Letters to the Press: For the Week of July 1 – July 7

Bring Back the Spring

Dear Jaclyn Gallucci,

I hope the people win back their right to public drinking water [“Water Wars,” June 17]. Never a fan of the bottled water craze. When in Rome I did as the Romans have done for centuries: drank from the public faucets around Rome. The trip was great due to the one simplest thing—my water bottle (aluminum) was full. No, I didn’t get sick. If the water is bad, why does the [boating] club still have the water running? Someone called in a favor.

Anonymous, Islip

Beach Drownings Hit Home

Dear Editor,

Last year, our family gathered for a reunion at a location that was central to all of our relatives. Instead of making wonderful memories, we were faced with a heartbreak like we have never known. Unfamiliar with the danger of rip currents [“Swim at Your Own Risk,” June 24], my brother-in-law, along with some of the older children, chose to take a swim. It was September 18, and there was no lifeguard present. Until faced with this unspeakable tragedy, you tend to think this only happens to others; the pain never goes away.

I have to wonder, if we are doing all we can to inform the public—from students to seniors—of what to do if caught in a rip current. After our loss, we felt as a family an urgency to do something, anything, to be sure that some good could come from the pain of losing one we loved so much. Our beloved Keith was a good swimmer, an adult, yet he was defenseless because of a lack of information. Following his death, two of my children gave lectures at their colleges. Another appealed to local authorities to erect signs with safety instructions on the road leading to the beach—and it happened! (Our family member drowned at Rodanthe Beach, Nags Head N.C.) Another wrote to the airlines and soon there could be warnings posted in the seatback magazine.

We can all do more; in the schools before summer break, on radio, and on television. In the same manner as “It’s 10 o’ clock—do you know where you’re children are?” A simple warning like, “If you are caught in a rip current, don’t fight it—swim parallel to the beach!” A simple sentence could save countless lives!”

Debbie Carbone, Centerport

Chief Responds to Pols

I would ask New York State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) just who those recommendations in his committee’s cigarette tax report were intended to address [“Letters to the Press,” June 24]. Obviously not the Unkechaug since he recommends “state termination” of a culture and race of people. Assemb. Michael Benjamin is from the Bronx, has never visited the Reservation and based his legislation on a newspaper article. Is that the quality of “in-depth investigation” the State of New York conducts? “…broken promises, ill will and missed opportunities.” To that you can add cultural and economic genocide.

Harry Wallace

Chief Unkechaug Nation