The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 49, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 December 1985 — Page 11

Pragmatism, profit, pushiness: watchwords in Sichuan Province

By NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWSSERVICE Arms locked, a chanting, swaying crowd of 300 to 400 students surges toward the door of the city government offices in Chongging, China. “Give us back our lives!” the cry goes up. The students are protesting an explosion in a chemistry laboratory at Chongging University. No satisfactory explanation has been offered by university authorities, and no preventive measures have been taken. “Not since the Cultural Revolution have I seen a demonstration that big,” says a student onlooker. But it is more concrete than the ideological protests of the Red Guards that started in the mid-19605. # Chongging is a major city in - Sichuan, China’s most populous province, a sprawling, mountainous territory slightly larger than France. Birthplace Os Reformer Sichuan, birthplace of China’s chief, Deng Xiaoping, is “a seedbed of the reforms that are altering the economy and the everyday life of China,” Ross Terrill writes in the September National Geographic. ‘‘The changes startle the visitor who remembers the slogans and the Puritanism of the country in the last years of Nao Zedong,” Compared with the 19705, when he journeyed through the People’s Republic five times, “the lid is off China,”-Terrill writes. “In the nine years since the death of Mao, Deng has moved China from Totalitarianism to authoritarianism; from a mentality that clung to revolutionary values as to a talisman to one that considers economic results the test of socialism’s validity.” A driver in Chengdu, 2,000-year-old capital of Sichuan, publicly berates a woman cyclist who has veered into the side-view mirror of his Toyota. Few Sichuanese worry about maintaining a false sense of civility around foreigners. Chengdu’s streets swarm with people wearing everything from old-style baggy blue trousers and jackets to'jeans and brightly colored sweaters. Some men wear broadbrimmed felt hats reminis-

Police investigating vandalism

Five complaints of vandalism and theft were made to the Syracuse Police Department Saturday, Nov. 30, through Monday, Dec. 2. Troy Harney, of Milford, who works at Augsburger’s Supervalu, Syracuse, reported at 8:28 a.m. Saturday that someone had broken the taillights on his 1979

Speaka d' English

Former U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa is urging fellow Americans to join him and the chairman of an organization promoting English as the official language of the nation. The goal of the organization U.S. ENGLISH is to retain the unifying influence of one language for the people of the country. Chairman of the effort is Dr. John Tanton of Michigan, who founded the Federation for American Immigration Reform some years ago, and now hopes to get Congress and the American people to adopt a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of the United States. The organization would also have Congress repeal laws mandating multi-lingual ballots and voting material, limit government funding of bi lingual government funding of bi-lingual programs in the country’s schools, and better control immigration into this country. What Dr. Tanton and Senator Hayakawa fear is that the country could turn into a poly-lingual babble, increasing disunity, division, intolerance and misunderstanding. They seek to keep this country a melting pot, which it has been for centuries now, wherein all who come here seek to learn its history, language and democratic way of life. The supporters of U.S. ENGLISH, headquartered at 1424 16th St., Washington, D.C., 20036, believe most immigrants still desire to follow the path of earlier immigrants. They are concerned that certain ethnic bloc leaders, Lightning strikes twice, same place Contrary to popular folk wisdom, lightning does strike the same place twice. According to National Wildlife magazine, scientists believe that some areas have topography and wind-flow patterns that make them especially prone to lightning. In Florida, for instance, lightning repeatedly strikes bulges in the coastline, such as Cape ’ Canaveral, where sea breezes converge.

cent of Western styles of the 19505. Some women click along on high heels. x “Leave Home for Work Happily, Return Home from Work Safely,” a billboard advises. Reportedly it used to urge, “Carry Through Revolution to the End.” Dapper young men peddle black-market cigarettes on the streets. In a building nearby, a mother of two buys life insurance. “These days,” she says, “if you don’t care for yourself, no one else is going to care for you.” Keen Or Makeup In the Communist world, Inter-

: ..a -r.— ~ w $ * *4# BP* < ijPj ; ■B rVMHHB CHINA’S SPIRIT OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE — A Chinese couple beam with pride as they hold up pigs from their farm in Sichuan. Joining in the new spirit of private enterprise that has taken hold in China, they earn about $2,500 a year on the farm. Landlocked Sichuan is China’s most populous province, with more than 100 million inhabitants. (Photo by Cary Wolinsky)

Mercury Capri at Augsburger’s parking lot sometime earlier in the day. The case is still under investigation. Vandalism Vandalism was reported at the Candance Hollaway residence, Wawasee Heights, Syracuse, at 9:31 a.m. Saturday. Hollaway complained that someone had

who reject the melting pot concept, are building private empires to resist assimilation, and feather their own nests. Already some of these leaders and pressure groups have forced states to print bi-lingual ballots, to spend money for voter registration in a foreign language, and have forced many school districts, through court action to fund bilingual education. U.S. ENGLISH isn’t against students learning foreign languages; it supports that approach. it isn’t opposed to special programs to help immigrants and their children to learn English. It is solely opposed to the concept of ethnic blocs, primarily Hispanic, which neither speak nor understand English. For several centuries the United States has confounded critics and prophets who expected this nation to disintegrate into chaos and disunity because of its multi-racial makeup. One reason for this is that there was a common language. At this time the nation is trying to absorb the largest wave of immigration in its history. It’s therefore vitally important that the original concept of assimilation be maintained. Bilingualism is really a cover name for antiassimilation. For anyone can readily see that citizens who can’t read English will never fully understand the laws, heritage and history of the United States of America, its democratic principles and traditions. Support, then, for US English is very much in the national interest.

CHRISTMAS TREES Scotch Pine Blue Spruce Douglas Fir 3' To 8' Located 4 Blocks North Os Tracks In Cromwell On SR 5 COMS AND LOOK ANYTIME

national Women’s Day is usually a serious occasion. This year in Chengdu, a Women’s Day fashion show featured heavily made-up men and women models in Western dress. West of Chengdu in agricultural Wenjiang County, one tenant farmer grosses 80,000 yuan (about $28,000) a year from wild flowers and potted plants. He is a symbol of rural Sichuan’s commercialization in a time of vanishing communes. He and his family have won accolades for their generous contributions to county schools. They have lent money to their less

thrown something through her living room window. Police are v still investigating the matter. Theft There were $4,192 worth of tools, heaters, drills, fishing equipment and other miscellaneous items reported stolen sometime between the morning of Nov. 28 and the Evening of Nov. 29 from a shed at the Mike Baker residence, 306 E. Boston, Syracuse. Baker, who filed the complaint at 4:33 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, had been gone for the holiday and noticed the damage to the shed upon his return. The subject was reported to have broken through a plastic board wall with his hands or feet to get access to the items. The case is still under investigation, according to Syracuse Police. Another Syracuse resident reported the theft of tools, six rods and reels, one tackle box, and Christmas gifts from the trunk of his car sometime between Saturday night, Nov. 30, and Sunday morning, Dec. 1. Robbie Smith, 701 Pittsburg St., complained after noticing a broken trunk lock on his car. The items stolen had an estimated value of S9OO. In another case under investigation, J.O. Mory Inc., South Milford, complained of vandalism to company property while stationed at Augsburger’s Super Valu, Syracuse, for construction work. Six tires on two tractors and one fork-lift were pierced by a sharp object sometime between midnight Saturday, Nov. 30 and 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 1, causing $2,100 worth of damage.

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well-to-do neighbors, inspiring needy visitors to gather solemnly outside their walls. Begging, too, is making a comeback. In polluted, scruffy Chongging, China’s new pragmatism is raw. An official is asked about doing business with companies from outside the province. His reply is swift and decisive: ‘‘We recognize money, not people.” A young factory worker, spending freely on his girlfriend, says he’s been receiving a high bonus, as much as 40 percent of his salary. “With bonuses, the top is topless and the bottom is bottomless,” he quips. The Jialing Motorbike Factory produces motorbikes, symbols of prosperity in Sichuan, in a plant that manufactured machine tools and weapons for 30 years. “In today’s world,” explains the factory’s chief engineer, “you can’t just produce artillery all the time.” Sichuan’s new look includes a surprisingly vigorous spiritual life that includes a variety of faiths. But, Terrill writes after he sees a sentry outside a bookshop in the ancient city of Leshan, “The Communist Party is still very nervous about Western cultural influence.” The sentry has a list of “forbidden acts” and a pile of what seem to be confiscated tape cassettes. “Unhealthy music,” he explains. Nude Statues Draped At the Yangtze River bridge in Chongging, the statues of four athletes, two men and two women, are draped in scarves at the waist. Originally they were nude, but the controversy that ensured led to their draping. “Had the struggle occurred in 1985, rather than four years ago,” the sculptor says, “the outcome would be different — my athletes would be nude.” Musicians wearing three-piece Western suits and orange ties play tangos for enthusiastic dancers at a hotel in Chongging. Pretty girls are available downstairs. “Ten yuan,” says a young factory worker. “Or 20 yuan for the night.” “Socialist values (if not forms) are out the window,” Terrill writes. “The vehicle is hurtling, but no one is too sure where the road leads.” And some results of the reforms are unexpected: increased inflation as controls loosen and purchasing power grows; sagging public services in the countryside; rising crime and delinquency as'political supervision declines; de-emphasis on programs to equalize opportunities for women. “We’re stuck with party dictatorship,” a Sichuan official acknowledges. “To get rid of it would mean civil war. So we have to try other means. Economic development is that means. Later, perhaps, we can try for democracy.”

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AT&T INSTALLS VAULT — Engineers from AT&T Network Systems recently installed a controlled environment vault (CEV) for CSX Corporation at CR 300, Syracuse, adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Blame icy roads for—- — accidents in Syracuse area

Four accidents, stemming from slippery road conditions, were investigated by the Syracuse Police Department between 12:15 p.m. and 4:09 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2. Debbie Schisler, 28, r 3 box 263A, Syracuse, was reportedly attempting to turn left from E. Main St. onto W.E. Long Drive when she slid into a guard rail on the southeast corner of the two streets at 12:15p.m. Damage to the 1984 Chevrolet On headaches NEW YORK - Nearly threequarters of Americans suffer occasional headaches, and slightly more than half complain about backaches or sore muscles, according to a recent poll.

CHARITY AUCTION December 14th At The Lakeland Youth Center 10 A.M. Items are being donated for a charity auction to be held December 14 at 10 a.m. in Syracuse. Proceeds from the auction will go to Jo Small a local teacher who will be going to Hong Kong as a missionary in April. So if you still have some Christmas shopping to do, please come on down and take advantage of the bargains! Already donated items include: 10-speed bicycle, portable Brother typewriter, small desk, used church van, small air conditioner, 2 manual, floor model marimba, two oak end tables w/matching coffee table, and many other furniture and household items. If you would care to donate anything, call 658-9151 for pick up or drop it off at the Christian Church of Milford.

Monte Carlo Schisler was driving was reported to be under SI,OOO while the city owned guard rail had damages up to $2,500. No injuries or arrests were reported. Two Incidents A 1979 Chevrolet pick-up, owned by Terry A. Van Lanington, 32, box 551, Milford, was damaged in related accidents at 1 p.m. and 1:10 p.m. Monday on W.E. Long Drive, 25 feet south of Washington St. Van Lanington was traveling south on W.E. Long Drive and while attempting to turn onto Washington St. slid into a fence in front of 119 W.E. Long Drive. Fence post and grass damage was estimated to be under S2OO while Van Lanington’s truck had less than S2OO damage until a se-

Wed.. December 4.1985 —THE MAIL-JOURNAL

A The CEV will serve as a regeneration station for communication signals, and is only one of several nationwide regeneration stations being installed by AT&T. (Photos by Deb Patterson)

cond vehicle entered the scene. John T. Jones 111, 19, r 1 box 283 H, Syracuse, was driving a 1977 Pontiac south on Long when he attempted to make the same turn and lost control, sliding into the parked Van Lanington vehicle. Up to SI,OOO damage was caused to both cars. No arrests or injuries were reported. Hits Parked Truck Police were again called at 4:09 p.m. Monday when Charles F. Gray, 16, r 1 box 9A, Syracuse, hit a parked truck registered to -

I LEWIS SALVAGE COMPANY I Michael & Maurice Lewis H SR 14 West, Akron I ANNOUNCES I Kosciusko County's Newest Aluminum Can ■ Recycling Center Opening Monday, December 9th 1 7a Blocks West Os The Post Office H 521 West Market, Warsaw (Abe Magazine Junk Yard) ★ ★ ★ Always Buying Scrap ★ ★ ★ H Copper, Brass, Aluminum, Steel & Cast Iron ★ ★ ★ Roll-Off Container Service ★ ★ ★ I Scrap And Refuse Removal AKRON WARSAW M-F 8-5 M-F 9-5 Sat. 8-12 Sat. 9-1 893-4831 267-6781 "Family Operated Over 90 Years"

David W. Coy, r 3 box 616, Syracuse. Gray was traveling east on Valleyview Drive when he started to slide on a decline near the Kinder Drive intersection and made contact with the 1969 Ford truck, parked on the right side of the road. No arrests or injuries were reported. Damage to the Coy vehicle was estimated to be up to $2,500, while the Gray vehicle, registered to Andrea Gray, r 1 box 9A, Syracuse, was up to SI,OOO.

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