The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 56

E2 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Newsmakers By W. Speers Friday, September 26, 1997 Impotent spouse threatening her with violence A bidding war over Haverford filmmaker's script Dear Ann Landers: My 73-year-old husband, "Seymour," is impotent, but he won't admit it. He blames me because we have no sex life. He accuses me of having affairs with my doctor, our pastor, and the bag boys in the supermarket. Lately, he has been threatening me with violence.

Yesterday, he said, "I'm going to knock you on your rear." I said, "Go ahead if it will make you feel better to hit a 70- fSr JK year-old woman who has had bypass surgery and uses a walker." My question is this: Should I divorce the old goat, or should I beat him up before he starts hitting me? Would counseling help? Our 50th anniversary is coming up and our children want to give us a party, so please answer Ann Landers Wilkes Barre Times Leader FRED ADAMS Sarah Knauss of Allentown watches her great-great-great-grandson Bradley Patton, 2, play with her necklace at her 117th birthday party. The event was held Wednesday at the Phoebe Ministries Personal Care Home. Knauss is believed to be the oldest living person in the United States and the second-oldest in the world. The region's hottest filmmaker Wayne's M. Night Shyamalan, who just sold his script The Sixth Sense to Disney after a frantic Hollywood bidding war for $2.5 mil.

Not only that, but the project's been green-lighted to start shooting in the Philly area around February, and Shyamalan will direct. "I can't tell you how exciting and stressful it was to be in a Los Angeles hotel room with my parents, wife and little daughter, changing diapers, as the bids come in with only a half-hour to decide each one," he said yesterday from his Haverford company, Blinding Edge. Still, Shyamalan, 27, is no Hollywood neophyte. Three movies he's written are on the burner. Wide Awake, starring Rosie O'Donnell and Dana Delany, is out next month.

In production are his adaptation of E.B. White's classic Stuart Little, directed by Rob (The Lion King) Minkoff, and Labor of Love, directed by Wolfgang (Air Force One) Petersen. Shyamalan is hesitant to describe Sense except to say it's a deepening story about the relationship between a child and a shrink. He believes his scripts are clicking because they offer producers something in short Hollywood supply. "They're emotionally moving," he said.

"They can make you cry. They have something that you won't find in a movie like Face Off." When is he heading for Hollywood? "Never," said the grad of Merion's Waldron Academy, Episcopal Academy Associated Press RENE MACURA Dustin Hoffman on Wednesday won the British Academy of Film's award for his work in the international entertainment industry. in? have stirred up more smoke in Britain than if the proposal had been advanced by a mere rock star. He's quoted in New Statesman mag, out yesterday, as saying: "People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal is wrong." He added that jailing tokers only puts them at risk to become true criminals. Recalling his 1980 arrest, McCartney noted: "When 1 was jailed in Japan for having pot there was no attempt at rehabilitation.

They just stuck me in the box for nine days. Decriminalization would take the sting out of the issue." Countered a spokeswoman for the Home Office: "Our position is that no drug is a safe drug. There is not research yet to say that cannabis doesn't have a long-term effect on people." Pot "is not without risks," added a spokesman for a rehab agency. "If you spent all day smoking it, you'd never get out of bed." On another subject, McCartney dismissed Beatles adorers Oasis as "derivative" and full of themselves. Women's issue Brenda Barnes, CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, has resigned after a 22-, year career with the company to join' husband Randy, ex-PepsiCo treasurer, in raising their three kids.

"It's something I've struggled with for a long time," said Barnes, 43. I'm sometimes faced with having only a few minutes a day to spend with each of my children and my husband. The time has come for me to devote 100 percent of my time to them." Said the company's Worldwide Beverage chief Craig Weatherup: "All of us are going to have before then. Need Guidance in Texas Dear Texas: I fear Seymour is not playing with a full deck. Take him to your family doctor at once for an evaluation.

If there is nothing physically wrong, counseling would definitely help. You need a professional to assess your situation and advise you about what steps to take to ensure your safety and get Seymour the help he needs. Good luck, and happy anniversary. Dear Ann Landers: I need your advice about my husband's mother-in-law from his first marriage. It has been 10 years since his wife passed away.

They had no children. "John" and I have been married for nine. Ann, my question is how to make John's ex-mother-in-law understand that he has a new family now and she does not fit into the picture. She manages to visit him at work almost every day. Whenever she has a problem, she runs to John.

If her car or something in her home needs repair, she calls John. When he was sick a few years ago, she was at his bedside constantly. She used to have keys to our house and showed up every morning for coffee. If I wasn't home, she would come in and do our laundry. I finally changed the locks.

This woman has friends and family, but she refuses holiday dinner invitations and makes it known to John that she will be by herself. He then feels he must ask her to be with us. How should I handle this? It is starting to be a big problem between my husband and me. Sicfc of the Other Woman in Philadelphia Dear Philadelphia: You and John need a third party a clergyman or counselor to set boundaries and establish ground rules. John's former mother-in-law should be informed of the new boundaries, and it should be made clear that she must respect your wishes or there will be no contact whatsoever.

Dear Ann Landers: I read the responses in your column from employees explaining why they come to work sick. I own and operate a small home health agency. We offer sick leave to our employees. We don't like It when people come to work sick and spread colds, the flu and so on. Why do people come in sick? Because they have already used up their personal days and sick-leave time having fun.

When they are legitimately sick, they come to work because they don't want to lose pay. It's obvious that we need to develop a better work ethic in this country. Topeka Reader Dear Topeka: Your final sentence says it all. and the New York University film school. "I love it here.

My family's here. If movies don't work out with me working here, then I'll write novels or do something else." Locally connected Blanka Zizka, producing director of the Wilma Theater, will get the seventh annual achievement award of the Philly branch of the American Association of University Women today at a Union League lunch. Presenting: Philadelphia Museum of Art director Anne d'Harnoncourt. Center City's Harry Freedman, a nationally known fund-raiser, will be interviewed with Phyllis Diller at 8 tonight on CNBC's Equal Time. The topic: "Do charities really make money on events?" Diller and Freedman were featured in a Forbes mag piece about a charity event from inception to last tally.

Freedman's book, The Business of Special Events, is out next month. Temple honor student Jodi Fesh is among Glamour mag's "Top 10 College Women in America" in the current issue. Cited for her commitment to improving public policy, the Danbury, native also got an $8,000 National Education Association scholarship to spend five months in Bolivia helping women develop leadership skills. Fesh, 25, helped organize a Temple chapter of the National Organization for Women and hopes after graduation to work for the United Nations improving conditions for women in developing nations. Philly Pops leading man Peter Nero opens his sixth season with the Florida Philharmonic today in Davie, to be followed by gigs in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.

He waves the Pops season into action Oct. 5. Mimi Weisbord, author of Asthma: Breathe Again Naturally and Reclaim Your Life, will discuss the malady and treatments at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Gene's Books in King of Prussia Plaza. Couples LeAnn Rimes, 15, who usually shows up at events with her folks, swept into Wednesday's Country Music Association Awards with Steve Holy, 25.

The singer's comanager Lyle Walker tagged Holy a "datedscort" and "good friend of the family." Added that Holy's an aspiring songwriter and performer who has done duets with Rimes in their hometown of Dallas, including his ditty, "Livin' My Dream." Wendy Finerman, coproducer of the movie Forrest Gump, has filed for divorce from husband of 12 years, Mark Canton, who was ousted as Sony Pictures Entertainment high commander when The Cable Guy died. The duo, friends of the late Dodi al-Fayed, have three kids. Knight fall? Now that he's a knight, Paul McCartney's call to legalize reefer might walk for the homeless on Sept. 28 at Cooper River Park, Cherry Hill. Check-in is at 1 p.m., and the walk starts at 2:30 p.m.

Walkers are encouraged to get pledges from neighbors and friends, with proceeds going to the council. The walk is in conjunction with the annual Banana Split Day, a free event that includes face painting, puppet making and food. All walkers will receive a free ba 2 Why do people have metal detectors on the beach? Dan Talarico, St. Rose of Lima School, North Wales Because they hope to find: (a) Tickets good for 10 cents off miniature golf. (b) Horseshoes left by horseshoe crabs.

(c) Any radio station that comes in clearly. (d) Valuable things that people lost in the sand, such as coins and jewelry. 3 What is an omelette? David Rahm, Woodbury Heights Elementary School, Woodbury Heights An omelette is: (a) One of those little metal eyes some shoes have for laces. (b) A food made from beaten eggs that often has cheese, ham or veggies folded inside. (c) A charm that protects a person from evil.

(d) The way people in England say the title of a Shakespeare play. It's the one with "To be or not to be?" 4 What happens to a falling star? Shanelle Nixon, Pulaski Middle School, Chester A falling okshooting star isn't a star. It's usually: ffir Lucia jiHerndon Latina volunteers needed to work with abused women to think about better ways to do things so that we don't have to lose valued employees." Ad-ons Allen Iverson this week began shooting a major ad campaign for Reebok that'll hit the prints and air in November. He'll shill his second signature b-ball shoe, The Answer, retailing for $120. The 76ers star's run-in with the law on pot and weapons charges seems not to have harmed his image.

Indeed, may have enhanced it. Noted Nova Lanktree of Sports Celebrity Network: "Ten years ago, this would have been the end of his endorsement career. Today, bad behavior is rewarded." Microsoft is a mite twitchy over its slogan being adapted to a Billy Graham crusade in San Francisco this week, but it's far from crying "sue." The corporate tag line is: "Where do you want to go today?" The City is plastered with signs asking: "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" and suggesting the answer: "Billy Graham." Said a Microsoft exec: "We are concerned when there's any unauthorized usage and will ask them to cease and desist use of a registered trademark," but added that suing the evangelist was not an option. Said crusade director Rick Marshall: "Biblical language will not work in this market. You have to use phrases that bring them in." This article contains material from the Associated Press, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and USA Today.

Wednesday in classroom C. The meetings are free and will be held the first Wednesday of each month at the hospital, 100 Medical Campus Drive, Lansdale. For information, call 215-361-4848. Free mammography screenings. Allegheny University Hospitals is offering free mammography screenings from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Allegheny MCP Family Fun Fest, 3300 Henry Ave. Appointments are necessary. Call 215-741-2888.

Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital and the Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation also will offer free breast screenings beginning at 9 a.m. Oct. 4. The screenings will be at the outpatient center, 1503 Lansdowne Darby. Appointments are necessary.

Call 610-237-5840. can land on Earth. (d) A blimp under attack by fireflies. 5 What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda? Michelle Gerlach, Christ the King School, Philadelphia Both give off bubbles of carbon-dioxide gas to make baked goods rise. Baking soda is all one chemical, sodium bicarbonate.

It's used in recipes that have something sour. That's because baking soda needs a wet acid to make the gas. Baking powder works in more recipes. That's because: (a) It gets its bubbles from Coke and Pepsi. (b) It's just another name for confectioners' sugar.

(c) Besides having baking soda and other chemicals that act like it, baking powder has a dry acid of its own, such as cream of tartar. (There's also flour or starch to keep things dry for storage.) (d) It has tiny marshmallow moons and strawberry sprinkles. Dear Kids, you want answers? We want questions! Send one or many. Give your name, school, its town and state. Write to: Kids' Talk, The Inquirer, Box 8380, Philadelphia 19101.

Or use e-mail: kidstalkphillynews.com Answlis: 1 (b), 2 (d), 3 (), 4 (c), 5 (c) The Lutheran Social Mission Society Lutheran Settlement House and Con-greso de Latinos Unidos Latina Domestic Violence Program are looking for volunteers to serve as peer advocates for abused women. Volunteers would be part of the Stop the Violence Against Women project, and Latinas especially are needed. As peer advocates, volunteers will undergo 60 hours of training to enable them to counsel domestic violence victims. The training begins Oct. 6 and will be held in three-hour sessions, three times a week.

For information, call 215-426-8610, ext. 234, or 215-763-8870, ext. 197. Walk for the homeless. The Interfaith Homeless Outreach Council will hold a Friday's Child Nathaniel, 4, likes to walk, hug, smile By Paddy Noyes FOR THE INQUIRER Nathaniel, 4, the best part of a TV movie is the end.

He stands rooted to the spot as the credits roll. The moving letters delight him. Taking a walk is another joyful experience. He holds up his hand and off he goes with his foster mother to see the creek, grass, trees and clouds. And he likes to hug people, hear music on earphones, play the toy piano with keys that light up, and be pushed Ms' Talk nana split for participating.

Contact: 609-546-6101. Sorority silent auction. The Rho Theta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority will hold a silent auction at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Washington Memorial Banquet Hall, 1 Elm Conshohocken. Items to be auctioned include vacations, artwork, sports tickets, clothing and autographed celebrity items.

There will be live entertainment, hors d'oeuvres and wine with a $25 donation. Proceeds will go to the Harriet Tubman Home for Girls and other charities. For information, call 215-843-7118. Cancer support group. North Penn Hospital will hold a "Make Today Count" cancer support group meeting at 7 p.m.

Did you ever wonder whether Tweety was a boy or a girl? (a) Superman flying faster than a speeding bullet. (b) Nutty aliens flying hundreds of light-years just to make patterns in wheat fields. (c) A tiny space rock that glows as it hums lm oh in iha atmrtcntinia Qnmo mettirs, though, if they're big enough, on the swing. Nathaniel has a sweet nature and a happy smile. His IQ is difficult to assess because of a hearing loss and medical problems.

Development is on a 1-year-old level. He was born with unusual facial features that doctors believe are due to a genetic condi Nathaniel has a nurse's help. fell With Peter Mucha Here's a multiple-choice quiz. The right answers are at the end. 11s Tweety a boy or a girl? Teresa Crowley, St.

Andrew School, Drexel Hill Hmmm. "I tawt I taw a putty tat" doesn't sound very manly. On the other wing, girls don't talk that way either. But Warner Bros, says: (a) Tweety's a she. After all, she had three babies, Petey, Deedee and Ziti.

(b) The birdy's a boy. That's why Sylvester once painted his thumb like a pretty girl bird, hoping Tweety would think she was a sweetie. (cj Many actors, both boys and girls, have played Tweety over the years. (A) Nobody ever thought about it, so nobody ever decided. tion.

He has difficulty breathing, and a tube has been inserted in his throat to provide an airway. At night, a ventilator is attached to the tube. There is also a tube in his stomach for his liquid diet. And he takes medication for respiratory problems and seizures. A nurse is with him in school and also during the night.

He receives speech, physical and occupational therapy. 1 Nathaniel's foster mother will be glad to show his adopting family how to care for him. He is eligible for financial subsidy. This child and others are available for 1 adoption. The process usually takes two to 12; months.

Write to: National Adoption Center, in care of Paddy Noyes, 1500 Walnut Philadelphia or call visit the center's Web site at www.adopt.org.