Vote yes on Question 1

Letter to the editor: Register to vote now

To the Editors:On Thursday, September 4, I was walking through Smith Union, and I noticed that two representatives of a Maine non-profit organization were registering students to vote. While I was glad that students had this opportunity, I was concerned that the two representatives were trying to persuade a student who obviously wanted to vote in his home state to register in Maine.
Bowdoin students have every right to register to vote in Brunswick if they consider it to be their residence. However, students who do register become subject to the same laws concerning driver’s licenses, automobile registrations, and income taxes as other Maine residents.
I recommend that students visit the website of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU and search for “Student Voting Guide.” The guide explains voting laws in each state.Students who want to vote in other states should be aware that many states have much earlier deadlines for registering and requesting absentee ballots than Maine. For example, Massachusetts requires mailed voter registration applications to be postmarked by Wednesday, October 15; New York requires them to be postmarked by Friday, October 10; and California requires them to be postmarked by Monday, October 20.
The Brennan Center’s Student Voting Guide contains links to voter registration applications and absentee ballot request forms that may be printed and submitted by mail. For some states, there are links to websites where these documents may be completed and submitted online.If you start the process now, you will have plenty of time to mark your absentee ballot and return it to your state by Election Day.
Michelle A. Small ’86

Letter to the editor: Response to Honegger '15

To the Editors:Jean-Paul Honegger’s column on the proposed Amtrak layover facility in Brunswick repeats the misinformation of the train authority building the project (NNEPRA).
1. Trains would not be “switched off” once in the facility, because large diesel engines take too long to warm up from cold starts. NNEPRA has thus far failed to provide required operating plans documenting exactly how the engines would be run.
2. The facility is not “essential to preserving Amtrak service to Brunswick.” NNEPRA offers no evidence to support this statement. The facility is something NNEPRA wants, not something it needs.
3. The claim that “ridership numbers aren’t low” is unsubstantiated. Most reporters never question NNEPRA’s own figures, which regulators have claimed are unreliable and inconsistent. Industry think tanks actually report reduced ridership from last year to this.
4. The facility will not benefit Brunswick’s economy. It will generate no new runs to Brunswick, for that requires new tracks, which NNEPRA has not proposed. The building will offer no new employment opportunities. It will not bring more consumers to town, and it will not bring in new tax dollars, since it operates at taxpayer expense.
Senator Angus King, Governor Paul LePage and a host of state legislators have all raised serious questions about this project.
So too has the state Department of Environmental Protection, which rejected two of NNEPRA’s attempts to secure stormwater management permits. See, NNEPRA failed to offer any plan for the management of wastewater proven to contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals, which threaten to pollute local drinking wells and ultimately Brunswick’s watersheds. Given its established record of “railroading” neighbors, NNEPRA’s “trust us” response to these concerns is of little solace.
NNEPRA misinforms the public, neglects local laws and ordinances, and evades required regulation. Journalists have a responsibility to investigate, rather than echo, its claims.I am all for the growth of greener transportation networks, even at taxpayer expense. I am not for a process contemptuous of laws designed to protect residents and the environment from irresponsible development.
Patrick RaelBrunswickThough he is a professor of history at Bowdoin, Patrick Rael writes to the editors as a citizen of Brunswick.

Letter to the editor

September 19, 2014

To the editors:

I’ve never seen myself as a political person. When I heard that our state is the very last one to still allow bear trapping, hounding and baiting, I felt a lot of embarrassment—this is not “the way life should be.”

These practices are unnecessary and cruel. I’m speaking up to support a “Yes” vote on Question 1 and to tell my fellow Mainers how much I want to see cruelty banned and fair chase restored.

Last year, my friends and I began volunteering for this cause, gathering signatures for the ballot. It was a really energizing and rewarding experience! Now that Question 1 is on the ballot, there’s even more to do to get ready for Election Day. If you haven’t, I encourage you to visit www.YesOnQuestion1.com/Volunteer and sign up to volunteer today.
Please vote YES on Question 1.

Thank you,
Susan Baker-Kaplan

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