Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 167, Greencastle, Putnam County, 14 March 1985 — Page 1

Putting the hammer down to work on the ceiling, Putnam County Vocational School building trades students (from left) Jamie Harris, Kevin McKee and Gary Collier continue interior work on the house the class has built on South Indiana Street in Greencastle. Harris and Collier are South Putnam juniors, while McKee is a Cloverdale junior. The students work on the housing project three hours a day, Monday-Friday. (BannerGraphic photos by Bob Frazier).

Putnam County Hospital shortening staff work day to 7 '/z hours

By DAVID BARR Banner-Graphic Civic Affairs Editor Personnel policies designed to provide flexibility in staff scheduling were approved by the Putnam County Hospital Board of trustees at its regular meeting Wednesday. In presenting the policy change proposal, John D. Fajt, hospital executive director, said that in the past year some of the services typically performed on an inpatienf basis are now covered by insurance only if rendered as an outpatient. This as well as the DRG (Diagnostic Related Groups) program in Medicare

Wrongful death lawsuit filed by O'Neal family

By BARBARA CARHART Banner-Graphic Staff Writer The alleged “careless, negligent and improper” installation of a camper awning is the subject of a wrongful death suit field Tuesday in Putnam Circuit Court by the administratrix of the estate of a late Greencastle man. ADMINISTRATRIX Marie O’Neal alleges in her suit against Markin Camper Sales Inc., Indianapolis, that Willis J. O’Neal died on June 4, 1983 as a result of serious injuries sustained when an awning installed by the company allegedly “pulled loose, knocking the decedent from a ladder.” The alleged incident occurred on May 16, 1983 after O’Neal had delivered the camper to the business,

Sunny-side up for us

Clear and cold overnight with low in the upper 20s. Sunny on Friday with high in the mid 50s. Northwesterly winds at 10 mph during the period. Mtena Extended Forecast Saturday through Monday: Seasonal temperatures throughout the period with lows in the 30s and highs from the mid 40s to mid 50s. Dry Saturday, but a chance of rain Sunday and Monday.

Banner Graphic Greencastle, Putnam County, Thursday, March 14,1985, Vol. 15 No. 167 25 Cents

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regulations have resulted in lower than normal inpatient census. "THE HOSPITAL HAS altered its programs to accommodate consumer demand for greater outpatient utilization by implementing such programs as sameday surgery/’ Fajt said. The changes in the personnel policy will shorten the average work day to 7M> hours per day. Additionally, other measures such as combining job tasks, job transfers and improved departmental scheduling will be implemented. “While many other hospitals have resorted to formal layoffs, these efforts to con-

located on 4610 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, where he was reportedly having the camper company install an awning on his camper. The defendant “carelessly, negligently and improperly installed the awning,” the suit alleges, “and did not properly anchor the corners of the awning to the camper. UPON RETURNING TO Greencastle, the awning became loose prompting O’Neal to utilize a ladder in an attempt to re-secure the awning to the side of the camper, the lawsuit alleges. Hospital costs, the suit alleges, amounted to approximately $20,000. The administratrix is seeking compensation for the losses, costs of the action and all proper relief.

Abby A 4 Calendar A 5 Classifieds AIO.AII Comics A 6 Crossword AlO Heloise A 5 Horoscope All Obituaries Al 2 People A 6 Sports A7,A8,A9,A10 TV AlO Theaters Al 2 Worry Clinic AlO

trol staff utilization will not result in loss of employee benefits or permanent economic separation,” Fajt said. IT IS EXPECTED THAT these actions will result in maintaining quality patient service, reduce cost, improve productivity indices and minimize the impact on the vast majority of employees, the administration concluded. In other hospital business, Fajt asked and received approval from the board to cease participation in litigation against Blue Cross concerning certain of its adopted policies. A majority of Indiana hospitals had joined in a suit against the in-

The farm gamble

It's uncertainty and struggle seven days a week, Mrs. Brookshire says

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic Area News Editor Some of us hear about it every few years or so, but we don’t really listen, perhaps, because the effect is not immediate. Barbara Brookshire, and her husband, Ed, dairy farmers from Route 2, Roachdale, live with it 24 hours a day, all year. “It” is the constant struggle, frustration and uncertainty of farming. To the Brookshires, the hundreds Putnam County farmers, and others who work with the I land throughout the country, farming is a true profession of the gambler. FARMERS GAMBLE EACH year if market prices will allow them to see a rare profit. They gamble whether their crops or livestock will fare well. They gamble on the weather. And, in Indiana, the latter is probably the biggest challenge. To have the concerns of the Putnam County farmer heard, Mrs. Brookshire traveled last week to Washington, D.C., as a delegate to the Farm Bureau National Affairs Committee. While there, members had the opportunity to meet with Sen. Dan Quayle, Sen. Richard Lugar and Congressman John Myers. Mrs. Brookshire returned to Putnam County with a new confidence those concerns were heard. “I know they are listening,” Mrs. Brookshire commented via phone Tuesday from her rural Roachdale home. "IN FACT, THEY DAY we were there Sen. Lugar was to meet with the Russian consulate to secure the largest grain sale, since the embargo of 1979. The grain sales will help us the most.” Sen. Quayle also listened, especially to a

GHS plans guidance restructuring for 'BS-'B6

By LARRY GIBBS Banner-Graphic Publisher Greencastle High School’s guidance department will be restructured next fall to provide more direct assistance to seniors and better meet the needs of all students, the school board was told Wednesday night. During a 90-minute regular monthly meeting at the middle school, the fivemember board also adopted a 1985-86 school calendar and approved a resolution for a $30,000 additional appropriation to finance expansion of Project Primetime to the second grade. The guidance department realignment, outlined by Principal Jim Church, calls for Aud Walton, the high school’s director of guidance, to work solely with seniors next year. Counselor Betty Bertrum will be assigned juniors and sophomores, while Assistant Principal Cal Rehlander will work with freshmen. UNDER THE PRESENT arrangement, Church explained, Walton and Mrs. Bertrum share counseling duties for all students in the four grades, Walton working with students whose last names begin with A through L and Mrs. Bertrum with those that begin with M through Z. “This proposal is something that Mr. Rehlander, Mr. Walton, Mrs. Bertrum and I have been talking about for two months,” Church said. “We believe it will allow us to be of better service to our students.” Allowing Walton to work solely with seniors is an important part of the overall guidance concept, Church told the board, explaining that a great deal of attention must be given to college enrollments, scholarship opportunities and other planning during a student’s final year at the high school In addition, Walton will schedule current juniors for their senior classes to assure classroom balance. BY WORKING ONLY with freshmen, Rehlander will be instrumental in helping students make the transition from the middle school to the high school, Church said.

surance carrier. A ruling by Judge Steckler, however, was in favor of Blue Cross rather than the hospitals. “There is no further purpose to fight the issue as far as Putnam County Hospital is concerned,” Fajt said, noting that the previous litigation initially had served the purpose of pressuring Blue Cross into changes. THE HOSPITAL WILL BE working on a long-range survey to determine population trends and enable the hospital to make future plans. Donna Gannaway of Medical Records told board members that a new medical

BARBARA BROOKSHIRE Relates farm plight

farmer from the Gary area. The recent severe flooding situation up north caught the farmer with his fields dry one day and submerged under water the next. “He told Sen. Quayle farmers there needed help and the senator said they would check into it,” Mrs. Brookshire recalls. “But the man told Sen. Quayle the Department of Natural Resources had been studying the situation for 31 years and nothing had happened,” she added. Perhaps it will now. According to Mrs. Brookshire, Sen, Quayle’s office contacted the Gary man’s home, beginning the process for some type of assistance. “IT WAS THE SAME with

He also told board members that Mrs. Bertram will be able to devote full time to counseling of sophomores and juniors. Previously, her counseling day had been interrupted by periodic classroom assignments. Restructuring of the guidance department will involve redesign of office space at the high school during the summer. One result of the remodeling, Church said, will be an open area with tables and chairs where college catalogues, scholarship information and other guidance information can be displayed. In other business, the board approved a 1985-86 school calendar recommended by Supt. James Peck. It calls for students to begin the year with a half day on Aug. 22 and finish on May 29, 1986. Among scheduled holidays and break periods is a two-week Christmas vacation that begins at the close of school on Friday, Dec. 20 and continues until classes resume on Monday, Jan. 6. NEXT YEAR’S CALENDAR provides for 176 student days and 180 faculty days, Peck said. The superintendent advised the board that the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled recently that the school calendar is not a negotiable item under the state’s collective bargaining law, but he said all elements of the calendar had been discussed thoroughly with the Greencastle Classroom Teachers Association. Acting on a unanimous vote, board members Ed Meyer, Robert Delp, Bayard Allen, Patricia Hess and Dale Pierce also approved a resolution calling for $30,000 from the corporation’s cumulative building fund to meet expenses involved in expanding Project Primetime to the second grade for 1985-86 Already in place in first grade, the state-sponsored program is designed to limit class sizes to an average of no more than 18 students per teacher. Although the state provides a maximum of SIB,OOO for each Primetime teacher hired to achieve the 18:1 ratio, par-

Code editor, available to the hospital at no cost, will make for even greater computer accuracy. An IBM computer from Blue Cross will give greater assurance of quality control to meet specifications of the Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation. Patti Terry, director of nurses, told board members that CPR classes had finished with a class of 13 in February. As a public service, the hospital will cooperate in a screening program for those farmers who may be handling pesticides that could be harmful to them. "THE HOSPITAL HAS agreed to con-

(Congressman) John Myers,” Mrs. Brookshire continued, who focused her attention on the recently vetoed Farm Credit Bill. The bill, which would have enabled farmers already heavily in debt to obtain new bank loans for spring planting, was vetoed last week by President Reagan. “Congressman Myers just flat out told us that he voted against the bill,” Mrs. Brookshire said. “He said he talked with five farmers from his own area and that the bill wasn’t going to do us any good. “All it would do for us,” Mrs. Brookshire said of Myers’ reasoning, “was to make us go deeper in debt and would only make our problems worse. We called it (the Farm Credit Bill) a band-aid and Myers called it an aspirin. “AND WHEN YOU HAVE a severe problem,” Mrs. Brookshire noted, “you don’t work on it with just a band-aid. That’s just patching the problem, not solving it. So see they (politicans) do listen and do think.” According to Mrs. Brookshire, a major problem all farmers face today is indebtedness. “In Putnam County, we have some of the most experienced and efficient farms in the country have difficulty paying their bills. “It is especially tough for those who live south of (U.S.) 40,” she observed, referring to the drought conditions that destroyed croplands for two straight years. “You can’t go through something like that for two years and get away with not having some desperate circumstances.” Speaking of financial climates, Mrs. Brookshire commented, “A SIOO,OOO in a

ticipating school corporations must meet the costs of additional classroom space and equipment. PECK SAID WEDNESDAY night a maximum of four additional rooms will be needed for second-graders next fall, but said only three may be necessary by the time more specific enrollment figures are known. He said it is “likely” one additional room will be created at each of the city’s elementary schools-Jones, Northeast and Ridpath. Where a fourth room might be located has not been determined. Of the $30,000 appropriation total, SIB,OOO is earmarked for remodeling of existing space to create the extra rooms. That money will pay for room partitions, wiring, insulation, doors and other items. The remaining $12,000 will be used to purchase furniture and equipment, including desks, chairs, tables and chalkboards. Peck emphasized that the $30,000 represents the maximum amount that would be necessary to create four extra classrooms. It is possible, he told the board, that the final expenditure will be less. IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board. -Approved a request by Page Curry, French teacher at the high school, that students be permitted to begin a fundraising campaign for a three-week study trip to France in June of 1986. She said the Homestay and Travel program would cost $1,295 per participant while allowing students the opportunity to stay with French families. The board’s permission was conditioned on assurances that questions about insurance and other legal aspects will be satisfied before fundraising starts. -Authorized John Garner, high school science teacher, to take students to the Indiana Junior Science Symposium at Terre Haute April 11-13. The trip, which will not involve any cost to students because it is paid by the United States Army, will involve overnight lodging on April 11 and 12. Students and chaperones will make the Col. 1, back page, this section

duct two screening weeks, March 11-16 and March 18-23. Participating farmers will have the base line test performed with results forwarded to their family physicians for future reference. Cost has been reduced to $lO. Dr. Keith Ernst, board president, reported that a cash contribution will be forthcoming from the Putnam County Board of Realtors. In expressing appreciation for the gift, Fajt said it would be used toward purchase of needed equipment. Present at the meeting along with Ernst were board members Charles Whitaker. Frank Ross and James Malayer.

farm is nothing nowadays. But where do we get that money to operate? You tighten your belt, take out your life savings, and the college fund for the kids, and buy your seed and fertilizer. You plant and you don’t-for one reason or another-get that (investment) back. “SOMETHING WITH the weather as sects the second year you plant. The third year something else could happen and you lose your crops. Then you start ‘crying uncle’ to the government to help you out. “You just don’t know what to do. When you farm, you’re gambling and it’s a terrible gamble,” Mrs. Brookshire related. “You don’t know if it’s going to rain, or if it’s going to shine. You get this all the time.” The problem, according to Mrs. Brookshire, is that the farmer is not getting the proper return for his investment. “Right now, when you start planting corn, you’re going to have about $230 per acre involved in the crop,” she relates. “That includes your seed, fuel, fertilizer and labor. “But you don’t get that back in black and white. Corn is about $2.55 per bushel on the market. We’ve got to get that corn above the $3 mark. We have to get a decent price for corn. Then, you have to pay over $3.50 per hour in labor costs By the time all of that is done, there is no money left over for your own cost of living. “THE FARMER IS NOT getting enough in return. And, because of that, the farmer doesn’t have any money left to put back into the economy. What affects the farmer affect others on a rotation basis. “If the farm is desperate for a piece of Col. 1, back page, this section