The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

/ SECTION 1 - PAGE 6 - PLAIN DEALER-WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1975 Older Americans In Our Society AMERICA IN THE WORLD (By William Peirce Randel Professor Emeritus, University of Maine) Wherever cruise ships put in at foreign ports, older Americans provide an object lesson of staggering impact. In countries with shorter life expectancies than ours, and where very few old people have any choice other than to stay at home, well dressed older Americans, alert, active, and free with their money, are as striking a spectacle as the hippies waiting at banks and travel agencies for remittances from indulgent parents. The travelers' create a general impression of a United States where people grow old in good health, with money enough to travel and spend freely, and apparently without cares or inhibitions. Affluent elderly tourists are only a small fraction of our population, but they do project in the countries they visit a vivid image of aging in America. Other Americans abroad, especially USIA employees and exchange teachers, may shudder when a cruise ship, or tour bus, disgorges its passengers. Creating a balanced picture of our national culture is not easy. In recent years the difficulty has been increased by the closing of USIS libraries in many countries. Those that are still maintained, moreover, provide little information about what are sometimes called the "sunset years." Facts are plentiful about pre-natal care in the United States, birth, early childhood, adolescence, courtship and marriage, and family living - but not about retirement and old age. The American newspapers and popular magazines on the racks do offer glimpses of life in retirement communities, but only in the seductive language 'of advertising. Gerontology - A Growing Field The selection of books and periodicals for information libraries abroad can only reflect the dominant scholarly and popular interests that librarians are expected to serve. Gerontology, the scientific study of aging, is not yet one of these. It has wily recently received much attention in academic circles. A stimulus has been federal money. First federal funds came as a result of The Older Americans Act of 1965. Other funds joined these to develop gerontological centers for teaching and research. By 1973 there were 47 such centers on American campuses, serving upwards of 2,000 students in regular courses on aging and giving several thousand other people short-term training. While hardly yet one of the glamor fields in higher education, gerontology" is steadily gaining ground as a respectable and important subject. It is safe to predict that FORMAL WEAR RENTAL for ' ALL OCCASIONS § Stj 1214 N. Gr««l SL. TBrB.1 ORNAMENTAL AMEN IRON Railings-Columns Custom Fabricating Welding & Structural STEEL SALES ADAMS BROS. (Next to Gem Cleaners) 3006 W. Rte. 120 McHenry Phone: 385-0783 continuing research in the field, and increasing publication of the research findings, will gain international attention of the sort now accorded four academic contributions to nuclear physics and other so-called "hard sciences." When that happens, we'll no longer have reason to worry about the limitations of our information libraries abroad. These libraries might well follow the lead of public -libraries, in many American cities, in programs exclusively for older people. The "Never Too Late Group" at the Boston Public library is one conspicuous example. This group of more than 200 men and women over 60 meets weekly for informal educational programs in the library lecture hall, and participates in excursions and other activities in and near Boston. . Federal encouragement of gerontology is welcome. A desirable next step would be growth of comparable interest among the nation's foundations. Their relative indifference is easily demonstrated. During 1972, according to Foundation News, of about $800 million in total grants, only $2 million went for anything related to aging - less than three cents out of every ten dollars. Youth agencies received ten times as much support. One expert on aging attributed this discrepancy to "ageism," with its avoidance of the realities of growing old and dying. It could just as well reflect the fact that the problems of youth have attracted public interest - and foundation dollars -- far longer than the problems of age. More private money spent on aging would, of course, accelerate the research and the flow of its results to the rest of the world. Old age need not be an unhappy stage of life. For the majority of our elderly, somewhat to their own surprise, it proves quite the opposite. This and the less welcome facts about aging in America ought to be much more generally distributed than they now are. They will be as we continue to broaden the research on the subject. As a nation, however, we haven't yet had much to say about aging to the rest of the world, which has learned to look to us for pioneering studies and research break-throughs in so many fields of knowledge. If we should falter now, and revert to sweeping old age under the rug of "ageism," or if we continue glorifying youth as if the young were forever immune from chronological aging, there would be little hope of our helping other nations cope with their unsolved problems of aging. We are not morally bound to lead the world in everything, or even to make the effort. Yet we do share a very strong concern for the world's disadvantanged. Children everywhere who lack the minimum essentials for survival have our deep sympathy and receive unstinting aid, through UNICEF and various other agencies. It would seem just as easy and natural to extend our humane impulses to the world's aged. Many Can Help What is beneficial to older Americans may not always be of equal benefit to the aged in the rest of the world; but until we learn more about the subject we cannot be sure of how best to help or what to stress. Research is not the only resource, however. All segments of society can contribute by stepping up their present activities on behalf of their oldest members - - religious denominations, labor unions, ethnic groups, and the like. Industry has a special interest, which it has not yet fully appreciated. Once it begins to recognize the vast new market of our own elderly, the life-easing products it can develop and sell may be as welcome abroad as at home. On a different front, we might press for much greater input by older citizens into governmental planning and practice. No statistical evidence is needed to support the statement that older people resent decision-making, on their behalf, by committees and agencies made up exclusively of people younger than 65. In this connection, the executive order permitting Arthur Flemming to continue bey Mid age 70 as Commissioner on Aging is heartening, and might serve as a precedent. As our elderly continue their present steady progress toward becoming a well-organized group with political muscle, they will undoubtedly gain substantial influence on the thinking of elected and appointed officials, and on bureaucrats, at both the national and state levels. In the course of pushing their own interests, we cannot expect them to plead for their chronological equals around the world. But whatever victories they chalk up will serve as models and inspiration to the elderly everywhere. The Senate and the House of Representatives both now have committees on aging, a very hopeful sign. It would help if White House Conferences on Aging were held more oftfen than once in every decade. Although the United Nations has no old-age counterpart to UNICEF, several of its policy­ making agencies are concerned, directly or indirectly, with variousaspects of aging. These can be powerful allies in our expanding campaign. The triennial meetings of an independent world group are potentially more important. The Tenth International Congress of Gerontology was held less than a year ago, in Jerusalem, June 22-27,1975. If the United States can contribute, it can also learn much at world gatherings of this sort. Details of Scandinavian housing for the aging, for example, can be an inspiration - or a worrisome reminder of how far we lag behind in providing comfortable living quarters. The emphasis in Scandinavia is on staying at home, with provision for home care and services on a regular basis. Denmark has one helper (or home aid) for every 87 old people, Norway one for every*176, and Sweden (where they are called "Home Samaritans") one for every 320. The comparable ratio in the United States has been estimated as one for every 4,766 old people. Of other steps that might deserve consideration, the successful use of older people in the Peace corps suggests the feasibility of an international exchange on the lines of the Smith-Mundt and Fulbright-Hays teacher programs. Some of our older citizens are knowledgeable in the field of aging, experienced in living abroad, fully able to travel, and to teach in foreign languages, highly articulate, and well endowed with tact and diplomatic sensitivity. If some of these could be persuaded to go out as emissaries of our millions of older citizens, not only to offer courses to enrolled students but also to talk directly with people their own age, to confer with responsible local officials, to make suggestions to our own cultural affairs officers and overseas librarians, and to gather facts about the national treatment of old people to report after returning home, the positive results might be of value almost too great to measure. (This series is made possible through a grant from the National endowment for the Humanities). TAX FACTS Everyone who pays income tax this year federal has at McHENRY, ILLINOIS 4400 W. RTE. 120, HORNSBYS f a m i l y centers History Americans Greatest Hits SIMON ANDGAR F L N KEL S G R E A T E S T H I T S Bridge Ovef Trout >U The Sound Of Silonri ThfB Scnrboroudlif . r iA ery newes and Includes the Hits Tin Man A Horse With No V e n t u r a H i g h w a y S i s t e r v the very CHICAGO'S GREATEST HITS including: Just You N Me Colour My World Saturday In The ParV/25 Or 6 To 4 (I've Been) Searchin So Long Wtshtng You Were Here M M n | s | \ | o \ Including Which Way Are You Gom Mississippi Lady /Old Man River Cham Gang Medley J Records JOHN HEWERS BREAJEST HITS it HELEN REDDY'S * GREATEST HITS includes Take Me Home.Country Roads Leaving.on a Jet Plane • Follow Me Rocky Mountain High • Goodbye Again least one tax break coming. And it doesn't matter whether the taxpayer files a long Form 1040, or short Form 1040A, or how much the taxpayer earns. The break is the personal exemption tax credit. Effective for only 1975, the credit amounts to $30 for each regular exemption to which the tax­ payer is entitled. However, individuals who claim ad­ ditional exemptions because they are blind or are 65 years old or over, may only claim one $30 credit for themselves. How does the credit work? Take a family with three children, for instance, Mr. and Mrs. Brown. They file a joint return. When completing their return, the Browns will count two exemptions for themselves, and one for each of their children, for a total of five exemptions. They will multiply the $30 credit per exemption by five to come up with the $150 total credit that they'll write on the front of their tax return and subtract from their tax. The new credit does not af­ fect the $750 allowed for each exemption when figuring taxable income. For example, the Browns will still multiply the $750 by five and subtract $3,750 from their income. There's information on the personal exemption tax credit in the instructions for both the 1040 and 1040A tax packages. Taxpayers who have questions about the personal exemption tax credit or other tax matters can visit local IRS offices or call toll free 800-972- 5400. Copies of free IRS publications may be obtained by using the convenient order blank contained in your tax package. WHO KNOWS! What well-known com­ ment is associated with the late Gen. Anthony McAuliffe? Name the President born in September? Citizenship Day ob­ s e r v e d , S e p t e m b e r 17th, replaces what two days? When was the consti­ tution adopted? Which river was dis­ covered September 12, POET'S CORNER , A CHILD IS WAITING The train is rolling into the station as I stand here all alone, waiting for my father like every day of this week... hoping that he will step down from the wagon and walk together with me home. I stand in the shadow behind the bright, shining light. I feel so small in that crowd of people here some men look so mean and brutal to me, a cold shiver is running down my back, I know it is fear. The last man is now walking by... a loud whistle and the train is rolling away and still I am waiting here in the dfirk for my father... but I know in my heart it is just one more lonely day. I guess, he will never come back again, this thought hurts in my heart. I must learn to live with mother alone and forget, to come to this station i and wait for the evening train. 4 ...as I turn around and slowly walk down the street... I see snowflakes falling from the sky soon it will be Christmas Eve... but without my Dad, it is just no longer, a family life. Why did he leave mother and me I thought he was so happy with us. Maybe when you're grown up you can get tired of seeing each other every day... maybe that's why he decided to go away... He could at least say to me goodbye, or leave me a note, or a short letter I would not feel so alone and afraid maybe then I could try to understand him better and I would not wait here at night, so late... The snow is still falling and the street is covered with a fine sheet of ice... Mother is probably worried... where I am, so long, alone maybe I should still be thankful that I have a warm and cozy place - a home -. ...many days have gone by, since that lonely night, at the station. I kept my promise and stayed away from the evening train... I even try to look forward with joy to our Christmas celebration. Mother baked cookies with raisins and nuts and I saw her with presents under her arm She hurried into the house... when she saw me walking up the street maybe Christmas can still be nice even tho, there will be just the two of us. ...and tonight is Christmas Eve.... I am standing by the window staring out into the night I promised myself...I will not cry even though I miss my father, especially tonight. The Christmas tree is decorated and waiting in the living room. I helped mother, she couldn't do it alone, and now I am waiting by the window watching the stars on that winter sky. £/<. I cannot help it...a lonely tear is creeping up, into my eye. ...but I won't turn around, mother should not see me, in tears. There, suddenly up that wintry street comes a stranger... walking very slow... like he is carrying a heavy load. It's probably an old man or at least, someone late in his years. Now, he stops his walk... he's standing straight looking up toward the sky... I press my face against the window pane "Father", I whisper...quietly, with joy Tears are rolling down my face but this time, I am not ashamed... I run outside into the cold winter night as fast, as my feet can carry me... right into his open arms... and now I hear his voice... "Yes, my son, it is your father... it's really me"... He is holding my hand... we walk together back to the house He is calling my mother's name... I watch her coming down the stairs with tears in her eyes... I walk slowly away... for I know, I will always remember this Christmas Eve... for the rest of my life... Maria Heiser 1609? Answers To Who Knows 1. "Nuts". 2. William H. Taft, Sep­ tember 15, 1857. 3. I Am An American Day and Constitution Day. 4. September 17, 1787. 5. The Hudson River. We Are Now OPEN SUNDAY ? 9:00 A.M. - & MONDAY • FRIDAY 8-8 5:00 P.M. SATURDAY 8-6 D </» > < B & AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY, INC. 1719 W. Rto. 120 McH*nry, III. 385-2034