Here are recent "Letters to the Editor" of "North Country This Week." Letters should be 400 words or fewer and are subject to editing. They can be e-mailed to Letters@NorthCountryNow.com, faxed to 268-8701, mailed to P.O. Box 975, Potsdam, NY 13676 or dropped off at our office, 19 Depot St., Potsdam.
Groups’ stats unworthy of use in abortion debate
To the Editor:
Sometimes, though we feel strongly about an issue, we should stop ourselves from speaking out if we risk misinforming the audience.
I think that’s happening in the ongoing debate about abortion in this paper’s letters (“Logic Dismantles Legal Abortion Argument,” Dec. 23-29). The American Rights Coalition, for one, seems to be a nonentity. I tried to check their facts first by going to their website, but they don’t have one. I’d like to know how an organization describes itself before I trust statistics they produce.
Then there are the groups Life Dynamics and Hayes Publishing Co. Life Dynamics’ website calls the organization “Pro-life without compromise, without exception, without apology.” Hayes says it produces “the finest quality pro-life literature available.”
You think these institutions put out fair data? They have no incentive to do that. They’ve each built businesses on producing data to support the life side of the abortion issue. When data comes out that would indicate legalized abortion benefits the nation -- maybe numbers that said maternal deaths went down, for example -- they’d overlook it. Use numbers from a disinterested party, not a group that makes money from the continuing debate.
Guttmacher Institute isn’t an interested party, but some of their research methods raise questions.
Their October 2009 report “Abortion Worldwide” makes the estimate that 70,000 women around the world die because of unsafe abortions, as previous letters to the paper have quoted, but they reached that estimate by interviewing local health professionals in each nation. The report doesn’t say how many professionals in each nation were interviewed or what criteria were used to indicate each person was knowledgeable or disinterested.
As far as the citation from the National Center for Health Statistics that there were about 250 deaths per year from abortions, I couldn’t find those numbers in their archives. Don’t just use it because Hayes said it. Give the exact publication next time. Think about where you’re getting your statistics.
Oh, and Mr. Streu, do you generally size up opponents for their moral credibility? That’s not yours to judge.
If you really want to lower the number of abortions, safe or unsafe, help out the Potsdam Catholic Church’s Gabriel Project. They could use it.
Alexander Brehm
Potsdam
St. Lawrence County can’t absorb state ‘cuts’
To the Editor:
As Governor Patterson reveals his two-year $5 billion savings plan, there is a lot of concern on the county level to see if this plan truly consists of budget cuts.
Several items being discussed in this plan shift the costs to the counties rather than eliminate them.
Any additional unfunded mandates would place a heavy strain on an already unstable St. Lawrence County budget.
St. Lawrence County is facing difficult fiscal times. The county Legislature was forced to make several cuts to the budget recently, including eliminating several positions.
And even after theses cuts, it is estimated that the county will start the 2010 fiscal year with a deficit between $4 million and $6 million.
It is crucial that Go. Patterson and the state Legislature do what is necessary to cut costs and reduce spending; however, shifting costs to the county level is not the answer.
With a decreasing tax revenue, an increasing unemployment rate that is placing additional burdens on county services, and a budget that will start out in the red, the county is in no position to absorb additional costs from a fiscally irresponsible state government.
Matthew J. Flynn II
Canton
Library grateful for 3D Digital Design class
To the Editor:
The Board of Trustees for the Potsdam Public Library would like to publicly acknowledge the hard work and creativity shown by the Clarkson students in Professor David Beck’s 3D Digital Design Class this semester.
The students: Duncan Fowler, Wesley Gonzales, Andrea Morabito, Lauren Mullen, Natalie Underwood and Robert Trerice did a remarkable job of combining conceptual ideas and real-world applications to provide the Potsdam Library and community with a virtual renovation of our space. It was very exciting for the library to be the recipient of the great ideas of these talented students under the guidance of Dr. Beck.
The quality of the work was superior and obviously represented a significant amount of time and consideration of the space, its history and the use requirements on the part of the students. We truly appreciate the design ideas, the effort and the sense of community that these students and Professor Beck have shown.
Please accept our thanks and know that you have given us something to dream about and strive for as we go into the future. Again, we thank you.
Jane LaVigne
Potsdam Public Library Trustee
9/11 could not have been Bush plan
To the Editor:
I am a Massena resident who was living and working in New York City on 9/11/2001. My office on 37th Street in Manhattan was about three miles away from where the towers fell.
I will never forget that day. My boss’s brother, who was an arson investigator for the New York City Fire Department, had his vehicle landed on by one of the jumpers from the towers. He lost a lot of buddies that day, and retired from the department shortly thereafter as a result.
Myself, I was able to get out on a ferry to the New Jersey side after some time. The image permanently impressed in my mind is glancing over my shoulder from the ferry and seeing that awful, huge plume of smoke hovering over lower Manhattan. Awful day. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
To those who think that the Bush Administration is somehow complicit or involved in the 9/11 attacks (“Call For New 9/11 Investigation,” Dec. 9-15), I can state unequivocally that they were not, and for one simple reason. Unlike each and every other effort and endeavor by the Bush Administration, sadly, 9/11 actually worked.
Leland Farnsworth
Massena
An open letter to President Obama
To the Editor:
We congratulate you on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Please honor what it stands for. Please. Listen to Ambassador Eikenberry, not Generals Petraeus and McChrystal. Do not send more troops to Afghanistan.
We sympathize with the trap in which you find yourself. President Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander, called it, and U.S. Presidents are bound into it sill -- worse today than ever. The Military-Industrial-Congressional complex has so unbalanced our economy that cutting military spending could well shaft what’s left of it. Major and very wise intervention will be needed to unravel the ways war, economy and environment are entangled.
Your current advisors, like doctors, are equipped to think through specific concerns: health, finance, deployment of troops, environment, etc. They aren’t equipped to connect the dots. That’s a president’s job. Please halt what’s shaping up to be a state of permanent state of war. Please then launch the massive exchange of ideas across all borders necessary to halt climate change.
Our environment teeters on the edge of a tipping point. A handful of first-world states remain holdouts against binding negotiations. The U.S. tops the list. We can count on maybe 50 years.
You can count on three years. If in that time you commit our government to these efforts, you’ll have earned every prize there is.
Margaret Weitzmann and
members of Northern NY
Vets for Peace
‘We should be ashamed and infuriated’
To the Editor:
In every industrialized Western democracy in the world, children, rich or poor, get a basic education. In every such country a person charged with a crime can get a trial by a jury of peers and have legal representation.
These are basic human rights. In our current debate about health care the American people and our politicians have yet to answer a fundamental question – should basic health care be a human right?
In every industrialized Western democracy in the world except one (the United States), every citizen is guaranteed basic health care. This is considered a human right in all other Western countries. In no Western democracy do hard-working families end up in financial ruin because of a health problem. In the U.S., 700,000 people each year declare bankruptcy because of health care costs.
In no other Western country can people unfortunate enough to lose their jobs also face losing their health insurance. In none of these countries is one denied health insurance when one needs it most. In the U.S., approximately 20,000 people each year die from treatable illnesses because they can’t afford the necessary drugs or tests. We should be embarrassed that we tolerate these inequities.
The vast majority of other Western democracies do not have socialized medicine. They use private doctors and insurance companies. While the United States spends about one-sixth of its economy on health care, these other countries spend about half of that amount with consistently better outcomes.
These countries all have universal health insurance for their citizens, with no one denied basic coverage. They do this by mandating health insurance for all, and not allowing insurance companies to profit from basic health care packages.
Premiums go to provide health care, not profits for share-holders. Insurance companies in these countries still compete for customers and make profits on insurance that goes beyond the basics. Surely, we can do this for our citizens if the health of Americans is more important to our politicians than partisan politics.
We should be ashamed and infuriated that a country as rich as ours does not provide basic health care for all its citizens.
Rita Goldberg, modern languages and literatures (Spanish)
John Green, biology
Dotty Hall, sport and leisure
studies/athletics
David Lloyd, history/
African studies
Celia Nyamweru, anthropology/African studies
Alan Schwartz, environmental studies
Chanchal Singh, mathematics
Robert Wells, government
The authors are retired
St. Lawrence University faculty.
At least one person dies with every abortion
To the Editor:
To the person who wrote that the Guttmacher Institute recently said that “70,000 women lose their lives annually due to unsafe abortion” worldwide (“Legal Abortion Saves Lives,” Sound Off, Dec. 16-22), let me reply that obviously all abortions are unsafe, as at least one person dies (unborn child) and the mother still can die (Life Dynamics has documented 347 deaths).
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, after penicillin, the number of deaths from abortion in the 1950s in the U.S, was about 250 per year. By 1966 when abortion was still illegal, deaths were about half that number. In 1972, the year before abortion was legalized nationwide, only 39 women died – fewer than one per state (“Abortion: Questions & Answers,” 2003, Hayes Publishing Co., Cincinnati).
Life is always the only choice.
Chris LaRose
North Lawrence
Logic dismantles legal abortion argument
To the Editor:
The writer of the Sound Off titled “Legal Abortion Saves Lives” (Dec. 16-22) makes several critical errors in logic as he or she exhorts pro-life individuals to consider the 70,000 women around the globe who die from botched abortions.
First, the writer of the Sound Off would have us believe that 70,000 women lose their lives to anti-abortion laws. This is demonstrably false. What goes unspoken here is that some of those 70,000 deaths cited occur within developed regions where abortion is legal and largely unrestricted. Others occurred where abortion is legal, but the areas where they were performed do not have access to safer, more sterile methods. And, in the United States, arguably the best equipped to handle abortion surgery, over 200 American women die every year at the hands of licensed, legal abortion doctors, according to the American Rights Coalition. The year prior to Roe v. Wade, around 39 women died in “back-alley” abortions here in the United States.
Second, let’s address the simple absurdity of the logic here: Without safe and legal abortions, women risk death in a back alley. This, of course, leaves out the possibility of simply making the choice to not have an abortion. Personally, my life would be a lot easier if I had more money. I have mouths to feed and bills to pay. And yet, I am denied the ability to rob a bank by the laws of the land. Certainly, I could still choose to rob a bank. Many do -- and often land in a jail or the morgue.
Certainly, we could save those lives, if we but legalized the taking of money that we didn’t earn. Strangely, though society sees fit to deny a life based largely upon economic issues or convenience, they are still hesitant about allowing somebody the “right” to take what somebody else has earned (we’ll save taxation and “entitlement” programs for another letter).
Of course, the writer also ignores the millions of lives destroyed by “safe, legal” abortions: those of the aborted infants. Children who fit every scientific criteria for life, and are undoubtedly human. The writer of the Sound Off would like to ignore the pure and simple fact that abortion is the extinguishing of human life.
Millions of human lives, in fact, snuffed out, safely and legally. And as long as this ignorance persists, you do not have the moral credibility with which to argue for the lives of 70,000 people who, ultimately, at least got to make a choice.
Thank you.
Randy Streu, Norfolk
PCS teachers, support staff ‘getting the job done’
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to the Sound Off “Teachers: Share With CSEA” (Dec. 9-15).
First of all, this was posted before the informational picket, so it leads me to believe that whoever composed this unsigned letter was someone who was privy to this information. Furthermore, it is not CSEA’s job to “talk” to the teachers’ union. We are two separate units with different issues when it comes to our contracts.
What really annoyed me about this was actually the last sentence in which the writer states, “...instead of creating an adversarial work environment.” This person obviously does not know how well the teachers and support staff work together at Potsdam Central. We are friends and colleagues who support each other. There is no hostility or opposition when it comes to working together and getting the job done.
Instead of the writer trying to drive a wedge between teachers and support staff, maybe the writer should consider the adversarial relationship that the district is creating with its staff.
Trudy White, President CSEA Unit 8421
Recommends massage as Christmas gift
To the Editor:
If you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift idea for those busy people in your life, consider the gift of a massage by Valerie Summer.
Whether it’s a half hour or a full hour, it’s a very special treat. Valerie sets the tone with music, soft lighting, candles and a fire in the fireplace. She’s located in the back of the Nature’s Storehouse in Canton.
As a 48-year-old runner, my feet often feel tweaks of discomfort. After a massage, I have no aches for days! Valerie’s massages are a selfish indulgence that I thoroughly enjoy.
It’s total relaxation that lasts. Pamper yourself or someone you know with a gift certificate.
Anne Carberry
Canton
Appreciates new ‘Fish & Game’ page
To the Editor:
Well....welcome to the North Country where the biggest sporting and family activity is hunting.
I am sorry you feel so displeased by the recent addition that NorthCountryNow.com has added for all of us to display our recent harvests (“Game Photos in Poor Taste,” Sound Off, Dec. 2-8).
I for one, check it weekly to see what everyone else has harvested and am thrilled that the paper decided to run with it...whooo raaay for NorthCountryNow.
I say let’s show our appreciation to NorthCountryNow by sending any and all hunting photos of harvest here in the North Country.
I understand that hunting is not for everyone and as the paper stated, if you don’t want to view it., don’t click on that link. Oh, by the way, I hope you spelled my name right when you notified the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
I am owner of the New York Sportsmen and New York Hunter and a strong supporter of the efforts made by DEC!
Eric Edie
Hermon
Thanksgiving was a little better for many
To the Editor:
Christmas is rushing at us but before we let go entirely of Thanksgiving 2009, appreciation should be expressed to people who made a turkey dinner with all the trimmings possible for over 100 Potsdam families.
Ben Pykles and Rich Tenace of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could not have been more gracious. They shared their faith home so food could be stored, sorted, distributed and delivered.
Bonnie Kellogg, counselor at Potsdam Middle School and Potsdam High School, and Phil Foisey, advisor of the high school Student Council, along with Carla Ingram, the Kiwanis Key Club coordinator, organized the students into shifts who spent a day in a grocery store, asking people to give from their plenty to those who were without.
Boy Scout Troop 77 and some of their parents, along with Joanne Swift, donated time sorting potatoes and apples into give-away-sized bags. I’m sure they were relieved they didn’t have to peel them all.
Big M, P&C, Save-A-Lot, Walmart and Walgreens answered our call for help and not only welcomed students collecting food but shared graciously of time and treasure.
An additional thank you to middle school teacher Tommy McGowan, who requires public service as part of his social studies course. Two of his students were part of the effort.
Boxes of food and large turkeys could not have been received by those who are homebound without transportation, if it wasn’t for the generosity of the Lions Club members. Thank you guys for driving and delivering. And many thanks to Molly Morgan and Marie Bullard for manning the sign-in desk.
Finally, we mist thank the community of Potsdam as well as the parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church for their generosity of purse and presence. If you helped a little, or a lot, and do not see your name here, please know there are just too many to list, but be assured, Our Lord knows who you are and is undoubtedly grateful.
And Santa has you on his “nice” list.
The Members of the Service Committee of St. Mary’s
Catholic Church
Call for new 9/11 investigation
To the Editor:
Suppose that the “War on Terror” is not really about terrorism, but control of oil reserves. And suppose that the government has misled Americans about the events of 9/11 so that they will be willing to endure a prolonged conflict with an exorbitant price tag. Over the past eight years an extensive amount of factual evidence has been accumulated suggesting that this may be the case. We need a new, open, transparent investigation of 9/11.
The 9/11 Commission was under control of the Bush Administration and even some of the commissioners have stated that it was flawed. NYCCAN is a group of family members, first responders and others in New York City who are attempting to put a referendum on the ballot this November. They have collected the required number of signatures. If passed by voters it would create a citizen panel with subpoena power to investigate 9/11.
If you believe that there are still too many unanswered questions about 9/11 please go to their web site NYCCAN.org and support them. Thank you.
Laura Potts
Norwood
Sleepy town syndrome’ could lead to tragedy
To the Editor:
Living in the North Country has the wonderful advantage of feeling safe in a small town setting. Many folks I know do not lock their doors in their cars or their homes.
This sense of safety does lend to a “sleepy town syndrome” that I believe is unwise in these days. I am astounded at the number of children and college students I see walking or biking alone everywhere I go.
With the news of frequent abductions, I believe folks in the North Country need a wake up call regarding safety for our children. No child should be traveling alone in this age of criminality and perversion. I wish it weren’t so. I am a positive person, who does not focus on the current horrors in the news. But I am also a realist and a mother who loves children.
Parents, please make arrangements for your children so that they are not walking alone. These are days to ask for help from neighbors, family and friends. If necessary, schedules and priorities need to be rearranged. There may be times where they need to stay and play at home. But isn’t your child’s life worth it? College students should jog/walk in pairs. I often see young women jogging alone at night near the quarry on Route 56 in Potsdam.
I pray for them, but know this is risky behavior. We are not immune from the types of tragedies we see in the news. Don’t wait until it happens here to set wise boundary lines for yourselves and those you love.
Mary Buchanan
Potsdam
Did not agree to be plaintff in Hammond wind law suit, but named anyway
To the Editor:
We were very upset when we read the article about the Injunction filed by CROH concerning the recently passed Wind Law. We were listed as plantiffs in the article. We want to set things straight. We did not agree and we were not told we were going to be named as plaintiffs. We are on the injunction without being asked or told what it was about.
We were asked if they could use our names on CROH paperwork, nothing said about being a plaintiff. We thought we would just be listed as residents being affected by the law along with CROH. We thought it was CROH's complaint but they aren't even listed on it.We wouldn't have agreed if we had known that.
CROH always say they are fair and up front but they weren't with us.They didn't give us all the facts before we agreed to have our names used, not for the injunction, but just as residents affected by the newly passed wind law.
We just want to set the record straight.
Jim Brown
Hammond
Potsdam woman reminds: let’s keep Christ in Christmas this year
To the Editor:
I am dismayed as I read articles in the news relating to events that take place in our country during the months of November and December. The reason for my dismay is, with few exceptions, these articles are about various and sundry events happening and offered for everyone’s enjoyment during the “holiday season.”
Of course this season does exist to celebrate a “holiday,” so to speak. However, this season exists for one reason...to celebrate the birth of Christ. Around the birth of Christ the world has developed a “holiday” season to accommodate others who have different beliefs.
I realize that the population of this country is comprised of people who have many and various creeds and beliefs. However, if the entire country celebrates this season, and for the most part they do, (i.e. ‘black Friday’) then I believe we need to recognize why we are celebrating it! We celebrate Christmas because it is the birth of Christ. If a person is not Christian and does not practice the Christian faith, then I would not expect them to recognize this season. However, if one is a Christian and believes in this season as the celebration of the birth of Christ, then why do we have to hide our faith under a bushel basket to appease other beliefs? If this is not your belief, fine. However, do not inhibit my right to believe and to proclaim this by celebrating Christmas and recognizing this season as Christmas not as a “holiday”.
When I see an article about students performing “Christmas” music in the mall and the article refers to this as “holiday” music, I find this very disturbing. The only reason we sing, play, listen, and/or perform this music is because it is Christmas. The music reflects this...just listen to and/or read the words. And, Santa Claus is not some jolly old elf who just happens to reside at the North Pole and flies around madly on Christmas Eve delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls – he actually has a Christian heritage which is, the tradition of Santa Claus evolved from the original St. Nicholas – who was a person, and who was a Christian.
So I implore to the media, state officials, U.S. government, education administrators, do not hid behind the Constitutional amendment of separation of church and state. This is not what is happening – the USA is turning its back on “in God we Trust”, and in later years the addition to our Pledge...”one nation, under God, indivisible...” We cannot disown our heritage, and many of us are very proud of our heritage. Thus, to make us feel we are “politically incorrect” if we wish someone a “Merry Christmas”, is demeaning and unfair.
If one does not want to celebrate Christmas, so be it...but do not take this celebration of Christ’s birth away from those of us who do want to celebrate Christ-mass!
A Blessed and Merry Christmas
Karen Morgan, Norwood
Remember what holidays really mean
To the Editor:
All over America people are wringing their hands about escalating the war in Afghanistan, a move that polls have shown the majority of us don’t want. Peace organizations are protesting. Code Pink blocked the White House email with anti-war messages. Petitions ask Congress not to fund the war. And I doubt that any of it will get heard in Washington.
Last night I could not sleep thinking about how invisible we’ve become. I, like many of you, have lost my job, count my pennies on unemployment, and have no health insurance. I’m no longer proud to say I’m an American. In the last year, we’ve let the insurance industry snooker us on health care reform, Wall Street grab billions of our tax dollars, and the Pentagon take the rest for perpetual war. But one thing is becoming crystal clear out here on Main Street. Only those with the most money can talk to the government we have elected.
I woke up early this morning with a new idea about who has the most money. There are 300 million of us and more than half claim to be against this war. Will Obama’s move to send in more troops finally awaken a sleeping giant with a deadly weapon in its wallet?
What if we did not play the Good Consumer role they project for us this season and declare instead a Holiday Shopping Strike. What if we simply did not buy gifts and returned the ones we’ve already bought? With help of the Internet, we could create an instant movement that will shake the halls of Congress and the corporate offices with a message they can’t afford to avoid?
Every one of us hates the unsustainable commercial hoax the holidays have become. Each year we grumble and swear that next year we’re going to get into the holiday spirit and make gifts, instead of running down to Target or Wal-Mart or Toys-R-Us. Well folks, the time has come to stop shopping!
I can hear many of you worrying about disappointment on Christmas morning, or the injury we might do to local stores. Yes, there may be some collateral damage. But can we afford not to act? Sit down today and talk with the family about what peace really means to all of us. Talk about Iraq and Afghanistan and American militarism. Talk about drones killing civilians, and imagine what life is like for the kids in war zones. Talk about the defeat in Vietnam if you’re old enough. Then go to your library or bookstore and get a Make Your Own Holiday book. Engage everyone in the family to create the best and most memorable homemade holiday ever.
I know. You don’t have time. Stay up late if you have to, or give up some television programs. Knit scarves or mittens. Make ornaments or simple toys. Bake something. Get together a calendar with photos. Give a kitten from the shelter. If you must buy a gift, buy it from local artisans at local stores or craft bazaars. Or tag sale and give recycled gifts. Have the kids make drawings for Grandma and frame them. A gift certificate for a massage, or membership in the gym or what about an I.O.U. for a day of work? Give the gift of the family helping to serve a holiday dinner to those less fortunate at your church or shelter, or a contribution to a worthy organization in someone’s name, or money to help the children hurt by our wars. And this is just the beginning of possible holiday creativity.
Obama, the Pentagon, Congress, the corporations, and the military-industrial complex are betting that Americans will grumble for a week about the war, and then swing into holiday cheer and forget. But we can prove them wrong this time. Let’s join together to each do something this month that will send a clear message to those who think they control us that we intend to have the peaceful change we voted for now—or else. And in the process we will be benefiting ourselves and everyone around us.
I proclaim this December national Holiday Stop Shopping Month, and predict that if enough of you join in, we will be heard. We don’t need to organize anything, but each of us needs to act with lightening speed. Pass the idea along to everyone you know today, and give the gift of peace!
If you want a copy of this idea to forward to people over email, please contact me at peagreen@earthlink.net
Patricia Greene, Canton
Hopkinton Food Pantry succeeds with help
To the Editor:
Hopkinton Food Pantry would like to thank all who donate goods and services to our pantry. You help make us successful. The November pantry was the biggest ever!
We rely entirely upon donations, so please remember us this winter. You may contact Georgia Macy 328-4168 or Mary Converse 328-4681 for more info. We accept monetary donations, food, non-food items, clothes, bedding, books, toys. We can pick up, if you have many items.
Thank you for your support.
Georgia and Mary, Hopkinton Food Pantry
BOCES Teens: thanks for apple pies for those in need
To the Editor:
Hats off to Mr. and Mrs. Carr at Brookdale Orchards for their donation of 55 bushels of apples and the Culinary Arts class at BOCES Seaway Tech for picking, peeling, and slicing those apples, and baking 380 apple streusel pies for families in need for their Thanksgiving gift baskets.
I’m sure those individuals who received and enjoyed the pies are grateful. We all too often hear of the trouble caused and bad things that teenagers do, and not nearly enough of the good they do. You should all be very proud of yourselves. It warms the heart to know there are still caring people in this world.
Barbara Royce, St. Regis Falls
Hospice thanks ‘Radiothon’ team for successful day
To the Editor:
For fans of local radio, the DJs’ voices were as familiar as their morning commute, but hearing them all together was something new. Andy Van Duyn, John “Stolf” Astolfi and Sandy Cook, who together have over 100 years of experience behind the microphone, spoke in one voice on behalf of Hospice patients around St. Lawrence County and rallied hundreds to give their support.
The first St. Lawrence County Radio Broadcasters’ Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley Radiothon on Nov. 10 was a huge success as donors contributed nearly $20,000.
The leadership of three broadcasting companies, Jim Leven and Bryan Mallette of Community Broadcasters, Derry Loucks of St. Lawrence Radio, and Michael Guimond of Stephens Media, worked with Hospice staff for several months to plan the event. The Radiothon was simulcast live for six hours from the Hospice Center in Potsdam over six stations: WGIX 95.3, WQTK 92.7, WSLB 1400, WMSA 1340, WPDM 1470 and WSNN 99.3.
I wish to thank the local businesses that made Radiothon gifts. Thanks as well to the following people who appeared on the air to talk about Hospice care from their perspectives: school superintendents Patrick Brady, Elizabeth Kirnie and Steven Putnam; SUNY Canton President Joseph Kennedy and his wife, Dine Kennedy, Hospice Board Member; Roger Wilmart; Canton Mayor Charlotte Ramsay; musician Scott Shipley; Rev. John Kashoreck; ‘Holler for Hospice’ organizer Julie Catling; SUNY Canton ‘Paper Angel’ fundraiser student organizers Javon Joslyn and Jennifer Bernadotte; Hospice Board Members Frank McLaughlin and Ed Gordon; Hospice volunteer Ada Santaferra; and Hospice staff Dr. Sandy McCloy, Jennifer Brailsford, Mac Shoen, Bonnie Spears, Sue Cappione, Mary Jones, Brad Catling and Rev. Rob Schirmer.
Thanks also to the many staff and volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make the Radiothon run smoothly. Answering phones and taking care of countless other tasks were volunteers Laura Barry, Pat Strader, Jane Sevey, (Radio) Bob Sauter, Gail Bisonette, Joyce Dewey, Pam and Steve Barclay and Cynthia Wells; Hospice Board Members Kathy Wyckoff, Helen Hutchinson, Maggie Park and Ed Gordon; and Hospice staff Judy Corbett, Carol Hughes, Jenn Lalonde and Maureen Farina. Special thanks also to Sandy Demarest for helping plan the event and being there for us on the big day.
Finally, I wish to thank all the businesses who provided their products for our prize baskets. And congratulations to the prize winners: Amanda Schick, John Clemmo, Sloan Construction, Dave LaBaff, Janet Favro, William Baxter and Bailey’s Florist.
What a boost for hospice care in St. Lawrence County. Thanks everybody!
Brian Gardam, Executive Director
Hospice and Palliative Care of St. Lawrence Valley
Spay/Neuter/Now founder to be at Potsdam Agway
To the Editor:
A million thanks to Darryl at Potsdam Agway for again hosting Santa Paws, a fund raising event for Spay/Neuter/Now (SNN), a non-profit North Country organization helping animals, people and communities.
Santa encourages you to bring your pet, your kids or the whole family and have a holiday picture taken while helping the animals Dec. 5. Spay/Neuter/Now offers assistance with the cost of spaying or neutering companion animals in a mobile clinic as well as through a voucher program.
Spay/Neuter/Now is not subsidized. Funding comes strictly from fund raising events and donations.
Looking forward to greeting you Dec. 5 at Potsdam Agway. Thank you.
Bea Schermerhorn, Founder, Spay/Neuter/Now
Please support food pantries
To the Editor:
We would like to help those in need.
If you are unsure of who to call, please notify Georgia at 328-4168 or Mary at 328-4681.
We will try to give you contact numbers for your area. Thank you for your support.
Georgia and Mary
Hopkinton Food Pantry directors.
CC&CP thanks collectors, donors to food pantry
To the Editor:
Thank you, on behalf of the low-income recipients of the food collected by SUNY Canton Habitat for Humanity at their “Stuff the Truck” collection at the P&C on Nov. 13 and also to Canton High School Booster Club during their recent food drive.
To those who donated food, please be assured it will be put to good use. Seven baskets of food and gifts were collected. The Church and Community Program especially appreciates JoAnne Fassinger’s delivery of the two truckloads of food.
Food pantry stocks run low at this time of year, and this food will be put to good use serving the low income families in our area.
Shari L. Wilcox, Director
Church Community Program
Salvation Army Canton Service Unit Representative
Players thank sponsors for July NYC hockey trip
To the Editor:
We would like to thank all of our sponsors for our New York City hockey tournament this past summer. It was cool as brothers, playing on the same team in New York competing with teams from as far away as China.
Our team did well considering we had never played together.
Our whole team was Canadians except us and one other American. Pro-Hockey development is the organization which did the recruiting and it was our responsibility to raise money through sponsorships for the tournament if we decided to go and play in the tournament with the team.
We looked to local friends and family to help, and indeed they helped us out! We had sponsors from individuals as well as local organizations, family members, local friends and teachers.
Both of us thank you for all your sponsors and hope we represented you well in New York City.
Jordan and JD Greenway
Canton
Increase in bus fare would impact rider
To the Editor:
I was concerned to read recently in the paper that the St. Lawrence County
legislators will be increasing bus fares. The bus fares now are $1.50 one
way, but there was a suggestion made to raise the fare to $2. One legislator
wants to see it increased to $3.
I currently take the bus four days a week for a total of eight trips—one of
the days I work on my online college courses and three of the days I work in
Canton through the St. Lawrence County Office for the Aging, which limits me
to working 20 hours a week.
I can’t get a second job or I would not beeligible for the program.
Increases in the bus fares—if they were to go as high as $3—would impact
people like me who are limited by training programs they are in, which can
be financially strapping with minimum hourly wages of $7.25.
I’m hoping the legislators will reconsider before increasing the fares to $3, and I’m
hoping other bus riders will write the county legislators, as well as their
newspaper editors, to offer their opinions on any increases.
Bonnie West
Canton
To the Editor:
All the talk in Sound Off and in your letters has me wondering, why is
nothing being done about the danger in crosswalks?
This is obviously a growing problem in our town. Will it really take someone getting killed? My
son is less than two months old. Is getting to work faster really worth
possibly taking the life of a tiny infant? Have people really just stopped
caring about their fellow man?
The holiday season is upon us, and I ask of you as a town, slow down, look
around you, stop at red lights, and show some love for other people. I don’t
think that is too much to ask.
Mrs. Shay Silver
Potsdam
Honks say the people want peace
To the Editor:
In case you haven’t noticed: Vets for Peace, allied students and citizens are again waving “Honk for Peace” signs in front of the Potsdam Post Office, every Saturday, 11 a.m. to noon.
We waited a decent time for signs the Obama administration was putting a brake on Bush’s preemptive wars. Instead we see our drones upping their attacks on Pakistan, a friendly nation.
In 2004-06 we’d count as many as 360 honks an hour. The number of honks an hour we counted last Saturday was 223! In three weeks, only three “fingers.” If President Obama sends upwards of 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, he’s not listening to the people. The honks tell us the people want peace.
We’ll keep on keeping count.
Margaret Weitzmann
Potsdam
People make difference for Make a Difference Days
To the Editor:
On Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24, you may have noticed that Canton seemed to be overwhelmed with seemingly random strangers raking leaves and cleaning up yards and parks.
These dedicated individuals were part of the Make a Difference Days event that occurs every year in Canton on the third weekend of October. This event is the product of a lot of hard work and collaboration between SUNY Canton, St. Lawrence University, The Chamber of Commerce, The Newman Center, and Canton Public Schools. They work hard to plan the event but without the support of local community organizations and businesses the event wouldn’t have been possible.
I would like to thank SeaComm Credit Union for their generous support in providing lunch for all of our very hungry volunteers on Friday. In addition the VFW, Kiwanis, The Garden Club, Knights of Columbus and Zonta stepped up again this year and provided us with compostable leaf bags. St. Lawrence University and SUNY Canton donated the use of rakes. The Chamber of commerce provided buttons. And a big thank you to both the Newman Center and Canton High School for opening their doors and allowing us to use their facilities as volunteer headquarters.
We would like to take this time to thank our community sponsors immensely for their continued support of this event. In addition we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all those who volunteered. This event would be nothing if not for the hard work and time that you were willing to donate to your neighbors.
Thanks so much! We look forward to seeing everyone next year.
Stacey Sommerfield
SLU Volunteerism Center
Make a Difference Days
Committee Membe
Carcinogen exposure reduction law needed
To the Editor:
National legislation is needed that will provide for the establishment of a national public health education program which addresses the subject of pollutant carcinogen exposure reduction.
This cancer prevention education program must include at the very least: dioxins, dioxin-like compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), bisphenol-A, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), benzene, and carcinogenic metals. In the case of national public education on dioxin exposure reduction, here is the information that Americans need:
1. How are Americans exposed to dioxins and dioxin-like compounds?
Answer. Over ninety-five percent of dioxin exposure results from consumption of animal fat containing foods: dairy products that contain animal fat, meats, and eggs.
2. How much dioxin are Americans exposed to?
Answer. In the 2003 draft of the US EPA dioxin reassessment, it is stated that the average American is exposed to approximately 1 picogram dioxin TEQ per kilogram body weight per day.
3. What quantity of cancer risk is imposed by dioxin exposure?
Answer. The US EPA dioxin reassessment provides a quantification of dioxin exposure cancer risk. In the forenamed document, US EPA sets forth a cancer risk slope factor for dioxin, which was determined based upon epidemiological studies of human dioxin exposure and cancer outcomes. The cancer risk slope factor for dioxin exposure is 0.001, or one in one thousand. Multiplying the slope factor by the quantity of exposure yields the amount of cancer risk imposed. Thus, for the average American the excess cancer risk imposed by dioxin exposure is one in one thousand.
4. How many cancer cases are caused by dioxin exposure in the USA?
Answer. For the total US population of approximately 200 million, the number of cancer cases caused by dioxin exposure is 200,000 every 70 years.
5. What steps can be taken to reduce dioxin exposure?
Answer. Stop eating foods that contain animal fat. Bring an end to open waste burning throughout North America. Bring an end to the use of animal fat in the production of food animal feeds.
6. Why are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Health Departments silent on the matter of dioxin exposure reduction that involves the commercial food supply?
Answer. Corporations, including: corporate farms, food processing and manufacturing corporations, and food distributing corporations totally control government. These corporations are intent upon not losing any money.
7. Why has the US Food and Drug Administration refused to establish a ban on the use of dioxin contaminated animal fat in the production of food animal feeds?
Answer. Corporations, including: corporate farms, food processing and manufacturing corporations, and food distributing corporations totally control government. These corporations are intent upon not losing any money.
More information on dioxin exposure reduction can be found at: www.canceractionny.org
Donald L. Hassig, Director
Cancer Action NY
Thanks to roadside cleanup volunteers
To the Editor:
I would like to give a big “thank you” to the volunteers that clean up our roadsides.
While I was driving on Route 72, I observed a group of about six people working diligently to clean up other people’s trash on a Sunday.
They could have been home enjoying themselves. Kudos to them. The only negative I see in this is they shouldn’t have to clean up after other people.
If you choose to eat or drink in your car or have papers and other things you wish to discard, keep them and throw them in your own trash instead of littering our highways.
Other caring people shouldn’t have to clean up your messes.
Donna Smith
Parishville
Candidates should make themselves known
To the Editor:
As for the people who voted for Dee Dee, My thought is they voted for the person they thought would do the job...even if she was no longer in the running so their vote was not wasted. The idea they should not have voted for her is sour grapes by those who are only looking for numbers. Not the reason to vote. I would not vote for any one who when asked about jobs or something in this area had no idea where we were. Excuse me but the 23rd takes in more then Saranac Lake or Plattsburg -- jobs are needed here too.
Mr. Hoffman wanting another vote just for him and Mr. Owens. I have a couple questions: will he pay the workers for another day since many may not be able to get the day off from their normal jobs, the waste of more paper, will someone come get the people who may want to vote, but because of weather they can’t get to the polls, are you going to visit towns that are not the size of Plattsburg so we can ask questions, or get out and see some of us do not live in your county?
I understand going to each person’s home when running can be expensive. So why don’t you who are running get together and rent a hall and have a Meet the Candidate Night or two. We use to have these even when the person running still stopped in to see people. There were people running in my town I would not know if I bumped into them on the street and I should vote for you. Also only one sent me anything in the mail to tell me why I should vote for them. So if you’re not going to stop and see me, it would be nice to at least put a face with a name.
The towns could make a few dollars -- pass a by-law. If any signs are still along the road say a week after elections, charge the person they are for 2 $ a sign. With all the travel they or a member in the family do, there is no reason for signs to still be out till snow comes. If there’s time to put them out there should be time to pick them up.
Cynthia Merrick, North Lawrence
Remington Museum thanks Holiday Gala donators
To the Editor:
The Frederic Remington Art Museum would like to thank the store owners, restaurants and private individuals that have generously donated to this year's 26th Holiday Gala: The Twelve Days of Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 7 to 11 p.m.
Gift baskets representing Alexandria Bay, Canton, Clayton, Ogdensburg and Potsdam will be offered so you can enjoy the day visiting these North Country communities.
The businesses represented include the following:
Alexandria Bay, NY: Boldt Castle; Gallery/ Riverbank Gallery; Good Dog Charlie; Michael Ringer; Musical Swan Gift Shop; Ship Gift Shop; Singer Castle; Treasure Island Canton, NY: Appleton Arena; Nature's Storehouse; Pear Tree; Silver & Collins; SLU Bookstore; SLU Mary Lawrence, Golf Pro; Wes Stitt; TAUNY Clayton, NY: Antique Boat Museum; Clayton Harbour; Clayton Island Tours; Corbin's River Heritage; Coyote Winery; Eagle Shoppe; Hilda's Women's Shop; Lyric Coffee House & Bistro; Porch and Paddle; Reinman's Dept. Store; River Rat Cheese; River Rats Boutique; Soft Maple Design; Thousand Island Art Center (Home of the Hand weaving Museum); Thousand Islands Museum; Thousand Islands Performing Arts; Thousand Islands Performing Arts Center - Clayton Opera House; Thousand Island Unique Souvenirs Gouverneur, NY: Steve Cressey; Wilson Bickford Jay, NY: Adirondack Life Lake Placid, NY: Crown Plaza Lisbon, NY: Rustic Renewal Malone, NY: Titus Mountain Morristown, NY: Rich Bzura - Old Man Island, Howard's Hobby Shop; Johnson & Johnson; Mare's Wares Ogdensburg, NY: Absolutely Youmi's; Advance Auto; Allen Burns Photography; Bastas; Gail Bongiovani; Carbino's; Cutting Edge; Deerfield Golf Course; Farrands; Gerry's Liquors; John Morrow; Jones Insurance Agency; Karan Cross - The Wild Inside; Little Italy; Lowe's; Monroe Muffler; NAPA; Northern Physical Therapy; NorthWoods Furniture; Ogdensburg Bowl; Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News; Peebles; Price Chopper; Rishe's Auto; Dr. Angela Rufa; Kris Sammons; Shafaq Vakil; Vielhauer's Taxidermy Service; Time Warner Cable; Wells Car Wash Potsdam, NY: Argents Jewelry; First Crush Wine Bistro; MVP Sports; Northern Music and Video; Ostrander's; Treadmill Bicycle Shop; Wear on Earth; Willowtree Redwood, NY: Shirley Knight - Iwa Gake Design & Consulting Saranac Lake, NY: Adirondack Explorer Sunrise, FL: Florida Panthers autographed hockey stick Watertown, NY: Focal Point Custom Framing; Watertown Times.
Frederic Remington Art Museum
Holiday Gala Committee
‘None of the above’ should be option
To the Editor:
In two Sound Offs (“Votes Wasted,” and “Not Wasted,” Nov. 11-17), the writers questioned my intentional vote for Dede Scozzafava. I couldn’t vote for either the right-wing anti-abortion anti-gay loony-bin or the left-wing anti-prosperity anti-freedom loony-bin.
I could have not voted, but then nobody would have noticed something that didn’t happen. Instead, I voted for Dede whilst thinking “None of the Above,” knowing that she wouldn’t be elected but that my choice would be recorded.
I think “None of the Above” should be on the ballot every time, and if that meta-candidate wins, then a new election is held, barring any of the current candidates from running again.
Russ Nelson, Potsdam
Norfolk Dems say thanks for support
To the Editor:
The Norfolk Democratic Committee would like to thank all those who returned their 50/50 raffle tickets. The winner of the raffle was Gordon Hall -- congratulations.
We also would like to thank all those who took the time to get out and vote.
Your support is greatly appreciated.
Norfolk Democratic Committee
Potsdam Town Board candidate says ‘thanks’
To the Editor”
I would like to sincerely thank the community for their support in my run for a seat on the Potsdam Town Board. I truly enjoyed getting out and speaking with you and listening to your concerns. My thanks as well go to my mom Val Haggett, Julia Colbert, Mike Landoll, Ned Meader, Sandra Morris and Bruce Konkoski for their encouragement and enthusiasm. Your consideration was very much required and greatly appreciated.
I will continue to be involved in the process of seeking equity in our assessment and will be ever diligent in trying to ensure the letter of the law is followed as written by the New York State Office of Property Real Property Services. Working to understand what an assessment should be was to say the least interesting. It is now a knowledge base that I intend to use in working to try and remedy the problematic system in place. I have no doubt that assessments (and therefore increases in the amount of taxes paid) will continue to be a difficult issue.
However, the progress of the township should be meteoric with the incumbents having been given a second opportunity to serve as aptly diligent members of council, and having the prospect before them of continuing on with the great developments of which they spoke. We no doubt look forward to more and more fantastic accomplishments from the current board as they work to modernize through regional collaboration thus solving a multitude of mutual problems; making the township of Potsdam both prosperous and sustainable in the current difficult economic environment.
The last four months have been an incredible learning experience in how the popular vote is won. Those that know me know that I let very little stand in my way; I find something of value from every event in my life, and try to make use of it for the better. That in and of itself is a victory and a springboard for future endeavors.
Again, a heartfelt, sincere “thank you” to each and every one of you who supported me throughout my campaign, I truly could not have done this without your help and your votes.
Tracey E. Haggett-Sloan, Norwood
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