Cardunal Free Press from Carpentersville, Illinois • Page 1

1 25 IFr Rawness Newspaper Of i oup Monday, April 24, 1982 Volume 25, Number 49 Published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday -j ReqUirements threaten system Her art became her work Paramedic test too tough; fire officials blame state V- i. iv ir By KATHY HARGER Elgin resident Elizabeth Thomson is hooked on ceramics. "My daughter signed me up and I've been doing it ever since," she says. "That's all 1 do. I eat and sleep and work with pottery Before she discovered the ceramic way of life, Mrs.

Thomson had been in and out of the hospital for various illnesses. As soon as she recovered, she says, her daughter didn't want her "Just sitting and home doing nothing" and enrolled her in an Elgin Community College non-credit ceramics class. i Uar Interact hac einna Haualnnorf By MICK ZAWISLAK Fire officials throughout the Fox Valley are saying tests required by the state for certification of paramedics are endangering the future of the system The difficulty of tests required by the Illinois Department of Public Health for certification of paramedics is discouraging people from entering training program from Bartlett to Crystal Lake, fire officials charge. Stale public health officials are being uncooperative and insensitive, according to Elgin Fire Chief George Van De Voorde. and have been unwilling to change testing procedures that have been found to be unacceptable.

Less than half the paramedic trainees are able to pass both the practical and written sections of a test designed by the National Registry of Columbus. Ohio. Last week, only three of 44 paramedic trainees in the Greater Elgin Mobile Intensive Care System comprising 16 communities In the Fox Valley, were able to pass the practical section of the national test. tification and re-certification. Menis said the method of testing does not permit an accurate assessment of a candidate's practical skills.

"I feel the scoring methodology is too rigid and Menis said. "People are failed In that testing methodology for reasons I don't agree with." Menis estimated that the current methodology allows about 60 percent of all trainees who take the test to pass, although candidates are allowed to retest up to three times Paramedics provide 90 percent of pre-hospital advanced life care throug" the state, according to Elgin Assistant Fire Chief Gary Conner. Conner, who Is also the department's training officer, said the test is unrealistic and expensive. All Elgin firefighters are required to take 81 hours of certified ambulance training, qualifying them as EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) I. This training is equivalent to advanced first aid, Conner said.

iPIcmc turn to A3 Fire officials meeting Wednesday night In Elgin, at the invitation of Van De Voorde, expressed outrage at the results of the testing They have publicly denounced the department of public health, saying future candidates will be discourag ed from going through nearly one year of study only to be faced with a test designed to fail them. "The failure rate is not unique to our system," Van De Voorde said. "It's happening throughout the state. "It seems Incredible to some of us the lack of cooperation and insen-sitivity of the Illinois Department of Public Health in an area which is recognized as a problem," he said. Until July of last year, the state provided initial testing for all paramedic candidates, according to Dr.

Val Menis, project medical director for the Fox Valley area, centered in Sherman Hospital. He is responsible for the overall operation and medical supervision of all paramedics within this MICU area. Beginning last summer, the paramedic test was designated as being necessary for paramedic cer Argue for Lakewood Parents dispute school closing Into full-time "play," with ECC hiring her as lab supervisor 20 hours a week. And her spare time, of course, is spent with her art. LATELY SHE has been specifically preparing for one of the yearly shows she enters: the Elgin Branch of the American Association of University Women 23rd Annual Art Showcase She described her art, 100 of which she expects to show and hopefully sell at the May 1 show in Fountain Square Plaza.

"This is me," she says. "It's art. It's technical. I like things you can use. But I like the art in it the most." "I strictly like to pour (the clay Into various shapes).

It comes out free and easy when you do." Her art ranges from floor-size to miniature vases, boxes, plates and various other creations. On the show table, she says, they'll cost between $5 and $150. "They're not that hard to give away," Mrs. Thomson says of her attachment to individual works. "Pieces I'm fond of I'll keep for a while and let them go when I'm tired of looking at them." SHE'S TRIED the many ceramic techlques, ami discovered miniature stoneware Is her favorite.

"It's hard You have to work with very thin pieces of clay. But it's fun." Every piece of clay after its rolled, formed into strips, shaped by hand and painted with glazes Is an experiment, she adds. "When you open the kiln, It's like Christmas morning," adds Mrs. Thomson, with a Dec. 31 birthday herself.

In the kiln, an oven-like contraption, pottery is first heated to about Photos by Slg Bokalders Elizabeth Thornton, who found har artistic talents relatively lata In lift, has put them to good use, relying on pottery for a creative outltt as wall as a job as lab technician at Elgin Community College, In charge of baking pottary In the school's kiln. LITH swimmers need By KAREN SMITH CARPENTERSVILLE "To close this school would be like breaking up a winning team," East Dundee resident Janet Scarpelli told District 300 board members and administrators Wednesday night, effectively, summing up the views of reside. and parents who are opposed to the proposed closing of Lakewood Middle School in Carpentersville. Mrs. Scarpelli was the first resident to speak at a public hearing on the Lakewood question and read a four-page statement, which one parent later said "truely expressed what we feel." About 75 residents, mostly parents of Lakewood students, attended the meeting held in the school gymnasium.

Many speakers argued Dundee Middle' School. Route 72 and Randall Road In West Dundee, should be closed instead of Lakewood. "First of all we are told that Lakewood is more saleable and more funds would be realized from that sale," said Mrs. Scarpelli, a mother of six, Including one Lakewood student. "I suggest that Dundee, which Is a newer, alr-conditloned building in a more open area away from congestion and single-family homes, on a more major highway and more of an all-purpose building than Lakewood.

would bring a higher price and would be much easier to lease or sell SHE ARGUED transportation costs would be less if Dundee Middle Is closed, because all Dundee students are already being bused. She said closing Dundee would not result in busing students out of their neighborhoods because Dundee Middle has no neighborhood. Infact, she said, some students now bused to Dundee would be able to walk to Lakewood. Mrs. Scarpelli also challenged the administration's contention that the Dundee Middle area has more growth potential, saying growth could also occur in the Lakewood area.

"You are forgetting that there is land on Maple Avenue and across from Dundee High School, and the Rolling Meadows land east of (Route) 25 and the land at 72 and 25 ByPAMHOPP LAKE IN THE HILLS Beach tags will be required by residents to use village-owned lake property and are expected to go on sale in early June. Trustee Butch Hagele, chairman of the recently formed lakes and beaches committee, reported at Thursday's board meeting the committee feels tags are the solution to controllng lake use. He said photo identification was considered but dismissed because of its cost. Hagele said boats will also be required to have tags and nonresidents will be charged a daily fee. The committee has not decided what tag fee to recommend to the board; Hagele said the cost would be under them somewhere else and I think that's wrong." Other residents said they were concerned with transportation problems out to Dundee, overcrowding that might result at Perry, the splitting up of friends and teachers and the cost savings that would result from clos Ing Lakewood as opposed to another middle school.

Five Lakewood students also spoke at the hearing to give the board and administrators what one called "a kid's point of view." THE BELIEF THAT there Is an antl-Carpentersvllle sentiment on the board and a general Insensitivity to those who would be affected by school closings came to a head when an audience member asked how many district officials had children at any of the schools proposed for closing. No board members or administrators said they had children attending one of the schools, but Irving dismissed that and defended the board's actions. "It Is not our intent to simply go around closing schools," Irving continued. "(It's) just a simple fact that with the number of schools we have there will simply be too many buildings for the amount of kids we have." Superintendent Trevar-then 10-year master plan recommends closing Lakewood in July 1983 and reassigning students to Dundee and Perry. It also recommends leasing the building for a minimum of three years and mothballing It If a lessee cannot be found.

Present enrollment at Lakewood Is 606 and is expected to drop steadily during the next 10 years. The school closing recommendations are part of the 10-year comprehensive master plan, a 129-page report that looks at ways to deal with declining enrollment and decreasing federal and state revenues. The board will suggests changes and revisions to the plan at Its next meeting, Monday at Jacobs High School. Trevarthen will then revise the recommendations into final recommendations and present them to the board for approval probably at the first meeting In May. No additional public hearings or public work sessions are expected to be scheduled before the final vote.

consists of the village president and two trustees, presently Don Cress and Larry Brody. Chirikos and a representative of General Mills, the parent company of Red Lobster, appeared before the commission Monday to request the Ust license. CHIRIKOS SAID HE needs a license for Tom Thumb. Eat, Drink and Dance, a restaurant-kxinge be plans to open in the 651 building of Tonde. He was questioned by West Dundee attorney David PeJti, who pointed out Tonde has failed to pay its share of the special assessment levied on property owners ta tr-e area MMtariptJU and the land at 25 and 68.

Don't you think that when times are better these will be developed?" "Please do the right thing for the community and the students," Mrs. Scarpelli concluded. "Close Dundee Middle, lease It for three years and then sell it or mothball it. It was a big mtake to build Dundae Middle. Let us not make a second mistake and keep it open." Other speakers echoed Mrs.

Scarpelll's words, saying they didn't want to see the Lakewood "community" broken up and If a middle school must be closed it should be Dundee. "THE SCHOOL IS In a residential area as opposed to Dundee. There, you are lust looking Into a crystal ball," said Carpentersville resident Richard Helmlnskl. "There will always be young families moving into the area and there will always be enough of them (children) to fill this school." "Dundee, I think you'll have to admit, was a mistake," he continued. "It seemed like a good Idea then, but it didn't work out." One parent suggested closing Dundee and changing the boundaries so children from new subdivisions would go to Lakewood, not Dundee.

A similar action was taken when children from the Spring Creek subdivision In Algonquin were assigned to Carpentersville schools before homes were built in the area. Board president T. Douglas Irving said such a move would be "a possibility in the future" and added no moves have been entirely ruled out by the board. Another Carpentersville resident, Lynn Van Meckestyn, said the administration's proposal to close Lakewood and Oak Ridge and Fair-view elementary schools, also In Carpentersville, could result In too many changes and social adjustments for children. She pointed out some children might be moved out of Fairview for fifth grade, into Lakewood for sixth and then to Dundee or Perry Middle for seventh and eighth.

"I DONT THINK you can do that so often to children," she said. "You are only giving them a year to adjust to a school and then you are sending arner and the six trustees, In which he is asking for $400,000 in damages for violation of his ctvtl rights. Both cases are still pending. The board recently approved an amended liquor ordinance, which is supposed to clear up vague language and prevent future legal disputes such as the Chirikos case. The new ordinance states license applications do not have to be considered in the order they art received if the applicant has not met all other licensing criteria a point which Is at the heart of the Chirikos dispute.

It also gives the local liquor commission the power to grant licenses, not the village board. The Liquor Control Commission 1650 degrees Fahrenheit. The "bisque firing" dries the clay, and solidifies the forms. The stoneware or porcelain, depending on the amount of iron in the clay, doesn't crack If the forms are properly shaped and correctly heated. "A reduction fire," she explains, in which the heat is brought up and down slowy is the correct way to perform the first firing.

Glazes watery clay mixtures are then painted or poured onto the pottery. It is fired again at about 2380 degrees Fahrenheit, absorbing the glazes, creating textures, and oftentimes, radically changing the original colors. "You never know what colors will turn up," she says. "The most $15 per family. "We are looking at low-priced tags for residents," he said.

Trustee John Kambs, committee member, said the fee would be "token," to cover administrative costs. "We want to see as many people as possible use the lake, "Kambs said. In conjunction with the committee's proposal, the board voted to spend 1,428 to cover the cost of purchasing tags, boat stickers and receipts. Hagele said tag cost will be determined at the next meeting. He added the committee expects the beaches will open on Memorial Day, as in the past.

His next committee meeting, which will take place today at 7:30 and proceed south on Michigan Avenue from Wacker Drive to Buckingham Fountain. Its purpose is to recognize those who have served as volunteers and tp demonstrate the wide variety of organizations that need volunteers. Voluntary Action Center, an affiliate of United Way of Chicago, promotes the value of voluntary services and fosters the fullest and best use of volunteers. Its programs are designed to help develop effective management of voluntary services. The ambulance service was founded in 1974 and Is operated by volunteers, who are certified emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

In 1978 It was named the top Emergency Medical Service of the Year by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. The volunteers provide emergency medical service within the 21 square miles of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District 24 hours a day. crucial time is in the bisque fire because of the amount of carbon and air In the firing." MRS. THOMSON, 58, wants to spread the word about her interest, in hopes others may need a pasttlme to keep them busy. "It was a scary thing for a couple of semesters," she says of attending classes with younger people "Now they couldn't throw me out." She says if enrollment doesn't increase for ECC's summer ceramics class, it may be cancelled.

And she may be out of her life's play temporarily. "I know there's so many people like me, if they knew this is here, they'd be here like me." beach tags p.m. In the Activity Building, will be a workshop session and on April 29 the committee will meet at 7:30 p.m. In the Activity Building. THE VILLAGE ATTORNEY was directed to draw up an ordinance establishing the committee, as well as the airport committee.

Village President Kenneth Olsen appointed Trustee Barbara Key to chair the airport committee with Hagele, Trustee Russell Nockels, plan commission chairman Richard de Veze and former airport owner John Guerra as members. In making the appointments, Olsen said he has been getting many requests for hangars and airport expansion so he was drawing up the committee's framework. Mrs. Key said her new committee will be meeting May 4, starting at 7:30 p.m. In making Mrs.

Key chairman of the committee, Olsen said she will step down from the lakes and beaches committee. IN A RELATED matter, Kambs suggested the village consider filing a suit against McHenry County State's Attorney Ted Floro and (P)Mtunitoptg All Tonde, Red By KAREN SMITH WEST DUNDEE The president of Tonde Management Company Inc. is once again after a liquor license for a proposed lounge In the Tonde Shopping Center, but this time must compete against the soon-to-be-opened Red Lobster Restaurant for the license. The West Dundee Liquor Control Commission, at its annual meeting Monday night, approved 196343 liquor licenses for the 17 businesses that had reapplied for them. The commission must sow decide whether to grant the last unclaimed license to Tonde manager Tony Cnlrtios or to Red Lobster, which Ambulance service honored Lobster compete for last liquor license ALGONQUIN The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Emergency Ambulance Service is one of 10 Chicago service organizations to earn a voluntary action award from Comprehensive Community Services of Metropolitan Chicago.

Earlier this month, the service learned It was receiving the award, one of two organizations to receive the 1982 Suburban Voluntary Action award. The awards are presented "for effective and creative volunteer programs that meet the needs of their communities," according to Mary Lou Gilkes, spokesman for the contract services division of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. The Voluntary Action Center will present the award during a reception on Friday, April 30. at 1:30 a.m. In Its headquarters at IMS.

Michigan Are. Following the reception, award recipients and representatives of their organizations will have honored positions ta parade of volunteers. The parade will begin at noon will open In May on Route 31 near Spring Hill Mall. It was two years ago that Chirikos first came before the village board requesting a liquor license for a restaurant-lounge he planned to open in the Tonde Shopping Center. The board denied the request, saying all licenses had already been issued.

Chirikos appealed the decision in court, claiming Barrow's Restuarant was unfairly given the last liquor license. Chirikos lost the case in Kane County Circuit Court, but has appealed the decision to the Illinois Appellate Court. HE ALSO FILED a federal suit against village president Tom -V.