High School Report Card
Last month, you ran your High Schools Report Card, providing some key factors readers might use in evaluating the performance of Westchester schools. Unfortunately, one of the public high schools that refused to participate was Croton-on- Hudson. It serves a rather small community and residents like myself pay a premium in taxes to afford its presence. So when the school opts out of providing any information that might be helpful to parents, one must question why.
The weak arguments offered by those schools refusing to participate display a seeming lack of confidence in readers’ ability to make an informed judgment. Given the multiple criteria provided in the chart as well as the intelligently framed caveats supplied by the superintendents of non-participating schools themselves (and graciously included in a column explaining what additional factors must temper judgments made about these schools), there should be no reason, other than fear of accountability, for Croton or any other school to decline inclusion.
Jay Forbes, Croton-on-Hudson
Week of Unhealthy Eating
Julia Sexton’s food diary (“Week of Hunger”) was as unfunny as it was unhealthy. If your food critic thinks that consuming cream, French cheese, deli-counter roast beef, homemade beef stock (“nutrient broth”), and sausage pizza—and later that same week, sausage risotto (“eating lightly”)— constitutes “healthy” home eating, then, to my mind she’s discredited herself as a guide and critic. (Never mind the clumsy attempts at self-deprecating humor and the odious and unnecessary raccoon bit—where was her editor?)
At a time when your readership should be making wiser food choices, both at home and out, I was pretty appalled. I am a writer and book editor, and I love to cook. I also eat out. But I’ve always managed to eat well and healthy wherever I go. You really should challenge the reader to make eating out a meaningful lifestyle choice—by having a food and restaurant critic whose singular goal is to eat well (I mean healthy) at every restaurant he/she tries. That would be a service to your readership.
Susan Leon, via email
Sexton’s Response: I can only assume that you misunderstand my role. I am not a health writer. Nor is Sam Sifton of the New York Times, who, in his blog post recounting one week of eating, certainly surpasses in self-indulgence my “cream, French cheese, and deli-counter roast beef…” (It is true, he avoids raccoon, though that specific protein was endorsed by the apparently missing editors of the Times, who included a picture of my dish in their coverage of the meal on their web.) Apparently, the editors at New York Press
also were absent that week: my confit of Adirondack raccoon garnered a glowing paragraph in its front-page story. Where, do you think, were all those editors?
If I were you, I wouldn’t follow this link to New York Magazine’s “Grub Street”, which details a week of food (and demon liquor!) consumed by Executive Wine Editor at Food and Wine Magazine Ray Isle. And whatever you do, don’t follow this other link to “Grub Street”, which revels in odious and unnecessary details of cream, butter, rabbit ballotine, fried chicken, meatballs, and even steak tartare consumed by Chef Marco Canora of New York City’s Hearth. In fact, I suggest you stick to reading Prevention Magazine.
Academy Award
Kudos to Westchester for having four out of nine college female presidents! Still today, women face inequality in the workplace, being forced to juggle career and family more than the average male. These women cited having mentors that helped them succeed. What struck me the most was how all, despite all their responsibilities, create loving environments for their families and their students.
Andrea Wagner, Female Entrepreneur, Mother, and Role Model, Yorktown Heights
Sweet Inspiration
My employees and I live in New York City, so April’s Insider’s Guide by Nancy Claus is a great resource for us. We like to take employees on field trips to get inspiration for creating cakes. We’ve done everything in the city; now we have lots of ideas on our to-do list right here in Westchester.
Jay Muse, co-owner, Lulu Cake Boutique Scarsdale
Oops!—In our April article, “Madam Presidents,” we say that undergraduate tuition at Manhattanville College is $16,515 for the academic year. That figure actually represents the tuition for one semester.
Let Us Hear from You
Send your comments along with your name and town to edit@westchestermagazine.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and space restrictions.
