The Mail-Journal, Volume 17, Number 27, Milford, Kosciusko County, 23 July 1980 — Page 4

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., July 23,1980

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Editorials

It's time to read the legals Beginning this week and continuing through the next several weeks this newspaper will be printing the notices of tax levies (budgets) for the several taxing units in thecounty. Also printed in this week’s edition is the Lakeland Community School Corporation’s annual report. These are printed as a part of our American rights. The annual reports show the taxpayer where his money has been spent. The budgets show where the taxing units plan to spend tax monies in the coming year. It is, however, not only our right to read them but our duty. America can not remain a free nation if people are too busy to do their duty. It’s time to start paying attention. It’s time to exercise our rights. It’s time to read the legals. Do it today! President proclaims farm safety week

CHICAGO — President Carter has proclaimed the week of July 25 through 31 as National Farm Safety Week. The President reaffirmed his belief that a strong agriculture is essential if the nation is to maintain its leadership in the world economy during the 1980’s and that improving the safety and health of farm and ranch families and their employees will help them meet this challenge. National Farm Safety Week is co-sponsored by the National Safety Council and the Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is also supported by many farm and agri-related organizations serving agriculture. This year marks the 37th consecutive observance of the rural safety effort initiated during World War II to help combat accidents impairing wartime agricultural production.

The emphasis this year is to encourage more farm and ranch operators to use personal protective equipment such as safety shoes, hard hats, safety eyewear and respirators. At present, according to the National Safety Council, agricultural work accidents result in nearly 1,90 Q deaths and about 175,000 disabling injuries annually, with an undetermined number of occupational illnesses. As personal protective equipment has been used successfully in many industries, farm safety leaders believe its routine use in agriculture could significantly reduce these losses. William Hanford, manager of the Council’s farm department, said that at current rates more than 5,000 farm and ranch residents could lose their lives in accidents this year and some 450,000 suffer disabling injuries. The cost of these accidents would probably exceed $5 billion. However, many lives could be saved with corresponding reductions in the number of injuries and dollar costs if all farm and ranch families would adopt safe work, play and driving practices, remedy hazardous conditions and make full use of personal protective equipment. Bad law The Senate recently acquiesced with a Carter Administration proposal —by a single vote — which will allow the federal government to institute legal suits against state prisons and other state-run institutions even though no complaint has been filed. Although defenders of the principle that federal bureaucrats shouldn’t be allowed to voluntarily intervene in the states, according to Washington concepts, when no formal complaint had been made fought a delaying fight for principle, they lost by one vote. At issue here is the growing power of federal bureaucrats, over schools, welfare, prisons, etc. The recent Senate vote brings nearer the day when federal bureaucrats can intervene everywhere and dictate all state policy. Consider the intimidating power of federal legal suits against state institutions, even when no action is justified. And consider too that suits could always be brought by the imprisoned, by his or her family, by organizations acting in their behalf, etc. The sooner this added federal authority is ended, the safer the people will be from the ever-growing danger of an all-powerful central government in Washington.

What others say —

Ronald Reagan? By every surface indication, Ronald Reagan is a most implausible presidential candidate. Age: 69. Profession: movie actor. Experience in dealing with foreign policy and economic policy, the two most pressing national concerns: none. Political experience: eight years as governor of California, ending five years ago. Yet he not only totally dominates the Republican National Convention that opened in Detroit Monday, but leads the incumbent president in the Gallup Poll. How can this be? This is not asked here to belittle Mr. Reagan, who has routed his rivals in fair contest. And while some would prefer one and some another of the defeated, no clear alternative would be comforting to all. Where is the man who can persuade us he will measure up to the punishing tasks the next president will surely face? It is plainly to Mr. Reagan’s credit that our political system now reaches out to him; the revealing thing is what this tells about the rest of us. Consider the assets Mr. Reagan brings to the field of political battle. Professionally honed rhetorical skills, to be sure. A history of effective campaigning in California and in the 1976 primaries. A record of competence in administering the government of our largest political subdivision. A core of enthusiastic supporters willing to provide him not only votes but time and effort. Finally and most important, the issues on which, in lonely quest, he won those devoted supporters. If he has prevailed, it is because his boosterish General Electric speeches warned that government intrusion would wreck the economy. It is because he did rhetorical battle with often-lionized student rebels in the 19605. It is because he proposed, though lost, a California constitutional amendment limiting government spending. It is because he took on an incumbent president of his own party to warn of a growing Soviet threat four years ago. It is precisely because Ronald Reagan stood outside the mainstream of political thinking and events this last decade and more that he dominates one political party this week, and can plausibly hope v to win the nation’s highest office this fall. Where, after all, has the mainstream carried

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us? A sense of unease if not crisis permeates the land. Despite a vast prosperity evident even in recession-wracked Detroit, we feel the economy unwinding. Inflation destroys savings and hope. Recession ends jobs, destroying, self-esteem even if government supports cushion falling incomes. We all feel the vulnerability of oil supplies, watch Americans held hostage, read of Soviet armies on the march. Events seem out of control, and in ways very like those about which Mr. Reagan has for so long warned. The sense of society adrift is scarcely new, of course. With Vietnam, with political with Watergate, there has been a growing sense that something is wrong at the center. Four years ago the policital system also reached outside the mainstream, for a fresh new face, for someone who presented himself as an *%Shti-Washington figure. That experiment led to little change of policy and to anything but an easing of the sense of crisis. So this time the system is reaching for an old face, if only because it can then have some confidence in where he in fact stands. All this casts Mr. Reagan in a heroic historical role, of course, and it is by no means clear he will succeed in filling it. His frailties remain very real, and his election remains problematical despite the polls. Still more so his success in reforming the government; as governor he delivered less change than he seemed to promise. With all his acting skills, Mr. Reagan does not make a very persuasive Churchill. And the nagging concern remains that events would not yield even to a leader of that proportion, that our social and political system is so entangled in its own complexities that no one could move it. One would wish for a younger, more experienced and more profound candidate to express the sentiments Mr. Reagan has tapped. But who would it be? If Mr. Reagan does fail, the failure will not be his alone. This week the political news is dominated by an old face speaking an old message. That is an indictment not of Ronald Reagan, but of an entire generation of American political leadership. — THE WALL STRFFT JOURNAL

I W Al Um h Be sure and read the budgets, annual reports and other legals in The Mail-Journal during the next few weeks. It is your American right and duty.

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

QUESTION: "What do you think is the ideal size for a family?"

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KAREN TRANTER 1219 S. Lake St. Syracuse (housewife)

“I think it’s important, no matter how many children you have, to have both a mother and a father. A child needs both parents. My preference is three because that’s what I have.

TAMMY MILLER Milford (student)

“Probably four or five, because there’s already so many kids in the world. You shouldn’t have more than two or three.’’ BARBARA DIEHL Albion (homemaker) “Mother and father and two children. Why? Because of over population and it’s a bad thing to raise one child by himself. ”

Onr— —i nr-rni— ——rn m U Congressman Floyd Fithian © Reports 2 U ht" mi— rm II

Congressman Floyd Fithian, who has met with a number of groups during the past 10 days in Indiana, said this week the number one concern expressed to him is the economy. During visits to steel plants in northwest Indiana, Fithian discussed the impact of imported steel and autos and the specific problem posed by the increasing number of Japanese auto imports. “Unemployment in our steel and auto industries is at the highest level since 1933, and a big part of the problem is Japanese imports,” Fithian said. “In my recent talks with Indiana steelworkers we’ve discussed the need to increase pressure on the Japanese to limit their exports to the U.S. and to increase Japanese investment here. The feeling is very strong that we need action, not just talk, from the Japanese.” At Webster Fithian also met with 2nd District businessmen, including the Kiwanis Club in North Webster and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.

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MARY SPEICHER Milford (homemaker)

“I’d say today not more than two children. Most people can’t take care of more than two. ’ ’

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SANDRA FLANAGAN Syracuse (housewife)

“That’s hard for me to answer. I have six children. I think I have an ideal family, it may not be for everyone.’’ JANETALLEN r 1 Leesburg (secretary) “I’d say four, that’s how many I have and what I was raised with.” »

“Both groups were concerned about federal spending and the impact of deficits on the economy,” Fithian said. “We also discussed the need to enhance productivity as a means to reducing inflation and stabilizing the economy. We need to make our economic pie bigger, not just keep cutting it into smaller and smaller pieces. ” Town meetings Fithian held more than a dozen town meetings during the July District work period and said that concerns expressed were a mixture of local and national issues. “Government spending and inflation were the number one topic at town meetings,” Fithian said. “But we also discussed defense, the Social Security system, and a variety of local issues. “I’ve been pleased by the number of people who have taken the opportunity to come to the town meetings and express their views, It’s one way they can actively participate.”

tfiUZIN AROUND cu#

HI! THIS is your undercover, roving reporter Jill Stanley. When I am not working on a scoop I can be found at the Lakeland Youth Center, as its director. The Lakeland Youth Center is located on U.S. 13 on the corner across from Klink’s and beside the root beer stand. Our building is available to serve Milford. North Webster and Syracuse. We have 12 couples representing all three communities on the board of directors. Margorie Niccum donated the land for the center, and helped start the original idea of the center. She is a lifetime member of the board. Each couple is on the board for three years. This way each year there are some experienced members on the board. This helps run the center. We get some backing from the United Way, but a lot comes from the donations, activities and fund raising projects. We do need your support financially, in the activities, as volunteers, to help assure the Youth Center remains the great place for kids that we want it to be. I think the attitude of the people of all three communities is great and it helps me keep enthused about the center when I see how much everyone cares about their kids. It’s more important than ever that we provide a place that is safe, moral, caring and offers EVERY child the opportunity to develop and enjoy some kind of physical activity (not just sports or competing) Our building has a large gym area, kitchen, restrooms and a meeting room. We are going to try to have more adult activities and pre-schoolers during the mornings so the building is used most of the time. Any ideas of activities you think would be popular during the mornings would be appreciated. The large gym area is where most of the activities are held. One morning as I was checking the gymnastics equipment I heard a cricket. Try to find a cricket in that large of an area. Os course since it was empty and a large area that echoes anyway that small bug sounded 12 feet tall. I never did catch him, 1 guess he moved on to “BUG” someone else. —o— LAST SPRING we had a competition for the gymnastics classes. All students receive some sort of ribbon but we had more than we expected. The excitement for first place in each event was tremendous. Instructors Kim Conrad and Tracy Rinker were counting up points and I was awarding the ribbons. They called out the fifth, fourth, third, second, places in the floor event then as all the girls were waiting we called out the first place winner. The only problem was the person wasn’t there. As we all stood there it became apparent that a mistake had been made. Luckily we knew which girl we meant by looks but we sure didn’t know her name. Everyone had a good laugh and we won’t forget her name again. —o— NOT LONG after I started my job as director of the Youth Center I was asked to speak at the breakfast meeting of the Milford Kiwanis. I was told the meeting was held in the fire station at 6:30 a.m. Well I had only been in Milford once before and I managed to get turned around and heading out of town. It’s rather embarassing to get lost in the town of Milford and then have to admit it to a room full of strangers. —o— ONE SATURDAY last fall found our pee wee football game needing an umpire. Both coaches felt they were too involved to umpire so I told them I would do it. Well they all just stood there and said very little. I repeated my offer and the excuses began to flow. As we stood and waited the players began to get restless. Finally the tension was broken by one man who said. “Do you know the rules?” I replied very nicely yes. I asked, “Who do you think decided on the extent of the rules to be used and typed the official list of rules to be used, ran them off and handed them out to all of the coaches?” To everyone’s relief the umpire came. We are in need of coaches and helpers for this year’s pee wee football program. You don’t have to be an expert on the sport, know all the rules and plays at all. We need people who will commit themselves to working with these kids each week. If you can help and feel working with kids is worth a couple of hours a week for eight weeks please call the Youth Center. We need you. —o— I THINK that I have found the

LAKELAND YOUTH CENTER

secret the perfume industry has been trying to discover for years. > now know of a overwhelming “fragrance” which lasts forever and can’t be scrubbed off. Are you ready? It’s called chicken manure. I drove through a hot steamy fresh pile of it which had been spilled on the road. Wow what an odor! I managed to keep breathing until I got to the center. I got out and started wiping off the van. That was a big mistake to say the least. As I tried to gain my composure (and my stomach) I decided to drive immediately to the car wash. I washed and sprayed that van six times and the odor was still there. I am sure that you have seen the T.V. commercial about the man who’s aftershave arrives five minutes before him. Well the smell of the van arrived 20 minutes before me wherever 1 went. I pulled into the Little People Shoppe to see Sherri Keim about youth center business and she about passed out. She was polite and didn't realize it was my van. She said boy something outside smells terrible ... Do you know w hat it is? For many weeks I hated the thought of rain because it made the smell so much worse. I kept cleaning, washing, and even increased my deodorant but it just lasted and lasted. To think how good they taste at one of the barbecues. —o— SPEAKING OF chicken barbecues reminds me of the one we held last fall. We had a good crowd and we thought we needed extras, so we called and picked up a hundred or so more chickens. By the time they arrived the crowd had thinned to no-one. Now we had about 200 extra chickens and no more customers. Larry Keim, Dick Keim, and Larry Stackhouse (all board members) decided they would sell them around town. I guess card games, and many social events around town got some late night visitors peddling chickens. One lady told them to go home and let them play in peace. A

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BAYH ■ lines From Washington

by U.S. Senator Birch Bayh

DON’T FORGET OUR SOLDIERS “MISSING IN ACTI )N”

WASHINGTON - Let me take you back more than a decade to June 1966. Capt. Roger Sanders (not his real name), a pilot for the Navy, was flying at 35,000 feet over North Vietnam, His mission was to bomb a keysupply route leading into South Vietnam. Suddenly. Sanders' plane was hit by a Soviet-made ground-to-air missile. The pilot tried to turn his crippled aircraft around, hoping to make it back to the coast where he could ditch in the sea. If he made it, Sanders knew he stdbd a good chance of being rescued by helicopters from the aircraft carrier. But the damage was just too great. As the plane began to lose altitude, Sanders ejected and floated to earth beneath the canopy of his parachute, thus ending one career -- that of a fighter/bomber pilot — and beginning a new career as a “POWMIA.” According to Defense Department records, there are still more than 2400 American servicemen listed as either being prisoners of war or- missing in action. These men, along with their families, are still paying the price of war. Nobody knows for sure if these soldiers and airmen are alive or dead, and there have been reports that the Hanoi government continues to hold the remains of hundreds of American servicemen. This is a disgrace. War is never pleasant, and both sides in a conflict pay a high price. Gvilians as well as military personnel suffer from the conditions of war. Yet, when the conflict is over; when the armies go home, basic human decency dictates POW’s should be sent home and that the bodies of those who lost their lives on enemy soil should be returned to their families. It is almost a decade now since the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam. And as time goes by, the memories of this tragic chapter in our history become dimmer and dimmer, I believe it is important for us as a nation to make a conscious effort to remember those missing in action, and to continue to work toward a resolution of their fate.

great time was had by them all and guess what! They sold all of the chickens. They all offered to do the same this year so watch out Syracuse. —o— WE ARE always looking for new ideas to help raise money for the Youth Center. This year for the first time it was decided to have a stand at the fairgrounds in North Webster during the Mermaid Festival. We needed mice and they had to be wild, so we set out to catch our own. Local barns were set with traps. Now remember these had to be special traps because we needed the mice to be in good working order. Days went by and No Mice! We began to get desperate and the board members began asking everyone they knew if they had mice. I hear that some didn’t appreciate being asked. Ha! As the traps were moved around we finally caught a few. One clever fellow was being fed by Mrs. Larry Keim, when it jumped out of the barrel and scurried away. That was some mouse, he not only ate well for a couple of days but he managed to get his freedom when he wanted. The festival finally opened and boy was it hot! We opened our stand with high hopes. We soon discovered to our dismay that these mice didn’t know what to do. Next year if you see a booth with desperate looking people in it and the sign says Lakeland Youth Center try to remember this little story and please help us. Maybe we can teach the mice the rules by then. —o— WELL I have enjoyed sharing some of the facts and “funnies” about the Youth Center. Our fall booklet with all of the-activities available will be out the last week of August so please watch for it. It will come home with all grade school kids and also be available at many local businesses. This is scoop Stanley signing off for now. I heard a new rumor I have to track down.

By an Act of Congress which I cosponsored, July 18 was designated "National POW-MIA Recognition Day.” While this resolution recognizes all U.S. servicemen lost in combat and not recovered -- as well as POW’s - the Vietnam MlA’s continue to kindle concern among many, many Americans. I believe it is incumbent upon the U.S. to take whatever actions are necessary to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. Accordingly. 1 have voted and worked against direct and indirect aid to Vietnam. It seems to me that, until all of our servicemen are accounted for. the U.S. should not consider providing any type of assistance -- financial or otherwise -- to this communist country. Such an action would be an insult to the memory of these brave individuals. The family of Roger Sanders is still waiting for word as to whether he is alive or s dead. They want to know what his fate was - and they deserve to know. The American people, at the very least, owe it to the sacrifice he made to keep his memory -- and the memory of his thousands of fellow MlA's -in the forefront of our national consciousness.

THE MAIL JOURNAL (USP S 325 840) Published by The Mail Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class matter at the Post Otfice at Syracuse. Indiana 46567. Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main Street, Syracuse, Indiana 46547 and, at additional entry offices. Subscription: sll per year in Kosciusko County; sl3outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change 0* add ress forms to The Mail Journal, P.O. Box 188, Millord, Indiana 46542.