The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 21

Tuesday, April 4, 1995 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER B3 State Senate bill redefines hate crimes Need Money to Consolidate Reduce Bills? Reduce Bills? Sponsored by a Bucks County Republican, it would include acts based on the victim's sexual orientation. Call about our low fixed rates and discover how much chsNNV mm you'll save regardless of past credit Example: $15,000 loans win passage, and Republican Senate leaders say they are not interested in pushing the measure. "1 don't really see a pressing need to consider legislation of this type at this time," Majority Leader F. Joseph Loeper Delaware) said, adding that he believes existing laws covering discrimination and violence are adequate. Some lawmakers have argued against extending to homosexuals the legal protections afforded racial and religious minorities because to do so would be to "validate" the homosexual lifestyle.

Young, of the League of Gay and Lesbian Voters, said antihomosexual political rhetoric adds fuel to the fire by "suggesting that we are less than human and that we are deserving of this treatment." QUICK APPROVAL FAST CLOSINGS NO HIDDEN COSTS with 60 equal monthly payments of $307.68. tion, Young said, the number of attacks on homosexuals appears to be increasing. Some incidents can be deadly. In Westmoreland County last year, Samuel Louis Sethman, 17, allegedly pum-meled Paul Edward Steckman, 46, then bragged to friends that he had "beat up a faggot." Steckman, a Broadway pianist who had come to Pennsylvania to care for his ailing mother, died. Sethman, charged with criminal homicide, is awaiting trial.

Reports of hate crimes in general increased 130 percent over a five-year period ending in mid-1993, according to a study released recently by the state Attorney General's Office and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Ann Van Dyke, a commission adviser, said many white-supremacy groups are "feeding off the homophobia of mainstream America." She said the commission supports Heckler's legislation. Previous attempts to classify anti-homosexual incidents as hate crimes have failed in the General Assembly. Heckler's legislation has bipartisan backing but probably not enough to riOMLrVMERICAN niunuay-oaimuaj aam-apm CREDIT INC Licensed mortgage banker PA. NJ.

DE and MD Departments of Banking. FifSt and Secondary Mortgage Loans. By Robert Moran INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU HARRISBURG For David W. Heckler, a Bucks County Republican, introducing Senate Bill 701 early last month was "probably a political loser in terms of votes." But, the senator added, it "just happens to be the right thing to do." Heckler's legislation would define acts of intimidation based on "actual or perceived sexual orientation" as hate crimes. Charges for underlying crimes, such as vandalism and assaults, would be increased.

New national statistics show that attacks on homosexuals are on the rise. The Klanwatch Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center reported last week that hate-motivated assaults in the United States rose by more than 25 percent last year. Plus, Klanwatch determined that anti-homosexual bias was behind 25 percent of the assaults and nearly two-thirds of the murders last year. In Pennsylvania, information on such incidents is sketchy. As a result of recent federal requirements, the state police began collecting such data on antihomosexual incidents.

In 1993, 15 were reported. No numbers are yet available for 1994. Members of the gay and lesbian community believe the number of incidents to be far greater than what the state police has compiled. "Hate crimes against gay and lesbian people are one of the most "under-reported crimes," said Chris Young, state chair of the League of Gay and Lesbian Voters. Young said victims sometimes do not want to make their homosexuality public and sometimes simply do not trust the police.

Many gays and lesbians, Young added, have learned to live with a certain visible animosity, ranging from being subjected to verbal taunts to having beer bottles thrown at them by rowdy teenagers. According to anecdotal informa ADVERTISEMENT Delaware Bank Offers Mortgage Loans To People Turned Down By Other Banks. 1 -it i rupt homeowners; the self-employed; those with high-debt ratios; and those whose debt-to-equity ratios on their homes exceed normal rules. Loans Range From $10,000 to $500,000 According to research conducted by Delaware Savings, credit problems are not limited to lower income borrowers. Many who have been declined by other banks currently hold mortgages well above $250,000.

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In Delaware 302-428-3730. 921 North Orange Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. The Philadelphia Inquirer MYRNA LUDWIG Daniel Panchelli, conducting the All-Philadelphia High School Symphonic Band. The annual All-Philadelphia High School Music Festival displays the talents of more than 500 students citywide. Music makers of the future hit high notes in high school concert FREE TREES Choose from over 10 Varieties of 2-5' Bareroot Saplings Call 1-800-99-TREE-l toll-fee to inyour saplings! Monday-Saturday until April 15th from 9am and 5pm.

Community Tke Program CONCERT from B1 goal, winning a $1,000 college scholarship in an essay contest sponsored by WUSL-FM, Power 99. His winning entry was a rap song about the dangers of drugs and violence in neighborhoods not far from his home in Southwest Philadelphia. Evans, who is learning the piano, said he enjoys all sorts of music. Well, almost. "I briefly listened to some heavy metal," he said.

"I didn't like it. There was too much screaming." His eclectic tastes are typical of the musicians who performed last night, said Johnson, now instrumental-music director at Masterman High School. "They'll listen to Madonna, Fish or the Beatles in the afternoon," he said. "Then they'll go home and get changed and then come out and play Stravinsky or Poulenc. They just love music." They certainly looked professional: 500 teenagers in standard concert attire, the young women in long skirts or gowns, the young men in jackets and ties, all in black and white, of course, honoring a longstanding tradition.

Johnson and other Philadelphia music teachers who successfully fought earlier this year to overturn a 12-teacher cutback in the district's instrumental-music program often stress the program's nonmusical benefits. Take the concertmistress, 14-year-old Eun-Joo Ahn, a sophomore at Masterman. She started playing the violin at 4V2, she said, and has been an all-city performer for three years. When she grows up, though, she plans to do gastroenterological research to help people who suffer from the kinds of diseases that killed her father last year. "These are also the best students in their schools," said Joe Simon, the district's lone remaining instrumental-music supervisor.

"They're treated like professionals by our staff, and they respond in kind." No problems at all? "Kids want to wear sneakers all the time," Johnson said with a laugh, "so that's the one they have to enforce. You've got to wear a tie, and no sneakers." Whatever was on their feet, the all-city performers clearly had no problems with poise. Perhaps the highest honors went to Gabriel Kovach, 17, who was chosen as the evening's lone student soloist. A senior at Fels High School who has already been chosen to attend the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, Kovach soloed in Cherubini's Sonata No. 2 for Horn masterly, by all backstage accounts and then, bouquet in hand, went to the back of the orchestra to be the principal French horn player for two more tough pieces, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

Earlier, he had prepared in a private dressing room backstage like a grown-up star for the night. He is an old hand at high-stress performance, having survived a variety of competitions and auditions. Still, this was at the Academy of Music, before a crowd of perhaps 2,000 people, so he was nervous. "It's always tough to get up before an audience and play at your highest level," he said. Later, as Kovach performed, Simon made it clear he had no doubts.

"This kid," he said, "he's going to be one of the great ones." With your public support this spring Ecology Crossroads will distribute up to 2.5 Million trees to homeowners, farm owners, schools and organizations in the Middle Atlantic United States. The tree sapling distribution for the Greater Philadelphia Suburban Region and the Delaware Valley will be held on May 19th, 20th and 21st at die "Franklin Mills Mall" in Northeast Philadelphia. To get to die mall take 1-95 Exit 24, Woodhaven Road, and go West to Franklin Mills Boulevard. Reservations are required for diis program. If you need trees for your home or widiin y6ur community call us to place a reservation.

You can now reserve up to 25 trees per household with the exception of larger numbers for farms and groups. You may choose your trees from the list below; and Ecology Crossroads will take guaranteed reservations by telephone Monday-Saturday from to beginning April 3rd until our reservation deadline of April 15th, 1995. If you cannot reach us by telephone you can get one of a limited number of mail-in reservation cards by coming to person to die Franklin Mills Mall Information Center located in die Grand Court of the mall. All mail-in reservation cards must be postmarked before midnight April 15th. Quantities of certain varieties of tree saplings is limited, all saplings are reserved on a first call basis.

When the line is busy, please continue trying, we will be taking calls dirough the reservation deadline. A donation of per tree is requested to help us fund and continue the program. Local businesses and corporations are encouraged to participate dirough thegeneral financial sponsorship of schools, groups, neighborhood associadons and parks. No reservations can be accepted after Saturday, April 1 5 as we start order processessing for all orders that day. 2 groups helping city schools merge as a private partnership i to 5 varieties or you can order 25 or die same mix up tvne if von wish when vmi nlace vonr reservation.

The Phila. Education Fund will focus on creating opportunities. Its annual budget will be $6 million. All tree saplings are in premium health and have been inspected by the US Department of Agriculture and the State of Pennsylvania. Choose from the following varieties of tree saplings: Austrian Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, White Flowering Dogwood, Japanese Black Pine, Black Locust, Douglas Fir, Black Walnut, Red Osier Dogwood, Norway Spruce and Ponder osa Pine (Trees less than 2': Purple Lilac Pine.) i A Jack Men Seedsmen 1RSTEHHTI1 FRANK! IN (PblCOlOCY LUNG distance sEroct, inc jyj VfcJ CROSSROADS is in line with Hornbeck's insistence on strengthening educational continuity from kindergarten through 12th grade.

"The corporate community is very high on the potential of the Philadelphia Education Fund, which will help drive change by creating innovative programs, by being a research and development entity to help the district move forward," said Richard Smoot, a leader of the Greater Philadelphia First Business Partnership for School Reform. "We need more programs that have the bottom line of students' success as their primary goal." A another major player in the fund will be the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which has been on the boards of both PATHSPRISM and the collaborative. PFT president Ted Kirsch was at the announcement. Money raised for the fund can be used toward the $50 million in private matching funds needed to meet former Ambassador Walter Annenberg's challenge grant to the city schools. The billionaire philanthropist gave $50 million to the system earlier this year on the condition that the pub'lic and private sector each contribute the same amount.

By Dale Mczzacappa INQUIRER STAFF WRITER As the guardians of the tax coffers become increasingly tight-fisted with the Philadelphia School District, a new private partnership has been formed to help support education reform in the city. The Philadelphia Education Fund, announced yesterday by district and local corporate officials, is composed of two established reform organizations PATHSPRISM: The Philadelphia Partnership for Education, founded in 1984, and the Philadelphia Schools Collaborative, founded in 1988. With a $6 million annual budget largely raised through private sources, the fund will focus its resources on expanding teacher training, developing new curricula, widening college opportunities for inner-city students, and creating small learning communities in elementary, middle and high schools. l3elbert Payne, chairman of the board of the fund, said the organiza tion will support Superintendent David Hornbeck's "Children Achieving" agenda. The fund aims to enable students to "achieve at high levels, to attend college and become productive members of our democratic society," said Payne, manager of corporate social investment for Rohm Haas.

It is our mission to make that vision a reality." At yesterday's news conference before the regular Board of Education meeting, Mayor Rendell voiced his enthusiasm for the fund as he has done for any project that promises to improve the troubled system without costing the city any money. "This merger will make private-sector involvement in education even stronger," Rendell said. Before the merger, PATHSPRISM had concentrated its efforts in the elementary and middle schools. The Schools Collaborative had coordinated the restructuring of large neighborhood high schools into smaller charters. Combining the two groups This is a non-profit public service program of Ecology Crossroads, USA.

To find out more about us, or to mail us a tree program donation, please contact: ECOLOGY CROSSROADS, USA PO BOX 860 ELKTON, MP 21922-0860 Ecology Crossroads is a non-profit environmental educational foundation operating under the disciplines and laws of the United Slates of America and the United Nations; is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization and is registered with the BBB. The trees that the program provides are in accordance with US Pennsylvania Agricultural Laws. Volunteer participation for the distribution process is needed, if you or your group can help with the program call our Volunteer Coordinator, Esther Mariano at 1-800-838-7313..