The Mail-Journal, Volume 16, Number 49, Milford, Kosciusko County, 26 December 1979 — Page 4

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., December 26,1979

Editorials

The Bill of Rights — do you know it? Asked the other day if we could name the Bill of Rights our answer was “No, can you?’’ The answer received was a second “No” to echo our own. We knew them when we were in school but like most Americans wehave forgotten most of them except the first one and the now famous fifth amendment. It is therefore time to refresh memories. We will review, over the period of several weeks, those all important amendments which give us our basic freedoms. The first 10 amendments were proposed by Congress on September 25,1789; adopted June 15,1790. These first 10 amendments have become known as the Bill of Rights. Congresss shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. When Charles II reigned England, Parliament passed the Conventicle Act making everyone over 16 years of age who attended a conventicle (any meeting for religious worship at which five persons were present besides the household) subject to imprisonment so they could compell everyone to attend the established Church of England. The Test Act was also passed to require oaths in support of the established religion. Those acts hastened emigration to America for freedom to worship. The founders of this great nation wanted freedom of worship protected. When James Madison became president he vetoed a bill passed by Congress for incorporating a church organization because he held it contrary to this amendment and shortly thereafter he vetoed another which would make a gift of public lands to a church. This amendment also gives freedom to the press. Henry VIII was king of England when the political importance of the art of printing began to be apprehended, that monarch thought it necessary to take absolute control of it. He not only limited the privilege of keeping a press, he required inspection of the matter by a licenser. The forefathers of this country did not want these same problems here and included freedom of the press in the first amendment. They also gave us the right to assemble and petition the government. Bowl time This is the time of year American sports fans enjoy the annual flurry of college football bowl games, of which there is nothing comparable-anywhere in the world. No other nation watches the football (soccer in the rest of the world) scene on college campuses as Americans do. Fans in other countries primarily follow professional teams, as we do also. It’s a sports tradition of great color, pageantry and excitement — and students and teams from diverse sections of the nation get to meet in this way. Although it seems odd to some that college players are willing to miss much of the holiday season to continue football training, players seldom object to bowl games, since this is a mark of achievement for the team. Why has college football taken such a hold on adult fans in America? One reason is there was no other type of football in much of the country for so long. Today there’s soccer. And today there are many pro teams, but for many years there were no pro teams in large areas (none in the South, for example, until Miami arrived on the scene). Baseball having ended in October, fans naturally looked to football as a field sport (basketball has long dominated indoor sports in most of America). Graduates in rural and small town areas, even in many cities, had no nearby pro team to follow. Also, college football games offered graduates a chance to meet again and enjoy the old school spirit. And here again, America is unique, for in this country school has traditionally been more of a social affair than in other countries. Both Indiana and Purdue will be participating in bowl games this year — Purdue in the Liberty Bowl and IU in the Holiday Bowl. Ohio State will be representing the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day and Michigan will participate in the Gator Bowl-not bad for Big 10 schools. So the American bowl “season” is singular and peculiarly American. It is part of the year’s principal holiday, in both anticipation and pleasure. The best advice to those who will soon be traveling to the bowls is to start early, celebrate moderately, drive slowly and be mindful of the weather and its dangers.

Press and the public

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Helen Copley is chairman of the board of Copley Newspapers. The following are excerpts from a speech she gave recently at the Town Hall of California in Los Angeles and is reprinted from the December 10 issue of the Publisher’s Auxiliary.) By HELEN K. COPLEY Never before in the history of this country, in my opinion, has freedom of the press been under such sustained attack andin such jeopardy as it is now. This threat to thHiberty of all Americans does not come imperial president or a run-away Congress. It comes from the judiciary, led by the Supreme Court of the United States, the very branch of government most responsible for safeguarding the First Amendment’s guarantee of the people’s right to know and the press’s right to publish. Our problem — which is to say, our danger — arises in part because the First Amendment’s prohibition against interfering with free speech is addressed solely to the Congress and makes no mention of the courts. The founding fathers simply did not foresee the dangers of an imperial judiciary. Columnist William Buckley’s description of the U.S. judiciary as the true imposters of the 20th century may be overly dramatic, but the grim fact is that the courts in a series of stunning decisions recently have made it increasingly difficult, and in some instances impossible, for the press to investigate the government, while making it easier for the government to investigate, harrass, and muzzle the press. Mind you. the traditional American freedom embodied in the First Amendment once was an absolute, unquestioned and unchallenged, for almost all of the first 200 years of our national existence. Only in our time has it become a matter of debate in the courts, where shocking inroads upon it are being sustained. We are seeing at our peril this absolute being changed by judicial decree to conform with changing political beliefs and needs. This has been an insidious process. Each of these regressive encroachments on the First Amendment, taken alone, does not seem terribly serious or alarming. But taken together, they have carried us a lot further down the rockstrewn road toward government control than anyone would have thought possible even ten years ago. Professor John Hohenberg, professor emeritus of journalism at Columbia University and currently Meeman Distinguished Professor of Journalism at the University of Tennessee, calls the crisis now confronting the American press the worst since the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798. The cumulative effect of court assault upon the First Amendment is far more adverse to the nation’s press than is realized. For example, even the New York Times must have been given

pause by the $285,000 fine in the Farber case in which it sought to protect its confidential news sources. And when another $200,000 or $300,000 in legal fees is added, the half-million-dollar cost of defending the First Amendment rights becomes a formidable, intimidating hurdle for smaller newspapers. Indeed, a small newspaper or broadcasting station cannot protect itself any longer. , The Supreme Court’s negative impact on the nation’s press is real enough and it’s ominous. For exaipple, the publisher of the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colo., sold his newspaper recently to a large group, Cox Enterprises. He said his decision to sell was the result of “growing awareness on my part that as you look at the court decisions that have been coming down lately . . . you realize that the judiciary holds all the cards, at least all the high ones. ” And because smaller newspapers and stations do not have the resources of the New York Times to combat government exploitation of these erosive court decisions, they are the very ones which now will bear the greatest brunt of being harrassed and muzzled. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan complained recently that the news media have been overreacting to adverse court decisions. This brings to mind Winston Churchill’s observation about reaction. Sir Winston said if somebody kicked you on the shins and you reacted, then that would make you a reactionary. If the press seems unusually reactionary, as Justice Brennan suggests, it’s simply because he and his brethren on the bench have been kicking us on the shins. The obvious question that we in the press and others should examine and try to answer is why this unprecedented court-press conflict at this time? The reasons, it seems to me, are complex and therefore defy ready explanation. Basically, I believe, the public in the post-Watergate malaise has come to view the press as being too powerful, as being aloof, arrogant, and alien. Thus, as Vermont Royster of the Wall Street - Journal has wisely observed, the danger is not so much that governments or the courts will succeed in silencing the press, as that the people themselves will abandon their devotion to freedom of thought and speech of the press. As we of the press defend ourselves against attempts of the. courts and legislatures to chip away at our First Amendment guarantees of free speech, we must come to appreciate all the more that it is the “general spirit of the people’’ on which, as Hamilton emphasized, the basic guarantees must ultimately depend. But, despite our serious setbacks, I fear we of the press continue to undermine such small gains in public understanding as we occasionally win. Our arrogance continues to invite public disdain and judicial defeats.

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The first amendment to the Bill of Rights insures the freedom of the press.

yoice of the people

A column on the opinions of the people of the Lakeland area ...

QUESTION "Are you making any New Year's resolutions this year? What? Why?"

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Paul Phillabaum Syracuse “I feel they shouldn’t wait until the first of the year. They should be made throughout the year as the need arises. If you’ve got something that needs corrected, you should do it then. Like if you need to go on a diet don’t wait until the end of the year, or if you decide to exercise. Resolutions should be made throughout the year.” ■

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.Margo Tarman New Paris “I don't make them, because 1 don’t like to break them.”

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Hazel Charlton Milford “Yes. I’m going to quit drinking so much coffee. Eight cups a day is not good for your health.” Rex Hogan Warsaw “I’ve just really haven’t had time to make a resolution. I probably would have made one if I would have had time. ”

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Brent Bowen North Webster “My New Year’s resolution is this. What I 'm going to do is try to make straight A’s in medical school. I'm bound and determined to make it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do and I’m going to try to achieve it.”

Iw - rS Dan Miner Milford “No, I’m not. I haven't been able to keep one yet Lack of will power.”

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As early as 5,000 years ago, men had developed the foundations of arithmetic and geometry.

THE MAIL JOURNAL (U S P S. 325 840) Published by The Mail-Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office at Syracuse, Indiana 46567. Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main street, Syracuse, Indiana 46567 and at additional entry offices Subscription: $lO per year in Kosciusko County; sl2 outside county. POSTMASTERS Send change of add ress forms to The Mai I Journal, P.O. Box 188, Milford, Indiana 46542 O)

taiziN AROUND

WHEN BILL Fowler, Marion radio station executive and sometime resident of Lake Wawasee, saw the picture of his good friend Jack Alfrey holding his prize six-pound large mouth bass, in a photo in the November 24th issue of The Mail-Journal, he had an idea. He got together with his brother-in-law. Syracuse auto agency owner Dan Wyant, and said. “We have to do something about this.” Finally, they secured the negative of the photo, had a Fort Wayne studio make an enlargement of the picture, and on Friday they surprised Alfrey at his Lake Wawasee home by presenting the two-by-three-foot framed picture of him. The photo’s title: “Jack’s Giant.” Alfrey was somewhat nonplussed by the good humor of his two lakeside friends. In the accompanying photo. Alfrey is shown in the center with Wyant on the left, and Fowler —o— A MIGHTY creature is the germ. Tho smaller than a pachyderm. His customary dwelling place Is deep within the human race. His childish pride he often pleases By giving people strange diseases. — From KU SEZ. KUH in house bulletin —O'CATHERINE SILVERS, for merly of North but recently a resident of r 3 East Cove Inverness. Fla., is spending the holidays with her daughter and son-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis (Sue* Huffman, of North Webster, and with their son Steve, a WHS freshman. Her late husband, a North Webster realtor and practicing attorney, died at age 5!» on October 3. Mrs. Silvers is busying herself with volunteer work in and around Inverness.

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JOHN LONGENR.U’GiI JOHN LONGENBAUGH has been on his new job at the high school for about four weeks now and according to several of his co-workers, he is doing a fine job. John is the Night Activities Supervisor, a newly-created position initiated because of the larger volume of people taking advantage, of the school’s facilities in the evenings. Among this responsibilities are assisting other supervisors on any given evening, taking emergency phone calls and just seeing in general that people are where they are supposed to be and not where they’re not supposed to be. He's doing a lot of walking — there’s a lot of ground to cover in that building — but reports that his feet as doing “just fine,” Asked how he likes the job. John commented “I like it. Having trained in the education field. I’m happy to be working here. And it might be a good opportunity to get back into the field at some later date.” John was one of the unfortunate local people who was laid off when Dana bought out Weatherhead 10 months ago. MR. AND Mrs. Meyer Maidenberg left Monday for their new Florida home following nine years residency on Morrison Island. Before they left. Meyer issued copies of a booklet, entitled “Short History of Morrison Island.” which he compiled with the aid of Rosalyn Jones, George W. Bryan, Louis N’eizer, Edith E. Benninghoff. Frederick J. Pfeiffer. Kathryn Henney Rinehart and Phyllis R. Horvath, all Morrison Island residents. The 31-page book has 28 photos of the area and a map of the area when Lake Wawasee was called Nine Mile Lake. An old photo

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depicts the first reported residence on Morrison Island —a log cabin which was the home of William J Morrison at the end of the Civil War The booklet is worth taking a look at. Extra copies are available from Ivan Rinehart, r 2 Syracuse. It lists the following residents of Morrison Island as of the summer of 1979: James 11. and Robert S. Benninghoff. Michael Boylen. James A. Dietzen. Jane Eagles. Evelyn E. Moore. Ed Emerson. Mrs. Noel L. Freeman. Arthur C. Fredericks. Mrs. Walter (Jean* Gotshall. Richard L. Gross. Lawrence Heintzelman. Dr. Charles W. Hoard. Robert F. Jesse. Mrs. Welton (Violet* Jones. William Kehoe. Dr. William R. Kopp. Dr. Max R. Long. Paul E. McGill. Meyer Maidenberg. Robert C. Myers. Louis F. Niezer. Paul C. Nord. Mrs. Billie McArdle. Joe Blaser. Frederick J. Pfeiffer. Ivatr D. Rinehart. Mrs. Harold Rozelle. Mrs. Earl L. Shafer. Lowell Showalter. Mrs. Milo D. Snyder. Miss Ann L. Spalding. Mrs. Betty G. Stephens. Glee Summers. Raymond E. Toles. J. Fred Trick. Sr.. Thomas C. Walker. Edward Wellington. Mrs. F. C. Yarger. Carl IL Yaste. Dr. Elizabeth Graves and Roscoe G. Shambaugh. —o— THIS COLUMN is singling out Noble C. Blocker for a special Holiday Greeting. A longtime resident of 301 South Lake Street. Syracuse. Blocker is a patient in the Goshen General Hospital recovering from major surgery He was for years an executive in the State Bank of Syracuse and for eight years Kosciusko County auditor. His friends in the community 4and county* are legion, and we re sure they all join us in this get-well wish.

Letters to the editor

Thanks for coverage

Dear Editor: We wish to express our sincere thanks to you for the coverage which you have given to the Frost Foundation, in The Mail-Journal. We appreciate your concern for our efforts. We also wish to thank you for the efforts which we see every week in The Papers. Inc. to cover local news. You fulfill a

Thanks for EMS support

Dear Editor. The members of the Milford EMS want to extend their best wishes to the citizens of the Milford and surrounding communities. We want to thank everyone who has supported the EMS; the industries, businesses, organizations and churches. A special thank you to all who participated in the EMS bazaar last spring, to Jean Treesh and Wilma Ruch who spent countless hours and an endless amount of energy spearheading the bazaar, to our friends and neighbors who are always willing to babysit without notice, and to our families who stand behind us and who many times must give up special times when we are “on call.” From all of us to all of you. Seasons Greetings and a very happy and healthy New Year. John Perry. EMT Max & Marlene Evans. EMT’s Eldon & Susie Chupp, EMT’s Jim Brumbaugh. EMT Cheryl Brunjes. EMT Fred Powell. EMT Oscar Schmucker, EMT Natalie Stump. EMT Monica Bice, EMT Gary & Mikky Bockman. In Training

GREETING ONE another on the street in Syracuse Monday morning were two former Syracuse High School students and coaches of considerable note — Burt Niles of Warsaw and Charles Beck, now of Syracuse Burt had a long and successful coaching career at Pierceton and Warsaw while most of Beck’s recent coaching career was at Ligonier High School. During the convivial conversation a young lady approached Beck and kissed him on the cheek Beck blushed, then said. “She’s a former student That should tell you how good a teacher 1 was.” —o— ' MARY BUSHONG. tX North Shore Drive, was recently told by Katharine Rothenberger of Papakeechie Lake that their mutual friend, the famous anthropoligist Margaret Mead’s only son, an aide to the deposed Shah of Iran, managed to leave the troubled country before the Shah did and thus escaped what could easily have been an ill fate. Mrs Bushong was host to Mrs. Mead and her good friend. Mrs Rothenberger. some time ago. giving a number of local people an opportunitv to meet Mrs. Mead —o— WE HAVE weeks like this when people are visiting family and friends in other areas or they are off to Florida or some other warm, comfortable place and local news is hard to come by. Maybe we can fall back on the old adage that “No news is good news.” We trust in another week or so everything will be back to normal and these pages will swell to their usual size. Meanwhile we wish all our readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR and let it be a safe one.

very much needed community service and we are grateful for your efforts. Thanks again, and Merry Christmas to you and all of your employees there at The Papers. Sincerely Yours. Ray B. Frost Michael Harris The Frost Foundation Staff

Arden Miller. Helper Pat Speicher. Driver Bruce Hunsberger. Driver Steve Miller. Driver Randy Veach. Driver E. C. Bailey. Driver

Court news

COVNTY < <>l RT The following claims have been filed in Kosciusko Countv Court. James Jarrett, judge: SMALL CLAIMS Town of Syracuse filed claims against; Mrs. D. Knisley, 107' 2 Benton Street, Syracuse. SSO; Viola Simmons. P.O. Box 91 Syracuse. $149; Lyman Stuby. P.O. Box 163 Syracuse. ssl; Ron Gulick. 234 Home Avenue. Elkhart. $52; Leo Chalk, r 3 Syracuse. $353; Frederick Hann. U2‘ 2 South Huntington. Syracuse. $207 Tom G. McClain, r 1 box IKS Syracuse vs Glenn Rosenquist, r 1. The plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant in the amount of S7OO, for the costs of the action and all other relief proper.