The Taurus is Back!

Wednesday morning, when I drove my old Taurus from Bridgewater to Flemington for its 90,000 mile service (I always cringe at the cost of this necessary maintenance!), I went through the same old routine that all of us do when visiting a dealership: Inevitably, the standard service listed in the owner's manual is augmented by more repairs – got to keep that car running well.

After signing off on the paperwork, I asked, “What’s the follow-on version to the discontinued Taurus?” followed by, “I never understood which model replaced it, or why Ford stopped producing the Taurus,” thereupon evoking nods of acknowledgement by at least three service advisors and one sales rep, all conceding that Ford had made a marketing mistake.

But a few more questions revealed not only that Ford is re-introducing the Taurus, but that two new 2008 cars were already on the lot – so new, that no one yet had promotional material, and one of them had not even been invoiced.

My wife and I couldn’t resist the offer to test drive one of them, a shiny titanium-green sedan. Although no one will mistake the jazzed-up look of the exterior design for anything other than a Taurus, this newly-introduced model has a much smoother look. Nothing else about the car is the same: It has a more powerful engine, a new six-speed transmission, a cavernous trunk, very good gas mileage, a snug interior with many new appointments, and a comfortable ride with spunky acceleration.

Ah… Dream on. It’s back to my midnight-blue Taurus – still gives a first-rate ride though.

Mr. Ford Goes to Trenton

Last Friday, Jerry Ford, Transportation Co-Coordinator for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, tidied up remaining business in his modest office on Commons Way, and prepared for new responsibilities in Trenton. He is now Director, Office of Student Transportation, for the New Jersey Department of Education. It’s a prestigious job, and probably the apex in this state for Mr. Ford’s profession.

Normally, this would be just another person leaving for another, better job. But, Jerry is not just another person. He loved his job in Bridgewater-Raritan. When recently interviewed, he said that the Trenton position “is the only job I would leave here for.” He hopes to bring to the state level “the concepts and ideas” that he spent 11 years developing and improving in Central Jersey.

You might think that his new assignment means big bucks for him, but the difference in pay is only a few hundred dollars, and he gets less formal time off. (Jerry has acquired a reputation for putting in gargantuan work days.)

In acknowledging the value of his support team on Commons Way, he indicated that, “I’ve been lucky to be here” and “blessed to be with good people.” Speaking some more about the people he worked with in this district, he said that the “camaraderie is very good,” that he had a “dedicated team,” and that the “principals have been reasonable.”

Those are not comments to be lightly brushed off as just the pleasant words of a guy wanting to leave behind a good final impression. Jerry’s reputation in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, as well as among his peers in the profession, was cemented a long time ago.


Note: The writer’s spouse worked for 26 years in the office of the B-R Transportation Dept. and retired a few years ago.

No More School, No More Books……

No more books? Maybe not for Bridgewater and Raritan students, but the next meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education on Tuesday, June 26, at 8 p.m., will be dealing with the topic of Everyday Math and, potentially, the purchase of updated textbooks. A presentation and recommendation on this topic is scheduled early in the meeting, following the board’s honoring of Lisa Giranda, former BR-BOE member and president.

Sounds pretty innocuous and straightforward, right? Not necessarily. Since the April 17 elections, the way in which math and language arts are being taught in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District may have become a contentious issue. Three candidates waged a forceful campaign of reform to “ensure rigorous curriculum evaluations,” and to “raise the bar for all children.” Two are now sitting on the board, and the public needs to know what their plans are.

Since specific information about Tuesday’s recommendation was not available for this writing, some of the items to look for are:

1. Has the Curriculum Committee given the board an unambiguous recommendation? Is there a minority report?
2. To what extent have teachers and program professionals participated in the recommendation, and have their views been considered?
3. Will all nine board members show up for a potential vote? The community needs to understand each person’s position.
4. If a recommendation is made to purchase updated textbooks for the Everyday Math program, will the board go along, or will it be rejected? Why?

The last point is a critical one, because not to provide students with the latest educational materials will be considered by many as a move to weaken the existing program, prior to striking it a final blow.

If the current Everyday Math curriculum is insufficient for the education of Bridgewater and Raritan students, proponents of change need to explain precisely what will replace it, why and when, as well as the socio-economic cost to our two communities.

Basilone Blog Prompts Thoughts of Iraq

Monday’s blog about Sergeant John Basilone and of his valor got me to thinking: Wars fought to lose should never begin. Basilone was one of hundreds of thousands who, as a group, earned the sobriquet, “The Greatest Generation,” a term coined by Tom Brokaw for the title of his book about World War II.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, this nation made a decision to mobilize for an all-out war effort. American armed forces were supported without reservation. That war would be won. There was no incessant bickering by Washington politicians about whether we should be in it; how to wage it; or of setting an artificial timetable to withdraw our troops from Europe and the Pacific. Imagine how it might have been, if the milquetoasts of that time had prevailed.

The Iraq war presents a stark contrast to the conflict of the 1940’s. The tragedy of Iraq is that our men and women soldiers who fight just as bravely as did those of WWII (all American warriors have shared that reputation) are having their energies and lives squandered. Since the fall of Baghdad, the Iraqi conflict has turned into a Washington miscalculation, and our soldiers have become pawns on a beltway chess board.

American troops – who fight, die or get maimed – deserve leadership. And the rest of us who are behind our warriors don’t want to have their lives and our treasure needlessly expended in a futile nation-building effort.

Where in Washington, among all the politicians and their advisors, is there a lick of common sense, or even an ounce of the courage which our troops show daily?

Bridgewater’s Post Office Acknowledges Raritan’s Favorite Son

On Friday, June 15, as I scurried about Bridgewater, looking to complete a string of errands, I stepped into the post office to mail a certified letter.

While waiting in line, I noticed a medium-sized picture frame with a block of stamps under glass, sitting on the overflow service counter. I walked over, removed the frame from the countertop with my left hand, and returned to the line. There, I instantly recognized the now unforgettable likeness of Gunnery Sergeant John A. Basilone in the lower left-hand corner, complemented by three other distinguished U.S. Marine icons, including Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune, for whom the North Carolina, Marine Corps training camp is named

Basilone’s legendary fighting in the Pacific, during three consecutive days and nights on the island of Guadalcanal, turned back a ferocious Japanese assault on his unit’s position.

(See http://www.medalofhonor.com/JohnBasilone.htm.) Basilone returned to the states and toured the country, raising cash for bond purchases to fund the war effort for WWII. But, unwilling to be separated from his fellow Marines, he returned to the front lines. Fighting just as bravely during the invasion of Iwo Jima, he perished from an artillery round, but not until having single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, leading to the capture of an airfield

That picture frame depicting the photos of four U.S. Marines, including one from Raritan, now sits in my home.

Do You Ever Wonder if Your Mind Wanders?

About a week ago, as my wife and I were sitting at the breakfast table, she reading one newspaper, and I, another, we coincidently and simultaneously came across two completely different stories, each with the same misuse of a word.

I won’t identify the authors, because such mistakes are common and embarrassing; it will probably happen to me more than I’d like to admit. Let’s see if you can catch the differences. Don’t feel bad if you don’t, because they involve subtle variations in spelling and meaning between words uncommonly known as homonyms, homophones, and homographs. Omigosh! I hope that you haven’t left me already. Don’t worry. I’m no expert in the nuances associated with these nouns, and I had to consult print and electronic dictionaries.

Here goes: An article which appeared in the Courier News about how to stay alert for car trouble in the summer used the following sentence, “…be alert for slow moving farm vehicles, narrow bridges, and animals that may wonder onto the roadway.” Another article appeared in The Star-Ledger on the same day, discussing various aspects of podcasting, and read in part, as follows, “Sometimes, when a professor is talking in class the mind wonders. (But) with podcasts, the student can rewind and listen to lectures on the slopes in Vail, riding a bike across campus, anywhere…”

Did you catch the slip-up in the use of English? In each of these two sentences, the correct meaning intended by the authors is not “wonder,” but “wander.” These two words are homophones, that is, they sound alike but have different meanings. (See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homophone.)

OK, so I’m a word geek!

Bridgewater-Raritan’s Board of Ed. Takes it on the Chin

Last night’s BR-BOE meeting was not merely somber, it was downright sour. The large contingent of citizens who packed one section of the high school cafeteria on Garretson Road did a collectively good job of taking the administration and the board to the woodshed for a public spanking.

The gulf between the BR-BOE/administration and the public has widened. If a plebiscite were put to Bridgewater and Raritan voters now, it would be rejected: This board has, without intending it, ticked off just about everyone who showed up to speak last night.

The change of mood can be traced directly to the failed proposals of March 13 and April 17. The first was for a $17.4 million expansion project, and the second for a total $133 million budget (including debt service of $5.5 million). This new sentiment may also be related to a campaign waged by two of the new board members, partly around dissatisfaction with math and language curriculums. The April election saw all three incumbents swept out of office, and resulted in a cut of $1.6 million to the 2007/2008 budget.

Last night, the chickens came home to roost when twenty-five mostly outraged speakers stepped up to the lectern. Most made a last-ditch appeal to save the jobs of the assistant librarians. Several strode to the mike to make sure that, should the board change its mind, the $ would not come out of athletic programs. Others also made a point of addressing the math and language arts curriculums, issues which were part of the election campaign of freshman board members, Jeffrey Brookner and Jill Gladstone.

It became clear to this observer that the die was cast earlier in the meeting when Jeffrey Brookner, on behalf of the three-person Finance committee, reported to the board that his committee had completed “a comparative analysis of the various alternatives” and, “at a lengthy meeting yesterday,” no changes were recommended. The Board took no further action on the status of the librarian aides.

Note: See Kara L. Richardson’s front page news story of June 13, at http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage. After today, click “News” on the information bar, and then click on “Past Week’s News” on the drop down menu.

Bridgewater-Raritan Committee to Discuss Assistant Librarians

Monday, June 11, the three-person Finance Committee of the BR-BOE meets with the administration to review the status of eight laid-off assistant librarians. These people were cut from the 2007/2008 budget, as part of the $1.6 million reduction to the rejected proposal put before Bridgewater and Raritan voters on April 17.

The committee meeting is unlikely to be a typical one for at least three reasons:

• Feelings on this issue are running very high.
• Rarely is a committee directed by the board to revisit a budget cut recently approved by itself.
• This meeting will test whether or not the committee will stick to the board’s own rules for self-governance – clearly stated in board policy – that an alternate committee member can attend only if one of the three regulars cannot be present. (See my blog of June 6, for the impact of a potential tie-vote.)

Sometimes, a BR-BOE committee will invite one or more people from the public to listen in or to participate. However, Monday’s meeting is expected to be closed. This makes it vital that the rules be followed to a T, including promptly released minutes which accurately reflect deliberations and the recommendation to the full board.

Verizon Comes to Town

There’s a big marketing battle going on in Bridgewater and nearby communities among Verizon, Cablevision, and AT&T. The big prize, especially between Verizon and Cablevision, is to get you to sign up for an all-in-one bundle consisting of your phone, high speed internet, and TV services – all on one bill, all from a single company.

That’s OK, but all of us may not yet be ready; and, when we are, it would be a good thing to know the alternatives, what we are signing up for, and what the rate increase will be at the end of the contract requirement, if any.

Verizon requires a one-year sign-up for its bundled, lowest priced, fiber optic deal. But it does not specify in its ads what happens to the rate at the end of the year. Nor does it disclose the cost of fees, taxes, and box rental, in addition to the promotional price of $94.99 for this entry-level, fiber optic service combination.

For example, in one of its other high speed internet services (DSL), Verizon’s current marketing strategy appears to include locking up new customers for one year with a teaser rate of $14.99 for its low-end (768 Kbps) high speed internet service, if available. See Verizon’s current promotion at http://www.verizon.net/getdslnj34.

Watch out! Legacy Verizon customers are shut out of best rates at renewal time. Make sure that you read the fine print because, once the year is up – as is now the case for customers coming off-contract – the teaser rate jumps up by 47%, to $21.99 month-to-month. If you choose to renew for another year, it’s $19.99, a 33% boost. Should you be satisfied with DSL internet service, but would like to double the speed to 1.5 Mbps, Verizon’s rate increases to $29.99. The company will happily upgrade you to its newer fiber optic technology (FIOS) for $39.99 and provide 5.0 Mbps, contract required.

Confusing, isn’t it? That’s the plan: What Verizon really wants you to do is to drop your DSL internet service and switch over to its new fiber optic offering (FIOS) – this is the big marketing push dictated by Verizon’s pricing, even if you don’t want to go there.

Buyers beware!

(Note: This writer is a Verizon DSL customer.)

Bridgewater-Raritan’s Finance Committee

At the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education meeting of May 22, a large contingent of people were present at the Wade building in Martinsville to support the eight assistant librarians who had been cut from the payroll. As a result of this overwhelming turnout, the board decided to refer the question back to the Finance Committee for a second look.

As discussed in this blog on May 25, the board took this action in good faith and with no promises as to the outcome.

After the conclusion of the Board meeting on May 22, Jeffrey Brookner, chairperson of Finance, asked Cindy Cullen, who is board vice-president and the alternate member of the Finance Committee to attend his committee meeting. That meeting is now scheduled for next Monday, June 11.

Board committees have only three members, with an additional alternate member, in case one of the other three can’t make the meeting. (Lynne Hurley and Christine Schneider are the two regular Finance committee members.)

There is a very sound reason for three-member committees because, obviously, there can never be a tie vote. This is critical, because it assures that a committee recommendation presented to the full board is decisive, even though it may not be unanimous. Thus, the full board can never be presented with a recommendation shrouded in fog, that is, a 2-2 vote.

In a candid telephone conversation this evening, Cindy Cullen and I discussed these concepts; it now looks like next Monday’s Finance Committee meeting will be what it should be, a three-person working dialogue. I sure hope so!

Note: The BR-BOE President is an ex-officio member of all board committees, and has the right and privilege to attend at his discretion. He is not, however, expected to be a regular voting member. Administration representatives attend committee meetings to lend expertise and support, but do not vote.

The Mall Wakes Up

Hours before the official 10:00 a.m. opening of its individual stores, the Bridgewater Commons Mall is a commercial mini-city that slowly awakens each day.

If you get there, as I did early this morning, you’ll find some of the vendors in the food court, dispensing hot coffee and a wide assortment of breakfast treats – cinnamon buns, muffins, bagels, rich pastries and more.

Typical customers are store employees getting fueled up for door-opening; exercise buffs who regularly pace the mall’s three levels; and, a wide variety of other early risers getting an infusion of java, before the day moves into high gear.

Not to be out-maneuvered, there are a few other coffee shops such as Gloria Jean’s and Starbucks, each positioned away from the food court, but in strategic locations to intercept the unwary.

Light breakfast is hardly the only lure. There are other activities that ramp up and then wane before the 10:00 a.m. opening. For example, a group of young moms with their children periodically shows up in inclement weather, to exercise under the tutelage of a leader-coach, on the first level. Also, this morning, I spied a solitary business person, with his PC plugged into a wall outlet, as he sat on a bench, presumably getting his business day in order.

Keeping a high profile, security guards casually patrol all levels; and, exercise walkers inspect store fronts, completing their circuit. As the 10:00 a.m. hour approaches, it’s time to give way to the open stores and their eager shoppers.

The Best Rivalry in Baseball

It’s been a long time since I wound my way along Storrow Drive, parallel to the Charles River, on my way to classes at Northeastern University: One of my best memories is the last leg of that drive, past Boston University, towards Yawkey Way, with Fenway Park to my right, home of the 37 foot-high Green Monster in left field.

Last night, the Yankees took full advantage of that venerable wall to shellac the Red Sox. A check of the current standings in the American League East (see: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp?ymd=20070602) shows the Red Sox in first place, with the best record in baseball – up 12.5 games over the Yankees -- just before game time this afternoon.

However, as any Red Sox fan knows, you shouldn’t count your chips until the dealing’s done. Despite Boston’s current standing, last night’s game at Fenway Park showed only too well what happens when BoSox pitching collapses and Yankee bats wake up and take charge.

It’s going to be a long summer, and no one can predict who is going to be holding the American League Pennant when the last pitch crosses the plate. Anything can happen between these two teams, and the only sure thing is the crazy excitement and loyalty that the fans bring to each of their venerated teams.