The Oshkosh Northwestern from Oshkosh, Wisconsin • Page 13

City Editor Sean Johnson (920) 426-6665 e-mail: newsoshkoshonline.com Oshkosh Northwestern Tuesday, June 8, 1939 editor Oshkosh native, Glamour dies Northwestern University and, after graduating in 1949, for Chicago with fellow Wildcat and newly-betrothed husband "In the end, you're really judged by your deeds that affect the people around you." 1 '-SC a i Pioneering feminist Ruth Whitney loved Lake Winnebago By Sarah Cooke of the Northwestern In the final hours before her death last Friday, Ruth Whitney's son felt a need to comfort his mother, the Oshkosh-born, former editor of Glamour magazine. "I said to her, 'You can go knowing you've affected the minds of millions of young women in this Philip Whitney said. Having lost her ability to speak and swallow, Ruth Whitney slipped her only child a piece of paper that simply read, "You are my finest accomplishment." through cottonwood trees overhead." Her older brother, Oshkosh resident Leonard Reinke, affirmed Whitney "lived at the lake" from age 5. Describing her as "quite the sailor," Reinke said Whitney's Midwestern roots ran deep. "She was very private about her family," Reinke said softly.

"But she also loved it in New York." Philip Whitney said, if anything, he would take his mother's philosophy "Speak softly and carry a big stick" with him as a reminder of all she stood for. "My mother was less about style and more about substance," he said. "There's not a whole lot to being flashy. In the end, you're really judged by your deeds that affect the people around you." Sarah Cooke can be reached at 235-7700. band moved with Time when the corporation relocated its offices to New York.

At 27, she was named editor in chief of Better Living magazine. After serving as executive editor of Seventeen magazine, Whitney took the reins of Glamour in 1968 and didn't give them up until September of last year. Despite her impact in New York, Ruth Whitney and her family made a point of returning to Oshkosh for two weeks every summer to stay at their summer house on Island Beach Road, a visit Philip Whitney said took his mother back in time. "(Lake Winnebago) was really a big part of her childhood," he said. "She spent a lot of time on the lake, sailing and swimming.

She would always talk about being on the lake or sitting on a chair looking out over the lake with the sound of the wind going Such was the nature of early feminist and magazine powerhouse Ruth Whitney, who died at age 70 from complications with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Whitney was diagnosed with the terminal nervous system illness two years ago. She had returned to her New York home from the hospital a week before her death to be with her family. "She was a powerful woman in the 1960s and '70s when I was growing up," Philip Whitney said of his mother. "There weren't that many mothers that worked, much less who had an important job.

She was a real role model. But she was always home every night at sue even though she had a demanding schedule." Born July 23, 1928, in Oshkosh, Whitney grew up in a modest bungalow on Jackson Street, the youngest of three children. She left Oshkosh after high school for Philip Whitney son of Ruth Whitney Whitney Daniel Whit- ney. Daniel Whitney died in 1995. A copy writer for the education department of Time Whitney and her hus Hmong connections Two-year sentence sought in OWI case Area schools in line with positives; state behind By Gina Mangan of the Northwestern Oshkosh public schools aren't the only ones celebrating leaps in elementary school standardized test scores while puzzling about slow progress and setbacks at the high school level.

Several area districts experienced the same phenomenon in what appears to be a statewide trend. 1 he percentage of state students scoring profi School: Kevin Kreckof the Northwestern CHAO YANG TALKS about his new position as library assistant Monday at the Oshkosh Public Library. By Todd Haefer of the Northwestern A 39-year-old Oshkosh man could be the first Winnebago County man sentenced to prison under Wisconsin's new felony drunken-driving law. i Clayton J. Bahr, 3774 Glenshire Lane, pleaded no contest Monday in Winnebago County Circuit Court to his fifth offense for operating a motor yehicle while intoxicated.

He faces a minimum of six months in jail to five years in prison at his July 27 sentencing. The Winnebago County district attorney's office is recommending a two-year prison sentence for Bahr. "We're just recommending what the guidelines are for this court district," Assistant District Attorney John Jorgensen said. "He was involved in an accident and his blood-alcohol level was 0. 35.

In Wisconsin, a blood-alcohol level of 0. 10 is considered intoxication. Bahr was the first person arrested in the county for a felony OWI since the new law took effect Jan, 1. The former law provided a maximum penalty of one year in jail. Police arrested Bahr Jan.

26 after he drove through a yard in Oshkosh and his vehicle got stuck in the snow, according to the criminal complaint. When an officer asked to talk to him, he told the officer to wait until he was done digging out the car. The officer took the shovel from Bahr and smelled alcohol on his breath. Bahr refused a breathalyzer test and was taken to Mercy Medical Center, where a blood sample was taken and sent to the State Crime Lab in Madison. Bahr appeared in court for victim intimidation, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, driving after license revocation, concealing stolen property, battery, bail jumping and shoplifting, court records show.

Penalties for his prior OWI convictions have included up to 75 days in jail, license revocations for up to two years and vehicle confiscations. Jorgensen said other guidelines for a fifth OWI offense include a $2,138 fine and a three-year license revocation. fodd Haefer may be reached at (920) 426-6676. Out of print cient and advanced in reading, math, science and social studies on the 1998-99 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination, part of the Wisconsin Student Assessment System, showed marked improvement from the previous year at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels. In most cases, scores increased by 10 or more percentage points.

But increases became considerably less on the lOth-grade test, prompting state Superintendent of Public Instruction John Benson to suggest that high school sophomores, their parents and their teachers don't take the test as seriously as their elementary and middle school counterparts. Oshkosh North High School scores fell in every subject but reading, where there was an increase of 1 percentage point. Oshkosh West High School increased scores in math and reading, while losing ground in science and social studies. Even so, Oshkosh 10th-graders logged in at or above the state average, as did fourth- and eighth-graders. Other districts experienced similar results.

In Omro, for example, the percentage of sophomores scoring proficient and advanced in science fell by more than 10 percentage points. In Menasha, high school scores fell in nearly every subject, while lower grade levels improved significantly. The one-year changes have many school officials speculating about high school performance. Some point to the complexity of the subject matter at the high school SCHOOLS, PAGE C3 New library assistant poised to help Hmong, library, community find words to connect By Alex Hummel of the Northwestern hao Yang arrived in Chicago 19 years ago unable to speak a lick of English. scription medicine unable to read the directions, he said.

Taxes may as well be hieroglyphics to many adults. Daily newspapers are useless. But a federal grant, a Library Services and Technology grant, empowered the library to do something and gave Yang the opportunity to help Hmong residents confront those daily struggles. The proposal for Yang's 20-hour a week position topped a list of 17 others statewide, judged on its validity and value in the community, noted Laurie Magee, head of Children and Family Outreach at the library. "His range of previous experience made him a really good person to hire," Magee said.

"One of the things that the librarians do is process materials, and it's hard to do when they are all in Hmong." Yang already has put his time to good use. Since starting in late April, he has collaborated with Fox Valley Technical College, Wis- HMONG, PAGE C3 "Every day was like a nightmare for me when I was in school," recalled Yang; 37, now an Oshkosh resident. "Some days I didn't say anything." He graduated from that Chicago high school still unable to speak English. But he didn't give up. Yang took two years of technical school courses to learn how to speak, read and write That feat led to a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and a minor in economics from the University of Wiscon-sin-Oshkosh, after four years there plus a year and a half at UW-River Falls.

Consider his post at the library poetic justice. "(Hmong parents) can't read to their children like an American family," he said, rattling off a list of roadblocks the traditionally unwritten, unread Hmong language runs into transplanted in Oshkosh. "They feel like the children and their children the parents." The Hmong elderly are left taking pre Now he's the Oshkosh Public Library's link to the Hmong community the tie that hopes to bring illiterate Hmong residents in the doors and acclimate them to a language and culture in print. Yang made the adjustment on his own. He came to Chicago from Laos in 1980.

Yet he quickly found himself in the middle of a big-city, 10th-grade class, assigned an age that was either two or three years younger or older than his actual, unrecorded one. Airstrikes in Yugoslavia could affect EAA military attractions By Jim Collar Of the Northwestern "Certainly, military involvement dictates what airplanes will be able to come to Oshkosh," Knapinski said. "Right now we're not certain how, or if, the conflict will l.liWllllli,,i!l'J.iipillMI,l, MllipiUIIUUWIMll.llllllk'.IIIII.UjJ WWV MILIUM t. I 'J tv. 1fr The EAA will plan accordingly.

"We are always appreciative for whatever the military can bring," he said. "Their primary commitments aren't to us, but to wherever else they might be needed in the world." This year's EAA AirVenture will be July 28 to Aug. 3. With less than two months befor the convention, the EAA is not yet concerned about losing the military portion of AirVenture, Knapinski said. If the airstrikes continue and planes are unavailable, the organization would have little trouble filling the void.

"When you have 12,000 planes on any given year, there will be something to fill that role," Knapinski said. Jim Collar may be reached at (920) 426-6656. This summer, aviation enthusiasts might be among those to feel the effects of continuing NATO airstrikes over Yugoslavia. With the peace process stalling during the weekend and bombings continuing at full force, the Experimental Aircraft Association faces the possibility of having fewer military aircraft at its Air Venture 1999 convention. EAA representative Dick Knapinski said AirVenture bookings are on schedule, with the majority of plane commitments made by the end of June.

If a peace pact isn't attained by the end of June, however, Knapinski said there is a chance there could be limited military presence at the annual affect us, but it might." Despite the conflict, the EAA already has made preliminary arrangements to bring in F-16 and F-18 fighters. The organization also is working to arrange a Harrier visit to the convention. Due to the role of military aircraft, no commitment is 100 percent, Knapinski said. Northwestern File Photo A MILITARY AWACS is examined by visitors at the 1998 EAA AirVenture. Honda Riders Head to Oshkosh: Page C2r.