This letter is in response to an article published on Nov. 10, titled, “U.F. official claims district losing battle against drugs.” As a senior at Allentown High School (AHS), and as the school board representative elected by the student body, I have seen the effects of the district’s battle against drugs firsthand. Unfortunately, the effects have been less than encouraging or nonexistent.

The article mentioned the Lifesavers Club, which is student-run and one of many virtuous drug prevention initiatives overseen by the student assistance office and its coordinator, Rick Rivera. The club charges itself with promoting a drug-free lifestyle and delivers a positive, yet ineffective message.

Students don’t take the Lifesavers Club seriously because they see it as an organization of sycophantic overachievers who are insincerely working to add line items to activity sheets for college applications. Whether or not the club’s members are sycophantic overachievers with insincere motives is arguable, but the fact that they are perceived as such is not.

The student assistance office also offers counseling, where students see Rivera to talk about problems, including drug addiction. The counseling program offers confidentiality as part of the liberal “seek and save” approach mentioned by Principal [Christopher] Nagy. Many students take advantage of the program, which makes counseling a worthwhile endeavor, but not all students genuinely seek help. Some students conveniently seek “help” during a test they didn’t study for or, more commonly, during a class they don’t particularly like.

One student I know is only enrolled in two classes and leaves school every day at 10:30 a.m. Instead of “seeing Rick” after the last class, the student schedules sessions with Rivera counselor during one of the classes, and then goes home at 10:30 a.m. This is just one example of how a positive program is abused by students.

The administration pays lip service to the substance abuse issue while taking little action. Students are frequently warned about drug testing and the recently procured Breathalyzer device, but over time, most students come to realize that both are empty threats. Locker searches have been known to take place on three-day weekends, and instead of serving students who smoke on campus with fines and summonses as called for by law, the administration sentences smokers and other tobacco offenders to the Tobacco Awareness Program.

The Tobacco Awareness Program (TAP) is also run by the student assistance office. Though conceived honorably, TAP is about as effective as the Surgeon General’s warning.

The article mentions that the school district has a strategy “to seek and save rather than search and destroy,” but does not acknowledge that the “save” component is made up of programs coordinated by the student assistance office that are largely inadequate. In this respect, the district may find itself at odds with parents who “seek” to keep their children away from illegal drugs and tobacco.

Interestingly, a certain element of hypocrisy exists within the administration and has been explicitly displayed by the recent campaign that unmistakably employed “search and destroy” tactics. The target: free speech.

Christopher Buckingham

Millstone

PETA staff member urges care for feral cats

Layne Sultana is right: People who think domesticated animals can survive outdoors on their own are kidding themselves (“Millstone resident cares for hundreds of area cats,” Nov. 23). Unless they are located in a temperate climate in an isolated area and are provided with food, water, and veterinary care, feral cats struggle to survive. Many suffer terribly from contagious diseases. Others sustain wounds, broken bones, brain damage, or lose eyes or limbs after being attacked by animals, abused by cruel people, or hit by cars.

If everyone follows Sultana’s advice to sterilize animals and take them to a shelter, rather than abandon them, life for Sultana — and millions of cats — would be much easier. For PETA’s free brochure on helping feral cats, visit HelpingAnimals.com.

Lindsay Pollard-Post

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Norfolk, Va.

AHS graduate appalled by official’s negative remarks

Recently there was an article published on the front page titled “U.F. official claims district losing battle against drugs.” This article was utterly appalling. In the article, Deputy Mayor William Miscoski made negative comments about Allentown High School’s Lifesavers Club. The purpose of the Lifesavers Club is to provide prevention programming to students in high school, to provide an open support system for those who choose a substance-free lifestyle, and to work with other students around the state to develop alternatives to substance use.

Miscoski boasts gross inconsistencies in the article by first saying that the club should be more inclusive, and then saying that the local law enforcement needs to “crack down” on people who currently use drugs. Then, he suggests that the individuals who are using, are using because the Lifesavers Club is not inclusive enough. To attack the remarkably praiseworthy efforts of students attempting to prevent the issue is wrong.

I served as president of the Lifesavers Club for three years, and during those years we were very successful in our prevention efforts. In 2003, the club was recognized as the No. 1 prevention group in New Jersey from a nationally affiliated statewide teen institute program. Lifesavers was also one of the top five prevention groups in the past five years.

The Lifesavers Club offers many fun and substance-free activities throughout the school year, such as movie nights, dances, and others that all students, whether substance abusers or not, can attend.

If Mr. Miscoski feels that the Lifesavers Club is ineffective, he should examine what the mission and goals of the club are, before berating a group of students who should be commended for their decisions and their willingness to effect positive changes in Upper Freehold, Allentown and Millstone. His statements can be compared to asking Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to provide more programs for students who don’t drink. Of course you wouldn’t ask that, it’s not AA’s purpose. In addition, the Lifesavers Club does cross-age teaching programs in the younger grades, which is proven by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to be one of the most effective forms of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention.

To allow students who currently are using substances into the Lifesavers Club would completely subvert the message and be extremely hypocritical. Both underage substance abuse and addiction have their roots in much deeper challenges than a club setting standards for membership; the Lifesavers Club seeks to address those deeper challenges. If Mr. Miscoski has suggestions for events or activities that are consistent with the goals and mission of the Lifesavers Club, then he should arrange to meet with Rick Rivera and the officers of the club.

Amie MacGrath

2005 graduate of Allentown High School

Millstone

Resident responds to article on speed control devices

I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Fels’ attack on me in a recent article [Nov. 17] regarding the speed calming devices (SCD) installed on Carrs Tavern Road. He asks who I am. In short, I am a concerned citizen and father who has worked for several years to address a very dangerous situation. I take exception with Mr. Fels’ implication that I received some special consideration. To be honest, though, I have lived in Millstone for eight years and have dedicated countless hours to the Environmental Commission, Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, county Board of Health, and youth of the community to try to make a better community. What has Mr. Fels done in his 25 years?

Mr. Fels’ statements show his clear ignorance for the facts and his failure to listen to anything that was said at the township meeting when he presented his petition. Once again, the SCDs were installed after several years of township administrations trying to address the problem. Increased State Police patrols, radar traps, speed drones, investigation of a drone with a camera, additional police presence by county police, all were tried or considered. Mr. Fels feels that because he received 20 signatures on a petition, that a “public safety” issue should be determined by what is popular. Fortunately, a bipartisan Township Committee made a decision based on what was right. For the record, Mr. Fels, I had 40 signatures on my petition, which represented 84 percent of the homes on Cars Tavern Road.

Throughout the article, Mr. Fels provides misleading and incorrect information. He quoted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and said that the devices are in violation of it. If one is going the speed limit, there should be no reason to “stop short” or suffer injury when “bouncing” over them. In addition, the road and the SCDs are clearly marked. He indicates that the township could be liable should someone get hurt as the result of the SCDs being installed. I would suggest that the township would be equally liable in the event that a child were struck, considering they had been repeatedly alerted by residents over several years to resolve the problem. SCDs have been studied by various transportation boards and deemed safe and effective and are used countywide, statewide and across the country and are being installed more frequently to address speeding issues. There is a lot of literature on the Internet supporting this statement, should you care to look. Mr. Fels references the fact that “speed bumps” were removed from a Marlboro Township High School parking lot because of concerns by fire and EMT [emergency medical technician] agencies. I spoke to a representative from the Marlboro Township Engineering Office who verified that the “speed bumps” were removed, but the devices we have are not the same thing and are engineered to allow for the safe flow of traffic.

Regarding his claim that no notification was made to residents, wrong again. An article on the intent to install the SCDs was published in the Examiner, and the decision to install SCDs was done through an ordinance, which requires public hearings and advertising in the paper. In addition, the first aid and fire department were engaged in this process.

Mr. Fels’ statement that residents placed obstructions in the SCDs’ gap area is again inaccurate. Obstructions were placed on the lawn to try to stop people from driving onto their grass.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Fels and those who signed his petition find the SCDs a nuisance, but I would venture to guess that those who had to pay a hefty traffic fine, have points assessed against their license and a court appearance would prefer the method that is now employed. Mr. Fels states that all are suffering for the behavior of a few. Mr. Fels couldn’t possibly know the reality of the extent of speeding on the road, as he has been safely tucked away in his cul-de-sac for 25 years and not impacted. For me, it is sad that such total disregard for residents’ safety made it necessary to install the SCDs in the first place. In the future, Mr. Fels should do his homework before making inflammatory statements and providing the public with false information.

John Finley

Millstone

Hard-working Americans deserve a fair wage

At a time when people throughout the world are struggling to emulate the United States by improving their standard of living and creating middle-class lifestyles for their workers, many of the corporate interests in the United States seem bound and determined to change the course of history in our country and drive working men and women back into the Dark Ages of wage earning.

The newest assault, which is getting a foothold in many parts of the country, is an attack on the prevailing wage standards set throughout our nation. These standards provide that employees, who live and work in a specific area of the country, be paid “prevailing wage” for that area. The idea [is] to prevent out-of-state contractors, who might have itinerant labor or illegal aliens on their payroll, from coming in, underbidding a job, and taking jobs away from working men and women in a particular state.

It is a sensible, intelligent way of ensuring that the taxpayers of a given community have the ability to pay those taxes by earning fair wages and being able to support their families.

Furthermore, these orchestrated assaults on prevailing wages will ultimately have the negative effect of undermining our economy. Henry Ford, no friend of labor, understood that nearly 100 years ago. At that time, Ford introduced the then unheard wage of $5 a day, which provided the opportunity for his workforce to get into the middle class and be able to afford the products that they created. That, in a very real sense, was the genesis of the American middle class.

It is time for all Americans to work cooperatively to ensure the economic security of us as a nation. No hands out, just the ability of hard-working men and women to earn a fair, i.e., “prevailing,” wage for the work they do so well.

Chip Gerrity

president

N.J. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Hightstown