Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 6

State DemocratandChronicle.com OCALNEWS SECTION DEATHS 2B I 6B WEATHER TOWNS, VILLAGES 3B I WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE Flu bug might be biting schools BY STAFF WRITER MATT LEINGANG Rochester schools are giving public health officials reason to believe that the flu may be spreading. Each flu season, the Monroe County Health Department collects data from the City School District kindergarten through eighth grade to help gauge the flu's presence locally. For the week ended Feb. 9, the absentee rate for those schools was about 10 percent or about 2,700 students. In all of the weeks prior to that, the average absentee rate was 5 percent or less, said John Ricci, spokesman for the Health Department.

But whether that jump can be directly attributed to an increase in flu cases is hard to say, Ricci said. "You can probably infer have also seen more absenteeism than normal. About 1,294 out of 13,800 students were absent yesterday. A year ago on that day, just 1,122 were absent. But Pat Howell, director of the Greece Central School District's office of student information, said absenteeism seems to rise each February.

In December, 800 or so absentees are more typical, she said. some of the cases might be from the flu," Ricci said. Local hospitals have reported that they are seeing more flu patients in recent weeks. The number of emergency room patients jumped from 4,387 in mid-January to 4,817 for the week ended Feb. 9, the latest numbers available.

But the outbreak does not seem to be stressing hospital emergency rooms and doc tors' offices. Other area schools are reporting anecdotal evidence of increased flu cases. Greece Christian School, 750 Long Pond Road, appeared one of the hardest hit. Of about 175 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade, 30 percent missed school Monday and 32 percent were absent or sent home Tuesday. School officials briefly discussed canceling classes today be fore finally deciding to stick it out.

"We're going to try to stay open a little longer," said nurse Karen Renz. At Pittsford Middle School, where just 4 to 5 percent of students are normally absent, 10 to 15 percent were absent Tuesday. "They've been throwing up. They've been having fevers," said principal Lou Zona. Greece public schools DAILY DIGEST Kid love notes get free stamp Rochester letter carriers and Strong Museum will help children wish their loved ones a happy Valentine's Day.

Children may gather in the museum's Kid to Kid area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday. The museum will supply children with a Valentine's Day postcard that can be decorated and addressed. The U.S.

Postal Service will supply a free stamp and commemorative Flower City postal cancellation and will mail the postcards out for the children. Children also may make 1 "He was an extraordinary political leader who also knew public policy." Stanley Lundine, Former lieutenant governor of New York pearceir If 'W "'W ft Jt masks and puppets, hear stories, have their faces painted and tour the "Kid Stuff: Great Toys from Our Childhood" exhibit. The event is free with admission to the museum, One Manhattan Square. For information, call (585) 263-2700. THINGS TO DO pDeadl ffoir GflaSf air Doyle proposes to initiate cuts because of reduction in state aid.

Storyteller David Anderson: African-American tales and legends. 7 tonight. Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Brighton. Free. (585) 784-5300.

Parallels Between Jim Crow and Nazi Racial Exclusionary Practices: lecture by Charles Clarke. Noon Monroe Community College Theatre, Building 4, 1000 East Henrietta Road, Brighton. Free. Story Time and Crafts by Alisa: Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson. 9:30 and 11 a.m.

today. Barnes Noble Booksellers, 3349 Monroe Pittsford. Free. (585) 586-6020. Book discussion: Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Al- JAMIE GERMANO staff photographer Laurence Kirwan's wife Constance Wilder, right, joins hands with their daughter Susan Kirwan during a memorial service Tuesday at St.

Mary Church. The longtime Democratic leader died Jan. 31. Hundreds honor leader BY STAFF WRITER GREG LIVADAS Don't cut off subsidized day care from the people who need it most: working mothers trying to better themselves. That was the overwhelming cry from many speakers at Tuesday's Monroe County Legislature meeting.

"If we don't take care of our children now, we will be taking care of troubled teens and adults later on at a greater expense," said Gordon Webster, pastor of the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, Family, friends remember Laurence Kirwan as a hero. "He was an extraordinary political leader who also knew public policy," said Stanley Lundine, who was lieutenant governor under care subsidies. County Social Services Director Richard Schauseil said alternative funding sources continue to be explored, including from the state, but letters to those who will be cut are expected to be mailed Friday. Today, the local Workforce Investment Board will vote on giving $1 million to the program. That would prevent about a third of the cuts from being made.

Without that contribution, a family of two wouldn't be eligible for subsidized day care if household income totaled more than $14,513 a year. The current income limit is $23,220. Subsidies are pro-rated according to income. Lynette Jackson, 31, of Rochester takes a bus to work in Perinton and relies on day care subsidies to pay 30 percent of her day care bill for her 7-year-old daughter. "Day care is a priority with me," Jackson said.

"Without it, I can't work. I "Without it, I can't work. LEGISLATURE, PAGE 4B hf 'A Laurence I I Kirwan I 'lr7f -T- led Monroe Is County I ti, Democrats 1 fornine jfe" 1 years. lende. 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.

and 1 to 2 p.m. today. Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross Batavia. Free. (585) 343-9550.

Musica Nova: Works by Messiaen, Varese and Schoenberg. 8 tonight. Kil-bourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St. Free. 274-1100.

Brief Encounters (Soviet Union, 1967, subtitles): 8 tonight. Dryden Theatre, George Eastman House, 900 East Ave. $4.50 members and students. (585) 271-4090. WHAT'S INSIDE more than 500 people packed St.

Mary Church, Wilder read from the textbook's introduction, which describes the characters, including the hero, Odysseus. "He is a resourceful husband who, when men and gods and nature are arrayed against him, wins out by cool intelligence, patient courage and a tenacious heart," she said, choking back tears before the last couple of words. Family, friends, political colleagues from Rochester BY STAFF WRITER MICHAEL CAPUT0 In the last days of Laurence Kirwan's life, the struggle against cancer kept him confined to his bed. His wife, Constance Wilder, decided to sit at the foot of his bed and read. She chose Homer's Odyssey because the family had called Mr.

Kirwan's cancer treatments his "oncological odyssey." During a memorial service Tuesday for which Cuomo. "He was an unusual person in politics. Someone with a great sense of humor who could see the lighter side of things." During the service, the Rev. William Donnelly talked about how Mr. Kirwan had the ability to rally people around a vision of public service, a knack that produced some strong Democratic candidates.

"None of us are perfect; MR. KIRWAN, PAGE 4B which houses a day care center. More than 60 people signed up to speak. The pleas were the result of letters sent to families earlier this month after a projected $8 million deficit in state aid was discovered for the program. It is entirely funded by the state and federal governments.

Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle announced the shortfall would mean the elimination of 2,000 day and New York state said goodbye to Mr. Kirwan, who died Jan. 31 of cancer at age 60. Mr. Kirwan helped turn around the Monroe County Democratic Party during his nine-year tenure as chairman, starting in 1972.

From 1984 to 1989, he served as the state Democratic chairman and assisted in the rise of Mario Cuomo to the governor's mansion. REGION: Village elec tions aren't until March 19, but it is already clear that some area villages will see Stranded students may get home Saturday changes at the top, 3B ROCHESTER: The Rochester Harbor Festival MOZAMBIQUE won't be held this year be Kari Sacco originally planned to leave Madagascar on Feb. 2. cause of road construction in Charlotte. It is the sec bambava Quelimane V' Antananarivo Morombe never been in danger as a result of political protests, has been waiting out the ordeal in a hotel.

"I want her home right now and it's a little bit hard," said Sacco's mother, Dawn. Dawn Sacco last talked to her daughter by telephone on Monday. "It was a really bad connection and I wasn't able to hear real well. She sounded really good and I Africa Rob Clark, Hartwick spokesman. From Reunion Island, the group will board an Air France plane and ultimately arrive in the United States on Saturday if all goes well, Clark said.

"The boat leaves Wednesday about 2:30 p.m. and arrives in Reunion about 6 a.m. on Friday" EST, Clark said. The group is being escorted by officials of the U.S. Embassy, Clark said.

ond cancellation in three years because of road work, 5B comtm UP BY STAFF WRITER BENNETT J. LOUDON Two Wayne County women in a group of Hartwick College students stranded in Madagascar hope to be back in the United States on Saturday. Kari Sacco of Macedon and Tracey Harden of Ontario have been at the island nation east of Mozambique about six weeks. The group of 19 students and one professor were studying the flora and fauna of the country and originally planned to return home Feb. 2.

But all flights have been canceled by a general strike related to a contested presidential election. Now the group is traveling by bus to a coastal city where they will stay overnight, then travel by boat to Reunion Island, about 500 miles east, said MADAGASCAR 100 miles TRICIA POWERS staff artist "We hope this is going to work," Clark said. Several plans to find alternate transportation off the island have failed. The group, which has hopeful that they were going to be able to leave," Dawn Sacco said. Ash Wednesday can actually be liberating, not dreary jr-'l MARK HARE Contact him at: Democrat and Chronicle 55 Exchange Rochester, NY 14614 258-2351 Happy Ash Wednesday.

For most Christian denominations, today is the first of the 40 days of Lent, a season to recollect and repent, to renew one's faith in anticipation of the celebration of the Easter mystery. Lent also coincides, more or less, with the death of winter and the birth of spring. You need not be Christian or even especially religious to understand and appreciate the sym can be a rock thrown into the ocean that is human history. Concentric circles ripple outward from its impact. Its effect cannot be quantified, but goodness promotes goodness, that we know.

And that is reason enough to do good. Ash Wednesday is a quiet time to contemplate mortality. In my church, the ashes come from burning palms used last Palm Sunday branches symbolically waved to commemorate Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem, five days before his death. Even glory and triumph return to dust. In a funny way, the ashes liberate us from all the temporal demands of life.

They free us to pursue something more important. This is no time to hide under the covers; this is a time to be glad for another opportunity to really matter. can transcend even death. Not money. Not buildings.

Not fame. Not big-screen televisions. Not an Ivy League education for our children or grandchildren. All of those things could qualify as gifts, as blessings, but they, too, will return to dust. The best eulogies call us to remember the essence of the loved one we are about to bury.

We are urged to recall a favorite saying, or difficult accomplishment, or a kind word, or a smile that could light up a room, or a sacrifice so great it challenges us to look deeper inside ourselves for the seeds of our own courage. We are ordinary people. Those who come after us will either not remember us at all or will soon forget us. But a gift of the heart something selfless and self-effacing, Easter, Ash Wednesday is the sunflower seed that dies in a shaded corner of the garden, never breaking the soil. As the start of a season of renewal, it is a candle flickering in the darkness, a tiny flame that presages the bright days to come.

A black smudge is rubbed on the forehead, with a stark reminder: "You are dust and to dust you shall return." It is a call to empty ourselves, to unclutter our lives and our dreams so that we may see more clearly. As a columnist, I have a certain notoriety in the community. I am sometimes recognized in a restaurant or in the grocery store. I enjoy it. I am flattered by it.

And yet, I am embarrassed by it, because it is too easy to measure one's value by one's notoriety, just as it is tempting to measure File photo Russell Crowe received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in A Beautiful Mind, a Best Picture nominee. Our annual Oscar-forecast contest, formerly the Roscars, has been renamed. And the winner is Find out in Thursday's Weekend section. NEWS TIPS: Call acting Metro Editor Dick Moss at: 258-2252 Outside Monroe County at: (800) 767-7539 bol of the ash: The deeply human desire to matter, to count for something and the equally mhare a OemocratandChronicle.cofii one's value by income. It is a false measure.

It is important to be grateful for what you have recognition, wealth, talent, good looks, whatever it is that massages the ego. But it is more important to recognize those things as intoxicants, not as the bread of life. The ash reminds us that we cannot stop the inevitable: Death always follows life; it is a part of life. If we really want to matter, we must leave behind something that powerful fact that most of the things we treat as important don't matter at all. Alone on the calendar, Ash Wednesday would be dreary and remorseful, an invitation to stay bed, to pull the covers tightly over our heads until Thursday dawns.

Without Lent, without MWMNWNIMHMHS.