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•» IfWUMi Your FREE TV Listing Magazine Inside! 4Ckirify MCHS Offer Bargaining Talks Off The District 156 board of educttion Negotiations reports that an to arrange a Ining meeting last rejected by the Teachers association negotiations team. The board said it was told that a negotiating session could not be arranged because two of the association negotiators wec^on vacation. meeting could not rranged, the school made a decision to i letter to each teacher, clarifying the board's offer to the association. This action was made necessary, according to 4 board spokesman by recent association statements which indicated that the board's position was not clearly understood by the association. Hie letter, he said, was writUH solely with the intent of clearing up any misunderstanding which might stand in the way of a contract agreement. Following are brief ex­ cerpts from the letter to the teaching staff: "During the past two weeks, conversations with individual teachers on the staff indicate a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion regarding our proposed 10 percent increase to your salary for 1980-81 over 1979-80. The purpose of this letter is an attempt to clarify our proposal so that you may better understand how it would apply to your situation. "In many instances, confusion and uncertainty develop when it is believed that insurance benefits and inflationary cost increases of the insurance coverage will decrease, or subtract, from our 10 percent offer...the following information will help you and clarify any misunderstandings: "1. The proposed 10 per­ cent increase would be applied to everyone's 1979-80 gross salary amount. Regardless of your position on last year's salary schedule, you would receive a 10 percent salary increase. "2. If you happen to be one of several teachers who has earned the required college credits to qualify for a lane change on the salary schedule, your new salary would reflect an increase in considerable excess of 10 percent. "3. The cost of current health and life insurance benefits will not be deducted from the proposed 10 percent increase but, as in the past and as agreed to in previous agreements, will be paid by the board. In addition, your additional life insurance, which you will automatically receive to keep pace with your new salary, as well as any inflationary cost in­ creases in current health insurance coverage, will be paid in .full by the board." Most of the teachers listened, except one who avoided the "stressful" topic by reading a newspaper as Dr. Bonnie Rudolph spoke about "Stress Management and Teachers" at the District 156 Teachers' Institute held Tuesday. Hie discussion concerned stress - what It is and how to cope with it STAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER Rudolph characterized stftiift in two ways: acute and chronic. She said acute stress was limited in duration, accepted by society and involved a definitive change or loss. Society recognizes as stressful those times where a baby is born, someone is married, a loved one dies or someone is divorced, she explained. View Tax Assessments Comments of State Rep. Cal Skinner, Jr., (R- McHenry county) following completion of the Illinois Department of Revenue analysis of county real estate assessments brought forth statements from two If a lifetime is devoted to one pursuit, maybe it should be to acquiring friends. i Friends are always special people, but they become an even tjfage important part of life when we are troubled. TOey come in many varieties. Friends are not always people we often see. Sometimes they are only part of a past that carries with it memories too choice to forget. Friends are not always at our fingertips, but they have a way of popping up at the very time they are needed. Friends never get in the way, but they let us know they will be there when we need them. Friends don't wait to be asked for help. They offer, then tactfully step aside, all the time keeping careful watch to be sure we know they mean it Friends say 'yes' when they would rather say 'no', just because it pleases us. Friends are sometimes only acquaintances who sense our needsand say, "I'll sit with you", or "I'll walk with you". Friends take timeln albusy day to drop a note or place a call because they know it makes us feel good. Friends are not gushy, but may squeeze our hand when they know the going is rough. Friends remember old ties through the years, and when we most need the memories, they share them with us. Friends smile when we smile because it makes us happy. Friends cry when we cry because they know it means they share our unhappiness. Friends are wonderful people who exist within and without the family. They can be a cousin, an aunt or an uncle ~ they can be a neighbor down the street - or they can be someone out of the distant past who was once a part of our life. Friends occasionally fail us as we fail them. They have human frailties that convince us they are sometimes letting us down. But we know, down deep, it is a momentary slip. Friends - real friends - never really forget the rote they play in our life. They always stand strong when we think we can't go on alone. We have known many friends in the past week. One of them passed along a quote we would like to share: "All life is 90 percent heirlooms and memories - an accumulation of small but precious deposits left by the one who leaves us". KAF other county men informed in the area of tax assessments. Whereas Skinner contends that "all does not appear well", both Walter Dean of McHenry , township supervisor and chairman of the McHenry County Board of Review, and Supervisor of Assessments Willard Hogge have different opinions. "Ever since I was McHenry county treasurer 10 years ago, I have been monitoring McHenry county property tax assessments and hoping that they would get fairer," the certified Illinois assessing official explained. "Unfortunately, the tax burden seems to be spread more unevenly now than it was in 1970." "In my opinion, the major responsibility of an assessor is to value real estate as closely to same percentage of "market value as possible," Skinner said. "The state Revenue department has recently completed an analysis in­ dicating' that Algonquin township is the best, that is, most uniformly assessed," he continued. "In fact, Algonquin township is the only township in McHenry county with a margin of error of less than 20 percent - - the level below which most assessment observers consider 'acceptable'. Algonquin Township Assessor Robert Kunz had a 17 percent margin of error. "Next best assessed is Grafton township. The margin of error of Grafton Township Assessor Virginia Brunschon for the tax^bills due in September vpfe 20.9 percent", Skinner continued. "Almost as good as Graf ton township ' s assessments are those assessed by McHenry Township Assessor Sibre Whiting and those valued by Greenwood Township A s s e s s o r W i l l i a m Giese lman. McHenry township's margin of error is 21.4 percent, while Green­ wood township's is 22.8 percent." Dean declares that either inflated sales or periods of depression can result in figures over which a assessor has no control He said it is possible to establish a township multiplier for individual townships, and by doing so the county would not receive a multiplier. However, Dean said even this would not do away with inequities among individuals. He summed up his feelings by stating that in his opinion, assessors are "doing their best with the information that is available to them". Hogge outlined the 1978 level of assessments in the various townships and also related the three-year averages. Home sales, vacant lots and other factors enter into the picture, Hogge con­ tended. He continued to say that large sales areas are historically low, where similar type homes and standard sales make easier assessments. Arrest Man For Murder Tax Payments Lag The collection of the 1979 tax has been lagging behind the receipts of the 1978 tax, according to Audrey R. Walgenbach , county treasurer. Both installments are due on or before the fourth of September. There is a one percent interest, penalty added each month on the unpaid balance after the due date. Immediately after the due date, the collector, ac­ cording to the law, prepares the data for the annual tax sale. The Tax Sale begins approximately the last week of October. The total tax charged for the year 1979 is $60,010,000 compared to $56,006,000 for 1978. The failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt the taxpayer of any respon­ sibility for the payment of the tax and any penalties which may occur. To get a needed bill, contact the office of the county collector at Woodstock. Phone 338- 2040, immediately. A Crystal Lake man was arrested and charged Monday night with the Aug. 8 murder of 65-year-old Lenea Jurs, of Crystal Lake. Terry E. Doll, 25, of 391 Terra Cotta, Crystal Lake, the same apartment building where Ms. Jurs resided, has been charged with murder and is being held in McHenry County Jail (m $500,000 bond. Ms. Jurs was found strangled in her apartment Saturday, Aug. 9, by police and neighbors but the medical examiner set the time of death on Friday. An investigation into the murder continues, according to a spokesman at the Crystal Lake Police department. Institute Speaker Soys: 'Life Is Not A Test' "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 DR. BONNIE RUDOLPH Life is not a test." said Bonnie Rudolph, tor of the Chicago Stt ess center and headline speaker at the District 156 Teachers' Institute held Tuesday at West campus. The topic for discussion was "Stress Management and Teachers." Dr. Rudolph said teachers, and other service- professionals should not approach their work as a test of competence or ability but as an experiment where interrelationships are in­ vestigated. Most teachers present l i s tened in ten t ly as Dr . Rudolph presented a few idses on what stress is and fKM^to cope with it. Chronic stress, she noted, is not as readily accepted by society and may stem from paperwork, relations with co-workers, time pressures, inflation, bills due, etc. "You feel like you're being taxed or pressured to your limit," Dr. Rudolph said. Although stress may not necessarily be negative (births, marriages, etc.), she observed, "it is inescapable." She went on to say that stress is cumulative and compounds with time and repeated stressful events. The human body has a built-in coping system fc dealing with stress when it arises. She said the fc was like stepping off a at an intersection suddenly hearing screeching of brakes. The body reacts physiologically with the "fight or flight" response, she said, - the heart pounds, the blood pressure rises, blood within the body leaves the extremities and stays nearer the important organs, muscles tense and the like. Unfortunately, the only way to dissipate the sudden increase in body action is to "fight" or run away. In office, or classroom, situations it is often difficult to accomplish this. Over an time, the small stresses of the business or professional world can build up to reach the point of chronic stress. According to Dr. Rudolph, studies conducted in the United States, Japan and Sweden have documented the link between stress and illness. "Stress is not a cause of illness," she explained, "but it is a contributing factor." She noted that a complex relationship exists between stress and illness. "A lot depends on your genetic history, diet, the amount of exercise, your occupation and the variety of coping skills that have been developed," Dr. Rudolph One of the Serious forms of chronic stress is "professional burn-out" which usually occurs after a number of negative ex­ periences on the job. Typically, a professional leaves school for the first job with grand illusions of being in control, making a dif­ ference, being viewed with respect, etc. This professional, in the educational field, also has expectations of responsive students, support from parents, etc. Dr. Rudolph noted that these illusions are sooii shattered and the professional enters a stage of confusion - what am I doing wrong. The professional, she says, will blame him or herself and wonder why he or she is incompetent. In a later stage, the profess iona l b lames everyone but him or herself and in final stages becomes apathetic, depressed, pessimistic or sarcastic. Somewhere along the progression, the professional may leave the field for another occupation seen as not as stressful. She commented that the "life-expectancy" of a social worker, typically young and recently out of school, in Chicago is six-and-a-half months. Dr. Rudolph said that in response to a stressful event people go through various stages of reaction. She cited the situation of a 42-year-old executive who had just suffered his first heart at­ tack. First, she explained, the person will go into the stage of outcry and denial. The executive will say, 'This really wasn't a heart attack' and he will not be willing to talk about the event. From there, the person will go into a stage of "in- (Continued on page 19) VOLUME 105 NUMBER 9 FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1980 1 SECTION 20 PAGES 25' Extend Free Parking The McHenry City Council voted unanimously at a special meeting Tuesday night to extend the two-hour free parking moratorium to Feb. l, 1961. The original 90-day moratorium, which ends Labor day, was brought about at the request of the Chamber of Commerce. Chamber of Commerce spokesman, Tom Williams, said the Chamber had received 64 reponses to questionnaires delivered itly. The net result of ' .showed that affiants were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the retail parking. Williams did note three establishments - a beauty parlor, the school ad­ ministration building and a certified public accountant's office - that objected to the • two-hour free parking. Alderman Michael Wieser commented that the remarks of those three establishments should be discounted because the customers of these places were usually at the establishment for longer than two hours. "The name of the game is to provide parking for the people who are going to the shops," Wieser said. Mary Schwinn, owner of the beauty shop opposing the two-hour free parking, came to the meeting w|th a petition bearing the names of disgruntled customers. She explained that the more time consuming part of her operation, permanents and the like, routinely take more than the two hours available on the meter. She told the Council she had paid her cus tomers ' t i cke ts previously, but since the fine was raised to $6, she could no longer do so. Alderman Wieser said it was unfortunate that she operated a business that takes more time. "I don't mean to be harsh, but that's her problem," Wieser said. "The retailers depend on a rapid turnover. We're looking to help business as a whole." Alderman Jack Pepping said he was not at all sur­ prised at the results of the petition or at the comments of the people of McHenry, the majority of whom ap­ pear to be in favor of the two- hour free parking. "I think the survey produced pred ic tab le results," Pepping said. "I think this is nowhere near proving tha t th i s ( the moratorium) was a suc­ cess." Pepping pointed out that one of the arguments used in favor of ins t i tu t ing the moratorium was that the two-hour f ree park ing system would encourage local shopping, thereby generating more in sales tax receipts. The extra sales tax receipts would offset the revenue los t f rom the metered parking, the argument went. Alderman Pepping sugges ted looking a t a "month over month" compar i son of sa les tax receipts last year to this year to determine if the program was indeed suc­ cessful. Williams noted that retail merchants might be a little hesitant at revealing the reported figures for sales taxes. Pepping said it would not matter if the businesses remained anonymous, but he said he would like to see (Continued on page 19) Kids Answer Call To Play School bells sounded in McHenry Wednesday, but the clang was far from the minds of these happy youngsters as they played on a piece of equipment in Petersen park Tuesday. Crowds seemed larger than usual as little people made the most of the remaining vacation season. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD