Village Times Herald

The New York State Police are warning the public about an ongoing phone spoofing scam in which scammers impersonate members of law enforcement or government agencies in an attempt to solicit sensitive personal information from individuals across New York State and beyond.

According to a press release on May 30, in recent days individuals have reported receiving phone calls from numbers that appear to be legitimate New York State Police phone lines,Callers falsely claiming to be law enforcement officials have demanded personal information such as Social Security numbers and have threatened punitive action against recipients who refuse to comply.

These calls are fraudulent. The New York State Police and other legitimate government agencies will never call individuals and demand sensitive information or threaten arrest or legal action over the phone.

Phone number spoofing is a tactic commonly used by scammers nationwide to make it appear as if calls are coming from trusted agencies. These scams are designed to create confusion and fear, often leading victims to comply with demands or share information that can be used to commit further fraud.

What You Should Do If You Receive a Suspicious Call:

  1. Do not provide any personal information.
  2. Do not send money or make payments under threat.
  3. Hang up immediately—even if the caller ID appears legitimate.
  4. Save any voicemails and record the phone number if possible.
  5. Verify the call by contacting the agency directly using a trusted number.

The New York State Police urge all residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity involving impersonation of law enforcement or government agencies.

 

Lyla Petroske, a rising talent in the local art scene, is set to unveil her recent work at Studio 268, located at 268 Main Street in Setauket. Titled The Paintings of Lyla Petroske, the exhibition, opening Saturday, June 7th from 5 to 8 p.m., not only showcases Petroske’s artistic talent but also serves a philanthropic purpose: all proceeds from the show will be donated to Long Island Cares, Inc., The Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank.

Utilizing a variety of mediums including pastel, oil paint, printmaking and mixed media, the Port Jefferson resident who attends The Stony Brook School draws inspiration from her fascination with the shapes and color that appear naturally in nature, as well as those of the human form. 

Her featured piece, A Moment with a Stream, is a pastel rendering of a serene scene from the Adirondack Mountains. This work was previously spotlighted at the Reboli Center for Art and History in Stony Brook as part of their Emerging Artist Spotlight, as well as Plein Air Magazine for “Best Plein Air Pastel.” 

A student of Mary Jane van Zeijts of Studio 268 for almost 10 years, Petroske has recently been accepted into the prestigious pre-college art intensive program at NYU, where she will study this July. Additionally, the artist is excited to bring her work to Gallery 90 in Center Moriches this August with nine of her peers.

The decision to donate the exhibition’s proceeds to Long Island Cares reflects Petroske’s concern about addressing food insecurity in her community. Long Island Cares, founded in 1980 by singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, is the region’s first food bank, distributing over 14 million pounds of food annually to nearly 400 partner agencies across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The organization also operates several food pantries and offers programs targeting the root causes of hunger.

Petroske has said that “my ability to fill my life with painting is the biggest blessing, one that I’m often consumed by. I needed to use this exhibit to step out of my bubble and spread love to my struggling neighbors. To be able to paint is a privilege, but to be able to eat is a rudimentary human right.”

In addition to the June 7th opening reception, the exhibition will be open to the public every Sunday of June from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to view and purchase Petroske’s artwork, with the knowledge that their contributions will support Long Island families in need.

For more information, call 631-220-4529.

Heather Lunch, professor in SBU’s Department of Ecology and Evolution, speaking at the May meeting of the League of Women Voters at Comsewogue Library. Photo by Sabrina Artusa

By Sabrina Artusa

For a research-focused doctoral university like Stony Brook University, federal cuts to grant funding creates uncertainty for research faculty relying on the money either for potential projects or current ones. 

As one of only 187 universities in the nation designated as having a very high research spending and doctorate production, according to Carnegie Classification, the university is highly active in academic research. 

Funding is commonly sponsored by federal departments like the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and NASA. Federal sponsors account for the majority of funding for research awards – over 50% of research and development in higher education fields was financed by the federal government according to 2021 NSF data. 

Salaries and staff

This money not only supports the faculty at R1 schools whose priority is research and are classified as having Very High Research Activity, but also the various other components of the project such as materials, postdoctorate students, graduate students and overhead. Stony Brook University Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution Heather Lynch likens research to “running a small business.” Indeed, principal investigators (PI) are usually responsible for the salaries of the research scientists and postdocs working below them. 

In a 2022 letter, Stony Brook University leadership revised the salary ranges for postdoc researchers. They write, “We understand that many postdoc and research scientist positions are supported by externally sponsored awards, which are typically fixed in their total amount, and therefore salary increases are subject to the availability of funds.”

Some faculty are paid by the university in 9- or 6-month appointments. These researchers are then responsible for supplementing their salary for the rest of the year through grant funding. Since research is the primary function of their position at R1 universities – teaching is secondary – Lynch said that she and other faculty are responsible for supplementing their salary through grants. “The PI is not out there necessarily wanting to take on more research, but you have a lot of employees working for you and you want to keep them employed, so you are constantly hustling,” Lynch said.

Researchers that are part of university faculty receive a base salary; however, it is typical that “soft money” staff, usually medical researchers who don’t do much teaching, do not receive any salary from the university they work for and have to pay themselves through grants. 

Due to the loss of funding, many researchers, postdocs and graduate students are considering leaving the U.S. to pursue their studies. According to a Nature  poll, around three-quarters of over the 1,500 postgraduates, grad students and scientists that answered were exploring international opportunities, as of March. 

Some grant programs were specifically intended for young researchers. Now, universities are limiting their acceptance of graduate students as they reorient resources to support current students amid the diminished indirect cost funding.

Impact of research

Grants usually take months to create; in addition to detailing the project plan, research strategy  and the equipment needed, the document can have broader impact sections, which usually includes the opportunities for engagement for underrepresented groups. With the expiring of DEI, “they changed the way broader impacts are defined,” Lynch said. Key DEI words relating to gender or words leading to blocks, even for research already in progress. 

The scrupulous application process includes eliminating any potential conflicts of interest, which includes anyone the principal investigator has worked with the previous 48 months. Then, a panel of experts meet to study and analyze the proposal. For a proposal Lynch created, she assembled a list amounting to over 180 conflicts of interest. The process is designed to prevent bias or corruption.

Lynch believes cuts were enabled by a societal misunderstanding of the value that lies in the research. Obscure to the less scientifically-versed, these projects aren’t often recognized for their discoveries, at least not in wide public spheres. 

Having been  a PI herself, Lynch has done environmental research on Antarctic penguins that won her a Golden Goose Award for federally funded and underrecognized research that had tremendous impact in scientific communities, potentially paving the way for further discoveries and innovations. Other Golden Goose winners include a team whose research led to artificial intelligence advancements. 

“These grants are not a gift, they are payments for services,“ Lynch said.

Indirect costs

Funding dedicated to operating the university and thereby enabling this research are factored into the proposal under facilities and administrative rates, otherwise known as indirect costs. Direct costs include salaries and equipment – costs that are necessary for the specific project. Indirect costs are specific to the university; therefore, each project that is associated with the school and is benefiting from its services must include an additional amount that goes back to the school.  

The rate was capped at 15% by the NIH, DOE and NSF. The NIH and DOE caps are enacted retroactively. The cap is universal across the country. Previously, indirect cost rates varied depending on the university. R1 universities, which typically have larger research facilities, had higher rates. Stony Brook had a rate of 56%, and previously applied for rate renewals with the Department of Health and Human Services. 

IDC limited the amount researchers can use while raising the overall grant request. Previously, researchers complained about this, but now, Lynch said “these IDC rates mean you are not going to have money to maintain equipment, you are going to have to reduce staff to core faculties, you will not be able to build new research faculties, you will have to fire people who do permits and lab safety.”

“These cuts can make it very hard for these PIs like myself to keep postdocs and graduate students paid, and these layoffs in the talent pipeline will create long-term damage to our scientific competitiveness,” Lynch said. She said she does not speak on behalf of the university. 

By Steven Zaitz

There has been quite a lot to cheer about at Ward Melville High School so far this school year.

Unless you live under a giant, three-cornered hat within the Three Village Central School District, you are probably at least somewhat aware of the ever-lengthening list of athletic achievements Patriots nation has cobbled together so far in 2024-2025.

A third straight New York State title in girls soccer, Long Island championships in both girls and boys volleyball, league titles in cross country, fencing, winter track, girls golf, along with the football team playing for a county chip at Stony Brook, are just some of the headliners for which the green and gold have hoisted up banners in the gym the past few months. With the spring playoffs underway, Ward Melville is looking to add to the list. 

Another team — the one that flips and shouts the loudest in support of their fellow champions — that also deserves three cheers for its own success is the Ward Melville cheerleading squad. 

Competing across multiple seasons and disciplines, the cheerleading team has earned as much fame and glory as any of these green and gold greats. They have won the last two New York State winter titles for competitive cheerleading, which emphasizes high-skill routines with complex stunting, tumbling and jumping.

They also won the state title in the Game Day Cheer category in the fall of 2024. Game Day Cheer can best be described as what would be performed at a football game, requiring less choreography and acrobatics than Competitive Cheer, but more in the way of crowd engagement. In being the best in New York in both categories, they of course had to first get through the grueling death struggle that is the Long Island high school cheering multiverse.

Not satisfied with local victories, the squad journeyed to the Mecca of competitive cheerleading — the Universal Cheerleaders Association national championships in Orlando, Florida. About 1,000 teams from all over the country swarm Disney every February, and this year the Patriots made it all the way to the finals of the Division I Small School Coed event. 

They were edged out for the national title by a fraction of a point by a team from Colorado, and while it was excruciating not to finish at the top of the pyramid, it was still a wildly successful trip and season for the team.

Junior Ian Licavoli is a pillar of the Ward Melville varsity squad in many ways. So much a foundation of the Flying Patriots’ success, Licavoli’s position in cheerleading parlance is called “base.” And what a base he is. 

For his efforts and contributions to the team, he was named Newsday’s first team All-Long Island last month. He was the only male cheerleader on that list.

“I started to fall in love with cheerleading around seventh grade and started to really take it seriously in ninth grade,” said Licavoli, who just completed his third year on varsity. “I played Three Village lacrosse and football as a kid but when I started going to open gyms for cheer and I learned how to tumble on my own, everything fell into place. I’m so grateful that it did because cheerleading is such a special sport.”

Ward Melville varsity coach and 2024-2025 Suffolk County Coach of the Year Georgia Curtis is able to harness Licavoli’s talent and thus inject more diversity and excitement into the team’s routine.

“Ian is an amazing athlete,” Curtis said. “Some of the boys on Long Island are able to do one or two of the things that Ian does, but Ian is elite at everything we ask of him and we are so lucky to have him on this team.”

This past year, eight schools on the island participated in coed cheer, a four-fold increase from just two years ago.

In a typical Patriots game day routine, 20 girls will dance, tumble and leap with precise orchestration to the sounds of a recorded marching band as Licavoli weaves between them, shouting “Go Pats, Go” through an oversized bullhorn. Midway through the performance, the music stops and he moves to the center of the formation to meet his longtime friend and flyer, senior Emma Miller.

Effortlessly, Licavoli raises Miller to the sky as if they were both in a zero-gravity chamber, cupping the bottom of her shoes in the palms of his hands as she waves her pom-poms, flashes a touchdown sign and kicks like a Radio City Rockette, just as if she were standing on flat ground. Other formations of flyers flank Licavoli and Miller in groups of two or four, while the shouting and smiling group urges an imaginary football team to score a touchdown. 

Curtis and assistant coach and former Patriots cheerleader Maggie Hurley are stationed in front of the mat, beating it with their hands in rhythm with the music, enthusiastically urging the squad as they complete their stunts.

“When this team competes, it is just special,” said Curtis. “People outside the program pull me aside and tell me that, and it really makes me feel good as a coach. But what is also great is how these kids act when they are off the mat. The sportsmanship they have for other teams and the support they have for each other are things you don’t see every day. As a coach, it’s amazing to be a part of.”

Miller, who will cheer at the next level at the University of Delaware, was also named by Newsday as one of the top flyers on the Island. Despite a routine being roughly three minutes on the mat, the hours and hours of practice over many years have helped her and Licavoli to form a bond for success.

“From August to March, we practice six days a week, about three hours a day,” Miller said. “We work really hard to get the chemistry and the trust aspect down pat and I’m super confident in the air and that’s what makes people want to look at you. The confidence I have in myself all comes from my confidence in Ian.”

Traditionally an all-girls sport, especially in the northeast, Licavoli doesn’t consider himself a pioneer or a rebel, despite the potentially divergent perceptions of a boy on the same team as 20 girls, as is the case with the Ward Melville team. 

“In the beginning, I suppose being the first boy cheerleader was a little difficult, because our school is so focused on football and lacrosse,” Licavoli said. “It took a little time to get used to, but I just stuck with it because it really is what I love to do and the amount of respect I think I’ve gained from it, the people I have met and the bonds with my teammates — I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

His teammates are thankful that Licavoli feels this way and rely on him as a pillar of strength on and off the mat.

“Ian just brings so many positive assets to the team with his humor and encouragement,” said teammate Emma Jackson, who is responsible for the important cheer position of back spot. “After a hard practice, he is always going to be there just to lighten everyone’s mood. Everybody on this team is just one big family and Ian meshes into that family very naturally because we all love what we do and love doing it together.”

A member of Licavoli’s other family, his mom Melanie, is proud of how he has pursued the sport that he loves and how it has brought out the best in him.

“I love watching him and what he’s been able to achieve,” Mrs. Licavoli said. “In cheer, you have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to show what you can do and that’s the only chance you get. To watch them as a team deliver great performances consistently, and with Ian being such a leader on the team, it’s amazing and I’m so proud.”

Licavoli, an excellent student who has an eye perhaps toward the medical profession, would love to continue his cheer career at the next level, just as his friend Miller will do.

“I’d love to go to school in Florida to pursue my athletic and academic career,” he said. “There are a lot of schools down there with great cheer programs.”

First, Licavoli has one more year at Ward Melville as a senior, and before he becomes a college student in Florida, he’ll want to make one final business trip to Orlando for nationals in 2026 — and this time finish on top of that pyramid.

From left, Dr. Suzanne Velazquez, Director Anna Smith Strong Chapter NSDAR; teacher Mrs. Gina Schwarz; Lindsey Steward-Goldberg, Education Coordinator Three Village Historical Society; and Nancy Dorney, Regent, Anna Smith Strong Chapter NSDAR. Photo by Patricia Broderick, Vice Regent, Anna Smith Strong Chapter NSDAR
Lindsey Steward-Goldberg, Education Coordinator Three Village Historical Society and Owen Kulick, 4th grade student at Arrowhead Elementary School. Photo by Patricia Broderick

The Anna Smith Strong Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution recently presented the first annual Lillian Walker Bowman Scholarship to Mrs. Gina Schwarz, a fourth-grade teacher at Arrowhead Elementary School in East Setauket, according to a press release.

The scholarship was established in loving memory of Anna Smith Strong Chapter NSDAR member Lillian Elizabeth Walker Bowman, a dedicated teacher, devoted community member, and passionate supporter for learning and history.

The scholarship included a presentation titled “Long Island Spies of the American Revolution” to the entire fourth grade class by Lindsey Steward-Goldberg, Education Coordinator of the Three Village Historical Society.

“The presentation was very timely since the Anna Smith Strong Chapter has kicked off America 250 with this and other events. This topic is also part of the fourth-grade curriculum. The Anna Smith Strong Chapter NSDAR would like to congratulate Mrs. Gina Schwarz and to thank the Three Village Historical Society and Three Village School District for collaborating with us,” read the release.

By Greg Catalano

Hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2054, the Setauket Memorial parade on May 26 honored those who lost their lives fighting in our country’s armed services. Girl and boy scouts, the Setauket Fire Department and the Three Village Patriot Marching band were present.

After a ceremony at the Village Green, the procession started at the corner of Main Street and Route 25A and contended to Memorial park for the closing ceremony. Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setaukey), Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson) and Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook)  were in attendance and placed wreathes in honor of those lost. 

Chaplin Michael Russell led a prayer to the veterans, families, community members and politicians in attendance. Leon Schoemmell hosted the event and delivered a speech asking those present on the sunny day to reflect with gratitude on the sacrifices made by all our fallen men and women military heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. He urged everyone to keep their memories alive.

— Photos by Greg Catalano

By John Broven

John Broven with the ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award.

During my 30 years living on Long Island, I have been fortunate to travel to places south, west and north in the United States, but never to the heartland. 

So, with a curious mind, it was an easy decision to attend the Association of Recorded Sound Collections annual conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 14-17.

One of the panels revolved around my favorite subject, the independent record industry from the post-World War II years onward. This is where rock ‘n’ roll music was born. 

My presentation was accepted on “The Pioneering Black NYC Record Men, with a Nod to New Orleans.” This was based on my taped interviews with Bobby Robinson of Harlem in 1986 and New Orleanian Harold Battiste, then living in Los Angeles in 1975, also including Juggy Murray of New York. Interview excerpts were embedded in an accompanying video professionally prepared by Debbi Scott Price of Stony Brook. 

Robinson captured the street beat sound of Harlem from the 1950s blues and vocal group era to hip hop in the late 1970s. In 1959, he had a national No. 1 record on the pop charts with “Kansas City” by Wilbert Harrison. Murray was responsible for breaking Ike and Tina Turner’s very first hits on the Sue label and his recordings were a bedrock of the British 1960s Mod era. While on the West Coast, Battiste established the careers of Sonny & Cher (“I Got You Babe”) and Dr. John. How lucky was I to meet and get to know these great record men.

To the heartland

And so on a chilly May 14, I set out for Tulsa. The Long Island Rail Road train from Stony Brook was on time and I disembarked at Woodside station for LaGuardia Airport. There, with suitcase and bag in hand, I was confronted by an impossibly steep staircase, probably unchanged since Victorian times. Happily, a kind gentleman grabbed my case and we found our way through the bustling streets to the free bus to LaGuardia. He turned out to be a Kenyan citizen now living in Texas, and our British Commonwealth backgrounds created an immediate bond. 

The Delta Air Lines direct flight to Tulsa was slightly delayed but we arrived on time at the “oil capital of the world.” A courtesy shuttle bus was arranged by the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Here, in early evening, was my first taste of Oklahoma. The vegetation was surprisingly green, yet I was mindful of the hurt of the Dust Bowl era, also the American Indian heritage. 

During the conference, we visited Leon Russell’s Church recording studio, which is still active. In its time, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder have all recorded there. Oklahoma itself has deep music history ranging from the western swing of Bob Wills, Black bandleaders Ernie Fields and Roy Milton to the folk music of Woody Guthrie and the mesmeric rock of J.J. Cale. A film screening of “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” was also arranged. 

I couldn’t resist the invitation of distinguished German record collector, Dr. Rainer Lotz, to a gourmet meal at the best restaurant in Tulsa, the FarmBar. We had a “traditional” five-course meal from local produce with the menu showing wine pairings from Oregon, Austria and France. Lotz, in his inimitable way, insisted that as we were in America, we must have all-American wine pairings. And the charming sommelier and her staff duly obliged. A splendid evening culminated in two couples at the adjoining table inviting us Europeans to join them for a final drink. When I said I didn’t realize that Oklahoma was so near to Texas, one of them quipped, “Yes, Texas is south of heaven.”

I managed to call in quickly into the Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan centers. Sadly, I ran out of time to visit the Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center, covering the appalling destruction of the Black part of town in 1921.

So what was it like for an East Coast “elitist” to be in the heartland? It was an eye opener. Not once did I see a lawn sign or banner promoting the current president, nor was he mentioned by any of the friendly locals. The only time I heard his name was when I caught up with the news on CNN and MSNBC. The Democratic strategists have work to do.

ARSC awards ceremony

The conference Closing Banquet and ARSC Awards Program was held on Saturday, May 17. It was an Oscar-like OMG moment when the Lifetime Achievement Award was announced to … John Broven. The citation included my books, writing for Blues Unlimited and Juke Blues magazines and my stint with Ace Records of London. 

In an impromptu speech, I thanked my fellow pioneering Brit writers and researchers — we were no more than keen amateurs with day jobs — who from the 1960s onward documented America’s great musical heritage. This award, essentially on their behalf, came from an organization whose membership includes representatives from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, major universities and public libraries. In my later years, I am indebted to the staunch support of my late wife Shelley, the daughter of a record man. 

Riding on cloud nine, I made the journey back home Sunday to East Setauket. It took three hours to fly from Tulsa to New York. It took another three hours to get from Jamaica station to Stony Brook, courtesy of LIRR. 

Still, I was greeted by a garden with irises, lupines, foxgloves and dogwood tree in full bloom. And my kitchen had been beautifully repainted in Shelley’s favorite color. Life could not be grander for a lad who had grown up in austerity postwar Britain with a passion for American rock ‘n’ roll music. 

One of the first records I played on my return? It had to be Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’ “Take Me Back To Tulsa.”

Author John Broven was copy editor at TBR News Media from 2006-24.

— All photos courtesy John Broven

Zinnias are the perfect choice for homegrown bouquets. Pixabay photo

By Alice Dawes

National Garden Week takes place annually in the first full week of June. This year it is held from June 1 to 7. It is spearheaded by National Garden Clubs, a nonprofit national organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri that promotes the love of gardening, floral design, and civic and environmental responsibility. 

The day is about bringing more awareness to the importance of gardening and preserving gardening traditions and practices by passing on knowledge to new gardeners. Most importantly, the day is about simply enjoying gardening. 

The Three Village Garden Club, organized over 90 years ago, is a member of the National Garden Clubs along with 30 other local garden clubs on Long Island. The club meets weekly on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Setauket Neighborhood House and welcomes our community members to join us to learn about gardening skills, environmental action and civic programs to enhance our community. Information about our current meeting topics can be found at threevillagegardenclub.org and selecting ‘upcoming events’ in the tool bar. 

The club protects and enhances our Three Village Garden Club Arboretum at the end of Bates Road in Setauket and encourages all to visit and enjoy a walk through nature. Pets on leashes only, please! 

The club provides educational programs on floral design, gardening pointers and youth creative projects through Emma Clark Library’s educational program series. With Emma Clark we also provide a Teddy Bears’ Picnic every summer at the Three Village Garden Club Arboretum for our younger neighbors to enjoy. 

National Garden Week is a time to have an adventure in planting, create and savor our wonderful gardens and the plants we grow there. Plant something new, make a bouquet for your home and introduce our children to the wonders of growing with nature during National Garden Week

Author Alice Dawes has been a member of the Three Village Garden Club for over 20 years.

 

Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Six degrees of separation could help us all.

We are only six people away from anyone in the world.

We probably don’t have to go that far to find people who live throughout the United States.

That means we have friends, relatives, professional colleagues, former classmates and others who can make a difference.

New Yorkers likely have the support of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand when it comes to critical funding for the National Institutes of Health and for the National Science Foundation, whose financial support is under severe threat from the current budget the senate is considering and that the house has already passed.

Cuts in these areas will have critical and irreversible consequences for us, our children, our families and our future.

The money that goes into science has paid enormous dividends over the decades. The United States is able to outcompete many other nations because it has attracted the world’s best researchers to cutting edge areas.

These people drive the future of innovation, provide medical expertise that saves lives, and start companies that provide numerous high paying jobs around the country.

Cutting back means retreating from the world stage, enabling other nations to develop treatments and cures for diseases that might cost us much more money or become less accessible to those who weren’t in on the ground floor.

It also will hurt our economy, as patents and processes lead to profits elsewhere.

Shutting off the valve of innovation will turn fertile fields of scientific exploration and innovation into barren deserts.

This is where those six degrees comes in. New Yorkers probably don’t need to urge our senators to commit to scientific budgets. But senators from other states, hoping to remain in favor with their party and to act in a unified way, might not be as comfortable supporting scientific research when they and their constituents might believe they don’t stand to gain as much from that investment in the short term. After all, not every state has leading research institutions such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University, a top-rated research institution and a downstate flagship for the SUNY system.

You remember those relatives whose politics are different from your own and who often create a scene at Thanksgiving or the holidays? Well, it’s time to talk with them, not at them. Let them know how much you, they and, an argument that’s hard to ignore, their parents and their children stand to lose if they stop investing in science.

How about that annoying guy at the company retreat who is thrilled to talk about how sad the elites are these days?

Talk to him, too. Let him know that his parent with Alzheimer’s or his uncle with a debilitating condition could one day benefit from discoveries in labs that desperately need funding.

Indeed, his own hearing or vision might depend on continued investment into research about diseases that become more prevalent as he ages.

We all benefit from these discoveries and we all lose out when we stop investing or contributing.

As for his children, they might get jobs in companies that don’t yet exist but that will form as a result of the discovery of products or processes that arise out of research.

The United States is still the only nation to send people (and it’s only men so far) to the moon, allowing them to set foot on a place other than our incredible planet.

Those moments and achievements, even decades later, inspire people to want to become astronauts, to join NASA, to provide the kind of information and research that make future missions possible.

While we don’t need funding for everything, we benefit from ongoing efforts and discoveries in direct and indirect ways. Shutting down labs, reducing internships and graduate school offerings, and stopping the process of asking questions creates headwinds for innovation, the economy and medical discoveries.

Urge those outside of New York to write to their senators, to make the kind of choices that will support and enrich the country and to prevent a one-way road to a dead end. We don’t have to agree on everything, but it’s worth the effort to encourage people to let our elected officials know that their constituents understand what’s at stake.

A senator from Mississippi might not care what you, a New Yorker, thinks, but he’s more likely to pay attention to a resident in his district. We need science whisperers in every state. We can not and will not let the NIH budget decline without a fight. Take a jog, practice yoga, meditate. Then, go talk to those relatives and encourage them to support science and the future.

Pixaby

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

Perhaps you have noticed that there is little to no national news in our newspapers and on our website? We assume you understand that it is not because we are unaware of what is happening in our country and in the world. Most of us here at the company start each day with the news via radio or television or cable and even with news flashes from different sources on our cellphones. We talk about those items in the office and listen or watch when we return home. 

In fact, that’s the problem.

We can’t seem to escape the plethora of upsetting news that fills our waking hours. But we strive to provide one retreat from the chaotic world in which we live: the hometown news.

That is not to say we report no bad news in our towns and villages. Of course we do. News is news. But one positive about local news: to a large extent, we can bask in the good events that occur and have some degree of control over what happens around us. We can take pride in our students’ achievements, we can make our voices heard in development plans if we know what is going on, we can get to know our interesting neighbors from their profiles, we can plan our weekends from the many offerings in the calendar. In short, local news is a mirror held up to our daily lives whose many details can’t be found anywhere else.

We strive to make local news an oasis amid a sea of distressing troubles.

That means, we regularly turn away letters and opinion pieces that protest against national and international politicians and policies unless what is happening affects us only locally. But if you want to express your strongly held views on a local matter, however minute, we provide a platform from which you can be heard. 

To get broader news, there are many sources. To get local news, there is only us, the hometown paper or website. We don’t want to be thought of as smaller versions of daily newspapers any more than children are to be considered smaller adults.

In that way, we have not changed.

However, gathering and disseminating the news has dramatically changed, even as computers and the internet started to alter the industry fifty years ago, right around the time our company began. 

Pixabay image

You are probably aware of the revolutionary switch from hot type associated with Ben Franklin’s day, to the cold type that referred to mainframe and then desktop computers half a century ago. Now, when you walk into a news building, if you can find one, you see that the offices are largely empty. Many staff members are working remotely.

What does that mean?

In some ways, it is a win. We can interview by FaceTime, cover meetings by zoom, write up our stories, sometimes in record time and send them into the office or post to the web via the internet. All of this can be accomplished while we are still in our pajamas, drinking our coffee, and without our having to pay a babysitter if we take turns with our spouse, who is also working remotely.

If the children have already grown up and left home, well then, we can put in a load of wash, go back to work, pause to change the load to the dryer, and resume where we left off. And if we move, we can still keep our jobs. 

In some ways, it’s a loss. Talking with each other digitally is not the same as talking together in the office, where we can bounce ideas around the room and watch each other’s body language. I believe we are more polite, stilted even, on a zoom gathering. Digital has sucked away the personal.

We at TBR News Media are functioning with four key positions filled remotely. Quality may not be suffering, but we certainly miss our staffers, their chatter and their random thoughts.