4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 28, 1998 i EDITORIALS We can do more to keep littering slobs at bay Someone's making a mess out of Trojan Road in Lehman Township. Actually, it’s obvious more than one person thinks a gravel side road is perfectly suited to be a dump, but they're all wrong. Litter is one of the enduring stigmas of northeastern Penn- . sylvania. When visitors come by, they take back with them _ impressions of beautiful hillside vistas, uncrowded highways, safe neighborhoods .. and trash-strewn roadsides. But what's happening in Lehman goes beyond candy wrappers and soda cans; major appliances, mattresses and other large items have been tossed aside, scarring the rural landscape and turning a scenic byway into a garbage dump. Shame on them, and shame on us for not doing more to protect our environment. Yes, our environment. While it's important to banish toxic chemicals and noxious fumes, the visual surroundings are an important part of our lives. When our view is sullied by trash, our landscape becomes jarring instead of soothing. Worse, trash seems to grow like a fungus, because when the slobs among us see some, they are attracted like moths to a flame. That's why removing roadside trash is a job for everyone, not just those unfortunate enough live along the pigs favorite hangouts. It might help if it was easier to dispose of worn out items, big or small. About half the communities in the Back Mountain hold annual cleanup weeks, during which their residents can get rid of old refrigerators, bicycles and assorted trash. It’s not so easy in the other towns; people are pretty much on their own there, which usually means trucking items to a scrapyard out of the area. This is not an excuse for chucking them on the roadside, but it illustrates how we can do better. We need more support for people who want to do the right thing and preserve our esthetics. That could come in the form of a “bottle bill,” and similar measures that make it worthwhile to recycle instead of toss out. We could also use more aggres- sive cleanup by towns, the county and state, instead of reliance on goodhearted volunteers who “adopt” sections of roadway. We pay taxes in part so that all the roadsides are kept clean. And we need better enforcement of existing anti-litter laws. That's where all of us can help out. If we know someone who is defacing our roadsides, we should report them to the police. This is not “tattling,” it’s being a responsible citizen. More carrots, more stick; maybe the two can help remove these eyesores, and in the process allow us to take more pride in our place. Publisher's notebook Transcript of therapy session, Oct. 22, 1998. T Therapist “Tell me how you came to be in this fix.” : “I guess it all started in 1986, when they made it to the Ver Series. I mean, I grew up in Connecticut, and was a Yankees fan in the 50's and 60’s, but then lost interest. T hen, slowly, I seemed to get this affliction.” Therapist: “Everyone was a Yankee fan then, just like they are now, because they're winning.” RB (slight hostility in voice): “That’s what my friends used to say. They were mostly Red Sox fans, I guess because Fenway was easier to get to than the Stadium. They even rooted for the Dodgers in ‘56, which made me really angry, since the bums “had abandoned the East Coast just because the weather is better in California.” Therapist: “Try tobe calm, now. You say most of your friends were Red Sox fans. Why weren't you?” RB: “I think mostly because of Mickey Mantle. Those tower- ing home runs, that blinding speed. There was nobody like him, especially not that one-season wonder Roger Maris. And Mantle did it all on legs so sore they had to be taped before every game.” Therapist: “I see, so even though Mantle was a superstar, you saw him as something of an underdog.” RB: “I guess so. Doe. do you think that’s why I've become a Red Sox fan? And .. . I hoped the Padres would win the Series. Do you think | pol don’t want to root for a winning team?” Therapist: “Could be. Or it could be that you're just con- trary. Think about it; when all your friends were for the Red Sox, you were for the Yankees. Now, everyone's for the Braves, or the Yankees, and you like the boys from Beantown. Looks like a pattern to me.” RB: “You're right, doc. I've got to get out of this rut. You know what; I'm going back to being a Yankee fan, rooting for Bernie Williams, David Cone, Scott Brosius and Orlando Hernandez.” Therapist: “Uh, you might want to reconsider that. Since they're all free agents, the Yankees may be playing with Smith, Jones and Manuel Labor next season.” RB: “Yeah, but they might have Mo Vaughn. He won't let any soft grounders roll through his legs.” Deadlines for news copy In order to plan each issue, The Dallas Post must adhere to self-imposed deadlines, as well as those of our printer. To have the greatest likelihood of publication, items should be received at our office by 4 p.m. the Friday prior to each issue. Items will be accepted until 4 p.m. Mondays, although much of the paper is already assembled by that time. Send or bring items to: The Dallas Post, 607 Main Road, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612. Our normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A deposit box is located at the front of the building for after-hours submissions. 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 MEM vd E] PRINTED WITH NIN PENNSYLVANIA SOY INK] ASSOCIATION | o APER NEWSPAPER 100,000 more teachers may not improve public education” Editor: One Hundred Thousand new teachers! The President has de- manded 1.1 billion dollars in new spending authority to hire that number to help man the nation’s classrooms. Almost everyone will agree that education is the key to success and that the better edu- cated students will generally com- mand the better jobs. No ques; tion! However, there is a question as to whether hiring more teachers is likely to improve the present situ- ation. It is postulated that the - present inadequate quality of edu- cation now being achieved in the - nation’s public schools is due to “crowding in the classrooms” and that additional teachers will im- proved the teacher/pupil ratio thereby boosting the average teaching time per pupil. But a number of studies sug- gest that the theory, (that smaller class sizes mean increased edu- cational quality), is possibly in- correct. For example, in tough inner city environments where public educational efforts have failed dismally, grades of students transferring out to private and parochial schools seem to improve measurably— although classroom size is. demonstrably not a factor. Analysts suggest that “classroom discipline” and “student motiva- tion” may be far more important than the “teacher/student ratio”. It may well be that the “quality of teaching” (in which these factors are paragaount) is the real key to better education. In 1974, a book: “The Twelve Year Sentence” equated aspects of compulsory public education with “jail time” for some students. Certainly many of today's “vic- tims” of public education would agree with that viewpoint. They see little or no value in listening to boring teachers lecture about sub- jects for which they foresee no practical use. Thus, viewing the educational process to which they have been “condemned”, as 12 years of punishment engenders resentment and rebellion. They act accordingly. It may be possible to motivate disruptive and rebelious “stu- dents” with different approaches to learning. Obviously, most people keep learning for a lifetime. But what they learn and just how and when, depends on many di- verse factors. Formal classroom education is, for most of us, just one of many methods of learning. It may not even be the best or the most appropriate. Many years ago, for a time, I attended a “country school” where, in one classroom, one teacher managed four different grades si- multaneously. For a kid having experienced only New York City’s public schools, it was a revelation! Classes were orderly, and inter- esting. The teacher queried the students in the different grades, each grade by turn, while the other grades studied or prepared to re- cite. There were also periods of time wherein all four grades par- ticipated together in a “learning game” or exercise. At recess, the teacher supervised recreational activities. At lunch, the kids had their lunch boxes (no free lunches - li gi w? » w here!) The teacher wag ‘also the chief janitor—assigning different boys to fuel the wood stove, take out the ashes and sweep the floor. Girls cleaned the blackboards and erasers and dumped the trash. Everyone was assigned “chores”. I think the reason that the rural school worked so well was the fact that everyone knew everyone else. They all had spent years together which probably minimized disci- pline problems. Also, the teacher was a great motivator. She knew each pupil and the parents inti- mately and had many opportuni- ties (over several years) to rein- force a pupil's learning experi- ence. Finally, in a farming commu- nity, life is pretty “fundamental and down to earth”, so an educa- tional program emphasizing the basic tools: reading, writing and arithmetic, seeemed eminently practical to the students. They could quickly put to use what they had learned. Hugh P. King Dallas ONLY YESTERDAY 60 Years Ago - Nov. 4, 1938 ELECTORS DECIDE FATE OF SCHOOL ADDITION The only municipality in this section which will have a purely local issue in next Tuesday's elec- tion will be Dallas Township where the electors will decide whether the school district shall float a $15,000 bond issue to finance an addition to the high school. News gathering facilities of The Post, expanded for the occasion will be working at top speed next Tuesday evening to keep the people of this section informed of the results of Pennsylvania’s exciting general election. Visitors will be welcome all evening to receive first hand the stream of election news which will be pouring into the office of The Post. Officials at local polling places and others having returns are requested to cooper- ate by phoning them to The Post. 50 Years Ago - Nov. 5, 1948 BMT LUMBER AND. COAL COMPANY TO BE BUILT One of the largest commercial expansion and building programs in this area in some years was announced this week by Granville Snowden for Back Mountain Lum- ber & Coal Company of Shavertown. The firm is now embarked on a program that will give it modern mill, storage and store facilities to handle all of the requirements of the builder and home owner and at the same time make it one of the outstanding lumber and building supply firms in Luzerne County. . Sweet Valley will have a new dress factory employing between 200 and 300 women. Announce- ment was made by Alfred Bronson, president of the Sweet Valley Im- provement Association. Bronson said the plant will be operated by a firm that has been in business in Plymouth the past seven years. 40 Years Ago - Oct. 31, 1958 NATIVE TEXTILES CLOSES LEVER’S LACE DEPARTMENT Native Laces and Textiles has closed its Lever’s lace department at Natona Mills and will transfer local operations to its Hightstown, New Jersey plant. About 50 em- ployees will be affected by the | change, many of whom have been here since the establishment of the plant. . ... An anonymous gift of $13,200 has paid off the entire indebted- ness of Lehman Township Volun- teer Fire Co. just as the firemen were about to embark on an all out fund raising.campaign to pay for their new Ward La France fire truck. The gift from a benefactor who has given generously to the fire copany during years of resi- dence in the township came as a complete surprise to the firemen. 30 Years Ago - Nov. 7, 1968 KINGSTON TWP. CREATES WATER COMMISSION Prompt action by Kingston Township Board of Supervisors to alleviate desperate water condi- tions throughout the area was taken Friday at a special meeting. The creation of a water commiis- sion to assist in solving problems was ordered drawn up by the so- licitor. It is felt that with the supervisory board entering the complaint it will lend more weight to the case: Mr. and Mrs. Russell Ide, Leh- man will observe their 60th Wed- ding Anniversary Nov. 18. Mem- bers of the First Baptist Church of Wilkes-Barre and active in Leh- man United Methodist they are the parents of three children. The also have four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. ~The couple hopes that friends and neighbors will drop in for Mpood old-fashioned” visit. 20 Years Ago - Nov..2, 1978 RESIDENTS GIVE OPINION ON PARK SITE AT LAKE "~ Harveys Lake Council President Robert DeRemer this week invited residents of that borough to par- ticipate in a voluntary survey to express their attitudes onarecent proposal under which the bor- ough would buy a $125;000 park site at Sandy Beach. .DeRemer urged borough residents to write him with their comments for or against the proposal. Final cost of the new - Lake El- ementary School plannedby Lake- Lehman School District including interest on bond issue should run more than $6 million and a dis- trict property tax increase of eight mills, bringing the total paid by district residents to 106: is not out of the question. LEGISLATORS DIRECTORY | . Federal Officials Representative Paul E. Kanjorski (Democrat) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-6511 e-mail: paul.kanjorski @hr.house.gov # 400M, 7 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Wilkes-Barre PA 18702 or 2353 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515 Senator Arlen Specter (Republican) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 e-mail: senator_specter@specter.senate.gov 116 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 or 711 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510 Senator Rick Santorum (Republican) Scranton: 344-8799 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 e-mail: senator @ santorum.senate.gov 527 Linden St., Scranton, PA 18503 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 State Officials State Senator Charles D. Lemmond (Republican) (717) 675-3931 e-mail: smurphy @pasen.gov 22 Dallas Shopping Ctr., Memorial Hwy., Dallas PA 18612-1231 : State Representative George Hasay (Republican) 287-7505 or 542-7345 or 474-2276 or 477-3752 144 North Mountain Boulevard, Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay'’s district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Township, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Franklin Township, Ross Township, and Dallas Township's north voting district. State Representative Phyllis Mundy (Democrat) 283-9622 or 655-3375 ‘ Suite 113, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston PA 18704 Mundy's district erlbompassés: Dallas Borough, Dallas Township except for the north voting district, and Kingston Township. « | | a | > > i o . ow ow | a
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers