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\ Page 2 NORTHWEST HERALD Section B Friday, July 26,19«5 Advice Donald Kaul Donald Kaul is a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services Society needs major tune-up I'm beginning to think that way down deep inside our society; there is u screw loose. The evidence is all around us. Take, for example, two court cases that were concluded last week in New York. The first dealt with Sydney Biddle Barrows, the so-calle^Mayflower Madame." You remember her, the young woman from onero? America's first families who decided to become a social worker for the rich? Police said that, at the time of her arrest, she was running the largest prostitution ring in New York, grossing more than $1 million a year. Which isn't as much fooling around as it sounds, because her girls charged $1,100 a fool. < )n Friday she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of promoting prostitution, paid a $.1,000 fine, and that was that. She walked, as they say on "Hill Street Blues." Not that she feit guilty about anything. She told reporters, "I've never once met anybody who felt I was doing anything wrong." Obviously, she doesn't spend much time hanging out with the ladies of the local Holy Name Society. Still, I don't find any great fault with the sentence. The fine could have been bigger, but I certainly don't think she should have gone to jail or anything. Prostitution is a degrading business and it's not entirely victimless -- there are the girls -- but as a crime I'd rank it well below cheating widows and orphans, which several of the leading professions do as a matter of course. Indeed, many lawyers do little else. No, it's what's going to happen now that I object to. Barrows, who really did have ancestors on the Mayflower, has sold television rights to her story for an undisclosed sum and gotten $300,000 for rights to the book, which will be written by William Novak, author of "Iacocca." It is, according to Novak "a fabulous story." "Here's somebody involved in the sex-for-hire business, which is normally extremely sleazy, and who has made every effort to do it in a classy and dignified way," he said. "It's a mixing of two worlds, the 'Mayflower' and 'the Madam '" Come on, Novak, gimme a break. There is no classy, dignified way to sell other people's bodies. Sleaze is as sleaze does. In a just society, people would be pulling their children in off the street as the Barrows woman passed, lest they be contaminated. Instead, we will lavish her with riches, make her a celebrity and otherwise encourage our young to follow her example. Is that crazy or what? The other court case I referred to earlier involved someone further down the socio-economic ladder, a beat-up druggie named Christopher Thomas He was convicted of killing 10 people -- two women and eight children -- in a Brooklyn apartment last year. The victims were shot in the head at point-blank range. Only an U-month-old baby was found alive in the house. What they convicted him of, this man who cold-bloodedly shot 10 helpless people, was manslaughter. The judge had instructed the jury to convict Thomas of murder only if it found he had intended to kill. But if it found that mitigating circumstances -- such as emotional distress -- explained his actions, they were to reduce the charges to first-degree manslaughter. Well, as it turned out, the jury felt that the fellow was suffering emotional distress. "He had been free-basing for two years," said one of the jurors. "That would make anybody emotionally disturbed." In other words, they let him off easy because he used drugs. Does that seem logical to you? Maybe I'm the one who's nuts. Maybe the proper attitude is, "So he killed 10 people, so what? Nobody's perfect. It could have happened to anyone." I don't believe it; it couldn't have happened to anyone. Whileiwe is justification for a finding of diminished respORilbtmy for crlmS|om> mitted by persons who, through no fault of their own, are not Haying with a full deck, a person who takes drugs willingly gives up control of himself. Why then should he not be held fully responsible for his actions under, the influence of those drugs? It's like acquitting a driver who kills somebody on grounds that he was too drunk to know what he was doing. Thomas, who is 35, figures to get 25-to-50 years for his little slip; that may satisfy you but it doesn't me. He was guilty of murder; 1 want him convicted of murder. I suppose we're supposed to feel lucky they didn't make him promise not to do it again and set him loose among us. People will cite that case as an example of being soft on crime, but that's not really it. People aren't soft on mass murder. It's ;\n example of being soft in the head, is what it is. And there seems to l>e a lot of it going around lately. DEAR ABBY /V By Abigail Van Buren Siblings differ over request DEAR ABBY: My mother recently passed away. A cousin who was especialy close to her since childhood asked if he might have some kind of memento as a keepsake. His request astonished and offended my brother. I said I thought the request was in good taste and reflected the love and closeness our cousin felt for our mother. Such gifts have been offered to me, in two instances, and I was deeply ap­ preciative of them. My husband's favorite brother died many miles from us, and his widow sent no keepsake to my husband. My husband wouldn't presume to ask for anything, but I know he was both sad­ dened and hurt by the oversight. What is your opinion about the practice of giving such keepsakes, and of relatives and close friends requesting same? NEVER WRITTEN BEFORE DEAR NEVER WRITTEN: Grieving people have their minds on other things and should not be faulted should they overtook the giving of one's valuable stamp collection or diamond brood). DEAR ABBY: Last Sunday I prepared an especially good company dinner and invited my mother-in-law. After dinner, my husband and three sons helped clear the table, while my mother-in-law went right to the living room and sat down. She's a young 60 and could have of­ fered to do something, but she didn't. I'm the typiethat doesn't like to put things off, so I just dug right in and cleaned up the kitchen myself. Three times, I heard my mother-in-law say to my husband,' ' What's taking her so long?" It took me an hour and a half to straighten lost people would rather do without than ask for one, but I think to make such a request is a compliment to the deceased--unless, of course, one asks to be "remembered" with the loved up, and just as I was finishing, she came in the kitchen to say she was leaving. 1 said, "Can't you stay a while so we can visit?" She said, "No, I'm tired. And by the way, don't you have a dishwasher? " I do, Abby, but the dishes have to be scraped, all the edibles put away, floor mopped, etc. Anyway, she left and I really was hurt. Was I wrong to clean up my kitchen first? I can't relax Knowing I will have to do it later. How would you have handled it, Abby? HURT DEAR HURT: I would have put away the edibles, joined my guests in the living room and cleaned up my kitchen later. * * * DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend and I want a big church wedding, but we can't afford one, and it would take us four years to save the money, so we have come up with this idea. . We would like to have a Dutch-treat wedding. We could charge $32.60 a couple or $16.30 a per­ son to cover food, drinks and a portion of the other expenses, like the hall, the music, flowers, table decorations, wedding cake, etc. I am 18 and so is my boyfriend. We are both virgins and want to stay that way until we're married. We wouldn't expect any wedding gifts other than pitching in for the Dutch-treat wedding. I don't know how much longer we can wait, Abby. Don't you think a lot of folks would pay $32.60 a couple toward getting two good Christians married? \ Thank you for any advice you can give us. IN LOVE IN W. VA. DEAR IN LOVE: You'll never know until you ask. Poll your friends and you'll have your answer. Research: Doctors short on nutrition By Jan Ziegler UPI Science Writer WASHINGTON - Many doctors begin practice with inadequate training in nutrition, even though six of the leading causes of death may be linked to diet, a private research committee reported Tuesday. The committee, which found med­ ical schools tend to give nutrition short shrift, and the panel's chair­ man said faculties still balk at the idea of preventive medicine, of which good diet is a part. Doctors may try to catch up on nutrition through their own reading, but "many times they rely on lay books and what they hear on the radio and sort of thing," instead of sound scientific texts, said Dr. My* ron Winick, head of the committee, "We think that their preparation in medical school is not adequate in many many cases,'!, said Winick, director Of the Institute Of Hunlan Ifntrition, Columbia University Col­ lege of Physicians and Surgeons. Nutrition has been implicated in the development of six of the lead­ ing causes of death in the United States, the committee's report said, including heart disease, conditions that sometimes lead to stroke, can­ cer, adult onset or Type 2 diabetes, arteriosclerosis and alcohol-induced cirrhosis. Diet is also important in preven­ tion and treatment of conditions What's the hurry? United Press International WAUKEGAN, 111. -- Two motor­ cyclists have earned the distinction of setting a possible Illinois record for speeding -- then getting caught, arrested, convicted and fined. James Afecarotta, 21, and Dean N. Darrus, 20, both of west subur­ ban Riverside, were penalized Tues­ day by a Lake County judge for going 83 mph over the speed limit when they went screaming down Interstate 94 toward the Wisconsin border last month. They were clocked on radar at 138 mph, said Oakbrook District State Police Sgt. WilliamSchmitt. AND boutique LTD •BRIDAL GOWNS • MOTHEROF THE WEDDING • INVITATIONS •PROM DRESSES •BRIDESMAIDS •TUXEDO RENTAL •ACCESSORIES •LINGERIE •AFTER 5 DRESSES Mon.&Thur*. 12-&30 Tuet.oWed.-Frl. 10-6 Sat 10-4 Brides Please CaMFor Appointment 409 N. FRONT STREET (RT. 31 SOUTH), McHENRY (815) 385-5568 Hours: "Your Special Occasion Experts" such as obesity, osteoporosis, dental decay and low.birthweight. The committee, organized by the National Research Council, sur­ veyed 46 of the 127 U.S. medical schools and found they require three to 56 hours of nutrition educa­ tion over four years. More than half the schools required less than 20 hours, and many have inadequate nutrition faculty. The panel recommended all medi­ cal students receive a minimum of 25 to 30 hours of basic nutrition Instruction and urged increased support for nutrition faculty and research. Winick said nutrition was empha­ sized in medical education early in the century because of rapid discov­ eries about the role of vitamins and minerals in the human metabolism. In fact, he said, "nutrition was what biochemistry was all about." CLEANS OUT Floor sample*. Singletons. Discontinued styles. They're jamming our aisles and piling up in our warehouse! 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