4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 7, 1998 EDITORIALS Remembering teachers, and other heroes and heroines Believe it or not, there was a time not long ago when teachers were held in the highest esteem by parents and the community at large. In those hallowed days, teachers were considered on a level with other professionals, such as doctors, bankers, Tawyers and other leading men and women in town. .+ Of course, that was a time when family doctors made house alls at all hours of the night, the bank president lived up the street, lawyers were considered more helpful than avaricious, and teachers were severely underpaid by comparison to just about any other profession. My, how times have changed. “To read today’s headlines or listen to loudmouths on the radio, you'd think teachers are now the scum of the earth, irresponsible, greedy incompetents interested only in their next paycheck, complete with fully-paid benefits. While the paychecks have gotten fatter, and unionization has diluted teachers’ individuality, it is painting with too broad a brush to condemn all educators this way. The truth is that most teachers today are at least as good and dedicated as were their forebears, and many of them are better. But they owe a good part of their status to those who came before, and gained the respect and admiration of students, administrators, parents and their peers. “A group of Dallas High School teachers firmly believes in honoring those who walked the path before them, and has built a garden to honor their memory. So far eight deceased col- leagues are listed on a plaque surrounded by colorful flowers and vibrant green plants: Robert Somerville, math, Joe Rashys, shop; Donald Evans, history; Lester Lewis, band; Thaddeus Stemplewski, Gerald Kolman, shop; and Gerald Stinson, social studies. More will be added as necessary, and the garden itself will continue to grow with help from teachers, administrators, office and maintenance staff, and members of the Back Moun- tain community who want to keep alive the contributions these “giants” made to their lives. -‘Modern society makes it hard to look up to anyone. Our fascination with scandal and general distrust of other people’s motives combine to tarnish the reputation of nearly every national figure. But it need not be that way; real heros and heroines live right around the corner, and we'll see that if we look for them. It is constructive to remind ourselves, as the teachers have, that good people aren't that hard to find, so that we don’t sink completely into cynicism. | Publisher's notebook | — I haven’ t seen the series, “The Cold War” on CNN, but I did 2 ho the promotion before it started. I guess there's no harm in rehashing the years when we and the U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, for those born after 1980) were at logger- heads around the world. Maybe there are even a few useful lessons to be learned from a close look at our behavior and tactics, although I'm afraid it’s more likely shows like this reinforce the tendency to fight the last war, instead of preparing for the next one. | Still, I was amazed and a little offended that in its promotion, ‘CNN described the Cold War era as the “most dangerous” in ‘human history. Oh, really? As a survivor of that time period, I ‘can vouch that it was scary to have bomb drills in school, or to ‘hear Kruschev's proclamation that “We will bury you.” Of course, much of the fear came from our own government's ‘active imagination, egged on by a voracious military-industrial ‘complex that stood to gain enormously from our response to ‘the slightest hint that the U.S. was vulnerable to attack. Little ‘did we know that our nuclear superiority was so large, or that ‘our opponent was so inept. So, come on, the most dangerous era in history? I think not. After all, while there were two “hot” wars across 40+ years, neither reached anything like the scale of the two world wars, ‘or even of our own Civil War. Was it frightening to watch : Sputnik race across the sky, knowing the “Reds” were ahead of ‘us in space? Maybe a little, but that hardly compares with ‘having millions of people bombed into oblivion, or dead from ‘the Plague. I'm afraid this is just one more example of my generation's seemingly insatiable appetite for self-aggrandizement. What- - ever the superlative — “best,” “most dangerous,” or “worst,” we baby boomers seem to harbor a need to apply it to our own lives. . For proof, just count how many times Bill Clinton has de- seribed something as the best or worst in 50 years. Maybe it's because we always felt a little inferior to the generation that ‘ preceded us, the ones who truly lived through one of the most ' dangerous eras in human history, and who sacrificed life and limb so that we could grow up in carefree comfort watching ' Dobie Gillis and worrying about what our new bikes would look like. Your Sports & News items are welcomed at The Post The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER Ronald A. Bartizek PUBLISHER Jessica Appolo ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kylie Shafferkoetter REPORTER Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER MEMOER . V, 4 PRINTED WITH NINE is SOY INK NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION PUBLISHERY ASSOCIATION Appalachian barn in Lake Township. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. A Case for consggyation Alene N. Case Next time we visit our sons in Oregon, I plan to go see Crater Lake. It is the deepest lake (al- most 2000 feet deep!) in the United States. It formed when the crater of Mount Mazama collapsed cre- ating a vast caldera which then began to fill with water from pre- cipitation. Although Mount Mazama is now inactive, a small volcanic cone of lava created Wiz- ard Island in the middle of this lake sometime after the original ° lake was formed. Thanks to Theodore Roosevelt, the lake and the forests surrounding it were protected in 1902 as Crater Lake National Park. The deepest and largest (by volume) freshwater lake in the entire world, Lake Baikal in Russia's far east, was also formed by geologic forces. This time the depression was not created by a volcano but by two large faults in the crustal rock. Baikal and Tanganyika (in Africa) are both huge graben lakes which formed when one block of crust sank lower than surrounding blocks and the resulting trough subse- quently filled with water. Lake Tahoe is probably the most fa- mous graben lake in the United States. Graben lakes tend to be so deep that they remain lakes for long periods of time - Lake Baikal is at least 20 million years old. In ‘contrast, many lakes are very young and tend to fill in much more quickly. Most lakes with which we are familiar, in- Considering lakes' origins cluding the Great Lakes of North America, are less than 15,000 years old. They were formed dur- ing and after the glaciers covered large areas of this continent (what is commonly referred to as the “Ice Ages”). But, even among these so-called glacial lakes, there are a wide variety of methods of forma- tion. Some lakes formed when the glacier melted and washed large amounts of material from the land near the terminus of the glacier. Sometimes glaciers actually scour out portions of the hard rocks over which they pass and then when they melt those depressions fill with water. Fjords are ex- amples of this. We think of fjords as being narrow bays along an ocean, but some of them are raised above the level of the sea (the earth rebounds as the weight of the ice decreases) and are sepa- rated from the ocean by a shelf of rock. Therefore, they are truly lakes. In mountainous regions where glaciers move through valleys, cir- que lakes often form. These are generally in the shape of an am- phitheater and sometimes occur in chains, leading to the name paternoster lakes. Other moun- tain glaciers form temporary lakes when they cross the path of a stream or river. Sometimes the flow of water is actually reversed by this type of blockage, with the inlet becoming the outlet of the lake. This can also happen if the blockage is due to a landslide acrossavalley. Otherrelatively small lakes are formed when blocks of ice that became trapped in the materials left behind by the glaciers finally melt and cause the overlying material to settle. This can take hundreds of years be- cause the ice blocks are insulated by the rocks and soil above them. Such lakes are termed kettle lakes. Other lakes form when the mate- rial at the edge of the glacier (the moraine) is left in the path of a stream or creates a basin in which water collects. There are more exotic ways that lakes can be made. Occasionally, they are formed by meteorite im- pacts. Many are the result of the dissolving of rocks or salts by water that may be slightly acidic. ‘Some are formed by the accumu- lation of vegetation either slowly (peat) or more quickly (beaver dams). Some are created by wind which can blow sand to form a dune that traps water or blow sand out of an area which then fills with water. Others are formed along rivers as the course of the river changes and some sections (oxbows) are no longer connected to the main channel. Of course, not all lakes are fresh water bodies. Some, such as the Great Salt Lake, have no outlet and all the salt which enters it remains behind as the water evaporates. It was once part of a much larger lake in central North America known as Bonneville. The Caspian Sea, on the other hand, was once connected to the world’s oceans but has been isolated be- cause of the uplifting of that sec- tion of plate. There is a marine eelgrass that still thrives in the Caspian Sea. The source of the lake is certain to affect its history. People who study lakes (known as limnolo- gists) always try to understand the creation of a particular body of water so that they can better understand the chemistry and biology of the lake today. With so many different ways in which lakes might form, it is highly unlikely that two lakes are ever exactly identical. That is why I want to see Crater Lake and why I encour- age you to visit all kinds of lakes on your own travels. WORD ON THE STREET Q: If you could be anyone for one day, who would you be and why? ~ VICKI MARCIKONIS JASON ELLIOT JOHN LACHENMAYER MER RISH Shavertown Dallas Hunlock Creek Huntsville "My mom. She's forever 'l like being me." "Jackie Chan. Sol could "Therichestwomaninthe the optimist." kick some ****." world 50 | could do any- thing | want." Q: A: Only in The Dallas Post Where do you find the most Back Mountain news? ONLY YESTERDAY 60 Years Ago - Oct. 14,1938 OLD HOME WEEK ot ORGANIZED FOR BORO A movement to organize-an “Old Home Week” celebration for Dal- las Borough next year to mark the 16th anniversary of the formation of the borough and its school dis- trict was inaugurated bythe borough's school district-at their meeting Wednesday evening. Reminded that the first local pub- lic high school was founded in 1879 the board named directors to meet with council and suggest that a community celebration be staged to mark the occasion. - Dallas Borough also received its charter in 1879. “Tough to Handle” with Frankie Darro (the dead end kid) new play- ing at Kunkle Community House. Admission 10¢ and 20¢. 50 Years Ago - Oct. 15, 1948 KINGSTON TWP. SCHOOL GETS NEW CAFETERIA: Kingston Township School Board has approved plans to go ahead with a new cafeteria in its Junior High School. The cafeteria will involve no new building as such but will cost approximately $15,000 for a rearrangement of present classrooms so that the cafeteria can be housed on the entire first floor of the Junior High building. Funds to pay-for the- work will be raised through a se-. ries of new taxes authorized by’ the board Wednesday at a meet-* ing in the high school building. In the presence of Back: Moun- | tain friends and neighbors Howard W. Risley editor of Dallas Post: received the Frank L. Hemelright. Memorial Award last night at Irem Temple Country club. The award which is presented by an anony- mous donor in memory of the late Frank L. Hemelright whose ex- ample of community service the award is intended to perpetuate. 40 Years Ago - Oct. 10,1958 BORO RESIDENTS ASSURED SNOW WILL BE REMOVED Representative property own- ers from Powderhorn Drive in the Jones development and Sterling Avenue in the Machell develop- ment sought assurance from Dal- las Borough Council at its-meet- ing Tuesday that their streets will be cleared of snow this winter: They were informed that. the bor- ough has no right to maintain privately owned streets or to plow them until they are taken over by the Borough and that this cannot be accomplished until the new streets are approved by the Bor- ough Engineer. The main hitch according to Borough Engineer, John T. Jeter is that the plot developers have failed to meet re- quirements for street construc- tion as set up by Borough ordi- nance and until these require- ments are met the Borough will not accept the streets. 30 Years Ago - Oct. 17, 1968 HARVEYS LAKE BORO LOOKS INTO SEWAGE PROBLEM Harveys Lake Borough Council voted unanimously Monday night to engage Glace & Glace Inc., Har risburg to do a feasibility study on the sewage problem in their dis- trict. Solicitor John O'Connor prepared the agreement which would include an independent study with a report back to Coun- cil within 60 days. If Harveys Lake Borough accepts the plan produced the same firm will then beretained to complete the project. All prior ordinances will become null and void. You could get - Center cut York chops 69¢ 1b.; calves liver,’ 99¢ Ib.; Eight O'clock coffee, 1-1b. bag, 57¢; Scotties Facial Tissues, three 200 2-ply pkgs., 79¢; Hershey's king size candy bars, three 8 1/2 oz. bars $1; Scott paper towels, 3 jumbo rolls/$S1. 20 Years Ago - Oct. 12, 1978 LAKE-LEHMAN LOOKS INTO NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Adoption of a resolution pro- viding for the constuction of a new elementary school highlighted the October meeting of Lake-Lehman School Board Tuesday. As ac- cepted the resolution authorizes construction of a building to re- place the existing Lake and Noxen elementary building. Maximum project cost is $4,270,000 with maximum cost for the building itself, $3,638,640. The board scheduled a public hearing on the project Oct. 31, 8 p.m. at the auditorium of the senior high school. ~ 5
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers