Introduction
The history of the Bellport High School (“BHS”) club, Students
for Environmental Quality (“SEQ”), is rather well known in local environmental
circles. Having been established over thirty years ago, many of
its past members have stayed in touch and there have been many informal
reunions prior to and since its founder, Mr. Art Cooley, was formally honored
back in 1992. On that occasion, thankfully captured on videotape, an
assembly of friends and former mentees met at the Bellport Library and
spoke to and of Cooley. His numerous environmental concerns, his local
and national contacts and his leadership qualities were recounted.
Memories of student/citizen activism were highlighted and Cooley was
graciously feted as being central to encouraging individual awareness and
group accomplishments in what could accurately be called the modern
environmental movement.
In a recent club interview with SEQ’s first chairman, Ron Rozsa
(BHS ’71), Rozsa related that SEQ’s first accomplishment involved convincing
the Dodge Dealership on East Patchogue’s Swan Lake that it
should correct its polluting of the lake with what, obviously, was used
motor oil. That eventual success is further appreciated today, as the site of
that Dodge Dealership is currently a Town of Brookhaven park.
In this document, current members of SEQ and I have decided to
include interviews with former SEQ officers from each decade, as well as
interviews with all past advisors. It is our sincere hope that we have conveyed
the origins of the club and provided examples of some of its noteworthy
efforts. Certainly it is not meant to be all-inclusive. Obviously
there are many members of SEQ who, individually and collectively,
accomplished so many things - too many over the past thirty-eight years
to accurately account for here.
In closing, I would like to thank the South Country Education
Foundation (“SCEF”), for its generous grant money and patience, without
which this work would not have been completed. Additionally, thanks
go out to all the interviewees and student interviewers for their
muchappreciated
collaboration. Lastly, it should be noted that copies of this
booklet will be made available to the SCEF, to all interviewees, to the
environmental organizations with which SEQ interacts, and to each of the
South Country School Districts’ school building libraries and the two
local community libraries.
Mr. Daniel O’Connor
Advisor of SEQ 2004-Present
