Topics in Brief
A Community Bulletin

Some new faces could be coming to the Princeton Regional Board of Education following this year’s April 15 elections. The race is lining up like this: Borough resident Timothy Quinn of Wilton Street will run unopposed for board president and Moore Street resident Walter Bliss, who is seeking his third three-year term as a Township representative on the school board, will be the only incumbent in the race for two township seats, running against Daniel Haughton of Finley Road, and Meadowbrook Drive resident Naomi Perlman, who ran unsuccessfully for the board last year. Current board President Michael Mostoller, who has served two terms, and nine-year board member Jeffrey Spear, announced that they would not seek reelection.

Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello has asked the Superintendent of Elections to investigate possible voting machine errors that occurred in Mercer County and several other New Jersey counties during the February 5 presidential primary elections. “I believe the County Clerk is correct that there are problems with the machines that call for an investigation,” said U.S Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) said in a statement this week, adding that “because there have been confirmed or suspected problems around the country, it is important that New Jersey take steps before the June primary, and at least before the November election to ensure that each voter can verify on paper that the vote is recorded properly and that procedures are in place for a random audit.” In January, Mr. Holt introduced the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, a plan to allow state and local jurisdictions to receive reimbursements from the federal government if they convert to a paper ballot voting system, offer emergency paper ballots, and/or conduct hand audits or hand counts. The bill would authorize $500 million to reimburse paperless jurisdictions that convert to paper-based voting systems in 2008, as well those that don’t fully convert to a paper-based system but provide emergency paper ballots that would be counted as regular ballots in the event of machine failure. The bill would also authorize $100 million for audits by hand count and additional funding if a jurisdiction wishes to simply hand count its ballots to determine the result.

The University Medical Center of Princeton’s Community Visions Services Outreach Program was recognized by the Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey (HRET), an affiliate of the New Jersey Hospital Association, as one of the state’s model programs for providing health services to medically underserved populations. The award was presented Friday, February 29, at the Hospital Association’s annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Princeton. UMCP identified a “serious need” for vision care among the county’s underserved minority groups. A UMCP survey conducted as part of its Feria de la Salud, an annual health fair focusing on the needs of the Latino community, found that vision care and flu shots were the services most in demand. Based on those findings, the medical center’s Community Education and Outreach Program forged a coalition providing free eye exams and eyeglasses to people in need with groups that include the Project Prevention Unit of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind & Visually Impaired, the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation and the Latin American Task Force. Receiving the HRET’s Community Outreach Award for UMCP were Director of Community Education and Outreach Alan Axelrod, and Program Coordinator Robbi K. Alexander, RN. The hospital was previously recognized by HRET for a program to improve access and quality of care for uninsured, underinsured, and minority groups in Hightstown. For more information about the Community Vision Services Outreach Program and future vision screenings, call UMCP’s Community Education and Outreach Program at (888) 897-8979.

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