JANUARY 2014VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4 IN PRINT & ONLINE

Your town. Your schools. Your leadership. Your community matters! www.YourNewsMag.com

Chuck FuschilloChuck Fuschilloprivate citizen,private citizen,new challengesnew challenges

Kennedy's Intel Semifi nal Winners...

John DeTommaso Talks About the Future ...

What's New in your Neighborhood...

Bellmore • Merrick

2 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4NEWS

Addressing the Core Curriculum Blues

With hundreds to possibly thou-sands of parents upset over the new Core Curriculum Learning

Standards, several came from as far as East Islip, Oceanside, East Meadow and Hewlett to hear several educators discuss current shortcomings in the new system of learning at a recent Co-munity Education Forum Merrick meeting sponsored by Jeanettte Deu-termann, founder of the Facebook group Long Island Opt-Out.

Th e Core Curriculum has been in place since 2010 and only now, with high

stakes testing and schools and teachers under the gun to teach students to pass rigorous testing – in addition to send lo-cal student information to a database pool operated by the state - have parents taken notice to speak out at such meet-ings. Th e Facebook group has 15,000 fol-lowers.

“We are ground zero for the move-ment against Common Core,” Deuter-mann told this magazine after the meet-ing, which featured Carol Burris, princi-pal of South Side High School; Joseph Rella, superintendent of Comewogue School District; Merrick resident Dr. Ar-nold Dodge, chairperson of the Depart-ment of Edeucaitonal Leadership at LIU/Post, and Brian Wasson, a technol-ogy training specialist.

Whatever changes are made to the nature of how Common Core oper-ates – or does not – will begin first on Long Island before rippling through-out the rest of the state and the coun-try, she said.

While Superintendent Rella discussed how children have become anxious about rigorous testing , which is causing self-abuse, and that young students are becoming discouraged and doubting themselves because of the tests – “this is a special time for them, they won’t get this time back,” Principal Burris tried to show that numbers were manipulated to arrive at arbitrary goals of what percent-ages of students will fail or not, creating inaccuracies about how real education is taught. “It is totally capricious,” she said.

She added that, because educators have not been implementers at the state level, the new rigorous testing is not real-ly about testing student learning but about testing how well teachers prepare the tests, and about how well schools prepare teachers to prepare the tests.

Dr. Dodge said he traveled to Finland and China, looking for standards referred to in the Common Core as goals for the curriculum to reach for. Finland, he said, has only 4 million people, and no poverty.

And in Shanghai, where the elite schools are, he said residents there would love to come to any elite schools in the U.S.

Brian Watson said that the state will re-quire email addresses of parents and a host of other information that will be stored on state computers – in the cloud - rather than in local schools. He noted the potential for breaches and hacking was quite high, and conveyed concern that inBloom, the third-party vendor working on the massive data collection, might store the data off -shore, where breaches would be subject to local laws of essential and personal U.S. da-ta. “How would we litigate that?” he asked.

Shadows of the government picking and choosing students' future trajectories in life appeared to be cast in describing what massive data collection could be used for.

Deutermann told parents they had the power to simply keep their children from taking the tests, and that by doing so there would be no scores to collect, which could aff ect the overall data col-lection at the state level.

NEWS 3Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

Bikepath Expansion Continues

Expansion of the Jones Beach bike path - or Wantagh shared-used path, which be-

gins at Cedar Creek Park in Wan-tagh, follows Wantagh Parkway south and winds past Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on its way to the Jones Beach boardwalk, has begun on the eastward link to Tobay Beach.

Called the Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway, the 13-foot wide tarmac will extend 3.6 miles eastward to Tobay Beach from Jones Beach State Park parking field 5 at a cost of $3.8 million, and roll into a large concession stand at the western edge of Tobay Beach.

Once completed by spring, rec-reationalists will be able to travel by bicycle or walk from Cedar Creek Park to Tobay Beach, a distance of 8.8 miles. Completion of the east-ern link will fulfill a dream of for-mer state Senator Norman J. Levy, who envisioned a bicycle path east along the Ocean Parkway.

New York State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Ei-leen Peters told this magazine that the original plan of the bike path

was to run all the way out to Cap-tree State Park. However, residents of Gilgo Beach are skeptical of the bike path running through their beach community without a more comprehensive privacy plan to protect them, she said.

Charles Fuschillo Jr., former chairperson of the state’s Trans-portation Committee, said he was glad to see fi nal construction of the bike path on Ocean Parkway east now taking place. “It’s about time,” he said. “Runners, bicyclists and walkers have been using the Wantagh shared-use path down to Jones Beach for a long time,” he explained. And they have re-mained patient in anticipation of being able to bicycle and walk along the parkway and points east, as part of an overall educa-tional and recreational experi-ence, he added.

State Assemblyman Dave Mc-Donough added that “With the completion of this project Long Is-landers can enjoy 8.8 miles of paved paths, which connect the is-lands beautiful beaches.”

Michael Vitti, president of the Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists, said, “ People who live [in the Bellmores and Merricks can] now have an option to use their car less, reducing traffic to the beach while also increasing bicycle tourism on Long Island. It’s a win - win with the health benefits and air pollution reduction as well.”

The greenway to Tobay Beach meets the accessibility require-ments of the Americans with Dis-ability Act and will include a cable guiderail to protect users from Ocean Parkway traffic. The project also includes enhanced landscap-ing, educational signs, informa-tional kiosks, benches and storage for 24 bicycles at Tobay Beach. Path users will also have access to the Tobay beach facilities, including the bay and ocean beaches, restau-rant and playground.

Visit www.511ny.org/rideshare/rideshare.aspx?FolderID=149 or www.dot.ny.gov/display/pro-grams/bicycle for information on bicycling on Long lsland.

Calling All Historians

The Charles Frisch house at 2668 Martin Avenue in Bell-more will be up for landmark

status consideration when it goes before the Hempstead Town Board at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 11. All historians with an interest in main-taining early Long Island structures and architecture may want to attend.

The 105-year-old Victorian Folk Gothic-style home was built by Charles Frisch, now considered an entrepreneurial builder in the Bell-more area who built and owned the Clarkson Hotel, close to where the Vamps Club is now located. Frisch once advertised for a ‘live-in girl’ to clean and maintain the house in a local newspaper.

Owned by Walter Eisenhardt, Jr. since 2007, the 2400-square-foot Frisch house was built in 1909. Ei-

senhardt researched Frisch and learned that he had extensive ties to the communities as a business-man and a builder.

“He is one of the community’s fi rst entrepreneurs,” said Eisen-hardt, and he deserves to have his house recognized.

Frisch’s ties go deep, said Eisen-hardt. “He built 2400-square-foot bungalows at High Hill Beach on casino land owned by R.T. Wilmarth.” Wilmarth also ran the ferry from Bellmore to High Hill

Beach. When High Hill Beach eventually dissolved, about 50 bun-galows were moved to Gilgo Beach. Many still stand.

Th e house features 1919 Robert Findlay chandeliers with Fenton glass, heaters from an original 1865 design and a Philco radio built in to the fi replace. Home-owners would gather around the fi replace in those days and listen the radio, Eisenhardt said.

Eisenhardt added that Frisch al-so owned a boat he kept docked in Freeport, where he was suspected of being a rum runner during pro-hibition. When Frisch died, the lo-cal newspaper reported that he died of cirrhosis of the liver.

Members of the Bellmore His-torical Society are expected to at-tend the landmark hearing.

Li’l Left Coast is Comin’ to Bellmore

Left Coast Kitchen and Cock-tails, at 1810 Merrick Road in Merrick, an ambitious

restaurant looking to be your neighborhood eatery with an eclectic assortment of savory foods, from steaks and seafoods to choice poultries and other gastronomical creations, is opening a second location in Bellmore as early as March.

Chef Chris Randell told this magazine he will turn Spiro’s Italian eatery at 2496 Merrick Road, into a takeout kitchen fi rst, and eventually provide tables for those who would like to sit and indulge in what Randell calls ‘chef-driven’ de-lights.

“My wife and I are from Bell-more and we can’t fi nd what we consider good take out in the area,” he explained of the decision to open a second eat-ery. He says he started the Left Coast in the same fashion.

“When we moved to Bell-more we couldn’t fi nd a restaurant to satisfy our food interests,” so they found Road House Blues up for sale and opened it to cook up what they considered real American gas-tronomical treats for the

neighborhoods to try. Th e restaurant has now been there four-and-a-half years.

Matthew Schwartz of Wan-tagh and his wife come to the restaurant once a week. “My wife and I go out to eat several times a week and he [Randell] is by far the best chef in the neighborhood,” he said. He loves the mix of fl avors and foods that provide for an un-matched dining experience.

Chef Randell is trained in the heathy food stylings of Califor-nia cuisine while adding the so-phistication of Manhattan cui-sines to arrive at his eclectic ap-proach to cooking. For his take-out he’ll off er mac ‘n cheese, hamburgers and chicken wings but says, “Why not off er cavatelli with tasso ham, English peas, chartelles with mushrooms and reggiano cheese for dinner take out too?”

While admitting the cost may be slightly higher, he says he is focused on quality. He hopes the Li'l Left Coast can see its way to off er tapas eventually. Delivery will be a feature of the new takeout restaurant.

For information call the Left Coast at 868-5338.

4 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4

Ring In the New Year! January 2014 brings many

exciting changes

It is hard to believe that 2014 is here. Th e years come and go so fast. It’s funny how time as a child seemed to almost stand

still, and now time passes by in a blink. Th ough I am not quite sure why. Perhaps watching children grow and change before our eyes makes us more aware of the pas-sage of time. It seems like yesterday when I peeked my head in the window at Chatter-ton to see my son in kindergarten. Now my son is taller than I am, in high school, looking for-ward to driving a car and working over the summer.

Th is year I made sure to see the holiday concerts at Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham High schools. What a blast, talk about musical kids. A big thank you to the students that reached me at Your NewsMag to send the invite. So many talented students are proud to repre-sent their schools. It brings me joy to see them perform. I remember some of them as young children. Photos from all three concerts are available on facebook.com/yournewsmag. A big round of applause to all!

And now to community matters. Our fi ne state Sena-tor Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. resigned after many years of service to our communities and to the state of New York. Chuck welcomed us into his home for an exclu-sive interview with Your NewsMag about his new jour-ney into the private sector, where he is poised to reach millions more who honestly need and will appreciate his help. I would like to add a personal note of appreci-ation for his dedication and hard work. Everyone that I know who has had the privilege to work with Charles Fuschillo looks at him with admiration and respect. Living in Merrick I am sure many of you know some-one in the Fuschillo family and would agree with me that they are wonderful people. Your Newsmag wishes him much success in his new role as private citizen and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

Th e next piece of good news is business appears to be thriving in the Bellmores and Merricks. Many new stores have opened their doors in our neighborhoods. Still oth-er businesses are expanding into larger spaces to ac-commodate their growing success. Check page 16 in this month’s edition of Your NewsMag for what we discov-ered simply while driving around the neighborhoods to glimpse what is new and available around town.

Success should always be noted and rewarded so … congratulations to one of our long-time businesses in Bellmore, Have You Heard? for winning the presti-gious WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award for 2014.

January is also the month when members of our local chambers of commerce are sworn in to offi ce

and celebrate by honoring those that have given back to the community in

so many ways. Congratulations to all of the Chamber of Commerce 2014 Honorees.

Here’s the Who’s Who

BELLMORE CHAMBER OF COMMERCEBoard Member of the Year:

Steve Eplan of Rock UndergroundChamber Person of the Year:

Jackie Fithian of Vital SignsCommunity Person of the Year:

Andrea ChiricoLifetime Achievement Award:

Th e Camileri Family of Dear Little Dollies

MERRICK CHAMBER OF COMMERCEWoman of the Year: Adrienne Garfi nkelMan of the Year: Randy ShotlandSpecial Recognition Award for 75th Anniversary

Celebration of Merrick Life:Linda Laursen Toscano and Paul Laursen

A note of gratitude to all who volunteer and serve on the board of the Chambers of Commerce of the Bellmores and Merricks for their eff orts to make our communities shine.

Lastly, I would like to commemorate the many de-cades of service Roy Weinman has given to the com-munity. His store will be sorely missed. It had been an integral part of the Bedford Avenue business environ-ment since his father opened it in the 1920s. My hus-band has many memories of visits to Weinman’s to buy either lawnmower parts or a snow shovel in the winter in the 1960s, long before there was a Home De-pot. Our hats are off to you Roy.

Your NewsMag is your grassroots community news magazine. If you know of something that is newswor-thy please let us know. If your business is having an anniversary or someone in your family is celebrating a special occasion, we want to know. After all, your news is our news.

A happy and healthy new year to all our readers!Jill Bromberg

PUBLISHER

JILL@YOURNEWSMAG.COM

☞ TABLE OF CONTENTS

● PAGES 2, 3: NEWSCore Curriculum Blues; bike path expansion continues; calling all historians; Li’l Left Coast Comin’ to Bellmore

● PAGE 6: COVER STORY Former state Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. Takes to the Private Sector. State Senator Charles Fuschillo Jr. resigned his public of-fi ce after 16 years to enter the private sector once again. We profi le him to get the whys – and where he’s going

● PAGE 9: SCHOOLSKennedy Students are Intel Semifi nalists.The role the naivete of innocence can play in incar-ceration; how the shapes of dolls such as Barbie may contribute to early dieting disorders in girls; and the very real need for new global warming standards

● PAGE 12: FEATUREFormer Teacher, Assistant Principal: Superinten-dent DeTommaso Looks to the FutureDeTomasso reveals his thoughts on the bond issue, budgets and the biggest educational challenge in 20 years: the Core Curriculum

● PAGE 16: AROUND THE TOWNSPhotos of new establishments opening around Bellmore and Merrick

● PAGE 21: HEALTH MATTERSTreating Heel Spurs; Infl ammation May Link Gum Diseases and Other Illnesses; Preventative Medicine as a Healthy Balance

● PAGE 23: ENTERTAINMENTKennedy High School to Host it First Talent Show; Something to Wine About

● WHO’S WHO AT YOUR NEWSMAGAdvertisingJill BrombergOnlineErin Donohue

EditingDoug FinlayReportingLinda Delmonico Prussen, Dylan Campbell

Contact us with story ideas and news at:edit@yournewsmag.cominfo@yournewsmag.com

Or, to advertise, Jill@yournewsmag.comP.O. Box 15, Bellmore, New York 11710

Bellmore • Merrick

5Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

6 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4COVER STORY

Charles Fuschillo Embraces the Private Sector

Rumor spread quickly in the street after a New Year’s Eve Day mid-morning

email blast announcing the sudden, irreversible resignation of Merrick resident Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. from the elected of-fi ce of New York State Senator for the Eighth Senatorial Dis-trict at 11:59 p.m., to become chief executive offi cer of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

“He’s likely under investiga-tion,” remarked one Bellmore woman. “Trust me,’ she contin-ued, “I know these politicians.”

“He has ties to a lot of people,” a Merrick resident spoke, agree-ing with the Bellmore woman’s comment. Any investigation would follow him wherever he went, this magazine off ered in modest response, he couldn’t hide from it in another offi ce.

Another long-time resident, upon hearing the news that morning, pondered for a mo-

ment the possible implications for hundreds of residents if such news were correct. “His acts of kindness to thousands in the community” are legendary, the resident said. “What could he possibly be thinking?”

He then lighted upon the idea Fuschillo may be preparing for a run against U.S. Congresswom-an Carolyn McCarthy’s Fourth Congressional District seat. Re-districting brought Democratic Rep. McCarthy into the Bell-mores and Merricks and now she has announced she will no longer run for offi ce as she is be-ing treated for lung cancer.

“Going to a national founda-tion would give him the expo-sure he needs in Washington,” the resident said, to mount a campaign.

But these premature truths - as rumors are sometimes defi ned - will not play out this time. Rath-er, “I spent New Year’s Day in my new offi ce in New York City,” pri-

vate citizen Charles Fuschillo told this magazine in his fi rst in-terview since resigning. “I’m a commuter now, I take the Long Island Rail Road and buy a monthly ticket.” But there’s no fi rst-class seating, we charged back. No, there isn’t, he laughed.

After 16 years as the New York State representative of the Eighth Senatorial District, which covers the Bellmores and the Merricks among other neighborhoods and communities on the South Shore, private citizen and Mero-kian Charles Fuschillo has aff ec-tively taken his love of serving the people to the next logical level.

“I won’t simply be helping people in my own senatorial dis-trict anymore,” he explained, “I’ll be helping people all over the country.” Th ere seemed a gleam in his eyes as he spoke the words.

HOW IT HAPPENEDBurt Brodsky, chairman of the

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, was speaking with Fus-chillo one evening when Brodsky simply mentioned that the foundation was looking for a new CEO. “I’m in business and I’m in healthcare and I know all the guys, such as Dean Skelos and Craig Johnson,” he said. “I know Chuck and have always admired him,” he said.

In light conversation he told Fuschillo the foundation was looking for a director and that if he wasn’t in public offi ce he would love to have him as a di-rector. Th at belief was reinforced when Brodsky learned during the meeting that Fuschillo had been chief operating offi cer of the non-profi t Educational As-sistance Corporation, overseeing a staff of roughly 400.

Fuschillo graduated from Adelphi University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in fi nance and economics.

“I asked him to consider the position,” Brodsky said.

Now that Fuschillo’s on board? “I couldn’t dream of a more per-

fect candidate to get the job do-ne,” he answered. Remember, he said, “he didn’t have to take the job, I had to sell it to him.”

He’ll grow the organization, Brodsky continued. Fifty million people are aff ected in one way or the other by Alzheimer’s and, right now, he said the foundation may reach 750,000-to-1 million. But Brodsky believes Fuschillo could help the organization reach out to as many as 10 million.

THE FINAL STATE OF THE STATEFuschillo was relaxed in his

home when we spoke with him. He had a train to catch but didn’t appear concerned. When the in-terview ran past and his wife El-len had to leave - his ride to the station, he stayed but asked to hitch a ride to the station with this reporter.

About the 2014 state budget, his last as a state senator, he said the state was fi nally in an eco-nomic rebound. As a Republi-can with sensible fi scal acumen, he was heard to applaud New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo a Democrat, at the 2012 Nassau County Chambers of Commerce breakfast and awards ceremony as a governor “we all could work with, fi nally a part-ner” in getting the state’s fi scal house in order.

He said in 2014 there would be a surplus in the budget for tax relief, buoyed by recent reports from Governor Cuomo that he would indeed propose tax cuts for residents of the state.

Fuschillo said that the surplus would once again allow for more state funding to schools in the form of state aid, though he wouldn’t speculate on numbers. Of government, he said he loved the work he did in the state Legis-lature and, in fact, was ready to get back to Albany for new ses-sions on the fl oor. But, serendipi-tously, he was approached by Brodsky at the Alzheimer’s foun-dation who provided him with in-formation of what could only be described of as a dream job.

He wasn’t looking for work, he says, always motivated because “there is always such potential to aff ect peoples’ lives in a positive way in the legislature.”

But, “How many times may anyone ever get an opportunity to help literally millions of peo-ple?” he asked, after having helped literally thousands in his own district. Indeed, he likened the sudden breath of fresh air in taking on new responsibilities for the foundation to the date of March 25, 1998, when he fi rst won election after being asked by the Republican establishment to run in the district to fi ll the shoes of the legendary Norman Levy. It is as exhilarating once more as it was then, he said.

With 1600 member offi ces around the country, Fuschillo understands the mission is to provide the leadership necessary to lead the way forward in the care and assistance of those af-fected with Alzheimer’s, and to assist those family members whose loved ones are affl icted with the incurable disease.

“Th e foundation is now devel-oping a national plan on how to best approach the care of Alzhei-mer’s,” he remarked. Among as-pects of the plan are accelerate the hire of licensed social work-ers from all over the nation, and provide new, more critical train-ing for dementia. “I’ve had close friends who have been touched by Alzheimer’s,” he said, and he is glad at the opportunity to work within his compassionate capac-ity to alleviate the suff ering where he can.

“Five million suff er from Alz-heimer’s now,” he continued, and it is expected that that num-ber will double to 10 million in the next fi ve years,” he explained. Th ere is $200 billion a year spent on all aspects of Alzheimer’s, he said, and there are 50,000 people on Long Island alone who suff er from the disease.

Ellen Fuschillo, his wife and prominent Merrick resident in her own right, is thrilled with his new

While helping thousands in the state with a new autism bill, he will help millions of alzheimer's suff erers in his new role.

COVER STORY 7Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

job. “I’m selfish,” she said, “I’m glad when he’s home more so I can see him.” For the Fuschillo family it means more time together. Four-teen-year-old Catie is a freshman at Kennedy High School , 19-year-old Chad is a sophomore in college and 23-year-old Daniel is in his first year of law school. His schedule as a state senator involved him being in Albany for six months of the year, and six months at home at-tending to tens of meetings with constituent groups, civics groups and offi ce work.

A LIFE TAKES SHAPEFuschillo grew up in Westbury,

attending Carle Place High School and graduating in 1978. His mother was executive direc-tor of Westbury Chamber of Commerce, being owner of a re-al estate company. And his fa-ther was an elected councilman for the Town of North Hemp-stead. He remembers being a 15-year-old who gladly drove around with his father to see what types of things could be do-

ne to make small improvements in the town – a door needs to be changed here, we’ll fi x this fence, that sewer drain can be cleaned. Th ese early experiences with his father coupled with his mother’s job at the chamber clearly shaped the direction his life would ultimately take.

But his early indoctrination may go farther back than that, he said. “I remember when I was 5 or 6 years old I was in the back of a pickup truck throwing out promotional bottle caps for Jack Kingston, who was a state assemblyman from 1960-74, and who was majority leader from 1969-74.”

In addition to his work as chief operating offi cer of the EAC, Fuschillo worked as Nassau’s chief deputy county clerk in 1995-96, and was an assistant press secretary for Joe Mondello, now Republican boss.

State Assemblyman Dave Mc-Donough of the 19th State As-sembly District commented on Fuschillo’s move, saying he had garnered tremendous respect in both houses of the legislature and on both sides of the aisle as a strong but fair fi ghter for his constituency. “He was a great friend of mine, a mentor and we covered the same district. I will miss him greatly. “

He added that the move into the Alzheimer’s Foundation was indeed a perfect move for Fuschillo that will only help strengthen the growing commu-nity that is helping to fi ght the dreaded disease. “He’s a great or-ganizer and a tremendous asset.”

Nassau County Legislator for the 19th Legislative District, Dave Denenberg said "My friend served

the people of his district extremely well for a long time, and I wish him the best in his new endeav-ors. I will miss his friendship as a fellow-elected public offi cial who was very eff ective in getting things accomplished. "

Among Fuschillo’s accomplish-ments were authorship of over 200 laws, including Leandra’s Law on drunk driving, the landmark Do Not Call Registry and the pas-sage the autism law, which re-quires insurance companies to pay for autism healthcare.

As one of eight Long Island state senators who worked tirelessly to make a diff erence in securing school funding for Long Island schools when the perception in Al-bany is that Long Island is an affl u-ent area that needs little funding , he remarked that the contingent of state senators - which he helped organize and includes state assem-blymen - will be able to continue the fi ght for more fair funding for Long Island without missing a step … even if he is no longer there.

- DF

Fuschillo has always been a hit with students.

8 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4

Diplomate American Board of Podiatric Surgery. Board Certified Foot Surgery. Board Certified

Reconstructive Rear Foot/Ankle Surgery. Fellow American College of Foot & Ankle Surgery.

SCHOOLS 9Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

Dear Lorraine, January, 2014

It’s amazing that it was exactly one year ago that we met, at the beginning of preparing to get my old house on the market. Life has been hectic and exciting in recent months, but I can finally write to thank you properly.

From the first day, your advice was invaluable-from helping to clear out the clutter that had piled up during 14 years and the raising of two children in that home, to suggestions on how to show off the best features of the house. When we needed help with repairs and finishing projects that were left undone, you referred us to wonderful, knowledgeable professionals. From missing permits, to pet management you found solutions to every problem that came up. By following your advice, we got several offers within just a few weeks, and we were in contract just 6 weeks after the first open house showing!

That was «phase one». The next challenge was to find me a new home for me and my daughters – and the dogs. Again, you guided me to the best, most knowledgeable, advisers. The mortgage broker you recommended was a wizard, and both you and he really held my hand through the whole process. Finding a home for us within my limited budget was challenging, especially since Hurricane Sandy had forced thousands of people into most of the previously available small houses and apartments. Every time I began to lose hope of finding something appropriate, your support and reassurance lifted my spirits. I’ll never forget getting a call from you at almost 10 p.m. one night, to inform me that a promising house had just been listed. You tracked down the listing broker and got us an appointment to see it the next day – it was the one! Within a few days, my offer was accepted and I was in contract. My closing seemed to take forever, but you and my mortgage broker continued to stay on top of the process and reassure me every step of the way.

What a journey – from the first day we met to discuss selling my old house, to the closing on my new home – we talked almost every day for 8 months. No wonder I miss you!

Elly Tenenbaum, Former Merrick Resident

2013 Top Producer

Lorraine Margulies

516-220-7314

A "HouseSold" Name

Select-A-Home/Island South Realty Corp.

Working Hard For You…

Merrick available homes

Dear Lorraine, January, 2014

It’s amazing that it was exactly one year ago that we met, at the beginning of preparing to get my old house on the market. Life has been hectic and exciting in recent months, but I can finally write to thank you properly.

From the first day, your advice was invaluable-from helping to clear out the clutter that had piled up during 14 years and the raising of two children in that home, to suggestions on how to show off the best features of the house. When we needed help with repairs and finishing projects that were left undone, you referred us to wonderful, knowledgeable professionals. From missing permits, topet management you found solutions to every problem that came up. By following your advice, we got several offers within just a few weeks, and we were in contract just 6 weeks after the first open house showing!

That was «phase one». The next challenge was to find me a new home for me and my daughters – and the dogs. Again, you guided me to the best, most knowledgeable, advisers. The mortgage broker you recommended was a wizard, and both you and he really held my hand through the whole process. Finding a home for us within my limited budget was challenging, especially since Hurricane Sandy had forced thousands of people into most of the previously available small houses and apartments. Every time I began to lose hope of finding something appropriate, your support and reassurance lifted my spirits. I’ll never forget getting a call from you at almost 10 p.m. one night, to inform me that a promising house had just been listed. You tracked down the listing broker and got us an appointment to see it the next day – it was the one! Within a few days, my offerwas accepted and I was in contract. My closing seemed to take forever, but you and my mortgage broker continued to stay on top of the process and reassure me every step of the way.

What a journey – from the first day we met to discuss selling my old house, to the closingon my new home – we talked almost every day for 8 months. No wonder I miss you!

Elly Tenenbaum, Former Merrick Resident

Select-A-Home/Island South Realty Corp.Selectt-A-A-A-Home/e/Island South ReRealtyty CoCorpp.

e January 2

Working Hard For You…Wo

Merrick available homes

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324 Merrick Ave., Merrick, 223-9463

Kennedy Students Garner Intel Semifi nal HonorsT

he role the naiveté of inno-cence can play in incarcera-tion; how the shapes of dolls

such as Barbie may contribute to early dieting disorders in girls; and the very real need for new global warming standards won honors for Kennedy High School seniors Ra-chel Abramowitz, Rebecca Jellinek and Ben November, respectively, as semifinalists in the 2014 Intel Sci-ence Talent Search contest.

Th e three students are part of the district’s prestigious advanced sci-ence research program. Th e stu-dents also become the 32nd, 33rd and 34th students from Kennedy alone to become semifi nalists.

Their papers culminate three years of work under the tutelage of ad-vanced science research teachers Bar-bi Frank, Barbara Franklin and Helmut Schleith of the ASR program.

“I’ve had the honor of working with these students for the past three years,” said Frank. “I’ve had the privilege of watching them

grow from coming into the class-room unsure of what they wanted to study to developing into scien-tists.” She added that to become In-tel semifi nalists is indeed presti-gious. “It’s due to all of their hard work and dedication,” she said.

NAIVETÉ AS VULNERABILITYRachel Abramowitz’s research

project in the social sciences, “Why Innocent People Comply with Po-lice Requests: Th e Role of Just World Beliefs and Public Self Con-sciousness,” introduced the terms Just World Beliefs and Public Self Consciousness into everyday dis-course but applied them to a very specifi c and well-known social subject: Amanda Knox, the young American woman who spent time in an Italian prison for a crime she says she didn’t commit.

“When I first came to this class in 10th grade I wanted to study serial killers,” she told this magazine. She quickly learned it wasn’t feasible to

do because serial killers are in pris-ons and simply can’t talk to stu-dents. Her contact with the Py-scho-Pathological Society then lead her to Dr. Saul Kassin, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, who suggested she read articles he had written about innocent people who had giv-en up their Miranda rights in police interrogations – and why people would confess to crimes they didn’t commit. “He also told me about the case of Amanda Knox.”

Rachel signed on to whatever he was teaching and devoured several articles he had written. Th rough constant email contact with him he eventually introduced her to the

phenomena of just-world beliefs and the illusion of transparency. In just world, ideally, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. One might add that good people could blame bad people for things that happen to them, in order to believe that a just world does in fact exist.

In the illusion, Rachel said that “the internal state is more appar-ent than it actually is,” that there may be an overestimation of how people view themselves.

Rachel, who will give a talk on her project at the American Psy-chology Law Society Conference in New Orleans in March as the youngest presenter ever to speak in front of doctors, graduate students, professors and researchers, re-ceived permission from the Institu-tional Review Board at John Jay with the help of Dr. Kassin, her mentor, to conduct an experiment.

Th e experiment, a survey using volunteers obtained over Ama-

zon’s Mechanical Turk, was con-ducted with the help of a doctoral student of Dr. Kassin’s. In the sur-vey, 50% were shown an innocent vignette (story) in which they were placed in a hypothetical crime in which the predetermined out-come was one of innocence. Of course, the subjects did not know it was preordained; they knew sim-ply that they were innocent.

The other 50% were given a guilty vignette and were ultimately guilty of a crime, and believed themselves to be guilty. All participants were then exposed to a nine-question questionnaire given by a high-rank-ing police official that asked ques-tions about access to rights such as Miranda, about searching one’s home and car, et. al.

Important to the study is a scale designed from 0-to-20 that indicates one’s commitment and belief to just world and self-consciousness, or the illusion of transparency. The num-ber 0 indicates the [CONT. ON PAGE 10]

10 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4SCHOOLS

low end of the belief scale , and the number 20 in-dicates the high end of belief.

It was determined that those who had a high degree of just world belief and self-conscious-ness were more cooperative than those who scored low. Or, those who believed in their innocence were more cooperative and willing to talk. And therein lay the prob-lem: Just world beliefs combined with the illusion of transparency can create a sense in a person that everyone will know about – and see - their innocence because they believe it to be true, so they feel confi dent to open up and give up any legal rights they have.

Amanda Knox, said Rachel, was so sure of her innocence that when con-fronted with persistent police ques-tioning that challenged her inno-cence and the illusion of transparen-cy - that everyone should know she’s not guilty - and made her look guilty her beliefs and the illusion broke down. She became so confused with her just world belief that she con-fessed to a crime she didn’t commit. Her naiveté, her sureness in her inno-cence, worked against her!

While Knox was released from the Italian prison and returned home, she was again indicted for the same murder in Italy. She has no plans to return.

Meanwhile, Rachel hopes to study clinical psychology and has applied to Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She happens to be on the varsity swim team, too, where she was a county finalist in the 100-metre butterfly stroke.

GLOBAL WARMING MEASUREMENTS DEBUNKED

Senior Ben November, in his proj-ect called “Measurement of Leaf Properties to Improve the Parame-terization Used by Earth System Models to Estimate the Maximum Capacity of C02 Uptake in the Artic,” set out to prove that “what if every-thing we thought about global warming was going to happen … but didn’t?”

“I always liked science and the environment,” he said of first enter-ing the ASR class in 10th grade, so he set out quickly to create a project to work on. “I emailed schools for mentors to help me figure out what

project I could do,” he said. During the summer between

the 10th and 11th grades he got a project at the City College of New York working on activated carbon material to create a more effi cient bio fi lter. After working 200-300 hours on the project, it turned out “my material wasn’t a good fi lter.” So, like a young scientist, he went in another direction to see what new opportunities were available.

He learned of Allister Rodgers at the Brookhaven National Laborato-ry who was working on a project about the future of climate change. Rodgers was collaborating with some scientists in Alaska about car-bon dioxide absorption in leaf plants that trigger photosynthesis, and possible irregularities in the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in com-parison to those in Early System Models used to predict global warming.

If higher values of Vc,max, the “measurement used to maximize capacity to fi x carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis,” are showing up in leaf plants in the Arctic, then current ESM to predict global warming could be far askew

their intended purpose in calculat-ing the spread and eff ect of global warming.

Rodgers went to Alaska and brought back 223 samples of 11 species of leaves growing in the Arctic. At the lab from 11th-to-12th grade Ben received the sam-ples and went about dividing the 223 samples into 446 samples. “I weighted and grouped them to create a surplus of two groups of samples,” he said.

From there he “used a car-bon-nitrogen-hydrogen analyzer in the lab to give me the data of CHN in each leaf sample.” He then used the data to perform a statisti-cal analysis on the samples that al-so measured the amount of CHN over a specifi c area of the leaf – equally critical in determining any measurements.

“If plants have a larger Vc,max ratio it means they can take in more carbon dioxide,” Ben said. And, if values the lab discovered were higher than those in cur-rent earth system models, then “larger values mean larger dis-crepancies in the earth model systems at present,” he an-nounced.

ESMs need to incorporate this data as it relates to the absorp-tion of carbon dioxide in the Arc-tic to more accurately refl ect measurements in global warm-ing around the planet, Ben said. It could have widespread so-cio-economic implications in fu-ture planning if, as he said, “What if everything we thought about global warming was going to happen … but didn’t?”

On the Kennedy football team and track team, Ben is looking at becoming an engineer, “environ-mental, electrical or a mechani-cal engineer in aerospace,” he told this magazine. He also vol-unteers at the patient informa-tion desk at Winthrop Hospital on Sundays, he wanted us to know.

[CONT. FROM PAGE 9]

[CONT. ON PAGE 14]

11Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

12 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4FEATURE

Former Teacher, Assistant Principal: Superintendent DeTommaso Looks to the Future

Passage of last November’s $49.684 Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District

school bond put new superinten-dent John DeTommaso in the right place at the right time. A short four months after taking the seat as the school’s new chief, he will now have his name inscribed as the superintendent who over-saw the remake of the central dis-trict into one in which new science classes caught up with 21st century science tools and methods, build-ings were completely modernized with cutting-edge contemporary features - and school fi elds were ‘permanently’ upgraded. And those are just the facilities.

Not insignifi cant, perhaps, for a man who is fi rst and foremost an educator and who fewer than 15 years earlier was a social studies teacher at Mepham High School - and Calhoun’s assistant principal.

“Th e bond was true democracy in action,” he told this magazine recently. “Th e board did an in-depth study of costs and of the fa-cilities” and, together, decisions were made to take it to the resi-dents for their input as to whether these challenging issues - of vast school repairs to numbers of buildings - were tangible enough to vote on to signifi cantly improve while bringing with it new oppor-tunities for students to learn.

“Now the bond puts the district on track for future generations to learn and succeed using the best of what the schools have to offer the children,” DeTommaso continued. The bond, with a life of 15 years, will cost residents $104 per year over that time span, and was accepted by voters across the Bellmores and Merricks on a 56% -to-44% vote.

Naturally, 44% of those who vot-ed against had issues with either anticipated new synthetic turf be-ing installed on all fi ve fi elds, or of science labs already being suffi -

cient – tens of students have be-come Intel Semifi nalists (see pag-es 9, 10, 14) and Siemens Compe-tition Finalists using those same labs, why the costs for more?

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS

But the new bond combines construction of new fi elds and science labs to promise much more, DeTommaso said. “We’ll be able to bring in a new culinary program to Kennedy, which will bring students back into the schools” rather than have them to go to BOCES, he said. Th at will in-crease state aid.

A new broadcast media center will be built at Mepham, involving students in the rigors of broadcast journalism and media produc-tion. Calhoun will be able to grow its fi ne arts and drama programs that encourage more students to delve into the performing arts.

He stepped aside momentarily to note that a delicate issue from the recent past, that of closing the Long Islands School of the Arts program for a select number of students who attended the LI Arts high school and who were bussed daily, was already being addressed with what he and the board believed were comparable programs within the high school campuses themselves, such as expansion of Calhoun’s On Tour program, the exceptional art pro-grams in the school and the soon to be added broadcast center and culinary programs.

“Whatever kids in science can do now - and they can do great things such as being named Intel Semifi nal winners, think what they will be able to do with new science classrooms,” DeTommaso remarked. Kick it up a notch? we asked. He nodded with a smile.

Students, he said, can come in in larger numbers and be proud of

many new experiments they will be able to conduct that lead to an-swers they are searching for. “That’s what education is all about: making it fun for students to learn.”

The bond further promises to turn existing buildings into more ef-ficient learning facilities with state-of-the-art heating and cooling.

As an educator who studied history and political science at Johns Hopkins University to earn his baccalaureate, and Hofstra University to earn his masters in secondary education, he spends little time discussing – and showed reserve in discussing it during this interview - an extra-curricular activity he thoroughly enjoyed while taking up the edu-cational mantle.

He is a hall-of-fame athlete en-shrined in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame for his years of play on the U.S. Lacrosse team – 1986, ’90, ’94 and ’98, a team that played internationally. “I was a student athlete growing up,” he said. “My father was a director of guidance

at Farmingdale High School” so he was always interested in teach-ing and the educational process. “I focused on teaching and learning,” he said. “I wanted to be a master teacher” to understand how chil-dren learned, why one learned dif-ferently from another, for example. He just happened to like playing lacrosse.

As happenstance has it, he coached lacrosse during his years at Mepham, 1988-89, while teaching social studies. He quick-ly moved to a position in the ad-ministration before an opening became available for an assistant principal at Calhoun, a position he then held from 1996 to 2003.

A PASSIONATE EDUCATORIt’s not surprising, then, to hear

him speak passionately about the Central High School District, its underpinnings, its workings and its aspirations toward seeing that its students receive the best edu-cation any student can attain any-where. “I believe in academic rig-

ors, to stretch capabilities to en-able students to take AP courses if they want,” he said.

He called the Central High School District among the best districts anywhere, in which stu-dents sign letters of intent to at-tend Harvard, MIT, Adelphi and a host of other well-known institu-tions of higher learning in their senior – and some junior – years.

Of course, his expressions stand as certifi able proof in the face of the biggest challenge fac-ing the educational system in at least 20 years: Th e Core Curricu-lum Learning Standards (CCLS). He mentioned that, while there are several challenges that lay ahead in implementing them in the school district, the school dis-trict was indeed moving quickly to absorb the enormous changes – and challenges - taking place in the educational system to resolve any problems as they arise.

“We are solving the Common Core challenges as they come up,” he said. [CONT. ON PAGE 15]

13Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

14 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4Schools

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THE SHAPES OF THINGS TO COME

As president of the Ken-nedy Drama Club who played Olivia in the recent production of Shake-speare’s “Twelfth Night,” it seemed “fi tting” that Re-becca Jellinek would be in-terested in body image and its relation to clothing when she fi rst entered the ASR program. “I was into the re-al world of social sciences, and wanted to do some-thing on the subject of body image,” she remarked.

She read behavioral sci-ence journals and thought “it was cool about the sci-ence of body image.” Sto-ries included those about the eff ects of eating habits and about body dissatisfac-tion, she said.

Rebecca developed her own questionnaires with the close assistance of the ASR teachers at the school, and a mentor from Penn State.

She was intrigued to see if “seeing more of the body [such as in a swimsuit] would have a negative ef-fect on the body image.” To test the hypothesis, she picked a thin Barbie doll in a swimsuit and one in full clothing; and a Tracy doll, a full-featured doll made fa-mous by a character from the Broadway play “Hair-spray,” in a swimsuit and fully clothed.

She recruited 112 girls ages 6-to-8 in a ‘full out pre-actual ideal body size discrepancy survey” in which the girls played with Barbie dolls and Tracy dolls in both swimsuite and fully clothed. Rebecca set the survey up in a sliding value scale: 1 = very thin, at one end, and 8 = over-weight at the other. “We went from very thin to very overweight,” she said.

Th e questions in the pre-actual asked the girls to view the dolls in swimsuits and show the ones they

thought were most like them, their actual body size. It then asked them what they thought was an ideal body size. Using the sliding scale, Rebecca then put a value to what the girls wanted to look like against what they did look like. If the girls said, in oral an-swers to the questions, they wanted to look like a 3, and what they looked like was a 5, then a -2 negative dis-crepancy value was applied because they wanted to look thinner.

Conversely, for those who wished to look much larger, whatever the num-ber, it was a positive dis-crepancy.

She noted that those girls who played with thin Bar-bie dolls said nothing while playing. But those who played with Tracy dolls made comments about whether she was pregnant, or other negative, re-al-world statements.

In the post-actual phase, with dolls fully clothed, those who played with Bar-bie also showed a negative value because they wanted to look thinner than they ac-tually were. And those who played with Tracy in full

clothing wanted fuller bod-ies, indicating a positive change.

Th e conclusion reached, Rebecca said, was that those who played with Bar-bie dolls, no matter the clothing, had lower scores in an actual Body Esteem Scale. And those who played with Tracy had a more satisfying BE scale.

So, Rebecca determined, wardrobe had no impact on perceptions of body im-age, it was the shapes of the dolls themselves that im-pacted the girls perceived body image.

From these conclusions, questions arise such as why not create fuller body dolls to help young girls feel more confi dent in the world about themselves? Also, if girls, playing with Barbie dolls, wish only to become thinner they could develop anxieties over what they look like and what they want to look like, and could begin restrictive dieting to achieve such marginal success.

Rebecca looks to study either gynecology or psy-chology at George Wash-ington University.

DF

[CONT. FROM PAGE 10]

FEATURE 15Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

“We have hired both a third math and a third English language arts chair” to help with the increased testing in these two disciplines, the main fo-cus of CCLS at present.

Overall, as an educator he re-mains positive about the goal of Common Core: to provide new analytical skills to students to pre-pare them for college and beyond. But he remains reserved as to what grade level the testing should take place, for example.

“Of course there are positives to the Core Curriculum,” he re-marked. “I see value in the curric-ulum itself, such as ‘closer’ read-ing, and focusing and studying in just one topic in more depth. It will benefi t all students because it will provide new levels of analyti-cal thinking at much younger lev-els.” But, he added, does the sys-tem need third- and fourth-grad-ers to be put under such pressure?

Could the pressures affiliated with this type of rigorous new testing take away a child’s childhood if they become wrapped in anxiety and

worry over the constant testing? he was asked. No, he remarked.

But he does know what’s wrong with the CCLS at present: “It has been implemented too quickly,” he maintained. “It is not giving our professionals enough time to re-solve the challenges of learning the nuances of the new curricu-lum to impart it to the children.”

He added that those who created the new curriculum at the state lev-el did not stay long enough to wit-ness its implementation.

A parent at a recent Merrick meeting that featured several edu-cators who are against the Com-mon Core [see News] – including Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School; Joseph Rella, su-perintendent of Comsewogue School District; and Jeanette Deu-termann, founder of the 15,000-strong Facebook group Long Island Opt-Out, asked that panel: “Are the children becoming nervous and anxious because they are seeing it in their teachers?”

“Th is sudden implementation of the Core Curriculum is like try-

ing to build a new plane while it’s in fl ight,” responded DeTommaso. “And parents will opt out, they will do what they think is best for their children.” And yes, he admitted, the district could see ‘signifi cant’ opting out.

CONTRASTSHe contrasts the Core Curricu-

lum learning process now to the move toward Regents exams when he taught at Mepham, where Regents would become available to all students. “Teachers taught modifi ed, non-Regents, honors and advanced classes and we asked: What could we do to diff erentiate learning so that all students could achieve a Regents.”

He remembers that teachers, himself included, were given all the resources and tools necessary to make the transition, being pro-vided ample time to build a pro-fessional approach for teaching to-ward that student goal. “With the right training and professional de-velopment in the right time frame we could develop the courses and

strategies to get students to the next level,” he said.

“Core Curriculum,” he suggest-ed, “is not giving us that opportu-nity at present.” He said schools have to have time to analyze and prepare staff for this crucial new step of teaching and preparing students to be college ready.

As administrators the requisite is to look ahead and construct plans and platforms for teaching new generations of children. “We’re already looking at 2016 and 2017,” he explained.

But, he noted, the New York State Department of Education rolled out several new modules that are not even complete, infer-ring the department may be de-veloping its modules as it goes, rather than having them planned out. Th e “big picture,” at least, ap-pears murky.

He reiterated that the school district is staying on top of the Core Curriculum. “We are doing prep work for professional training because we know what the issues are,” he concluded.

Budget-wise, he told this maga-zine the board is now working con-structively toward a new budget he said will keep existing programs in place while reflecting a fiscal re-sponsibility to the community.

Nassau County’s tax certiorari is-sue, in which the county wishes to di-vest itself of paying tax refunds for successful property challenges, and which is now winding its way through state appeals court after be-ing denied by the state Supreme Court; the new county sewer taxes; the new property tax cap; and the $104 new dollars a year for the bond, are all costs under scrutiny as the new budget is hammered out and ready for public inspection at upcoming Board of Education meetings.

He concluded that, as the cen-tral district works closely with the component districts and the bond is phased in over three years, stu-dents living in the Bellmores and Merricks will experience a bright and satisfying future of fun, rigor-ous learning ahead that will pre-pare them for the challenges they face in the future.

[CONT. FROM PAGE 12]

16 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODS

What's new in the Bellmores and Merricks

NEW SPACE FOR RENT on Merrick Road, Merrick Runway Couture relocates on Merrick Road

CHOCOLATE WORKS, Merrick Road at the B-M border

LONG ISLAND BASEBALL on Merrick Road, Bellmore

VANILLA SKY coming to Merrick Road, Merrick MORNING ROSE CAFE on BedfordGOLD STANDARD's jewelry on Merrick Road, Merrick

MERRICK BICYCLES

coming to Merrick Avenue

PANERA BREAD opens on B-M border on Merrick Road FOR GOODNESS STEAKS, Merrick Road, Bellmore

MERRICK PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY'S new location now on Merrick Avenue BOMBSHELL EYEBROWS coming to Bellmore

DANNY's Chinese on Merrick Road, Bellmore

17Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

KIDS HELPING KIDS!

The children in Miss Jennifer’s class at South Shore Country Day School in North Bellmore made beautiful bears by hand at Build-A-Bearin Garden City. The bears were donated to the pediatric ward at Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. Teaching children the values of helping others and of community service by giving to those in need is a cornerstone of Country Day School.

Emma Barend of Merrick and Brooklyn Iannelli of Bellmore

18 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4LEARNING

Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick) visited with students in Mrs. Cain’s sixth-grade class at Chatterton Elementary School as part of the school’s Com-munity Reading Celebration. McDonough read the story of Narcissus, from Greek mythology, which the students will soon be learning, discussed cyber-bullying, and talked to students about the implementation of Common Core.

“Chatterton Elementary School’s Community Reading Celebration was an outstanding success,” said McDonough. “The story I read about Narcissus, enabled me to discuss with students the importance of public servants representing the best interest of the people. I also spoke with the students about the ongoing implementation of Common Core. While we may not agree with the process, it is important that our students cooperate with their teachers and keep a positive attitude. I want to thank Mrs. Cain for providing me the op-portunity to speak to the students. It was a pleasure to visit and converse with students.”

Health Matters 19Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

Treating Heel Spurs By Dr. Leon Livingston and Dr. Douglas Livingston

New technology to treat painful heel spurs, plantar fasciitis and other painful conditions is now available.

A new technologically advanced modal-ity can eliminate your pain without sur-gery and without complications associ-ated with surgery, and aff ords you im-mediate return to normal daily activity. 

Recalcitrant heel pain that has not re-sponded to conservative measures has traditionally been treated with surgical intervention. Now the pain associated with these common conditions can be eliminated through shockwave therapy. Th is treatment blocks the transmission of pain signals and renders patients as-ymptomatic in most cases.  

With minimal discomfort and virtual-ly no signifi cant complications, patients are ambulatory the same day and re-turn to normal activities immediate-ly. Patients have little or no discomfort following the procedure and often feel immediate improvement.

Shock wave therapy is an extremely ef-fective method for treating heel pain and other condi-tions such as tendinitis and fasciitis that

have not responded to traditional con-servative measures. It provides a non-in-vasive modality that usually prevents surgery in the treatment of heel pain, fas-ciitis and tendinitis. Shockwave therapy provides doctors and patients with a sim-ple eff ective alternative to surgical inter-vention and its possible complications. 

If you want to keep doing everything you love to do, this new treatment modal-ity will allow you to do so. Th e treatment is available at Livingston Foot Care Special-ists 1685 Newbridge Road, North Bell-more. Call 826-0103 if you believe you could be helped by shockwave therapy.

Infl ammation May Link Gum Disease

and Other Illnesses

Brush after every meal. Floss daily. See your dentist on a reg-

ular basis. Th ese instructions

make sense to help you keep your teeth and gums healthy. But now not only dentists, but also many physicians understand the importance of main-taining oral health in an eff ort to keep the rest of the body healthy. Several research studies have sug-gested a potential associa-tion between gum disease and other health issues, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

As more and more re-search reinforces the con-nection between peri-odontal and systemic health, scientists are be-ginning to shift their focus to understanding why these connections exist. One theory points to chronic infl ammation as the culprit. 

Infl ammation is the body’s instinctive reaction to fi ght off infection, guard against injury or shield against irritation. Infl am-mation is often character-ized by swelling, redness, heat and pain around the aff ected area. While infl am-mation initially intends to heal the body, over time, chronic infl ammation can lead to dysfunction of the infected tissues, and there-fore more severe health complications.

According to Mitchell A. Kaufman D.D.S, periodon-

tal disease is a classic ex-ample of an infl ammatory disorder. “For many years, dental professionals be-lieved that gum disease was solely the result of a bacterial infection caused by a build-up of plaque be-tween the teeth and under the gums. While plaque ac-cumulation is still a factor in the development and progression of gum dis-ease, researchers now sus-pect that the more severe symptoms, namely swol-len, bleeding gums; reces-sion around the gum line, and loss of the bone that holds the teeth in place, may be caused by the chronic infl ammatory re-sponse to the bacterial in-fection, rather than the bacteria itself.”

  Scientists hypothesize that this inflammatory response may be the cause behind the periodontal-systemic health link. Many of the diseases associated with the periodontal disease are also considered to be systemic inflammatory disorders, including car-diovascular disease, dia-betes, rheumatoid arthri-

tis, chronic kidney dis-ease and even certain forms of cancer, suggest-ing that infl ammation it-self may be the basis for the connection.

“More research is need-ed to pinpoint the precise biological mechanisms re-sponsible for the relation-ship between gum disease and other disease states,” says Dr. Kaufman. “How-ever, previous fi ndings have indicated that gum disease suff erers are at a higher risk for other dis-eases, making it more criti-cal than ever to maintain periodontal health in order to achieve overall health.

Dr. Kaufman recom-mends comprehensive daily oral care, including regular brushing and fl ossing, and routine visits to the dentist to avoid gum disease. If gum dis-ease develops, a consulta-tion with a dental profes-sional, such as a perio-dontist, can lead to to ef-fective treatment. A perio-dontist is a dentist with three years of additional specialized training in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gum disease.

Dr. Kaufman’s practice focuses on the restoration of bone loss and the loss of gum tissue due to ad-vanced periodontal dis-ease. For information call 679-1718 or visit his offi ce at 2440 Merrick Road, Bellmore. Or youcan visit his website at www.liperi-odoc.com,

20 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4Health Matters

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Preventative m edicine offers a healthy balance

If you are sick and tired of being “sick and tired” you may want to explore a preven-tative medicine alternative being prac-

ticed by Dr. Michael Belfi ore, 2209 Merrick Road, Suite 100, in Merrick.

He may be his own best patient in pre-senting the positive aspects of preventative medicine, forced to explore fi rst-hand his own health issues after undergoing gastric bypass surgery because he was sick and tired of “being sick and tired,” he told this magazine.

After losing over 200 pounds, from May through November, he began gaining weight unexpectedly, even with continued exercise and dieting. Going to his surgeon and family physician, both told him they could fi nd nothing wrong with him. Mean-while, the weight gain continued.

“I decided to be my own doctor and test my blood for the things I test my patients for

regularly,” he said. What he found was, to him, astonishing. “My thyroid had shut off , my insulin was high and my hormone DHEA was low,” he remembered. “It was coming on winter and I had lost all this weight, but I was also no longer consuming 4000 calories as I once did,” which put his body in a diffi cult position to increase body heat to buttress against the growing cold with no added calories coming in. “So,” he said, “it shut down to begin storing the calo-ries I took in as fat.”

Upon correcting these abnormalities with supplements to balance the hormones, he then resumed his weight loss and lost an additional 84 pounds.

Dr. Belfi ore, a doctor of osteopathy (DO), loosely defi nes preventative medicine as lifestyle change in conjunction with nutri-tion, diet, medication, exercise and other as-pects that work to pre- [CONT. ON PAGE 22]

21Your NewsMag№4 | JANUARY 2014

vent disease. He says clearly that patients who wish to get or feel better have to be a part of their own recovery by ex-plaining clearly the symptoms they experience.

“I can hear their music,” he says of proper explanation of symptoms. He will then ask about what medi-cations they may be taking, about certain issues or factors in their life, such as if they drink or smoke, or what they do for a living or what they have been in contact with.

“I need patients to be involved in their own recovery,” he said. “I need them to tell me what works and what doesn’t.” His advocacy in this area is no small thing, be-cause he treats patients who have

gone to other doctors and special-ists who have not helped them in any way.

He explains the approach to preventative medicine using the image of a table with four legs. One leg of the table stands for tox-icity, another for defi ciencies, still another for mind/body balance and the fourth leg for what you are born with, those things that can’t be changed, such as genetics. “With twhat you're born with, we have to develop a plan that adapts to, or works with” these constants.

Blood workups are not simply complete blood counts that refl ect values of regular substances in the blood, such as creatine or choles-terol. He will go after heavy metals

and toxic chemicals if he believes the patient has in some way been exposed to them, if their “music” includes those notes.

It is at times a more costly venture, as “New York State doesn’t allow for testing of heavy metals,” he said.

He spoke of a woman suff ering severely from rheumatoid arthritis who was tested for toxicity and for defi ciencies, and then given a “provocation,” an action that draws metals back into the blood. Metals will bind to certain areas in the body, and they can’t necessar-ily be seen in the blood.

Tests revealed that she was high in both cadmium and mercury. Taking a look at her lifestyle, he fi rst told her to stop smoking, as there are heavy metals in smoking. Next, he suggested she eat diff er-ent types of fi sh, such as wildfi sh, because they have lower levels of mercury. Dr. Belfi ore further sug-gested she attempt to avoid aggra-vating factors likely responsible for setting off some of her symptoms.

Because cadmium is also found in nail polish, hair dyes and lipstick,

it was further learned that the woman was a hair stylist! Once she was alerted to these facts she could take actions to avoid as much of the toxic chemicals as possible. “It took about a year to resolve these issues but she has experienced a 50% re-duction in her symptoms and dis-comfort,” he said.

Further, she alone can control her symptoms by knowing what causes them.

He then spoke of an elderly woman who wished to have wrin-kles on her face removed. Because Dr. Belfi ore also administers aes-thetic treatments such as botox and zerona, he thought to do a blood workup and observe her be-fore giving her a quote for treat-

ment to remove the wrinkles. “She was thin, so she didn’t eat

right,” he says he learned. She was also dehydrated because her skin was dry, so no fillers would fill the spaces she wanted filled. He learned of her deficiencies through blood work, adding vitamin C and hormones to her regimen, and put-ting her on an exercise regimen.

He skin gained back moisture and elasticity and, once treat-ments were complete, many of her wrinkles were gone.

Dr. Belfi ore provides treatment for several health-related issues, including hormone replacement therapy for both men and women; pre- and post-bariatric surgery; ze-rona, a cold laser that slowly elimi-nates fat cells in the body; IV vita-min therapy; trigger point injec-tions to relieve pain; botox fi llers; neural therapy; and seboxone treatment, administered to drug addicts.

For information on the full schedule of treatments available, visit www.drbelfi oreblog.com, or call 371-5800.

22 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4Health Matters

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Kennedy Will Host Talent Show

By Dylan Campbell

Apparently, Kennedy has got talent!

On Th ursday, January 30, at 7 p.m. Kennedy High School’s Gay Straight Alliance club, Students Against Destructive Decisions club and the new anti-bullying club, NICE, will join together to host the fi rst Kennedy talent show. Th is event promises to be a fun-fi lled night with a mixture of faculty and student perfor-mances and, even more impres-sive, all proceeds will go towards three diff erent charities of the club’s choosing. 

It’s being billed as a night of per-formances ranging from the hilari-ous to the spectacular – and all alongside exciting raffl es!

Not only will the audience be entertained, but the performers will enjoy perks of their own. Th ere will be four judges - two

students and two faculty mem-bers - that will choose three grand- prize winners. First-place winners will receive gym mem-berships to Xtreme Gym with six free training sessions; sec-ond-place winners will receive a Bellmore Playhouse movie bun-dle, including tickets and an as-sortment of movie goodies; and third-place winners will receive an assortment of gift cards.

With exciting prizes as the goal, it heats up to be a battle on stage and a close call for the winner. 

Tickets are on sale now for $5 at Kennedy High School up until the night of the show. Th ey will be $10 at the door.

Come and see Kennedy talent play and perform to their best po-tential for the Bellmore and Mer-rick communities.

Dylan Campbell is editor of the school’s Cougar newspaper.

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SOMETHING TO WINE ABOUT

Cork vs Screwcap: Th e Battle for Closure

By Linda Delmonico Prussen

Of all the myths surround-ing wine, perhaps the most prevalent is the one

in which a screwcap means cheap, inferior wine.

Th ere are plenty of pricey, de-licious wines with screwcaps and even more cut-rate, subpar wines with corks. Winemakers are choosing screwcaps over corks to keep wine fresh and to avoid cork-taint.

Without getting overly scientif-ic, trichloroanisole (TCA) is the compound sometimes imparted from or through corks that can cause wine to smell like a wet dog. You may have smelled or tasted a wine with cork-taint, and thought simply this was a wine

with qualities that didn’t appeal to you. Th ere is no health risk in drinking cork-tainted, or “corked” wine. But it can ruin your day.

Once I was snowed in and li-quor stores were closed. I was saving a bottle of red wine to enjoy that evening. It was the only bottle of wine in the house. And yes, it was corked.

While the incident temporarily dissuaded me from all wines with cork closures, I have moved on. But I did learn. When I buy a bottle of wine with a cork clo-sure, I’m also likely to buy a bot-tle with a screwcap as a backup. And I’ll never be caught in a snowstorm with the only bottle in the house having a cork.

24 Your NewsMag JANUARY 2014 | №4