June - July 2001 Edition

Letters To The Editor   Stealing Flowers  One practice I deplore in Radburn is the picking of plants and flowers that belong to others. One day recently I saw a young girl who seemed old enough to know better plucking flowers from one of our bushes from the public walk next to our yard. My wife has worked very hard over the last thirty years to develop a lovely garden and this action really hurt my wife.  I must add that this has not happened but a very few times over the years. Please respect the property of others.  John Nichols   School Openings St. Anne School has limited openings available for the 2001-2002 school year. For information about the school, please call the school office at 201-796-3353 or visit the school website at http://stanne.4t.com  St. Anne School is accredited by the Commission of Elementary Schools of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Karen Savacool   Wants a Cafe I am 17 and i would love to see a cafe/coffe bar in the radburn section or on plaza road....I think it would be an instant hit. Josh Yehaskel   Drinking By Minors (Regarding Article From Previous Edition) Please for the sake of the future of the Fair Lawn children pass an Ordinance making it illegal for people under 21 to drink alcohol on private property. Just this week alone two more children were severely injured in an alcohol related car accident in Fair Lawn and another 19 year old Fair Lawn woman died after drinking at two bars.  If the police spot youths coming out of a house in the morning hours sometimes just before sunrise they should be stopped and checked for drinking before they drive home and injure or kill someone.  Really, soon Fair Lawn will run out of trees to place flowers around to commemorate an auto accident. A program needs to started in the high schools over the results of drinking and of course, drugs. Perhaps a "scared straight" approach having students visit the injured and or maimed people who were involved in alcohol related accidents.  Maybe a card can be issued to the under 21 year old Fair Lawn residents that states I don't drink and only those can drive autos say after midnight.  Mike Brenner   Power Tools on Weekends I know that most people work during the week and are unable to attend to their yards until Saturday and Sunday. That is just the way things are today. However, that greatly impacts neighbors who would like to enjoy their yards on the weekend. The onslaught of power equipment on weekends is unjustified. Most of the time, these are commercial landscapers and not your neighbor mowing his or her lawn.  Add on top of that the people who think that their back yard is a machine shop. Power saws, drills and sanders are a constant disturbance from my next door neighbor, with his favorite work time being everyone else's dinner time.   I don't begrudge anyone keeping their homes and yards beautiful, but the hours of operation should be curtailed from "dawn to dusk". I suggest that power equipment on weekends be limited to 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. By the way, did you ever try to measure a decibel level from your neighbor's equipment? You have a better chance of seeing happy Palm Beach voters!  Stuart Pace   Commuter Parking at Non-Profit Organizations (See article from last edition) Although there is a small fee, it is a service to the community. If there was sufficient convenient parking, people would not be using it. I believe we should support this practice.  Sam Berman      School Board Budget and the Radburn Building I can see by your editorial that you are willing to increase taxes for schools, school programs, school employees, and school anything.  I guess you don't understand that NJ is the highest paid per student in the nation re: education.  Also, 60% of our taxes are for schools.  "What's wrong with this picture"?  Isn't that selfish?  We need money to go for other things.  not the overinflated school system.   Phil, I enjoy your newsletter even if you are for more school money and recycling.  I just think that the Police here in town aren't given enough credit and if anyone should receive a raise, it should be the police.  Just want to add that the Radburn Building looks absolutely fabulous with the dark green awnings and the trees surrounding it.  It is just beautiful to look at. Zak   More on Overnight Parking A ban on four hour parking is not a ban on overnight parking it is a ban on common sense and should go the way of ducking under your desk to avoid the blast from an Atomic bomb. You youngsters will have to ask your History Teachers about that one. The BAN is right up there with the testing the effects of cannon balls on iron-clads. Come who's kidding who? Street sweepers at night. Fires and burglars only between 2-5 in the morning, but never on holidays. It is a law that is only enforced on a whim, or a vendetta. Take ride around some look for law breakers, or as was once explain by an unnamed boro official, taking advantage of $32.00 a year parking fee. Some streets are exempt but there is some question as to what town they are in. On the other hand, how many readers that live in Saddle Brook, Glen Rock or any other border towns have been blessed with Fair Lawn Overnight Parking tickets? Maybe the Dawn Patrol should have G.P.S. onboard! Harold Vogel   Need Teaching Space   The Fair Lawn Community School has notified the Bergen Community College (BCC) Ciarco Learning Center that the Fair Lawn School system will not participate in the state-funded Bergen Community College consortium program for the 2001-2002 school year. This decision has far reaching adverse affects for many area residents, as the tuition free English Second Language / General Equivalency Degree program presently held at Fair Lawn H.S. will end as of June 2001. Approximately 500 area residents will no longer have local access to these important classes. Additionally, the evening, adult deaf education program, currently funded by the consortium, will end as well. Budget and space constraints were given as the reasons for the decision.   The program is seeking an alternate location for the program. To accommodate the current program, an interested agency would need to provide 8-10 classrooms, Monday-Thursday, 6:30pm-9: 30pm, September-June, use of an office, phone and storage space for supplies. In return, the agency could become part of the BCC consortium, entitling the community to the benefits of the grant-funded program, offered tuition-free to all interested adults. If you might have any suggestions please e-mail me at teachnj341@yahoo.com. Thanks.  Pat Rosenfeld    Donors Needed  My name is Kim Onorati, Donor Recruiter Coordinator, from St.Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and I am asking if you can please find space to print this article for the community to be aware of our urgent and crucial need for volunteer platelet donors. We are seeking individuals, groups, or organizations to contact us to come into our donor room or set up a mobile at your site in order for us to collect platelets.  Platelets are a component of our blood which helps in the clotting process or can be thought as the body's internal "band-aid". Platelets are used for open-heart surgery patients as well as those who suffer from leukemia, aplastic anemia, cancer, and other blood disorders. Platelets have a life span of 7 to 10 days. Once platelets are collected from a donor, they must be transfused within five (5) days.  The need for blood is great, approximately 73,000 blood components are transfused. With the help of our community pulling together we can put up a good fight to meet the needs of our patients so they have a fighting chance to stay alive. Volunteer donors must be healthly and over 18 years old. There is no substitute for platelets so please call St. Joseph's donor room for an appointment (973) 754-3539.  Kim Onorati     What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.