Merrick
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HERALD
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Power washing the summer away
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Vol. 23 No. 40
oCToBER 1 - 7, 2020
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NMPL says goodbye to Tom Witt director last Friday. As he shuffled from room to room, completing last-minute duties, he North Merrick Public Library stopped to say hello to patrons staffers have had another reason who were browsing the stacks or to celebrate since making photocopreopening to readies. ers in July, after the “You’re here to coronavirus panprovide an environdemic peaked. Last ment and services Friday, librarians . . . that matter to held a sendoff cerepeople,” Witt said mony for outgoing of the job, “and Director Tom Witt, some people are who retired earlier real fans because t h i s ye a r a f t e r [the library] is working in librarimportant to ies for nearly three them.” decades. I n t h e e a rl y Although Witt, 1980s, Witt devel65, technically oped “a library retired in January, habit” while comhe agreed to stay muting to Manhaton until the board tan for his first fullhired a successor time job out of colthrough the Naslege. He frequented sau County Civil the Mineola Service Commis- Bill PEzzUlo Library so much sion. But when the that he was offered Former president, agency temporaria part-time clerk’s ly shut down in North Merrick Public position — and one March because of Library board of trustees of his co-workers the coronavirus there, Roland Carlp a n d e m i c, Wi t t ton, was the first offered his guidance for a while director of the North Merrick longer. library, he said. The Herald trailed Witt during his “last continuous day” as Continued on page xx
By AlyssA sEidmAN aseidman@liherald.com
H
J. Heck/Herald
JoHN F. KENNEdy High School senior Rachel Nossen, of Merrick, wrote an op-ed in The Cougar Crier, which called on the school community to end “gender marking” of its sports teams.
JFK athlete wants ‘Lady’ dropped from Cougars By AlyssA sEidmAN aseidman@liherald.com
A John F. Kennedy High School senior is calling on the school to stop referring to its female sports teams as the “Lady Cougars.” In an op-ed that appeared in the school year’s first edition of The Cougar Crier, the student newspaper, Rachel Nossen, of Merrick, argued that the title undercuts female athletes who work just as hard as their male counterparts.
Nossen, 17, is the captain of the girls’ varsity basketball team, and she plays varsity soccer. Earlier this year, the basketball squad advanced to the Nassau Class A semifinals for the first time in program history. And while the accomplishment was historic, Nossen said hearing the established “Lady Cougars” term both on and off the hardwood made celebrating bittersweet. “They’re recognizing how great we are but still saying the word ‘lady’ in front of our
team name,” she said. “It’s confusing because it separates our success from the Cougars’ success — they should be the same success.” Nossen started playing travel sports in third grade. In her op-ed, she explained that she was the only girl in elementary school who played basketball with the boys during recess. “The boy captains never picked me last because they knew I could keep up with them and score baskets,” Continued on page 9
e encouraged us since the day he came on, and constantly kept himself up to date on all the details and directives from the state as far as libraries are concerned.