Letters
Basketball team dispels ‘party animal’ image

My name is Judith Wigdortz and I am a member of the English department at Monmouth University and a resident of West Long Branch. I am constantly reading articles and letters to the editor about the bad behavior of our students. I have taught here for four years and have enjoyed all of my students and in being a part of the university’s faculty. I wish all of those who bad mouth our students could have been at Poplar Village early this morning.

At 5 a.m. Friday, my mother in her 80s was evacuated from her senior citizen complex in Oakhurst. Police rescued her when more than tow feet of water surged into her apartment from an overflowing brook. She was lucky in that she had family who could give her shelter, for when my husband brought her to our home, she literally only had the very wet clothes on her back and not even a pair of shoes on her feet. Needless to say, she lost everything. The morning of Oct. 16, my husband and son went to the complex where we had been told volunteers would help remove the ruined furniture, beds, etc. I was thrilled — as were they — when I found out it was the Monmouth University men’s basketball team and coaches who were there to help.

It was devastating for her to have lost all of her possessions and to find out she will never be able to return to her apartment, but it was life confirming for all of us to know how much people care.

For young people to come as volunteers early on a Sunday morning has definitely demonstrated what all of those “MU bashers” don’t know. Our students are more than destructive party animals and are really caring human beings.

Please, let all of the students who participated know how much their help was appreciated and what a difference it made in my mother’s feeling of loss.

Again, thank you all.

Judith Wigdortz

West Long Branch

Red tape delayed response to Katrina

Not long after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, a task force of 100 volunteer EMTs and 50 paramedics equipped with 50 ambulances, rescue equipment, boats, lighting and generators was prepared to mobilize to the disaster area. We waited two weeks for a call that never came.

The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) required us to stand ready and await formal request from Louisiana and federal officials. Had we mobilized without EMAC’s blessing, neither our liability nor considerable expenses would have been covered.

As reports from the disaster zone indicated much more help was needed, and infants and senior citizens died from lack of assistance, we remained in New Jersey, horrified and paralyzed by EMAC’s bureaucratic delays. Meanwhile, utility repair vehicles, which are not dispatched via EMAC, arrived in the stricken area ahead of many ambulances.

The woefully inadequate response highlighted the communication breakdown not only at the federal level, but also between New Jersey’s Department of Law & Public Safety and Department of Health and Senior Services.

This haphazard response warrants thorough review and assessment at all levels before disaster strikes again.

That said, the New Jersey State First Aid Council’s EMS volunteers remain ready to respond should the need arise again.

Sue Van Orden

president

New Jersey State First Aid Council

Lincoln Park

New bill would raise school budget caps

A leaking roof, new students, gasoline for buses, snow removal, health insurance for teachers, and rising utility prices are all unforeseen costs that could financially devastate a school district.

Schools are currently not allowed to carry a surplus of more than 3 percent of their budget. This surplus money is what would be used to pay for unforeseen costs such as a repair to a school building or where a special needs student moves into the school district.

Senate Bill 1701, which revised the calculation of budget caps and reduced the allowable surplus for public school districts was signed into law on July 1, 2004. Since it was signed into law, school officials, teachers and concerned parents are realizing how seriously this could impact their school and more importantly, their students. This ill-conceived legislation was unnecessary and could put school districts in financial jeopardy.

To correct this crucial problem and allow schools to budget prudently, I have signed onto legislation that would repeal S-1701.

I am a co-sponsor of Assembly Bill 3231 that would revise the calculation of budget caps and increase the allowable surplus for public school districts. This legislation was introduced on Sept. 23, 2004, and is pending in the Assembly Education Committee.

I urge all concerned parents and educators to contact their state legislators and ask them to support A-3231.

Very soon some school districts are going to be forced to cut important programs or lay off teachers in order to comply with these strict guidelines. We must repeal S-1701 before the quality of education provided to our students is compromised in any way.

Sean T. Kean

assemblyman

R-11th District

Getting nuclear disarmament moving

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The U.N. General Assembly is currently discussing how to get real progress on nuclear disarmament. Many countries are moving to prevent any one country’s ability to hinder all negotiations and thereby block the world’s desire to abolish nuclear weapons.

This discussion is going forward at the U.N. and at Mayors for Peace and the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament (PNND). We urge your representatives to join PNND to encourage U.S. legislators to join the network that will engage them in nuclear nonproliferation disarmament initiatives.

Contact your representative and urge him or her to join PNND.

For contact information, visit www. Abolitionnow.org

Sylvia Zisman

Long Branch

co-chair

Hiroshima/Nagasaki

Remembrance Committee

Abolition Now Campaign

Thanks to supporters of Memory Walk

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the record number of people who joined the Alzheimer’s Association in Point Pleasant Beach on Saturday, Oct. 1, for the 10th annual Southern Regional Memory Walk. Individuals and families came together to show their support for family members, friends and neighbors who are struggling to cope with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease.

The hospitality of Point Pleasant Beach, combined with the generosity of our corporate sponsors, volunteers and walkers made this year’s event a huge success! Every person who participated in Memory Walk has truly made a difference in the lives of those who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Their generosity allows us to continue providing services such as our 24-hour, toll-free telephone help line; education and training programs; support groups; and respite care assistance to the 350,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their family caregivers who live in the local communities we serve.

Together, we will continue to work toward our vision to someday have “a world without Alzheimer’s disease.”

Patricia Lombreglia

president and CEO

Alzheimer’s Association

Denville

DYFS problems require community involvement

Two years ago, dramatic events brought a growing crisis in the New Jersey child welfare system to the attention of our public and policy makers.

In response, the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-NJ) asked child welfare experts to join in a series of “best practice” symposia to examine successes and propose solutions to improving our state’s child welfare system. Then, as now, we believe that building a better child welfare system requires teamwork and cooperation by consumers, service providers, public officials, advocates, and concerned citizens.

Today, as attorneys for Children’s Rights Inc. and the court-appointed Child Welfare Panel argue with the Department of Human Services about the steps needed to address DYFS’s [Division of Youth and Family Services] shortcomings, we recognize, once again, that the solution lies in the community.

This crisis at DYFS, which has developed over decades, will not be solved quickly. Throwing money at the problem or mandating change from a legislative chamber or a courtroom simply won’t work. This is a multi-faceted crisis that demands a multi-pronged approach, with many community partners working as one. And one of the first areas that we must address as concerned citizens is how to ensure that DYFS has trained, qualified staff.

All too often we find that DYFS staff lack the appropriate education or experience needed for quality casework with at-risk children and families. In fact, when the initial distressing reports on DYFS surfaced in 2003, only one in five staff had master’s or bachelor’s degrees in social work.

Recently NASW-NJ, working with New Jersey’s schools of social work, helped to create a consortium with federal funds to address this lack of professionally trained staff in DYFS. Some social work schools, such as The Richard Stockton College, have developed a relationship to intern and then place social work students into DYFS positions. This is an essential beginning on the road to filling all DYFS positions with trained professionals.

Also, to its credit, DYFS is developing a child welfare training academy for those workers already on the job, many of whom have years of field experience but lack professional credentials. In California, a similar program developed by the schools of social work has been in place for a decade and has helped to address the problem of insufficient training and education.

Clearly, DYFS needs similar community-based efforts, and it needs them as quickly as they can be up and running. Problems in our state’s child welfare systems – the result of decades of inaction – won’t go away tomorrow, or even next year. But we need to make the good start through public, private and governmental partnerships at the community level.

Court action won’t solve the DYFS problem, but community action will. And we need to begin today to ensure that happens.

Walter X. Kalman

executive director

New Jersey Chapter

National Association of Social Workers.