The Independent-News, Volume 118, Number 6, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 2 July 1992 — Page 9

CONSUMER ALERT If you attend one of Indiana's many carnivals or fairs this summer, don’t let yourself become the victim of a con game. Attorney General Linley Pearson says consumers fall victim to carnival and fair operators each year, often without realizing they have been conned. "While many carnival and fair game operators are honest, some are not,’’ Pearson says. "Some carnival game operators will use unscrupulous tactics to cheat consumers out of their money. Before paying to play carnival games determine if the game is fair so you do not lose your money in a scam.’’ Consumers can be decieved by carnival game operators in one of three methods. Games can be rendered unfair by the use of a mechanical device inside the game; games can be manipulated by the operator and games can be made unfair by the use of deceptive appearances. "Although local police often inspect carnival games, legitimate games that pass inspection can be replaced later with unfair or illegal games,’’ Pearson says. "Approved gamed may be altered to serve an illegitimate purpose. Before palying any carnival games, determine if the carnival game operators have been inspected and the results of that inspection.” Consumers who play carnival games should look for the following: • A sign posted in a prominent place sign stating the name of the game, the cost to play and an explanation of how the game is played and how prizes are awarded. • Each game must be possible to

Wanda’s Place Next To Hook’s Drugs 586-7999 Wanda, Formerly Os DeJoss-Jacob Now Serving HOMEMADE BREAKFAST LUNCHES - DINNERS HOURS: Monday - Friday, 5:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, 7:00 a.m. - 2.00 p.m. Good Food! Good Company! May Oberfell Lorber Attorneys at Law 612 Roosevelt Rd., Walkerton Phone: (219) 586-7001 Telephone hours: 9:00 a m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday Appointments: 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday (bv appointment only) John H. Peddycord, Attorney at Law Managing Partner, Walkerton Office Broad range of legal services available Main location: 300 North Michigan South Bend, Indiana 46601 (219) 232-2031

perform and a prize must be attainable under the rules from the customer’s playing position. • Cash should not be awarded as the prize and prizes should not be repurchased for cash. • Operators should display all prizes that can be won and only prizes that can be won. • Scorecareds or punchboards cannot be used to play any game. An example of a game that can be rigged to prevent players from winning is the "digger”. In that game, a player tries to pick up prizes with a small steam shovel or crane. Many times the steam shovel’s jaws will be too weak to pick up the heavier items, or not big enough to pick up larger prizes. Carnival game opertors can manipulate the games to prevent consumers from winning. In games requiring a coin toss for prizes, many the prizes will be hung over the dishes into which the coins are to be tossed. If the prizes are hung low over the dishes, coins cannot be tossed successfully because there is no room to arch the coin. Also, the dishes can be waxed or set at an angle to prevent the coin from stayng in the dish. Games which require darts to be thrown at balloons also can be rigged by the game operator to prevent the player from winning. For example, the balloons for the larger prizes are often underinflated, or the operator will stand in front of those balloons. The ring toss is one of the most popular carnival games. In this game, the player throws a ring or hoop to fall over a target. When the operator demonstrates the game, it appears easy. The player, however, cannot get the ring over the target because he has been give a ring smaller than the one used by the operator and is throwing from a differnt vantage point.

Throwing balls at stacked bottles is another popular game. However, some of the bottles are weighted and nearly impossible to knock over. When demonstrating the game, the operators often stack the weighted bottles on top, making it easy to knock over. The player cannot knock over the bottles because the weighted bottles have been moved to the bottom of the stack. "These acts are violations of the state’s Deceptive Sales Act,” Pearson explains. "If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of the games, do not play. You probably will not win. Many of the prizes could be purchased for much less than you will spend in attempts towin the games.” YOU AND YOUR PET Dear Dr. Wise: I made an appointment with a veterinarion to examine our new puppy and give him the shots he needs. They asked me to bring a stool sample. Why is this necessary? Answer: Your veterinarian wants to examine the stools for worms, a frequent problem for puppies. Actually, he will be looking through a microscope for the eggs of worms. These internal parasites are more than a nuisance, they are a serious health threat. The most common are roundworm and hookworm. Even if you wormed the pup, he needs checking since no worming medication is always 100 percent effective. Usually we use two treatments to make sure that all the larvae and adults are killed. Then to be certain that he is worm free, we recheck after the last worming. The parasites can attack as early as birth when larvae (an immature stage of the worm) can be transmitted through the mother’s milk or from her stool. They enter the stomach and develop into adults as they move to the intestine. They then lay eggs which pass out in the stool ready to infect another animal or the same pup and start the life cycle again. Adult roundworms live in the intestine and grows to about five inches long. They show up in a puppy’s stool or vomit. The immature stages migrate through the body and may cause pneumonia, a pot-bellied appearance (due to liver migration), vomitting, diarrhea and dehydration. Adult hookworms also live in the small intestine and actually attach themselves to the organ’s lining. An infected animal can have black or bloody stools, dehydration, weight loss, poor appetite and lethargy. Tapeworms come from swallowing fleas or eating rabbits or certain rodents. They do not cause lifethreatening problems but can affect a puppy’s digestive system and keep him from gaining weight by robbing him of food. Adult tapeworms can leave white segments up to one-half inch long in a dog’s feces. Heartworms, transmitted by mosquitos, have gradually moved from the South through the rest of the country. A blood test and preventive medicine protect dogs from these parasites. If untreated, worms can cause death. They also can infect adult dogs which should have worm examinations at least once or twice a year. Cats also are subject to DUANE DRAKE’S TREE SERVICE TREE REMOVAL TREE TRIMMING STUMP REMOVAL Estimates Phone (219) 936-6546 Plymouth *23 93

worms. Over-the-counter medicines may be ineffective and do not always treat all types of worms. If you have a question about your pet, write Dr. Wise, Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, 3802 Springfield Overlook, Indianapolis, IN 46234. INCOMPETENT MAMMOGRAMS CAN BE DEATH SENTENCES (HNN) — Mammograms can be life savers for women; they can also be death sentences in hands that are inept. Many women are being given the "all clear” when in fact they actually have tiny cancers in their breasts that eventually, undiscovered, will kill them, reports Health News Network, the news service of the Indiana Association of Osteopathic Physicans & Surgeons. The problem is increasing in America because most states do not have strict regulations that control mammogram machines, which are a special x-ray machine, nor the people who operate them or analyze the pictures they take. Some of these analysts give women positive verdicts which are false. In turn they give the women who trust them a sense of well-being when they actually have breast cancer and are already in danger. Michigan has passed the first comprehensive law and state health officials there are keeping cancer clinics under strict surveillance. A few other states are at last focusing attention on this situ-

USED CARS MAKE US AN OFFER! 1969 Ford Mustang California Car 1990 Olds Cutlass Supreme 4 Door, Low Miles 1989 Ford Escort 2 Door 1983 Buick Regal 2 Door 1982 Pontiac Grand Prix withT Top 1981 Chevrolet Station Wagon 1977 Plymouth Station Wagon Needs work SEE JOHN HEINLEIN AUTOMOTIVE PARTS & SERVICE U.S. 6 East 586-3166 Walkerton 2t|9

INDIAN DAY CAMP Sponsond By: /\ / FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH iff L fed North Liberty F \ And \ \ CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP \ 1 7 St. Joseph County y J JULY 13-17 Kindergarten To Grade 7 9:00 a.m. To 12:00 Noon North Liberty Park A “Bailroad Caboose” With A Lot Os Fun And Demonstration And Revealing The Love And Grace Os God By ______‘JOdia^Lore^ V Some Activities . . . * NATURE TRAILS WNCi * NATURE studies JfHoOjVxSi ★ NATURE CRAFTS * INDIAN STORIES ★ RECREATION * CH,LDREN willeither RE L ,n An Tribe ■r 2 In A Tribal Counsel * MOMS/DRIVERS Activities Available Coffee & Donuts NEED A RIDE TO THE NORTH LIBERTY PARK Call The Church 656-4537 or Pastor HoMg 586-7281 v

JULY 2, 1992 - THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS -

ation. The American Cancer Society, and others, are calling for laws establishing national quality standards, which do not now exist. Mammograms cannot be taken with a typical general x-ray machine. It takes a machine specifically designed for mammograms. And some of the mammogram machines are better and more reliable than others —a somber reality. The pictures must be taken by persons trained to do so, not some office nurse who has good intentions but no training. Os utmost importance, the picture must be studied by a physician trained to analyze it. The cancer might be just a tiny speck, or an elusive shadow, on the picture. On a recent ABC-TV program, "Prime Time Live”, Diane Sawyer revealed some shocking, lifethreatening practices taking place at so-called cancer clinics. Women should ask tough questions: Is the clinic accredited by the American College of Radiology? What are the credentials of the persons taking the pictures? The analyst giving the verdict? Howgood are the mammography machines? Don’t accept glib answers. Insist on knowing these things and do not rely completely on mammograms. If you have questions call the American Cancer Society, toll-free, at 1-800-ACS-2345. Life is what you make it, or what it makes you.

9