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NEWSDAY - Tuesday June 30th, 2009

A group of Long Beach teenagers took to the boardwalk Monday in an effort to keep the summer safe - especially for first-time surfers.

Members of Long Beach High School's Surf Club unveiled six colorful surfboard-shaped signs illustrating rules intended to help beginning surfers stay safe.

"There are hundreds of new surfers out on the beach every week. And because surfing is composed of so many unspoken rules regarding etiquette and the right of way, there are sometimes confrontations between beginner surfers and the more experienced ones," said Dan Bobis, a math teacher who is the founder and adviser of the surf club.

Tensions between seasoned locals and new surfers can lead "to fights now and again, a lot of verbal arguments and even assault charges," said Dan Popper, 17, president of the surf club. But, he added, for the most part, "it usually just causes small tussles."

The new signs urge surfers not to "drop in" on someone else's wave and to be in constant verbal communication with anyone nearby. And they warn that, to avoid injury, surfers must know their limitations, that they shouldn't try to surf a big wave unless they know they are ready.

Members of the club sold T-shirts and sweatshirts to raise funds for the signs, for which they paid $625.

Bobis said they got the idea "from a legendary Australian surfer named Nat Young. I saw these signs he created on the Internet and knew this was something our club would want to be a part of. 

"We are hoping that the new signs will prevent confrontation, keep everyone safe and prevent ego damage."

 NEWSDAY

MICHAEL R. EBERT
    November 16, 2008

Nearly 90 students at Long Beach High School - twice the number of last year
- recently collected trash along a one-mile stretch of the National
Boulevard beach in Long Beach as part of the school's Third Annual Fall
Beach Cleanup. The students piled up bikes, signs and even a "soggy
mattress," school officials said.

"Everyone thinks they are Michael Jordan when they're throwing out their
trash," said Daniel Bobis, math teacher and adviser to the school's Surf
Club, which coordinated the two-hour event. "But how many times do we miss
and not pick it up?"

The most unusual items found, Bobis said, were a Hewlett-Packard printer and
a 100-year-old fire hydrant that weighed more than 1,000 pounds.

"It was buried by the boardwalk," he said. "It was too heavy to lift, so we
rolled it onto a plank of wood and carried it out."

Newsday write up for 2008 Beach Clean Up (doc file)
Newsday write up for 2008 Beach Clean Up

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