Thank you for your recent stories about some of the great things that are happening in the Somerville Public Schools.

We
are writing to make sure your readers know that the global recession
and declining state and city revenues are likely to have a significant
impact on our public schools. The most recent draft budget that the
Superintendent of Schools presented to the School Committee calls for
significant cuts in the budget and reductions in positions.

We
are all sick at heart about having to make cuts; we run a tight ship
and there is little fat to cut. But we have no choice but to play the
hand that we have been dealt by the state.

You can help. We
invite you to attend the School Committee's Public Budget Hearing on
Wednesday, June 3rd, at 7 PM at Somerville High School in the Library.
We encourage you to share your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. We
have some tough choices to make and we're interested in what you think.
You can find the Superintendent's budget proposal on the Somerville
Public Schools website at www.somerville.k12.ma.us.

If you
cannot attend, we hope you will share your thoughts by phone or email.
You can find contact information for all members of the School
Committee on the SPS website.

Maureen Bastardi – Ward 1 – Chairperson

Mark Niedergang – Ward 5 – Vice Chairperson

Teresa Cardoso – Ward 2

Adam Sweeting – Ward 3

James Norton – Ward 4

Paul Bockelman – Ward 6

Mary Jo Rossetti – Ward 7

Alderman Walter Pero, President, Board of Alderman

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

Why protect yourself against the Sun?

Protecting
your skin against ultraviolet (UV) rays, one of the leading causes of
skin cancer, also prevents skin damage, wrinkles, premature aging and
adverse changes in skin texture according to the American Academy of
Dermatology (AAD). UV rays are an invisible form of radiation from
sunlight, and are capable of changing the structure of skin cells. So
if cancer isn't enough to scare you into protecting your skin, then the
thought of aging quickly and having wrinkles should!

Becoming SPF savvy –

SPF
stands for sun protection factor that protects against UV rays. The AAD
explains the higher SPF, the greater protection from having a sun burn
caused by UV rays. Sun protection products work by absorbing,
reflecting, or dispersing the sun's rays according to the Center for
Disease Control (CDC). Sun protection is an integral part of the
ongoing fight against aging. Choose a bottle of sun protection that has
a broad spectrum (it should be labeled) or look for ingredients such as
oxybenzone or avobenzone (Parsol 1789) to protect against UVA and UVB
rays according to the AAD.

Head to Sephora to pick up a Sun
Safety Kit for $22.50 (valued at $110), packed with summer skincare
must haves. This package will help you find the perfect army of skin
protection for the summer. In addition, 100% of the net profit from
sales will be donated to The Skin Cancer Foundation.

Some
cosmetics also include SPF – like Covergirl's Smoothers Tinted
Moisturizer and Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipgloss. The CDC recommends
that unless it has SPF 15, it should not be used as the only form of
protection.

Sun smart accessories –

Wearing
sunglasses and hats has always been sound advice for avoiding the
harmful damages caused by the sun, however you should still be
fashionable about it. Make sure that your sunglasses protect against UV
rays, try Kate Spade's Veronica Lenses in green for a classy touch this
summer. Going for a long day of shopping a hat might keep you cooler
while preventing sun damage, I recommend Juicy Couture Women's Packable
Straw Hat, the light colors will keep you cool as you enjoy the
outdoors.

Prepared with this information, the right
accessories and sun block, you'll be able to enjoy the summer sun
knowing you are decreasing your of risk of aging due to the sun and
skin cancer. It's trendy to be sun safe.

Tips for staying safe in the sun –

Always wear sun block and reapply according to directions

Sun block expires! So remember to check the expiration and always shake the bottle before applying

Some medications leave skin more sensitive to UV rays, check your medications before heading out

Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun, especially during 10 to 2, when the sun is the strongest

Water, snow, concrete and sand reflect the rays of the sun, which can increase your chance of sunburn, so take extra precautions

Don't forget glasses with UV protection and a wide rimmed hat that will protect your neck and face

If you're going on a long drive, remember that UV rays can pass through windows, so apply sun block

If a mark or a mole changes in appearance, have a dermatologist check it out

Seek shade whenever possible

SOMERVILLE
– Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Executive Director of Strategic
Planning and Community Development Monica Lamboy today announced that
the City has begun work on an updated and comprehensive plan for
Somerville's future development. The Comprehensive Plan will outline a
shared vision for Somerville's future and the steps needed to achieve
that vision.

"Somerville is a city that has seen incredible
progress over the past decade," said Mayor Curtatone. "Today,
Somerville is not only a great place to live, work, play and raise a
family, but is becoming a regional arts and entertainment destination
and a regional center for new business development. But there is still
much work to be done – and we need a fresh public process to shape some
of the crucial decisions and choices we face over the nest few years. I
urge all members of the Somerville community to participate in this
planning process. One of our greatest strengths in Somerville is the
involvement, creativity, and commitment of our residents."

The
comprehensive planning process will begin with a series of
City-sponsored information sessions focusing on key trends in
Somerville. The trends include demographics, housing, employment
industries, transportation and infrastructure, and land use patterns.
In addition to an extensive community process, an advisory committee
composed of residents and businesses with diverse areas of expertise
will guide the planning process. The committee will be made up of
appointees by the Mayor and Board of Alderman, constituents with
expertise in relevant subjects, and residents/businesses from across
the city.

"The thoughts, feedback and participation of our
community members are essential to the success of this planning process
is," said Lamboy. "I look forward to working closely with the various
constituencies across the city over the coming months to ensure that
the comprehensive plan is something we can all unite behind."

The schedule of coming trends meetings is as follows:

Population Trends

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Capuano Early Education Center, 150 Glen Street

Economic Development Trends

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell Street, 3rd floor

Population Trends

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

TAB Building (Senior Center), 167 Holland Street

Economic Development Trends

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Argenziano School, 290 Washington Street, Cafetorium

Transportation & Infrastructure Trends

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Capuano Early Education Center, 150 Glen Street

Transportation & Infrastructure Trends

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

TAB Building (Senior Center), 167 Holland Street

Housing Trends

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

TAB Building (Senior Center), 167 Holland Street

Land Use Trends

Monday, September 14, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Capuano Early Education Center, 150 Glen Street

Housing Trends

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

Capuano Early Education Center, 150 Glen Street

Land Use Trends

Monday, September 28, 2009 6:30pm-8:30pm

TAB Building (Senior Center), 167 Holland Street

For more information about the comprehensive plan please contact Keith Craig at 617-625-6600 x 2500 or KCraig@somervillema.gov.

Senesi
served the United States in the Vietnam War. He enlisted voluntarily in
1965 and returned home in 1968. He was wounded, and received two Purple
Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service.

That is why it's
hard to think of anyone more qualified than Senesi to be Somerville's
Director of Veteran's Services, an office created in the wake of World
War II to keep returning veterans from standing in welfare lines.

Veteran's
Services cover a wide variety of programs to assist those who have
served our country: everything from widows' pension to health care and
VA benefits.

Most of these vital programs are funded by the
state; the remainder is picked up by the city. The office of Veteran's
Services is one of the only government programs not to experience cuts
due to the recent budget crisis.

Senesi explains that
Veteran's assistance is needed more than ever, because many veterans
are returning home and living with more serious injuries than ever. Had
they sustained such wounds in World War Two, they simply wouldn't have
lived. Recent wars have seen an increase in the number of
double-amputees, spinal cord injuries and Post Traumatic Stress
diagnoses. PTSD was not even medically recognized until ten years after
the Vietnam War.

Many soldiers are doing more tours of duty than
were customary in previous conflicts, due to the shortage of soldiers.
"Some are doing up to five tours," he said.

Senesi is grateful
that veterans have more support coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan
from the American people than they did coming home from Korea and
Vietnam. That, at least, makes his job easier. The GI Bill, which
helped so many WWII veterans, is more extensive now than it has ever
been.

Somerville has always given generously to the country:
over 400 Somerville residents were killed in action in WWII, 31 in
Korea and 33 of the 5800 who served in Vietnam.

The city has
had only one citizen wounded in action in the current wars, despite the
500 serving. Fortunately none have been killed in action.

When
asked why he still lives in Somerville after all these years and after
so many changes in the city, he replies, "We wouldn't want to live
anywhere else. This mayor is doing a fabulous job transforming the
city."

And one of the great traditions of the city is the
Memorial Day Parade. Fundraisers have been able to garner $11,400
dollars for this year's Memorial Day parade, which will be larger than
last year's parade. Senesi hopes to see all of Somerville come out to
see this great yearly event.

Somerville and Cambridge Detectives,
with assistance from the MBTA Transit Police have been investigating a
series of several armed robberies committed in both cities over the
past month. These robberies shared a number of similar characteristics,
and descriptions of the perpetrator also showed similarities.

Last
evening, shortly before 11:30, Cambridge Detective Sergeant Pauline
Carter-Wells and Somerville Detective Michael Kiely were working
together in the Elm Street area when they observed a suspect approach a
male subject who was walking on Elm Street. The suspect displayed a
knife and held it near the victim's throat. Fearing for the safety of
the victim, Detectives immediately moved in, causing the suspect to
flee. A brief foot chase by Somerville and Cambridge Police ended
inside the Porter Square MBTA station with the apprehension of the
suspect by Cambridge Detective Michael Regal and Somerville Detective
Sean Sylvester.

The suspect has been identified as Jonas
Moses-Gilson, age 19, from Arlington. He has been charged with armed
assault with attempt to rob, assault with a dangerous weapon (knife)
and a city ordinance violation, carrying a dangerous weapon (knife). He
will be arraigned in Somerville District Court on Tuesday morning. No
photo of the suspect is available at this time.

The victim of
last night's attempted robbery left the scene before Somerville Police
were able to interview him. He is urged to contact Somerville Police at
617 625-1212 as soon as possible.

We
say that it takes village to raise a child. It also takes a village to
keep that child alive. And it takes a village to mourn and heal when
our child is taken from us.

Since the turn of the millennium,
Somerville has lost at least twenty of its young people to suicide,
murder, misadventure, or drug overdoses. Their passing has devastated
family and friends, leaving wounds that are slow to heal and scars that
fade only with the passing of years.

Recognizing that the more
we are connected with those who share our grief, the more effective the
healing seems to be, Save Our Somerville (SOS) will conduct a healing
vigil on Sunday May 31st, beginning at 6:30 PM in front of Somerville
High School. SOS wants to cast the net of community as widely as
possible, and anyone who has felt the pain of losing a loved one is
encouraged to participate.

When we see young lives ending at a
rate that is so disproportionate to our population, we must inevitably
ask, "Is this in some way systematic?"

SOS president Matthew
McLaughlin talks about the "Somerville slump." He sees a pattern of
young people who are about to leave high school or have recently left
and are facing the demands of adulthood. They realize that the life
that they had dreamed of will be much more difficult to achieve than
what they have been led to believe.

Matthew recalls that as a
child, options seemed limitless. But options have narrowed, and this is
not merely a matter of the changes in perception that come with aging.
He believes that demands on young people, including definitions of
"success," have increased significantly, while opportunities have
decreased.

Drugs become a means of managing despair. And one
gives little thought to reckless behavior if one is uncertain about
whether life is worth living.

Indeed, once embraced, drugs
undermine one's capacity to make life worth living. We grow when things
get hard and we have to develop new ways of thinking and acting to make
them better. If instead, we use a drug to numb the pain, we never learn
the skills required to change our circumstances, and we feel hopeless
when we try.

Drug-prevention educators often emphasize the
dangers of taking drugs. In fact, anyone who uses hard drugs is already
aware of those dangers. But they know that if they put their preferred
substance in their arm or up their nose, they will feel good for the
next few hours, and nothing else in their life offers that same promise
and certainty.

The incidence of drug use and suicide attempts
among Somerville's youth had been growing when, in late 2001, Matty
O'Brien's death from an overdose captured public attention. Some
informal leaders began coming together.

Stephanie Almeida, a
Somerville native who worked with Somerville Cares About Prevention
spent many long hours pouring over death records. Her labor of love
quantified a pattern that had gone unrecognized.

The official
response was less than effective. The mayor established a task force
and sent football coach John Hannah to…I don't know what. When
notices were posted at the high school to announce the task force's
first meeting, administrators insisted that the word "suicide" be
removed, because it might upset the students. Of course the students
were already upset, already knew well what the adults were discovering,
and needed reassurance that someone was doing something.

Tears
and rage are not hurt. They are the means by which we heal from the
hurt. When they are interrupted, healing becomes more difficult.

Local
community leader Alex Pirie participated in the task force. He observes
that those who were most affected were the last to be listened to. "As
with any community, it's difficult to face something that's seriously
wrong. You have to face the problem before you can deal with it.
Because we didn't, there were young people who died unnecessarily."

Many
friends and loved ones felt an impulse to create physical memorials for
those who died-photos, drawings, notes, flowers, artifacts, expressions
of grief. City officials and private property owners removed these
memorials. Instead of tidying things up, they would better serve us by
embracing them as an expression of community.

Intending to
create their own memorial, SOS encourages those who attend the vigil to
bring artifacts that remind them of their lost loves ones. They will
become part of a commemorative art project.

Those whom I know
who took their lives through intent or neglect did so because they felt
hopeless about making things better and they had become disconnected
from the network of relationships that holds us in this life. If we are
serious about creating a believable future for our young people, we
must change the objective conditions that produce despair. We must
reweave the fabric of community that hold us together, and we must
acquaint our youth with their own capacity to transform their lives.

SOS
is working to accomplish this. One of its many concerns is
gentrification. While Matthew McLaughlin hastens to say that
gentrification was not a reason why anyone took their life, he believes
that the increasing threat of being priced out of the community that
one has always been a part of contributes to the overall sense of
despair.

Yet SOS is not hostile to newcomers. The organization
is reaching out through the Immigrant Service Providers Group on Heath
to invite immigrants to participate in the healing vigil.