If it’s true that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” then the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education needs to pay attention, because a lot of moms may be planning to show up at tonight’s 8:00 pm board meeting at the Wade Building in Martinsville, and they may have that aphorism in mind.
Their beef is with the reassignment of Van Holten Principal, Roberts Phillips, to the position of vice-principal within the school district. I don’t yet know the particulars of this situation, but the moms seem to have a case for continuity, for insisting on a more open process, and upon having a voice within that process.
For 31 years, Van Holten had a steady hand at the helm, in the person of Principal Ernest Shuba. I knew Ernie well when I was involved in school matters and when I was subsequently elected to the Board. He was respected in that job and brought a steady hand to his responsibilities. He knew how to maintain discipline, scholastic rigor and how to relate to parents.
It shouldn’t be surprising if Van Holten parents are upset at the current situation. This may be a good time for parents to challenge the conventional policy that the Board and Administration have of recusing themselves under the legal umbrella of personnel matters.
None of them is so tightly obliged to remain under that shadowy umbrella. It’s not raining, and there is sunshine out in the open. The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education needs to step out into that light.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Memorable Mothers
Moms are persons that can easily be taken for granted. Decades ago, my own mother embroidered and framed the following words for all the family and visitors to see: “A man works from sun to sun; a woman’s work is never done.” That aphorism delivers a message of deep meaning. Somewhat weathered by the sun, those words now hang on a prominent wall in the laundry room of my daughter’s home in Potomac, Maryland.
Good spot to hang such an adage. It’s a reminder that laundry, although one of the most humble jobs in the lives of most mothers, never really goes away. Even more important, it underscores that mothering goes well beyond the bounds of the laundry room. Moms are an incredible mixture of intelligence, competence, sunshine and, the key ingredient, love.
It’s also a reminder of how many other functions my daughter performs within her community: She comes and goes past that frame, the washer and the dryer, as she completes dozens of family and community commitments, exiting and entering from the back door leading to the garage and the ever-present Honda van.
Oh! How about my own wife and mom, who has done thousands of pounds of laundry during her lifetime for an often Cretan husband who should know better. Thanks, Pris, for all of the washing, drying and ironing. Happy Mother’s Day.
Good spot to hang such an adage. It’s a reminder that laundry, although one of the most humble jobs in the lives of most mothers, never really goes away. Even more important, it underscores that mothering goes well beyond the bounds of the laundry room. Moms are an incredible mixture of intelligence, competence, sunshine and, the key ingredient, love.
It’s also a reminder of how many other functions my daughter performs within her community: She comes and goes past that frame, the washer and the dryer, as she completes dozens of family and community commitments, exiting and entering from the back door leading to the garage and the ever-present Honda van.
Oh! How about my own wife and mom, who has done thousands of pounds of laundry during her lifetime for an often Cretan husband who should know better. Thanks, Pris, for all of the washing, drying and ironing. Happy Mother’s Day.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Hate Pays a Visit
What is the structure of hate? What are its elements? What makes it so pervasive and difficult to stamp out? And what is it that makes the specter of anti-Semitism rise again in Somerset County?
In the early 2000’s, Bridgewater experienced an ugly series of anti-Semitic actions. According to newspaper accounts at the time, a man was indicted for scrawling anti-Semitic graffiti on bleachers surrounding the ball fields at Chimney Rock Park. The same person was also charged with “making telephone calls threatening to harm the former governor, Christie Whitman, and the mayor of Bridgewater, James Dowden.”
The road to tolerance is a long one with many detours along the way. Now, another incident has apparently occurred: In the local section of the Courier News, Michael Deak reports that, “Two 13-year old boys have each been charged with three counts of bias intimidation and harassment.”
In regard to the same topic, Jennifer Golson writes in another local newspaper that two teenagers from the William Annin Middle School in Bernards Township “were charged with bias offenses for allegedly making a series of derogatory phone calls to Jewish families.”
She quotes school Principal Nick Markarian as saying that some eighth-grade students placed “phone calls of a harassing nature” and that he has “counseled” them so that there is no “school-based misconduct.” If the allegations are true, it seems to me that Mr. Markarian may need to review his rather soft statements.
Deak reports that “The principal was ‘extremely disappointed’ about the incidents,” and that, ‘The school emphasizes character development and conducts special programs and daylong events such as Holocaust Day to promote mutual respect.’” Character development begins in the home and is nurtured and developed there. Schools cannot solely impart that characteristic. Educators can only provide information and, most importantly, project a good example through their own personal conduct and integrity.
Mr. Markarian intends to meet with his eighth-graders about this, Deak writes. Sounds OK, but school action involving a broad sweep of the guilt brush over all students doesn’t get to the core of this particular problem. These are highly specific incidents which, if they happened as alleged, require a specific response aimed at those involved.
Mr. Markarian, voluntarily working with the teachers of these two students and, with the full approval and support of their parents, should consider assigning an appropriate community project, followed by a report, to each of the students. Or would that violate the conventions of political correctness?
It is too easy to ignore the import of these alleged incidences. We all know where bias-laden phone calls can lead, how disruptive they can be to the lives of people and, in particular, to Jewish families, whose tradition has endured enough through the ages.
Sources: For the full background stories, see Michael Deak at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS/805080375/1011/NEWS0206, and Jennifer Golson at http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1210221367159820.xml&coll=1. For the Bridgewater archived story, see the New York Times at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/antisemitism/index.html?query=BRIDGEWATER%20(NJ)&field=geo&match=exact
In the early 2000’s, Bridgewater experienced an ugly series of anti-Semitic actions. According to newspaper accounts at the time, a man was indicted for scrawling anti-Semitic graffiti on bleachers surrounding the ball fields at Chimney Rock Park. The same person was also charged with “making telephone calls threatening to harm the former governor, Christie Whitman, and the mayor of Bridgewater, James Dowden.”
The road to tolerance is a long one with many detours along the way. Now, another incident has apparently occurred: In the local section of the Courier News, Michael Deak reports that, “Two 13-year old boys have each been charged with three counts of bias intimidation and harassment.”
In regard to the same topic, Jennifer Golson writes in another local newspaper that two teenagers from the William Annin Middle School in Bernards Township “were charged with bias offenses for allegedly making a series of derogatory phone calls to Jewish families.”
She quotes school Principal Nick Markarian as saying that some eighth-grade students placed “phone calls of a harassing nature” and that he has “counseled” them so that there is no “school-based misconduct.” If the allegations are true, it seems to me that Mr. Markarian may need to review his rather soft statements.
Deak reports that “The principal was ‘extremely disappointed’ about the incidents,” and that, ‘The school emphasizes character development and conducts special programs and daylong events such as Holocaust Day to promote mutual respect.’” Character development begins in the home and is nurtured and developed there. Schools cannot solely impart that characteristic. Educators can only provide information and, most importantly, project a good example through their own personal conduct and integrity.
Mr. Markarian intends to meet with his eighth-graders about this, Deak writes. Sounds OK, but school action involving a broad sweep of the guilt brush over all students doesn’t get to the core of this particular problem. These are highly specific incidents which, if they happened as alleged, require a specific response aimed at those involved.
Mr. Markarian, voluntarily working with the teachers of these two students and, with the full approval and support of their parents, should consider assigning an appropriate community project, followed by a report, to each of the students. Or would that violate the conventions of political correctness?
It is too easy to ignore the import of these alleged incidences. We all know where bias-laden phone calls can lead, how disruptive they can be to the lives of people and, in particular, to Jewish families, whose tradition has endured enough through the ages.
Sources: For the full background stories, see Michael Deak at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS/805080375/1011/NEWS0206, and Jennifer Golson at http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1210221367159820.xml&coll=1. For the Bridgewater archived story, see the New York Times at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/antisemitism/index.html?query=BRIDGEWATER%20(NJ)&field=geo&match=exact
Monday, May 5, 2008
Bridgewater’s New Municipal Complex
There has been more progress on the construction of Bridgewater’s new Municipal Complex at the corner of Garretson Road and Commons Way. It seems that for so many years now, the only new public buildings going up in Bridgewater were schools. Meanwhile, township employees continued to be housed in facilities which they have long since outgrown.
Ironically enough, the current Municipal Building was once itself a school. Bridgewater Township took it over from the school district at a time when it was no longer needed and converted it into an all-offices facility. Police, court, and animal shelter personnel continued to be housed in other structures a few hundred yards to the back of the Municipal Administrative Building.
There is always the question of whether public monies should be spent to construct a new, expanded complex to consolidate and house Bridgewater municipal, police and court employees, at a time when the State of New Jersey can’t figure out where its next buck is coming from, and when the Bridgewater-Raritan school budget keeps rising with no end in sight.
Those concerns, however, don’t minimize the long-overdue need for Bridgewater Township officials to finally have resolved this long outstanding need. I’m looking forward to seeing the results. I hope it’s on time and on budget.
Note: See the architect’s web site at http://www.usaarchitects.com/bridgewater/ for a pictorial depiction of the planned facility.
Ironically enough, the current Municipal Building was once itself a school. Bridgewater Township took it over from the school district at a time when it was no longer needed and converted it into an all-offices facility. Police, court, and animal shelter personnel continued to be housed in other structures a few hundred yards to the back of the Municipal Administrative Building.
There is always the question of whether public monies should be spent to construct a new, expanded complex to consolidate and house Bridgewater municipal, police and court employees, at a time when the State of New Jersey can’t figure out where its next buck is coming from, and when the Bridgewater-Raritan school budget keeps rising with no end in sight.
Those concerns, however, don’t minimize the long-overdue need for Bridgewater Township officials to finally have resolved this long outstanding need. I’m looking forward to seeing the results. I hope it’s on time and on budget.
Note: See the architect’s web site at http://www.usaarchitects.com/bridgewater/ for a pictorial depiction of the planned facility.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Hold the Phone!
It looks like Verizon and Embarq want you to pay a lot more for your local telephone service. These firms want to get there by completely deregulating local telephone service in New Jersey.
Baloney! There is no solid business case for deregulating basic local service in this state. Verizon is getting a sound return on investment for that service. Take a look at your local telephone bill. The charge for flat rate unlimited service is $8.95 monthly – that’s the fee which Verizon wants to raise on you. Sounds cheap, doesn’t it?
Let’s take a closer look. The next line item on that very same bill is $6.29 for something called “Federal Subscriber Line Charge.” That levy represents a now-obsolete charge which should have been eliminated years ago. It is a monthly gift to Verizon which no longer has any economic validity for being imposed upon customers.
In 1984, when the Bell System was broken up, the local telephone companies convinced a federal court which administered the breakup that it would be losing money. This would happen, the Baby Bells lobbied, because the subsidy formerly being provided to the local Bell companies by the Bell System’s Long Distance Division would go away. Before the breakup, the Bell System guaranteed universal telephone service and low rates for retail consumers. The cost for this guarantee was borne on the backs of long distance customers and businesses in the form of higher telephone rates on those services.
The federal court which, under the strong hand of Judge Greene, administered the consent decree, decided to impose a “Subscriber Line Charge” on your telephone bill. A similar and equal charge was also imposed on AT&T, which built it into its rates and transferred the money to each of the local Baby Bells. Those two charges were to compensate the Baby Bells for any losses they would incur as a result of the breakup.
Only one problem with this: the “Federal Subscriber Line Charge” no longer has any reason for its existence because now, Verizon owns the whole kit and caboodle. It has a seamless network from beginning to end, and therefore, there is no logical business reason for this now-undeserved subsidy to continue. Verizon owns not only the local network, but also the long distance network, having purchased and integrated MCI into its operations.
The local telephone network is paid for. It is now a legacy cost which demands only maintenance, not huge investment. New Jersey is what is known in the business as a “dense” telephone state: This means that the cost of delivering local telephone service is one of the cheapest if not, indeed, the very cheapest in all of the U.S., because households are not widely spread out as, for example, they are in large, sparsely populated states such as Montana and Wyoming.
Verizon’s strategy of raising local rates is clear to anyone who understands the telecommunications business. By raising basic local rates through deregulation, Verizon hopes to push residential customers onto its new fiber-optic network and its widely advertized three-tier, one-bill package of local/long distance phone, internet, and TV service. Increasing basic rates is also intended to subsidize the rollout of these new services.
A state and consumer coalition claims that deregulation would raise local rates from $9 to $30 monthly. There is no reason to doubt that statement. I hope that those who sit on New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities understand this stuff and have the best welfare of New Jersey consumers in mind. What the BPU should be concentrating on is putting pressure on the Feds to eliminate the no longer justified “Federal Subscriber Line Charge,” not deregulating local phone service.
Note: For an excellent Gannett State Bureau news report on this matter, see www.mycentraljersey.com under “state” athttp://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B3/20080502/NEWS0301/805020498/1067/STATE, or on page 3 of Friday’s May 2, 2008, print edition.
Baloney! There is no solid business case for deregulating basic local service in this state. Verizon is getting a sound return on investment for that service. Take a look at your local telephone bill. The charge for flat rate unlimited service is $8.95 monthly – that’s the fee which Verizon wants to raise on you. Sounds cheap, doesn’t it?
Let’s take a closer look. The next line item on that very same bill is $6.29 for something called “Federal Subscriber Line Charge.” That levy represents a now-obsolete charge which should have been eliminated years ago. It is a monthly gift to Verizon which no longer has any economic validity for being imposed upon customers.
In 1984, when the Bell System was broken up, the local telephone companies convinced a federal court which administered the breakup that it would be losing money. This would happen, the Baby Bells lobbied, because the subsidy formerly being provided to the local Bell companies by the Bell System’s Long Distance Division would go away. Before the breakup, the Bell System guaranteed universal telephone service and low rates for retail consumers. The cost for this guarantee was borne on the backs of long distance customers and businesses in the form of higher telephone rates on those services.
The federal court which, under the strong hand of Judge Greene, administered the consent decree, decided to impose a “Subscriber Line Charge” on your telephone bill. A similar and equal charge was also imposed on AT&T, which built it into its rates and transferred the money to each of the local Baby Bells. Those two charges were to compensate the Baby Bells for any losses they would incur as a result of the breakup.
Only one problem with this: the “Federal Subscriber Line Charge” no longer has any reason for its existence because now, Verizon owns the whole kit and caboodle. It has a seamless network from beginning to end, and therefore, there is no logical business reason for this now-undeserved subsidy to continue. Verizon owns not only the local network, but also the long distance network, having purchased and integrated MCI into its operations.
The local telephone network is paid for. It is now a legacy cost which demands only maintenance, not huge investment. New Jersey is what is known in the business as a “dense” telephone state: This means that the cost of delivering local telephone service is one of the cheapest if not, indeed, the very cheapest in all of the U.S., because households are not widely spread out as, for example, they are in large, sparsely populated states such as Montana and Wyoming.
Verizon’s strategy of raising local rates is clear to anyone who understands the telecommunications business. By raising basic local rates through deregulation, Verizon hopes to push residential customers onto its new fiber-optic network and its widely advertized three-tier, one-bill package of local/long distance phone, internet, and TV service. Increasing basic rates is also intended to subsidize the rollout of these new services.
A state and consumer coalition claims that deregulation would raise local rates from $9 to $30 monthly. There is no reason to doubt that statement. I hope that those who sit on New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities understand this stuff and have the best welfare of New Jersey consumers in mind. What the BPU should be concentrating on is putting pressure on the Feds to eliminate the no longer justified “Federal Subscriber Line Charge,” not deregulating local phone service.
Note: For an excellent Gannett State Bureau news report on this matter, see www.mycentraljersey.com under “state” athttp://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B3/20080502/NEWS0301/805020498/1067/STATE, or on page 3 of Friday’s May 2, 2008, print edition.
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