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PACE l«. PLAINDF AI.BR . wehnetoav. SEPTEMBER ». 1W7 ' ^ M ' M ' EDITORIALS The Moral Tone In Schools ^ ••%F. (The following is the first of a two-part series by Sanford Patterson of Lincoln. III. Responsibilities Election Reform ? Congress may decide to pass an election "reform" bill which may not be reform. It would allow easier voter registration, even on election day, and would provide that tax monies finance all senatorial and congressional election campaigns. The fear of many is that the greatly broadened voter registration program will invite fraud, especially in large metropolitan areas, where identification papers cannot easily be checked. The bad feature of federal financing of congressional elections is that it is merely another heavy cost saddled on the already- overburdened taxpayer. Admittedly, it takes considerable mc to finance a campaign today, but the solution is not in f taxpayers to pay costs for all those to be greatly encouraged (by the new reform) to run. These reforms, somewhat modified to meet earlier objections, were thought dead for this session only two months ago. They have been revived am) seem on their way to passage, a sop to undisciplined voters and to lawmakers themselves, who will not have to pay for their reelection campaigns under its provisions. Unusual Weather Weather is the most universally discussed of all topics. It is a safe subject, non-controversial and one peoples of all classes and social strata can discuss with mututal interest. If affects everyone. Each year headlines tell about unusual weather-rains here, drought here, etc. And while the weather is erratic and often severe, it's best to remember that weather has always been almost constantly unusual. • The averages, of temperature, rainfall, etc., are man-made. It's normal for some areas to suffer dry spells, others to experience exceptionally heavy rains. That's the cycle of nature. A stream only half its normal level is not a news event Ups and downs serve nature's purpose in many ways and it takes low water levels to offset high or flood levels to produce our average, or normal. Mother Nature is unaware of man's averages. Instead, she treats us to a constantly changing pattern of weather, from which we later compute averages, and it's just as well. For the unknown, the variety, the lack of monotony about the weather make it all more interesting to watch and predict-enjoy and speculate about. Ronald Reagan - TORRIJOS AND ESCOBAR BETHANCOURT > General Omar Torrijos was : feeling good on the way back to • Panama City from Washington, 1 D C. After all, he'd come a long 1 way - from obscure army of- vflcer about to take part in a coup nine years ago, to head-of- : state today, basking in the : world's media spotlight. 1 He felt so good, in fact, that t he radioed a message to his f friend and hero, Fidel Castro. ;*"On my return to my country, land flying above the sky of Cuba, I salute you with friend­ ship always. I wish that the •ICuban people under your ^skillful leadership (will) t continue its ascendant march -toward progress. "In Latin America your1 name is associated with ; feelings about dignity that have 1 'been channeled toward the ..ending of a shameful period of .^colonialism..." > Torrijos would soon be home, Ithe Panama Canal treaties '.-signed. A big crowd awaited ;4um, including all the govern­ ment's employees, who had :been instructed to show up to ! hail him. SOMETHING :• TO CELEBRATE Below, in Cuba, Castro had something to celebrate, too. His - government and the U.S. had .tost exchanged middle-level diplomats. It was the first step toward resuming trade and full ^diplomatic relations, and it lliadn't cost him much. Only a few parties to charm American industrialists and a senator or (wo. He hadn't caught any • criticism from Carter about human rights. He hadn't had to let a single political prisoner lout of jail or bring a single ".mercenary back from Africa. Not bad for a man whose economy was barely afloat. He was in clover - or close to it, but Torrijos had a ways to go. The treaties had to get • through the United States : Congress, and the closer the debate got to the 1978 elections, the dimmer the chances of .ratification would become. •* But Torrijos could rely on the skills of the man who had had a * lot to do with his success so far, Romulo Escobar Bethancourt. Escobar, rector of the University of Panama in 1964 - when it was the staging area for Ithe student riots that brought ^ on the negotiations that led to ~ these new treaties, had gone on ' to head the People's Party ; (Marxist, and the only one -allowed in Panama today), and For Your Informotion Dear friends, "You can't please everybody. Don'* let criticism worry you. Sinco hato poisons the soul, do not chorish onmitios, grudges. Avoid pooplo who moko you unhappy." "Koop busy at something. A busy parson never has tlmo to bo unhap­ py."Such was tho philosophy of author, Robert L. Stevenson. Respectfully, - PETER MJUSTEN Ht CDM FUNERAL HOME McHenry, Illinois 385-0063 more recently to shift to the job of chief negotiator for the Panamanian treaty team. While the U.S. negotiators, Linowitz and Bunker, held endless series of briefings to reassure U.S. critics that the treaties really would give their country preferential passage through the Canal after 2000 and the unilateral ability to go back in case of violation of neutrality, Escobar Bethan­ court would make sure that his people knew otherwise. SPELLED OUT Hadn't Escobar spelled it out clearly back on August 19? He told Panama's Assembly of Corrigimiento representatives: "Why Oris Mkrality pact?...- They need It to show their Congress.. . *|»ok, we are turning the canal over to the Panamanians, but we still have the right to watch over them so they behave.' That is the truth. It is a question of their internal policy. They are solving an internal problem regarding a Congress that is largely op­ posed to these negotiations." And couldn't Torrijos rely on Escobar to use the students to keep the pressure - the threat of • riots - on the United States? Only two days after the treatv accords were announced, the government - sponsored P a n a m a n i a n S t u d e n t Federation (F.E.P.) signalled its support, but Roberto Gomez, its secretary general, added: "The banners of the F.E.P. will not be lowered in the struggle, because this struggle will be continuous and prolonged until the last in­ vading soldier leaves." If the yanquis couldn't figure that out, Escobar would make it clearer. In his Aug. 19 speech he would say: "Those who...say that we are not revolutionary enough will have to prove it to us by getting their knapsacks and their grenades and en­ tering the Zone to get the gringos out of there. That is how they will have to prove it to us. Not with little speeches or documents." Could Escobar keep the students provoked just enough but not too much so the lid could be kept on till after ratifications? If he could, maybe they could be used to push the gringos out a lot sooner than the year 2000. Omar Torrijos head-of-state, dictator of Panama, would have to wait and see. Graham Wheat Flour Graham flour is another name for whole wheat flour. (The following is the first of a two-part series by Sanford Patterson of Lincoln, III Mr. Patterson, a freelance writer and columnist, is a retired utility supervisor. He was the author of the recent Plaindealer series, "Who Decides What Children Learn"). ' The way you think determines what you are. This thinking is largely established in the early years of a child's life. There are many factors that shape this thinking; parental influence, the examples set by adults, integrity of our leaders, religious training, environment, companions, reading habits, exposure and selection of television programs, plus the educational processes in our schools. Parental influence can be good or bad. The increasing trend of both parents as working people lessens the time spent with their children. They have come to rely more and more on the school system for the proper training in the development of their children. These formative and impressionable years are so important. They can chart their future and become the deciding influence in their contribution to society. The Impressionable Years These impressionable years can be utilized for the wrong purposes. The Nazis controlled the thinking of their youths during the Hitler regime. They believed if the children were indoctrinated with their philosophy during their formative years, they could mold their character into true Nazis. They considered four to twelve years as the formative ones. How successful was the Nazi's planning? Germany lost the war. The horrible crimes committed by the Nazis are indelibly printed on the minds of the German people and the rest of the world. Despite all this, West German magazines and newspaper articles show that the Nazis still active in their country are nearly all former members of the Hitler youth groups. Many of the ardent communists in East Germany were former members of the same Nazi youth organizations. There is vary little difference in philosophy between the two systems. Both teach only those ideas that advance their goals. Any moral teaching is ridiculed as a weakness of a decadent society. Moral Teaching The ten commandments and the golden rule are the greatest moral codes ever written for living at peace with yourself and the rest of humanity. One man believed that and he played an important part in the moral teaching (character education) in the school system from 1836 to the late 1930's. That man was William Holmes McGuffey. McGuffey is one of three men responsible for the establishment of the common (public) school system. Prior to that time, most of the schools wore private or church sponsored. Education was the exclusive province of those financially able to pay the school fees. The common school system supported by local taxes made education available to every child with the exception of the blade slave children in the Southern States. The end of the Civil War opened the school doors to them. McGuffey wrote the first and second McGuffey Readers in 1896 and the third and fourth in 1837. He is credited with introducing thejphonetic pronunciation of words to United States. The words in his stories in the first and second readers were broken down into syllables separated by hyphens for easier reading. His simple stories were based on the tenents of the ten commandments and the golden rule. At the end of each lesson, questions and notes were used by the teacher and the students to discuss the moral lesson learned. The stories emphasized right and wrong conduct He wrote about the responsibility of the individual to society and adherence to God's laws. The work ethic was also stressed for both sexes. The girls were taught to be their mother's helpmates, to sew, cook and clean the house. The boys were taught to help their fathers with the chores and work around the home. The McGuffey books became universal readers in the then expanding common school system. There were other writers of text books Intfie years that followed but they followed the example of moral teaching McGuffey bad established. The stories and characters had been changed and they lacked the clear sharp moral lessons of the McGuffey Readers. They still carried a moral tone without the references to God's laws. Responsibilities Historians believe that a great social awakening took place in United States after the depression of the l«30's. The plight of the unemployed led the public to question an economic and political system that permitted widespread unemployment. The result was an emphasis on rights or social values. The New Deal Era fostered .a host of social programs and influenced the thinking of the public. Fabian Socialism from its birthplace in England spread out to further influence our e&icators. Socialism is the champion of human rights. They give lip service to responsibilities but their main emphasis is on rights. No right thinking person could deny that equal rights for all groups was not for the common good of society. It was right and proper that social values be taught in our schools. The old moral teachings that taught responsibility to society were shoved aside in favor of the new 'in' thing, equal rights. The Supreme and other federal court's decisions on religious education in our public schools had its effect. It was easier for the writers of the reading text books to discard the moral teachings than to write within the educational guidelines set by the courts. There was a gradual decline in the moral tone of the text books with a new emphasis on human rights. By 1950, moral teaching lessons had been replaced by the social value ones. Many of the teachers still tri^d to teach moral codes by using posters and slogans of their own making. They were denied the primary tool, the text book. ould Paints, Paintbrushes The paints and paintbrushes are tools in the hands of a skilled artist. There < be no art masterpieces without them. To deny the teachers their tools the text 1 is like limiting the artist to a single paint brush and one color. The responsibility for moral teaching was shifted from the schools to the parents and religious groups. The working parents and also the affluent ones spent less time with their children.-The latest 'in' thing, television viewing, provided them with an electronic babysitters The children's reading habits were changed as they watched this new and exciting form of entertainment. The quality of the programs they watch is highly questionable. The television companies are more concerned with ratings spelled m- o-n-e-y than they are with moral responsibility. The religious groups were involved in the struggle for equal rights and couldn't fill the gap. The lessons about work ethics were also deleted from the text books. Society does not owe able bodied persons a living but it does owe them the opportunity to make one. What effect does the reading lessons have on the moral character of our young people? Has the absence of the old moral teaching lessons contributed to the lack of respect for authority, increases in vandalism, petty and violent crime? Has there been too much emphasis on rights without an equal one on responsibilities? The criminals are well aware of their rights and quick to demand them. They have no sense of responsibility to society or they wouldn't be law breakers. They have no work ethics. Only squares like you and me work for a living. Nearly all the court decisions in favor of convicted persons are based on rights. Numerous convictions have been overturned due to technicalities in the trials that had nothing to do with their guilt or innocence. A bribed juror, perjured testimony, or new evidence is one thing, technicalities are another. It would seem the judges ig our judicial system are caught up in the credo of rights above responsibilities. (more next week) PUBLIC PULSE (The Plaindealer Invites the public to use this column as an expression of their view on subjects of general interest In our community. Our only request is that the writers give signature, full address and phone number. We ask too, that one individual not write on the same subject more than once each month. We reserve the right to delete any material which we consider libelous or in objectionable taste.) FOR LIFE "Dear Editor: "Governor Thompson's announcement that he was vetoing the bill which would deny welfare payments for abortions even though it was against the sentiments 'of the majority of the people of Illinois' is a special kind of cruelty to those of us who have worked diligently within the law even though convinced of the urgency and the life and death nature of the situation. Now one man-our elected Governor-denies us the right to stop the use of our tax money to pay for an act we consider highly immoral and 'extremely cruel.' "As voters we often complain that issues between candidates are not clear cut. I think that this next election will be a different story. "Respectfully,. "Diane Kirchner "Vice-Chairwoman "McHenry County Citizens for Life" Capon Chicken A capon is a surgically unsexed male chicken--usually under eight months of age--that is ten- der-meated with soft, smooth- textured skin. Building Permits Building permits recently issued by the Department of Building and Zoning in McHenry County include: Edith Harrison, 2903 Benjeman Dr., Wonder Lake, to build a single family residence at 5020 Harts Rd. in Richmond Township for an approximate value of $25,000. Permit and service fee-$163. Robert A. Schindler, 2719 Stilling Blvd., McHenry, to build a single family residence at 2812 N. Stilling Blvd. in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $45,000. Permit and service fee-$191. Otis L. Lowrimore, P.O. Box 261, Fox Lake, to build a single family residence at 5416 Thelen Drie in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $25,000. Permit and service fee- $182. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph A. Bley, 614 Meadow Rd., McHenry, to build a single family residence at 3413 Ellen Rd. in Nunda Township for an approximate value of $48,000. Permit and service fee-$248. John C. Schuh, 3015 Virgifia Ave., McHenry, to build a single family residence at 1016 Lily Lake Rd. in Nunda Township for an approx­ imate value of $37,000. Permit and service fee-$169. Nancy Stade, P.O. Box 336, Wonder Lake, to build a single family residence at 17117 Alden Blacktop in Alden Township for an approximate value of $45,000. Permit and service fee- $253.80. Joseph Leopold, 5022 Westwood, McHenry, to build a new residence at 5024 Westwood in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $40,000. Permit and service fee-$200. James C. Sander, 945 E. Kenilworth, Palatine, to build a house at 1419 Edgewood Lane in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $35,000. Permit and service fee-$i84. Mr. andMrs. Bob Perrv 1245 Oak St., Barrington, to build a new home at 3409 Oakdale Ave. in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $65,000. Permit and service fee-$229.20. Michael Fick and Mary Ellen Nehmer, 9 Hawthorne Lane, Ingleside, to build a single family residence at 7717 Preston Drive in McHenry Township for an approximate value of $39,000. Permit and service fee-$158. CONSUMER GUIDELINES First of Autumn Question/ \um/fysm rs/Mm Mil U' %•?: k HMMm I mmm I WOZKl A regular inspection for termites is one of the best investments a homeowner can make. Every year Americans lose more than $500 million because of termite damage to homes and property. LET S GET TOGETHER AND TALK ABOUT LOW-COST AUTO INSURANCE. Tony Fick Are You New In «McHeniy Area? Do You Know Someone New? WE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A ROYAL WELCOME TO EVERY NEWCOMER TO OUR AREA!!!!!!! CALLJOANSTULL 385-5418 McHenry V j % -- ^ imiMJiit/ii \ KNOW YOUR AREA--ROYAL WELCOME DOES IT BEST GIVE ME A CALL FOR THE FACTS ON LOW-COST HEALTH INSURANCE. Chuck Lewandowski I D LIKE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON LOW-COST HOME­ OWNERS INSURANCE. ony Fick Chuck Lewandowski Call us for Details 2304 L I D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE FACTS ON LOW-COST L IFE INSURANCE. AMERICAN FAMILY I N S U R A N C E AUTO HOME HEALTH IK ** AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INSUftANCC COMPANY* MADISON, WIS. 83701 --OUR NEW LOCATION1 Corner of Crystal Lake Blacktop & Rt. 120, McHenry, III. EARL R. WALSH & JACK WALSH INS. Fife, Auto, Farm, Lift . Representing RELIABLE COMPANIES 4419 W. Rt*. 120, McHenry 315-3300 DENNIS CONWAY AUTO-LIFE-FIRE State Farm Ins. Co. 331* W. Elm St. McHenry, III. MS-7111 DR. LEONARD B0TTARI 303 N. Richmond Rd., McHenry Eyes examined • Contact LOOMS Glasses flttod Mon., Tuot., Thurs., Fri.,4-«p.m. Tuos.. Thurs., Frl., 7-9 p.m. Sot., 9:30 to 3:00 Ph. MS-41S1 or J8S-22U McHENRY COUNTY OFFICE MACHINES SALES-SERVICE A RENTALS Mon-Sat 9-5:10 Friday til 9:0* 93 Orant St., Crystal Lako Ptl. 489-1320 McHenry Telephone Answering 8 Letter Sesvice • Answering Sorvic* • Cor, Telephone & Paging Service • Complete AAimeographing & Printing Serivce • Typing ft Photocopying Ph. 3854)258 Farm Equipment George P. Freaand, Inc. Cose • New Holland 4102 W. Crystal Lake Rd. AAcHENRY Bus. 385 0420 Res. 385-0227 IMiw.B.iit. "GATEWAY TO YOUR FUTURE" CALLUS (815) 385-4810 llREUJ RADIAL TIRES FOR ALL CARS Europa Motors. Inc 2318 Ute. 120 815-385-0700 • PATZKE CONCRETE* McHENRY - ILLINOIS FOUNDATIONS • FLOORS • SIDEWALKS FREE ESTIMATES: 015-305-9337 015-305-5531 ConuMt! ML Cr at our quick quick-action copy cantor. FINEST QUALITY COPIES MADE ON XEROX EQUIPMENT See us, also, for every kind of Printing Need!! PRINTING 3909 W. 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