Letter: Award-Deserving ‘Just One Pill’ Series Helps Open Dialogue

I want to commend Ronald Scaglia on an excellently written and well researched three-part series “Just One Pill” that appeared in three consecutive editions through May in the Anton Community Newspapers and is available online. As a former journalist and editor, I consider the series representative of excellent journalism and a contender for award recognition. 

Letter: Thanks To Voting Community

On behalf of the Levittown Board of Education, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for the overwhelming support of this year’s budget, passing it by the widest margin in most people’s memory. We thank you for the renewed confidence you have shown to our central office staff, especially our new superintendent, Dr. James Grossane. We thank you for your continued confidence in your board of education. For two years in a row the open seats have been uncontested.

Letter: Thank You For Supporting 2012-13 Island Trees School Budget

Thank you for your continued support of the educational programs in the Island Trees Union Free School District. We are grateful that our residents have continued the tradition of support to the children in our school community.

From the desk of Dr. Charles Murphy: May 17, 2012

I don’t want to go dance anymore…I want to quit lacrosse… I hate music lessons…. Often enough parents hear their children make similar statements. From time to time, our children decide that they want to quit their in-school or after-school activity. There are times when our children are just tired or caught up with another activity and they don’t want to attend at that particular moment. There are also times when our children really don’t want to continue with their extracurricular activities. They’re done.

Letter: The Sun Is Shining; Just Look Out The Window

An April 27th letter to the editor [published in Anton Community Newspapers] authored by Philip H. Smith, president of the United University Professions, leads one to believe that Mr. Smith does not closely follow the topics or institutions about which he writes. In his letter, titled “Let the Sun Shine on SUNY Foundations,” Mr. Smith states that The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (“Research Foundation”) is “largely led by government officials”; that it feels “no...compulsion to share information with the public,” and that it is an organization that “cloak[s] [its] activities in secrecy.”

All three statements are easily refutable and simply untrue. The Research Foundation is not led by government officials. Most importantly it is an organization that over the past year has demonstrated, and has been recognized for, its pledge to accountability and transparency.

Letter: A Letter Of Thanks To Frank Mortillaro

When our [school] family got word last summer that our principal was being replaced, we all felt a sense of loss and apprehension. Now eight months later that feeling has changed dramatically.

Northside Elementary School has been fortunate over this year to have Mr. Frank Mortillaro as our interim principal. A product of Levittown education, he has served our community and our school in a manner that would make any parent, community member or taxpayer proud.

Letter: Senators Should Stand For Our Safety Not Dangerous Political Agenda

New York’s lawmakers and our many leaders outside government have a choice: stand up for public safety, or keep peddling division and fear.

Let’s start with what’s obvious: say “no” to State Senator George Maziarz (R-North Tonowanda) and his bill for a New York-version of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” the one in the middle of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman trial.

Letter: Let The Sun Shine In On SUNY Foundations

You would expect an organization created for public benefit that is largely led by government officials would be obligated to report to the public about its activities. Yet the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) and its many campus foundations are not required to do so and apparently feel no such compulsion to share information with the public. Instead, these organizations often cloak their activities in secrecy.

As president of United University Professions – the union representing academic and professional faculty at SUNY’s state-operated campuses – I think it’s time to let the sun shine in. It’s time to require the SUNY Research Foundation and campus foundations to be held accountable and to be more transparent.

Letter: CAPIT Is A Wonderful Program

(Editor’s Note: The following letter is in response to the article “Island Trees Holds Town Hall Meeting” that appeared in the Friday, April 13, 2012 edition of the Levittown Tribune.)

As a parent in the Island Trees School District, I would like to comment on a recent article “Island Trees Holds Town Hall Meeting,” in your April 13th issue. The section of the article mentioning the students attempting the “cinnamon challenge” seems like an attack at CAPIT (Community Awareness Program of Island Trees) even though that may not have been the original purpose.

Letter: On Profiling

To begin with, I’m white. Not really. Fresh-fallen snow is white and I don’t resemble fresh-fallen snow. Ethnically and/or racially speaking, I’m Norman/Saxon/Celt/Teuton but the U.S. Census worker who arrived at my home in 2010 said there wasn’t enough room on the form for the tribes and peoples with whom I identify myself so she checked-off “white.” Being white, however, doesn’t predispose me towards any favoritism with respect to other people so designated. Quite frankly, there are white people amongst whom I am uncomfortable and, in a few cases, might be tempted to take advantage of Florida’s self-defense laws.