From left, Dr. Carol Carter, Executive Director, Sunshine Prevention Services, Adelaide Amponsah Ocansey and Sandra Alfano of the Suffolk County Youth Bureau, and Amber Ayala, Sunshine Prevention Services
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Sunshine Prevention Center's Fall Family Festival
Despite challenging weather conditions, more than 50 vendors, including crafts people, local businesses and Community agencies braved the elements and participated in the Sunshine Prevention Center’s Fall Family Festival in Port Jefferson Station on October 14.
In addition to vendors and supportive agencies, there were over 60 raffle prizes and a unique variety of auction items.For children, there was face painting, balloon making and bouncy houses, courtesy of Tent Pro.
Overall, the event provided a wonderful venue to network, educate and spread the word about community services, and working together towards common community concerns focused on students and their families.One example of this is the 65 Narcan kits that were handed out by the Suffolk County Police Department and their training of at least 100 individuals. These kits save lives.
All in the name of fun for a cause, all proceeds benefit Sunshine’s Fall programs and holiday assistance programs.In addition, the monies collected and donated to the event go to specific programs offered through this important non-profit organization.These include newly formed evening programs focused on students and their families.The monthly parent support/educational workshop series will present a different topic run by different professionals.
In a press release, the organization thanked Nancy Campo who was responsible for all the raffles; Robert Cohen, Sunshine Prevention Board’s President, who donated sports memorabilia for the silent auction; Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich and Hank Heissenbuttel of Long Island Charities Foundation for their ongoing support of Sunshine’s mission and programs; and the Suffolk County Youth Bureau.
Sunshine Prevention Center is located at 468 Boyle Road, Port Jefferson Station. For additional information about their programs, visit www. sunshinepreventionctr.org, call 631-476-3099 or email [email protected].
Joseph Pierce, associate professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature and the inaugural director of Stony Brook University’s Native American and Indigenous Studies program. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University named Joseph Pierce, associate professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature, the inaugural director of a Native American and Indigenous Studies effort as the university plans to hire three new faculty in this nascent undertaking.
Next year, the southern flagship school of the State University of New York plans to add staff in the English Department, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and Anthropology.
“I have been eager for this to start,” said Pierce, a member of the Cherokee Nation who has been at the university for a decade. “We have so much to contribute to broader discussions that are happening around the world. The university is better by including Native American studies.”
Andrew Newman, professor and chair of the Department of English at SBU. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University
Andrew Newman, professor and current chair of the Department of English, who is also chair of a committee advising Axel Drees, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, described Pierce as having a “real national profile,” adding that he was the “right person to be the founding director.”
Starting next fall, students at the university can minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies, where they can study the history, art, social and political interests, languages and cultures of Indigenous peoples.
The focus on Native American Studies will emphasize transdisciplinary topics such as environmental justice and sustainability.
Indigenous scholars should have a “seat at the table,” said Newman, “as they are globally one of the demographics most impacted by climate change.”
Islands in the Pacific are disappearing, Guam is undergoing “significant environmental degradation,” and fires in the Pacific Northwest and leaking pipelines in the United States and Canada are “disproportionately affecting Indigenous peoples,” Pierce added.
Indigenous groups relate to the land in a way that’s different from others, approaching it as stewards and caretakers, Pierce said.
“We see land as a relative,” he noted. “We’re asking very different questions about what it means to care for a place and to care for the environment and to care for the life that sustains it.”
The New York City government proposed plans for flood relief on the lower East Side of Manhattan in the event of future storms like Hurricane Sandy. The proposals included building massive walls and raising elevated platforms, including clearing thousands of trees.
Numerous indigenous groups objected and protested against such plans, Pierce said.
In an email, Carl Lejuez, Stony Brook University’s provost, suggested that a significant piece of Governors Island is climate justice, so the link between the Governors Island effort and indigenous peoples “fits naturally with the goals of the New York Climate Exchange.”
Axel Drees, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at SBU. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University
Lejuez credited Drees as a “driver of this in collaboration with Professor Pierce.” Lejuez added that his office is “definitely providing support to see it come to fruition.”
The most crucial component in the start of this effort is hiring faculty.
“If we build the core faculty across the university, we can definitely consider expanding research and curriculum opportunities,” Lejuez wrote.
Student interest
Students from the Anthropology Department recently invited Pierce to give a talk about some of his current research.
“It was evident that a lot of them have an interest in working toward understanding humanity, what it means to be human,” he said. They also have an understanding of how anthropology as a discipline has sometimes historically “adopted rather unscientific and proto-eugenic methods” in describing and analyzing Indigenous Peoples.
Students are eager for an alternative perspective on the acquisition and acceptance of knowledge.
Pierce believes students have considerable interest in Native American Studies. His courses about Latin American indigenous populations are full.
“There are numerous students who are interested in Native American and Indigenous studies but don’t quite have a cohesive plan of study that’s available to them,” Pierce said. “This is remedying that disconnection.”
Long Island students grow up in numerous towns and communities with Native American names, such as Sachem, Wyandanch, Montauk and Setauket.
Newman added that the staff hopes the new effort can do some “outreach to local schools and provide professional development with kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers. It would be an important mission for the university to educate Long Island as a whole about Native culture.”
U.S. President Joe Biden presents the National Medal of Science to Stony Brook University President’s Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics Barry C. Barish at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on October 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Barry Barish, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate and Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, accepted a 2022 National Medal of Science (2022 and 2023 medals were presented at the same ceremony) from President Joe Biden on Oct. 24. Bestowed during a White House ceremony honoring U.S. scientists, technologists and innovators whose achievements have greatly benefited the country and beyond, this prestigious award is among the highest honors in the scientific community.
Professor Barish was acknowledged for his “exemplary service to science, including groundbreaking research on sub-atomic particles,” said the military aide who announced the awards. “His leadership of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory [LIGO] led to the first detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes, confirming a key part of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He has broadened our understanding of the universe and our nation’s sense of wonder and discovery.”
In addition to his roles at Stony Brook, which he assumed earlier this fall, Professor Barish is also an esteemed educator at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California, Riverside, as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society (APS), where he also served as president. His growing legacy in the field of physics has earned him a long list of accolades, including the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, which he shared with LIGO colleagues Rainer Weiss and Kip S. Thorne. He has also received a Copernicus Prize from the government of Poland, a Henry Draper Medal from the NAS, and many more awards for his work.
“The National Medal of Science presented to Professor Barish, Stony Brook’s inaugural President’s Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics, is the latest honor marking his exceptional career dedicated to discovery, innovation and excellence,” said Maurie McInnis, president. “Joined by President Biden and other scientists and innovators during the White House ceremony, it was a proud moment for Stony Brook as he received the nation’s highest honors for science. He is truly an inspiration to his students and colleagues, and I am grateful for his teaching and mentorship that inspires all of us by his example.”
After receiving a doctorate in physics from his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962, Professor Barish stayed as a research fellow before taking on a fellowship with Caltech. His early career focused on high-energy physics, and he is associated with several key discoveries about the nature and behavior of microscopic particles. In the decades since, his innovative work has transcended particle physics itself to impact all sorts of specialties – from astrophysics to cosmology – making him one of the most influential physicists of his time.
“Even as a life-long particle physicist myself, it is awe-inspiring to think that human beings can detect ripples in space-time (gravitational waves) that Einstein dreamed about from two merging black holes, since even a black hole itself is incomprehensible to many of us,” said Chang Kee Jung, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Every time I think about it, I get goose bumps! Although this medal recognizes Barry’s scientific achievements, it also recognizes his broader contributions to the US scientific community through his services on key committees, panels and leadership positions, such as the President of APS. We are lucky to have him here at Stony Brook. Even with his packed schedule, recently he volunteered to teach an undergraduate course in addition to his graduate course, demonstrating his unwavering passion and dedication for teaching and education. He is an inspiration to all of us.”
The National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation were each awarded to a handful of high-achieving American thought leaders.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate two people who allegedly used a credit card that was reported stolen in Ronkonkoma in October.
A credit card and cash were stolen out of a pocketbook from an unlocked Honda Odyssey that was parked on Lake Shore Road in Ronkonkoma between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on October 1. The credit cards were used later that day by a man and woman at Game Stop, located inside Smith Haven Mall, at approximately 5 p.m.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Above, two skeletons take it easy. Photo by Nasrin Zahed
By Nasrin Zahed
Halloween has a rich history on Long Island that dates back to the early colonial days. Over the centuries, it has evolved from ancient Scottish rituals to the modern-day extravaganza of costumes, candy and spooky spectacles.
Halloween’s origins can be traced back to the ancient Scottish festival of Eve of All Hallows, celebrated around the end of October. Though commonly believed to be derived from the Celtics, Henry Kelly, distinguished research professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, has provided the research to debunk such a claim.
“People in Ireland also indulged in similar festivities on the day before All Saints’ Day, including divination games and competitions like apple bobbing,” said Kelly in an email exchange.
Below, Halloween decorations plastered on the exterior windows at the Dance Arts Development Center in St. James. Photo by Nasrin Zahed
Halloween customs came to America primarily through the Irish immigrants in the 19th century. The practice of carving Jack-o’-lanterns, a staple of modern Halloween, is often attributed to Irish immigrants who brought the tradition of carving turnips with them. The orange pumpkin, native to North America, became the go-to canvas for spooky faces and designs.
Though of all the traditions to be brought over, dressing up on Halloween and going door to door is still a bit hazy. “The question of when children started masquerading and going around for treats at Halloween in America needs further research,” Kelly said.
Regardless, Halloween has adapted to become one of the most profitable holidays of the year. Seeing as the United States has a strong consumer culture, Halloween became an opportunity for retailers to tap into this market. Businesses saw the potential in selling costumes, decorations, candies and other Halloween-related products.
There is no question that Long Island has found a niche in that market as fall makes Long Island a scenic destination for all things fall fun.
With its agricultural history, Long Island is also home to numerous farms and pumpkin patches, where families can pick their own pumpkins and enjoy fall-themed activities. Others can enjoy an array of haunted attractions and houses that draw thrill seekers and horror enthusiasts during the Halloween season. Places like Darkside Haunted House in Wading River and Gateway’s Haunted Playhouse in Bellport offer terrifying experiences for those brave enough to enter.
Long Island boasts numerous historical sites with eerie legends and ghost stories.
One of the standout Halloween events is the Rise of the Jack O’Lanterns at Old Westbury Gardens, showcasing thousands of intricately carved pumpkins, transforming the gardens into a mesmerizing pumpkin wonderland. The event is being held through Nov. 2.
Local businesses and communities have embraced the spirit of Halloween, with businesses decorating their storefronts and residents adorning their homes with creative and spooky decorations.
Hailey Hamilton of Old Wood Road, Stony Brook, shared her thoughts on the upcoming holiday, saying, “Halloween in our town is always a blast. The decorations go up, the costumes come out, and the spirit of the season is infectious. It’s the perfect time of year to enjoy some spooky fun with friends and family.”
A fascinating tapestry of ancient Scottish customs, early American traditions and modern-day festivities, Halloween on Long Island is the one to beat. A bewitching experience for all ages, Long Islanders have embraced this holiday with open arms, making it an integral part of their culture.
If you find yourself on Long Island in late October, be prepared for a ghoulishly good time.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Seventh Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole audio equipment from a Rocky Point business in September.
A man allegedly stole speakers and a tablet from the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association, located at 55 Clubhouse Drive, at approximately 10:21 p.m. on September 19. The property was valued at approximately $1,180.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Hauppauge High School students host French exchange students, visiting Montauk Point Lighthouse during their stay on Long Island. Photos courtesy HSD
Several Hauppauge High School students in Christine Rigaud’s French class had the unique opportunity to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime exchange program. While a group of students from Angers, a city in the Loire Valley, France, visited Long Island, staying with Hauppauge students for 10 days, their Hauppauge counterparts will be going to Angers in November to stay with the French students and their families.
Arriving on Oct. 9, the French students met their American hosts at Hauppauge High School before going home with the local families for the first time. The following day, students were given a welcome breakfast and tour of the school where they followed their exchange partners, going from class to class and at after-school activities.
Throughout the week, the students were taught a lesson on Long Island geography and historical points before visiting Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, home to President Theodore Roosevelt, and Montauk Point Lighthouse.
The exchange students even experienced an American Homecoming football game Oct. 14. During their remaining days exploring Long Island, the exchange students spent time with their host families, doing local activities such as Topgolf, bowling and even trekking into Manhattan for a Broadway show.
Their trip culminated with a few days in Manhattan, visiting Times Square, Grand Central Station, the American Museum of Natural History, Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial site, the Empire State Building and a tour of Columbia University.
On Nov. 4, Hauppauge High School students will visit the Lycée Mongazon school in Angers for the exchange. While there, they will attend classes, participate in a walking tour and scavenger hunt with their exchange partners and visit several castles and cultural sites. Then, they will head to Paris where they will visit the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Saint-Germain-des-Prés the Eiffel Tower, Les Champs-Elysées, L’Arc de Triomphe, travel the Seine River via boat cruise and more.
“When the students participate in an exchange program, the rewards are infinite,” Rigaud said. “Using the language in real-life situations, learning firsthand about the culture, traditions and food, speaking with the locals, visiting historic sights and learning about the history are just a few of the benefits.”
She added, “The students become more mature and self-confident as they navigate new situations. They learn to see things from a different perspective and become global citizens who are more understanding and accepting of cultural differences. Every time I travel with them, I get to see things through their eyes. It’s an amazing experience.”
If you have diabetes, you are at high risk of vascular complications that can be life-altering. Among these are macrovascular complications, like coronary artery disease and stroke, and microvascular effects, such as diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy.
Here, we will talk about diabetic retinopathy (DR), the number one cause of blindness among U.S. adults, ages 20 to 74 years old (1). Diabetic retinopathy is when the blood vessels that feed the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye are damaged, and it can progress to blurred vision and blindness.
As of 2019, only about 60 percent of people with diabetes had a recommended annual screening for DR (2). Why does this matter? Because the earlier you catch it, the more likely you will be able to prevent or limit permanent vision loss.
Over time, DR can lead to diabetic macular edema (DME). Its signature is swelling caused by fluid accumulating in the macula (3). An oval spot in the central portion of the retina, the macula is sensitive to light. When fluid builds up from leaking blood vessels, it can cause significant vision loss.
Those with the longest duration of diabetes have the greatest risk of DME. Unfortunately, many patients are diagnosed with DME after it has already caused vision loss. If not treated early, patients can experience permanent damage (2).
In a cross-sectional study using NHANES data, among patients with DME, only 45 percent were told by a physician that diabetes had affected their eyes (4). Approximately 46 percent of patients reported that they had not been to a diabetic nurse educator, nutritionist or dietician in more than a year — or never.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of vision loss don’t necessarily occur until the latter stages of the disorder, often after it’s too late to reverse the damage.
What are treatment options for Diabetic Macular Edema?
While DME has traditionally been treated with lasers, injections of anti-VEGF medications may be more effective. These eye injections work by inhibiting overproduction of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which contributes to DR and DME (5). The results from a randomized controlled trial showed that eye injections with ranibizumab (Lucentis) in conjunction with laser treatments, whether laser treatments were given promptly or delayed for at least 24 weeks, were equally effective in treating DME (6). Other anti-VEGF drugs include aflibercept (Eylea) and bevacizumab (Avastin).
Do diabetes treatments reduce risk of Diabetic Macular Edema?
You would think that using medications to treat type 2 diabetes would prevent DME from occurring as well. However, in the THIN trial, a retrospective study, a class of diabetes drugs, thiazolidinediones, which includes Avandia and Actos, actually increased the occurrence of DME compared to those who did not use these oral medications (7). Those receiving these drugs had a 1.3 percent incidence of DME at year one, whereas those who did not had a 0.2 percent incidence. This incidence was persistent through the 10 years of follow-up. Note that DME is not the only side effect of these drugs. There are important FDA warnings for other significant issues.
To make matters worse, those who received both thiazolidinediones and insulin had an even greater incidence of DME. There were 103,000 diabetes patients reviewed in this trial. It was unclear whether the drugs, because they were second-line treatments, or the severity of the diabetes itself may have caused these findings.
This contradicts a previous ACCORD eye sub-study, a cross-sectional analysis, which did not show an association between thiazolidinediones and DME (8). This study involved review of 3,473 participants who had photographs taken of the fundus (the back of the eye).
What does this ultimately mean? Both studies had weaknesses. It was not clear how long the patients had been using the thiazolidinediones in either study or whether their sugars were controlled and to what degree. The researchers were also unable to control for all other possible confounding factors (9). There are additional studies underway to clarify these results.
Can glucose control and dietimprove outcomes?
The risk of progression of diabetic retinopathy was significantly lower with intensive blood sugar controls using medications, one of the few positive highlights of the ACCORD trial (10). Unfortunately, medication-induced intensive blood sugar control also resulted in increased mortality and no significant change in cardiovascular events. However, an inference can be made: a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet that intensively controls blood sugar is likely to decrease the risk of diabetic retinopathy and further vision complications (11, 12).
If you have diabetes, the best way to avoid diabetic retinopathy and DME is to maintain good control of your sugars. Also, it is imperative that you have a yearly eye exam by an ophthalmologist, so that diabetic retinopathy is detected as early as possible, before permanent vision loss occurs. If you are taking the oral diabetes class thiazolidinediones, this is especially important.
Dr. David Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
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