Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

By Previous Employees

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

schools-JASON-project

Full Text:

Students Dive Deep Into Maritime Studies With JASON Project

(with cuts)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

Students from Hawley and Middle Gate Schools in Newtown are joining a live

scientific expedition to coral reefs off Bermuda and kelp forests in Monterey

Bay during the 1998 JASON Project broadcast March 16-27.

Hawley fourth graders spent all day Tuesday at the Maritime Center in Norwalk,

as part of the project.

As well as the usual attractions of the seals, the touch tank and the IMAX

theater, students participated in a project that brought them together with

scientists doing ocean research.

The Newtown students -- along with 8,000 other students from the tri-state

area -- have been watching as the JASON team work underwater at three

different locations, via satellite.

Scientists working underwater explain their research and even take questions

from students visiting the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and other broadcast

sites across North America and England.

The goal of this year's expedition, titled Oceans of Earth and Beyond , is to

compare different marine communities and study the issues that affect each.

JASON scientists will be working amidst tropical fish in Bermuda's coral reefs

and in Monterey Bay's kelp forests, home to sea otters and sea lions.

They'll also use a specially equipped underwater robot to look for the unusual

animals that live in Monterey Bay canyon's mid-water region and dark deep sea.

These "electronic field trips" are hosted on-screen by Dr Robert Ballard,

discoverer of the Titanic .

He created the annual JASON expeditions to show students how science can be

exciting, challenging, fulfilling, and performed by both men and women.

Mrs Cowden said the JASON project fits in beautifully with the fourth graders'

study of the oceans. She explained that as a warm-up to the JASON projects,

students can venture into a simulated ocean (minus the water) and find and

analyze various shells and models of sea creatures.

Hawley students have also been learning about mapping the ocean floor and the

effect of temperature variances within the ocean on life above and below the

water level.

Sarah Salbu, experimenting with holes in a plastic water jug in the

Math/Science room, said, "It sprays the farthest from the holes on the bottom

because it has the most water on it, and the most pressure." She thought for a

moment, then said, "Divers would be under a lot of pressure if they go deep in

the ocean. They have to be careful not to get the bends."

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Reservoir Rd. does indeed appear to have an interesting history that I often ponder as I hike the Rochambeau Trail. Early on it was apparently part of a main route from the center of the Borough to Taunton, which went up Mt. Pleasant Rd. and then roughly followed a watershed boundary from Mount Pleasant to Taunton Hill. When the current switchback road was built from West St. to Castle Hill in the 1800s, replacing the indirect route through the campground that Rochambeau used, the part of that original route to Taunton now known as Reservoir Rd. became redundant. But on an 1868 town map and topographic maps from 1892 and 1915, it looks like both routes were still maintained as roads. By the time of the 1934 aerial survey of CT, the connection to Mount Pleasant Rd. (maybe called Reservoir Rd. by then since the reservoir is visible) even had two outlets onto Castle Hill Rd. Since it is only shown as a partial dashed line on a 1953 topographic map, it may have stopped being maintained as a passable through road by then. But on a 1963 topographic map, where the section down to Knollwood Dr. had become a normal road again, the other end is shown as a dashed-line road, still with two connections to Castle Hill Rd., and a structure on the east side where one can still find remnants of a house today. Maybe a longtime resident can add comments about what it looked like in the 1950s and 1960s?

Clarity on Reservoir Road and the Rochambeau Trail

Please stop referring to your fellow Newtowners as the Mob. I was at the Legislative Council meeting where Mr. Pisani insulted the intelligence of a room full of Newtown voters; twice, and not in a satirical way. Plenty of new projects have been given the green light - the repurposing of the Taunton Press property is a welcome addition to Town, a new retail center is under construction on Church Hill Rd there are ongoing plans for the existing Fairfield Hills campus. Newtown is a wonderful place to live. Kudos to the Town officials who have managed to grow Newtown and maintain a small town feel, which may mean saying no to development more often than you would like. There will always be two sides to any proposal - different points of view are welcome and essential - name calling adds nothing to the conversation.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Appreciate your perspective. Rather than litiate all of your opinions expressed here, here....I would like correct your opinion about the BOS having the final authority on road discontinuance decisions. State statute (CT GS 13a-49), requires the BOS' decision to be approvate by a majority vote at a regular or special town meeting (just like the one Newtown had a few years back to decide to spend the money to build an addition onto the High School). In towns that no longer have any town meetings, that responsibility would fall on the town's representaive government, or legislative body....in Newtown's case, our Legislative Council. Failure to follow this statutory process is but one of the reasons the town/the BOS is being sued.

There are many private roads in Newtown where they property owner owns right to the center line, for example this is often true in the lake communities. Many of these roads predate and do not conform to the Town's roads standard and therefore the Town never accepted them into the Town road system. Does the Town actually own this road?

It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

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Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

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