WW-P Practitioners Explain Falun Gong##M:[more]##
By now, most readers have probably heard about the Falun Gong practitioner who interrupted the April 20 White House ceremony for the Chinese Communist Party leader by shouting “Hu Jintao, stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners,” and other things. She was willing to give up her own freedom to speak out for those who have none. We are Falun Gong practitioners and we would like to share some thoughts about this incident with our neighbors.
Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual practice that incorporates gentle, meditative exercises with the cultivation of one’s moral character based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The practice was first introduced to the public in 1992 in China and by 1999 one hundred million people were practicing Falun Gong in 50 countries. Sadly, though, in that same year, the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners because that number exceeded the number in the Chinese Communist Party. Tragically after seven years, thousands have been tortured and killed for their beliefs.
Some have said this incident was embarrassing to the United States and the President. Are we trying to impress the brutal communist regime with how well we can kowtow? Imagine if this had happened in the late 1930s and Hitler had come to the White House for a welcoming ceremony. What if some courageous American stood up and put basic human rights ahead of their own self-interest and yelled, “Adolf Hitler, stop persecuting the Jews.”
Welcoming a communist dictator to the White House is embarrassing. Telling him to stop killing people is honorable.
Editor’s note: This letter was signed by 10 practitioners of Falun Gong who live in Plainsboro and West Windsor. Their names are being withheld upon their request.
Thanks From Katz
I want to thank everyone for their support in the recent West Windsor-Plainsboro School District elections, both for me personally and for the District’s budget. It is especially difficult to achieve a positive outcome for a budget when the tax effect is uncertain (due to the ongoing revaluation in West Windsor), and when the state seems either unable or unwilling to find ways to support local school districts with adequate funding and/or tax relief.
Great schools and great school districts don’t happen by accident, and no school board can create excellence all by itself. Thank you to all the parents and teachers who support us, and who make it easier for us on the board to succeed. And perhaps even more, thank you to all those citizens who, even if you don’t have children in the district’s schools, still believe that quality public education is one of the most important goals that a community can support.
We will do everything we possibly can to justify your faith in us.
Stan Katz
West Windsor
WW-P Board of Education
Pordon: A Privilege
Editor’s note: The following was posted on the wwptoday.com website by Chris Pordon, Plainsboro candidate for the WW-P Board of Education, following the April 18 election. Pordon, a senior at High School South, came within 65 votes of being elected to the board. See story, page 15.
I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who took the time to vote on Tuesday, as well as to all of you who post regularly on this site. Community awareness and involvement are essential to the success of our local government and schools.
It was an honor and a privelege to run for the WW-P Board of Education. My congratulations to Anjani Gharpure, Anthony Fleres, and Stan Katz; I know that they will do a fantastic job.
My hope is that all of you who vote regularly and discuss the issues on this site, as well as the 39,”000 residents of WW-P who did not vote on Tuesday, will continue to advocate on behalf of taxpayers, and to hold our elected officials accountable to the people who elected them.
I will always be available to answer your questions and discuss the issues facing our community, and I encourage you to visit my website, www.chrispordon.com, to get in touch with me.
Chris Pordon
Arbor Day Update
On Saturday, April 22, the West Windsor Township Shade Tree Committee sponsored an Arbor Day celebration at the Senior Center. The weather prevented an outdoor event, but all went well with more than 100 people in attendance. The Community School Girls Choir, under the direction of Maureen Fernandez, sang beautifully. Tom Smith from the WW-P Board of Education and Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh spoke about Arbor Day customs and traditions. Gail Mitchell, a teacher at the Millstone River School, displayed two wonderful hand-made quilts.
The highlight of the morning was the reading of poems by the students from kindergarten to grade eight who had won our poetry contest on the subject of trees. Unfortunately the contest winners from the high school level did not respond to our request to read their entries; therefore we were unable to present their compositions to the public. The mayor and I then presented the attending contest winners with cash prizes that had been donated by local businesses.
Many of us then proceeded to the Ron Rogers Arboretum to view the tree planted in honor of Stephanie Au-Yeung and to see the tree planned for planting in memory of Mrs. Gen Mors. The families of those being recognized greatly appreciated these memorials.
Harley Pickens
Steele Drive, West Windsor
Vice chair, Shade Tree Committee
Women Urged to Be Heart Healthy
Cardiovascular disease is the number one health threat facing women today. What can women do? Nearly 500,”000 females die annually from cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, including close to 14,”700 New Jersey women.
What can women do? Since 1984 the number of cardiovascular disease deaths for females has exceeded those for males. At all ages more women than men die from stroke. What can women do? Take charge of your life by attending the fourth annual New Jersey American Heart Association Go Red For Women Luncheon on Tuesday, May 2.
The American Heart Association Go Red For Women movement is a national movement to make women aware of their risk for heart disease and stroke and take action to reduce that risk.
The Go Red For Women movement in New Jersey is about our mothers and daughters, sisters and grandmothers, aunts, best friends, coworkers, and all the women in our lives. Love your heart is the message the American Heart Association is delivering to women across the country and at the luncheon on May 2.
There will be inspiring survivor stories, educational sessions, and a keynote address urging women to find their real heart, their real selves, and live healthier more authentic lives. Do something today to make you feel proud.
Make a change. Love your heart by attending the statewide American Heart Association Go Red For Women Luncheon on May 2 at the Palace in Somerset. Then leave a legacy for future generations of New Jersey women by sharing the information with other women. Learn more by calling the Heart Association at 609-538-0713.
Diane Turton
Co-Chair,
American Heart Association
Cognetics at Work
Some students eat in the cafeteria; others spend their lunch periods in detention. Me, I share my lunch period once a week with four other girls in the PRISM classroom. PRISM, or Performance Revealing Individual Student Magic, is a voluntary enrichment program in both WW-P middle schools, in which gifted students develop their giftedness. In other words, it’s a fun, yet educational way to learn and grow. I participate in a program called Cognetics. In Cognetics, groups of students work creatively to solve one of the six annual problems published by the National Talent Network.
Last school year, 2004-2005, my group selected a problem called “Where in the World?” It involved writing and presenting an “on the spot” news report of a controversial past event. After reading through pages of guidelines, and researching different topics, we decided upon the insanity of King Henry VI. Yes, this respected king of England did, in fact, temporarily lose his mind. We explored this historical event from the perspectives of the king’s wife, his enemy, and a “woman on the street.” Our final product earned us a bronze award at the Cognetics Exposition.
Cognetics seems like a fun process, but has its share of difficulty. Because there must be at least four group members, conflicting viewpoints are inevitable. For this reason, though, participants often acquire the trait of teamwork. Eight months seems like a lifetime to complete the assignment before the exposition, but in reality, the time zooms by. Around March is when the PRISM room is bustling with excitement: every spare inch of wall space covered with posters, Xerox boxes stacked high, filled with props, and students finally beginning to see their work pay off.
In the end, the everlasting feeling of triumph is worth my once-a-week lunchtimes in the PRISM classroom. Emily Stern
Linden Lane, Plainsboro
Earth Day + 36
Thanks for the feature article in the WW-P News (April 14). Several participants told us they came because they saw the write-up in the paper.
Based on the giveaway items, roughly 80 plus people stopped by at both the West Windsor Library and MarketFair. The kids really liked the aquifer demo run by Jim Peterson from Princeton Geoscience. The younger ones also crowded around our daughter Jennifer to do the sand model.
We noticed more school teachers came including some from Montgomery. This would not have started if not for West Windsor teachers Kate Manning and Karen Orlovsky from Village School and Gene Buch from Grover School. We also got help from co-workers Molly Hoke Gengchen Yang and Ken Kremer.
Schuyler and Maddy Antane
West Windsor
