Excellence rewarded
TO THE EDITOR: This is in reply to the recent letter to the editor of Richard Ray's comments about the Ticonderoga School System.
The fact that the Ticonderoga School System has been rewarded for its excellence should be a reason to be proud, not a reason to reduce the school system's budget. As a grandparent and former teacher who has personally experienced and can attest to the dedication of the staff of the Ticonderoga School system, I can bear witness to this excellence. One only has to look at other systems not far away to realize what a bargain the Ticonderoga School System is. Others paid for our children's educations. Now it is our turn.
Mr. Ray is fortunate enough to have lake-shore property. With that privilege comes higher taxes.
Wesley and Anita Masten
Hague
COs earn their pay
TO THE EDITOR: I have seen in the newspaper many comments about corrections officers.
First of all, if they get a raise, they deserve it. They have not had a contract in almost three years. If they swap to get time off for whatever reason, I don't feel this is an issue. They work 16 hour days to get time off.
This job starts off with eight weeks of hard and rough times in the academy. When they are placed in a facility they have no idea how long before they can see their family or how often. For the people that run their mouth, you have no idea what you are talking about. These men and women risk their lives every day when they walk through those doors so if they do get time off it is well deserved. They keep us safe from these inmates that they are surrounded by every day. Before you run your mouth about corrections officers, like my family and my friends, get your story straight. Do you even know the divorce or suicide rate of correction officers? You have no idea what you are saying. I think that the people that write these things are sitting at home with nothing better to do. We all should be proud of our correction officers. They do not have an easy job and I commend them.
Janice Rowe
Ellenburg Depot
Protest PSU cuts
TO THE EDITOR: "Power concedes nothing without a demand," said the abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1857. It is easy to agree with his statement more than a century after the end of legal slavery in America. But it is far more difficult to act on it, to demand that the powerful act justly in the interests of the people. In fact, it requires courage. Therefore, I call on the Plattsburgh community to summon our courage and make some demands.
Due to state budget cuts, as many as 66 positions at SUNY Plattsburgh are about to be permanently cut, according to SUNY Plattsburgh President John Ettling and Vice President for Administration John Homburger. An unknown-but-large number of positions at other SUNY campuses also will be eliminated. These positions represent the wisdom, dedication and time necessary to nurture our students' intellectual development. Those laid off will not be hired back in the foreseeable future, and the layoffs will mean a permanent reduction in the quality of the education that our institution can provide.
In other words, these cuts will result in an entire generation of students who will be deprived of the high-quality education that they deserve. If the eliminated funds are not restored, thousands if not millions of New York State's high school graduates will be unable to attend college in the years to come because of SUNY's faculty and staff shortages, and others lucky enough to attend will face fewer course offerings, increased class sizes, reduced contact with advisers, and less individualized attention.
I urge members of the local community to call the governor's office at 474-8390 to protest these disastrous cuts, which will result in a generation of wasted young minds.
Channing Gerard Joseph
Visiting assistant professor
of journalism
State University of New York
Plattsburgh
