The Mail-Journal, Volume 23, Number 57, Milford, Kosciusko County, 28 January 1987 — Page 4

44 THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed.rJanuary 28,1987

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Editorial Evan Bayh won thereeount -— The Thirji Congressional District vote recount ended last Tuesday afternoon in the Justice Building in Warsaw, giving incumbent congressman John Hiler a 47-vote victory. Not everyone was happy, but it is a narrow margin for Hiler that everyone is willing to accept. It was a recount that politicians in the Third District, in Indianapolis and in Washington, D.C„ were watching very carefully . Tom Ward, the Knox attorney, came from nowhere to take on the incumbent Hiler when other brave souls like the St. Joseph County Prosecuting Attorney walked away for safer ground. _ One had to admire Ward’s pluck in practically going it alone in a David and Goliath battle, often with scarcely enough money in his coffers to get his 30-second TV spots shown. But he hit the trail hard, talking about lost jobs and the depressed farm economy. Hiler didn’t have Reagan’s coattails to hang onto this time around. Ward, moreover, accepted the loss graciously, if not willingly, and immediately said we’d be seeing him in a return match two years from now. - On election eve an unofficial count showed Hiler losing by 2,000 votes, then the first “official” vote showing him winning by 166 a votes. A voting machine tabulation took away 100 of these votes, giving Hiler a final 66-vote lead. The recount reduced that lead to 47 votes. Hiler won something of an empty victory. Who did win, then? One cannot overlook the role played by Evan Bayh, Indiana’s new and youthful secretary of state and son of former three-term U.S. Senator from Indiana, E. Birch Bayh. He ran the recount completely above board, honoring voters’ intent and setting aside technicalities that would easily have ruled Ward the winner. He was under immense party pressure from both the Third District, Indianapolis and Washington. Good for Evan. This young man has carved a name for himself that has won editorial accolades from throughout Indiana. Read what The Goshen News, an independent Republican paper had to say in a lead editorial last Wednesday: “Republican Hiler’s victory margin held up because Secretary of State Evan Bayh, a Democrat, is an honorable young man. Bayh ran his election campaign promising that voter intent would be an overriding issue in vote recount cases. He cast the deciding vote on the recount commission time after time on that simple issue. He could have ‘stolen’ the election for Ward with partisan decisions on challenged ballots. So Bayh may be a ‘hero’ simply because he was honest and did what was right, not what was political. Republicans know they have a Democrat in the secretary of state’s office who stood up for what was right at a very crucial time.” We don’t go so far as to call young Evan Bayh a ‘h,ero,’ but we do say he won the recount . We never harbor ill feelings against individuals who disagree with our views, although we often regret that so many people can be wrong. There’s more to being a good teacher than a knowledge of a subject. "" ■ What others say — Now'Johnny'can't write! Scholastic experts used to warn that “Johnny” can’t read. Now a new Education Department survey finds that most public school children are bad writers too Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the report “very disturbing, indeed shocking.” ~ Said Shanker: “It goes to the heart of what our aims in education are about. The survey was conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a 17-year-old project mandated by Congress. Despite recent efforts to reemphasize educational “basics,” little or no progress is apparent. In fact, the national survey of 55,000 fourth, eighth and eleventh graders concluded that students perform worse in writing than in any other major subject, and that writing deficiencies are linked to serious shortcomings in critical thinking and communication. , For the 90,000 writing samples studied, it was found that: (1) Most of the students could not write well enough to succeed in school, much less in the post-graduate world. - (2) In analytic writing, the area which gave students the toughest time, only 2 percent of the fourth graders,. 18 percent of the eighth graders and 25 percent of the eleventh graders were deemed adequate. Analytic writing measures the ability to think critically and organize thoughts on paper. (3) In “persuasive” writing, the students did nearly as poorly. Less than a third of those surveyed scored “adequate.” Persuasive writing means precisely what it says: Persuading others to accept one’s point of view. In another disturbing result, student attitudes toward writing grew more negative through the grades. Thus, 57 percent of the fourth graders said they liked to write, but only 39 percent of the eleventh graders did. This would seem to indicate shortcomings at the teaching level. According to Archie Lapointe, executive director of the National Assessment there is “pretty impressive evidence” that teaching methods need improvement. Indeed, many teachers now attend special workshops on writing instruction, and more and more schools are installing word processors in classrooms. Whether this produces any new Hemingways, much less office workers able to write an understandable memo, is open to question. As one educational specialist conceded: A turnaround may take decades. The National Assessment survey did indicate one simple pathway to good writing. It found that children with lots of books and other reading material at home are better and readers — than youngsters in culturally-deprived households r . ■ Abraham Lincoln proved that a century and a half ago. Young Abe read all the books he could lay his hands on by the light of the fireplace in his family s log cabin, and went on to write on the greatest compositions in the English language- The Gettysburg Address. , i t "perhaps it isn’t all teaching. perhaps ii‘s tinre fur pa tcm 3 w rca/.zc should participate in their children’s education a^. ARROLL COUNTY COMET

W'- « ’ ” ' F I* Secretary of State Evan Bayh has emerged from the Third District recount as a young man of considerable political stature, from the manner in which he cast several deciding votes on the recount commission, honoring voters' intent over political considerations.

Court news

Marriage Licenses The following couples have applied for marriage licenses in the office of Kosciusko County Clerk Jeanne Weirick: Stricklin-Stowers Albert L. Stricklin. 49, r 1 box 491. Leesburg, and Sheila-Kaye Stowers, 29, r 2 box 34, North Webster County Court The following persons have paid fines and costs in Kosciusko County Court, Judge James Jarrette presiding: Speeding — Anthony S. Treesh, 17, Leesburg, Seth W. McMillan, 20. Leesburg, $65: Gregory L. Sawyer. 17. Syracuse. SSODisregarding stop sign — Todd M. Kammerer. 18. Leesburg. $53. Marriage Dissolutions The following couples have filed for marriage dissolutions in Kosciusko Superior and Circuit Courts: Mock — Bruce A. Mock, no address given, and Becky R. Mock. 211 S. Lake St.. Syracuse. The couple was married June 22.1984. and separated Jan. 14.1987. — Circuit Court The following petitions have been filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court. Judge Richard Sand presiding: Complaint , Kenneth H. Hall versus Stuart ’A. Walker and Diana M. Walker. 119W.E. Long Dr . Syracuse. The plaintiff is seeking judgment against the defendants for the sum of $4,421.80 plus interest, attorney's fees and all costs of action. for balance due on purchase of equipment, merchandise and fixtures of T-Shirts Unlimited. Complaint Sandy Koherer versus Augsburger’s. Inc.. John B. Augsburger, r 3 box 15, Syracuse. The plaintiff is seeking judgment against the defendant for the sum of $25,000 plus all costs of action.

Letters to the editor

Abortion — Personal, not public

Dear Editor: Abortion is a sensitive subject, very personal, very private. The media is so full of pros and cons on abortion that we, as a nation of free-thinking citizens, are losing our focus on critical affairs existing in the here and now, locally and nationally. One has to muse on past communistic tactics, a subtle form of infiltration encouraging free-thinkers to pinpoint attention on media subjects so eye? and ears aren’t on governmental issues. Because this is a land of freedom (yet), all persons have a right to have their own opinion and attitude. They do not have the right to inflict the same on others, not even on the subject of abortion. So, please, let the issue of abortion go back to being a personal decision in which no one has any business dictating to others. God is the only Judge ultimately. Until we each stand before our Judgement Day on our own individual life, we will not know whether we've been right or wrong on any issue concerning ourselves. To think that we are so perfect that we can judge others is cncr height of un-vnnsuan ethics. In plain words, judging others is begin a self-righteous hypocrite. Abortion, the same as prostitu-

for damages and injuries suffered in a fall April 3,1985. Complaint Franklin A. Bush, doing business as Investors Realty, versus Doris Wiggins and Beecher Wiggins, r 1 Echo Springs. Leesburg. The plaintiff is seeking judgment against the defendants for the sum of $10,375.90 plus interest, attorney’s fees and all costs of action. for the balance due on a commission for real estate lease. Verified Petition For Hardship License Randall J. Jessop versus Michael L. Miner, Prosecuting Attorney of Kosciusko County. Ronald Robinson. Sheriff of Kosciusko County, and Michael M, Packard, Commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The plaintiff is seeking issuance of a hardship operator's license. Reciprocal Support Anne Evans Wolfe versus William Evans, box 49 Milford, for reciprocal support of minor child. Complaint For Damages United Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company versus Emmett E. Maners, no address given. The plaintiff is seeking judgment against the defendant ior the sum of $40,134, treble damages, interest to date of judgment. attorney's fees and all costs of action. Plaintiff is seeking judgment, claiming that the defendant conspii*?d with another male Subject to set fire to insured premises owned by the defendant at r 1 Kewanna. City CourF The following fines have been levied and paid in the Goshen City Court: Driving while license suspended — Paul E. Fink. 19, Syracuse, dismissed Speeding — Elaine A. Fletcher. 25. Syracuse. $70.50; DOnal V. Rumfelt, 35, Syracuse, $41.50, plea bargain; Troy E. Watson, 18. Syracuse, $59.50 Disregarding signal indicating approaching train — Howard W. Cross, 35, Milford, $50.50

tion, will exist, legal or illegal, publicized or not. What we each do is between us and the Supreme Being we believe in, no one else. But we humans can turn all this judgmental energy into a positive factor! dividuals venting themselves against abortion were to take in just one needy child, already alive and breathing, to love, feed, clothe and educate — what a tremendous outpouring of Chris(Continued on page 5)

THE MAIL-JOURNAL (U.S.P.S. 3258’4000). i 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: sl6 per year in Kosciusko County $22 outside county. POSTMASTERS Send change of address forms to The Mail-Journal, P O. Box 188, Milford. Indiana

LLOYD EDWARD COY

This is about one of God’s “little people.” ? The world has its share of luminaries, “stars” who command center stage and receive the accolades. Then there is the vast throng of people who labor faithfully in the vineyards day in and day out. Someone has called these faithfuls the “little people” of the world. They are the ones who do the work, and grease the wheels of business and industry; they set the stage, if you will, for the stars.

Such a man was Lloyd E. Coy. Lloyd was laid to rest Monday afternoon, following his untimely death on Friday morning due to heartfailure. . He will be best remembered as foreman of the commercial printing department at The Papers Incorporated at Milford where his close attention to his responsibilities may have limited his circle of acquaintances. And yet this circle was limitless. His wife Marge, son Stewart, daughter Kimberly, mother Louise, and his brothers and sisters are well known in the Milford and Syracuse communities. His vast log of customers — the ones who knew him best — knew an accommodating, compassionate man who always had time to work out their most knotty printing problems. Aside frqm four years of military service, Lloyd Coy spent his entire life in his home town in a profession he dearly loved. He often said he “only had one job,” that of working at the Milford newspaper plant. He proudly told

friends he began working at the old Milford Mail in Milford’s main business block when he was 10 years of age. His early chores included such mundane things as emptying waste baskets, getting the mail, and later cleaning up around the paper’s only linecasting machine and tearing down pages. His salary: the munificent sum of twenty-five or thirty-five cents on a Saturday night when the high school band held its concert on Main Street and the town was jammed with shoppers and visitors. Remember what a dime would buy in 1940 9 Vivid in his memory — and he often tbld about it — was when he was about 10 or 11 years of age and the printing plant was moved from its long time location in the business block to a small, run-down room on South Main Street. This room is now the plant’s composing room. He had a small red wagon and used it to move what he could to the paper’s new location. There were many times in those early years when Lloyd Coy made up the principal work force of the paper, and, had he quit for a more remunerative job, it would have provided sufficient grounds to turn the key on the front door of our anemic operation. ’ ■ _ , x , . . He carried a large scar on his left cheek, which was sort of a trademark. As he told it, he was sleeping in the back seat of his mother’s car in Warsaw He awoke left the car to cross the street and was struck by a car. The car’s door handle ripped at his jaw. He was 10 at the time. Anyone who knew Lloyd well never noticed the scar. Later, at age 13, he worked briefly for a cement block manufacturing company on east East Street in Milford and lost his right big toe and part of his seI cond toe in an unusual accident. This brought him back to the newspaper plant to a less hazardous occupation. 1 Lloyd served his country in the Korean Conflict, joining the U.S. Army OcI tober 24, 1950, and was discharged on October 25, 1954. He spoke of that time, I when the wind-swept slopes of Korea provided a cold and grim setting for the I American GI who wondered what he was doing in this controversial battle half I way around the world. He also served in Japan, and was proud of his four-year I military service, most of it as an aircraft mechanic. Prior to returning to Milford following his military service, Lloyd and MarI iorie High were married at Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus. He returned to his I old job, taking advantage first of the G.I. Bill of Rights to learn to operate a I linotype machine at the English (Ind.) Typecasting School, the only such school lin the country. i , By this time the old Milford Mail plant had two Intertype linecasting I machines and one was his to run. The other was operated by Miss Edith I Baumgartner. Both mastered this complicated, often perplexing and stubborn I machine, sufficient to keep a steady flow of hot metal type ready for make up. Proud of his service record, Lldyd joined the American Legion Post 226 at I Milford, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 1342, at Syracuse, and the Disabled I Veterans Organization. He also joined Kosciusko Lodge 418, Free and Accepted I Masons at Milford. He was proud of his service connection and Masonic I membership, and would have been pleased with the Sunday night Masonic ser-. I vice at the funeral home and the military service at graveside Monday afterI n °° Lloyd leaves his wife Marjorie and two splendid children, Stewart, who has I chosen to be a printer and is following in his father’s footsteps, and Kimberly, I who was devoted to her dad. Also surviving are Stewart’s wife Shelly and a I grandson, Nathaniel, whom Lloyd truly enjoyed. I Lloyd tiad a premonition that his life would not be a long one. He said several I times, “The Coys don’t live long.” We call his death “untimely,” for 55 years of I age is young by today’s standards I Lloyd Coy was a good man — besides being a good friend — and to say his I presence will be missed has a hollow ring to it. I He loved his home on Waubee Lake, and in an unguarded moment he told his I wife it would be nice to be buried where he could feel the lake breezes. Lloyd got I his wish. His gravesite is high on a knoll overlooking the lake, and in the farI away distance can be seen the house where he and his family lived and which I they loved so much. p ■ The presses fell silent and lights were out at The Papers Incorporated during fl the hour of Lloyd’s funeral service and interment Monday afternoon, in his I memory. —By Arch Baumgartner

"CRUZIN AROUND 'CUSE”

KEN HARKLESS would be mighty proud. He was a very modest man, and would have been proud to think the Syracuse Town Board was considering naming a local street in his honor. The idea sprung from the SyracuseWawasee Chamber of Commerce, and fit hand-in-glove with the chamber’s plan to give house numbers to all households in the community. And so, the chamber sent a letter to the town board asking the board to give official approval to the road’s name change. 1 The strip of road in question is known as CR 530E, and runs from the Turtle Bay condos south to the Shipshape Health Club It has had various names other than CR 530E; for example, try Frog Road, Bishop Road, Warner Road, and others This column has been informed that the east half of that road aivng Ookwcad Parh b? I ?'?’®* the county, but the county long ago gave tentative approval to any change the town wished to make. The idea of giving all households numbers was

October 2, 1931 - January 23, 1987

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that of Bob Westfall a year ago when he was chamber president, and the recent thrust urging the name change comes from the chamber’s current president, Jim Evans. The town board took the matter under advisement at its meeting last Tuesday evening, but those most concerned feel the board favors the change in honoring the late Ken Harkless, one of the community’s most respected citizens. RON SHARP is a restless fellow. He can’t even take a vacation without indulging in one of his favorite pastimes — writing about the history of Syracuse. He and Joan are wintering in Biloxi, Miss., and Ron is doing a series of columns for publication during the town’s sesquicentennial year. The focus will be on events from 1900 to 1940, entitled Sketches of Syracuse. Both Ron and Joan have participated in (Continued on page 5)