Help My School
To The Editor:
So my school, like most schools in the country, is in a contest to win $500,000 from Kohl’s in the Kohl’s Cares contest on Facebook. And like most of the students in those schools, they insist that their school needs the money more than anyone else.
But in all honesty, I can give you several reasons why and how my school, High School for Health Professions and Human Services, would use the money. With $500,000 my school could improve our learning environment, upgrade classrooms, fix our gym/locker room and get new textbooks – this is a huge must. In one subject, there are three different textbooks because we can’t afford enough of one.
With $500,000 we can get buses for the sports teams so they don’t have to take public transportation to get to their games. With $500,000 we can have more of the classes that students want (e.g. Home Economics, Photography/Film). With $500,000 we can improve the food that we are being served at my school. The French fries, pizzas and chicken nuggets that they keep serving us are getting old, and are frankly unhealthy. With healthier food, students can perform better in class.
As a member of student government, one of my most important goals was for the students to have an opportunity to go on an international trip. This may seem unnecessary, but to me it’s important for people to open their minds to different cultures and customs and to learn to things from something other than a textbook would be a great opportunity.
Unfortunately, with 77 percent of the students coming from low-income families, it would be almost impossible for those who wanted to go to go on the trip. With $500,000, we could make the price of the trip cheaper so that everyone has an opportunity to go.
Lastly, I would use the remainder of the money to improve the PTA so that we can get more funding as a result of high participation. If my school were to win this money, not only would you have a hand at making these students’ lives better, but you would help to improve the communities that the students come from. Please help me help others.
To learn more, look up Kohl’s Cares at facebook.com.
CeeJay Hayes,
Jamaica
Farm Museum
To The Editor:
I was disgusted to learn that Queens County Farm Museum allowed employees to take home animals from the farm to butcher and eat. Management told workers to help themselves to the farm’s residents, saying they had too many animals and that they preferred the employees eat the animals rather than sending them to farm sanctuaries. The ducks, my personal favorite, were the worst hit. Mallards, muscovys, pekins and various heritage breeds I enjoyed watching over the years were butchered and eaten by their “caretakers.”
Management claims that many of these ducks were abandoned at the farm, making it all right for the employees to butcher them. In the years I’ve been going there, the only “new” ducks I ever saw were the ones management allowed to hatch. This year, the existing flock has more than doubled with 40-plus newly hatched ducklings this past month.
That employees and farm management know little about caring for these animals is painfully obvious. In the past few years, they’ve killed many of the sheep and goats, claiming they were prone to sickness and disease. Fact is, when properly cared for, these are some of the heartiest animals on earth. Rather than removing eggs to solve the duck “over-population” problem, the “caretakers” eat the extras. Management has now decided to get rid of their existing flock of ducks and geese, saying they need to start anew and build an outrageously expensive new pond, claiming the existing pond has an inadequate filter. As anyone who has ever kept ducks knows, they’ll be hard put to find a duck pond filtration system that works better. Artificial duck ponds are labor intensive.
I have been calling, writing, e-mailing and petitioning Sen. Frank Padavan, farm founder and so-called “animal advocate,” to intercede on behalf of the animals. Sen. Padavan has refused to help, despite the fact that more than 400 of his constituents have asked him to intercede. Families visit the Farm Museum, donate to the “fund-a-friend” program, and expect the animals to be there next time they visit. They do not expect their tax dollars to pay for an employee’s dinner or contribute to the death of the animals they visit. They do not want to have to explain to their children that Donald and Daisy Duck aren’t there anymore because they looked tasty to one of their “caretakers.”
This week they’ll serve the farm’s resident chickens at their “feast in the field” dinner.
Sen. Padavan, stop the killing! We want a Farm Museum, not a slaughterhouse in our backyards.
Caroline Lee, Esq.
Queens
Another Ground Zero
To The Editor:
I am ashamed of all those citizens in the U.S. that declare their ignorance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that give all of us equal access and protection under those doctrines. Even more disgusting is the ignorance and intolerance of those residents of the city and state of New York. They parade around with the flag draped around their body and pins on their lapel claiming sovereignty with respect to a house of religious worship that wants to be built near (not on) the site of the 9/11 Ground Zero disaster.
Even more suspect are those politicians, mostly Republicans and some Democrats, who have sworn to protect and provide equal access and protection to all of its citizens no matter of race, creed, religion, or sexual orientation. All the while, they participate in a declared war and obstructionism against the current Democratic administration. You should be ashamed for voting against the appropriations bill to support those victims and survivors of 9/11. Where was your so-called patriotism then?
I want to remind both of those groups and the citizenry of New York as well as the other self-righteous citizens of the contiguous United States that in 1657 a declaration of religious independence was declared. It is the “Flushing Remonstrance.” Read it for illumination. This doctrine is our Magna Carta for religious tolerance in this country and is recognized for the religious freedoms that we have come to honor in our Bill of Rights.
The President of the United States, whom we elected to uphold the tenets of our Constitution and The Bill of Rights, has come under intense attack from right-wing zealots who only want this protection for themselves alone. How selfish and how un-American you are? You should be ashamed (all of you) for spewing your self-righteous bigotry and hatred for public display.
As (the former) Executive Director for the Queens Historical Society, it was my honor to be the steward of Queens-NYC historic landmarks and of our rich history. It was my job to protect, honor, display and remind us all why the history of those brave men, women and children who gave their lives for our freedoms is so important. Even more importantly, it was also my job to make sure that current and future generations would continue to honor and respect the sacrifices made then and now. I served in that position for eight years.
Before making fools of yourselves (even more), I suggest that a short course in American History be taken. In addition, for those who are in doubt, take a trip to Flushing, walk the Flushing Freedom Mile, visit each of the historic landmark sites and get a quick lesson why we celebrate our cultural/ethnic diversity and our freedoms. This, too, is hallowed ground and another Ground Zero in New York City one of profound respect and dignity.
Byron C. Saunders,
Brooklyn
Freedom For All
To The Editor:
Yes, the people seeking to erect a building at 51 Park Place should have taken into account the hurt that their building would cause. Yes, they should have seen that it would feel like rubbing salt in the wounds of people who lost loved ones on that horrific day and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In downtown Jackson Heights there are two small mosques in the lower 70s and no one has mounted a campaign to get them to move. There is a major mosque on 96th Street in Manhattan, similar in size to the Mormon church across from Lincoln Center. No one has spoken against those mosques’ right to be.
Let the building of Park51 commence and let the world see that Americans and especially New Yorkers, though terribly hurt by the attack of evil Muslim extremists, have stood by our core principle that religious freedom is guaranteed to all who are lucky to live on American soil.
John Moran,
Jackson Heights
Protect ALL Birds
To The Editor:
I wonder how many of the dedicated volunteers who helped save a pelican from the deadly Gulf oil have other birds for dinner or at a local fast-food outlet.
They are not alone. Most people are appalled by the devastation of animal life by the Gulf oil spill, yet subsidize the systematic killing of other animals for their dinner table. They know that meat and dairy harm the environment and their family’s health, but compartmentalize this knowledge when shopping for food.
Our society would benefit greatly from more original thinkers, and our personal diet is a great place to start.
Felix Britt,
Fresh Meadows