Letters to the Editor
To everyone who's had a thought for Marcus
To the Editor:
So many have written cards or letters to Marcus. It has meant an awful lot to all of us, especially to Marcus. Marcus continues to make great strides with the healing process. He has been in the Acute Rehabilitation Unit since last Monday, April 20. The ARU is the final step of our hospital stay. Here one learns to transfer from bed to wheelchair, begin the process of walking, and generally return to the outside world. Pain medication has been reduced, and physical therapy has begun in earnest. Four hours a day is devoted to topics ranging from navigating a shower, to throwing a ball, learning to stand up, dealing with the physiological fallout of the trauma and more. The physicians and therapists are all top notch, and the range of issues they deal with on this ward is extreme.
This past Monday, April 27, as we entered the fifth week since the ordeal began, Marcus was allowed to lower his right leg for brief periods at a time. That allowed him to begin to use a walker. Each day Marcus has walked farther down the corridor. His determination continues to drive remarkable results. The permanent casts were removed from his forearms yesterday and temporary splints have been fitted. That made showering and using the wheelchair so much easier.
The best news is that we expect to be able to leave the hospital this weekend for Scottsdale, Ariz., where Barbara, Marcus' mom, lives. Our plan is to spend the month of May there with a therapist / trainer. Then Marcus will return to his home in West Tisbury for the summer. In September, he will be returning to USC.
We are all looking forward to these next steps, as each one brings us closer to the normalcy we long to return to. The support we have gotten from all of our friends and friends we have never met has been outstanding. Marcus has been getting more mail than anyone else in this hospital, and every letter or note has been instrumental in the extraordinary recovery that Marcus has been working so hard to achieve. To think that anyone could survive this tragedy, and be in a position to leave the hospital so quickly is astonishing.
Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to everybody who has taken the time to include us in his or her thoughts and prayers.
Myron Garfinkle West Tisbury
Editor's Note: In a letter to the editor published on April 9, Myron Garfinkle described how on the morning of March 29 his son, Marcus, was walking his friend Adrianna Bachan back to her dorm after a fraternity event, when a hit and run driver struck both 18-year-old students. Adrianna was killed and Marcus sustained severe injuries. Mr. Garfinkle asked friends on the Vineyard to take a few moments to write a note of love and encouragement. "Every gesture has significant meaning to Marcus at this time," he wrote.
More public review needed on DAS
To the Editor:
Over the last month, I have spent many hours learning about the recent proposal by the American Tower Company to install a distributed antenna system (DAS) in three Up-Island towns. I will not waste time and space outlining their proposal, or the perceived benefits and detriments of it, because the proposal keeps changing and is still every much a moving target. However, I would point out that the system as currently configured with 11 new mini-cell towers (and possibly more under a revised plan) on our roadsides in West Tisbury would largely duplicate existing phone coverage in our town.
As a voter and a taxpayer in West Tisbury, I am extremely frustrated by the complete lack of any opportunity to have a true public dialogue on this issue. At a sparsely attended special town meeting, in June of 2007, voters in West Tisbury approved a warrant authorizing the expenditure of $2,500 to develop a Request for Proposals for DAS. In response to my questions at that time, I was told that there would be ample opportunity for public input, and to get more information. The next posted public meeting devoted to this topic was the public hearing on April 6, 2009, with the presentation by American Tower Company. Due to the configuration of the agenda, with West Tisbury's public meeting being the last of the evening after Chilmark's and Aquinnah's, those of us still remaining from West Tisbury were not able to speak or ask questions until after 11 pm.
This is not about whether or not I own a cell phone (I do not), or what I think about cell phones (not much), or whether I am some kind of Luddite (I kind of am, but am typing this letter on a computer, albeit a very old one). It's about when do we as a community get to have the conversation about whether we need, or want this system? We already have three cell towers in West Tisbury, with ample coverage across most of the town. I encourage everyone to learn more about the proposal, and what it will actually do. Attend our selectmen's meetings (Wednesdays at 4:30 at the Howes House) to learn about this issue, express your opinions, and request that our selectmen hold a public meeting on this issue as soon as possible.
Prudence Burt
West Tisbury
Strong bond of friendship
To the Editor:
Of anyone that I know, Michael McManus deserves an addendum to his obituary, especially after seeing his photo published two weeks ago, taken about 25 years ago.
I met Mike in 1997, when I went to his house as a visiting nurse. He was recovering from partial amputations of both feet, which were infected. He was understandably upset and in pain, but reluctant to seek more medical intervention. After some arguments, I bullied him into going to the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. This was the start of our strong bond of friendship and medical adventures.
Mike was admitted to every hospital in Boston at some time or other, and I am proud and positive that I alienated every nurse who had the temerity to neglect Michael in any way. To address the multitude of ailments and recoveries which filled Mike's life would stretch out from Vineyard Haven to California. Suffice it to say that he was ravaged by his diabetes from age 16 to his final year, age 54. Despite his chronic problems he maintained his dignity and never lost his sense of humor. He was, without a doubt, the toughest individual I ever met.
Once, we were at a function where he was seated next to a woman who went on and on about breaking her arm and how difficult it was to maneuver, etc. After we left, I asked him why he didn't tell her about his own problems, and he answered, "I didn't want to brag."
This anecdote is representative of how Mike lived his life, with humor and dignity. Despite major health setbacks, he persevered until sadly his chronic problems became acute and he succumbed.
I choose to see Mike in my mind's eye sitting outside the cottage, sunning himself, living one day at a time. He was the most unforgettable character I ever met. His passing leaves a gaping hole in my life, softened only by the knowledge that he is at peace, at last.
Dagmar Dockery
Vineyard Haven
Not a town park
To the Editor:
During our meeting on April 16, the Martha's Vineyard/Dukes County Fisherman's Association had a brief discussion about Erik Albert's letter, in which we were mentioned.
Mr. Albert states that Lambert's Cove beach is a town park. This is in error. Lambert's Cove beach was deeded to the town of West Tisbury by a generous and considerate private citizen. During the summer months, beach hours are posted for use by West Tisbury residents and their guests. All are welcome before and after the posted hours, and all are welcome during the rest of the year.
Our work focuses on sustaining the fishing community here. Members include commercial fishermen and those who have interest in the fishing community. Our next meeting will be April 29. At the time of this letter, the time and location have not been set. If the hall is available, we meet at the Tisbury Town Hall, second floor, at 5:00. To verify the location and time, please email us at: owlsheadshell@gmail.com.
Michele Jones
Martha's Vineyard/Dukes County Fisherman's Association
Facts omitted
To the Editor:
Professor Cabral did not have his housing facts straight when he issued his "town meeting report card" last week (At Large, April 23). As a Habitat for Humanity board member, I am of course pleased to see a positive take on what we do, but he conveniently omits the fact that we have built all of six houses in our 12 years of existence here; and at the current rate of building we can still only achieve about one per year. That will hardly solve the housing problem.
Habitat does what it does with about 70 percent donated time and materials, and we are extremely proud of what we do. But building that way on an Island of 15,000 inhabitants is a self-limiting proposition. Perhaps someone has 10 acres and a thousand volunteers they can send our way - and about $1,000,000 in building materials? Then, we could really make a difference in a short time.
As a board member of the Island Housing Trust (yes, I sit on both), I am quite frustrated by certain misconceptions regarding costs and subsidies. An average per-unit investment of $200,000 in private and public funds is indeed a lot of money to make houses affordable within the $160,000 to $250,000 price range. But with construction costs and the cost of land here being what they are, it's well nigh impossible to do much better and maintain a quality level that will not saddle the homeowner with undo maintenance costs and ever increasing energy costs.
And it is grossly misleading that "these projects must...have household incomes of close to $100,000." Yes, in order to subsidize lower income families, some units are priced higher. But in the latest trust project, four of eight units will go to families earning $81,800 or less (which is Martha's Vineyard's median income for a family of four). Two will go to families earning under $65,440 (80 percent of the median).
The overwhelming majority of the 27 homeowners who have purchased houses from the IHT earn 100 per cent or less of the Dukes County median income, because that is where the need is greatest.
It is also inaccurate that there is no equity appreciation. Both Habitat and IHT limit equity appreciation because we are in the business of providing perpetually affordable housing for generations of Vineyarders, not windfall profits for the few. In these down times, our homeowners enjoy a degree of stability and equity appreciation (as much as 4 percent annually). Should a homeowner want to sell their house, they won't have to wait months (or even years) as many homeowners in the current real estate market are experiencing, because the IHT and/or Habitat will likely exercise their option to purchase the house in order to resell it to another income-qualified family, maintaining the perpetual affordability, and protecting the public's investment and shared equity.
As to government's participation, you could argue that there should be more, and I would agree. Yet, in fact, the Community Preservation Act funds from all towns contribute to most of the projects we've seen and that are planned. (As Mr. Cabral clearly points out, some of that money is used precisely to make the units affordable at lower incomes.) That is certainly government involvement, though perhaps not as "aggressive" as we all would like to see.
In addition, the local affordable housing committees are continually battling to acquire land and/or houses that can be used for affordable housing. And yes, I tend to agree it's a shame that Oak Bluffs decided to not use small lots as other towns do. Finally - this was also omitted from the "report card" - the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority's rental assistance program is heavily supported by the towns, and lauded by all of them - to the point of West Tisbury's voluntarily increasing the allocation request by nearly 50 percent this year.
Without firefighters, teachers, nurses, tradesmen, countermen and women, clerks and all the other service people who make up the foundation of a community, that community will effectively collapse. In order to keep the foundation viable, those folks need to live here. The organizations at the Vineyard Housing Office work in close collaboration to enable more lower income families to afford to reside here; to increase development and redevelopment opportunities for those partnering organizations; and to allow a sharing of technical resources that keep costs down for us and the recipients.
The entire process of creating affordable housing is certainly not an easy one and can be at times frustrating - and unfortunately made that much more difficult when opinions are offered instead of facts.
Doug Ruskin
Edgartown
A generous gift
To the Editor:
On behalf of the board, staff, volunteers and families of Hospice, I write to thank the members of Our Island Club, which selected Hospice as the beneficiary of the membership's charity donation.
On behalf of the Board, staff, volunteers, the patients and their families, I send our sincere appreciation for your most generous gift of $2,954.40, in support of our mission to give quality care to patients and their families. That Island Club members have chosen Hospice of Martha's Vineyard to receive a percentage of their membership is a wonderful gift to our program and the community.
Your gift honors Hospice of Martha's Vineyard with recognition for our work that enhances the quality of life. Although hospice often signifies care for patients and families as someone's life is ending, indeed, our focus is really all about quality of life. We emphasize work with our families to give them the best days together, as many as those days might be.
Excellent patient care is at the very center of our mission and your support offers your commitment to our important work toward the promise of that mission. Hospice truly benefits from your generosity and you are making a difference in the lives of the patients and families that we serve. We will use every dollar directly for the care of our patients and their families. Thank you.
Terre D. Young
Executive Director
Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, Inc.
A review of energy history
To the Editor:
As Island residents discuss and evaluate options that will lead to an energy-independent, renewable-energy Island, it might be helpful to review a bit of our energy history including some energy realities.
For the past 200 years or so, the developed world has been living off earth's stored energy, supplied by the sun - coal, oil, and natural gas. But as we are learning, each is being permanently depleted. Amounts of proven worldwide reserves of oil and natural gas equal 1.2 trillion barrels. The time it took the world to consume its first trillion barrels of oil: 140 years. The time it will take the world to consume the last 1.2 trillion barrels: 30 years.
With less than three percent of the world's remaining crude oil and four percent of the world's natural gas, North America's crude oil and natural gas tanks are running on empty. In 12 years, by the year 2020, the United States crude oil and natural gas tanks will be depleted.
Every day the U.S. has to "top off" its oil tank with 15 million barrels of oil from foreign sources. In August 2008, those countries included Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, Kuwait, Brazil, Chad, Azerbaijan, Equatorial Guinea, Canada, and Mexico. In 2020, the U.S. will have to rely entirely on others for the supply of crude oil and natural gas.
Emissions are damaging our one and only planet. The comfort of fire is also its curse. Since human beings first harnessed the warmth, light, and power of the flame, they've craved more of it. That unbridled desire has led to dangerous excess - and earth now suffers the consequences. Coal, oil, and natural gas provide some 80 percent of the globe's energy needs and yield the bulk of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet. Fossil fuels have been essential in the development of our modern technological society. Our planet is threatened by humanity's bond with burning these nonrenewable fossil fuels. One of the defining challenges of our age is reducing consumption. We must now move beyond them.
Around the world, renewable energy accounted for 18 percent of electricity in 2007. Coal is king. Coal gives the world 41 percent of its electricity and a fair share of its emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide, and other toxins.
From 1980 to 2006, world coal use grew by two-thirds. China's use of coal rose threefold. As of early 2008, China was opening two new coal-fired power plants every week. Eighty percent of China's electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants. There are 2,370 coal-fired power plants in the world.
There are 600 coal-fired power plants in U.S. In 2000, the U.S. imported 12,512,623 tons of coal.
If U.S. coal consumption increases, supplies could be depleted in less than 100 years. In any 24-hour period, the United States burns coal, oil, and natural gas to keep the lights on for 18 hours; nuclear, five hours; and renewable sources of energy, one hour.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates there is enough potential wind energy off the coast of the United States (most near population centers where energy costs are high and land-based wind development is limited) to cover nearly all the current U.S. electrical capacity.
Peter Cabana
Tisbury
Thanks to Edgartown volunteers from Girl Scouts
To the Editor:
April 22 celebrates National Girl Scout Leader Day, and we at the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts are so honored to have the support and dedication of our 17,000 volunteers. Each day, week, and month throughout the year, we rely on our volunteers to help implement our mission and programming to over 45,000 Girl Scouts.
Thank you to these dedicated volunteers in Edgartown that support Girl Scouting: Susan Brown, Debra Chickering, and Pamela Scott.
Our volunteers, as with many organizations, are critical to our success. They provide our girls with the rich experiences they deserve and offer valuable programming in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, health and fitness, and leadership development. This perpetuates a culture of giving that is reflected in the tremendous community service impact our Girl Scouts make. These volunteers set the example.
The Girl Scout organization epitomizes a positive dependency on volunteers to be successful. Our incredible corps of motivated, inspiring volunteers expands our ability to reach out to girls in every community. Without them, there would be no Girl Scout troops to build these girls into leaders.
Ruth N. Bramson
Chief Executive Officer
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts
Pandemic
To the Editor:
Last week was school holiday. How many students went to Mexico? Who are they, and which schools do they attend?
Would it not have been prudent to identify these children and keep them home for 48 hours?
Alan Peterson
Vineyard Haven
