March 6, 2020 by Greenwich Sentinel

ECRWSS

March 6, 2020

NOT receiving the Sentinel every week? Subscribe today for home delivery! www.GreenwichSentinel.com/subscribe

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit #2475 Providence, RI Postal Customer

National Day of

Unplugging is a 24 hour period to carve out time to unplug, relax, read! SATURDAY, MAR 7

Alexander Graham Bell

Day: On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented “transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically.”

SUNDAY, MAR 8

International Women's Day Daylight Saving Time:

turn clocks ahead and lose an hour on the

second Sunday in March at 2:00 A.M.

MONDAY, MAR 9

National Napping Day!

which always falls one day

after Daylight Saving time. TUESDAY, MAR 10

National Pack Your Lunch Day, so get ready to brown-bag it up! Also, Mario Day

chosen by fans because

Mar 10 looks like Mario. WEDNESDAY, MAR 11

National Promposal Day The promposal, the act of asking your boo to prom

in a super elaborate way,

was first invented in 2001. Rock on, high schoolers, and good luck.

THURSDAY, MAR 12

National Alfred Hitchcock Day, a day to celebrate

the life, times, and work of master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock.

National Girl Scout

Day, part of Girl Scout

Week, commemorates the anniversary of the first

Girl Scout meeting. In 1912,

Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low organized the meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

FRIDAY, MAR 13

National K9 Veterans Day In 1942, an organization

called Dogs for Defense was founded to train dogs to be sentries for supply depots.

The program was approved by the U.S. Army in March 1942, the U.S. Army K9 Corps was founded on March 13, 1942.

SATURDAY, MAR 14 National Pi Day

3.14159265359….

Celebrated on March 14

(that’s 3-14), National Pi

Day commemorates a very special number and the

birthday of Albert Einstein. National Potato Chip Day

Potato chips are recognized on March 14 annually. Potato chips are a

predominant part of the

snack food market in many countries including ours.

A Garbage Problem Celebrating Women & Mathmatics By Carolyn Paletta

Greenwich is facing a garbage problem. Waste removal fees are increasing as the state struggles to meet demand with an aging incinerator. Recycling removal, which used to be free for the town, will as of this year require a per-ton tip fee that adds an annual expense of nearly $1 million. To combat these rising costs, First Selectman Fred Camillo has proposed the adoption of a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) system for garbage disposal in Greenwich. In a PAYT system, residents pay the town for each bag of trash they dispose of, instead of paying a flatrate tax increase. Similar to how people pay for electricity or gas, the cost of waste disposal is directly proportional to the output of the household. "This is the only option that gives you personal control over your costs," Camillo said. "The less garbage you have, the less you pay." Under a PAYT system, the town would sell specially marked garbage bags at grocery stores, g a s s t at ion s a nd ot he r lo c a l distributors, and residents would purchase these bags at a rate ranging from $1.25 for 13-gallon

bags to $2 for 33-gallon bags. Only trash disposed of in these specially marked bags will be permitted to be processed at the town’s transfer station. Th roug h t h is system, t he town gains revenue to subsidize recycling costs and reduces the overall tonnage of waste production as residents become more conscious of the amount of garbage that they produce. "Rather than just look for a money grab, I want to promote this as both an economically and environmentally sound policy,” Camillo said. PAYT is not a new system. It has been studied and implemented in municipalities across the United States for the last two decades, and it is already being used by 556 communities in New England alone. According to statistics prov ide d by t he D epa r t ment of Energ y and Environmental Protection, every community that has adopted a PAYT system has reduced its trash output by 40 to 60 percent, without exception. "That has happened in every single town that it's been tried,” Camillo said. “So it's not like we're

continued on page 6

The Greenwich Girls Math Festival was held on March 1st. The sold-out event, hosted by Greenwich Academy and co-sponsored by Greenwich Country Day School, the Girl Scouts, Girls Advancing in STEM (GAINS), Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, and Sacred Heart, brought together close to 200 young women. Festival organizers are pictured wearing their #MathGals t-shirts featuring first names of female mathematicians from throughout history. Pictured above left to right: Frances Wu Nobay (co-head of Greenwich Girl Scouts), Trish Kepler (Director of Mathematics for Nursery – Grade 5 at Greenwich Country Day School), Ann Decker (Director, STEM Initiatives at Greenwich Academy and Administrator, The GAINS Network), Georgianna Lissauer (Girl Scout Leader), & Lori Mulligan (Girl Scout Leader & Math Teacher at Greenwich High School). Not pictured is fellow organizer: Cilla Bercovici (Math Specialist & Area Coordinator for PreschoolGrade 6 at Sacred Heart).

Greenwich Responds to the Coronavirus

By Richard Kaufman

UPDATE AS OF MARCH 8 - GO TO THIS LINK https://portal.ct.gov/Off ice-of-the-Governor/ News/Press-Releases/2020/03-2020/GovernorLamont-Announces-First-Positive-Case-of-NovelCoronavirus-Involving-a-Connecticut-Resident?fb clid=IwAR2xbipda5WbfI3kXNGg09UAs1q0IFw7N yMQaZaBo0sZEh-EK18lIJT0Vls FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION ON THE FIRST PRESUMPTIVE CASE IN CT. As the United States and the world as a whole continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus, officials and the medical community in Greenwich are putting measures in place to keep residents safe. Dr. James Sabetta, Chief of Infectious Disease at Greenwich Hospital, said the facility is preparing by rolling out their pandemic plan, which is designed to deal with outbreaks of influenza and other viruses. “For our hospital, we have plans related to what is to be done if we have many many patients with the coronavirus that are coming in. That plan involves what we're doing in the Emergency Department (ED); setting up tents for

“We have a flow diagram for what the ED should do for any person coming in with a respiratory infection. They'll essentially be on isolation until we can sort things out. We're being pretty conservative with that, but we've been aggressive with our plan.” The coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory disease that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in 60 locations internationally, including the United States. The disease, related to SARS, most likely originally emerged from an animal source in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, but is now spreading from personto-person. There is currently no vaccine to prevent infection. It can be spread between people who are in close contact with one another through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also be contracted by touching surfaces that have the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or possibly eyes, although this is not perceived to be the main way the virus spreads. screening and triaging, and addressing staffing issues and Symptoms, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath, all sorts of public health issues,” Sabetta said. The hospital may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Symptoms are similar is sending memos out each day to the medical staff to notify continued on page 7 them of any updates.

Seven Local Students GeoBee Semi-Finalists The National Geographic Society named seven Greenwich students as semif inalists eligible to compete in the 2020 National Geographic GeoBee State Competition. The contest will be held in Hartford on Friday, March 27, 2020. This is the second level of the National Geographic G eoBee competition, which is now in its 32nd year. To determine each school champion, GeoBee competitions were held in schools throughout the state with students in the fourth through eighth grades. This year, an estimated 2.4 million students competed in the GeoBee, with 8,661 students becoming school

champions. Up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states were invited to compete in the State GeoBees. State champions will represent their state in the National Championship which will take place May 1821 at National Geographic headquarters. Visit www.natgeobee.org for more information on the National Geographic GeoBee. How would you fare as a National Geographic GeoBee contestant? Check out our Puzzles page 12 this week for questions like the ones our Greenwich students had to answer correctly in order to get this far.

SEMIFINALISTS Brunswick School's Kiran Marsh Carmel Academy's Micah Taffet Central Middle School's Thomas McKinney Eastern Middle School's Elizabeth Flintoff Greenwich Academy's Alice Early Greenwich Country Day School's Steele Barhydt Riverside Elementary's Matthew McFarlane. Congratulations and good luck!

The Future of Greenwich Big, Ugly Earrings Camillo Outlines Vision

By Richard Kaufman First Selectman Fred Camillo outlined his vision for Greenwich over the next decade at a forum hosted by the RMA. Camillo, a Greenwich native and former State Representative for the 151st District, spoke about Greenwich's rich history, and how it's been a destination for thousands of people. "It has a storied past. When you look at how to move Greenwich forward, how do you marry that vision of the past with a bright bold future?" he said. Camillo pointed to Greenwich's proximity to the city, the waterfront and shoreline, backcountr y, and the tow n's strong civil spirit. "How do we make these things even better?" He f irst discussed the waterfront, and how to maximize perhaps the town's most valuable asset. Last week, he said he put in a request for a proposal that would redesign Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. "It doesn't really f low that well, and it's really an economic driver. It needs a bit of a redo. That should be the centerpiece of downtown, but it's not. It could be a lot better," Camillo remarked.

Part of the redevelopment of the waterfront would involve demolishing a building near the park that's used for Parks & Rec operations. Camillo also wants to connect G r e e n w i c h Av e n u e t o t h e waterfront. "Greenwich Avenue is such a beautiful place and venue, but we could do better there, too, and we could connect it to the waterfront. You want to drive people to and from both places." A To w n P r o p e r t i e s Committee has been paneled which will look at Roger Sher ma n Ba ldw i n Pa rk , but a lso the Boa rd of Education building off the Avenue. Camillo noted that Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Toni Jones, is open to moving locations. " W hatever you th in k of where we should put government of f ices, they shouldn't be on Greenwich Avenue. It's nobody's fault, it's been there for decades. If we don't start taking on these things now, when are we going to do it?" Camillo said. Camillo touched on the controversial Pay As You Throw (PAYT) initiative. Under the plan, residents would use town issued garbage bags at either $1.25 or $2

depending on the size. Officials have said it would cut down on waste and encourage recycling, while guarding against the increased cost of recycling. However, a day after Camillo's talk at the RMA when the Board of Selectmen was scheduled to vote on the PAYT ordinance, Camillo pulled the item off the agenda in order get more people on board with the plan. The Greenwich Plaza proposal was also a topic that Camillo spoke about. Plans for a redevelopment of the plaza and the Greenwich train station are on hold, as the deal surrounding the plaza is complicated due to the involvement of air rights. Camillo created a committee of six people to further understand how deals involving air rights work. "My job as I see it is to do ever y thing I can to redo the train station, but to protect the taxpayers," Camillo said. The issue of remov ing police officers from Greenwich Avenue came up in Camillo's talk. Camillo, who has a plan to remove officers from the Avenue, said the tow n loses police recruits when they find out they

ILLUSTRATED BY WAJIH CHAUDHRY

FRIDAY, MAR 6

By Jill S. Woolworth, LMFT Imagine someone says to you, “Those are the biggest, ugliest earrings I have ever seen!” Confronting that person’s rudeness directly or disagreeing with her could easily escalate into an argument. “Oh, I do have on big earrings today” is a response that avoids a confrontation. Whenever we can agree with even a small part of what someone else is saying, it calms our nervous system and defuses the energy behind the other person’s comment. It is literally disarming. The other person will feel heard—and perhaps surprised. We all stumble into saying the wrong thing sometimes. Let’s give ourselves and others a second chance. (Of course, if the hurtful language is abusive, repetitive, or contemptuous, we need a different strategy.) Cameron’s teenaged son, Liam, complained, “You are always late to pick me up.” Cameron wisely avoided reacting to the word, “always.” He was late that day. Instead, he countered with, “You’re right. I am late sometimes.” Liam felt heard and was open to hearing the reasons why Cameron sometimes arrives late. Greenwich resident Jill Woolworth is the author of the book, The

continued on page 7 Waterwheel available locally at Diane's Books and Dogwood or at Amazon.