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E d it o r ia lsConsumers BewareRegulatory agencies were created to protect consumers and by and largethe agencies try to do this difficult job. And so it is curious to watch thecurrent flap between a Brooklyn State Senator and the State Insurancedepartment where the Senator decries banks%u2019 deceptive practices but theInsurance Department calls the Senator irresponsible.The Senator, Thomas Bartosiewicz of Greenpoint, is a member of the StateSenate Insurance Committee. An investigation by his staff, through a simplephone survey, uncovered illegal practices and others where no adequateprotection for consumers exists. The Senator asked why the State InsuranceDepartment wasn%u2019t doing anything while banks were reaping in millions ofdollars from unsuspecting depositors.\\Miat the Senator found was that banks overcharge on premiums for lifeinsurance policies sold to guarantee that loans are paid back even if theborrower dies. Banks push the insurance on borrowers which is often notnecessary because they already have adequate insurance. In addition, moneygained by the insurance companies from evc^ss premiums was paid back tothe banks as dividends. Bartosiewicz asserts that not only are the practicesillegal, but they cost consumers more than $40 million a year as well. Hesuggests that dividends gained from excess premiums should be returned toconsumers.Albert Lewis, State Superintendent of the Insurance Department countersthat Bartosiewicz%u2019 allegations are %u201c irresponsible and scandalous.%u2019 %u2019 Butcareful reading of the Lewis response shows that not only is he aware of theproblem, but he took the matter seriously enough to have his own proposedregulations to meet it. Who%u2019s irresponsible?Nine months after the Department held hearings proposed regulations arestill not in effect. This leaves us agreeing with Senator Bartosiewicz that theInsurance Department is less than vigorous in regulating the insuranceindustry and that the Superintendent is doing consumers a disservice.It is even more curious to find that the Superintendent responded to theSenator%u2019s charges by a letter to him which he released to the newspapersbefore the letter ever reached Bartosiewicz.C o m m u n it y F o ru mAn Artist Seeks Community Outcry Against Cutbacks at Art SchoolBY HELEN LUMERMANThe Director of The Brooklyn Museum, Michael Botwinick, has cut The Brooklyn Museum Art School (BMAS) by 65 percent and eliminated all evening classes. He has elimated ceramic and furniture classes and has made major cuts in drawing and painting classes.What does this mean to you and your neighbors? Let me tell you a little story. My love affair with, the BMAS started six years ago when I lived near The Brooklyn Museum. I spent a summer at the BMAS that literally changed my life. I discovered that I had a talent. 1 was special because 1 could take raw materials and create a functional and sometimes beautiful piece of art.I studied ceramics at the BMAS several times since although it was no longer convenient as I no longer resided in Brooklyn. I was even planning to move back to Brooklyn so that I could get more involved in my art work. Now that the Art School is in danger of being eliminated, my major attraction to the area has been greatly diminished. But with community support we can save this vital service.%u201cThere are many art schools,%u201d you say, but the BMAS%u2019s unique quality is greatly due to its proximity to The Brooklyn Museum. I remember watching visitors to the museum stop by the studio and watchHelen Lumerman lives in Mahattanand attends The Brooklyn Museum ArtSchool.the potters throwing on the wheel. They were able to see fine old pottery on display and then see people just like themselves producing very similar designs. Ah, the joy of being a creator! My experience at the Art School has provided me with the joy of making a link to the past by being involved with the present!Perhaps because I am a creator and not a curator, I am unable to understand Michael Botwinick%u2019s rationalization to cut theBMAS. I find it abhorent to sacrifice hundreds of creative minds and hands so that the museum can have more space for storage and display. Since when is it more important to exhibit art than to encourage the production of art?A greater irony lies in the fact that a museum is meant to enrich the community it is located in. Yet Michael Botwinick seems more interested in competing with the Metropolitan in Manhattan than inproviding a valuable outlet for constructive community expression in Brooklyn. Rather than reaching out to people and thereby enriching the flavor of the museum, we see the museum aiming at some esoteric goal unrealistic in terms of the needs of the commnity surrounding it.And where do we stand? How often do you hear yourself say, %u201c But what can I do? You can%u2019t change anything!%u201d I do not believe this. Maybe one person can do a little, but a community can do a lot. Unfortunately, positive forces too often remain passive leaving it to the destructive self-interested forces to win power because of their inherent aggressive nature. A museum is established tor the enrichment of the people not its curator. We deserve the opportunity to create art as well as observe it.I ask you to think about your children and your neighbor%u2019s children. Think about the child who may have been our next generation%u2019s Dali or Calder, but because of misplaced priorities, was not fortunate enough to see his/her talents unfold.A valuable avenue of expression will be destroyed if you remain silent. A potential for personal and universal achievements can be made possible with your cooperation.Don%u2019t give up. Give out. Let Michael Botwinick know how you feel. Write to Borough President Howard Golden and remind him of his promises to serve community needs. Sign the petitions that are being distributed throughout the neighborhood. Let your voice be heard.S o u n d O f f . . . . . .Thanks for SupportOn behalf of the Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford Stuyvesant Inc. 1 wish to express the sincere appreciation for the fine coverage afforded us in our great Phoenix newspaper of August 23rd.The well written article %u201c Tree Center Starts Service%u201d included in %u201c News Briefs%u201d was interesting, informative, enlightening. This special attention serves as tremendous support as well as encouragement in our endeavor toward achieving our goals for community and city betterment. Many, many thanks again to all.%u2014Hattie Carthan,President.More on John JayWe applaud the Phoenix, the Editorial and reporter Linus Gelber for the ongoing investigative reporting on John Jay High School, particularly the July 26 article (%u201c Principal Not Up For Tenure%u201d ) and editoral highlighting the Principal%u2019s accountability. We would also like to respond to Mr. Zemsky%u2019s %u201c Sound Off%u201dletter of August 9 (Principal Scapegoat%u201d ) and provide him with some essential facts for his consideration.It is the task of the principal to provide leadership and be held accountable for the quality of education in any school. Therefore, it is not unusual for our community to question Mr. Winberger%u2019s ability to lead a school in which there is a truancy rate which ranks 4th highest in New York City, where 68% of the students read at least two or more years below grade level and when in 1978 364 students received diplomas from a class which originally numbered 2144.pHistorically, the John Jay administration has created programs which discourage students from attending school. The most notorious known as %u201c Bootstrap%u201d was disbanded upon threat of litigation in October 1977 by the Community Committee on Children Out of School, only to be replaced by a program called %u201c Learning Lab%u201d which schedules 450 students for two labs in either math or reading.Although located in Park Slope, John Jay is an academic comprehensive high school designed by the Board of Education to serve eight communities. Park Slope is fortunate to have a high school in itsneighborhood, but it is only one of the communities assigned to the school. All students who attend the school are assigned to go there as their neighborhood or %u201c zone%u201d high school. We ask Mr. Zemsky%u2014where does he expect the 40% of %u201chardcore truants dumped from outside the neighborhood%u201d to be educated if not at John Jay.?Again we ask Mr. Zemsky WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE for providing suitable educational services to the youth of our communities? We feel the obvious answers lie with the one who is most directly responsible for the leadership and administration of John Jay and his superiors at 110 Livingston Street.%u2014Karen Wagner, BillSchroeder, members of the CommunityCommittee On Children Out of SchoolFarewell to StudioBrooklyn Heights is losing a beloved landmark: The Hicks Street Clay Studio, at the corner of Hicks & Middagh Street, is going out of business, after many years of service to the community as a pottery school and a clay studio showing some of the most versatileand individual work, and produced by outstanding young women, Ilene Ferber and her gifted associates.Hicks & Middagh Street has always been the focus of extraordinary creative activity, an art studio on one comer, a music studio on one comer, and the public School #8, for so many years fated for demolition, and thankfully preserved, on the 3rd comer. But the Pottery Shop has had the strongest influence....and undisputed tenure, their perserverance through winter blizzards and summer solstices, through fires and storms, has been phenomenal. Their example has been so heartwarming, there is no way to replace them or forget them. I, as one of their nearest neighbors, am inconsolable.On Saturday, September 14th, in the afternoon between 3-5 p.m. we are all invited to the Hicks Street Clay Studio, 35 Middagh Street, for a little party in celebration of what the Studio has meant to our neighborhood, and to wish them well. I hope that you all will drop Dy.-Maggi Schucker, Studio 33, 33 MiddaghSeptember 13,1979, The PHOENIX, Page 9