The Hammonton Gazette 05/07/2014 Edition | Page 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, May 7, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette The Hammonton Gazette “The Paper of Record” Gabriel J. donio, Publisher Gina rullo, Editor-in-Chief dan russoman, Sports Editor benny mendez, Staff Artist marysusan hoffman, Paul J. macrie iv, michael hozik, donna brown, Joseph bruno, lauren bucci, lauren crescenzo, brian morris, Staff The Hammonton Gazette is located at 233 bellevue Ave. to reach a staff member, call 704-1940 or fax at 704-1938. the mailing address is P.o. box 1228, hammonton, nJ 08037. editoriAls PersPective/AceP The Hammonton Gazette is published Wednesdays, by The Hammonton Gazette, Inc. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093-6181 An outrage In the wake of charges of sexual assault being levied against former Hammonton High School aide and band director Jason Koenig, the message to all people who work with children couldn’t be simpler and more clear: Keep your hands off the kids. It has been only a few years since the Traci Tapp debacle occurred at Hammonton High School. In that case, dating from 2006, Tapp, a gym teacher, pleaded guilty to offensive touching in relation to a 17-year-old high school student. She lost her teaching certificate (in New Jersey) and was given a fine. In our opinion, the relatively-light sentence was the wrong message to send to the staff at Hammonton High School and the Hammonton School District. Now, eight years later, we are again watching the school district deal with a for mer employee facing allegations regarding an adult abusing their position of power in relation to a child. Let’s again be clear: a 16-year-old is not, and will never be, as mature as a 26year-old. The adult is always the responsible party under the law in these situations, and that is as it should be. Blaming the alleged victim in sexual abuse cases is reprehensible conduct. Blaming the adult in the situation, and charging them to the fullest extent of the law, is warranted, particularly at a school district where a female teacher was given virtually no punishment for a similar crime just a few years ago. Even with such a meager disciplinary action being taken, she still lost her position and her teaching certificate. Shouldn’t people employed at the district, like Koenig, have learned from what happened with Tapp? Apparently not, and that is at least partially why we are where we are today, in our view. There have been plenty of excuses made in the last few days. We’ve heard them all, and we hear them every time there is a situation like this one. We’re sick of the excuses and the blame game. And by the way, while we agree that it “happens at every school” we only cover one public school — Hammonton — and while we may not be able to stop sexual abuse at every school district, we’re willing to make the effort to help stop it at the Hammonton School District. We are sure the school board, administration and staff will join in that effort. Again, we’ll make the message simple for the Hammonton School District and its staff: keep your hands off the kids. Consider that six-word message a final warning from one of the major constituencies of The Gazette: the taxpaying public, which funds your school district. teen Arts always welcome The Atlantic County Teen Arts Festival, which drew more than 1,000 people, mostly students from throughout Atlantic County to the downtown area last week, will always be welcome in Hammonton. We hope the festival, which has called Hammonton home for four years now, will be staged in our town for many years to come. Residents, business owners and institutions like The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey’s Kramer Hall, the Noyes Museum of Art — Hammonton, the Eagle Theatre, the Hammonton Arts Center, Hammonton Presbyterian Church and the town of Hammonton (town hall was a venue on the day of the festival,) filled with young artists. On a beautiful spring day, it was a delight to see the town bustling with young people, walking up and down the streets as if Hammonton were already a college town with a downtown campus. The town receives a taste of its future each year with this event, because if Kramer Hall becomes the first of many buildings of a Stockton Hammonton Campus, businesses will be seeing more and more young customers in the coming years. On the day of the festival, students pack restaurants and shop downtown stores. MainStreet Hammonton President Ben Ott of Edward Jones commented on all the students carrying “little yellow bags” from GorJess and LoveLee Boutique, located on Bellevue Avenue. Hammonton has embraced the Atlantic County Teen Arts Festival as an event on the local calendar, as much a part of the fabric of the town as Cruisin’ MainStreet, the Red, White and Blueberry Festival and the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The only difference is this festival originated outside of Hammonton — but with each passing year it has an increasingly Hammontonian flavor. The students, who are enjoying the visual and performing arts in a classic downtown setting, seem to enjoy the meshing of the arts and historic architecture. Our hope is that the Atlantic County Teen Arts Festival calls Hammonton home for decades to come. The local government, business community, educational community and The Gazette are all proud to have this outstanding event in our town. Rural Americans have always had a strong connection to the land. Since 2009 alone, more than 500,000 farmers, ranchers and rural land owners across the country have embarked on record conservation projects with USDA as a partner. This week, USDA built on those efforts by announcing two new conservation programs that provide producers with even stronger tools to protect land and water resources across rural America. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPAHIP) were both established under the 2014 Farm Bill. ACEP, which streamlines several existing USDA easement programs, makes available $366 million per year to a variety of public and private partners for conservation easements. The easements provided through ACEP help ensure the long-term viability of our food supply by preventing conversion of productive lands to nonagricultural use, while simultaneously protecting critical wetland resources. VPA-HIP provides up to $20 million per year in competitive grants to support owners and managers of private lands who want to make their land available to the public for hunting, fishing, hiking and other recreational activities. Expanded access to private lands provides an additional revenue source for farmers and ranchers and encourages good stewardship of the land. ACEP and VPA-HIP enhance the conservation practices farmers and ranchers have already implemented on their operations. Their efforts have already saved millions of tons of soil, improved water quality, preserved critical wildlife habitat, and helped to protect some of our nation’s most sensitive ecological areas. While critically important, strong conservation practices protect more than just cropland and critical habitats—they can also help to boost the bottom line for rural communities. A 2013 study commissioned the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation estimates that every $1 spent on conservation programs in the U.S. yields $2.40 in economic activity by supporting outdoor recreation activities and related businesses. Last year, conservation activities supported more than 660,000 jobs. The new farm bill provides landmark support for conservation, which will further inve st in both rural land and rural economies. In the coming weeks and months, USDA will continue to implement key conservation provisions included in the 2014 Farm Bill. You can track our progress and learn more about how the new farm bill impacts you at www.usda.gov/farmbill, or visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted for more information about ACEP and VPA-HIP. Quote of the Week: tom vilsack secretary, usdA Washington, d.c. “the sexuAl Abuse And exPloitAtion of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivAble, A violAtion of mAnkind’s most bAsic duty to Protect the innocent.” — James T. Walsh The Hammonton Gazette welcomes letters to the editor that are no more than 800 words long. All letters must include the name of the author and an address and telephone number for verification. Letters should be mailed to The Hammonton Gazette, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Letters also will be accepted via fax. The fax number is 704-1938.  Or by e-mail to [email protected]. Deadline for all submissions is 2 p.m. Monday. The Hammonton Gazette reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions expressed in letters, perspectives or in guest columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Hammonton Gazette.  The Gazette is not responsible for factual errors in letters, perspectives or in guest columns. The Gazette retains the right to refuse any submission or advertisement.