The Mail-Journal, Volume 29, Number 29, Milford, Kosciusko County, 29 August 1990 — Page 5

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RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS — The Milford Kiwanis Club recently presented two Milford residents with scholarships for college in the study of Pastoral Ministry. Pictured is Brent Grimm, Kiwanis President Henry Smith, and Mark Ray. Grimm and Ray were recipients of the local scholarship.

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By all indications the state board of accounts is back in business of actually auditing county records. The credibility of the group took a nose dive during the Orr administration. During that period, violations of rules were, in some cases, swept under the rug. The auditors in their 1989 report found some items that needed to be corrected. Below is the report with comments: Drainage Funds The following exceptions were noted again regarding the County’s Drainage Funds: 1. The drainage maintenance duplicates are maintained and prepared by the Surveyor’s Office. 2. Assessments from property owned by not-for-profits and some individuals were omitted from the duplicates. 3. General drain improvement duplicates were not properly maintained. 4. Cash balances on some drains exceeded the required balances necessary to discontinue maintenance assessments. The auditor was instructed to follow these procedures to correct the above problems: 1. All drainage records are to be maintained and accounted for by the county auditor. 2. There are no exemptions allowed for ditch assessments. 3. Maintenance assessments should not be collected when the cash balance on a drain exceeds four times the annual maintenance. 4. Annual assessments shall be posted to the subsidiary ledger by drain. Overpayment Os Inheritance Tax When the county auditor refunded inheritance tax to an estate, interest was incorrectly computed, resulting in an overpayment of $329.56. The auditor was instructed to notify the estate and have the estate remit this overpayment. However, if a refund could not be secured from the estate, the auditor would have to reimburse the county for the overpayment. Purchase Os Paint Striper A lease/purchase agreement between first lease and equipment group and Kosciusko County was executed in 1989. The total purchase cost was $65,030 for a paint striper for the highway department. The commissioners did not let bids to purchase this equipment. The current officials were instructed to follow the provisions of IC 36-1-9-4 for letting bids on purchases of $25,000 or more. Further, if the interest rate is over 8 percent, the county is required to follow IC 6-1.1-20-7. Purchase Os Computer Kosciusko County purchased a new computer in 1989 at a cost of $120,000. The specifications were prepared by personnel of the ATEK Corporation. The contract was awarded to ATEK as the only computer company to submit a bid. The officials were instructed to follow the provisions of IC 36-l-9-3(b). Further, a possible conflict of interest may have existed pursuant to IC 35-44-l-3(a). Purchase Os Personal Items — Highway Employees Personal clothing was purchased by the county for all highway employees in December 1989. These purchases were charged to the supplies appropriation in the Highway Fund. We know of no authority for these purchases and have advised the present officials to discontinue purchasing personal items for any county employee. If this practice continues, we will request the employees reimburse the county for these purchases. Jury Duty — County Employees County employees were paid their regular wages while serving as jurors. In most cases, the employees reimbursed the county for the per diem received for jury duty. However, an employee has refused to reimburse the county. We have advised the current officials that we know of no inherent power that will allow an employee to receive his/her regular pay and per diem. We have instructed the county auditor to either have the employee reimburse the county for the per diem, or withhold the amount from the employee’s regular payroll check. Employee Payroll And Service Records The following problems were noted during our audit of the payroll fund: 1. Some employees were paid their regular pay when absent without vacation or sick leave being charged and some employees continued to be paid when their fringe benefits were exhausted. 2. Highway employees were paid overtime when holidays or vacation leave occurred during a pay period. 3. Some employees were being credited with compensatory time after thirty-seven hours when in fact they did not work. 4. Payroll vouchers were not properly prepared. 5. Sick leave was accumulated and used over the maximum allowed by the county’s personnel policy. 6. Benefits for highway, health, sheriff and area plan commission employees were different from benefits of other county employees. 7. Service records were not maintained for some departments. In other departments, the service records were not properly maintained. 8. Vacation was credited contrary to the county’s personnel policy. 9. Longevity pay for the sheriff’s department was computed incorrectly. Most of the above were discussed at the exit conference for the 1988 audit with the county auditor and commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners was instructed to revise or rewrite the county’s 1984 personnel policy immediately. Further, the commissioners were advised to enforce the policy enacted. If not, we will request the county be reimbursed for benefits paid in excess of those authorized by the county’s personnel policy. Exit Conference An exit conference was held on June 7,1990, with Mrs. Patricia A. Brown, county auditor; Charles Lynch, Eddie Creighton and Maurice Beer, county commissioners; and George Klinger and Lewis Bertsch, county council members. The officials concurred with our findings. —o— DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT — I received in the mail an invitation to have a private dinner with President Bush on Sept. 25,1990. It’s going to be a salute to the president by the President’s Club. I was tempted to go. After all, how many times does one get invited out to dinner with the President of the United States? It bothered me a little that this was all typed neatly and looked like it was a form letter. It was signed by the Republican National Committee chairman. The letter also asked that I send or bring a piece of paper on how I would like for my name to appear on a special register. Now that made me a little more than suspicious. Reading further, I found that the signature he wanted was on a check filled out for a minimum amount of SI,OOO. Well, that cinched it! I’m not going. Firstly, it’s too much for a meal regardless of whom it is with. Secondly, now how much do you tip for a SI,OOO meal? After all, I can salute for free when he appears on TV.

78,000 volunteers can’t all be wrong

I By NORMA ANGLIN Red Cross Executive Director The recent Scripps-Howard newspaper series on the disaster relief operations of the American Red Cross left the totally unwarranted impression that the organization is cumbersome, unresponsive, biased, irresponsible and concerned first and primarily with its own image. Only once did the reporters acknowledge — and then dismiss — the critical fact that of the “more than 200 disasters" they observed, some of them were handled “nearly flawlessly." Nor do they acknowledge the Red Cross response to approximately 55,000 disasters a year — the majority — such as single family fires being handled by Red Cross chapters. Instead, they concentrated on the handful of disaster operations, in which, in fact, things do go wrong, in particular the Ohio Valley flood including Shadyside. Ohio. Os critical importance to disaster relief capability in this country is the need to recognize that beyond the occasional — even serious — shortfall in immediate responsiveness and the provision of services, the volunteer-based American Red Cross has served the nation not only well, but with distinction. 200 Out Os 275,000 It is true that the ScrippsHoward reporters “reviewed" 200 major disasters that occurred during the past five years. However, most of their conclusions are drawn from voluntarily provided Red Cross reports, not first hand experience as the stories suggest. Further, the reporters fail to mention or even acknowledge that during the same five-year period, the Red Cross responded to 275,000 disasters — an impressive record by any measure. These largely local incidents — ranging from single-family dwelling fires to flooding and tornados — were handled by a cross section of the 78.000 Red Cross disaster volunteers; plus a small group of paid local chapter specialists and headquarters personnel, who comprise the organization's disaster relief capability. Responsibility And Response The Congressional charter on which the Red Cross operates was granted in 1905 and requires the organization to be the first line of volunteer response in all disaster events. In order to meet this mandate, the Red Cross depends on its local chapters to be first on the scene whenever possible, relying on regional and national back-up when the magnitude of a disaster clearly exceeds the ability of the local chapter to cope. Delays in service do occur in those communities that are unable or unwilling to support the establishment of a Red Cross chapter. During Hurricane Hugo, once the hurricane was ashore north of the Charleston area, the Red Cross faced massive interruptions in transportation routes, including cut-off roads and airports. as it endeavored to marshall relief workers and supplies to the impact area. The important point was that the assistance did arrive and that services — despite individual instances of problems — were rendered. Bias Charges Untrue The inferences throughout the Scripps-Howard series that the American Red Cross is insensitive to cultural differences and shows bias in its services against minorities and the poor are patently untrue. The ARC Disaster Regulations state in the first paragraph that. "In the conduct of its disaster relief services, the Red Cross represents all the people of the United States and extends aid in the equitable and impartial manner without regard to economic status of racial, religious, political, ethnic or other affiliation." To suggest that there is conscious bias in dispensing services to disaster victims not only impedes the motives of disaster volunteers, but those of all Red Cross volunteers, whose numbers exceed one million. In attempting to live up to this requirement, there have undeniably been shortfalls, particularly in the recruitment and training of minority volunteers In recent years, the organization has worked on a regular basis with minority organizations to achieve a better racial and ethnic balance in volunteer ranks. In South Carolina, during Hurricane Hugo for instance, it should be pointed out that 78 percent of all Red Cross services were delivered to non-white victims. Moreover. 75 percent of the families served had incomes less than $20,000. Service and Funding Perhaps the most frequent criticism leveled at the Red Cros? is that it spends too little time on services and too much on fund raising. These allegations were made yet again in the ScrippsHoward series. The fact of the matter is the

ability of the Red Cross to respond to disasters is totally dependent on the generosity of the American people. At the time of Hugo and the northern California earthquake, the total disaster reserves of the organization were approximately $4 million; the costs associated with providing services ultimately reached $127 million — more than 30 times the reserve capacity. Since the Red Cross levies no fees or charges whatsoever for its disaster services, this “gap" between resources and costs must always be made up by contributions. and those contributions must besolicited. In the case of the northern California earthquake, a relatively rare situation occurred, in which contributed funds far exceeded local costs. The normal past practice of the Red Cross has been to put any surpluses in its general disaster fund where the proceeds could be used “for the next disaster" regardless of where it occurred Under pressure from local authorities and corporate donors in the area, however, the Red Cross reversed its longstanding practice and agreed that all

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FUN AT BENEFIT — Young and old alike were seen having fun at the Betty Fry Benefit on Saturday. Aug. 25. A rummage and bake sale were conducted on Friday and Saturday, with rides, games and food on Saturday. The benefit was hosted by employees of Heaters Engineer, North Webster, where Fry was an employee for five years. Also assisting in the bake sale was members of the North Webster Church of God. Proceeds from the event will go to assist Fry with medical expenses in her battle with cancer. Fry has no insurance. Shown in the top photo is Amber Hall trying her chance at dunking Don Mort, director of sales for Heaters. Mort along with a number of other top officials for Heaters took their turns in the dunk tank. In the bottom photo, Ryan and Allison Thornburgh, three, children of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Thornburgh, enjoy blowing bubbles during the benefit. (Photos by Deb Patterson)

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specifically designated funds should remain in the area where they were contributed. Meeting Its Mandate The American Red Cross is not. as alleged in the Scripps-Howard series,-, a cumbersome bureaucracy. In the disaster response area, national sector staff numbers 70 people, approximately one for every 1.100 volunteers. Even when you add local chapter paid staff, the Red Cross disaster function is still 90 percent volunteer-based. Unlike other groups, the American Red Cross bears the responsibility to serve in all disasters in all areas, which based on 1988-89 statistics, occurred at a rate of 150 per day. every day of the year, throughout 50 states and several territories. No one at the American Red Cross lays claim to a perfect record What they do maintain is a day-in and day.-out rendering of dedicated, compassionate, effective service to people in disaster. It is easy to single out problems. It is much more difficult to document the thousands of successes, which have characterized the American Red Cross of more than 109 years.

“CRUZIN AROUND 'CUSE"

(Continued from page 4) JOHN AND Oweita Augsburger recently were able to move into their beautiful new home on Ogden Island, Wawasee. The family had owned a cottage on this property for 40 years, but with the cottage not being salvageable, they tore it down to rebuild. Mrs. Augsburger described it as their “cottage with a raised roof" because, she explained, “We want it to remain a cottage. “The second story is ‘our’ loft, and we now have our own spa with a place to exercise and a jacuzzi from which to watch the sunset. There’s an English garden and screened-in porch in the * back, and the decor both inside and out is white-on-white.” They are now enjoying their home “across the lake” from where they had been living in the South Shore Condos. —o— ACE HARDWARE recently raised $249, which was donated to the Horwitz-Caveda family, given through Dick Conroy at First Federal Savings here in Syracuse. They are still collecting funds for the family. The fund raising was organized and planned by managers of both Ace stores — Paul Henning in the Syracuse store, and Dennis Wagoner, manager at the North Webster store. —o— LUCILLE AND Bob Searfoss took a vacation from Aug. 7-16 and flew to Gig Harbor, Wash., on Puget Sound, where daughter Sherry Norris lives with husband, Tony, and daughters, Jennifer and Amy. Accompanying them was their 14-year-old granddaughter, Janyre Stockinger, their daughter Jane’s daughter from Grand Rapids, Mich. The highlight of their visit was an opportunity Bob had to visit with his commanding officer from World War 11, now retired and living in Sequim, Wash. While there, they also toured a portion of the Olympic Mountains.

Diabetic classes at Goshen Hospital

Diabetes is the number three major health problem in the United States and its incidence is increasing every year. Americans today have greater than one-in-five change of developing diabetes. Despite these statistics, many people are inadequately informed about diabetes. A series of diabetic classes for diabetics, their families and other interested people will be held at Goshen General Hospital on Sept. 10-13 at 7 p.m. in the Pepple Auditorium in the hospital. Nahcy Schooley. R.N., diabetes education coordinator and Barb Fierce. R.D., hospital dietician, will conduct the following classes: Sept. 10. “Diabetes: Ex-

! r Ml I ■%, **' **»••>*, II I >|| I ’ "* '• Ranges B I VCR’s Hoover Vac $89.00 ■ ill B Gas Range $ 399 $ 339 1 Refn «« ro^ I TV's B Lady K Dryer $ 445 $ 339 ■ £ | ,l t 827 Cu. Ft. Side X Side $1,410 $1,159 ■ l Stejgf B 13" Sears TV-Remote $ 248 $ 229 1 | B 25" Magna vox $ 500 $ 419 ■ \J B Kenmore Dishwasher $ 402 $ 329 ■ I B Solid Element Range $ 610 $ 539 I , I 822 Cu. Ft. Refrigerator $1,015 $ 839 ■ » | 1 3- RCA TV Remote $ 280 $ 239 1 ' I ■ 25" Zenith Console $ 660 $ 599 ■ | Bl Gas Grills $ 175 $ 129 ■ II Also Microwaves, Clothes Washers ■ ~~''K . ,|g Air Conditioners, Water Heaters ■ I ~-W Stereos, Lawn Mowers B I 'I Exercise Equipment, VCR’s ® Brand Names: GE. Kenmore. Sharp I — systems M Whirlpool, Amana. Zenith Speed Queen | j| The Above Is A Partial List s ~, Dozens Os More Items -

Wed., August 29, 1990 —THE MAIL-JOURNAL

Since returning, they have enjoyed a visit from Lucy’s Purdue roommate, Helen Bull. They’ve kept in touch through the years and see each other now and then. Helen and Warren are from Modesto, Calif. RICK AND Diane Rager are opening a bed and breakfast Sept. 1, in their 1890 s three-story Victorian-style house on Main Street. The house has been gradually restored by Rick and Diane, with a recent addition of a three-car garage toward the back. It is certainly a perfect location for a bed and breakfast, within partial view and walking distance of Syracuse Lake, the city park and downtown. CONGRATULATIONS GO to Sharon Myers, the former Sharon Treadway of Syracuse, for her promotion to assistant purchasing manager in the jewelry division at Herff-Jones in Indianapolis. Sharon joined Herff-Jones in August, 1981, working in the order entry department before taking the position of purchasing secretary in 1983. She is also continuing her education toward a business degree at IU/PUI. —o— JOHN AND Mariane Hagen began celebrating their 40th anniversary last November with a surprise party from their seven children. They were wed in November of 1949. The children then gave them a gift of an Alaskan cruise, which they took August 5-12. Leaving San Francisco, the new cruise ship made five stops in British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska. John said thev thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Talking about high costs, John said one of the men on the cruise bought $4,000 worth of jewelry and clothing at the ship store for his wife (they were celebrating their 50th), and signed up for two other cruises costing $40,000 then was overheard complaining about the high price of a good cup of coffee in Alaska. John admitted food prices were high there, and reported that in British Columbia, gas prices were $2.65 a gallon before the gulf crisis.

planation and Care;” Sept. 11. “Principles of the Diabetic Diet;” Sept. 12, “Planning Meals for at Home and Away from Home;” and Sept. 13, “The Effects of Diabetes on the Body." These classes are presented to

UM service at Waubee Lake

The Milford United Methodist Church will be hosting an early worship service Sunday, Sept. 2. at Waubee Lake. The service will be held at the pavilion at the lakeside park at 8:30 a m. Pastor Ben Whirledge will lead the service with guitar music and a message.

This opportunity for an infor-

help people understand more about diabetes. There is a minimal class fee and for more information or to pre-register, contact the education department, Goshen General Hospital at 533-2141. ext. 1104.

mal worship experience is open to everyone interested. Those attending may want to take lawn chairs. Regular services will also be held at the church on Sunday with church school at 9:15 a.m. and worship at 10:30 am. All are welcome to attend.

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