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) Page 4 Massena, N.Y. Observer, Tuesday, October 6,1987 Mental Illness Awareness Is A Difficult Task Like most unpleasantries, mental illness is something many people would just rather not think about. Indeed, most people never have to give mental illness a second thought because it has no direct bearing or effect on their families. Lucky for them. This is not true of millions of American families however. And because these people deal with mental illness on a day to day basis, they understand it (as much as is possible) and realize it is nothing of which to be afraid or ashamed. It is human nature to fear things we do not understand. Therefore, many of those millions who suffer from mental il- lness are unduly feared, improperly cared for and mistreated. ; *The National Alliance for the Mentally 111 is trying to change that. NAMI has a chapter here in the North Country. It is called the St. Lawrence Valley AMI and Mrs. Brenda Lit- > tlejohn, of Massena, is its president. These people are faced with a seemingly insurmountable task — to help people understand mental illness, to tear off the stigmas attached to the disease, and to lobby for addi- tional financial aid for mental illness research and, more im- portantly, to insure victims of mental illness are well cared for. ' ••..-'.'\\- This week is Mental Illness Awareness Week in New York* State. NAMI and its local affiliates take this week to reach out to the public — private citizens as well as public servants — in hopes of bringing about greater understanding and care for the mentally ill. MOst of the people in AMI have family members who are mentally ill. Unfortunately, it is probably only through per- sonal experience that an individual can fully comprehend the effect of mental illness on life. We have had such a personal experience. A member of our family was afflicted with mental illness. Thankfully, our relative has recovered and nows leads a 'normal' life. But this person's presence during the illness was, at times, unbearable. Being a victim of manic depression, our relative would vacillate between periods of extreme luckiness and ut- ter confusion. , : We were fortunate in that this person was not in our im- mediate family and we did not have to deal with this changeability all the time. We could escape from it — many, many families cannot. * But the experience was very frustrating. The periods of 'normalcy' were as enjoyable as everyday life would allow. However, the bouts with the depression were very trying. How could this person, who was 'fine' several hours ago, be the same person who was driving us up the wall right now? That is the nature of that particular affliction. As we have said, luckily this condition was treatable and our relative has recovered and leads a very productive quiet life. Not all mentall illness victims arelthisfortunate^ Therefore, Tnoremonies must be allocated to do further research into schizophrenia, and manic and major depres- sion. This will only come about of people open their minds, and hearts, and realize that victims of mental illness are not 'wackos'or'creeps'. , . <\ Rather they are human beings who are suffering from the effects of a disease — a serious disease which has been all but neglected when it came time for research and to dole out the funding for such research. ' ' :^\ . Institutionalizing these victims is not\ the answer. Pro- viding them with love, help and care is, 1 This week take a few minutes to read an article (like the one on the front page of today's Observer) W watch a televi- sion program about the causes and effects of mental illness anitry to beunderstanding.^ — \ Most importantly, take time to be 'aware\ of the poor vic- tims of mental illness and the close friends and relatives who care enough to love them. 'THfm/SSW\ Q/wxmtfr The Massena Obaerver encourages the community to express their opinion on Issues of concernor interesting to area readers. Letters must be clearly written or typed, awl lees than 150 wonis. The paper reserves the right to reject any letter. All tetters must be signed and have the author's ad- dress and phone number for verification. Names WILL NOT be withheld, and unsigned letters WILL NOT be printed. If you have questions about this policy, contact the Observer at 769-2453 during business hours. Arts, Calendars OCTOBER •, \ ' • October 11-31 — Discovery of the Titanic, exhibit at Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, Kingston, Ont. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m;. The museum is at 55 Ontario St., Kingston. Call 613-542-2261. October 11-28 - The Barry Collection of Photographers, Fine Arts Gallery, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake placid. An exhibition -depleting the Adirondacks of yesterday. A October 11-November 19 — Work of Eileen Neff, Installation Artist and Marilyn Bridges: New York State: An Aerial Perspective, Roland Gibson Gallery, Potsdam State. Call 267-2254 for more information. October 11-November 1 — David Hostetler Sculpture Overview, Richard F. Brush Gallery, SLU. Call Geo Raica, 379-5174, tor more In- formation. \ L „ ^ October ll-November l — Highlights from the Permanent Collection, South and West Galleries, Brush Gallery, SLU. \ October 11-24 — Theater, The House of Bernardo Alba, (preview Oct. 7) by Federico Garcia Lorca. Call 613-996-5051 for times. Tickets $12.50 to$17.50 (Canadian). '. • _'.,..• ^October 11 — Apple Festival, Mt. Sabattis Park, Long Lake. Admis- sion $1 for over 18. The Blue Ridge Sundowners, Buttons the Clo, apple treats, baked goods, arts and crafts display, pumpkin decorating con- test. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. October 12 — Film, The Gay Divorcee, 7:30 p.m., Syracuse Civic Center. October 12 — Canalslde Fair, Syracuse. Re-creates canal town's festival of 1800s. Erie Canal Museum and environs. Call 471-0593. October 12 — Vladimir Potner, Soviet commentator, 8 p.m., Gullck Auditorium, St. Lawrence University, Canton. • • • Tickets for events at Syracuse Civic Center, call 425-2155. Tickets for events in Montreal can be obtained at any Tlcketron ouUet. Tickets for the Celebrity Artists Series are available by writing to Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley, Raymond Hall, Potsdam College, Potsdam, NY, 13676. Tickets for Ogdensburg Community Players events, call 393-4470. Tickets for Lake Placid Center for the Arts, phone 518-523-2512. Tickets for Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) events, call 716-454-7091 For more Information about Informances, call the Associated Col- i of the St. Lawrence VaDey, 266-2790 The Massena Observer CTPtl APAJUCNCW8PAPCR •STABUOTDDIC. X, Igfl \ isatM's Oldest Iadwtrr I Every Twain and TMrtday OBSERVER MnUMNQ, tat I* TowaHall fx>.mmm , New sork lavas The Garbage Blues \.„ • TO THE EDITOR: It's Saturday morning, do you know where your garbage is? If you live In the village it's probably at one of the few local landfills that remain open. For the most part, trash removal for villate residents is \free\ or paid for with your tax dollars. For those of us who live outside of villages, we must cart our own trash or pay a private company/individual to take our trash to a landfill. With more land- fills'closing and the proposed Incinerator, moving ahead with plans for construction, the costrfor removal of trash is increasing. It will continue to increase if everything must be transported to the incinerator site in. Ogdensburg in the future. . It took some doing, many phone calls, etc. to get a clear answer, but my \burning\ ques- tion was finally answered. Is the burning of garbage by individuals in their backyards in open barrels illegal? The answer is YES. This law was passed by the Department of En- vironmental Conservation (DEC) several years ago. I repeat, BURNING YOUR GAR> BAGE IN YOUR BACK YARD IS ILLEGAL! It is also extremely toxic and collectively _ causes an immeasurable amount of pollution in the air, land (as ash) and water (as run-off from ash). . *' The next question is, who will enforce this law? When I tried to get this question answered I got a lot of good old fashioned \passing' the buck\. The _ Environmental Management Council (part of the County Planning Board) said it is up to the DEC. The DEC said they leave it up to the town super- visors. The Town Supervisor of Canton told me it was the building inspector's job to issue summonses for burning without a permit and the building inspector told me that it was real- ly up to the county to do something about this. Well, who the hell is responsible for enforcing a clearly written law anyway? If no one will accept responsibility for enforcing the law, what Is the point of having it written? Burning your own garbage is an old prac- tice, especially for rural residents. People up around here have probably been doing this for a hundred years or more. The difference now is that there are many synthetic, plastic and petroleum-based products in our trash these days. These products, when burned create toxic fumes, dioxins, furans and hydrochloric acid. Poisons that pollute our environment and, quite frankly, make it difficult to breathe when the wind is blowing in my direction while my neighbors are thoughtlessly burning their garbage. If it is truely up to the county then we must insist that the County Legislature pass an en- forceable law against individuals burning or dumping their garbage on their own land. Private dumping is also polluting to wildlife and ground water supplies. The answer is NOT to burn everything in an Incinerator (this reinforces the idea that burning your garbage is okay). It also creates the problem of dumping highly toxic ash (4-6 tons a day) from the incinerator in a landfill that wll pollute someone else's ground water suupply. The answer Is to create a county-wide recycling and transport network that will recycle the glass, plastics, paper, metals and compost products (food waste) fronf our gar- bage and dump what remains In non-polluting landfill that meets state regulations. The solu- tion will be more economical for the county and for residents who must pay ever- increasing costs for trash removal. It is also an environmentally sound solution; one with greater foresight and concern for the future air, land and water with which our children must live. Yes, it requires more responsibility from individuals, but I believe that If people are made aware of the Issues they will accept that responsibility and rise to the challenge of recycling as a community. Copies of this letter will be sent to: The Solid Waste Disposal Authority, The Depart- ment of Environmental Conservation, The Environmental Management Council, The St. Lawrence County Legislature, all of the local newspapers, The WOW (Work on Waste) Organizations, the Canton afU Potsdam Town Boards, and New York State Attorney Robert Abrams. And I promise if I see garbage burning in your back yard I'll be happy to report youl JeanMarteMarteUo Canton Why All The Debate? Published by tlwPntfcfiaajaaaasjasaBl. Roy H. ¥ sfm. Canurmaa nan ifa. jogsra o. GRAY, Earn* Inc. TO TBE EDITOR: is there so rights and individual liberties that the Supreme Court has ruled on during the last 40 years. Though the Supreme Court is far away from St. Lawrence County its influence on us is great. We look to the court to protect our in- dividual rights. But the confirmation of Judge Bork would give us a justice who would upset the balance of he court and leave us as in- dividuals unprotected. Look at Judge Bork's positions and see what you think: 1. Judge Bork called the section of the Civil Rights Act requiring white-owned businesses to serve blacks' 'unsurpassed ugliness.'' 2. He says the Constitution does hot give citizens the right to privacy. He strongly criticized the 1965 Supreme Court ruling mak- ing it legal for married couples to use con- traceptives in the privacy of their own homes. 3. In court decisions where individuals fight for their rights against big business, Judge Bork most often rules against the individual. For example, be held that a chemical com- pany had the right to fire female employees who refused to be sterilized.. 4. Judge Bork narrowly Interprets our freedoms saying, for example, that freedom of speech applies only to speech that is ex- plicitly political, not to scientific, literary, or artistic expression. It is our basic freedoms, freedom from discrimination, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, that are at stake. As a Supreme Court justice, Bork would not be bound by precedent. In fact, he has made It clear that he intends to be an acttvisit justice, and we can expect to see the reversal of many of the landmark decisions of ttfe Supreme Court if his confirmation succeeds. Supreme Court appointments are for life. They affect not only our, lives but the lives of our children. This Is ah issue on which we can- not be silent, too much is at stake. Our opinions really can Influence our senators' votes. New York Is considered a swimg state In the confirmation positions. If Viewpoint Family Tree, See? TO THE EDITOR: Most of us at sometime or other, has been contacted through the mall, either by card or letter, describing a book written on our family name. The description given is a book we, will treasure, because It Is about our very own family.\ It Is disturbing to see people eager to learn something about their family, Invest $30, or more, on a book that Is virtually wor- thless In most instances. These books contain some early American history, information on how to trace your famUy, a few blank genealogical charts and a listing of addresses of people who have your surname. This sur- name listing was extracted from telephone books. This same information Is at you local library Genealogists throughout the U.S. through publications, have been aware of these unor- thodox publications for some time. Several years ago, it began with Beatrice Bayley and then went on to Sharon Taylor, also known as Halberts, then to. Elizabeth Ross and there were probably others. Presently, there is a company, under a woman's name, who uses the gimmick of listing your surname as her maiden name. This makes the book sound more personal. / The State of Wisconsin has been successful in prosecuting the Beatrice Bayley Company. In 1985, Judge Richard W. Bardwell of Dane County Circuit Court, ruled Beatrice Bayley, Inc. \guilty of untrue, deceptive and misleading solltication\ In connection with the sale of its \family heritage books.\ On- ^ tario, Canada, has been successful in pro- > secuting Sharon Taylor. • If you are seriously interested in tracing your family, go to your library and get a book on the \how to's\ of genealogy. Nyando Roots has meetings the first and third Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m. Room B, at the library. Come to rmeeting, or contact a member. We would be most willing to show you how to get started researching your family. Sincerely, Pauline Deshales Corresponding Secretary : Nyando Roots Genealogy Club > - Good Samaritanism TO THE EDITOR: This Is just to: let you know that there are still some nice people In the world, especially in the vicinity of Massena and Akwesasne. Last Thursday, Sept; 17, my husband and I decided to celebrate our 30th wedding an- niversary by driving to the Seaway and over Massena way, we were approaching Hogansburg/Akwesasne on busy Rt. 37 when our left rear tire blew out. We pulled to the side and stopped, wonder- ing if we'd be able to change it, as my husband Is afflicted with arthritis and I am not very mechanically inclined. We had barely got the trunk open when a lady from Akwesasne pull- ed over and offered to get a garage map to help us. While we were talking, another car passed us, turned around and stopped. A young man from Massena, Leonard Laneauville, ran over to where we were and said \Don't worry — I'll change it for you — no problem.\ Our gracious \Good Samaritan\ day left before we got her name, and Leonard L:proceeded to-qulcliy ohd competently change the tire; He refused to take anything for it, smiled and waved and wished us \happy anniversary\ and con- tinued on his way. Needless to say, our journey was curtailed, because we really didn't care to tempt fate by traveling without a spare, but two very caring people made our. 30th anniversary a memorable one. Isn't it good to know that Massena and • f you agree with me on this subject, please take—Akwesasne' have such nice people, as the very few minutes necessary to —\- - \\- --- write a brief letter to both Senator Daniel Patrick Moynlhan and Senator Alpbonse D'Amato (U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510) ex- pressing your concern. Then follow up with a phone call to the senators' offices. Call Senator Moynlhan at 212-661-5150 and Senator D'Amato at 212-947-7393. (Aides will be taking a tally of \votes.\ You do not need to discuss your position.) Please loin me in making the voice of the in- dividual beard In our government. If Judge Bork is confirmed we may no longer have the right to make ourselves heard. Rachel Grant 379-9251 Iroquois Gas TO THE EDITOR: This is a special message for property owners In the Towns of Waddington, Lisbon, Canton, Dekalb, Hermon, Russell, Edwards and Pltcalrn. On Tuesday, Oct 6, at 10 a.m. the New York State Public Service Commis- sion will be holding a bearing In the Board Room of the St. Lawrence County Courthouse in Canton on the proposed route of the ko- quois Gas Transmission System Pipeline. The purpose of this hearing s to provide for cross-examination of witnesses representing toe developers of the Iroquois Project. The hearing will begin with four or five represen- tatives from Irquots explaining ihe choice of route through St. Lawrence County. There have recently been some changes to the route as originally proposed. Foilowmg the Iroquois testimony Chore will be the opportunity for landowners and public officials to cross- examine. After that, the Dept. of En- vironmental Conservation, Dept. of Agriculture and Markets and Public Service Commission staff will offsr testimony. If you as a property owner have any doubt where the line b going to bo located, you should not mles this bearing. If you have any questions prior to the iMtrmc coil Jon Moo- tan at the St. Lawrence County Planning Of- flee at 379-ian or 379-2Stl. Sincerely, Mildred Whalon, President St Lawrence County Planning Federation Against Bork much public outcry over 's semination of Judas oaths Robert Bork to I Supreme Court? Why have U M. receiving more matt, en this subject than i tteaty any other fta history? And how t - •- - - > hove any effect on the TO THE EDITOR: Dear Son. Moynlhan I urge you to vote of Judge Bork. In say the confirmation of an minorities, and the to privacy, are jssMic eonearn Is J^saa sWtt ttsMenas Sao f*e*di as AeMrtcaaa, eajisrvattves hold. dear. 3bdep Bork has 'of the major dsefciens protecting\ ctvtl rights* taut), To take just one sinmpli: ho would have voted to uphold a state law I maiTlaga. The ^ toward personal privacy Imanclt m tisc are those that most amwrteaaa < toyoan im If not earttar. Wo earn tehavetti ' - residents? We say, God Bless them! Sincerely, Elaine and Cleophas Flynn AS A Memorial TO THE EDITOR: The Robbie Pernice ASA Memorial Softball Classic was held Sept. 5-6-7, 1978 at Dowe Park. On behalf of the Pernice Family and Bob Doran, tour director, and Gene Conklin, ASA District General Commissioner, our sincere thanks add appreciation for your efforts, con- tributions, dedication and sacrifice in maKing this first tournament a success. Special thanks to Bob, Jean, and Debbie Dye, Ann White, Mike and Cathy O'Brian, Pauline Pernice and Andrea Stacey, to Bob Doran who put this tournament together, to the many volunteers too numerous to men- tion, but we say thanks to all, to Norfolk town officials for use of parks. Thanks. We extend congratulations to winners: Mackey's, 1st place; Georgle's, 2nd place; 3rd place, Bull Pen; and 4th place, Bench and Special. Thanks to rest of teams who played. Without them we could not have had this event. Congratulations to Paul White of Brasher Falls, who was selected most valuable player and Gary Gladding of Massena, most valuable pitcher. Thanks to Seaway and Umpires Association for an outstanding job of officiating and to DCS It GN ASA Softball Association and Gene Conklin, commissioner for donating all the trophies. Thanks. Carlton 4 Pauline Pernice ft FamUy Bob Doran and Gene Conklin College Anniversary TO THE EDITOR: *r M t VffkS&H, \^i 0 \ 1 Anniversary of ?liiJl£%*F NCE COLLEGE SAINT- SJESFF' C 22 W «4 1 ' O**** Tho Cornwall campus has dedicated itself to serving its J* 1 ?™^«£•,J**, graduating hundred. rL£S!i£r , *^£ D * , 5; mu> y oJvhom are carving their niche in Canadian business and Industry. . f«2^i»L m ^Ki be ** nntn i of a week of £?£i££ (SLi^ ^•\Jr* ™» will be a ES^JSSL 0 ^ \npton campus, the runners carrying a torch to light the anniver- sary flame, community openihouasaTand a bostofotheractlvttioa. ^^ ^^ *•\'\ . yXPJI^ff *»* «t mm» about nk cot- SS3 »^S.£S»r: e -»!~i*iiM I*IWII •mnnmm~mmmmm*m'» > imw npniiii! mf
