents of the IB often point to its usefulness in preparing students for college. If part of that preparedness includes cheating, then it’s obvious that this assertion is true. I just pray that in the future, I don’t have open-heart surgery performed by a doctor who learned this particular IB lesson. And Fact 2, that IBO has to search for and eradicate sites that traffic in old papers, is alarming.

The second problem apparent from the website is the lack of confidence students have in their ability to get into college with their IB credits. Almost one in five posts has to do with whether or not a college will accept students into their program. It seems that if IB is so advanced, these students should be much more assured of their destination.

This does not sound like what we want for our students.