The Village Times Herald - October 20, 2022

Commemorating 100 years of character

WMHO debuts a renewed Hercules

Focus on Health

William

— Photo by Rita J. Egan

Hexagon project

A number of current and former R.C. Murphy Junior High School students in the Three Village Central School District received awards from the Interdependence Hexagon Project. The project challenges students and communities to use art as a way to reimagine how social and global challenges can be addressed.

To do this, students use critical thinking, research and their creative expression. They created artwork in a hexagon-shaped template, which is used as a metaphor for interdependence and interconnectedness

The following students attended R.C. Murphy

Junior High School at the time the project was submitted. Congratulations to the following:

Winners:

Dhikshika Cherivirala — Most Compelling Overall HS Division; Bianca Chu — Most Creative Interpretation HS Division; Makayla Nieto — Most Creative Interpretation Middle School Division

Honorable Mentions:

Madeena Jalili — Most Creative Use of Materials HS Division; LooJi Lee — Most Creative Use of Materials HS Division; Erinn Luo — Most Creative Use of Materials HS Division; Nadia Milana — Most Creative Use of Materials Middle School Division

From left, R. C. Murphy Junior High School student Makayla Nieto; teacher Lisa Sacco holding the work of Bianca Chu; and Murphy student Nadia Milana. Photo from Three Village Central School District

Three Village’s Response Crisis Center announces expansion of services

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

for young people.

“Mental health services for young adults are vital as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “Our young residents have experienced stresses that we never had to face when we were young.”

VILLAGE

When Suffolk County residents are experiencing a mental health crisis, a national hotline number can lead them to a counselor sitting in a Three Village office.

The Response Crisis Center, once located in Stony Brook, moved its offices to East Setauket in July. A ribbon cutting was held on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to commemorate the new location and the expansion of its suicide prevention and crisis services that will benefit county residents and people beyond Long Island.

The center has offered 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis care services for more than 50 years to residents through its local hotline, 631-751-7500. The hotline service is also part of a national network that people can reach by calling the recently rolled out 9-8-8. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was formally known as the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) and Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. (D) attended the ribbon cutting. Toulon, a crisis center board member, in a statement touched on the importance of the service, especially

Hahn, in an interview after the ribbon cutting, echoed Toulon’s sentiments that the pandemic has increased mental health issues. She added the center is recognized as one of the national leaders providing the service and employees and volunteers have trained other organizations in best practices.

“It’s really valuable to know our local crisis hotline has established itself as such an expert,” Hahn said.

Meryl Cassidy, executive director, said in a phone interview one of the reasons the organization was able to expand was due to the rollout of 988, which receives federal funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The East Setauket location is the primary 988 center for those calling from Suffolk, Rockland and Putnam counties. It also serves as a backup for six other New York counties and is one of nine centers that provides backup for national calls, chats and texts. Cassidy

said the center is the only one in the state that covers chats and text messages to 988.

In addition to calling 988 for emotional support, a person in need of help can text the number. There is an option to chat with a counselor through the website: 988lifeline.org.

“When somebody’s in a crisis, they need a really easy way to get the help they need

in the moment that they need it,” Cassidy said. “That’s the whole idea of having crisis counselors available 24/7, 365. Crises don’t happen typically Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. They happen in the middle of the night or on the weekend.”

The center’s executive director said the goal is to provide callers with the emotional help they need, and counselors can evaluate the situation.

“We can assess what’s going on and help get them the help they need in the moment when they need it, and that really can help to de-escalate a crisis,” Cassidy said.

In addition to 988’s funding through SAMHSA, Response Crisis Center has received funding through the state and county. Recent additional funding has enabled the center to hire more employees, including many who are licensed mental health counselors, social workers or in graduate school to enter either profession. Currently, there are 40 volunteers and about 120 paid staff with the crisis center. Cassidy said as of now it’s not a requirement for new hires to have a mental health background, and every employee receives 100 hours of intensive training.

For more information, visit www. responsecrisiscenter.org.

Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. addresses the attendees at the Oct. 12 ribbon cutting.

Stony Brook’s Hercules gets renewed vigor

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A Long Island landmark is looking more vibrant.

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization debuted the restored Hercules figurehead at a press conference on Oct. 14. Recently, philanthropists Harlan and Olivia Fischer, of Head of the Harbor, noticed the figurehead needed restoration and decided to sponsor its renovation.

WMHO board members thanked the Fischers and the work crew from ART of NYC & Long Island who restored the piece located in the Hercules Pavilion overlooking Stony Brook Harbor, across from the Village Center. The Holbrook-based company was retained for the restoration, which included cleaning, sanding and replastering before repairing, painting and varnishing the landmark.

Richard Rugen, WMHO chairman, said, “It’s a work in progress, but [the Fischers] are actually going to take care of the rest of the pavilion as well.”

Additional work will be done on the weather-beaten pavilion in the near future, including roof work and painting.

Harlan Fischer, president of Branch Financial Services, moved his offices from Smithtown to Setauket in 2020. Every day he passes through the village on his way to work and back, he said, and appreciates how lovely Stony Brook village is. He asked WMHO president Gloria Rocchio if she thought the renovation would be a worthwhile project, and she agreed.

“When we make contributions to places, we like to see the results of it,” he said. The Fischers are also donors to The Jazz Loft and sponsor a monthly concert series at the music venue and museum.

The full-color Hercules carving, located in Stony Brook since 1951, features the head and shoulders of the Greek demigod — known for his exceptional strength — draped in a lion’s skin. The bust was once the USS Ohio’s figurehead. The ship was the first to be launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1820.

Rugen said the figurehead was saved when the ship was decommissioned, destroyed and sunk in Greenport Harbor in 1884. It was bought by the Aldrich family of Aquebogue for $10 at the time, and from the late 1800s until the early 1950s it sat at the Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays after the owner, Miles Carpenter, purchased it for $15. Ward Melville bought it from the inn to be placed in Stony Brook.

Brenda Sinclair Berntson, president of Hampton Bays Historical Society, said when Hercules was located at the inn, it was popular for young women to kiss his forehead, believing that the person would be married within the year.

She said the figurehead wasn’t in the best condition, rotting and termite-ridden when it was brought to Stony Brook.

“We’re very glad that Ward Melville had the foresight and saved it,” she said.

Danielle Parisi, business development manager of ART of NYC & Long Island, said as someone who grew up and still lives in Stony Brook, it was an honor to work on the project. Parisi’s co-worker, art restorer Jessie Kefalas, said in walking by the figurehead in the past it was obvious something needed to be done. There was significant damage including the rotting of the chest of Hercules, which is constructed of plaster and wood.

Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) was also in attendance and commented on the efforts.

“We’ve seen projects like this before, and so often it’s because of the community spirit of ordinary residents who love where they live or business people who reinvest in their community,” he said.

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) called WMHO “one of the custodians of our heritage.”

He added that places such as the pavilion are in danger due to rising sea levels brought on by climate change, and the spot around the structure has experienced flooding after significant rain events. In the future, he said, the Hercules Pavilion could possibly be raised to protect it further, and when such a plan comes to fruition he pledged a $125,000 matching state grant to help with the costs.

Elected officials, Ward Melville Heritage Organization board members and philanthropists Harlan and Olivia Fischer announced the restoration of Stony Brook’s Hercules. Photo above from WMHO; photo below by Rita J. Egan

New leaders on campus: SBU trio shares their hopes and perspective

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Stony Brook University has welcomed a trio of new leaders to its campus over the last several months. Provost Carl Lejuez, Vice President for Marketing and Communications William Warren, and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Jed Shivers recently shared their goals for Stony Brook and their excitement at joining a flagship university for the State University of New York educational system.

Provost Lejuez

As provost, Carl Lejuez is responsible for the faculty, staff and students at Stony Brook University.

Lejuez, who has asked that people call him by his first name instead of trying to pronounce his last name — which, by the way, is Lejh way— makes a concerted effort to forge connections on campus.

“Whenever I introduce myself, I don’t say, ‘Provost,’” he said. “I say, ‘Professor in the Department of Psychology.’ I don’t believe I can be a credible leader of the faculty if there’s not a sense of sitting in their shoes and understanding the implications of the strategic and practical decisions we make.”

Lejuez, who grew up in Secaucus, New Jersey, earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Emory University and his Master of Arts and PhD in clinical psychology from the University of West Virginia.

As a first-generation college student, Lejuez feels inspired by the opportunity for students to come through a place with world-class research in an environment that cares about student success.

For first-generation students, in particular, he recognizes the need to forge connections with professors.

These close bonds help “take what’s happening in the classroom, which may be esoteric knowledge, and turn it into a passion and understanding,” providing students with the opportunity to see how what they’re learning in a textbook applies to the world.

He wants to expand the scope and reach of these hands-on experiences for students, while recognizing “how much goes into it from faculty and staff,” he said.

Lejuez believes the ability of professors to conduct extraordinary and groundbreaking research should dovetail with their commitment to being accomplished educators.

“We are setting the expectation from the start,” he said. “When you are tenured here, when you are progressing and doing well, you are excellent in both research and teaching.”

Stony Brook has a Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching that provides support for professors who may need polishing or improvement in inspiring and educating students.

Stony Brook looks closely at student evaluations, while also examining other data in assessing its teachers.

Lejuez, who recently served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Connecticut, supports strong and growing areas for the university, including clinical psychology, quantum information systems, and climate science, among others.

“These are areas that Stony Brook has a real opportunity to develop and part of my role has been thinking about how do we identify incredibly strong areas and areas that are able to emerge that way and fuse it with growing fields,” he said.

Lejuez believes in academic excellence and in diversity and equity.

He hopes to broaden the range of countries and regions from which the university is recruiting students and faculty.

Lejuez describes Stony Brook as “one of the best kept secrets of public universities,” ranking first in the state in public schools, according to the 2022-2023 US News and World Report ranking.

“Our goal is now to remove the best kept secret part,” Lejuez said.

Raising SB’s profile

This is where William Warren, vice president for Marketing and Communications, comes in.

Warren has worked in numerous corporate and academic jobs, including most recently as the chief marketing and communications officer at the University of Utah.

Warren hopes to raise “the profile of Stony Brook and really claim the sort of credit and attention this institution deserves,” he said.

Previously at Coca Cola, among others, Warren welcomes the opportunity to support Stony Brook.

“You want a challenge that’s exciting and doable,” he said. “That means having a fabulous thing to market that is possibly undervalued.”

Warren divides marketing into earned and paid media. For the former, he hopes to do the hard work of building relationships with national reporters, who can spread the word about the achievements and experts available at Stony Brook.

Warner plans to continue to work with regional and local reporters, while engaging in an ongoing effort to share the Stony Brook story, including publicizing initiatives such as the Simons Stem Scholars Program that supports minority students entering the scientific fields.

As for the paid piece, Warren sees opportunities in several dimensions.

“The great thing about the paid marketing campaign is that it’s adaptable to all kinds of purposes,” he said. “Student recruitment can use the campaign to get the right students. We can use the campaign to help us recruit great faculty.” It can also be adapted to “attract more donor support.”

Any marketing effort, however, needs to remain grounded in truth.

“You want to go out there with a message that resonates and that faculty will see and say, ‘That’s what we offer,’” Warren said. “We are not blowing smoke.”

A marketing campaign includes a host of elements, such as the best execution and photography that supports the message.

An evolved campaign could include a new slogan for the school.

The “Coke is it” campaign reinforces the idea of authenticity, as consumers can be sure it is “exactly what you think it is,” Warren said. “It never disappoints. It’s always consistent and is part of the American culture.”

In developing a slogan for Stony Brook, which Warren said is less important than the message behind it, he wants to hone in on the handful of characteristics that capture the personality of the university.

In reflecting on the differences between commercial and academic marketing, Warren noticed that academics tend to be more skeptical.

“You have to work to make them allies,” he said.

Outside of his marketing role, Warren, who had initially pursued a PhD in history at Rice University, shared an interest in teaching. At the University of Utah, he taught an American economic history class and, at some point, would also consider teaching at Stony Brook.

Since arriving on Long Island, Warren has enjoyed kayaking. He is also a former violinist and enjoys the opportunity to relax with music. A return to the Northeast

After over four years as vice president for finance and operations/ chief operating officer at the University of North Dakota, Jed Shivers is returning to the Northeast, which is similar to the cultural and environmental feel of his childhood home in Storrs, Connecticut.

Shivers, who is senior vice president for finance and administration at Stony Brook, enjoys walking through the quad and in wooded areas around campus.

After living in the plains, which has “its own beauty,” Shivers appreciates the SB campus, which has “more trees,” and includes a view of the fall foliage outside his office window in the Administration Building.

Ready to embrace the opportunities and challenges of his job, Shivers said the university community is preparing a strategic plan for the next five years or so, which he will follow with a campus master plan.

In preparing for that plan, he is working with a firm that will survey all research space on campus and determine its current functional use, occupants and intensity of use.

He is also focusing on facilities that assist with the delivery of education and is hoping to conduct a similar survey of educational spaces.

To provide managers and executives with actionable financial information, the university is also engaged in a process to improve its business systems in human resources, budgeting, accounting and financial management.

With a “ high rate of system failures around campus” creating a “significant problem” for the university, the building and infrastructure at Stony Brook are all aging at the same time, Shivers said.

Campus Planning, Design and Construction and Campus Operations and Maintenance work constantly to deal with these issues and fix problems as quickly as they can, Shivers added.

The immediate need for deferred maintenance issues is over $1.5 billion, which dwarfs any campus close to comparable size in the SUNY system.

The SUNY Construction Fund and SUNY leadership has provided funds to alleviate a small but substantial part of those critical issues, he said. The university is also engaged in conversations with the Construction Fund and the Division of Budget on ways to use funds for optimal results.

Shivers was delighted for the chance to “get into a place where president [Maurie Mcinnis] was forming her team,” he said. He saw this opportunity as a chance to be a part of leadership “on a ground floor-ish kind of a way.”

He embraces the challenge of working through the SUNY system.

Consistent with mandates from McInnis since her arrival, Shivers would like to create a consolidated financial statement for Stony Brook and all its affiliated entities.

In addition to enjoying his strolls through the quad, Shivers has appreciated the opportunity to join other sports and school enthusiasts in supporting college teams and cultural life on campus. He and his wife Sandee have been married for almost 30 years.

Outside of work, Shivers said he does “everything badly,” but is enthusiastic about it. That includes golf, tennis, skiing and bike riding. To get in shape for the 100-mile North Fork ride, which he’s never done, he has started riding his indoor bike close to five days per week.

Carl Lejuez, William Warren and Jed Shivers recently joined the Stony Brook University team. Warren’s photo from Stony Brook University marketing; others from SBU

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Eye on the street: The threat of nuclear devastation

BY CAROLYN SACKSTEIN DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Baby boomers likely remember duck and cover drills in schools, backyard bomb shelters and the crippling anxiety of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. While many thought those fears were long behind us, the ghosts of

our past haunt us today.

Today the specter of nuclear disaster seems real with intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine, also North Korea’s continual missile tests. This week we took to the streets to ask locals their thoughts on nuclear weapons, nuclear war and their favored response to elevated aggression abroad.

“As far as Ukraine is concerned, of course, they were unjustly attacked by President Putin and Russia. The president of Ukraine has to support his people. The lives that are lost are unfathomable. Ukraine has been in existence a long, long time. They have gotten along with Russia. However, Mr. Putin has got something in his head that he wants to expand his territory and have the people of Ukraine commit to Russia. The killing and maiming of the Ukrainian people is just incredible. The Ukrainian people are fighting back. The Ukrainian military is gaining territory and beating Russians, which is incredible. The reason they are beating the Russians is that the Russian military really doesn’t have the heart to do this to a neighboring country. It is all subject to what Mr. Putin wants and they have to do what he wants. I think it is inhumane.

Jorel Alvarez, Middle Island

“Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is not good for anyone’s sake. Once you use nukes the other person is going to use whatever weapons they have and then it is going to keep going on and the cycle is not going to stop. It is not right that he has this power. It is not right what he is doing in Ukraine.”

They should stop this war immediately. The United States is supporting Ukraine with weapons. There are other countries that are supporting the Ukrainian people and rightly so.”

Michael Osgood, San Francisco

“North Korea is obviously [launching missile tests] to be provocative and to remind the world that it has the technology to cause a lot of trouble. They think that is the way they can stay in power.” Regarding Mr. Putin’s threats, Osgood replied, “I can feel fear in my stomach when I think about that. I mean, could he possibly be insane enough to pull the trigger on such a thing? I hope to God he isn’t.”

Andrew Drake, Stony Brook

“It’s going to affect us as a country, because we can’t have someone just bow to another. We allow that to happen in one portion of the world, then everybody’s going to think, ‘Well, we can do that too.’ We have to step up as a world, whether they’re part of NATO or not. We have to do what’s right for the people. After what we’ve been through in the world in the last two or three years, we have to humble ourselves and look at each other as people.”

Wet Yang, Brooklyn

“I don’t think we can afford nuclear war. I don’t think we should be using nuclear weapons. I don’t believe in the use of nuclear weapons.”

“I think [a nuclear weapon is] the worst thing invented by mankind. We now have the ability to destroy ourselves at any time. It is a horrible thing that exists. I wish it is something we could put back in the box, but we can’t. The sad reality is as long as they exist, we need to have them. There are going to be people that are bad actors. That’s why the United States tries to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. North Korea launching a missile over Japan was obviously scary. I wish there were something else we could do about it, other than what we are doing. I don’t think there

is a military solution, as much as there is a diplomatic solution. We need to incentivize people not to develop these [weapons], or give them the ability to defend themselves in a way that is not going to require mutually assured destruction.”

Wally Tomaszewski, Port Jefferson

Paul Adago Jr., Ridge

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.

Remembering early schools, East and West Setauket teachers and students

BY BEVERLY C. TYLER DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Charles Buehrman (9)

William Condit (10)

Agnes (9) and Edward (12) Doran

Dora Friedman (8)

Leah (9), Isaac (11) and Annie Goldberg (14)

Albert Hallock (8)

Gussie Hamann (11)

HISTORY CLOSE AT HAND

Part two of a two-part history of early schools in the Three Village area “We always call it the old schoolhouse ... Well! That was between the Presbyterian Church and the Episcopal Church up on the green ... That’s where the old school I went to was located . ... Then from there they built a new high school, they called it, and that was over there near the shopping center in [East] Setauket ... Since then they tore that down and I didn’t go to any other school ... I had a grammar school education there ...” (1981 interview with Lucy Hart Keyes)

In 1718, a town-owned school was built, the only school in Northern Brookhaven, at a cost of 38 pounds. That schoolhouse, which was used until 1869, was located where the Caroline Church carriage shed stands today. In 1813, the town divided the area into school districts: Stony Brook, Western Setauket and Eastern Setauket. About a decade later a South Setauket school, called “Nesekeag” was built at the intersection of Lower Sheep Pasture Road and Pond Path. The location and construction of the early East Setauket schoolhouses is unknown. About 1866, a new East Setauket schoolhouse was built at Coach Road and Route 25A. This building, which served as a gas station for many years after the three Setauket schools were combined in the school on the hill, is still standing at its original location.

In 1896-97, the East Setauket School was taught by Alice V. Evans. School began on Sept. 8, 1896 with 14 students between 8 and 13 years of age. By Wednesday the 10th, there were 33 students and by Dec. 3 the school reached its largest attendance of 48. School ended on June 18, but only 19 students were in school that final week. Students who attended that year (most listed with their ages) were:

Esther Arborlove

Abie (9), Dora (11) and Dinah Block Florence Bryant (8)

Raymond Hewes (11)

Edna Howell (9)

Edward Hudson (11)

Jacob Lances (12)

Bessie Melton (9)

Bertie Miller ( 14) Maggie (8) and Mary Nelson(8) Annie (11) and Maud Partee(13) Samuel (11) and Ida Pleener (13) Claude (8) and George Post (10)

Lena Ladnisky (10)

Louis (9) and Ida Rosenblum (12)

Myron Schermerhorn (10)

Hiram Swartz(11)

John Sweet (13)

Albert Van Brunt (11)

Willie Warchatzsky (11)

Isaac Waslasky (11)

Ernest West (9) Bertha Wicks (14) Mary Witson (14)

During this period of our local history, the rubber factory was operating in Setauket and a number of these children would have been from the families of the workers. In September 1898, according to researcher Marc Sterns, the company closed its doors and most of the workers left to work in other companies far removed from Long Island. This would have had a dramatic effect on the school district that following year.

In the Western Setauket School District, no early attendance records exist. As the only school, its students would have included all the local children including members of the Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring, Caleb Brewster, Austin Roe and Abraham Woodhull. Other local families included Smith, Strong, Tallmadge, Miller, Tyler, Satterly, Jones, Swift and Hawkins. John Mount attended the West Setauket school. When Mount was a boy, parents had to provide a slate and

graphite pencil, a spelling book, reader, geography, arithmetic and grammar text. Sylvester Schellinger got the job of school teacher for 30 students in 1820. Historian Kate Strong’s father attended here as did the two “sons of the colored gardener. There was no segregation in Setauket schools from the very beginning.” (Kate Strong’s True Tales — Long Island Forum)

When West Setauket school trustee Captain Joseph Swift hired Miss Nancy Cleaves to teach the summer session in 1843, many parents were upset that a woman had been employed. Miss Cleaves continued in this position through 1847 and was remembered by her student John Elderkin, as an exceptional teacher.

The main teacher at the Western Setauket School from 1866 through 1891 was George W. Hawkins. He was born in Setauket in 1843 and died about 1927. Schoolmaster Hawkins may have started teaching before 1866, but no records exist to establish when he began teaching. After retiring from teaching, he was often chairman of the school trustees and also held the post of clerk of the trustees for a number of years.

Between May and October 1869, Brewster Woodhull and David K. Gildersleeve constructed a one-story schoolhouse on the Setauket Village Green. The land had been privately owned for a number of years and was at that time donated to the community by Mrs. Jonas Smith. The following January, the old schoolhouse was sold for $75 and was moved to its present location at the southern intersection of Lake Street and Main Street. By 1893, the school was becoming too small to handle the number of students and the school trustees voted to add 10 feet to the rear of the school and to raise it to two stories. This work was completed by the day school opened on September 29th and for the first time the school employed two teachers. Omar

Barnes was the principal teacher and Kate Walker was the second teacher. From 1893 until 1908, the school had a number of different teachers and in 1901 the school expanded again to three teachers. In every case, the male teacher was considered the principal teacher and was paid half again as much as the female teachers. To accommodate the third teacher, the school trustees paid Woodhull Denton for putting up a partition and fitting in a new door. By 1904, there was an organ in the school and by the end of 1905 a cellar — which still exists under the grass of the Village Green — had been constructed. With the completion of the cellar, a furnace was installed for the first time in the school. Up to that time the school had been heated by a stove in the classroom and coal for the stove was purchased from the general store of Charles Tyler at the intersection of Main Street and Old Field Road.

In September 1908, George T. Ranford was hired as principal teacher and he stayed with the school through 1909 and 1910. Then in 1911, the school on the Village Green closed for good and was replaced by a new school on the hill above the village of East Setauket. This new school replaced the Western Setauket, Eastern Setauket and Nassakaeg schools and the first principal of this modern-style school was George T Ranford. The school on the hill was a familiar sight to residents of the area for many years and it continued until 1951 teaching Three Village students in grades one through 12. Many local residents, including this author, still have memories of being taught in the school on the hill.

Beverly C. Tyler is a Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-7513730. or visit www.tvhs.org.

Above, the East Setauket Coach Road schoolhouse circa 1898. Below, Setauket Union Free School on the hill circa 1912.

for

Patriots down Raiders in 5

BY BILL LANDON DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

When Ward Melville, who sits atop the division leaderboard at 11-1, matched up against the Patchogue-Medford Raiders at 10-2 in a road game, it took five sets to determine the outcome in the Oct. 18 showdown.

The Raiders took the Patriots to the fence in the first set edging their opponents, 3028. Ward Melville answered in the second set putting the Raiders away, 25-14, to make it a new game. Pat-Med held on in the third set winning, 25-22, but again the Patriots countered with a 26-24 win in the fourth forcing a game five. Unlike the other four, the fifth set winner needed only 15 points for the

decision, and the Patriots decided it 15-10 to take the 3-2 victory.

The win lifts the Patriots to 12-1 and will host Connetquot also, 12-1, Thursday, Oct. 20, in the regular season finale for the division title. Post season play begins Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Pictured clockwise from above, Ward Melville senior Christian Reina and Carlo Fontanini battle at net; Patriots senior Jaron Popp keeps the ball in play; Reina with a kill shot for the Patriots; Ward Melville sophomore Kyle Fagan from the service line; Ward Melville junior Keelan Sohl sets the play; Patriots senior Richie Ragonese digs one out; and Ward Melville senior Jaron Popp with a kill shot.

— Photos by Bill Landon

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Studio

Long Island fish kills climb to over 50 this summer

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

than colder water, because oxygen can escape more easily from water in higher heat.

With temperature as the primary driver, a combination of factors robs the water of oxygen.

“The warmer the water gets, the quicker the bacteria take oxygen out, the faster the fish are respiring” Gobler said.

&

Fish kills in waterways around Long Island climbed to over 50 this summer from about five per year in earlier years, driven by increasing water temperatures, algal blooms and increased nitrogen in local waters.

With temperatures climbing more than 2 degrees Celsius over the last two decades, waters around Long Island don’t have as much oxygen, particularly at night when photosynthetic plants are no longer able to catch sunlight and turn it into oxygen.

The fish kills represent a “pretty big number,” said Christopher Gobler, endowed chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Members of Gobler’s lab sample Long Island waters routinely as a part of their research. While his team was out gathering data, Gobler asked them to report any fish kills that included 10 or more fish. The area between Hempstead Harbor and Northport Harbor routinely included observations of fish kills.

Warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen

He added the fish kills often included menhaden, or bunker, fish. These fish have returned in larger numbers in recent years to the waters around Long Island amid other conservation efforts. More menhaden this summer also brought sharks to the area, as these apex predators hunt bunker fish.

While global warming likely had a significant impact on the number of fish kills, Gobler said, an increase in nitrogen in local waterways also contributed to anoxic conditions and is something residents can control locally.

With more nitrogen, typically from onsite wastewater, algae have more nutrients to grow.

At the same time, when more abundant algae dies, the bacteria that break down the algae consume oxygen.

An additional emerging perspective suggests that the more abundant algae at night are respiring, removing oxygen from the water.

Gobler said people can reduce the release of nitrogen into local waterways, which can also affect groundwater, by upgrading their sewage

We carry a full line of Men’s and Women’s Hokas

Village Shopping

treatment systems. Suffolk County has created rules, including a Reclaim our Water Septic Improvement Program, which protects the environment by reducing nitrogen emissions.

Gobler remains concerned not only for the fish that wash up in numbers along the shore, but for the marine organisms that aren’t as mobile, such as the invertebrates at the bottom of the waterways.

The fish kills are a flag that “these water bodies are impaired and are not capable of

sustaining marine life in a way we’d like them to,” Gobler said.

As for the future, Gobler said it’s difficult to predict how the combination of factors, from global warming to nitrogen runoff, will affect marine life.

“Maybe next year, we go back to five [fish kills] in the summer,” he said. This year was “unlike anything we’ve seen” with a combination of high temperatures and numerous fish kills.

Fish kills in Long Island have increased from about five per year to 50 this summer. Photo by Laurie Vetere

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Huntington

JOS. M TROFFA MATERIALS

“We have had the privilege of advertising in The Village Times since the newspaper was first published in 1976!

After all those years, 45 to be exact, we have had amazing results thanks to their dedication and professionalism. Minnie and Joann are wonderful and are sure to come up with valuable ideas for your individual advertising needs. Every week, Leah Dunaief & The Village Times staff provide an outstanding paper with factual and relevant information for the communities we all cherish. It is only natural to choose to advertise in their papers!

We love you Times Beacon Record!”

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REAL ESTATE

Real Estate Services

PUBLISHERS’NOTICE

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Editorial

Drive with care or pay the price

The last few days marked National School Bus Safety and National Teen Driver Safety weeks. The lessons and tips organizations shared during these respective periods are vital to remember all year.

School bus laws seem easy for drivers to understand when they are behind the easy-to-spot, yellow vehicle. However, confusion seems to ensue when it is situated elsewhere on the road. If a driver is in the vicinity of a school bus with its red lights flashing and its “stop” sign extended, it means to stop and wait. This applies not only when a driver is behind the school bus but also when it’s on the opposite side of the road, whether it be on a two-way street, divided highway or multiple-lane roadway. The rules also apply in parking lots and school grounds.

In New York, respecting the law can mean saving anywhere from $250 to $1,000 in fines, avoiding jail time, having points on a license or its being revoked. Most important of all, stopping when seeing a school bus saves children’s lives.

When those children grow up and are ready to learn how to drive, there is a lot to take in, and safe driving behaviors should be of the utmost importance. Parents need to have meaningful conversations with their children about making sure seat belts are used and traffic laws are followed.

The repercussions of distracted driving, such as loud music, goofing around with friends and checking text messages, must also be brought up. Parents can lead by example by ensuring when their teens are behind the wheel, they avoid bad driving habits, especially when other young people are in the car.

One of the most important conversations parents can have with their children is that if using alcohol or drugs at a party, make sure to have a designated driver, sleep over or use Uber or Lyft. While the use of these apps has increased, providing rides when needed, some still insist on getting behind the wheel after drinking. With the holidays around the corner, incidents of people too impaired to drive will inevitably increase. A car can always be retrieved from where it was left the night before, but a life can never be replaced.

With the cooler weather here, there is another traffic safety reminder for people of all ages to heed. It’s the beginning of mating season for deer, also known as rutting season. The animals can run out on the road without warning. Usually when a driver sees one, there may be another or a few right behind the first, especially around dusk. When one is spotted, proceed with caution — and respect deer-crossing warning signs.

Dangers on our roadways seem to be increasing every day, but with a little bit of education and care, we can make our roads safer for all.

WRITE TO US … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number and address for confirmation. Email letters to: rita@tbrnewsmedia.com or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

Letters to the editor

Say ‘no’ but this is the solution

I may agree with your conclusion in the Oct. 13 editorial, “Say ‘no’ to nuclear energy, Long Island,” that without easy exit from Long Island nuclear power is out of the question. So what is the solution? Long Island already pays some of the highest electricity rates in the nation.

First, convert the decommissioned Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant to natural gas, wind and solar. We already have the transmission lines and rights of way in place.

Next, encourage fracking everywhere, in a responsible, environmentally friendly manner. Our neighbors in Pennsylvania encourage responsible fracking, mostly for American Natural Gas, and their economy is booming with excellent, high-paying jobs and phenomenal tax revenue to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Now, encourage on Long Island conservation and retrofitting to LED lights, newer appliances, focusing on air conditioning and refrigeration which are the No. 1 users of energy on the Island. In the water area, mandate steep fines for watering in the rain and require a rain sensor on all irrigation systems — a very cheap item. All toilets must be dual flush, one for “lighter,” one for “heavier.” These are in use throughout Europe and will save substantial fresh water.

Now encourage every homeowner to install solar and wind power. There are vertical wind turbines that make little noise and generate energy. Wind, plus solar, plus natural gas are Long Island’s future as we lessen our dependence on oil and gasoline.

Alan Cohn Nesconset

Why so many ‘whys’

We are living in a time of “information overload” and being bombarded with many lies, deceit, corruption and the orphan of “truth” has been attacked. This present administration is attacking every principle, tradition, institution and virtue that has made America historically exceptional.

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin [R-NY1] is being “borked” … lies, lies, lies from this radical Democratic Party that effectively implements “Rules for Radicals” (Saul Alinsky) and are “master distractors.”

Here are questions we all need to ponder:

•Why is this administration inviting “illegal” immigration resulting in a government-made humanitarian crisis? (Mass invasion of a country is an “act of war” and a government failing to protect a country is an “act of treason.”)

•Why is there a hiring of 87,000 IRS agents to go after the American citizen and not hiring of border agents to protect the American citizen?

•Why are we allowing the castration and mutilation of our children?

•Why are we letting men who say they are women compete in women’s sports and then give them a medal when they win?

•Why are we tolerating a dystopian delusional world? (Finally, Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase stood up stating, “You are destroying the country” when in Congress Rep. Rashib Tlaib [D-MI] challenged Dimon over ceasing funding to fossil fuels.)

•Why are cars called “gas guzzlers” and electric cars not called “electric guzzlers”? Electricity has to be created. What creates it? Coal, oil, nuclear power. And what would they do to the batteries that weigh 1,000 pounds and are very toxic to the environment after 10 years?

•Why are we allowing President Joe Biden [D] to deplete our oil reserves that are supposed to be used for the military

and emergency crisis that President Donald Trump [R] found “empty” and filled them when cost was low. Why has Biden given our reserves to China? (Be prepared for the fictitious gas prices to go sky high after the election.)

•Why was the president of the USA begging an enemy — Saudi Arabia — for “dirty” oil, when God has blessed our nation with plentiful resources. (Biden had placed a “lockdown” and has created an act of war on our coal and oil industry.)

•Why are all the government agencies arming their untrained staff members with ammunition, guns, etc. Why does social security need weaponry? (Remember, the first thing that Hitler did to control the people was to take away the guns. By the way, Hitler was a “left-wing socialist,” according to “Mein Kampf.”)

•Why is this administration spending, spending, spending, continually weakening the dollar? We do not hear mention of “posterity” anymore.

•Why is this administration doing everything opposite to prevent a recession? (JFK quote: “Now is the time.”)

•Why are parents being labeled and targeted as terrorists for speaking out at school board meetings?

America is not being conquered by a foreign enemy — yet it seems it is being strangled to death by its own leaders. This election has nothing to do with whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Independent but everything to do with “American Marxism.“ We need to vote out those politicians that are pushing for “antiAmerican” policies in our local, state and federal government. God help America.

Lisa Pius Old Field

‘Election deniers’ undermine our democracy

Election Day is at hand and “election deniers” have yet to tell us who will assume and who will retain federal office and for how long, if the outcome of elections considered free and fair by the courts does not do so.

“Election deniers” also have yet to explain to us how our democracy will manage the peaceful transfer of power without acceptance of free and fair election results. If “election deniers” have better answers than free and fair elections, they should spell them out. Give us a chance to consider them.

If there are no better answers, they should end their denial. An unwillingness to do so suggests complicity with the efforts of other actors to undermine our democracy.

Forrest McMullen South Setauket

The opinions of columnists and letter writers are their own. They do not speak for the newspaper.

The decommissioned Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, pictured above. Photo by Paul Searing, sourced from Wikimedia Commons

COVID woes reduced the level of climate change concerns, SBU study says

Mygrandmother was a worrier. Even she, however, would have had a hard time worrying about other major challenges, problems and threats during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. That, it turns out, was also true for the world during COVID when it came to discussions about the threat from climate change.

developed, environmental and climate concerns decline amid worries about other major threats.

Smirnov found that the total number of tweets that mention climate change dropped to 5.6 million in 2020 and 5.3 million in 2021, from 8 million in 2019. This, Smirnov points out, occurred despite an increase in Twitter users, more climate disasters and more climate news in 2021.

While Smirnov understood the need to focus on the pandemic, he suggested a lack of concern about climate change could disrupt efforts to protect the planet

“This has profound implications,” Smirnov said. “Without a focus on climate change, without an emphasis on its importance, there is less urgency and less pressure on politicians to do something about it.”

course of days, such an approach provides “no substantial improvement in your health” longer term, he said.

So, what about now, as concerns about the pandemic abate, people have stopped wearing masks and schools and stadiums are full?

“The psychological foundation tell us that people may only really respond to one threat at a time,” Smirnov said in an interview. The anxiety and the reaction to that threat may be limited because it requires major energy.

“Maybe, for biological reasons, [people] put all their energy into responding to the most immediate threat,” Smirnov added.

Even in better times, climate change efforts are “fragile,” he said, which adds to the uncertainty about the ability to address the challenge adequately.

Smirnov plans to continue to collect Twitter data for the remainder of this year, to see whether a return to normalcy brings the focus back to the threat from climate change.

As for his own experience, Smirnov recognized that climate change took a back burner amid the worst of the pandemic.

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

In a recent study published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oleg Smirnov, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University, examined the level of concern on Twitter about climate change during 2020 and 2021 and compared those numbers to 2019, the last year before COVID.

According to the pool of finite worry, which Princeton professor of Psychology Elke Weber

By tracking daily tweets and various measures of COVID cases, Smirnov found on a finer scale as well that discussions of climate change diminished amid higher infections and mortality.

For every thousand new COVID-19 cases in the United States, climate change tweets decreased by about 40.5 tweets per day. Every thousand new deaths resulted in 3,308 fewer climate tweets.

Indeed, even the sentiment analysis, in which Smirnov reviewed the emotional content of words used to describe climate change and the threat to the planet and humanity, became less negative during the worst of the pandemic.

When asked about the possibility that climate change concerns might have declined during COVID in part because the carbon footprint declined amid travel restrictions and slowdowns in industrial production, Smirnov likened such an approach to short-term fasting or extreme dieting.

While spending a few days on these extreme diets can reduce a person’s weight over the

“My attention certainly was hijacked by COVID-19, despite the fact that climate change is part of my work,” Smirnov said. In April of 2020, Smirnov recalled worrying about where his family would find food instead of thinking about greenhouse gases and rising sea levels.

In the present, Smirnov remains concerned about the kind of tipping points and climate inertia that threatens the future.

Ever the worrier, my grandmother might be relieved enough by the less virulent form of the virus and the availability of vaccines and treatment to return to worrying about the threat climate change poses.

When you have the urge to get away, here’s a possible destination

Itwas time to get away, even for a day, and when better than on foliage weekend! So Saturday, we took the ferry to Connecticut and started up Route 8 to get to the Berkshires and the seasonal colors.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

Were we too late in the fall? Shortly after we left Bridgeport, our choice of time and place were confirmed. It was a perfect autumn day, sunny, bright, soft breeze, balmy even, and the colors burst upon us, the reds, oranges, yellows mixed with a still significant amount of green as we began to drive through the hills. No, we were not too late.

We had been concerned, too, about the effects of the summer’s drought on the leaves.

We needn’t have worried. Perhaps, it wasn’t the most dramatic foliage we had ever witnessed, some trees were already bare, but it was brilliant enough to excite our eyes. We whooped around every bend in the road that presented us with a new palette of hills and color.

The timing of foliage season has altered somewhat over the past few years. Climate change has impacted peak leaf peeping by extending the warmer weather that keeps trees green. Hence the optimal viewing time has also been delayed. This year, according to records, seems like it will clock in as the fifth warmest. So it turned out that our urge for an outing was right on.

Where to go?

While it was possible just to drive slowly, drinking in the scenery, it was also fun to have a destination in mind. We left the highway, or rather it left us as it ended in Winsted, incidentally, my dad’s birthplace, and we started on a local road that eventually led us to Southfield, the home of a long-ago college

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roommate with whom we had lost contact. She, and her family, as we discovered, no longer lived there, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the tiny town. Yes, it was one of those “blink and you will miss it” villages, but we didn’t blink. We parked and had lunch at The Store, a delightful coffee, pastry and sandwich shop with tables inside as well as out front. Happily installed in one corner of the patio with a turkey and avocado sandwich and a generous slice of chocolate-banana bread, to be washed down with ambrosial coffee, we chatted up the couple at the adjoining table, who were smiling at us.

In fact, it was the kind of day that prompted everyone to smile. There we were, amid glorious leafage, basking in ideal temperature and bright sunlight in the peaceful countryside. They told us their names, Paul and Julia, and that they were from Westchester County and celebrating their anniversary. For the first time, they were at leisure to do that because their two children, a son and a daughter, were at college. She was a psychologist, he worked in finance,

and they had left their responsibilities behind to stay at the historic inn in the next village for the weekend.

They were fun to talk to, as was every other person who went by, walking their dogs. We asked each one if they knew the roommate’s family, but just about each one apologized and explained that they had only moved there 20 years ago. What a coincidence, we thought. They had all come more or less at the same time. It wasn’t until the next day that we realized what had happened those two decades ago: 9/11 happened. If one wanted to escape from a city to a safe and bucolic place, here was one such location. Perhaps that was what brought them there.

We stayed in the area, driving around, enjoying the typical New England white clapboard church with its distinctive steeple, the inn and the village common along with glorious Nature. Then, as night fell, we had dinner at the inn before returning home.

The next day, I felt as if I had been aired out.

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D. None of the above