Rebuild AmericaEnergy & Environmental Technologies to Boost Your Business

Seminar for Alternate Energy, Conservation and Efficiency

Seminar

June 8, 2004

New York Power Authority  Headquarters

123 Main Street, White Plains, NY

And

Center of Sustainable Energy Seminar

“Hummers and Hot Tubs for China: Will oil demand exceed supply

and what will that mean for New York”

 

At the Bronx Community College

June 17, 2004

Report

To the Superivisor and Town Board

Submitted by

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

On June 8, 2004, I attended a seminar held at the offices of the New York Power Authority, which was hosted by the United States Department of Energy, NYSERDA, and the Power Authority. Ms. Pat Courtney, from Mid-Hudson Energy Smart served as the moderator, with the able assistance of Ms. Nikki Coddington, of the Town of Greenburgh’s Energy Conservation Office. Over the course of the day over 150 guests, that included, professional engineers, architects, builders, energy related business people, and other interested persons listened to addresses regarding conservation, efficiency and alternates to fossil fuel use. These of course included; new types of lighting systems, geo-thermal energy, cogeneration, wind-turbines, solar energy, and photo-voltaics.

 

Mr. Angelo Esposito of the New York Power Authority, who stressed the background of energy efficiency promoted by the Power Authority over the past 20 years. That history included the investment of over $1 billion from the State of New York, regarding energy efficiency and conservation. The investing of over $3.5 million in the NYPA headquarters in White Plains in 2002 and the implementing of over 2500 projects throughout New York State. In 2004, alone, over $750 million had been invested in energy related projects that saved over $87 million with a cumulative saving of $600 million through out the state. These efficiencies have been directed towards public buildings, public schools and governmental institutions, and have been responsible for avoiding the dispensing of over 630,000 tons of greenhouse gases.

 

Basically what was stressed, over and over, the necessity of keeping our air clean, finding alternate energy sources to accomplish this end, and reducing our national and state dependency on foreign fossil fuel.

 

Pursuant to that goal, and with the reality of $2.40 gasoline, the specter of record high heating oil and natural gas prices in the heating season, global warming, declining fossil fuel resources and indoor and outdoor pollution, Ms. Courtney introduced the following guests, who were able to demonstrate their expertise and special talents regarding their disciplines with handouts and power point demonstrations.

 

a)      Bud Nicoletti, the City of White Plains- Department of Public Works- public

b)      Ed Smyth, RLW Analytics- energy efficiency

c)      Dominick Aiello, Metro Energy Solutions– performance contracting

d)     David Martindale- Sunwize Energy Systems- photo-voltaics

e)      Jay Busch- Osram Sylvania– Energy efficient lighting

f)      Joseph Borowiec- NYSERDA- cogeneration

g)      John DeLise-Advance Power Systems Engineering– cogeneration/micro-turbines

h)     Michael Sherber, Lentz Engineering Associates-mechanical systems

i)       Rose Dowdy Enlink Geothermal– geothermal

j)       Keith Christensen, Community Energy, Inc.- Renewable energy: wind

 

Commissioner Nicoletti, jnicolet@ci.white-plains.ny.us, 914-422-1210, discussed in depth the efforts the City of White Plains was making with regards to its public buildings, car and truck fleet, water pumps and energy conservation. In its 20 public buildings, Nicoletti stressed their effort to make them energy efficient. He also described in great detail the workings of their VFD water pumps and how they were aligned to perform with seamless efficiency. What he stressed was the necessity of keeping water pressure steady and even throughout the high and low demands reflective of usage during the day. Another interesting aspect was his department’s ability to keep his truck fleet in working condition despite the age of the vehicles. The department has made efforts to lighten the superstructures of his truck fleet with lighter weight metals or plastics to make them more energy efficient. The city also uses smaller garbage trucks to do specific jobs that they are more suited for. The City of White Plains uses special granite curbing stones that are more expensive, but will last much longer than concrete. In the same way they use stainless steel for guard rails, These guard rails need little servicing, do not have to be painted and do not rust. In other words, White Plains’s Department of Public Works is quite cognizant of cost, works to preserve and utilize what it owns, and looks to be efficient in its usage of materials. In other words, use only the energy you need!

 

 

 

 

a)      VFW water pumps in a cascade format, in chiller compressors, in sound retardant rooms

b)      Large ventilated vehicle repair facility

c)      Electronic furnace control, centralized computer, touch tone screens

d)     Improving vehicle efficiency, aluminum, fiberglass, high strength low alloy steel, superior durability and low maintenance

e)      Right sizing vehicles for the proper task, alternate fuels, thinking long range.

Mr. Ed Smyth, of RLW Analytics, ed@rlw.com, 518-880-0331, sponsored by NYSERDA and the NY Energy Smart program, works on commercial energy audits. He tries to alert his clients to what is efficient and what isn’t. In other words energy efficiency can pay high dividends. Smart use: regarding lighting, heating, and reliability with less cost. Small businesses should have energy audits to see where they can save dollars.

 

a)      Excellent return of one’s investment

b)      Overcoming fears; it is not detrimental or competitive with utilities, not about 1970’s style to do without!

c)      Overcoming the fear of poor quality equipment and untested technology

d)     Overcoming the objections of no: time, money or information

e)      The program is yours, it is paid for by the System Benefit Charge, and its part of the NYSERDA EnergySmart program.

f)      It is designed for any small building owners- non-profits-municipalities-places of worship

g)      Low cost returnable audit fee

 

Mr. Jay Busch, of Osram-Sylvania, 69 Pittis Avenue, Allendale, NJ 07402, jay.Busch@sylvania.com, 201-995-1836, works on lighting solutions that include creating more efficient lighting with lower energy costs.  This reduces impact on the environment, is responsive to architectural form and style, and is easy to maintain. There are new generations of lighting that can reduce cost, accommodate needs and safe money. In other words where lighting should be placed, how much is needed, and what wattage is adequate. As for example, sensors could actuate the lighting of infrequently used hallways. Therefore lighting can be turned on and off reflective of need. Lighting that automatically turns on and off when rooms are not in use.

 

a)      Much of what new lighting is rated by color/cri, lumen output, lumen maintenance and life expectancy

b)      Color rendering indices can indicate color shift, better shade analysis, and color temperature

c)      The future of fluorescent lamps/ longer life- reduced wattage T8 systems

 

 

 

 

d)     The changing of fluorescent ballast regulations

1)       By 4-1-05 all ballasts for replacement can still be produced or sold

2)      Eliminates the production for use in new fixtures

3)       By 7-1-10 all production, including replacement ballasts, will cease

e)      Ballast functions; lamp starting voltage, lamp coil heating, limit lamp current after starting

f)      Energy Efficiency- Reducing lamp power by only 1 watt can save

1)       A 500 lamp store (4500 hrs/year)  – $225/yr

2)      A 2000 lamp school (3000 hrs/year)  – $600/yr

3)       A 5000 lamp hospital (8760 hrs/year – $4,380/yr

 

Mr. Michael Sherber, of Lentz Engineering Systems, 20 Tower Lane, Avon, CT, 60001, SherberMike@cs.com, 860-676-9017, market High Performance HVAC Systems, that promote; world-class energy efficiency, good indoor air quality, precise temperature and humidity control, quiet systems, minimize ozone depletion, ease of maintenance, and cost-effective construction. In the past the focus of energy concentrated on energy conservation efforts that; improved envelope design and construction, equipment efficiencies, and reduction of ventilation. Because of this there was inadequate filtration, re-circulation of internal contaminants, and noisy large, energy intensive boilers and chillers. In other words, CATNAP (cheapest available technology narrowing avoiding prosecution).

 

These new or “green” strategies mean the avoiding the need for “high efficiency” boiler and chillers.  A “high efficiency system” with low efficiency equipment beats a low efficiency system with high efficiency equipment every time. In other words evaporative cooling and humidification, displacement ventilation and thermal storage can all sharply reduce both heating and cooling plant size and energy usage. The “green” strategy of dual path ventilation, eliminating terminal reheat, and energy recovery, which recycles heating/cooling energy permits ventilation to be used in spaces while minimizing new energy input. Alternate systems involving regenerative dual path systems, will reduce costs, provide better ventilation and reduce contaminates.

 

a)      Energy Conservation potential- truly “green” system should be able to provide between 50 to 97% reductions in energy use

b)      These systems can be installed at costs equal to or less than conventional designs

c)      Conclusions- standard HVAC systems strategies are not meeting our needs

1)       Conventional HVAC designs are the problem

2)      Energy intensive

3)       Re-circulation degrades indoor air quality

4)      Can be expensive to build and take up too much space

 

 

d)     A regenerative double-duct system can include these benefits

1)       Superior indoor air quality

2)      Greatly reduced energy

3)       Reduced heating and cooling costs

4)      Easy to construct and maintain

5)       Competitive or lower construction costs

6)      Quiet

 

Mr. Joseph Borowiec, of NYSERDA, job@nyserda.org, 866-862-1090 x3381, fax 518-863-1091, specializes in Cogeneration, which combines the use of heat and power. These systems reduce energy-cost, improve power reliability, and increase energy efficiency. At the present time almost 8% of all U.S. electric power, are from CHP, (combined heat and power), decrease energy use by 1.3 trillion BTUS/year, reduce Nox, SO2 emissions, and prevent 35 million tons of carbon equivalent into the air.  Currently the technology is moving from IC engines, to micro turbines to fuel cells. CHP systems make sense in regards to: capacity constrained/high electric demands, high thermal demands, coincidental thermal and electric demands, extending operating hours, and access to fuels.

 

The objectives of NYSERDA’s CHP program:

a)      Provide approximately $15 million per year for support of CHP to bolster NYS economy

b)      Encourage the installation of clean and efficient technologies and applications

c)      Establish a broad portfolio covering various technologies and end-use sectors

d)     Document hurdles and lessons learned from design through implementation

e)      Identify “role model” systems so they can be replicated faster, better and cheaper.

 

Currently NYSERDA will contribute 50% to the cost of selected Technical Assistance Study, up to $50,000.

 

Dominick Aiello, of Metro Energy Solutions, 973-439-7283 x 13, fax 973-439-6998 daiello@metroenergysolutions.com, design and build a Performance Based Project. Metro assumes performance risk and compensation is based on measured performance. Their expertise includes: survey, analysis, engineering/design, project management, installation, 0 & m, m & v, and energy procurement

 

 This is for any organization looking for cost reductions:

a)      Energy

b)      Operations

c)      Maintenance- improving operational equipment

d)     Energy Procurement (purchase or generation)

e)      Upgrading of aging systems and existing buildings

f)      Project financing-little or no upfront funding

g)      Environmental solutions

 

John DeLise, Advanced Power Systems Engineering, 64 Drake Avenue, New Rochelle, NY  10805, idelise@erols.com, 914-712-1591, fax: 914-712-1592, specialize in cogeneration and microturbines. He demonstrated the uses of cogeneration facilities regarding heat recovery.

 

Allied Converters Cogeneration Facility Heat Recovery:

a)      Hot water generated from heat recovered from exhaust gas

b)      Provides building heating and thermal energy required to operate lithium bromide absorption chillers.

c)      One Micogen Heat Recovery Unit

d)     Generates 330,000 BTU/hr

e)      100,000 BTU/hr is required to raise 1 million cubic feet 10 degrees Fahrenheit

Allied Converters Cogeneration Facility Electric Power Generation

a)      Two 28 KW Capstone Microturbines

b)      Natural gas fired

Allied Converters Cogeneration Facility Chilled Water for Building Cooling:

a)      Two Yazaki 10 ton hot water fired lithium bromide absorption chillers

b)      45 degree Fahrenheit hot water

c)      Hot water supply must be kept above 167 degree Fahrenheit

It was demonstrated that the installation of these converters could significantly lower electric power consumption along with demand.  Also as natural gas consumption increased from 2003 to 2004 (months Feb, March and April) savings increased.

 

Ms. Rose Dowdy of EnLink Geoenergy Services, 16430 Park Ten Place/suite 600 Houston, Texas 77084, 281-828-3625, fax-282-398-6715, e-mail: rdowdy@enlinkgeoenergy.com Understanding Geothermal Heating and Cooling Systems. Geothermal involves the use of the earth as a heat exchanger, through various techniques that has been a proven technology for over 50 years. A geothermal system provides pumps that can remove heat or add heat to the building. Removed heat must be rejected to outside air, water which subsequently rejects heat to the atmosphere via a cooling tower, or to water and then to the earth.

 

The main benefits of a GHP ( Geothermal Heat Pump) System

a)      Utility reduction (40-60%) of the energy consumption of a building is for heating, cooling and hot water

1)       No water consumption from cooling tower

2)      No gas consumption for heating

3)       Dramatic reduction in electricity demand

4)      Lowering of maintenance costs

5)       Eliminate gas boiler

6)      Free up additional space without a mechanical room

7)      Eliminate the chemical treatment of water

8)      Eliminate water usage

 

b)      Stage 1- the Engineering analysis – looking over the current system and the surrounding environment and locale

1)       Geothermal and Geological testing

2)      Is it in New York?

a)      Merchant Marine Academy

b)      Adelphi University

c)      Long Island University

d)     Westchester Country Club

e)      Saratoga Race Track

 

c)      Stage 2- Drilling, Looping, and Grouting

1)       Driving is done with modern bits that can go down as low as 400 feet for the heat exchanger

2)      Looping and Grouting with EnLink patented cell tubing unit (CTU)

 

 

 

d)     Stage 3- Trenching and Manifolding-well fields and their connections, and the linkage with the buildings

e)      Results of one university project over System Life- Emission Reduction- According to the EPA the following reductions are equivalent to planting 1,944,000 trees or removing 3,888 vehicles from our roads.

1)       Carbon Dioxide in lbs-971, 998

2)      Sulfur Dioxide in grams 617,029

3)       Nitrogen Oxides in grams-861, 661

 

Mr. David Martinadale, of SunWize Energy Systems, 1155 Flatbush Avenue, Kingston, NY 12401, damtindale@besicorp.com, 845-336-0146, specializes in solar technology. Sunwize is a solar technology company, which can integrate systems and serves as a manufacturer and a distributor. Solar is non-polluting, maintenance free, and it can be used in remote areas where power is not easily available. They also have telecommunications applications that include; microwave repeater sites, broadband, and VSATS, and gateways, rural telephony and radio networks. Solar can be used for traffic signboards, intelligent transportation systems, navigation aids and railroad crossing aids. Solar energy can be used also for government applications regarding; water pumping, area lighting, emergency backup power, surveillance and communication. Generally this system costs are $6 per watt and 80% of the of system cost, with an approximate 12 year pay back, bring an 8% return on investment.

 

Again solar could be used for sensitive areas that need perimeter protection, lighting or the need for call boxes. These systems can be tied into the existing power grid to augment existing power, reduce utility load demand, and lessen pollution. There are now solar shingles that aesthetically are more appealing then panels, but they must be attached through the roof decking.

 

Power from the sun is unlimited, the solarvoltaics peak with maximum solar exposure, there is no use of fossil fuel, and these systems are tied to the electrical grid. Under current law New York must buy back excess energy that is generated. The cost of photocells is coming down, and efficiency is increasing. At this time 90% of the photovoltaics are foreign made, with GE now coming into the market place.

 

For residential applications, not e the following

a)      Reduce utility costs

b)      Add value to one’s home

c)      UL listed components

d)     Certified installers

For commercial applications:

a)      Reducing utility expense

b)      Low maintenance

c)      Non-polluting, less cleanup

d)     Rebates and incentives

Funding options are available through NYSERDA, LIPA, NJCEP, CCEF, www.dsireusa.org

 

Mr. Keith Christenson, of New Wind Energy, Community Energy, Inc, 2 Lewis Road, Wappingers Falls, NY, 12590 Keith.Christensen@newwindenergy.com, 845-454-2113, fax: 800-4958048, specializes in wind-driven turbines to create electrical energy. Today 9% of New York State’s energy is derived from oil burning plants, 16% from coal burning furnaces and 29% from 6 nuclear reactors. These emissions from electric generation cause 40% of all carbon dioxide (c02), the leading greenhouse gas, 67% of all sulfur dioxide (so2), the leading precursor of acid rain, and 25% of all nitrogen oxide (nox), the leading component of smog. Because of the acid rain problem in New York State 300 of the 2500 lakes in the Adirondack region have literally devoid of life. Also a consequence of this contamination of our air, now one school age children, in the United States, suffers from asthma. In some urban New York areas, the rate is as high as 25%.

 

The question of “why wind power?” can be addressed by the following:

 

a)      Emission free

b)      Fuel free

c)      Fixed price, no increases

d)     Less Centralized

 

There has been a 90% reduction in levelized costs from 1980. In 1979 the cost was 40 cents/kwh to 4-7 cents/kwh in 2003. There have been estimates that the cost will go down to 2.5 to 4.5 cents by 2010. There are now increase in turbine size, manufacturing improvements and R & D advancement. New York State has wind resources, determined by NYSERDA of 5000 megawatts for land-based turbines (10% of New York’s electrical needs) and another 5200 potential megawatts from off shore wind. One-megawatt wind turbine engine as tall as a Redwood tree, reduces c02 emissions by 6 million lbs/year, and has the same pollution-reducing impact as planting 320,000 trees.

 

The current wind premium costs are the following: residential- $5 per month buys 200 kwh for a home; the average home uses 500 kwh/month. With 100% wind power, the costs are $12.50 per month.

 

Current contributors to the NY State Electrical Grid:

 

a)      26% natural gas

b)      20% nuclear reactors

c)      18% hydroelectric

d)     16% coal

e)      9 % oil

f)      Less than 1% renewable

 

In conclusion, there are many new and old businesses marketing innovative and emerging technologies that can save money for the state, the county, the local town, businesses and for ultimately the consumer and taxpayer. Not all of these technologies have application for everyone. With regards to the issue of fossil fuel, there are some obvious problems ahead. One of these problems is that of supply. There is an increasing worldwide demand from super-populated countries like India and China, which have been developing large consumer demand and have emerged as manufacturing and industrial centers.  This industrialization and consumerism will continue to grow, as hundreds of millions within their borders demand more electrical devices and automobiles. In fact, pollution in these countries has reached alarming levels. Therefore the near term specter of cost reduction in fossil fuel is illusionary. Demand will continue to escalate prices unless alternate sources are found and implemented. Also the relative possibility of political instability regarding main oil producers like; Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Venezuela and Indonesia will continue to put pressure on the future markets. Recent attacks at the Iraqi oil depots of Basra and at the offices of foreign oil management in Saudi Arabia have shaken the future’s markets. Insurance costs rose spectacularly after terrorist launched an unsuccessful, but murderous strike on the Basra port area.

 

As a consequence of the burning of more home-produced coal or foreign oil, pollution will continue to increase. The resulting affect can mean adverse changes in our climate, greater health problems, and the disappearance of more of our lakes, and forests. Also the commercial affect of higher energy prices will adversely impact on current business and any type of industrial expansion in our area. We will become less competitive as a region if our need for imported oil continues along with the domestic shortage of natural gas. Currently, before the sharp escalation of oil prices, the cost of natural gas had already risen dramatically.  Energy intensive businesses will be under greater pressure to relocate out of this region. Also, as a consequence of higher heating costs, more people will be forced to emigrate to milder climes. In other words, being a region that is vulnerable to high imported oil costs will eventually cause economic decline. Currently all of our transportation systems have included “fuel surcharges” to our shipping costs.

 

From a security perspective, the increase in the amount of dependency on nuclear energy is questionable and probably risky. The cost for security is tremendous and the guarantees are not perfect. That cost will continue to escalate in the near and distant future. Today there are many calls for the closing of the nuclear plant at Indian Point. The possibility of a “forced” evacuation from this region is unthinkable. Therefore if security is not almost perfect, the risk of continuing energy from nuclear plants may become economically unjustifiable. In regards to pollution, the rise in medical costs, and therefore the rise in health insurance, may also be a long-term factor in the economic decline of a region.

 

The creation of a greater renewable energy industry will pay high dividends for our region and the state. The lowering of costs through cogeneration, micro turbines, geothermal, along with solar paneling and wind turbines will also result in less pollution and the “end” costs to businesses and the public. A change from a dependency from foreign and domestic fossil fuels must be done. It will pay dividends in the short run and be critical in the long run.

 

In the wake of this seminar at the New York Power Authority, I was invited to the Bronx Community College Campus, at the old New York University Heights location, in the Bronx, to participate in a seminar and luncheon, sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Energy and hosted by the acting director, Dr. James Quigley. The focus of this gathering was to listen to a talk by Alfred Cavallo, PhD, on “Hummers and Hot Tubs for China: When will oil demand exceed supply and what will that mean for New York?” Dr. Cavallo, an energy consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey, recently published an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January/February 2004, entitled “The Illusion of Plenty,” that analyzed in depth the illusion regarding “limitless supplies of fossil fuel.” Dr. Cavallo articulates, in detail, who really controls those resources, and what the current and future demand is for those same resources. Dr. Cavallo makes an excellent case for urgency regarding  “demand” and believes that at our current pace of consumption, along with the continued growth of demand from China and India we all face a “supply” problem sooner than our governments and the oil industry is predicting.

 

Of course, with regards to what Dr. Cavallo states, the world is currently consuming 28 billion barrels of oil per year.  Today, China’s and India’s combined population is 2.3 billion people.  If those two country’s economies continue to evolve, to a European-like life-style, the demand for oil from their populations would equal the same 28 billion barrels that is currently used worldwide! In 2003, China’s oil demand was up 10%, which accounted for one-third of all of the increase in demand worldwide. In the first quarter of 2004 it accelerated to a pace of 17%!

 

Therefore, of course, the question Dr. Cavallo poses, is what are the “real” resources out there, can we really tell with a greater level of accuracy who controls them; and what are the consequences of that control?

 

Dr. Cavallo believes that with today’s sophisticated advances in evaluating potential sites for oil recovery, our understanding of future reserves is much more accurate. In other words, many of the potential places for discovery have been analyzed with a greater level of technology than ever. He looks at three categories of oil; proven, undiscovered, and reserve growth.

 

a)      Plate tectonic analysis

b)      Oil formation- migration, trapping

c)      Major sedentary basins explored, more remote or deeper deposits found and developed

d)     Three and four dimensional seismic surveys actuated-nuclear magnetic resonance

e)      Lateral drilling

f)      Floating platforms, drilling in water up to 8000 feet deep

 

Therefore reserves estimates include information from the following:

 

a)      Government, military, intelligent agencies, industry sources

b)      Information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) www.usgs.gov.

c)      A five year project to determine “real” reserves

d)     First science-based estimates

e)      The three categories of oil reserves; proven, undiscovered, and reserve growth

f)      The “mean” estimate cannot add all of these together

 

Of course currently the world’s primary energy comes from theses following sources, as of 1999:

 

a)      Oil- 39%

b)      Natural gas 23%

c)      Coal 22%

d)     Nuclear 7 %

e)      Other 9%

 

With regards to these current energy sources, and where they come from, our government estimates that this production will peak in 2037, while the European Community and the CIA’s estimates say 2025! But of course throughout the years there have been many, many estimates and predictions that the world would soon run out of oil. But are the estimates today more accurate? Are the models for future discovery, production and demand more believable? According to Dr. Cavallo we can only assume that “proven” reserves, what is in the ground and “undiscovered” reserves, potentially discoverable, through geological probability can be counted.

 

The “reserve growth” category cannot really be counted because it is not really clear that there is really any oil in those locations and that if there was, new technologies cannot access these resources economically. Currently, as of 1996, the best estimates are that there are 3 trillion barrels oil worldwide. With an optimistic recovery rate of 50% there are, as of 1996, 853 billion barrels in the OPEC producing countries and 769 billion barrels in the non-OPEC producing countries. The former Soviet Union controls 39% of those non-OPEC reserves. Generally speaking production in the United States and the United Kingdom has peaked, while other non-OPEC country’s production has been flat. Of both groups, OPEC and non-OPEC, two realities are apparent, production of non-OPEC oil is at much higher rate, and is being consumed much faster, and the margins regarding OPEC oil are much, much greater. Production costs for the much more easily accessible oil from OPEC (mostly middle eastern suppliers) could range from 5 to 10 cents a gallon!

 

Dr. Cavallo, in his article “The Illusion of Plenty,” says, “Petroleum reserves are limited. Petroleum is not a renewable resources and production cannot continue to increase indefinitely. A day of reckoning will come sometime in the future. The point at which production can no longer keep up with increasing demand will mean a radical and painful readjustment globally to everyday life. In spite of that indisputable fact, people behave as if the global petroleum supply is unending.”

 

With all that in mind, Dr. Cavallo currently discounts our ability to access oil from tar sands and shale economically or with enough speed to match the growth in demand. Therefore his conclusion is that with a demand model, of 1, 2, or 3% growth, we will be in a crisis of supply much sooner than it is currently predicted. He also states that at the current level of production non-OPEC oil producing countries will run out of oil much sooner, and that OPEC will be left controlling the world’s supply. Again, currently with estimates of approximately 1.5 trillion barrels of recoverable oil and a current demand of approximately 28 billion barrels of oil per year, we have 35 years of reserves left. When we take into account the decline in production as reserves peak, the increase in normal demand by the traditional users, and the accelerated demand by the emerging population giants of China and India, the picture looks bleaker.

 

 

 

 

Avraham Burg, Rabbi Edward Schecter and Suicide as a Weapon

 

October 2003

 

My views are that Israel has attempted, from day one to survive as a good neighbor. Basically since 1948 this attitude has been fruitless. Historically, if in 1947 the Arabs would have accepted the partition, Israeli territory would have been only a fraction of what it was after the 1948 War of Independence. The Arabs have never wanted an independent democratic Jewish state. They have always feared western modernism and representative government. Their social order cannot process that post World War II western reality. In a sense a democratic society and elections would probably result in more examples of the Iranian model, which they fear greatly. Since their type of governments can never provide for their people the institutions and reforms that must exist before democracy takes root, reform is impossible. Their societies are doomed to over-population, political crises and an unending struggle between the capitalistic oligarchs and the religious fanatics who offer theological rationalization. Without the free institutions of speech, education, the press, and the ballot, along with the rights of minorities and women, democracy will never take flourish no less exist. Arab/Muslim society can never coexist with our western institutions. To believe that their position, regarding Israel, has or will mature is one of serendipitous folly. In the nine years of so since the Oslo Accords, they armed themselves to the teeth with as much small ordinance that they could smuggle into the West Bank. They are now using that ordinance to sustain the Intifada. In a sense the suicide bombers of Hamas are not unlike the kamikazi aircraft and banzai charges of the of the Japanese military. It was the Japanese hope that at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, cheap suicidal strikes on our fleet would make the price for victory too expensive. In a sense the atomic bomb was a result of the kamikazi attacks. We understood that if we could suffer so incredibly on Okinawa, what would be the result of an attack on the home islands? The answer was a bit simpler in the summer of 1945. We faced the possibility of politically unacceptable losses versus the need to conquer Japan without pre-conditions. But, there is no doubt that their suicidal weapons sent a strong statement to our leaders. Remember in the last month of the war, the United States was losing over 1000 men killed per day in the Pacific. Therefore the option of the atomic bomb became more of a reality.

 

Israel has had to deal with a PLO leadership that has looted billions of dollars that could have been used for the building of stable and durable infrastructure. This infrastructure could have been the foundation for peace and coexistence with Israel as a neighbor. But peace is what they do not want. They want victory! They believe that they have found the soft under belly of their enemy, and they are recruiting endless numbers of children and young people for their suicidal strategic effort. There have been over 18,000 attempts at disrupting the sanctity and stability of normal life in Israel by the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their fellow travelers. If one believes that negotiation with this current Arab leadership, that smells victory through Israeli divisiveness, can work, then one must believe in the “bigger fool” theory. The Arab/Muslim leadership only respects strength and more strength. Japan and Germany had been involved in limited and then total war for many, many years. Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 and continued to fight next in China in 1937, and with us, and the European colonialists since December 7, 1941. Germany had begun its preparation for war in Spain in 1937 and with its invasion of Poland in 1939, had been fighting for almost six years. With their total defeats their population faced and accepted capitulation and change rather than a draconian peace. They were tired of war, exhausted with their dictator's bankrupt philosophies and ready for a new day and a new direction! A change in the old social order was worth the price to end the suffering.

 

The Arab/Muslim leadership has never understood that lesson. They are not forced to understand. Their abused and victimized populations know no better choice. The West, because of its dependency on Middle East oil has tolerated this “bad neighborhood” and its backwardness too long. If we continue to appease the Arab/Muslim “mindset” conditions will worsen. They will feel strengthened by our appeasement, and they will continue to follow their set direction of overpopulation, hatred of anything western, religious fanaticism and “scape-goatism.”

 

Therefore in conclusion, if Israel dismantles it settlements, withdraws unilaterally from the West Bank, and seeks terms with the Arafat government, certain realities will happen immediately. Arab refugee camps will eventually pour into the West Bank, and with these refugees an unlimited flow of arms will follow. The Arafat government will demand the “right of return” for these refugees, the partition of Jerusalem, a land bridge between the West Bank and Gaza and probably reparations for their 50+ years of exile. The West Bank will become an armed belligerent state confronting Israel. Israel will refuse those demands and a continued round of Fedeyeen incursions will ensue; in the same way they did from 1947 until 1956. The Arab world will support the demands of the West Bank Arabs and the cycle will continue, but Israel's strategic position will be fatally compromised. Without a real nation or army to fight, Israel's tactical advantages in equipment and technology will be compromised. They again will be forced to make unpopular, costly and debilitating incursions into the West Bank to counter a better-armed and more determined foe. Therefore the answer is to make the price for the Intifada and its activities to high for the West Bank Arabs to pay. The United States did not tolerate Pancho Villa's raid into Texas in 1914 and sent General Pershing into Mexico with an army to harass and hunt him down. Israel will only retain the respect of the discerning world by strength, self-determination and consistency of purpose. That purpose is to survive freely and independently.

The 2^nd Term Dilemma 1916-2000

                            Delivered at MVHS March 30, 2004

 

Woodrow Wilson vs. Charles E. Hughes  277 49.4%- 254 46.2 %

Election of 1916

Issues: “He kept us out of War”

            Reform government

            8 hour day for RR workers, avoiding costly national strike

            TR supports European intervention, presses Hughes

            Hughes rock solid Conservative

 

2^nd Term: 1918 GOP wins control of Congress

               1919 Strikes, Red-Scare, Volstead Act, rejection of the League and Treaty

               1920 Palmer raids, Deportations, Wilson’s sickness

 

Congress:    D   R       D       R

Wilson’s Election

1912           51-44-1    290-127-18

1914           56-39-1    231-193-8

Wilson’s 2^nd Term

1916           53-42        210-216-6 

1918           47-48-1     191-237-7   (Mid-Term –lost 19 seats House –6 Senate)

                                                       (Lost 99 house seats since 1912 and 9 Senate

Harding’s Election                            seats since 1914)

1920           37-59     131-303-1

1922           43-51-2  207-225-3

Coolidge’s Election

1924           40-54-1  183-247-5

1926           47-48-1  195-237-3

Hoover’s Election

1928           39-56-1  163-267-14

1930           47-48-1  216-218-1

FDR’s Election

1932           59-36-1  313-117-5

1934           69-25-2  322-103-10

Franklin D. Roosevelt- vs.- Alfred M. Landon    523   60.8%- 8  36.5%

Election of 1936

 

Issues: Recovery and its success

             Attacked Hoover and the right wing

             Shifted black voters

             Assailed Wall Street & GOP as economic royalists

             Appealed to pocketbook

             Personality & charm             

 

 

2^nd Term: 1937 Court packing debacle, quarantine speech, Panay incident

                Slowed recovery

                1938 purge of conservative Democrats in primaries backfires, military buildup

                 Starts, HUAC investigations, GOP makes gains in Congress

                1939 Congress passes 4^th Neutrality Act  

               

Congress:    D      R         D       R

1936           76-16-4       331-89-13

1938           69-23-4       261-164-4   (lost 70 seats in the house 7 in the Senate)

FDR’s 3^rd Term

1940            66-28-2       268-162-5

1942            57-38-1       222-209-4

FDR’s 4^th term

1944            57-38-1       243-190-2

 

Harry S Truman vs. Thomas E. Dewey        303  49.5 %     186  45%    39 others  4.5%

Election of 1948

 

Issues: Party of the People vs. the rich, Wall Street Reactionaries

            linked GOP to fascism

            attacked do-nothing Congress, Taft-Hartley

            pro-labor

            Dewey ran laid back over confidant campaign

            Dewey ignored current issues, only spoke of plans for new administration

 

2^nd Term: 1949 Steel strikes labor unrest

               1950 McCarthyism. Korean War, firing of General MacArthur

               1951 inflation, wage & price controls

               1952 Truman seizes steel mills, GOP wins control of both Houses, ist

                           time since 1928,  HST accused of being soft on Communism!

 

Congress:        D       R          D        R

1946                45-51          188-246-1

Truman wins 2^nd Term

1948                54-42          263-164

1950                49-47          234-199 (Mid-Term lost 29 house seats and 5 Senate seats)

Eisenhower Election

1952                46-48-2       211-221-1

1954                48-47-1       232-203

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai E. Stevenson                     457     57.6 %     73   42.1% 

Election 0f 1956

 

 

 

Issues: Man vs. Party (Democrats)

            Stevenson- end draft, stop nuclear testing, GOP graft & corruption

            Nixon’s dishonesty, Sherman Adams resignation

            Ike’s health, 1955 recession

            Ike’s perceived leadership with worldwide tension-Hungary, Suez

 

2^nd Term: 1957 Little Rock and Civil Rights protests, recession

               1958 Sputnik, US space disasters, Lebanon intervention

               1959 Castro takes Cuba

               1960 U2 Collapse of Summit, recession

               Eisenhower promises smaller government, but expands Social Security

                  Public works, highways, creates HEW

               Ill health plagues 2^nd term

Eisenhower 2^nd Term

Congress:      D      R        D       R

1956               49-47           233-220          

1958               64-34           283-153 (Mid Term loses 50 House seats 15 Senate Seats)

 

Kennedy Election

1960               64-36           262-175

1962               67-33           258-176-1

Lyndon Baines Johnson vs. Barry M. Goldwater          486   61.1%    52   38.5%

Election of 1964

 

Issues: Prosperity, JFK legacy

            Civil Rights

            Goldwater- credibility home and abroad

             Preserved Social security from GOP attacks

 

2^nd Term: 1965 Santo Domingo, rioting Watts, US escalation in Viet Nam

                1966 Democrats gain seats in Congress/black power/ B-52 raids

                1967 Great Society stalled riots in Detroit and Newark

                1968 Pueblo incident, withdrawal from 1968 election

                Social discontent with draft, war, protests, and Cultural Revolution

Johnson Election

Congress:      D    R      D       R

1964               68-32     295-140

1966               64-36     248-187 (Mid-Term lost 47 House Seats and 4 Senate Seats)

 

Nixon Election

1968               58-42     243-192

1970               54-44-2    255-180

 

 

 

Richard M. Nixon vs. George McGovern         520  60.6%    17  37.5%

Election of 1972

 

Issues: McGovernite- radical chic image

             Split in Democratic ranks over primary between HHH and McGovern

           

Issues: Loss of labor to GOP

            Convention disaster in Chicago, dumping of Eagleton

            Creeps use of surrogate, Rose Garden Campaign of Nixon

            Meetings in China and Russia

            Viet Nam continuance

            Water gate break-in

 

2^nd Term: 1973 Watergate scandal breaks open

                 Saturday night massacre

                 Agnew resigns

                 Yom Kippur war, oil embargo, prices leap

                  Impeachment hearings, tapes, 18 minute gap

                  Resignation

Nixon’s 2^nd term

Congress:    D    R        D     R

1972             56-42-2     242-192-1

1974             61-37-2     291-144 (Mid Term lost 58 House seats 5 Senate seats)

 

Carter’s Election

1976             61-38-1     292-143

1978             58-41-1     277-158

 

Reagan Election

1980             46-53-1     242-192

1982             46-54        269-166

Ronald W. Reagan vs. Walter F. Mondale       525  59%    13  41%

Election of 1984

 

Issues:  Reagan’s use of the media

             Control of the media

             Image of a strong America

             Defense build-up, foreign policy action-: Libya, Iran

             Rising deficits,

                         Pride in America vs. liberal weakness and disarmament

 

 

 

2^nd Term: 1985 burgeoning deficit: Gramm-Rudman

               1986 Pollard guilty of spying for Israel, Iran-Contra scandal

               1987 deficit surges, White House staff resignations, stock market crash

               1988 Pentagon procurement scandal, aging and attention issue with

                          Reagan

                1990 Reagan post script- while testifying about Iran-Contra, he

                           Responds on videotape 130 times, “I don’t remember” or “ I don’t

                           Recall”

                          

Congress:  D    R       D     R

1984          47-53       253-182

1986          55-45       258-177  (Lost 5 House Seats and 8 Senate seats)

                                               

Bush Election

1988           55-45      260-175

1990           56-44      267-167

 

Clinton Election

1992           57-43      258-176

1994           48-52      204-230-1

 

Clinton 2^nd Term

1996           45-55      207-226-2

1998           45-55      211-223-1 (Won 4 House seats – no Senate change)

                                                   (Lost 47 House seats from 1992 and 12 Senate seats)

 

Problems of the second term – Sex scandals, Impeachment Crisis, Rising interest rates, end of the tech boom and economic slow-down

 

Bush II Election

2000           50-49-1   212-221-2

2002           48-51-1

 

1996: Benefited from free-ride during primaries

          Built large war chess. Dole wore out in primaries, spent all his funds

          Clinton shifted the debate and captured the center

          Dole moved right in the primaries and attempted to shift to the center at

          The convention. Clinton won the debates: answering questions, praising Dole,

          Keeping the political high road, Clinton’s ads attacked GOP, linking Dole with 

          Gingrich, holding seniors and women

          Clinton focused on “bread and butter” issues: Medicare, education, and environment

           Balancing the budget, job creation

          Dole focused on 15% tax cut, without showing where it could be justified and

          On the character issue-. Dole lost credibility with the public on trust!

         

 

  Presidents and their Intellect

7-16-04

 

 

That's great stuff- I am glad people still think seriously about the IQ and mental health of our leaders. It would surprise me greatly, and almost everyone else I know or have known, that GW Bush had an IQ near JFK. If GW Bush has IQ of 115 and that sounds reasonable, then Bill Clinton has one of 215. I know of no example that GW Bush has ever read a book and that he was by all accounts a barely passing student in college. I do not know what his core curriculum was or whether he just didn't care, as many rich boys (and poor boys) don't. But, all in all, it is the poor boys that must excel to succeed. Certainly Bill Clinton excelled, and was incredibly well read, and his language and overall skills reflected that intellect. Yes he was flawed, like many of us. Of course GWB was a ne'r do well swindler up to age 40 or so, but that takes nothing away from his mental health or supposed IQ. I am one of the vituperative people who think of GWB as a moron or in a nicer sense just a political do-nothing opportunistic flack that got elevated because of his name and money. Of course in his own words, at around age 40, when asked whether he thought about a political career, he stated (I paraphrase) that he had done nothing in his life up to then to justify public office. But good political leaders do not have to be intellects, and in a sense the public has a tendency to mistrust them. Certainly Stevenson was labeled an “egg head” and the country rejected him, by wide margins, over the affable, but non-intellectual Dwight Eisenhower, who favored Zane Grey western novels as a way to intellectually test his gray matter or just relax. He spent more days on vacation, and away from work then any President, except maybe Calvin Coolidge or GW Bush in his term up to 9/11.

 

Jack Kennedy was a bright, and talented young man, who had many more advantages, then most of his presidential peers. His great communicative skills were not hurt by his Hollywood good looks, and he had terrific political instincts fostered by his close connection to world events and the political theater of his upbringing. FDR raised himself to be President in the model of his cousin TR, but JFK, after the death of his brother, was fast-tracked to the job by the incredible heavy-hitting Kennedy political machine. Despite his incredible advantages he still had to produce, and he was quite capable of reflecting those skills on all of his campaign venues. As President he was inexperienced, a bit too young, and therefore pushed around by his own Congress. In a second term he would have had a short window of opportunity to succeed before morphing into lame-duck status. Certainly Michael Dukakis, who was and is quite bright, suffered from some of the same fear that the public has of intellectual superiority. In the modern era, only Teddy Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, two true intellects, were elected to the Presidency. Few people saw TR as an intellect and he was elevated initially by violence, and not the direct will of the electorate. Ironically Wilson, former President of Princeton, an intellectual reformer and a writer, besides being the popular reform Governor of New Jersey, was elected as a true minority President, when his eventual political enemy, the former president, Teddy Roosevelt, split the vote in a three- way election. So we do not have a long wonderful history of electing truly bright people. Maybe, in his own way, Nixon would be considered bright, a law school graduate from Duke, along with the highly educated and successful businessmen and engineers Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. Certainly anyone smart enough to captain a nuclear submarine, and to pass Admiral Rickover's rigorous tests was no dope. But few give him good marks as a President, and he was never perceived by the public as an intellect. Most people saw him as a county-boy peanut farmer! Taft was an educated man, a lawyer, territorial governor, a cabinet official and also a Supreme Court Justice. But no one accuses him of being overly gifted as an intellect. Harding was a political hack, as was Ford, and certainly was Truman, who did not attend college, but was recognized as near-great President but an unpopular one. LBJ was a political animal with a minor college education, who was quite bright, and incredibly energetic and ambitious, but not an intellect. Coolidge was a dour fellow who slept through most of his five years in the job and had little vision or transferable ideals. Reagan certainly would never be accused of being well educated or bright, and was at best a line-reciting puppet with a primitive understanding of almost anything. His familiarity with the scientific world was appalling and his total inability to react with a spontaneous thought was embarrassing. Again he never had high marks regarding his reputation of being well read or even educated. Overall, for my money, he was one of the stupidest men to have held high office in this century. But he was popular, could deliver a quippish line and strangely remains popular today. But history will flay him to shreds and he will fall significantly in the mind of future generations of historians. Of course we are left with one President who has always confounded everyone. FDR, the most successful politician and statesman in the history of the western world, was not an intellect. Everyone remembers Oliver Wendell Holmes “supposed” remark that he (FDR) was “a second rate intellect, but (had) a first-class temperament.” He was reasonably better educated then most, and had very high communication skills. His great strength really resided in his exceptional “people” skills. He knew how to get good people to do good and loyal work. He engendered great loyalty and love from his staff, and even received grudgingly given respect from his political enemies. Even the Japanese, in the midst of the war and on the edge of defeat, offered moments of silence, over the radio, at the news of his death and recognized him as a “great” man. No man in history had the combination of domestic, worldwide and posthumous acclaim. He owned the office and almost no one, even his great and most vicious opponents, could discount his power and skills. In a sense, an eternally healthy FDR would have gone on and on. His supporters were never tired of him, and his opponents were plum worn out by his skills, charm and worldwide support. Today he remains an almost unchallenged icon, far above his contemporaries and all who have followed. Most collective memories of FDR are unique and reverential. Though he was secretive, at times vindictive, and often political too bold, his legacy remains unprecedented and will continue to grow. Where does John Kerry fall in this entire historical context, who knows? But for my money he will be the next President and we will find out soon enough.

 

RJ Garfunkel  

 

 

Politics and Corporate Compensation

 April 16, 2004

 

 

It is great when you have smart friends and relatives. I applaud both of you for your thoughtful remarks.  Both of you are much more neutral than I am, and therefore you have the luxury of looking for solutions that are more apolitical. From my perspective, for better or worse, the political centrist leadership (of the post WW II era) of the past has disappeared. We had patriotic presidents who knew how to work with Congress and for better or worse could keep the extremes in their parties marginalized. In a sense even Nixon was pragmatist of the center. I didn't like him, and he exploited issues, but personality and psychosis aside, he wound up being a practical leader who understood domestic needs. He also understood the power of the Democratic majorities in the Congress. Even to a degree with Ford and Carter, there was a sense of the centrist perspective to satiate the common weal. They were not great leaders. They inspired no one. Ford was a caretaker that should have never run on his own. Even though he only lost by a whisker to Carter, he should have been beaten by a mile. His remarks “Drop dead NY” and his incredible debate faux pas over Poland haunted him. But he was an uninspiring dolt who contributed the WIP button to his forgotten political legacy. Carter was the ultimate outsider, who was elected because of the Ford pardon of Nixon if nothing else. He was over his head, but still could have beaten Reagan if it wasn't for the hostage crisis in Iran. So what if he could have won. The real political change came with Reagan! Reagan and his cohorts really opened the door for the right. Of course he was too “spaced out” to pay any attention to what was really happening. Certainly even Barry Goldwater was frightened by what Reagan loosed on the body politic. In a sense our free society has, by the nature of being so free, drifted towards libertarianism of the left and the right. On the left everybody wants something and wants the freedom to do it, or try it. If it feels good and no one is harmed, so what's the problem! We have all felt that way for a time. (In the words of Winston Churchill, “Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.”) So through it all, with conservative or liberal government there are no standards, period. But on the right we are seeing the new social Luddites, who want economic freedom, with as little regulation as possible and taxes as low as they can be made. No regulation, laissez-faire, and every man for his/her self. In other words whatever he/she can take, so be it. Just look at the salaries posted in the Wall Street Journal's Executive Pay in the Journal Report of April 12, 2004. Fitting, in an ironic way, that this should come out on the anniversary of FDR's death. 

 

Salary and Bonus- some selections: Freeport-McMoRan-CEO- $5,540 million in 2003 with $10M in stock options and $50M more in potential options, Merrill-Lynch-CEO- $28M in 2003 with $37M more in unrealized stock options, Time-Warner-CEO, $9.5M and $11.6M in stock options with another $18.9M in unrealized options.  Also the front page of the NY Times' Business Day section, bonuses top $41.4 million at troubled Interpublic for its executives. With Federal taxes at 35% for anyone over $300,000 per year they should cry? This compensation is way out of control. Where did they get all of their stock? They didn't buy it!

 

Some critics of pay ratios, say formulas that exclude options are useless. “Usually it's a charade,” says Mr. Alan Johnson of Johnson & Associates, managing director of pay consultants in NY. He says, “employees see through it. The know the CEOs are making millions on stock, so limiting them on salary means nothing. It is a PR gimmick.” (Wall Street Journal). It is a known fact that in and around 1970, CEO's of Fortune 500 companies made in real dollars a ratio of 43 to 1 over the average salary of their employees. In real dollars, wages, taking in account inflation over the past 34 years or so, have gone up slightly. In other words, the $17,000 of 1970 is not worth much more than the $35-40,000 of today. Of course times have changed, and our economy has shifted greatly over the last 30 or so years. Our manufacturing has shifted to overseas, and we are much more of a service economy today. No question “freer” trade has brought more total prosperity to America. But where is that prosperity concentrated and what will be the affects. In that light, executive compensation is now 1000 to one! So we have seen what has happened. The GOP/Right has encouraged the lowering of taxes, the conglomeration of industry, the exporting of jobs overseas, the deregulation of industry, and the accumulation of greater money in fewer hands. Now as in 1929, less people own more of America!

 

Of course, one immediate result is that the “entitlements;” Social Security and Medicare are under attack. Certainly they are threatened by the demographics facing us. We have a large “baby-boom” population (64-74 millions) that is aging. This population emerged from parents that had 2.6 children per family. It is now being replaced by a generation that is composed of 2.1 children per family. Generally speaking this smaller population is not as wealthy and earns less in the service sector than its parents, the baby-boomers, earned in the manufacturing sector! Is the answer less taxes for this wealthiest of classes? It was said that to tax these people at previous levels would only bring in 4% more! Well 4%, if that is correct, will bring in $40 billion at least. (Also why is $75 billion being used from the Social Security trust fund for the general fund?) I am sure that figure of $40 billion is probably incredibly low. I have also noticed that a recent report has stated that the IRS has been lax regarding the issue of corporate taxation. In fact, US Corporations are not paying their fair share, and many have been running to offshore tax shelters for years, while they drape themselves in patriotism! The case of Stanley Tool recently comes to mind! So with corporate taxes at all-time lows (post WWII) and the capital gains tax at 15%, and the highest marginal rate at 35%, one can readily see why we have a $500+ billion deficit that is growing. Should we continue down this path until we are broke?

 

In conclusion, to have a vibrant and just society, we all have to contribute. I cannot and will not equate Hollywood silliness, gay marriage, social promotion, foul language, indecent activities, Michael Jackson, Howard Stern, Don Imus, the NBA, college athletic abuses, and other ridiculum with the hypocrisies of Rush Limbaugh, and his rightwing shock jock colleagues.  The abuses of Enron, World Com, Global Crossing, Tyco, and the rape of children by Catholic priests is not the product of liberal, or libertine largess. In other words, where are we going? To tell the truth, I have no clue!  But for sure I hope that we throw Bush II out, and get new reasonable middle of the road leadership.

 

 

Subject: Political Perspective and Historical Record

June 30, 2004

 

 

 

Kerry, who was quite well off volunteered to go to Vietnam! A vast majority of his rich and almost rich peers did not. Bush did not want to go to Vietnam and obviously did not want to go to his National Guard duty either. I believe Kerry received 3 Purple Hearts along with a Silver and Bronze Star. There is plenty of contemporaneous testimony to his bravery. Are there people who carp about his medals, and complain about the so-called “real” stories behind them? Yes! But Kerry had the guts to come home and complain about the war, not bask in the glory of his class adorned with his “red badge of honor.” For that effort he engendered the enmity of Vietnam apologists for all of time.  Was his Congressional testimony completely correct or was it the reflection of a whole generation jaded with the invented rationale regarding the whole intervention? Personally, I know little or nothing regarding his motives, during those days, in front of Congress 33 years ago. All I know is that he volunteered, when he could have easily got his “pass.” All I know is that he was highly decorated, above and beyond 99% of all of the 6 million heroes that served.

 

Personally we all have a tendency of romanticizing war and probably we shouldn't. When you see the dead and wounded on both sides it “ain't” pretty. Michael Moore, by the way, is on screen for about 10 minutes. The picture is not about Moore at all. He focuses on the subject of George W. Bush, the Bush family, and their connections, and I believe, their motivations. Saudi Arabia is at the core of the problem that plagues the Middle East. They are really the problem, though they make Israel and our western culture out to be the bogeymen. From the days of Herzl, Israel scratched its way upward from the degradation of Europe. They bought barren land, established kibbutz cooperatives, settlements, villages, towns and cities; i.e., Tel Aviv. They were industrious, charitable and in most cases quite generous to their neighbors. Their willingness to accept compromise was evidenced by their agreement with the original partition. The Arab world has never accepted any compromise, period. In regards to the probable fate of Saudi Arabia, the Bin Ladens and the House of Saud will eventually be destroyed in the same way as the Shah fell. Will their heirs or successors be better? I doubt it! Certainly the chances are that those who follow will be more like Lenin and Robespierre, and a lot less like George Washington.

 

After almost 60 years of struggle, death, mayhem and hatred, Israel, like any other modern state has become jaded with the “so-called” peace process, and looks to protect its people and interests in the best way it can.

 

Moore's film is a creation of what cinematic art is about. It takes and shapes imagery into a message. I believe the bottom line regarding that message is the incompetent danger of George Bush. One thing for sure is that normal people flocked to the theater, and were moved to a standing ovation. It reinforced in them the sanctity of their cause to rid us of George Bush. I did not need to see Fahrenheit 9/11 or any other film to tell me that George Bush is a disaster!

 

 

 

Oliver North and his Supposed Remarks

June 27, 2004

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

 

Of course that was quite provocative and assuming it is accurate, (it wasn’t) an ironic twist of history. Unfortunately Colonel North, had lost a great deal of creditability by then and one of the reasons he was in front of a Congressional panel was his involvement in the Iran-Contra mess. Of course he had been supporting a covert war in Nicaragua, in direct violation of a Congressional ban on the funding of the Contras that came from selling arms to our “friends” in Iran. Our great “pragmatic” hero Ronald Reagan withdrew from Lebanon in 1983 after 241 Marines were killed as a result of a terrorist bomb. Reagan said that he would never deal with terrorists and pay international blackmail!  Of course Iraq eventually fought a protracted war against Iran in the early 1980's and was the beneficiary of vital American technical and military assistance and encouragement. In other words throughout the Reagan years we were playing both ends against the middle with Iran, who Reagan brokered a deal to get the hostages out that lead to his election and with Iraq and their merry bunch of Baathists who were threatening all of its neighbors. So what happened after Col. North identified Osama Bin Laden in 1987? We had six more years of GOP rule where we had the USS Vincennes shoot down an Iranian plane with 290 aboard, and Pan Am 103 sabotaged over Lockerbie, Scotland. When finally Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the then President Bush built a coalition to oppose Iraq and then succeeded with an invasion in 1991, what did we accomplish with that victory? Practically nothing. In fact, Bush with a 95% popularity in 1991, eventually squandered our good will with the coalition, was seen as a supporter of oligarchic royalists in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and was defeated by a small border state governor, Bill Clinton. Did he do anything about supporting the 14 Iraqi provinces that revolted against Sadaam Hussein? No! Did he put pressure on Syria to withdraw from the Bekka Valley and disconnect themselves from supporting Hezbollah? No!  Did he put pressure on Jordan for supporting Iraq? No! Did he put pressure on Yasir Arafat for his support of Sadaam Hussein? No! So in other words, with North's warnings aside, with a large coalition in place and on the verge of destroying the Bathist regime in Iraq, the potential of calling for reforms in Saudi Arabia, the opportunity to force Syria out of Lebanon, and the opportunity to force a separate peace in the West Bank, Bush failed. What resulted? The first Intifada started in 1987 and its success led to the Oslo Accords and laid the groundwork for the second Intifada that is probably still going on.

 

At least Clinton made a great and noble effort to bring about a formula for peace in the Middle East with the Oslo Accords, which Arafat signed and, by his own admission, really never understood or, as he said, even read the text. In fact when he understood its consequences, he more or less rejected it. By the time Clinton left office in 2000 he had hammered out a pretty decent deal called the Barak Plan. But Arafat, who was always insincere, understood that he could not sign onto the Barak Plan, because it may have meant peace. Peace would have never worked for him. But of course in Afghanistan, where the Taliban succeeded in coming to power in 1992 after 14 years of civil rebellion against the Soviets, these fundamentalist Islamics were armed to the teeth with American weaponry. They were the heirs to the Mujahadeen, and in that fertile ground Osama Bin Laden was able to construct his camps, train his forces and to plan his attacks on the west. In 1998 a cruise missile strike was directed towards his camps, but any other efforts against him were always derided by Congress as an effort by Clinton to extricate himself from his own personal problems. But, meanwhile it was 14 years between North's mention of Bin Laden and the tragedy of 9/11. We had terrorist activity throughout those years and never was there any real mention of his name. In fact the present 9/11 commission has heard dramatic testimony from many sources that the Clinton administration was up to its neck in the fight against Bin Laden, but the incoming Bush people did not really focus on that subject until 9/11. Richard Clarke stated that fact in testimony and in his book and those accusations were not effectively challenged and or countered by Bush supporters.

 

Of course there are always great ironies in history and we know hindsight is always 20/20. In October of 1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous and prescient Quarantine Speech in Chicago that called for economic sanctions to isolate and quarantine militaristic nations to counter global aggression. Of course, after being lambasted in 400 editorial pages as a warmonger and a foreign adventurer, and being faced with calls for his impeachment, FDR backed off! In less than two years, Germany attacked and invaded Poland precipitating WWII. Thankfully FDR started his large-scale re-armament program without concern for the public's shortsighted stupidity. Also, though little known today, the last Gallup Poll of November, 1941 asked the American public would it fight to save Britain from collapse? Over 90% of the American public was against military intervention to save Britain! What would have our chances had been with a nazi conquered Britain? 

 

My sense, as a student of history, and a pretty keen observer of every day events, is that President Clinton was never given much room to operate from his right-wing GOP foes and opponents. Right from the start he was hated, vilified and hamstrung regarding bi-partisanship. His accomplishments in Northern Ireland, Cuba, Haiti, Bosnia and other areas were never appreciated or applauded by the GOP or the mainstream media. He made a great effort in the Middle East and was thwarted by Arafat in the end. He continued to contain Sadaam Hussein with eight years of over flights and aggressive counter measures from the air. Meanwhile, in retrospect, if Mohammed Atta was not released from custody, there would have been another recruit. Saudi Arabia is full of them!

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

PS: The remarks attributed to Col. North were never said. The report was false, and it was another terrorist and Al Gore was not the Senator who had asked the question!

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLLECTING  ROOSEVELT and ROOSEVELT the COLLECTOR

The Teaching of History through collecting

by Richard J. Garfunkel

January 28, 2003

 

 

My name is Richard J. Garfunkel; I now live in Tarrytown after living the past 33 years, in White Plains where we are currently meeting. I am originally from Mount Vernon, where my parents lived from 1945 thru 1966 and I graduated from Boston University with a Liberal Arts Degree in American History

 

My interest in history, FDR, and his times especially the 1930’s, 1940’s and World War II came in a very special, but probably not unique way. At the end of WWII my father purchased a 4 volume Time-Life pictorial history of WWII.  These volumes depicted the war in the most graphic way. As a young boy I was fascinated by the pictures of war and all the human tragedy that it evoked. The old saying that a “picture is like a thousand words” was never truer than in my experience.

 

Of all the thousand pages in these 4 volumes, there is only one full faced picture that is of FDR on April 12, 1945. That of course is the day he died. I remember clearly bringing the book to my mother, even before I could read and asking “who is this”. She replied with answer that has always been burned on my memory “The War Leader”. I believe that from that day, almost 50 years ago I had developed an abiding interest in FDR.

 

As an introduction to my talk today, which is focused around the teaching and learning of history through symbols, quite often acquired by collecting, Samuel Elliot Morrison the famous American and naval historian, said of Franklin Roosevelt, that “if he had never been President, he would have become famous as a collector”.

 

FDR grew up in Hyde Park, New York, an only son of a young beautiful mother Sara Delano and a very rich elderly father James Roosevelt. Their home was called Springwood; it was actually the second edifice built on that spot.

         

A.    There are various books describing Springwood, or Hyde Park, and or visits to Hyde Park, and the people who worked in and around the mansion. Located there, is the first Presidential Library- FDR had a very close relationship with a distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, who lived up the Hudson a few in a home called Wilderstein. Her story is in the Geoffrey Ward book “Closest Companion” Daisy as she was known, lived to the age of 99 and helped run the library in its early years, was a close and intimate friend FDR and kept a remarkable diary and a collection of letters. She was at Warm Springs when FDR died. (Laura Delano, known as Aunt Polly, was another constant companion of FDR; Eleanor called the two unmarried relatives of FDR, his handmaidens!)

B.    Ward’s two books- Before the Trumpet and A First Class Temperament.

 

As it is well known FDR was a lonely, but lively child, who started his life long interest in collecting. As a youngster he was able to chronicle every tree and plant on his parent’s vast property. He became an active taxidermist, and was able to hunt and stuff all the various examples of birds that flew in and around Hyde Park and he became an accomplished photographer. Two of his interests that evolved in that era was his love of the sea and his love of stamps. He was given a stamp collection from his uncle, Frederick Delano and became life-long collector of stamps, and he started to collect naval prints.

 

His parents took him to Europe many times, of course by sea, he acquired a love for the sea, started his love for the navy, and he went on to accumulated the largest collection of naval prints and became an accomplished sailor. He would eventually sail his boats in the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy, near Campobello Island, in the Canadian maritime-provinces. It was there while swimming in those cold waters, he weakened him self sufficiently enough to catch Infantile Paralysis, or Polio, that was rampant in those days (1920) while he was visiting a boys camp.

 

 Later on as President he took the wheel of the USS Augusta, through these same challenging waters, on his way to the historic meeting with Winston Churchill where the famous Atlantic Charter was crafted. Of course in that famous Charter, FDR reiterated in article six, points that he made in the State of the Union, also known as the Four Freedoms Speech, of January 6,1941. It declared, “that after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace that will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries. And it will afford assurance that all men, in all the lands, may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want. And what is the connection? Of course, Roosevelt had declared in his first inaugural the immortal line, “…that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” Later on, FDR would refer to these four famous freedoms: from want, from fear, the freedom of speech and the freedom of worship in the context of the phrase “all over the world.” In other words for the first time in history FDR was staking out new territory. He was the first statesmen to state that people had a right to these “freedoms” all over the world. The impact of these words continues to echo. Norman Rockwell’s famous depiction of the “Four Freedoms” became one of the most popular posters of World War II. And of course the next connection came with Eleanor Roosevelt’s heroic and historic championing of the “Universal Rights of Man” that was incorporated into the UN Charter. In a sense the “Four Freedoms” finally put a stake in the heart of totalitarianism.

 

A.    Warm Springs Story,  A Perfect Deception

B.    naval prints

C.    stamps, covers-

 

Of course long before his attack of polio, FDR, went to Groton, a famous prep school. He was profoundly influenced by the Reverend Endicott Peabody, who was the longtime headmaster. Later on Mr. Peabody’s daughter and grandson became quite famous. Of course those names are very old New England names, going back to Plymouth Rock. The grandson Endicott Peabody was a Governor of Massachusetts while I was a student at

Boston University. It was said of him, that he was the only man in America that had three towns he was named after; Endicott, Peabody, and Marblehead. I hope you picked that up. Governor Peabody’s mother, was a famous anti-Vietnam War protester who very early on in the 1960s was arrested while protesting our involvement in SE Asia.

 

FDR of course went on to Harvard, where his distinguished distant cousin Teddy Roosevelt, then President had attended. Though the Hyde Park Roosevelts, were Democrats (FDR was taken by his father to see President Grover Cleveland when he was 12, and it is said that the President extended only one bit of advice to FDR, “Young man if I could give you council on one thing, never aspire to become President”. It is interesting that Bill Clinton, as a young man, was able to meet Jack Kennedy at the White House, but I do not believe any advice was given. FDR supported TR for re-election in 1904, even thought TR and his Oyster Bay branch family was all Republicans

 

A.    Histories of the Roosevelts

B.    TR’s daughter Alice was a famous character in her own way, lived to he 90’s was a DC social critic and hated Eleanor Roosevelt

C.    It is said that FDR wore his pince-nez classes to be like TR and of course wound up marrying TR’s favorite neice.

 

FDR became interested in politics, quite naturally, at Harvard, and though from an aristocratic family, he was rejected at the famous and exclusive Harvard Club Porcellian, where many of the Roosevelts had belonged, including his father and TR. It is said, by some, that it was at that moment of rejection, that FDR with his Democratic Party leanings, started to become disenchanted with the upper classes and the role society played in dominating America. Later on, it is said, that he paralleled his black-balling from Porcellian by an unknown detractor, to the back room deals the powerful made in regards to the future of the country.

 

FDR became a lawyer, ran for office in Dutchess County, fought the Tammany bosses of the Democratic Party in NYC, and eventually was appointed to the job of Asst. Secretary of Navy in the new Wilson administration. Of course TR had been an Assistant Secretary of the Navy and eventually about five other Roosevelts will have served in that position. FDR wound up practically running the Navy Dept in the war, because, Josephus Daniels his old and crusty boss was a pacifist! (Jonathan Daniels and Lucy Mercer)

(Eleanor and Franklin by Joseph Lash, Eleanor’s good friend)

A.    a signed collectible from WWI with FDR asking for “glasses for the Navy”

B.    card of FDR and Eleanor coming back from the Versailles Peace Conference 

C.    Fore River with Joseph P. Kennedy-struggle over ships-

 

After the war and capitalizing on his famous name and his great work, he was nominated for Vice-President on the James Cox ticket. He campaigned relentlessly, but the GOP tide with the Harding-Coolidge ticket was irresistible. But FDR had made his own name nationally, and out of the campaign came the famous Cox/Roosevelt jugate. A very rare button, a jugate has two heads on it and is the most collectible of all presidential type buttons. Since there are only about 7 or 8 of this button it became the most expensive in history   

         

A.    button board-of FDR buttons

B.    Judge Joe Jacobs story $50,000, and the Macolm Forbes bidding contest

C.    Very rare any artifacts from that campaign for the average collector

 

Of course, soon after the campaign FDR contracted Polio, went through a long struggle to survive and recover, overcame his mother’s request that he retire, and he re-entered political. Two very important figures became more prominent in his life. Louis Howe, his old confidant and asst. from both Albany and the Navy Dept and Marguerite “Missy” LeHand his private secretary.

 

A.    Letter from Missy LeHand (her great influence)

B.    book on Rollin’s book “Roosevelt-Howe” (his death in 1936)

C.    Emergence of Jim Farley

 

FDR started his slow emergence back into politics with his famous nominating speech at the 1924 convention, where he proclaimed AL Smith, the great governor of NY, the Happy Warrior. This name would stick and Smith was eventually nominated again by FDR in 1928 and he became the 1928 Democratic candidate. In that same year, as Smith lost in the Hoover and GOP tidal wave, FDR was narrowly elected Governor of NY by 28,000 votes over Albert Ottinger. Ottinger was a conservative Republican Uncle of the former liberal Democratic congressman Richard Ottinger, whom my wife worked for and I campaigned for in 1960’s through early 1980’s.

 

Later on, as Smith became an embittered and jealous foe of FDR, it was thought that it was FDR, who really was the Happy Warrior.

 

A.    Albert Ottinger button

B.    FDR as Governor of NY

C.    Letter as governor

 

FDR was of course elected to his first of four terms in 1932, in the wake of the great depression.  He was 50 years old, he had matured he had tempered and he had acquired great patience. He had said, “ that one learns patience, when one has to take 6 months to learn how to move one’s big toe!”

 

Of course there is a mountain of collectibles on FDR that emerged during and after his Presidency. I have brought over some of the more interesting items that I have found. Most of here are more familiar with the Roosevelt Presidency, so I would like to focus about some of the collectibles and some vignettes about the man himself. Busts, clocks, covers, newspapers, photos, calendars, thermometers, coins, stamps, covers, badges, ephemera (paper and literature) all make up a political collection.

 

A.    cartoons- Marist College has an on line collection

B.    most photographed man in his lifetime

C.    most books written about him,over way over 400, passed Lincoln a few years ago.

D.    RR station in Greenwich, CT.

E.     ability to walk-

F.     relationships- friends- women-politicians

G.    Eleanor Roosevelt

H.    Fala

I.       Joseph P. Kennedy- Doris Kearns Goodwin

J.      Polio and the March of Dimes- Basil O’Connor

K.   Birthday Balls

L.     MacArthur & WWII

M.  Pearl Harbor

N.   excellent leadership-Marshall-Eisenhower-King-Nimitz

O.   death at Warm Spring West Point Cadets at Hyde Park

           

 

           Mount Vernon Change and  Legacy                    1963 through 2003

 

Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas National Impact

Local Consequences

 

Talk delivered by Richard J. Garfunkel at

MVHS – March 30, 2004

 

 

 

I was raised in Mount Vernon and lived here from 1945 to 1965. My parents were native New Yorkers who were both born in Manhattan, were married in 1935, moved to Brooklyn shortly after, and moved to Mount Vernon at the end of WWII. They were very typical of the urban American whose forbearers were Europeans, who immigrated to American cities, and eventually migrated to the suburbs to escape the declining cities.

 

The United States and New York in particular, for our purposes, came out of the great Depression at the victorious close of World War II. Ever since the Crash of 1929 life in the states had changed radically. After the boom period that had lasted from most of the 20^th Century from mid-1890s until 1929, the great American dream had come to a screeching halt. Life, as contempory people knew it, had changed dramatically and the change seemed permanent.

 

When you look around this city, in particular, and you look at buildings like the old AB Davis High School on Gramatan Avenue or the Pennington School, you are seeing the last architectural vestiges of the pre-crash 1920’s era. In fact many of the older apartment buildings and the bigger houses in Mount Vernon were build before the crash. Only some public buildings were built with New Deal- WPA 1930’s money, and all the rest were built after the war. In other words there was little or no housing built generally in America from 1929 to 1945.

 

Because of the Depression, money and investment dried up, and along with that fact, unemployment rose catastrophically after the crash from a low in 1929 of 3% to over 30% in 1933. As a consequence certain dynamics started to take place.

 

a)      The farms and farm prices which had been in trouble since the mid 1920’s started to collapse

b)      An internal migration started from the Mid-West farms to both California in the West and to the cities in the East: California for farm work, the East for relief.

c)      African-Americans, who were more concentrated in the South prior to World War II, were the poorest of Americans and were hurt the worst by the Depression.

d)      Without jobs or housing the cities became more crowded as migrants from the rural regions moved to the North and East.

e)      Again without money for housing, all housing deteriorated accept Federal Housing supported by the New Deal.

f)        Almost every family was affected by unemployment or underemployment. Benefits, as we know them today, were either non-existent, or at the whim of one’s employer. Social Security was passed in 1935, but had no impact on the Depression. Almost every other program, including Medicare, Medicaid, and a plethora of others were years away.

 

But after war broke out in Europe in late 1939, the United States started its large arms build-up in preparation for the potential of involvement. Almost immediately jobs opened up in the industrial North, the farms became solvent in the Mid-West and African-Americans flocked to industrial areas like Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Large war plants needed workers as America eventually entered the war. With the draft boards calling hundreds of thousands of young men into the service, and the need for 24 hour a day –triple shift production, more workers were needed, especially from the rural South.

 

Even the City of Mount Vernon was caught up in war production as massive plants were built near McQuestern Parkway and old chemical companies on Washington Street were pressed into maximum production. The 100,000 square foot Vernon Electric plant that was located near the Dyer Avenue subway had 50,000 workers on triple 8 hour shifts per day.

 

As a consequence of all this new employment, new migration, a shortage of workers, and war debt from deficit spending, a new prosperity developed during and immediately following the war. Especially since people had nowhere or no time to spend there earnings, savings increased dramatically.

 

Certain dynamics started to happen:

 

a)      Soldiers came home from the war

b)      The great baby boom started

c)       The suburbs grew dramatically as new apartments sprung up in lower Westchester, and whites left the cities by the hundreds of thousands to live in the suburbs.

d)      African-Americans also moved into small Westchester cities like Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers, but not in large numbers.

e)      African-Americans moved from the South, where Jim Crow still reigned supreme, to the more liberal Northern cities.

 

Therefore the scene was set for the great social change that emerged after WWII.

a)      Even though there were always African-Americans in Mount Vernon, the numbers were still small, and they were concentrated on the southwest side of the New Haven RR tracks.

b)      Schools were old in Mount Vernon, like everywhere else and crowded.

c)      The city was divided racially, and ethnically.

d)      African-Americans lived on the Southwest side of town with poor Italians and other whites: the Washington Jr. High/Alexander Hamilton School areas

e)      Lower and middle class Italians and Jews lived in the Graham School district

f)        Middle and upper middle class Protestants, Irish and Jews lived in the Traphagen School district.

g)      Middle class Jews and Italians lived in the Fleetwood or Nichols school district

h)      Also there were always a significant number of Roman Catholics who sent their children to parochial schools.

i)        With the building of the new apartments near Pelham, the new Holmes School was opened in 1954. This school was a stat-of-the-art facility, with small classes and almost a 100% white student population.

 

When the Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case was decided unanimously by the Supreme Court in 1954, Mount Vernon had legal, or “de jure” integrated schools. But similar to other Westchester cities, the local primary schools were “de facto” segregated due to problems of location created by economics, class and race.

 

But there were other, more unique to Mount Vernon; problems that started to arise after the conclusion of the war. Mount Vernon High School had been divided into two schools in the early 1930’s, one was AB Davis High, which had an academic based, college preparatory curriculum, and Edison Tech, which had a vocational and trades curriculum. In the years just before the war, and certainly during the conflict, Edison became vitally important to the war effort. Edison’s motor and aviation trades became essential to a modern machine oriented army. Trained mechanics were vitally important if the United States were going to be victorious in this mechanized conflict. But after the war, both Davis and Edison were over-crowded. Edison especially was inadequate, and when the need for mechanics and vocational training subsided, Edison became a type of “dumping ground” for students who were not academically as gifted, or were socially a problem. Therefore, two parallel, but separate dynamics developed. One parallel was the need for a new, bigger, more comprehensive school, and the other, was to keep Davis High more pristine as an academic magnet and beacon. Therefore, the efforts to finance and build a new school, which started to gain momentum in 1948, were defeated five times until 1959. One could say the delays were because of the fear of mixing different economic and social classes, or one could believe that it was racially motivated. But in 1963, the combined senior classes of Davis and Edison were approximately 85% white and 15% non-white.  Not all of those 95 non-white students out of 633 attended Edison. Meanwhile, the referendum to build the new combined high school was finally passed in 1959 after 12 years and five votes, and the work was begun on the Baker Field site on California Road in 1963.

 

Of course this entire issue had very little impact on my classmates and me. By 1963 in my senior year in high school, nothing had dramatically changed in Mount Vernon, or in the AB Davis High School building. Davis High was now called Mount Vernon High School, and some of the activities involved students from both schools.

 

There was racial harmony; sports teams were combined between Davis and Edison and the atmosphere in class proceeded in a normal almost passive way. The teams enjoyed new success with the merger, and many of the sports heroes were African-Americans from both the Davis and Edison campuses. In fact, there was a great deal of unity and the transition to the new high school seemed to be on a straight and non-controversial path. The old animosity that had divided the separate racial, religious and ethnic communities of the past 15 years were not apparent to me, my friends, my parents or the city in general. But there were fissures in the community regarding busing, and the Dodson Report in 1964, authored by Dan W. Dodson, Director of the Center for Human Relations and Community Studies at New York University, recommended busing children from one section of Mount Vernon to another. This created dissention and the liberal Jewish community welcomed his suggestions, but other Jews and many Italian-Americans formed a new organization, Parents and Taxpayers (PAT) to voice their opposition. “They said that they were not, they insisted opposed to integration; they only wanted to maintain the quality of the neighborhood schools.” (A)

 

Malcolm X addressed parishioners at the local AME Church, and his speech radicalized young people in the audience. The Board of Education presented proposal after proposal, intended to soften the edge of segregation, while retaining its substance. At a public meeting in February of 1966, Clifford Brown, a young militant leader of CORE, took the floor and turned a black-white confrontation into a clash between African-Americans and Jews. In response to a challenge from the Jewish president of PAT, he exclaimed, “Hitler made one mistake when he didn’t kill enough of you!” Brown’s retort, published in two consecutive issues of the NY Times, achieved national notoriety. As a result of this, “white flight” ensued. With this rapid decrease in the Jewish population, property values plummeted, and the Italian community complained that Jews had forced desegregation upon Mount Vernon and then fled the consequences. In fact, integration was the inevitable result of the new federal laws and the new migration from NYC and the Bronx started to change the demographics of Mount Vernon significantly. 

             

Around the country, especially after the situation in Little Rock in 1957, integration was more of an issue in the south, and there was very little local news about it. Also, because of the national fervor created by Little Rock, I can remember vividly protesting the singing of “Dixie” in junior high school during that year. One local story that made the headlines was when New Rochelle was forced to close down Lincoln Junior High, which was located on Lincoln Avenue. Lincoln was totally African-American due to “de facto” segregation, and a court ruling ordered it closed. It sat vacant in that neighborhood for many, many years.

 

Of course, the Brown ruling had two parts, and though the first ruling had made “de jure” segregation unconstitutional, the second opinion, the next year, included the notorious comment that desegregation should proceed “with all deliberate speed.”  This phrase would later foreshadow the long and drawn out efforts by school districts to delay change in both the obvious cases involving “de jure” segregation and the less obvious, more complicated cases regarding “de facto” segregation. Of course many districts went ahead to modernize their schools, and in these school districts that served many communities, large central high schools and junior high schools were built. The problem still existed on the local level with elementary education. Parents wanted to have their small children walk to the neighborhood school, and, therefore new solutions eventually came forth with “open enrollment” and busing. On the high school level there had never been a real controversy over large comprehensive campuses. But on the neighborhood level, where the real problem of “de facto” segregation existed, the animosity, especially in the North exploded. Fear of racial-mixing at the primary school level started to change attitudes as to where people wanted to live. People felt that educational quality would decline and their property values would soon follow.

 

Of course, this did not become a real issue until many years after the Brown decision. Other realities started to effect society that would drive the racial divide and the change America. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was a body-blow shock to America that is still felt to this day. Civil rights activities with “Freedom Rides” in the South, the emergence of Martin Luther King Jr. as a national force, violence in Selma, Meridian and Birmingham became every day events. Also along with the struggle over accommodation of facilities in the South, the cities were in crisis, the build-up in Vietnam was escalating and the country was experiencing high levels of crime and civil disorder from a racial perspective that had not been witnessed since the Civil War and the race riots in Detroit during WWII. The deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in 1968, along with riots, the explosion of crime related to drugs, and the continued killing in Vietnam and the casualties from the massive North Vietnamese-Viet Cong Tet offensive started to change attitudes in many communities about the values of our society and its institutions. Also young veterans arriving back from Vietnam were increasingly unhappy with circumstances that faced them here at home.

 

As a consequence of all of this activity and turmoil, the era of “good feeling” that the 1950’s portended to be, began to end around 1965 and was finished by 1968. New realities emerged with the continuing social struggles. Racial antipathy sprung up in Boston over the school busing issue and NYC became inflamed over local control of schools as its massive school district was divided into 33 semi-autonomous districts. The upper middle-class whites started to move from the suburban cities to the towns, and lower middle class whites felt abandoned by their richer white neighbors.

 

But for the vast majority of minority children in many areas of the country, education, which had been a captive of “de facto” segregation, started to change. New opportunities opened up with integrated education, and though it would take many, many years, a vast number of whites and non-whites started to understand each other through the process of education. But today, ironically, there are many communities that once again have “de facto” segregation. Today the 25 largest urban school districts in the United States are minority dominated. The minorities may not be the old minorities of the post WWII era, but now they are a mixture Hispanics, Asians, Africans, Eastern Europeans and Arabs along with African-Americans. The center cities have always been a mixture of rich and poor. The new immigrants have always flocked to the cities where there are jobs. So in other words the cycle continues.

 

Today new realities affect education and they include, the mixture of new and different cultures, the conflict over value-based teaching, in other words the separation of church and state, the relevancy of curriculum and the under-funding of many school districts. Across the Northeast the constant problem of under-funded districts versus rich districts plagues educators and state officials.

 

From my own personal perspective, I was as much of a captive of my past as anyone else. My parents were Democrats, socially moderate, but leery of others. Their friends were almost universally Jewish, but my father had more contact with others through business and golf. I had many friends in my Prospect Avenue neighborhood, This section of Mount Vernon, which was south of Lincoln Avenue and west of Pelham, was populated by Jews, Italians, Irish and Protestants. We all freely associated with each other, and Church, G-d, religion, politics, and race were rarely if ever talked about. Many of my friends, in that neighborhood, went to parochial schools, but, all in all, few were very religious. Our common philosophy was of being American and not hyphenated Americans. There was no ethnic languages spoken in the street unlike NYC, Neither of Italian or Yiddish was ever heard and generally speaking there were few if any ethnic jokes. The “N” word or any other racial or religious slur was not heard in our neighborhood. For better or worse, our contact with African-Americans was slight. Our contact with Hispanics was almost non-existent and our contact with Asians was limited to one very smart well off Chinese Taiwanese diplomatic family.

 

During high school I was involved with athletic teams and came into daily contact with African-Americans from both Davis and Edison and had great relationships and fulfilling experiences. During college I returned to Mount Vernon often, and stayed in contact with the high schools athletic programs through 1967. After college, and until 1977 when my other responsibilities intervened, I stayed active with the Mount Vernon HS sports activities. Recently, over the last ten years, through my work with the Jon Breen Memorial Fund, I have had renewed contact with a Mount Vernon High School, that has changed mightily since the late 1960’s and mid 1970’s.

 

All in all, the promise of the Brown decision is still unresolved. Integrated education has worked for many millions, but generally speaking the quality of public education has been declining for many years, for more and more Americans, both white and non-white. Is the answer, regarding this decline, reflective of the change in the traditional home, the change in our culture, the women’s movement, the new drug culture, a decline in our core values, the need for curriculum change, the inequity of school funding, and a score of other issues? Ironically there are many more “de facto” segregated schools then one would imagine. We easily see in our region, a Mount Vernon HS with a minority population of 98%, a Bronxville HS with a non-minority school population of probably 98% white. Therefore, what is the answer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing of a Giant- Henry Littlefield- 2000

 

To: Al Bevilaqua- Wrestling Coach, historian, writer, and colleague of Henry Littlefield.

 

Dear Al- Thank you very much for you wonderful release. It warmed my heart to see an important part of his magnificent coaching record brought to light again. It is hard to believe that it has been 33 years since I was up at Niagara University, witnessing the last MVHS coaching effort of the great man. Though a partisan, I always regarded Henry's record as second to none in Section I and maybe anywhere else. He had no worlds left to conquer. In six regular seasons he coached and won five straight Section I titles 1963-4-5-6-7, 4 or 5 Division titles and 4 or 5 holiday titles. (I shall take credit for one of those holiday titles. Someone didn't count one of our high placings, a 2nd or 3rd in one of the weight classes, and just before the trophy was about to be given over to another coach and school, I ran over to Coach Littlefield, whispered in his ear and gave him the new count. It was our closest call.) MVHS was undefeated in Section I competition for those five years, won the unofficial State Section title in 1966-7 and produced in five years over 25 Section I Champions. In fact, in two back-to-back years, MVHS had 18 wrestlers in the finals and came away with 9 champs. Counting the holiday tournament, the division, Sections and the States, Henry produced over 60 champions. Henry accomplished this unparallel record without the benefit of a junior high school program and the limitation of a three-year high school. Many of his great champions; Jimmy Lee, Howie Wilson, Ricky O'Daniel, Alex Cunningham, Doug Garr, Jim Hardy, Mitchell Gurdus, John Carlucci, Mike Viggiano, Ray Johnson, Mario Criscione and Bob Panoff had barely 3 years of competitive wrestling. He was a master of drilling, isometrics, technique and adaptability. He was always the great teacher. After our only loss in the 1962-3 season to Freeport, he realized that his team had been beaten by the chicken-wing/ half-nelson. No one had ever been taught the counter! No MVHS team ever suffered from that hold again. (This is just from memory, when I have time I will look up the actual numbers, which I have.) Those years were truly marvelous and never to be forgotten. He was able to turn a group of poor kids from the two high schools, Davis and Edison, into a cohesive and caring group. Never once, in the years that I witnessed his coaching, did I ever see him lose his temper, raise his voice or experience back talk or grousing from his men. Never once did I see him lose his “cool” around the mat, never once did I ever see him “bait” a referee. The officials loved and respected him and his judgment. They all knew that he was the “master”. His opponents, coaches and wrestlers flocked to him for guidance and words of wisdom. Our wrestling room was always open to alumni from MVHS and the rest of Section I.

 

I saw many, many former opponents listening with rapt attention at the foot of the “master”. He treated them as men, as competitors and as worthy foe. It wasn't long before they became his “grapplers”. When Mount Vernon won its State Section title in 1967, I witnessed a rare event in sports. Virtually all of the other champions and near champions flocked to his side. They wanted to be in the pictures with the great Littlefield and his team of stars; including the great and unparallel Jimmy Davis, the lightweights; Alex Cunningham, Doug Garr, and Mario Criscione. To me it was a magic moment burned in my mind's eye. Who know that that night would be the end of his fabulous run? Of course, the dynasty continued for a number of years with his marvelous protégés Randy Forrest and Jimmy Lee. As much as I loved them both, it was never quite the same. Henry's big shadow always remained omnipresent and his twelve league boots could never really be filled.