Bethpage-Tribune_1994-03-04

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YOUR OFFICIAL HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER
Serving Bethpage, Island Trees, Plainedge, Seaford, Old Bethpage & Plainview
VOL. 27 NO. 9 MARCH 4-10, 1994 25 CENTS
Melissa Haudberg Selected
Student of the Month
In her prize winning essay for
the PTA Reflections Competition,
Melissa Haudberg wrote about a
special gift that she has dreamed
of: "I would like to give the world
a perfect line of music". As an
active member and officer of the
Drama Club, she has been the
spark plug of so many musicals,
especially the recent "Potpourri".
Picture her as Annie Oakley,
singing, dancing and flirting with
the guys.
A dedicated and achieving stu­dent,
Melissa is a lover of English
and enjoys the ways it helps her
learn about people. In her first
successful competition in Beth­page
High, in ninth grade, she won
the MADD essay contest with a
story of a boy talking to a friend
who had died in a drunk-driving
crash. Her love of languages also
made a recent trip td Greece a
special experience because of the
fun of struggling to communicate
with people from other cultures
who spoke little or no English.
; It is no surpfrisethat Melissa was
named Beth page's Student of the
Month for February. This year she
has been the President of SADD
and Student Rotary Interact Pres­ident.
She is secretary of the
Student Council Executive Board
and is usually found before school
in the Student Council office,
planning and planning. She also
puts in long hours on weekends
at a part-time job. Her favorite
activity, however, is the Drama
program; she enjoys, most of all,
the bonding that develops
between all types of students in
the course of rehearsals.
Her goals are to go on to New
York University or Post and to
major in the Business Field.
L.I. Fire District's Meeting
Assemblyman Phil Healey, 12th A.D.
(3rd from left) is shown recently
attending the Long Island Fire
District's Legislative Committee
annual meeting. Also joining with
Mr. Healey are left to right, Jack
Walsh; Andy Messina, Chairman;
Mike Mancini; John Loscalzo,
Past Chairman; and Jack Pokress.
PHOTO BY Louis Zegel
Bethpage Commuters
Participate In Sleep Study
Almost 20,000 Long Island Rail
Road commuters will be asked to
fill out a questionnaire on their
sleeping habits on March 8, 9 &
10, 1994, between 6AM and
8:30AM, as a part of the largest
epidemiological study in the field
of sleep disorders.
"During the past century, Amer­icans
reduced their nightly sleep
time by more than 20%," said Dr.
Joyce Walsleben, Director of the
New;:York University/Bellevue
Sleep Disorder Center, who is
conducting the study in conjuc-tion
with the L.I.R.R. "Most Amer­icans
need at least one to two
hours more of sleep per night. By
the end of the week, that really
adds up."
NYU Medical Center volunteers
will distribute questionnaires to
commuters on various L.I.R.R.
platforms throughout Long Island
during morning rush hour. On
Tuesday, March 8th it will be
distributed in Hicksville, Stony
Brook, Huntington, Syosset; on
Wednesday, March 9th in Ronkon-koma,
Brentwood, Bethpage,
Mineola and Westbury; on Thurs­day,
March 10th in Babylon, Mas-sapequa,
Hempstead and Rock-ville
Center.
The goal of the study, which will
address how people sleep and the
consequences of daytime sleepi­ness,
is to gather substantial
amounts of data on the sleep
history and habits of suburban/
urban commuters to give doctors
more insight into the severity of
these problems.
"Many people meet their sleep
needs by picking-up vital sleep
time on trains or anywhere else
they can. Others try to catch-up
von weekends or simply never
catch-up at all, and this can prove
harmful," adds Walsleben.
Statistics are gradually emerg­ing
which examine the conse­quence
of daytime sleepiness in
the workplace. This data is show­ing
evidence that sleep disorders
impact on worker safety and
adversely effect productivity.
The number of people affected
by sleep disorders nationally is
staggering:
•40 million Americans expe­rience
chronic sleep disorders
• 20 million Americans expe­rience
intermittent sleep disorders
Of these groups:
•250,000-350,000 have
narcolepsy.
•12 million Americans have
sleep apnea, a cessation of airflow
during sleep which results in low
oxygen and repeated arousals-making
this condition more
common than asthma.
For additonal information
regarding the study, please call
(212)561-4431.
One Million in Funds
Anticipated to Repair Roadways
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor,
Lewis J. Yevoli, says he's optim­istic
that the Town can realize a
grant of slightly more than $1
million in funds from the Suburban
Highway Improvement Program
(SHIPS) for highway maintenance
costs. The money would be used
for repavement of up to 12 miles
of roadways within the Town.
"What's so timely aoout this
situation is that the funding comes
at a time when wehaye had the
most severe winter in decades and
the need for highway work was
never more apparent," Supervisor
Yevoli stated. "We will be letting
the State D.O.T. know which
projects we are targeting and the
additional monies relieve some of
the burden for highway
improvement."
Yevoli cited the assistance from
Assemblyman David Sidikman is
listing the town highway program
among $2.7 million in area trans­portation,
projects within his
district. < • >