Lyme disease must be taken seriously
I have been a member of the Ulster County Legislature for nearly 18 years and during that time have had the opportunity to serve on many committees. I write as chairman of the Ulster County Health Department and am creator of the Lyme Disease Advisory Committee, which was formed by resolution effective April 1, 2012. I saw the committee as an avenue to provide the County Health Department with a group of experts devoted to a single issue, and that was working to make progress with a debilitating illness. My vision was to include a group of Lyme victims, Lyme literate experts and use these groups to lead us down the path to better understanding Lyme disease and the debilitating effect it is having on people in Ulster County and neighboring counties as well.
What we do know is that Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of an infected deer tick. Commonplace from the start is that with most diseases, the primary and underlining mode of prevention is through education of the public. During the term of our meetings, and after hearing from afflicted Lyme patients it became evident that the medical community needed to get on board as well. Importantly as such, the creation of a physician education program including the full spectrum of scientific research, as well as additional alternative treatments related to Lyme is needed. I believe Lyme disease can potentially reach the magnitude of the polio epidemic. Those of us who grew up in the early 1950’s can remember all too well the fear that gripped a whole nation when an unheard of bacterial infection killed and crippled thousands.
With polio however, the federal government pumped money into research to develop a vaccine to eradicate this deadly and crippling disease. We all know that the Hudson Valley has the nation’s highest rates of Lyme disease. We also know that there is emerging evidence of other infections carried by ticks. It is estimated that at least 26,000 cases of Lyme were reported in Dutchess and Ulster counties from 2002 to 2006.
In the meantime, patients suffer with such symptoms as memory loss, inability to speak, pain and a loss of balance as well as severe palpitations, fatigue and joint pain. While these patients continue to suffer the medical community continues to debate how best to diagnose Lyme. One side looks at short term antibiotic therapy while the other side says it has seen improvement after long and sometimes repeated courses of antibiotic therapy, both oral and intravenous. Although the state has cut all funding to Ulster County for Lyme disease, at the same time they keep a close watch on just how the disease is treated. Doctors now fear the threat of investigations, and at the advice of legal counsel, they make every attempt to continue practicing accepted modalities of treatment while those afflicted continue to suffer, perhaps needlessly.
What is needed immediately is the provision and promotion of access to a comprehensive up-to-date clearinghouse of peer-reviewed information about Lyme disease and tick-borne diseases, and the development of sensitive and more accurate diagnostic tools and tests, including a direct detection test for Lyme disease capable of distinguishing active infection from past infection. The time has come to take this disease more seriously, and look at different alternatives with an open mind. The day Jonas Salk announced a vaccine for polio was a day that was celebrated.
Robert Aiello
Legislator, District 2
Saugerties
Elizabeth Hernandez for library board
Congratulations on your excellent article about our newly renovated library. And for those of who have not seen it, stop in to see the exquisite sculptured clock donated by the Friends of the Library in honor of the late library supporter and business person, Harold Wilsey.
In regard to the library, I am writing to request community support in the upcoming election for Saugerties Public Library Board trustee. I have been a member of the Board for the past six years.
During that time, I have worked as President to help pass the referendum to fund the renovation. During the design phase I was privileged to work on the committee that oversaw design and construction. Presently I serve as secretary, and chair of the personnel committee. I am also a member of the policy and finance committees. I consider it an honor to work with the talented members of the Board, and have great faith that the dedicated library staff is moving in the right direction under the leadership of library director Sukrit Goswami.
I feel that I have a unique perspective in that I have been very involved in the community for almost 40 years, first as PTA president at Morse School, then for many years as library assistant there. As president of the Saugerties Educational Support Association, I gained experience dealing with both staff and administration. My fellow board members will attest to the fact that my bottom line is always the beleaguered taxpayer. I think it is very important to work towards better, appropriate services for the community, while always weighing the cost to the taxpayer.
For these reasons, I request your support on September 6, 2012. In addition to trustee candidates, town of Saugerties registered voters are also asked to vote on the 2013 operating budget. I fully support the budget as proposed, which reflects less than a $14,000 increase over last year’s budget, while expanding library hours, services, and programs.
Elizabeth Hernandez
Secretary, Saugerties Public Library
Board of Trustees
I second that motion
I am writing this letter in support of Liz (Elizabeth) Hernandez, who is running for re-election to the Saugerties Library Board. Liz has served as president of the board, as a member and chair of various board committees, and now as board secretary. Liz provides a reasoned and respected voice on the board and has helped to make our library one of the best and most admired in the Hudson Valley.
Liz has been and continues to be a strong advocate for the people of Saugerties. She worked hard to get the library enhancement and renovation project approved; she worked hard to help bring it in on time and under budget; she worked hard to keep tax increases down; and she continues to work hard to bring new programs and services to the library for the benefit of the people of Saugerties.
It has been a pleasure working with Liz and I urge you to vote for her on September 6, as well as for the library budget, so that she and I can continue to work together in the future.
Ken Goldberg
Treasurer and Finance Committee Chairperson
Saugerties Public Library
Reach out and touch art
I have recently experienced three days of deafness due to a buildup of wax, which created a partially disabled person out of me. And, of course, it gave me a chance to experience a loss of a sensory facility. I couldn’t hear music, or watch TV and, hence, turned up the volume to such levels as to disturb my neighbors. I became fearful that I have become deaf and would be deprived of music and the wonderful and essential sounds of life.
This was quite depressing and at times and tragically funny. Thinking of losing one’s senses, however, there is nothing funny about losing one’s vision. Keeping that thought in mind, as a sculptor, I have created a series of sculptures, called “Do Touch” that naturally caters to the visually-impaired and our tactile senses. When the blind enter a museum, they may get a replica of a Rodin in a smaller dimension in order to ‘feel’ the context/idea of the “Thinking Man” and to see it with their hands. Blind people don’t get the full experience the plastic arts.
Museums are typically signed with “Do Not Touch” and the guards, as vigilant minions, adhere to these rules, further depriving “art” for those without sight. A two-dimensional art that is applied to canvas with a brush, in many ways, wants to give us the illusion of three-dimensionality, whereas a sculpture is a three-dimensional object and therefore necessitates to be experienced as such. It is not always “for your eyes only.”
Therefore, I wanted to break the fourth wall by encouraging the sense of touch and the experience of tactility of the work that I have created with my hands to bring it to its three-dimensionality. I have on display a show for the visually-impaired, as well as, those unimpaired to experience it firsthand.
This brings me full circle to that fact that the senses are all synergistically working together and the realization that being deprived of one brings about the extraordinary ability of the others to replace what is lacking. My gallery in Saugerties (42 Livingston Street, Double Take) has on display some of my “Do Touch” pieces. If you know of any visually-impaired people and/or organizations or individuals that couldn’t read this article or should anyone want to experience the gift of tactility in art, do come and do touch and fill the gap of your experiences. Check out my site at www.zwneumann.com; to visit, contact me at zwilly10024@yahoo.com or 845-246-5970.
Ze’ev Willy Neumann
Saugerities
Resist fracking
On Monday, August 27, movement to stop hydrofracking for natural gas in New York will be joining forces in Albany to make it clear that New Yorkers will not stand by and watch its beautiful state be exploited, its waters polluted and its air poisoned by the natural gas industry. Josh Fox, Bill McKibben and Debra Winger will be just some of the speakers.
New Yorkers Against Fracking and its over 150 affiliate groups, 350.org, and many others from across the State will be declaring its commitment to resist fracking. Already over 1300 have signed this pledge- “If Governor Cuomo permits high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracking in any part of New York State, I pledge to join with others to engage in non-violent acts of protest, including demonstrations and other non-violent actions, as my conscience leads me. I make this pledge in order to prevent the destruction and poisoning of New York’s water, air, and food systems, on which life, health, and economic prosperity all depend–including that of future generations.”
The rally and march begins at 11 a.m. at the Amphitheater in the Corning City Preserve, Albany, New York. The Park is located across from the Hudson River Way Pedestrian Bridge, at the corner of Broadway and Pine Street. For more information and to sign the pledge, go to www.dontfrackny.org.
Please join us if you can. For car pooling information call Sue Rosenberg 246-3449.
Sue Rosenberg
Saugerties
Join the family! 
