cape G, uette VIEWPOINTS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23- THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2008 7
Letters ))
Coml from 6
Most people in our community
are not aware of the out-of-pocket
expenses teachers incur to buy
supplies and treats for their class-
rooms. All the money that they
spend throughout the year cer-
tainly adds up and let's face it,
teachers don't teach for the mon-
ey;, they do it because they want to
make a difference.
These free businesses and fami-
lies wanted to help us and they
contributed $200 to specific class-
es. The teachers used these dons-
tions to purchase things they
needed or wanted for their class-
es. We would like everyone to
know about these wonderful busi-
nesses and families because we
are certainly grateful to all of
them! We are now accepting ap-
plications for the 2008-09 school
year. If anyone would be interest-
ed in taking part in our Adopt-A-
Class program please call us at the
school, 945-6200 or email the Fro
at lnepto@irsd.kl2.de.us. Thank
you so much for being such a
great community and helping our
children at Long Neck Elemen-
tary.
J & J Mechanical, PATS Aircraft,
Wilmington Trust, Drew Asbury,
AMVETS, WSFS, Bill's Sport
Shop, Holiday Chicken, Pot-Nets
HOA, Why Cook, Shore Tint, Fer-
raro's Stitch Art, Roxborough,
Pomeraree & Nye LLP, Lombar-
di's Window and Door Specialist,
Debbie Baker, Mary Kay Coshaet-
ics, Long Neck Mini Gol Barbara
Liffiander, Jack's Plumbing and In
the Dog House.
Thank you for taking the time
to recognize these businesses with
US.
t00g0000gm&sta00
Falling home values
causing loan mayhem
When a buyer engages a mort-
gage company to underwrite
their home purchase, they usually
are required to put down a per-
centage of the loan amount as a
deposit, to show a personal equi-
ty position. This is known as the
LTV or loan-to-value ratio. In the
past, it may have been as little as
3 percent of their own money, or
more likely, 10-20 percent of their
funds to avoid the PMI fees on
top of the mortgage which is pri-
vate mortgage insurance for the
mortgage company.
Now along comes a nasty
downturn in the market, wherein
appraisers are second guessing
what was the "norm de rigueur"
two years ago, where most homes
appraised at or a little above the
2005 purchase price. Suddenly,
the values are lower, in most cas-
es by up to 10 percent. The feck-
less homebuyer is left scratchm__g
his head and saying, "Whoa, I just
bought this house in 2005 for 'x,'
and it was justly appraised, and
certified to have value, and
that is why the mortgage compa-
ny gave me the funds." Now sud'
denly he/she is thrown to the
wolves of the market, as now the
new value is less than he paid for
the property.
Since it is no fault of the home-
buyer who followed all the rules
as laid down by the RESPA [Real
Estate Settlement Procedures
Act] people, and beyond, how so
is he/she left hanging out to dry
when either trying to sell or refi-
nance the property?
Did the bank/mortgage compa-
ny lose money? No, it still gar-
ners the interest on the amount
loaned, whether for the 2005 loan
amount, or perhaps today's mar-
ket amount. Interest is still com-
ing in and still owed. Now, it
makes sense that if the home is
not worth what it was, that there
should be some shared misery
here. Why doesn't the bank al-
low the loan to adjust down and
keep a mortgagee/homeowner
happy, so that there is less angst
all the way around? Either that, or
accept, by appraisal, a new loan
amotmt payoff, so that a sale may
occur without the homeowner
suffering "the upside down mort-
gage."
Eliminate the short sale market
and foreclosures on all except
those that have no way of making
good faith payments, no matter
the balance.
The sooner we do this, the bet-
ter, as many markets are seeing
the new carpetbaggers as the
mainstay client, and what does
that do for our sense of communi-
ty? I shudder thinking of the fu-
ture of Delaware if this is not im-
mediately rectified.
Sandra Ware
Lewes
Millsboro library says
thanks for reading help
• The Millsboro Public Library
board and staffwould like to
thank the following businesses for
their suppo of the Summer
Reading Program. Ace Hardware,
Amazing Grace, Baker's Hard-
ware, Dairy Queen, Food Lion,
Happy Harry's, Hardee's, McDon-
ald's, Millsboro Hobbies, Pizza
King, Pizza Palace, PNC Bank, Ri-
ta's, Rite-Aid (Georgetown), the
Teacher's Comer, Wal-Mart,
Wawa and Wilmington Trust.
Your support greatly enriched
the quality of our program. The
Summer Reading Program is vital
to the continued development of
the children's reading skills.
Your support is especially ap-
preciated in these difficult eco-
nomic times.
Mills Public Ubrary
Soaring motorcycle deaths: helmet laws must change
fter reading your front been protected, helmet, removed by paramedics, often called to the bedsides of
A Page lead story that
carded the banner
headline, Motorcycle
fatalities soar, I would like to of-
fer a few observations, basedon
my experience as a former
emergency medical technician
(EMT) in Baltimore County, Md.
and senior staff member at the
Maryland Shock Trauma Center
in Baltimore. The story of eight
motorcycle deaths in less than a
month here in Delaware, along
with data showing an alarming
increase in motorcycle fatalities
nationwide, makes a compelling
case for anyone who has any-
thing to do with public safety in
this state to step up and support
changes in Delaware's motorcy-
cle helmet laws.
I f'md it unconscionable that in
a stlte known for its tough
stance on highway safety, motor-
cyclists are required to "display"
helmets, not wear them. In other
words, a helmet must be on the
bike and not thebiker. It's like
having a child safety seat law
that requires a child safety seat
to be "displayed" in the vehicle,
with the child sitting next toit.
Critics will argue that mandat-
ing laws for children is neces-
sary because they are minors
and lack the maturity to think
responsibly for themselves.
However, when it comes to
adults, they are old enough and
more mature to make their own
decisions.
That is, until they are critically
injured or killed in a crash they
might have survived without
permanent damage, if they had
In Maryland, helmets are re-
quired, and their use has been
credited with saving countless
lives. The motorcycles might be
engineered for speed, but the
human body, and more impor-
tantly, the head, isn't. As an
EMT, and as director of public
affairs at the Maryland Shock
Trauma Center, I saw the head
trauma, firsthand, among criti-
cally injured patients who, some
said, were not lucky enough to
die.
Unlucky in the sense that
their recovery would take
months and sometimes years to
rehab, and often with debilitat-
ing brain damage and other neu-
rological head and neck injuries
that disabled them or left them
dysfunctional for the rest of
their lives.
I recall-one admission of a
young man who was flown in by
Maryland State Police Med-evac
helicopter with his helmet next
to him on the backboard. The
was cracked by the impact of the
head on a guardrail along the
highway that, police said, oc-
curred at a speed of more than
50 miles per hour. He was badly
bruised, his bones broken, but
he escaped serious head, neck
and spinal cord injuries because
of his helmet.
It is time for the citizens (tax-
payers) of this great state to ex-
press their support for strength-
erring our helmet laws by requir-
ing their use. Tb_is effort will
face some tough opposition
from the so-called "freedom rid-
ers" who insist that this is a
"constitutional" issue and not
one of safety. The response to
that must come from the area
fire and EMS personnel who are
called to rescue these victims
every week.
It must also come from the en-
tire medical community, includ-
ing ER doctors, trauma nurses,
the rehab clinics and other
healthcare professionals who are
critically injured motorcyclists
who were riding without hel-
mets.. -
If there are going to be mean-
ingf lifesaving changes in our
helmet laws, this effort must al-
so have support among our
elected officials who will be held
accountable for the unnecessary
and expensive carnage that will
continue to occur if they do
nothing to enhance safety for
motorcyclists and others who
share the highways with them.
As a former public informa-
tion officer with the Maryland
State Police, I feel confident that
Delaware State Police would
support and aggressively en-
force it, once enacted. Have you
ever seen a trooper assigned to
the motorcycle unit riding with-
out ahelmet?
Chuck Jackson is the executive director of
Citizen Advocates for Safe & Efficient Travel
headquartered in Nassau.
