BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Limba X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20070311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20071104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20080309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20081102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20090308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20091101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080502T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080502T000000 DTSTAMP:20080502T040000Z CREATED:20080502T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080502T040000Z UID:4289-1209686400-1209686400@limba.net SUMMARY:Marie Zere and panel-Commercial Real Estate Perspective DESCRIPTION:This morning we had a panel discussion on real estate led by Marie Zere of Zere Real Estate. The other participants were Ted Sasso president of Renaissance Real Estate Service and Don Gallagher president of Gallagher Associates \nSasso began by telling us there is more office & commercial space on Long Island than in all of Boston\, making Long Island larger entity than most cities. With all that large space is in limited supply. A bright spot according to Sasso is that downtowns are flourishing. They are doing well for various reasons\, among them is the choice of lifestyle\, and energy conservation. From an owners perspective rents are slowly climbing\, but the net profits are being squeezed by costs. Financing is available\, but not at the asking prices of many properties. \nMarie Zere’s take on the real estate scene is that it is still a sellers market\, but the commercial will eventually suffer some of the problems being experienced in the residential sector. She went on to state that the higher end residential market in the Hampton’s experienced a 7% drop in prices recently\, while at the same time the luxury part of the spectrum\, $3million plus is still on the rise. She told us that small companies are reducing their need for space because some\, or all\, of their staff people can work electronically. With transportation fuels being what they are\, there is even more pressure on companies and individuals to work from their computers at home. Zere spoke about the concept of cond-ing a residence\, essentially making it a two family house. And she advocated for a more robust program of accessory apartments. \nWe learned that there is a lot of activity in small retail space\, medical buildings\, and restaurant settings. On the other hand deals are more tenuous and can easily fall apart in the 11th hour.  We also learned today that real estate comprises 40% of the Long Island economy.  \nGallagher\, who has enormous experience in IDA bonds\, said that the use of IDA Bonds are happening less and less. There are several factors for this\, among them is these are more complex dealings\, and since all financing is cheaper the IDA’s are less attractive. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/marie-zere-and-panel-commercial-real-estate-perspective/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080509T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080509T000000 DTSTAMP:20080509T040000Z CREATED:20080509T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080509T040000Z UID:4293-1210291200-1210291200@limba.net SUMMARY:Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice DESCRIPTION:This morning our speaker was Nassau County District Attorney\, Kathleen Rice. Kathleen has all the youthful enthusiasm we get from newly elected officials. She told us that she never remembers having political ambitions growing up\, and her ambition today is to serve two terms and leave. That’s a promise often made and rarely kept.  In her case however\, she may be intellectually honest about that.\, given that she has moved from one success to another in the past. \nShe spoke about the failure of law enforcement in the area of "white collar crime." According to Ms. Rice white collar crime is not some innocuous crime we can easily ignore. The effects on society are damaging to family lives of the victims. We don’t know how much family violence\, divorce\, and suicide are attributable to say\, a collapse of ENRON. We may not know exactly but we know there is wide spread pain. Rice said her office treats white collar crime as a serious problem\, and has addressed it appropriately. \nAnother big issue with this DA is DWI. Kathleen stated that the innocent victim has no control over the reckless behavior of a drunk driver. We can do all the right things and still be killed by an irresponsible drunk. She gave the example of the drunk driver that drove the wrong way on the Meadowbrook Parkway killing the little girl and the limo chauffeur. DA’s can do a lot in this area and she challenged the audience not to be inured to the consequences just because of the frequency. \n Guns\, drugs\, and gangs are a scourge to some communities. Rice’s answer that situation is the enlistment of the community while at the same time boosting police presence in the area. By this means the community residents are empowered by taking charge. Once there is a feeling that we are all in this together\, they can maintain the safety of the area even after the police presence subsides to normal patrols.  \nRelated to community involvement is the "weed and seed" program. Here the residents clean up a play area removing trash and debris and then plant flowers and shrubs to enhance an area. And because the community as a whole had so much invested\, there is a tendency to protect that rehabilitated playground. DA Rice says that the program has been quite successful. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/nassau-county-da-kathleen-rice/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080516T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080516T000000 DTSTAMP:20080516T040000Z CREATED:20080516T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080516T040000Z UID:4292-1210896000-1210896000@limba.net SUMMARY:Scott Passeser DESCRIPTION:Scott Passeser\, Director of Industrial Outreach for Stony Brook University’s Economic Development programs\, spoke at LIMBA this morning             \n Scott was able to provide some interesting stats on the needed workforce. While we are lamenting the existence of high paid manufacturing jobs there is no shortage of high tech jobs. There is\, in fact\, a dire need of high tech workers\, according to Passeser. There is a projected need of 5 million tech jobs nationwide\, but that does not take into account the industries that are transforming themselves into high tech enterprises. In on other words that is just the tip of the iceberg. \nIn Europe\, Scott told us\, the government intercedes when critical needs such as trained worker shortages occur. Philosophically\, we do not believe in that kind of help to the workforce. And the problems are getting worse. SUNY has always been a leader in graduating computer science majors. Yet today the number of computer science graduates is actually falling over the last three years. \nHe also informed us that the top 10 jobs that are emerging didn’t even exist 5 years ago. The fields of bio-tech and alternative energy have been around for a long time\, but they never employed more than a very small percentage of the population. Today they are among the fastest growing fields of endeavor and the schools cannot keep up with the needs of those industries. \nThe inability for America to produce the workers that are needed has caused the US to fall into the 19th ranking in broadband coverage. Even Luxemburg is ahead of the US on that score. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the only way to go is up.  \nScott spoke about the transforming effects that The Center for Excellence in Wireless Information Technology ( www.cewit.org)  and the Advanced Energy  and Research  Center at SUNY Stony Brook  (www.aertc.org) will bring. They are creating emerging technologies that are desperate for people to understand them and work in those fields.  Learn more about the technology efforts that are being conducted at SUNY using the links above URL:https://limba.net/calendar/scott-passeser/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080523T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080523T000000 DTSTAMP:20080523T040000Z CREATED:20080523T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080523T040000Z UID:4291-1211500800-1211500800@limba.net SUMMARY:Memorial Day weekend -NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/memorial-day-weekend-no-meeting-2/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080529T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080529T000000 DTSTAMP:20080529T040000Z CREATED:20080529T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080529T040000Z UID:4297-1212019200-1212019200@limba.net SUMMARY:Karaoke Networking Evening DESCRIPTION:LIMBA will be holding its second Karaoke Networking evening. We will be holding it again at Dave & Busters in Islandia. We have asked the fabulous Anita Bloom to run the Karaoke and perform. She was great the last time and will be again. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/karaoke-networking-evening/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080530T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080530T000000 DTSTAMP:20080530T040000Z CREATED:20080530T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20080530T040000Z UID:4294-1212105600-1212105600@limba.net SUMMARY:Gary Besemer\, Long Islanders for Educational Reform DESCRIPTION:This past Friday our speaker was Gary Bessemer. Mr Bessemer represents a group called Long Islanders for Educational Reform.  Mr Bessemer’s message pointed out some problems that are costing the taxpayers a lot more than our educational system should. His contention is that good stewardship has not been practiced. This was borne out by some of the things that we learned at the meeting.  \nWhen comparing the administration costs of similar upscale areas such as\, Montgomery County in Virginia we are very top heavy. Administration staffs are excessive and continue to grow. Several school superintendents earn more than the US president\, and there are well over 100 of these positions on Long Island\, whereas there is only one in Montgomery County. Newsday reporter\, John Hildebrand wrote about this earlier this year. \nWhile not bashing unions\, he did say that the educational unions call all the shots\, and politicians are fearful of bucking the tide. The result is whatever they want\, they get.  Including 4 to 6% COLA increases while many of the taxpayers are losing wages. Salaries of $100\,000 for teachers are commonplace\, but that’s not the whole problem. There is no correlation between salaries and teacher competence. In order to fire an obviously bad teacher we must be prepared to spend $300\,000 in legal fees. Any citizen that comes to a school board meeting to challenge anything\, is ignored and marginalized. \nSchool administrations have no fear\, because they know that only 14% of the eligible school district voters actually vote. When a school budget is voted down\, the school will take something away from the children\, such as band funding\, but scheduled increases in salaries happen despite a failed  budget. School budgets are often passed by people who have a direct relationship to the school\, that is; teachers administrators\, and other staff that live in the district \nGary also took on the costs of teaching autistic children\, $50\,000 per child. He did not object to the program’ but insisted that the local district should not be totally responsible its funding. He noted that autistic group homes set up in a district can stress a  budget and should be paid for by the state. \nNear the end of the Q&A period we discussed the reason for such low bvudget voting turnout. Most people agreed that they simply did not know when the budget was being voted. There was a suggestion that the school budget should be voted on in November. It would then be just another item to vote on while you were at the ballot box anyway. The audience seemed to like that idea\, but someone threw out the fact that the school budget comes up earlier in the year. So….? Change it! Change the budgets so they co-incides with the November election. Bessemer liked the idea. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/gary-besemer-long-islanders-for-educational-reform/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR