Banner Graphic, Volume 20, Number 23, Greencastle, Putnam County, 30 September 1989 — Page 3

We get letters... Count your blessings if you live on a paved road

To the Editor: Last week an extremely selfindulgent letter was printed regarding the paving of a road known as County Road 500 West “Hurley Road” or ‘TourArch Road.” This person felt that West Walnut Street should be repaired rather than paving 500 West. This person also wanted to know if the taxpayers were aware that this particular road was being paved (insinuating it was a waste of taxpayers’ money). This person also made a shallow suggestion that this road was only being paved because Judy Sally Gray resides on this road. I would like to correct the inaccurate information that was contained in the letter to which I refer. There are many more than five homes on this road; there are approximately 30, and at least 75-80 located on side roads which utilize Hurley Road on daily basis. I live at Thomas Lake (there are 23 homes at the lake) and we use the dirt road at

Companies’ ‘tricks’ may ultimately hurt their trade

To the Editor: I think someone should write a list of what products to buy and another list of products not to buy. What is my issue? American companies who do business with Communist governments. Chrysler’s “joint venture” with Beijing Jeep produced some of the military vehicles that brought the Community troops into Tiananmen Square to massacre the student protesters. Chrysler officials have indicated that business will continue as usual.

PCH chaplaincy program still appreciated from afar

I - - To the Editor: On Wednesday, SepL 13, I took a few days off to visit family and spent some time in Greencastle reliving old times. A lot of memories were there and it is sad to see the gymnasium where some of them were made being tom down. I have visited a lot courthouses around the country and I honestly had forgotten how nice Putnam County’s is. Though the floors have some cracks, it is still the most impressive building for a county of comparable size I have seen. Sometimes you have to go away and come back for a visit to appreciate something. Perhaps the most impressive item is the fact that your hospital has a chaplaincy program finan-

Clarifying library funding

To the Editor: The account of the Putnam County Library Board meeting published Saturday, SepL 16 states that (Carroll) “Fordice reminded board members that Roachdale opened its own library, resulting in PCPL no longer receiving tax money from Franklin Township.” I feel that this implies that PCPL did at one time receive tax money from Franklin Township. However, this is not the case. The library in Roachdale opened in 1913 with the support .of Franklin Township and the

It’s your right to write

The Banner-Graphic welcomes your views on any public issue. Letters must bear the writer’s signature and printed or typed name, full address and telephone number. We routinely correct errors of fact, spelling and punctuation. All letters are subject to editing, but such will be held to a minimum and the intent of a letter will not be altered. Letters can be written on virtually any topic, although not all letters on a certain subject will be published, par-

least four times a day. By the way, we all pay taxes even Judge Gray. I know that we have telephones in the past, and our neighbors have also, to request that the (County) Highway Department pave this road. Our reasons vary; the damage to our automobiles, the danger due to the one-lane road, the resale value of our homes, and most importantly, the road is note as easily traveled by fire trucks, by the elderly or by emergency ambulances as a paved road would be. This road leads to West Walnut Street and you can be sure that I am grateful every time I finally am off the gravel/dirt road and onto the pavement of West Walnut. Compared to “Hurley Road,” West Walnut is in excellent condition. Perhaps this person could count his blessings that he is fortunate enough to have a paved road (maybe it’s not perfect) but it is a lot more than we have. Lon and Jane Boyers Route 6, Green castle

Other companies doing business in Red China include Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mc-Donnell-Douglas, IBM, Gillette, 3M, Xerox, AT & T, Kodak, Nike, General Electric, Motorola, Pepsi, Beatrice Foods, Coca-Cola, General Foods and American Standard. We should let these company heads know we don’t like what they are doing. I would like to have a list of companies who don’t do such tricks. Danny Cottongim Route 5, Greencastle

ced through a joint effort of the ministerial association and the hospital. It was at the Putnam County Hospital in 1961 that I decided to go into the ministry after being involved in a head-on collision. The efforts of a trained minister who helped deal with some very real spiritual feelings without forcing anything on me are appreciated to this day. I am presently a hospital and nursing home chaplain in Southeast Missouri and applaud the efforts of a community that recognizes that spiritual and emotional concern are a vital part of total health care. Morris Tippin Bainbridge High School Class of 1963 Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Town of Roachdale. While remaining autonomous, we cooperate with the Putnam County Library in providing library service to all county residents. The Roachdale-Franklin Township library is open to anyone with a Putnam County Public Library card, and we have many registered borrowers from the other townships in the northern part of the county. Penny Schad Librarian, Roachdale-Franklin Twp. Public Library

tkularly if the points made by one writer have already been addressed in a previous ietter. Use of initials in lieu of the writer’s full name will be permitted only in cases in which the Banner-Graphic determines there is an appropriate reason. Send your letters to: Letters to the Editor, The BannerGraphic , P.O. Box 509, Greencastle, Ind. 46135. Letters also may be brought to the newspaper at 100 N. Jackson St

County zoning Delaying the issue any further not the solution here

The nice thing about covering county commissioners’ meetings is that the topics hardly change from year to year. That’s good from a reporter’s standpoint because all you need are a few new quotes here and there and the story is done. BUT IT DOESN’T do much for the future of a county. Ignoring controversial topics is one sure way of staying in office and ensuring your re-election. But closing your eyes and burying your head in the sand are not conducive to good government. Neither is avoiding subjects for which you have a personal dislike. TAKE COUNTY zoning, for example. That’s an issue Commissioners John Carson and Don Walton are going out of their way to avoid. Neither, as far as I can recall, have stated openly whether or not they are “for” or “against” zoning. On the other hand, Commissioner Gene Beck has gone on record several times favoring county zoning in some form or another. That doesn’t mean Carson and Walton are wrong, and Beck is right. It just means that Beck is not fearful to publicly voice where he stands on an issue, while Carson and Walton keep you guessing until they find out whether its politically favorable to be “for” something or not In our case, the time has come to take a good look at county zoning. Right now, Putnam County is but one of 18 counties who currently do not have zoning. It’s time we begin to plan our future, instead of letting outside interests do it for us. TERRE HAUTE HAS its BASF and Clay County has hazardous waste landfill problems. And it’s getting pretty scary to think what might come knocking on Putnam County’s door, especially since we don’t have zoning. Before the ILWD hazardous waste landfill went in near Russellville, one of the first questions company officials asked was if Putnam County had zoning. Learning we did not, ILWD, now known as Heritage Environmental Services (HES), made northern Putnam County its home. HES, based in Indianapolis, treats and recycles waste oils and

j FOOTBALL FOUL SIGNALS: iUft lUESAI PROCEPtIRE OIMMYHOFft (JNPERENPZONE

Results of education summit, if any, won’t show for long time

By WALTER R. MEARS AP Special Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) The true test of a summit conference is what happens on the way down. That’s especially so for pseudosummits, called to deal with problems at home rather than to put leaders of world powers across the table from one another. So the grades for President Bush’s education summit with the governors will not be in until next semester. And the results won’t show for a long time after that. “FROM THIS DAY forward, let be an America of tougher standards, an America of higher goals and a land of bigger dreams,” Bush said after conferring with the governors at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. They agreed that there should be national standards by which to judge the performance of schools and their students. Bush also told the governors he would seek the added flexibility they want in the use of federal education aid. Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, a leading spokesman on education, said the success of the summit can be judged on the basis of public response to the national goals, and ultimately, “on whether students leam more...” That’s the poinL of course. With or without national standards, it is

Becky Igo

other industrial chemicals. The byproduct, which ends up in filtercake form, is transported to Putnam County. According to Putnam County Board of Health records, HES trucks in an average of 5,000 tons that’s 5,000 TONS of filtercake waste to Putnam County per month. The waste is then buried in some of the most beautiful prime farm ground in Putnam County which is also located right next to Raccoon Creek. HAZARDOUS WASTE landfills are always emotional issues for any locale, and that topic repeatedly seems to come up when zoning is discussed. Carson previously said zoning isn’t needed to control such things in Putnam County because officials worked with HES to establish rules as to when the company could bury its material, etc. The working relationship has been very good, he said. But, the question is, will we be so lucky with others? COMMISSIONER Walton argues county zoning is not a cureall. He also says zoning will not keep hazardous wastes landfills from sprouting up because the state has the power to select those sites. That is indeed true, according to Diane Shea, staff attorney and Association of Indiana Counties representative. The state has a siting authority, she says, who decides where hazardous waste landfills will end up in Indiana. The siting authority is a nine-member board consisting of five members who are state appointees. Two other members are selected by the county

obvious that too many students are not learning enough now, with a school dropout rate of nearly 30 percent and with an estimated 23 million illiterate adults. BUSH SAID “THE American people are ready for radical reforms” in education. The changes envisioned in the summit sumup didn’t sound radical. They included holding educators accountable for student performance; keeping drugs out of schools; cutting away federal and state educational red tape; reducing the dropout rate and improving literacy. The post-summit challenge can hardly be to those common sense goals. It will be to keep education reform high on the national agenda. That won’t be free, although the president and the governors carefully avoided debates about more federal spending. Clinton said there would have to be more spending later, but the goals came first. “YOU CAN’T DO IT with poetry,” said Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York. He and Clinton are among 28 Democratic governors. Bush, who has no budget room to spare anyhow, said the focus should be on results, not resources. “If anything, hard experience teaches that we are simply not getting our money’s worth in education,” he said.

commissioners, while two final members are appointed by the executive of the nearest city or town where a landfill is proposed to go. “The siting of hazardous waste landfills is a totally separate procedure from zoning,” Shea told the Banner-Graphic. STILL THAT DOES not mean Putnam County’s only concern should be landfills. What about properties that are too small to accommodate proper septic systems? What about undesirable businesses that may want to locate right across the street or road from a residential area? The point is we should start looking into county zoning. Heaven knows we’ve talked the issue to death. A quick look back in the commissioners’ minutes shows that Leon Tippin, a northern Putnam County resident, approached the board about zoning on June 4, 1973. At that time, Tippin expressed interest in zoning because land developers were beginning to subdivide farm land for residential purposes. He was fearful these new residents might eventually try to put his dairy farm out of business, since residential and agricultural uses were starting to mix. A MONTH LATER, on July 2, 1973, a group headed by the late Jack Torr called for a comprehensive zoning plan. Even on July 3, 1978, the Putnam County Board of Health and health officer approached the commissioners and began calling for the consideration of zoning due to concerns regarding drainage and sewage in Putnam County. Gene Beck, who was also a commissioner then, made a motion to that effect, but it was defeated because neither Commissioner Walton nor the late Commissioner Elbert Irwin voiced a second. AND THAT SAME stumbling block exists today. Beck encourages at least the study of zoning, while Walton and Carson sit idly by. Recently, when zoning was brought up at a commissioners’ meeting, Carson and Walton said they did not feel comfortable making such a “big decision” without input from residents.

The administration estimates that local, state and federal education spending this year will total $353 billion. Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos said that is an increase of 24 percent since 1983. He said about six percent of the total is spent from Washington. THE EDUCATION summit itself was a symbol. To underscore Bush’s concern about education, the White House compared it to the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s meeting with governors in 1933, when he summoned them to talk about Depression measures. Nowadays, conferring at the summit a phrase attributed to Winston Churchill has become a Washington cliche. While Bush was presiding at the education conference Wednesday and Thursday, the deficit deal struck at a budget summit last spring was fraying in a congressional struggle over taxes and spending. As a presidential candidate, Bush spoke of five different summit meetings, on five different sets of problems. When Churchill proposed a Cold War summit parley, he meant a meeting among the chiefs of state. That kind of summit has become a fixture of East-West diplomacy. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev are to hold their first one late next spring or early in the summer. Ronald Reagan held five

September 30,1989 THE

Therefore, they requested to hear from the “grassroots” representatives of the county: Township trustees. The trustees, they reasoned, are more in touch with Putnam County residents and can better gauge the true feelings about zoning. WHAT A GREAT delay tactic. And really, that is all it was. During a recent township trustees’ meeting, zoning was discussed by the Johnson County Zoning and Planning director. All three commissioners were in attendance. After the presentation, one trustee wasn’t hesitant to lay it on the line, saying he believed the commissioners were asking the trustees to do what is actually the commissioners’ job. “We can’t tell you what to do about zoning or anything else,” the trustee pointed out “We can only recommend. You have to decide.” Later, when a show of hands was requested among trustees to see how many might favor zoning or not, the majority agreed zoning needs to be looked into. Two others, meanwhile, indicated they did not want to see Putnam County follow that path. IRONICALLY, although almost all of the trustees present expressed interest in zoning, Walton said it might be better to check with our legislators before making such a move. (This comment from someone who has said he is tired of the state making dictates to counties?) It turned out to be another fine delay tactic. This is not a push for county zoning, although if handled properly, I believe it would be for the best. Rather, it is a push to at least go forth and develop a proposal for consideration. If not, we’re going to face something one day we may regret. MEANWHILE, IF the day does come when we pass a zoning ordinance in Putnam County, let us make certain it will be properly enforced. Passing an ordinance and failing to make it stick because we might offend our friends only makes the authority approving the ordinance look silly. But come to think of it, in some cases, that’s not hard to do.

summit meetings with Soviet leaders. THAT KIND OF summitry puts faces and personalities behind the cold issues and hard lines ot EastWest rivalries. While summit meetings have eased tensions, delivered treaties and spurred arms control, they don’t always work. There were those who said that Nikita S. Khrushchev’s misreading of John F. Kennedy at their 1961 summit led to the miscalculations that produced the Cuban missile crisis. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s meeting with Khrushchev created what was called “the spirit of Camp David,” but it didn’t last. Within the year, the U 2 spy plane episode led Khrushchev to angrily cancel a 1959 summit in Paris. Agreements signed at diplomatic summits are written on the way up, not at the top. THAT’S NOT THE case at a domestic summit like Bush’s meeting with the governors. There, scripts have to be written during the drama of the summit itself. So their agreements tend to be broad ones, with details to be filled in later. But atmosphere is important, too. The education summit delivered a sense of commitment, urgency and determination to deal with a deepening national problem. That’s not an answer, but it’s a beginning.