UMaine costs
In his OpEd piece in the BDN on Wednesday, May 2, Sam Adolphsen of the Maine Heritage Policy Center criticized the University of Maine for jacking up tuition costs by 30 percent while “university salaries were up 29 percent.” I can’t speak for other parts of the University of Maine, but I can assert that the faculty of some departments in my former college, Arts and Sciences, has been shrinking for the past dozen years or so.
I find it hard to believe that a shrinking faculty has been “piling on raises” to the extent Adolphsen contends. I suspect that the increases in the salaries category have been going to the nonacademic parts of the campus, to wit, administration and student services, rather than to the instructional and research sector. Perhaps Adolphsen should check his facts more thoroughly and not cherry-pick them.
John F. Battick, Ph.D.
University of Maine
Dover-Foxcroft
‘The way life should be’?
I am a transient, soon to be permanent, Mainer. I have grown up in Chicago. It is becoming a concern to me to read about the more frequent and growing level of crime in Maine.
There appears to be a radical change in social behavior that is in direct rebuttal of Maine’s state slogan.
Why is this dangerous transition taking place? I am truly sensitive to these issues, being raised in the inner city of Chicago. I know I am not alone. Is the influx of “flatlanders” like myself tainting the traditional character and environment of this beautiful state? Is it an indication of an overall apathy of moral character and personal responsibility, which has disintegrated the core values of states as in Illinois?
Whatever the reason or cause, I fear for Mainers and I pray that Maine’s leaders recognize this moral malaise and exercise leadership in reversing its trend.
David Felten
Northport
Highland wind
In May 2011, a press conference was held to announce that a majority of Highland Plantation’s residents signed petitions opposing the grid-scale wind energy facility proposed by Independence Wind, owned by Rob Gardiner and, until March 18, 2012, U.S. Senate candidate and former Maine Gov. Angus King.
Gardiner and King had just withdrawn their second application for the project after the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife submitted a review stating that the project in Highland was “not an appropriate site for this development and consequently poses a significant adverse impact for wildlife resources.” Residents requested that the developers abandon their plans to build an industrial wind complex in Highland.
Gardiner and King never granted Highland residents the courtesy of a response.
In February 2012, Highland representatives sent letters to the developer. Again, we cited our majority vote, stating our resolve that Gardiner and King respect the will of the people and abandon their project.
Again, the developers showed their contempt for Maine people by not responding. When speaking of the Highland project in an April 2012 interview in Mainebiz, Gardiner said, “We decided it was time to give it a rest.”
We’d like to know whether the developer intends to discard plans to build the Highland wind project or his words are a red herring. We granted Gardiner and King an audience every time they wanted one. We deserve the same respect. We’d like the developer to assure us that all plans to construct a wind energy facility in Highland have been permanently abandoned.
Rose Staton
Highland
Volunteer guidance
In response to the article on a disagreement with the warden service and volunteers, I understand no one is putting blame on people but the process. I think we can all agree that the Maine Warden Service does an exceptional job of managing these situations.
That being said, there is a reason for protocols. Being a 16-year veteran of the fire service, I do understand some of the initial concerns and things that have to be addressed appropriately in the early moments of such an emergency.
One of the first things that needs to be done is a search of the area for clues as to why the individual is missing. These are details that an untrained eye may miss and can quickly get lost if you have untrained volunteers coming onto the scene too soon. Finding the individual is of utmost priority but finding clues are important and can lead to resolution as well. The location where an individual disappears from has to be considered too. Whether it be a party atmosphere, where potential illegal activity may have been occurring or a residence, it has to be determined if a crime occurred.
If untrained individuals are allowed to come into the area first, any details that could have been uncovered will be lost forever. Volunteers are great and necessary, but if they come in at the wrong time, without guidance and instruction, they can actually add to the problem.
Troy D. Heald
Fire chief, Washburn Fire & Rescue
Washburn
East-west highway
If you think the proposed east-west highway will create economic growth in northern Maine, you are sadly mistaken. The developers view Maine simply as an obstacle between established fracking zones in New Brunswick and Quebec.
To the residents of the area affected by this highway: If you are a proponent for development and commerce, why not move someplace where these infrastructures are already in place? You are the stewards of the land. You are our first line of defense against the corporations aiming to profit from your property.
A West Virginia native, I witnessed the devastation caused by fracking and similar endeavors. Generations of coal mining, drilling and mountaintop removal have destroyed vast areas. Stream beds dry up, groundwater and rivers are poisoned and mountain ranges are laid to waste. Still, West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country. Profits leave the state without local benefit. When I moved here six years ago, I met people who understood the importance of land protection. The highway will open the door for more development, more displaced families and less and less wilderness.
Like in Maine, developers promised jobs in West Virginia. The jobs the industry created were filled by out-of-state workers who lacked respect for local communities. In fact, counties in Ohio and West Virginia have reported a drastic rise in prostitution as a result of these temporary workers.
Take the time to learn the truth about the proposed highway. The developers don’t care about you or Maine.
Corey Pickett
Fairfield
Dr. Battick–The Maine Heritage Society and their evil spawn MHPC have no interest in the facts. Their job is to sway public opinion in favor of their corporate masters and they are doing a bang up job of it. Thank you for pointing out their misinformation campaign.
Well yes, they try to sway public opinion with their lies, but they don’t necessarily do a bang up job. Their LIE about voter fraud in order to suppress voters was CRUSHED at the ballot box in November. Their LIES about TABOR have been repeatedly CRUSHED at the ballot box here in Maine and elsewhere. And come November, we are going to send their GOP corporate bidders packing in a big way. Most Mainers know what these lying liars are all about, and come November, we are going to SMASH them to smithereens at the voting booth.
John F. Battick, Ph.D., I wouldn’t worry too much. Most people with the brains god gave them realize that the MHPC usually lies about everything. There are a few people in this state that believe everything they say. Governor LePage not only believes, I think he takes his orders from them.
David, for the most part people here are good people. We have several problems one of the biggest being our prescription drug addiction and the medical party’s decision to make a profit from it by instituting Methadone clinics. Find a clinic nad you will find higher levels of poverty and crime. Before someone starts hollering you are preaching to the choir. I am a recovering addict alcoholic six years sober in Alcoholics Anonymous. Unfortunately we also have groups that come in and try to turn neighbor against neighbor with tales of sin and moral degradation. Maine is a beautiful place. I have raised three wonderful children here and I hope you find all the good that I found here (I moved from New York in 87).
Good thing Maine isn’t Xenophobic, huh Jersey? Don’t worry David, they’ll let
you stay as long as you have choice blood and plenty of chaddah.
The rise in crime couldn’t be caused by cuts in TANF and Maincare (Medicaid)
could it, 94% of people a USA TODAY/Gallup poll says approved of invading
Afghanistan where commondreams.org says NATO just killed a mom and 5 kids in an
airstrike?
Good thing you poor-haters don’t need salvation, huh? ‘Cause that would be
kind of like welfare, wouldn’t it?
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/08-7 –
Kids killed in airstrike
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/city/2012/01/05/cuts-mainecare-welfare-taking-effect/1136580 –
Maine kicks 2500 people off TANF in Jan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iPIXq_jGMQ
….
And don’t bring up the issue of raises to the hourly staff at UMaine. It’ll just remind them of the olden days when such a thing was a reality for them.
Dr. Battick, when reading anything from the Maine Half-truth Political Center you must consider the source. They reach their conclusions first and then manipulate data to support those conclusions. In recognition of how valuable the truth is, they use it quite sparingly.
That sounds like the work of Rupert Murdock, and his loyal cohorts, is he working for MHPC by chance?
I wish the the Department of Inland Fisheries and wildlife could help stop the Oakfield Wind Project since the DEP and BEP did not do the right thing – Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife did the right thing in stopping the Highland Wind Project and this should be upheld- the wind companies only communicate with you if they are trying to appease, buy or manipulate you. That is what they do to innocent Mainers in the guise of helping them economically – what a sad joke.
————————-
The truth bears repeating!
Maine
government should not stand for PUC big wind-power investments.
The Public Utilities Commission said yes to
hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new investment
in an industry that is falsely claimed to be clean. This is no cause for
celebration.
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b6147304a619be64#cid=B6147304A619BE64&id=B6147304A619BE64!225
http://api.ning.com/files/VGOY8Egly4judKX5aBh8sqqLa1DA8wgWUwqtOd*E8LQuRz51Mj0CKEpt7dQd9bYPNhayKXSjTut0g4zNaWOkxR0mXWH8NVHi/Cropped_Katahdin.jpg
People have been told that there are two major complaints about wind power
and that they can be overcome. The first is that industrial turbines are an
eyesore on pristine rural ridge tops. The second is that they produce power
that is more expensive than other sources of power. These two arguments can be
easily overcome by not installing industrial turbines at all, however there are
many more reasons for not investing in industrial wind turbines, e.g.:
Millions of birds are slaughtered each year.
Bats’ lungs explode to barotrauma
We may be facing an environmental crisis resulting from burning fossil
fuels; but Industrial wind-turbines are totally irrelevant to that issue. They
do not produce oxygen as did the trees that were clear-cut to make space for
them. But in every step of the mining, manufacturing, transportation and
installation of them each turbine produces many megatons of CO2. That’s before
one even begins to spin. Then many gallons of lubricant oil and machinery
fossil fuels must be used for their maintenance and emergency situations (They
do catch fire and fall down.)
Some claim the long-term impact of climate change caused by human activity is
already causing more severe environmental disasters but industrial windmills
are irrelevant tat as well. Also, some say that the sight of some towers and
rotating blades in what have been undeveloped areas is a small price to pay….
For What? And, it’s not just “some turbines,” it’s thousands of
turbines, many posing a forest fire risk on remote mountaintops all for an
unreliable trickle of energy to be sent out of state on new and incredibly
expensive transmission lines. From an environmental perspective, there are no
benefits to expanding wind generation and they are certainly not worth the
visual impact.
Natural gas prices are currently low and may stay that way for a long time.
Wind power has no predictability. After the capital costs are paid, there are
many maintenance, emergency and decommissioning costs in fuel and suffering. It
won’t pollute the air like most other energy generators. It will chop millions
of birds out of the air. Birds are attracted to wind-turbines and swarm around
them to be chopped once the turbine starts. Water is another matter. The access
roads built are very heavy duty and be built through marshy areas and over
streams. Herbicides and insecticides are needed around the turbine grounds, and
because water eternally (renewably) runs downhill, those poisons get taken down
stream, poisoning all in its wake, and eventually into our rivers where they
poison fish and whatever lives there.
Wind is not the answer to Maine’s energy
problems, but it is playing a huge role in worsening those problems. Part of
the answer would be to remove it from the state’s energy portfolio. Maine
should continue to seek a balanced energy policy that includes conservation and
a variety of sources — excluding wind. There is a more direct, short-lived
economic benefit. The money paid for construction workers will, in the short
run, show up in local stores and municipal tax collections (temporarily). It
will be used to support local services. The PUC made the wrong call!
So just outright dismiss the promise and continued development of a renewable energy source?
That’s ridiculous. Just keep polluting with fossil fuels which are finite and lining the pockets of the dirty fossil fuel billionaires? There is great promise for wind. Is ANY energy form perfect at this stage? No. But to dismiss the promise of further development and refinement is nonsense. Especially considering the promise of offshore wind capability. ALL options need to remain on the table. Gov. LeBUFFOON and the right wingers attack ANYTHING that is not mainly about oil and gas because those CEO’s are their puppet masters who own them lock stock and barrel.
Tinserblic wrote, in
response to MaineHiker:
“So just outright
dismiss the promise and continued development of a renewable energy
source? That’s ridiculous. “
Wind energy does
not replace fossil fuels. However we must not keep polluting with
fossil fuels which are finite and lining the pockets of the oil and
coal billionaires? That’s why viable options must be further
research and developed. Dumping money into nonviable options is
ridiculous.
“There is great
promise for wind.” Not from 400 plus foot tall slaughter machines.
The only renewable source is taxpayer and rate-payer dollars; not the
wind.
“Is ANY
energy form perfect at this stage? No” I guess you ask that
question so you can answer it. Maine’s Public Utilities Commission
said yes to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new
investment in an industry that is falsely claimed to be clean. This
is no cause for celebration. People have been told that there are two
major complaints about wind power and that they can be overcome. The
first is that industrial turbines are an eyesore on pristine rural
ridge tops. The second is that they produce power that is more
expensive than other sources of power. These two arguments can be
easily overcome by not installing industrial turbines at all; however
there are many more reasons for not investing in industrial wind
turbines:
Devastation of
Wilderness, Mountains, and wildlife,
Devastation of
camping and hiking tourism,
Millions of birds
and bats slaughtered each year,
Strife in
communities and in meeting a community’s needs,
Unbridled
corruption in the (PUC), town and state politics and industry
Corruption among
Audubon, Usfws and other institutions,
Personal
economics ruined, destroyed property values,
Foreign control
of our resources,
Exporting
electricity when we already have more than we need,
Higher taxes and
electricity rates,
Remote wilderness
and mountaintop Fire danger,
Dealing with
“bird taking” permits, their oversight and monitoring,
Management,
oversight and decommissioning of turbines,
Noise, flicker.
lights and their effects on health, human and otherwise,
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b6147304a619be64
“But to dismiss
the promise of further development and refinement is nonsense.”
Especially
considering the promise of offshore wind capability. And it’s
effects on sealife like whales and continues to chop birds, from the
sky.
ALL viable options
need to remain on the table; non viable non-options must be swept
out.
I suppose all of this is true just because YOU said it…devastation, millions slaughtered, strife, corruption, unbridled corruption, more corruption, personal economics ruined (mine included I assume), foreign control, exporting electricity, higher electricity rates, higher taxes, fire danger, bird taking (?), management oversight, decommissioning, noise, flicker, lights…there’s nothing left. We should all commit suicide. Except you, of course. We need someone to properly care for our cemetery.
Hiker, what Maine energy future? The power generated from these fiasco’s is all going out of state.
Dr. Battick, the devil has more credibility than the Maine CORPORATE Policy Center. That outfit, a local arm of Grover Norquist’s National Heritage Foundation, is dedicated to the destruction of the American middle class so that they can give EVERYTHING to the rich. Plain and simple. And they work hand in glove with other ultra corrupt liars like ALEC and the Club for Growth and their right wing propaganda mongers on FAKE News and elsewhere to further their lies. And that horrid LeBUFFOON in the Blaine House dances cheek to cheek with them every day. Indeed, many of his inner circle, like Bowen, his Education Commissioner, are straight out of the MHPC and are just corporate toadies like LeBUFFOON. Don’t listen to ANYTHING these lying right wing horrid liars say, ever.
Sounds like somebody is really mad because they were told to get off the couch and get a job.
Could be mad because he has three jobs that do not pay enough to pay CMP bill. Could have been busy fighting a GOP war while you were in college too.. Assumptions are easier than reality and spread easier with a broad brush.
Ms. Staton, history has already show that Highland Wind’s regard for the people who would have to live in the shadow of their projects is negligible. Angus King and Rob Gardiner proudly touted their company’s values on their website early on. They said they would not site a project where it was unacceptable to the community and that they would not build where it would endanger sensitive wildlife or habitat. That was all impressive until a community told them they weren’t welcome and the IF&W told them they were going to endanger sensitive wildlife with their Highland project. Those posted promises abruptly disappeared from their websites some time ago. (In fact, their Independence Wind website disappeared altogether.) Their good will was short-lived. Their self-interest seems to be much more enduring.
Do you wish to see a good resume of the real Angus King, “The Wind Scoundrel of Roxbury”?
see http://www.crashbarry.com
So, now comes Angus King, also known as
the “Snake-oil industrial wind salesman of Roxbury” .
This self serving , subsidy sucking
money grubbing carpetbagger desecrates Maine with useless
machines for his own form of green ($$$$$), and now wants to RULE it
too.
This scoundrel cannot even tell the
truth concerning his real party affiliation, left wind democrat.
He knows lying pays big $$$, and is a
consummate practitioner of deception .
If Mainers elect him, they indeed get what they deserve.
Want to see the truth about his past exploits, see:
http://www.crashbarry.com
Dr. Battrick, David Felten; good letters.
Test
YOU test! OMG!!! How insensitive can you be??? I mean, really!!!!
Thanks to Corey Pickett for his informative perspective and experience. Hopefully most of us can still learn from other people’s experiences such as his.
If we believe for a moment that this East-West highway proposal will really create lasting jobs and boost the economy of rural Maine towns and villages, we need to wake up …. look at the “economic boom” created for all the towns along I-95 north of Old Town. Sure, I-95 has helped some businesses. But where is the vast prosperity? After 20-30 years, where is it?
And the “wind power in trade for your mountain tops” fiasco fits the same model.Sometimes good Mainers continue to be hoodwinked by smooth talking executives who lead people to believe that because they have made a lot of money, then they must be right and worth believing. And people get dazzled with promises ….. promises….. of jobs and “money for you”.This is an age old scam. It started with Columbus and the early explorers when they discovered this land and proceeded to dazzle the Native Americans with trinkets while stealing their land. And when Native Americans realized they’d been had and resisted, the early explorers killed them. So here we are today — same scam, different year. And the current scuttlebut says that when a Maine writer recently called a leader of this East-West highway fiasco to complain about it, he was warned….. warned…. not to make waves or bad things would happen.If this is such a great idea for the people of Maine, why are threats and secrecy necessary? Is it because they know deep inside that the project is really about profits for a few at the expense of the many? And if people really see what’s going on, they will oppose it?
Who made the threats?
Rob and Angus, get out of Highland. The rest of the turbine huggers get of of Maine.
The case for the east west highway is nonsensical. If fuel prices go up, rail becomes more practical. Maine should be fixing the rail system not building more roads we cannot afford to maintain.
While industrial wind was the catalyst for the people of
Highland to stand up and speak out, ‘wind’ isn’t the fundamental issue, here.
Citizens’ rights are.
King and Gardiner came to Highland. They were granted an audience no fewer than
four times. They made their sales
pitch. The people of Highland rejected
it. They’ve said ‘no’. Their decision is supported by Maine’s
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The mountains of Highland are not an appropriate place for grid-scale
wind turbines, and by their signatures, the People have effectively zoned
against mountaintop industrial wind development.
We’re taking a dangerous path as Americans if we
disenfranchise residents simply because they live in rural areas. I believe that the people of Maine who live
outside the borders of organized towns will not take it kindly if they discover
that their votes or their signatures on a petition are worthless.
Our communities have already been haphazardly rezoned as ‘industrial’
without our input—and this was done for the benefit of one industry with a
low-value, high cost and high-impact product.
Highlanders have taken steps to protect their community’s “Quality
of Place”, their health, their property values and their quality of life. They’ve met together, educated themselves, and
taken a vote on the issue, as indicated by their petition signatures.
The wind developer must heed Highlanders’ will and
communicate to the Plantation’s assessors their intention to permanently abandon
the Highland Wind project. Candidate
King surely recognizes the power of Maine citizens’ votes.
Respectfully,
Karen Pease
Lexington Twp., Maine
Just a matter of time before the east-west highway will be built..