Fire destroys Compounce ride - Southington Library and Museum

PAGE 6 PINI
The Observer
all parties, influenced by none.
Published by The Step Saver, Inc
A thouy L Urillo, pr tdent
Frank J. Polrot, Editor-in-Chief
News & Editorial
PO Box 648.213 Spnng Street
Southmgton. CT 06489
Telephone t203} 621-6751
N THE
Kenneth DiMa ro, famdy hying editor
Advertising & C rculat on
PO Box i8, 213 Spnng Strvet
u n n. ('T 0 89
lephone ,20,1 628- 5
Lobster: the latest
contamination casualty
Ahh, the delectable lobster. What New Englander hasn't feasted on the savory
crustacean? But now, low and behold. 1:he lobster is the latest life-form
to suffer sexlous damage from humanity's propensity for ocean dumping.
And once again. Long Island Sound can be labelled the great swill, a setfling
tank for American sewers. Putrid Sound indeed.
The Connecticut Department of Health Services is considering issuing a
health advisory against eating a portion of the lobster. That portion is the liver.
better known to most New Englanders as the tomalley.
The tomalley is a green organ found among lobster Innards, and though
not always appealing to look at, many lobster lovers consider them a delicacy.
But tomalleys might be food of the past They're tainted, scientists say, by
cadmium.
Cadmium is a heavy metal most often associated with battery production.
And according to clinical toxicology reports, cadmlmn does not only accumulate
in the livers of the tasty crustacean - but will also settle in yours. That
event can cause your liver to stop working - and your kidneys to stop working
- and it can effect bone development.
Now. it's true that the health department has said that eating the flesh of
the lobster is still safe. And Lf you're one of the many who wouldn't go within
an arm's length of a tomalley except to get to the taft - well, you're probably
cadmium free. or at least within tolerable levels.
However. the health department in New York has already issued an advisory
against eating the livers of crabs and lobsters because of other contamiaant
, including PCBs.
Olcay. so we take lobster livers out of the human food chain. What's the
been There's plenty of other stuff to eat. But, for how long? flow many more
life forms will humanity destroy within the great abyss?
Scientists say that because rolatively few people eat the livers of lobsters,
the problem Is not severe. Ahh. the delectable lobster. If he could only talk.
Labor Day is a time to thank
the workers of this country
by Elizabeth Dole
U.S. Secretary of Labor
On Labor Day. Americans will again pause to thank working men and women
- and there is much to be thankful for. indeed
In farms and factories, mills and shops, America was butt by the hands,
hearts, and minds of our working men and women. American workers have fed
the world, united our cities with highways', and forged the free enterprise system
which has made us the eeonomlc envy of the world.
We can also be thankful that more Americans are working today than ever
before. In the past seven years, we have created nearly 20 million new Jobs -
two and one-half times the number of Jobs created by the next six largest indus-
On this Labor Day, however, we must do more than celebrate the past and
the present - we must also look to the future It's a future that provides us with
an opportunity, together, to fulfill a Iong-awalted
dream: That every man and woman who wants a
Job. can have a Job - if they have the skills.
Between now and the year 2000. our work
trig-age population will grow more slowly than at
any time since World War It. As a result, work
ers wtil be in great demand. Many who have
been at the end of the line - women, minorlties.
the disadvantaged and the disabled, will
have unprecedented opportunities for pro
ductlve work
In order to take advantage of this win
dow of opportunity, we must assure that
new workers have the education and
skills needed to do the Job. And the Jobs
created over the next I0 years will be
more complex. They will demand better
reading, writing, and reasoning skills
Over half the Jobs will require education
beyond high school.
By providing the skills today for the
Jobs of tomorrow, we will be able to compete
in a rapidly changing global market.
and we will ensure that America's economic
recovery will continue. Moreover
by providing these sldfls to our youth, we
will also help to reduce the social ills of
our time; for the self-respect and independence
that a Job provides can go a long way towards
combatting teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, alcoholism,
crime, and those who are prone to drop out
of school.
Teddy Roosevelt once said that "The bdst prize
that llfe offers is the chance to work hard at work
worth doing." On this Labor Day, let us dedicate our
selves to a future that will provide that chance to ev-
ON AND OFF THE RECORD
FROM A WOMAN'S V EW
OBSERVER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1989
The Democrats face a slugfest
With the gu- and perhaps his own desire to be Con gressxnan will get a head start on the
bernatorial elec neeticut's next governor. Democratic nomination. If O'Neill de-
tlon more than a
year away. an allout
slugfest may
be unfolding
among state
Democrats.
The Democrats
are the party in
control of state
government, and they have the incumbent
- Will!ram A. O Nell] -- in the governor's
office. But you wouldn't know it
by the way some Denmcrats are behaving
O'Neill has been taking a few shots
these days from people who say that he
would leave ff the eh,tnon were held today
That's the kind of verbal assault an
incumbent governor expects from the
other party. But this attack was
launched by U.S.Rep Bruce Morrtson.
who talks and walks like he wants to
be Connecticut's n xt Governor.
Morrtson has been shaking up the
Democratic establishment with his criticism,
of O'Neill. Morrison has flirted
with running for governor and considering
whether or not O'Neill could win
again, basing his observation on polls
Morrison may be right about his
assertion that O'Neill may not be able
to win if the election were held today
For O'Neill. the mpqrtant thing is that
the election is not going to be held today.
The election is going to be held next
November. A lot can happen in more
than a year. And O'Neill has been down
this road before Back in 1983. many
political observers thought that O'Neill
couldn't be elected for anything.
However, he ran for re election in
1986 - and he was a landslide winner
over Republican Julie Belaga.
O'Neill has indicated he will run
But until he makes it official speculation
that he may bow out will continue
Within the Democratic Party many
insiders think that O'Neill will act like a
candidate for re-election, but that he
will decide on retirement.
Morrison, for example, says he's
close to making a decision about a gubornatorlal
run regardless of vhat
O'Neill does. But taking on an incumbent
governor is no easy task. even for
a popular incumbent congressman.
If Morrison runs and then O'Neill
decides not to seek re election, the con-
cldes to run again, Morrlson has put
his political career on the line.
Toby Moffett, a former congressman
md now a broadcaster, rolled the
dice in 1986. He lost to O'Neill at the
Democratic state convention.
If O'Neill should consider retirement,
someone llke U S. Rep. Barbara
Kennelly most likely will be the first
choice of the Democrats who support
O'Neill. Others also may be in the
Democratic gubernatorial battle. It all
depends on what O'Neill does.
With Morrison on the attack,
O'Neill could be forced to announce his
intentions earlier than planned. The
longer he waits, the more speculation
will be that he's planning to leave a
winner and on top. It wouldn't be a bad
way tn finish.
Until he says. "No. thank you,"
however. O'Neill has to be considered
an incumbent ready to seek re-election.
Morrlson's attack on O'Neill is like
snmethlng the Republicans are
posod to be doing. It's a sign that. as in
1986. O'Neill's toughest opposition may
come from within his own party
Bob Douglas public-affairs commenrotor
for Connechcut Public TelevL on
Congress adjourns: budget issues dominate
Before the first
session of the
lOlst Congress
adJournbd for the
annual August recess.
several Im-
lated measures
saw action. Here's
a run down of
some of those
bills, followed by a brief preview of additional
legislation expected to see ac
finn this fall
Fiscal Year 199Q Anoronrtatlon :
With some last minute hustle, the
House passed all 13 appropriations
bills, including seven in one week (a
record}, while the Senate managed to
approve only four All 13 bills must be
agreed upon by both houses and
signed by the president by October I.
the beginning of the new fiscal year
Don't hold your breath. Last year was
the first year this was accomplished
since 1976. and the first time since
1954 that Congress did not resort to a
catch-all "contmuing resolution" to
lump together funding (and hide special
projects] for programs on which it
couldn't agree separately.
Fiscal Year 1989 Sunnlemental A_p_:
orooriations: Earlier this year, but not
before several months of disagreement
programs for which spending estimates
fell short of actual expenditures. This
annual rite of spring guarantees budget
pyrotechnics as congressmen try to
load up the bill with pet programs and
projects that didn't make the cut the
first time around.
Year Budget Reconciliation.
To complete action on next year's
budget. Congress must agree on $13
billion in additional savings and new
revenues. Under the Gramm-Rudman
• deficit reduction law. Congress must
ensure that the deficit will not exceed
$I I0 billion to avoid automatic cuts A
singularly important spending measure,
in which many issues and often
fundamentally different approaches to
government are debated, this bill is
currently hung up over the capital
gains tax issue
Savings &__ an Bailout: Nearly six
months after President Bush requested
immediate action. Congress approved a
$50 billion package to make good on its
guarantee to protect the savings of millions
of Americans. The delay in approving
the funds, and enacting the reforms
to prevent future mismanagement
and fraud, cost the federal goveminent
millions per month.
LOOKING AHEAD TO SEFFEMBER
and Community
and maneuvering, the Congress passed __ ment: With severe housing shortages
a stop gap measure to fund federal and through the roof real estate prices
Women's equity day
in many areas of the country. Congress
will be looking to reform and strengthen
programs for public and low- and
moderate-income housing. Additional
funding might be considered, but only
a er a full investigation into the HUD
scandal.
Child Day Care: The House will
take up major legislation to expand asslstance
to working parents and families
who need to purchase day care services
for their children. Vsj{iaus bills
provide up to $2 billion but ghar differences
remain ove. ,4he optimum mix
of grants and tax breaks.
Clean Air ACt. President Bush's
bold initiative - though in need of improvement
in several areas - will be debated
throughout autumn and I intend
to focus on at least two key issues: the
interstate transport of dirty air and
strong tailpipe emissions standards to
cut auto pollution.
011 Fund: After the
recent disaster in Alaska. Congress will
take up legislation to improve our ability
to prevent oll spills and reduce the
environmental threat to our waters and
shores A $I billion clean-up fund is
proposed, with the tab to be picked up
by industry.
These are Just a few of the measures
likely to see action, but only if
Congress can mop up the appropriations
process in reasonably short order.
by Susan Strand Starting with conversations in small tern of the United States was Just and took
groups and then branching out to discus- action to change the status quo.
On August 26, 1920 the nineteenth
amendment to the United States Constitu-
sions with legislators, the women began
marching and speaking to large crowds in
Jennette Rankln worked long and
hard to gain suffrage in he home state of
tion was passed gMag women the right to
vote. Just seventy years ago women could
not voice their opinion on the ways in
which the country should be run. They
couldn't enter a votmg booth and support
the candidate that agreed with their points
of view ,They were forced to leave the declsion-making
process up to their fathers,
grandfathers, brothers and uncles with
the obvious results that their opinions
were almost totally disregarded.
It was vocal and out-spoken women
who finally forced congress into granting
public places when it became apparent
that they were continually ignored. Eventually
huge crowds of women converged
on Washington. D C. to protest the lack of
attention to the issue of voting rights for
women When the pressure of large numbers
didn't move the members of Congress
to action, many women took the drastic
action of chaining themselves to the fence
that surrounded the White House. They
firmly believed that the President would
respond quickly and in a positive manner
with his support. Unfortunately that was
Montana and when it was granted she was
elected to represent her state in the U.S.
House of Representatives in 1916. four
years before women in the rest of the
country could even vote.
Amelia Jenl Bloomer began a newspaper
for women which initially was primarily
focused on the temperance movement,
but gradually she embraced the suf-
Wagist movement as well. She also was active
in a dress-reform movement being one
of the first women to wear trousers (later
to be knowa as bloomers] in public.
suffrage to women. Most men were extremely
reluctant to allow any kind of power
to the women of lhe eotmt y and it took
marches on Washington. D.C. and the
chaining of themselves to the fence surrounding
the White House lawn to obtain
their goal.
The history of the suffragist movement
is nothing shor of phenomenal when we
think back to the position of women within
the community and the travel conditions
at the turn of the centmy. The movement
first started during the years of advocating
abolition of slavery The same women who
became ardent suffragists first were active
in the abolition movement, but quickly
came face to fare with the reality that they
could be expected to perform most of the
not the case and many of these women These women brave pione who
were dragged off to Jail.
risked and felt the derision of the men in
The deplorable conditions in the Jail their families and communities because
appalled the suffragists and never being they knew their cause was Just. They
ones to overlook a social wrong that could risked much so that women throughout
be righted, they went on hunger strikes to the country could enjoy the right to vote.
bring attention to the conditions in the They can be our role models. We still
Jails. Many were force fed. a horrendous have social injustices that can be changed
experience that resnlted in damaged vocal with the necessary amount of attention
chords for a few
and dedication. With the determination of
These women also started their own our suffragist ststera we could chang the
newspapers, wrote the Women's Bible. course of the feminlzation of poverty, we
challesged the concept of correct clothing could have a major impact on the delivery
for women and generally questioned the of health care in this country, we could re-
functioning of the government without duco dru us sigrdflcantly by focu on
their representation. Susan B. Anthony, the causative Issues of poverty and lack of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Jenks options, we could Insure reproductive
Bloomer, Lucy Stone and Jennette Ranktn eholee for all women.
menial chores, the men would make the
decisions
were women of courage and foresight who
did not believe that the governmental sya-
Gaining the right to vote was not an
easy task: but it was accomplished. We