The Daily News from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania • Page 7

Editorially Speaking What is the status of liberal solons? THE DAILY NEWS. Huntingdon. Soxton. and Mounl Union, Tuesday, February 1 1, 1916 PAGE 7 YOUR TESTS SHOW THAT YOU HAVE QOI TO Give YOU A VOOPOO TRANSFUSION. By ARNOLD SAWISLAK UPI Senior Editor WASHINGTON' (DPI) Politicians commonly declare they don't like labels when asked if they are liberal or conservative, but we ink stained wretches persist in trying to attach ideological handles to them.

One of the accepted ways to divine a public official's place iii the right to left spectrum is to refer to the voting record ratings compiled by organizations that label themselves liberal or conservative. Americans for Democratic action issues one the most venerable of these indexes, having rated the "liberal quotient" of every member of Congress since 1947. ADA'S ratings for 1985 came out recently and the news, as interpreted by Ann Lewis, the organization's director, was that congressional Democrats aren't giving up on liberal causes, contrary to the expectations of observers who proclaimed the dawning of a new conservative era in American politics following the 1980 elections. Lewis noted that while the Republican controlled Senate averaged only 40 percent on the ADA scale (100 percent is a dead solid perfect liberal score), the Democrats there averaged 69 percent and the Democrats elected in the Reagan landslide year of 1984 averaged 79 percent. "Public opinion polls show a widening gulf between personal approval of Ronald Reagan and diminishing support for his policies," she said.

"On 1985. freshmen Democratic senators showed they could tell the difference." Lewis can be forgiven for "looking for the pony" in the 1985 ratings, but there are some other figures that don't look all that good for liberals. For example, the 1985 House, controlled by the Democratic Party, had an average liberal quotient of -15 percent and the Democrats there managed only 67 percent 2 points under their parly colleagues in the Senate. Furthermore, according to ADA'S figures, neither the House nor the Senate became more liberal between 1983 and 1985. in 1983.

the House had an overall liberal rating of 49 percent and the Senate scored 43 percent. Paradoxically, a comparison of ADA'S overall averages for the House and Senate during the last Democratic presidency shows that wilh one exception. Congress seems to be more liberal under Reagan than it was under Jimmy Carter. Thus, in 1979, the Senate's liberal average was 38 percent and the House scored 42 percent, while in 1977, the Senate reached 46 percent (the exception) and the House got 41 percent. It should be noted that all of these scores are based on a subjective scale: a list of issues selected by an ADA committee.

So it could be possible that ADA itself affected the scores by its choice of the votes to be used in the ratings. However, it is obvious that it isn't easy to live up to ADA'S standards. In a society where a premium is placed on winning and in an institution where the watchword has been "to get along, go along," ADA'S 1985 ratings required a senator who wanted take the liberal position to vote on the losing side in 18 of 20 issues. That, in fact, may be a more lelling comment about the state of liberalism than ihe ratings themselves. NOT THE ONE ABOUT BALANCING BUPGET WITHOUT NEW TAXES OR DEFENSE CUTS Cosmetics can cause problems DEAR DR.

GOTT A couple of days ago I noticed lumps along my jawline. Today they are all over my face and are red, hot and itchy. I'm trying out some new face powder with a moisturizer and some shiny stuff in it. Could I be allergic to it? DEAR READER Certainly. Cut out the face powder.

If the lumps don't disappear in three or four days, see a dermatologist. DEAR DR. GOTT When NutraS- weet was being introduced, I read an article which warned that aspartame should never be used as a sugar substitute in cooking that, when heated, it loses its sweetening ability and breaks down into, among other things, wood alcohol. Can NutraSweet hurt us? DEAR READER Aspartame, the calorie-free sugar substitute marketed as NutraSweet and Equal, was thought to be safe when it was first introduced in 1981. There is growing concern among consumers that this substance may produce harmful side effects.

However, in all fairness, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturer have reported it to be safe. Some scientists have recommended that pregnant women avoid aspartame because it can cause brain damage in unborn (and born) children with phenylketonuria, a rare genetic disorder. Consumers of aspartame have complained of slurred speech, seizures, depression, visual problems and menstrual difficulties. The sweetener does indeed break down into methanol (wood alcohol), as well as into aspartic acid and phenylalanine.

Aspartame is being added to a growing list of diet foods, including soft drinks, chewing gum, frozen puddings and ice cream. Small amounts of the chemical are harmless to the average healthy person; however, the prudent consumer should exercise caution, particularly when encouraging children to consume the product. DR. GOTT DEAR DR. GOTT I was diagnosed as having serum hepatitis.

Exactly what is it, and what are some of the do's and don'ts? I've been married less than three months to a lovely girl whose blood test shows that she has antibodies to serum hepatitis DEAR READER Serum hepatitis is now called hepatitis B. It is a viral inflammation of the liver caused by an infection that ordinarily enters the body throught the blood stream. Typically, hepatitis is spread by drug users who share contaminated needles; however, the virus is now recognized to be present in body fluids like stool, saliva, blood and semen. Therefore, intimate contact allows a person to catch hepatitis from someone else, without an injection. Hepatitis is more serious and usually makes people sicker than does hepatitis the kind caught from contaminated food, like shellfish.

Once a person is infected with hepatitis B. he or she forms antibody proteins to de-activate the viruses. The antibodies remain long after the disease has run its course. This brief review is oversimplified. The issue of hepatitis is quite complex; you can obtain more information about it from a medical textbook in your local hospital's library.

Your wife may have caught a mitd case of hepatitis from you or from a former associate. Also, antibodies will be present if she received the hepatitis vaccine. we WHO HAS TO THE NEWRK3HTITIS- AVOOPOO 1 America's newspapers are saying: THERE'S NO GUARANTEE THIS WILL WORK.THE PROBLErA TH FF A ERENT TYPES. PONOR HAS TEFLON M9 YOU HAVE TYPE NEA I Will battle of '88 split GOP? By Robert J. Wagman WASHINGTON (NEA) Many Republican officials fear the party's 1988 presidential primary will become so nastv that it will deeply divide the GOP.

If recent events are any indication, they have a lot to be worried about. Most political experts say that the race for the 1988 GOP presidential nomination will hinge on who can command the conservative vote. As a result, potential GOP candidates are already playing up to conservative groups One important recent event was the annual dinner of the Conservative Party in New York. Backers of Vice President George Bush and New York GOP Rep. Jack Kemp engaged in intense behind-the-scenes wrangling about who would speak when on the program.

After some mighty arm- twisting, it was decided that because of his higher office. Bush would be the evening's featured speaker, with about 20 minutes on the program; Kemp, as a favorite son. would speak later for about 10 minutes. In his speech. Bush launched into an unexpected, exceedingly ill-tempered and personal attack on New York Democratic Gov.

Mario Cuomo. Some at the dinner were still recovering from shock when Bush said goodnight, leaving before Kemp got up to speak. Adding insult to injury, the Bush forces announced that they had signed up 15 of.New York 16 GOP congressmen as sponsors of his political action committee. Reporters later asked Kemp about Bush's hasty retreat. Kemp said he was told before the dinner that the vice president would leave immediately after speaking in order to get back to Washington at a decent hour.

However, when asked what he thought of it. Kemp was tight-lipped and gave no answer. The next round in the growing Bush- Kemp war was fought at the 13th annual Washington gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference. This was organized by four of the groups that helped to found the modern conservative movement the American Conservative Union. Young Americans for Freedom, and the publications Human Events and National Review.

The meeting was attended bv more than 1.000 conservative activists, as well as by 55 other conservative groups and organizations that served as co-sponsors and paid $1.500 each to exhibit their wares. The issue of who would speak when led to another bout of intense jockeying. Supporters of Kemp and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole insisted that ail potential candidates should speak in about the same setting. The Bush forces, led by his prime conser- press their presidential preference in a straw poll to be conducted by the College Young Republicans. "Such polls have been a regular feature of C- PAC meetings over the years.

As predicted. Bush far outpolled his potential rivals in the official Finkelstein poll. When asked who their first choice would be to succeed President Reagan, 36.6 percent said Bush; Kemp finished second, with 16.9 percent; and Dole was third, with 7.5 percent. Former Sen. Howard Baker got 5.5 per- The GOP presidential wars have begun with surprising intensity the Bush and Kemp camps are scrambling and trading barbs to win the conservative vote.

vative backer, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. countered that Bush should have a position of honor. In the end, Kemp and Dole addressed the conference along with a series of speakers, including the Rev. Pat Robertson, former U.N- Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and former Delaware Gov.

Pete du Pont (a 1988 GOP presidential dark horse). Bush spoke at the conference's final dinner, where the other guests were Falwell and Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. The real battle at the conference concerned polls indicating conservatives' current favorite for the 1988 nomination. To determine the favorite, conservative pollster Arthur J. Finkelstein has traditionally surveyed a cross-section of members of all the conference's 59 sponsoring and cosponsoring organizations.

Last year Kemp clearly won the C- PAC straw poll, although Bush came in a respectable second. Kemp and his forces made a lot out of the poll results. This year, however, advance word was that Bush had won big and that's when the maneuvering began. The Kemp forces complained that Finkelstein's 403-person sample underrepresented younger conservatives and overrepresented old-line conservatives. They insisted that the conference give participants a chance to ex- cent; Sen.

Jesse Helms, 5.2 percent; Mrs. Kirkpatrick, 4.2 percent; and Robertson 3.5 percent. However, Kemp won the Young Republican poll with 55 percent of the vote, compared with Bush's 12 percent; 8 percent each for Helms, Mrs. Kirkpatrick and Robertson, and 1 percent for Dole. This brought immediate cries of "fix" from the Bush and Dole forces.

The conference chairman. David Keene a Dole supporter charged that Roger Stone, a Kemp lieutenant, had "orchestrated a ballot-box-stuffing operation." Stone, he charged, "had learned his politics at the knee of Chuck Colson" the NJxon aide who was a central figure in Watergate. This led to a wholesale exchange of charges, countercharges, finger-pointing and name-calling. Neutral political experts were impressed that the exchanges were so intense this early in the campaign. IMS.

NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN. Vets urged to review service group Our Readers Write Editor. The Daily News Dear Sir: I would like to request that all retired military personnel, or their dependents, living in the area and entitled to CHAM PUS benefits being serviced by the Wisconsin Physicians Service in Madison. WI. if not satisfied with this government contractor write to the below address and outline their problems.

Director Teresa A. Hawkes. Department of Defense. Office of Civilian Health Medicai Program of the Uniformed Services. Aurora, Colorado 80045-6900.

Send a copy of your letter to Honorable Bud Shuster. House of Representatives. Washington. D.C. 20515.

he would also be interested. If you're not being serviced in a satisfactory manner, the Director of the Civilian Health i Medical Program of the Uniformed Services should be made aware of the contractor problem, also your Congressman. The benefits were earned, and are an entitlement, and if you're being given a run around on claims, those in authority should be so advised. Sincerely Yours. A Concerned Citizen Editor.

The Daily News Dear Sir: am writing in response to the man who wrote in Thursday's column. He had some very good" things to say- about buckling up and keeping intoxicated drivers the road but he strongly insinuated that abortion is not a "real life and death" issue Abortion is just as much of a life and death issue as is removing drunk and 'high' drivers off of our highways. He also practically made illegitimate children out to be criminals. None of these children chose to be conceived. That decision is determined by the parents.

1 say if a woman is stupid enough not to use birth control when she knows that she doesn't want to have chidlren then the blame should be placed upon her shoulders and not the unborn child's. 1 am not so fanatically pro life that 1 don't believe in birth control. I believe that abortion is the destroying The Daily News Founded In I MI ly JoMpkF. tlddU John H. paM In 15F? term to The r.O.

M4. H.ntl.,4... fe. IttM. HHt, Smith Nelelte S.la»e Miter Keller Ullor MeMoirf H.MillrDr Spirit Miter Antoinette Her.co<h Ml.

Uftleft of a human life that is just beginning. Would anyone murder a new born baby? Why would anyone in their right mind want to murder an unborn child. That's like the law saying that homocide is legal when a person is asleep but not when they're awake. No matter what time it's done it's still murder. Also said in his letter was that the children who were saved by pro lifers weren't wanted by anyone.

He's wrong in that respect, too. For every child there is a couple who would gladly adopt it. If the mother doesn't want her child and has an abortion she is taking the right to be parents away from perfectly nice people whose only crime is being infertile. She's also being selfish. She's saying to them "I don't want this child and you're not going to get it either." Like I said in the beginning of the letter what was said about buckling up and keeping intoxicated drivers off the road was "right on" and these issues definitely need attention but abortion is just as much a life and death issue as these are.

Equal time and attention should be given to all of them. Denise Hockenberry Mount Union Almanac 1 Metrrch Ivflrr leilee OMk. III Meln St. Ottk. 111 Si.

Office JeHerwn Street WJ-4M1 SDKCtirirOK cefty IV; Weekly. -1 II: Teerly I. MAHI Ad.eiKe. Co.nly emelne'er In All etWr '77. fiir.

Meier Today is Tuesday. Feb. 11 the -52nd day of 1986 with 323 to follow. The moon is moving toward its first quarter. The morning stars are Mars and Saturn.

The evening stars are Mercurv Venus and Jupiter. Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Englishman William Talbot. the inventor of photography, in 1800 inventor Thomas A. Edison in W7 King Farouk.

Egypt's last monarch' 1920; actress Eva Gabor in 1921 i age 65). and actor Burl Revnolds in 1936 iage 50V THE (SALT LAKE CITY) DESERT NEWS Congress, now in the railroad business, must decide what to do aboul two of its offspring. Amtrak anil Conrutl. Amlrak's budget already has been cut and Ihe railroad supposedly is up for sale. But Ihe passenger carrying Amtrak system has enough congressional clout that it's practically assured of continued funding, though at lower levels.

No one has yet explained why the government ought to be in the railroad passenger business in the first place. Kor many years now. jiei(her private nor government operation of passenger trains has shown a profit. Amtrak has had sufficient time lo prove its case and has failed. As for Conrail.

a prospective buyer is already at hand, the Norfolk Southern Corporation. But the offering price is loo low. The taxpayers should gel at least a partial refund on the S7 billion the federal government has invested since 1970 in Conrail. A better deal needs to be struck. SEATTLE POST- INTELLIGENCER Residents of the Third World may be forgiven for their confusion over the American popularity of Sylvester Stallone's second movie.

Pirated videocasettes of the rampaging Vietnam veteran sold in places like Syria and Cyprus have been visually edited and audially redubbed in ways that even Hollywood would never have imagined. Instead of returning to Vietnam to rescue American POWs. the Pseudo Rambo is an escaped American military man who returns to the Philippines in 19-J3 to rescue real time POWs from the Japanese- The historical accuracy of both the original and the Twilight Zone foreign edition is about the same -non-existent. LOSANGELES TIMES One can aruge that it doesn't matter much these days what a national political party chairman it is refreshing thai Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr.

of Massachusetts is willing to speak his mind once in a while. The Lighter Side By DICK WEST WASHINGTON lUPl) Ever wonder what might happen if an airplane had wings shaped like a Frisbee? Evidently, it depends on whether the aircraft is flying forward or backward. At least that's the way 1 read High Technology magazine. That publication has an article about a California engineer who invented "an aerodynamically advanced flying disk" that can be thrown farther than a Frisbee. I'll readily concede your po that most modern aircraft don't get propulsion from throwing arms.

We're talking theoretically here. According to High Technology. "With a properly designed airplane, the lift created by the wind can be harnessed to produce level flight." It adds that "Frisbees achieve relatively level flight because the thick rim creates enough turbulence in the air to move the center of lift to an area closer to the center of gravity." Now. Get this: The California engineer concluded that a flying disk needed an airfoil section that provided more lift "when flying forward than when flying backward." So he made his disk ring shaped. I'll also concede your point that modern airplanes don't have ring shaped wings either.

Neither can they fly backward. Anyway, the ones I have flown on didn't. These conditions could change, of course, wilh the advent of compuers and flying disks that are more aerodynamically advanced than Frisbees. But for the moment we'll leave ring shaped wings lo California engineers and other high technocrats. For the moment, it's enough for a confused layman to wonder where the magazine gets its records.

A 1986 issue tell us the record Frisbee toss is 456 feet. Yet my 1983 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records clearly states that in 1980 Tetsuro Arita of Tokyo threw one 500 feet. Outdoors, that is. The indoor mark was then 363.5 feet, a record held by Joseph Yoangmanof L'Anse. Mich.

Don't ask me why a Frisbee can be thrown farther outdoors than inside, or why a Japanese can throw one farther than an American. Maybe the air is better in Tokyo. Or maybe it has something to do with throwing il backward However thrown, the new ring shaped disk is reported to have traveled 1.125 feet, which High Technology figures is "about two football fields farther than the longest Frisbee throw." The time I looked, a football field was 300 feet in length, not touTiting the end zones. So. as you can see.

flinging a disk twice that far is quite a feat. Nevertheless. the magazine reports, the engineer's company is offering a SI.OOO prize to the first person who throws one 1.200 feet. By mv calculation, that would be only 75 feet farther than the existing record for ring shaped disks. This may sound like a formidable distance but bear in mind some quarterbacks can throw footballs father than 75 feet..