SU group studies Carrier Dome backup options in case of roof failure

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SYRACUSE — Two members of a workgroup that Syracuse University (SU) Chancellor Kent Syverud assembled to review options for a “Carrier Dome Backup Plan” provided an overview of its findings on June 19. Rick Burton, a sports-management professor and workgroup chair, and John Yinger, a trustee professor of public administration and economics, represented the group […]

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Rick Burton, a sports-management professor and workgroup chair, and John Yinger, a trustee professor of public administration and economics, represented the group in speaking to the assembled media in the school’s Schine Student Center.

Syverud in late February appointed a five-person committee to conduct an analysis of the Carrier Dome and consider the many factors involved should the facility be rendered unusable for short- to long-term periods.

Besides Burton and Yinger, the group also included Jeff Rubin, associate professor of practice in the School of Information Studies; John Sardino, associate chief of the Department of Public Safety; and Bridget Yule, director of student centers and programming services in the Division of Student Affairs, according to SU.

He asked the group to develop a contingency plan that would allow the university to “quickly” respond should the need arise, quantify the costs involved, and better understand the potential negative economic impact to the region.

Not related to new stadium talk
When asked if the group’s work was related to the possibility of a new stadium to replace the Carrier Dome that made headlines earlier this year, Burton replied,

“No sense of that at all.”

“We received the request to put together this report for him and there was no indication that it was tied to anything other than [Syverud] fact finding as the new chancellor,” Burton added.

Syverud’s request, in Burton’s mind, was “really very simple and very straightforward.”

“It was a fact-finding mission on his behalf as the new chancellor to look at the ways in which … the Carrier Dome roof could fail, what our backup plan would be were the Dome to be made inoperable,” Burton said in his remarks to the media.

Economic impact
If SU rendered the Dome unavailable for a single men’s basketball game against a top opponent, and the game was played outside of Central New York, the loss of income would total as much as $2.6 million and the region would lose as much as $8.3 million in economic activity, according to the group’s findings.

The group had “good information” on the sales in the Dome at a game, where people come from, and the numbers attending a given game, Yinger said.

“If you take a game of 30,000 or 35,000 people and you take it out of the Syracuse economy and you put it somewhere else, well then, there’s not a flow into the Syracuse economy and some of the people who would spend their money in Syracuse, otherwise, now spend it somewhere else. We try to account for those things,” he added.

The group determined that SU will “likely” need to replace the current roof on the Carrier Dome in the next seven to 10 years at a cost that would approach $25 million.

That cost figure would include likely improvements to the lighting and audio system.

The current roof covers about six-and-a-half acres, Burton said, which does require maintenance in the event of a major snow storm.

“You’ve got to undertake or consider a controlled deflation of the roof just because of the weight that’s sitting on the roof of the Dome,” he added.

Besides any problems with the roof, the university could render the Carrier Dome inoperable in a power failure, Burton said.

The group also considered how a similar scenario would impact a full home football schedule, with games scheduled outside the Central New York region.

Under such a circumstance, the region would lose economic activity totaling in a range between $23 million and $44 million, with the loss of income ranging from $7 million to $14 million, according to the memo.

The group noted that Central New York doesn’t have another facility that could accommodate the 30,000-plus attendance for an SU football game. The closest location would be Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, near Buffalo, Burton said.

“On all of the contingencies, it’s a function of whether or not they’re available,” he added.

When considering the SU men’s basketball program, the group noted the program has more than 24,000 season-ticket holders.

“If the Dome was unavailable, there’s really no place in New York state or even really in the East that you could move the game to and accommodate that entire 24,000 season-ticket holder base,” Burton said.

No existing NBA arena has the capacity to seat that many spectators, he added.

Details on the group’s work first surfaced as part of a memo that Syverud distributed to the university community in May 30.

The school also posted the memo to Syverud’s blog, which is part of the SU website.

“We took this challenge very seriously, but our purpose was solely to collect facts that we thought would be relevant to the chancellor and his responsibilities for this university,” Burton said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

New York’s unemployment claims fall to lowest level of the year

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, New York News, Nonprofits, Small Business, Technology

The number of people filing initial applications for unemployment benefits in New York state tumbled by more than 11 percent to 16,201 in the week

Image Press buys Syracuse Signage

Small Business, Subscriber Only

CICERO — On May 7, Richard Hubeny, president of Syracuse Signage, Inc., inked a deal with Chris Arnone, the president of Image Press, to sell the assets of Syracuse Signage. The sale of the operating company’s assets was an all-cash deal. It did not include Hubeny’s 7,200-square-foot building located at 220 Commerce Blvd. in the

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CICERO — On May 7, Richard Hubeny, president of Syracuse Signage, Inc., inked a deal with Chris Arnone, the president of Image Press, to sell the assets of Syracuse Signage.

The sale of the operating company’s assets was an all-cash deal. It did not include Hubeny’s 7,200-square-foot building located at 220 Commerce Blvd. in the town of Salina, which is valued at $150,000, according to county tax records. Image Press committed to a one-month rental of Hubeny’s building to allow for the transfer of the assets to Image Press’s 35,000-square-foot facility in Cicero. One of the five employees who worked at Syracuse Signage is now employed at Image Press. Hubeny was the sole stockholder of his company.

Hubeny came to Syracuse in 1970 to work for Sweet Outdoor Advertising. In 1980, he bought the Central New York Division of Sweet, which he then sold in 1986 to Penn Advertising. Penn retained Hubeny as the area general manager. In 1988, Hubeny acquired the sign division from Penn and incorporated Syracuse Signage. The company focused on commercial signage with 60 percent of the business originating with national sign companies requiring installation work and the other 40 percent with local companies. Hubeny says he has not determined his future plans.

In addition to owning Sweet and Syracuse Signage, he also owned two Cookie Jar locations and was a partner in other local businesses. Hubeny is a past president of Sales and Marketing Executives of Central New York, the founder of the original Tip Club of Central New York, a past-president of Liverpool Dollars for Scholars, and the former chair of the North Area YMCA building-fund drive.

Image Press was founded in Syracuse more than 20 years ago as a company specializing in pre-press file preparation, image enhancement, and color correction. In 1998, the company transitioned to creating large-format digital printing. Today, Image Press’s graphics appear as signs, trade-show exhibits, retail displays, posters, and vehicle wraps.

Despite several attempts, The Business Journal News Network was not able to obtain an interview with Arnone.

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com

Rochester man leads travelers along his New York Golf Trail

Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

Rod Christian loves golf, and he especially loves playing golf at courses around New York state. He also wants others to enjoy the same experience and will provide the help in organizing the trip. Christian operates the New York Golf Trail, a business based at his home in Rochester, he says. “Considering the quality of

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Rod Christian loves golf, and he especially loves playing golf at courses around New York state.

He also wants others to enjoy the same experience and will provide the help in organizing the trip.

Christian operates the New York Golf Trail, a business based at his home in Rochester, he says.

“Considering the quality of New York golf, why not package and market and make it really easy for people to take a golf trip in New York state,” says Christian.

He founded the business in 2009 and is its lone employee, he says.

Christian spoke with the Business Journal News Network on June 24.

A native of Utica, Christian earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from St. John Fisher College, near Rochester, in 1984. Along the way, he would organize annual golf outings for himself and his college friends to enjoy.

“It was hard work, a lot of guess work in terms of choosing the courses and finding the right hotel,” as Christian recalls it.

Besides his bachelor’s degree, Christian later earned a master’s degree in public administration from the State University of New York at Brockport in 1991.

Beyond his work with the New York Golf Trail, Christian also works for the Arc of Monroe County as director of donor relations. The organization provides programs and services for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their families, according to its website — similar to the Arc of Onondaga and Arc, Oneida Lewis Chapter in our area.

Christian has worked in fundraising for 25 years, including the last five years at the Arc, he says.

But he’s also a golf enthusiast who remembers his golfing trips with his college friends.

“I saw this opportunity [New York Golf Trail], pursued it on the side, [and it’s] grown pretty steadily over the past five years,” says Christian.

Family and friends provided encouragement as Christian launched the venture in early 2009. His brother, Scott Christian, is a golf-course superintendent at Valley View Golf Course in Utica, and his nephew, Tim Christian, is the golf-course superintendent at Teugega Country Club in Rome, according to Rod Christian.

Even though the local golf season primarily runs from April through October, the New York Golf Trail stays “fairly busy” year round booking trips during the winter months, Christian says.

He has scaled back his hours in his fundraising work during the golf season, he says.

“I never expected to be running a travel agency,” he says. “Sometimes life takes unexpected turns.”

Process and partnerships
Golf enthusiasts can visit the website, www.nygolftrail.com, to begin the planning process, Christian says.

“It’s really the easiest place to get a sense for the scope of what we offer,” he says.

Website visitors can choose which New York region is their destination. The regions include Central New York, Finger Lakes, Cooperstown, Saratoga, Lake Placid, and Hudson Valley. He plans to add a Buffalo / Niagara region and a Southern Finger Lakes region in 2015, he says.

Website users will then complete a short email quote, which is called a “quick quote,” says Christian.

He replies within 24 hours with information including their hotel, their golf courses, the costs involved, and anything else included in the package.

“It’s one-stop shopping, whereas before … you’d have to do all the online research yourself to find the best courses, nearby accommodations,” says Christian.

Rochester–based Antithesis Advertising designed the New York Golf Trail website, he says.

The Golf Trail started with seven courses and about three regions during its first year of operation in 2009.

It now partners with 23 courses and 17 hotels in six regions covering “most of the state, ” says Christian.

“The courses understood the concept, liked it, and signed on,” he says, noting he then researched nearby hotels, which also embraced the concept.

In Central New York, the New York Golf Trail’s participating golf courses include Timber Banks Golf Course in Lysander, Beaver Meadows Golf Club in Schroeppel, Foxfire at Village Green in Van Buren, Pompey Golf Club in Pompey, Seven Oaks Golf Course at Colgate University in Hamilton, and Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown, according to the Golf Trail website.

The New York Golf Trail is also part of “I Love New York,” the state’s tourism-promotion brand, Christian says.

Christian handles all the partnership presentations himself or through email, he says. His relatives in the golf business in New York have helped him screen and identify top courses.

“Now, it’s actually easier to line them up now that we’ve got a record of success,” he says.

The golf courses and hotels provide special rates for the New York Golf Trail, and Christian generates a profit on the markup. And several of the golf courses provide complimentary rounds of golf based on the number of rounds they get from visitors using the Golf Trail, says Christian.

“That way they don’t have to write a check to us for participating,” he adds.

He believes New York golf, in general, has been “overlooked” in terms of its quality, he says.

“There’s no reason it can’t become the top golf destination in the Northeast,” he says.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Identity Theft is a Common Crime in New York State

Insurance & Financial Services, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

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Identity theft is particularly prevalent in New York, which has one of the highest per-capita rates of identity theft in the country. It affects about 10 million Americans each year. Anyone can be a victim, including young children. Identity theft occurs when personal information such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, credit card and bank-account numbers, and passwords are accessed and used by thieves. The criminals can then open new accounts, apply for loans, make large purchases or access bank-account balances.

Phishing is a common way in which thieves obtain personal information. Through email, people are asked to validate personal information and users are directed to what appears to be a legitimate organization’s website but it is not.

The New York Assembly recently passed a measure that, if signed into law by the governor, will allow a credit-reporting agency to place a freeze for a minor under the age of 16 at the request of the minor’s parent or guardian. I supported this in the Assembly and it passed unanimously. Current law implies a parent is able to do so, but this bill expressly provides parents and guardians with this authority. In the case of identity theft with children, the theft can go undetected for years and is only discovered when the child goes to apply for a credit card or a student loan. It’s important we have laws in place that work to protect children. Unfortunately, in these cases, the thief is often someone the family knows.

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection publishes a booklet that helps residents protect themselves from ID theft which is available at http://www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection/identity_theft/index.htm. If you think you are a victim of identity theft, you may call the three major credit bureaus at Equifax at 1(800) 525-6285; Experian at 1(888)397-3742; and TransUnion at 1(800) 680-7289 to prevent someone from opening new credit accounts in your name.

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.

Heath-care law update: Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program

Health Care, Insurance & Financial Services, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

New York state has been approved for up to $8 billion to fund the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. This program seeks to provide incentives for Medicaid providers to create and sustain an integrated, high performing health-care delivery system. The goal is to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of Medicaid beneficiaries and

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The DSRIP program is focused on the following goals: (1) safety net system transformation at both the system and state level; (2) accountability for reducing avoidable hospital use and improvements in other health and public-health measures at both the system and state level; and (3) efforts to ensure sustainability of delivery system transformation through leveraging, managed-care payment reform, delivery system transformation through leveraging managed-care payment reform.

The lawyers at Bond Schoeneck & King, PLLC have established a DSRIP legal-support workgroup to help clients respond and participate in this program. Integrated legal support is necessary to guide health-care providers and their partners through the complexity of this five-year endeavor and into the future, working with a transformed health-care delivery structure.

The platform for participation funding is based on regional coalitions of safety net providers called “Performing Provider Systems” (PPS). The state will not fund a single provider, so everyone must work together.

The state will consider exceptions to the safety net definition on a case-by-case basis if it is deemed in the best interest of Medicaid members. Non-qualifying providers may participate in PPS, but no more than 5 percent of a project’s total valuation may be paid to non-qualifying providers as a group.

A PPS is intended to be a distinct legal entity, and although the state has not prescribed the legal structure, it is expecting a model that supports shared governance among all participants. The governance plan must include a process by which the PPS will progressively advance into becoming an integrated delivery system. The development of this legal and governance structure must be done in a manner that positions each PPS to achieve its objectives and carry out its purpose.

Coalitions must designate a health-care provider to serve as the leader who will be held responsible under the DSRIP for ensuring that the coalition meets all PPS requirements, including reporting to the state and CMS. The lead provider will submit the DSRIP project application and lead the PPS, most likely by serving as chair of the governing body of the PPS.

DSRIP project plans must be approved by the state and may be subject to additional review by CMS. Payments are made upon completion of project milestones and measures. There must be a clear business relationship between the PPS and its component providers, including a joint budget and funding-distribution plan that specifies, in advance, the methodology for distributing funding to participating providers.

The funding distribution plan must comply with all Medicaid program requirements and all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, including, but not limited to: the anti-kickback statute; the physician self-referral prohibition (Stark Law); the gainsharing and the beneficiary inducement civil monetary penalty (CMP Law); and federal and state antitrust laws.

Each PPS must also identify a proposed population for DSRIP of at least 5,000 individuals to be serviced. Data-sharing agreements must be put into place to share and manage data on systemwide performance. A PPS must include a comprehensive workforce strategy in the plan that identifies all workforce implications, including employment levels; wages and benefits; distribution of skills; and how workers will be deployed to meet patient needs in the new delivery system.

Each PPS is responsible for project activity that addresses:

The creation of appropriate infrastructure and care processes based on community need, in order to promote efficiency of operations, support prevention and early intervention;
The integration of settings through the cooperation of inpatient and outpatient, institutional and community based providers, in coordinating and providing care for patients across the spectrum of settings in order to promote health and better outcomes, particularly for populations at risk, while managing total cost of care; and
Population health management.

Once the state receives a DSRIP project plan and application, it will use a complex valuation formula to calculate the maximum amount a PPS could be paid. A PPS may receive less than the maximum amount if it does not meet metrics and/or if DSRIP funding is reduced because the state does not meet its statewide goals.

Community advisory committees will be created to oversee the implementation of the DSRIP project and will work closely with its PPS.

There is a great deal of work to be done now and over the next several months

Regina S. McGraw and Carolyn Shearer are senior counsels at Bond Schoeneck & King, PLLC in its health-care practice group. Contact McGraw at (315) 218-8694 or email: rmcgraw@bsk.com. Contact Shearer at (518) 533-3226 or email: cshearer@bsk.com. This viewpoint article is drawn and edited from a health-care law Bond information memo posted this month on the law firm’s website: www.bsk.com

CNY Tourism: Hotels, Conference Centers, Places to Play

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

HOTELS – Best Western Plus Carrier Circle 6555 Old Collamer Road South Syracuse, NY 13057 Phone: (315) 437-2761 Website: syrhotel.com/best-western Email: rdoty@tramzhotels.com General Manager: Roger Doty Number of guest rooms: 185 Free airport shuttle: Yes Average rate for single-night stay: $89 to $189 – Best Western Plus Hotel & Conference Center 26 E. 1st St. Oswego, NY

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Big events, recreation, culture: CNY has it all and more

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

Whether it’s to attend a college basketball game before a record crowd, organize a major business conference or convention, enjoy the area’s world-class gaming options, or take in its vast recreational opportunities, visitors to the Central New York region come for many different reasons. The area includes Greater Syracuse and the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk

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The area includes Greater Syracuse and the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk Valley, the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario, and Greater Binghamton.

The region offers picturesque natural attractions, outdoor sports and recreation, culture, big events, a central location, ease of travel, affordable and spacious accommodations, and many interesting places to see and things to do.

Central New York is a major destination for conventions, conferences, business meetings, annual festivals such as Oswego Harborfest, and special events like athletic competitions.

In short, the region has no shortage of places and opportunities to meet, stay, and play.

So if it’s action you’re seeking, Central New York is in the middle of it all.

We turned to area tourism agencies and convention and visitors’ bureaus to help us detail what their parts of CNY have to offer visitors.

Here are some of the highlights in our region.

Greater Syracuse
Strategically situated in the center of the state, Syracuse is easily accessible for most meeting attendees, with more than 63 million people located within a 350-mile radius of the city. Syracuse offers a variety of accommodations including more than 6,700 hotel rooms with 2,100 available to conventions. New to downtown Syracuse is a combined 78-room Residence Inn and 102-room Courtyard by Marriott which offers meeting space, a fitness center, bar, and pool. Additionally, Syracuse offers a wide variety of flexible meeting facilities ranging from the spacious Oncenter Convention Center and NYS Fairgrounds to the new facilities available at Destiny USA and the SRC Arena & Events Center, to the historic Landmark Theatre, onward to the iconic Carrier Dome and more.

In Syracuse, meetings and events don’t always happen in traditional venues. The area’s first-class natural resources, including more than 50 state, county, and city parks and excellent waterways continue to draw national, regional, and statewide athletic events such as the Ironman 70.3 and Iron Girl Syracuse triathlons.

Syracuse continues to capitalize on its repeat customers and the growth of those events, in addition to securing new business opportunities such as those in the expanding sustainability meetings market segment thanks to the community’s leadership in that arena showcased by the Syracuse Center of Excellence and Destiny USA, the largest LEED Gold certified retail building in the country.

In addition to excellent accommodations and meeting facilities, the Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) rolls out the red carpet with award-winning and complimentary services (based on hotel room usage) which include 24-hour availability during events. “Syracuse’s commitment to the customer experience brings event planners back over and over again,” says Tracey Kegebein, SCVB’s vice president of sales and services.

As Syracuse’s list of tourism assets continues to expand, customers are treated to unsurpassed fun outside of the meeting room. Destiny USA, the sixth largest mall in America, offers visitors a unique mix of traditional and outlet retail, entertainment, and dining options. These include WonderWorks, OptiGolf, and Pole Position Raceway on the fun/recreation side of things. Gordon Biersch, P.F. Chang’s, Texas de Brazil, and Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill provide fine dining and nightlife. And, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, BCBG, and Michael Kors attract shoppers.

Additionally, the Greater Syracuse area is home to more than 40 golf courses and an abundance of museums and galleries, including the nationally known Everson Museum of Art and the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology. The Syracuse Opera is Central New York’s only year-round professional opera company, and the Syracuse Stage is the region’s premier professional theatre.

And, Syracuse Hancock International Airport, featuring a newly renovated terminal, makes it easy for visitors to get here and return home after their trip is complete.

Mohawk Valley
Utica, Rome, Verona, and Sylvan Beach are centrally located just off the New York State Thruway, providing a convenient location for conventions, meetings, and other gatherings. Whether you need space for 10 people or 10,000, Oneida County has a meeting facility for you. Event planners have a variety of locations to choose from, including The Beeches Inn & Conference Center and the Radisson-Utica Centre. Those planning large conventions and seeking gaming options will find that Turning Stone Resort Casino and Vernon Downs Casino Hotel will meet their needs. The region offers more than 2,800 rooms at AAA Four Diamond resort hotels, national chains, and independently owned properties.

Whether it’s a meeting, conference, group tour, reunion, or social event you are planning, the region offers no shortage of attractions and things to do. Take in a Broadway show at the historic Stanley Theatre in Utica or enjoy dinner theater at The Beeches.

Visitors can also take in behind-the-scenes factory tours at places such as the Saranac Brewery, Harden Furniture, and Meyda Tiffany Lighting. Experience the Revolutionary War at Fort Stanwix National Monument. Meeting planners might also want to try something unique like a “Learn to Curl” Ice Breaker event at the Utica Curling Club for a memorable teambuilding opportunity. Need to add a golf outing? Choose from 29 public courses, including the championship courses at Turning Stone ranked among the “Top 40 Best Casino Courses” by Golfweek magazine.

Thousand Islands/Lake Ontario area
The Thousand Islands region of northern New York has been attracting visitors in search of a relaxing vacation among its scenic islands, crystal-clear water, and endless shorelines for more than 100 years. Today, it draws everyone from boaters to history buffs, diving enthusiasts, anglers, and families seeking “cottage country.”

The 1000 Islands is all about getting visitors onto the water to cruise among its namesake features. All told, 1,864 islands dot the two sides of the international border. Boat-tour companies are located in almost every community and offer narrated tours of the islands and their history of Gilded Age wealth, pirates and bootleggers, and famous guests. Boldt and Singer castles give visitors a chance to tour the palatial island homes once used by the wealthy at the turn-of-the-century.

Waterfront communities like the kitschy Alexandria Bay, with its souvenir shops, family dining, drive-in movie theater, and free events like Pirates Days attract

visitors trying to escape traffic, strip malls, and fast-food joints. Others head to Clayton, known for its Antique Boat Museum, waterfront Opera House, riverside dining, and parks.

Lodging runs the gamut from waterfront resorts and conference centers with riverside dining to cottage colonies, mom-and-pop motor lodges, and campgrounds.

Anglers flock to Oswego County for fishing opportunities ranging from trolling on Lake Ontario for trophy trout and salmon to angling for steelhead and brown trout on the Salmon and Oswego rivers. An experienced fleet of charter-boat captains and river guides provide complete fishing packages for all ages.

If big events are your thing, Oswego’s annual Harborfest attracts thousands to see national, regional, and local acts performing a wide range of music, including jazz, country, folk, big band, and rock.

Greater Binghamton
At the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers lies Greater Binghamton, a region rich in scenic beauty, enchanting villages, and lively cities. Its central location, at the junctions of I-81, I-88, and NY 17 (future I-86), makes it easily accessible within New York state. Add that to its 2,500 first-class, affordable overnight accommodations, modern meeting/exhibit facilities, and top-quality sports venues, and you have all the ingredients for a successful event.

The area offers more than 250 restaurants, from locally owned and operated eateries to nationally recognized chains. You can choose to frequent quaint antique stores, specialty shops, or top brand names. Attractions in the area include the Roberson Museum & Science Center, The Bundy Museum of History & Art, the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park, the Discovery Center of the Southern Tier, the Phelps Mansion Museum, Windy Hill Candle Factory/Candyland, and the Cider Mill.

AHL hockey (Binghamton Senators), AA baseball (B-Mets), Champions Tour golf (Dick’s Sporting Goods Open), USTA tennis (Binghamton Tennis Challenger event), and more than a dozen top-quality golf courses await the sports enthusiast. Parks, campgrounds, and hiking and biking trails are sure to please outdoor fans.

The Southern Tier also welcomes you to Tioga County. This is River Country, in the beautiful southern Finger Lakes Region. Nestled among lovely hills and valleys, the county has the Susquehanna River winding its way through 33 miles.

Enjoy dining at some great restaurants, have a glass of wine or beer on top of a 3-story rooftop beer garden, or eat and drink wine in an old jail cell; or sip some Finger Lakes wine overlooking the Riverwalk. Experience the excitement of harness, auto and motorcycle races, challenge yourself with outdoor sports such as hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, golf, or cross-country skiing. Shop downtown Owego, where you can purchase a Russian Matryoshka Nesting Doll, one of the largest collections in the state, local artisan-made crafts, clothing, art, and jewelry from a number of artists’ collective stores. You can purchase homemade fudge, have a vanilla latté, make a stained-glass hanging, or buy unique children’s toys.

Letter to the Editor: Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes

Opinion, Subscriber Only

Set to the background of a mournful piano melody, a stoic, authoritative voice on the radio public-service announcements tells us in hushed, reverent tones, that the person next to us in the car, or perhaps our office mate down the hall, or even one of our kid’s friends, all suffer with hunger. We are told

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We are told that 1 in 6 do not know from where their next meal is coming. Yet while the radio ads mournfully drive this point home, the fact is that America’s poor are also the most obese, dependent, and addicted subset of our citizens.

So how can this all be true?

The Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, known as CHOW, is one of the most familiar and widely supported local charities in Broome County. Founded in 1976, this organization provides and distributes food throughout Broome County, presumably for those in need. But what actually happens is often quite different.

Those seeking CHOW handouts are in no way means tested. The only limitation is a loosely enforced once-a-month allowance for participation, but with no system in place that effectively monitors activity at the 30-some distribution locations. This lax oversight allows individuals wide latitude in visiting multiple locations to receive repeated allotments of food.

A group of college kids, holed up in one of their grandmother’s homes after she was admitted to a nursing home, regularly seeks and receives free CHOW food to stock the pantry of their squatters’ digs. All able-bodied boys in their early 20s, I asked them if they thought this was right. Through strained smiles and nervous shuffles betraying a hint of guilt, they laughed it off as easy and fun.

In addition to food pantries, CHOW operates more than a dozen soup kitchens that again require no means testing and serve food seven days a week to anyone who shows up. For the kids, schools provide free breakfast and lunch as well. A resourceful person can find at least one meal a day, every day, served up fresh and hot — no questions asked and with no accountability and no effect on their other benefits.

Virtually anyone who is in true need of CHOW’s services certainly qualifies for food stamps (now known as SNAP or, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program). More than 45 million Americans are SNAP recipients, which basically provides qualified applicants a food credit card, courtesy of the taxpayers. This federal program is designed to provide the essentials for recipients’ entire nutritional needs, so why do we continue to supplement governmental programs with redundant private ones?

Unfortunately, when the needy get greedy, these well-intended efforts become the tools of the unscrupulous. The same kind-heartedness that it takes to conceptualize, create, and operate such humanitarian endeavors also many times yields to a naivety, resulting in a blind spot that is oblivious to wrong-doers and manipulators of the system, of which there are many.

“Carol” recently intercepted me in front of a popular grocery store in Binghamton. She offered to “shop” with me and provide my groceries for 50 cents on the dollar, via her SNAP benefit card. Judging by Carol’s demeanor and unkempt presence, it was not difficult or arbitrary to conclude that she was an active drug user, seeking cash for her habit.

In the same store, a couple of weeks later, while in line, I observed two young ladies ahead of me with a grocery cart filled with 2-litre bottles of soda and bags of snack foods. As car keys dangled from one girl’s purse, I saw membership cards to a local, high-end health club as well as the tanning salon located right next door. I watched them line up the items on the conveyor belt and I observed one of the women pull out a SNAP card and slip it in into the card-reader. As she did this, I could plainly see the photo on the card, clearly a middle-aged man with grey hair and a beard. After the young ladies left the store and I began my cash transaction with the teenage cashier, I asked her why the store did not apparently care about who was using the SNAP cards. She told me, with a straight face, that it made no difference. She went on to tell me that her “mother’s boyfriend uses her card all the time.”

Upwards of 70 percent of the income in some local grocery stores is attributable to SNAP and other forms of welfare payments, according to a management source who requested anonymity. Because many stores are so heavily dependent upon SNAP and other forms of welfare for their very financial survival, they have no incentive for voicing their concerns about misuse.

Not quite believing what I was hearing regarding the use of others’ SNAP cards, the next day I phoned the Broome County social services office to get some clarification. The gentleman who fielded my inquiry explained that anyone can indeed use anyone else’s SNAP card, provided of course that they are getting the items for the use of that card holder.

The U.S. is the only country in the world where the neediest and poorest are also the most overweight and obese. How can this be? Even as all of these programs go on, those radio ads continue telling us that 1 in 6 of us do not know from where our next meal is coming. This newest form of politically correct, fuzzy logic in search of a problem, is known as “meal uncertainty.” When seen in its entirety, this strains all logic.

Well-meaning volunteers and donors take pride and satisfaction in feeling like their efforts keep people from going hungry. This sense of accomplishment is self-fulfilling and rewarding, more so in this case to those providing the charity, than in many cases those taking advantage of it. CHOW and all of the soup kitchens should be means tested. When the needy partake of a meal in a soup kitchen, and their kids eat two of three meals at school, SNAP benefits ought to reflect that and be adjusted accordingly.

Certainly, taxpayers do not expect SNAP beneficiaries going into the market and buying designer cuts of steak or lobster tail, but under the system as it works today, there is no limit on the types of foods that recipients can choose.

This program would be more credible and more likely embraced by thoughtful taxpayers if it actually encouraged proper nutrition. Individuals signing up for SNAP benefits should be provided an assortment of available items that are nutritionally appropriate for their familial circumstances, limited to the basic, nutritional requirements of that family. These items should also be restricted to include only the most affordable brand available. Taxpayers ought to be getting the best value for their tax dollars while these families receive the proper nutrition.

Because of the modern computer-scanning devices used in the checkout lines of most stores, the buying habits of all SNAP recipients is already a known fact packed away in a database somewhere. But the sad reality is the government cares nothing about the dietary habits of recipients because it needs them to stay happy not nutritious. Not only is the government using other people’s money to buy SNAP recipients food, but it is also purchasing their undying devotion by way of their votes. It’s trading re-election for dependence, which is the real-life example of the adage, not biting the hand that feeds you.

When many SNAP recipients are overweight, obese, or addicted, able to convert forms of human compassion into money for their habits, we have not only failed to address the core issues of poverty and hunger, but we have also unwittingly built a system ripe for being taken advantage of by encouraging people to be dependent.

As usual, the unintended consequences have completely overwhelmed the programs’ original intent. And liberal political leaders, so hell-bent on controlling everyone’s life, have no sense of responsibility in accepting that they are not only a part of the problem, but they are also the source and cause of it as well.

On a recent trip to Mexico City, I was swarmed by peasant children when I wandered too far from my hotel one evening. Looking into the eyes of a truly hungry child leaves one with no doubt about their desperate need. There is no uncertainty in your mind about their plight in life. Seeing dirt and grime worn hard into the pores of a person’s skin, so sufficiently stained as to never be clean, leaves no room for reservations about lending a hand. Back home, watching overweight, obnoxious drug addicts, proudly gaming the system in America, makes me sick for the rest of the truly needy in this world.

As the poet Kahlil Gibran said, “The mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.” And so too apparently is the greatness of America to the dependent class we have unfortunately fomented into seeming permanence.

Bob Kingsley
Port Dickinson, NY

INFICON

People on the Move

Matthew Popov has joined INFICON as a mechanical engineer. Before coming to INFICON, he worked for Advanced Design Consulting, Inc. as an engineering manager. Popov

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