The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 29, Milford, Kosciusko County, 17 July 1985 — Page 4

THE MAIL-JOURNAL —Wed., July 17,1985

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Editorials

It served the town for 83 years They call it progress. And it is. But, another area landmark is gone. A bit of history has been replaced. , The old Milford standpipe, long an area landmark, had served the town since 1902. But, in past years its age began to show. It became less efficient. It became necessary to replace it. Last fall the town of Milford put into operation a new standpipe. There was no longer a need for the old one, so it was decided to tear it down. Its last hours were recorded by M-J photographers last Friday (see page 1 story and photos) and a number of townspeople were on hand to watch its fall to the ground. Like many things in this world today, it is hard to let go of the old but the new one that replaced it is a sign of progress and was a necessary replacement. The new standpipe stands by the highway and proudly tells all who drive down SR 15 that they are approacing the town of Milford. If the new standpipe lasts as long as the old one we can t help but wonder how the residents of Milford in 2078 will feel as they watch it tumble to the ground. Maybe like those on hand last Friday: Sad at the loss of a friend. Proud of the new one that replaced the old one. Reagan - Gorbachev The upcoming meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev offers hope for improvement in relations between the superpowers. Yet toojnuch shouldn’t be expected of the November summit. It’s the right time for Mr. Reagan. He has but three years left when he meets Gorbachev, who may have decades ahead of him. Gorbachev knows this, and that Mr. Reagan would very much like to leave office having contributed something toward world peace. He is in firm command in Moscow, having removed his chief rival from the politburo and having brought in a new Foreign Minister. If he were preparing for real movement, this was probably a necessary first step. Mr. Reagan must face the fact that a totalitarian state can devote as much of its budget to arms as its leaders dictate, and Russian leaders are aware of their advantage. They also control the media inside Russia, another advantage. Yet Russian leaders are worried over nuclear defense research now underway in the U.S., and there are indications Gorbachev would like to devote more of Russia’s budget to non-military programs. This, in the long term, will make Russia an even more formidable world power. Thus there may be a basis for arms agreements and limitations, and the summit meeting might act as a spur to delegates now negotiating in Geneva — to reach an accord which the two leaders can ratify in November. The Geneva meeting was agreed upon just when it appeared hopes for a summit were growing dim, that Gorbachev might be resigned to waiting for the next U.S. president. That is encouraging and both the Russian and American people hope for some progress, some lessening of tension, as a result of Geneva, 1985. Geography One of the failings of U.S. schools in recent years is the failure to teach basic courses, or require students to take them. Much is heard about math, English and science. But geography is also badly overlooked. Recently a 10th grade teacher in Florida decided to give her students a test on geography. Many didn’t know whether France was a country or a city. Many didn’t know what continent Germany was on, etc. The teacher found such ignorance incredible. Earlier generations of Americans studied a year of geography at about the fourth grade level. This ignorance about geography among so many U.S. students is no worse than their ignorance in other fields. It should be remembered that geography enables one to read maps, to understand the world better, to analyze foreign policy, and to better understand the world’s peoples and problems. In many of today’s “modern” schools, one finds early courses in theater, social subjects, etc., etc. Students are often into these subjects as early as the 3rd grade. The current back-to-basics trend still needs encouragement. Students ought first to learn to write, to read, to perform math in their head, to learn geography and other basics. The exotic, arty and social subjects, if they are to be taught, can come later. > What others say — The college fleece We suppose it was inevitable that People Magazine would exhaust the supply of celebrities to write about. How else to explain the feature in a recent edition that tells the stories of seven people who are long overdue on paying back their government-backed college loans and have been sued recently by the government for repayment . called Coke Plus, Super Coke, or any Humber of names. “I feel totally victimized,” moans a 29-year-old attorney in Washington, D.C., a graduate of Bernard Law School, who owes about $26,000. “I could make some payments if they’d make them reasonable,” says a San Diego carpenter, 41, who make $34,000 last year and owes $1,200. “Sure, I owe the money. But I wanted to pay it back on my terms,” says an off-Broadway director, 33, who owes $2,000, makes only $125 a week, but chooses to live in a S7OO-a-month Greenwich Village Apartment. In all, recipients of low interest, government-backed loans have defaulted on a total of about $4.5 billion. The rate of default has been as high as 12.5 percent. At 10.9 percent last year, it was still more than five times higher than the average default rate for mortgage and other consumer loans. Normally, a borrower doesn’t begin paying back his loan until a year after graduation from college. The current crackdown is aimed at people who are five and six and ten years out of college, many of them making considerable incomes. We suspect that these students learned their lessons well for having participated in the government loan program. What they have learned, watching the government’s decades-long record of handing out money to every conceivable interest group without requiring demonstrated need or asking for repayment, is that it is morally permissable to fleece Uncle Sam. We can only hope that publicity about defaulters will help persuade Congress to accept President Reagan’s proposal to limit the amount of money a family may earn and still have their children qualify for a loan. -CRAWFORDSVILLE JOURNAL-REVIEW

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Above, left, is the old Milford standpipe that served the town of Milford from 1902 until the new standpipe, on the right, was put into use last fall.

Letters to the editor

Doesn't like rock and roll Dear Editor: I saw and heard some of this recent rock and roll on (channel) 22 the other evening from the City of Brotherly Love and merry ol’ London, and very likely you did •too? I got an eye and ear full and over flowing during those few minutes my insides and inner spirit could stand it! I know good music when I once awhile hear it and try to hide my 20-20 vision from that down right crazy head jerkings and dumb body jesters! Older people ought to know better in their clapping, stand ups and nearly going into their third heaven while listening and watching such actions. Children and teenagers have yet a lot to learn about good and bad art. I can some how understand their foolishness. This kind of modern art comes directly from the devil’s garbage bin! Don’t condemn too much for my thinking on the subject. Many of us have the same feeling. Os course, we are in the minority. Clayton J. Mock Syracuse Soviet Union and Reagan's taxation Dear Editor: Soviets’ new leader Gorbachev’s big problem now is to get his 280 million slaves to do less drinking and do more useful work. Currently they are consuming about 72 billion dollars in booze plus all the bootlegging and moonshining. Gorbachev would like to cut the billions wasted on harsh liquor and use the money to build several thousand tanks, helicopters and nuclear missiles. So the Soviet workers live a dull life, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Their income is about eight rubles or $8 per day while vodka costs 10 rubles per liter. Note the unofficial exchange value of a ruble equals 25 cents so eight rubles would only be $2 per day. THE MAIL-JOURNAL (U.S.P.S. 3258-4000) 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: sls per year in Kosciusko County, s2l outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of ad dress forms to The Mail Journal, P.O. Box 188. Milford, Indiana 46542

Russia has the highest yearly consumption of hard liquor per person for citizens 15 years and older of any country in the world. Consequently the Soviets’ death rate reached over 51,000 per year from acute alcohol poisoning in 1978. The death rate has increased rapidly since then. Clearly thousands of Soviets prefer a life of drunken stupor to a life as socialists slaves. Since alcohol is becoming a * problem in America, we have taken steps to curb drunken drivers. It is true’more Americans than Soviets are arrested for drunken driving because we have 20 times more cars on our roads. Comparing arrests per one million car-kilometers driven the American figure is 0.6 while the Soviet figure is 5.9 or 10 times as high. Gorbachev’s prohibition plan is to curb alcohol consumption but it will drive alcohol production underground and increase more resistance to the Bolshevik slave masters. Reagan’s new plan of taxation. Why the billionaires and millionaires are fighting it. Maybe congressmen should take a test before they take office. Tip O’Neil absolves Soviet murder of Major Nicholson, saying he was to blame for his own fate. He should have known Major Nicholson was a brave officer and gentleman doing his patriotic duty. Truthfully, Byron Ulrich Tax credit awarded to the CDC Lt. Governor John Mutz has announced a total of $105,000 in tax credit awards to be given to three area communities as part of the Neighborhood Assistance Tax. Credit Program. The three surrounding communities that applied to the Indiana Department of Commerce for state tax credit assistance are the Elkhart Chamber Foundation, $50,000; Starke County Development Foundation, Inc, $40,000; and Warsaw Community Development Corp, $15,000. “This year, we’re placing greater emphasis on projects which are designed to promote job creation and retention through private economic development initiatives,” Lt. Governor Mutz added. Established in 1976 by the Indiana General Assembly, the Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program assists communities, through not for profit corporations, in developing and implementing programs whose aim is to improve local economic conditions. Specifically, the Neighborhood Assistance Program works by providing a certain level of state income tax credits to any Indiana taxpayer, including any business firm or individual, who contribute to their program.

"CR.UZIN AROUND 'CUSE''

THIS PAPER has to crow when it can. Last Thursday we were among a prestigious media group — newspapers, radio and television — to receive a replica of the “Chester” Award at the South Bend-Mishawaka Chamber of Commerce for our work with Michiana Crime Stoppers. The award is for first place in excellence in performance, and is named for the late Chester Gould, creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, and who coined the catchy phrase Crime Stoppers. Michiana Crime Stoppers was picked from among 500 such units in the U.S. and Canada for the enviable award. South Bend Mayor Roger Parent told those present that “without the media there is no (Crime Stopper) program.” We’ve long thought the program useful in getting citizens involved in stopping a mounting crime wave throughout the country. The idea of paying for informers has worked where regular police departments have failedin many cases. Since May 1983, 457 crimes have been solved, 149 in this year so far in the South Bend jurisdiction. This year $79,241 in property has been received, $242,401 since May 1983; $42,350 in narcotics has been recovered, $247,852 since 1983, for a total of $132,591 recovered this year, $490,253 since 1983. A total of 471 arrests and referrals have been made in this two-year period, and 205 awards have been paid, with code numbers assigned to 1,348 people. The above photo explains the details well. COMMENTS ARE still being heard about the Fourth of July weekend, its varied events, its wide participation, and the good weekend weather. What began 24 years ago as a Flotilla, to point up the wonders of Indiana’s largest natural lake, has been expanded into a full weekend of events. In spite of some continents about how the fireworks could be improved, and how the first Flotilla Bucks Auction in the Village proved farcical for some bidders with limited numbers of “bucks” — all of these details can be worked out another year — the events brought tens of thousands of “new people” into the area. Local businesses with an enterprising eye were able to capitalize on this influx of people. A job well done for all those who worked on the events that made up the weekend of fun. FORMER STATE Trooper and Commander of tl&Ligonier State Police Barracks Robert Meeks, of r 2 LaGrange, was elected president of the Lakeland School Board last Tuesday night, to succeed Joy Sharp, who held the office the past year. Bob Meeks is well known in the area, for years having served as judge in the Mermaid Festival Queen contest. His brother Charles (“Bud”) Meeks, former two-term sheriff of Allen County, was defeated for mayor of Fort Wayne by Win Moses. Bob was in line for the post of State Police Superintendent, when he drove into an Amish buggy in LaGrange County. His detractors accused him of drinking, saying this was the cause of the accident. While an inquiry exonorated Meeks, the incident worked against his receiving the state superintendency, which was then retained by superintendent John Shettle. GRACE STICHTER, a Wawasee High School graduate and daughter of Bob and Harriet Stichter of rural Milford, has signed on with the Image Group as advertising specialties consultant. She will be calling on businesses and civic organizations in Elkhart, LaPorte, Lake, Marshall, Porter, Starke and St. Joseph Counties. THE SYRACUSE Public Library is getting into the Child Registry business in a big way. The library and its board have recognized the missing children tragedies for what they are, and are moving to register area youngsters on Friday, July 19 from 3 to 8 p.m., and on Saturday, July 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Complete identification records are being sought, with parents filling out a 24-page booklet with pictures, health records, fingerprints, dental records, and such things as physical characteristics, growth progress, and even a lock of the child’s hair. The program is receiving a full support of the local police department. (Note: A more complete report on the subject appears elsewhere in this issue.)

TWO SYRACUSE girls will receive recognition at the Elkhart County Fair at Goshen, held July 19 thru July 27. Dee Ann Hibschman, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Hibschman of 71957 CR 35 Syracuse, is a fair queen candidate, one of 30 candidates, with judging Sunday, July 21, immediately following the parade. The 1985 “Miss Elkhart County 4-H Fair” will receive a week’s vacation in Hawaii, SIOO in cash, a queen’s trophy, crown, floral bouquet, special crown charm and color portrait. Dee Ann is sponsored by the Elkhart County 4-H Holstein Club as “Miss Elkhart County 4-H Holstein.” A 1985 Fairfield High grad, she will enter Purdue as a pre-veterinary student. Dee Ann and another Syracuse girl, 19-year-old Shirley Burger, daughter of Kfeith and Thelma Burger of 18167 County Line Road, have been honored as 10-year 4-H’ers at the fair. Shirley’s grandparents are Roy and Grace Eisenhour of r 1 Milford. The two girls are among 33 4-H’ers to achieve the 10-year goal with a total of 822 projects completed. They were honored at a July 6 Holiday Inn brunch with their parents and leaders. Each will receive an engraved key ring and be given a fiveyear pass to the fair at the Sunday, July 22, queen contest. OUR FRIEND Jack DeHaven, of Fort Wayne where he is a prominent Chevrolet dealer and of r 1 Syracuse (Ogden island, Lake Wawasee), figured in the dispute over Fort-Wayne Mayor Win Moses’ recent resignation and plan to run for reelection to that job. DeHaven took sides last week in a full blown news conference with two other Fort Wayne businessmen in support of Moses’ re-election. The mayor’s problem involved supporting a Republican candidate financially (Moses is a Democrat), then not reporting the contribution as required by law. DeHaven, also a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for 2d District City Council seat in 1983. Jack said: “During his administration, Moses spearheaded the drive for a Headwaters State Park at the confluence of Fort Wayne’s three rivers. He also landed both the General Motors plant and the Burlington Northern hub at Baer Field.” Such actions show the city was headed in the right direction under Moses, DeHaven added. “DeHaven Chevrolet had sales of $lO million during the first six months of 1985,” he said,’ up from annual sl2 million totals during 1982, 1983 and 1984.” DeHaven credited the sales increase to Moses’ leadership, saying every time Moses persuaded a new industry to locate in Fort Wayne, it improved the climate for selling cars. DeHaven has long had a keen interest around Lake Wawasee. He spearheaded the organization and printing of the annual Wawasee Directory that lists all pier numbers around the lake, a real public service to lake dwellers and others. JACK COOK of Kanata Manayunk (Lake Wawasee), former Columbia City restaurant and bowling lane operator and owner of his son-run (Randy) Cocineros in the Village, is a Cubs ball fan — this you can believe. Jack has been wearing his red-white-and-blue turned down sun hat backwards, with the large letter “C” to the back. All this during the long losing streak for his favorite ball club. But when the Cubs defeated the L.A. Dodgers 10 to 4 on Sunday, Cook showed up on Monday, same hat,, but-with the letter “C” in front. BUMPER STICKER: Every mother is a working mother. WHEN OUR story came out last week about six youths falling out of a boat on Lake Wawasee near the start of the annual Flotilla, and the boat continuing in a circle for an hour and a half, until it ran out of gas, someone asked officer Tom Kitch why he didn’t go alongside, jump into the boat, and rein it in. “That’s something you only see in the movies,” Kitch replied. He added that it would have been dangerous to get the boat off its course, that to do so would be like a run-away team of horses in olden days. FORMER SYRACUSE football player Bill Pipp, who now lives in Minneapolis, Minn., was recently named vice president/sales and marketing at The Conklin Company, a Minneapolis-based manufacturer of agricultural, building and consumer products. e Pipp was an end on the first Wawasee High School football team his senior year in 1968-1969. Other’s who are remembered to be on the team were Roger Korenstra, Tom Fribley, Tim Blue, Russ Mikel and Mark Reiff. The coach was Don Storey who received good reports on Pipp after he graduated and went on to pursue a football career. After his graduation, Pipp, went to Indiana University as a walk on for the football team where he played defensive left end for four years. His coaches from high school received reports of how Pipp showed the desire and always gave the extra effort. He was even spotted by the professional talent scouts and invited to try out for the Dallas Cowboys. Pipp, according to his former high school principal, Henry Smith, was the first young man to do well on a university level and catch the eye of talent scouts. WILEY W. (BILL) Spurgeon is back once again this summer as The Mail-Journal’s reviewer of Enchanted Hills Playhouse productions. (Continued on page 5)