New Hampshire Outdoor News Archives 2000

The total votes per candidate for Representative in the Exeter/Kensington race, is as follows: Warren Henderson 984; Marshall "Lee" Quandt 881; Kurt Roessner 820; Matthew Quandt 791; Carl Robertson 792, and Arthur Tufts 766.

LOCAL EXETER/KENSINGTON Candidates Who Support Sportsmen-9/10/00

Senate Race for District No. 23Has 2 Candidates with Conservative Views!- 9/10/00

Internet Privacy in Schools? - 9/4/00

Exeter School Board Member says "Money Spent for Raises, Better than Lawsuits!" - 8/29/00

Exeter NH School Board Dips into Surplus - 8/26/2000

Stratham Planners to Continue Discussing Development - 8/19/2000

The Exeter Regional Cooperative School System All Wet- 8/14/2000

Animal Rights Alive and Well In New Hampshire

Boulder City Council Replaces Pet "Ownership" To "Guardianship"!

Defenders of Wildlife and NH Rep. Charles Bass

Hunter Sentenced to Jail for Killing!

Rhode Island is turning into another MASSACHUSETTS!

School is All Wet- 12/29/1999

Walmart & Wetlands in Stratham NH-10/16/99

Stratham Planners to Continue Discussing Development - 8/19/2000

The Exeter Regional Cooperative School System All Wet- 8/14/2000

The Depression Defense in Wakefield, Massachusetts

My deepest sympathy to the families of the victims of the tragedy in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The full joy of the holiday season will never completely return to these families due to the actions of one sick individual.

The blame must lie with the criminal and not with the items he used to commit this crime. This was a big man that could have used his hands, a bat, a knife, or a bomb which he had already made at his home. People must be held Personally Responsible for their actions. It is not the cigarette when people choose to smoke, and it is not the firearm when people choose to use it illegally. What it comes down to is Personal Responsibility Period!

Even though the blame lies totally with the sick individual, his sickness should not be allowed to be used as a defense for his actions. If there is responsibility to be shared, there were others involved. These were the doctors that had treated this man for his depression. Another weapon in this case was the pen of the doctors prescribing anti-depressants. By writing these prescriptions their fingers were on the trigger as well.

Anti-Depressants may help many people, but these doctors need to pay much closer attention to their patients. The problem with these drugs is not over-dosing but abruptly stopping the medication. When a patient stops taking these anti-depressants they suffer a withdrawal including severe depression, aggressiveness, and psychopathic and suicidal tendencies.People on these medications need to be monitored more closely and that's a problem for the medical society.

The fact that this person is sick and has a problem with depression, does not take away the fact that He committed the crime. Innocent by reason of insanity is a LIE, A Total Falsehood! To be innocent is to be found not to have committed the crime at all. If you are insane and you commit a crime, you did it, you are guilty! What we need is a New Plea and that should be; Guilty, But Insane!

The Depression Defense which will be brought up in the Wakefield, Massachusetts tragedy, has no place in our justice system! Put them in a hospital and when they are better, let them serve out the remainder of their punishment in prison where they belong!

GUILTY, BUT INSANE!

Defenders of the Free World?

Defenders of the Free World, YEA-but you better read the fine print!

A Netzero Joke! 40 hour limit per month and then it's not so FREE!

That's a little over an hour a day! Takes that long to check my e-mail!

Just saw an ad on T.V. and it's pretty much a LIE!

They seem to avoid mentioning the 40 hour limit on their advertisements!

They stick their ad banner flashing on the screen, then they add annoying pop up windows advertising .com contests and .com special sales and they have the audacity to charge for using their service over 40 hours a month!

They should change their slogan to:

Defenders of the Free World (As long as you don't stay too long!)

or maybe "Netzero, SOMETIMES"!

I had many disconnects and computer freeze ups with the use of Netzero, but when it's free it's hard to complain. At least when you have trouble with a pay service, you have someone to scream at!

Well it's time for me to go back to the real world and pay for a DECENT service, maybe one that offers phone service with Internet to offset the cost of the second phone line or combine cable Television with Internet service from a reputable company that is NOT a .COM or a .NET COMPANY LIKE THEIRS!

Maybe the .NET companies will go the route of many .COM companies, down the tubes!

They better put the fine print on their Television and media advertisements, they are mis-leading by calling it FREE Internet access, actually that could be called FALSE ADVERTISING!

In Defense of NH Fish and Game!

With all these animal rights groups around, why is it that when nature takes it's course and a weak Loon is dying on the ice, does NH Fish and Game have to take the heat for not spending thousands of dollars to go running out on thin ice to save a creature that would probably dive under the ice and die anyway? Why did all those people around that lake complain about NH Fish and Game when no organization came including the Loon Center and the Audobon Society as well?

What about local animal rescue and what about Humane Societies?

NO, the only ones to get blasted in the press is NH Fish and Game!

I have seen NH Fish and Game save Moose, Deer, Dogs, and Cats so it's obvious that they do respond when possible. According to NH Fish and Game, when the call came in the caller left a bad phone number.

If these people watched this loon for days, why didn't they organize a better plan then sending someone out onto thin ice risking their lives and the lives of rescuers if that person went in? Why didn't they tie a rope to a small boat or canoe and slide it across the ice instead of risking a human life?

These people called local and state police besides the Loon Center and NH Fish and Game so why is NH Fish and Game taking most of the heat? NH Fish and Game has a dive team that rescues people and recovers bodies in drownings all the time. These officers risk their lives on a regular basis to save human lives!

Why not look at the lack of action by animal rights groups that are so quick to attack animal cruelty but won't respond to a situation like this?

If you live near a road, birds and animals get hit. If you live near a lake, birds and animals drown. That's nature! Survival of the fittest!

Get Over It!

Loon Story on my Defense of NHF&G! 12/24/2000

Residents angry with state’s failure to save trapped loon. From Foster's Daily Democrat: http://www.fosters.com/news2000/dec%5F00/16/ro1216c.htm

Sorry I forgot to add it to my previous post! Thanks Mike, from NESportsman for catching that!

NH Fish and Game Proposes to Increase Licenses 30%!

NH License fee increase of 30 to 32 percent!

Thats an increase from $30 to $40 for a combo license!

Maybe if they charged for a rescue once in a while like they said they were going to! Why is NHF&G always the one's involved in rescues? If it's a sportsman hunting or fishing fine, but I am sick of these tourists hiking, biking, or boating, costing NHF&G money to go get these people out of trouble!

These people don't pay one dime into NHF&G, but when they get in trouble, and as usual the only emergency equipment they know how to use is their cell phones. We have local police, State Police, Marine Patrol, and the National Guard, but the ones that always show up are the Fish and Game officers!

Fish and Game is supported mostly by sportsmen locally and federally, so if they are going to be used as a public safety organization then the rest of "The Public" should start paying for them instead of looking for more sportsmen's money!
Also with all those stamps and stickers you have to buy when hunting or fishing different species, you can't even fit the license in your wallet anymore!

NHF&G stated that the wildlife and fisheries habitat fees are directed strictly to habitat programs and not to the general budget. Doesn't the extra directed money mean that they can spend LESS of the general budget on these habitat programs?
Do they mean to tell us that those habitat fees were above and beyond what they were already spending?

When I paid those fees I thought I was alleviating money pressure in the budget to help put more towards game species!

I don't mind a few more bucks and another stamp here or there but 30% is a pretty big rate hike!

Maybe you politicians were thinking of starting out high and working down to a 15 or 20 percent figure from the beginning, but sportsmen have been getting hit federally and locally! Federally with the USF&S looting our funds, spending them on Non-Game programs and locally with NH grabbing more money for "Game Damage" and fence building for farms. If you think starting high is a good idea you are wrong! Stamps, Stickers, and Fees have been dumped on the sportsmen's backs for years and we are tired of it!

If there are funding problems and NHF&G needs more money then come to us with honest figures and reasons, instead of jumping in with a figure like this!

This will be in a bill in the NH legislature and we will need to keep a CLOSE eye on it!

NHF&G: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/newsfeeincrease.htm

Filtering Software is NOT the Answer, Supervision Is!

In the case of Jim Knight and The Exeter School systems' Internet files, the idea that filtering software is the answer even with the expense, may not be the way to go. The problem that I see is that filtering software filters too many worthy sites and there is no way to filter only inappropriate sites. Filtering software is a handy tool for parents who can be called by their children to help when a worthy site is being locked out, but teachers need to do their jobs and monitor students accessing the Internet.

Having a main computer networked to the students computers, being able to look at what ever each computer in the room is looking at, will help keep the students honest! On top of monitoring students while they are on the Internet, teachers assigned to the computer rooms should, from time to time, spot check the history files. When looking at a website address in a history file that may be questionable, all a teacher has to do is click on the history file and it will bring the teacher to the site that the student was viewing.

The files available to the public do not have to contain the identity of the student, but the school should keep this information for their own records and if a website is discovered to be inappropriate then only the school system would be able to view the users identity and take action against that person.

If a student is found with inappropriate magazines in school, they are taken away. If a student carries a cell phone in school, it is taken away. If a student carries a beeper in school it is taken away. If students are caught viewing or writing inappropriate material on the computers, then their access to the computers should also be taken away! It is called discipline!

In a Democracy with rights to freedom, also comes the responsibility to ensure that only adults are granted these rights. The rights of minors are limited for a reason and it is up to parents and teachers to guard the limits to which students are given rights. Students identities should be guarded but what minors do in schools should not. Parents need to monitor what their children watch on television and view on the Internet, and teachers in schools that offer Internet access need to do the same. If schools need to spend thousands of dollars to filter Internet access, then maybe we should leave Internet access at home and get it out of schools completely!

NETGATE in Exeter NH School System!

After spending thousands of dollars on trying to keep Exeter School's computer Internet logs private, the school system in their infinite wisdom allowed their computer people to continue to delete old files completely! I can't believe that the deletion of these files was not brought up in one of the boards' "closed door" meetings with their lawyers, since they knew full well that these files were crux of the lawsuit against the school system!

After a long court battle the Exeter NH School system was ordered to open the Internet history files, but now they claim that the files have been routinely deleted! Shouldn't the practice of deleting old files have been halted during a trial involving those very files?

If students, teachers, or administrators were using "Our" computers for less than appropriate activities before this lawsuit started, then I am sure the smart ones knew better than to continue when the history files may end up in public view!

When company employees started using their business computers for viewing inappropriate websites or sending personal e-mail, the companies decided to monitor their employee's web access and also copying every e-mail that went out over the company's computers. When employees know that their actions may be monitored or that company phone calls may be recorded, suddenly the personal use stops!

The only history files that would have given the residents of the Exeter Area School system an idea of how THEIR computers were being used, would have been the history files BEFORE the Internet case started!

According to Greg Kann, chairman of the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board, "there are some 7 million Internet log files available for public viewing dating back to Aug. 27, 2000."

This figure astounded me! That's 7 million log files in 104 days! Do the Math!

That's 67,307 log files a day and that includes weekends!

In my opinion that's a lot, even for every school in the Exeter School System! What exactly are our students doing at school all day?

What ever happened to the three R's?

The School system is claiming that there was to much computer memory being used to save the files which is why they were deleted. One History file is one kilobyte, maybe two if you also track the Date, Time, and User who logged into the website. It seems to me that one or two writeable CD Roms per week would do the job, so for a few thousand dollars a year we could maintain a record of where OUR computers are going on the Internet.

Another CD Rom every week could also track every e-mail sent on OUR computers at school as well. In this electronic age I believe that we need to monitor what anyone is doing on computers paid for by taxpayers! School administrators may say that there are sensitive items that may not need to be in public view (I don't know why), but in that case mail a letter or use the fax if they don't want it monitored!

With 67,000 Internet logs in a little over three months, I wonder what's going on at school today? Many parents use the television as a baby-sitter, are schools using computers the same way?

Computers, like televisions, are a great tool for education, at school and at home. We need to monitor what our children watch on TV, and we need to monitor what our children look at on the Internet as well. Teachers who are assigned to the computer rooms should spot check these history files and even be able to randomly monitor what websites students are viewing while they are viewing them.

Funny how children behave when they know that they may be being watched! Adults too, for that matter!

I am not suggesting the use of filtering programs, because these are not effective and in some cases they forbid access to educationally worthy websites that may contain certain words that trigger the filters to lock out the site. At home these filtering programs may help assist parents in monitoring their kids and they can come to the computer when the child wants to view a locked site and the parent can decide if it's acceptable or not.

When a teacher is assigned to a computer room, they should do their job and monitor the students use of the computers. Correcting papers can be done when they are assigned to study halls, not computer rooms!

I am no fan of "Big Brother", but when it comes to publicly owned computers, or company computers, whoever owns the computer has a right to know what that computer is being used for. "Big Brother" has no right to know what you do with your own computer.

So if any student, teacher, or administrator wants to look at inappropriate websites or send e-mail jokes let them do it at home or buy their own laptop!

FORM LETTER REPLY FROM THE EXETER REGION COOPERATIVE SCHOOL BOARD:

Reply from the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board:

Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 6:18 PM
Subject: Re: Feedback from the School District Website

With Regard to the Issue of Lost Internet History Log Files

The school has not wrongfully destroyed any public records. The Internet history log files were routinely over written on a six-week frequency. It is a normal industry practice to continuously over write these types of files. Such a practice allows a current backlog while purging outdated information. The purging of outdated data is required to allow the computers to function properly.

This lawsuit began back in 1998 when Mr. Knight presented to the school board his disappointment that the schools do not have Internet blocking software. Later he requested access to the Internet history log files under the Right-to-Know law.

After Mr. Knight made his request for the log files we sought a legal opinion regarding the whether these files are public records. The Internet and using technology brings new issues and competing requirements to schools. The competing requirements are the right to privacy and the right to public information. We acted responsibly and sought legal advice. The
advice we received was that these files are not public records. We were told not only are they not public records but it would be illegal for us to release this information to the public under a federal law.

We advised Mr. Knight of this. Mr. Knight made no further requests to the school district. Nine months after his request for the log files he brought suit in court for the files.

In addition to the issue of the federal law that would restrict this information, these files also contain personal information that is clearly not subject to public inspection under New Hampshire law.

Once the lawsuit was filed the school district changed the process for automatic rotation of current records to preserve the Internet history log files. By doing this no further files were overwritten.

The rotation period was changed so that files from this current school year were not overwritten. No one changed the rotation period in June when the suit was filed.

Since the school districts have stopped over writing the history files we have collected approximately 7 million records. This is a tremendously large number of records. If these records were in paper form it would correspond to over 100,000 pages of text. It should be noted that these do not represent only the site requested but all information received from that site. This includes an additional file for each picture that is embedded in the requested web site and all re-directed sites that are returned.

At no time have we adopted any records destruction policy or destroyed any records because of this lawsuit. To the contrary we commenced new practices of retaining Internet history log files for extended periods of time because of this case.

Greg Kann, Chair of the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board

My Reply to Receiving The Form Letter From The School Board:

According to an obvious "Form Letter Reply" on my letter on the deletion of Internet History files by the Exeter School System, I believe that they did not READ my letter.

I did not say that the deletions were "wrongfully" done, I said that someone in the course of discussing the request for this information must have known that these files were being deleted and that maybe the practice should be halted. My actual words were "I can't believe that the deletion of these files was not brought up in one of the boards' "closed door" meetings with their lawyers, since they knew full well that these files were crux of the lawsuit against the school system!"

Also after the problems with the students "Society of the Kiwi" website, I would imagine that the school system should have considered saving and monitoring Internet files a year ago when the problem occurred!

In the school boards position that privacy rights may be violated with the release of this information, I am very surprised that educators in the electronic age of today have no idea that History Files and that the logs from the computer that actually accessed these saved sites does not necessarily have to reveal the identity of the actual user!

A basic log may reveal the website address, and the time and date that the site was accessed. If a less then appropriate site is being viewed further private investigation by the school could reveal the user name that had logged in at that time and date, and action against this user could be taken.

As for the deletions to save hard disk space, the cost of writable CD Roms would be well worth the cost to maintain a record of websites that our computers are visiting and could be valuable evidence if students are using our computers in a detrimental fashion. Let alone saving the cost of legal fees in a case like is going on now!

Nothing was mentioned on my comments about the amount of logs created in this short amount of time, and how many students are accessing the Internet on school time. Part of the response on the amount of logs was that embedded pictures and linked sites are included in the logs. These are wasted memory space when keeping a log or history. Any history log would only need the website address, time, and date to be public and the user to be available privately when needed. Any questionable sites could be recognized from their website address most of the time and when a questionable address is found, then a teacher could go to that address and investigate what the student was viewing to decide if it was of educational value or not.

If the address of the "Society of the Kiwi" had been investigated, that problem would have been stopped long before it got as far as it did!

Further evidence that my letter was not read is that I mentioned teachers spot checking students while they are viewing the Internet. Spot checking history files from time to time while teachers are on duty in the school computer rooms would also alert them to the viewing of un-appropriate websites.

I also stated that I am against the use of filtering software since these programs filter out too many sites that may have educational value. The best way to "Filter" Internet access by students is the same as monitoring their Television habits at home and that is supervision! If teachers monitored web access while students were on the Internet and check old history files as well, students would be less likely to mis-use these computers when the chances of them getting caught are increased!

I am a lifelong resident of the Kensington/Exeter area and have always defended the Exeter School system as being one of the best. I may not have taken full advantage of the education that I received from the Exeter School system, but with out a doubt, it was absolutely above and beyond "An Adequate Education"!

I believe that I had some valid points in my letter on the deletion of these Internet logs, and I deserved a little more thoughtful reply then the form letter that I received. If a student had written a paper in this fashion, they would have flunked!

Deletion of computer files no "Netgate"

The Chairperson of the Kensington School Board, Cheryl York McDonough's Editorial:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2000news/exeter/e12_29_e1.htm

My Reply To Cheryl York McDonough's Editorial

As for Cheryl York McDonough's scathing editorial on my letter, I say again, I did not say that the files were purposely deleted I said that someone in the School Administration must have known that the files were being routinely deleted and someone should have brought that fact up during the long litigation that went on!

Her comment that "His (Mr. Goodall's) proposition that the computers are being used too much is ridiculous." is absolutely ridiculous in itself! I NEVER SAID THAT! I said that with the amount of Internet history files in such a short time, shows that maybe students are accessing the Internet more than they are doing actual work on these computers! I would never suggest "Using" computers less, only limiting INTERNET USE on school computers! According to Mr. Kahn's figures there is an average of 67,000 Internet history files a day since August of 2000. That is not from working on the computer, that is from Internet Access!

Ms. McDonough also states that she fails "to see how these legal fees are helping teaching and learning." Well if the school system had given Mr. Knight the access He wanted, without revealing identities of students, then this case would never have come up! Ms. McDonough, you are right about one thing, these are taxpayers computers, and we have a right to know what kids at school are doing with OUR Computers!

As for the legal fees incurred by Mr. Knight, I am a taxpayer in Exeter so it hurts me too, but if the school had done the right thing from the beginning, Mr. Knight would not have spent the money that he did. The School System should pay his legal fees. Kids across this country are learning things they shouldn't on the Internet and Thanks to Mr. Knight, they won't be doing it on OUR school computers as much any longer!

Thank You, Mr. James Knight, for the great effort you put into protecting our rights to know what our computers are being used for in Schools.

Suit Considers Computer Files

September 29, 2000

The NY Times has written an article on the Internet Privacy Case where Mr. James Knight, as a parent, has requested access to Exeter NH school computer internet history files. This is arguably the first case where a parent has sued for access to school computer internet files. According the the NY Times an internet online advocacy group filed suit in Utah and won access to those files.

The NY Times article will be available for free (you do have to sign up) until it goes into the archives.

From The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/technology/29CYBERLAW.html

Adventure Group That Couldn't Find Their Way

An educational organization called Adventure Quest had an outing at Franconia Notch and got lost with 5 people. They spent a cold night and found their own way out while rescuers searched for them!

An organization that does this for a business, non-profit or not it doesn't matter, gets lost and can't even read a compass to get out of the woods on the same day?

Adventure Quest is an educational organization "dedicated to helping young people gain self-confidence and self-respect, develop leadership and outdoor skills," according to its Web site, and is "a fully accredited private high school (that) travels the globe with students from grade 7 through post graduate. This makes for an incredible secondary school experience, comparable to no other program in existence."

Well parents maybe should think twice before allowing a group like this to take their kids into the wilderness!

So since this is a school, I imagine that NH Fish & Game won't even attempt to charge this group either!

Occasionally there is a hunter or fisherman that needs help, but usually it's Hikers, and it's an organization supported by sportsmen's money that ends up searching for unprepared hikers! It's about time that NHF&G started to use the program they started and at least start to charge irresponsible hikers some kind of fee, even if it is only a token amount to show that irresponsibility in the wilderness can be costly and people like these are l very lucky that nobody died!

If NHF&G isn't going to charge irresponsible hikers then why did they even start the Payment for Rescue program in the first place!

I know NHF&G says that the charges are only for blatant irresponsibility, but bringing a bunch of kids into Franconia Notch with out enough experience or knowledge to find their way out seems to be blatant irresponsibility to me!

Many in the group were completely un-prepared wearing summer hiking boots or goretex sneakers, none had sleeping bags, and the only map they had was a tracing of a topographical map, if this isn't blatant irresponsibility then I don't know what is!

What about that Idiot Doctor that had his tent blow away on Mt. Washington last year, who when he finally found a trail, decided to climb back up to where his Cell phone got reception and needed rescue?

Did anyone else hear that He is now making a movie of his irresponsible experience and also goes around lecturing on it? Any money that JERK makes should automatically go to NHF&G and the other rescuers that had to go looking for the idiot!

Manchester Union Leader:
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=10704

Foster's Daily Democrat: http://www.fosters.com/news2000/dec_00/04/nh1204k.htm

"Hiker has mountain ordeal turned into television special" - Foster's Daily Democrat:
http://www.fosters.com/news2000/nov%5F00/15/nh1115h.htm

Adventure Quest: http://www.adventurequest.org/
E-Mail: General.Info@AdventureQuest.org

NH Group Wants Tighter Boating Laws

According to Foster's Daily Democrat "The New Hampshire Lakes Association wants the Legislature to broaden the definition of "ski craft" to include newer, larger vehicles. The current definition applies to personal watercraft that are less than 13 feet long and carry one or two people. It doesn’t include watercraft that carry three or four people. Those end up being classified as boats, and as such, can’t be banned from lakes or be required to slow down within 300 feet of shore."

I believe that the law states that any motorized boat, watercraft, jetski, or PWC (Personal Water Craft) are all required to slow down with in 150 feet, not 300 feet, of shore, docks, rafts, swimmers, and other boats!

The boating laws are the same for any and all motorized watercraft and new laws will not make a difference, since the problem is that current laws are already being broken, but without enough marine patrol personnel to enforce them, these lawbreakers don't get caught.

Any water craft speeding past any object or shore line could and should be stopped and ticketed under current laws. As it is, with-in ten years every boater, running a motor over 15 horse power will be required to take a safe boater course, but if people can't obey the most basic boating law, The 150 Foot Law, then all the Boating Education in the world won't make a difference!

As with the majority of bills that are brought to our legislature, the easiest solution would be to ENFORCE THE LAWS WE HAVE and don't make new ones!

If these lake side property owners in the NH Lakes Association are so worried about their precious lakes, then why don't they work to increase the ability of the NH Marine Patrol to do their jobs with the current laws and ticket the boaters that are breaking the laws that we currently have?

I do not believe in "Banning" any type of watercraft from any lakes, even though the biggest offenders of the 150 Foot Law seems to be jetski's and PWC's! It's not the jetski or the PWC that breaks the law, IT'S THE DRIVER!

The drivers of any watercraft that continually break the law should be banned from all of our lakes, whether they are driving a jetski or a Pontoon boat!

Question on Ballot? Open Your Mouth!

"If you are not sure how to use the voting equipment, ask the poll workers for a demonstration. If you make a mistake on your ballot, you may ask for another. Do not hesitate to ask the poll workers for help if you have any questions or problems." From the Palm Beach County, Florida, Supervisors of Elections!

The sample ballots were sent to every registered voter and published in Newspapers and I am sure that these voting directions were included as well. If any voters in Palm Beach had any questions they had plenty of time to contact their town hall to get the answers.

The first mistake these voters made was not reviewing the ballot ahead of time when it was made available to them. The second mistake was punching their ballot a second time when the first was wrong and the third mistake was not telling someone that they made a mistake. These 19,000 voters had three opportunities to correct a mistake and they all chose to continue on with the process. Not one deserves a re-vote!

For everone's information, there were 15,000 ballots thrown out in Palm Beach four years ago for the same reasons! There were several races here in New Hampshire that I had to decide on while standing in the voting booth. There are also several choices that I regret and with everything that's going on in Florida, I don't see either presidential candidate acting very presidential!

I am ashamed to say that I voted for one of them, can I get a re-vote?

NH Will Pay More in Loan Interest!

The Wall Street companies that issue bonds to New Hampshire have given us six months to fix education funding or our bond rating will go down and our interest on loans will go up!

Governor Shaheen won the election even though she did not repeat her Income Tax Pledge, but many legislators that got elected are against an income tax.

If Gov. Shaheen was so worried about education funding she would have gotten answers right away and not had her panel on Education Funding report to her "after" the election! I hope our NH legislators can stop this foolishness! This country was formed because of a tax revolt, and NH is one of only two states left with out an income tax, the other is Alaska.

"Don't Tread on Me!". If the legislature allows an income tax to pass, the footprints of Governor Shaheen and every legislator will be on the backs of NH residents! I know many members of the legislature believe an income tax may be the answer, but why create new problems? Fix the old ones!

Republicans with this view are sounding like Democrats with their "throw more money at a problem" solution to everything! Representative Weatherspoon stood in the Exeter Library and Said "More money is exactly what is needed!". If the NH Legislature works, and I mean WORKS on making a form of the property tax equitable, and works on other funding assistance as well, then NH could stay true to it's history and avoid taxation with out representation!

With a couple NH towns ending up with almost a half million dollar education funding surpluses, and who knows how many others have surpluses, then the problem is money management and not a lack of money!

Our system of Government is based on "Checks and Balances" which means that the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch, are each supposed to "Check" the others. The Judicial Branch was "Checking" their power by stepping in where they did, and now the Legislative Branch should check the legality of the courts actions and see if they may have stepped out of bounds. If the courts made a property tax for education UN-constitutional then the Legislature could revamp the system to assist poor towns and work to budget the entire education system while still using a proportionately equitable property tax and make it Constitutional!

With the New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices' problems lately, why wouldn't we want to question one of the most important decisions that the court made?

Ask your Representatives and The School Boards!

EXETER/KENSINGTON Representatives District 20
Warren C. Henderson whexeter@aol.com
Jackie K. Weatherspoon jkweather@hotmail.com
Marshall E. Quandt & Matt Quandt pepper@ttlc.net
Carl Robertson - No E-Mail Senators: District 23
Beverly A. Hollingworth beverly.hollingworth@leg.state.nh.us

NEWTON/KINGSTON Representatives District 18
John M. Whittier jjet@bit-net.com
Kenneth L. Weyler kweyler@aol.com
John W. Flanders Sr. flanders@bit-net.com
David A. Welch david.welch@leg.state.nh.us Senators: District 23
Beverly A. Hollingworth beverly.hollingworth@leg.state.nh.us

DANVILLE/SANDOWN Representatives District 09
Thomas A. Varrell thomas.varrell@leg.state.nh.us

Senators: District 17
Mary E. Brown 73234.2464@compuserve.com

Exeter Region Co-Operative School Board:

Donna Bates 772-9001 BatesD@mediaone.net
Kimberley Casey 772-8506 Caseycorps@aol.com
Lucy Cushman 772-4055
Peter Foster 778-1326
Linda Henderson 772-4285 linda@whisc.com
Greg Kann 778-1341 gregkann@mediaone.net
Roy Morrisette 772-5258
Paul St. Jean 772-5074 pstjean@averstar.com
Ray Trueman 772-6674 ret@nh.ultranet.com

Exeter School Board:

Jayne Veilleux - Chair (603) 772-0028 jayneveilleux@yahoo.com
Lisa Chandler (603) 778-3152 lmc36@aol.com
Joan Henson (603) 772-3725 jmhenson@rcn.com
John Maxwell (603) 778-1683 maxwell@noyes-fiber.com
Jean Tucker (603) 772-3470 jtucker@nh.ultranet.com

First Timers in District 20!

There are three first time candidates running in Exeter and Kensington, District 20, and I would like to take this last opportunity to show my support for them!

First, there is Kurt Roessner who has many years experience in business management, and in community service. Kurt would be a strong leader who would still listen to the people as well.

Second is Carl Robertson who taught at The Exeter High School for many years and continues to volunteer to coach football to this day. He plans to hold forums with the public to let them know what progress is being made in Concord and to keep tabs on what the residents of Exeter and Kensington feel should be done in Concord.

Last, but not least, is Matthew Quandt, who with his Dad, form Team Quandt. Now some people may say the Matt his grabbing his father's coat tails, but what's wrong with that?

Both major parties have put up candidates for president that both have father's that have been in politics for most of their lives! I believe that it is an honorable goal to want to follow in your fathers footsteps. In these times of broken homes and dysfunctional families, it's wonderful to see a son actually want to follow in his father's footsteps.

Not only does Team Quandt preach family values, they live it. I believe that we should give the son the chance to honor his father.

Whether you agree with me or not, please get out and vote!

Local control is a lot more than just passing a law that says we have it!

An Open Letter to the Exeter Conservation Committee

In a report on the results of a study by The Exeter Conservation Committee on the watershed feeding the Exeter Reservoir, it was stated that future development may pose the greatest threat to the watershed, that it is critical, and it's our water supply.

Then how could we put the largest school in the area right above the largest wetland feeding the Reservoir?

West Environmental Inc.., the group that performed the study, must have said something about the school at least having a minimal effect on the wetland. Supposedly this area is dry and doesn't pose a problem, but I can't believe that! If the ground is frozen and we get a good rain then all that water will run down the hill to the Dearborn Brook like a waterfall!

I have written several letters and have received comments that the land is not that wet and that run-off filters through the ground. It seems to me that the land around the school is a little wet and if we get major rainstorms, we've all seen the run-off look like rivers.

Since this study was just finished, I also imagine that West Environmental Inc.. must have commented on the proposed single family homes and four apartment buildings that are planned for the same area.

This is our water supply, it is critical, and if "future development may pose the greatest threat to the watershed" then maybe we should take a close look at this and future studies.

If there is ANY chance that this may effect the watershed that produces 25% of Exeter's drinking water, is this a chance that we all want to take?

Education Funding Dominates Forum in District 20

Five Candidates from the Exeter/Kensington, District 20, race for NH State Representative spoke at a local forum sponsored by the History Class of Exeter Adult Education.

The main subject ended up being (what else), education funding.

Incumbent Marshal Quandt said that He is not in favor of more taxes and that more money is not the answer.

Warren Henderson, also an incumbent, echoed that there is more to the problem then supplying more money to schools.

Kurt Roessner, a political newcomer stated that the property tax was a quick fix and the wrong approach.

Carl Robertson, also a newcomer, said that He wasn't familiar with all the different education funding plans, but that the final decision should be refereed to the voters for a referendum vote.

Democratic incumbent, Jackie Weatherspoon, said that more money is exactly what is needed!

From The Exeter Newsletter: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/exeter/e10_20e.htm

Here we go again with another liberal democrat thinking that the solution to every problem can be found by spending more money!

The results of the 2000 New Hampshire Improvement and Assessment Program were released on Wednesday and according to local superintendents, our schools are doing well!

If this is true then I guess we must be spending the right amount of money!

Whether we go back to the old tax system and try to fix the problems, or create a new School Funding method to provide an "adequate" education for every student with the burden spread equitably across the State, the fact is that more money IS NOT THE ANSWER!

As most of the Candidates stated, the best solution must be, better management of the budget that we have and making sure that the burden of payment is spread equally across the state.

How can a representative suggest spending more money when the Exeter Co Operative school system and the Dover School system each ended up with a $400,000 surplus of funds?

I have read that the excess funds were a result of mis-calculations by the State's new funding plan and that some unexpected state and federal aid added to excess funds as well. Well just because you end up with excess funds, it doesn't mean you have to spend them!

I know that Exeter is a receiver town and I believe that Dover is as well. These towns receive funds from other towns and end up with funding surpluses! No wonder the donor towns are suing the State of NH!

In Exeter's case some of the funds are being spent on legal defense in two lawsuits. I believe that this is wrong and that any legal expenditures should go through normal budget procedures. If the school system needs to amend their budget then it should be brought to the towns and explained that more money is needed whether for litigation or bonuses to administrators that have done a great job.

The Exeter school system budget is around 20 million dollars a year and a $400,000 excess in funds would be a 2% windfall. The average lower middle class, single income, is around $30,000 a year which would be a $600 windfall a year by their standards! I wouldn't mind ending up with a $600 surplus at the end if the year! That's like getting a 30 cent an hour raise!

If the New Hampshire Improvement and Assessment Program has shown that NH Schools are doing well then there is no reason to throw more money at the funding problem, just fix the current budget.

Rep. Weatherspoon followed the normal democratic playbook by stating that "It's for the Children" not only in Education Funding but in giving healthcare to every child as well! Sounds like the Clinton/Gore playbook to me!

First let's dump another tax burden on the Middle Class, since we all know that the very rich write off their expenses or claim very little income, and the poor get the assistance, then just tell the middle class that the insurance plan is "For The Children", just like your education taxes!

Not long after "Saving the Children", you'll see the "We Know Best" attitude of the Democrats and they will introduce the National Health Care plan again. I believe the Democrats love the problem with HMO's because it will give them an excuse to step in on Health Care, "For Our Own Good"!

Well I hope that Rep. Weatherspoon's liberal democratic ideas of spending more money on an education funding problem is seen for what it really is, throwing good money after bad!

We don't need to spend more money, we need to spend what we have more wisely!

President George Washington's Farewell Address

"There will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those,

who in any quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands"

These are comments on the Constitution of The United States of America by President George Washington in his Farewell Address and something to consider in these times of bending and amending the U.S. Constitution!

"The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned."

After researching another story I became interested again in President George Washington's Farewell Address and realized the importance of his statements. Many people believe that our first President was elected for his military service in making this nation a free country, but though his military career may have brought him notoriety, his understanding of politics and government is greatly under estimated!

He stated that this country is made up of a diversity of people from different geographic locations and that even though we have areas of geographic difference, We should never let this interfere with our country as a whole. In other words, our colonies or states, may have differences, but when push comes to shove we must always remain a single, powerful, entity.

"The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand."

His discussion of the value of the north's manufacturing capabilities, to the prosperity of the south's resources, are inherently tied together and each depends on the others values and benefits. After reading this it just makes you wonder how close He was to talking about a civil war that would not occur for another sixty years!

When it comes to international relations President Washington saw the dangers of getting into agreements with foreign nations as a dangerous step that should be avoided. Washington said "The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion (connection) as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop."

If politicians through out history had heeded his words, millions of Americans would not have died in political actions where politicians lacked the courage to declare war. President Washington agreed that at times, war is inevitable, but that we should avoid war at all costs and try to maintain amicable relations with all countries.

Some of Our "Entangling Alliances" have brought the US to the point of being hated by many citizens of different countries, and also the likes of Osama bin Laden, who is suspected of being involved in the suicide bombing of the US Naval Destroyer in Yeaman. If we had listened to President Washington and avoided sticking our nose into other countries business, we wouldn't be as hated as we are!

As for maintaining a stable unified government of the United States, Washington believed that we should stand up against opposition to acknowledged authority, but should carefully scrutinize innovations to the principles of the constitution that may sound good, and may really be subverting the Constitution.

"Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations, which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country."

The same can be said of Ben Franklin's statement that "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

To claim that changing the Constitution to "Protect the Children", whether it be from guns or supplying healthcare to all children, the fact is that it sounds great on the surface, but in truth it could be used to force taxes on us to provide healthcare for all children and then eventually leading to national healthcare for all at a great expense, and that keeping a gun locked from children may cost the life of a person when that gun is needed for self defense!

The framers of our constitution knew from the lessons of breaking away from England, that a people should retain the right to stand up against a Government that could start to tyrannically reign over it's people.

Little could President Washington had ever dreamed that his words would profoundly transcend time to be as important now as they were then!

Every Politician in the United States should be required to read President Washington's Farewell Address before taking office!

President George Washington's Farewell Address:
http://www.americanpresident.org/gwfarewell.htm

Hilliary & Lazio Fall for Hoax on E-Mail Tax Bill!

Senate candidates Rick Lazio and Hillary Clinton answered questions from CBS moderator Marcia Kramer, one of which dealt with a bill to create an e-mail tax, Bill 602P.

The problem is that Bill 602P does not exist! It comes from am E-Mail Hoax that circulated over the past year! It claimed the the US Postal Service was pushung for a 5 Cent e-mail tax to cover their losses.

The E-mail also names a Senator, Tony Schnell, and he does not exist either!

Rick Lazio has spent the last eight years in congress and Hillary has been involved with the congress for eight years as well!

Good to see that they are both on top of things!

Good research by the CBS Moderator as well!

From World Net Daily: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_sperry_news/20001008_xnspy_hillary_la.shtml

US Congressional Bill Search: http://thomas.loc.gov/

Find Your Congressmen: http://www.congress.org/capdir.html

Newspaper Uses My Comments on Charging for Rescues

Newspaper Uses My Comments on Charging for Rescues from my Letter to the Editor:

"Rescue mission raises the payment question" http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/exeter/e10_8c.htm http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/bowana/Bowana_News.htm - Lost_in_Woods_of_Exeter

My reply to the Author and to the NH Fish and Game Department:

I have asked a few people and some of them have said that they wouldn't notice the direction that the river was flowing, just like this woman lost in Exeter didn't. If this woman had hiked before then she should have known better and if she had never hiked in the woods before, she should never have gone that far!

I know the area and the trail along the river is an easy one, but once it leaves the river's edge it becomes a maze of trails. Since when she started it was daylight then she had to go by trails on the way in and with no knowledge of the area, she should never have continued on. In the woods the problem is that you can see a trail from one direction, but you might not from the other.

The NH Fish and & Game department has only charged for rescue in a couple cases, but I still think that there should be some kind of fee for examples like this. If someone gets hurt on a normal hike then I have no problem paying for the rescue, but when someone goes in to the woods late in the day with no light, or plans a big hike with no compass or map, then there should be some set fee like $20 0r $50. This would mean that the only negligent act was that of being unprepared.

There was a group a year ago or so that had a compass, a map, a GPS (Global Positioning System), and a cell phone. The cell phone was the only item that they knew how to use! These people should have paid a hefty fee for that rescue!

I am also curious about some of the statements in the Exeter Newsletter article from NH Fish and Game. Sgt. Bruce Bonnenfant of NH Fish and Game said that operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs or taking someone hostage would be considered reckless.

Does this mean that recreational vehicles like boats and snow machines are going to be charged when they need to be rescued as well?

In cases of recklessness, I agree whole heartedly. I also believe that going into the woods totally unprepared is not only reckless, but extremely dangerous. Many people that have gotten in trouble in the wilderness have died!

As I stated in my Letter to the Editor, Ms. Labbe's 9 year old son, Manuel, deserves all the credit, since he had the common sense to tell his mother that they should stay put and wait for help!

Way to go Manuel!

My Original Letter to the Editor: Mother & Son Lost in Woods of Exeter NH - 9/22/2000

Shortfall in School Building Funds Could Raise Taxes

Now local school systems are claiming a shortfall in building funds and that seacoast taxpayers may end up with the burden of funding the differences. Students in NH are doing very well over all with their scholastic achievements, so our teachers are doing a good job at teaching, but unfortunately they are doing a terrible job at administrating the school systems!

Dover and Exeter NH school systems over budgeted by $400,000 and Exeter has spent the money on bonuses and legal defense of lawsuits. Bonuses should be in the budget for those that deserve it and not given only after a surplus of funds are discovered! As for legal defense, when a school system is involved in a legal defense, then there must be a serious problem in administration for allowing the school system to get into a position to be sued!

If they are correct in their actions they should not need to spend a dime on defense. Instead they should let their actions stand and if they are sound, then a court will side with them with out spending thousands of dollars explaining their actions! If a lawsuit is brought then the school system should just let the case go to court on it's merits and let the court decide if the schools positions should be corrected or not. Then without spending a dime, all the school system has to do is abide by the court's decision!

If a bond issue is in dispute, then let the court decide if it is legal funding and just live with in your means like most families and businesses do. Spending thousands of dollars defending money borrowing procedures is an idiotic waste of money!

The Exeter school system is also wasting money on defending a students right to privacy on a publicly owned computer! If a person or student does not own the computer that they are using then they have no right to privacy on that computer! Schools can tell students what they are not allowed to wear, that they are not allowed to carry beepers or cell phones, and that they can't smoke on school property (although students stand across the street from the school smoking all day long right in sight of the school, breaking the law and nothing is done!) but students can run a violent website, or send threatening e-mail on a school owned computer.

If someone uses my computer, I have a right to know what they are doing with it and if an employee is using a company computer, that company has a right to monitor that employee and keep copies of e-mails or websites that the employee visits. A school computer should fall under the same rights. A student does not have the right to look at illegal websites or send violent e-mail from a school computer without being monitored!

There are businesses across the country that are starting to manage school systems and so far they are doing a better job then public school systems. A school official recently stated that you can't run a school like a business and this person should be removed from their position!

Businesses work on a bottom line and work around that line to stay in business. If a business over budgeted by $400,000 and just spent the excess on anything they wanted, this business would not be in business for long!

Maybe the administration of our schools should be turned over to business people and not teachers!

Those Who can Do, Do, and Those Who Can't, Teach!

This saying may hurt many true "Teachers" and to them I apologize, but there are many teachers like these administrators, that feel that the surplus funds are theirs to do with as they please, and they are WRONG! These surplus funds belong to the taxpayers that put the funds there and they are the ones who deserve to decide what is done with these funds!

If the school employees deserve bonuses then let the taxpayers decide, and if not, let the taxpayers get a refund from this "Over Budgeting"!

If school building projects are running into shortfalls then let's put these projects on hold and work within our means for now. We as taxpayers can decide to fund more money or not, and a mistake in budgeting is not "found money" for administrators to spend on their own!

Wake up seacoast NH! This was our money in the first place and still is!

Maybe we should make business courses a requirement, before teachers become administrators!

Mother & Son Lost in Woods of Exeter NH

A mother left one son to play soccer at the Phillips Exeter Academy fields and took her other son for a walk along the trails. They got lost and off the trail. State and Local Police and NH Fish and Game searched and found them.

The smartest thing they did was to sit and stay in one place, which was suggested by the nine year old. They sat by the Exeter River to wait!

There-in lies my problem, the Exeter River runs into Exeter and flows right by the Phillips Exeter Academy soccer fields! Didn't this woman take notice that the river was running towards her when she started her hike? If she had followed the flow of the river she would have ended up at the Phillips Exeter Academy soccer fields.

Hikers are being held responsible for some form of payment for rescues, (Not enough are paying in my opinion!) and this woman should pay something as well! Starting down a trail late in the afternoon with no compass, map, or flashlight and ending up off the trail, lost in the woods, shows a lack of preparedness and common sense! If people who are somewhat prepared, but run into trouble, I have no problem having NH Fish and Game going in to rescue them. The problem is more and more people are hiking into places with no equipment or knowledge of the outdoors, and we end up spending our tax money to rescue them!

Only a couple hikers have been billed over the last year since the "Charge for Rescue" law was passed. I guess the problem is that rescues are very expensive and most could not afford to pay the full cost, and the NH Fish and Game Department can't decide on a figure or how to gauge the fee. Why pass a law that charges for rescues, but doesn't set any amounts, and then end up not enforcing it? Either make it a set fee like $100 bucks, or a percentage of someone's pay so the force of the penalty would be equal. Another idea would be 1% of the value of the most expensive vehicle that the person regularly uses for personal use, or of the vehicle they drove to get there. This would include leases and limo's!

Anyone, besides someone that gets injured, should pay for their rescue. Usually if someone is smart enough to bring a compass, then they are smart enough to at least be able to get themselves back to a trail or road. They may have several miles to walk but they make it back with out the need of rescue! I speak from experience!

Before we make new laws we should have a plan on how to institute them first and whenever possible we should enforce old laws instead of making new ones!

YOUR VOTE REALLY DOES COUNT!

Rep. Tufts, an incumbent, was un-seated by 26 votes! 26 votes, that isn't many!

Also the 4th and 5th positions were 1 vote apart! This easily could have been the vote for the 5th position and someone could have been out for one vote!

LOCAL EXETER/KENSINGTON Candidates Who Support Sportsmen

Kurt Roessner of Exeter NH is making his first run for The New Hampshire House of Representatives and is running alongside Marshal Lee Quandt and his son Matt Quandt. All three men support conservation of land and wildlife and believe in the sportsperson's role in wildlife management!

Rep. Marshal Quandt has an outstanding record of support for the health care system in NH, the 2nd amendment, and supporting our country's military personel as well! Rep. Quandt's son, Matthew, would like to follow in his father's footsteps and has the same strong family values as his Dad! Matt has served our country as well as serving on several seacoast organizations showing his devotion to the community!

Senate Race for District No. 23, Rockingham County, Has 2 Candidates with Conservative Views!

Exeter Selectperson Wendy Stanley Jones and President of the Exeter Taxpayers Association Alan D. Williams are both trying to bring a conservative edge to the NH Senate battling current Senator Beverly Hollingworth.

Ms. Jones is a Republican and Mr. Williams is an Independant and both are locked into the November election for the Senate Seat!

Sen. Hollingworth has a strong seat in the District and these two conservatives are going to have a tough election to take on this incumbent!

The towns of East Kingston, Exeter, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Newfields, Newton, North Hampton, Seabrook, and South Hampton are going to have a tough decision to make come November since this race is not in the Primary and these towns will have to choose one of these three in the November election!

Internet Privacy in Schools?

Parents in Exeter, New Hampshire, have found out that their kids have been viewing less than appropriate websites. "Where have they been viewing these websites?" you may ask. In school on school computers at Exeter Regional Schools!

A parent is suing the town on the Right to Know and The Freedom of Information act, to view the History files on these computers. The History file will tell what websites that computer visited. At first the Exeter School system said that the parent would have to pay to have the computer files researched, but now the school system says that releasing the information would be a violation of federal electronic telecommunications laws on privacy.

Companies and the Government both copy everything sent through their systems and most computer companies are very strict on monitoring and enforcing their internet access rules. When using a company computer you are using their property and if they want to trace everything going over their systems, they can!

The computers in Schools are bought and paid for by the taxpayers and we as taxpayers have the right to know how our equipment is being used. There are lawsuits claiming that internet sites incited un-lawful acts, and it is illegal for minors to view some internet sites, so by the school system allowing students access to these sites, isn't the school guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor?

Parents and schools need to monitor children, and parents shouldn't leave their kids in front of a television or a computer with out checking to see what they are watching or viewing on the internet. Parents who monitor their children's actions will have a better idea of what's going on with their children. Like the two kids that were left alone in their garage building bombs, and they were not monitored. Until they showed up at school that is, and that school was Columbine!

If you don't OWN the computer, you don't have a right to delete anything off it, or expect any rights of privacy on it either!

And how much is it going to cost the Exeter Area taxpayers to defend the school system? Fourteen thousand dollars has been budgeted for defending this case. Don't worry though, they are taking it out of the un-expected excess of funds the Exeter School System was left with this year. After the bonuses that is!

Let the School Board Know how you feel:

The Exeter School Board: gregkann@mediaone.net; BatesD@mediaone.net; pstjean@averstar.com; linda@whisc.com; ret@nh.ultranet.com; pfoster23@earthlink.net; Sally_Boyd@sau16.k12.nh.us; Jerry_Frew@sau16.k12.nh.us; Gary_Heald@sau16.k12.nh.us; ahanson@sau16.k12.nh.us; Caseycorps@aol.com

Exeter New Hampshire School Board Dips into Surplus!

Back in July I read that the Dover School Department ended up with a budget surplus of almost $409,000, largely the result of unanticipated revenue, according to Superintendent Armand LaSelva.

The Dover School also got over $100,000 more in State Aid then they expected as well! They listed four types of aid that they didn't expect!

The school didn't expect State aid! What did the State of NH do? Go looking for schools to give aid to?

Instead of looking for schools to give it to, they should give it to schools that need it. A school that ends up with a surplus of $400,000, doesn't need it!

That's only a hundred thousand state funding though, the Dover School Department still mis-budgeted another $300,000!

I wrote the following in a letter to the editor:

"With the education system in this State, in the condition that it is, these "TEACHERS" have mis-budgeted by over $400,000? If anyone in the administration has ever "Taught" a business class, they should be fired!"

What is going on and how many other towns are having trouble with accounting?"

Little did I know that all I had to do was look in my own backyard!

Now the Exeter School Department has ended up with the same amount for a surplus, $409,000, but they will not return all of it to the taxpayers, instead they'll give out bonuses! School Administrators received bonuses, but front-line teachers did not.

During this NH School Funding crisis I have defended schools with our NH students finishing high on S.A.T. scores, but in this case I would not defend any raises at all! This group over budgeted by almost a half a million dollars and they think they deserve some of it. In a time when education funding in NH is on the brink of disaster, this group over budgets and takes more of our tax dollars, then wants to take bonuses out of it.

This is like your kids asking for a hundred bucks to go to the movies, spending twenty bucks and pocketing the rest! Is this what they are teaching our children?

When the education system is working and things are going well, I don't have a problem helping out teachers and administrators, but when the current legislature puts a temporary fix on education funding that will have to be dealt with next year, I don't think anyone in the education system should be getting raises!

I have been furious with our NH Supreme Court for their lousy decision and I have been furious with our NH Legislature for not standing up to the courts and making the old education funding system constitutional. The old system worked and if it needed fixing, then fix it, but don't throw it away!

I have been upset with our school system building near wetlands and proposing Exeter playing fields a mile and a half away from the school, near more wetlands, but now I am furious with our school system for over estimating their budget and ending up with a surplus. When your school system ends up with a surplus it means they took too much in taxes from us!

The Exeter School system said that a portion of this surplus was planned for legal fees due to the lawsuit on the bond issue, but if this is how they run their budget it is no wonder that they are being sued. If the bond goes through are they going to want more bonuses?

These are the people who teach our children!

I have said that the NH School system has done it's job well, and I still believe that, but when it comes to the Administration of our school system, it seems that the only thing that they are administering is our money!

Let the School Board Know how you feel!

Exeter School Board Member says "Money Spent for Raises, Better than Lawsuits!"

Exeter Region Cooperative School Board member Paul St. Jean feels that rewarding outstanding performance with surplus money from over-budgeting is better than spending it on defending the school system from lawsuits!

Well Mr. St. Jean, the Bond Issue has nothing to do with the fact that the school system over-budgeted and ended up with surplus funds! From what you have said it seems to me that if the school board had seen this surplus sooner, they would have spent more than a fraction of it!

If these Administrators' performance was so outstanding, wouldn't the school board have had the forethought to include these raises in the budget, and not have to wait for an accidental surplus to reward them? Now, these Administrators who showed outstanding performance, isn't performance in schools gauged by student achievement, and isn't student achievement in direct relation to teachers and not administrators? Why didn't the teachers get raises? Would that have been too much to take out of the surplus funds?

When you are in a group that is running an organization, you plan your income and expenses, you plan for "some" un-expected bills, and you set a budget. Then you try to work in that budget. To end up with almost a half million dollars in excess funds is just bad budgeting and dipping into that excess for raises, in my opinion, is bad judgment!

Do teachers deserve raises? Probably. Do administrators deserve raises? Maybe. Does the School Board? Absolutely not! A half million dollar surplus is just plain bad management! The problem is that the money you are managing is the Exeter taxpayers' money! I don't want the School Board giving out raises with extra money that you took from me!

According to Mr. St. Jean "The money came from the labor account because the district was able to save money.". Well I don't believe that the school system saved $409,000! If they did, then there has definitely been some bad management going on! Whether the school system is being sued or not has nothing to do with bad money management, and when you take too much money from me, I want it back!

I deserve a raise too!

"Exeter officials defend vote on bonuses" From The Exeter Newsletter: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/exeter/e8_29b.htm

The Exeter School Board - E-Mail and Phone Numbers

Stratham Planners to Continue Discussing Development

By TERRY DATE Democrat Staff Writer- Saturday, August 19, 2000

STRATHAM — The Planning Board continued discussions Wednesday on proposals to construct residential units in the vicinities of Bunker Hill Avenue and Guinea Road.

The meeting also included discussion of a proposed retirement community of about 70 units, called the Vineyards. The Vineyards project is proposed for the intersection of Guinea Road and Academic Way, at the entrance to the Cooperative Middle School.

An aquifer lies beneath the proposed development site. The town is researching its aquifer protection boundaries, and is awaiting a report from its hydrogeologist. The public hearing on the retirement community proposal was continued to Sept. 20.

FROM Foster's Daily Democrat: http://www.fosters.com/news2000/august_00/19/ex0819d.htm

We all know how floods work! When the ground is saturated then the runoff flows down to the nearest aquifer or stream and enters the water flow. During heavy rains, water is bound to run down from the Co-Operative Middle school and this proposed retirement community and eventually end up in the Exeter Reservoir! The town of Stratham stopped Wal-Mart because of wetlands and runoff, but that was on a piece of property that the runoff would end up in the Squamscott River and flow out to sea. Now they want to build a retirement community on a piece of property that they admit is above an aquifer!

My previous articles on Wetlands in Exeter and Stratham:

The Exeter Regional Cooperative School System All Wet- 8/14/2000

School is All Wet- 12/29/1999

Walmart & Wetlands in Stratham NH-10/16/99

The Exeter Regional Cooperative School System All Wet

The Exeter Area High School proposes playing fields over a mile away from the school on a piece of land that

borders a large wetland known as The Great Meadows. I don't know what's going on with schools lately, since

the new Co-Operative Middle school in Stratham seems to be in an extremely wet area as well. It seems to me

that schools and playing fields would bring a lot of traffic to an area and the last place, I would think, that you'd

want these is near wetlands!

The Citizens for Stratham battled Wal-Mart for over a year, about a piece of property that was already a

commercialized area. The group used the fact that there are "some" wetlands on it to stop Wal-Mart. When

Wal-Mart headed towards Exeter, they started another group called Citizen's for Smart Growth who brought up

wetlands on the proposed Exeter Wal-Mart site. Even though this property was a commercially zoned area as

well, Wal-Mart passed, and quietly went on their way!

Then I went to a craft fair at the new Co-Operative Middle school only to see wetlands all around the school.

Where were the Citizen's for Stratham during that construction? After looking over a topographical map I have

also noticed that the Co-Op school is located above the watershed for the Dearborn brook which runs directly

into the Exeter Reservoir!

The Selectmen in Exeter had talked about putting restrictions on a new development near the Exeter Reservoir

and suggested that these homeowners would not be allowed to wash their cars or fertilize their lawns because

of the runoff into the Reservoir. Two hundred thousand-dollar homes where the town will have to police the

neighborhood to make sure that no one washes their car or fertilizes their lawn, but nothing was ever

mentioned when a Co-Operative Middle school was built right above the brook that feeds the reservoir.

Activities around the Exeter Reservoir have been banned like washing cars, using fertilizer on lawns, and one

of the Oldest Shooting Clubs in the country has been forced out of Trap Shooting. Oh, they can shoot with

Bismuth or Steel shot but one is extremely expensive and the other ruins gun barrels. The End Result is that

there is no more Trap Shooting at one of the oldest clubs in the country!

Now there is a co-operative plan to add 77 homes and 4 apartment buildings in the same area around the Co-

Op School on the Stratham/Exeter town line. If the Town of Exeter is concerned about the quality of water in the

reservoir, and the Citizen's for Stratham are concerned about wetlands, then why hasn't anything been brought

up on the location of the school and now all these homes and apartment buildings being built only a few miles

upstream from the Exeter Reservoir?

Good Question?

Well here's another: Why is The Exeter Area High School looking at a piece of property over a mile away, near

a wetland, to put five playing fields on?

The Great Meadows is a very large wetland area and five ball fields with parking would have to come right up

to the edge of it! How can they put that much traffic and people that close to a beautiful wetland and wildlife

area and not only that, but why build playing fields that far from the school? Sounds to me like they'll be hiring

buses to shuttle kids back and forth to the playing fields.

The Educational System in the State of New Hampshire is under a funding crisis that has been extended to

next year by a legislature that didn’t have the nerve to stand up to the NH Supreme Court. Making the old

funding system constitutional and working to make that system equitable to all the towns of the state could

have gotten us on the road to recovery instead of waiting in limbo, until the funding comes to a screeching halt

for a second time! All the while the NH Supreme court was digging a hole that many in that system won’t be

able to climb out of, which will leave the next sitting legislature as the only hope for any kind of solution for the

Education funding crisis. With all this going on, the Exeter Area High School wants to spend 1.5 Million Dollars

on athletic fields that would take twenty minutes to walk to.

Right now this money is tied into the Bond issue, which was voted on in March, and is being challenged in

court. The Town of Exeter and The State of New Hampshire need to look at the fact that NH has been ranked

one of the top States in the country for SAT scores, and has always placed high. So why change something

that’s working? If there are inequities in the system, then fix them. Throwing bonds at a problem that in one

year will have no funding available, is ridiculous. Spending any of that money on sports is even more

ridiculous!

When things are running smooth and we want to support school teams, that’s one thing, but when the system is

falling apart statewide, that’s another. The NH Supreme Court, that made the ruling starting the problem, is in

an internal ethics fiasco. The current legislature doesn’t have the strength to stand up to the court, and the town

of Exeter decides to spend 1.5 million dollars on five playing fields.

If the school system teaches students to run their home budgets in the same manner that the school system

has, then these students are heading for some rough roads. Probably running right through a wetland!

ALSO SEE:

School is All Wet- 12/29/1999

Walmart & Wetlands in Stratham NH-10/16/99

Stratham Planners to Continue Discussing Development - 8/19/2000

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