St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 13

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH I MCI HP NEWS ANALYSIS: Missouri House set to debate EDITORIAL: Election raises questions about El COMMENTARY: Prevention is as important as obituaries llwllEa another statewide vote on riverboat gambling 5B Salvador's commitment to peace accords 6B punishment in fighting crime 7B weather 8B STo ILOUISMECjIOf WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 1994 BILL McCLELLAN ON MY OWN Federal Aid Flows Fast To Valley Park Flood's Aftermath Is Fat City For Mosquitoes Kottkamp is especially wary of St. Louis encephalitis, a mosquito-borne disease. "Historically, it shows up a year or two after a flood," he said. "We had a severe epidemic in 1932." To keep ahead of the disease, Kottkamp has quadrupled to 64 the number of mosquito traps his crews put out.

Lab technicians then check the mosquitoes to see if they are bearing diseases. These traps attract mosquitoes with dry ice and use tiny battery-powered fans to suck them in and snare them in cheesecloth. The dry ice acts as a bait because it's frozen carbon dioxide, the gas that humans and animals exhale when they breathe. When the dry ice turns into a gas and drifts into the air, the mosquito follows, thinking it's the breath of a potential meal. With a week's notice, Kottkamp's unit is offering to do what it can to wipe out mosquitoes as uninvited guests at block parties and athletic events.

County residents interested in getting such protection may call 854-6935. In the city, Lee Huguley of the environmental health services unit said he, too, was expecting a heavy mosquito season. "But it'll be worse in the suburbs." By Harry Levins Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Among the hangovers from the Great Flood of '93: mosquitoes. Health authorities in St. Louis County say backwater from flooding last year and again this spring has left plenty of breeding places for the insects.

"I don't have a crystal ball, but right now I think that in some areas, the mosquito problem will probably be as bad as it was last year," says the county Health Department's Bill Kottkamp. Kottkamp heads the department's vector control units, and since mid-March he has had crews out checking. After the heavy rain earlier this month, those crews began spraying a special kind of bacterium that kills mosquitoes when they eat it. (Toxic chemicals are no longer used.) Kottkamp explained Tuesday that mosquitoes preferred suburban life, with trees to protect them from the sun. "Like people, the mosquito population isn't evenly distributed," he said.

The urbanized central area of the county has less of a problem than wooded outlying areas, he noted. sure to present these so soon after the declaration." The victims didn't sweat the bureaucratic details. John and Tracey Sisler of Valley Park said they have been living for two weeks in a Gateway To The Rest Motel 6 with their four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months. "It isn't easy being all squished up in one room like that," said Tracey Sisler. The Sislers have been out of their home at i lis -r, 1 lfSf'rf'l The Day We Booed Nixon Without Quite Knowing Why ANY YEARS AGO, some friends came by my apartment and asked if I 1 wanted to go downtown and boo the president.

Sure, I said. Why not? i After all, it wasn't every day that Richard Nixon came to Phoenix. So we went downtown to the hotel where Nixon was scheduled to speak. Actually, we didn't get to the hotel itself. The police had erected a barricade a block away, and the spectators, all of whom had 'come to boo the president, were kept behind the barricade.

With a feeling of disappoint-j ment, I realized we wouldn't even get to see the president. We were simply too far away. Instead, we'd see no more than a convoy of limousines and then a cluster of people disappearing into the hotel. Sure enough, soon thpi-p wac a rntiunv nf fcgjr limousines and squad cars. Clusters of people moved toward the hotel.

Like sentries firing wildly into the night, my friends and I booed away at the distant limousines and the clusters of people. Inexplicably, one of the clusters stopped, and actually moved away from the hotel, and toward us. Suddenly, the president emerged from the cluster, still a distant figure, but absolutely recognizable. He raised both hands over his head, his fingers in the trademark The booing increased. For a few seconds, the president stood there like a conductor while we played the part of his orchestra.

Then he turned back to his cluster, and it disappeared into the hotel. This incident happened well before the break-in at Watergate, and I mention it mainly for young people who might mistakenly think that the scandal following that break-in was the real undoing of the Nixon presidency. It wasn't, not really. If there hadn't been a Watergate, there would have been something else. For some reason and darned if I can put my finger on it hardly anybody liked the guy.

Oh, I know he won two presidential elections three if you throw out the votes Mayor Richard Daley "found" in 1960, which were just enough to give Illinois to John Kennedy and you're probably thinking that any politician who can win the presidency two or three times can't be that unpopular. Believe me, Richard Nixon was. It's hard to remember why. The war in Vietnam was already raging when he took office so you really can't blame him for that. I'm sure he made some mistakes domestically, but who in that office hasn't? To be completely honest about it, I can't remember exactly why my friends and I decided to go boo him.

In fact, if you could hop in a time machine and go back to that evening or hundreds of other evenings just like it and ask the people exactly what it was about Richard Nixon that they didn't like, I bet you'd get a lot of blank stares. It would be like asking a dog why he doesn't like a cat. Perhaps young people would want to compare Nixon to Dan Quayle, another politician who got a ton of abuse. But that's not a good comparison. People laughed at Quayle.

Nobody laughed at Nixon. Nixon never said silly things "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" and nobody ever said that Nixon looked like a deer caught in the headlights of history. For all his faults, Nixon was substantial. Which is more than you can say for the scandal that brought him down. First of all, Nixon was going to clobber George McGovern in the 1972 election.

It made no sense to burglarize the Democratic headquarters. Second, even his enemies didn't claim that Nixon knew about the burglary before it happened. It isn't as if he ordered it. Of course, it was done by his people, and when he found out about it, he tried to cover it up. And so on and so forth.

Nevertheless, a lot of guys have done a lot worse. Ted Kennedy killed a woman, albeit inadvertently, and he's still in the Senate. Dan Rostenkowski is alleged to have taken money, and he's still in the House. Let me put it another way. If the Iran-Contra scandal had been on Nixon's watch, his presidency would have come crashing down.

If something like Whitewater had been pinned to Nixon, or if his wife had made $100,000 on pork bellies in some questionable trading, either one would have been enough. The crowds and the press would have clamored for his scalp. There are those who say that Nixon's major fault was his paranoia, manifested in his "enemies' list" and his penchant for wiretapping. But maybe he wasn't paranoid enough. Maybe he underestimated his enemies, and the depth of their feelings.

Of course, that's just speculation. All I know is that my main memory of the 37th president will be the night in Arizona when he taunted the people who had come to taunt him. It was, I now thinlj, a classy thing to do. By Tim O'Neil Of the Post-Dispatch Staff In a show of speedy service, government officials rushed to the Valley Park City Hall Tuesday with the first emergency rent checks for people who fled the Meramec River two weeks ago. They may have been a bit hasty.

Two of the seven families picked for the ceremony probably weren't eligible because they still live in their damaged homes, the federal officials said wfficials said they opened for business hours after Clinton's declaration of disaster. later. John Miller, regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said it would make corrections if necessary. "We'll take care of that," Miller said. But in the government's view, the important thing is that good was done.

Officials said they opened for business hours after President Bill Clinton's declaration last Thursday naming five eastern Missouri counties and St. Louis as disaster areas. "Our goal is a rapid, compassionate response," Miller said. "It's my distinct plea- Drinking Students Suspended 34 At Parkway Central Get 11 -Day Penalties By Linda Eardley Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Thirty-four students at Parkway Central High School have been suspended for 11 days for allegedly drinking liquor on a chartered bus on the way to a school dance Friday. When they got to the dance at the school, at 369 North Woods Mill Road, some were staggering and throwing up, a district spokeswoman said.

On Monday, Principal William Myer gave the students the longest suspension a principal can impose. He said they violated the district policy against possessing, transmitting or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs on school grounds. Julia Konze, whose son was suspended, said many parents think that the students should be punished but that the penalty is too harsh. She said her son, a sophomore, took only one sip of a drink. Konze said the students include athletes, cheerleaders and Student Council members.

"We knew what they did was wrong," she said. "But they want an education. These are college-bound kids. They're working toward a goal. They screwed up one time, and this is what happens to them? What's the point of an 11-day suspension?" She called in-school suspension or community service more appropriate punishment.

The district's Discipline Review Committee, made up of administrators, will interview students and parents, one family at a time, about the suspensions Thursday and Friday. District officials said students or a parent chartered the Vandalia Bus Lines bus. Dale Strief, president of the bus company, would not identify who paid the $250 for the bus. The bus picked up 42 students at two homes and took them to the dance. One boy tried to get on the bus carrying a fifth of whiskey and was told to get rid of it, Strief said.

After arriving at the school, the driver found other liquor on the bus in a gym bag and alerted an administrator. Assistant principal Tim Gannon "confiscated two bottles of vodka, wine coolers and beer in a cursory search," said district spokeswoman Monica Faulkenbery. School officials called parents of the drunk students. Other students got away, Faulkenbery said. Meanwhile, the bus driver drove away because the students had violated the contract, which barred alcohol on the bus, Strief said.

A parent who asked not to be identified said intoxicated students at previous school dances had not been disciplined. This sent the message to other students that drinking was OK and nothing would be done about it, she said. Helen Geurkink, health coordinator for the district, said district officials are concerned about what appears to be a growing alcohol problem. "It's so accessible," she said. "It's gotten out of hand." Faulkenbery said the district had received calls from parents, both criticizing and supporting the suspensions.

She said she was surprised at those who think it is too harsh. "They're more worried about scholarships than their kids drinking," she said. By Of the Mexican cheered John of Greater The who evening One LJ7, i id a 504 Benton Avenue, about a half-mile from the river, since September, when the first of the Meramec's three recent floods slammed a large trash container against their See HELP, Page 2 E. St. Louis Starring In MetroLink Station's Ridership Shows Up Skeptics By Robert Goodrich Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Jack Leary Jr.

heard the question about MetroLink so often that it still rings in his ears: "Who is ever going to ride from East St. Louis?" Leary, head of the Bi-State Development Agency, said skeptics had predicted that few people from the Metro East area would be willing to drive to the East St. Louis station to catch a MetroLink train. He had suspected they were wrong. Now he knows they were.

"As it turns out, the top station on the line is at Fifth Street and Missouri Avenue" in East St. Louis, Leary said Tuesday during a talk at Belleville Area College. "We built it with 135 parking places and 900 automobiles showed up." Leary said ridership up and down the line has been remarkably high. He said MetroLink now averages 23,000 riders a day double what had been predicted for this point in light rail's life. "Two days last week we topped 30,000 riders," Leary said.

"That tops our year 2000 goals." MetroLink opened July 31. In short, he said, "it has been a resounding success." On May 14, a second East St. Louis station will open on the Mississippi riverfront, near the gambling boat Casino Queen, Leary said. On June 25, MetroLink will open its station at Lambert Field, he added. Revenue from the unexpectedly high number of riders is being plowed mostly into added parking near MetroLink stations, especially in Illinois.

"The Illinois commuter group is the largest single commuter group," Leary said. That is one reason for extending MetroLink 25 miles through Belleville, Swansea and Shi-loh to Scott Air Force Base, he said. A tentative route for the extension, along the CSXT Railroad right of way, was announced in February. It will have 13 stations and 11 park-and-ride lots. Leary said he admired St.

Clair County voters for approving a half-cent sales tax for the MetroLink extension by a 2-1 ratio in November. He said County Board Chairman John Baricevic and other political leaders deserved praise for their foresight in sponsoring and supporting the referendum. But Leary warned that even though Congress has appropriated $8 million to get the $340 million expansion project started, "it's not a done deal." Local officials still need a full funding grant agreement with the federal government, he said. "But I can tell you it looks very good." Belleville Area College students asked whether the main campus at Belleville might get a MetroLink station on the extended line. Preliminary plans show the nearest station at Little Oak Lane a mile to the north.

Leary said any detour off the CSX route would cause problems, but he urged the students to speak up. Asked whether MetroLink might eventually add other extensions, such as routes to Edwardsville or to Columbia and Waterloo in 10 or 15 years, Leary said that would be doubtful. But such "second tier'', routes might be a good bet in 20 or 30 years, he added. lilted 'Sq Karen ElshoutPost-Dispatch Sun seekers in the area flocked outside Tuesday to enjoy the weather. Among them was this man, who enjoyed a nap under the Gateway Arch.

The high temperature Tuesday was 86 degrees. 29 Seniors Who Volunteered Will Get John L. May Awards into an unforgettable experience rebuilding homes in a village in central Mexico last summer. "Although we are constantly advised to look inside ourselves for gratification, I could not help but feel completely appreciated when I saw the exuberant looks on young faces," the senior at Chaminade College Preparatory School said. He and 10 classmates and a faculty adviser spent a hot week fixing the walls of concrete-block, mud-floor huts in sun-baked Charco Blanco.

The Hopkins family lives in Town and Country but several years ago joined Sts. Peter and Paul Church in the Soulard area and became active in the parish's homeless shelter and program of home-delivered meals for the elderly and shut-ins. Terri Frederick, 18, a senior at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallonj is a top student who has balanced volunteer service with school work, varsity See AWARDS, Page 2 Victor Volland Post-Dispatch Staff They rebuilt homes in an Appalachian hollow and a village. They tended the dying in hospitals, the forgotten elderly in nursing homes, tutored handicapped preschool children.

They are the winners of the first annual Archbishop L. May Service Awards one senior from each the 29 Catholic high schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese. All have shown "extraordinary achievement in volunteer service in their school and in the St. Louis community and beyond." awards are in memory of Archbishop May, died last month.

Archbishop Justin F. Rigali will present them this at 7:30 at St. Louis University's Busch Center, Grand Boulevard and Laclede Avenue. of the 29 recipients, Milton J. "MJ." Hopkins, parlayed his three years of high school Spanish family tradition of parish and communitV service.