opinion^

Our Readers Write DYFS Is Not ' The Monster '

To The Editor: With all due respect to the letters in this newspaper condemning DYFS (the state Division of Youth and Family Services) for intruding into their private lives, I would like to point out that their reaction to thq intrusion is normal and that anyone would feel the outrage experienced by these people. DYFS has legally come into their homes and challenged their job as parents. The "child abuse people." as they are called, are so greatly feared that when they show up, their very presence starts a shock wave that rips through the family and outside to encompass family members and friends. The outrage persists after DYFS has gone. The agency went to their respective homes because someone. or another agency, made an allegation that the life and welfare of a child was being threatened DYFS IS REQUIRED by law to respond to and investigate the allegation. They don't seek to disrupt the family unit or destroy them financially. What would they have to gain? DYFS's main concern is to keep families together. It is only the extreme circumstance which ends up with a child taken from its parents. Even then, heaven and earth are moved to get them back together. My family had an experience with DYFS. We had nowhere to live throngh a series of situations that began when a drunk driver crushed my husband's legs. DYFS provided us with physical, mental and financial support. They found a home for our three children until my husband and I could put our lives back together They stretched and bent the rules to help us. They helped whenever and with whatever it took to keep us together. It is hoped that through my letter, and others like it. that people will begin to see that DYFS is not the monster it all too often is perceived to be and unfairly so. God help some of these children without such agencies. JACQUELINE STACKHOUSE Cape May Willing to Fight DYFS To The Editor: I wish to reply to Charlotte A Mason's April 23 letter on the state Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). I will fight DYFS along with any other person willing to do so I have fought in the past and won my case This organization was developed to help families, not hurt them. This is not always true They have to change their way of doing things. Their approach, interrogation and /oree, is not the answer to any problem; certainly not when innocent children are involved. And what about the innocent parent'.' Are we not innocent until proven guilty, or is that a farce? Lets help the people who have problen^ind leave the people who don't alone. LYDIA H. GRACfc f Cape May Court House • *

f«™tifvGif&ij torn, Wlfc.il.ui Lwti TowwMp By TV Van Corporate EdUoa of IV yCmmri Cap* Map County Bcnttf II Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp Publisher jon-ovo Corp IVI6 AD r^Vi ro v-od AW prooorr, ..9Vt lor te vr , cinan-i o< rV< S*0"°" N® P°" h*"°l *- ••prodircod DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday ' Advertising Friday — .3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly, $40; Six Month, $20 • Call 465-5055 For News, Advertising or Subscription Information Vwte ptevtpvte aArtev mm *- p.m.B.r ol te HI W <111 OH | «Vr» «V Cape Bv <*» UMm of Ike Cape * r Coaly Herald

Berry's World Bp Nf * loc S'B " Let's come back next week. I'm still mad at the French. "

Local College Would End ' Vicious Circle ' To The Editor: As a Democratic candidate for Middle Township Committee, I feel that one of the most important issues is education and its relationship to the quality of life and future development in the township. Since 1983, confrontations between the local Board of Education and township committee have been minimal An increasing tax base and stable state and federal funding sources have been the cornerstone of this apparently cardial relationship, since the individual taxpayer has not had to shell out additional tax dollars for education If either the tax base or the funding change to our detriment. taxes will rise, public pressure will rapidly convert to political pressure which will, in turn, hurt the educational prospects of our young people School budgets will be defeated and the students will suffer How can we avert such a scenario I (Page 63 Please i/-\

Why Not Use A Safe Spray?

To The Editor: Tbe gypsy moths have arrived. Those little pests are just beginning a Spring feast of nature's edible delicacies : oak. maple and an assortment of other leaves. What are we to do to stop their insatiable appetite? There are several ways to control the gypsy moth: sticky tape wrapped around the tree trunk to stop them from crawling to the leafy parts, chemical sprays, integrated pest management and biological sprays. The state has opted to use non-chemical ways of con-* trolling them. By using Bacillus Thurengenis (BT> in a spray form and integrated pest management, it has kept the population under control IT IS SAFE to Use around fish. fowl, wildlife, honey bees and humans. Last year, according to John Kegg. agent in charge of the state gypsy moth program, "the use of BT and integrated pest management gave the trees the foliage protection they needed and the state accomplished its goal of controlling defoliation."' Middle Township has chosen again to use the chemical spray Sevin. which has been known to cause genetic defects and carcinogencic effects in laboratory tests. It kills honey bees and has a residual effect in the soil, lasting up to seven days. Allegedly, it is harmful to humans. The township had a state survey done in the winter (when egg masses are easy to see and count). The state recommended that approximately 2,700 acres, be treated. By voluntarily participating in the state spraying program, the township could have used a safe alternative. BT. By not choosing to participate, it has almost doubled the cost of its spraying. THE PEOPLE OF Middle Township look to their leaders for a safe, clean environment. A few years ago there was a Gypsy Moth Committee. Why was it disbanded and not kept active to form the policies of the township? Why would a town not choose to use a safe, non-toxic way of controlling the gypsy moth? We need answers; in the bidding process BT was not even considered. Why? There are many questions to be answered and we need honest answers. The old saying goes, "honesty is the best policy " SUSAN KARASO Cape May Court House

f Letters Welcome -s The Herald, lantern and Dispatch welcome let I lers to the editor on matters of public interest Originals, not copies, are requested Writers must sign name address and phone number ~~ a

rMint Juleps and Pussycats 4 Guys in the Wrong Business

By JOE ZELNIK "Lawyers and journalists don't mix very well," said Baltimore Sun legal affairs reporter Lyle Denniston the other day. He was "mixing" with three lawyers in a day-long seminar on "Law for Journalists" at Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle. Pa. One difference between lawyers and journalists - long clear to me — was reemphasized in several ways that day. THE FIRST LAWYER on the program left immediately after his talk to fly to the Kentucky Derby where he presumably enjoyed mint juleps. The journalist scheduled to speak at lunch never got there Her car broke down. I empathize. The lawyers wore dark suits, white shirts, conservative ties and wingtip shoes Denniston, the only journalist remaining on the program. wore khaki pants, a blue shirt, yellow tie with sort of red-blue polka dots, and loafers. THE LAWYERS talked about defamation and litigation and the New York Times v. Sullivan. They reassured me that I have every right to go to those meetings and ask for thos documents that I've been saying all along I have a right to. They also said this state has an absolute "Shield Law" that protects me from having to reveal my source to anybody, ever, no matter what. So if you want to tell me. on the Q-T, that a freeholder's brother-in-law is being groomed for a $35,000-aVear job as veterinarian Jp the animals at the county zoo, rest easy that no doe-can force me to say where I heard it. WHAT THE LAWYERS said boiled down to one basic piece of advice: Be fair. For a good, professional journalist. that should be as automatic as telling the truth. After this came Denniston. He, too, had a simple message: "Get the story." No matter what, get the story. If it won't bend your own code of ethics, get the story even if you have to break and enter. The lawyers in the front row were wincing. IT WAS THE COURTS. Denniston said, who have to

worry about "admissible evidence" and "fair trials." That's the responsibility of the judicial system, not the journalist. And you can't worry about innocent victims, he said. "A good, aggressive, tough journalist will hurt at home at night." And I thought it was my wife's meatloaf. Then came the classic example that has hung up journalists since John F Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs. Denniston suggested the hypothetical case of a reporter learning in advance about a U.S. military mission. If he wrote it, it could mean Americans would die. WRITE IT, said Denniston. "What if your son was one of the servicemen?" a journalist called. "I'd write it," said Denniston "Journalism is a calling. If you don't believe that, maybe you're in the wrong business." I brought the hypothetical example back to our newsroom and put it to my three cohorts. Two immediately said they would not write the story. One said, "I'd like to think I'd run the story, but I probably wouldn't." So much for our pussycats. FORTUNATELY, we at this newspaper are not likely to stumble on stories affecting national security. But this county does seem to have more government secrecy than the MUA landfill has seagulls. Just the other day I got a Dennis Township Recreation Commission notice announcing each monthly meeting is preceded by a closed caucus. What could a recreation commission need to discuss in secret: Little League spitballs? ■ Denniston would have me borrow beneath the Dennis municipal building, drill a hole up through the floor, and get the scoop. But I get embarrassed just eavesdropping at doors. MY PROBLEM, probably, is that I once had some desire to be a lawyer. But I couldn't afford another three or four years of college. I don't regret that. As one of the lawyehs at Dickinson conceded, "If lawyers wrote newspapers, nobody 'd read 'em." Besides. I hate wingtip shoes