WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. October 13, 2004, Updated 8:26 A.M. E.D.T.: The regular monthly Board of Education unfolded routinely Tuesday evening at Education House without the drama of last month’s athletic director controversy, though the question of when the Athletic Director and Coordinator of Health Curriculum positions would be filled is still in the air.

 

Henry Cafaro and Ron Palladino, Director of Guidance and English Language Arts Coordinator, respectively, briefing the Board of Education on new format of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Photo by WPCNR News

 

Larry Killian, Director of Research & Testing, spoke on the District improvement in Math Scores, and Henry Cafaro, Director of Guidance, briefed the Board on issues raised by the new Scholastic Aptitude Test format, and resources and strategies the District was making available to WPHS students.

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resouces, Lenora Boehlert, said the committee evaluating applicants  for the Athletic Director position and the Coordinator of Health had decided that not enough experienced candidates for either position had applied.  She announced both positions would be reposted and readvertised.

 

She told WPCNR she expected more qualified candidates would apply and be able to join the district at midyear. She said many of the applicants had other positions and were no longer interested in the position, and announced to the Board “we do not  think we have a big enough pool or strong enough pool to bring those individuals to the full community.”

 

Middle School Math-ers Make Progress

 

In two pieces of good news, Larry Killian, Director of Research, Testing, and Evaluation, announced the district scores on the eighth grade New York State Achievement Test Math Exam had improved 16 points to 68%. Killian also said that 75% of the School District Elementary School Students passed the 4^th Grade Math Exam.

 

 

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors said that Killian would be back for a more detailed report on the test scores in the coming weeks, saying,

 

 “We’re meeting with representatives from all of our schools to talk about the next step. What we do know is Margaret’s (Dwyer) is going to be coming back and make a presentatioin to the board to talk about the five things we have to concentrate on in order to make sure all of our students are maximizing their potential. In terms of human resources.  We need to be clear about the body of language that we’re teaching the students. We need to get the parents involved. We need to excite the kids. We need to use data analysis in order to inform our instructors and the people who are developing the curriculum so we are on target.”

 

 

Ms. Dwyer, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction expressed interest in seeing the test scores that the Board was looking at, obviously unfamiliar with what they were discussing.

 

Connors put a coda on the discussion, saying, “She (Ms. Dwyer) doesn’t have these, what the Board has is just test scores, and clearly what the Board is going to see when Margaret comes before you the next time is laying out an agenda that is going to enable everybody to work together so that we focus all of our attention, all of our activities in providing our teachers with what they need to know in order to help our students maximize their potential to learn.”

 

Connors predicted the Board would be very excited about the upcoming Dwyer presentation because, “it’s  not the Margaret Show, it’s all of us working together including Larry (Killian), and Lucy (Roman) and all the folks out at technology of doing the data analyis. As Larry (Killian) says, we’ve made some gains and  still have a long way to go. And that’s a task for all of us.”

 

 

 

Donna McLaughlin, President of the Board of Education asked if the ever elusive longitudinal study (asked for by Ms. McLaughlin, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Pollak, Board members, for each of the last three years, and not available because of incompatibility of data), from 4^th to 8^th grade would finally be executed.

 

Mr. Killian went on record as saying that the Board would receive longitudinal result data showing how students fared on the achievement tests from the 4^th to the 8^th grades. He also reported results would be broken out by ethnicity.

 

DONNA McLAUGHLIN, President, Board of Education lamented the media preoccupation with test scores. Photo by WPCNR News.

 

McLaughlin finished the discussion with a positive note, saying “When you hear about all the things that go on in this District, when you hear about the National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, and everything, I just hate when people look at numbers and say that’s what White Plains is all about because it’s not. It’s so far from it, it just breaks my heart when the Westchester Magazine with their statistics and everything else. It just does not tell the whole picture…I just wish people would come to White Plains and see the whole picture and see all the wonderful things that are going on. This is an unbelievable district. You cannot just look at numbers and know what this district is all about. As much as we talk about it and want our scores to be better, we know what White Plains is all  about and it’s not these numbers.”

 

Maria Valentin added that she felt the reason to be concerned about testing is the scores was different: “I hopefully speak for the Board, but I definitely speak for myself, but I think for us the concern with  testing is really because it addresses the issues of the (achievement) gap….aside from that, we know it’s a great district. It is a great district. But, clearly the numbers are important for that very important issue (the Achievement Gap).”

 

The New S.A.T. Challenge.

 

At the close of the meeting, Henry Cafaro, Director of Guidance at White Plains High School, and Coordinator of English Language Arts, Ron Palladino gave detailed presentations of the redesign of the Scholastic Aptitude Test which would be administered to WPHS students for the first time in March.

 

Cafaro explained that the verbal section emphasis had been shifted to “critical reading” now, that the analogies portion of the verbal had been eliminated. There was also a section on finding and correcting grammatical errors. Another major new change in the SAT, (which students have known about for a least a year, and should have been aware of taking place, according to the CitizeNetReporter’s resident teen), would be a 25-minute spontaneous essay as part of the test.

 

Cafaro noted the test would last longer, there would be more reading for comprehension and analysis as part of the verbal portion of the exam.  He confided to the CitizeNetReporter that there are no standards set yet on how the spontaneous writing section of the test would be graded, though a rough first draft quality was expected by the S.A.T. creators. Palladino said the writing assignment would, from what he had seen, would ask a student to take a position and defend it.

 

Mr. Cafaro reported that there was a help section on the new S.A.T. available on the Board of Education website that was available free to students, and that they should check with the Guidance Office (422-2174) to find out how to access it and use it as a resource. He also made note of the after school preparation course for the new S.A.T. the guidance office sponsored. Parents and students should stop by the high school guidance office

 

 

Palladino said that a national representative from the Scholastic Aptitude Test organization would be visiting the district to walk WPHS and Middle School English teachers through the new components of the exam on a staff conference day in advance of the Spring S.A.T. “launch.” He also said that an effort was under way to encourage teachers to provide practice in “writing on demand.”  Mr. Palladino confided that he was “thrilled” to see the concentration on grammar skills that was present in Middle and high school English classes since the start of the year, based on S.A.T. grammar questions. He also said a grammar course was under consideration next year in the Middle School.

 

Maria Valentin, Board Member, said whe was happy to hear that because “nationwide, we have veered away from the teaching of grammar.”

 

Board of Education President Donna McLaughlin sounded a cautionary note, saying she was very worried about the students’ ability to work through the new test in an efficient manner, because there was a need for great reading for comprehension in what the sample tests she had read were asking:

 

 

Specifically, Mr. Cafaro reports the new Writing Component of the  SAT will consist of:

 

• 25-Minute Multiple Choice Grammar (identifying errors, Improving Sentences and Paragraphs)
  
• 25-Minute Student Written Essay (Communicating a Viewpoint, Defining and Supporting a Position)
  
• Worth 200 to 800 Points in Scoring.

 

The Verbal Section consists of:

      Paragraph Length Critical Reading Passages Added.

      Analogies have been eliminated.

 

The Math Section will change as follows:

      Content from Third-Year College Prepatory Math Has Been Added. (Advanced Algebra or Algebra II). This will make up about 10% of the math questions.

      Quantitative Comparisons Have Been Eliminated, (about 15 “easy math questions”), giving more time for the math problems.

 

The three sections of the SAT will now be worth a total of 2,400 points, and the test will last 3 hours and 35 minutes. Cafaro noted this would extend time for certain children entitled to extra time, to 5 hours and sometimes 6 hours for the test. The cost has gone up to $41.50 to take the test, from $29 previously. Cafaro observed that the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude test, being administered this coming Saturday to sophomores and freshmen would “pretty much parallel” the new S.A.T. format, and would give the administration a read on how the students would do.

 

Ivan Toper, Principal of White Plains High School said that  the students should be used to the way the test was being changed, because they have been taking previous aptitude tests that have changing to parallel the evolution of the new S.A.T. “A lot of the data parallels what experiences they currently have.”

 

Cafaro reported that a number of tools are available to acquaint parents with the S.A.T. changes, and bring students’ confidence levels in negotiating the new test to ready levels:

 

He encouraged reading the regular Testing Bulletin, and taking advantage of the School District’s connection to online SAT/PSAT preparation that is free of charge, Parent Nights, reading the advisories in the Guidance Bulletin, using the preparatory material on the WPHS website, in the College and  Career Center, and attending the After-School Prep Program (which is free).

 

A Bereavement Seminar

 

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors started the evening with a moment of silence for members of the White Plains educational community who had died in the last month: Jason Soury, the senior at WPHS who was killed in an automobile crash on North Street October 3 and Alice Barrett. Mr. Connors said that a bereavement counselor would be addressing parents at a meeting at White Plains High School tomorrow, Wednesday evening, to help parents help their children deal with the griefing process now being experienced by WPHS students over Mr. Soury’s untimely death. The meeting takes place at 7:30 P.M. Wednesday for parents at the high school.

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WPCNR VOICE OF WESTCHESTER. October 12, 2004: Today’s new poll poses the interesting question of who will take over the troubled Ship of State that will be Westchester County in 2006? The Republican Party in Westchester is a shadow of its former  O’Rourkian self, a fragmented weaving hydra of candidates who could be considered possible candidates for County Executive. The assumption is that Andy Spano will run for a third consecutive term next year, a strong incumbent, yet vulnerable should the county financial position weaken in months ahead.

Who then will Westchester’s Republicans send into the breach? WPCNR has rounded up a Republican Gallery of Challengers in the poll at the right. If you wanted to mount a serious campaign against the Andy Spano Stronghold, who would you put into the race against the presumed Andy Spano?

 There is one candidate not on the long list because he does not live in Westchester County, and that is the Super Developer, Louis Cappelli. However, should Mr. Cappelli move to Westchester County he would have the resources, the charisma, the track record to mount a strong race.

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WPCNR East Ender. By John F. Bailey. October 11, 2004: The Director of Proton Beam Technology North America for Hatachi North America in Tarrytown, Vito Cappello , confirmed to WPCNR Friday in a telephone interview that Hatachi is in the process of negotiations with New York Presbyterian Hospital to build their proton accelerator facility on their White Plains campus. Mr. Cappello also said that his company invests in projects in return for a share of revenues “on a case by case basis.”

Cappello, in addition, confirmed Hitachi is bidding to build the proton accelerator in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, reported by WPCNR last week.

 In a world two years ago when the northeast medical oncological establishment was not even telling patients about proton accelerator therapy as an option to surgery, suddenly the proton accelerator is the cancer treatment the nation’s major cancer centers want to have. Three new proton facilities, in Houston, Jacksonville, Florida and Philadelphia are on target to open by 2006-07.

The University of Florida at Jacksonville is now building a proton accelerator, Cappello said, using a Belgian vendor, I.B.A., to build its accelerator.

 

In the Hunt.

 

Mr. Cappello confirmed his company is having discussions with White Plains New York Presbyterian Hospital.

 

“We’ve been following the New York Presbyterian Hospital matter, having had discussions with them,” Cappello told WPCNR. “These facilities take a while. We’ve had discussions with them, and trying to move it forward. We’re presenting our technology to them for consideration in their future plans.”

 

WPCNR asked Hatachi’s proton beam master if NYPH had decided yet on their vendor (since New York Presbyterian Hospital has refused to comment to the media, or provide any details directly on the state of their proton accelerator project, its negotiations or status).

 

Cappello said, “At this point, no, they’re still in discussions. I believe they are internal discussions and they’re discussing it with vendors such as Hitachi.”

 

Hitachi and M. D. Anderson Meet-Up

 

WPCNR asked how Hitachi proceeded with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and how long it took before Hiatachi started the construction on the accelerator project there. (Hitachi has been building the M.D. Anderson Proton Therapy Center on the University of Texas campus for one year.)

 

“ We signed this (M.D. Anderson contract) in December of 2002. Our schedule is a 36-month schedule for the treatment of the first patient. We’re right on schedule (to open Spring 2006). (The 36-month schedule) incorporates the designs, the construction and the installation of the equipment, and the commissioning and testing. Keep in mind, our equipment needs to be approved by the F.D.A. Our equipment is for investigative purposes only until approved by F.D.A. The F.D.A. approval will be obtained prior to any treatment.”

 

The Selection Process

 

WPCNR asked how much lead-time was needed to design the facility to the M.D. Anderson specifications. Cappello said it was a speedy process:

 

“It’s all done within three years. Initially the way the sales cycle works when it gets to that point (before the contract is signed), the institution comes up with a broad specification for what they require. They sit down and have the vendors propose. Then the institution sits down with the vendor for two to three months and irons this out and then the subcontract is signed so you have a clear understanding of the specifications required.”

 

Cappello said institutions normally have customizations they want in their facilities: “Many institutions, John, have idiosyncracies they like to follow. There may be a need for additional imagery requirements at certain locations within the proton beam facility, things like that. That, at most would take several months, but much of the details are ironed out during the three years when the final design is made. It takes exactly 36 months. We try and improve on that obviously.”

 

Structuring the Deal.

 

Noting that Hitachi invested capital in the M. D. Anderson facility, we asked if Hitachi might structure a deal where revenues were shared with M. D. Anderson. Mr. Cappello said he was unable to talk about that: “At this point we sell our equipment for investigative purposes only until we get F.D.A. approval. That’s very clear. The way we structure our proposals is first and foremost, Hitachi would like to sell its technology and equipment, that’s our primary focus. That’s our way of doing things, unless there’s something very special and unusual we need to have done.”

 

“The normal course of events, John, is that there’s a need on the part of a large academic institution, they basically put together some preliminary specifications,and the deals are we provide the equipment and software for the proton facility. That’s our basic approach to the market place.”

 

Capital Investment? Possible!

 

I asked if Hitachi invested capital, normally, as it did with the M. D.Anderson facility, but Cappello said that was unusual: “The opportunities we are looking at are of that  nature. Many of the institutions, the hospitals, prefer to have ownership of them. Many of them are not-for-profit institutions. We are not a non-profit institution.”

 

Asked, if in return for an equity stake,  whether the investment (to construct an Hitachi proton therapy center)  would be less, Cappello repeated,  “Our basic approach to the market place is to provide the equipment, and software and the installation of our technology in return for a reimbursement for our equipment and technology.”

 

I asked if Hatachi would be able to offer the equipment for less: “Whatever the future holds, that’s something to be considered later on.”

 

WPCNR asked the ever popular hypothetical question:  “Say the equipment cost a $160 Million, and Hatachi offered the technology for like say $125 Million, for a percentage of the revenues? Would you do that? ”

 

Cappello said, “I think we would consider it on a case by case basis. I can’t give you a blanket statement on that.”

 

Cost Caution.

 

Cappello said of the estimates of $160 million mentioned in previous stories, “when you hear those numbers you have to figure on what’s included or not, whether it’s the building, the accelerator, or the entire complex, and needs of the particular institution. There are no hard and fast rules though.”

 

The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, which opened in February of 2004 in Bloomington, Indiana cost $37 Million, according to a story on the Indiana University Media Relations website, because IU already had an existing cyclotron on the Indiana University campus. The same story estimates the cost of a from-scratch proton therapy center as $140 Million. (See the story at http://www.ihif.org/stories/december03/mpri.htm )

 

While the Accel  Instruments GmbH compact proton accelerator going into the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich, prices at 120 Million Euro, or $160 Million, because it is a complete facility building, according to Udo Klein, Managing Director of Accel Instruments GmbH.

 

The Loma Linda facility was built at a cost of $80 Million in 1990. 

 

Synchrotron comparable to Loma Linda facility.

 

I asked Mr. Cappello how the Hatachi proton accelerator model compared to the Loma Linda technology, how much better is it?

 

 “As far as the technology is concerned, there’s a heart of the proton  facility is two center focuses. One is on the accelerator itself which actually accelerates the proton, and second is the nozzle which basically delivers the treatment to the patient.

           Our system uses a synchrotron which is an accelerator that is fairly high energy, it can generate up to 250 million electron volts that translates into the depth a proton can go into the body. 250mev, as we call it, translates into about 38 centimeters into the body, (approximately one foot). It has been used in proton therapy for a long time. It’s safe, reliable, it’s maintenance is very easy to perform.  It uses a synchrotron as the facility at  Loma Linda uses.”

 

He said he could not comment on how it compares with the Accel proton accelerator, that is being installed at the  Roenicker  Proton Center in Munich, Germany.

 

March of the Proton Accelerators.

 

Cappello said there are currently three accelerators on line in the continental United States: Loma Linda, California, Bloomington, Indiana and Massachussetts General in Boston. He said coming on board are M. D. Anderson in Houston, the University of Florida at Jacksonville, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, followed by the New York Presbyterian Hospital facility.

 

Cappello, when asked by WPCNR confirmed that Hitachi was definitely applying for the Philadelphia project with the University of Pennsylvania. “We definitely are, yes.”

 

A firm named I.B.A. built the proton beam facility at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute in Bloomington, Indiana, and is also constructing the University of Florida facility in Jacksonville, Florida. Their latest newsletter can be read at http://www.iba-worldwide.com/root_tg/downloads/IBANews_october2004.pdf

 

For more on the University of Florida facility, you may go to their website at http://www.med.ufl.edu/radonc/AbRT_proton%20therapy.htm

 

WPCNR asked why Cappello thought M.D. Anderson selected Hitachi: 

 

“That’s a good question. We’ve talked with M.D.Anderson, and essentially the reasons were were, number one, the safety and reliability of our system, utilizing a core synchrotron. In addition to that it was our dedication to the advancement of that technology. We spent a lot of money in research and development and enhancing our product. This product is very important to us. This facility is not something you put in and in three years it’s obsolete. You’ve got to keep advancing the technology. So I believe it’s our safety, reliability and our dedication to proton beam from the standpoint of research and development.”

 

Bring on the Options.

 

I asked if it can be upgraded with new technology and software once installed. “Absolutely correct,” Cappello said, “There are components that we try and advance within our R & D and those elements are always applied. Key elements in proton facilities is the ability to control the beam and also to position the patient.”

 

Market Share Enough for Philly and White Plains.

 

Cappello said he did not see the Philadelphia facility competing with the White Plains facility for patients. “There are 1.3 million new cancer patients every year, and about half of those are prostate, lung  and breast cancer (that lend themselves to proton therapy treatment). The population intensity of the northeast I think will satisfy a number of facilities.”

 

Proton Therapy and the Surgeon/Radiologist.

 

I asked if oncologists were turning away from surgery as an option and turning more towards proton therapy as a first treatment option.

 

“I’m not a clinician, John, but I listen to clinicians from the medical, the radiation, and the surgicial, sometimes the multiple modalities are very helpful. So, I don’t think they’ll be an elimination of surgery nor medicine, but the proton beam certainly enhances the outcome of certain cancers, and in certain patients, like the young, because the proton effects are nil when you are treating pediatric cases. I’m repeating what clinicians are saying to me.”

 

I asked if he viewed the proton therapy as the first treatment of choice. He said that depending on the institution.

 

 

Cappello said he appreciated the opportunity to talk about his proton beam, “I think we’re being recognized as one of the best suppliers of this type of technology.”