Logansport Pharos-Tribune from Logansport, Indiana • Page 4

Page A4 Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, Friday, February 27,1998 Opinion Page Editor Dave Kitchell 722-5000, Ext. 5150 OPINION EDITORIAL Phone Slamming Disconnecting a consumer nightmare On one front, competition for lower telephone prices has spurred competition, but phone companies also are vying to charge some consumers with little or no notice that they are doing it. That's the main reason why the Indiana General Assembly is moving ahead with plans to stop hidden long-distance carrier charges with the passage of House Bill 1297. The bill cracks down on companies that sneak into the fine print of phone bills by switching long-distance coverage. The bill passed the Indiana Senate unanimously on third reading and is back in the House.

During the final hours of trie 1998 session in the House, the bill should be passed. This practice, known as "phone slamming," has become widespread throughout the country. Rich Schneider, a spokesman for the Indiana Attorney General's Office, says phone slamming has been a problem that has creeped up in recent years. Consumer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission increased from 12,794 in 1995 to 20,538 in 1997. Last year, Schneider's office received 337 complaints about public utilities, and many of those involved phone slamming.

Perhaps the worst part about phone slamming is that it circumvents the whole idea that allowed it to be spawned in the first place: Deregulation that spurs competition and ultimately lower rates to the consumer. Phone slamming can be activated as quickly as a telemar- k'eter calls to "confirm" you are signed up for the service. In some cases, these telemarketers have been known to identify themselves as representatives of reputable long-distance carriers. What actually happens, however, is an unwitting switch to another phone company that may have higher rates. Potential targets of phone slammers include customers who can be found on telemarketing phone lists, or through automated random dialing in certain exchanges.

Schneider warns that some customers can go up to six months without noticing their long-distance service has been switched. The best consumer advice in these instances is to check phone bills monthly for any changes that could have been activated'by signing 'something as simple as a contest entry formv JV restore original service, and consumers still have the right to choose. Customers also can request a freeze on their long-distance account to prevent phone slamming from reoccurring. Victims of telephone slamming can report it. to the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana Attorney General's office at (317) 232-6330 or (800) 382-5516.

They also can report it to the FCC at (800) CALL-FCC. But the best call that should be made is the legislature's. The 150 men and women of the Indiana General Assembly sfiould disconnect phone slammers in Indiana once and for all. THOUGHTS IMAGES "The basis of our government being the opinion of the peopk, the wry first object should be to keep that right: and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." JEFFERSON 4 OPINION PAOE Poucf Betters for publication in Public to Public Forum, P.O. Bex2t0, Logaasport HI 46947, faxed at (219) 732-5070.

tf All letters, limited to 400 worts or Iws, MBS and must mclude the writer's address ami a daytime tetyteM number. "Contributors to Public Forum may submtt one letter (wrneittt. reserves the right edit letters, and limit the number of letters on a parftatar teM. Fomt 1 Guest columns will be considered for pubSleatlM and ptt Include writer's address and daythra number. Onryawttor 1 name wd bom- tdwnwil! be published.

4 LEGISLATOR ADDRESSES SENATE phone (3t7) 226-5555; 306 O.G,'/ 20510; phone(202) 2244814: 1 sieve BUI tit: am mam 215 W. Sycamore Kokomo, Washington, D.C. 2d515; phone offices are open from 9 am. to 5 p.m site hous8.gov/buyer/welcome,htm| 4 INDIANA SENATE THOMAS 46202; PHAROS-TRIBUNE Founded 1344 517 E. Broadway, P.O.

Box 210, Logansport, IN 46947 (219) 722-5000 PHAROS-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL BOARD Dbliie Turpin Patti Smith Heather Nava Dave Kitchell IT'S TUB ANNOUNCER SAID LIPINSIM, LEWINSKY Berry's World 4 by Jim Berry Mr. Mrs. Com and their daughter, Dot Com COMMENTARY Marriage Textbooks Chopping Down Family Trees I you're a student in an undergraduate "Marriage and Family Studies" program today, you might be better off skipping your homework at least until you're sure that your instructor and textbook authors have done theirs. Most haven't, according to an analysis by the Institute for American Values and its Council on Families. The Council, whose members include a broad spectrum of academicians and family experts, closely examined marriage and family textbooks used in some 8,000 college courses nationwide.

After reviewing a total of 338 chapters and thousands of pages, the council documented an appalling absence of research on the benefits of marriage, an overemphasis on adult problems and relationships (as opposed to the concerns of children), and "glaring errors, distortions of research, omissions of important data, and misattributions of scholarship." If these texts reflect the quality of marriage and family courses in our universities today, the council warns, then many students are likely to emerge "even less well-equipped than they were before to make wise personal decisions participate; intelligently in public debates on family issues." council found that not a single among studie'dincludes a systematic'treatrrierit 1 of the social functions of marriage (that is, the role of marriage in shaping and sustaining populations and cultures). At best, lifelong marriage is portrayed as but one of many equally acceptable adult living arrangements no more significant than, nor preferable to, cohabitation, step families, or homosexual unions. Frequently marriage is depicted as oppressive, if not outright dangerous, for women (even despite FBI statistics showing that domestic violence is committed by the ex-husbands and unmarried "partners" of women four to 10 times more often than by legal husbands). Less than one page per book focuses on the benefits of marriage for adults, and only 24 of 338 chapters deal primarily with the effects of family life on children. Completely overlooked or given the rhetorical equivalent of a dismissive shrug is a compelling body of evidence that demonstrates the vital role intact marriages play in the emotional, academic and financial well-being of children.

The slipshod research and slanted prose found in marriage and family textbooks call for alarm both because of the ultimate effect that they will have on student views of marriage and family and in light of what such poor quality reveals about today's educational standards. Americans should take serious interest in the formation of our next generation of social workers, teachers, and family court personnel, because it is children who suffer most when these professionals err. To indoctrinate these future specialists in a warped understanding of marriage and family life is to force them to work with a blunted and dull instrument namely, an ill-informed brain and almost to guarantee that the counseling or other services that they provide will further damage those families already in greatest need of effective help. Publishers need not settle for misinformation and mediocrity when a wealth of high-quality research is i available to textbrok authors. The Council on Families itself has produced outstanding research studies, including 1 1995 report Marriage in America the fruit of three years of labor.

We at the Family Research Council have been compiling credible data and independent analyses from a wide range of experts since 1983. More than ample evidence exists to challenge the pessimistic tone and superficial assessments in current marriage and family textbooks. Social scientist Glenn Stanton recently contradicted connubial critics in his book Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in a Post Modern Society, Among the facts Stanton cited: Persons married for the first time are most likely to report being "extremely" or "very satisfied" with their intimate sexual relations (87.4 percent), according to a 1994 U.S. News and World Report study. As the Council on Families noted in its report, studies consistently show that married men and women fare better than all categories of unmarried persons (never married, divorced, separated and widowed) in virtually every indicator of physical, emotional and financial well-being.

During a three- day conference of the Population Association of America in 1995, at least a half-dozen demographers were reported to have made strong arguments against cohabitation by demonstrating that those who live together before marriage have higher divorce rates, are more likely to prove incompatible and sexually unfaithful, and are generally less happy than married couples. Surely these and other demographic studies are within reach of textbook publishers. The lifelong covenant of marriage richly benefits spouses, but (contrary to the message carried by the silence of textbooks) marriage is especially crucial to the welfare of children. Earlier this decade, a political watershed was reached when, within a three-year period, the left-leaning National Commission on Children (1991), the center-left Progressive Policy Institute (1990), Family Research Council (1992), and the bipartisan National Commission on America's Urban Families (January 1993) all issued detailed reports recommending, in various ways, a preferential option for the two-parent family model. Such recommendations took into account numerous studies showing links between family instability and social pathologies ranging from poverty and crime to high adolescent pregnan- cyand school dropout rates.

The state of marriage and family life affects the future because it shapes the young. But consider yet another implication for today's youth in the new millennium: Frederick Lynch, Carthage Scholar at Claremont McKenna College, states that "the aging of Baby Boomers" more than one-third of whom will comprise childless couples or have single-child families marks the most significant sociological development facing the nation in the 21st century. Lynch suggests that, lacking a stronger link to posterity, the Me-Generation-turned-Geritol-Generation could stoke an abandonment of stock markets, the dissipation of assets, and the emergence of an increasingly "stingy" senior electorate, unlikely to support long-term measures such as school bond issues and other public sector improvements. Far more than an isolated, at-will living arrangement between two mutually consenting adults, marriage is a covenantal bond that by its very nature points to the future of a family and the society in which that family takes root. The mere "pulp" found in marriage and family textbooks today reflects the swipe of an ideologue's ax at every family tree.

Teresa Donovan is a free-lance writer on family issues living in Massachusetts. PUBLIC FORUM Enforcing Bus Policies Barb Truax, are you aware that three parents early in the school year went to our principal with concern? Our driver had already been frustrated. Parents volunteered to ride as aides so she would not be distracted. They even offered to set up meetings with the driver and parents in support of her. In a meeting Dr.

Furniss told parents they may ride a bus. Before the first board meeting, our bus had children who were harmed with marks, profane language and indecent conduct. Not all children were treated the same. Now we have a "no-tolerance" policy in effect and the children know it's an automatic one-day suspension. Are you aware not all drivers have the same rules? Our driver allows trash disposals at a complete stop.

The substitute driver did not. Are you aware that is why the two children were handled roughly? Rules, respect and manners are taught every day to my children. My children know if rules are broken, there is punishment. If they accidentally or purposefully hurt someone physically or verbally, they apologize. Don't the children and parents deserve an apology? Can you explain to the kids the different sets of rules? Can you explain why their rules of holding, hitting, scuffling and profane language are different from the adults'? Don't our children do as they see? Adults and children alike make mistakes.

Out of respect, you try to fix it, not ignore it. It is a privilege to ride the bus. But our taxes reimburse the school in mileage for all children transported, even if they live a mile from school. Your "cargo" is children who have caring parents, if caring is to see our children's safety and welfare are considered harassing, I'm sorry. If you consider the children who ride your bus to be "cargo," then maybe that could be the reason for such harsh treatment of the children.

My children are not inanimate objects and they should be treated with the respect and kindness you would expect. Marsha Corn Peru THORNS ROSES Thorns and Roses is a weekly feature that recognizes the best and worst of the week. Suggested items can be submitted by calling Dave Kitchell at 722-5000, ext. 5150. Roses To U.N.

Secretary General Kofi Annan, who successfully negotiated a peace settlement that has avoided, at least for now, a military conflict in Iraq, and kept area men and women serving in the military and reserve units out of harm's way. To the Indiana General Assembly, which passed a bill that will crack down on animal cruelty. 4 To the Logansport High School Benyettes and their "Mary Poppins" theme show. Congratulations on their performance at the Logansport-Benton Central game and the life- size trophy they were awarded at a recent competition. To the Carroll County Emergency Management Agency, which sponsored a seminar aimed at preventing cases of church arson.

4 To the Grissom Air Museum, which is continuing its efforts to acquire vintage aircraft. To Bob Bridge of Fulton County who recently was awarded a community service award by the Manitou Chamber of Commerce. 4 To the Logansport High School girls basketball team, which finished 16-5 despite a sectional loss to McCutcheon. 4 To Logansport's Ryan Osborn, the hero of a come-from-behind victory over Benton Central that sent seniors on the boys' basketball team out with an overtime victory. Thorns 4 To members of the U.S.

men's hockey team who damaged portions of the Olympic complex after their elimination from contention. Four years in the penalty box for these violations. To the loss of WTTW Channel 11 from Chicago. One reader writes, "The loss of this premier PBS station has truly closed a Window to the World that Loganland residents have enjoyed, and learned from, for more than 25 years.".