Bethpage-Tribune_1976-05-13

              BETHPAGE
BHMBE PUBUC LIBRA
OLD BETHBM3E
also serving ISLAND TREES
PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 10 NO. 25 Thursday, May 13, 1976 10 cents per copy
Strike That From The Record
Congressional Record Refuses To Print Obscene Excerpts
SENIOR DAY: Oyster Bay Town Councilman Salvatore R. Mosca
presents Margaret Russet of the Bethpage Golden Age Club with a
Certificate of Merit which acknowledges her fine contributions to the
Town's Volunteer Services Program. More than 109 seniors from
throughout the Town participated in the ceremonies which were
conducted by the Town Board.
CPES Urges Passage
Of Pension Reform Bill
The CPES Taxpayer Action
Council warned of a possible
taxpayer revolt if something is
not done about public employee
pension reform in 1976.
Mario Collelupri, chairman of
CPES council area No. 10, said
rumors have it that the
legislature might do one of two
things about public pensions this,
year. He said that word has it
that a watered-down plan will be
enacted or the pension reform
issue will be sidestepped entirely
this year. Mr. Collelluroi, who
also heads The Taxpayers Union
of Long Island, Inc. said, "A
watered-down plan, or no plan at
all, will result in the tremendous
dissatisfaction of taxpayers in
this area. A citizens public ex­penditure
survey recently
revealed that public pensions
cost taxpayers $400,000 per hour
in this state and that's clear
evidence of the vital need for
passage of a solid public pension
reform plan in 1976.
"The legislature seems un­willing
to come to grips with the
pension issue", he said "Senators
and Assemblymen alike ap­parently
want to avoid the whole
situation in this election year.
They obviously fear the reaction
of the state's public employee
unions if substantial reform is
pushed through the legislature.
What they should be worried
about is the voter-taxpayer's
reaction."
According to Collelluroi, the
legislature must pass a good
public pension reform plan now
and the minimum of reform
needed is that which has been
recommended by the Permanent
Commission in Public Employee
Pensions and Retirement
Systems. "Anything less" he
said, "would be a sellout to the
public employee unions."
By Ann Conroy
The Island Trees Board of
Education received a welcome
boost this past week when
Republican Congressman,
Norman F. Lent, tried un­successfully
to insert into the
Congressional Record the ob­jectionable
excerpts from some
controversial books which the
Board had recently removed
from the high school library for
review.
After weeks of sensational
newspaper headlines, critical
editorials, and private and public
denunciations by organizations
such as the Civil Liberties Union,
the Island Trees Board has been
exonerated in the eyes of many
because the Congressional
Record chose not to print those
same obscene excerpts on the
grounds that the general ruies
governing the Record "prohibit
the inclusion therein of profanity,
obscene wording or extreme
vulgarisms."
Board President Richard
Ahrens was jubilant over the
support given the Board by Lent.
"It's good to know that the
standards of good taste gover­ning
the Congressional Record
are the same standards we would
use to determine what's ap­propriate
for our children to
read. It's terrific to have a
Congressman with the guts to
defend our right as elected
representatives of the people to
select suitable reading materials
for our children."
In his published remarks,
Representative Lent stated:
"Boards of education are duly
elected by the voters in
each school district to develop
educational policy for the school
administration and teaching staff
to implement...The education law
of the State of New York
specifically places responsibility
for book selection with these duly
elected school boards. Generally,
school boards approve text books
Career And College Night p,ainedge Llbrary *udget
At Bethpage High School
The Bethpage High School
Guidance Department in con­junction
with the High School
Parent Teachers' Association is
sponsoring a Career and College
Night on May 18 at 8:00 p.m. in
the high school gym. The
programs are being coordinated
by Mrs. O'Leary of the PTA, Mrs.
Niemczyk and Mr. Murphy of the
guidance department.
Top flight experts,
professionals, tradesmen and
"top'drawer" people in their
respective occupations will be
present in the gymnasium to
explain job requirements and
opportunities in the world of
work.
Simultaneously the high school
guidance staff members, led by
Mr. Murphy, will present a
"College Information Evening" ,
and "Financing Your Way
Through College" program in the
Little Theatre. Many questions
will be answered: Is college for
everyone? How about the two
year versus the four year
college? Are the costs really as
high as $7,000 a year?1 What about
technical and career oriented
college programs? I What ad­mission
tests are required?
Mrs. O'Leary, Mrs. Niemczyk,
and Mr. Murphy, and other staff
members want to meet all the
parents and students.
The Board of Trustees of the
Plainedge Public Library have
announced a proposed tax-rate
increase for 1976 77 of only 3.4c
per hundred dollars assessed
value, or $1.70 per year for a
typical residence assessed at
$5,000, said a library spokesman.
According to Ruth Frankel,
Chairman of the Library Board of
Trustees, increases over last
year's budget occur mostly in
areas of expenditures whjeh are
not controllable,
The proposed Library budget for
1976 77 is $398,308, of which
$359,550 will be raised by
taxation.
A hearing on the proposed
library budget will be held at the
Library on Tuesday, May 18, at
8:00 p.m.
and library books nominated by
the professional staff on the basis
of their relation to course content
and their suitability to the grade
level involved, as well as their
good taste. They also must
exercise their responsibility for
approving books, having in mind
the relationship of these books to
the general education of the
young."
Lent further noted the Supreme
Court decision on obscenity that
is to be determined by com­munity
standards. "The Island
Trees Board of Education is
elected by the people to ad­minister
the public schools, a
community expense involving
over 50 percent of the total annual
property tax. These elected
trustees would seem to be in a
much better position to judge
community standards in Island
Trees than a New York City
Congress-person." The last
reference made by Lent was a
rebuttal to Congresswoman
Elizabeth Holtzman, Democrat
from Brooklyn, who inserted
remarks in the April 2, 1976
Congressional Record denoun­cing
the Board for removing the
books on the grounds that it was
"a particularly flagrant example
of a retrogressive trend on the
part of government agencies to
abridge First Amendment
rights."
Lent emphasized that the issue
in Island Trees was not cen­sorship,
as the books in question
are readily available in the public
library. "At issue is the
responsibility of the Island Trees
Board of Education to determine
the direction of what is taught in
the public school."
Ahrens commented wryly,
"Just as they want to keep the
Congressional Record from
becoming a pornographic
document, the Board wants to
keep the schools from promoting
pornography, under the guise of
literature. If the Congress can set
its standard high, why can' t the -
Board?"
A Masonic Bicentennial Salute
By Emilio Pachas
.All Long Island Masons will
hold a parade in Hicksville, on
Saturday, June 5. The theme of
the parade will be a tribute to
patriots of the American
Revolution.
One of the lesser known heroes
who will be honored is the Polish
Jewish immigrant Haym
Salomon. A Mason, Solomon was
one of the leading financiers of
the Revolution and a leader in the
fight for political and religious
liberty in Pennsylvania along
with Benjamin Franklin, General
LaFayette, George Washington
and other Masons.
The only known statue of Haym
Salomon is in Chicago. The
monument depicts General
Washington standing between
and clasping the hands of two
civilians Robert Morris (1.) the
Superintendent of Finance, and
Haym Salomon, whose financial
genius and personal sacrifices
were essential to victory in the
War of Independence.
An inscription on the base of
the statue states the words of
President Washington: "The
Government of the United States
which gives bigotry no sanction •
to persecution no assistance -
requires only that they who live
under its protection should
demean themselves as good
citizens in giving it on all oc­casions
their effectual support".
Those words are as valid today as
when they were written by the
Father of our Country in 1790.