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Parisian Bookseller Sylvia Beach Is Buried in Princeton Cemetery

GEORGE D. CODY
Bainbridge Street

November Break at Princeton Schools Should Come During Thanksgiving Week

CLAIRE FOWLER
Prospect Avenue

School Board Admonished for Failing To Seek Parental Input on Calendar

Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Judith A. Wilson, Superintendent of Schools, and Anne Burns, President, Board of Education. It was co-signed by ten other parents of Princeton Regional School students.

SALLY GOLDFARB
Sycamore Road

Unpredictable Collection Schedule Blamed for Brush Piles in Street

Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand.

ANN JUDSON
Cuyler Road

Regional Education Association Favors November Date for Teacher Workshops

JOANNE RYAN
JO SZABAGA
SUZANNE THOMPSON
Co-Presidents
Princeton Regional Education Association

Regional Health Commissioner Urges Statewide Ban on Workplace Smoking

NORMAN J. SISSMAN, M.D.
Princeton Regional Health Commission

Parisian Bookseller Sylvia Beach Is Buried in Princeton Cemetery

To the Editor:

I want to add a footnote to Stuart Mitchner's interesting art review of the "Portraits of the Lost Generation" exhibit at Firestone Library, featuring Sylvia Beach and her bookstore, Shakespeare and Company (Town Topics, March 16).

Ms. Beach not only grew up in Princeton, but she is buried here, in Princeton Cemetery. Her small gravestone is numbered 4 on the cemetery map.

GEORGE D. CODY
Bainbridge Street

November Break at Princeton Schools Should Come During Thanksgiving Week

To the Editor:

It must seem obvious that giving students an extra week of vacation so early in the school year could not possibly serve their best educational interests. I'd like to raise another issue.

Did anyone stop to consider the cost to families with two working parents before deciding to close the schools for a week early in November, a month that already has four half-day closings for parent-teacher conferences and a two-and-a-half day break for Thanksgiving? It's possible to juggle the half-days and the two-day vacation that enables teachers to attend the New Jersey teachers' conference, but a whole week at a busy time of year is another matter. And although one might argue that it is merely an inconvenience for those with some control over their work schedule and money for baby-sitters, there are many Princeton families with little flexibility in their work schedules and who lack the means to pay for additional childcare. What are people to do? Leave their children home alone? Bring them to work?

It is important to meet the professional development needs of the teachers, but why not pick a month that does not already contain six days without school? And if it must be November, then why not take the three days prior to the Thanksgiving break for professional development? Since Thursday is a national holiday, most work schedules tend to be more relaxed that week, and many people might actually welcome a few extra travel days. Surely this would make just as much sense in meeting the teachers' professional development goals, and it would be a great deal more convenient for working parents.

CLAIRE FOWLER
Prospect Avenue

School Board Admonished for Failing To Seek Parental Input on Calendar

Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Judith A. Wilson, Superintendent of Schools, and Anne Burns, President, Board of Education. It was co-signed by ten other parents of Princeton Regional School students.

To the Editor:

Parents of Princeton Regional School students were recently notified that this fall, schools will be closed for an entire week at the beginning of November. This action has triggered a groundswell of protest from parents who oppose interrupting their children's education for a week so early in the academic year. In the midst of this controversy, there are two broader issues that deserve attention.

First, the board of education and superintendent should not make major changes in the school calendar without seeking input from parents. By giving parents an opportunity to be heard before decisions are made, the school administration could ensure a constructive and collaborative role for parents. By contrast, when the board and superintendent announce a change as a fait accompli, parents are given little choice but to engage in protest after the fact. Consensus is preferable to confrontation, but consensus is possible only if parents are included in the process of decision making.

Second, the design of the school calendar, like other school policies, must be undertaken with sensitivity to the needs of working families. A substantial percentage of Princeton public school students live with a single working parent or two parents who both work full-time. Giving students an entire week off in November will hit these working parents particularly hard. The announcement of the new school calendar came in the midst of a rash of hastily-scheduled snow days, late openings, and early closings, which created significant hardship for working families in our community. The superintendent and board of education need to redouble their efforts to demonstrate their understanding of the fact that many students do not have a parent at home full time, and their commitment to minimizing the disruption inflicted on working families.

SALLY GOLDFARB
Sycamore Road

Also signed by the following parents of Princeton Regional School students: Linda Bosniak, Jill Burstein, Andrew Bush, William Gleason, Michael Lapp, Andrea Malcolm, Susan Nemeth, Martha Rinehart, Jacqueline Shire, Joseph Straus

Unpredictable Collection Schedule Blamed for Brush Piles in Street

Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand.

To the Editor:

I try hard to follow the ever-changing rules of branch pick-up in our Township. Others less law-abiding than I have put their brush in the street as fancy moves them, which has made a dangerous mess of our streets. What I don't understand is why my brush is not picked up whereas theirs is.

In January, following the third-Monday-of-the-month rule, I phoned the Department of Public Works to be certain the pick-up would be made that week. I was told that January's pick-up was being done in an unscheduled manner, and that Cuyler Road had already been swept clean. So I kept my winter's collection of branches stacked in my back yard. This is reminiscent of the summer two years ago when I kept my brush out of the street, obedient to the notice that there would be no pick-up in July or in August. When heavy rains prevented Township workers from mending potholes, they instead picked up the branches of scofflaws who'd left their branches out. Once again, I followed the rules and lost out, while those who thwarted them won out.

Certain that February's pick-up would take place, I hauled my decomposing branches out to the street, careful not to do it too soon. Then I learned from the March 9 issue of Town Topics that our next pick-up, with more new rules, will take place in April. My lonely piles of brush sit in the street. Last year we had branch pick-up in February and in March. Why couldn't I have expected the same service this year? Must I return my brush to my back yard?

I try hard to be a good citizen. However, the ever-changing rules and unpredictable branch pick-up schedule have made it difficult to be a happy citizen.

ANN JUDSON
Cuyler Road

Regional Education Association Favors November Date for Teacher Workshops

To the Editor:

After years of concern from staff regarding the high volume of strangers in school buildings during Election Day, we appreciate the efforts of the administration and the Princeton Regional Board of Education to amend our calendar.

In-service workshops presented in November will allow us the opportunity to refine our professional practices so that we may apply them for the remainder of the school year. We applaud this new approach by the district leadership.

JOANNE RYAN
JO SZABAGA
SUZANNE THOMPSON
Co-Presidents
Princeton Regional Education Association

Regional Health Commissioner Urges Statewide Ban on Workplace Smoking

To the Editor:

Why Not New Jersey?

Eighty-five percent of New Jerseyans are non-smokers. Eighty-one percent of voters believe second hand smoke is a serious health threat. And 85 percent of voters agree that all New Jersey workers should be protected from second hand smoke in the work place.

New Jersey's smoking laws for indoor work and public places are among the weakest in the U.S. In 2000, the Princeton Regional Health Commission passed a local ordinance prohibiting smoking in all public places in the Township and Borough. Evidence of the deleterious effects of environmental tobacco smoke on non-smokers was so strong that the Commission was compelled to act in order to protect the health of people who work or live in our community. The ordinance was struck down in court with the judge stating that only the State Legislature can act in public smoking matters. Workers and others should not be exposed to someone else's bad habit. It's time our State representatives acted to protect the health of the 85 percent of the public that does not smoke, by making all work and public places safe from polluted indoor air.

Persons exposed to environmental smoke have higher rates of heart disease and cancer. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control warned people at risk of heart disease to avoid places that allow indoor smoking. In New Jersey, people who work in smoke-filled places, particularly bars and restaurants, are compelled to breathe the deadly brew of 250 chemicals which compose tobacco smoke, in order to earn a living. This is not right.

Ten states have statewide smoking prohibitions. Such legislation has come before our State Representatives many times in the last several years, only to be relegated to inaction. Even Ireland has banned smoking in public places, including pubs. In Princeton, local restaurant owners stated that if Princeton banned smoking in bars and restaurants, patrons would go to other municipalities to dine. They felt that a statewide ban on smoking in public places would level the playing field for all bars and restaurants in the state. This is a fairer and more desirable outcome than just permitting each municipality to enact its own ordinance.

It's time to pass the Smoke-Free Air Act, Senate Bill S-1926, and have New Jersey be included in the list of states that are leaders in promoting a safe and healthful environment for every one. Let your legislature know that you want this health protection.

NORMAN J. SISSMAN, M.D.
Princeton Regional Health Commission