The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 5

DitlMngtcnjfrwJDrtss Lawmakers struggle with education aid Page 2B Ml Oil relus-w SECTION Sunday, May 6. 1990 I City Editor, Deena Gross Phone: 865-0940, ext 2017 ment" she said. "It has benefits for all sides." Kunin cited the potential for Vermont to build a hazardous-waste disposal facility, serving as an incentive for businesses to move to the state. VERMONT LEGISLATURE 1990 "This is a practical need," the governor said. The hazardous-waste bill would create Amendments OK'd, SB a program for consum- er awareness and labeling of household hazardous waste, set up a process for siting a hazardous-waste dump in Vermont and require industry to produce waste-reduction proposals.

Up to 170 companies that produce more than 220 pounds of hazardous waste monthly would be required to produce waste-reduction proposals. Because the bill changed significantly from the one approved by the House, it will go to the House for a review. Either the House will concur and the bill will go to Kunin for her signature, or the House will not concur and a conference committee will be set up to work out a compromise. But Joan Mulhern of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group criticized the bill, saying it does not go far enough in its expectations of industrial polluters. Environmentalists chide Senate bill By Lisa Scagliorti Free Press Staff Writer MONTPELIER In its first Saturday session this year, the Senate passed hazardous-waste legislation that pleased the administration but disappointed some environmentalists.

Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin called the bill one of the major achievements of the legislative session. "I think it heralds a new phase of cooperation between the private sector, environmental groups and state govern- Big sister, little sister graduate Champlain College siblings among 560 to receive degrees By Anne Geggis Free Press Staff Writer Despite dismal skies and dampening rain, the spirits of Roland and Clairette Berard soared Saturday. Not only was their grandchild receiving her first Communion, but also two of their 12 children the youngest and the oldest were becoming the first family members to graduate from college.

Rebecca Barber, 35, of Colchester and Angelia "Angel" Berard, 19, received their associate degrees from Champlain College at Memorial Auditorium along with 558 other Champlain College students. "Two years ago, earlier in the year, I wasn't sure where Angel was going to college. I had no idea she and Becky would be graduating in the same year," Mrs. Berard said over the noise of a family party at their home in Essex Junction. Mrs.

Berard said it was special to have both of her children graduating the same day. Her oldest daughter, who works as a software specialist at Computerland in Burlington, dreams of starting a business. Her youngest wants to move up to a supervisory position in the government i 1: MARK SASAHARA, frmm Press Champlain College graduating senior Keri Wood, left, waves after receiving her degree as Sarah Valley looks on at Memorial Auditorium where 560 received their associate degrees. Her experience in the working world provided the final push to go back to school. "After working for 10 years, I found out I liked working with computers," she said.

"I wanted to know more about computers." Working full time while attending night classes was a challenge. She said one of her toughest courses, Advanced Cobol, fell during tax time when she was She attacked a lack of public hearings in crafting the bill, particularly the portion dealing with siting a waste facility. She added that the language used in the bill reflects "industry lobbyists writing the regulations that control them with no scrutiny." Lawmakers nixed attempts to require industrial users of hazardous materials to file with the state copies of their waste reduction plans. The law instead requires the Natural Resources Agency to request reports randomly from such companies. Also killed was an attempt to stiffen requirements on industry to report details of hazardous substances released into the air and water in addition to waste packaged for disposal.

working for an accountant. "I put in a lot of overtime during tax time I was staying up late at night finishing homework for the next day." Barber's efforts paid off Saturday when she graduated with a 3.97 grade point average out of a possible 4.0. Her sister, a computers in management major, completed her course requirements in two years while working Turn to BIG, 4B corporations who own the state and the nation," he said. He got 1 percent of the vote. Jump to 1990.

Sanders, after eight years as Burlington's mayor, stood before more than 100 enthusiastic supporters Saturday and formally declared his bid for U.S. Congress as an Independent candidate. "What this campaign is about is bringing all of us together and saying, 'This is our state. This is our nation, and we are not going to let a handful of corporations take it away from us." Looking over the years, and the quotes, Sanders seems to have strayed little from his original platform. In the Contois Auditorium at City Hall on Saturday, Sanders delivered Turn to SANDERS, SB Money raised will be sent to people who have not received financial help in South Carolina.

People who had money before the hurricane are receiving federal help, because they know how to get it Jones said; the poor people don't know how. "They got zip," Jones said. The walk began at 9 a.m. at Ascension Church on U.S. 7 and traveled back roads to the Baptist Plains Church, ending at Georgia Methodist Church.

Money has been pledged by the mile or in a lump sum. The collection will be tranferred through an account at the Peoples Trust Co. to an ecumenical group of churches in Summerville, S.C., for specific building projects. Meanwhile, some Vermonters with carpentry skills who journeyed to South Carolina with materials last fall have returned recently to check up on those they helped. Al Stromerson and David Fredenberg Turn to Page 5B SAM HEMINGWAY Leaderless commune seeks peace It's 1971, and the natives aren't just restless.

They're downright nervous. The reason: The hippies are coming. The hippies are coming. The newspapers are full of stories about an invasion by members of the "youth culture." Some estimate 10,000 are on their way, others figure it might be a half million. There is a concern about the "exotic diseases" that will come with them, the drugs, the rock 'n roll At a May 19 news conference in Mont-pelier, Gov.

Deane Davis tries to calm a worried public. "There is no visible cause for alarm at this point," he tells the reporters. "Personally, I believe if these people obey the laws of the state, and (the) number is around 15,000 to 20,000 we will have no problems. I wish they don't come, because that style of life does create problems." But, Davis says, the latest police intelligence suggests the state is in for a major invasion. Already, the population at the state's two largest communes has doubled.

Irving Fiske must have gotten a big kick out of all this public hand wringing back then. After all, his Quarry Hill commune in Rochester had been on the scene 25 years when the rest of the state got restless about communities like his. Long after the overhyped hippie invasion of 1971 had come and gone, taking with it nearly all the communes that sprang up in its wake The Dreamers in Montgomery, Total Loss Farm in Guilford, Red Clover in Putney, Green Mountain Red in Burlington Quarry Hill lives on. Sadly, it will have to do so without Fiske, who died late last month at the age of 82 after suffering a stroke in Florida. In Rochester, where a town and an alternative community learned to live together in part because of his personality, the reality of his passing is still sinking in.

"We miss him a great deal," Brion McFarlin, his son-in-law, said. "Everybody feels sad. But one couldn't have asked for more. We all kind of felt that the last few years were gratis." Lawyer Peter Riley, like McFarlin a resident of the community for more than 15 years, agreed. "He was such a dear friend.

His philosophy and feelings are not easily forgettable." The secret of Quarry Hill's success, though, was that Fiske never offered himself as a guru to the hundreds of baby boomers who flocked to the 200-acre "Fiske Commune," as the natives called it, during the 1970s. "We're free and easy," he said in an interview six years ago. "We're not very authoritative. We have no doctrine, no dogma. It is a community of mostly people who are interested in the arts, literature, photography, music." And although Quarry Hill has two businesses of its own, many of its residents work at jobs outside the community.

Fiske, who McFarlin said looked like Albert Einstein, was a writer. His translation of Hamlet into modern American colloquial English was praised by the likes of William Saroyan, Henry Miller, Upton Sinclair and Aldous Huxley. His article "Bernard Shaw's Debt to William Blake" prompted Shaw to proclaim "Let this article not be forgotten even when I am no longer remembered." He will be remembered, though, for many more things than that Riley called him a great linguist His daughter, Isabella "Ladybelle" Fiske, described him as a "friend to all." Her husband, McFarlin, remembered him as "the best auto mechanic I ever saw." All three said his devotion to children was a trademark. "My father believed you should never hit a child, that the most fulfilling thing you can do is to provide for an uninhibited childhood," Ms iske said. Quarry Hill's school has produced four graduates, two of whom have gone on to college.

The 1960s are history. So are the unrealized fears of Vermont's hippie invasion in the 1970s and the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s. It's 1990, and for the 80-plus residents of Quarry Hill who will carry on "Fiske's Commune" without him, it's high time for a return to the idealism of a generation ago. "We do share something as a generation that others don't have," Riley, 40, said. "We should use it We have something to offer." Then he laughed.

"You know," he said. "I'm growing my hair again." Sam Hemingway is the state news columnist for The Free Press. Sanders greets rally with traditional theme By Diane Derby Free Press Staff Writer The year was 1971, and 30-year-old Bernard Sanders was a candidate for U.S. senator, running on the Liberty Union ticket. "The people who make decisions which affect this country have little to do with the average man on the street.

A democracy is made up of people, and they are not making the decisions," he declared. He received 2 percent of the vote. A year later, Sanders ran for governor. "In a nutshell, it seems to me that the problems that Vermont and America are facing are enormous and that the two old parties are part of the problem. We need a new party which will have the guts to stand up to the In some ways, the two sisters are a study in contrasts.

Barber decided to return to school 10 years after graduating from Essex Junction Educational Center, Berard entered Champlain College immediately after high school graduation in 1988. Barber, a computer informations systems major, has been attending night classes at Champlain College since 1983 while working full time during the day. MARK SASAHARA, Free Press we all went out and worked," Cadreact said. Although volunteers had a picnic after the cleanup, plans for a volleyball game and trash can painting contest had to be hnJ KUNIN successful effort," Cadreact said. "Anybody who turned out today was a trooper." In Colchester, plans went ahead as scheduled, with the recycling center open from 9 a.m.

to 3 p.m. to take in trash. "We didn't cancel but we didn't have as good a turnout as we had liked," organizer Doris Grippen said. She said a number of people came to the center to pick up trash bags, some of them promising to do the work today instead. Two men, Rio Girelli and Stan McAus-lan, pulled up in a pickup truck with trash they collected from Creek Farm Road, she said.

Town dump trucks will be stationed all weekend at Union Memorial and Porters Point schools for people to leave trash, she said. I tt 2, Independent congressional candidate Bernard Sanders sits with Shoshana Rihn during a rally for Sanders at Burlington City Hall on Saturday. Vermont keeps an eye on hurricane's victims Gray skies foil Green Up Day spoils By Diane Derby Free Press Staff Writer Uncooperative weather did not help statewide Green Up Day efforts Saturday, with some communities canceling or postponing activities because of cold weather and rain. In Burlington's Ward 2, plans to clean up Roosevelt Park were put on hold for one week. Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m.

Saturday to take part in the effort In Ward 3, cleanup activities on North Street and several side streets were canceled for the same reason. No rain date has been set for that effort In Milton, Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin was among those who faced the weather head on. She met with about 100 Green Up Day volunteers at Recreation Park, said Kate Cadreact co-chairwoman for the effort "It was pouring rain and freezing, but By Liz First Free Press Staff Writer GEORGIA Hurricane Hugo winds clocked at 135 miles per hour in September devastated South Carolina physically and economically.

Hundreds of Vermonters answered the call of their southern neighbors in distress by donating money, materials and by traveling 900 miles to offer a hand. Eight months after the storm, cleanup continues, and some Vermonters are keeping tabs on the progress. The volunteer spirit of Hugo lived Saturday in the form of a walk-a-thon sponsored by three churches in Georgia. Eight people walked; some 50 others will participate Saturday, hoping for better weather. "Long after it's still not a news item, it's still a human need," the Rev.

Wayne Jones of the Georgia United Methodist Church said. June Waite, a congregant pooled resources of banks, businesses and Georgia residents to organize the 6.4-mile event.