spring valley, monsey update

7:15

The #1 Judaica source in Rockland27 Orchard St. 845-352-7792

In the wake of the scandal that has rocked local and state politics, residents are beginning to think about what comes next for Spring Valley, after taking time to catch their breaths follow-ing the shocking arrests of Spring Valley Mayor Nora-mie Jasmin and others.Jasmin, who was finishing her first-term as mayor, was up for re-election later this year. Though she has stated she will not resign from of-fice at the moment, it is all but certain that her re-elec-tion campaign is over.

Jasmin had been facing op-position from all corners, including from at least two Village trustees. Also op-posing her was Ramapo Councilman Daniel Fried-man, who bounded into the race last November, and has been campaigning door-to-door ever since. When he formally announced his campaign in January, Friedman promised to run a strong campaign that would focus on the records of the Mayor and the Village Board.

Vol. 28 No. 15 • Rockland’s Independent Jewish Community Newspaper Since 1985 • 2 Iyar 5773 • April 13 2013 free weekly

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BREAKING: CDC FINDs No lINK FouND BEtwEEN ImmuNIzAtIoNs AND AutIsmEvery April during National Autism Awareness Month, the Department of Health and Human Services rec-ognize the special challenges faced by those living with Autism Spec-trum Disorders (ASD) and refocus efforts on the best ways to support them and their families. Some new research was just concluded this past week. The CDC researchers conducted the study by reviewing the vaccination histories collected between 1994 and 1999 of 256 children with au-tism and 752 children who did not have the disorder. They calculated the number of antigens – the sub-stances in a vaccine that stimulate disease-fighting antibodies – that infants are exposed to either on one doctor’s visit or overall during the first two years.

Dr. Raphael Nunez, a pediatrician at Monsey Family Medical Center said, "The original British study was found to be falsified. There is no real evidence that vaccinating your children causes Autism. Unfortu-nately, this false information spread and still lingers in the mind of some parents."The CDC study comes amidst re-ports that increasing numbers of parents are delaying or skipping childhood inoculations, fearing side effects or the risk of autism and oth-er learning disabilities.A 2012 study, which examined medical records for 97,711 Portland, Oregon children, found an almost four-fold increase between 2006 and 2009 in the percentage of par-ents who delayed or skipped vacci-nations, researchers reported in the

cont on health news see page7

Public Trust Act Would Establish a New Class of Public Corruption Crimes, Tough New Penalties on Offenders,

Require Public Officials to Report BriberyThis past Tuesday April 9, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced new legislation known as the Pub-lic Trust Act, which would create a new class of public corruption crimes and enhance New York prosecutors’ ability to crack down on public cor-

ruption across the state. Cur-rently, the laws defining public corruption in New York are obsolete and far less effective than federal statutes for prose-cuting individuals who commit public corruption crimes. The Public Trust Act announced by the Governor today would

East Ramapo needs to close a $2.3 million shortfall in next year’s budget. $212,852,795 spending plan for 2013-14 was proposed Tuesday, an increase of about $20 million as of 2012. The plan includes a tax levy increase of 3.1 percent, which the board says comes in

under the state-mandated cap.What was not discussed was the increase in pension for the school system, which may in-crease as much as 16 percent. That is exempt from the state cap, so residents will still feel a pinch, as taxes will increase.

GOVERNOR CUOMO PROPOSES NEW CLASS OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION

CRIMES

EAST RAMAPO PROPOSES NEW BUdGET TAx LEVy INCREASE OF 3.1 PERCENT

תזריע

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NatIoNal autISm awaReNeSS moNthMonsey FaMily Medical center highlights

8:45

FriedMan is Front-runner in spring ValleyCrimE ACrOss NEW yOrk sTATE ANd sPriNg vAllEy mOvEs

ANd shAkEs lOCAl OffiCEs

Candidate for Mayor of Spring Valley Daniel Friedman meets with Governor Cuomo at his Rockland State of the State

address earlier this year.

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Leon Friedman Demeeza Jasmin Charles Gross

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Race for Mayor of Spring Valley

Monsey 845-444-2453

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THE ADVOCATE April 13, 2013דער אדוואקאט תזריע תשע״ג 2

Dear Editor,

In light of the dark clouds forming over Spring Valley involving both the mayor and deputy mayor, and fur-ther considering that this is an elec-tion year I am compelled to present a thought to the village of Spring Valley. With so many candidates vying for the position of mayor, I think that the board should vote to put a caretaker in place to take on the mayor's duties in running the day to day business of the village.

The board should appoint some-one who is not a mayoral candidate and is also well respected within the village such as Mr. William Sherwood, Mr. Robert Frankel, Mr. Walter Booker, Mr. Gerald Mile, Mr. Thomas Kleiner, and Mr. Michael Bongiorno. Although this list is not exhaustive, all of these people represent a body of qualified individuals beyond reproach who are either current or former prosecutors, judges, Town Supervisors, and attor-neys. Appointing a person of this cali-ber who is not running for office will enable an open and fair election in the village between all of the candidates without giving someone the advan-tage of being an incumbent.

Appointing the right person will help avoid any doubt or question-ability with regard to mayoral race and health of the village. It does not matter if the mayor is discharged or placed temporarily on administrative leave but in this sad time for the vil-lage, someone must be placed at the helm of one of Ramapo's villages until

a final decision is made regarding the mayor, either by the legal system or by the voters.

However, we must keep in mind that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and we must not rush into judgment on the mayor. How-ever the village must be placed into capable hands until some resolution comes to pass and the taint of alleged unethical behavior is removed.

Scott Goldman, SuffernCandidate for Ramapo Town Su-

pervisor.

Outrageous.

It is outrageous that Senate Repub-licans Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, James Inhofe, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have formed a filibuster caucus to block a vote on gun safety.

President Obama said it during his State of the Union and it remains true: Victims of gun vio-lence deserve a vote.

I will be on some of the morning shows Monday letting the American people know of these sena-tors’ disappoint-ing behavior. That’s when debate will begin. All of the pro-posed regulations,

including expanding background checks and cracking down on traffick-ing, are widely and broadly supported. These sensible regulations even poll well among NRA members!

We need to send a strong statement to Senators Paul, Rubio, Inhofe, Cruz and Lee: a filibuster on the gun safety bill is unacceptable. Victims and their families deserve a vote. Join me, now, to make sure they get one.

Tell the Republican senators in the filibuster caucus: Victims of gun vio-lence deserve a vote on these com-monsense regulations. We cannot let the memories of Newtown and Auro-ra fade. That is what these Republican senators are hoping for: that if they can stall and obfuscate we will forget about the need for action.

But we will not forget. We will keep up the fight. We need to stop the fili-buster immediately and start passing reasonable gun safety laws.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad Offers Resignation

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offered his resignation to President Mah-moud Abbas on Wednesday following a rift between the two men over govern-ment policy, two sources told Reuters.

Abbas was due to return to the occupied West Bank from Jordan on Thursday, and it was not immediately clear whether he would accept the resignation of the U.S.-educated economist.

A spokeswoman at Fayyad’s office de-clined to comment on the reports, which followed persistent rumors that Abbas wanted to sack Fayyad following internal political wrangling. Initially successful in revitalizing a sluggish Palestinian econo-my, Fayyad ran into trouble last year when Israel and the United States withheld vital funds to punish the Palestinians for seek-ing de facto statehood at the United Na-tions.

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• COPYRIGHT 2013 ISSN 1055-9132• All material in this paper is the exclusive property of THE ADVOCATE and cannot be reproduced without the consent of the pub-lisher. The views and opinions expressed by our columnists do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s.• Any article submitted to the newspaper can be edited at the discretion of the publisher.• The newspaper will not be liable for errors appearing in an advertisement beyond the cost of space occupied by the error. The ad-vertiser assumes the responsibility for errors in telephone orders.• In-house design: All advertisements de-signed and prepared by The Advocate are the property of the newspaper and cannot be reproduced without consent of the pub-lisher.• The health information articles contained in this publication are for information only and not intended as medical advice. For health care advice and information contact your health care provider.• Editorials related to political endorsements or support are written by an independent committee. They do not represent the views of The Advocate staff. It should not be considered as endorsements or support by this paper.

as we go to press Publisher's DeskA Weekly Editorial By:

WRITE TO USThe Advocate welcomes Letters to the Editor & the Action Desk about relevant topics and issues. Letters must include the writer’s name, address and phone number, although the name may be withheld from publication at the writer’s request. The Advocate reserves the right to edit for clarity and good taste. To voice your opinion, call: 845-770-1950, Fax: 845-770-1983, or e-mail [email protected]

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letters to the editor

פדיון שבוייןhelp

POLLARD & RUBASHKIN. contact the White House between 9am-5pm

phone @ 202-456-1414 or fax @ 202-456-2461every call makes a difference

Once again we see Governor Andrew Cuomo quick to react to a major situation. He did it with gun-control, and now again with preventing public corruption. Some may criticise him for a quick response, but we believe it is the right thing to do. The new

bill he is proposing (see front page) is essential to ensuring that Government works and can effectively keep the public's trust. It is just too easy to take bribes, which in public office, does not put the best interest of the constituents in mind. Hopefully this law will make it less enticing to accept a bribe.

We support the Governor's newest initiative, the Public Trust Act. This important legislation would create a new class of public corruption crimes and enhance New York prosecutors’ ability to crack down on public corruption across the state.

Currently, the laws defining public corruption in New York are obsolete and far less effective than federal statutes for prosecut-ing individuals who commit public corruption crimes. The Public Trust Act is especially important to tax-payers who rely on the work and honesty of their elected officials. Elected officials need to be held to a higher standard.We hope to see this legislation become a reality.

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THE ADVOCATE April 13, 2013 3דער אדוואקאט תזריע תשע״ג

albany

rockland

Advocate Action desk845-770-1950

PHONE

E-Mail

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The Advocate is ExPANdING the Action DeskTo voice your opinion! please write, to the Action Desk at: editor@ AdvocateNews.org or call Action Desk Hotline @ 845-770-1950

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo

Governor of New York State

NYS State Capitol Building

Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor,

We support your newest initiative, the

Public Trust Act, which would create a

new class of public corruption crimes and

enhance New York prosecutors’ ability to

crack down on public corruption across the

state.

As you noted, currently, the laws defining

public corruption in New York are obsolete

and far less effective than federal statutes

for prosecuting individuals who commit

public corruption crimes. The Public Trust

Act is especially important to tax-payers

who rely on the work and honesty of their

elected officials. Elected officials need to

be held to a higher standard.

Increased Penalties for Official Miscon-

duct, may be one method of keeping local

elected officials out of the negative lime-

light. We appreciate the work you are do-

ing to keep New York a safe and lawful

state. The Advocate Action Desk Editor

hopes to see this legislation become a reality.

The Honorable Jacob Lew

1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washing-

ton, DC 20220

Dear Treasury Secretary:

On behalf of the Advocate Action Desk

in Monsey NY, we would like to send

you our heartfelt congratulations on

your appointment to be our United

States Treasury Secretary. It is an enor-

mous achievement, and a pinnacle in

your public service career.

As we reflect on the challenges and

successes of your career enmeshed

in community service, we are struck

by the qualities you’ve demonstrated

already. Whether it being the biparti-

sanship you have shown in your public

service, or with the White House staff,

these are qualities that are indicative of

a true public servant, and are necessary

to achieve success in the position you

have now been appointed to.

Congratulations Again,

Advocate Action Desk Editor

Washington

THE ADVOCATE ACTION DESk

The Honorable Nita Lowey

2365 Rayburn HOB

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congresswoman,

Equal Pay Day was this week, which

raised awareness of pay disparity for

women. We appreciate that you are

bringing a petition to Congress on be-

half of the women in this country.

The statistics that you mentioned are

staggering: women in the U.S. earn .77

cents for every dollar earned by men.

Minority women have it the hardest of

all, earning from 56 to 64 cents on the

dollar.

You are correct in proclaiming

'We need to change that because the

women of this country and their fami-

lies deserve better."

Thank you for voting for the Lilly

Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gives

women more time to take action against

pay discrimination, but it doesn't go far

enough. We must enact the Paycheck

Fairness Act so employers are more

transparent in their wages and women

have the information they need to act.

Advocate Action Desk Editor


NatIoNal &INteRNatIoNal NewS updateS

albaNy &waShINgtoN NewS bRIefS

Despite Drop-Americans ap-prove of Obama's job perfor-mance, 51% to 47%More Americans disapprove than approve of President Barack Obama's performance on three key second-term priorities, gun control, immigration, and the fed-eral budget, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll re-leased Monday.Forty-five percent approve of the president's push to reform the na-tion's gun laws in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. school shoot-ing, while 52% say they disap-prove. On immigration reform, where Obama has taken a more hands-off approach in deference to Congressional talks, 44% say they approve of his handling of the issue, while 50% say they dis-approve. And on the federal bud-get, a draft of which was released by the White House last week, just 38% approve of his handling, with a near 60% disapproval rate.Overall, however, Americans ap-prove of Obama's job perfor-mance, 51% to 47%.The poll was conducted April 5-7, with a sampling error of plus or mi-nus three percentage points.

4-year old boy shot and killed the wife of a Tennessee sher-iff's deputy over the weekend, police say.On April 6, Wilson County Deputy Daniel Fanning was inside his home showing his weapons col-lection to a relative when the of-ficer's wife and young nephew en-tered the room. The child grabbed one of Fanning's loaded guns off the bed and fired a single shot.The bullet struck Josephine Fan-ning, the deputy's 48-year-old wife. Despite efforts to revive her, Josephine was pronounced dead at the scene.The gun used in the shooting was not the officer's service weapon, nor was he on duty at the time of the incident, The Tennessean re-ported. Sheriff Robert Bryan called the shooting a terrible accident.Hacker group Anonymous at-tacks Israel on Holocaust me-morial day ASSOCIATED PRESSAn international cyber attack campaign against Israeli govern-ment websites on Sunday failed to cause serious disruptions despite dire threats from the Anonymous

hacker collective, Israeli officials said Sunday.The global hacker group promised a mass assault to protest Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. The attack appeared timed to coincide with Israel's annual Holocaust me-morial day, beginning at sundown Sunday.The cyber attack was just the lat-est in an almost constant effort by Israel's enemies and ideologi-cal opponents to shut down its vital websites. Most of the attacks have had little impact, and Israeli experts even say they welcome the attempts as ways of sharpen-ing their defenses. Israel itself is accused of taking part in much more sophisticated cyber attacks against its enemies, particularly Iran.Thieves Make Off With Five Tons Of Nutella In GermanyPolice said Monday an unknown number of culprits made off with 5 metric tons (5.5 tons) of Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread from a parked trailer in the central Ger-man town of Bad Hersfeld over the weekend. The loot is worth an estimated 16,000 euros ($20,710).

Germans news agency dpa re-ported that thieves have previous-ly stolen a load of energy drinks from the same location. Bomb Threat at White HouseA Pennsylvania man has been ar-rested after police say he made a bomb threat outside the White House. D.C. police spokesman Araz Alali says the man approached an officer at the White House gates Wednesday morning and warned that a bomb would detonate in a truck parked nearby. Surround-ing streets and the entrance to a nearby Metro rail station were shut down as the Secret Service in-spected the vehicle for explosives.Streets were reopened after noth-

ing dangerous was found inside the truck. The man has been identi-fied as 44-year-old Krzysztof Wasik of Hazle Township, Pa. He has been charged with making felony threats and is being held pending a court appearance. Obama Proposes 94-Cent Tax Hike On CigarettesPresident Barack Obama’s bud-get plan would increase taxes by $580 billion over the next decade. Among them, a proposal to limit itemized deductions for high-in-come families. One new proposal is a 94 cents-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax. The tax would raise an esti-mated $78 billion over the next decade to pay for early childhood education.

GOvERNOR ROSSPONDS TO CORRuP-TION IN STATE OF NY Governor Cuomo said on the Radio last week; "I think this is an opportunity to come up with a more expanded agenda," said Cuomo. "Never waste a crisis they say."The governor went onto say that it is dur-ing these moments of crisis were people focus their attention on an issue and then they "move on with their lives." Further stating that lawmakers must utilize this moment to draw attention to the ineffi-ciencies in government."I would want to pull back the lens and do as much as we can," said Cuomo.The governor was also asked by host Su-san Arbetter about an article published in the New York Post suggesting that he wants to replace Assembly Speaker Shel-don Silver, D-Manhattan."I'm a partner to Assembly Speaker Sil-ver, I'm a partner to Dean Skelos and Sen. Klein on the other side, but it is wholly up to the legislative bodies to select a leader, "Cuomo said. "I would never even for a moment try to influence that decision. And, again, in this case I don't see what the speaker had to do with any of these

purely personal individual acts by two As-sembly people."CONNECTICuT GOv. MAllOY SAYS NRA'S WAYNE lAPIERRE REMINDS HIM OF 'ClOWNS AT THE CIRCuS'Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy harshly criticized gun industry lobbyists on Sun-day, saying they are doing too little to halt gun violence.Just three days after he signed into law new restrictions on weapons and large-capacity magazines, the governor com-pared Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Associa-tion, to clowns and said lobbyists want to ensure that the industry can sell guns in-discriminately. "Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus," Malloy said of LaPi-erre on CNN's "State of the Union." ''They get the most attention and that's what he's paid to do.'CONGRESSWOMAN GE TS DEATH THREATS OvER GuN CONTROl BIllRep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) says she has received multiple death threats over legis-lation she is working on to make sure gun owners have insurance.“Yesterday, several death threats were

phoned into my New York office in re-sponse to news reports about a bill I au-thored requiring gun owners to have insurance,” the congresswoman said in a statement Wednesday morning. “The calls were fielded by young interns, who were understandably shaken by this experi-ence.” Maloney said that the threats came in three menacing phone calls, which left her so disturbed she ended up missing a planned awards dinner Tuesday night.“They said they were going to kill me,” she told the paper.She said law enforcement is investigating the matter and so she won’t comment fur-ther.

SHElDON ADElSON TAkING THE WITNESS STAND IN lAS vEGAS SANDS lAWSuITCasino mogul and GOP mega-donor Shel-don Adelson is back on the witness stand in Las Vegas for what is expected to be his final day of testimony in a breach of con-tract suit.Under cross-examination by his attor-neys, the 79-year-old multibillionaire was explaining on Monday why he thinks a Hong Kong businessman is not entitled to a payment of $328 million.

Businessman Richard Suen says he's owed that money for helping Adelson's compa-ny, Las Vegas Sands, gain a foothold in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.

MARYlAND MEDICAl MARIjuANA BIll PASSES SENATE, HEADS TO GOv. MARTIN O'MAllEYThe Maryland Senate has approved a medical marijuana bill on Monday by a vote of 42 to 4. The bill passed on the last day of the legislative session. The bill now heads to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk. Ac-cording to the Baltimore Sun, he is expect-ed to sign the bill, having called the bill a "yellow light" approach toward medical marijuana. The AP reports the bill would create a state commission to oversee medical marijuana programs at academic medical research centers that decide to participate.On March 8, Maryland's health secre-tary backed the legislation, noting the O'Malley administration had changed it's position on medical marijuana in the last year. A national Pew Research Center poll released on April 4 shows the majority of Americans support pot legalization, by a margin of 52 percent to 45 percent.

Hon. Alfred J. Weiner (Ret.)

Attorney At Law/MediatorFormer Supreme Court Justice/Surrogate Court Judge

•Wills •Estate Administration

•Estate Planning•Surrogate Practice

210 Route 303 Valley Cottage 10989Phone: 845 639 7800 Fax: 845 639 7850

E-mail: [email protected]


EarliEr this wEEk thE world rEmEmbErEd thE 6 million lost

Congresswoman Nita Lowey Statement In Honor of Holocaust Remembrance day

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) today ,(Monday) issued the following statement in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day:“Today, on Yom Hashoah, Holo-caust Remembrance Day, we re-member and pay tribute to the six million Jews who were murdered for who they were and what they believed. We remember their sto-ries, and the sober lesson of their deaths: never stand idly by and never remain silent in the face of evil and injustice.“We will never forget – we will never forget the victims, and we will never cease to find inspiration in their strength, bravery and perseverance.“But today is for more than remembering the past; it is a day for renewing our commitment to acting now and in the future; to working to secure peace and freedom for people of all faiths; to pursuing justice and advancing equality around the world.”

Photo:Wedding Rings Taken From Concentration Camp Inmates : A few of the thousands of wed-ding rings the Nazis removed from their victims to salvage the gold. U.S. troops found rings, watches, precious stones, eyeglasses, and gold fillings, near the Buchenwald concentration camp. Germany, May 5, 1945.

Area braces for once-in-17-years cicada invasion

Like clockwork, they're coming back -- after 17 years."They" would be cicadas, the big, noisy bugs that climb out of the earth about every decade and a half to make everyone's life more exciting.Experts say that the bugs live un-derground and feed off fluid that gathers near the roots of plants, then emerge from the soil when its tem-perature reaches 64 degrees.They're largely harmless, but their sheer numbers can cause headaches. Some areas could see as many as a billion of the cicadas per square mile. That can lead to a lot of dead bugs all over road-ways and grassy surfaces. They can also disrupt outdoor events with their loud buzzing. New York radio station WNYC is helping to track the invasion.legislator Passes Wolfe’s Resolution to Exempt County Sales Tax on Solar Energy SystemsThe Rockland County Legislature passed a resolution, sponsored by Vice Chairman of the Legislature Alden H. Wolfe, to call upon the NYS Legislature to pass two bills (A.1297 and S.1995) to enact the “Rockland Bergen Bi-State Watershed Flood Prevention and Protection Act” and create a Rockland Ber-gen Bi-State River Commission to ad-dress the issues of potential and exist-ing flood hazards along the various waterways that cross state borders, such as the Hack-ensack, Ramapo/Mahwah and Saddle Rivers and the Sparkill Creek.The resolution received unani-mous approval at the April 3, 2013 meeting of the County Leg-islature.Vice Chairman Wolfe, who is the chair of the Legislature’s Envi-ronmental Committee, sponsored requests to the State Legislature in 2009 and 2012 in support of similar state legislation, which ultimately did not make it out of state committees. The legislation was re-introduced in the Assem-bly in January of this year by As-semblyman kenneth Zebrowski, and was co-sponsored by Assem-blymembers Ellen Jaffee,

Annie Rabbit and James Skoufis. Senator David Carlucci re-intro-duced a bill in the Senate, which was co-sponsored by Senator William Larkin.New Jersey Governor Christie signed legislation in January of 2012 to approve the creation of the bi-state commission in New Jersey, noted Wolfe.“New York needs to create the commission so we can begin to have meaningful discussions with members of the NJ Com-mission, to formulate plans to protect the natural, scenic and recreational resources along our common tributaries, as well as to protect the watersheds from en-vironmental hazards, man-made, weather-related or otherwise," said Wolfe.Bronx County Republican Com-mittee chairman Resigns Joseph "Jay" Savino, a White Plains lawyer and Congers resi-dent, has resigned as Bronx County Republican Committee chairman in the wake of a widen-ing political corruption scandal. The Clarkstown town board last week ousted Savino as a legal consultant after details of the scandal became public.Savino was arrested April 2 and accused of accepting $40,000 in bribes to help Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith win the Re-publican nomination in the up-coming New York City mayoral race.The local 5 International union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers endorsed Mayor Dagan lacorte for Rockland County ExecutiveThis marks the second union en-dorsement for Mayor Lacorte. He was endorsed by the Laborers 754, in November of 2012. The Local 5 International Union of Bricklay-ers & Allied Craftworkers Presi-dent Michael Clifford had this to say about their endorsement of Mayor Dagan Lacorte: "The Local 5 is proud to endorse Mayor Da-gan Lacorte for Rockland County Executive. Mayor Lacorte has a proven track record of keeping taxes down, investing in infra-structure and creating jobs. He is the only candidate in the race who understands that to bring jobs to Rockland, government needs to keep taxes down and invest in infrastructure and economic devel-opment. There is no doubt, that if he can do for Rockland, what he has done for Suffern, our county will thrive. The hard working men and women of Local 5 look forward to knocking on doors and bringing Dagan's message of a new Rockland to all its people."

RoCklaNd & RegIoNal

ADULT MEDICINEdr. James Israeldr. arthur landaudr. debra grohmandr. delatre lolodr. manoj pulicottilelana klein, PAerick araujo, PAbrian blitz, PA

FAMILY MEDICINEDr. Jamie Giraldo

OB/GYNdr. Joel w. allendr. debra kirschnermelissa a. Carco, PAayelet honig, Np

DENTALdr. genady benyaminovdr. Sarah hannadr. david horowitzdr. Ramin kashanidr. Stacey lubetskydr. Jacklyn tadros

SPECIALTYdr. harry baldinger - Podiatrydr. michael ginsburg- Podiatrydr. david Schwalb - Urologydr. Renata witkowska - Allergydr. Samuel wong - Ophthalmologydr. Soren white - Dermatologydr. philip fried - Dermatologyhanna Raice mS, Rd, Cde- Nutrition Counselingaaron muller, Speech Therapymelech karp, Speech Therapy

Family HealtH talk

ם לי חו פא רו

MONSEY FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER

Ben Gilman Spring Valley Family Medical Center175 Route 59, Spring Valley NY 10977

Monsey Family Medical Center40 Robert Pitt Dr.

Monsey, NY 10952

schedule your appointment

today:

Monsey Family Medical Center

40 Robert Pitt Dr. Monsey, NY 10952

(845) 352-6800

page 6 health talk

PEDIATRIC MEDICINEdr. esther bekritskydr. gerson gluckdr. Rafael Nunez

alleRgy SeaSoN IS heRe'Gezunttite!'- This is the third time this morning that your

son has had a sneezing fit, and as you hand him another tissue you wonder if these cold-like symptoms — the sneezing, the congestion, and runny nose — have anything to do with the recent weather change. Well, according to Monsey Family Medical Center Allergist, Renata Witkowska if he gets similar symptoms at the same time every year, chances are he has an allergy.

Seasonal allergies, sometimes called "hay fever" or seasonal allergic rhinitis, are allergy symptoms that occur during certain times of the year. Dr.Witkowska explains a possible reason. "Seasonal allergies are usually when outdoor molds release their spores or trees, grasses, and weeds release tiny pollen par-ticles into the air to fertilize other plants."

The immune systems of people who are allergic to mold spores or pollen treat these particles (called allergens) as invaders that release histamine, into the bloodstream to defend against them. It's the release of these chemicals that causes allergy symptoms.

"People can be allergic to one or more types of pollen or mold. The type someone is allergic to determines when symptoms will occur." notes Dr. Witkowska.

For example, in the mid-Atlantic states, tree pollination begins in February and lasts through May, grass from May through June, and weeds from August through October — thus, children with these allergies are likely to have increased symptoms during those times of the year. Mold spores tend to peak midsummer through the fall, depending on location.

If your child has never had seasonal allergies in years past, it's possible that they're just beginning. Seasonal allergies can start at almost any time, but they usually develop by 10 years of age and reach their peak in the early twenties, with symptoms often disappearing later in adulthood.

If your child develops a "cold" at the same time every year, sea-sonal allergies might be to blame. Allergy symptoms, which usu-ally come on suddenly and last as long as a person is exposed to a particular allergen, can include: sneezing itchy nose and/or throat nasal congestion clear, runny nose coughing.

These symptoms are often accompanied by itchy, watery, and/or red eyes, which is called allergic conjunctivitis. If your child devel-ops wheezing and shortness of breath in addition to these symp-toms, the allergy may have progressed into asthma.

Seasonal allergies are fairly easy to identify because the pattern of symptoms returns from year to year following exposure to an allergen.

Upon your visit to the Monsey Family Medical Center, the doctor will ask about symptoms and when they appear and, based on the answers and a physical exam, should be able to make a diag-nosis. If not, the doctor may refer you to an allergist for blood or allergy skin tests.

There is no real cure for seasonal allergies, but it is possible to relieve symptoms. Start by reducing or eliminating exposure to allergens. During allergy season, keep windows closed, use air conditioning if possible, and stay indoors when pollen counts are high.

Have your child wash hands or shower and change clothing after playing outside. And don't allow a child with seasonal allergies to mow the lawn (this tends to kick up pollen and mold spores).

If reducing exposure isn't possible or is ineffective, medicines

can help ease allergy symptoms. They may include deconges-tants, antihistamines, and nasal spray steroids. If symptoms cannot be managed with medicines, the doctor may recom-mend taking your child to an allergist or immunologist for regular allergy shots (immunotherapy), which can help desen-sitize kids to allergens

When apples make you itchPeople with seasonal allergies may also have oral allergy syndrome, which causes itchiness or hives in the mouth after eating raw fruits and vegetables.

• Proteins in some fruits, vegetables are similar enough to those in pollens to cause a reaction

• For example, those allergic to birch tree pollen may have symptoms after eating carrots, cherries, celery, apples, pears, plums, peaces, apricots and kiwi

• Often peeling or cooking the offending fruit or vegetable will alleviate the problem

• If you already take antihistamines or allergy shots, these should help

Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, MCT Photo ServiceGraphic: Pat Carr © 2009 MCT

Confused immune system

Healthy LivingFood allergies

Motion sicknessGetting dizzy and nauseated while riding in a car, bus, train, boat, plane or on an amusement park ride is common for young kids.

Source: MassGeneral Hospital for ChildrenGraphic: Pat Carr, Garrick Gibson © 2007 MCT

Outer ear

Middle ear

Inner earConsists of fluid-filled, interconnected tubes called semicircular canals that monitor equilibrium; sensitivity here causes sickness

• Sickness occurs when data the inner ear sends to the brain regarding the direction of motion conflicts with the visual clues of apparently standing or sitting still

• Tends to run in families

• Over-the-counter medication Dramamine, taken an hour before traveling

• Light meals before and during trip

• Have child look out the window, not down at a book or game on car trips

• Avoid boat trips, or stand on the deck looking at the horizon

• On plane, choose a seat near the wings

• Avoid amusement park rides that spin

Prevention

Mixed signals

Kids Health Matters

Inner ear

Cochlea

Semicircular canals

Family HealtH talk

PROJECT OHRDepartment of

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MONSEY FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER

Ben Gilman Spring Valley Family Medical Center175 Route 59, Spring Valley NY 10977

Monsey Family Medical Center40 Robert Pitt Dr.

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page 7 health talk

NatIoNal autISm awaReNeSS moNthconTinued from fronT pAge.

journal Pediatrics. Experts say that by delaying certain vaccinations, parents may be putting their children -- and those of others -- at a far greater risk of contracting deadly diseases, such as pneumonia and whooping cough, also known as pertussis. In 2012, the US experi-enced the worst epidemic of whooping cough in 50 years

"Some parents ask about waiting on vaccines and using an alternative or delayed schedule of vaccines, because of worries about autism, "remarked Dr. Nunez.Dr. Nunez tries to remind parents that while they may worry about the unknown, there are real risks to skipping vaccinations or delaying them: outbreaks of severe, sometimes deadly, illnesses.“The bottom line for parents is that these outbreaks are real and they will come back,” Dr. Nunez said. “These are serious illnesses, menin-gitis, measles, and whooping cough. This recent study is just one more piece of evidence to reassure parents that vaccines are safe.”

Autism is a developmental disability characterized, in varying de-grees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal com-munication, and repetitive behaviors. The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) leave no doubt that autism is a critical public health issue that deeply affects the lives of millions of Americans.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disor-ders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social in-teraction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behav-iors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disinte-grative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise speci-

fied (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. With the May 2013 publication of the new DSM-5 diagnostic manual, these autism subtypes will be merged into one umbrella diagnosis of ASD.ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Autism appears to have its roots in very early brain development. However, the most obvious signs of autism and symptoms of au-tism tend to emerge between 2 and 3 years of age. Autism Speaks continues to fund research on effective methods for earlier diag-nosis, as early intervention with proven behavioral therapies can improve outcomes. Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful research shows that this increase is only partly ex-plained by improved diagnosis and awareness. Studies also show that autism is four to five times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diag-nosed with autism in the United States.

DID YOU KNOW......1 in 5 nyc preteens struggle

With Mental illnessA new study has found that about one in five New York City preteens struggle with mental illness or other emotional problems.a city health department survey found that children between the ages of 6 and 12 have been diagnosed with depres-sion, bipolar disorder, anxiety and other behavioral problems.A survey of parents also found that 14 percent of undiagnosed children have difficulties with emotions, concentration, behavior or getting along with others.the Child Community health Survey data didn't capture the full extent of the problem because many cases of mental illness are underreported. the survey was based in 2009 data.


our Food is Changing, and it may not be a good thing

What are GMOs?GMOs, or “genetically modified or-ganisms,” are plants or animals cre-ated through the gene splicing tech-niques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creat-ing unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in tra-ditional crossbreeding.Virtually all commercial GMOs are engineered to withstand direct ap-plication of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. Despite biotech indus-try promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit.Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health prob-lems, environmental damage and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.Are GMOs safe?Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In 61 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the pro-duction and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale. Increasingly, Americans are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.Are GMOs labeled?Unfortunately, even though polls consistently show that a significant majority of Americans want to know if the food they’re purchasing contains GMOs, the powerful biotech lobby has succeeded in keeping this information from the public. In the absence of mandatory labeling, the Non-GMO Project was created to give consumers the informed choice they deserve.How does GMO Awareness come in?If people stop buying GMOs, companies will stop using them and farmers will stop growing them. We aim to make more and more people aware until a tipping point of consumer rejection happens and the market for GMOs col-lapses.do Americans want non-GMO foods and supplements?Polls consistently show that a significant majority of North Americans would like to be able to tell if the food they’re purchasing contains GMOs (a 2008 CBS News Poll found that 87% of consumers wanted GMOs labeled). And, according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, 53% of consumers said they would not buy food that has been genetically modified.How common are GMOs?In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food.What are the impacts of GMOs on the environment?Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for herbicide toler-ance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emer-gence of “super weeds” and “super bugs:’ which can only be killed with ever more toxic poisons like 2,4-D (a major ingredient in Agent Orange). GMOs are a direct extension of chemical agriculture, and are developed and sold by the world’s biggest chemical companies. The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment these novel organisms cannot be recalled.

Airline passengers are getting grumpier, and it’s little wonder.

Airlines keep shrinking the size of seats to stuff more people onto planes, those empty middle seats that once provided a little more room are now occupied and more people with tickets are being turned away because flights are over-booked.Private researchers who analyzed federal data on airline performance also said in a report be-ing released Monday that consumer complaints to the Department of Transportation surged by one-fifth last year even though other measures such as on-time arrivals and mishandled bag-gage show airlines are doing a better job.“The way airlines have taken 130-seat airplanes and expanded them to 150 seats to squeeze out more revenue I think is finally catching up with them,” said Dean Headley, a business professor at Wichita State University who has co-written the annual report for 23 years. “People are saying, ‘Look, I don’t fit here. Do something about this.’ At some point airlines can’t keep shrinking seats to put more people into the same tube,” he said.The industry is even looking at ways to make today’s smaller-than-a-broom closet toilets more compact in the hope of squeezing a few more seats onto planes.“I can’t imagine the uproar that making toilets smaller might generate,” Headley said, espe-

cially given that passengers increasingly weigh more than they use to. Nevertheless, “will it keep them from flying? I doubt it would.”In recent years, some airlines have shifted to larger planes that can carry more people, but that hasn’t been enough to make up for an over-all reduction in flights.The rate at which passengers with tickets were denied seats because planes were full rose to 0.97 denials per 10,000 passengers last year, compared with 0.78 in 2011.It used to be in cases of overbookings that air-lines usually could find a passenger who would volunteer to give up a seat in exchange for cash, a free ticket or some other compensation with the expectation of catching another flight later that day or the next morning. Not anymore.“Since flights are so full, there are no seats on those next flights. So people say, ‘No, not for $500, not for $1,000,’” said airline industry analyst Robert W. Mann Jr.Regional carrier SkyWest had the highest invol-untary denied boardings rate last year, 2.32 per 10,000 passengers.But not every airline overbooks flights in an effort to keep seats full. JetBlue and Virgin America were the industry leaders in avoiding denied boardings, with rates of 0.01 and 0.07, respectively.

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Monsey Family Medical Center40 Robert Pitt Drive Monsey, NY 10952

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spring is in the air,so are the allergies

For an immediate appointment with

Dr. Renata Witkowska in the Department of Allergy and Immunology

Call 352-6800 today.

There is not need to hide from the air and flowers.

• AllergicRhinitis(hay fever)

• Asthma• Eczema• ChronicCough• FoodAllergies• Hives• RecurrentInfections• StingingInsectAllergies• NasalPolyps

When more is betterDiets high in fiber are high in health benefits and big on taste.

• Fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and legumes are packed with dietary fiber• For example, a cup of whole wheat spaghetti provides more than 6 grams of fiber; a cup of oatmeal has about 4 grams; add a cup of raspberries for another 8 grams• Nutritionists recommend that men age 50 and younger get 38 grams of fiber daily, older men 30 grams; younger women should get 25 grams, older women 21 grams• High-fiber diets can lower cholesterol and glucose levels, aid in weigh loss and prevent or relieve constipationSource: Mayo Clinic, World’s Healthiest Foods,MCT Photo ServiceGraphic: Pat Carr © 2011 MCT

Adding fiber is easy

Healthy Living


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Heimish && Healthy Fitness Advice

By Shmuli Zema,ACSM-CPT

This week we are finally going to learn what it means to “count calories.” Below are the nutrition facts for my guilty pleasure: Macaroni & Cheese. On all food packages, you will find a label containing basic information on food components that could be beneficial or deleterious to your health such as total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, and even nutrients

that we tend to lack such as vitamin C, calcium, iron, and dietary fiber. It’s imperative to note that nutrition fact labels follow a 2,000 calorie standard daily diet. For a sedentary individual this is an accurate number, but for a more active individual, a 2,000 calorie diet would not suffice, in which case one needs to consume more foods. The first step is to analyze the serving size of the food product. These sizes are generally listed in units such as cups or pieces and also include the weight of the serving size in grams. For macaroni & cheese, 1 serving size cup is 228 grams (see chart) and since there are 2 servings per container, there are 2 cups worth 456 grams in the entire package. Therefore, this box of macaroni and cheese contains 500 calories in total. Contrary to popular belief, the word “calories” is not a shunned anathema. We all need calories for our bodies to carry out activities of daily living. The real question is which type of calories to consume? By definition, the unit of measure for energy in a food is a “calorie,” and the total number of calories in 1 of 2 servings of this Macaroni and Cheese is 250. Because it is unhealthy for humans to chronically consume more than 30% of total calories from fat, the food label also indicates the calories from

fat from one serving of food. In our case, if 110 of 250 calories are derived from fat, 44% of this delicious Macaroni and Cheese is purely fat calories! This is far greater than our 30% limit, and although this should not immediately deter one from eating this product, one should consume less fatty foods during the rest of the day. After watching for calories and fat from

calories, % daily value (DV) is the next precaution to take. It is crucial to note the following contrast: A DV of 100% represents the maximum limit for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Typically, 5% DV or less is low and 20% or more is high in terms of fats (see chart). So when you reach for a bowl (1 serving of 228 grams) of macaroni & cheese, you’re eating 18% of your daily total fat (based on a 2,000 calorie diet), which is alright. But eating the whole package (2 servings of 456 grams) means you’re eating 36% your DV in fat, which is very high for a single food. In terms of blue nutrients listed on the label, you want these numbers to be high, at least a% DV of 20 or better. Unfortunately, there is no dietary fiber in macaroni & cheese, and with the exception of calcium, this food is very nutrient depleted. Also, an interesting trick to note is when fat from calories isn’t written on a label, you can determine this value by multiplying the total grams of fat in a serving (in our case 12g) by the number 9; e.g. 12x9=108, approximately 110 as aforementioned. Well, now that everyone is an expert at deciphering food labels, please snack healthily and happily!

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While Friedman has been dis-cussing the issues for almost six months already, the exit of Mayor Jasmin from the race has obviously changed many things, and will redefine the election. A community activ-ist involved in Spring Valley politics spoke frankly to The Advocate – on the condition of anonymity – about what has happened and what has changed.“Everyone was very shocked and surprised, especially af-ter the community supported her in the last campaign, of course,” he said, referring to the arrests. “Now, everyone is wondering where we go from here. It’s important now that we all get united behind a new person. Looking from

all the candidates, we need to support someone who can not only win, but can also change what’s been happen-ing,” he continued. “From all the candidates, it seems that Friedman is the best from all of them.”Friedman has always prom-ised to be a different kind of mayor, and he has been run-ning a different kind of cam-paign. “I have never taken a single vote for granted,” he told The Advocate this week. “This is a campaign with a presence in every community with supporters in every com-munity in Spring Valley. I’m proud to have numerous vol-unteers reaching out to vot-ers in 5 different languages to build a coalition to bring everlasting change to Village Hall,” he said.When asked about the cur-rent situation in Spring Val-ley, Friedman said the entire incident is “very unfortunate” for government and residents.

“For a long time, people have been asking how this Village can turn itself around. Today, everyone feels like we have reached rock bottom. It is time to rebuild and renew our Vil-lage – and that’s exactly what my campaign has always been about,” he concluded.Friedman’s campaign got a big boost this week when the first major endorsement of the race was delivered to him. Laborers Local 754, a large union of construction work-ers, gave Friedman a ringing endorsement. “For a long time, it has been clear that the government of Spring Valley is in desperate need of tremendous change. Recent events only highlight the dysfunction and lack of

responsible leadership on all levels of Village government. The time has now come for a new beginning in Village Hall. There is only one person in Spring Valley who can repair the damage that has been done and rebuild Village Hall, and that is Daniel Friedman,” said Local 754 Business Manager Steve Reich.“As a Ramapo Councilman, Daniel Friedman has a long-standing record of supporting working people. His record of successfully fighting for new jobs and responsible govern-ment is something everyone in Spring Valley will ben-efit from,” continued Reich. “As Mayor, we know he will build on that record and be the strongest fighter for the hard-working families of Spring Valley.”That enthusiastic recommen-dation builds on support that Friedman has said has been coming since he announced his candidacy. “In this defin-

ing moment for our Village, we must look forward to the future and address the nu-merous challenges our Vil-lage and families face. The endorsement by Laborers Local 754 and its dedicated members demonstrates the growing widespread support for this campaign, which will bring real and everlast-ing change to Village Hall,” Friedman said.Councilman Friedman has been involved in local poli-tics since before he could vote. Shortly after turning 24, he became a Ramapo Coun-cilman, serving Spring Val-ley, 11 other Villages, and all of unincorporated Ramapo in the process. He was elected and re-elected to that post.

Friedman has served as a Ramapo Councilman for three years. He cites the passage of cost-cutting legislation he proposed which used new technol-ogy to create efficiencies in Town Hall and save taxpayer dollars, to dem-onstrate that he is the only candidate in the race with a record of reducing gov-ernment expenses to ben-efit taxpayers.Councilman Friedman has also made waves for over two years with his pro-posal to consolidate sev-eral fire districts using the Spring Valley Fire Depart-ment. He argues that fire taxes would be reduced by 28% - 73% under his plan.

The plan, which had always been opposed by Mayor Nora-mie Jasmin, got its biggest boost when Governor Andrew Cuomo selected it as one of only a few plans across the state that would greatly ben-efit taxpayers. The Governor awarded a $50,000 grant in or-der to move the project along. As Mayor, Friedman says, he would finally be able to real-ize the goal he set years ago of shrinking government for the benefit of taxpayers.While taxes have increased 94% in Spring Valley over the past decade, Friedman has long pointed to major salary increases that Village politi-cians have given themselves as a sign that they are not in-terested in benefiting strug-gling taxpayers. Last year, the mayor increased her salary by $10,000. For his part, Fried-man points out that while in office, he too had the oppor-tunity to increase his salary tremendously. However, he

chose to voluntarily take a pay cut in his salary as a Town Councilman – an al-most unprecedented move. “It is time for Spring Valley government to be about the taxpayer’s bottom line, and not the politicians – and certainly nobody else’s,” Friedman told The Advo-cate. “My campaign has al-ways been about offering a fresh start to the people of Spring Valley. My record stands in sharp contrasts to all others – and that is what the people of Spring Valley need more than anything at this critical time.”

Friedman at a recent Areivim Dinner. Areivim is a local organization helping kids at risk.

Former Village Justice for Spring Valley, County Exec candidate, David Fried

"i sincerely hope these al-legations aren't true but if they prove to be true, it is a violation of public trust," said former Village Jus-tice david Fried. "i have complete trust the Justice department will thorough-ly look into the allegations made against noramie Jasmin and Joseph des-maret."

Legislator for Spring Valley Toney Earl

"i am surprised, these are hard working people working for the commu-nity. i could have never seen this coming, i and the community in gener-al are in a state of shock. a lot of people looked up to the Mayor, and deputy Mayor. the constituents right now are hurting. the community will re-bound after this bump in the road. it will take time and we will survive."

© 2012 MCTSource: U.S. Federal Reserve

Prime rate3.0-3.25%

Discount rate0.5%

Interest ratesWhile painting a somewhat brighter economic picture, the Federal Reserve again pledged to keep rate near zero through late 2014.Federal funds rate

Õ04 Õ06Õ02

6

0

2

4

Õ08 Õ10 Õ12

0-0.25%

FriedMan is Front-runner in spring Valley CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Local Officials weighing in on last

week's Village upheaval.


HEALTH NEWS

1 2 3

© 2011 MCTSource: Dallas Morning News researchGraphic: Michael Hogue, Dallas Morning News

Hydraulic fracturing

Fluid is pumped out of the well, allowing the gas to flow

Well is drilled and a wire equipped with explosive charges is dropped into the well; the charges perforate the well and cement casing, creating fractures in the underground rock

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, unlocks natural gas from massive reservoir rock formations that otherwise could not be extracted economically. Some people worry hazardous chemicals used in the process pollute air and water.

Sand, water and chemicals are pumped into the well to pry open the fractures, creating channels for the gas to seep out

toyota, honda, nissan announce recall oF 3.4 Million Vehicles

- Toyota, Honda and Nissan are re-calling more than 2 million vehicles globally for an identical problem with air bags on the passenger side whose inflator may burst, sending plastic pieces flying.

No injuries have been reported re-lated to the problem.

The recall for air bags made by Ja-pan’s Takata Corp. affects other au-tomakers including non-Japanese manufacturers, and may be as many as 3 million vehicles, Takata spokes-woman Akiko Watanabe said Thurs-day. She declined to give details.

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 1.7 million vehicles, with some 580,000 in North America, another 490,000 in Europe and 320,000 in Japan. Af-fected models include the Corolla, Tundra, Lexus SC, produced be-tween November 2000 and March 2004. Toyota said it had received five reports of air-bag problems, three in the U.S. and two in Japan, but there have been no injuries.

The automaker suffered a blow to its reputation from a series of massive recalls in 2009 and 2010, including faulty braking, sticky gas pedals and defective floor mats, partly a reflec-tion of how various models used the same parts to save costs. But the lat-est recall is affecting other major au-tomakers as well.

Honda Motor Co. is recalling 1.1 mil-lion vehicles. About 680,000 are in North America, 270,000 in Japan and 64,000 in Europe. The models

include the Civic, CR-V and Odyssey.

The automakers have reported the problem to the Transport Ministry in Japan, and will be reporting other recalls later in the day in other re-gions, they said. Also affected under the same recall were the RX-8 and Mazda 6 at Mazda Motor Corp.

Takata stock plunged as much as 15 percent before closing down 9 percent. Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda shares rallied in Tokyo, shrug-ging off the recall.

A new ban on the sales of single-serving plastic water bottles has taken effect in Concord, Mass.The ban began last month and fol-lows an April vote by Town Meet-ing, which made historic Concord one of the first communities in the nation to make the bottles illegal.

Stores will be fined up to $50 for violating the ban. An exemption is allowed during emergencies.

The new law was adopted after a three-year campaign by local ac-tivists. They pushed a return to tap water, saying banning the bottles will cut down on plastic waste and reduce the use of the fossil fuels used to make the bottles.

Businesses opposed the ban, say-ing it restricts of freedom of choice and will simply drive bottled water sales out of town

Market value Standard mint gold bar

Troy ounces 400Value $16,888Weight 27.5 lb. (12.5 kg)

© 2012 MCT

Where gold is storedThe U.S. gold bullion reserves, in the form of bars, are kept in six facilities across the country. With the exception of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, all are under jurisdiction of the U.S. Mint and are classified locations allowing no visitation.

7 in. (18 cm)

3.625 in. (9.2 cm)

1.75 in.(4.45 cm)

20082007 20102009 2012201120062005

Recession

U.S.-ownedOwned by other nations

21.9 billion

Aug. 7 (all nations)

$341.3 billion

Source: U.S. Mint, U.S. Treasury, Bloomberg Graphic: Ryan Marx, Phil Geib, Chicago Tribune

FederalReserve Bank of New York

Fort Knox,Ky.

(largest facility)

Fort Knox,Ky.

(largest facility)

DenverMint

DenverMint

WestPoint,

N.Y.

PhiladelphiaMint

San FranciscoAssay Office

Value of gold currently kept at Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in billions, based on leading-month futures price at one-month intervals

100

200

300

400


RCDC HOuSING DEPARTMENTThe following information is provided to the community by the RCDC Housing Department as a public service

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goVernor cuoMo announces housing eXtension For sandy

VictiMsTransitional Sheltering Assistance Program Extended in NY for an Additional 14 DaysGovernor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), at the request of the State of New York, has approved a 14-day extension to the Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program, which allows eligible survivors from Superstorm Sandy who cannot return to their homes to stay in participating hotels or motels.The new checkout date for those in the TSA program is April 14, 2013. FEMA will call appli-cants eligible for the extension to notify them of the new checout date.“The Transitional Sheltering Assistance pro-gram continues to be an essential resource

for the New Yorkers who were hit hardest by Sandy,” Governor Cuomo said. “This exten-sion allows them to have a temporary place to stay and more time to get their lives back to normal.This is a short-term program that places fami-lies in hotels while they work toward a longer-term housing plan. To be eligible for TSA, survivors must first apply for federal assistance through FEMA by:·Registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov; ·Registering via smartphone or tablet by using the FEMA app or going to m.fema.gov; or·Registering by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) (TTY 800-462-7585).

Your home is one of the major contribu-tors to where your money is spent monthly. In order to save money, home

energy efficiency is crucial and it isn’t hard to learn. From the extra lamp that you leave on in the bedroom to the 20 minute shower each of your family members take, it’s time to start becoming more efficient. Here are 10 home energy efficient tips that will help your family and your wallet.

1.) Take shorter baths and showers: The amount of water a person wastes in the bathroom is the largest contributor of water consumption on your water bill. Fill the tub with less water and don’t want wait until it’s hot before you put the tub stopper in! Reduce your showering time by 40-50% to see marked difference in your water bill. Have all family members do this daily.

2.) Set lawn irrigation timers to shorter time: When watering your lawn conserve water by shortening the time for each zone of your yard. Instead of only relying on your irrigation timer, look at the weather and turn off the sprinkler when it has rained or it is anticipated. Water lawns in the early morning or late afternoon to reduce water evaporation throughout the day.

3.) Turn off extra lights: Every time you leave a room, turn off the light, it is that simple. The reality is, you can only be in one room at a time, so why light the entire house?

4.) Wash your car less often: If you wash your car at your home, try and use less water to wash your car, and wash it less often. Consider paying a car wash facil-ity to wash your car. Most facilities will have water saving features in their equip-ment and in turn may save you time and energy washing your own car.

5.) Install a tankless water heater: Tankless water heaters only heat water when it is turned on, and will stop when the water is turned off. Therefore, a large pool of water isn’t sitting to be heated and you will never ‘run out’. Tankless water heaters are more expensive than traditional tank water heaters but the long term investment is worth it.

6.) Install energy efficient appliances: Throughout your home appliances con-sume a large amount of electricity to run them. Consider switching out older models with energy efficient models. Visit appliance stores for discounts on floor models and discontinued models. This will help save you money and get your home new appliances that will save energy.

7.) Turn off computers and electronics daily: Do you leave your laptop and com-puter always on? Believe it or not they consume a large amount of energy, espe-cially older laptops batteries that are not as earth friendly as newer models. Turn them off daily to conserve electricity and to extend the life of your laptop battery.

8.) Turn off ceiling fans: Similarly to lights, we tend to leave ceiling fans on con-tinuously when we aren’t in the room. Ceiling fans that are left on for hours on end can consume wasted energy. In the winter months reverse the fan to pull warm air from the ceiling and do the opposite in the summer. This will help you leave your thermostat alone too!

9.) Colder climates – install radiant heat flooring: If your climate is predominantly cold the majority of the year, radiant heat flooring can keep your heating bill down. Flooring has radiant heat cables installed over the concrete floor and under your finish resilient floor. This can save on your energy bill and keep your home warm.

10.) Sunny climates – consider solar panels: If you live in a warm climate that receives sunny conditions the better part of the year, installing solar panels is a good idea. Solar panels convert the sun rays into energy and can be used in numerous applications in your home. From heating the water your home uses to powering electricity. Solar panels will help you harness the suns energy for the better!

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Weatherization is a New York State funded program open to income eligible homeownersand renters. If eligible, you would receive a home energy audit to determine how yourhome’s efficiency could be improved. We replace windows and doors, insulate attics andwalls (all determined at your audit) as well as do overall measures to better airseal yourhome. Weatherization works! Call today for an application.

RCDC Housing, Inc. at 845-352-1400 ext. 3240

U.S. shale gas productionIn trillions of cubic feet per day(share of total gas production)

Global oil and gas productionIn millions of barrels of oil equivalent per day for top producers

Oil

Saudi Arabia

2011

2010 2015 2020

2020

Russia U.S.

1.55.8

(27%)

9.9(43%)

13.0(50%)

10.411.4

10.6

Saudi Arabia

Russia U.S.

Gas Gas liquids Ethanol

© 2011 MCTSource: PFC Energy, IHS Global InsightGraphic: Pat Carr

Energy productionWith a projected dramatic increase in U.S. shale gas production, which uses a controversial extraction method called fracking, the U.S. is on track to become the worldÕs top oil and gas producer by 2020.

1.5

12.7

12.4

12.4

21.2

21.2

19.5

19.5

17.8

17.8 23

.023

.0

23.3

23.3


news from AlbAny

establish a new class of public corruption crimes and expand the current definitions of public corruption of-fenses to enable prosecutors to hold accountable those who violate public trust. The law would also impose tougher jail sentences on individuals that misuse public funds and permanently bar those convicted of public corruption offenses from holding any elected or civil office, lobbying, contracting, receiving state funding, or doing business with the state, directly or through an organization. "Preventing public corruption is essential to ensuring that government works and can effectively keep the public's trust," Governor Cuomo said. "The Public Trust Act recognizes that crimes of public corruption should be treated more seriously than other white-col-lar crimes because when they break the law, they also break the public trust that the people have placed in government. When I was elected, I made a promise to New Yorkers to bring integrity back to state govern-ment and to restore the trust of the people. We have made too much progress in rebuilding this government to turn back. This legislation will continue our work to restore public trust by giving every district attorney in our state the tools they need to root out and punish all forms of public corruption at every level of govern-ment."The new class of Public Corruption Crimes would in-clude the following crimes: bribing a public servant, corrupting the government, and failing to report a bribe or a bribe attempt. The new class of Public Corruption Crimes would in-clude the following crimes: bribing a public servant, corrupting the government, and failing to report a bribe or a bribe attempt.

I. New Crimes for Violating Public TrustBribery of a Public Servant: The proposed legisla-tion would expand the current state bribery statute to give prosecutors additional tools to convict offenders. Under current state law, a prosecutor has to prove that

there was a corrupt agreement or understand-ing between the person paying the bribe and the person receiving the bribe. This is not required under federal law and is an unduly heavy bur-den. Under the new Public Servant Bribery pro-vision, a prosecutor would only have to prove

that the person paying the bribe “intended” to influ-ence the public official or that the person receiving it intended to be so influenced, bringing state law in line with the federal standard. Bribery penalties would be increased, lowering the threshold for a Class C felony from $10,000 to $5,000, the amount of money used to bribe, and to $10,000 and above for a Class B felony. Corrupting the Government: The proposed legislation would hold accountable anyone – whether or not they are a public official – who is found to have engaged in defrauding the government. The legislation also en-hances penalties for all offenders convicted of defraud-ing the government through the crime of Corrupting the Government. Under the new law, anybody, whether acting in concert with a public servant or not, who en-gages in a course of conduct to defraud a state or local government would be guilty of a crime ranging from the fourth degree (class E felony) to the first degree (class B felony), depending on the amount defrauded.Failure to Report Public Corruption: The proposed legis-lation would for the first time make it a misdemeanor for any public official or employee to fail to report bribery.

II. Tough New Penalties for Misuse of Taxpayer dollars

New Penalties for Public Corruption: The proposed legislation would create new penalties for offenses such as any kind of fraud, theft, or money laundering offense involving state or local government property. This means an offender would face a higher penalty if the act was committed against the government. The sentence would be one level higher than for the under-lying offense. For example, if the underlying offense (e.g. larceny) was a class D felony, then the involve-ment of state or local government property would in-crease the sentence to the class C felony. The specific existing crimes affected are those defined by the fol-lowing provisions of the Penal Law:

·petit larceny·grand larceny ·unauthorized use of a computer·unauthorized use of a vehicle·money launderingIncreased Penalties for Official Misconduct: Under current law, Official Misconduct is a misdemeanor. The proposed legislation creates three new degrees of Offi-cial Misconduct: a Class E felony (maximum penalty 4 years), Class D felony (maximum penalty 7 years) and Class C felony (maximum penalty 15 years). III. Lifetime Ban from Government The new class of felony public corruption crimes would impose additional penalties, apart from jail sentences and criminal fines, including:·Permanently barring all those convicted of public cor-ruption felonies from holding any elected or civil of-fice, serving as a registered lobbyist, or doing business with the state, including through any organization they run·Barring individuals from bidding on or obtaining state contracts·Barring individuals from receiving numerous tax credits·Prohibiting individuals from serving as a Medicaid, employment insurance or workers’ compensation pro-vider·Gives Judges the option of requiring payment of up to three times the amount of the profit or gain made from an illegal transaction·Creating an automatic set off for any fines or other penalties imposed against any State tax refundFixing the Statute of Limitations: Under the proposed legislation, the same tolling or suspension of the statute of limitations of five years after leaving office will ap-ply to both public servants and those persons acting in concert with a public servant to commit misconduct in public office. Currently, the statute of limitations for public officials is in effect for five years after they have left office, but not those acting in concert who are not themselves public officials.

GOVERNOR CUOMO PROPOSES NEW CLASS OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION

CRIMES from pAge 1


Constantly beeping alarms from de-vices that monitor the vital signs of the critically ill have "desensitized" hos-pital workers who sometimes ignore the noise, leading to at least two dozen deaths a year on average, a hospital ac-crediting group said Monday.And these cases are probably vastly underreported, said the Joint Commis-sion in an alert to hospitals calling at-tention to the problem.The beeping devices include those that measure blood pressure and heart rate among other things. Some beep when there's an emergency, and some beep when they're not working. That can lead to noise fatigue and the delay in treating a patient can endanger lives, the accredi-tation commission says.Complicating the situation is the abun-dance of technology, with no standard-ization for what the beeps mean, said Dr. Ana Mckee, the commission's executive vice president and chief medical officer.The commission's estimate of possible deaths related to the problem is consid-erably lower than the reports it found in a U.S. Food and drug Administration database. The FDA lists more than 500 deaths potentially linked with hospital alarms between January 2005 and June 2010. But that includes mandatory re-ports of malfunctions and in some cases the connection to a death is only tenuous.The commission's own database reports 80 deaths and 13 severe injuries between January 2009 and June 2012. Hospitals

voluntarily report these to the commis-sion, which reviews them and in these cases determined there was a clear con-nection to the device, said Mckee.There likely are far more problems than have been reported, partly because ig-noring or misinterpreting an alarm may have set off a chain of events that led to an injury or death, she explained. But tracing back to that first oversight can be difficult, McKee said.Alarm-system events included patient falls, delays in treatment and medication errors that resulted in injury or death, the Joint Commission said."With the proliferation of technology, alarms, and a lack of standardization," it's more challenging for doctors and nurses to respond adequately, Mckee said.The commission said hospital leaders need to address the problem and train staffers in safe alarm management.The organization accredits more than 10,000 U.S. hospital and health care or-ganizations. Hospitals covet accredita-tion and following commission advice is key to maintaining it.

Cuomo defends Changes To Recently Passed Gun Law

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last Wednesday the state is not rolling back the nation’s most stringent gun control measure by keeping 10-bullet magazines legal, even though they would have been outlawed in a bill that passed earlier this year.Cuomo and legislative leaders in state bud-get talks plan to change the law that was passed in January before a provision kicks in banning the sale of 10-bullet magazines. The gun measure outlaws the purchase of any magazines that carry more than seven

bullets, the nation’s most stringent limit. That would have put a severe limit on the sale of guns with industry standard 10-bul-let magazines when the provision of the law will go into effect on April 15.“There is no such thing as a seven-bullet magazine. That doesn’t exist, so you really have no practical option,” Cuomo said. He told reporters that any suggestion this will be a rollback of the law is “wholly without basis.”

New yorkers must register again for school tax break after Rockland abuse

New Yorkers receiving the STAR property tax rebate will have to reregister for the lo-cal school tax breaks because of reports of widespread abuse and fraud.The law concerning the $3 billion New York State School Tax Relief program is part of

the state budget bills now being passed in Albany.Homeowners will have a year to reapply for the program, with a deadline of April 1, 2014.

hospital errorsTwO dOzEn diE EvERy yEaR bECausE

HEalTH wORkERs ignORE HOsPiTal alaRMs

The Amazing Astorino: Can Any democrat Beat Westchester's

Republican Wonder?an op-ed by Ryan KarbenIt's good to be the Westchester County Ex-ecutive. The suburban county has a $1.7 billion budget, 5000 employees and its own amusement park.But a lifetime pass for Playland isn't the ambition of the incumbent on the 9th Floor of the Michaelian Office Building. Rob Astorino wants to be New York's governor. Will his 2013 re-election stand in the way?Westchester is a political palace. Hillary Clinton went suburban cozy in its tony Chappaqua. Astorino's putative statewide rival, Governor Andrew Cuomo, nests in nearby Mt. kisco. Harry Wilson, who ran a competitive statewide race for Comp-troller in 2010, is a Westchesterian. The massive investment in a replacement for the dilapidated Tappan Zee Bridge, which lands in Westchester's Tarrytown, is no ac-cident.On many levels, Westchester's Demo-crats are thriving. Last year, they sent Republican Nan Hayworth packing from Congress and chose George Latimer for an open seat in the State Senate. Demo-crats command a 10 to 7 majority on the county's Board of Legislators.But neither Latimer, nor other popular Democrats like Scarsdale Assemblywom-an Amy Paulin, are taking on Astorino. Astorino won in a historic upset four years ago, besting his well-financed, 3-term predecessor Democrat Andy Spano in a suburban tax revolt. Astorino failed to fell Spano four years earlier. In 2009, the ra-dio host powered to a convincing victory with thousands of Democratic votes.So who are the Democratic Davids will-ing to tussle with this GOP Goliath? A diverse trio, each representing a distinct slice of Westchester's Democratic elector-ate. Democrats agreed to forgo a primary and embrace whomever wins the party's vote of its district leaders on April 24th. The loudest voice among the challengers is the current chief of the County Legis-lature. ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat, has tangled with Astorino at every turn. Jenkins has cast himself a defender of Democratic values and Astorino as a Tea Party conservative. He has fought Astori-no's cuts to child care and opposed public transit fare hikes. He has sued (sometimes successfully) to limit the County Execu-tive's power. With a solid base in Yonkers (the South-ern Westchester city will cast 16.5% of the votes at the convention) and some surprising support in the county's northern Somers, Jenkins has a path to the nomina-tion. The African-American Jenkins will also pull support in heavily minority Mt. Vernon, which casts a bit under 11% of the vote.Jenkins critics cite these internal party bat-tles as a temperament issue for the Chair-man; his supporters view it as the price for Jenkins' willingness to do battle for their values.Ryan, of White Plains, has a deeper gov-ernmental resume than Jenkins or Noam Bramson, the New Rochelle Mayor who splashily entered the race in December. Ryan served in the State Assembly from 1982 to 1984, famously beaten by the then obscure Mayor of Peekskill, George Pataki in 1984 Reagan landslide. Well re-garded by his colleagues in Albany, Ryan

remained on the Assembly Democrats' payroll as a regional liaison for 18 years after losing his election.White Plains has 6.9% of the vote. Ryan is a popular figure among the city's Demo-crats and most of the district leaders there support him. And with decades of gener-ally favorable relationships with Demo-crats across the county and state who re-spect his years of service, Ryan has many loyalties to call upon-- no small things in vote contained to party insiders. He has picked up support in Peekskill too, leading some to suggest a Ryan rally.Bramson, who has lead New Rochelle since 2006, is the only Democrat in the race with executive, rather than legisla-tive, experience. Once heralded as the "Boy-Wonder Mayor", Bramson's cam-paign rollout has been impressive and its "inclusive Westchester" message tailored to the liberal women that vote heavily in Democratic primaries. Endorsements from progressive brand names like Con-gresswoman Nita Lowey have helped.Bramson gets points for youth and pol-ish-- and electability. Some Democratic leaders believe that only Bramson-- an outsider to the rough battles between As-torino and county lawmakers like Jenkins and Ryan-- can out reform Astorino's own outsider image. And Bramson's campaign, while focused on winning the nomination, is also already thinking about November- and how to increase Democrat turnout numbers from their abyssmal lev-els in 2009.Bramson has also lead the race in fun-draising. In the last reporting period, he had $528,000 in the bank compared with $218,000 for Jenkins. Ryan posted $43,000. But that's a pittance to Astorino's current $2.2 million-- and the $4 million the Dem-ocrats expect the GOP incumbent to spend on his re-election.What is absent amid all the jockeying, however, is a Democratic consensus on how to oust Astorino. When discuss-ing the race, Democrats cite the county's growing Democratic party enrollment edge. And Astorino's heated resistance to a federal fair housing order has encoun-tered judicial hostility that could begin to rub swing voters the wrong way while en-ergizing black and Latino Democrats.But successful campaigns are those that have credible narratives and Astorino has honed his: protecting property taxpayers with three consecutive no tax hike bud-gets. County taxpayers have tolerated the consequent service cuts, even while disliking them. And the County Execu-tive relentlessly polishes his outsider im-age-- even dressing up as Moses for Pass-over seders. Jews are a significant, mostly Democratic, Westchester voting bloc.With a multi-million dollar campaign chest, stable tax rates and divided oppo-sition in the County Legislature, Astorino is as well-positioned as any GOP incum-bent could be in a county where Demo-crats outnumber Republicans 250,000 to 132,000.But the Democrats' suprising unity in Westchester after a tradition of messy pri-maries is the mark of party seeking vic-tory. And Cuomo allies in the political bohemoths like Local 1199 understand what is at stake.


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The issue: Accountability,accountability, accountabil-ity. That is the new bold theme of the U.S. education system. We supposedly need ways to make teachers accountable and whole schools accountable for the educa-tion of our children. To accommodate this powerful demand, testing measures are being created. They will be super-accurate and reliable. Then, to accommodate these newly created assessment instruments, dis-ciplined curricula are being formulated. So, the system goes like this. Children will learn as per the newly proposed curricula, and they will then be tested by the new assess-ment tools, which will be used to determine fulfillment of accountability by teachers and schools. Bear in mind that in order for this system to work, everything needs to be carefully calibrated and scripted. If a teacher steps off script, the progression from learn-ing to accountability may lose preciseness. The wow facTor: There are committees of professionals from universities and educa-tional product companies who have been contracted by our government to develop this system. Committees representing each department of academics have been slav-ing over this project, all members working earnestly to develop the best for our chil-dren. The departments of math, reading, and science have earned much attention in the educational media as they report their progress. They have very comprehensive prescriptions for all schools in the union. Everything is neatly scaled and scripted and specific objectives are laid out grade by grade, telling teachers exactly what to teach. The department of social studies is different.This group has veered off the main road and is headed down a different kind of path. These folks, who are members of the Coun-cil of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), chose not to write a script for all social stud-ies teachers to follow. They did not compile volumes of objectives to uniformly guide the imparters of social studies and civics to our children. Instead, they composed a frame-work for teachers to follow. That’s quite a departure. Are these leaders lazy or copping out from their responsibility?our Take on The issue: Not in our opinion. As a matter of fact, we applaud the CCSSO. We clearly favor a framework over a script. Frameworks are broad sets of guidelines, while standards are specific lists of objec-tives. Very simply, frameworks are for think-ing, innovative, creative individuals, while scripts rob teachers of these qualities. As the CCSSO stated, they decided to issue a framework that each state can use to for-mulate their own standards. That tells us that one size does not fit all. Yes, each state will probably adopt its own standards based upon the framework, but that already in-vites some variation. Better some than none. As the CCSSO framework is nearing comple-tion, the council issued an eight-page de-scription of the framework, which is worth viewing. The framework will promote four dimensions of informed inquiry. They are developing questions and planning inves-tigations; applying disciplinary concepts and tools; gathering, evaluating, and using, evidence; and working collaboratively and communicating conclusions. The beauty of

this framework is that it can be shaped and applied to any subject and any grade level. The CCSSO even described how these di-mensions of inquiry can branch over to Eng-lish language arts. our professional advice: Em-brace and broadcast these dimensions of inquiry as widely as possible. These are ex-cellent student-centered elements of learn-ing. Each one is rich with student initiative and participation. Allow us to expound on them. Look at the first dimension: develop-ing questions and planning investigations. This is a lesson opener. The teacher intro-duces a topic and touches on a few main points to orient students with the subject. Each student jots down a question he would like to ask about the topic, realizing that he has very little pre-knowledge. Questions are collected and the class agrees to pursue answers for the most common questions first. That will be a collective effort shared by teacher and students. Simultaneously, all students are welcome to research their per-sonal question, which may not have been a popular one, on their own and to report their findings to classmates when ready. Extra-curricular research? Which kid would want to do that? Answer: almost all kids, that is if they are sincerely interested in the topic and their efforts are respected and re-warded. The next step is to plan how to go about researching their topic. What should be included or excluded from the scope of research? How should material be stored? Thinking about the conclusion of the proj-ect, what kind of presentation will suit this material?

We clearly favor a framework over a script.

The second inquiry dimension talks about applying disciplinary concepts and tools. This means to seek appropriate research sources that will target the questions. We have the target; now we need the bow and arrows. Do we require documented sourc-es? Are they available locally? What types of media should we collect? Students learn to evaluate their sources critically according to how well the sources relate to their queries.Dimension number three is about putting the research into action. Once the research material has been collected, students deter-mine its value. Does it indeed support their efforts to answer their questions? Is there enough evidence to prove their point? The final dimension involves work-ing with others and presenting to others. Students have been working together to satisfy the research requirements in order to reach a conclusion. Then together they prepare a presentation of findings. There are criteria that they must honor in order to present their conclusions satisfactorily. The boTTom line: From beginning to end, the inquiry process has “made by students” written all over it. That’s the beauty of the social studies framework, which can also be applied universally. This approach to teach-ing and learning is child-based and is highly motivating. That is because students feel a strong sense of ownership. They are in-volved in every step of the learning process, planning through presentation. They will invest in something that they can proudly own. They will also stick to task and see it through to the end. This clearly proves the benefits of “helping children to help them-selves.”

Educational Insights Framework or script, which is Better?


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Features: Private meetings with Members of Congress Roundtrip Transportation To Washington, DC Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner (All Meals Glatt Kosher)

Last Day to Register: Thursday, May 2nd

adults - $175 Students - $125

MISSION CHAIRS Laurie Baumel • Richard Schlussel, M.D. • David Steinberg

MISSION COMMITTEE

Bergen County: Gary Baskind, Alan Berger, Michael Blumenthal, Reuven Escott, Mollie Fisch, Mort Fridman, Allen Friedman, Rabbi Menachem Genack, Jerry & Anne Gontownik, Robert & Irene Gottesman,

Harry kanner, Daniel klapper, Arthur kook, Leon kozak, Saul Levine, Drew & Corrine Parker, Zvi Plotzker queens: David Steinberg Manhattan: Dan Feder, Jason Muss Edison/Highland Park: Marc Hanfling, Jeff Schreiber West Orange: Barbara Bortniker, Bernard & Eliane Levy, Roz Feder Lipsky Bronx: David Frankel, Ethel Scher, Leslie

Tugetman New Rochelle: Marc Berger Monsey/Rockland: Richard kroll Five Towns/Long Island: Margie Glatt, Robert Margulies, Stanley & Trudy Stern Oakhurst: Avraham Tuvy Brooklyn: Zoltan Brenner, David Merav

PRESIdENT

Ben Chouake, M.D.

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Documents

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public officials

cdc study

tough new penalties

new york governor andrew

new york prosecutors

page7 public trust act