hE i The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, July 22, 1992 sl OU 9 od) FAA ieaess ris 7% teers2s 0A oer 77 _ . ~~ 4 SIE Pes ~ AEs ~ Pre é Cd YZ 422 CATV £4 : AN /z W/L GNA ott FEROS NANCE P7807 25 INI NAL 2 MUL J ” 77 fi ~., 7s) rf z [A & - > =, EX tl. - -r — - TL He —— J 77 | A A IN ow | JW. There’s nothing new under the sun By J.W. JOHNSON The question I'm most often asked is: why are you a writer? The short answer to that ques- tion is: I can’t conceive of being anything else. The long answer begins with some questions of the questioner, "2 ~“—Do you know why you are where you are? —Do you know—within the limits of your life experiences— who you are as a human being? —Are you capable of intellec- tual honesty? —Do you know what we had for dinner two nights ago? —Would you know there will be X number of men and X number of women in any given room you might be in today? : —Doyou know that Jack Ruby— the man who committed the first ) televised murder—died of CaA1Cer. —Do you know who Jack Ruby was? @ Lo you care? —Do you know who your state representative is? —Do you know what a state representative is? —Do you know what kind of learner you are: visual, auditory or kinesthetic? —Do you know that 25 percent of the world’s population lives in China, or that 66 percent of the world's lawyers practice in the United States? —Do you care? —Do you know who Thomas Mann was? Thomas Acquinas? Victor Hugo, Samuel Johnson, Ezra Pound, Ayn Rand, John Locke, Oliver Cromwell, Marie Curie, Cho En Lai, Jean Paul Sartre, Thomas Paine, Evelyn Cameron, Bathsheba, George Eliot. How many of you can tell me about the Chrysanthemum Throne. Where the Crystal Palace is lo- cated? Or who really lives at 10 Downing Street? All of these questions and mil- lions more go into the process of being—as opposed to thinking about being—a writer. And let there be no doubt that Thomas Edison was correct when he said: “Genius is 99 percent perspiration and one percent inspiration.” But what kind of writer? A journalist or other presenters of information is a person who provides the first rough draft of history; a columnist, or other pre- senters of ideas and opinions, takes the first rough draft of history and dresses it in historical, political and/or personal clothing. Through his or her work, all other writers celebrate the sun- shine of a new day, knowing there is, in fact, nothing new under the sun. There are, in fact, only six stories to tell: Life, death, love, hate, accident and plan. And while each new generation believes that it invented the wheel, culture and white bread...the truth is, all new writers of each new generation simply are rearrang- ing, in light of new times, experi- ences and understandings, the same words for new audiences; the same ideas for new minds to caress, wrestle with and challenge. And you, in fact, should ques- tion. G.K. Chesterton said it best: “A person should question the strongest beliefs of his age, be- cause they are invariably too strong.” And you should question...not so much for the sake of challeng- ing authority, but to, in fact, under- stand the questions themselves. And you should do so, knowing that you will reach false conclu- sions, while celebrating new un- derstandings. Why am [ a writer? More questions: How many ofyou know the taste of pure, mountain spring water?.— the stench of a rotting carcass— the feel of 60 grade sandpaper, or the sight of an empty sky...no, wait...there is a star up there...if I just look long enough. Why would I be anything else? Library news Book circulation reaches new highs By NANCY KOZEMCHAK The 46th annual Back Moun- « tain Memorial Library Auction is now history. Connie Scott, general chairman, did an excellent job of co-ordinating the auction and rounding up the chairmen of the various departments. Sybil Pelton, Mary George and Jean Grimes along with the Women of Dallas Kiwanis, once again took control of the Odds and Ends booth and made the most profit they have ever made. The Book Tent was chaired by Benny Matchett and Priscilla Liput and manned by many volunteers along with the Dallas school teachers. The profit from the book tent was good and many books left the grounds with bgopy customers. ‘he Dallas Rotary took charge of the Refreshment Stand once again along with the Women of Dallas Rotary and many volun- teers. The food was excellent and the variety was well received. The Dallas Woman's Club homemade fudge was on the scene again and made a big hit as was the home- made on the spot, Welch cookies by Rotary Women. The Newberry homemade pie booth was very popular as was the Hillside Ice Cream; Bobby Rice's lemonade stand and funnel cakes and the balloon booth. There were several vendors on the grounds who had a variety of items for sale. The an- tiques, chaired by Ernie Ashbr- idge, was the most popular area for lookers and buyers. Charles Wasserott was in charge of the New Goods and the items were exceptional and well-received by the auction bidders. The auc- tioneers, in charge of Kerry Free- man and Craig Aicher, did a fan- tastic job as did the block people getting the merchandise ready for auction in 1993. Once again, the Back Mountain Memorial Library has benefited from the library auction in monetary ways and also with the well-wishers and hard working volunteers who make it so successful. Thanks to everyone! The Summer Reading program and the summer story hours are bringing droves of adults and chil- dren into the library and making our circulation figures surpass the high marks already set. Five hundred books in one day circula- tion is a great number of books and in July so far, we have three 500 days and one 600 day. Be- cause of the summer programs and the children bringing in their parents with them to borrow books; July has always been our busiest circulation month of the year. Our books are here to be borrowed. A new Book Club book at the library “Wildest Dreams” by Jen- nifer Blake is a spellbinding novel of two passionate women who dare to live their wildest dreams with danger. A new mystery, “Pennies on a Dead Woman's Eyes” by Marcia Muller is the investigation of a 36- year-old slaying of a San Francisco debutante, whose murderer is re- (7 AREA'S MOST UNUSUAL THEME COCKTAIL LOUNGE OPENING SOON!!! Will Provide Career and Growth Opportunities For: * Mixologists * Hosts/Hostesses * Waiters/Waitresses We want to talk to you if... *You are young at heart * You enjoy the dramatic moment * You have self-confidence * You enjoy being in the public eye * You are reliable and honest For the persons we select: * You can expect above average wages * You can expect to serve people you'll like * You can expect liberal tips * You can expect consideration for management opportunities in our expanding organization FULL AND PART-TIME POSITIONS Call 825-0977 for your personal interview Please ask for Mr. Lee GOOD FORTUNE COCKTAIL LOUNGE Dallas Shopping Center leased from prison. —N \ Opinion Amid state budget cuts, welfare gets more | By REP. GEORGE HASAY Despite the summer recess, business is anything but finished at the state Capitol. When the Legislature returns this fall, there are many issues that are going to force some unwilling members of the General Assembly to sit down, roll up their sleeves, and face the tough decisions that they didn't want to face prior to the summer break and the fall election. To begin with, the budget — although passed and signed into law before the deadline - is any- thing but complete. Passing a budget by deadline for the sake of timeliness is not the most prudent way to do business. A better plan may have been formulated had the process truly been open and demo- craticand had negotiations started earlier. However, to belabor this point is almost moot. But to whine about something that is a waste of my tax dollars and your tax dollars is worth every bit of my energy and effort. With that said, the recently passed $14.2 billion budget plan increased basic education funding a mere pittance, which is still not enough for school district spend- ing. Prisons lucked out far better with a whopping $40 million for corrections. It also reduces appro- priations for the 14 state-owned universities (Bloomsburg Univer- sity) and Penn State University. Similarly, state agencies saw their operating budgets cut by five per- cent. Despite cuts in higher edu- cation and other priority areas, welfare spending was raised by . almost three percent. The time for a change of an outdated “no-where” welfare sys- tem is more important now than ever before. It is unfortunate and sad that elected legislators are unwilling and have been unwilling to take the political courage and lead the welfare reform changes. I believe that the majority of “the people” are ready to move forward and make progressive, positive changes to an antiquated welfare system and I wholeheartedly be- lieve that the majority of welfare recipients would become produc- tive, contributing members of our society. However, these folks are smart Americans, if the govern- ment is going to pay them to stay home, then that's as good as a lifetime retirement. This welfare program for our young, our youth, must change. The number grows and grows each year. The legislature could have pro- duced this change with work in- centive measures for public assis- tance recipients, by an extensive, three-year pilot work training pro- gram, and governmental assis- tance to help pay for the health insurance of recipients who ac- quire an entry-level job. Feeding money to an insatiable and ineffective system is a blatant slap in the face to Pennsylvania's working taxpayers. This budget appropriates an additional $40 million to a correctional system to build four new prisons. I intro- duced legislation that would let certain non-violent state prison- ers participate in pick up litter projects. It was a two-bill package targeted at individuals in motiva- tional boot camp and pre-release and minimum-risk programs. These initiatives would have cleaned up our roadsides and given us a minimal return on our invest- ment on prison costs, plus a litter pick-up program. And again hav- ing Pennsylvania's taxpayer get- ting a dividend back from their hard-earned tax dollar. Property tax reform must be addressed immediately. Local school districts’ costs and spend- || ing have caused home owners to| rethink about owning a home, | Senior citizens are forced out off their homes because of high prop- erty millage increases. Some re- || tired seniors have even torn down ||! sheds, outbuildings and even barns to cut their school district property | taxes down. School boards have || raised millage to a point of “forget || building a new home”, property taxes will kill you financially. We } need to change the tax from homes § to income percentage. This is a major problem for our {| people and must be addressed at {| once and without delay. It's sad || and inexcusable that the leader- || ship in the House has done noth- || ing to relieve the homeowners of this tax nightmare. va you However, they will have tol change their tune when they come | back this fall because the simple | fact of the matter is that thisbudget | needs repairing. There are so man issues, including welfare reform property tax reform, funding fo PACE and special education, tha need to be resolved. These issues regardless of party affiliation, must || be solved by a Legislature which | must place its priorities in what is{ 2h I best for the people and businesses | of Pennsylvania. R irement Distributi IRA Rollover | Prudential SECURITIES I; y (BE Ein a — [ 39 Public Sq., Wilkes-Barre, PA fe Rock Solid, Market Wise. ‘| || counties. 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If you're already a customer, you'll appreciate the incredible new savings and added For details on obtaining a new 690 number, call Cellular Plus today at J CellularPlus YOU CAN'T BEAT THE EXPERIENCE — CT or Lump Sum? | The 60 Day Decision. a If you are contemplating retirement, or if you areentitled to acompany funded lump-sum distribution, you generally have only60 days to make one of the most important investment decisions of your life. “x Your decision involves many variables, all of which can make a tremendous difference of perhaps hundreds of thousands of out-of-pocket dollars. Prudential- -* § Bache Securities has designed a computer analysis program to help youmake ~ § this crucial decision at no cost of obligation. For a personal ccasultation, — “f |! BOB OSTROWSKI Senior Vice President of Investments CALL COLLECT 826-6006 : | BR ERR TWH BR ERE YET ANE EE ER EY Be por | §1 | Nn hE a Ai, _d. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers