Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 69, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1980 Page: 4 of 26
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4*—THE NEWS-TELEGRAM, Sulphur Spring*, Taxos, Frldoy, March 21,1980.
rum
In our opinion
:
Don't fry to outrun
twisters, experts say
*
; Never try to outrun a tornado in
your automobile.
That is the strong advice of the
Insurance Information Institute, which
says the monster storms are too swift
and too erratic to be evaded suc-
cessfully. ^
This conclusion is supported by
findings of government researchers
vrho studied the giant twister that
devastated Wichita Falls last April.
Twenty six of the 43 persons who
were killed there were attempting to
flee the tornado in their cars, as were
30 of the 59 who were seriously injured.
I In contrast, only five deaths oc-
curred among people who remained
indoors during the storm. Homes left
by 20 of the fleeing victims sustained
little or no damage.
; The report terms automobiles and
mobile homes the most dangerous
places to be when a tornado warning
pounds. Apartments and single-family
homes were called the safest.
' The report recommends provision
jof group shelters in public buildings
and mobile home parks. It advises
families in single family dwefflftgs to
identify and reinforce some interior
space for this purpose. Motorists who
are caught on the road when a tornado
approaches are advised to abandon
their vehicles and seek shelter in
ditches or depressions.
Basements are described as the
safest section of homes. In houses
without basements, residents are
advised to take shelter in a bathroom
or closet on the lowest level or under a
piece of heavy furniture. They are
urged to stay away from windows.
People are advised to keep a bat-
tery-operated radio, flashlights and
spare batteries available during the
tornado season. They also are urged to
use extreme care in going outside after
a storm has passed due to danger from
fallen power lines and broken objects.
With the annual tornado season
rapidly approaching, a big turnout for
the Skywam meeting Thursday night
in the civic center auditorium is amply
warranted.
Bumbling a specialty
WASHINGTON (NEA) - If President Carter were in the
business of producing slapstick comedies, the advertisements
for his recently released motion picture might read like this:
— Watch the zany, madcap White House work for months
to fashion a detailed budget for the next fiscal year, then disa-
vow the entire document less than five weeks later.”
— Hear the president, the secretary of state and the
ambassador to the United Natiojis all clamor for attention so
they can proclaim to everyone how they bungled the vote on
Israeli settlements."
— "See the administration humiliated by Pakistan s rejec-
tion of a $400 million aid package to prop up that country s
military dictatorship
IN WASHINGTON
Robert Walters
Already widely publicized are the blunders on the sensitive
Middle East vote at the United Nations and the administra-
tion's contribution to tripling the rate of inflation during
Carter s three years in office.
But recent months have produced so many other fiascoes
that Carter stands accused of giving ineptitude a bad name.
Some examples:
In mid-December, about six weeks after employees at the
U S Embassy in-Tehran were taken hostage, the White House
rumbled with vague but ominous warnings about a possible
naval blockade of Iran — but nothing ever came of those
threats.
What did occur, slightly more than a month later, was a
total policy reversal in the form of a friendly administration
offer of military and economic assistance to Iran if the hos-
tages were released unharmed
There also was Carter s dramatic order to the Justice
Department to deport any Iranian students found to be in this
country illegally — a move that has led to the removal of
fewer than 1.500 of the more than 56,000 Iranians studying
here
A White House ultimatum in mid-December gave the Irani-
an government five days to reduce the number of its diplo-
matic personnel in this country from more than 200 to 35,
including 15 at the Washington embassy and five apiece at
consulates in New York. San Francisco, Chicago and Houston.
More than two weeks later, the Iranians still were ignoring
the order The State Department now says it has secured com-
pliance — but admits it cannot account for more than 150
diplomats whose whereabouts remain a mystery.
Then there s Carter's threat to the Soviet Union to remove
all of its troops from Afghanistan or face a boycott of the
Olympic Games to be held in Moscow this summer
When the president demanded the military withdrawal, the
Soviets were just moving into Afghanistan - but by the time
nis Feb 20 deadline arrived the Soviet forces numbered at
least 75.000
Administration officials now expect the troop level to reach
120,000 by summer. 140.0b0 by autumn and possibly peak at
about 200,000.
Meanwhile. Carter is busily diverting attention from that
foreign-policy calamity by pressuring reluctant-nations to
participate in a hastily organized but expensive substitute
amateur athletic competition.
On the domestic front, the president blithely ignored repeat-
ed warnings from economists that he was unnecessarily stim-
ulating an already overheated economy through excessive
spending on marginal government programs
On Jan. 28, he unveiled a proposed federal budget for the
next fiscal year that called for more deficit spending But on
Feb 29, Carter s budget director summarily instructed the
heads of all departments and agencies to revise and cut their
spending estimates.
With a sense of timing typical of the uncoordinated Carter
White House, that order was issued late on a Friday afternoon
but required a response by the following Monday
Rather than providing leadership to the nation, Carter con-
tinues to stumble along, a day late and dollar short. But his
political version of a latter-day KeystonStXops film ought to
be a rousing success at the box office.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN )
•VJ.
The Almanac
Metric conversion
in confused state
News stories originating in
Washington a couple of years ago gave
the impression that the United States
was about to convert to the metric
system. Now it comes to light that the
proposed conversion is not a U. S.
national policy. In fact, in the
Congressional Record, February 21
issue, it says that federal agencies
have been instructed not to favor the
metric system over the traditional
American system in any government
activity.
On the other hand, the U. S.
Congress did pass in 1968 a law which
t
Sulphur Springs Needs....
•Cooper Reservoir
•Broader Vocational Education
•More Downtown Parking
•Continued Industrial Development
•A More Prosperous Agriculture
Jack Anderson
authorized a study to determine ad-
vantages and disadvantages of in-
creased use of the metric system in the
United States. The study was com-
pleted and reported to congress.
The report does not end the study,
however, as the U. S. Metric Board has
requested additional funds in order to
continue its pro metric conversion
progaganda activities.
It might be a good time to pass
legislation already introduced in
congress to eliminate the Metric
Board.
•A City-County Health Unit
•City Beautification
•Enthusiastic Citizens
•Minimum Housing Standards Code
•Improved Streets & Drainage
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, March 21,
the 81st day of 1980. There are
285 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On March 21, 1685, German
composer Johann Sebastian
Bach was bom.
On this date:
In 1790, Thomas Jefferson
became the nation’s first
Secretary of State.
In 1829,6,000 people died in an
earthquake in Spain.
In 1891, the feud between the
Hatfields and the McCoys
ended as the families were
joined in a marriage in Ken-
tucky.
In 1977, Indian Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi quit
after losing her seat in a
parliamentary election.
Ten years ago, Cambodia got
a new head of state, as the
president of the national
assembly was sworn in to
temporarily replace Prince
Norodom Sihanouk.
Five years ago, the military
government of Ethiopia
abolished the royal position of
emperor, which had long been
held by the deposed Haille
Salasse.
Home heating oil prices
should be branded OILSCAM
WASHINGTON - Jimmy
Carters faltering attempts
to deal with inflation have
been based mainly on a sort
of evangelical approach -
appealing to Big Business
and Big Labor to moderate
their moneymaking tenden-
cies voluntarily
In the case of Big Busi-
ness, this call for Christian
forbearance has fallen on
deaf ears. There are few
born-again businessmen
when increased profit mar
gins are at stake.
The sad, blunt truth is that
the president’s voluntary
wage and price guidelines
are not working. A specific
and glaring example is in
the home heating fuel indus-
try
The mercifully mild win-
ter has allowed many of the
nation's poor to avoid a
drastic "heat or eat” dilem-
ma. But it hasn’t kept the oil
companies from raking in
unconscionable profits on
home heating fuel.
The oil companies howl
about their increased costs
and claim that the skyrock-
eting price of fuel oil does
not reflect a greedy grab for
profits. Figures from con-
gressional investigators and
the president's own Council
on Wage and Price Stability
throw considerable doubt on
these pious claims, however.
In September 1978. a
month before Carter’s vol-
untary guidelines were
announced, a gallon of heat-
ing oil cost, on the average,
36 cents. Of that amount, the
refiner paid about 29 cents
in crude oil costs, leaving a
margin of 7 cents
Of this 7 cents, about 5 4
cents were eaten up by oper-
ating costs, according to a
National Petroleum Council
study That left a modest 16
cents per gallon in profits
A year after the voluntary
guidelines went into effect, a
gallon of home heating oil
cost an average of 69 cents.
(This has gone up to about 90
cents today.) Of the 69 cents,
48 was the cost of the crude
oil That left a margin of 21
cents.
Using the industry's own
figures, investigators for
Rep. Ben Rosenthal, D-N Y ,
estimated the rise in operat-
ing costs at about 20
percent, or 1.5 cents per
gallon The remaining 14
cents would be profit.
In a little-noticed study,
the Congressional Research
Service found similar data
and concluded that "no
doubt operating costs have
risen ... (but) it appears
unlikely that they rose by
100 percent."
The study adds "Any
amount of this increase in
margins not offset by higher
operating costs is likely to
be recorded as higher
refiner profit A clear
implication is that refiners'
profits have risen signifi-
cantly."
Investigators for the
House Energy and Power
subcommittee interviewed
representatives of Gulf,
Mobil, Hess. Texaco, Exxon
and Amoco and came to this
conclusion;
“Contrary to oil company
claims in congressional tes-
timony that their price
increases bear a direct rela-
tionship to their increased
costs, the staff has found
that costs are not even a
consideration in the deci-
sionmaking process for set-
ting prices in the major
companies."
Also contrary to their con-
gressional testimony, “the
major oil companies did no
marginal cost analysis as
the basis for their enormous
price increases _pver the last
year,” the Subcommittee
staff found
Instead, the investigators
concluded, the big oil com-
panies “charge what the
market will bear.’’
How did all this escape
public attention? One way
was the option permitted by
the guidelines to lump their
oil refining and marketing
operations with unrelated
activities. This had the
effect of fuzzing up the oil-
profits picture
The wage-price council
explained the outcome this
way: "As a result of the
organizational latitude,
profits earned in one area
could be pooled with lower
profits or even losses else-
where in the company The
effect is to enable those
companies to remain in
compliance notwithstanding
large profits from their
petroleum operations"
The lumping of all compa-
ny operations meant that the
council -- which has only six
employees to monitor the
entire oil industry -- could
not spot any gouging on
home heating oil prices.
With this effective cover
for their activities, the
major petroleum companies
were able to profess pained
innocence in what should be
called OILSCAM -- the great
home heating ripoff of 1979-
80
1984 IS HERE: George
Orwell coined the phrase
“unperson" for someone who
had fallen into official dis-
grace in Big Brother's night-
mare world of “1984." The
Central Intelligence Agency
has now invented the con-
cept of an “un-island." On
the map the spooks used in
closed-aoor briefings for
Congress, the U S. withdraw-
al of recognition from the
Nationalist Chinese regime
on Taiwan is graphically
portrayed There is nothing
but empty blue ocean where
the island of Taiwan used to
WATCH ON WASTE: The
General Services Adminis-
tration recently “stepped
up” its efforts to spend the
taxpayers' money. It com-
missioned a $50,000 sculp-
ture depicting a set of con-
crete steps to be placed in
front of a new federal office
building in Norfolk. Va. GSA
officials insist the artistic
steps serve a useful purpose:
People can use them to sit
on
* A Navy study team,
checking into bills our allies
overseas have let slide,
found $10 million owing for
equipment and training of
foreign troops by American
personnel. Instead of trying
to collect the money, the
Pentagon's brass hats sim-
ply wrote off the $10 million
- and called off the study
team.
Copyright 1980
lintlrd Feature SyndicMf Inc
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■39IMHM
The other generation gap
By Harold Blumenfeld
Readers of this column
aren't all senior citizens.
Whether middle-aged or
young, these readers also have
problems.
And one problem that
seems almost insoluble is the
gap between adults and their
aging parents.
Middle-aged people, hardly
recovered from the traumas
of raising their children, now
often face another generation
gap
They i
free life once the children
were married or otherwise on
their own Suddenly they are
confronted with the pressing
GROWING OLDER »
Harold Blumenfeld
fhey had dreams of a care-
decision of what to do about
their aging parents.
The elderly parent and the
middle-aged child are both in
critical stages of life, each
with very special, very differ-
ent physical and emotional
needs Sometimes these needs
seem formidable.
Middle-aged children often
find they are unprepared for
Berry's World
FKXiPA
rmtu ts oe
STUDENT v'ACA'
TlONiMGr THE^6
the real, often destructive
anxiety, guilt and personal
responsibility they feel con-
cerning their parents.
For them, Dr. Stephen Z.
Cohen and Bruce Michael
Gans have written an excel-
lent book, “The Other Genera-
tion Gap: The Middle-Aged
and Their Aging Parents"
(Follett Publishing Co., Chica-
go; $10.95).
Cohen, a professor of social
work at the University of Illi-
nois, has as teacher, consult-
ant, therapist and lecturer
helped many people in mid-
life achieve better working
relationships with their par-
ents and parents-in-law.
The authors write with sin-
cere concern and compassion
for people on both sides of this
generation gap. Throughout
the book, they discuss guiding
principles to improve rela-
tions between the middle-aged
offspring and the elderly
parent.
Among their suggested
goals for interaction are'
trying to prolong the inde-
pendent functioning of the
parent by whatever combina-
tion of means is necessary,
guarding against becoming a
martyr and involving ones
siblings as much as possible in
decisions involving the parent.
The authors stress the
importance of remembering
that parents in their 70s and
80s still have many physical
and emotional strengths as
well as needs But they warn
that the elderly often suffer a
great deal emotionally and
physically when faced with
dramatic changes - the loss
of a spouse or close friend, the
move to a new home, even
retirement.
The book explains specific
changes brought about by the
aging process - such as loss
of eyesight, hearing, touch,
taste, smell, even sexuality —
and how to minimize or com-
pensate for them.
Advice is given on how to
parents' independ-
ence. The book also offers
valuable information on hos-
pitals and nursing homes as
well as recommending other
reference works.
The authors caution that
there is no perfect solution to
some problems. But they pro-
vide sons and daughters with
an increased understanding of
the aging process, enabling,
them to become more suc-
cessful in reaching balanced
decisions that are least pain-
ful for all concerned.
Spanning the other genera-
tion gap, middle-aged chil-
dren can achieve good work-
ing relationship with their
aging parents. In the process,
they will also learn more
about their own problems in
middle-age and beyond.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN)
BARBS
Phil Pastoret
One way to get back on
your feet is to let the car pay-
ments lapse.
Executing good intentions
is why so few of them survive
to benefit anyone.
Truckers gather at certain
restaurants because they're
oases for fine foods, and
because there’s not another
salami foundry for 500 miles.
Have you noticed that self-
made men are just like con-
striction kits — a iew bolts
are usually missing la the
completed article?
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 69, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1980, newspaper, March 21, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth823774/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.