CLOSE
Authors Posts by Leah Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

464 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

by -
0 339
Metro Photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

Happy May 1st! 

Just saying that puts a smile on my face. Why? Because May carries the promise of sunny days, blue skies, brilliantly colored flowers on bushes and trees along with baby green leaves, and birdsong everywhere. I know I can just walk out of my house in my indoor clothing and find the perfect temperature outdoors. I won’t need boots or a parka or even a heavy sweater, just maybe a light rain jacket. The world, my world, for this month, is a perfectly furnished place.

That is not to say that the many troubles in current events don’t cause concern. They surely do. But Nature can help offset some of the anxiety with her splendid technicolor show and demonstration of hope and rebirth.

Another positive beacon is a guy named Roger Rosenblatt. He wrote a column for The New York Times on April 13th headlined, “10 Tips for Being Happily 85 Years Old (Like Me).” I’ll share some of them with you, regardless of your age, because they are applicable to all, but first you must shut off the news—whether on radio or television or your cellphone. Let’s just focus on happiness.

The first of his points is probably the best: Nobody’s thinking about you.

“Nobody ever will. Not your teacher, not your minister, not your colleagues, not your shrink, not a soul. It can be a bummer of a thought. But it’s also liberating. That time you fell on your butt in public? That dumb comment you made at dinner last week? That brilliant book you wrote? No one is thinking about it. Others are thinking about themselves. Just like you.” (Of course, that statement doesn’t apply to parents, who regularly think about children.)

A few of his other heartfelt recommendations include get a dog, don’t hear the cheers (about how wonderful you are, just live the life you’re living), know that everyone’s in pain (of some sort) so be kind, look for the exceptional qualities in others, join a group with mutual interests so you stay social, and just live with your regrets (a part of every life). He also advises starting and ending each day by listening to Louis Armstrong—or your equivalent pick-me-upper.

(Just for those reading this who ARE 85 or thereabouts, he does advise making young friends because they are enthusiastic and don’t know when you are telling them lies, and urges that you try to see fewer than 5 doctors because it takes so much time and is depressing if they are your only social life.)

I can also share some upcoming events that make me happy to anticipate. 

Most immediately, my youngest grandson is graduating from college this month. Not only is this a lovely achievement for him, it provides us, the family on both sides of the parents, a chance to get together and catch up with everyone’s lives.

Another joyful occurrence will be a visit from my California cousin, who is coming east in June to celebrate his 65th birthday. I love celebrating birthdays and I also love having visitors. The latter seem to like coming out to stay at our house.

You may not think so, but another singular event next month to which I look forward will be the arrival (finally!) of the plumber to repair an incessant bathroom leak.

Then there are the birthdays of two sons in July, which they will spend here among the whole crew, who will arrive with their bathing suits, and their return in August for another round of birthday observances.

In September I look forward to the resumption of perfect weather and rest.

by -
0 495
Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Words pour out of our mouths like different kinds of liquids.

Sometimes, those words can offer necessary relief from white hot anger, agony or discomfort, serving as a cooling salve, bringing a smile to our miserable faces and turning, as the cliche would suggest, a frown upside down.

Other times, the words people choose to share can exacerbate an already inflamed state, serving as lighter fluid, threatening to turn us from a mild shade of pink into a deep red.

Words can also become an avalanche, forcing us to look elsewhere as a nonstop collection of words, phrase or ideas threatens to bury us beneath their verbal weight. Desperate to get away, we might hope the speaker gets distracted by a flying turtle.

A diatribe, lesson or self-aggrandizing soliloquy can be exhausting and irritating.

But, it’s not just the words and their effect that are so familiar in conversations.

No, you see, it’s the facial expressions. Many people have a remarkable ability to run the gamut of human emotions and thoughts without saying a word. A tightening of the skin around their eyes, a slight narrowing of the lids, a crooked smile, or a baring of teeth, which is probably the least subtle of the facial reactions, can reveal something about our inner state or disclose how we’re feeling about the world around us or, more precisely, the person in front of us.

To varying degrees, actors and actresses have mastered the art of using their often photogenic, compelling, or sympathetic faces to tell stories and, perhaps, to reveal the inner conflict we know they are feeling when, say, their sister asks them to be a bridesmaid when she’s planning to marry a person the actress has loved for years. Yes, that was a mildly amusing movie and yes, you probably know it.

The rest of us mere facial mortals, however, may not be as capable of altering our features to reflect the wide range of emotions we might reveal in response to the way we feel behind the masks we try to wear.

When I lived in Manhattan, I thoroughly enjoyed people watching. It’s a form of endless entertainment. Leaning on the railing at Rockefeller Center in mid December years ago, I watched an elderly couple gliding around the rink together, holding hands and glancing contentedly at each other, clearly enjoying the moment. With gloved fingers interlaced, they synchronized their legs as well as any pairs figure skaters might.

While I imagined that they had been together for decades and that they might have gone to an ice skating rink on an early date, they also could have been together for a couple of months or, perhaps, gotten married a year earlier.

Either way, their faces, which I can still picture decades later, revealed a keen and profound satisfaction.

Some people undoubtedly have mastered the art of the poker face, appearing interested or attentive when they are thinking about where to eat dinner later that night, what laundry they need to take to the dry cleaner, or when to sell a stock that’s been teetering with all the others amidst concerns about corporate profits and a potential slowdown in the economy.

Others, however, can reveal the equivalent of an SOS call, with a slight turn of their neck, widening eyes, and a faint but noticeable grimace around their pained mouths.

When we get to know family or friends well, we can read their expressions or hear the flat tone in their voices, knowing that the word “interesting,” or “you don’t say,” really means, “please stop talking. I’ll pay you to stop talking. In fact, here is a set of fake plastic ears that look like mine. Chew on them and, when you’re done, please recycle what’s left over.”

Sometimes, when I know someone well enough, I’ll watch their faces as they listen to a perspective that irritates them, a joke they don’t find remotely amusing, or a comment they don’t appreciate and I’ll recognize the unspoken but deeply held thoughts etched in their faces.

With all the finely tuned muscles in our faces and our ability to raise or lower our eyebrows, we can send signals that the attentive listener or others can read like a subtle or, perhaps more obvious, signal.

by -
0 698
A statue of Balto in Central Park. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Roman Eugeniusz

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

While most of us know “of the famous ride of Paul Revere,” quoting Longfellow, there is another ride that happened 100 years ago that we can commemorate. It has to do with one of my favorite dogs. His name was Balto, an Alaskan husky and sled dog born in Nome, and he led a team of sled dogs, driven by Gunnar Kaasen and carrying vital diphtheria antitoxin through fierce Alaskan storms across the wilderness and into history. 

The serum was desperately needed to combat an outbreak of the disease. Planes such as they were in 1925, were grounded by the intense weather. The only hope for rescue was with the perilous trip by sled. Kaasen insisted that Balto was the true hero. A movie, a nationwide tour on the vaudeville circuit and a bronze statue in Central Park resulted.

Now I visited Central Park most Sundays, when the weather permitted, throughout my elementary school years, with my dad and younger sister. It was my dad’s way of giving my mother a few hours off and of having some time with us since he worked six days a week, left early in the morning, and only returned for a late dinner. He would cook us breakfast, and then we would walk through the Park, taking a different route each time until my mother would join us in the late afternoon with a picnic supper. 

Most often, he made sure our meanderings took us past the statue of Balto. I would climb up on the rock on which he stood, then sit astride his back, and listen as my dad read the words on the plaque adorning the site “dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter of 1925: endurance, fidelity, intelligence” Visuals of the trip would run through my mind as I sat there, courtesy of Jack London, whose books I read. I loved Balto.

But there is quite a back story.

For starters, Balto was an underdog in a literal sense. He was owned by Leonhard Seppala, a native Norwegian, sled dog breeder, musher and competitive racer, and was named after an Arctic explorer. Balto had a black fur coat, a small, stocky build with two white stocking front feet and was considered “second rate” as a racer by Seppala, who had him neutered at six months and used him to haul freight for short runs and help pull railcars with miners over a disused railroad track. Gunnar Kaasen, another native Norwegian and a close family friend of Seppala, with 21 years of dog sledding experience who worked for the breeder, came to know Balto and believed Seppala had misjudged the dog because of his short stature.

Early in 1925, doctors realized a deadly diphtheria epidemic could affect the  people of Nome, Alaska, and putting the city under quarantine, transmitted with Morse code that the town desperately needed more serum, whose supply was almost depleted. Mushers were summoned to relay the precious cargo. Radio, a recent invention, picked up the story, as well as newspapers, and followed the more than 20 mushers as they took turns through storms and strong winds. Kaasen was appointed to drive a team of Seppala’s dogs, and although Seppala wanted a dog named Fox to lead the team, Kaasen picked Balto. They left the town of Bluff with the antitoxin at 10 p.m.

Shortly after they started, a blizzard caused them to become confused and lost. Kaasen yelled, “Go home, Balto,” and the dog, used to hauling heavy loads, navigated his team through the wild winds. At one point, Balto unexpectedly stopped before some ice on the Topkok River that broke in front of him, thereby saving Kaasen’s life and that of the entire team, according to the musher. The package was delivered in time, and the residents were saved.

There is more to the story. Especially as money entered the picture, lies and deception, jealousy and hatred all became part of the human saga. But Balto will always remain my 100-year-old dog. 

by -
0 529
Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

The bright yellow forsythias and the pink azaleas, along with the dramatic magnolias and the delicate cherry blossoms contradict the miserable March weather we have been enduring. 

But, you can’t fool Nature with adverse temperatures. She has her own calendar. Further proof of the season may be taken from the runny noses and watery eyes of the allergy sufferers, and the appearance of the tiny ants around the kitchen sink. And if you are among the lucky ones, you know what that means: call the sprinkler guys and the pool crew to get on their schedules, check who will be available to mow the lawn this year, and have the air conditioners tuned up and filters changed.

Yup. It’s spring.

If you have a boat, even a small one, it’s time to remove the shrink wrap, polish the teak and the hardware, check the engine, and if it is a sailboat, carefully look over the sails and count the life jackets. Maybe there is a new person who has joined the family.

If you have a garden, this is planting and seeding time. Get out the mulch and start spreading. Straighten the hose lines. Perennials are up, annuals are going in. Take a good look around the neighborhood. There seems to be a riot of daffodils throughout the yards and villages this year. And the fruit trees are bursting with color. Maybe it’s the contrast with the grey and the rain that’s been surrounding us.

There are chores we no longer need to do. I don’t know how many of you remember, but we used to have the snow tires removed and the regular tires put back in their place. We would ask that the winter oil in the car be emptied and replaced with the summer oil at the gas station. We still need to give the car a thorough cleaning, however, and put the snow brush back into the trunk. The shovels and walkway salt go into the garage and, if we have one, the snow blower is returned to the far corner.

Inside the house, we need to put the heavy winter coats in the back of the closet, take off the long underwear if we wear that armor against the cold, put away the turtlenecks and shake out our lighter shirts, blouses and pants to prepare them for the warmer temperatures. Might as well look at the bathing suits, too. Maybe we need a new one this year.

Those who go on trips in the summer may well be studying locations and fares around this time, if they haven’t already. I’m not part of that exodus, however. Where can you go to enjoy the season better than right here on the shores of Long Island? Others agree. They are my warm weather relatives and friends, and I welcome their company. We should start to get the guest room ready.

Amid all that activity and bustle, we must be sure to stop every now and then to enjoy the birdsong coming from the many bushes. And if we look hard enough, we can see birds’ nests in the branches of the trees and under the edges of porch roofs.

On a final note, spring is also the time when the world’s major holidays are observed: Ramadan, Passover and Easter.  The holidays all include prayers for peace. Would that we could all celebrate the holidays concurrently in a world filled with only peace: no more warfare, no more hatred, no more violence.

Since we are all people praying for the same blessing, why has it been so impossible to achieve? Will it ever happen? May we someday truly turn our swords into plowshares?

Enjoy the marvel of the new season in peace.

by -
0 499
The cover of the first issue of The Village Times in 1976 by Pat Windrow

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

Two happy milestones have marked this week. My oldest grandson turned 30, which we celebrated in style, and The Village Times, the flagship of Times Beacon Record News Media, was started exactly 49 years ago.

First the details of the birthday bash.

It happened Sunday afternoon at the ballpark, Citi Field, the home of the Mets, or what we Old Timers used to call Shea Stadium. Now if you knew my grandson at all, you would know he is a fierce and utterly loyal fan of the Mets since his earliest years. You could gather from that bit of information, that he is mighty stubborn about his loyalties. After all, there have been many incentives to switch support to other, more winning teams, right? And who could blame him? But that is not his style. His loyalty is boundless. And of course, the Mets have gradually rewarded him for his patience.

Thus, it was no surprise that he wanted to share his special day with the Mets, and in his honor, they won the game. But I get ahead of myself.

It’s worth relating how beautiful Citi Field is, especially so for me, a die hard Yankee fan who spent many afternoons during my teens in concrete-riven Yankee Stadium. 

Now admittedly, we did have a luxurious situation. The cost of a box at the park was shared. We entered from a designated parking lot, after waiting on a short line, and were guided  past giant pictures of Met greats like Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver, to a manned elevator that took us swiftly to the fourth floor.

We stepped out into a spacious hallway of patterned marble floors, paneled walls, high ceilings with recessed lighting and multiple wooden doors that led to individual suites. Overstuffed armchairs lined the walls. And you should see the bathrooms.

Staff greeted us all along the way and led us to our room, where more overstuffed seating, fruit and salad awaited us. At the far end was a sliding glass door leading out to cushioned balcony seats that accommodated most of the 18 of us as we watched the game. 

Happily both suite and balcony had heaters, although the weather, while chilly, behaved nicely. The early morning rain had stopped. More ballpark food arrived throughout the afternoon, but it was hard to tear ourselves away from the balcony as the Mets won what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel, 2-1. I can hardly wait to see how we will celebrate his 40th.

As for our newspaper anniversary this past Tuesday, it came and went quietly as we enter our 50th year. We were busy putting out this week’s papers. But we will certainly whoop it up at various community events throughout the year until we reach half a century.

It’s easy to fall back on the well-used cliche, “time flies,” but it is astonishing to me and to those who were involved in the start-up, like our general manager, that we have reached almost five decades of publishing hometown news. So much has happened, so much has changed, but not the mission of the newspaper. 

Our goals have always been steadfast. We strive each week to bring vetted news, information and even some fun to our readers, originally with newsprint, and now with the additional platforms of the 24/7 website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and the weekly podcast, The Pressroom Afterhour,  which is also on Spotify. 

We promise our staffers that, if and when they leave, it will be with more skills than when they arrived because we invest in our people. And the third and last part of our mission is to support and give back to our readers and advertisers in whatever ways we can, starting with working to create a sense of community.

Frankly, we consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have survived almost 50 years, as we see hometown papers fall around us. Last week, while I was attending the New York Press Association Convention in Saratoga Springs, two more papers closed down, leaving their neighborhoods unprotected.

We continue because you support us. Thank you.

by -
0 496
METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

While a little bit of stress in one’s life can be a good thing, enabling high performance, for the most part, stress is a negative I try to reduce for myself as I get older. It took me many years before I even realized what stress was. It didn’t occur to me to think I was stressed the night before a big test or having to give a talk at the front of the class in junior high school. I just knew I first had to spend a long time in the bathroom. 

No one I knew then, teachers, students, or my parents, even used the word “stress.” Today it is frequently discussed, along with how to manage it. Schools of techniques have been developed concerning stress management, such as meditation, deep breathing, and yoga.

What exactly is stress?

Stress is defined by the World Health Organization as “a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way we respond to stress, however, makes a big difference to our overall well being.”

Here is what I have found to be stressors in my life and what I have done to mitigate them.

One of the most obvious and perhaps the simplest to reduce is time pressure. Being late in my early years—for an appointment or with a delivery of a product or service —might have set me up, I am sure, for a possible ulcer later in life. While sometimes being late cannot be helped, we are lucky enough to live in an age where we can reach out and tell the person who is waiting for us that we are running behind, and when they can expect to see us. That takes away a great deal of stress. Three cheers for cell phones.

I used to be chronically late until I realized what a disservice that was for the person I was meeting, and also to myself, by adding so much pressure to what should be a matter of fact occurrence. Now, I take pleasure in being early, creating a situation in which I can settle in comfortably, study the menu if it is a restaurant, or get rid of some of my emails while I wait. 

Also, I hate to disappoint. As a result, I have learned not to promise or commit until I am absolutely sure I can deliver on my word. And if there is a delay in getting a job done, the sooner I tell the recipient of difficulties, the easier it is to deal positively with expectations.

That goes for declarations. For example, if I insist I will never do such-and-such, and then I wind up having to break my word, it pains everyone. Better just to do without, again, setting up false expectations. 

Then there are the situations where, if I cannot change what is happening, I can change the way I think about the event. 

Example: having a driver abruptly cut me off as I m driving. That could be a stressful moment, but I prefer to consider that the driver might be in some dire need to get somewhere. 

Or, if someone begins to yell at me for some perceived slight, or something we have written in the newspaper, I have to think that person might be having problems at home or some health issue. Which is not to say, I don’t sweep my conscience to determine if I am to blame. Sometimes I am at fault, although I would like to think of myself as Mary Poppins, “practically perfect in every way.” 

Kidding! 

by -
0 418
METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

Getting enough sleep is one of the tenets of staying healthy and aging well. But what to do when you get into bed and can’t fall asleep? The Science Times section of The New York Times this past Tuesday offered an interesting solution from Emergency Physician, Joe Whittington.

“Now I Lay Me Down to Play,” written by Christina Caron, explains the doctor’s technique. It’s called cognitive shuffling, and it is designed to calm a busy brain sufficiently to allow sleep. While he had tried deep breathing, meditation and melatonin, to no avail, the following strategy works for him. Incidentally, he has 750,000 followers on Instagram.

“Cognitive shuffling,” according to the Times, “is a mental exercise that involves focusing your mind on words that have no association with one another, as a way of signaling to your brain that it’s time to fall asleep. The task is meant to be engaging enough to distract you from the thoughts that may be impeding sleep, but not so interesting that your brain perks up.” 

So how do you do cognitive shuffling?

Take a random word, any word, like “adobe.” Then think of all the words that you can, beginning with that same first letter, like apple, arrow, across, attire. Visualize each word, then move on to the next. When you no longer can think of any more words beginning with “a” go on to the next letter, “d” and do the same thing: dog, depart, done, dope, detritus, and so forth. Again, visualize each word before moving on.

Luc P. Beaudoin, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada, developed the cognitive shuffling strategy, and he suggests that as people drift off to sleep their minds have distant thoughts or vivid images. This technique is intended to mimic that process.

“These images don’t create a clear story line and may help your brain to disengage from problem solving or worry loops,” said Dr. Beaudoin, who conducted a study in 2016 using various sleep inducing techniques. He himself suffered from insomnia. The study was then discussed at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies conference in Denver, written up in Forbes magazine, then circulated widely online.

It can’t hurt to try cognitive shuffling.

I can tell you what I do to fall asleep. First, with full disclosure, I confess not to often having a problem falling asleep. In fact, I’m like a teapot. Just tip me over and pour me out. Usually, all I need is to get horizontal on a mattress and doze off. However, lately I have been waking up around 4 a.m., feeling rested and not able to resume sleeping. But I know if I get up and start my day at that hour, I will pay for the remaining lack of sleep in the late afternoon. I’m an 8 1/2 hour a night sleeper. So here’s what I do after 20 minutes of tossing and turning. 

I get out of bed, put on a lamp that offers dim light and read until my eyes get tired. I am selective in my reading choice: not a page turner. Then I shut off the light, get back into bed and usually fall right back to sleep.

It’s not a researched and tested technique but for me, it works. I enjoy sleeping and require the restorative effects in order to enjoy my waking hours. Hope these strategies work for you.

by -
0 355
METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

How do you feel about tipping these days? According to Fox News, some 90% of Americans feel tipping has gotten out of hand. Not only do tips seem to start at 18% rather than what used to be the standard 15%, they are also going up as restaurant prices go up since they are calculated on the amount of the check.

And Fox News is basing its information on a survey done by a company called WalletHub.

There are lots of other complaints, too, about tips. For instance, while tips used to be given to waiters, bartenders and hairdressers, the landscape has now changed. Tips are now expected at many checkout counters & other unlikely places.

“More and more establishments where you wouldn’t normally tip are asking for something extra, and people are even being asked to tip self-help machines with no human interaction,” according to WalletHub.

Why are tips even necessary?

Tipping originally was a way to express appreciation for a job well done, perhaps over and above what was expected. Now, it seems, it is a requirement on a restaurant check in the United States. Europeans leave only a couple of coins to express appreciation for good service.

Many years ago, when my dad was paying the bill for our meal in an eatery, he left a nickel as a tip. The waiter ran out onto the sidewalk after us, telling my dad how much his family depended on the tip money I remember my dad answering that the service had been abysmal. But he reached into his pocket, gave the man some money and explained that it was now charity and not a tip. It was a good distinction for me to learn.  He also suggested the man work harder at his job to better feed his family.

Something that annoys a good friend with whom I occasionally eat is that the suggested tips at the bottom of the bill are based on food plus tax rather than on food alone. Certainly there is no extra effort expended for adding taxes. So she will determine her tip on the amount above the tax line.

Another friend with whom I enjoy a meal in a restaurant always tips 30% because she feels being a waiter or waitress is a hard job, and people who do it really need the money.

Tips were also given to waiters and waitresses when we all knew they earned something like $2.50 an hour. Now, with minimum wage at $16.50 between salary and tip, it’s a different story.

WalletHub also released the following statistics:

Automatic service charges should be banned, according to 83% of respondents.

One in four believe tips should be taxed, in contrast to the current administration’s offer to make tips tax free.

When presented with a tip suggestion screen at a counter, 3 in ten tip less.

Some 40% of those surveyed think tipping should be replaced with an employee rating system that then tells the employer how to pay staffers.

Americans pay an average of $500 a year on tips.

More than 75% feel that tips should be divided only among employees who interact directly  with customers.

And finally, more than 50% of customers leave tips because of social pressure rather than as a result of good service.

A piece of advice offered by one respondent: If you are standing to place an order, as with checkout counters, no tip.

by -
0 1218
Image by Alexandra Koch from Pixabay

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

As more teens learn about artificial intelligence, more are using ChatGPT in doing their schoolwork. According to K-12 Dive, an industry newsletter, between 2023 and 2024, the number doubled. What has also increased is the way in which students can cheat on assignments.

Like every new invention, there are pluses and minuses. Using ChatGPT as an aid can be of help by providing new ways to view information. It can create a metaphor or write a synopsis and offer a different perspective. It could also complete the homework in a false manner that deprives the student of real understanding, much like copying someone else’s notes, even if he or she gets a good grade.

And with so much pressure for good grades, some students may find it easier to cheat, especially in this way that is harder to detect, than to actually learn the new material. Of course, the person they are really cheating is themselves. While AI cheating may offer an academic pathway for short term success, if misused it undermines intellectual growth and also challenges students’ moral and ethical development.

Cheating, of one sort or another, has always existed in academic circles. One way I can recall, when I was in college, was to use Cliff Notes to summarize a plot. These were intended to enable a term paper on Tolstoy’s “War & Peace” or Dickens’ “Bleak House,” for example, without the student having to read the actual thick book. The student may have made it through the class but at what price?

Other forms of cheating included hiring someone to write that term paper for the student, or even hiring another student to take a final. We all knew in school that cheating, in various ways, existed.

So how can cheating be prevented?

The answer is, it probably can’t. But according to the K-12 Dive Newsletter, it can be minimized by creating “a culture of integrity” within which to dissuade cheating.

I can tell you how my college did so in the early 1960s. There was an Honor Board made up of students elected to that position for one year. Anyone accused of cheating or any other improper act could be brought before this jury of peers and either found innocent or, if deemed guilty, appropriately sentenced. Trials, which were few, were held in private, as were verdicts. Innocent until proven guilty was the mindset, and integrity was valued.

That said, I am sure people still cheated without getting caught.

As for catching those misusing ChatGPT, teachers are urged by the Newsletter to read assignments and consider them in light of what they know about each student’s abilities. Testing with pencil and paper in class is revealing. AI use for homework won’t help on a class test.

“Noting the absence of expected concepts or references used in class or the presence of concepts and references not taught in class,” is a giveaway, according to K-12 Dive.

And further advocated in the Newsletter is the idea that students will be less likely to cheat if they understand the moral principles at play, as discussed in the school.

Let’s applaud ChatGPT for what it can do. It can prove to be a helpful tool if used transparently. Students should be taught how.

by -
0 506
Geraldine Ferraro with Ivan and Leah S. Dunaief. Photo courtesy Leah Dunaief.

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

Frankly, we are concerned. The tariffs on Mexican and Chinese goods are worrisome. But especially for the print journalism industry, the one on Canadian imports could be deadly.

We get much of our newsprint, on which we send you the local news, from Canada.

We have already endured a significant increase in printing costs because our old printer closed shop and new printers, with whom we have no seniority, are considerably more expensive. So we have not been our happy selves. 

That is until Tuesday evening, when I had the good fortune to see a documentary film called “Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way” at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook.

Now Geraldine Ferraro was the first female to be a Vice President nominee on a major national party Presidential ticket. She ran with Walter Mondale in 1984 against Ronald Reagan, as the Democratic candidates for the top offices in the land, and while they lost, she was an inspirational leader.

She inspired women to run for political office. She also inspired men and women to believe their dreams were achievable. She was a true trailblazer.

Her story is told by her older daughter, Donna Zaccaro, a filmmaker in her own right, and Andrew Morreale, talented editor. It was produced in 2011, the year Geraldine Ferraro died. Before reaching that pinnacle, Ferraro’s life  began with a hardscrabble childhood after her father died when she was 8. Encouraged by her mother, she went on to become a lawyer, then District Attorney in Queens, followed by election to Congress, to her eventual nomination for Vice President.

She changed the way people thought of the role of women in American politics at a time when Women’s Liberation was beginning to roar.

It is a moving tribute by not only her daughter, but also commentary by leading political figures. They included President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, Vice President Walter Mondale, President Bill Clinton, Secretary Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Olympia Snowe, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi, ABC reporter Cokie Roberts, former Wall Street Journal reporter Al Hunt, Republican campaign consultant Ed Rollins, and Eleanor Smeal, President Feminist Majority Foundation. The list reads like a Who’s Who of political operatives of that era.

Geraldine Ferraro was the keynote speaker at the 1985 New York Press Association Convention, and we got to know her a bit then. We marveled at her ability to connect to each person. This was the 40th anniversary of her run for vice president, and her struggle for women’s rights is as pertinent now as it was then.

123...47Next Page 1 of 47
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©