Feb 10 - The Nyack Villager

Doctors Without Borders, founded in 1990, is
currently treating people on the ground and
will be operating its inflatable hospital.
Americares, founded 1982, is sending $5 million
of medical aid including antibiotics, pain
relievers, bandages and medical supplies for
survivors with trauma injuries. ere are
other rescue agencies. See the website.
• Do not give to the Haitian government.
Haiti’s government is notoriously corrupt.
• Be careful of e-mail solicitations.
• Be leery of anybody who contacts you online
claiming to be a victim.
• Hang up on telemarketers.
• Do not send supplies. is type of philanthropy
is neither practical nor efficient. Even
if mail could get to Haiti, no one is set up to
receive goods, much less organize and distribute
them to victims. Furthermore, charities
are often able to partner with companies to
acquire large donations such as bottled water
and new clothing. Instead of boxing up and
sending your old clothing, have a garage sale
and turn your used goods into cash and donate
that to a worthy charity.
ere may be a time in future when donations
of goods will be useful. For now, the best donation
is in currency.
Charity Navigator rates the charities.
e following are in the top category.
Unicef gets 4 stars ★★★★ and an overall
score of 61.55
Oxfam America gets 4 stars ★★★★ and an
overall score of 63.01
Americares gets 4 stars ★★★★ and an
overall score of 61.28
Doctors Without Borders gets 4 stars ★★★★
and an overall score of 61.23
4 The Nyack Villager February, 2010
Reporter at large
starts on page 3
Blue Rock School receives grant
Blue Rock School of West Nyack received a grant
from e Arts Council of Rockland (ACOR) for
a project entitled, Symbiosis in Art & Science.
Middle school teacher Meredith Kates and local
artist Ruth Waldman, will work with students in
scientific experiments and mixed-media sculpture
to learn about symbiosis and how it is applied in
both art and science.
e term symbiosis commonly describes close and
often long-term interactions among different biological
species. In recent years, it has been employed
by artists and writers as well, used to
describe the symbiotic relationships between an
artist and his work, between elements in a particular
piece, and between art and nature.
In the project at Blue Rock School, students will
explore the concept of symbiosis and how it can
be found in both art and science.
Friends Of the Nyacks
2010 Elected Steering Committee Officers:
Danielle Watson, Chair; Duncan Lee, Vice
Chair; Paulette Ross, Vice Chair; Charlie Cross,
Recording Secretary; Jerry Carroll, Treasurer.
e Friends thanked Deborah Darbonne for all
her time and efforts throughout her tenure as
Chair and are happy that she will continue to
serve on the Steering Committee.
Left to right: Danielle Watson, Chair; Duncan Lee,
Vice Chair; Paulette Ross, Vice Chair; Jerry Carroll,
Treasurer. Absent: Charlie Cross, Secretary.
2009 was a banner year for e Friends. Among
the year’s highlights: Chaired the Nyack Quad
celebration, hosted the Sloop Clearwater in cooperation
with Nyack Boat Club, received the
County Executive Arts Award, co sponsored the
4th annual Art Walk, successfully produced the
19th annual Mostly Music Concerts in Nyack’s
Memorial Park, hosted virtual & live Candidates’
Forums. At the year’s end, e Friends agreed to
serve as sponsor for Arts Rock, the newly formed
organization producing arts and entertainment
throughout Rockland County.
Friends of the Nyacks, now in its 36th year, is a
non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining
and improving the quality of life in the Nyacks. e
Friends value the richness of our history and architecture,
the variety of our residents' interests and the
possibilities for our area in the future. Contact
Friends of the Nyacks, www.friendsofthenyacks.org
at (845) 358-4973.
Horses get paid time off.
Humans? Not so Much.
If a new proposal before New York’s City
Council is enacted, Central Park horses would
get a full five weeks of job-protected vacation
time per year, while continuing to enjoy their
standard payment: room, board and grooming.
If enacted, the rule might make New York humans
a little jealous. In October a report by
the Community Service Society found that at
least 1.3 million working New Yorkers (about
39% of the city's workforce) have no paid
leave whatsoever—no vacation, no sick days,
no nada.
According to e Huffington Post, legislation
has been introduced that would begin to give
the US human workforce parity with the standards
proposed for the Big Apple's equine
workers: periodic holidays with pay, paid sick
leave and a weekly day of rest.
Desalinating the Hudson
In December, 2006, the NY Public Service
Commission directed United Water, private
owner of Rockland’s public water supply, to
find a long term solution to the water shortage
that crops up all too often in Rockland.
United Water brushed aside arguments that
Rockland has plenty of natural water and that
problems could be fixed through conservation,
infrastructure improvements, better land use,
stormwater and watershed management. Instead,
United Water pressed for construction
of a project to desalinate Hudson River water.
e project is expected to cost up to $105
million (in 2008 dollars). United Water expects
to recover its costs through a New Water
Supply Source surcharge, which water users will
be forced to pay.
United Water promotes the scheme with slick
television ads designed to make viewers feel
good. In fact, because it will draw from the
Hudson River, the drinking water the plant
produces may contain traces of radioactive
chemicals that pose serious threat to human
health. e radioactivity is courtesy of
Entergy, the Indian Point people.
In addition, the plant will use two to three
times as much electricity as a similarly-sized
water treatment plant and only produce threequarters
of the water—all while adding to carbon
emissions, polluting the Hudson River,
damaging wildlife and creating more floods.
Desalination has failed elsewhere.
Florida’s Tampa Bay plant, perhaps the most
notorious example of the failures of desalination,
is unable to consistently produce the
promised amount of water. It came online
years behind schedule and millions of dollars
over its predicted cost. A smaller plant in
Swansea, Massachusetts, went over its $18
million original budget before its scheduled
date to come online. Desalination projects
currently proposed in California are being met
with considerable resistance from local groups.
Rockland residents fight back.
Local residents have formed the Rockland
Coalition for Sustainable Water which, in addition
to opposing the plant, is working to educate
stakeholders about safe and affordable
means of establishing a sustainable source of
drinking water for the area. Reach them online
at RocklandWater@gmail.com or call (845)
429-2020.
Also critical of the plan is Food & Water
Watch, a non-profit watchdog group. Reach
them at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/
Who is United Water?
United Water is part of Suez Water, a French
multinational corporation with operations primarily
in water, electricity, natural gas and
waste management.
concludes on page 7