The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, April 26, 1995 5 A Case for Conservation 5 | Alene N. Case | »- This week has been an unusu- Naiy emotional time for me. There was Easter with its music and flowers, Oklahoma City with its bloodiness and tragedy, a walk in the woods with new friends, ma- jor car repairs, deadlines to meet, and more time alone than nor- mal. And, through tall, there has been Ishmael. «\ Daniel Quinn had never writ- _ ten a novel before. He began @shmael in 1977 and wrote and rewrote it so many times that he was about to give up. Then he learned of the Turner Tomorrow Award and decided to try once more. Out of 2,500 submissions, Quinn's Ishmael won the prestig- ious fellowship created “to en- courage authors to write fiction that produces creative and posi- tive solutions to global problems.” @ Ishmael tells the story of hu- mans through the eyes of a go- rilla. The gorilla, Ishamel, is liter- ally the teacher of the man who narrates this book. In fact, if | 4S » As Iwas o SAYING oa = Fu Jack Hilsher = pee Li / £] 8 . Here's a name that belongs to a man who really exists: Azeezaly Jaffer! How's that for a handle? Jaffer is the U.S. Postal Service “stamp czar,” manager of our “stamp service.” This title means he is respon- sible for. marketing of all U.S. stamps, not just for postage sake, dear friends, but to help overflow _ the coffers of our postal service. @ oy, does he ever succeed! + Last year the top ten 29¢ com- memoratives which were issued under Jaffer’s direction featured such diverse subjects as the moon landing, winter olympics, dino- saurs, WWII, blues and jazz stars, country music stars, pop singers, flowers and Norman Rockwell himself. The millions upon mil- lions of dollars made by stamps never, ever, to be used as postage but stashed away by collectors would truly boggle the mind. « An example is the '93 stamp Honoring (and I use the word advisedly) an over-weight, drug- crazed hillbilly singer, now de- parted which sold 124,000 000 copies and pulled in 35 million Satisfied customers Like animals, homo sapiens 's still subject to natural law ge a1 harrasment has many ugly faces someone had told me that a con- versation between a man and a primate could be so fascinating, I probably would have laughed. Fascinating is hardly the right word—compelling would be bet- ter. As one reader from Arizona put it: “I will remember Ishmael. I wish I'd known him firsthand.” But, the point of the book is that we can know Ishmael. If we as humans begin to live again as one species in the wider commu- nity of this earth, we can avoid the senseless crimes—Ilike the bomb- ing in Oklahoma City—that we have brought upon ourselves by trying to live outside the natural rules. Ishmael emphasizes that our culture has declared itself immune to the law of species competition, and that, in doing so, we are free-falling as certainly as if we had jumped off a cliff declaring our independence from the law of gravity. We have two choices—either to continue toward a disastrous end or to learn to live within the natural law. The natural law that we are trying todefy is really quite simple. No other animal hoards excess food. No other animal refuses to limit the growth of its population to comply with the available food sources. Over the past 10,000 years, our culture has tried to live outside the bounds of the com- munity surrounding us. In other words, we have tried to become god. We have decided who can live and who should die. And, the whole world is now suffering the consequences of our egomania. As the givers of the Turner Fellowship recognized, this is no “gloom and doom” treatise. It offers a chance for redemption—a way to look at the world through different lenses. I think Quinn intentionally made the narrator a bit “slow.” Ishamel had to spell out almost everything for him. He did so fairly patiently because he understood that the survival of the whole world was at stake. If humans could once again func- tion as participants in the global system instead of trying to de- stroy all life that was not similar to theirs, then global disaster could be avoided and other spe- cies would have a chance for life as well. This is a book to read and re- read. It is a book to discuss with others who have read it. It is definitely a book that will change the way we see the world and our place in it. I will end as the book ends—with the image of a two- sided poster. On one side it reads: “With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?” The other side reverses the question: “With go-. rilla gone, will there be hope for man?” Ask Ishmael. One who really deserves to be on a postage stamp bucks, less of course the normal production and distribution costs which couldn't be all that much. (Yes, Virginia, I meant Elvis.) With all the music makers mentioned above, one wonders how Jaffer and his selection committee, whoever they may be, managed to miss honoring one of the music world’s most respected and revered members...Glenn Miller, the vastly popular band leader of the 40s who was lost over the English channel in World War II. The one who wonders about this the most is probably Joe Cooper of Forty Fort. Joe is a former columnistfor thevenerable Stinday Indepetiderit.” His “Wax- ing Nostalgic” column appeared each Sunday for well over a dec- ade. Coop worked for the SI in their heyday, when editors were edi- tors and not just figureheads. He rubbed elbows with men who are legend in Valley newspaper lore, like Sheldon Wintermute and Lou Rauscher. These names will bring back memories to many readers today. Last year when I wrote a few columns on early swing bands I was asked “What are you trying to do, Jack? Take Joe Cooper's place?” No, I couldn't. Andnoone else could either. He was unique, the master of nostalgia. Now re- tired and a young 73, Coop is still active, knee deep in grandkinder #F POST PHOTO/GRACE R. OVE Dennis, Brandon and Susan Shovlin of Harveys Lake relax after a &@ good meal at the Back Mountain Police Association's annual all- ~ you-can-eat breakfast to benefit the Association for Retarded Citizens April 23. Assigned to USS Shenandoah ; Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Wallace C. Gauithier, son of Wallace J. and Florence M. Gauthier of Dallas recently reported for duty aboard the destroyer tender USS Shenandoah, homeported in Norfolk, VA. ‘The 1986 graduate of Dallas High School jointed the Navy in but still writing regularly for sev- eral regional weekly papers. They are lucky. His connection with the Glenn Miller Society is interesting. He started it, long before the Miller estate went to court and had their name changed to “Big Band Soci- ety.” Coop was their first presi- dent. He conceived the idea, took outan ad and was surprised when two dozen interested people showed up to become members. Marion Sterling of Forty Fort was their second president...the group met at the gracious King's Inn, a landmark bar/restaurant on Wyoming Avenue, long ago torn “down. Overthe years theirsociety tried every which way they knew to get a Glenn Miller stamp issued. Once they had ex-Hollywood song and dance man George Murphy try when he became a California senator. No stamp. Next they tried Dan Flood. Coop says, “In Washington when Dan said ‘Jump!’ the answer was always ‘How high?’ and we felt sure he could pull it off if anyone could.” No stamp. And that's where it stands today. Still no stamp. It's hard for society members to understand. It's hard for anyone to understand, especially when they see the lineup of stars from the same music world appearing on stamps today. Azeezaly, are you listening? PTC Summer & | SAT Review Professional Tutoring Cen- ter Summer SAT Review are the best preparation for jun- iors and seniors for the fall exams. No other service of- fers the range of SAT prepa- ration that we do. PTC will offer two sections with 35 seats for our Summer SAT Workshop. One class will meetexclusively on Sundays. Call now if you would like to reserve a place now or need additional information. Sun- day workshop class reserva- tions are being taken. 655-6766 located at the Oblates of St. Joseph. January, 1989. w i ; & We make house calls. - MOTHER'S DAY ~ \ THINK ABOUT IT! 142 WELLES STREET FORTY FORT 288-6886 - FACIAL GIFT CERTIFICATES STARTING AT $39.00 We will come to your home & change your Oil & Filter 10% Discount for Senior Citizens Most jobs $25 675-4393 ~ Guest column By Lynda Goldstein, Ph.D Sexual harassment in the workplace is a form of discrimina- tion. It clearly violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects employees from discrimi- nation on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. All organizations, including edu- cational institutions, are covered by this law. Although any person can be a victim of sexual harassment, the vast majority of instances involve women as victims and men as perpetrators of the harassment. Statistics from the Equal Employ- ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) indicate that 90% of cases are men harassing women; 9% of cases are same sex harassment; 1% of cases are women harassing men. That's because sexual har- assment is about power—the sheer power of being able to con- trol, intimidate, embarrass, or demean another human being, and get away with it. And in most organizations, men hold positions of power, and women are subordi- nates. Harassment, and all of its ugliness, flows down the organ- izational hierarchy. Bosses are harassers, subordinates are vic- tims. Sexual harassment is found in two forms. Quid pro quo (this for that) harassment places the vic- tim in the position of going along with the offender's behavior be- cause of fear of reprisal. The reprisals can be blatant, “Either you sleep with me or you're fired,” or obscure, “things might be eas- ier for you here if we became better friends.” The second, and more common form of sexual harassment, is the creation of a “hostile work envi- ronment.” In a recent U.S. Su- preme Court decision, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated, “When the workplace is perme- ated with ‘discriminatory intimi- dation, ridicule and insult’ that is ‘sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's employment and create an abu- sive environment,’ Title VII is vio- lated.” Not only is a hostile envi- ronment abusive of the victim, it also stifles morale and interferes with job performance and pro- ductivity of co-workers. But the human and organiza- tional costs are not the only ones. Employers are paying dearly, as well as they should, for allowing this behavior to exist. Organiza- tions that fail to take seriously the issue of sexual harassment will continue to dig deeply in their pockets. The same fate befalls schools and colleges, for the law clearly holds the institution re- sponsible for failing to provide a safe and harassment free envi- ronment for employees and stu- dents. Over the past few months, our community has watched the sex- ual harassment case unfold a the Luzerne County Community Col- lege. To our great sadness, the details, as reported in the press, provide a textbook case of sexual harassment. We urge all decision makers involved in this situation— trustees, college officials, and county commissioners—to com- mit to transforming an apparently oppressive environment to one of fairness and civility. We specifically urge that you work toward the gender equity by appointing qualified and progres- sive women to the board of trus- tees and to other leadership posi- tions within the college. In addi- tion, you must conduct a national search for the next president, and include as a selection criterion, a demonstrated commitment to fair treatment. As a public institution, your actions both reflect and shape the community. You have the moral imperative to set appropriate examples of gender equity in a non-discriminatory work environ- ment. As women in the academy, and as citizens of this commu- nity, we demand that you do so. Linda Goldstein is Acting Treas- urer of Women in Higher Educa- tion (NEPAWHE). She teaches at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre cam- pus in Lehman. DAMA offers recycling tips for spring The Dallas Area Municipal Authority reminds area residents that spring cleaning is also an opportunity to help the environ- ment through recycling. The first few weeks of spring are often a time when people pay more attention to automotive maintenance as well as the main- tenance of powered household machines such as a lawnmower. In both cases, a battery replace- ment and oil change are standard procedures. Both items can be recycled. “In the past two years we've recycled 797 batteries,” said - DAMA recycling program coordi- . nator Larry Spaciano:~ “This‘is'a tremendous number and is due to the public's concern over the environment as well as the help of the program's sponsor, Interstate Batteries.” Spaciano reminds customers that batteries can be delivered to DAMA offices. He also recom- mends that the battery be placed in an old container. Customers should be careful of battery acid, which can cause damage to clothes and other surfaces as well as in- jury if the acid comes in direct contact with skin. Most modern . automotive batteries, however, are completely sealed and safe) Oil canbe recycled at any of Richardson; Finish Line Quick Lube; Schmids Amoco or Back Mountain Transmission. Oil must be in a plastic see-through con- tainer (a standard water jug) and cannot contain any contamina- tion by water or other liquids. Contaminated oil cannot be re- cycled. Deposits are limited to 5 gallons per vist and acceptable containers are available from DAMA. There is no charge or cost to residents for either of these pro- grams. For more information on recy- cling programs, contact DAMA at four convenient locations: L.L.. 696-1134. PW ThA CIRIERN Name: FREE Doctor Visits for Medicare beneficiaries... Dr PI Please call me with more information about GHP Gold Address: Phone: Best time(s) to call: Mail to: Geisinger Health Plan ¢ 100 N. Academy Avenue ¢ Danville, PA 17822-2410 Na er Geisinger | © HEALTH PLAN GHP has been granted full Accreditation Status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance evidencing GHP’s compliance with NCQA’s Accreditation Standards. | May 3, 1995 Membership in Geisinger Health Plan Gold means you don’t pay for physician office visits, physical exams, preven- tive services or diagnostic services within the GHP network. You'll have no deductibles, virtually no claims forms to file and no limits on inpatient coverage. But you will have all the benefits of Medicare and more, including full coverage for vision and hearing screenings. GHP Gold, an alternative to your standard Medicare ben- efits, costs just $34.42 per month! You continue to pay your Part B premium, but there’s no need to purchase a supplemental policy. See how GHP Gold gives you more for less. For more information, call 821-2300 or 1-800-447-4000. ETT May 1, 1995 10:00 a.m. Dallas Township Municipal Building, Dallas May 2, 1995 10:00 a.m. Wyoming Borough Bldg., Wyoming 2:00 p.m. Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre May 4, 1995 St. Jude's Church, Blessed Pauline Center, Rt. 309, Mountaintop 2:00 p.m. 3
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