I was surprised to read the proposal for playing fields at the Two Rivers Conservation Area in Lebanon (“Riverside forest’s future debated,” March 16). Surprised because the area is a floodplain forest of poplars, maples and sycamores, among at least a dozen other tree species, that help to prevent erosion and are part of an ecosystem that allows the soil there to absorb more water should there be flooding.
The forest floor acts as a soil sponge, whereas grass fields would become compacted and not mitigate flooding in the same way. As climate change progresses, we will have more cycles of drought and more deluges of rain. In times of drought, the ground hardens. When that is followed by a deluge, the ground cannot absorb the water fast enough. This will raise the risk of flooding. The forest floor absorbs water more easily as it isn’t as compacted as a playing field.
Why is this important? Because we have businesses close by that would be put at greater risk of flood damage if a good chunk of that forest were to be replaced by playing fields. There is a reason that land is conserved. It is more than a home for beaver, deer, fox, birds and other wildlife, along with less common floodplain plant species: It is flood protection for us.
If Lebanon needs more sports fields, perhaps school fields could be better shared, or neighboring towns could share fields. The Upper Valley is innovative and used to sharing resources. What really needs to happen for recreation at the confluence of the Mascoma and Connecticut rivers is the repair of the boat launch access road near the water treatment plant. Deep ruts have been made by wheeled vehicles, and soon it will become impassible. That road should be seasonally closed to prevent damage. I walked there on Saturday and it is in terrible shape, yet three trucks were parked down by the launch. No one should be driving on that road right now, and I hope the city will act soon to protect it and the adjoining floodplain forest.
DARLA BRUNO
Lebanon
Regarding the safety and upkeep of the municipal parking lot between the Hartford VFW post and South Main Street: It is in the worst condition these last two years than it has ever been. People can’t even get out of their cars without taking a big chance of falling and getting hurt. To plow it right, cars should not be in the lot. The cars that are in the lot need to be put all on one side or at the top of the lot from 1-7 a.m. on nights it is supposed to snow. Then make them move to the other side of the lot so it can be plowed right and salted. All the other towns and cities have plowing restrictions.
Also, that sidewalk by the VFW is worthless. With that island there, nobody can get to it. Also, with that line of cars from the one-way street to the power pole there is no way to get a fire truck or emergency vehicle to the VFW. If it was plowed right, there would not be piles of snow left all over the parking lot. It is the most unsafe parking lot in town. You don’t see the municipal lot or the courthouse lot that way.
DENIS B. BACKUS
Sharon
The writer is president of the Hartford Veterans Council.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock has become the only option for many types of health care in the Upper Valley. D-H is a top-tier research and teaching hospital, and hospitals often must absorb the cost of uninsured patients.
Both factors make D-H more expensive than other providers. However, I’m not sure most people recognize just how much more expensive it can be.
I recently sought estimates for a vasectomy, a nontrivial but routine procedure. Admirably, the D-H Financial Services Office volunteered two separate estimates. At D-H Lebanon, the total charges would be $8,132. At D-H Manchester, they would be $2,986. I also called a private urology practice in Manchester, and it quoted $1,075. Considering the rates negotiated by my insurer (Harvard Pilgrim), the total cost that I (or my health plan) would actually need to pay would be $4,061, $1,273 or $855, respectively.
If I had not asked questions in advance, I would have paid five times more, an extra $3,261 out of pocket! It’s less convenient to drive to Manchester, but I’ll gladly do so to save a month’s living expenses.
Health care costs are ballooning, and many of us have high-deductible insurance plans. In the big picture, these plans are good because they motivate us to pay attention. To limit our out-of-pocket costs and premium increases, as well as to keep the D-H monopoly accountable to its customers, we could all shop around a bit before scheduling nonemergency procedures.
In the even bigger picture, structural reform is desperately needed across our national health care system. Hospitals like D-H can’t survive if those with the ability to pay take their business elsewhere. Nevertheless, the free market must be brought to bear, if only to highlight the need for fundamental reform. Otherwise, we’re heading to a future where only the wealthy and the indigent can seek care in the Upper Valley, with the working class left terrified of bills that they could theoretically pay but would obliterate their standard of living.
MARC C. RAMSEY
Meriden
I am an individual whose life has been enriched by music, for personal pleasure, and I have had the good fortune to enjoy participation in various ensembles over my lifetime.
I have been following the discourse regarding the closing of Dartmouth College’s Paddock Music Library as a cost-saving measure for the institution. I went to the college website and noted that it is indeed in the music education business, both instrumentally and compositionally. More than 60 courses are featured on the college website. So why is it cutting out a music library?
I find it astounding that a liberal arts college would justify this as a cost-cutting measure. I believe I have read that Dartmouth is one of the most highly endowed institutions in our country. If the music library goes on the block, does that open the door to excising any of the other libraries devoted to the humanities? Can Dartmouth continue to parade itself about as a premier liberal arts institution after it lops off the music library? I think if I were a Dartmouth graduate, I would be most embarrassed.
POOH SPRAGUE
Plainfield
George Orwell would truly be proud of what I must generalize as the “American Left” today. The generalization is accurate and necessary, because it is only those that fall to one side of it who are actively doing what would make him so proud: banning some private book sales (for thoughtcrime against the issue of the day), bringing back soft-segregation, deepening “Newspeak” with “Critical” Postmodernist language games, insisting that white supremacy is behind increased hate crimes against Asians (while ignoring the actual hate crime statistics and continuing discrimination against Asians in higher education admissions), continuing to assert that completely firearm-less and plan-lacking groups of America-loving Trump supporters “fomented an insurrection” while pretending the close-to-year of sustained, nationwide rioting and destruction under preferred ideological banners did not exist (via memory-holing and Newspeak — “peaceful protest”), and, in some cases, literally challenging if 2 plus 2 does actually equal 5.
All this while indoctrinating the ideas behind it as early on as possible (always be on the lookout for microaggressions! The question is not if an “ism” occurred, but how it manifest! America is rotten to the racist roots! etc. …) and continuing said indoctrination — via reification and deliberate censorship of any criticism — through colleges and corporate HR departments. HB544 would at least give New Hampshire students a chance.
So, Generalized Left, shall we rename Dartmouth’s “Geisel School of Medicine” next? Ted Geisel — aka Dr. Seuss — was, according to you, one heck of a “racist bigot.”
That’s what we’re doing, right? Assuming (what I hope are) more fringe values of today, presented as widely held (by the “vocal few”), are perfect and should be relativistically back-dated through all history? And — this is the most important part — ostracizing and removing from society those who disagree?
If you are ever halfway educated about the last 100 years, you know that the next steps are “reeducation camps.”
Perhaps former Windsor Principal Tiffany Riley, if not also myself, will be a local resident of one.
DANIEL WORTS
Windsor
The recent atrocities in Atlanta should be a wake-up call for all of us. It is well past time for all Americans to face up to who we are.
It takes a lot of courage to come to terms and face our villain side, but it is becoming increasingly clear that this is what we need to do as a nation. We have seen so much hatred and violence this year, and the hate crimes against Asian Americans since the beginning of the pandemic are a heartbreaking example of who we have become — or perhaps who we have been all along.
It’s time to say, “This is who we are,” and to stop saying, “We are better than this. This isn’t who we are.”
No. This is who we are. If we can finally admit it, and own our villainous roles, then we can start to move forward and change.
Acceptance is the first heroic act of healing. If we keep denying who we are, then we will never be able to heal. We need to start saying, “We can be better than this. We need to be better than this.”
It’s time to take a hard look at how we view the “other,” and how we heroicize tribalism. Tribalism obstructs us from honoring and celebrating our differences, as well as what makes us human. It imprisons us in the “us vs. them” mindset.
Tribalism is so insidious, our division has forced us to lose sight of how interconnected we are. The people who have been persecuted most in this country are the backbone of our nation and have built the world we live in.
So, what can we as individuals do?
At the least, we can resolve to act with all other people as we would like them to act with us. We can speak up when we hear or see things that work against that. If we all can make such a resolution and live up to it, it will go a long way toward making our country what we thought it was.
It all starts with us.
NATALIE JONES
Sharon