Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 16

6B Press Sun-Bulletin Sunday, May 1 5, 1994 POETRY IN MOTION HOSPITAL SUIT Taxi driTeir in heaven in Records held secret NEW YORK (AP) Rep. Nydia Velazquez says she is suing St. Clare's Hospital for $10 million because the hospital allowed records of her attempted suicide to become public. "I am bringing this lawsuit both to send a message to all institutions which maintain patients' confidential files, and also to redress the wrongs done to me," the Brooklyn Democrat said in a statement. She declined to elaborate or take questions about the lawsuit Friday afternoon before speaking at a National Rainbow Coalition conference in Manhattan.

Calls seeking comment from St. Clare's were not immediately returned. Hospital records divulging Velazquez's attempt to kill herself with sleeping pills and vodka on Sept. 5, 1991, were sent by fax anonymously to the New York Post and a Spanish-language television station in October 1992. Velazquez had just won a close primary over veteran Congressman Stephen Solarz in a district redrawn to favor Hispanic candidates.

When the story broke, Velazquez acknowledged the suicide attempt and disclosed that she had tried once before, years earlier. She said she had been driven to despair by loneliness and overwork, but afterward, in therapy, she had "learned to seek help, to take advice, to share my problems with others." The medical revelation had minimal effect politically; she was sent to Congress with 77 percent of the vote, becoming the first Puerto Rican woman to serve there. She has sponsored bills to make disclosing records a felony and enhance patients' ability to sue. The identity of the person who slipped the records to the media has never been determined. Velazquez's lawyer, Alan Mansfield, said it was possible that deposition and disclosure proceedings in the case could point to a culprit.

But Mansfield reiterated that the aim of the lawsuit was to impress hospitals with "their obligation to keep confidential and protect records with respect to any patient." Then, on a blackboard, Gelber chalked, "STRESS." Cracking a grin, he told the class that piloting a taxi around New York City's harried streets is vintage Kipling "a test of character." Example: "At the end of your shift, you're in the wrong lane and you can't get out and you're forced across the Brooklyn Bridge at rush hour without a guaranteed fare back and you have to make another $25 dollars that day to make the rent and your landlord is about to throw you out that's stress." He paused, then added in the clipped, quick speech that matched his city's pace, "Eitheryou can take it or you can't. You'll find out fast. And if you can, you'll learn how to stay out of that lane." Gelber's own experience with stress includes the time in 1992 that he was left penniless on a Brooklyn street at about 1:30 a.m. after two men pressed a shotgun to his head, took his money and drove away with his cab. "You have to know what words to use when you're being held up like maybe even call the robber treat him like a customer," Gelber said.

On that night, he said, "They got my money, and I got to go home." To robbery, add the perils of seduction. The tall, charming driver has been propositioned by a number of passengers, both female and male offers which, he hastened to add, he declined. Well, except for one the woman who became his girlfriend. "She asked me out," he said simply. These days, Gelber spends most of his time teaching foreign cabbies-to-be.

He started last fall, when the Taxi and Limousine Commission approved his new school, the NYC Taxi Driver Training Institute. Eighty-nine percent of the 40,000 cabbies licensed by the city's Taxi Limousine Commission are immigrants, many working 12-hour days to earn about $10 an hour. But few drivers are this poetic: "Ballerinas, musicians, actors and thugs, All who lack loving hear me tell them get hugs from the ones they love most when they exit my cab, Relieved from releasing on my soft vinyl slab." from Shrink Poetry. And few poets know all about the infernal tie-ups on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Born in Brooklyn and now living in Queens, Gelber grew up on Long Island with an ex-actress mother and a psychiatrist stepfather.

After high school, and a few college credits, he drove a milk truck on Long Island, owned a chain of delis and four bars, and completed a stint as a carnival barker. He also worked as an insurance salesman and a building contractor. And he went broke more than a few times, getting married and divorced along the way. He's the father of a 12-year-old girl. Then, in 1990, Gelber moved to the city and got his hack license.

He was in heaven. "Comin' across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan at night, I can't explain it to you! It's like a space station you're coming into and I look at it and I say, 'Holy It boggles the mind, that men built this, one building at a time." NEW YORK (AP) The more than half-million cab rides that take place in New York City every day add up to gridlock, temper tantrums, fender benders and even a few holdups. To cabbie Terry Gelber, it's the stuff poetry is made of. Gelber tells his tales-on-wheels in hundreds of poems, verse spun in a lurching jungle of yellow cabs. He and a handful of other eloquent drivers celebrate their theater in motion as members of the Hack Poets Society.

Under the name T. Burton Gelber, the 37-year-old cabbie turns traffic jams, incessant honking and irritable passengers into rhyming couplets: "Uptown rich dude, hates to talk I'd personally prefer it if you'd learn to walk. Fat man, skinny man, on your way to work Ninety hours on the seat drives a man berserk." from Heart of the City. In the Queens neighborhood of Astoria one morning, the poet handed out verses by Rud-yard Kipling to a training class of 20 would-be cabbies, most of them from Asia or the Middle East. "I believe that Rudyard Kipling was a taxi driver," he deadpanned, asking a student to read the turn-of-the-century British poet's famous lines from In an Indian accent, the class heard, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you yours is the Earth and everything that's in it." ROCKIN' of Thanks that appear below are paid announcements.

The Hst of deaths provided free of charge. Obituary Department: 798-1104. Sun. Holidays OBITUARIES Stones add concert after two sell out NEW YORK (AP) They're not getting older. They're getting richer.

The Rolling Stones sold out two Giants Stadium shows Saturday in just 81 minutes, said band spokeswoman Fran Curtis. That's a rate of 1,407 tickets sold every 60 seconds. After selling out shows for Aug. 12 and 14, the Stones added a show on Aug. 15, Curtis said.

The tickets for the first two shows with top price of $50 went on sale at 9 a.m. and all were gone before 1.0:30 a.m", she said. Tickets immediately went on sale COMMENCEMENTS Mr. Rogers, Heimlich among grad speakers The obituaries. In Memoriams and Cards that appears elsewhere in this section is HOURS: Sat.

Jeannette B. Wagner of Binghamton Jeannette B. Wagner, 74, went to be with her Lord Thursday morning, May 12, 1994 at her home. She is survived by two sons and one daughter-in-law, Lee and Barbara Wagner, Philadelphia. James Wagner, Johnson City, one daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Jerry Steele, Binghamton, five grandchildren, Tobin Koehler, Scott and Melissa Steele, Jeremy Wagner, Sara Wagner, Kevin Wagner, also survived by two step-granddaughters, Tracy and Everett Rhinebeck and Wendy Steele.

One great grandson, Cody Steele, three step great grandchildren, Joshua and Jocelynn Rhinebeck, Doug Alise; One sister, Hannah Chase, Texas, several nieces, nephews and cousins. A very dear friend, Doreen Carmen, Binghamton. She was a member of Boulevard United Methodist Church, Binghamton Funeral services will be held at the J.F. Rice Funeral Home, 150 Main Johnson City Monday at 11 a.m. The Rev.

Jerry J. Halbert, Pastor of her church will officiate. Burial will be in Floral Park Cemetery, Johnson City. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, Sunday from 24 and 7-9 p.m. Those wishing may make memorial contributions to the Arthritis Foundation of Broome County, co Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, 161 Riverside Binghamton, NY 13905.

in Jeannette B. Wagners memory. August (Auggie) W. Tevyaw of Endwell August (Auggie) W. Tevyaw, 61, of Endwell, passed away Thursday morning, May 12, 1994 at his home.

He is survived by his wife, Lola Tevyaw, Endwell; mother, Anna Tevyaw, Johnson City; two brothers, Donald and Lloyd Tevyaw, both of Binghamton; a niece, Jo Chalson; two nephews, Michael and Jeff Tevyaw; an aunt, Elizabeth Chester, Orange Park, He was a member of Northminster Presbyterian Church, Endwell; he was an employee of the former Savory Oil and the Chevron USA. He was a member of the Endicott Elks Lodge B.P.O.E. 1977 and also a member of the WE-GO Racing Fan Club. Funeral and interment services will be held Monday at 11 a.m. from the Coleman Daniels Funeral Home, 300 E.

Main Endicott the Rev. Dr. Barry H. Downing, pastor of his church will officiate. Bunal will be in Vestal Hills Memorial Park.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday evening from 7 to 9 p.ra. and Monday morning from 10 a.m. until service time at 1 1. Endicott Elks Lodge B.P.O.E. 1977 will conduct a Lodge of Sorrows Service 8:30 p.m.

Sunday evening at the funeral home. Herman D. Pearson of Windsor, N.Y. Herman D. Pearson, of Windsor, N.Y., passed away Thursday, May 12, 1994 at Lourdes Hospital.

He is survived by two sisters and one brother-in-law, Louise Sloan, Windsor, N.Y., Zelma and John Czuhanich, Endicott; three brothers and two sisters-in-law, Otto Pearson, Ocala, Harold and Wanda Pearson, Endwell, Milo and Joyce Pearson, Northport, Alabama; several nieces, nephews and cousins. He was a veteran of World War II, life member of the Richard Hoyt VFW and the American Legion Post 1645. He was a retired optician from the American Optical Company. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Coleman Daniels Funeral Home, 300 East Main Endicott.

The Rev. Maxwell G. Tow, pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Windsor, will officiate. Burial will be in Chenango Valley Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday from 7 to 9 p.m.

at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Hospice Unit, care of Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton, N.Y. Joan K. Golemboski of Vestal, NY Joan K. Golemboski, 61, of Vestal, formerly of Monroe, NY died Thursday, May 12, 1994 at Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton, NY.

She was predeceased by her husband, Raymond J. Golemboski. and her father, William Keen. She was born September 10, 1932 in Chicago, II. She is survived by one son, William J.

Golemboski, Binghamton, mother, Ella Keen, McCook, Nebraska, two sisters, Jane Riley Betty Jean Fuentes, both of Chicago, 111., three grandchildren, several nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to call at the Donovan Funeral Home, 82 South Church Street, Goshen, NY from 7 to 9 E.m. on Sunday. Funeral service will be eld at 2 p.m. Monday, May 16, 1994.

with the Rev. Robert Dent, officiating. Burial will be at the convenience of the family. Donations may be made to the First Prebyterian Church of Monroe, Stage Monroe, NY Martin W. Mills pf West Warren Funeral services for Martin W.

Mills will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Sutfin Funeral Chapel, Nichols, with Pastor Larry Jennings, officiating. Interment will follow in the Nanticoke Valley Cemetery. The family will receive their friends from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Sutfin Funeral Chapel.

Expressions of sympathy may be directed to the Warren Center Fire Department, care of Paul Moran, Warren Center, Pa. 18851 or the Windham Ambulance, care of Lillian Merrill, R.D. 2, Rome, Pa. 18837 in his memory. Mary Foley Of Hamlin, NY The Funeral Service for Mary L.

Foley will be held on Monday, May 16, 1994 at 9:30 a.m. at the Hennessey's Funeral Home, 208 Jackson Susquehanna, and 10:00 a.m. at the St. John's Church where a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered by Rev. William Flynn.

Burial will be in the St. John's Cemetery in Susquehanna, Pa. Friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Kathleen M. Hill of Vestal, NY Kathleen M.

Hill, 63, of Vestal, NY went to be with her Lord from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Friday, May 13, 1994. She was predeceased by her parents, Frank and Katherine Myers and a brother, Franklin Myers. She is survived by her husband, James Hill, Vestal; one daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Dean Takahata, Columbus, Ohio; two sons and one daughter-in-law, James C. Hill II, Vestal, Timothy F. and Karen Hill, Endicott; one granddaughter, Kimberly Takahata, Columbus, Ohio; one sister, Margaret Rickert, Honesdale, one sister-in-law, Marie Myers, Honesdale, her mother-in-law, Gladys Hill, Hawley, one brother-in-law and one sister-in-law, Richard and Patricia Hill, Hawley, several nieces and nephews; several grandnieces and grand-nephews.

She was a member of Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Vestal; a member of the Women's Auxiliary Knights of Columbus. Funeral services will be held Monday at 9:30 a.m. from the Allen Memorial Home, 511-513 E. Main Endicott and at 10 a.m. from Our Lady of Sorrows Church where a funeral mass will be offered.

Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Johnson City. The family will receive friends at the Memorial Home Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Expressions of sympathy in Kathleen's memory may be made to Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 157 Clark Vestal, NY 13850. Ellwood Phillip W. Dix of Illinois Ellwood Phillip W.

Dix, of Chicago, died Thursday, May 12, 1994. He was the beloved husband of Sally Nee Lessaris, devoted father of Robert (Rita) Dix; proud grandfather of Staci and Genevieve Dix; loving brother of Marion Howell, Shirley Reider, Barbara Osborne, and the late Richard Dix; brother-in-law of Chris Lessaris. He was a graduate of Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania and was a retired Chicago Branch Manager H.E.W. Audit Agency and Asst.

Regional Manager Defense Control Audit Agency. The funeral will be held Monday at 9:15 a.m. from the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 W. 103rd Oak Lawn, 111. There will be a service at 10:00 a.m.

at SS. Constantine Helen Church. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday from 2 to 9 p.m. at the funeral home.

A Trisagion Service will be held Sunday at 7 p.m. Info 708-636-1193 or 312-735-4242. Lena Battaglini of Endicott Lena L. (Fusco) Battaglini, 94, of Endicott, passed away Friday, May 13, 1994 at the Ideal Nursing Center, where she had been a resident. She was our beloved and devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and we survive: two daughters and sons-in-law, Delores and Richard Brown, Owego, Norma Bidwell, Endicott; two sons and three daughters-in-law, Mario and Louise Battaglini, Edward and Madeline Battaglini, Marion Battaglini, all of Endicott; also surviving are her 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, all of whom held a special place in her heart.

Also one sister; two sisters-in-law and two brothers-in-law, Lilian and Michael Ambrose, Endicott, Michael Battaglini, Lena Fusco, Lena 0. Fusco. She was Eredeceased by her husband, Joseph; er son, John; her infant grandson; her son-in-law, Ronald Bidwell; two sisters and three brothers. She was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Church, the St.

Ann Society and the Women's Auxiliary of Post 82. She worked for many years on the Election Board for the Democratic Party. Funeral services will be held Monday at 9:45 a.m. from the Anthony R. DeMarco Funeral Home 1607 Witherill Endicott and at 10 a.m.

at St. Anthony of Padua Church, where a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. The family will receive friends Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the funeral home.

Ziven M. Bilski of Greene Zivan M. Bilski, 15, of Stillwater Rd. passed away Friday, May 13, 1994. He is survived by his mother and step father, Julia and Terrance Mroz, Greene, his father and his wife, Michael and Kathy Bilski, Catasauqua, three brothers and one sister-in-law, Corey and Alicia Hunsberger, Emmaus, Michael Bilski, Jr.

and Andrew Bilski, both of Catasauqua, step brother, T.J. Mroz and step sister, Jessica Mroz, Susquehanna, Pa. Maternal grandparents, J. Melvin and Mary Hunsberger, Perkasie, paternal grandparents, Walter and Margaret Bilski, Mayfield, step grandparents, Joseph and Laura Mroz, Great Bend, niece and nephew, Alex and Deanna Christman. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m.

Tuesday, May 17, 1994 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Sellersville, Pa. with Msgr. Michael J. Long, officiating.

Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Greene Emergency Squad. A local memorial service will be announced at a later date by The Root Funeral Home, 23 N.

Chenango Greene Carolyn H. Holzman OfKirkwood Carolyn H. (Kotson) Holzman, 50, of Kirkwood went to be with her Lord, May 12, 1994. She is survived by her loving family, husband William Holzman; two daughters, Christine and Lindsey Holzman, Kirkwood; two sisters, Stephanie Matthews and Barbara Kotson, both of Binghamton. Funeral and Committal Services will be held Monday at 1:00 p.m.

from Peter P. Savage Funeral Home, 338 Conklin Binghamton with Father Gerald J. Buckley of St. Andrews Church officiating. Burial will be in the family plot in Floral Park Cemetery.

The family will welcome friends Monday at the funeral home from 12 to 1 p.m. In memory of Carolyn Holzman contributions to Hospice at Lourdes Hospital, 169 Riverside Binghamton, NY 13905 is suggested by the family. Marie (Sohl) Winckler formerly of Fosterdale, NY Marie (Sohl) Winckler, 84, formerly of Fosterdale, NY died Friday, May 13, 1994 at the James G. Johnston Memorial Nursing Home, Johnson City. She was predeceased by her husband, George.1' She is survived by one daughter and son-in-law, Helen and George Morford, Vestal, two sons and daughters-in-law, George and Gertrud Winckler, Peachtree City, GA, Edward and Kathrine Winckler, Kingwood, nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, two sisters, Tina Klenke, Naples, Fl.

and Meta, residing in Germany, also several nieces and nephews. Friends may call at The Coleman Daniels Funeral Home, 765 Main VESTAL, Monday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. A graveside service will be held 12 noon Tuesday, May 17, 1994 at the East Cochecton Cemetery, Foster-dale, NY. The Rev. Russell Haab, Pastor of St.

Paul's Lutheran Church of Narrowsburg, NY will officiate. A Memorial Service will be held at the Hilltop Retirement Center, Johnson City at a date to be announced. Those wishing may make contributions in her memory to The Alzheimer's Association of the Southern Tier, 1406 Monroe Endicott, NY 13760 or to The American Heart Assocation, Broome County Chapter, 26 South Washington Binghamton, NY 13903. Card of Thanks Card Of Thanks Eula Hathaway We wish to thanks our friends, family and coworkers for the expressions of sypamthy received by us following the loss of our mother and grandmother. The family of Eula Hathaway.

In Memorial In Loving Memory of Hector G. Escalera Today would be your birthday. Even tho you are not here in sight, you are here with us in our hearts. The memory of you will never leave us. You are sadly missed by all of us.

Love from all of us, all of your family friends. Happy Birthday My Toby I love and miss you very much. Love. Mom. In Memory of Vito Mastrogiovanni Jr.

111851 to 51591 Gone 3 yrs. Sadly missed. Love, Mom, Sister, Brothers, and Nephews. IN LOVING MEMORY Richard P. Smith Beloved Son Brother who is Always in our thoughts.

In our hearts a memory is kept, Of one we loved and will never forget. Sadly 'missed. Mother Sister for the third show at the East Rutherford, N.J., stadium. At 9 p.m., Ticketmaster said tickets were still available. Tickets sold out faster than they did five years ago for the Stones "Steel Wheels" tour, which earned the 50-something Stones $65 million.

The Stones played Shea Stadium their last time through the New York City area. The band's new album, "Voodoo Lounge," is due out before the tour begins Aug. 1 in Washington. That date is sold out as well, though ticket sales have not done as well at other venues. I i Fred Rogers At Colgate Rochester Divinity School commencement coming to our senses after a 40- or 50-year 'bad trip' of raping the natural and human environment as if there is no tomorrow.

Today, we recognize that current industrial society is literally unsustainable. We admit that trashing the future is bad business." Cousteau assured graduates that they would have the chance to help restore society and the environment. At St. Bonaventure University, former U.S. ambassador to Norway and Peace Corps director Loret Miller Ruppe told 460 undergraduate and 93 graduate degree recipients they should strive for lives filled with morality, responsibility and service to others.

"There is a bottom line, and it is morality," she said. "The followers of St. Francis knew this living your life with responsibility, not compartmentalizing. In our violent world, too many do this separating their careers from moral judgement and not accepting individual responsibility." Representational artist Paul Cadmus and feminist attorney Karen DeCrow addressed 1,096 graduates at the State University of New York at Oswego at a morning ceremony. Thomas Weil, an Oswego alumnus and a director of research for Amoco Chemical addressed another 972 graduates in an afternoon ceremony.

The Associated Press With sunshine and blue skies overhead, Fred Rogers couldn't help giving a nod to his children's television show as he addressed a Rochester divinity school commencement Saturday. "Do I dare say it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood?" Rogers, host of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, told the 47 graduates of Colgate Rochester Divinity School-Bexley Hall-Crozer Theological Seminary. Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, talked of the people who have influenced his life through giving and forgiveness. "What you say will essentially affect who you say it to," he said.

"The space between a person and the needy listener is holy And the Holy Spirit uses hat space in marvelous ways." Rogers was presented with the President's Distinguished Service Medal during the ceremony. In Alfred, N.Y., Dr. Henry J. Heimlich told 410 Alfred University graduates that for the first time in history, it is possible to have a caring world. Heimlich, a 74-year-old former chest surgeon and developer of the "Heimlich Maneuver" choking remedy, pointed to the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the Israel-Palestinian peace accords as encouraging signs that people are starting to care about each other.

And he urged graduates to help create a caring world for future generations. "The pictures and words of those who do caring acts should be deliberately spread internationally by the media, as it is now done for athletes, entertainment stars and politicians," Heimlich said. "There is nothing more important for the survival of humanity from this day on." In Ithaca, N.Y., environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau told 1 ,400 Ithaca College graduates that despite the challenges of a ballooning population, rapid depletion of the earth's natural resources and a widening gap between rich and poor, today's youth live in a world full of opportunities. "If this age is full of challenges, it is even more pregnant with opportunity," said Cousteau, son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. "As a culture, we are f..