{ title: 'The record. (Huntington, N.Y.) 199?-current, January 09, 1991, Page 5, Image 5', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn97063616/1991-01-09/ed-1/seq-5/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn97063616/1991-01-09/ed-1/seq-5.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn97063616/1991-01-09/ed-1/seq-5/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn97063616/1991-01-09/ed-1/seq-5/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
5 Muieum Cuts Under Cou.nty Microscope?. By :Mary Beth Guyther vanderbilt Museum opercttions may be · put under a QliaOscope by some county legislators, wllo say that a recent con~ -versy SUliOllllding layoffs of planetalj.um employees has prompted them to take a closer look at abe museum. \Something bas to be donet said Leg- islator James Ganghnm (D .. Huntington), adding that be will seek the support of other legislators for public hearings on developmellts at the museum. \There needs to be IIKI:'e light shed on what the tioard and the new executive. direct« are. daiDg,\ be added Mr. ~gh mn said he is ancemed about the educa~ 1iona1 pogDD a lbc planelar.ium and bow it would be maintained after the layoffs. Budget problems led to the December 1 layoff of fclU\ full-time planetarium staff members and some pay cuts for remaining staff. The planetarium now has five full-time and 14 part~time workers. MlJSetUil officials say the layoffs were part of an effan to ba1aoce the .1991 bud- get because tbe 1990 deficit was greater than expecte4.. The museum's total bud- get in 199() was $1.8 .million, ~rding to Executi-ve Director Thomas Rhodes, with a projected deficit of $106.000. - But the actual deficit was $163~0CJP, he said. Tb.e difference, said Dr. Rhodes, was due to a number of unforeseen costss including less income on endowment funds, pension expenses, fees for man~ agement of the endowment and insur- ance fees. Operating losses for tbe plane- tarium were $52,000 as of October 31. Dr. Rhodes was appointed eJtecutive direcux in July; this is the first full bud- get devised under his direction. After the layoffs. some employees who lost their jobs, as well as some Slillwa:'k- ing, spoke before the county legislature, which appoints bOard members and approves capital _projects fC£ the museum. In a letter distributed to the legislature, tb u the • prod . ey wrote: .. • creattve ucuoo core of tbe planetarium has .been unduly, and without warning, amputated, and the planetarium has taken the full hit for administrative mismanagement, while the museum staff remains UJ!affected. Now amazingly enough, a world-class planetarium has become can exhibit of the Vanderbilt Museum'.\ Museum officials say the cuts are part of an economizing effort that began in 1989 and say other programs of the .. ' . .· museum in ~ddition to the planetarium also have sustained cuts .. Material distributed by the museum also lists other changes made over the past year, including institutionwide cuts such as the cancellation of all \non- essential\ expenditures from Decembez 1 through Aprill, 1991, and a freeze on raises other than those provided by coo- tracts, effective December 1. Positions also were eliminated in the bllSiness office and the mansion and museum, and hours were cut .for security staff. But ·Ute planetaf!um has been a particu- lar area of concern because it reportedly is losing money. In a statement released to the press last month, Dr. Rhodes stated: \In the terms of the will of Wllli.am K. Vanderbilt IT, the endowment is intended to support the historic site, historic grounds and natural history collections, first All other activities supported must be considered a lower priority. 1be plane- tarium 's ongoing operating losses can no longer be covered by the endowmenl\ About $165,000 was cut from tbe per- sonnel budget of the planetariwn with the layoffs, but Dr. Rhodes said tha1 the muse- um will not realize those savings until after mid-February because the dismissed employees received compensation. But the staff and former staff of the planetarium presented an alternate deficit reduction plan to the legislature in December, said Tom Affatigato, who was laid off from his job as director-pro- ducer at the planetarium, where be worked for 18 years. The employees proposed a hike in ticket prices for school shows and children's admissions from $2 to $3 and a •cpayroll lag\ system which would give staff nine dayss pay for 10 days' work, witb the sav- ings put into escrow f()( a period of time to help reduce the deficit According to the employees' letter, those measures would provide $110,00 to close the budget gap. Dr. Rhodes said through_ a spokesper- son, •'The board's decision [to cut staff at the planetarium] stands. We ~ve no~ ther comments because we are hard at work on 1991 activities.\ Responding to the alternate plan, John Stevenson, president of the museum board, said that the museum cannot raise ticket prices this year because of contracts with the schools, although the board might review ticket prices for future years. He also called the proposed deferred SEE PLANETARIUM, PME 7 Parkway Reports Make Improvement Suggestions By Mary 1Jeth Guyther Effor:ts 10 lllake Vanderbilt Parkway safer could r.ange from such relatively simple actioas as cutting foliage and adding tmffic. signa)s. to spending more than $13 :millioo to· remove hills and straighten curves. Two reports on parkway improve- ments- one by a task force focusing on shon ... range sollltions and the other by the Suffolk County Department of Pnblic Works -outline • suggestions. About 60 residents beard members of the task face, who appeared at a 'Com- munity meeting last Thursday in Dix Hills, describe progress already made. Measures already 18bn include new traf- fic lights, improved tom signals, and improved sigDs and ligbting on the park- way between Half Hollow Hills Road and CommdRoad. Still pending are m:ommendations for inGre&Sed po:tke patrols, special hazard ligbts, pedestrian passageways, moving the Norlbem State Parkway exit farther east on Vanderbilt and imposing a higher speed limit on the roadway to cut down on illegal passing. The task furce was formed afte.r a com- munity meeting 1ast July, when angry res-. idents complained about the dangerous roadway, citing a June 4 fatal accident in which a local teenager died. lit addition . to their findings, the group will study the public works departmentss .report and make recommendations to county offi- cials for long-range improvements. The county report was developed after Legislator Allan Binder (R-Dix Hills) introduced a bill directing Commissiooer 9f Public Works Joseph Hurley to study how to make the section 9f Vanderbilt Parkway between Half Hollow Hills Road and Commack Road as safe as pos- sible \Witboui sacrificing tbe rural nature of the road.\ _ In at least one respect, tbe two reports differ. For example, the county recom- mends keeping tile speed limit at 30 miles per hour beCause of limited sight distance, while the task force recom- Lingerie Laryest Selection in Intimate Apparel for day or night 10o/o OFFw/this ad~ ~ . Expires 1/16/91 ~ ~ 220 Church Street, Northport • 754-8668 ~ mended raising it 5 or 10 mph to dis- oomage passing. Among the long-range suggestions in the county report are straightening curves and smoothing out hills on the roadway, which would require a great deal of excavation and could cost about $13.75 million, according to~ repM. Audience response ~t the meeting at Half Hollow Hills East High School was generally favorable. But some expressed concern about whether the task foree actu- ally will follow through on their wen. \My question really is .•• What is going .to happen now?\ said Rita Holz, a Dix Hills resident, citing meetings about the parkway held three years ago, which she said did not produce results. Julian Sandler, a member of the task force who moderated the meeting, responded, \I think we're serious. I think there's a lot more to be done.\ Some members of the audience called- for more changes on the parkway. Abbey Yerys, of Dix Hills, whose son Lawrence was killed in the June 4 accident on a sharp curve on the parlcway near McCul- loch Drive, said of that spot, \ . . . I still see a hill and a curve and I still see enor- mous danger.\ County Executive Patrick Halpin, who . SEE PARKWAY, PAGE. WARM DRY YELLOW •cKSI 813 Boot-within-a-boot construction. Guaranteed waterproof. Thinsulate e insulated for warmth. Brushed buck- skin. Sizes: 7 ·13 B-EE. Jericho Turnpike Plaza 1 3 5 W. Jericho Turnpike Huntington Station, NY 11746 549-9729 810 . Suede leather. Warm Thinsulate • lining. Insole with red fleece over insulating foam. Padded leather collar. Sizes: 7 214 B-EEE.
