Editorial: Open Meeting Law shifts need clarification

August 27, 2010

The effort by Jones Library Trustee Carol Gray to participate in board business electronically for the next nine months while she studies in Egypt is one reason the state's new Open Meeting Law remains a work in progress.

The Business of Amherst: Imagining progress: A North Amherst 'what if?'

August 27, 2010

Let's start with a simple question: What if?

No one story tells the whole tale

August 27, 2010

Once in awhile I read a letter to the editor that criticizes museums like Historic Deerfield for being politically correct at the expense of one-sided stories long told. The letter takes us to task for interpreting the 1704 attack on Deerfield by French and Indians as a raid rather than as a massacre.

A tale of three cities

August 27, 2010

Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind. -- Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities," 1859
Dickens' alarming language suggests that even widely separated cites may be comparable. Paris and London have much in common that is highly instructive, he proposed. Amherst, Holyoke and Detroit -- near and far -- may they also be comparable in any instructive way?

Letters

August 27, 2010

Real 'rigor' is present in Amherst's schools

To the Bulletin: High school student Bridget Kiely's comments in the Aug. 20 Amherst Bulletin are a welcome respite from the seemingly endless criticism and questions concerning the educational experiences of students in the Amherst schools.

Correction

August 27, 2010

A story published in the Aug. 20 Amherst Bulletin should have made it clear that Patricia Holland, chairwoman of the Jones Library Board of Trustees, will support remote participation by member Carol Gray only if the state Attorney General rules it is legal to do so before the trustees' next meeting Sept. 7. Also, a past meeting Holland referred to -- in which a board member participated by the online phone service Skype -- was not a library trustee meeting, but a meeting of another town board.

Editorial: Time to wrap up library director's review

August 20, 2010

The Jones Library Board of Trustees has turned the evaluation of Director Bonnie Isman into an unfortunate public spectacle, alienating employees and sullying the reputation of a dedicated public servant.

In search of good governance

August 20, 2010

I read with great interest Michael Greenebaum's recent column on governance and management. Greenebaum is wise in the ways of boards and administration; were I to hold public office, he is someone whose counsel I would seek. So it is with great respect that I offer thoughts on some of his points.

Hindering progress in Amherst

August 20, 2010

"Amherst, where reality is an option" is my favorite Amherst T-shirt. Unfortunately, what Amherst needs now is a reality check.

School board chairs look ahead

August 20, 2010

Last week's lead article in the Amherst Bulletin asks if the Amherst schools are "losing ground." We believe that the Amherst and Regional Schools are in the process of gaining ground, not losing it.

Letters

August 20, 2010

Library director review a necessity

To the Bulletin: I believe that the members of the Library Trustee Committee to evaluate the current director are following guidelines set out by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in its guide, the "Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioner's Trustees Handbook," published in 2000. It advises that the director be evaluated annually. One of the five purposes for the evaluation enumerated in the handbook is, "to demonstrate sound management practices and accountability to municipal officials and the community."