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Baby Zucchini Boats

By Barbara Beltrami

Call them what you will … hors d’oeuvres, appetizers or tapas. In Spain and Portugal, tapas abound in many bars, and at least one legend has it that long ago an innkeeper put a slice of cured ham on top of a glass of wine to keep the flies away, as a makeshift lid. To cover in Spanish is “tapar,” so a lid is a “tapa” — hence the name. 

Depending on how many or how few you pop or scoop into your mouth as you’re sipping your wine or beer, they will either whet or whip your desire to proceed to the main attraction, the meal that is sometimes meant to follow. In fact, in Spain and Portugal, it is part of the culture to stop by a bar to sit and relax and share a few little plates of tapas, often twice a day. While they can be anything as simple as a well-cured olive on a toothpick, they can also be as complex as an artichoke stew or empanada.  

Eaten as a snack, a first course or a prelude to a meal, tapas are rapidly becoming standard fare in American cuisine as well. So think of anything savory, serve it in small portions and you’ve got tapas. And doesn’t that sound so much better than munchies, finger food or snacks?

Garlic French Toast

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs

A few drops water

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

6 slices crusty bread

DIRECTIONS: 

In a small bowl beat the eggs and water; add garlic, salt and pepper and beat again. Transfer egg mixture to a large shallow baking dish, add bread slices; soak for 30 seconds, then turn and let sit until all the egg mixture has been absorbed. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet until hot. Fry bread, turning when bottom is golden., about 1 minute. When other side is golden, remove immediately or garlic will burn. Serve hot or warm with a red or white sangria.

Colossal Shrimp with Anchovies  and Cherry Tomatoes

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

6 wooden skewers (about half the size of a pencil)

6 colossal shrimp, peeled, deveined and boiled

6 anchovy fillets

6 cherry tomatoes

½ cup mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS: 

On each skewer, spear a shrimp, anchovy fillet and tomato. Cover and chill until ready to serve with mayonnaise as a dip. Serve with ice cold beer or a chilled crisp dry white wine.

Stuffed Baby Zucchini Boats

Baby Zucchini Boats

YIELD: Makes 16 pieces

INGREDIENTS: 

8 tiny zucchini (about 4 to 6 inches long)

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ medium onion, minced

½ pound ground beef, lamb or sausage

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon tomato paste

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

½ pint plain Greek yogurt

1 fresh medium tomato, finely chopped

8 mint leaves, minced

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a shallow 8×13-inch baking dish. Wash zucchini, trim off ends and halve lengthwise. With a sharp-edged spoon, scoop out seeds and pulp; chop pulp and reserve. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil; add onion, meat, lemon zest and chopped zucchini. Saute, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender and meat is brown, 5 to 10 minutes. 

Add tomato paste, a tablespoon or two of water, garlic and sugar; stir and cook over low-medium heat for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Stir in the yogurt, chopped tomato and mint leaves. Remove from heat and spoon mixture into hollowed out zucchini. Sprinkle tops with Parmesan cheese. Place filled zucchini in prepared dish and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until cheese melts.

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WHAT A RIDE! 

Elisa Hendrey of Sound Beach visited the Heritage Park’s annual Fling into Spring Carnival in Mount Sinai last Sunday and captured this stunning image. She writes, ‘[It seems as if] the ride, called Pharaoh’s Fury, is sailing up into the deep blue sky. A huge crowd turned out to enjoy the event and the warm weather.’

Send your Photo of the Week to [email protected].

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‘Still Stunning After Storm,’ Honorable Mention, by Marianne P. Stone of Lynbrook
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‘Still Stunning After Storm,’ Honorable Mention, by Marianne P. Stone of Lynbrook
‘Field of Joy,’ First Place, by Vicki Dolce of NYC
‘A Heckscher Morning,’ Second Place, by Charleen Turner of Huntington
‘Nature’s Gift’, Third Place, by Richard Dolce of NYC
‘Glistening Pond,’ Honorable Mention, by Dianne Selles of Huntington;

On Sunday, May 6, families across Long Island are invited to enjoy the Town of Huntington’s annual celebration of spring. The natural beauty of the historic Heckscher Park will once again serve as the backdrop for the town’s highly anticipated 18th annual Tulip Festival. 

The free event, located at 2 Prime Ave. in the Village of Huntington, will feature thousands of tulips planted in selected beds throughout the park, activity booths for children with creative, hands-on projects, lectures, demonstrations, a school art contest, refreshments and live entertainment on the Chapin Rainbow Stage from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D), the founder of the festival, and chief sponsor, NEFCU, are looking forward to an even bigger community-driven event this year.  

“The 18th Annual Huntington Tulip Festival is a free event that has something for the whole family to enjoy,” said Cuthbertson, adding, “So please stop by and enjoy the festivities!”

To help make this wonderful day a success, volunteers are needed to distribute festival programs to visitors. Any person or community group is welcome to volunteer by calling 631-351-3099.

Entertainment schedule

Gizmo Guys

 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. — Explore the Heckscher Museum’s current exhibits for reduced admission ($2). Docents will be in the galleries to answer questions at 2 p.m.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Winning works from local School Art Contest will be on display near the Chapin Rainbow Stage. 

Noon to 12:45 p.m. — Chapin Rainbow Stage Performance: Gizmo Guys, a rapid-fire juggling act with Allan Jacobs and Barrett Felker that exhilarates and inspires sidesplitting laughter in audiences of all ages.

Linda Humes and Sanga of the Valley

1 to 1:45 p.m. — Chapin Rainbow Stage Performance: Griots in Concert, an inspirational and motivational performance featuring stories, music and songs from Africa, the Caribbean and America with vocalist and storyteller Linda Humes and master percussionist Sanga of the Valley. Griot is the French term for a West African oral historian or storyteller. 

2 to 3 p.m. — Chapin Rainbow Stage Performance: Funkytown Playground, a music and movement program with Aly Sunshine and band featuring interactive songs that are catchy, fun and educational — a high-energy performance delivered with contagious enthusiasm! 

4 p.m. — Festival closes. Heckscher Museum exhibits on view until 5 p.m.

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Eli Stavitski. Photo by Alena Stavitski

By Daniel Dunaief

Humans learned to fly by studying birds and have learned to edit genes by understanding the molecular battle between bacteria and viruses. Now, we may also learn to take carbon dioxide, a necessary ingredient in photosynthesis, and use it to produce energy.

Eli Stavitski, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is working with a new form of electrocatalyst to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which can become part of an energy process.

Researchers have used noble metal electrocatalysts, such as gold and platinum, to promote this reaction. The problem with this method, however, is that these metals are rare and expensive.

In most of the reactions with other potential electrocatalysts, however, a competing reaction, called water splitting, reduces the amount of carbon monoxide produced.

Single atoms of nickel, however, woven into a lattice of graphene, which is a monolayer of carbon, produces a much higher amount of carbon monoxide, while minimizing the unwanted water splitting side reaction.

Indeed, these single atoms of nickel converted carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide with a maximum selectivity of 97 percent.

“The critical aspect of the work is that they show a change in chemical selectivity” resulting in the production of the desired products, Dario Stacchiola, a group leader in interface science and catalysis at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at BNL, explained in an email. An important part of this study is the “ability to detect single atoms (atomic needles in a carbon-based graphene haystack) which is possible in [Stavitski’s] instrument.”

Stacchiola and Stavitski are collaborating on projects related to heterogeneous catalysis. They synthesize and test materials and then measure them in a state-of-the-art beamline. Carbon monoxide can be used to produce useful chemicals such as hydrogen, which can power fuel cell vehicles. The process can contribute to something called carbon sequestration, in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere.

While carbon monoxide is a deadly gas when it’s breathed in, Stavitski said manufacturing facilities deal with toxic substances regularly and have policies and procedures in place to minimize, monitor and contain any potential dangers. On the scale of toxicity, carbon monoxide isn’t the worst thing by far, he explained.

Indeed, in refining crude oil to fuels and chemicals, refining companies regularly produce highly toxic intermediates that they control during the manufacturing process.

The way researchers create the nickel catalysts is by taking a sheet of graphene and creating defects in it that they then fill with nickel. The defects define whether the atoms are in plane or stick out, which determines the rate of reaction.

Getting the defects at just the right size requires balancing between making them small enough so that it doesn’t disrupt the graphene, but large enough to accommodate the metal atoms.“There is an opportunity to lower the costs by designing conventional supports for single atom nickel,” Stavitski said.

At $6 a pound, nickel is considerably cheaper than platinum, which cost $150 a pound. Still, it is among the more expensive base metals.

“The single atom field is exploding,” he said. “Everyone is trying to develop this unique combination of support and metal that allows for the stabilization of single atoms. It’s very likely that we’re paving the way to a much larger adoption of this material in industry.”

Stavitski suggested that the field of electrocatalysts using nanomaterials has the potential to revolutionize industrial and commercial processes. The work he and his colleagues did with nickel, while compelling in its own right, is more of an evolutionary step, benefiting from some of the work that came before and finding a specific application that may become a part of a process that converts carbon dioxide into the energy-efficient carbon monoxide, while minimizing the production of an unwanted competing reaction.

The next set of experiments is to verify the same concept of graphene as a support for single atom catalyst, which can lead to a whole family of active and selective materials. Stavitski plans to explore combinations of metals, where he could link one metal to another to fine tune its electronic properties to develop metals that can target a wide spectrum of chemical reactions.

The work Stavitski is conducting with electrocatalysts is one of several areas he is exploring in his lab. He is also looking at developing types of batteries that are not based on lithium. 

With increased demand, primarily from electric vehicle manufacturing, lithium prices have “skyrocketed,” he explained in an email. “It’s important to develop batteries that employ sodium, which is cheap and abundant. Technologically, sodium batteries are much more difficult to deal with.”

Stavitski collaborates with a group at BNL led by Xiao-Qing Yang, who is the group leader for electrochemical energy storage.

Stacchiola has known Stavitski since 2010. He described him as “active and innovative” and suggested that this new capability of detecting single atoms in complex materials is “critical and is giving [Stavitski] significant growing exposure in the scientific community.”

Stacchiola appreciates how his colleague gets “fully immersed in every project he associates with.”

Stavitski grew up in the Soviet Union. After college, he moved to Israel and then the Netherlands. He arrived at BNL in 2010.

Currently a resident of South Setauket, Stavitski is married to Alena Stavitski, who works at BNL in the quality management office. The BNL couple have two sons who are 3 and 6 years old.

Stavitski, who speaks Russian, Hebrew and English, enjoys traveling.

As for his work, he is excited by the possibility of using the expanding field of nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of commercial and energy-related processes.

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This dragoon coat, worn by actor Seth Numrich in AMC’s ‘TURN’ series, will be one of the items auctioned off on May 19. Photo courtesy of AMC

UPDATE:

I-Spy TURN Auction & Spy Themed Event for May 19 has been canceled
Due to the excessive rain and water on the property this week and with the prediction of additional rain over the weekend, the Three Village Historical Society feels it is in the best interest of guests and volunteers to postpone the event.  “We will reschedule I-Spy for a date in the future when we can provide the best experience for all. Cancelling this event was a hard decision to make and we apologize for any inconvenience,” said the Society.

By Michael Tessler

The Three Villages is home to a remarkable Revolutionary history that for over a century remained elusive to the American people … all except in Setauket where local lore and legend preserved a tale of spies, lies, petticoats and the exceptional bravery of everyday citizens who risked everything to liberate their homes and loved ones from tyranny.

General George Washington established the Culper Spy Ring in 1778 by recruiting Benjamin Tallmadge, a would-be lieutenant colonel and future congressman who called the quaint village of Setauket home. He recruited friends and schoolmates to establish a secret network, eluding the mighty British Empire that had been occupying Long Island since August 1776. Their efforts turned the tides of war in favor of the Continental Army and forever altered the course of history.

It wasn’t until 1939, when amateur historian Morton Pennypacker began to decipher secret aliases and uncover the true identities of the Culper spies. In 2014, the legend of the Culper Spy Ring finally entered the public zeitgeist with the premiere of AMC’s television drama series “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” a historical fiction piece that chronicled the Culper Spy Ring. 

“If it weren’t for Setauket, we would have lost the war,” declared Three Village Historical Society President Steve Healy. “If Washington had been caught, he would have been hanged. They stopped that, they saved the [American] Revolution.” And just as the Culper spies saved the fledgling United States, the Three Village Historical Society has made it its mission to keep the Culper Spy Ring and the local history of this community alive.

When “TURN” ended last August, the Three Village Historical Society reached out to the show and received a very special donation: props, costumes and other memorabilia actually featured on the show during the series’ four-season run. On Saturday, May 19, the public will have the opportunity to own these pieces of history during a silent auction fundraiser on the society’s front lawn starting at noon. Bidding closes at 4:15 p.m.

According to TVHS board members Cathy White and Janet McCauley, the most sought after item of the day will be a dragoon (18th century cavalry) coat worn by the actor who played Benjamin Tallmadge, Seth Numrich. “It’ll be fun to see where it ends up,” said McCauley. “Either way, it is a wonderful tool to educate our community about the area that they live in.” 

Other items in the auction include a reproduction of a 1730 Dublin Castle Long Land (1st Model) Brown Bess musket; autographed sheet music; a portrait of King George II, c. 1730, reproduction on canvas; as well as maps, letters and artifacts such as an astrolab, horn bowls, British army drumsticks, pewter pitchers, posters, an uncut sheet of Continental currency and more.

In addition to the silent auction, there is a flurry of activities scheduled throughout the day. From noon to 4 p.m. community educator Donna Smith, portraying Anna Smith Strong, will hold invisible ink demonstrations while noted children’s author Selene Castrovilla will be selling and signing copies of her books. Visitors will also have the opportunity to meet Benjamin Tallmadge, portrayed by TVHS past president and trustee Art Billadello. The historical society’s two exhibits, SPIES: How a Group of Long Island Patriots Helped George Washington Win the Revolution and Chicken Hill: A Community Lost to Time, and gift shop will be open as well. 

At noon, historian Margo Arceri will lead a Tri-Spy Walking Tour, which starts at the post office next to Frank Melville Memorial Park, 101 Main St. in Setauket. Historian Beverly C. Tyler will give a Walk Through History with Farmer and Spy, Abraham Woodhull, guided tour at 2 p.m. starting at the front parking lot of the Caroline Church of Brookhaven, 1 Dyke Road, Setauket. 

From 3 to 5 p.m., “Wine and cheese will be served while we have Colonial music performed by Natalie Kress and Kevin Devine of the Three Village Chamber Players,” said Sandy White, TVHS office manager, adding, “We want to create a dialogue about our community’s history. ‘TURN’ helped start that conversation. We’d like to continue it.” 

The Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Road, Setauket will host an I-Spy “Turn” Auction fundraiser on May 19 from noon to 5 p.m. (rain date May 20). Tickets, which are $25 adults, $5 for children age 14 and younger, cover participation in all of the day’s events, including both walking tours. To order, please visit www.TVHS.org or call 631-751-3730.

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Accumulating evidence supports an association between depression and inflammation. Stock photo
C-reactive protein is an important biomarker

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

Many of us have inflammation in our bodies, inflammation that is a potential underlying cause for a great number of diseases. Can we demonstrate the level of inflammation by measuring it? The answer is yes.

One of the most widely studied biomarkers for inflammation is high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), also referred to as CRP. High sensitivity means that we can measure levels as low as 0.3 mg/L more accurately.

What is the significance of the different levels? In heart disease, individuals who have levels lower than 1.0 mg/L are in the optimal range for low risk of inflammation. Levels of 1 to 3 mg/L represent the average risk range, and greater than 3.0 mg/L is a higher risk profile. Above 10.0 mg/L is less specific to heart disease, although still related, but more likely associated with other causes, such as infection and autoimmune diseases (1, 2). This biomarker is derived from the liver.

CRP is not specific to heart disease, nor is it definitive for risk of the disease. However, the upside is that it may be helpful with risk stratification, which helps us understand where we sit on a heart disease risk spectrum and with progression in other diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, depression and autoimmune diseases. Let’s look at the evidence.

Age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in patients over the age of 65 (3). Therefore, it is very important to help define risk stratification for this disease. In a prospective study, results showed that hsCRP levels were inversely associated with the risk of developing AMD. The group with an hsCRP greater than 3.0 mg/L had a 50 percent increased risk of developing overall AMD compared to the optimal group with hsCRP lower than 1.0 mg/L. But even more interestingly, the risk of developing neovascular, or wet, AMD increased to 89 percent in this high-risk group.

The significance of wet AMD is that it is one type of advanced-stage AMD that results in blindness. This study involved five studies where the researchers thawed baseline blood samples from middle-aged participants who had hsCRP levels measured. There were more than 2,000 participants with a follow-up as long as 20 years. According to the study’s authors, annual eye exams and lifestyle modifications, including supplements, may be able to stem this risk by reducing hsCRP.

These results reinforce those of a previous prospective study that showed that elevated hsCRP increased the risk of AMD threefold (4). This study utilized data from the Women’s Health Study, which involved over 27,000 participants. Like the study mentioned above, this one also defrosted blood samples from baseline and looked at follow-up incidence of developing AMD in initially healthy women.

The highest group had hsCRP levels over 5.2 mg/L. Additionally, when analyzing   similar cutoffs for high- and low-level hsCRP, as the above trial used, those with hsCRP over 3.0 had an 82 percent increased risk of AMD compared to those with an hsCRP of lower than 1.0 mg/L.

Diabetic retinopathy — a complication of diabetes

We know that diabetes affects approximately 10 percent of the U.S. population and is continuing to rise at a rapid rate. One of the complications of diabetes affects the retina (back of the eye) and is called diabetic retinopathy. This is a leading cause of vision loss (5). One of the reasons for the vision loss is macular edema, or swelling, usually due to rupture of tiny blood vessels below the macula, a portion of the back of the eye responsible for central vision.

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), a prospective study involving over 1,400 Type 1 diabetes patients, showed an 83 percent increased risk of developing clinically significant macular edema in the group with the highest hsCRP levels compared to those with the lowest (6). Although these results were with Type 1 diabetes, patients with Type 2 diabetes are at equal risk of diabetic retinopathy if glucose levels, or sugars, are not well controlled.

Depression

Depression is a very difficult disease to control and is a tremendous cause of disability. If we can minimize the risk of complications and hospitalizations, this is probably the most effective approach.

Well, it turns out that inflammation is associated with depression. Specifically, in a prospective observational trial, rising levels of CRP had a linear relationship with increased risk of hospitalization due to psychological distress and depression (7).

In other words, compared to levels of less than 1 mg/L, those who were 1 to 3 mg/L, 3 to 10 mg/L and greater than 10 mg/L had increased risk from 30 to 84 to 127 percent, respectively. This study involved over 70,000 patients.

What can be done to reduce inflammation?

This is the key question, since we now know that hsCRP is associated with systemic inflammation. In the Nurses’ Health Study, a very large, prospective observational study, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet decreased the risk of both heart disease and stroke, which is impressive. The DASH diet also decreases the levels of hsCRP significantly, which was associated with a decrease in clinically meaningful end  points of stroke and heart disease (8).

The DASH diet is nutrient dense with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains and a de-emphasis on processed foods, red meats, sodium and sweet beverages.

Conclusion

As the evidence shows with multiple diseases, hsCRP is a very valuable nonspecific biomarker for inflammation in the body.

To stem the effects of inflammation, reducing hsCRP through lifestyle modifications and drug therapy may be a productive way of reducing risk, slowing progression and even potentially reversing some disease processes.

The DASH diet is a very powerful approach to achieving optimal levels of hsCRP without incurring potential side effects. This is a call to arms to have your levels measured, especially if you are at high risk or have chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, depression and autoimmune diseases. HsCRP is a simple blood test with easy-to-obtain results.

References:

(1) uptodate.com. (2) Diabetes Technol Ther. 2006;8(1):28-36. (3) Prog Retin Eye Res. 2007 Nov;26(6):649-673. (4) Arch Ophthalmol. 2007;125(3):300-305. (5) Am J Ophthalmol. 2003;136(1):122-135. (6) JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013 Feb 7;131:1-8. (7) JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(2):176-184. (8) Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(7):713-720.

Dr. 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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By Eric Rashba, M.D.

Dr. Eric Rashba

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is generally considered to be reaching epidemic numbers, especially among people over age 60. This condition, which is characterized by an erratic, irregular heartbeat, can cause problems ranging from unpleasant symptoms to serious problems like heart failure or stroke.

At the Stony Brook Heart Rhythm Center, our physicians and entire team of heart rhythm experts are constantly working to help people with AFib live better and longer. These are some of the important new state-of-the-art therapies:

Reducing stroke risk for people with atrial fibrillation

People with AFib have a 5 to 7 percent increased risk of having a stroke compared to people without AFib. To help prevent strokes, blood thinners such as warfarin or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are prescribed. Most people do well with medication, but some experience bleeding problems or have other reasons why blood thinners aren’t the best option. 

At the Heart Rhythm Center, our specialists are treating appropriate patients with an implantable heart device, called Watchman™, to offer lifelong protection against stroke. For people who have AFib that’s not caused by a heart valve problem, the device provides an alternative to the lifelong use of blood thinners by blocking blood clots from leaving the heart and possibly causing a stroke. 

Miniaturized pacemaker for people with bradycardia

Bradycardia, also called slow heart rate, is when the heart beats at 60 times a minute or less. Not everyone with a slow heart rate needs a pacemaker — the presence of symptoms and the type of rhythm disorder are key. At our Heart Rhythm Center, for people whose slow heart rate can be treated with a pacemaker in just one of the four heart chambers, we use a pacemaker that is 93 percent smaller than traditional pacemakers, called Micra™. It is the world’s smallest pacemaker available and it offers some big benefits to the patient. 

Conventional, bulkier pacemakers are visible under the skin and have a lead wire that is threaded from the pacemaker into the heart. Our team implants the Micra pacemaker in the electrophysiology lab where the device is placed aboard a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) and moved up to the heart through the femoral vein in the leg. The device lasts for about a decade, and because it is so small, another one can be added to the same heart chamber years down the road when needed. The patient can also be safely scanned using certain types of full-body MRI.  

Zero-radiation ablation

Ablation is a procedure that uses cauterization to burn or scar the electric pathways that trigger the arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm. During a conventional ablation procedure, real-time X-ray, called fluoroscopy, is used and it delivers the equivalent radiation of up to 830 chest X-rays. At Stony Brook, my colleague, Dr. Roger Fan routinely performs complex ablations for AFib without any fluoroscopy at all. This important advance eliminates radiation exposure to the patient, with the same excellent results as conventional ablation. Zero-radiation ablation is such an important advance for the overall health of the patient, since excessive radiation can lead to medical problems over the long term. 

Questions about your heart’s rhythm? Call Dr. Rashba at 631-444-3575 or call 631-444-3278. Interested in learning more about your heart health? Take the free heart health online risk assessment at www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/hearthealth.

Dr. Eric Rashba is the director of the Heart Rhythm Center at the Stony Brook University Heart Institute.

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in Greek mythology, he Caucasian Eagle was tasked by Zeus to torture Prometheus every day.

By Elof Axel Carlson

Elof Axel Carlson

Science is a way of knowing. In today’s world it is based on reason, experimentation, technology and a belief that the natural world can be explained without invoking the supernatural as an explanation. Components of this definition of science have been around ever since humans formed communities and left traces of their daily lives in caves, burial sites and waste disposal sites.  

But in oral lore and written accounts more than 2,000 years ago, three supernatural explanations were used to explain how science arose. In Genesis, we are told the story of Adam and Eve and how Eve was tempted to eat of one of two forbidden trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve and Adam ate of the fruit from the tree of knowledge. For this disobedience Adam and Eve were cursed with a life cycle ending in death as well as pain and a struggle to survive.  

We owe to Greek mythology two different ways knowledge came to humans. Prometheus felt sorry that humans were helpless victims of difficult environments and he gave them a tool, fire, to warm themselves and make their own tools and form a civilization. For this, Prometheus was punished and chained to a rock by Zeus and had an eagle devour his liver every day only to have it regenerate at night.    

The other Greek myth involves Pandora who was given guardianship of a closed box containing the environments of the future. Her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, shutting in hope and releasing all the ills of the world — disease, hunger, war, failure and madness.   

Note that the biblical version uses material reward (appetite or self-indulgence) as the motivation for disobedience. Adam and Eve and all of humanity to come are punished for their act. Note that Prometheus, not mankind, is punished for giving a tool to humanity. Note that Pandora’s curiosity is blamed for the ills of society.  

These three mythic views of how knowledge came to humanity reveal a tension between the world seen by those invoking the supernatural and the views of those who innovate, who explore their curiosity about the world and who show how to apply knowledge to advance human happiness and desire for improvement of their circumstances.  

The tension between religion and science is not a winner takes all choice with either one side or the other being correct, historically or in practice. Scientists can betray the ideal of science through fraud, conflict of interest or indifference to real or possible bad outcomes of their work. Religious or not, humans frequently rationalize their behavior.  

It is the Prometheus version of the gift of fire to make tools and apply science to human welfare that most scientists would favor. Science is seen as a way of describing the world and changing harmful environments into safe ones. It is a tool that leads to new knowledge and experiments and endless applications.   

In Pandora’s universe curiosity is not seen as beneficial. It is seen as a dangerous behavior leading to the release of the evils of this world. What kept us safe before Pandora was some supernatural box in which those evils were contained. Pandora, like Eve, could not resist satisfying her curiosity. But unlike Adam and Eve, she was not looking for a material benefit symbolized by forbidden fruit.  

Note the role of compassion in the motivation of Prometheus. Note the lustful anticipation in Eve’s gullible acceptance of the snake’s guile and to the sexual nature of knowledge reflected by Adam and Eve making clothes as their first act after eating the fruit. Note the lack of forethought to unintended consequences in Pandora’s opening the box.  

While all generations of humanity have faced similar hardships of finding food, building shelters, raising a family and finding meaning in their lives, different generations have interpreted knowledge and its applications in many ways. But all three ancient views of the acquisition of knowledge share a belief, regardless of its origins or its occasional shortcomings, in the importance of knowledge and technology in order to live a better life.    

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University

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Photo from WMHO

AND THE FINALISTS ARE …

From left, Max Tuomey (vocalist, Old Bethpage); Caitlin Beirne (vocalist, St. James); Michael Lomando (vocals/guitar, Centereach); Sara Caligiuri (vocalist, St. James); Lydia Korneffel (vocalist, St. James); Ben Fogarty, Mint Band (trumpet, East Setauket); Varun Jindal, Mint Band (drums, East Setauket); Matt Broadbent, Mint Band (guitar, Setauket); Aidan Hopkins, Mint Band (trumpet, Setauket); Tom Manuel, president, The Jazz Loft (judge); Jay Sangwan, Mint Band (trumpet, Setauket); Naomi Pierro, music instructor, Grace Music School (judge); Jordan Amato (vocals, South Setauket); and Edward Decorsia, New York’s Most Dangerous Big Band ( judge)

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization recently revealed the finalists for its 2018 Long Island’s Got Talent competition. Created by the WMHO’s Youth Corps, the annual competition gives students from across Long Island the opportunity to showcase their amazing talents.  

Seven finalists (including a five-person band) were chosen to take part in the final competition on Sept. 7. The finalists will also be given the opportunity to perform at WMHO’s Sunday Summer Concerts series in July and August.

The judges this year will be Tom Manuel, president of The Jazz Loft; Naomi Pierro, a music instructor at Grace Music School; and Edward Decorsia of New York’s Most Dangerous Big Band.

A $500 scholarship will be awarded to the first- through seventh-place winners by Stony Brook University’s Pre-College Music Program, Five Towns College will once again offer a total of $25,000 in scholarships and Green Towers Group will present a $1,000 cash prize to the first place winner.

 For more information, please call 631-751-2244 or visit www.stonybrookvillage.com.

 

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By Lisa Scott

At the end of March Gov. Cuomo (D) and the New York State Assembly and Senate agreed to a $168 billion budget that tried to please constituencies in an election year while ignoring reforms that are desperately needed. Budget negotiations were conducted behind closed doors among the governor and three top legislative leaders, out of sight of even other lawmakers. It was clear that the policy issues such as gun control or bail reform would not be addressed until (possibly) after the budget’s April 1 deadline, in favor of financial considerations. 

The governor had drafted initial budget proposals that touched on many progressive reforms, yet the negotiations showed that a Republican-led NYS Senate was able to fight hard against any new taxes and fees, and defer inclusion of social policies, while the NYS Assembly had pushed for a large spending increase in its initial budget proposal. The financial 900-lb gorilla in the room was the impact of the new federal tax plan whose cap on SALT (state and local tax deductions) would fall the hardest on New York’s middle class homeowners and taxpayers. The governor called the tax plan “an arrow aimed at the economic heart of the State of New York.” 

The budget also included $26.7 billion in school funding, which will prove useful to incumbent Senate and Assembly members as they campaign for re-election this November.

The League of Women Voters, along with other good government groups, has lobbied long and hard in two areas that were ignored in the final budget: election reform and campaign finance and ethics reforms. Although including the funding for reforms in the budget is the likeliest way to ensure their adoption, it is still possible for the NYS Senate and Assembly to pass bills on these reform areas stipulating their adoption and funding in the following fiscal year (if funding is actually needed). The NYS Senate and Assembly only meet until June 20, so the time for lobbying and constituent pressure is of the essence.  

Election law reforms advocated by the NYS League of Women Voters

Early voting

The league supports enacting early voting in New York State. Currently 37 states allow for some form of early voting. Early voting should be implemented in a manner that will allow equivalent access to the polls for all voters.

 Voter registration

The league supports Election Day registration, on the same day, as a proven method of increasing voter participation. The league also will support reducing the voter registration deadline to 10 days before an election. The league supports pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds.

Ballot design

The league supports improvements to ballot design that would make a clear delineation between offices with a bold vertical bar and a fine line between the candidates, a larger font with an absolute minimum size and fill-in circles in black instead of gray.

Automatic voter registration 

Currently 10 states and the District of Columbia have automatic voter registration (AVR). The league supports an opt-in AVR system that would not require voters to duplicate information. The league supports all state agencies participating in an AVR program.

No-excuse absentee

The league supports a constitutional amendment to allow for no-excuse absentee voting. Currently 27 states and the District of Columbia allow for no-excuse absentee voting.

Single June primary

The league supports legislation that would create a single combined congressional and state June primary date and would bring New York State into compliance with the Military Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. 

Electronic poll books

The league strongly supports replacing printed poll books with electronic poll books to eliminate time and resources spent producing paper poll books and updating voter information and to speed up processing voters at the polls on Election Day. 

Campaign finance and ethics reforms advocated by the NYS League of Women Voters

Ban ‘pay to play’

Strict “pay to play” restrictions on state vendors. The U.S. attorney’s charges that $800 million in state contracts were rigged to benefit campaign contributors to the governor underscores the need to strictly limit contributions from those seeking state contracts.

Close ‘LLC loophole’

Ban unlimited campaign contributions via limited liability companies. LLCs have been at the heart of some of Albany’s largest scandals. 

Strict limits on outside income

Real limits on the outside income for legislators and the executive branch. Moonlighting by top legislative leaders and top members of the executive branch has triggered indictments by federal prosecutors.

Create a database of deals

A “database of deals” will list all state economic development benefits, including grants, loans or tax abatements awarded to a particular business or organization. The database of deals will also include the cost to taxpayers of each job created, and create a uniform definition of what a “job” is across subsidy programs including full time, part time, permanent and contract jobs.

Many good government groups like the league continue to lobby our elected officials in Albany until the end of the session in late June. Please review the above list of reforms, choose one or two, and call or write your NY State senator, Assembly member and Cuomo to express your opinion and priorities. To find the legislators who represent you, enter your street address and ZIP code in the LWV of New York State website link: https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5950/c/8551/getLocal4.jsp.

Lisa Scott is president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org, email [email protected] or call 631-862-6860.

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