Bethpage-Tribune_1974-02-14

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VOL. 8 NO. 13 Thursday, February 14, 1974
Russell Kirk
To Make L.I. Visit
10 cents per
Russell Kirk, nationally-known
author, critic , essayist and
columnist, will make a special
appearance on Long Island on
Friday, March 1. One of the
foremost political and moral
thinkers of our time, Dr. Kirk will
lead a two-part lecture and
discussion conference at Molloy
College in Rockville Centre.
Dr. Kirk will speak during both
afternoon and evening sessions.
The first half, set for 3:30 p.m.,
will feature a discussion of "T.S.
Eliot: Poet and Sage." Kirk, a
onetime friend of author T.S.
Eliot, has written Eliot and His
Age: T.S. Eliot's Moral
Imagination in the Twentieth
Century. The book is the most
recent of 18 published by Kirk.
More than a million copies of his
books have been sold, including
The Conservative Mind, his best-known
work.
conunue me conference with a
discussion of "Decadence,
Renewal and the Moral
Imagination." For two decades,
Kirk has been in the thick of the
intellectual controversies of our
time. Both Time and Newsweek
magazines have described him as
one of America's leading
thinkers. Dr. Kirk writes and
-speaks on political thought,
educational theory, literary
criticism, foreign affairs, moral
questions and many other
themes. He has spoken on some
400 American campuses, and to
many different audiences, in­cluding
frequent appearances on
television.
Observation, introspection and
deep thought have given Dr. Kirk
a philosophy of humanity which
lays bare the troubled spots in
society and suggests their cure.
His lifelong study of the work of
T.S. Eliot has formed the basis of
Kirk's philosophy. Through all
his thinking, there runs an acute
awareness of the characteristics
of the human person or com­munity.
Whether they share his
opinions or not, all who encounter
him consider him a force to
reckon with. He has debated with
such well-known speakers, of
various hues, as, William F.
Buckley, Jr., Arthur M.
Schlesinger, Jr., Michael Novak,
William Kunstler, Hubert
Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy
and Dick Gregory.
The conference is a community
service presentation by Molloy
College. All members of the Long
Island and New York
metropolitan area are invited.
Planners of the conference ask
that interested persons contact
the college in order to insure
adequate seating and ac­commodation.
•"-—
Teople' Ready
With New Programs
In Full Swing, Directors Named
PEOPLE of Bethpage has
announced that its storefront
facilities have been expanded
and that a staff of permanent
staff personnel have been hired to
develop further programs for the
community action organization.
People President Tom Morris
said that the organization's
storefront at 280 Broadway is
currently being manned by a
large staff of volunteers from
teen-agers to senior citizens.
"There's no age barrier and for
that reason we may be finally
avoiding that famed "generation
gap', Morris added. PEOPLE is
funded through the Nassau
County Drug and Alcohol
Department and is primarily
aimed at helping community
residents with various problems.
The general program will be
under the guidance of Larry
Sims, recently named Director of
the organization and he will be
aided by James McKague who
will be in charge of actually
carrying out the community
service programs. Sims has a
Doctor of Theology degree and
has many years experience
working on community social
problems. McKague was for­merly
a counsellor at the famed
Phoenix House in New York,
noted for its work in the field of
drug abuse.
The staff employees have been
busy during recent weeks
acquainting themselves with
Bethpage community groups and
determining in what areas
PEOPLE can be of service. They
have established liaison with-various
agencies to provide a
comprehensive referral service
in the case of teen-agers or adults
who come to the organization for
assistance. The referral service
will eventually be expanded to
include family and individual
counselling on drugs, alcohol,
legal aid, job training,
psychiatric asistance and other
fields.
There is still a need for more
volunteers to work in the
headquarters at 280 Broadway
and interested residents of all
ages may stop by and get further
information. Eventually, a
spokesman revealed that
PEOPLE will be seeking larger
quarters to provide the space
needed for their expanded ser­vices.
In the coming months, the
PEOPLE staff anticipates going
even further into community
activity development with
possible theatrical production, a
(Continued on Page 7)
The Public's Right To Know" --'
Cimino Pushes Through
Disclosure Resolution
Richard Wood
In a landmark move-involving
a close 4-2-1 vote-the
Plainedge Board of
Education adopted a
sweeping resolution
calling for public
disclosure of all items
contained in the Board's
confidential report.
It further moved that,
from now on, the public
agenda be greatly ex­panded
and be provided in
a "detailed" format.
In promoting the
"disclosure" resolution*
Trustee Michael Cimino
said that his resolution
involved "the fundamental
right of the community to
be informed."
Admitting that the press
and certain members of
the community have been
critical of the board's so-called
"secrecy" in the
past, Mr. Cimino said the
r e s o l u t i o n would
"eliminate the apathy that
our meetings usually
encourage."
"We have received a
mandate from the com­munity,"
said Cimino-with
apparent reference to the
defeated predecessor
Bahnken Board- "and (we
must decide) whether the
board will vote in secret as
it has done in the past (or
change its ways)."
Voting for the resolution,
along with Cimino, were
School Board President
Franklin McGrath and
Trustees James Edelmann
and Irving "Russ" Weber.
Voting against were
T r u s t e e s Dominick
Gagliardo and Robert
Galante. Board Vice-
President Donald Kanter
abstained.
The resolution read in
full:
"RESOLVED, That the
Plainedge Board of
Education, in addition to
distributing to the com­munity
a monthly notice
outlining the highlights of
the coming public
meeting, shall also provide
to those persons attending
such meeting a detailed
copy of the agenda, in­cluding
all items currently
contained in the con­fidential
report of the
Board; provided that, in
the interest of due process,
items pertaining to
ongoing investigations by
the Boardwhich could lead
to disciplinary action on its
part against any member
of the staff or student body
shall be deleted from the
e x p a n d e d r e p o rt
distributedat said meeting
and handled by t t e Board
in a confidential man­n
e r . . . p r o v i d e d that a
teacher going on mater­nity
leave has the right to
ask that her name be
excluded from the public
agenda."
I t was- one of two
"disclosure" resolutions
on the board's February
7th agenda. The second,
authored by Mr.
Gagliardo, never came to
a vote with passage of Mr.
Cimino's version.
Although the two
resolutions were essen­tially
similar, Mr.
Gagliardo's resolution
included the stipulation
that "any (and, therefore,
apparently all-ED.)
personnel matters will be
omitted from (the) ex­panded
public agenda."
Said Cimino: "Of the
thirteen items on tonight's
agenda, eleven deal with
personnel matters. I don't
think need more be said."
"My particular feeling,"
said Board President
McGrath, "is that we've
put this off for a long
time...Having sat in the
audience, I know how
confusing it can be to
follow a board meeting...!
think that Mr. Cimino's
resolution reserves the
right of confidentiality to
the board and I will
- therefore vote for the
resolution."
Board Vice-President
Kanter, in expressing his
reasons for not voting for
the resolution, said
"personnel matters do not
belong on the agenda until
after they've been con­cluded."
Mr. Galante, agreeing
with Mr. Cimino's sense of'
obligation to the com­munity,
but voting against
the resolution, said "we
must protect the
reputations of our students
and administration. We
have just as much
i t ' s equally important to
protect a teacher's
reputation."
At just about this point
Mr. Cimino said that he
preferred to take "a more
positive approach."
4 'Such. criticism," he
said, "be it warranted or
unwarranted, will always
exist. The main concern is
whether the public has a
right to know."
"I tend to agree with the
resolution raised by Mr.
Cimino," said Mr. Weber,
"I just think the Gagliardo
resolution is too broad and
too limiting on the board. I
believe the new
Superintendent should
have flexibility to make
recommendations (in this
area).. .Therefore, we
should adopt Mr. Cimono's
resolution."
At this particular point,
School Board Vice-
President Kanter asked
for an amendment to Mr.
Cimino's resolution. The
resolution, as approved by
the board, therefore
tacked on the phrase
"provided that a teacher
going on maternity leave
' has the right to ask that
her name be excluded
from the public agenda."
The overall resolution,
seconded by Mr.
Edelmann, essentially
unadulterated, was passed
by the aforementioned
vote.
(Continued on Page 7)