Paid studies find what buyers want to hear
Day one of the new Charter Commission in Amherst and, ahhh, just what I expected.
Thoughtful voices of members Gage, Weiss and Stein allowing our elected representatives to hash out a plan on their own, while some of the others, abdicating a responsibility they marketed to us voters – turn their backs on us, at once pushing for a paid study. They fool no one. Studies report that which they are paid to do.
They are always for centralization of power and marginalization of the average resident.
Look at how the Amherst BID and our elected officials already hide behind the Maoist “Master Plan” of mixed-use developments (code for rich out-of-town student apartments, above an ATM machine in the stunningly lit lobby, oh, and it looks like we will be buying them a parking garage soon). I can just hear it now, coming from our future appointed leader, “I’m sorry, Homeowner Dave, the ‘Master Plan’ we bought from a Philadelphia consulting firm has taken away your options. Sorry Dave.” We can have our own “Philadelphia Story” right here.
Robert Vigderman
Amherst
Inspired by those who risked lives for others
It takes a strong moral and spiritual grounding to be able to risk one’s life and family to hide a person fleeing persecution and sure death. I hope the film “Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War,” causes us to reflect on our own ability to take such risks should darkness ever descend upon our beloved country.
For those seeking more information concerning rescuers, I suggest the following books: Eva Fogelman’s “Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust,” Gay Block’s “Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust,” Samuel Oliner’s “The Altruistic Spirit: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe,” Andy Marino’s “A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry” and most importantly, “Surrender on Demand” by Varian Fry ,who died unrecognized for his incredible efforts.
Ken Schoen
South Deerfield
Story about lecture
on race too simplistic
It was wonderful to see the Ta-Nehisi Coates lecture at Amherst College receive front page coverage in the Gazette on Sept. 14.
I regret, however, that the opening paragraphs and headline of the article failed to capture the powerful argument Coates made in his talk and makes in his writing, and the article made Coates’ message sound simplistic.
According to the article, Coates told the audience “race should be a nonissue.” “I’m not for black and white together. I’m for getting rid of the whole idea altogether.” Without further elucidation, I fear this could lead the reader to believe that Coates was espousing a nuanced restatement of “colorblindness,” to ignore our racist history, the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration. In fact, Coates argues that we, in America, believe in the reality of race as an “indubitable” feature of the natural world, as a matter of genealogy and physiognomy. And we believe racism follows from the existence of race.
Coates contends, however, that “race is the child of racism, not the father.” It was our desire to create a “working” class that fueled our conception of race. As such, race is a social construction. “White” people are a modern American invention. Before “white” people got to America they were not “white,” they were Corsican, Welsh, Catholic, etc. Likewise “black” people are an invention. They are labeled “black” even when they do not share a uniform color or uniform physical features.
Race, according to Coates, was created to serve an economic purpose, to create a hierarchy, and to elevate some while subordinating others. Coates argues that racism is real, race is not.
Elizabeth Aries
Amherst
I write to comment on the case of Maria Geryk’s departure as Amherst superintendent.
It just amazes me that we live in a world where we are now possibly sued for “distress in the workplace” and for being “criticized.”
You have got to be kidding. Are we going to let this continue? Are we all just going to sit here and say nothing?
Do you know a superintendent or any CEO of any company or any person in any management job who does not face distress and criticism every day? Do you know anyone that does not face emotional distress every day? I think people should think twice before applying for jobs that they know will be filled with distress and criticism. What have we become?
Dr. Stephen Constant
Hadley
Practical ways to reduce water use
Fresh water is a scarce resource, and both producing clean water and processing wastewater use a lot of energy and chemicals. I think water conservation is not only vital during this dry season, though this season might be a good launch point for those who have not thought much about water to begin taking simple steps.
One step that I took several years ago was to put a 1-gallon milk jug inside each toilet tank, without interfering with the flushing mechanisms.
Fill the jug with water and put in some rocks so that the jug does not float around. The jug takes the place of the precious one gallon of clean water that instantly becomes sewage every time you flush and the flushing power remains intact (since tanks are usually built with overcapacity).
For the newer and smaller toilet tanks, a half-gallon bottle can substitute without compromising performance.
According to the EPA, toilet flushing is the single largest water guzzler at home, consuming about 100 gallons of clean water every day in average American households.
Once these milk jugs are in place, several thousand gallons of clean water can be saved in each household each year, without people lifting a finger.
Much more could be done by more inspired water-savers. When washing hands, vegetables and showering, do not run water at full blast; one-third to one-half of the flow produces a satisfying result.
Car washing can wait until rain comes, then a snow brush and several buckets of gutter water will do the trick.
In the past few centuries, we have been demanding more and more from this small planet, and now might be the time to relent a little. Less is sustainable, and interesting.
Weiguo Hu
Amherst
Scorecard shows Geryk ahead of children
Regarding former Amherst Superintendent Maria Geryk $309,515 settlement, it was a heated contest, but the final score is now in: Maria Geryk $309,515-Children of Amherst $0.
Benjamin Bailey
Amherst
Senior condo
project a problem
I’m writing in regard to the proposed commercial condominium development on 22-plus acres at the base of Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation.
I’ve enjoyed living on Mountain Road for 11 years. This quiet, mixed income, kindly neighborhood abuts this proposed subdivision project. We’ll be significantly impacted by additional water table and runoff issues.
In addition, we’ll lose peaceful green open and agricultural space, lose wildlife and wildlife habitat and lose quiet. Significant traffic congestion on Sugarloaf Street and at the four-way stop in the village is predictable.
I’m 68 and attended the Sept. 12 meeting at Town Hall — a neighbor left a notice. This development is the largest proposal of its kind in years and deserves more careful community input and a vote. The research on senior housing sighted was only a survey, not serious research.
In the mentioned survey there was no mention of where this “senior community housing” would be placed or what the actual units would cost. This proposed large, visible and dominant subdivision is not affordable housing.
Although the developer wouldn’t say it, it is clear that we are talking about units costing in a range of at least $225,000 to $300,000-plus.
Developer Mark Wightman referred to the Silver Crest condo development in Greenfield as comparable. I reviewed their condos plans and prices. Silver Crest condos are not placed right in the middle of an existing neighborhood or at the foot of a state reservation.
The formal pre-proposal indicated 36 lots and 72 units; the Gazette on Sept. 13 reported 36 units. This is a commercial venture, not a community decision.
The former Oxford Pickle Company land appears to be an alternative. It is private, Merrigan Way road cut in already, and lack of ground water is an issue. Perhaps zoning and other issues could be discussed further?
Dr. Penelope Tarasuk
South Deerfield
Question 2 is about
corporate takeover
Ever wonder why the WalMart heirs from Arkansas are so interested in supporting Question 2, which would lift the cap on charter schools, that they are willing to spend nearly $2 million to support this initiative?
Judging from their notorious practices of overworking and underpaying their employees, we can be pretty certain it isn’t concerns about the quality of education in the Commonwealth.
A more likely explanation for their support is that charter schools are a tool for weakening public sector unions, one of the last potent political forces with the resources to oppose the accelerating corporate takeover of our society.
If that weren’t enough to get their wizened corporatist hearts palpitating, there is over $5 billion of our tax money they feel could be better spent by the CEOs of “Education Management Organizations” like SABIS Educational Systems, Inc., a private, for-profit company with headquarters in Minnesota and Beirut, Lebanon.
SABIS manages 11 charter schools in the U.S., including schools in Holyoke and Springfield. And just like the Waltons, the Wal-Mart heirs, they want more, and in this case it will come at the expense of teachers and other working people of Massachusetts, and ultimately, the students themselves.
David King
Amherst
‘Beggars’ merit our
empathy, not scorn
To the distressed grad who returned to Northampton recently, I can only imagine the courage it took to walk through the downtown landscape you described. Your Sept. 12 letter to the Gazette speaks only to your modesty.
How truly awful that experience must have been for you, to be assaulted so indignantly by that “profusion of aggressive beggars.” That’s the trouble with the Third World isn’t it?
There’s no manners, no sense of propriety. It’s difficult to see so many “beggars” on the streets, to be asked for money every few blocks. Homelessness is an issue and one that, unfortunately, is hard to solve.
However, attitudes like the one voiced in the Gazette are deplorable. To speak of your fellow man as an object to be shunned is disgusting. Given the contempt in the author’s tone, can we really be sure he is against shipping off those unsightly beggars? It’s so much easier to enjoy a nice night out on the town, a carefully crafted meal, a boutique shopping trip when you don’t have to be confronted with the faces of American poverty.
Far better to pen pretentious newspaper letters bemoaning the loss of your right to walk unhindered downtown. With one of the highest rates of poverty among any developed nation, it should be unsurprising to see so many panhandlers in an urban setting.
Nearly 15 percent of all Americans live in poverty, and with wage stagnation, rising rent costs and an expensive health care system, those figures are unlikely to change.
This letter isn’t meant to advocate we all empty our pockets the next time we visit Northampton, but we should give pause. We all ought to remember that those “beggars” are real people who merit of our empathy.
It’s when we seek to scorn, rather than understand, that we do a disservice to others.
Hayley Bolton
Amhers
