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Vol. LXI, No. 32
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
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Vol. LXI, No. 32
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
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THOMAS P. McCOOL, Ed.D.
President & CEO, Eden Family of Services
GRACE SINDEN
Ridgeview Circle
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Eden Family of Services and the individuals with autism whom Eden serves, I want to extend heartfelt thanks for the generosity of our community. On July 22, Eden held its 4th annual Eden Family 5K Race and one-mile Fun Run, which was rescheduled due to the April Nor'easter. More than 400 walkers and runners and more than 50 volunteers helped to make this year's race a tremendous success and raise $45,000 in net proceeds.
A special thanks to Jerry Fennelly, who served once again as race director and provided support in numerous ways; our primary corporate sponsors, NAI Fennelly, Princeton Forrestal Village, and sanofi-aventis; the 19 additional companies who provided major sponsorship support; and the many individuals and businesses that contributed goods and services to our event.
We are deeply grateful to the dedicated Eden Family 5K steering committee that helped plan and organize this event; to the many volunteers without whom the event would not be possible; and to the walkers and runners who participated in the race. The funds raised from the race will help Eden continue its mission of improving the lives of individuals with autism and their families.
THOMAS P. McCOOL, Ed.D.
President & CEO, Eden Family of Services
To the Editor:
Your article, "Princeton's Policy for the Ages: Sustainability Plan Moving Forward" (Town Topics, August 1), was of particular interest to me as a member of the Sustainable Princeton Steering Committee.
In educating people on sustainable living, a stated goal of the program, local government must be sure to avoid the "do as I say, not as I do" factor. One such example would be in not requiring energy efficiency in new development/redevelopment even as we urge residents to conserve energy and as other towns are moving ahead.
It has been suggested by a statement in your article by a key person in this matter that Princeton should instead rely on voluntary actions of developers by offering them concessions. However, this may be counter-productive to sustainable growth. One such concession mentioned, allowing higher density development, may be incompatible with existing neighborhoods. Another impact of such a trade-off could be traffic increases greater than allowed by the original zoning with resulting increased greenhouse gases toward global warming. Or, in natural areas, higher density could exceed environmental constraints. Those are not good trade-offs toward a more sustainable and "greener" community. This is particularly significant since, as stated in your article, "the sustainability concept largely centers on the notion of protecting current resources for future generations."
People, especially young people, learn best by example and we must avoid sending mixed messages in what we practice in our local government decisions that are out of sync with what we are preaching. Princeton should be a leader in energy conservation, especially in new development and redevelopment.
The old saying "think globally, act locally" definitely applies here. Nice sounding words are not enough.
GRACE SINDEN
Ridgeview Circle