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PAGE A10 « TIMES OF NORTHPORT » AUGUST 25, 2005 Editorial Minor parties are 'All-American' There are often complaints about the confusion created by minor parties in election campaigns. We feel these parties are good in that they offer opportunities to candidates and voters who feel that their parties have left them and have issues to bring before the electorate But these minur parties often have ambiguous agen das ofr activist overtones and almost never have a genurmme effect on the mainstream. We all know about the deal-making and politiwal chess games that take place when candidates are desperate to boost their vate totals with munor party lines. Some of these one-issue parties become politiwal tools, and their endorsements are often at odds with their stated mission. But it voters don't vate on their ballot lines, as happened in the last gubernatonal election, munor parties like the Green Party get pushed off the political land- scape The proliferation and eventual demise ot many of today's minor parties is proof that the electorate still has control over the political system. If they want minor par- tres. they 'I get them. And if they don't want their voting machines to be jammed with some of these narrow or amorphous trnge party ballot lines. they II just ignore them The system works God bless AmeTik a Give till it helps Once again. we issue a reminder that loa al hospitals are expenencing a major shortage ot blood. and they need everyone in town to donate The \tai share\ tor each healthy indi vidual is one pint The blood goes to pee ple undergoing surgery and those admit- ted to emergency rooms. Whatever the specifics, you can rest assured that some- one will benefit from your generosity. In order to encourage donations, earlier this year the New York State Department of Health granted New York Blood Center a vanance to allow donations from 16-year- olds in New York with written parental permixxiun. (nvmg blood doesn't hurt. It doesn't take long. It imn't hard. It doesn't cost money. And they give you a snack when it's over, which you can wash down with the sense of satisfaction that comes from doing your part to make the world a better place. There are numerous places nearby where you can give blood. The Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street in Northport will hold a blood drive on Monday. August 29 from 3:15 pm to 8:45 pm and advises donors to call 261 - 7670 for more information or an appoint- ment. Make it today. Opinion A slight to new members and electorate TO THE EDITOR: I am writing in response to school board President Arlene S. Munson's July 28, 2005 letter to the editor. I take exception to the implication that Mr Fortuna's faled motion for a budget advisory commuttee was the result of being imappropnate or the result'of not having yet attended the Academy for Governance in Albany. Any change in policy that such motion might have required or amendments to language and intent, could have been vet ted out publicly, when the motion was offered on July 6. 2005 To imply that the \learning curve\ for new board members is so great as to undermine even a motion for budget comnuttee, something many districts on Long Wland employ, is a slight to buth new board members and the electorate that put them in office A turther note: I first learned of the New York State School Board Academy of Governance on the day after my election when I was doing some online research. 1 w as delighted at the prospect of attending. The academy, as well as our membership in the New Nork State School Board Association, is a valuable resource for traning. information and advocacy as regards the Assembly's legislative reform efforts. Addittonalily. I take exception to Ms. Munson's impli- cation that Mr. Fortuna's and my participation in the September seminar at the Academy for Governance is much needed and yet she does not advocate the same training for our five co-board members who have never attended. To have voting power over appropnations of a mult-nmulltion dollar budget without the best information and training is certainly not wise. Mr. Fortuna and I look forward taking time away from work and family in order to attend the three-day conference, but it was something we desired doing before it was suggested to us. And, we encourage our fellow members to join us as well. We have been doing a lot of \homework\ as is evi- dened by the number of questions we are asking both on and oft the record. In my opmion doing \homework\ as a board member also requires ashing those questions again. publicly. when the matter is up for vote,. so that our citi wens. who might have some of the same questions. learn the answers along with us 1 am confident our board will overcome all obstacles and work successfully towards the continued betterment of our district. Denise Summers Mumm Northport-East Northport Board of Education However long it takes... 1 was visitng Baltimore., staying with my brother, a doctor in the fight against AIDS at Johns Hopkins when we heard about the vigils for Cindy Sheehan on the inter- net We fit candles and went onto Roland Avenue because her loss is our loss. her pain is our pain We had done this before. when my brother's partner died of AIDS in 1991 We had sewn a part of the great quilt We had done this before when we joined the 1979 Gay Pride Parade to honor those at Stonewall who broke through the walls of injustice and intolerance We had done this for the Vietnam Vets We have done ths with the Million Mom March for gun control We are all sull working for sanity. peace and tolerance in our beloved America We know it is gettung worse in fraq. and the Bush administration must find a way out that lets them save some tace. brokers a deal with the mullahs in Iran who will run Iraq when we leave and get our troops back home now We will stand with Cindy Sheehan and all the fam- hes who are suffering. When the nght-wing calls her a 'Look we will ask, who? A mother who raised an honar- student who became a Marne to serve his country? We will stand with her for however long it takes to bring them home. Anne Beyrer East Islip Please send letters We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for clarity, libel and good taste. Please include your town of residence and a telephone number where you can be reached for confir- mation. Email your letters to timesnpt@thrnewspapers.com or write to The TIMES of Northport & East Northport. Box 707, Setauket, New York 11733. We do not publish anonymous letters. A little end-of-summer humor BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF For the first time in his young life. my number-one grandson is spending four weeks at sleepaway camp. We - that is the family support system - have rushed to email him regularly according to a progressive system the camp has in place. We email him. and the email is printed out and posted on a bulleun board at his camp for all to read. For his amusement and that of hus counselors and campmates. I have been sending him \knock knock\ jokes each time. He is not allowed to email us back. It's unidirectional commu- neation only. For a colummist like me, who is used to getting various hinds of feedback to my words, this 1s a frustrating situa- tion. So in desperation. | am going to try out some of the maternal on you. my (until now) unsuspecting reader. Consider this fare appropriate to the dog days of August and please don't think too harshly of me. (Or of the author of 1,000 Knock Knock Jokes for Kids. Michael Kilgartiff. to who | am grateful.) Also consider that I grew up on \ele- phant jokes\ - the rage of the early 1960s. (For those of you who are too young to recognize that genre, ask your fess, they give me a chuckle Knock. knock. Who's there? Jack Jack who? Javh Potts. Knock. knock Who's there? Ivan. van who? Ivan my money back Knock. knock. Who's there? Jimmy. Jimmy who? Jimmy a little kiss on the cheek. And finally: Knock. knock. Who's there? Odysseus. Odysseus who? Odysseus is the final straw! And this one is for your parents: How can you tell the difference between an elephant and a blueberry? A blucberty is blue. TIMES BEACON RECORD NEWSPAPERS Send your items to PO. Box 707, Setauket, N.Y. 11733 ml to timesnpt@tbmewspapers.com. We welcome letters, photographs, comments and story Or drop by our news office at 67 Main Street, Northport. Times Beacon Record | are published every Address: PO. Box 707. Setauket, N.Y. 11733 « Telephone: (631) 261-7727 web » ttrnewspapers.com Contents copyright 2004. Thursday. parents. ) Knock. knock. Who's there? Isabel. Isabel who? Isabel on a bike really necessary? So. have you withstood that? Here are some more. I con- EDITOR Leah S. Dunsief a a EDITOR Patricia P LEISURE EDITOR ONLINE EDITOR id R. 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