Letters to the Editor
Hopeful and excited
To the Editor:
Spirits are stirring with hope that changes to come will help with medicine, books, and mortgage payments; hope, patience, kindness, wisdom; school loans, a way to fill the holes in those broken hearts of those whose lives have been so irreversibly altered by the wars; of those fathers, sons, uncles, brothers, nephews, sisters, mothers, aunts, daughters nieces, cousins, all of them who are not coming home because some old guys in Washington got it wrong, all horribly wrong . Perhaps it's time to listen to the other guys.
I'm so pleasantly surprised by my excitement about the election. It's the first that my only child will vote. And the first election that so many will have voted in. The fact that a black man is there, is still there, is major, but not the most important factor. The best man for the job; that's what I'm talking about.
I can think of only two other occasions that equaled my present excitement: 1) the countdown to Christmas as a young child, when the celebration was so much more about spirits that embraced a mindset born of a totally different, more optimistic time; and 2) the birth of my only child. Two instances of new beginnings. Hope. The prospects, then as now, looked exciting in a positive way. So once again I'm hopeful, painfully anxious and hopeful and feeling like almost everyone deserves something more. I can't wait.
So much fresh turf to be traveled. New faces, new ideas, new challenges for all of us. So we vote our government in office, but we have to help them to form our mandate as to how they serve our common good. It's right there in the Declaration of Independence, the American Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Bill of Rights, which define who we are as Americans, what our mission is. These are principles that we're supposedly committed to, what we're emboldened by, and yet, regardless of who's won this election, let's get with the spirit of the times and pledge to find the proper alliances with those folks who are going to commit to the higher ground, the higher ideals which all of the major presidential aspirants have staked their legitimacy on. Let's learn to think, question, weigh, and then come up with generous responses, suggestions.
Maurice Young
Oak Bluffs
Please return it
To the Editor:
On Monday, October 27, I had to have lab work done at Martha's Vineyard Hospital for pre-admission testing for a serious operation that will take place elsewhere. I mistakenly left my favorite new pink Black Dog super heavyweight sweatshirt behind. After retracing my steps after a hectic week, I called the hospital and spoke with an employee who works in the lab. She stated that I had left my sweatshirt behind, and she hung it with the other coats in the lab. She told me to hold on while she went to retrieve it, but when she came back to the phone she discovered that it had been taken by someone. The lab tech assured me that a report would be made regarding this circumstance.
The unfortunate truth is that the person that took it knew it belonged to someone else and that person is now a thief. Please, do the right thing and return it to the place it was taken from. If you are ashamed, have a friend return it for you. I am in need of this sweatshirt for my physical therapy walks of three miles a day after having a spinal fusion. This was a present and cannot be replaced easily. Hopefully, I will see you wearing it, and it will be retrieved. Just make sure you are wearing multiple layers. Do the right thing, and return it to where you found it. No questions asked.
Riccie Tucker
Edgartown
Congratulations to Sail Martha's Vineyard
To the Editor:
I was very pleased to read about the high school's plan to incorporate a maritime program. This is just another example of how Sail Martha's Vineyard has introduced the Martha's Vineyard community with yet another positive program, which will connect kids to the ocean around us.
In this day of global media, we seem to have lost touch with our maritime heritage and how the true worldwide economy works. As the executive director of the Boston Harbor Pilot Association, I spend a lot of time educating people how "stuff" gets from one place to another. Since most humans travel long distances through the air, it's important to note that almost everything we eat, drink, wear, ride in, or play with spent some time on a ship at sea.
It is important to educate the public on how crucial it is to safely move mass amounts of goods over the waterways of this country, and the need for qualified people to work in this industry will continue to grow.
Programs like the Sail Martha's Vineyard/Martha's Vineyard Regional High School program should only enhance the opportunities for kids who may never have a chance to be exposed to the maritime industry.
It always amazed me how few residents of Martha's Vineyard work for the Steamship Authority (on the ferries) or work in the maritime industry in general. This trend is not unique to the Vineyard, or any maritime community for that matter. The maritime industry has done a very poor job of recruiting kids and it is seeing the gap between older mariners, ready to retire, and those just entering the industry widen. The sea is not for everyone, but at least programs like this can open up these opportunities to kids that may not know what's out there.
Kudos to Sail Martha's Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard Regional High School for setting this up.
Andy Hammond
Edgartown
Many good things to you
To the Editor:
Generosity hereabouts is rarely far from view, but it still took me by surprise last Saturday in the weirs of Quitsa Pond. My pigheaded outboard had self-launched from the dock in one of the big blows that raked the pond recently. I found it stuck on a spit of land, full of water with the propeller sunk in hard sand. After crab-walking the engine along the shore to a safe, dry place, I went back to tie down the boat until I could properly re-christen it.
Right then, a boy climbed out of the shoreline brambles and asked if I needed help. Two of his pals were nearby, out of sight, and he called for backup. They hauled the launch upright until it was bone dry. That was help enough, but then the first boy who'd approached me said he would get the boat back to the dock once the tide was in. I begged off, but this was no gratuitous offer. The boat was back on the dock when I returned to the pond on Sunday.
I've had the great blessing of raising a child on Martha's Vineyard, so I'm somewhat used to the special sense of community so many Island kids seem to find in the ether here. But every once in a while that local state of grace still knocks you in the head.
The name of the lad who helped me out, I made a point of learning, is Matt Mayhew. To Matt's parents, I just want to say, congratulations on bringing such a goodhearted son into this fevered world. To Matt and his buddies, thanks again, guys. Life should hold many good things for you.
Charles Furlong
Chilmark
Carbon taxes next
To the Editor:
Denmark imposed carbon taxes that have led to a large decrease in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Per capita emissions dropped to nearly 15 percent lower in 2005 than in 1990. And Denmark accomplished this while posting a remarkably strong economic record.
What did Denmark do right? Everything. They imposed a carbon tax they did not want to collect.
This is a hard, if not almost impossible, lesson for U.S. politicians to learn. They did it in Denmark. It can be done in the United States. Like Denmark, Congress could enact a revenue neutral carbon tax, earmarking the tax to subsidize the switch to carbon-free renewable fuels and environmental innovation. Danish policymakers made huge investments in renewable energy and subsidized environmental innovation with their carbon tax. When the program started, Denmark's electrical power generation relied heavily on coal, but not more so than the U.S. today. The tax gave companies a reason to leave coal and invest in carbon-free renewable fuels including offshore wind. The key was providing easy substitutes and not limiting the renewable fuels that could be tapped.
A carbon tax in the U.S. could be the panacea - just pop in the economic incentives and watch them work their magic. But unless steps are taken to lock the tax revenue away from policymakers to make sure they are invested in carbon-free fuels and environmental innovations, a carbon tax could lead to more revenue rather than less pollution.
If the president and new congress are committed to cleaning up the U.S. portion of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, it will cost money, and the money will have to be raised. A revenue neutral carbon tax should be high on everyone's list of options. If implemented, it should stay in effect until carbon based fuels are no longer burned to generate electricity.
Peter Cabana
Tisbury
Unfair housing proposal
To the Editor:
I am writing to say that I disagree with the Island Affordable Housing Fund's proposal to allow sponsors/donors to pluck a lucky recipient's name from the waiting list, for the price of $50,000 or $70,000, for their approved development at 250 State Road in West Tisbury. This is a project which has received $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds from the town of West Tisbury. Now it has become a project of housing by association? One can only hope that this is an idea which just needed to have the light of day shed upon it in order to be seen how grossly unfair it would be to anyone on the waiting list unfortunate enough not to have a generous sponsor to buy them a spot.
If the money isn't there to start this project any other way, then perhaps something is wrong with the development model. Maybe we should go back to the days of letting fortunate recipients build their own houses, thereby sponsoring themselves.
Prudence Burt
West Tisbury
Toward informed consumers
To the Editor:
Kudos to Leo Frame for bringing Deborah Bloomberg, educational advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. Her programs, "Consumer Savvy" and "Teens and Credit," are good examples of helping our youth become informed consumers of financial services.
Women Empowered has long understood the need for financial education prior to getting in debt, maxing out credit cards and the value of budgeting and saving. We support this type of program for students early in their high school education.
Sheila Bracy
Executive Director
Women Empowered
Vineyard Haven
Do the right thing
To the Editor:
And to the folks who stole our sign: I know it may seem amusing to steal someone's sign, but it really is not. I spent the day Friday trying to save a young cat that ultimately died in her owner's arms. That evening I took my children trick-or-treating. Saturday, I spent the morning caring for sick and injured pets. Imagine my dismay when I went outside and found the sign for my veterinary office had been stolen overnight. I have to assume it was taken by young people, who saw this as a harmless Halloween prank. It was not.
We are all part of the same community. Maybe you who stole the sign have a dog or a cat. Maybe a veterinarian once helped your pet. Do the right thing and please bring back our sign.
Michelle Jasny, VMD
West Tisbury
Honoring a helper
To the Editor:
We live in such a loving and giving community, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank and honor a man who has given so much and asks for so little in return. Stephen Bernier of Cronig's Market is such a man. I want to thank him for his generosity and commitment to making our Island a wonderful place to live and raise our families.
I am part of a group of adult men who are committed to working with some of the "at risk" young men in the community. The men serve as role models and advisors to help guide them along the proper path to manhood. We have over the years called upon the community to provide us with support in trying to organize the young men into taking responsibility for their actions. These principles of our group include manhood, scholarship, dedication, and an improvement of our community.
Mr. Bernier and Cronig's Market has helped us to work toward these goals by providing the needed resources, which allowed us to meet recently with 60 of our young men and help instill some positive motivations for their lives.
Please, along with myself, and the other mentors help me to extend our most sincere thank you to Cronig's for all that they do for our community.
W. Leo Frame Jr.
Advisor, Young Brothers to Men
Oak Bluffs
A treat
To the Editor:
I want to thank all the families in Vineyard Haven who turn on their porch lights and welcome the children from all over Martha's Vineyard to trick or treat in their neighborhoods.
I want to especially thank the nice family on Spring Street that offered delicious homemade donuts and cider as a scrumptious alternative to candy. All of your hard work and dedication to the Martha's Vineyard youth (and donut munching moms) does not go unnoticed.
Thanks to the West Tisbury parks and rec for again offering the best Halloween party on Martha's Vineyard. We had a great time at the Ag Hall playing games, eating snacks, chatting with friends, and of course riding through the haunted graveyard on Fred's horse drawn hay wagon. Thanks.
The Thurbers
West Tisbury
So many contributed
To the Editor:
We would like to thank the people who contributed in so many ways to the success of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Minnesingers' auction Saturday: the tireless, dedicated members of the Minnesinger parent group (co-presidents Cindy Roberts and Joanne Lambert), Trip Barnes, auctioneer extraordinaire, and Charlene and the staff of the Portuguese-American Club for their invaluable assistance. We express special appreciation to the members of the community who attended the auction for their generosity and continued support, and to those who contributed all the exquisite auction items.
Jan Wightman
Director
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Minnesingers
Questions for Tisbury voters
To the Editor:
Let me ask you a few questions. Are our firefighters also EMTs? Do they all plan to be? Are our EMTs firefighters, and do they plan to be? How has the response time changed in the past four years with less people on Martha's Vineyard?
Less business in Tisbury has proven less people travel to Tisbury because they don't want to get parking tickets or they dislike the Five Corners... do we agree? How many people have been injured or died from slow response time through the Five Corners in let's say the past 10 years?
If emergency vehicles can operate through dead stop traffic on Route 28 all summer long going to the Hyannis hospital, then getting through the Five Corners is a piece of cake.
I've had my shop on the Five Corners for 22 years and have never seen a fire truck or ambulance not be able to get through. If they continue to buy oversized equipment there might be a problem in the future.
The fire chief said at town meeting the majority of the firefighters go directly to the scene with their own equipment.
New equipment. They say there is a mandate for us to replace trucks/ambulances in 2010? Show me the paperwork. I've called Boston and spoken to O.E.M.S. They thought what was happening here was not funny. I'm waiting for their paperwork. Do we need to be dragged into a pipe dream.
When is someone going to step up to the plate and say they let it go to town meeting. Never, because they all knew exactly what they were doing. There was no justification for it.
Sue Tonry
Vineyard haven
Healthier now
To the Editor:
My family and friends and all who believe in equality of opportunity, deplore war and deliberate antagonism to other countries, salute the efforts of our fellow citizens who worked to elect Barack Obama, the empathic and intelligent president of our country, and Joe Biden, our immensely appealing and knowledgeable vice president.
Our youth, our middle class, and hopefully our wealthier sisters and brothers will now work hard to restore a healthier and meaningful world.
Liza Coogan
Vineyard Haven
Renewed hope
To the Editor:
As was said, Rosa sat, so Martin could march. Martin marched, so Barack could run. Barack ran, so our children can fly, and for all Americans to have renewed hope for the future of our great country.
Marie B. Allen
Oak Bluffs
