St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 26

ii yi lyfinyntytn inyiny yi yi ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH founded by JOSEPH PI LITZER December 12. IH7S EDITORIALS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28. 1987 2C The Reagan program is oodoo economics Bad Timing For Museum Tax ldPrn keeping If Proposition were approved, a public commission would be named. Its first job would be to designate a manager of the History Museum's collection.

Since the Historical Society owns most of that collection, and without those items there would be no museum, it is the only real choice. Meetings of the subdistrict commission would be open, but the Historical Society is not subject to open meetings laws. The board could decide to abide by such laws voluntarily; or, Mayor Vincent Schoemehl and County Executive Gene McNary could pledge that the commission members they name would require the society to operate openly as part of the management arrangement. Neither of those assurances has been made. There is no doubt that the History Museum would become a stronger institution with the tax money it seeks.

The society has made that case well. It has been less successful in making the case that the museum would be damaged, perhaps beyond repair, by a delay in the vote. Society officials claim an operating deficit, but at the same time that deficit appeared, the society's endowment increased to $4.8 million from just $384,000 over a five-year period. Historical Society officials acknowledge taking a calculated risk by proceeding with their long-planned election when news of irregularities at the museum broke earlier this year. They miscalculated.

Too many questions remain about the governance of the museum. It may have been possible to erase those questions over time, but the society chose not to wait. For that reason, we regretfully recommend a NO vote on Proposition by city and county voters in next Tuesday's election. Anyone who studies history should know the importance of good timing. The right idea at the wrong time stands little chance of success.

Ignoring that fact and pressing ahead when conditions are not right may jeopardize an otherwise worthy cause. Such is the case with Proposition the proposal to include the History Museum in Forest Park in the Zoo-Museum taxing district. The museum in the Jefferson Memo- rial, managed for decades by the Missouri Historical Society, has been a valuable community resource. Normally, it would easily be judged worthy of public support But recent revelations about museum artifacts disappearing under questionable circumstances and about some financial dealings raise strong doubts about the society's oversight of the items entrusted to its care. Until those doubts can be resolved, public money to operate the History Museum should be withheld.

This recommendation is made reluctantly; it comes despite the splendid contribu- tions the Historical Society has made to preserving and understanding the heritage of this region. Still, the problems that surfaced earlier this year concerning Execu- tiye Director Raymond Pisney now sus- pended but not fired reflect poorly on the leadership of the society's trustees. True, the board moved quickly and admirably to put new controls on the management of its collection. But the success of these controls can only be judged over time. Another reason to wait is a federal investigation of Mr.

Pisney now under way. Voters should not be asked to help fund the museum until the investigation is complete and the results made public. Ethiopia's Multiplying Troubles The problem of bringing food to starving Ethiopians would seem to be intractable. No single cause is responsible for the food shortage: Poor cultivation practices, aggravated by economic and political hardship, combine with drought to reduce more than a million men, women and children to beg-: gary. Now, in a particularly cruel twist, however, the efforts of relief agencies around the world to bring help have been sabotaged by Ethiopians themselves.

Last Friday, a convoy of 23 trucks carrying nearly 450 tons of food enough to feed 35,000 people for a month was attacked by Eritrean rebels and the grain destroyed. The guerrillas said some of the vehicles were carrying bombs, ammunition and fuel oil, but that claim was vehemently denied by David Morton, opera THE POST-DISPATCH PLATFORM I KNOW THAT MY RETIREMENT WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE IN ITS CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. THAT IT WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR PROGRESS AND REFORM. NEVER TOLERATE INJUSTICE OR CORRUPTION, ALWAYS FIGHT DEMAGOGUES OF ALL PARTIES. NEVER BELONG TO AN PARTY, ALWAYS OPPOSE PRIVILEGED CLASSES AND PUBLIC PLUNDERERS.

NEVER LACK SYMPATHY WITH THE POOR. ALWAYS REMAIN DEVOTED TO THE PUBLIC WELFARE. NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH MERELY PRINTING NEWS. ALWAYS BE DRASTICALLY INDEPENDENT, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ATTACK WRONG, WHETHER BY PREDATOHY PLUTOCRACY OR PREDATORY POVERTY. JOSEPH PULITZER April 10.

1)7 Indian Museum Needs Better Home The Arizona Daily Star Tucson Washington, D.C., has more than 500 monuments and memorials. It needs one more. It needs a museum dedicated to American Indians. A bill introduced recently by Sen. Daniel inouye would establish one.

It would move the Muse-urn of the American Indian from its shabby home in upper Manhattan to the nation's capital, MIRROR OF PUBLIC OPINION where it would become part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian has offered $100 million to build the collection a home. The Museum of the American Indian in New York City has the largest collection of American Indian artifacts in the world most of them in a warehouse where they are gathering dust. Their educational and historical values are wasted. Not only is the New York museum's display building too small to exhibit much, it's also in too rough a neighborhood to attract many visitors.

Only about 50,000 people a year see the display. At the proposed Washington location on the Mall between the Botanic Garden and the National Air and Space Museum, it would draw millions of American and foreign tourists. Offering that many people a chance to see and study a part of the American heritage that few non-Indians understand would be a great tribute to Indian culture. A deserved tribute. The bill has the enthusiastic support of the National Congress of.

American Indians, which represents 180 tribes. Suzan Harjo, executive director of the NCAI, says an Indian museum in Washington would be good for the self-esteem of America's Indians. The bill would also offer a chance to correct a mistake. The Smithsonian's collection includes the skeletal remains of about 18,000 Indians who were killed in battles with federal troops in the 19th century. Their bodies were shipped back to the surgeon general in that less enlightened time so he could study anatomical differences between Indians and white folks.

The insult is obvious. Inouye's bill provides for returning as many of those remains as can be identified to their respective tribes for proper burial. The rest would be interred in a memorial on the site of the new museum. It's a caring and appropriate statement that recognizes past injustices. Inouye's bill has 29 co-sponsors, including heavyweights like Majority Leader Robert C.

Byrd. But it also has a formidable opponent. Republican Sen. Alfonse D'A-mato of New York wants the collection to stay in his state. Democratic Sen.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York has introduced a bill that would put the collection in the New York City's Custom House at Bowling Green. D'Amato at first opposed Moynihan's proposal. In fact, New York pretty much ignored the plight of the museum until it became clear that it was wanted somewhere else. Now that Washington wants the museum, and Inouye has devised a mechanism to send it there, it should also be clear that the Smithsonian needs a building dedicated to the American Indian. Without it, the world's largest museum complex isn't complete.

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 900 JVorlfc Tucker BmtUwrd 63101 (314)622-7000 JOSEPH PULITZER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER WMIU JOSEPH PULITZER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER IIIMIS1 JOSEPH PULITZER JR, CHAIRMAN MICHAEL E. PULITZER, PRESIDENT GLENN A. CHRISTOPHER, VICE CHAIRMAN NICHOLAS G. PENNIMAN IV, PUBLISHER THOMAS M.

TALLARICO, GENERAL MANAGER WILLIAM F. WOO, EDITOR DAVID LIPMAN, MANAGING EDITOR EDWARD A. HIGGINS, EDITOR OF THE EDITORIAL PAGE A Step Up The Ladder tions director for the U.N. World Food Program. Sixteen of the trucks were operating under U.N.

auspices, while the remainder were sponsored by Catholic Relief Services. The loss of food and trucks is tragic enough, but the implications the attack has on the overall relief project are truly dire. As a direct consequence, relief shipments have been suspended indefinitely to the very areas in most desperate need. No solution is apparent, though the need for one has never been more clear. What the attack underscores is the overlooked political component in the struggle to feed Ethiopia's people.

Until its government is made more willing to address these problems directly, relief efforts will continue to be at risk. (The Fire Department now uses the Phoenix test, which tests those skills actually used by firefighters. Nationally, 75 percent of the women who take the test pass.) Experience in other places has shown, though, that the real problems begin once the women make it through the firehouse doors. To its credit, the Fire Department is learning from other cities' mistakes. After surveying departments in other cities, it decided against separate quarters, preferring instead to make minor modifications.

It is also educating firefighters throughout the department on the issue of sexual harassment. These women deserve congratulations for their achievement. It is indeed a step forward to be one of the first five women firefighters. It will be yet another when people stop counting. The Savage Beast by sexual offenders, which allows them to attack their victims without full recognition of the harm they do.

This view comes from listening to the stories of dozens of child sexual offenders and consulting with numerous other professionals. Sexually explicit materials do not directly cause sexual assault. But sexual offenders will describe their use of these materials to feed deviant fantasies between offenses. They engage in the compulsive use of pornography to validate and encourage their inappropriate behaviors. I hope that therapists approach their work in areas of sexuality with a cautious eye; seeing the needs of the whole person, not just the sexual behavior.

It is also my hope that reporters would begin to use the information given by therapists to educate. Instead, the story seemed to be pieced together from random statements likely to feed the all-too-frequent public view of sexual psychotherapists as hedonists rather than helpers facilitating full, healthy sexuality. Finally, the article does end with a wonderful summary of the work of Masters and Johnson by William Young that applies to all quality therapy: "(We) rely upon the art and imagination of the therapist." The loss of access to videos would be no loss to the art and imagination of the therapist. Chris Frey St. Charles Save Our Spaces I have been severely handicapped for many months now, and so I have a tag on my car permitting me to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped.

My experience has been that every such space is occupied by the automobiles of thoughtless able-bodied people. This means that not one handicapped zone is usually open to the truly handicapped, who, as a result have to hobble, stagger or crawl hundreds of feet. I have written to the chiefs of police and mayors in Fenton, Maplewood, Kirkwood and Webster Groves. Here is a summary of the replies I received: We have no statute on the books, so we cannot get our police to enforce these violations; we must have a request from the store owners so our police can issue tickets; or we are working on it and hope to soon enforce the law. Only one city took immediate action: Fenton.

Don't dare to park your untagged car in one of Fenton's handicapped spaces without a tag, or, in five minutes, you will be the recipient of a ticket with a $35 fine. Who cares? I do. Not only because I can't find a parking space but I think of other people, more handicapped than I am, being unable to find a parking place. I hope the other politicians think a little more of policing these spaces. Edward M.

Schneller Fenton No Danger To The Public The recent malfunctioning of the fuel transport equipment at the Callaway nuclear power plant underscores the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to mechanical failure. In discussing the malfunctioning, Union Electric said that it was not out of the ordinary. UE also indicated that the transportation system used in refueling the reactor is used only every 18 months, and it's not unusual to have a problem. The system was transporting the reactor fuel rods, radioactively dangerous materials. If a simple cart-on-track transportation system is not expected to function properly every 18 months, why should we expect safe operation from the vast, intricate maze of pipes and cables and the extremely complex control system on a daily basis? Bertha L.

Robinson Jennings Name and address must accompany every letter, as well as a telephone number lor verification only. Letters may be condensed. The address is: Letters to the Editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 969 North Tucker Blvo St Louis, Mo. $3191.

Letters' cannot be returned. Oh, To Soothe I am increasingly astounded and dismayed by the selfish and boorish behavior of some people attending classical music concerts here in the St. Louis area. The final straw came at the St. Louis Conservatory and Schools for the Arts during a voice recital by Elly Ameling, a superior artist as well as a charming and gracious lady.

The behavior was appalling and also obviously distressing to the artist. Ameling deserves better than this. These concerts are not ballgames or pop concerts where unrestrained emotion seems to be the order of the day. Complete silence is imperative for full enjoyment of every member of the audience. Yet I seem to be coming across more and more whispering (not always too softly either), un- LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE muffled coughing and sneezing, jangling of that monster, the charm bracelet, and the excruciatingly slow unwrapping of candy that can be clearly heard in every corner of the auditorium as well as onstage.

If one were to suggest that these malefactors were uncultured or ill-bred they would no doubt be highly incensed. But to call this gross inconsiderateness ill-bred is putting it mildly. Unless these people are some type of sadists who get their kicks from ruining the pleasure of others, why don't they stay at home where they belong and where they may indulge in whatever type of obnoxious behavior they choose with impunity? Helen Feuerhahn St. Charles Just A Cat Nap Since when is a quick nap an event so important that it deserves prominent space on your editorial page as in the Oct. 23 editorial cartoon? The implication, of course, is that the president is missing out on some important information, which is a ridiculous deduction.

Should he indeed nod off for a few minutes, you can be sure he will be well-informed on what he missed, which in many cases is probably more boring rhetoric from some long-winded congressman. If memory serves me correctly, famous people such as Albert Einstein and Samuel Clemens were known for their cat naps. And some sleep experts believe short dozes to be beneficial to alertness in the long run. I personally know a learned teacher who cat naps for five minutes sitting upright in an automobile (passenger side, naturally!) and then is the same alert, energy-filled cyclone he was before the nap. Rosie Obermoeller Florissant Take A Deep Breath I just came back from a trip to New York City and was surprised to see that, as I stood in front of the Empire State Building for more than an hour, there were as many as 12 buses within a block not a single one of which spewed out any cloud of exhaust.

The trucks and cars were just as good. Why do we in the St. Louis metro area have to be subjected to clouds of exhaust from buses, trucks and diesel autos? Those responsible for air quality should please take note and correct it. Otto W. Gotsch Olivette Sex Films And Therapy As a psychotherapist with five years of experience counseling sexual offenders, I read with concern the comments of several colleagues in the Oct.

11 article, "Therapist Says Sex Films Help Treat Some Patients." Commercial, sexually explicit films are generally made by men to feed the fantasies of men. They depict unequal power relationships that deny the importance of any inti-ifiacy other than the physical contact. This separation of the sexual act from the person Is exactly the impaired thinking developed Families Together Usually, a city delights in the qualities that make it unique. But last Friday, when the graduates of the St. Louis Fire Department Training Academy received their diplomas, the city fortunately lost a badge of dubious distinction: It is no longer the only major city in the United States without women firefighters.

The class of '87 the first since 1984 has five women among its 56 graduates. In the past, women applicants to the Fire Department were held back in part by their failure to pass the rigorous physical training program. Under the threat of a sexual discrimination lawsuit, the city contracted with the YMCA to provide the women fitness training. While this move was criticized in some quarters, the boost did enable the women to pass the Fire Department's own strenuous physical test. Keep Immigrant One of the big reasons the amnesty plan for illegal aliens has been slow getting started was the effect it had on families.

Too often, one family member was eligible for amnesty, but by coming forward, that person would jeopardize the status of family members who were not eligible and faced possible deportation. Sensible new from the Immigration and Naturalization Service will go a long way toward helping to solve that problem. The immigration law passed last year allows illegal aliens to qualify for legal status if they can prove they entered the United States before Jan. 1, 1982, and have been continuous residents since then. But in many cases, the head of a family may qualify.

for legal status under that definition while the rest of the family, who came Trump On Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate developer and corporate raider, is well-known for an ego that more than matches his tallest New York skyscraper. But he now appears to be engaged in the ultimate ego trip presidential politics. It started last month with full-page ads in several major newspapers, in which Mr. Trump expounded on the federal deficit and what he sees as America's declining power in the worlds While still denying any presidential aspirations, Mr. Trump last week made an excursion to New Hampshire, the earliest primary state.

Non-candidate Trump's stump-speech before a group of ,500 Republican faithful at the Portsmouth Rotary Club was well received. Mr. Trump argues that America is tired of "being kicked around" by the likes of Japan and the Arab oil states. His solution to this problem could best be at a later date, would not. Understandably, an illegal alien who has lived here successfully so far may prefer risking a continued illegal existence to coming forward and facing possible family separation.

Now, immigration officials say, someone applying for legal status still must list all immediate relatives, as before. But those names will be kept confidential and may not be used to deport anyone not qualified for amnesty. The new provisions may affect members of as many as 100,000 families, immigration officials estimate. The new rules don't solve all of the problems the amnesty-program has faced. But it does ease one big concern.

When that status is clarified, the amnesty program will be better able to achieve the goals for which it was designed. The Stump called godfather diplomacy: "We should have these countries that are ripping us off pay off the $200 billion deficit. There is a way you can ask them and they will give (the money), if you have the right person asking. I want someone who is tough and knows how to negotiate." He also says the United States should invade Iran and capture a few oil fields in retaliation for Iran's past crimes against the United States. It is easy to dismiss Mr.

Trump's political showboating for the bar-stool demagogu-ery that it is. Still, as a Portsmouth Republican leader noted, the turnout for Mr. Trump's luncheon was bigger than that of Bob Dole or Jack Kemp or Pat Robertson or Alexander Haig. Given Mr. Trump's money and self-assurance, the odds are that he has not made his last political appearance.

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