’
Patrol
(Continued from page 1)
When asked about the recent law
which will go into effect this
summer, Messerle admitted that he
was unfamiliar with it.
Claude Neifert, Waterways
Patrolman for the Fish Commis-
sion, was also unfamiliar with the
new law, and declined to comment.
Neifert, who has a staff of four
deputies, is the waterways patrol-
man for all areas north and west of
the Susquehanna River in Luzerne
County. This includes Harveys
Lake.
According to Messerle, Harveys
Lake is patrolled at least every
weekend by Neifert. However, it is
the lake resident’s opinion that
more can be done.
Eleanor Edwards admits that it
Bill
(Continued from page 1)
Luzerne County last year, the entire
legislature agreed that something
needed to be done.”
“The operator was found to be
intoxicated,” said 0O’Connell.
“Authorities tried to bring homicide
charges against the man, but for
lack of laws applicable to homicide
by boat, prosecutors could only file
involuntary manslaughter charges.”
Homicide charges were included
in the new law. Penalties for homi-
cide by watercraft will include a
fine of $2,500 to $15,000 and or three
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must be a difficult job, but still feels
that lake could be patrolled better.
“I know it’s a tough job, and
there’s only one patrolman, but still
more can be done,”’ she said.
“Maybe if they got more help.
There are so many infractions
taking place. The boats come too
close to the dock and I fear for my
grandchildren’s safety when they're
swimming out there.”
William Mossatore summed it up
best when he said, “the lake patrol
was bad before last year’s accident.
After that they seemed to improve
it for a while. I just hope it doesn’t
take another accident to make the
recent patrols more effective and
frequent.”
— WALLY KOCHER
to seven years imprisonment.
Just how are Harveys Lake resi-
dents reacting to the new law? The
Dallas Post put this question to
some of the residents, and all ques-
tioned agree that the law is a step in
the right direction.
Although unaware of the new law,
Mrs. Jeanine Wood feels any legis-
lation having a harsher penalty for
such recklessness is good.
“I'm all for this type of legisla-
tion,” said Mrs. Wood. “I do feel
this is a problem on the lake, and
hopefully this will curb it some-
what.”
Mrs. Wood has yet another con-
cern about boating, however. ‘I
also feel that there should be a
specific age limit for those who
drive the boats; just like cars. Too
were presented with their
many children are being left to
drive the boats.”
Mrs. Wood isn’t the only lake
resident with this concern. A gentle-
man who wished to remain anony-
mous had a lot to say none-the-less.
“There really should be an age
you have to be before you can drive
boats on the lakes,” he said.
Presently, the lake is patrolled
periodically by Fish Patrolman.
However, Claude Neifert, the patrol-
man, declined comment saying he
was unaware of the details of the
newly-signed bill.
Sen. O’Connell and Rep. Hasay
said, “The sooner the state takes
the offenses more seriously, the
sooner the boat operators will. ”’
Sisters
(Continued from page 1)
Sister Mercy says Belize is in the
process of planning a natiopal uni-
versity which will be called Bell-
cast, for the Belize College of Arts,
Science and Technology. The pur-
pose of this college will be to
grams and to develop and expand
them,” says Sister Mercy.
planning committee for Belcast. So
far, they have been planning for
three years to build Belcast in their
new capitol city, Belmopan.
‘‘Because we're starting from
scratch, it will be about three to five
buildings going up,” says Sister
Mercy. The European Development
Fund has promised us some money,
and the government of Belize will
Jones.
also help. Sister Mercy hopes she
can get some new, fresh ideas about
education from the MHEC confer-
ence to take back and work with.
Sister Mercy dispelled a myth
about Belize: ‘Most foreigners
believe we are a country of unrest,
but this is not true. We are a
peaceful country.” Belize is a safe
place, although it is surrounded by
countries such as Mexico, Guate-
mala and Honduras, some of which
are in constant turmoil.
Refugees are a problem, accord-
ing to Sister Mercy. ‘Many refu-
gees come into our country,” says
Sister Mercy, “and most are from
Salvador.” The United Nations is
sponsoring a project with the gov-
ernment of Belize called the Valley
of Peace in order to resettle refu-
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gees. “The registered refugees are
called “Official Refugees,” explains
Sister Mercy. The Belize govern-
ment wants to check on the refugees
for health reasons, to make sure
they are not bringing any diseases
into the country and to keep a count
of them. Unfortunately, many refu-
gees are afraid the government
won’t let them in, so they periodi-
cally resettle on much of the
unused, undeveloped land in Belize
and live by subsistence farming.
Belize, formerly British Hondu-
ras, was just granted its independ-
ence from England in September of
1981. However, the Sisters of Mercy
have been in Belize for over 100
years, celebrating their centennial
in January of 1983, according to
Sister Mercy. There are approxi-
mately 25 Sisters of Mercy in
Belize, most of them natives, and
about five Americans. ‘“We have
our own native bishop,” says Sister
Mercy, ‘‘so we are not considered a
missionary country by the church.”
The Mercy High Education Collo-
quium conference will be beneficial
to Sister Mercy even though there is
a good system of education in
‘Since many of my students come
to America to study, I want to be
aware of your standards and
trends,” Sister Mercy says. ‘I want
to see if your ideas are applicable to
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