Community Corner

Nearby: Government Shutdown; Gift of Life

News of interest from around the region.

Government Shutdown Closes USMMA

Twenty-four hours after celebrating the campus’ 70th anniversary, theU.S. Merchant Marine Academy shut down Tuesday, a victim of the federal government’s budget impasse.

The Academy is funded by the Department of Transportation, which under guidelines laid out in the event of a shutdown has furloughed 451 of 830 positions in Maritime Administration. 

“Due to a lapse in funding, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is closed for normal operations,” the Academy’s website explains. 

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If the shutdown extends more than a week, USMMA midshipmen will be sent home, according to the DOT. That will impact approximately 720 students on campus, who will have the option of going home until operations resume. 

The DOT said 225 midshipmen at sea on 4- to 8-month training cruises will be allowed to continue. 

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Gift of Life Given to Two Young Russian Girls at St. Francis Hospital

Two young Russian girls have a new lease on life after undergoing a new minimally-invasive heart procedure at St. Francis Hospital this week in Roslyn.

The state-of-the-art operation was a dream come true for Katya Lebedeva, 15, and Anastasia Bakhtiarova, 10, who were brought to Long Island after it was determined that St. Francis was able to fix holes in their hearts from a condition called ventricular septal defect or VSD.

Using a catheter-based device, Sean Levchuck, M.D, chairman of pediatric cardiology at St. Francis, performed the first two procedures on Oct. 2. was able to navigate through the arteries and veins and deliver a plug to a space.

The girls were told their conditions "were not fixable" in Russia, according to Dr. Levchuck, who along with St. Francis Hospital, donated all medical services for the procedure.

Tilles: State Ed Standards Will Take Time

Regent Roger Tilles thinks the Common Core standards make sense but have negatively impacted what should never have been linked to teacher evaluations and test scores.  

Addressing about 150 people at the Port Washington Public Library Wednesday, Tilles, a Great Neck resident who represents Long Island on the state Board of Regents, said he supported the Common Core academic standards. He said the Common Core “makes kids think” and is “pretty well-received by teachers.”

But at the event sponsored by the Port Washington-Manhasset League of Women Voters, Tilles conceded, the standards are confused with testing and teacher performance.

“The test was supposed to be a growth measure,” and to be “diagnostic” to identify skills and add assistance where needed. When the scores are tied to teacher performance, school boards put pressure on the superintendents who in turn lean on the administrators, and that stress triggers down to the teachers and ultimately the students.


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