The Value of In-Person Learning
To the editor:
Boston University’s decision to discontinue its in-person master of social work program on Cape Cod will be felt especially on the Outer Cape, where access to specialized professional training is a challenge.
Ending this program is a profound loss. It deprives working people and parents in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham of invaluable in-person learning opportunities, crucial local networking, and the chance to address community needs. This decision risks worsening the social worker shortage in our region and eliminates an educational resource when our families and vulnerable populations need it most.
In our cohort, we have aspiring psychotherapists, adjustment counselors, art therapists, and nonprofit workers as well as social workers. Many of us chose this program for its accessible in-person design. Without this local option, those pursuing an M.S.W. online will be at a significant disadvantage, given the lack of familiarity with the Outer Cape’s specific employment landscape and community dynamics among those based elsewhere.
As a working mother of a two-year-old living in Eastham, I chose this program because it made graduate school possible for me. The same is true for many of my classmates from Brewster, Eastham, and Orleans. The idea of commuting to Boston — or being forced into an online format that was not part of the original program — is frustrating and disheartening.
The laying off of our local program director deepens the loss, taking away essential guidance and regional expertise that cannot be replaced.
I urge Boston University to reconsider this decision.
Rachel White
Eastham
The writer, a part-time development specialist at the Cape Cod Children’s Place, is a member of the class of 2027 in Boston University’s M.S.W. program.
Disturbed by Boat Tours
To the editor:
I’m concerned about something new in Provincetown this season: the Dolphin Fleet whale watch boat offering three 90-minute tours daily and a fourth two-hour sunset tour with music — all within the harbor. The boat’s size is disproportionate to the surroundings and should be prohibited from this area.
The harbor within Long Point is a treasured sanctuary that needs to be protected. It’s a peaceful refuge for swimmers, kayakers, and paddleboarders co-existing with motorboats, houseboats, and sailboats of all sizes. But the Dolphin boat is in a whole different league — and the engine’s constant rumble (which can be heard ashore) is in a different league of motor noise.
The disproportion was particularly striking on a recent family sail on the Bay Lady. We were shocked to see the whale watch boat barely moving, hugging the shoreline, and at times completely obstructing our view. Its amplified music further disrupted the otherwise peaceful scene.
I have nothing against the Dolphin Fleet wanting to grow its business and have a booze cruise or amplified music. Just not within the harbor. Passengers can just as easily learn about the habitat and its history and enjoy spectacular views from the other side of Long Point.
Provincetown should consider the balance of uses to ensure that one’s right to quiet enjoyment of the harbor is not overtaken by commercial interests.
Kiki Herold
Provincetown
Rudelle’s Departure
To the editor:
I read Grace E. Yoon’s beautiful obituary for my old friend Rudelle Falkenburg in your July 24 issue [page A19] with tears in my eyes. Thank you for it. She was indeed a most remarkable person in every way and touched more lives than we’ll ever know.
Warren and Rudi were my friends and landlords at Barnstormer cottages for much of the 1970s. My son Jesse, now 52, was one of her littlest students in 1974 in the basement “schoolroom” where she managed to captivate four rambunctious one-and-a-half-year-old boys (all still in diapers with minimal language skills) with her magical kid powers. She had them doing projects sitting (yes, sitting!) at little tables for a couple of hours of “school” two mornings a week, which they all loved.
Rudelle was a special light in the world whose departure leaves it a little darker, even as there’s a new star in the heavens with her name on it.
Felicity Gage
Ocracoke Island, N.C.
Creating Peace
To the editor:
Re Rudelle Falkenburg’s obituary [July 24]:
Over the years, Rudelle gave the ArtPeaceMakers many pieces of art that she and her students worked on together — including a collage emblazoned with the word “Peace.” It’s prominently featured in our Create Peace exhibit at the Wellfleet library through Aug. 8.
The ArtPeaceMakers presented our “This Is It” prize for creative nonviolence education to Rudelle in 2015.
Harriet Korim
Wellfleet
Reporting on ICE
To the editor:
Chloe Budakian’s article “ICE Arrests Defendant Outside Orleans Courthouse” [July 24, front page] was one of the best written and most thorough of the many articles on the nonsense ICE is perpetrating that I have read. It was extraordinarily well organized and calmly neutral — just the facts.
I read the article three times to be sure I got it all.
Dick Mains
Wellfleet
Boosting Women’s Soccer
To the editor:
It is refreshing to see the Independent provide coverage for the Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League [July 24, page A21] and for one of the most exciting and popular sports around. As an inaugural player back in 2001, I’m amazed to see the league’s sustainability 24 years later.
Opportunities to read about local women’s teams aside from high school sports scores are infrequent. It’s also nice to see our local paper highlight Steve Austin, the longtime coach of the Orleans Surf, as well as the team’s oldest and youngest players. (I coached Riley Hess in 2017 when she was a third-grader on the Oceana Soccer Club.)
Girls’ soccer teams on Cape Cod are struggling to find enough players, coaches, and referees. This is happening even though the U.S. Women’s National Team won gold at last summer’s Olympics, the recent Women’s European Championship saw record crowds, and, in 2026, the Boston Legacy will be one of the newest additions to the 16-team National Women’s Soccer League.
Cathy Nagorski
Provincetown
Reverse the Parade
To the editor:
For many years, I have participated in the Carnival Parade, always processing toward the Sun.
Has it ever occurred to the committee to reverse the flow so that it goes from the West End to the East End, congregating in the Provincetown Inn parking lot and moving along Commercial Street against the Sun?
The viewing has become lesser in the East End in the last few years. Perhaps that would make a difference.
Raffaello LaMantia
Provincetown
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
