Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 4

Press Sun-Bulletin A member of the Gannett Group Bernard M. Griffin President and Publisher Barry Rothfeld Editor Martha Steffens Managing Editor David G. Rossie Associate Editor Stephen W. Spero Assistant Managing Editor 4A Press Sun-Bulletin The editorial policies of the Press Sun-Bulletin are established by the editorial board composed ol the above named members and Frank W. Roessner, Leslie Spalding and Kevin S.

Walter. Published by Binghamton Press Company Division of Gannett Satellite Information Network Thomas Chappie, secretary; Jimmy Thomas, treasurer; Vestal Parkway East, P.O. Box 1270, Binghamton, N.Y. 13902-1270. Telephone; 607-798-1234.

Saturday, October 12, 1996 EDITORIALS iRoses 'and thorns Opinion i i 1 HaWTDPRlVEAREPUBLICWCRAZV' if ROSES to the civilians and professionals cited this week for their life-saving actions. Debbie Quick, associate director of the YMCA was honored with a Meritorious service Award for administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to Stuart Fralick, who had collapsed with no pulse in the YMCA's locker room. Anna Dabbracci of Binghamton was recognized for her heroism in rescuing a California woman who had fallen through the ice of the Susquehanna River. Others presented with Meritorious Service Awards by the Binghamton Fire Bureau and the Binghamton Professional Firefighters Association were: Firefighter-paramedics Kevin Rice, Tim O'Neill, Robert Parke and Jon D. Casey; Capt.

Cliff Coglan; Lt. Robert Juraska; firefighters Larry Hartley, Paul Hornick, Dennis Sullivan, William Kozel, Robert Stanton, Peter Fitzpatrick, Jamie Harrison, Jim Shine, Jerry Marinich, John Hanos, Timothy Koloski and James McLaughlin; and paramedic-trainer Jeff Crutcher with the Southern Tier Paramedic Program. Stuart Fralick, among many others, knows where we would be without people like these. ROSES to the congregation of Christ Church in Binghamton for its efforts to renovate the city's oldest church. The Episcopalian congregation raised $500,000 through fund-raising and a $100,000 bank loan to replace the roof with new slate, replace the console of the organ, restore stained-glass windows, renovate the chancel's marble floor and touch up some outside walls.

Built 143 years ago, the Gothic-style church at 187 Washington St. is on the National Register of Historic Places but is very much a part of the current activities in the city. It's the site of a Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse food pantry and is a co-founder of the local Habitat for Humanity and the Downtown Forum. SIDEWALK SURVEY By Ali KarfveGino Domenico THE EDITOR WRITE TO US must be This week's question: What do you think of proposals to ban tobacco advertising that includes cartoon characters like Joe Camel? Should similar ads for alcohol, like those featuring the Budweiser frogs, be banned? LETTERS TO Bullies held In their 'Teacher to Parent" column, Cathy McLain and Marguerite Leighton advise the victim of a schoolyard bully to "practice ignoring him, breaking eye contact while turning sideways" as well as "to speak in a brave voice and ask him to stop." The victim, as reported by the parent, has been kicked, had school supplies stolen and been extorted for lunch money. I wonder whether McLain and Leighton would have followed their own weak advice had they arrived at worked only to be robbed, kicked and extorted.

Nowhere in their column is there any mention of right and wrong and certainly no mention of punishment for the bully. The bully needs to know there are consequences for criminal behavior. As educators and parents, we must hold offenders accountable and protect victims. If steps are taken early enough we might not need to build as many prisons in the Lowlife music At any given time of day you hear the pounding sound of bass and steady yet boring low-end beat that most of our young citizens listen to. The lyrics deal mostly with gangs, killings, violent behavior and prison life.

What is the message rap offers to its listeners? I find it offensive, and as a long-time musician and song writer, I find it hard to see any inspirational quality in it. The recording companies are making millions off of poor role models and illicit behavior that is affecting the actions and attitudes of the majority of their listeners. THOMAS BERNTHON Johnson City, Food for thought It used to be where a criminal, or soon-to-be criminal, could check "what's for dinner" at the Broome County Jail reading page 2B of the newspaper. At least you would know ahead of time the menu and perhaps the choice of tonight's meal could be the determining factor in committing a crime. I guess you could say not printing a menu from the jail really means "taking a bite out of crime." HOWARD NEWMAN JR.

Letters should be limited to 200 words and must include the author's daytime telephone number and signature. Anonymous letters and poetry will not be published. Letters may be edited. Address: Letters co Press Sun-Bulletin P.O. Box 1270 Binghamton, N.Y.

13902. Fax: 607-798-1113 e-mail: presssun spectra.net forget about what Baldwin or any other want-to-be politicians have said and vote your own conscience. WILLIAM MERRELL Port Crane Texas has the idea New York state legislators should be in session for a maximum of 90 days. Per-diem pay should be eliminated completely, and all salaries and benefits should be cut 50 percent. The legislature in the state of Texas meets every other year and for a maximum of 140 days.

BERNARD JANORA Binghamton proudest of his intervention during the Sodom crisis. "God was determined to sweep away the wicked with the good," the ancient one recalled, "but I stood firm and asked for justice." "Why, why then," he pleaded, "do my children insist on killing the innocents of this place! They do me and my God an injustice." Before returning to his resting place, Abraham recalled for the reporters his experience on Mt. Moriah. "I had been ordered to sacrifice my son, Isaac, there," he said with tears welling in his eyes. "But at the last moment, an angel intervened and stayed my hand.

"Do not hurt the child," God's messenger instructed me. "Do not make a mark on his body. "I beseech all of you," Abraham concluded, "stop sacrificing my children on the false altars of hatred and zealotry. 6UES5HJE MI6HTASWBIL $9' 1 6STBACKT0- MIKE! r-At I able future. LOUISE CHILDS Binghamton Baldwin 'used' It amazes me that we have as many good God-fearing people who profess family values and then go to the polls and vote for a man with no family values who refused to fight for his country.

We allow well-known people to go on television and tell us now we should vote, and if we really listened to what they were saying we would realize how foolish they are. A case in point is Dick Baldwin's endorsement of Tim Grippen. He claims to be a Republican, but want's everyone to vote Democratic. He says why change things now? Isn't that what Baldwin did when he flip-flopped from Republican to Democrat? I have great respect for Baldwin as a coach, and it's sad to see him being used this way. When you pull the curtain, GUEST VIEWPOINT LANCE J.

SUSSMAN children Isaac and Ishmael did not grow up together as brothers, as friends. Their children's children now hate each other as well and where I was buried, here in Hebron, they hate each other the most. "It is ironic," the saddened patriarch continued, "that the name Hebron means "friendship" when there is so little friendship here. In ancient days, when I first came to this place as a total stranger, I learned to live with the local people, helped fight against outside aggressors with them and purchased a place to bury my dead. Now this is a city of the dead, a city doomed to drown in its own blood." Asked by a reporter what he thought was his greatest accomplishment in life, Abraham responded that he was we.

i MINPF 'W- I GO JL NOT AT ALL. I Abraham and the City of I 4 Mary Duke, Johnson City. Age: 63 Occupation: Retired. I'm not in favor of using cartoon characters since children might be led to believe something is OK, when it isn't. 1 Bob Kennedy, Binghamton.

Occupation: Assembler. Keep the cartoons out of it because it influences kids to smoke; it tells kids that it's OK, and promotes it towards children. by the Germans in occupied Belgium during World War I. In 1933, bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff. In 1942, during World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

In 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupt weekdays at 798-1124. Editorials on this page reflect the opinion of the editorial board of the Press Sun-Bulletin. The editorial Kevin O'Neill, Binghamton. Age: 38. Occupation: Sales clerk driver.

Alcohol and tobacco advertising should be as generic in nature as possible, so it won't damage the health of our youth. Anthony Marcello, Binghamton. Age: 85. Occupation: Retired. They shouldn't be in commercials, because it is appealing to children.

And they don't realize that jt is dangerous. TODAY IN HISTORY This is Saturday, Oct. 12th, 1996. On this date: In 1492 (Old Style calendar; Oct. 21 New Style), Christopher Columbus arrived with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas.

In 1861, the Confederate ironclad Manassas attacked the northern ship Richmond on the Mississippi River. In 1870, Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, at age 63. In 1915, English nurse Edith Cavell was executed Apalachin Death Abraham, was promised to be the father of many nations.

But I cannot sleep in Hebron because my children have one another's blood on their hands. Please, let me sleep in Sussman is rabbi at Temple Concord in Bingham-, ton. peace, Abraham said in a whisper, "please find a way to allow your children to live in peace." Immediately after his departure, a scuffle between Israeli soldiers and a group of Arab worshippers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs escalated and the reporters, still awestruck from Abraham's unannounced press conference, dispersed in search of safe cover. K' Noreen Ovrien, Binghamton. Occupation: Manager of Java Joes.

Keep the Jennifer Domask, Binghamton. Age: 24 Occupation student Yes, they should be banned, because young kids cannot make decisions on theirown. Sometimes they're very impressionable, by things like cartoon characters. Why the heck do they have Joe Camel to advertise cigarettes? What (connection) does that have to an animal? None. ed a U.N.

General Assembly session by pounding his desk with a shoe during a dispute. In 1964, the Soviet Union launched a "Voskhod" space capsule with a three-man crew on the first manned mission involving more than one crew member. Superstar, the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway. board membership is listed at the top of this page. Opinions expressed in columns and letters reflect the views of those writers.

I In an extraordinary development today, Abraham reappeared in Hebron, breaking a silence of almost 36 centuries. A number of reporters were on hand and had an opportunity to speak with the revered patriarch of the world's three principal monotheistic faiths. "I have returned to Hebron," Abraham said, "because my heart is broken and I have not been this sad since the death of my wife, Sarah, in this place, thousands of years ago. "I came to Hebron," Abraham continued, "from the East in search of a new life, called by a God I did not know in my youth, who promised me that I would be the father of many nations. I was a businessman most of my life.

I knew success. I also knew great pain. Much of that pain is now yours. I lost my son Ish-mael in a family dispute. My somnexe P0UB6O ANOTHER MM? ANP SHE i -ruar ajp'e; l--3- SHOT.

ACCEPTS siti I rs--S was YOUR. If QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS 'S i If you have a comment on items on the opinion pages, call Editorial Page Editor Frank Roessner between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m..